IN HIS ELEMENT
STAFF PHOTO BY EUAN PRENTIS
2
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
Thanksgiving News Update
By LEXI FAUNCE and DIAMOND NAGA SIU
cans throughout the United States have broken out in celebration.
While NYU students decompressed after midterms and stuffed their faces with turkey over Thanksgiving break, the news cycle had a number of breaking stories develop during the start of the holiday season. WSN broke down the top five news stories you may have missed over break.
National: DAPL Deadline to Move Out
International: Former Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Dies at 90 Cuba’s former president Fidel Castro passed away on Friday at the age of 90 after a long battle with an intestinal ailment. Castro’s younger brother and successor, Raul, made the announcement on state TV. Castro toppled the island’s government in 1959 through a Communist revolution that has survived for more than half a century. While the Cuban government issued nine days of mourning across the nation to honor his death, Cuban-Ameri-
The Army Corps of Engineers issued an ultimatum to Dakota Access Pipeline protesters on Friday urging them to vacate the property by Dec. 5 or face arrest. The order follows five days of violent protests between the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its allies and the Morton County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said the officers had tried to disperse crowds of protesters by using tear gas, rubber bullets and water sprayed from fire hoses.
National: Jill Stein Calls for a Ballot Recount in Wisconsin Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein called for a ballot recount in Wisconsin on Friday as a last-ditch effort to prevent a Donald Trump presidency. Stein has raised more than $6 million dollars through crowdfunding to help the recount effort. This is a
result of election lawyers advising members of the Hillary Clinton campaign to request recounts in crucial swing states since they suspected that the electronically-cast votes may have been manipulated. Stein is also considering calling for recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein filed paperwork for a state ballot recount in Wisconsin on Friday. Politically involved NYU students anticipate the results, as it may unravel another layer of this election cycle. Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Hass agreed to hand-count the votes after leading computer scientists and election lawyers advised members of the Hillary Clinton campaign to request recounts in crucial swing states as they suspected the electronically-cast votes may have been manipulated. Along with Wisconsin, Stein is also considering calling for ballot recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania. While Wisconsin holds 10 electoral votes, Michigan and Pennsylvania have 16 and 20, respectively. Should Clinton actually win these states, she would have enough votes to be the president-elect, beating Donald Trump 278 to 260. Stein is one of four people eligible to request a state ballot recount — only presidential nominees may do so — and although it would not benefit her campaign, Stein thinks this could be the last chance to prevent a Trump presidency. But politically-active students have mixed opinions on the value and predicted success of the recount. CAS sophomore and treasurer of College Democrats Ryan Trumbauer said that while the recount is justified, it may not change the fact that Trump is the president-elect. “Stein has furthered an ongoing conversation this election cycle about the legitimacy of our electoral systems,” Trumbauer said in an email. “Therefore, I do not see any-
thing inherently wrong in what she is doing. If she believes that there is serious proof of tampering of any kind within any of the states’ electoral systems, then I do not argue against wanting serious questions. However, as it stands, Donald Trump is the president-elect.” CAS senior and President of College Democrats Michael Deluca said the recount would highlight evident issues in this year’s election, such as fake news, hacking and cybercrimes. However, he also said that questioning the election’s results could be problematic for the Democratic Party. “I’m very hesitant to subscribe to this idea that the election was rigged, since Democrats were so critical of Trump for suggesting he wouldn’t accept the results weeks before the vote,” Deluca said in an email. “It’s unlikely to uncover any massive hacking or miscount. In Wisconsin, Clinton would need to close a gap of something like 25,000 votes, a difference greater than that which any miscount has ever corrected for. And even if it did, Clinton would need Michigan and Pennsylvania too. That’s no small task.” Trumbauer believes that Stein’s financial support for the recount of $6 million — more money than she received throughout her entire campaign — is fully justified and is a democratic part of the political process. “If you truly believe something is true and that there is substantial evidence supporting it, then I see nothing wrong in supporting the action financially,” Trumbauer said. “It represents people acting on their beliefs. The minute we stop letting people engage politically, I do not want to be around.” LS sophomore and College Liber-
nications and Tech at NYU host events that double as networking opportunities.
Email Lexi and Diamond Naga at news@nyunews.com.
City: NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Makes Waves in City by Rejecting Donald Trump Although Trump decided to work and live in his Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, de Blasio made multiple public statements to the 78.59 percent blue city that it would not accept or comply with the president-elect’s values that contradicted the city’s beliefs. He declared that the city would not oust its undocumented citizens and would protect all its marginalized citizens, such as Muslims, if a registry was created.
University: NYU Ranked First For Alumni Employability Times Higher Education ranked
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
Mayor de Blasio continued to show his support for the Democratic Party by declaring New York as a sanctuary city.
CRIME LOG Nov. 19 to Nov. 23
Students Torn on Election Recount
By NATASHA ROY Deputy News Editor
NYU as the university with the most employable alumni, citing the university’s Wasserman Center and strong alumni network. And within student life, many clubs such as Women in Commu-
By JEMIMA MCEVOY Deputy News Editor VIA WIKIPEDIA.COM
Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, has called for a recount of the votes in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. tarians treasurer Logan Botello said that he hopes the recount forces some Americans to see the government system more clearly. “The recount could be a good idea since many people were shocked and skeptical of the results,” Botello said in an email. “It is important to not have any issues in the election process, and this recount cannot have any negative outcomes.” He thinks the main way this could benefit the country is that it can take away people's faith in America and its systems. However, Trumbauer said that with such a tumultuous election cycle already this year, whoever emerges as the true president-elect after the recount might not be a surprise either way. “Of course there is a chance that Hillary could win the recount in Wisconsin and, if filed, in other states as well,” Trumbauer said. “There was also a chance that Donald Trump could become president and that the Chicago Cubs could win the World Series this year. Both of those things happened. If 2016 has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected and still be shocked by the results.”
Email Natasha Roy at nroy@nyunews.com.
The NYU Department of Public Safety received one report of simple assault/dating violence, one report of trespass, five reports of larceny and one report of criminal mischief between Nov. 19 and Nov. 23.
Simple Assault/ Dating Violence
On Nov. 19 at 3:10 p.m. a student reported that she had been assaulted in the lounge of Rubin Residence Hall by a non-NYU male. A police report was filed.
Trespass
On Nov. 19 at 8:58 p.m. a doorman at 37 Washington Square West reported that a non-NYU male had been found trespassing on a residential floor of the building. A police report was filed.
Larceny
On Nov. 20 at 9:44 a.m. an employee reported that his phone was missing from the desktop in his office in Lipton Residence Hall. A police report was filed. On Nov. 20 at 4:28 p.m. a student reported that her handbag,
along with the laptop and sweater that were inside of the bag, were missing from a tabletop in Bobst Library. A police report was filed. On Nov. 20 at 7:32 p.m. a student reported that her camera, which had been on a table in Bobst Library’s lower level snack lounge, was missing. A police report was filed. On Nov. 22 at 5:00 p.m. a student reported that he was the victim of a fraudulent transaction while trying to sell his tablet and computer outside of 7 Washington Place, NYU’s Public Safety Command Center. A police report was filed. On Nov. 23 at 12:00 p.m. it was reported by an administrator that fraudulent deposits were being made into a campus cash account that was then used to make purchases on and off campus.
Criminal Mischief
On Nov. 20 at 4:15 p.m. a student reported that a flyer attached to a bulletin board in University Residence Hall had been burned at the edges.
Email Jemima McEvoy at jmcevoy@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
3
NYU Senior Is a Rhodes Scholar for Human Rights
By JEMIMA MCEVOY Deputy News Editor
Not every senior at NYU can say that they’ve interned at the Canadian Embassy, conducted research in Cambodia or served as the head editor for a report on sex trafficking that was then used by the United Nations — but GLS senior Melissa Godin has done all three. She has conducted notable work regarding human trafficking and volunteer tourism, culminating in her receiving a Rhodes Scholarship this year, one of three NYU students to get the honor. Only 32 students nationwide are chosen to receive the Rhodes Scholarship through an intensive and highly competitive process of applications, interviews and recommendations. Students granted the scholarship receive full financing to attend the University of Oxford for two or three years to continue research without the economic burden. WSN talked with Godin about the process of applying to become a Rhodes Scholar, the work she has done up until this point and what she hopes to accomplish during her time next year at the University of Oxford. WSN: Why did you choose NYU? Melissa Godin: I was kind of debating whether or not I wanted to leave Canada. Canada has some of the best schools in the world and is obviously a lot cheaper than the U.S., but it was actually when I found the
program that I’m in now — Global Liberal Studies — that I decided that I wanted to go to NYU because it perfectly combined my academic interests with experiential learning, which was really important for me because I think that interning, studying abroad and doing research is the best way to learn. WSN: What was the process of getting the Rhodes Scholarship? MG: It’s a pretty rigorous process, which is why I think that a lot of people, including myself, really debate whether or not they want to apply because it’s just so time consuming. I must’ve spent hours working on my application, six letters of recommendation, an endorsement from the university, a personal statement and then if you do get it you have to fly back to be interviewed. So it’s a pretty big process to put yourself through, but I also think that it was a really valuable one because it forced me to sit down and think about what I wanted, who I was, where I was coming from and where I wanted to go. WSN: What do you think was the hardest part in applying for the scholarship? MG: I think it was really easy to prepare academically — to make sure that I read all the news and I was up to date on what was going on in the world — but I think that it was trying to sit down and really think about who I was and what I wanted because those aren’t the kinds of questions that are easy to answer, nor are they the kinds things that
we ask ourselves on a regular basis. WSN: What was the most interesting thing that you learned during this process? MG: I think that I learned that it’s ok not to have an answer. I think so often with these interviews you feel like you need to provide one answer and one solution and you’re supposed to in there with answers that nobody has ever heard before. I think that I’ve realized that it’s OK to say that you don’t know and that you recognize things are complex and difficult. WSN: What do you hope to do during your time at Oxford? MG: I’m going to study the MPhil development studies. Part of that includes field work for your master’s thesis, so I’m thinking about going to Senegal to look at how unconditional cash transfers affect women’s agency. So I’m hoping to have access to these communities through Oxford. I’m also really looking forward to studying in a different country again and studying among some of the best scholars and students in the world. WSN: What are you plans after Oxford? MG: The career I hope to pursue is one where I’m part of the research teams that are trying to understand the underlying root causes of poverty because I think that one of the biggest problems in the way the development sector works now is that the underlying root causes are fundamentally misunderstood which in turn leads to representation is-
sues, which consequently leads to solutions being formed that don’t actually address the root problem. What I’m interested in is diagnosing the underlying cause of poverty and finding a way to represent those to audiences in a nuanced way. I’m trying to be a storyteller for development issues. WSN: Do you have any advice for prospective Rhodes Scholarship applicants? MG: My best advice is really to go in there and be yourself, and while that it is a simplistic answer that’s ultimately the reason I got the scholarship. I walked into this room and the first person I met had broken through the censorship system set up in North Korea to provide an educational program for youth to teach them about their government, and I’d met other people who were so intelligent in their field and who had medical reports published already.
