NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
washington square news Vol. 40, No. 8
Monday, february 6, 2012
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NYU Law uncovers anti-Islam NYPD film
Co-located classes connect campuses
Since the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law exposed police documents two weeks ago, Muslim organizations have been calling for the resignation of police commissioner Ray Kelly and top aide Paul Brown for screening the film “The Third Jihad.” The BCJ obtained documents which revealed that the film was screened to over 1,000 New York Police Department officials during their training sessions. Though the NYPD investigated how the film was shown to trainees, they did not disclose their findings to the public, The New York Times reported. The 72-minute film accuses Islamic groups of attempting to infiltrate and overthrow the American society, The Times said. It also included an interview with Kelly who, according to The Times, discussed the threat of nuclear or biological terror at-
Students sitting in New York City’s Washington Square Park and Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island are closing the global gap this semester. Since spring 2011, NYU has been developing a series of co-located classes, bringing students and their ideas together from across the globe. To bring students faceto-face with their global counterparts, three courses have used videoconferencing technology, including Skype and Gchat. Two classes began the global connection last spring. Students in the Translation as Multimedia Practice and Metaphor class conversed with each other about the different translations of cultural texts in their respective countries. This semester, Mary Kallilea, an environmental studies professor collaborated with marine biology professor John Burt in a parallel class that examined
By Kristine Itliong
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By Hanqing Chen
Rachel Kaplan/WSN
Students in the U-Hall Commons Cafe celebrate the New York Giant’s 21-17 Super Bowl victory.
Men’s basketball triumphant By John Axelrod
NYU men’s basketball improved to 17-2 after winning both away games this weekend at Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve University. On Friday, the Violets avenged their loss last week to the Carnegie Mellon Tartans with an 8876 victory. NYU built a 12-point lead with 1:34 remaining in the first half, but Carnegie Mellon cut their deficit to six by making two three-pointers before the halftime break. The game was tied at 49 with 13:40 left on the clock. The Violets took control of the game with a 12-0 run and held the lead for the rest of the game. NYU continued to shoot well from the field, making 62.8 percent of their shots. Junior captain Kyle Stockmal and junior forward Carl Yaffe combined for 43 of the team’s total points. Yaffe made 8 of 10 shot attempts and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Stockmal, who plays guard for the Violets, recorded a team-high three steals. Senior captain and center Andy Stein
and sophomore guard Ryan Tana also reached double figures in points. Stein contributed 15 points, five rebounds and five assists while Tana scored 10 points and recorded five assists. Yaffe and Stockmal had another great game against the Case Western Reserve Spartans
yesterday. With a career-best 36 points, Yaffe scored the secondhighest point total by an NYU player in the past 22 years. The third-year forward also led the team with seven rebounds. “We were able to get the ball to Carl when he was open and he shot extraordinarily well,”
File photo by David Lin
Junior captain Kyle Stockmal recorded a team-high three steals. R SPORTS continued on PG. 4
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Alum leads cancer support organization By Brittany VanBibber At just 16, Tommy Head was on a medical mission. The Stern graduate started the Childhood Cancer Society, a nonprofit organization that supports families with children who have cancer through gift donations and helps with medical bills. Two other current NYU students, Tisch senior Adam Butterfield and Steinhardt senior Chelsea Cohen, work with Head, who graduated last spring. Butterfield volunteers as chief fundraising officer, while Cohen is the fundraising coordinator. Cohen also created the Good Vibes T-shirts that CSS sells for donations. “Our main goal is to help families struggling with childhood cancer in whatever way we can,” Head said. “We focus on donations that directly help the family and the patient.” Head’s interest in childhood cancer began at age seven, when he was diagnosed with a low platelet count. Originally,
doctors thought Head had leukemia, so he spent a lot of time in hospitals around children with cancer. After extensive blood work, lab technicians determined Head had Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, a condition of having abnormally low platelet count of an unknown cause that is not cancer. Head then realized he wanted to help children afflicted by cancer. “People really do feel good about what they’re [donating] because they know that the people involved truly believe in the message and the cause,” Head said. “It’s not a business. It’s very much so a cause that we believe very strongly in.” Last week, the CCS team participated in the Showtime Walk of Shameless competition, where they each walked on treadmills for 12 hours at a time to raise money. People from all over texted and tweeted for the participants
