COOL FOR THE SUMMER: NYC EVENTS
May 2018
CONTROVERSIAL RACE EXERCISE IN LECTURE
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Issue 3
Student Health Services Faces Budget Cuts
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NEW SCHOOLERS ARE HITTING THE JUUL
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Third time’s a charm
“All of Us or None”: Inside the Occupation for Food Workers by ASHLYN O’HARA
by ANNA DEL SAVIO Student health services is facing budget cuts for the coming academic year, laying off one physician assistant and decreasing hours for other in-house providers of medical services, according to Jayne Jordan, director of medical services. The department was told to cut their budget by $125,000 for the next academic year, according to Jordan. Staff at Student Health Ser v ices were told by administrators that this cut is just one element of an in-depth look at the f inances of departments across the university, Jordan said. The cuts could lead to 45 fewer medical appointments available per week, though Jordan noted that the department is working to adjust ser v ices to accommodate t he budget cuts. Wit hout adjustments to how services are of fered, students “would experience longer waiting times for appointments” and staff “would have to cram more students into less available time,” Jordan said. For the first time in more than 10 years, the health services fee will not go up for the next academic year. The $370 fee is paid each semester by every on-campus underg raduate st udent enrolled in six or more credits and by g raduate students who wish to have access to health services. Student Hea lt h Ser v ices brought in $6,474,630 in revenue from student health fees for the 2017-2018 academic year. The CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Fire and Contamination Leave Students Scrambling by JERVEY INGLESBY
Communist Student Group organizer Robert Griswold addressing protesters. Photo by Orlando Mendiola
More than 150 students strode the University Center cafeteria May 1, crowd ing out students ordering lunch, and calling for an end to the eatery’s usual operations. “We are shutting down the fucking cafeteria,” yelled Robert Griswold, a New School Communist Student Group co-founder and spokesperson as he climbed atop a chair and shouted into a blue and white Pyle Pro megaphone. It was about 11:30 a.m., and the other protesters grabbed tables and chairs from the dining area to barricade the cafeteria’s four points of entry. Thus began the days-long occupation. Their demands were clear, and there were six. From the “New
A One Woman Show Yu Ling Wu, the 2018 student commencement speaker by JERVEY INGLESBY
Photo by Orlando Mendiola
The l ights d im and Yu L ing Wu strolls to her start ing position at the second showing of the solo per for mance ser ies, “The Mom, t he Dad , a nd t he Holy
BACK COVER
Spirit.” The audience grows quiet. Wu and her cast mates, A liyah Hakim and Joshua Laclé, set up to rock-paper-scissors it out for the first performance. Wu says, “Oh,
School St udent s a nd Worker s United” Wordpress Site: 1. Every Job Saved 2. Higher Wages 3. Same Benefits 4. Tuition Vouchers 5. Resignation of New School treasurers Steve Stabile 6. Worker-Student control of the cafeteria T he occupat ion ca me a m id other labor tensions at the university, such as a planned strike by SENS-UAW, the university’s student worker union. At the beginning of the occupation, demonstrators settled in, drawing clenched f ists on neon poster board, covering security cameras, unplugg ing monitors, working on finals and reaching for what food remained on the shelves.
Some suggested they f ill bags with food that could be taken to the homeless, while others took sushi - which can cost as much as $12.99 - from the shelves. Griswold encouraged them to work on their finals. Cafeteria workers then began to remove every bit of food from the cafeteria--from the bread and meat at the deli station to the lettuce and tomatoes at the grill. The executive chef looked on as workers dumped whole pans of food into trash cans. The occupation became more v isua l a s t he day went on. I n addition to hanging the Communist Student Group’s red banner prominently over the smoothie sta-
are we doing a three-way?” The crowd erupts in laughter. Nearly everyone in attendance at t he Fr iday, Apr i l 13 per formance had some personal connection to Wu. During the chatter before the show started, Wu was greeted by dozens of people on the stage of Mabou Mines Theater in the East Village. “ No frea k ing way!” Wu sa id to one guest. “I’m so glad you’re here.” “I’m excited, really excited,” she called to another. Wu is a senior BA/FA student from Sa n Fra ncisco, st udy i ng integrated design at Parsons, and theater, with a minor in ethnicity and race, at Lang. Warm, charismat ic and funny, Wu st ands at “four feet, six and one fourth inches tall.” But she has had an outsized presence on The New School campus, and was unanimously chosen as the 2018 student university-wide commencement
speaker. Commencement speaker applicants went through two rounds of interviews, and Wu was unanimously selected at the end of the process. Wu ended up attend ing The New School a lmost by chance. She applied after her dreams of attending an Iv y league school didn’t pan out, and the prospect of attending nearby University of California, Davis, loomed in front of her. “I was told at a young age that those who go the farthest, grow the quickest,” Wu said. After Wu worried she wouldn’t be able to complete the Parsons portfolio application requirement, and missed the deadline to apply for t he BA /FA prog ra m, T he New School reached out to her and made an exception, giving Wu about a week to create her entire portfolio.
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The school’s reaction to a f ire t hat shuttered par t of Parsons until summertime has left more 4,100 students confused, scrambling and angry during the semester’s pressure-filled close. Then came news of the contamination. Students were told by the univer s it y t h at c ont a m i n a nt s i n the particulate matter that settled after the electrical f ire that erupted in the basement electrical room of 2 W. 13th St. may have contaminated their projects and equipment, according to an April 27 email. The same email recommended t hat a l l project s a nd persona l items be disposed of to eliminate the risk of contamination, and said that all items currently in the basement would not be returned. The news added fear to a stressful situat ion t hat has students commuting to make-shift work spaces in Brooklyn and hustling to meet strict deadlines for make-orbreak events like New York Fashion Week.