But I think that if I hadn’t anything working to my advantage it was that I was completely myself; I acknowledge my flaws and my weaknesses and I think that ultimately that human quality is something that panelists want to see in learners. WSN: What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten? MG: I think that it’s OK to make mistakes would be the best advice I’ve ever gotten. I used to be a figure skater and I can’t tell you the amount of times I messed up my performances or fell on my jumps, but those mistakes really shaped me and formed me as an individual. I think that accepting that you learn the most when you make mistakes would be my best advice for people and would probably be the best advice I’ve gotten.
Email Jemima McEvoy at jmcevoy@nyunews.com.
COURTESY OF MELISSA GODIN
GLS senior Melissa Godin is one of three Rhodes Scholars at NYU and has done extensive work in the international community.
Affirmative Consent Causes Confusion
By SIERRA JACKSON Contributing Writer
The affirmative consent standard in NYU’s Sexual Misconduct Policy continues to cause confusion several years after the university adopted the new standard in 2012. NYU, as well as many other New York State college campuses, has seen a rise in the number of reported sexual assault cases since affirmative consent was implemented. According to the 2016 NYU Annual Campus Security Report for the New York campus, the number of reported forcible sex offenses — those that occurred both on and off campus — rose from nine in 2013 to 22 in 2015. The Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards Craig Jolley said this increase may reflect the effectiveness of NYU’s policy and preventive programs, rather than an increase in sexual offenses. “We feel this is the result of more attention being rightfully given to the issue nationally, as well as the university’s increased efforts to raise awareness within our own community about our policies, procedures and resources,” Jolley said. Jolley said NYU first adopted the affirmative consent standard in 2012, and the university later expanded its policy in 2014 after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo passed legislation making it mandatory for all State University of New York campuses to clearly define affirma-
tive consent. The amended policy created the Center for Sexual Misconduct Support Service, expanded confidential support services and preventative training and clarified the definition of consent. NYU defines affirmative consent as “a knowing, voluntary and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity.” Therefore, clear verbal or physical consent must be given prior to engaging in sexual activity — the university’s policy says that “silence or lack of resistance, in and of itself, does not demonstrate consent.” However, the affirmative consent policy stands ambiguous, which sparked nationwide discussions about their effectiveness. Last year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education questioned NYU students in a video about the affirmative consent policy, and those interviewed found that the policy failed to define keys terms, such as sexual activity and non-verbal consent. This created gray areas within the definition. FIRE’s Director of Policy Research Samantha Harris said the ambiguity of this definition can be more harmful than causing mild confusion amongst college students, since this confusion can create problems in the courtroom when trying to investigate sexual misconduct accusations. “I like to say that affirmative consent is ‘good in the bedroom, but
bad in the courtroom,’” Harris said. “Meaning, it certainly describes an optimal way for partners to communicate, but it is a poor standard for adjudicating guilt or innocence, because it essentially shifts the burden of proof onto a student accused of assault to prove him or herself innocent.” Harris said that affirmative consent policies assume that sexual intercourse is nonconsensual unless there is clear evidence of consent — creating a situation where one person’s word is put against another’s. “It was just two people in that room, and one person says there was not consent,” Harris said. “So where does this leave the other person? If he or she can’t come up with that clear evidence — that is, cannot prove him or herself innocent — that person is guilty of sexual misconduct, and their life is changed forever.” The university tried remedying some confusion. In 2015, it became mandatory for all newly enrolled students, including graduate and transfer students, to take Think About It, an interactive module focused on educating students about all sexual assault related topics. Director of Counseling and Wellness Services Zoe Ragouzeos said that Think About It is another preventive measure against sexual misconduct put in place by the university. “This module seeks to prevent
sexual misconduct by educating students on related topics such as consent, boundaries, personal safety, decision making and alcohol and other drugs, while also educating students on reporting, NYU's processes for resolving a report and on-campus resources to assist students in every aspect of these matters,” Ragouzeos said. However, the policies are not static. Jolley said that every year, it undergoes amendments to make it more understandable for students and those in charge of enforcing them. “The policy undergoes minor revisions each year and we continue to evaluate it as time goes on to make sure it is clear and efficient,” Jolley said. “Revisions are reviewed by the university Senate Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee on Sexual Misconduct. This committee includes faculty, students and administrators appointed by each of the respective senate councils.” Ragouzeos said that despite the faults some may find with NYU’s Sexual Misconduct Policy, it is in place to protect all NYU students, no matter where they are studying. “NYU has a single policy and consistent procedures to apply across all three degree-granting campuses, as well as the 11 global academic centers,” Ragouzeos said. “This assures that, irrespective of location, the university is providing a con-
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
NYU’s sexual assault policy is full of ambiguity surrounding the idea of affirmative consent. sistent response to all reports of sexual misconduct.” Faculty and staff members at these locations also receive the same training that those based in New York receive: the proper way to report sexual misconduct, how to provide support to students and other related standards. Students participating in study away programs must also attend orientations that focus on sexual misconduct education and discuss scenarios that might differ at the sites, such as how to travel at night if the subway stops running — something students never have to worry about in NYC. “People need to be able to know exactly what is prohibited,” Harris said. “Under an affirmative consent policy, however, the sex is presumptively non consensual unless there is some ‘clear’ evidence of consent.”
Email Sierra Jackson at news@nyunews.com.
4
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
ARTS
EDITED BY HAILEY NUTHALS ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM
From a Hunger Strike to a Revolution By DANIELLA NICHINSON Staff Writer
The people who are able to change the world and are etched into history as leaders are those who stay undyingly true to what they believe in. “Bobby Sands: 66 Days” tells the story of a young man whose decision to go on hunger strike changed the course of a conflict and shaped a generation. His story took place during the tail end of the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland during the 20th century, now referred to as the Troubles. The fight was between the unionists and the nationalists, who were led by the Irish Republican Army. The former wished to remain under British rule, while the latter hoped to gain independence and unify Ireland. On March 1, 1981, Bobby Sands began a hunger strike with the goal of being recognized as a political prisoner. The strike was planned to last for 66 days. After a short while, this gesture sparked an alarming amount of support from the Irish people. They began protesting on the streets, standing in solidarity with Sands’ motive. Sands’ refusal of food is in direct contrast to his participation in the Irish Republican Army’s usual violent tactics: it is peaceful, only a sacrifice of his own life. As the film quotes, “it is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most who will win.” “Bobby Sands: 66 Days” is told through archive footage, interviews and, most prominently, the writings from Sands’ own prison
journal. His words are beautiful and poetic, showing us the extent of his devotion to his cause. It was obvious from the beginning that this young man was not willing to waver in his convictions; from day one, he understood that he would die and that he would need to in order to generate a change. The film raises concerns over the killings committed by the IRA and presents the conflict to viewers from both sides. Though many were in support of Irish independence, there were also those who were opposed to the violent actions of the IRA. The thousands of people killed by the IRA were largely overlooked in the rise of Sands, and the critics of the IRA felt that those deaths should be properly acknowledged. “66 Days” shows a peaceful protest in a country terrorized by brutality. What is most surprising about Sands’ journey, and perhaps even more shocking to all of Ireland in 1981, was the impact it
had on improving the battered state of the nation. Sands’ death motivated the end to violence in the Troubles and began to ameliorate relations between England and Ireland. Moreover, the film displays the potency of nonviolent protests; Sands’ hunger strike proved to be more successful than his years of work with the IRA. The most admirable aspect of Sands’ story is his selflessness. Many people talk about and theorize about what they want to do, but very few actually put their thoughts into action. Though Bobby Sands participated in acts of violence, his final moments were marked by peace and accomplished a remarkable feat for Ireland. In the end, however, we are left with one question: how many people must die before a higher power arrives to the realization that a change needs to occur?
Email Daniella Nichinson at film@nyunews.com.
“I hate happiness,” She says, about halfway through the play. “Happy people … they’re just so … ugh.” “Poison” just opened at the Beckett Theater on Theatre Row, and She is one of two characters that the audience studies in close quarters for 90 minutes. This line is one of the funniest in the play. It is easy to see why the play garnered the distinguished Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs award in the playwright Lot Vikemans' native Netherlands in 2010. The play crackles and bites at the audience, producing no shortage of pain, depth and philosophy from its stark staging and sparse script. The situation at the outset of the play takes from Ibsen’s ability to weave situational metaphor. The two are a couple who were separated for 10 years, then reunited because their son’s grave must be moved due to natural gas seeping into the groundwater by the graveyard. The gas is ostensibly the poison of the title, but the poisonous nature of grief is a constant in the play as well. It slowly becomes clear, through
Mia Hansen-Love’s film “Things to Come” challenges emotional norms through the subtlety of a Parisian phiilosophy teacher’s life.
Isabelle Huppert Shines in ‘Things to Come’ By ZACH MARTIN Editor-at-Large
COURTESY OF RUSS POSTEMAK
Bobby Sands: 66 Days documents the story of a young Irishman who went on a hunger strike against the IRA.
‘Poison:’ A Look at Grief and Love By MICHAEL LANDES Staff Writer
COURTESY OF CHARLIE OLSKY
halting, hesitant and painfully realistic dialogue that, for better or for worse, He has moved on, while She has not. Vikemans depicts human nature with a deft realism; like in life, the pair moves towards reconciliation, then darts back, always tortured by ambiguity. Blame and memory are alternately weapons and life rafts for both to survive, but the banality of living after tragedy permeates every moment of high drama in the play. Imprisoned by their bodies, actress Birgit Huppuch and Michael Laurence awkwardly sit, wander, lie down and occasionally even touch in the stark, minimal space. Jian Jung, the set designer boasting an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, carves the space out of raw white elements with the odd centerpiece of a necessary vending machine. The dry irony of this vibrant machine in such a desolate place mirrors the script, in which pain is spaced out by silence, some chocolate or a phone call. He and She are not the only two to grace the stage, as Jordan Rutter, a countertenor, performs hauntingly a cappella Strauss Lieder at intervals, a touch that betrays the deeply European sense of the production. Rutter
is only a presence at times, tangentially linked to the conclusion of the play, but fundamentally an aesthetic choice whose presence, while perhaps not crucial to the function of the play, lifts the experience from painful voyeurism to a universal experience of loss. Hearing him sing and watching Him and Her sit or stand awkwardly on or off stage (with no wings, exits are marked by actors facing towards a wall on the side), one cannot help but know that what is depicted in the play is not simply about a situation that two people experience; it is about the lives that each of us lead, and the fragility of being human.
Email Michael Landes at theater@nyunews.com.
COURTESY OF BECK LEE
Poison is now playing at the Beckett Theater and showcases the talent of award winning playwright Lot Vekenmans.
