NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 42, No. 11
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
nyunews.com
Trial of Occupy protester approaches By RAHUL KRISHNAMOORTHY
After nearly two years of delays, the high-profile trial of Occupy supporter Cecily McMillan is finally going to court. McMillan, a graduate student at the New School and organizer for the Democratic Socialists of America, was arrested in Zuccotti Park by the New York Police Department on March 17, 2012, during a protest marking the six-month anniversary of the Occupy Movement. The prosecution alleges that McMillan assaulted a plainclothes NYPD officer with an elbow to the face in the course of the arrest, having charged her with assault in the second degree, a Class D Felony in the state of New York. This classification carries a maximum sentence of seven years jail time. The New York District Attorney is pursuing this maximum sentence. McMillan’s defense, headed by
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RACHEL KAPLAN/WSN
Weekend Wrap-Up: Basketball, Swimming and Diving, Wrestling Mens and women’s basketball teams compete in two games in their conference, while the wrestling team defeats both Case Western and University of Chicago to win their third UAA championship.
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Fallon takes torch from App presents alternative to flash cards Leno on ‘Tonight’ By NICOLE DEL MAURO
By SEAN HICKEY
Late night television changed for the better when Jimmy Fallon — comedian, “Saturday Night Live” alumnus and former host of “Late Night” — became the sixth host of the institution known as “The Tonight Show” on Feb. 17. But before that could happen, Fallon, The Roots and the writers and crew had to put on test shows. These performances look and sound just like the real show, but are only watched by the studio audience and are used to smooth out any wrinkles. This week, WSN was granted a look at the whole new studio, theme song and next generation of “The Tonight Show.”
Studio 6B, the home of most of Fallon’s “Late Night” and, more notably, the home of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” before Carson’s move to California, has traded in its rough, urban atmosphere for a smoother, more immaculate ambience. The refurbished walls are made of light, naturally golden wood that also lines the new bandstand for The Roots and matches Fallon’s desk. The new two-toned blue curtain drapes from the ceiling down to the shiny dark floor, contrasting nicely with the wood and the bronze shamrock where Fallon stands for his monologue.
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When he was 12 years old, CAS sophomore Tanner Nelson was given a book titled “How to Design a Webpage” to keep him occupied while at his father’s office. The book sparked a strong interest that prompted Nelson to teach himself how to code websites and apps by reading books and watching online tutorials. Nelson used this self-taught knowledge to create Cardie, an iPhone app designed to teach users vocabulary over time through a series of scheduled activities. The app launched on Feb. 1 and is available for free on the iTunes App Store. Cardie is designed to hold multiple sets of vocabulary words. After downloading the app, users choose from the “Word of the Day”
set, the pre-uploaded pack created by Nelson, or sets they have created or found using Quizlet, which they can import. Nelson’s inspiration for the app stemmed from his failed attempt at learning one new word a day on dictionary.com as a high school student. Every day, a card displaying a word and its definition is selected from the pack and three daily tasks are assigned to each word. The tasks allow users to memorize definitions by using words in various interactive ways. Some activities include incorporating the word in a sentence, creating small rhymes or mnemonic devices and uploading a picture associated with the word. Users can choose from a list which three tasks they want to complete for each word set. CAS sophomore Josefa Bitenc
said using Cardie helped her learn Latin vocabulary without making flash cards because the activities were more effective than traditional learning styles. “Learning vocab for your language class is never going to be the most fun thing in the world, but anything you can do to make it better, in my book, is a good idea,” Bitenc said. The app also reminds users to complete their activities. Users create a schedule that consists of three alerts — one for each morning, afternoon and night. At the selected times, users are notified it is time to complete an activity. Completed activities are submitted and then graded by other Cardie users, which adds a social networking aspect to the app.
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