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New record set at Wing Bowl eating extravaganza
Japanese Wing Bowl competitor, Takeru Kobayashi, set a record of eating 337 chicken wings in 30 minutes at the 20th annual Wing Bowl at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Wing Bowl, which reeled in over 17,000 spectators last Friday, is a competition held every Super Bowl Weekend by sports talk radio station 94WIP. The contest consists of two 14-minute elimination rounds and a twominute Wing Off. Of the 26 professional eaters who participated, only Kobayashi broke the previous record of 255 wings set by Jonathan “Super Squibb” Squibb. — Reuters
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nyunews.com | monday, february 6, 2012 | Washington Square news
Financial aid 101 By Cici Chen Financial aid brings some students salvation while leaving others in the abyss, and more likely the latter than the former. It is the time of year to renew or apply for financial aid. Here is a step-by-step guide to NYU’s financial aid system. The paper work — Free Application for Student Aid is the form required for all returning students who want to renew or start their financial aid. FAFSA must be resubmitted every year regardless of the type of aid. NYU, in particular, must receive a validated FAFSA by March 1. Don’t wait until March 1 to start the process — do it now. The new episode of “30 Rock” is not worth the amount of money at stake. Remember: Regardless of the federal FAFSA deadline, file by March 1. It is the deadline for students planning to attend next spring or summer too, so don’t slack off. Also, complete your federal taxes before completing FAFSA — it will make your life easier. Flavors of financial aid — There are scholarship and grants, federal loans and student employment, which you are automatically considered for when you submit your forms. Here’s the shortlist of big federal loans and grants: Pell Grant — Need-based grants for students from low-income families with no interest rate. Perkins Loans — Need-based loans for low-income students. The catch is this loan involves a low interest rate. Stafford Loan — These loans come with a fixed interest rate of 3.4 percent through the William D. Ford Federal
By Amy Zhang President Barack Obama recently outlined a financial aid overhaul that will put more pressure on colleges to keep costs low for students. This could open a federal financial aid debate that will be crucial to NYU students, who attend one of the costliest colleges in the country. The proposed plan includes funding increases to a number of financial resources for low-income students. Obama presented an increase in the number of work-study jobs, Perkins loans and a $1 billion grant competition for higher education similar to his Race to the Top program. However, it creates a competitive atmosphere and grants more funding to colleges that facilitate the financial aid process for students. His proposal comes at a time of national unrest, as statistics show students and parents are shouldering more student loan debt than ever. At NYU, debt burden per student is 45 percent higher than the national average — meaning NYU students take on $11,000 more in debt than the average college student in the U.S., according to a report by the Village Voice. Andrew Ross, NYU professor and leading figure of last year’s campaign to Occupy Student Debt, expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the plan. “A responsibility on the part of national leaders like Obama is to actually talk turkey rather than tinker and offer these slight technical adjustments to the system,” Ross said. “I don’t know if it is a step in the right direction. Reforms are being proposed when they’re dancing around the room of the volcano.” NYU spokesman John Beckman said he believes Obama’s goal is noble, but the cur-
rent proposal omits too much to predict NYU’s future. “I don’t know an administrator or educational leader who isn’t worried about college affordability,” Beckman said. “However there are simply too few details about how the program would be implemented to discuss its impact on NYU.” According to Beckman, the proposal would likely take note that NYU enrolls more Pell grant-eligible students than other colleges and spends over $180 million per year on institutional grant aids for undergraduates. Randi Amalfitano, an LSP sophomore who works for America Reads through her work-study funds, said she is glad the president is paying attention to students’ financial needs. “[My work study] becomes my main source of spending money, which is imperative to have when you live in New York City,” Amalfitano said. “I just hope that my money will not continue to be cut,” she added. However, Ross said this plan as indicative of a reactionary administration, and not a solution to students’ increasing debt. “Unless our leading policy leaders make an effort to sit down and talk about set terms, they’re really just dancing,” Ross said. Looking to the future of these federal financial aid policy debates, Beckman highlighted how the quality rather than the cost of NYU’s education should be put at the forefront of all considerations. “True academic excellence cannot be had cheaply,” he said. Amy Zhang is deputy managing editor. Email her at azhang@nyunews.com.