Following her complex performance in Paul Verhoeven’s film “Elle,” actress Isabelle Huppert is continuing her high-profile year with a subdued portrayal of an aging philosophy teacher in French director Mia Hansen-Love’s film “Things to Come.” While slow and meandering at times, the film beautifully captures the emotions that result from the steady, uncontrollable passage of time and amounts to a quiet yet forceful character study anchored by Huppert’s great performance. “Things to Come” centers on Nathalie (Huppert), a high school philosophy teacher in Paris who is passionate about her job and her students. In particular, she values her relationship with Fabien (Roman Kolinka), a former student who has become a writer and radical thinker. Nathalie maintains a balance between teaching and tending to her family, a husband and two grown children, until her husband (Andre Marcon) abruptly announces he is leaving her for another woman. The rest of the film finds Nathalie attempting to navigate each day ahead of her, while searching for meaning in the new realization that she must somehow find a way to start over and go on. Hansen-Love’s script does not emphasize plot development or high-energy encounters, which becomes both a welcome relief and a frustrating choice. On the one hand, it allows breathing room for the viewer to feel the weight of the two major events in this period of Nathalie’s life — the
departure of her husband and, later on, the death of her ill mother. Hansen-Love eschews any dramatic developments in Nathalie’s character in favor of observing how these heavy, tragic events create subtle changes in the way she interacts with Fabien, her current students and the outside world in general. However, this insistence on meditative actions and interactions causes the film to drag at times, and the lack of energy and momentum has the potential to leave the viewer cold. The film succeeds, however, in the ways it can subvert common expectations of how scenes should play out. When Nathalie’s husband tells her he is moving out, she does not burst into tears or throw a fit of rage. Rather she seems perplexed and confused and only lets her emotions show when she utters the heartbreaking line, “I thought you’d love me forever.” When her mother dies, Nathalie doesn’t cry until she is on the bus after the funeral, away from the rest of her family and only then coming to grips with her loss. Hansen-Love leaves much of the thematic meaning unsaid, instead letting the viewer see it play out on Huppert’s face. “Things to Come” is an understated French drama about what it can mean for life to be transformed when one nears retirement. Thanks to a remarkable performance by Isabelle Huppert, the film offers an abundance of wisdom and insight to the attentive viewer. “Things to Come” opens in New York on Dec. 2.
Email Zach Martin at film@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
5
ARTS
EDITED BY HAILEY NUTHALS ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM
When Reporters Become Their Own Stories
By KHRYSGIANA PINEDA Staff Writer
The recent presidential election has made several already-planned events even more poignant than they otherwise would have been — not the least among them, Washington Post journalist and reporter Wesley Lowery’s discussion of his masterful new novel, “They Can’t Kill Us All.” The book is a story about the Ferguson case and America’s racial justice movement, Black Lives Matter. At the event, Lowery recalled his shock when, while reporting on the scene, he was suddenly thrust into his own story of being unsuitably arrested alongside many other journalists. Soon, speculations were drawn over whether Lowery was really black or not. “That experience was an infor-
mative on how we think and write about the media,” Lowery said. He recalled “media evoking [his] name in one way or another.” Suddenly, Lowery had become the inked letters on the page rather than the one holding the pen. Lowery also talked about America’s “original sin,” a biblical phrase transformed into a theology of racism in the United States that was coined by the current president, Barack Obama. “We live in a country that was premised on the idea of race-based authority,” Lowery said. America is still a new country, and it is no more free from prejudice and racism than its predecessors. When the Ferguson protests began with the death of Michael Brown, who died unarmed at the hands of a white police officer, journalistic interest peaked. “Everyone is talking
about this. Journalists say, ‘where’s our story? Why aren’t we there?’” Lowery said. “Racism is not about feelings. It’s about our lives. This fits in a narrative arc of the black and brown people of America.” Lowery also discussed the change that has been affected behind the scenes of journalism. “We used to operate very largely from an ivory tower. What has changed with social media is that power has been placed into the hands of individual citizens.” These days, news spreads like wildfire via Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. Citizens can record events on their phones and post live in real time. Everyone has the chance to report breaking news firsthand. Similarly, people have power through protest. Lowery sees this access as a way of defense and expression on a personal level.
“I will stand up for this person because maybe I didn’t stand up for myself before,” he said. “People who go into journalism are often people who care about change, care about politics, but are not activists,” Lowery said. “I reject that. It is our job as the powerful institution that we are to tell the story of those who aren’t heard.” Justice has to remain at center-stage in light of recent terrible circumstances. Lowery explains that often writers and reporters try to humanize the victim, invoking all of the wonderful qualities that they possessed in order to gain sympathy from the audience. In the end, however, journalism boils down to justice. “The best son and the worst son both deserve justice if they are killed,” Lowery said. The importance of journalism and media cannot be expressed enough.
Journalists, like Wesley Lowery, possess the chance to discover and express the truth on a national platform. They hold unparalleled power of exposing the truth to a public that deserves it. “We all bring who we are into telling a story and into choosing a story that is worth telling.”
Email Khrysgiana Pineda at books@nyunews.com.
PHOTO BY KHRYSGIANA PINEDA
Discussing his new novel, Wesley Lowery reflected on the way Black Lives Matter is intertwined with American history.
Windows to Childhood at Kimmel By THOMAS MIRITELLO Contributing Writer
Artist Margaret Morrison took over the window displays at the Kimmel Center with her series "Playtime," on display now through Jan. 12. The featured works are paintings based thematically in unsettling children’s toys — each painting tells a story in just a single still. Still, although they hold layers of meaning, the paintings can be appreciated aesthetically as well. Each painting is unsettlingly photorealistic. Whether it’s the translucent base of a ring-pop or the glistening of a clown doll’s painted face, these paintings hold a sense of reality rarely found in the medium. Morrison is clearly a master of the technique, as something even as complex as marbles or plastic dolls look as if they’ve truly existed and are being shown to us through snapshots. This is almost where the charm and interest of “Playtime” runs out. A lot of the paintings feel derivative — unsettling clown dolls, Barbie-like figures in possibly intimate positions and larger-than-life baby dolls all feel like tired tropes. There are enough examples of these themes in art already. There’s nothing wrong with using the classics to your advantage, but she depicts what has commonly been seen. However, one painting in particular was interesting: a painting of phallic and yonic lollipops, easily mistakable for a pure still life portrait. It felt out of place among the rest of the paintings. The juxtaposition of childhood imagination and innocence and the more corrupt ideas of war, death, sex and nostalgia have become disinteresting to the point of being almost campy. The paintings themselves aren’t visually campy — quite the opposite, in fact. But the execution of ideas seem almost thought out on
a surface level and not on a thematic one. The works feel like they’re more appropriate in someone’s home or a movie than they are in a standalone gallery, especially compared to Morrison’s earlier, more surreal works, which seemed to appreciate the medium more than they tried to tell a story. It should be reiterated, however, that Morrison is an absolutely astounding painter from a technical and artistic standpoint. The translucent, shiny, sinister and somewhat viscous quality a lot of her paintings have is very appealing from a design standpoint. The level of complexity of various forms of matter — candy, glass, ceramic, plastic — that she’s able to process with paints are truly praise-worthy. These paintings are nice to look at--really nice to look at--but they are neither thought-provoking nor emotionally evocative. Morrison’s works may not be as interesting as one would anticipate from the surface-level aesthetic, but the colorful art certainly will add a playful touch of warmth the upcoming winter. “Playtime” is on display at the Kimmel Windows at 60 Washington Square South until Jan. 12.
Email Thomas Miritello at entertainment@nyunews.com.
Surrender, Oil on Canvas, Margaret Morrison
COURTESY OF HELENE DAVIS
The Pilobolus dance company is currently performing at Skirball with a number of dance pieces that explore various musical and dance styles.
Pilobolus Bends Bodies, Minds By HAILEY NUTHALS Arts Editor
The Pilobolus dance company brands itself in its program notes as “rebellious,” having “[tested] the limits of human physicality” since its founding 45 years ago. Bold as it may be, the claim holds true — its latest program, performing currently at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, features two separate programs of five and four distinct dance pieces respectively. Program A in particular brings wonder and amazement with each of its performances. The show starts out with “On the Nature of Things,” performed by the trio of Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern, Antoine Banks-Sullivan and Jordan Kriston. The stage contains a single round table-like structure in the center, and the vast majority of the piece takes place atop of the three-foot platform it provides. The music, a dramatic piece by Antonio Vivaldi, sets an appropriate tone for the near-Renaissance beauty of the three dancers who are nude but for skin-tone bottoms. Their skin gleams with the sweat of effort as they appear to be the pinnacle of strength and grace, moving together in a fight more beautiful than an oil painting. Ending with a crescendo, the
show moves on to what is perhaps one of the most appropriate collaborations of the century and certainly a huge draw to the show. The rock band OK Go, of “Here It Goes Again” fame, took its penchant for clever and unnecessarily technical music videos to the stage. The quartet took its genius and paired it up with six of the Pilobolus dancers. The stage featured one large video screen, completely taking up the left-hand side of the space and a large, square platform with a glass top and a camera placed directly beneath its center, which fed live to the screen next to it. While OK Go’s song “All Is Not Lost” played, the dancers created mesmerizing and comical arrangements with their bodies. Alternately, more interesting moments were visible on the screen or on the platform, and it was occasionally hard to tell where the audience was meant to be looking at any given moment. The audience and dancers alike had a riot of a time, caught between awe and fits of giggles. The three remaining pieces of Program A were just as stunning — “Thresh | Hold” featured a mesmerizing plot that revolved around a door mounted on a rolling platform, which dancers leapt through and slammed shut in a mind-bogglingly perfect choreo-
graphed battle. “[Esc]” was a humorous take on Harry Houdini’s classic escape tricks, in which six of the dancers performed a classic Houdini act and then ramped it up with grace, style and leather cuffs. “Rushes” offered a healthy amount of what was clearly the company’s signature humor and complex coordination of six dancers and 12 rolling chairs. The set was arranged and re-arranged, dreams were had and then extinguished and as always, bodies were lifted, twisted and carried about in a reimagination of a 1920s train car. Throughout the program the costumes were perfect, the music swelling and the dancers absolutely awe-inspiring. Each element of the show had clearly been tended to with the utmost attention. Even in-between pieces, short animated videos played on a screen that would lower itself to block any stagehand action. Surely, the company is changing the boundaries of humans’ capabilities — if only by stretching their imaginations. Pilobolus will be performing its two showcases at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts at 566 LaGuardia Pl. through Dec. 4.
Email Hailey Nuthals at hnuthals@nyunews.com.
6
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
FEATURES
EDITED BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM
How to Get a Free Lunch
By CAMILLE LARKINS Staff Writer
Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch? We've compiled some free ways to eat around campus, because NYU is expensive enough as it is without factoring in the costs of groceries, takeout and restaurant outings.
Club Events The first place to look for free food is on clubs’ Facebook pages. If a club is having an event, chances are there will be food, even if it's just pizza.
First Time Order Codes For many food delivery services like Seamless, Uber Eats and Munchery, your first meal is free (or at least highly discounted). It’s worth trying, since there are always new companies popping up and trying to get new customers hooked.
Leftovers From Events
Go to Stores Before Closing
This one is a bit less reliable, but the payoff can be great. There are tons of events in Kimmel every night — we’re talking private clients, actual adults and real food. Start by looking at the TV downstairs that displays all the events taking place in the building, and try to target big rooms like Grand Hall and Rosenthal. If you are inconspicuous and go into the room after the event ends, catering staff will often let you take some of the food that they would’ve ended up throwing out anyway. You can sometimes win big with Chinese food, hummus and cheese plates, entire pies or salads, but you may also leave empty handed.
