NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
washington square news Vol. 40, No. 5
wednesday, february 1, 2012
nyunews.com
Online retailer transforms how to shop
New Yorkers ranked as rudest
By Ayden Rosenberg Founded in July 2011 by model and former investment banker Olga Vidisheva, shoptiques. com is a new online retailer that marries the originality of privately owned boutiques with the affordability and accessibility of mass-produced brands. Vidisheva, a recent graduate of Harvard Business School, came up with the idea for Shoptiques after she fell madly in love with a pair of pumps at a trendy Parisian boutique. “If she wasn’t there, on that day at that time in that country, she never would have even known they existed,” said Chelsea Sun, NYU graduate and vice president of Shoptiques. “And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that you shouldn’t have to get on a plane to find a distinctive piece. So she decided to do something about it.”
R SHOPTIQUES continued on PG. 4
By Claire Zajdel
James Kelleher/WSN
Girl Scouts of the USA executive leaders hosted a panel yesterday announcing the launch of a new cause campaign dedicated to girls’ leadership.
Travel + Leisure magazine released the results of its annual online survey last week, and New York City won the title of rudest city in America. Each year, the magazine allows online readers to rank large cities throughout America in categories including Cleanliness, Safety, Ethnic Dining and Architecture. In the most recent America’s Favorite Cities survey, New York City received the lowest score by non-residents in the Friendly category. Whether or not New Yorkers truly have a bad attitude or it just appears that way to outsiders has yet to be determined. NYU sociology professor Dalton Conley said it may be the diversity and pace of the city that gives people this impression. “First, New York City is fastpaced, so we don’t reserve a lot
R RUDE continued on PG. 3
Udacity makes online education available to all By Jessica Schultz David Evans taught his first computer science class to nine students 10 years ago. But Evans, an associate professor at the University of Virginia, will teach at a different kind of school this spring — an online university called Udacity. Founded by three roboticists, Udacity offers an alternative medium for education to students who do not have enough money or time to attend a traditional university. Registration for the courses began last Saturday, and thousands have already signed up. Co-founder Sebastian Thrun hopes 500,000 will have enrolled by the start of classes later this month. “The vast majority of the world’s population cannot afford the costs of traditional higher education, cannot spend four years
devoting all their time to it and doesn’t live nearby an elite university,” Evans said. “High-quality online higher education has the opportunity to serve these students in ways that traditional universities cannot.” Starting Feb. 20, the site will offer two courses: Programming a Robotic Car and Building a Search Engine. Each course will run for seven weeks, and students will receive a certificate signed by the professors upon completion of the course. Last fall, Udacity offered its first course, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Evans, who will teach Building a Search Engine and contributed to the development of Udacity, said the university has plans to expand in the future. In 2012, the university hopes to add eight more courses and expand
to a more comprehensive computer science program. Catharine Stimpson, professor at the Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy, said she is interested to see how the site will develop over the next few months. “Online education is promising, but it’s the question of quality,” she said. “How much are people really learning and what can they do with it after the course is over?” Evans said though his course may not offer the one-on-one attention a normal university course may provide, he hopes to keep the class engaged through interactive quizzes, during lectures and with weekly homework assignments. Steinhardt freshman Haley Kim said the site could help to change education in the future. “I think it really is the beginning of a whole new era of education,”
via udacity.com
Udacity will offer two new courses this spring. she said. “It’s a much simpler way, and obviously with two professors from top-tier universities you’re going to get the same information that you would here at NYU.”
Jessica Schultz is a deputy city/state editor. Email her at jschultz@nyunews.com.