WSN021012

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NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

washington square news Vol. 40, No. 12

friday, february 10, 2012

nyunews.com

New bill proposes MTA ban on food

Warm winter sees snow in Union Sq. By Emily Yang

By Tony Chau

New Yorkers might have been surprised to see snowboarding children in Union Square yesterday. The Ski Areas of New York, I Love New York and the Olympic Regional Development Authority created a small winter wonderland to encourage New Yorkers to enjoy outdoor winter activities. Scott Brandi, president of Ski Areas of New York, Inc., wanted to inform New York City that nearby ski mountains were open for business. “Just because it’s been a snowless year in New York City doesn’t mean we don’t have snow on the mountains,” Brandi said. “Seeing is believing, so we brought the snow down. We wanted people to see it, touch it and ... come on up and ski with us.” Setup for the event began on

In an effort to combat the growing number of rodents in the New York City transportation system, Senator Bill Perkins proposed a ban on eating in subways, buses and on platforms. If the proposal passes, anyone who eats in the specified locations would be hit with a $250 fine. The potential penalty does not include Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains. Perkins’s concept for the bill arose after reviewing the results of a survey primarily conducted of people residing in his district. Of the 5,000 people questioned, 58 percent said they see rats in public transportation on a daily basis. Only one percent said they never see the rodents. “We have a rodent infestation problem that is growing,” Perkins said. “I know that if you feed

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Carina Wong for WSN

Adults and children alike enjoyed the snowy surprise in Union Square on Thursday morning.

Editor addresses style and race

By Keerthi Harishankar

On Wednesday, NYU’s Department of Photography and Imaging hosted the 2nd Annual State of Our Style Address led by Michaela Angela Davis, former fashion editor of Essence magazine and Kierna Mayo, managing editor of ebony.com. Davis, an NYU alumna, held the conference through her program MAD Free: Liberating Conversations About Our Image, Beauty and Power. The group aims to spur discussions between women of color and address the issues facing the black community in today’s evolving media. As a preface to New York Fashion Week, Wednesday night’s discussion focused on the fashion industry. Davis began the address with a reference to the controversy concerning Ellianna Placas, a white woman who was hired as the fashion director of Essence Magazine. Davis, who disputed the decision to hire Placas, mentioned the issue on The Anderson Cooper Show in 2010. At the State of Our Style talk, she reiterated the point she made two years ago: “There are

Style Coalition hosts Fashion 2.0 Awards By Hilary Presley

Isaac Green/WSN

Davis examined the role of women of color in the fashion industry so few opportunities for black woman in the fashion industry, [and] the hiring of a white woman felt like a betrayal.” She denied the accusation of engaging in reverse racism. “You cannot have anyone but a sister defining ‘black cool,’” Davis said. Afterwards, the conversation

opened up to audience members. They discussed issues seen in the beauty and style industries. Davis’ opening statements led to one major question among the crowd: where are the women of color in the image industry?

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The best and brightest innovators of the fashion industry’s social media scene gathered on Wednesday to celebrate the Style Coalition’s 3rd Annual Fashion 2.0 Awards. Hosted by TV personality Robert Verdi, the show highlighted the best brands in blogging, Twitter and Facebook. While the glamorous fashion industry can seem removed from our daily lives, social media has created a platform for huge brands to communicate directly with their consumers. Now audiences can follow the brands they admire behind-the-scenes — an unprecedented shift is underway. The fashion world is becoming more accessible, more humanized and simply more fun. The awards show recognized the best in the tech scene for their innovative communication strategies across media

channels. With PR teams from DKNY and Oscar de la Renta tweeting nonstop and videos of Lanvin models dancing to Pitbull going viral, this is certainly not the same fashion world Coco Chanel knew. Platforms such as Twitter shift the focus to the everyday person and allow impersonal brands to respond to followers instantly. The biggest winner of the night, DKNY PR Girl, took home the award for the Best Twitter as well as Best Blog. Other big winners of the night included Bergdorf Goodman for Best Facebook, Marc Jacobs for Best Website, Prada’s Spring/Summer Video campaign for Best Video and Instagram for Next Best Thing in Tech. Kate Spade was awarded Top Innovator. The highlight of the night was iconic fashion designer Norma Kamali’s keynote address.

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