This works best at places that are going to throw their food away at the end of the day — think bakeries, bagel shops and anywhere else that makes food fresh daily. Be nice! Buying something small before inquiring about leftover food is a good idea.
Residence Halls If you live in a dorm, I shouldn't have to tell you this — go to your RA’s events! Chances are they have tons of dumplings or pizzas that they are just dying to give away to residents.
Email Camille Larkins at features@nyunews.com.
Not All Is Bad with American Fusion By TIFFANIE HWANG Staff Writer
Join Free Food Events @ NYU This Facebook group consistently posts about events happening on campus with free food. If you are a student, you just have to join the group and turn notifications on to get frequent updates on where to find a completely free meal.
VIA FACEBOOK.COM
Not sure where to start? The Free Food Events @ NYU Facebook page is a peer-sourced collection of coupons, deals, and events that will guarantee you a free dinner.
Cuddle Up, Bundle Up
By KAYLEE WARREN Staff Writer
The subzero temperatures of December, January, February and even March will breeze in whether we like it or not, so an affordable yet unique and fashion-forward coat is the perfect armor to survive the chilly months. From bombers and trench coats to parkas and furs, here are some cool jackets and coats to keep both your creative heart and your wallet smiling throughout the winter. One way to invest in outerwear without breaking the bank is to scour thrift stores. Some local thrift and vintage shops around campus include Monk Thrift, No Relation, Buffalo Exchange and Metropolis. If you don’t mind using that MetroCard swipe to get to Brooklyn, you’ll be greeted by tons of vintage shops such as Urban Jungle, L Train Vintage and Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg. Since thrifting has picked up steam, prices will vary, but you’re guaranteed to find a nice coat for cheap, like varsity jackets from Metropolis on Third Avenue. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to ignore them, it’s impossible to walk past the store displays at Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 without taking a look inside. Maybe it’s the velvet or the sequins. Either way, you’ll be
PHOTO BY LEXI RIESENBERG
The idea of Americanizing food has also turned into the fusion of foods from other cultures, such as this chicken katsu sushi burrito that plays on the idea of a hand roll and burrito.
lured in and, within moments, your eyes will land on irresistible faux furs like the timeless Leopard Faux Fur Coat or the sleek wool Elias Top Coat from Urban Outfitters. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself jetting to embrace your space love with the warm Alpha Industries NASA MA-1 Bomber Jacket. Prices are $175, $199 and $199, respectively, but take advantage of UO’s regular sales and cop them for cheaper. You can also discover some college budget-friendly finds at department store staples such as Burlington Coat Factory or Macy’s, or you can take this opportunity to support independent businesses. Artists & Fleas, which was mentioned earlier,
is a place for unique finds from independent vendors. It’s where I met the founder of the Brooklyn-based clothing company Elsewhere World, a contemporary menswear brand that creates unique reinterpretations of classic streetwear silhouettes. I personally recommend the Kendrick Jacket, lined in flannel and available in iridescent magenta, emerald or gray, which the founder asserts is “guaranteed to break, like, 10 necks.” As icy as it’s going to get this season, your outfit is going to be fire as you conquer it with your new favorite coat.
Email Kaylee Warren at bstyle@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
As the weather gets colder, it’s time to get a warm winter coat, which can be found and all price points.
The United States serves as a melting pot of cultures from all corners of the globe. In turn, it has a wide variety of global cuisine, and New York City is a perfect testament to that. Walk down any street in downtown Manhattan, and a multitude of cultural cuisines will unfold before you. Many of the popular food trends in the U.S. originated from different cultures. This influence is visible in popular and large-scale chain restaurants like Panda Express and Chipotle. However, it is not surprising that these foods are often highly Americanized versions of ethnic foods that do not do the original dishes justice. Though there are quite a few restaurants and mom-and-pop shops that serve authentic cuisines that pay homage to the culture, Americanized foods that thinly resemble their ethnic roots are far more prevalent. Stern junior Maria Lopez, who is Colombian, doesn’t see much authenticity in New York’s Colombian food. “There’s a Colombian food stand near campus, and its empanadas are terrible,” Lopez said. “They taste nothing like real empanadas, and I hope no one who is unfamiliar with it tastes these and thinks they really reflect true Colombian food.” Granted, some dishes do not stick to traditional preparation methods. However, since American culture is itself a fusion of cultures, ethnic dishes with an American twist might also be celebrated as a part of the nation's diversity. CAS junior Jay Viray, who is of Filipino descent, sees that principle represented in New York’s Filipino food. “Of course it's going to be different because it's being tailored
to the average American’s tastes and ways of cooking,” Viray said. Some students, like CAS freshman Sonam Bhuptani, who is of Indian descent, enjoy both traditional and Americanized cuisines. “I personally don't have a problem with seeing Indian dishes become Americanized,” Bhuptani said. “The way I see it, it's kind of a fusion between American and Indian food, and there are definitely perks to that. I still enjoy authentic Indian food, but I've become accustomed to having that at home and having a variation of it at restaurants.” One of the most popular ways to sample these American variations is to spend a day at Smorgasburg, a food festival in Brooklyn that hosts hundreds of vendors and showcases combinations of foods from different cultures. The festival also breeds new and delicious food trends that cultivate creativity and innovation, such as the ramen burger, ahi-tuna nachos and kimchi-fries. “What's the fun in keeping dishes traditional when there's potential to create a new dish that shares the characteristics of two or more different cultures?” Viray said. Americanized foods may not always taste similar to the originals, but even those who see Americanization as an insult cannot deny that the trend is a great way to ease people of different cultures into trying dishes they are unfamiliar with. “Generally speaking, if it wasn’t for the [Americanization] trend, I probably wouldn’t have been introduced to many of the different kinds of cultural foods that I’ve tried,” Viray said.
Email Tiffanie Hwang at features@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
7
FEATURES
EDITED BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM
Make Something of Your Unwanted Clothes
By MICHAELA HOFFMAN Staff Writer
The new year is almost here, which means your wardrobe may be in desperate need of an update. To make room, you sort through your clothes, keep some and throw the rest away. However, most of the clothes you throw away end up in landfills — only about 15 percent of discarded clothing is recycled or reused. Globally, we trash roughly two billion pounds of clothing and textiles per year. Next time you clean out your closet, try these alternatives to throwing your unwanted clothes in the trash.
Sell your clothes If you’re looking to get a little extra cash before the holidays, there are
thrift shops in the area that will pay you for the clothes you don’t want. Buffalo Exchange and Beacon’s Closet are just a couple of the stores that will give you cash for your clothes. Don’t expect too much compensation; however, the gratification of giving your clothes a new life with a different owner is compensation enough. For a digital approach, Poshmark is a well-known resale website that will give you good cash for your gently used clothing.
Make adjustments Evaluate why you’re throwing out a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes. Is there an element to the clothing that you just can’t stand? If you’re feeling creative, then break out the sewing kit and try making adjustments to the clothes. Would your
jeans look cooler with patches? Then take a trip to the craft store and add them. This is an ethical approach to repurposing the old and the outdated. You may never look at your wardrobe the same way again.
Turn old T-shirts into blankets Need to control that T-shirt pile? There’s a creative way to utilize your old tees without having to give them all away. Project Repeat is a website that will create a quilt out of a selection of your old tees or sweatshirts. You can send 16 to 64 of your shirts and although it can be a little pricy, just shy of $100, it’s totally worth it.
Closet swap A closet swap with your friends is a fun way to update your wardrobe
How to Avoid Online Harassment By ABIGAIL WEINBERG and GABRIELLA BOWER
During this tumultuous post-election period, it’s more important than ever to know how to combat online harassment and hate speech. Here are some tips and tricks on how to stay safe on the most popular social media platforms.
Facebook If your Facebook isn’t an echo chamber, you’re bound to engage in the dreaded but inevitable Facebook fight. Right now, most Facebook fights look like high school fights on steroids. Below are some easy-to-follow steps and advice on how to deal with Facebook hate. Why You Should Report a Person If you feel that you are a victim of hate speech, threats, sexual harassment or anything else that poses a threat to your safety, you should report a person or group. Generally, Facebook will take action if they feel what you are reporting violates their Community Standards. How To Report a Person If you want to report a post or photo in a Facebook group or on your timeline, click the downward half-arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the post or photo. If you want to report a comment, click the “X” to hide the comment, and then it will prompt you to unhide, report or unfriend the person who made the comment. What Happens Once You Report a Person Even if a comment, photo or post has been reported, there is a good chance that nothing will happen. There are little to no statistics on how many Facebook reports turn into lawsuits over hate speech or harassment, which is likely due to Facebook’s vaguely-phrased Community Standards. They ask you to keep in mind that they “may take action any time something violates the Community Standards outlined”
and “consequences for violating our Community Standards vary depending on the severity of the violation and the person’s history on Facebook.” Basically, there’s no guarantee the person will receive a punishment even as minor as getting blocked from using Facebook. The fact of the matter is, according to a Pew Research Center on online harassment, 73 percent of adult internet users have witnessed someone being harassed in some way online and 40 percent have personally experienced it, yet only five percent actually report the harassment to local authorities. Internet access is a right, but those who violate others through social media should be penalized. Other Advice Don’t engage. This is what everyone’s mothers and Emily Post would advise, but sometimes it’s hard not to. So if you do engage, don’t sink to the harassers’ level. Remember what Michelle Obama said — “when they go low, we go high.” So keep your responses classy. Facebook’s Bullying Prevention If you feel you are being bullied, Facebook offers advice and several PDF guides on dealing with bullying. But especially in cases of cyberbullying, it may be more beneficial to talk to someone in person. Student Health Center If you want to talk to someone face-to-face, NYU offers wellness and mental health services, including 30 minute therapy sessions. Make an appointment online for free so you can avoid the $10 walk-in fee. The center services thousands of students and it can be difficult to get an appointment in a timely matter. So you can either walk in and pay the fee or call the 24-hour Wellness Exchange hotline (212-443-9999) that you learned about during the Reality Show freshman year.
Twitter I can’t claim to be an expert on
without breaking the bank. Grab a group of friends with similar styles. Have each friend bring a bag of new or gently-used clothing that they’d like to trade, and everyone goes home with a few new looks for free. It’s an eco-friendly way to repurpose clothing without the guilt of throwing it away.
ceeds provide support and services for veterans returning home. Other charities worth looking into are Clothes4Souls, Dress For Success and the American Red Cross.
Email Michaela Hoffman at bstyle@nyunews.com.
Give away Donating clothes to a thrift shop is the most popular option on this list. With the cold weather approaching, there are many families that could use your unwanted clothes to stay warm. Goodwill and the Salvation Army are two local thrift shops that will accept your clothing. If you’re looking for other options, Vietnam Veterans of America sells donated items in resale shops, and the pro-
STAFF PHOTO BY RYAN QUAN
Donating the clothes you no longer wear is a great way to clean out your closet and give to those in need at the same time.