“Nothing has been thrown out yet.”
Hygienist consultants Ambient Group found lead traces and dioxins, contaminants in the particulate matter that settled after the f ire, in the basement but also on equipment that had been moved off site so students could continue to use it, school officials said. “ I f you’re ex posed , a nd you get that into your system, that’s a problem,” sa id Dr. W i l l ia m Esposito, the president of Ambient Group. A mbient r e c om mende d t he destruction of all artwork and personal belongings that were in the basement at the time of the fire to eliminate risk of exposure. They did however recognize that some of the particulate matter could have been pre-existing, and a consequence of the toxic chemicals used to create student projects. This has some students feeling a sense of whiplash.
“If we can find a way to determine if its clean, maybe we can return the work.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
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From the Editors Occupat ions, str i kes, f ires, space negotiations, campus trespassers: it’s been a busy semester of news at The New School. T he un iver sit y ’s h istor y of comm it ment to socia l just ice (and how that history is branded a nd presented to prospect ive students) makes the institution a place where student activism thrives. T h e Ne w S chool F ree P ress is com m it ted to prov id i ng t h i s com mu n it y — ever yone who makes up this complicated, hopeful, historic university — with the coverage that it deserves.
Ta ke a look at t he big gest national and international headlines this year. Hell, look at this year’s Pulitzer winners. Good journalism has the power to hold those in authority to account. I’ve spent hour s i n th e F ree Press newsroom going through our archives, reading about this history of unrest, from the 2008 Occupy movement, to provost problems. I’ve spoken to former editors of the Free Press, now at New York Times, the New York Post and Rolling Stone among others, whose articles led to real changes in the administration and else-
ness to events that matter. We do this to inform the community. We hope to cover the people and the work that deserve coverage. We w a nt t o ho ld t ho s e i n p ower a c c ou nt able for t hei r actions and their inactions. We a r e t h e n e w s p a p e r o f record for this university. I hope you fol low our coverage next term.
-RYANNE SALZANO News Editor
New School by the Numbers by ANNA DEL SAVIO
Compensation of top administ r ator s at T he New S chool has been in the spotlight again recently, though posters hung around campus show outdated information. In support of transparency, the numbers here can bring clarity on key issues at what can be a complex university. President Dav id Van Zandt made $2,081,584 in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, according to 990 federal tax forms which the university is required to release as a nonprofit. A portion of that payment “reflected a one-time distribution from deferred compensation. His typical annual compensation is much lower,” according to a statement provided by Amy Malsin, a spokesperson for the university. E xecut ive compensat ion is determined by a committee within the university’s board of trustees. Malsin declined to provide names of who is on the committee, citing privacy policies. “It’s not our practice to provide the names associated with Board of Trustee committees,” she added. Salary information for faculty is from the Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS), a project of the U.S. Department of Education. C or e e x p en s e s r ef le c t t he amount spent per full-time equivalent student. The values provided by IPEDS compare The New School with the median for a group of 48 colleges and universities that are similar to The New School. The New School spends signif icantly more in academic support, which includes activities that support instruction and research, and institutional support, which includes operational support expenses such as administrative services, legal and fiscal operations, and public relations. Race and ethnicity for students and faculty was from the publically available factsheets created by Institutional Research at The New School, wh ich were last updated in May 2016 and are no longer updated, and Jennifer Dai, a research analyst with Institutional Research. The university said faculty demographics for 2016-2017 and the current academic year are not yet available.
Trustees of The New School. The majority of trustees have backgrounds in finance, business and law.
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Student representatives from the University Student Senate are trustees, serving for a two year term.
50%
The average 4-year graduation rate for Parsons, Lang and CoPA for classes entering 2008-2011.
23%
In fiscal year 2016, President David Van Zandt earned more than
$2
Student Demographics Unreported 2 or more races
million Making him the 10th highest paid university president in the United States. Van Zandt made the following:
American Indian or Alaska Native Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
International Hispanic/ Latino
$696,681
in base compensation
Black
$99,999
Asian
in bonuses
$904,939
in other reportable compensation
White
$379,965
in nontaxable benefits (such as housing), and an additional
$227,000
in retirement and other deferred compensation.
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of instructional staff were fulltime as of Fall 2016. 421 are full-time and 1,834 part-time.
Seven other employees made over $400,000 in fiscal year 2016.
$15,816
The average annual salary for full-time instructional staff in 2016-2017 was
$14,455
$97,998
Full-Time Faculty Demographics Unreported American Indian or Alaska Native 2 or more races International Hispanic/Latino
Women : $94,102 Men: $101,660
Black Asian
$8,208
$7,750 $6,051 $4,199
$3,716
$2,934 $1,672 $350
Instruction Academic Support
Institutional Support
Student Services
Research
White $9
$62
Other core expenses
Core Expenses 2015 - 2016 per full-time equivalent enrollment Comparison Group
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where. All it takes is persistence, a pencil and a notepad. Somehow, when you print a story on a piece of paper, when there’s a masthead, when there’s bylines, when your f ingers are smudged by i n k — a stor y becomes more than a story. It’s t he news. It’s somet h i ng you trust. We hope that our ef forts in bringing the Free Press back to the presses proves our presence. We are journalists reporting on these campus happenings. We pin our names on it and present it as best we can — bearing wit-
EDITORIAL
The New School
May 2018
Photo by Orlando Mendiola CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “ALL OF US OR NONE” INSIDE THE CAFETERIA OCCUPATION
tion, flags, posters and a wish list requesting, among other things, “Van Zandt’s head,” were taped to windows and walls. Protesters moved furniture like lounge chairs from the library and couches from the facult y lounge, along with more tables and chairs from the dining room into the cafeteria. “This is, like, the greatest day ever,” said cafeteria worker Janice Townsend, thrusting her right f ist into the air. “A ll power to the people!” she shouted into the megaphone. At about 10 p.m., demonstrators descended to the lobby to sign in a jubilant group of outside supporters from the Democratic Socialists of America, who marched over from the Peculiar Pub on Bleecker Street when t hey heard about t he protest.