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NYU Law exposes discrimination within NYPD tacks in the city but did not criticize the Muslim community. As part of its ongoing investigation of state and local law enforcement, the BCJ sent a Freedom of Information Law request to the NYPD last April. It asked for copies of training materials in addition to policies and procedures for training programs and presentations. Michael Price, an attorney for the Liberty and National Security Program at the BCJ, wrote an appeal last December after receiving no documents. Three weeks later, the NYPD sent 20 pages of documents, 16 of which the BCJ had already seen. “The real meat of it was about four pages at the end that detailed an internal investigation the NYPD conducted,” Price said. “The fact that the film itself was shown,
Obama college aid sparks skepticism
Direct Loan Program. Work-study — A federal grant that requires an on-campus job to get the money. Scholarships and grants are clearly the best choice since they do not need to be repaid. But they are only available to a small number of students, so apply early and to as many as you can. Federal loans are the most common way to pay for school. They are backed by the government, which means students can pay low or subsidized interest rates and usually don’t start paying back until after graduation. Money that won’t come from government offers — Join the club of international students who were never qualified for any financial aid through NYU in the first place. Anyone can explore private scholarships or grants from an outside organization or agency using online scholarship search services. However, such services are not verified or endorsed by NYU, so be careful. Students from other states should contact financial aid agencies of their own states for possible funds that can be used at NYU. Here are some useful websites to look at if you’re searching for some creative scholarship sources: scholarships.com, fastweb.com and meritaid.com. If you’re still confused, call or visit the NYU Office of Financial Aid. There is also additional information on their website, if you’re willing to navigate it. Also, if you’re not in too much of a hurry, check out the Financial Aid Information Sessions offered between now and Feb. 22. Cici Chen is a contributing writer. Email her at investigative@nyunews.com.
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and that it took a complaint to stop it really suggests a lack of oversight in the NYPD.” Gallatin professor Scott Korb believes similarly: “Since it was shown during NYPD training sessions, this propaganda film seems to have been positioned to shape rather than reflect people’s attitude about Muslim. The greater worry is that it may also reflect an official position of the NYPD.” More recently, the Associated Press reported that NYPD has been recommending an increase in surveillance of mosques and Muslim community centers. In response to the information from the AP and NYU Law, Muslim organizations gathered outside of police headquarters in Foley Square last Friday. Elizabeth Dan, outreach chair of NYU’s Muslim Law Students Association,
said prejudice against Muslims exists because many Americans do not understand Islam entirely. She attributed this to the lack of available, accurate information about Islam and the misinformation in propaganda like “The Third Jihad.” “It’s really difficult to find good information out there, even for myself, a Muslim, and that is our fault,” Dan said. “Muslims can and should speak more, but there is a widespread misinformation campaign that is fueled in part by prejudice and in part by politics. We know that people are taught to fear us and what we purportedly stand for.” No official investigation, however, has begun. Kristine Itliong is a deputy city/state editor. Email her at kitliong@nyunews.com.
NYU links global campuses changing coastal ecosystems by collecting data from their respective cities. “The idea is for the students enrolled in this course to have a nearly identical learning experience, regardless of where they are in the NYU global network,” Burt said. “Students in Abu Dhabi and New York will obviously be sampling different locations, but they will be sharing that data through an online database and making comparisons between campuses.” A time difference between the two cities means New York students go to class at 8 a.m. while students in Abu Dhabi meet at 2:30 p.m., but the experience is still intimate and well tuned. “Our current videoconferencing room looks and feels like students from both campuses are together in the same room,” he said. Like every transition, however, difficulties arise. “At each seat was a microphone on the table that we could turn on and off,” she said. “[But] there was a slight time lag, so students on one end would begin laughing before students on the other end could hear what the joke was.” CAS sophomore Evelyn Cheng said despite the simultaneous nature of the class, technical difficulties bogged down her experience. “We didn’t have much interaction with students on the Abu Dhabi side,” she said. “It was difficult working with the student from Abu Dhabi because of the time difference and busy schedules.” Despite the technical stumbles, the co-
File photo by Jane Timm
NYU’s co-linked classes use videoconferencing technology. located classes have been slowly expanding their repertoire of subjects over the last couple of semesters. NYU has also organized classes that have moved from campus to campus. They have explored themes including global climate change and social entrepreneurship, said NYUAD deputy vice chancellor Hilary Ballon. “We’re trying to show that there is no universal way of learning, that there are always multiple perspectives,” she added. Although plans are not set in stone, NYUAD spokesman Josh Taylor said future co-located classes were in development. “We always look for opportunities to bring students and faculty together across the global network, and so there will certainly be additional courses in the future,” he said. Hanqing Chen is investigative editor. Email her at hchen@nyunews.com.