Your Guide to Getting an IUD at NYU By PARIS MARTINEAU Deputy Opinion Editor
VIA FACEBOOK.COM
Harassment can come in many forms, in person or behind a screen, sexually or verbally, but you don’t have to stay silent about it. dealing with Twitter hate, because I spent way too much of my time in high school engaging in political arguments that usually took an ad hominem turn. However, it’s in my nature to be argumentative, and I think Twitter is a viable outlet for that tendency. Twitter Reporting If someone tweets something that is grossly offensive to a group of marginalized people, don’t respond. Just click on the three dots beneath the tweet and report the user for “hate against a race, religion, gender or orientation.” Unfortunately, Twitter can be fairly opaque in its rationale for banning or suspending accounts, and it’s known for being a platform for free speech of all kinds. When to Respond Some offensive tweets are not hate speech, and the person who’s arguing with you has just as much of a right to their opinion as you do — even if you believe their opinion to be wrong. When this is the case, feel free to reply, but make sure your response is logical and cohesive. As the adage goes, what you say on the internet lasts forever. What to Say It’s best not to get riled up on Twitter. Instead, see if you can get a rise out of the other person. I started responding to one particular user’s offensive tweets with Simpsons screenshots. Maybe it was immature, but I always felt like I’d won.
Email the Features Desk at features@nyunews.com.
In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, one message spread by and aimed at women — aside from the usual total emotional devastation — has been resoundingly clear: get an IUD and get it now. This comes as no surprise to those who have been following along with the minute details of the president-elect’s campaign or to anyone who has ever had the misfortune of doing a quick Google search of Mike Pence’s voting history. Trump and the GOP have been clamoring to remove the Affordable Care Act more or less since the first day it passed, and it seems unlikely that whatever takes its place will have the same stipulations requiring health insurance companies to provide no-cost contraceptive options. This has left many women nationwide — and at NYU — wondering if they will be able to financially maintain their sexual autonomy if they are left out to dry by their insurance providers for the next four to eight years. Hence, the push for IUDs. An IUD, or intrauterine device, is one of two main forms of long-acting reversible contraception. It is a small, T-shaped device that, once inserted into the uterus, can effectively prevent pregnancy for anywhere from three to 12 years, depending on the brand. IUDs are also more than 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy, making them by far the most effective option — even more so than sterilization — on the market. It is this effectiveness, combined with the device’s lengthy lifespan, that has piqued the interest of many women nationwide, who are comforted by the fact that this form of protection would
likely outlast Trump’s presidency. And for NYU students, finding out more information on the IUD — and obtaining one — is both easy and, at least for the present, still free. Currently, all Bobcats — no matter their insurance provider — can make a free IUD Consultation appointment at the Student Health Center by visiting its online appointment portal and selecting a time that best fits their schedule. During this appointment, students will meet with a provider to discuss whether the IUD is the right choice for them, and, if it is, what type best fits their needs. After choosing which IUD is right for them during the consultation appointment, the SHC provider will issue an IUD e-prescription to the student’s pharmacy. If the student has NYU’s basic health insurance plan, the comprehensive plan or the graduate student health insurance plan, this service will be done free-of-charge by the Student Health Center pharmacy. If the student has another ACA-compliant form of insurance, this step will be completed free-ofcharge by their primary pharmacy. Students will then schedule an insertion appointment for a day on which they anticipate having their period, as the ideal insertion time corresponds with the heaviest day of one’s flow. Many women experience some intense cramping during the insertion. However, once the device has been placed, cramps usually only subsist for a few hours. Overall, the process is a simple one for NYU students. Consultation appointments are frequently available, and the SHC staff provides students with the appropriate resources to make an informed decision.
Email Paris Martineau at pmartineau@nyunews.com.
A Year In, President Hamilton Is Learning and Listening
STAFF PHOTO BY EUAN PRENTIS
By ALEX BAZELEY Editor-in-Chief Andrew Hamilton sits forward cheerily in his chair, a painting of NYU founder Albert Gallatin peering approvingly over his shoulder. For a president of a university as large as NYU, a year’s time is the slightest drop in the bucket — so slight, in fact, that the well-lit office that he resides in on the 12th floor of Bobst is sparsely decorated, save Gallatin’s party of one. “NYU is a remarkable university,” Hamilton said in his thick British accent. “One of the things in these 10 months that I’ve tried very hard to do is to really get to know this university as fully and completely as I can.” Just beyond the painting, outside the window, is his domain — Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, the sprawling Manhattan cityscape. All this and more students call their campus. That is the one thing that’s hard for him to get his head around: the scale of the ever-expanding university. Over the last decade, under the leadership of former President John Sexton, NYU expanded its reach across New York and to the furthest corners of the earth, staking its claim in global education and putting it atop many a dream school list. And now, the reins rest comfortably in Hamilton’s hands. When it was announced in March of 2015 that the 64-year-old would replace John Sexton as the president of NYU, the community knew little about him. A British chemist, Hamilton had been serving as the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford for six years, and as the provost at Yale University before that. His appointment as NYU’s president likely has something to do with his leading of the Oxford Thinking Campaign, which raised over £2 billion in donations. The cost of education is a contentious
topic here at NYU — the university is in the midst of its own Momentum Campaign, aiming to raise $1 billion for scholarships by next year. The only certainty he had upon entering was that he would inherit many of the controversies that plagued Sexton’s final years. And those last few years were certainly ripe with controversy: in 2013 year, after the Sexton-branded 2031 expansion plan was put on a fast-track despite facing an
to build on the already-established global network by raising the academic caliber and keeping the campuses financially sustainable. More than anything else, though, Hamilton is eager to hear out students, about both their successes and their troubles. Each week, he makes it a point to meet with students as much as possible, whether on formal occasions or at student events and performances. It’s a change of pace from the last adminis-
“I often think sometimes the accusation of corporatization is thrown at a university because it tries to be efficient,” he said. “When we acquire an apartment building in New York, it’s to provide more accommodation for students and for faculty who wouldn’t otherwise be able to live in a community.” In his mind, corporate ideals do not drive the direction and mission of the university. He chooses instead to focus on the accom-
“The moment a university thinks it has arrived, it hasn’t — it has died.” —Andrew Hamilton abundance of opposition from faculty members and the surrounding community, four schools voted no confidence in their polarizing president. Perhaps Hamilton had been brought in to calm things down and bring balance to a school whose students often painted it as the bad guy. Indeed, he is marked by an even-keeled composure, excitedly and eloquently articulating his thoughts on higher education, picked up in years navigating the landscape. He’s going to need every bit of that experience if he’s going to corral 14 global campuses at a firebrand university steeped in concerns about issues like affordability and diversity. If anything, he seems poised to take on the task. Like a first-semester freshman, Hamilton is still figuring out the quirks of the university, grappling with the size of the place and figuring out how to make things work best. But he sees promise in NYU and is hoping
tration, which wasn’t always so quick to hear students on just any proposal. The effort on his part hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Hamilton is a much more receptive leader, and he has taken small steps towards making NYU more affordable and accessible,” said Hannah Fullerton, a Gallatin junior and organizer with the Student Labor Action Movement. “I have faith that the more he talks with students, the more he will understand the great transformation that this university requires.” To students, Hamilton may feel like a breath of fresh air. Sexton was often criticized for running NYU like a corporation, focused on its brand and beholden to the Board of Trustees, whose eyes are often trained on the bottom line. Hamilton pushes back on this label of universities, seeing it as a mischaracterization of how a university needs to operate in order to be successful.
plished academics in dean posts at the heads of each school — leaders who ensure that academics are at the heart of every decision. It’s true that wherever Hamilton has worked, his passion has always lied in his scholarship. It’s why he got into higher education
“It sounds like a strange, nerdy thing to say, but I actually read chemistry for pleasure,” Hamilton said laughing. “I will take chemistry articles and books away on vacation.” Hamilton has proved keen on putting his money where his mouth is. He plans to raise the caliber of the sciences at NYU, something he emphasized in his inaugural speech in September. “The moment a university thinks it has arrived, it hasn’t — it has died,” Hamilton said. “You have never reached where you should be headed, and you should always look to improve.” He wants to bring the Tandon School of Engineering more into the fold, and he’s looking for ways for students to capitalize on the intersection between visual art and interactive media in the 21st century. “In his short time here, he has visited the many programs of NYU, speaks of his experiences doing so and highlights the diversity of our programs, the excellence of faculty, the dynamism of students when he speaks and writes,” said Ann Marcus, the Director of the Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy. This, she said, signals to the community what his
“
He has a lot of power to set precedents in regards to how issues on a typical college campus should be dealt with. Thus, it is not enough for our university to simply follow what other universities have done in response to a specific matter. Whether the issue is sexual misconduct, islamophobia or protecting visas of international students, I encourage President Hamilton to take initiative in unique ways in protecting and improving our NYU community.”
Afraz Khan
Muslim Students Association President
and why he has worked hard to keep his academic research going regardless of his position at esteemed universities around the world.
values and concerns are. However, there is increasing skepticism among students about whether their best interests are always in mind. Tuition at NYU,
A Year in Review
March 18, 2015: Hamilton announced as new president of NYU.
March 8, 2016: Hamilton hosts first Town Hall in “Afternoon Tea with Andrew Hamilton.”
March 25, 2016: Hamilton and university administration promise to raise student workers’ wage to $15 per hour.
one of the most expensive universities in the world, is at an alltime high, and the end of Sexton’s reign was freckled with rallies and protests against perceived corporatism. Last semester, following fervent rallies by SLAM, Hamilton consented to incrementally raising the minimum wage for student workers to $15 by 2018. In the continued spirit of affordability, Hamilton announced earlier this year that NYU would expand cost-efficient housing options and work to limit tuition hikes by freezing the cost of housing. He acknowledged that the change isn’t dramatic, but hopes to continue to make progress in making NYU more accessible to students from all backgrounds. Now, SLAM is pressing Hamilton to have student representa-
However, Hamilton consents that there’s room for improvement in terms of diversity on the board (and roughly two-thirds of the board comes from a real estate or finance background; many others come from medicine and law). He suggested that he’d like to see someone from the academic world at some point in the future — perhaps a former leader of a university — or those coming from a nonprofit background, who could give a vastly different perspective. Awareness is key. It was something that Sexton was confronted with the hard way, hit with a barrage of protests from students accusing him of zeroing in on corporate leaders that silenced voices of color asking for a more inclusive environment for students. Hamilton saw a similar issue at Yale, and consequently led wide-
“
In the next year, I would like to see him announcing more radical changes to the way that our finances work here at NYU. This starts from the top, with increasing financial transparency, and seating elected student representatives on the Board of Trustees … I also think it’s important that Hamilton makes a commitment to other types of justice other than affordability.”