Each New Schooler could sign in three guests. Roughly 100 of them, singin’ songs and carryin’ signs, paraded into the tightly packed cafeteria, waving f lags. They belted tunes from a “Songs for May Day” booklet including “Solidarity Forever!” Their almost assertively red attire matched the Parsons-red walls. Pulling borrowed chairs into crude clusters, demonstrators began to settle in for the night. Some strummed lazily on ukuleles, others sipped beers while debating philosophy, and a few picked casually at the collection of soup cups, barbecue Pringles and wintergreen Lifesavers that could be found among their food supply. They stirred remarkably early the next morning. Though the kitchen been locked the previous day, students successfully intercepted the morning delivery and set out trays of bagels and bowls of fruit for demonstrators and regular patrons alike, who also didn’t pay for it.
While newly created committees worked on various assignment s, Gr iswold entered t he dining area and, using his megaphone, announced that he was looking for a group of volunteers to “disrupt” a meeting between the board of trustees set to start at 4 p.m. Griswold was leading his vanguard of 20 in chants of “Every single job! All of us or none!” with his megaphone when they burst into the Orozco Room in the 12th Street building where they found not the trustees, but rather a Schools of Public Engagement Board of Governors meeting. Of fered time to address the room, the group stood solemnly u nder t he pr iceless Mex ica n fresco depicting, among others, Gandhi, Mexican socialist revolutionaries and their Russian comrades, like Trotsky, a favorite of theirs. They were repeatedly
by LAUREN DIAZ
Illustration by Ashlie Juarbe
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Tagliarino, a student in the class who witnessed the exercise. A second activity involved separating students into five groups and asking each group to select the person with the “median” skin tone. Plotke then asked the selected st udents to come to the front of the class and had the class guess the ethnicity or nationality of each of the students, according to Tagliarino
told not to lean on the artwork and eventually returned to the cafeteria. The occupation came at the end of the semester, when students were work ing on f inals, moving out of their dorms and a l ready work i ng a rou nd t he displacement of the f ire in 2 W. 13th St., which has resulted in an influx of students working in the University Center. The protest fol lows decade after simi lar student protests against former New School president Bob Kerrey’s shook his controversial administration. Ultimately, 22 students were arrested during one of those occupations, and Kerrey stepped down two years later.
It’s also not the first occupation of President David Van Zandt’s term. In his f irst year, during Occupy Wa l l St reet , st udent activ ists took over a common space the school rented in 90 Fifth Ave. They spent Thanksgiving there, but dispersed unceremoniously after trashing the space.
“All power to the people!” Back in the cafeteria, protestors asserted their plans to stick out the fight. “You mean willing to stay here? As long as we can,” said Ye-Liu, a third-year PhD student, on May 3. “Oh, but definitely— I’m actually leaving on May 16. I will go back to China, so that’s a big problem.”
Professor Eric Anthamatten taught his “Prisons, Punishment & Global (In)Justice” class in the corner between the grill and the salad bar. Photo by Orlando Mendiola
Classroom Exercise Around Race and Ethnicity Sparks Protest
A n act iv it y about race and imm ig rat ion t hat singled out students based on ethnicity provoked outrage dur ing Professor David Plotke’s “Remaking America?” ULEC. T he f i r st act iv it y i nvolved Plotke picking students at random to come to the front of class and having the students guess what nationality and ethnicity they were, according to Erica
“This is, like, the greatest day ever.”
and other students in the lecture. “ Ever yone lo oke d at e a c h other and I literally asked everyone ‘Hey, just so we’re all clear on this, you g uys are uncomfortable with this too?’ I was in a group with about 8 to 10 people, and all of them nodded their head ‘Yes,’” Tagliarino said. “One of the girls in the group just sort of looked at us and was like, ‘I guess I’ll be the sacrif i-
NEWS
cial lamb and go up front,’” said Tagliarino. T he act iv it y wa s pa r t of a discussion of how race does not exist in a binary, according to one student who was made to stand in front of the class. The student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said they were upset that part of their identity was being put on display. Plotke apologized to the class after the incident in a message sent via Canvas. “I did not aim to provoke or offend anyone in the class, and apologize for doing so,” the message read. The letter also contained proposals to have a discussion of the incident in the following class. “I think it’s good to rely on exercises, exchanges, and illustrations. In this case, however, the exercise was weighed down by t he possible ways it might have seemed upsetting and offensive. Now I think that it was not a good exercise because it was trying to express too many complicated meanings that it did not really illuminate,” Plotke said in an email to the Free Press. “When [students] explained what t hey d id n’t l i ke – bot h about the process of doing the exercise and the substance of it – I thought they made good
points,” Plotke wrote, saying he regretted the exercise. Students gathered outside the lecture hall after class on April 18 , a week after the incident, discussing how to respond. Rosalind Aparicio-Ramirez, one of the students present during the i ncident , st a r ted d ra ft i ng a n open letter to the administration and the university with La Xente, a student organization she co-founded. “Personally, I wouldn’t accept an apology,” Aparicio-Ramirez sa id. L et t i ng t he i ncident go “would be a disservice to my fellow people of color who go here and who will be going here, who might have him as a professor,” Aparicio-Ramirez said. Christina Dawkins, Director of Civic Engagement and Social Justice at Lang, encouraged students to reach out to department chairs when students experience instances of microaggressions. “A lot of people don’t recognize that there is a problem. They don’t recognize that they’re part of the problem. But, we all are. A nd social justice is a practice. It’s not really a proficiency level that you arrive at and you don’t have to work on it anymore,” said Dawkins.