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Washington Square news | MONDAY, february 6, 2012 | nyunews.com
SPORTS
edited by Daniel Hinton SPOrts@nyunews.com
MBBALL continued from PG. 1
Men’s basketball dominates head coach Joe Nesci said. Tana and junior forward Max Wein recorded career-highs with eight assists and six steals, respectively. Stockmal, who had another strong day in the field, made 8 of 11 shots for 23 points. “We had great execution by all of our players,” Nesci said. “We got great ball movement and were able to find the open guys.” NYU is currently tied with Washington University for first place in the University Athletic Association and ranked 19th in
Division III men’s basketball. “We still need to improve in order to accomplish our goals, but we definitely have a shot at winning the UAA with the way we are playing now,” Nesci said. The Violets will play on Tuesday at Coles Sports Center against SUNY New Paltz. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. John Axelrod is a staff writer. Email him at sports@nyunews.com.
Track and field sees new personal records By Sara Levy NYU men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in Manhattan last Friday and in the Sean McElligott Invitational at Haverford College in Haverford, Penn., last Saturday. “Place was not as important at these meets as it is at most because we were competing against really strong teams,” junior Georgina Norton said. Norton finished the 1,000-meter race in a team-high 3:01.15. Freshman Alyssa Binczyk also ran the 1,000-meter race in 3:03.35. “I think I could have ran a more tactical race, but it was a personal best so that was good,” Binczyk said. Binczyk was the only member of the Violets to run in a race on both days. “I definitely felt more in control during the 1,600 on Saturday,” Binczyk, who placed sixth with a time of 5:19.84. Many runners finished with teamand career-highs. “I ran a season-best time and was only one second slower than my personal best,” Norton said. “In my heat, I was moving up and passing people through the race, so that was a big confidence boost.” Senior Laura Santoski, who finished in 10:19.06, said she tied her personal best time for the 3k. “I was able to run a consistent pace throughout the race and pass people near the end,” she added. Senior Paige Zelinsky led the Violets in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 10:07.65. Senior captain Maeve Evans joined her team in setting personal records. Evans ran the 3,000-meter race right in front of Santoski with a time of 10:09.7. “Lots of people ran personal records, and personally, it was another step in the right direction in terms of getting back into shape after being injured,” Evans said. The men’s team also kept up
Divided weekend for wrestling team By Cole Riley NYU wrestling split their four matches at the Centennial Conference Duals on Saturday, in Lexington, Va. The Violets defeated Muhlenberg College 45-12 and Washington and Lee University 36-16 but fell to Ursinus College and McDaniel College 30-9 and 23-15, respectively. Junior Jake Pawlowski dominated the 184-pound division at the meet. Pawlowski earned three victories, including a pin against Muhleberg’s John Sternlicht. “Jake had a good weekend and I hope he keeps the momentum going into Centennial Championships,” assistant
Courtesy of NYU Athletics
with Division I teams at Haverford on Saturday. Sophomore Gilson Cortes finished third in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.27 seconds. “The goal is to have a better performance with every passing week, so I just wanted to do better than the week before and I did,” Cortes said. “I felt like we competed well as a team.” Sophomore Ryan Gilmore also ran in the 60-meter dash, placing 12th with a time of 7.55 seconds — a personal best. “The race got out fast, and while I still have to work on continuing to bear down in the middle of the race, I was able to close well,” Gilmore said. Dylan Karten ran in the 3,000meter run, finishing first with a season-best time of 8:34.48. Senior Andrew Zitek and junior James Goldstein crossed the finish line just behind Karten, placing fourth (8:39.05) and seventh (8:43.36), respectively. The men’s and women’s teams will compete in Boston University’s Valentine Invitation next weekend in Boston, Mass. Sara Levy is a contributing writer. Email her at sports@nyunews.com.
grabbed wins. NYU met McDaniel College, who opened on a 17-3 run, in their final match of the day. Pawlowski and Rice highlighted the 23-15 defeat with their third individual victories of the day. “We need to keep moving forward and improve each day,” Luce said. “We’re expecting nothing short of a UAA Championship next weekend.” NYU will travel to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland to take part in the University Athletic Association Championships on Feb. 11. Cole Riley is a staff writer. Email him at sports@nyunews.com.