Hannah Fullerton
Student Labor Action Movement Organizing Member
tion on the Board of Trustees in order to better communicate the interests of the student body in a direct fashion. Hamilton isn’t as receptive to this idea, citing the board’s fiduciary responsibility and the need for them to represent the whole university, not just a specific constituency. “There is a best practice in governing board structure and governments’ structure where those making the decisions are not the direct beneficiaries or not directly affected by the decisions, as students, as faculty, as employees would be,” Hamilton said. He notes that there are a handful of board members who are recent alumni, able to reflect the experience of students. He also sees the board as representing an array of flavors, with trustees coming from across the country and the world, and representing a wide range of professional backgrounds — not just real estate and finance.
spread efforts to increase diversity among the faculty. Now, in his short time here, he has kickstarted initiatives to create the inclusive community that so many feel NYU has lacked in the past few years. The search for a Chief Diversity Officer, who will lead further diversity initiatives and be the ear for the students once chosen, is well underway. Earlier this year, the university rolled out the bias response line and increased funding for the Center for Multicultural Education and Programs. But for all his talk about the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Task Force, any progress has rarely been made public, save for a couple announcements. If there has been one critique of the new administration, it has been a lack of transparency on their part surrounding new initiatives. The campus climate assessment that the university is starting this coming January may be another step in the right direction, aimed
Week of Jan. 25 2016: Hamilton meets with Diversity & Inclusion Task Force and places diversity as top priority.
April 25, 2016: Hamilton meets with the Incarceration to Education Coalition following a two-day occupation of the Kimmel Center for Student Life.
at determining where NYU stands in terms of inclusivity and where it needs to be. For some, it couldn’t come at a better time. A turbulent election cycle has left many students wondering where their place on campus is, with multiple incidents occurring targeting Muslim students and touting white supremacist ideals. Afraz Khan, a CAS senior and the president of the Muslim Students Association, feels his concerns are being heard, and that Hamilton has done his part to engage in the dialogue. This includes actions like attending events hosted by Muslim student groups and reassuring the community that undocumented students will continue to receive funding. “He has also been present at events dealing with more controversial matters like the NYU Talks event on diversity, equity and inclusion a couple days before his inauguration,” Khan said. “I appreciate him being physically present in these spaces.” Still, Khan would like to see more effort on the part of Hamilton to reach out to other minority students groups, talking with them to “gain a greater awareness of the topics and matters that concern them most.” And as Hamilton’s first full year in office comes to a close, Fullerton says she has been pleased with the direction in which he has taken the university but still isn’t quite convinced. “To make NYU truly accessible would take radical change,” she said. “I want to see NYU on the list of universities that meet 100 percent of students need, and I don’t know how far he plans to take his affordability initiatives.” It’s too early to proclaim Hamilton as the savior of NYU, and for all the progress he has made, it’s still only moved the dial slightly. Affordability, as Marcus points
“
Feb. 4, 2016: Hamilton sits down with WSN and other student publications to discuss his plans for the university.
Sept. 25, 2016: Hamilton is inaugurated as the 16th president of NYU.
Student Senators Council Chairperson
Oct. 21, 2016: University announces plan for free menstrual hygiene products following sustained pressure from students.
“
I would love for him to make more progress with student led initiatives like Take Back the Tap (they want to ban the sale of plastic water bottles on campus) and Real Food Challenge (they want to improve sourcing of food served in the dining halls so it is more local, sustainable, fair trade and humane). We already do great with energy initiatives so expanding to these areas would make a significant impact.”
Natalie Petrulla Earth Matters President
out, is not a problem that is solved overnight. And it’s more important than ever for students to feel as if their campus is a safe place, not always an easy task to manage when the campus in Manhattan. He has his work cut out for him. But it’s encouraging that Hamilton gets excited when talking about his goals for NYU, different in so many ways from any other university. “[NYU] offers opportunities to see the world as it actually is, not in an idealized, bucolic campus setting,” he says. “A major city in the 21st century has challenges. There’s homelessness, there’s poverty and these are things that I believe passionately that students should not be shielded from. Students are entering the world and they need to understand its complexity.” To Hamilton, the world that NYU students face every day is what makes the university so unique. Right now, he’s just trying to look at things differently, focusing on the good and learning from the bad. Things are early, and the shine hasn’t yet worn off the Brit. He will, inevitably, hit a rough patch and catch flak from the NYU community. But if his tendency after a year is any sort of reliable precedent, he’ll hope to learn from the students most in these situations. For this, he’s all ears.
Email Alex Bazeley at abazeley@nyunews.com.
I am very excited to move forward with the pilot program bringing no-cost menstrual hygiene products to NYU. This initiative is an incredible example of how groups on campus — Students for Sexual Respect and the Student Senators Council — can successfully advocate for student needs and work with the administration to implement new programs.”
Ryan Thomas
Feb. 18, 2016: Hamilton issues a new affordability plan for NYU.
10
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
OPINION
EDITED BY EMILY FONG OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
POLITICS
Stein’s Recount Prolongs a Painful Election By CONNOR BORDEN Staff Writer “Election Integrity Depends on You!” claimed Green Party candidates of this election Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka. Just as the nation thought the dramatics of the election cycle might be coming to a halt, Stein called for recounts in the three key battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Because this election has been particularly upsetting and tumultuous for folks across the nation, a recount unfairly offers a glimmer of hope. Stein’s paranoia is certainly driving this $7 million recount effort, but there
may also be another motive. Stein’s website offers no explanation as to why she believes she is the right person to spearhead the recount effort. Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer Marc Elias wrote in his post on Medium they had no intention of filing for recounts themselves because they found no evidence to prove any hacking or other voting malice had taken place. But, now that a recount in Wisconsin is set to take place, the Hillary campaign has signed on to “ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.” This statement by Elias somewhat invalidates what Stein claims to be
her reasoning for the recount: “…the voting machines used in Wisconsin were banned in California after they were shown to be highly vulnerable to hacking and malicious programming due to lacking security features.” If the Clinton campaign found no evidence of malice, it is no surprise the woman who insinuated Wi-Fi and vaccines
may be harmful to children’s development is once again spewing conspiracies to not only her supporters, but everyone who is beginning to heal from a painful election. At this point, the Jill Stein campaign has raised over $6 million toward their goal. We do not know how much these recounts are actually going to cost, but as the recount in Wisconsin begins, a cost estimate will come from the county clerk soon. It becomes more than a little suspicious that the Stein campaign is raising millions without a formal estimate of how much these recounts will cost. The president-elect has already taken
to Twitter to shut down these recounts as a desperate scheme by the Green and Democratic parties. Although many statements by the president-elect are unfounded, this one seems to have just enough suspicion around it to come across as valid. When many Americans have come away the past few weeks very confused, the call for a recount offers little hope for a change to the situation. As always, Jill Stein seems to be grasping for any attention she can get by capitalizing on our collective hopes and fears.
Email Connor Borden at opinion@nyunews.com.
CULTURE
By CARA ZAMBRANO Staff Writer On Nov. 25th, Gilmore Girls returned with its remarkable fastpaced dialogue and pop culture references. Surprisingly, the beloved show is not about a group of friends trying to figure it out, nor about bored parents and their offspring, but rather an alluring single mother and her daughter. The striking popularity of the TV series, however, highlights how deficient broadcast grids are when it comes to non-nuclear families and how much this must change. Americans are uniquely influenced by television shows. The medium is as important as other sources of human interaction in formulating one’s views and
Gilmore Girls Reflect Future of TV
opinions. Besides, television not only encourages a perspective on the self, but it also shapes the way people see others, including those who come from with different backgrounds. Thus, this shows how diverse family structures should be more present in television series, as there is still a considerable amount of estrangement when a child is raised in a structure other than the nuclear one. Nevertheless, traditional households are not even a reflection of the majority anymore. A 2014 research from the Pew Research Center demonstrated that only 46 percent of Americans under the age of 18 have a nuclear family — which consists of two heterosexual parents in their first marriage and their kids. This in-
dicates how much television networks are behind on representing the reality of American families. During the 1950s and 1960s, TV shows were mostly about idealized, white, traditional families; while some immigrants were depicted, they were often from European countries such as Italy and Ireland. However, this continued as a trend as this generic family structure and whitewashing proved to be popular and at-
tracted a large audience. In the 1970s, more diversity was brought up to grids with the rise of the civil rights and feminist movements. However, most of them still revolved around a heterosexual couple and their kids. This lack of representation of different family dynamics is still seen today. While some household series, such as Modern Family, depict non-traditional family structures, the majority of television shows, including even the satirical cartoon The Simpsons, is still largely about traditional ones. Even though producers have made a notable effort to include different family dynamics, it is not enough. Family shows are still centered on married couples and their children. This, however,
only goes to show how much of a difference TV representation of diverse families would make; after all, they would add a new viewpoint to networks. Nonetheless, while kids who are raised in nontraditional families still face judgment, society has become much more lenient on families that do not follow the nuclear family formula, parents have the choice to jump off the norm. They are not overwhelmingly pressured to accept it anymore. Thus, instead of underlining the same perspective, television series should celebrate the many different environments in which a child can grow up.
Email Cara Zambrano at opinion@nyunews.com.
POLITICS
Emails Aren’t Convincing Electors to Change Their Votes
By MELANIE PINEDA Staff Writer
The outcome of the presidential election was, to say the least, shocking. Despite her loss in the electoral college, Hillary Clinton now has a lead of over 2 million votes over her opponent. Clinton supporters have recently found a small ray of hope that they believe to be the ultimate solution to the election’s unexpected outcome. By emailing their respective state’s electors, those against the president-elect have somehow fooled themselves into assuming that this alone will change the outcome of the election, and thus resolve the threatening hatred that Donald Trump has propa-
gated — specifically the white supremacist movement that is developing in response to his win. But what these emailing constituents don’t seem to realize is that electors are not in any way impressed by the thousands of emails they’re receiving, and that the hatred being spread will not magically disappear in the case of a political miracle. Since the electors do not vote until December 19th, those representing Trump states have been receiving thousands of emails a day in attempts to sway their vote. Each one is more or less the same, and a handful of electors have become so annoyed that they have set up automatic responses for the determined persuaders. Most of these
responses include claims of party loyalty over their disdain for the president-elect. None of this should come as a surprise, considering that very few electors have acted faithlessly in all of American history. Democrats have become so desperate that some are ignoring the fact that — regardless of how wrong poll predictions were — history is bound to repeat itself. The problem with the email
idea itself was not that it was ridiculously impossible. The true conflict lies within the people — the white supremacists who disguise themselves as the altright have been shown to salute Trump in Nazi style. Over 400 hate crimes have been reported since Trump was announced president-elect, showing how this behavior has become normalized before Trump has even taken office. Clinton pulling out a win in the Electoral College is not going to make this bigotry suddenly disappear. America faces a problem right now that requires more ground work and community action than anything else. Those opposed to bigotry and hate must use any type of privilege or in-
fluence they have to speak up for minority groups targeted by the next president or his supporters. Educators must encourage self-empowerment and respect for all people now more than ever. The results of this election have been terrifying and it may seem as though the only solution is to kick the president-elect out. But attempting to interfere with the electoral process is unrealistic and would do little to address the prejudice gripping the nation. Instead of emailing electors, activists need to focus their efforts on protecting the citizens at risk under a Trump administration.