May 2018
Virtual Currency Mined on New School Test Server by ASHLYN O’HARA A New School test server was used to mine virtual cryptocurrency in December 2017, according to the university’s IT team. New School IT Services noticed “a n abnor ma l ly h igh level of resource activity” on one of the university’s IT test servers in late December 2017, caused by a malware application mining the virtual currency Monero (XMR). Monero, which was launched in April 2014, is a cryptocurrency known for being more secure than other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, for example, publishes users’ t ra nsact ion h istor y, wherea s Monero does not. This makes it the preferred currency of the dark web, where illicit activities, including drug and sex trafficking, are conducted freely. Last year, a new dark web marketplace, Libertas, made headlines for operating exclusively in Monero. The malware exploited a f law in another application running on the server to mine Monero,
according to Assistant Vice President for Enterprise Operations Chris Brezil. Because IT monitors servers’ system performance, they noticed the malware “almost immediately,” Brezil said. After noticing a problem on the server, IT relied on technical indicators to identify the cause of the problem as malware. Once the malware was identified, IT patched the server to prevent it from running. Fewer than two days elapsed from when IT first detected the malware until it was “entirely mitigated,” according to Brezil. Test servers, which IT uses for testing applications like MyNewSchool, are essentially just computers more powerful than regular desktop computers. Despite having occurred on a New School test server, IT is not sure whether the malware came from a member of The New School community. “The software was placed on the test server remotely,” Brezil said in an email to the Free Press, “It is unlikely that anyone from The
New School was involved in this incident.” IT first detected the malware when one of their test ser vers began operating at 100 percent capacity. The New School’s IT test servers do not have specialized hardware to accommodate cryptocurrency mining, but Monero is one of a few cryptocurrencies that can still be mined using just CPU, or computer processing power. Other currencies, like Bitcoin, require more sophisticated computing technology. Brezil is unsure of how much Monero was mined, or how much power was diverted to the mining operation. The incident brings to mind larger national conversations surrounding data vulnerability, but Brezil assured that “no data or any other information” was obtained by the application. “The virtual currency mining was the only activity the malware application performed,” Brezil said. Putting malware on a New School server is against the university’s Information Security policies.
Illustration by Ashlie Juarbe
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES FACES BUDGET CUTS
fee was paid by 8 ,917 students for the fall 2017 semester and 8,582 in the spring 2018 semester, according to Amy Malsin, a spokesperson for the university. That year, the budget for Student Hea lt h S er v ices, wh ich includes salaries and supplies, c a me to $3,612 ,49 8 , a ccord ing to Ma lsin. A n add it iona l ex pense of $303, 28 4 went toward rent and overhead in 2 016 - 2 017, a c c o r d i n g t o a report written by Student Health Services. In total, health services fees brought in $2,558,848 that was u n a c c ou nt e d for i n S t ud ent Health Services’ overall budget. A t a t ow n h a l l on u n i v e r sity f inances in October 2017, Tokumbo Shobowale, chief operating officer, told attendees that Student Health Services “is not fully self-sustaining.” “The total cost of the service and renting the space, all in, is
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mor e t h a n t he a mou nt t h at is cha rged” t hrough St udent Health Services fees, Shobowale said at the town hall. In a March 2018 inter v iew, Shobowale noted that there are indirect costs contributing to the cost of operating student health services. “We can calculate the direct cost of salaries, band-aids, whatever is directly in the center. What’s not included in there is the cost of renting the space of 80 5th Ave., for example, or the insurance to cover the activities there,” Shobowale said. Shobowale also said that the operating budget and student fees for student health services would remain the same “for the moment.” At press time, Shobowale had not responded to requests for comment about the discrepancies in the budget for student health services. The medical services office at the university is currently staffed by two part-time physicians, two full-time physician assistants, two part-time physician assis-
tants, a full-time midwife providing gynecological care, and one registered nurse. In July, one current part-time physician assistant w i l l leave their position and will not be replaced. At the same time, one of the part-time physicians will halve their hours. Medical services treats “any issue you wou ld see your pr imary care provider or GYN provider for,” Jordan said. Health ser v ices does not cha rge st udents for tests that can be done in-house, such as rapid strep and mono test and pregnancy tests. An outside group comes in twice a week to provide free HIV tests. Students who express financial need can receive some ant ibiot ics and ot her med ications from the department at no cost, though vaccines do require payment. The medical department is in the process of finding physician assistants in training at Long Island University to take supervised shifts in the department. Staff are also looking at expand-
NEWS
Scott Beisch, Parsons Shoe Designer, Dies at 56 by JOSEPH GOBRAN
Scott Beisch, who taught shoe desig n at Parsons since 20 02, died on April 3. He was 56. The New School did not say how he died. After joining Parsons, Beisch quickly established a reputation as a coveted teacher, according to the university email announcing his death. His passion combined with his experience in shoe design made him a well respected instructor, the email said. In addition to his time at Parsons, he worked for more than 30 years at various fashion and footwear companies, such as Ralph L auren, DK N Y and M ichael Kor s. Wit h t hese compa n ies, he was mainly a freelance shoe designer. Beisch was also an avid gardener and wine connoisseur, with ing wa l k-in hours, which are currently one hour each weekday. A n n i e Ho b e r g , a P a r s o n s fashion design sophomore, uses student health services for counseling and medical needs. The first time Hoberg sought medical services on campus, she visited a nearby clinic but spent hours in the waiting room. “So the next time I got sick, I used the walk-in hours at health services, and I was seen in f ifteen minutes,” Hoberg said. For st udent s seek i ng non-u r gent medical appointments outside of walk-in hours, the wait time is about a week, according to Jordan. B ec au s e t he he a lt h c ent er doesn’t bill insurance providers for appointments, they aren’t driven to see as many students as possible, as quickly as possible. “We’re not churning out the numbers,” Jordan said. “If we need to take our time, and take an hour with a student, we can do that.” Medical staff offer and facilitate referrals and, with patient consent, connect with counseling services, Student Support and Cr isis Management, adv isors, faculty or family. Students can pay for Aetna health insurance through The New School. For t he cur rent academic year, the Aetna plan costs $2,839. Students who have other health insurance can opt out of the Aetna plan. Close to 45 percent of students purchased the Aetna plan for the current
“We’re not churning out the numbers.”