Women’s basketball splits weekend By Laura Buccieri
Junior Georgina Norton
coach Corey Luce said. Freshman Matt DiGiovanni also pinned his opponent in the 141pound division. The Violets, who came into Lexington 1-2 in the Centennial Conference and 6-7 overall, faced Washington and Lee in their second match on Saturday. Senior David Rice (165-pound) and freshman Pat Sheehan (174-pound) recorded back-to-back pins to clinch the victory. Unfortunately, the momentum did not carry over to NYU’s next two matches. Although the team lost to the Ursinus Bears, sophomore Chris Amro (165-pound), senior Gregg Martino (174-pound) and Pawlowski (184-pound) still
NYU women’s basketball split the weekend, defeating Carnegie Mellon University 68-57 last Friday and falling to Case Western Reserve University 6154 yesterday. Meeting for the second time in a week, NYU and Carnegie Mellon played evenly in the first half. The Violets shot nine for 32 and the Tartans shot nine for 27 from the field; the Violets made 2 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc and the Tartans made two of eight. Although both teams made the same number of field goals, NYU made one more free throw and finished the first half with a onepoint lead. The second half was not as even, as NYU outscored Carnegie Mellon 41-31 in the last 20 minutes. The Violets outshot
Carnegie 41.4 percent to 32.4 percent from the field. However, the game was decided at the freethrow line. NYU got to the line twice as many times as Carnegie Mellon did. Senior guard Bianca Storts scored a team-high 17 points and senior captain Cara Bonito added 16. “The team showed tremendous poise over the last 10 minutes of the game that enabled us to take high-percentage shots,” head coach Stefano Trompeo said. “The team also crashed the offensive boards hard and gave us multiple second opportunities.” He added, “Our zone defense got us enough stops to keep our lead down the stretch.” Unlike NYU’s first game of the weekend, the game at Case Western yesterday was lost in
the second half. “We let them back in the game in the second half,” Bonito said. “They adjusted well to our defensive agenda and got some big three pointers.” The Violets were up by one at halftime but the Spartans outscored them 36-28 in the second half. Case Western earned a huge advantage in three pointers, as they made six of 18 attempts and NYU made only three of 17. “We made a run towards the end but it was too late,” Bonito said. The Violets lost to the Spartans for the second time in a week and are now 10-10 overall. The Violets will travel to Atlanta to play Emory University on Friday at 6 p.m. Laura Buccieri is a staff writer. Email her at sports@nyunews.com.
UMass loses Super Bowl gamble to NYU
By Daniel Hinton In addition to declaring the 2012 NFL Champions, Super Bowl XLVI picked the winner of a bet between NYU and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at UMass Amherst, and Owen Moore, assistant vice president for business development in campus services at NYU, wagered regional delicacies on the biggest game of the year.
“After the Giants won their last game, I immediately contacted Owen about having a friendly wager,” Toong said. If the Patriots had won, NYU Dining would have sent a meal for a student winner and five friends including New York Strip steaks, Waldorf salad, creamed spinach, Empire State potatoes, pastrami and New York-style cheese cake. Executive chef Peter Bove of Top of the Square Catering would have prepared the meal. But now that the Giants are champions again, UMass Amherst executive chef Willie Sng will prepare a New England Clam Bake with clam chowder, lobsters, baked beans and cranberry treats. When the New York Giants and the New England Patriots played in Super Bowl XLII, Toong made a bet with Rutgers
University. So far, Toong has bet with another school five times and has won three meals. “Ken and I are both confident in our teams but we don’t trash talk,” Moore said. “We leave that to the Jets fans.” NYU Dining will award the Clam Bake to the best display of team spirit on the NYU Dining Facebook fanpage, which will be determined by students who like their favorite posts. Daniel Hinton is sports editor. Email him at dhinton@nyunews.com.
nyunews.com | MONDAY, february 6, 2012 | Washington Square news
Features
edited by jessica littman features@nyunews.com
WHAT’s IN YOUR BAG
A dancer digs deep
By Emily McDermott With dancing, obsessive color-coding, interning and keeping up with school, LSP sophomore Danya Kukafka’s olive green and black bag cannot seem to hold enough. As Ingrid Michaelson’s voice filled the room, Kukafka emptied the contents of her purse just like Mary Poppins — when it seemed nothing else could emerge, there was more.
Emily McDermott/WSN
Danya Kukafka’s bag is filled with essentials for a student dancer. Gray Tennis Shoes As secretary of NYU’s Pulse Dance Project, Kukafka dances hip-hop, jazz, lyrical and contemporary styles. Torn and beat up, these gray Urban Outfitters shoes are Kukafka’s hip-hop dance shoes. “They’re a sad excuse for shoes,” she said. ‘Twenties Girl’ “They have a whole wall of free books at my internship, so I took this!” Kukafka said. She interns two days a week at Random House Publishing and chose to bring home this book by New York Times bestselling author Sophie King.