Email Melanie Pineda at opinion@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
OPINION
EDITED BY EMILY FONG OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
UNIVERSITY LIFE
STAFF EDITORIAL
Dude, Where’s My Grade? By ANDREW HEYING Contributing Writer With four weeks left in the semester, it is now crunch time for students who want to lock down their grades. But with only a stray letter grade or two in Albert, how are we to know where we stand in our classes? In high school, this process was often fairly easy as many schools constantly updated grades online and even gave quarter grades. While college grading is obviously completely different, knowing where a student stands grade-wise is still extremely important for their learning process. At NYU, all professors were supposed to post a current grade on Albert by Nov. 7. As a naive freshman, I thought this policy would be strictly adhered to. After all, it is on the academic calendar alongside other extremely important dates like finals and winter break. However, after navigating through the confusing and out-dated disaster of a website that is Albert, I discovered that only half of my professors had posted grades. In
fact, in two of my classes, I really have no idea where I stand going into finals season. Furthermore, this trend seemed to be true with everyone I spoke to, no matter their major or year. A large part of this has to do with the nature of many college classes, in which grades are based on a few large assignments. In other words, it is understandably hard to give an estimate based only a few graded assignments. Nevertheless, students should be able to at least have a grasp on whether they are performing as well as they hope to be. Grades can motivate students into working harder as the semester nears its end, and it troubleshoots classes to which students should devote more of their effort. For example,
if a student knew they had a borderline grade in one class and an extremely high grade in another, they would know to focus their attention on the class with the borderline grade. For the ridiculous amount of money NYU students are paying, this is not too much to ask. After all, we are the ones doing the work, and our grades should be constantly updated to reflect our performance. One of the first things parents always seem to ask when they call about college is, “How are your grades?” Unfortunately, many people I know cannot give their parents a quality answer. My parents don’t even believe me because it seems ridiculous that after three months of hard work, professors could not even give an idea of where we stand overall. However, this is the reality in far too many NYU classes. The administration has a system in place to prevent this, the midterm grade deadline, and it is time it is finally enforced.
Email Andrew Heying at opinion@nyunews.com.
POLITICS
It’s on Us to Hold Trump Accountable By ANNIE COHEN Staff Writer It has been a challenge to settle back into a normal routine since Donald Trump was elected president. Things that I believe to be fundamentally true about humanity — that we value kindness over hate, truth over lies — have now been called into question. No, I’m not a spoiled crybaby, as our prospective Secretary of State, Rudy Giuliani, would have you believe. I just have a hard time understanding how America, in the year 2016, could have elected a racist, misogynist and xenophobic bully to the highest office in the land. Granted, university circles, especially in places like New York, can act as liberal echo chambers as we all affirm our social consciousness to a blinding fault. Even so, I believed that the commitment to the foundational American values of freedom and liberty, no matter a person’s race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, extended far beyond our campuses. I was mistaken. There are people everywhere who share these ide-
SUBMITTING TO
11
als, but not enough to keep a man like Trump away from elected office. This election has done nothing but prove the urgency of how much work remains to be done. Usually during these tough times we turn to trusted authority figures — our parents, teachers, national leaders. But this time, they are as stumped as we are. Worse still, some of them are able to put on decency blinders and sacrifice their own principles and standards in favor of their own self-interest. Since Trump was elected, he has done little to quell any fears about what his presidency means. He is filling his cabinet and White House staff with many of the basket of deplorables his opponents and critics correctly feared. The systems of checks and balances that were supposed to pre-
vent these sort of issues have failed us. Our leaders have failed us. Our sense of right and wrong — that good triumphs over evil — has failed us. Where are we supposed to go from here? I’m not entirely sure. But the one thing that is for certain is that we can’t continue to hope that there is going to be some magic fix to this issue. No, the Electoral College is not going to go rogue and vote against Trump. No, Jill Stein is not going to swoop in and save the day with her last-minute recount. The only appropriate response in the wake of these events is organization. We, the non-deplorable — the decent, the caring, the tolerant — must actively choose to not let Trump and the values he stands for slip by unnoticed or unchecked. This doesn’t end with cabinet appointments. After Trump’s inauguration, this duty only becomes more and more serious. Now is not the time for compromise. It is the time for vigilance, and the time for action.
Email Annie Cohen at opinion@nyunews.com.
President Hamilton: History Has Its Eyes on You
During his first calendar year at NYU, President Andrew Hamilton has worked to achieve the many goals he outlined at the beginning of his tenure. Hamilton began his presidency promising changes throughout the university, starting with listening to the concerns of both faculty members and students. He also pledged to address the growing challenge of affordability at NYU and promised to make diversity and inclusivity a cornerstone of his administration. Hamilton’s goals were bold and optimistic; they reflected the sentiments of the NYU community in the wake of a Sexton presidency. The message initially put forth by the Hamilton administration was an admirable one, and his commitment to increased transparency and communication remains evident. Hamilton has made good on his promises to meet with both faculty members and students to discuss key issues, such as the Divest movement and the Incarceration to Education Coalition effort. The actions of his administration have been a stark contrast to those of his predecessor, John Sexton. He has held multiple town hall meetings on the subject of affordability and instituted reductions in the planned yearly tuition increases. Most recently, Hamilton has pledged to tackle big ticket issues such as diversity at NYU, the flaws in our global network and longterm affordability. These goals, while commendable, do not lend themselves to practical or easy solutions. Rather than commit to abstract ideas like affordability and diversity, where it is difficult to gauge success, Hamilton ought to set up more easily achievable benchmarks so that the NYU community can watch the progress as it happens. It is not enough to simply establish a task force built on vague ideas without reasonable objectives. When goals are too lofty from the start, as some of Hamilton’s are, it sets them on a path towards failure. However, when there is clear evidence of progress on Hamilton’s projects, as there was with the IEC meetings and housing and meal plans cost increases, it affirms the community’s trust in him and his goals. So far Hamilton’s administration has been a promising one, especially when viewed in conjunction with the actions of those who came before him. The president’s unambiguous commitment to diversity, inclusion and transparency — as well as his obvious enthusiasm for the job — should be an encouraging sign to all NYU students and faculty that change is soon to come. His methods, however, need to be as practical as they are noble. Hamilton has already assured the community that his administration will work to protect undocumented students, and in the coming years the onus will be on him to live up to this promise and his many others. It is clear that, with a realistic plan in place, he is more than capable of living up to the challenge.
Email the WSN Editorial Board at opinion@nyunews.com. EDITORIAL BOARD: Emily Fong (Chair), Paris Martineau (Co-chair), Akshay Prabhushankar (Co-chair), Thomas Price (Co-chair) STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BEARZI
Send mail to: 75 Third Ave. #SB07, New York, N.Y. 10003 or email: opinion@nyunews.com WSN welcomes letters to the editor, opinion pieces and articles relevant to the NYU community, or in response to articles. Letters should be less than 450 words. All submissions must be typed or emailed and must include the author’s name, address and phone number. Members of the NYU community must include a year and school or job title. WSN does
not print unsigned letters or editorials. WSN reserves the right to reject any submission and edit accepted submissions in any and all ways. With the exception of the staff editorial, opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
12
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
SPORTS
EDITED BY RACHEL RUECKER SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Violet Hockey by the Numbers By RACHEL RUECKER Sports Editor
NYU hockey’s Thanksgiving break provides the perfect opportunity to check in on the team’s progress just over a dozen games into the 2016-17 season. Here’s a cross-section of the squad, by the numbers: 12-2: The Violets’ record 14 games into their 25-game regular season. 70: Goals for the Violets. 35: Goals against the Violets. .940: Freshman goalie Adam Salisbury’s team-leading save percentage. 0: Salisbury and junior goaltender Jack Nebe’s combined losses this season.
12: Sophomore defenseman Connor Finocchio’s team-leading plus/minus. 19: Points each for Violet leaders, junior forward Michael Conslato and sophomore forward Mason Gallegos. 11: Team-leading goal total for Conslato. 16: Team-leading assist total for sophomore forward John Kowalewski. 29: Penalty minutes for Connor Finocchio, the team’s leader. 25: Goals scored for the Violets on the power play. 4: Violet games remaining before the turn of the calendar year. 1: Canadian on the team,
senior defenseman Evan Ripley. 530: The approximate number of miles from New York to Columbus, where the 2017 National Tournament the Violets hope to be playing in will be held. The Violets play again next weekend in New Hampshire at Keene State College on Saturday, Dec. 3 before heading to Boston to play Northeastern on Sunday, Dec. 4. They make their homecoming appearance at the Sky Rink the following weekend on Friday, Dec. 9 against Marist College for their penultimate game of 2016.
Email Rachel Ruecker at rruecker@nyunews.com.
PHOTO BY BRENDAN GUTENSCHWAGER
The NYU Hockey team has enjoyed smooth sailing so far this season.
Violet Alum Ralph Branca Passes By MICHAEL THOMPSON Staff Writer
PHOTO BY GRACE HALIO
Winter is a time filled with family memories like skiing, skating and game-outings.
Staff Winter Sports Traditions By WSN Staff With Thanksgiving now in our rearview mirror — and despite Kmart’s insistence that it began in September — the winter holiday season is officially a go. And the winter season brings with it winter sports, so we here at WSN reflected on some of our favourite winter sports traditions and memories. For as long as I can remember, the World Junior Hockey Championships have marked the holiday season. Historically beginning on Boxing Day, the World Juniors are like the Canadian equivalent of college football (in my completely unbiased and expert opinion) in terms of cultishness. The winters of my childhood spent with the World Juniors’ constant presence are what first exposed me to the Canada-Russia hockey rivalry, as they met often in the gold-medal throughout the 2000s, with each team winning their fair share of titles. I remember the 2015 tournament being one of the longest hockey games of my life. After Canada took the championship game over Russia in a nail-biting 5-4 decision, I rewatched it with my breath unheld. In recent years, the gap has opened and more and more nations are growing competitive, but the
World Junior fervour in Canada will always be something extra special to me. Seeing young, talented guys enter the limelight and represent their country for the first time on one of hockey’s biggest stages is just so pure. Add in the holidays and it might even feel a little magical. — Rachel Ruecker, Sports Editor BADGERS GAMES! My family's from Wisconsin, and naturally, football's a big part of our social culture. Plus, my dad has spent literally his entire life selling sports retail, so it's safe to say we watched the games a little more than most. I went to my first Badgers game at the ripe age of three weeks old, tucked inside my mom's huge windbreaker on a chilly November day (oh, those ‘90s vibes). I didn't see much of the game, and I certainly don't remember it, but I like to laugh thinking about the people my mom freaked out when a baby would poke its head out of a jacket that just looked like it was covering a bulky woman. Ever since, I've loved going to sporting events of all kinds, and the Badgers will always be my team. — Hailey Nuthals, Arts Editor Every January break when I'm home from college, my
best friends from high school and I get together early in the morning and go for a run. We follow an old 5K race loop that we used to run with our track team. Even though it's freezing out and the run makes my insides feel like they're on fire because of how out of shape I am, there's nothing better than seeing my best friends and knowing that we can motivate each other. — Grace Halio, Deputy Managing Editor When I was a kid, my family would go see the Everett Silvertips every New Year's Eve. We'd bundle up, find a near impossible parking spot and spend way too much money on pretzels and drinks (non-alcoholic). There was something about spending the night with a bunch of drunken hockey-goers that was — while extremely scarring for little ones because nobody needs to see that — a great family outing, as sports are exciting at any age. We stopped going a while ago, however, because our family is too big and we can't afford buying jerseys for my brothers every year, but it was fun while it lasted. — Anna Letson, Multimedia Editor
Email the Sports Desk at sports@nyunews.com.