academ ic yea r, accord i ng to Malsin, the university spokesperson. “You can have any insurance, no i n s u r a nc e ,” Jor d a n s a id . “The only requirement is that you paid the student health fee.” Lab tests or referrals to outside services require insurance.
Photo courtesy of The New School.
a love for food as well. He had also discovered entrepreneurship and was working with 3D printing for his own hand-woven shoe design. Beisch g raduated from t he Fashion Institute of Technology in 1984. “In respecting Scott’s wishes, in lieu of a memorial, you may select to make a donation in his name to the American Lung Association,” said program director of AAS Fashion Design, Francesca Sammaritano.
“If we need to take our time, and take an hour with a student, we can do that.” According to Jordan, the cost of the Aetna health insurance plan for students “is kept down, in part, because we function as a gatekeeper.” Professor Sherry G l i e d , d e a n o f N Y U Wa g ner and a former health policy advisor for presidents Bush and Clinton, said that Aetna health care premiums would increase i f u n iver s it y hea lt h ser v ices , including counseling, were substantially reduced. The primary care services offered at the student health center are “relatively inexpensive,” but counseling services could contribute a substantial cost, according to Glied. In a typical semester, roughly 25 percent of students use student health services, according to Michelle Relyea, senior vice president for student success. “I get, at the beginning of the year, probably a couple dozen st udents who say ‘I live down the street, my doctor is down the street, I’m never going to use health services, do I have to pay the fee?’” Relyea said. “There’s all kinds of different models out there,” Relyea said. “Would [students] rather pay one fee?” asked Relyea. “[Or] would they rather be in control of what t hey’re spending?” I n t he past decade, Jordan has seen student health services steadily expand. “ I ’ v e r e a l l y s e e n [s t u d e n t health services] grow, not suddenly, but little by little, over t i m e , ” J o r d a n s a i d . “A n d now seems to be a period [of ] rethinking, and some contraction.”
May 2018
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 FIRE AND CONTAMINATION LEAVE STUDENTS SCRAMBLING
“I was told to my face by printmaking shop techs that the artwork wasn’t damaged, and was packaged up and ready to go as soon as they got access to the basement,” said Juliana Gagne, a senior printmaking major. “ I f t he y d id n’t k now i f we would be able to get the artwork back they should not have said anything to us until they knew for sure,” she added. M a ny fea r equ ipment l i ke pr inters and pr inting screens, which were moved from the Parsons basement to NYU and used for more than two weeks, could h av e a l r e a d y c ont a m i n a t e d staff and students. One student repor ted t hat soot had to be washed from these screens before they were used. A mbient Group sa id t hose t her e du r i n g t he f i r e pr oba bly weren’t contaminated, but recommended that if students a re goi ng to keep ex pen s ive recla i med items l i ke laptops, they should at least be cleaned thoroughly. Joel Towers, dean of Parsons, has stated that any additional non-porous equipment will be cleaned by the university and returned. “Nothing has been thrown out yet,” Towers said. “If we can find a way to determine if it’s clean, maybe we can return the work.” Administrators plan to pay students for any financial losses from the fire. Nadine Bourgeois, the Parsons academic planning administrator, will spearhead that ef fort. Towers didn’t say how much had a l ready been paid out. All of this comes amid a general aggravation among Parsons students over lack of organizat ion and dead l ine extensions from the school. “It’s just super unfortunate. A lot of teachers don’t even know. Like three of my professors were not even aware of the f ire. And none of our deadlines have been extended,” said Sanika Phawde, an illustration major. Confusion reigned. “Ever y tech I spoke to had heard different things from the
The University Center’s Event Cafe has been converted to a work study due to the fire at 2 W. 13th St. Photo by Orlando Mendiola
school. I tried to figure out when my classes had been moved, but they would respond like 24 hours a f ter my c l a s s ,” sa id H a n n a Margetson-Rushmore, a senior study ing pr int ma k ing. “[ Pro fessors] would have no idea and wou ld n’t t u r n up t o c er t a i n classes, or they wouldn’t know where to go.” Students are a lso upset that the school hasn’t found a replacement ga l ler y space to host their end-of-term show, and have instead moved it to the University Center cafeteria, where it w i l l t a ke place for a week , instead of the original plans for about a month. “I am a thesis student, the best thing I can do for my career is have a great show. We have some big names come to our shows and the school is directly harming my professional career after
graduation,” Gagne said. “The public coming to the show isn’t going to know or care that I have a good excuse for not having the work be what it should.” Students have however appreciated all that administrators have done to make the best of a difficult situation. “I think they handled it well in terms of like, it’s an entire building that’s shut down, hundreds of classes, hundreds of students and they’ve re-placed everyone that used the building,” said Bianca Linz, a third year studying integrated design. Administrators had to react quick ly to prov ide spaces for t he s e s t ud ent s t o f i n i s h t he semester following the fire. The f ire impacted 4,171 students directly through classroom changes, and more still due to the common workspaces that were located in the 13th Street building.