Case of Pens Inside a leafy-green pouch Kukafka carries 15 pens — 12 of which are different colors. She is very particular when it comes to writing and will only use Papermate felt-tip pens. Why so many colors? “Each day of the week is a different color and the color is coordinated to my mood,” she said. Jade Bracelet Kukafka, her mom and her sister all have matching braided and beaded bracelets, but her bracelet broke. “Since I can’t wear it anymore I carry it around with me,” she said.
Chase Gift Card Saying hippopotamus or any other word backwards is one of Kukafka’s special skills. The sophomore won Palladium’s Talent Show and this $50 gift card by taking words at the audience’s request and saying them backwards on demand. Gold Key on Chain Deep down, underneath everything else, Kukafka found one last item. As she pulled a golden chain from her bag, she said, “Oh! And a giant key to my heart!”
Emily McDermott is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.
CANCER continued from PG. 1
Alum aides children with cancer
of the walk, voting for their particular cause. Some of the celebrities who tweeted in support of CCS included Anderson Cooper, Spike Lee, Kurt Warner, Alec Baldwin, Howie Mandel, Kim Kardashian, MC HAMMER and the entire cast of “Shameless.” In the end, the team reached over 30 million people on Twitter. They raised $1 for every min-
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ute they walked, totaling $3,500. All three members of the organization said they cherish their time at NYU as both students and urban dwellers. They appreciate “the networking, the ability to keep in touch with as many people as we have been able to, given that everyone stays kind of local after they graduate,” Head said.
Butterfield, currently an intern at CNN, said within the next 5 to 10 years, he hopes for CCS to “go international to the point where we could be helping kids in other countries who have cancer.” Brittany VanBibber is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.
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The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 500 Seventh Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 The new york times crossword & daily sudoku For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Monday, February 06, 2012
Edited by Will Shortz Across
33 Remaining 7 and 10 pins in bowling 6 Not nice, as a 36 “___ Croft: Tomb comment Raider” 11 “Prices slashed!” 40 Pulitzer-winning event 1920 Eugene O’Neill play 15 One just put on 43 Baby bovine the payroll 44 Verdi aria 16 Like Odin and 45 All gone from Thor one’s plate 17 Give off 46 ___-Soviet 18 Elderly, so to relations speak 48 Trio between K and O 20 Mascara coats it 49 Secret or illegal 21 Vote of support 57 Bygone Italian 22 Bollywood wraps coins 58 One providing 23 Submit a tax nonmedical return via support for a computer woman in labor 24 Soon to arrive 59 ___ culpa 28 FedEx 61 Some boxing competitor results, for short 62 Literal 29 Bowler’s description of assignment something that is 30 Send an 18-, 24-, 40- or invitation for 49-Across 1 Peaks of Peru
ANSWER S C I O N
M I C R O
O V O I D
R P M S
E R A T
A I D A
K I N G S O L V E R
O T B S
S N O R E
A E G I S
S C A D S
65 “___ Man” (Emilio Estevez film) 66 “Please be ___ and help me” 67 Human trunk 68 The second “A” in N.C.A.A.: Abbr. 69 Chili con ___ 70 Eyelid inflammations
Down 1 Cry to a matey 2 Skin care brand 3 Gloomy, to a bard 4 Suffix with puppet 5 Attacks vigorously 6 Mortimer voiced by Edgar Bergen 7 Like a pitcher’s perfect game 8 Notre Dame’s Fighting ___ 9 Broadband inits. 10 Reef wriggler 11 Not needing anyone’s help TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE 12 With full force E M I S S O P U S 13 Smooth cotton fabric L I T S A B L A S T S N E W G U I N E A 14 Air up there A M I A D V E R B 19 Brinker on skates O M A R G E L S 23 Forever and a H I D E N E day E S T A T E T A X E S A T E P R A C T I C E 25 Like melons in spring, e.g. R E S T I T U T I O N 26 Statesman Root T S S O M E T H I N G 27 Ancient Rome’s S T I R N S A ___ the Elder H E S A U T B A R 30 Diane Sawyer’s A R S P A R E M E network P A R T Y L A T E X 31 Aegean, e.g. E T O B E A T O N E 32 Arizona senator S T A T S E N D S Jon
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No. 0102
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57
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Puzzle by Paula Gamache
33 Old Detroit brewery name 34 ___ Beta Kappa 35 Tennis do-over 37 AIDS treatment drug 38 ___ v. Wade 39 ___ Arbor, Mich. 41 Fender ding 42 Fabric leftovers 47 Form 1040 org.
