WSN021412

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NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

washington square news Vol. 40, No. 14

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

nyunews.com

Petitioners push Apple to improve conditions

Warren Weaver reopens after leak

By Emily Yang and Cici Chen

By Julie DeVito

A series of campaigns protesting Apple employees’ poor working conditions in China has been spreading nationwide. In response to this outcry, Apple announced that the Fair Labor Association will conduct special voluntary audits of Apple’s final assembly suppliers today. Fan Yuan is the program assistant of China Labor Watch, a non-profit organization that educates Chinese laborers and conducts investigations on worker conditions. Yuan said Apple should take decisive action instead of simply conducting further inspections. “Apple is trying to prove to the media and to the public [that they’re] doing something to improve the situation,” Yuan said. “Multi-national corporations should take main responsibility to improve living conditions in China because it is [they] who design the assembly lines and

R APPLE continued on PG. 3

David Lin/WSN

A Facilities & Construction Management worker swept out water after Warren Weaver Hall flooded on Monday morning. Classes that met in the building were cancelled for the day.

Japanese hotdog joint hits the spot OVERALL

Atmosphere

Affordibility

Quality of Food

Service

Menu Variety

Founded in 2005 by Japanese couple Noriki and Misa Tamura, Japadog first began as a humble food stand in Vancouver, Canada. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, the stand gained popularity, inspiring the Tamuras to open two additional food stand locations which now have 100 visitors lining up everyday. Today Japadog has four stands and two restaurants in Canada, and its newest location opened in early January in Manhattan’s Little Tokyo on St. Marks Place. “We thought St. Marks would be a great place to open up our first U.S. location because there are always people passing by,” manager Toshiaki Tanaka said. “Especially young New Yorkers open to new things.” Steinhardt freshman Carol Suh said she enjoyed Japadog’s most popular pick, the Beef Terimayo. The all-American hot dog is topped with sautéed onions, Japanese mayo, Teriyaki sauce and shredded seaweed — all for only $4.81. “I am always looking for new places to eat around Third North, and I happened find Japadog on Yelp,” Suh said. “I was re-

Gloria Lee/WSN

Canadian Japadog is now on St Marks. ally curious as to how it would turn out because my two favorite things are Japanese food and hot dogs.” Currently, the New York location offers 11 different menu items featuring rich Japanese cuisine in a toasted bun. There are also Shaked Fries, with popular flavors of Butter & Shoyu, and Age Ice, Japanese ice cream served in a deep-fried bun. And for those still unsure about trying this unique Eastmeets-West combination, Japadog’s chefs can fix up a traditional, all-beef frank. Tanaka keeps Japanese rock tunes playing in the background and describes Japadog as a place where adventurous customers, both

R JAPADOG continued on PG. 4

R FLOOD continued on PG. 3

‘Cougar Town’ creator discusses future of show By Bethany McHugh

By Michelle Lim

Students and faculty were evacuated from the Courant Institute Warren Weaver Hall yesterday morning after approximately 10,000 gallons of water poured through the ceiling from an upper floor. According to NYU spokesman John Beckman, the leak emanated from the cooling towers above Warren Weaver. “As I understand it, at about 8:45 a.m., someone on the 10th floor heard the sound of water rushing in a closet, which led them to pull the fire alarm,” Beckman said. Shortly after 10 a.m., April Beacon, executive assistant to the Director of Courant, sent an email notifying professors that the building would be closed for the day. The email was followed by an alert sent by vice president of Public Safety

The first noticeable trait of Bill Lawrence, the creator of the television series “Spin City” and “Scrubs,” isn’t his wit or straightforward demeanor but his sincere humbleness about his career. “[Cougar Town’s third season] got cut from 22 episodes to 15, and it doesn’t affect me that much,” Lawrence said. “But it affects my 105-person crew, who’s working job-to-job.” Lawrence, who stopped to speak to NYU Tisch’s Dramatic Writing students about working in the television industry last week, also spoke to WSN about his efforts to promote his current project, “Cougar Town.” “I write shows that people like but [that] aren’t network-y,” Lawrence said of his style. “Cougar Town” has had difficulty finding an audi-

ence since its inception. The show quickly abandoned its original concept, which featured Courtney Cox as a middle-aged woman chasing younger men; instead, it became about an endearing group of wine-drinking adult friends in the same quirky vein that made “Scrubs” a hit. “Scrubs” found reasonable success, but “Cougar Town” has found itself in dire straits. Pushed from a September start to a late midseason premiere, “Cougar Town” might be looking at cancellation if Lawrence’s intense social media campaign does not prove fruitful. Lawrence expressed the frustration he has experienced while promoting “Cougar Town,” noting that network TV is dying in an indirect reference to alternative methods of television watching like Netflix and Hulu, which have led to overall lower TV ratings in recent years. Aside from starting a Twit-

ter account to connect with his online fan base, Lawrence has been hosting — and funding — various “Cougar Town” parties where members of the writing team and cast gather to meet with fans and screen new episodes. Traveling across the country, he hopes to raise awareness for the show’s current incarnation and fight against any misconceptions people may have of it. “We wanted the season premiere to be like a new pilot,” said Lawrence, who hopes to attract new viewers while satisfying loyal audience members. Lawrence has effectively balanced heart and comedy before, and “Cougar Town” has achieved that as well. Central to the show is the sweet love story between 40-year-old main characters Jules (Cox) and Grayson (Josh Hopkins). “They’re an older couple,”

R COUGAR continued on PG. 5


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