Students work on the 11th floor of 113 University Place. The New School rented the space after the fire at 2 W. 13th St. Though the space was used for classes, students have been able to access the building to work outside of class.
In the immediate aftermath, 134 individual course meetings were cancelled while administrators looked for space. No make up classes had been scheduled at the time of this article. Of the affected courses, more than 466 workspaces had to be relocated to other parts of cam-
“The public coming to [my thesis show] isn’t going to know or care that I have a good excuse for not having the work be what it should.”
pus. Nine spaces were repurposed as instr uct iona l spaces and classrooms, while six new on-campus workspaces were created. A not her 32 c l a s s es h a d to move entirely of f-site to Pratt, N Y U a nd I ndust r y Cit y i n Brooklyn. “ I don’t t h i n k we s le pt for about two weeks,” Towers said. Administrators intend to learn from their successes and failures throughout this experience, and adjust future disaster responses accordingly. “I don’t wanna let this pass simply because it was so wel l managed, because everyone got out safely just to say, ‘Well, it’s a l l good,’” Towers sa id. “ We need to go in and evaluate what to do differently.”
Professor Paul Marcus’s Advanced Etching class was relocated to Richard Blackburn Printmaking studio on W. 39th. The studio opened an hour early to accomadate th 9 a.m. class. Photo by Orlando Mendiola
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NEWS
May 2018
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“And so, I scrapped my entire Common Application essay, I rewrote the whole thing. I sent it in, and I was like ‘Damn, they accepted me,’” Wu said. “My mom was like, ‘You’re not going to New York,’ and I was l i ke ‘Too late, I already said yes.’ And she was mad.” While at The New School, Wu found a passion for solo theater performance. “I think it took four years for me to f ind my voice and what I wanted to do with theater,” Wu said. “[Solo performance] is so intimate, and it’s also like you a re t he on ly one on t he l i ne there. You have so much more at stake when you are the only person on stage.” Wu’s solo work, titled, “Dream American,” is the f inal piece in “T he Mom, t he Dad, and t he Holy Spirit.” Wu’s piece, which doubles as her senior thesis project, opens comically. “When I was your age I was 100 pounds and had hair down to my asshole!” Wu said, imitating her mother. However, t he per for ma nce qu ic k ly to ok a mor e ser iou s tone, as she discussed her family’s experience emigrating from Guang zhou, Ch ina when she was four, and her relationship with her mother. Wu’s mother grew up in a provincial Chinese village, eventually becoming a doctor focusing on women’s hea lt h. However, upon arriving in San Francisco, she was relegated to janitorial work at her daughter’s school. Wu’s performance cuts deep into the intricacies of her relationship with her mother, unf linchingly examining her insecurities concerning her mother’s job and language skills. “I was so ashamed of it that I didn’t want to be seen next to her,” Wu said, ref lecting on her childhood embarrassment over her mother’s occupation. Wu concluded the piece, praisi n g her mot her ’s ded ic at ion to her and her sister’s futures, “She’s the Batman of SF,” Wu said. Wu will be performing a more in-depth version of her performance, at the United Solo Festival, the largest solo performance festival in the world, in October 2018, on theater row in Midtown. “She has an extraordinary gift for acting,” said Zishan Ugurlu, an actress and associate professor of theater at The New School, who also directed, “The Mom, the Dad, and the Holy Spirit.” “Her work is surprising, innovative, thought provoking, and she always pushes the boundaries.” “Her creativity and intellect intersect in a way that makes her voice and work so critical to our moment,” said Joshua Laclé, 21, her castmate. “[She’s] able to make you laugh but also think about why you’re laughing and then make you think about why you’re thinking about why you’re laughing and so on.” “We’re friends. I can say she’s very energetic, very intelligent and extremely funny. She’s very funny,” said George McLane, a secur it y of f icer at t he 13t h Street Dorm. “That’s the sum of it, great personality. I think she
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“Her creativity and intellect intersect in a way that makes her voice and work so critical to our moment.” has things waiting for her in the future, good things.” Wu s a id her move to New Yo r k w a s a n e x p e r i e n c e i n growth. “My freshman year was like t he hardest year for me, just because I was getting adjusted to New York City culturally. Being from SF, yeah it’s a city, but it’s a small city and it’s also California. Then I realized, New Yorkers are just direct,” Wu said. “And it’s just like, yeah I don’t have to be extra nice to you because I just don’t have time. Let’s cut the bullshit, let’s get shit done.” “I also think that you k now, coming to terms with my own ident it y sor t of wou ld be t he biggest thing that I’ve learned at The New School,” Wu said. “Because the first year, approaching this idea of social justice, or identity politics, or just in general, l like having a grounded u nder st a nd i ng of s y stem s of oppression and like structural, you know things in place, those are really hard for me. Because, I just couldn’t understand it.” Wu reca l ls that her fr iends and classmates, however, helped her adjust to her new surroundings, and grow as an artist and a person. “A big t h i ng i s t h i s idea of unlearning or think ing that I knew everything coming in or that I knew who I was,” Wu said. “And I think it was through discussions and through literally people who just have so much care, love, patience and, I think, a desire to make space for my messiness, t hat I was able to actually think about my identity
in a different way.” Wu has been a resident advisor at The New School’s 13th Street dorm for three and a half years, and current ly works at Boba Guys, on Waverly Place and Mercer Street by Washington Square Park. She has worked internships at the New Museum of A r t a nd Budd h a C omed y Group in New York, and at Zoetic Data, Patchwork Films, and Sunset Media Wave in the Bay Area. “Yu Ling is just so important to my life, to me personally, and to my well-being,” said M ina Mattes, a fellow RA and friend of Wu’s at the 13th street dorm who is studying religion at Lang. “She’s a coffee bean.” “She’s a good RA. Very good with with the kids, understandi n g , p a t ie nt a n d v e r y e f fe c tive. She’s a very hard worker,” Mclane added.