48 Humdinger
49 The “U” in UHF
50 Shoes with swooshes 51 Plummets
52 Lawn trimmer
53 George M. ___, “The Yankee Doodle Boy” composer
54 Unconventional and then some 55 Manicurist’s file 56 Pee Wee of the 1940s-’50s Dodgers 60 Years in Mexico 62 Cul-de-___ 63 Its capital is Boise: Abbr. 64 Boozehound
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nyunews.com | monday, february 6, 2012 | Washington Square news
7
OPINION
edited by olivia gonzalez opinion@nyunews.com
religion
Affordable Care Act raises First Amendment questions By Chris Dinardo The Obama administration is walking a tightrope. Late last month, the Department of Health and Human Services upheld requirements stemming from the Affordable Care Act, which mandates that private insurance plans provide free coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortifacients. After contemplation, President Barack Obama and secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius decided not to extend an exemption to faith-based groups that mostly employ workers who don’t share their beliefs. The Catholic Church preaches the use of contraception is wrong. Therefore, this new order gives Catholic universities, hospitals and charities a choice — obey the law or betray your conscience. The separation of church and state is embedded in our proud, national identity. And that makes this a complex issue. Of course, there is the First Amendment which states that any law “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion is unconstitutional. Then, there is the promotion of the general welfare of the country, a country where a large percentage of women have premarital sex and could go to more destructive lengths to end an unwanted pregnancy when birth control would easily prevent conception. I’m Catholic, but whether I believe in birth control’s effectiveness (I actually do) means nothing.
I’m also an American, and it’s on that basis that I oppose this unconcerned approach to issues of religious liberty. Religions abide by spiritual doctrine, not national law. They answer to God, not political leaders. The First Amendment is there to prevent any conflicts of the conscience. Allegiance to religion and allegiance to country isn’t about wanting to have my cake and eat it too. The beautiful thing about our Constitution is that I don’t have to choose between the two. Defenders of the First Amendment say Catholic organizations have no right to impose their beliefs on others while opponents say the government can’t impose their beliefs on religious entities. Both are correct, but in this case, with the Church as a private institution and purveyor of these health services, they have every right to enact whatever rules they want. The Amish are allowed to opt out of the health care reform mandate completely. Quakers are granted religious exemption from military duty through conscientious objection. And nobody is telling a Jewish restaurant they must serve pork, since it is against their religious beliefs. Yes, these rules must not be too constricting. For instance, one might counter with the following: “Well, what if a religious institution found AIDS treatment or chemotherapy to be unconscionable?” Two things here. Firstly, it treats pregnancy like a disease. Secondly,
contraception, unlike those treatments, is covered for free by many other private insurance options. Even if it wasn’t, it is available for little or no charge at many public health and community centers. Here, Catholic institutions are at a crossroads. None are going to turn away their dedicated health care employees just so they can opt out of a mandate that contradicts their conscience. It’s not the Christian way. There’s a solution here but unfortunately, it is retroactive. While the intricacies of the Affordable Care Act were being mapped out, Obama should have fought more vigorously for a public insurance option to private health care plans. Instead, he bowed to the health care lobby. A public option would have made this debate moot. Much cheaper insurance would have been made available, covering contraception. Employees would have been able to opt for that public plan instead. Lower premiums, broader coverage and free contraception. All without denigrating a religious institution’s conscience. If the institutional Church is forced to provide contraception coverage, what does that tell us about the state of religious liberty? It’s a liberty that was wholly sought after by America’s first settlers and it was just as sacred then as it is now. Chris Dinardo is a columnist. Email him at opinion@nyunews.com.
staff editorial
Insecurity of Facebook
Despite Facebook’s well-intentioned efforts to create a veneer of privacy for its users, the newly public media giant has left the back door open for another voyeuristic, Big Brother kind of snooping. Businesses use Facebook as a canvas for advertisements, personalizing their approach by tracking the Google searches and status updates of each individual user. As a Feb. 4 article from The New York Times says, “If you indicate that you like cupcakes, live in a certain neighborhood and have invited friends over, expect an ad from a nearby bakery to appear on your page.” The danger of releasing personal data into the Internet ether is nothing new. Yet Facebook users consent to being the object of targeted advertisements by outside companies in exchange for Facebook remaining free. A new ethical question thus falls into Facebook’s lap: should Facebook entrust companies with the personal information of its users in order to keep itself afloat? The answer should be no. The risks associated with delegating this information to a third party interested in financial gain could prove risky for Facebook. Even if users renounce a degree of privacy in subscribing to the world of social media, they do not consent to having their information passed around and potentially misused. Email the WSN Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com.