Ralph Branca, beloved Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher and former NYU Violet, has passed away in Rye Brook, New York. He is best known for surrendering Bobby Thomson’s walkoff home run in the third and deciding game of the 1951 NL tiebreaker against the New York Giants. He was 90. Branca was born and raised in Mount Vernon, the 15th of 17 children, and attended what was at the time named A. B. Davis High School. He then spent a year at NYU, where he showed signs of his professional potential. Branca was a multi-sport athlete in college, playing both basketball and baseball for the Violets. Signed by the Dodgers in 1943, Branca made his major league debut in 1944 and continued to improve as a reliever before becoming a starter in 1947. That year, Branca stood with Jackie Robinson, who was making his major league debut, when other players refused to stand next to him. Branca made the All-Star Game three consecutive seasons from 1947 to 1949, with a combined 48-26 record and 3.52 ERA. However, Branca would forever be remembered in 1951, when he was called to the mound to face Thomson in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Giants with a two-run lead and the winning run at the plate. Thomson delivered, ripping Branca’s fastball into the left field seats to clinch the pennant with the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” one of baseball’s most dramatic moments. Branca took the loss in stride and with grace even as rumors of sign
stealing by the Giants swirled, and he eventually became close friends with Thomson. He finished his career with an 88-68 record and 3.79 ERA. Branca’s passing was met with praise and admiration. “I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends and fellow admirers of Ralph Branca, a three-time All-Star, a friend of Jackie Robinson and a former president and board member of the Baseball Assistance Team,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Ralph was a true gentleman who earned universal respect in the game he loved and served so well.” His son-in-law, Bobby Valentine, remembered Branca on social media. “In his 91st year on earth he left us with [the] same dignity and grace that defined his every day on earth,” Valentine wrote on Twitter. “He will be truly missed.” Branca is survived by his wife, Anne, two daughters and three grandsons.
Email Michael Thompson at sports@nyunews.com.
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Brooklyn Dodgers MLB star and NYU alum Ralph Branca passed away on Wednesday.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
SPORTS Wrestling 2-0 in Grapple at the Garden
EDITED BY RACHEL RUECKER SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
By RACHEL RUECKER Sports Editor
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Shaye McGoey was one of four to score in the double figures in NYU’s victory against the Staten Island Dolphins.
Basketball: Women Roll On, Men Split By MICHAEL THOMPSON Staff Writer
With just a short break for Thanksgiving, the NYU basketball teams were on the court before the holiday and shortly after. This week proved successful for the women’s team, who remained undefeated after facing the College of Mount Saint Vincent and College of Staten Island. Meanwhile, the men lost their first game of the year, beating John Jay College before falling to Yeshiva University on Sunday. It was business as usual for the women’s squad, which now has beaten all five of its opponents by double digits. The Violets traveled to Riverdale the day before Thanksgiving and dominated Mount Saint Vincent 71-54. The result was never in question as the Violets outscored their opponents 20-9 in the first quarter and outscored them by 10 in the third. Although they only shot 36 percent from the field, the Violets again dominated on the defensive end, combining for 23 steals and 39 points off of turnovers. Six Violets scored at least five points, with freshman forward Lauren Brown leading the way with 20. Freshman guard Shaye McGoey added 15 points, while forward Kayla Patterson continued her solid freshman year with 10 rebounds. With their Thanksgiving dinner barely digested, the Violets put on their most prolific performance of the season against Staten Island, scoring 31 points in the first quarter en route to an 84-69 win. After focusing on defense for much of their first several games, the Violets had the hot hand, shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 10-19 from behind the arc. The Violets started the game on a 9-0 run, courtesy of three shots from downtown in the first three minutes. From there the Violets stayed in control and never trailed. Senior guard Kaitlyn Read led the Violets with 22 points and nine re-
13
bounds on a day in which three of her teammates also scored in the double digits. Senior guard Amy Harioka scored 16 points and added on four assists, while Patterson finished with 14 points and seven boards. Patterson was excited about what this early success indicates for the future of the team. “This year is such a fresh start with so many new faces,” Patterson said. “Last night was a glimpse of our potential as a team. Offensively, I felt that our team began to find a rhythm which really helped us to grow.” The results were mixed for the men’s squad, who beat John Jay 63-50 on Tuesday. The first half was tight before the Violets used a 9-0 run to pull ahead 32-25. John Jay cut the lead to three points midway through the second half, but the Violets continued to sink clutch baskets, expanding the lead to as much as 16 to secure the win. Junior guard Ross Udine continued to act as the team’s spark, scoring 19 points on 5-16 shooting. Senior guard Joe Timmes added 14 points and eight rebounds, and freshman forward Ted Georgiadis grabbed 11 boards. However, the Violets finally tasted defeat Sunday, dropping their first game of the young season against Yeshiva 83-68. The Violets fell behind 12-2 in the first half and couldn’t climb back as Yeshiva controlled the game throughout. The Violets shot 44.4 percent from the field but only 5-20 from three-point range compared to Yeshiva’s 10-23. Georgiadis and freshman guard Cameron Moore combined for 29 points, while Udine and freshman forward Jimmy Martinelli tacked on 10 apiece. The women’s squad returns to the court at the Hunter Sportsplex Tuesday against SUNY New Paltz. Looking to rebound, the men face Hunter College on Sunday.
Email Michael Thompson at sports@nyunews.com.
After a mighty Thanksgiving meal, NYU athletics still had to take to the field — or mat — this weekend to continue their seasons. The Grapplers participated in the exciting Grapple at the Garden, emerging with success to further their hot streak. The Violet fencers had a tough time as they took on Columbia at NYU.
Wrestling On Sunday, the NYU Grapplers headed to Madison Square Garden, hoping to improve on their performance there last year and continue their phenomenal record this season. That they did, winning both matches. Beginning with their early morning set against Johns Hopkins, the Grapplers devoured their opponent 27-13. The team was strong all around, with a good portion of the team winning their bouts. Later in the day, against the Muhlenberg College Mules, the Violets were even more dominant, coming away with a 37-12 win. The Grapplers hope to wrestle their season to further success
this weekend against Liu Post in Brookville on Friday and against Hunter College at home in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Fencing After a canceled tilt two weeks ago, NYU’s DI team played in the Columbia Challenge Cup on Tuesday, interestingly hosted at NYU’s very own Kimmel Center. Both teams struggled, with NYU ultimately losing. The men’s team kept it close with a 13-14 loss. They fought a hard battle against Columbia and came away with plenty to be proud of.
The women’s team, on the other hand, suffered a devastating 25-2 loss to their uptown Ivy League foes. The strong Lions took the Violets without much of a fight. Though the team has plenty to look forward to, however, with many freshmen and sophomores dotting this year’s lineup. The next step for the fencers will be this weekend as they open December with the Tradition Tournament at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Email Rachel Ruecker at rruecker@nyunews.com.
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Stephanie Cunningham achieved the NYU Women’s Fencing team’s sole victory in its duel against Columbia on Tuesday.
Interested in working with us?
Come to our Sunday pitch meetings
NEWS & OPINION | 3 P.M. FEATURES & SPORTS | 3:30 P.M. UNDER THE ARCH | 3:30 P.M. ARTS | 4 P.M. PHOTO/MULTIMEDIA | 4:30 P.M.
75 3rd Ave #SB07
VISIT WSNHIGHLIGHTER.COM FOR WEEKLY TV REVIEWS, CONCERT RECAPS AND MORE
UNDER THE ARCH WSN’S CREATIVE WRITING BLOG
COME TO OUR SUNDAY PITCH MEETINGS 75 3RD AVE. #SB07 | 4:30 P.M.
@nyunews
@nyunews
INFORMING YOU FIRST
NYUNEWS.COM
Email tips@nyunews.com to report stories
Washington Square News
SUBSCRIBE TO THE
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
BLOGS
Editor-in-Chief
ADVERTISING
ALEX BAZELEY Managing Editor
BOBBY WAGNER deputy GRACE HALIO
violet vision SOPHIE SHAW the highlighter DEJARELLE GAINES under the arch TIA RAMOS
BUSINESS MANAGER
ALEX HANSON SALES MANAGER
Assistant Managing Editor ABBEY WILSON
RHEA NAYAK
Creative Directors
DEVIN PADILLA
CIRCULATION MANAGER
WENXUAN NI EASTON SELF
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, W MEDIA GROUP
Digital Director
UNIVERSITY SALES MANAGER
NINA JANG Multimedia
ANNA LETSON
deputy multimedia POLINA BUCHAK video TATIANA PEREZ deputy photo VERONICA LIOW. EUAN
PRENTIS, RYAN QUAN deputy video CLARISSA DAVIS, VIOLA MAI Social Media Editors
JESSICA MARTINEZ SOPHIE LEWIS deputy CASSIDY MILLER
GRACE ROGERS ALISON RAO GRAPHIC DESIGNER
VIKAS NAIR SALES REPRESENTATIVE
ALLISON LAMBDIN SALES ASSOCIATES
ELISE BURKETT, MAKENA MUELLER CIRCULATION ASSISTANT
APOORVA NORI
SENIOR STAFF
news DIAMOND NAGA SIU arts HAILEY NUTHALS features ABIGAIL WEINBERG sports RACHEL RUECKER copy ZOE HALL, ANNA YAO
DEPUTY STAFF
news SAYER DEVLIN, NATASHA ROY,
JEMIMA MCEVOY features ANKITA BHANOT beauty & style GABRIELLA BOWER dining TAYLOR ROGERS film ETHAN SAPIENZA entertainment JORDAN REYNOLDS music GILCHRIST GREEN theater/books ALLI PIERSON abroad ANNE CRUZ copy QIANQIAN LI
OPINION PAGE opinion editor
EMILY FONG deputy opinion editors
PARIS MARTINEAU, AKSHAY PRABHUSHANKAR, THOMAS PRICE
ADVISING DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
NANCI HEALY EDITORIAL ADVISER
RACHEL HOLLIDAY SMITH EDITORS-AT-LARGE
HANNAH SHULMAN, ZACH MARTIN, THOMAS DEVLIN
About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published in print on Mondays and throughout the week online during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods. Corrections: WSN is committed to accurate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact the managing editors at managing@nyunews.com or at 212.998.4302.
NEWSLETTER
HAVE ALL OF OUR DAILY HEADLINES SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX EMAIL NEWSLETTER@NYUNEWS.COM TO SUBSCRIBE
STAFF PHOTO BY EUAN PRENTIS