“A big thing is this idea of unlearning or thinking that I knew everything coming in or that I knew who I was.” Wu was awa rded t he L a ng G loba l A mba s s a dor s Aw a r d and the Gilman scholarship to study abroad. She traveled to E d i nburgh i n t he sum mer of 2016 and in Berlin in the summer of 2017 to study and perform solo theater. She traveled to Colombia with her cohort during spring break in 2017. Twice, she received a diversity scholarship to attend the Upright Cit izen Br igade improv academy, which was founded by Amy Poehler. “I was able to complete their improvisation program and meet a lot of cool improvers, and sketch comedy artists and other comedians and actors,” Wu said. Wu h a s a l s o w o r k e d a s a
research assistant for The New School’s Designed Realities Lab, which works across university combining design, liberal arts and social thought to achieve innovative solutions. Wu works as a freelance makeup artist. Under the Gural Scholars Program, a competitive Lang scholarship program, which exposes students to work in social justice and activism, Wu worked on several community projects. She has created several independent publ icat ions, including “How the Fuck to Vote,” a streamlined explanation of the intricacies of the electoral process, and “ Un lear n, Relear n, Reteach,” a zine focusing on the educational experiences of New York City students as they relate to specific demographics. “L i ke I sa id before, a lot of these ideas were so big and so intimidating to me when I f irst got to The New School. I craved for a way to make this language less scar y in a way, less elitist, and less inaccessible,” she said about t he for ms her project s have taken. Wu a l s o c r e at e d a n i m m i grant information book, “Know Your R ights,” follow ing president Trump’s election and the increased ICE raids that came with it. The accordion-folding book is also wearable as a pin, to show solidarity. “I am an immigrant myself so it was just hard for me to see that happen,” Wu said. “I woke up to news of people being deported in the Mission District of San Francisco.” T he book let won t he 2018 Sekou Sund iata Outstand ing Creat ive P roject i n t he A r t s Award. T he book let i n for ms t he reader of what they can do in the case of an ICE raid. “These are very emotionally charged situations we are dealing with, so why are we putting them into posters that look clinical and sterile?” Wu said. “Also it’s like, there’s a community that’s backing you. You are not alone in this. I also did por-
traits of immigrants in my own community which is like family, friends, here and in SF, and professors,” Wu said. “My art falls secondary to people. It’s never privileged above other people. That’s just k ind of ridiculous to me. The thing shouldn’t be what we celebrate, it should be what it does,” Wu said. “For me, my design work, it’s really about creating dialogue and being in dialogue. I think that it’s more successful and it makes more of an impact when we’re a lways in conversat ion w it h com mu n it ies or people, because if you’re not, then what are you mak ing your art for?” Wu added. “Yu Ling presents the exploration of ideas in a way that is enter taining, intel ligent, and accessible,” Ugurlu said. “With her discipline, maturity, sense of humor, energy, creativity and positive attitude, Yu Ling has been a constant source of inspiration to her peers as well as to me.” Wu also has a signif icant follow ing on her YouTube page, where she rev iews ma keup products and creates tutorials. In addition, her review of Lady Gaga’s album Artpop went viral and acquired more than 75,000 views. “That video was so problematic,” Wu said. “It just shows that I have a past, that I’ve grown. So, if people wanna like drag me for it, like totally do.” “Yu Ling, for me, is just the ultimate renaissance person. In terms of the insane amount of things she manages to do with so much care, precision and love for the different crafts and arts she has mastered.” Laclé said. “ I t ’s l i k e w he n Vo l d e mor t and Harr y Potter f ight wands together,” Wu said, yielding an imag inar y wand, and add ing explosive sound ef fects. “A nd t he d irect ion has to go somewhere, it’s not like one person can overpower the other, but it goes somewhere, and that’s what I think happened to my brain at The New School.”
Wu impersonates her mother as part of her performance “American Dream.” Photo by Orlando Mendiola
ARTS & CULTURE
May 2018
Summer Events by LOGAN MAHAN May 1 Governors Island Opening After a long winter, Governors Island is now open. You can take the ferry to the island— just a short distance from Lower Manhattan. Explore everything from historical military buildings to bike paths, or chill on the public hammocks.