Editorial Board: Olivia Gonzalez (Chair), Atticus Brigham (Co-Chair), Emily Franklin, Nicolette Harris, Matt Kao, Ben Miller and Peter Murphy.
ELECTION 2012
Gingrich’s personality: a political asset By Atticus Brigham In response to accusations of grandiosity, Newt Gingrich recently declared: “I think grandiose thoughts. This is a grandiose country of big people doing big things, and we need leadership prepared to take on big projects.” Gingrich is right. However counterintuitive they are, Gingrich’s neuroses, not his policies, make him the type of leader America needs in a time of crisis. Gingrich is “not in the historian analytical business,” as he told former NYU student Sean Hannity. Yet engaging in business helps explain Gingrich’s sometimes bizarre behavior. This is not mere armchair psychoanalysis, but meticulously matching symptoms with a diagnosis. This is most clearly evident in Gingrich’s manic tendencies. Mania endows men with restless energy, incessant sleeplessness and large work capacities. Frederick Goodwin, a national authority on bipolar disorder said, “Gingrich’s quickness, his ability
to pick things up quickly, is consistent with studies of first-degree relatives of manic-depressives.” John Gartner, a Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry, has labeled Gingrich “our last great hypomanic figure.” As Gartner writes in “The Hypomanic Edge”: “Hypomanics are brimming with ... irrational confidence and really big ideas.” Gingrich, who once called himself “a psychodrama living out a fantasy,” boasts bushels of big ideas, acting with a delusional confidence. The criticisms of Gingrich’s former colleagues emphasize the downsides of the bipolar traits he exhibits. Former House members have recently declared him “unfit,” “unstable,” “positively scary” and “a disaster.” Bob Dole described Gingrich, “a one-man-band who rarely took advice.” Opposing candidate Rick Santorum described him as an “idea a minute, no discipline.” These partisan critiques further attest to Newt’s hyperthymic personality. They highlight the flight of ideas, impulsivity, reck-
lessness, lack of discipline and delusional excesses characteristic of bipolar disorder. Yet, Newt knows that he needs no fixing, and he is open about his outlandish ambitions. In 1985 the undistinguished congressman said, “I want to shift the entire planet. And I’m doing it.” Nine years later he would proclaim, “I think I am a transformational figure.” That same year he made the claim: “People like me are what stand between us and Auschwitz.” In 1995, he received an encore and said, “I’m a mythical person.” Yet, Gingrich has not become a tame statesman since then. This past December, Gingrich declared himself the Republican nominee as anointed by destiny. In January he promised Floridians the moon by saying, “By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be American.” To put this in perspective, NASA has estimated that it would cost $104 billion to land four astronauts on the moon by
2018. Additionally, such a space colony would violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibits the “national appropriation” of any celestial body. And this is not even Gingrich at his best. As he rolled into Nevada, there was little doubt the Ashley Madison poster boy would keep spouting white elephants, pandering to each state’s pork barrel. Yet, in bipolar patients, extraordinary displays of creativity, impulsivity and exuberance are coupled with periods of crushing depression. Gingrich’s heredity and anecdotal evidence suggest the existence of depression as well. Gingrich’s mother had bipolar disorder, a condition inherited in 80 percent of cases. Responding to a question on her depressive episodes and suicidal tendencies during Gingrich’s childhood, she said, “I almost didn’t [survive].” In 1979 and 1980, Newt would face the same demons. Reflecting on the time, he has said, “I ultimately wound up at a point where suicide, or going insane, or divorce were the last three
options.” Death and divorce were the only real options: Gingrich has always been insane, but just the right degree. In 1989 he told the Washington Post, “You talk about crying! The spring of 1988 ... I really spent a period of time where, I suspect, I cried three or four times a week.” Later, in 1998, after Gingrich was forced out as speaker by his Republican members and he resigned from Congress in disgrace, he fell into a period of hopelessness and immobility. His reputation in ruins, his second wife said “his radical mood swings reminded her of his mother and her manic-depression. She told her husband he needed help,” according to The Daily Beast. If America is headed toward a full-blown crisis, Gingrich is “the Right Candidate at the Right Time,” but for the wrong reasons. Atticus Brigham is deputy opinion editor. Email him at abrigham@nyunews.com This is Part 1 of a series entitled “Gingrich’s personality: a political asset.”