MeltKraft grilled cheese sandwiches and cheesesteaks by the Truffleist. Location: 23rd to 26th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue Price: Free
Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs Stanley Kubrick was 17 when he was hired by Look in 1945 to photograph the city's nightclubs, street scenes and sporting events. This exhibit includes more than 120 photographs from his five years as a staff photographer and features more than 100 photography assignments and 12,000 negatives. Time: Open Daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Location: Museum of New York City, 1220 Fifth Ave. Price: $12 student tickets, free for people younger than 20
May 13 Japan Day This all day event takes place on the Rumsey Playfield in Central Park and has everything from Hello Kitty mascots to origami folding workshops, as well as performances by Japanese musicians and dancers. Location: Bandshell Area, Central Park (Main Entrance on 69th Street and Fifth Avenue) Price: Free
SummerStage
The Chelsea Girls Exploded The Andy Warhol Museum and The Museum of Modern Art is presenting an exhibition of film that explored the New York underground scene. The exhibition will show never before seen footage and materials from the film. Time: 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Location: Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53 St. Price: Free with student ID May 5 to June 1 Madison Square Eats Twice a year, this outdoor food fest brings bites from the city’s best restaurants to Worth Square in the Flatiron District. Highlights include Roberta’s sensational pizza,
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June 16
Essex Street Market Block Party
The Egg House
Mermaid Parade
NYC’s first egg-themed installation features six immersive rooms and a fully interactive experience.
The annual Mermaid Parade struts along Surf Avenue and the Coney Island boardwalk. Enjoy sequined costumes, sparkling floats and quirky performances by the sea, for free.
Celebrate Essex Street Market's 78th birthday its final year before moving to Essex Crossing with a good ol' fashioned block party. Enjoy live music and a variety of vendors. Most food items will be $5 or less.
May 19 - 20 Ninth Avenue International Food Festival The city’s oldest and largest food fair launches its 45th weekend with 15 blocks of street eats and a food-truck park.
Time: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Location: Ninth Avenue from 42nd Street to 57th Street Price: Free
Enjoy free music, comedy, theater, dance, lectures, and films during SummerStage in city parks. Some of this season's performers include Liam Gallagher, Trombone Shorty, Jason Mraz and O.A.R. Check cityparksfoundation.org for the full line up. Time: Varies Location: Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield (Fifth Avenue & 69th Street), and locations across all five boroughs. Price: Varies May 17 Independent Women: “White Material” “White Material” is a french film that follows a coffee producer who remains at her coffee plantantion in a country where a civil war erupts. Independent Woman is a monthly screening of films by female directors. Time: 9 p.m - 10:45 p.m. Location: Videology Bar & Cinema, 308 Bedford Ave. Price: $12
Time: Weekdays 10:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Weekends 10:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Location: 195 Chrystie St. Price: $18 admission
Time: 1 p.m. Location: Coney Island Price: Free
Through May 31st Dream Machine Cotton candy laundromats, indoor galaxies, ball pit swimming pools — Dream Machine is “an interactive experience inspired by your dreams.” Location: 93 N. 9 St., Brooklyn Price: $38 admission June 7–August 12 Celebrate Brooklyn
June 24 Pride Fest
Free Summer Movies
Evening outdoor concerts from world music groups, dance troupes, and indie acts, held in Prospect Park.
Free screenings are being shown in parks in across all five boroughs. Check nycgovparks.org for a complete list.
Time: Varies Location: Prospect Park Bandshell Price: Recomended $5 donation .
May 25 to Sept. 9, 2018
May 16 - September 8
May 4 - 13
Through May 28
Time: 12 – 5 p.m. Location: Essex Street (from Delancey to Rivington) Price: Free
Location: Governors Island Price: $2 for ferry ride
May 3 - Oct 7
May 19
Time: Varies Location: Various NYC Parks Price: Free
The streets of the West Village will fill with people celebrating themselves and their identities. New York’s annual Pride Week, attended by people in the LGBTQIAGNC+ community and allies alike, is in its 25th year. Stop by Stonewall, where Pride began. Time: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Location: Hudson Street from Abingdon Square to 14th Street Price: Free
May 26 to September 9 Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit Hundreds of exhibitors will display their paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry and woodcraft in Washington Square Park. The exhibition will take place on University, starting at 13th Street. Location: Washington Square Park Price: Free
June 14
May 27, 2018
"Velvet Goldmine" follows Brian Glade, a fictional pop star inspired by David Bowie, who fakes his own death and is later found as a fraud. The film directed by Todd Hayes, is set in ‘70s Britain. The film screening is a continuation of Brooklyn Museums "David Bowie Is..." film series.
Passport to Taiwan Festival Passport to Taiwan Festival features night-market foods, teas, Taiwanese crafts, and aboriginal music and dance. Time: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. Location: Union Square North Price: Free
ARTS & CULTURE
Film screening: “Velvet Goldmine”
Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Location: Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway Price: $16
May 2018
Smoking on Fifth by SAMMI FISHER and JARED GIBBONS photos by ORLANDO MENDIOLA and JARED GIBBONS In 2012, a cigarette butt was voted The New School’s mascot, beating the narwhal. Talk about a r igged elect ion. T he New School student body smokes more t han t he nat iona l average. According to a survey sent out by Student Health Services, 25 percent of New School students smoke— compared to the national average of 13.1 percent for col lege-aged i nd iv idua l s. Here’s a closer look at smoking culture at The New School.
“My go-to JUUL pod flavor is always mango.” - Juliette Geilfuss, a senior at Lang
“I recently ordered a JUUL online. I bought it just because I wanted to smoke inside.” - Tinvey Wang, a Parsons fashion student
“The New School is definitely a smoking school.” -Jack Newton, a Parsons strategic design and management student
“The reason I get this brand is because it’s longer and slimmer. The cigarettes have a flavor capsule in the filter that you bite and gives a flavor.” - Melissa, a Parsons strategic design and management student
“It’s just mad cheaper than regular cigarettes. I picked up the habit in Europe.” - Charlotte Watel, a Parsons fashion student