NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
washington square news Vol. 40, No. 20
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
nyunews.com
Study finds possible cure for AIDS
Protesters object debt and expansion
By Nitasha Maindiratta
By Sarah Skirmont
Scientists may be one step closer on the path to finding a cure for the millions of people living with AIDS worldwide. This month researchers found that the protein SAMHD1 can slow or stop HIV growth by removing cells that form the virus. NYU Langone Medical Center, the University of Rochester Medical Center and research groups from France have worked together for five years to look into the role of SAMHD1 in contracting AIDS. Most recently, they discovered building blocks of HIV virus disappeared when the anti-viral protein SAMHD1 was placed in an AIDS-infected cell. As a result, DNA components of the virus replicated slower or stopped replicating. Nathaniel Landau, an NYU professor and one of the main
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EMMA PLISKIN/WSN
Music and chanting emanated from Gould Plaza as protesters gathered for a heated discussion about student debt and NYU 2031 yesterday. Organized by Occupy Student Debt Campaign, NYU for Occupy Wall Street and Graduate Student Organizing Committee, the event drew about 75 to 100 protesters and included students in NYU4OWS, professors and community members. One of the main topics of complaint was the NYU administration’s ambiguity regarding how students and different departments of NYU will pay for the $6 billion expansion. “NYU4OWS is opposed to the university being run like a corporation, putting growth above all other concerns, including affordability or education,” said
Students and residents rallied in Gould Plaza yesterday against debt and NYU expansion plans.
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South African director revamps 1961 play, ‘Blood Knot’ By Christopher Gellert
“Blood Knot” serves as an uncomfortable examination of race, class and family in apartheid-era South Africa. Opening at the Signature Theatre Company’s new location, “Blood Knot” is a fitting tribute to director Athol Fugard’s 1961 play as he directs the new version. The South African director, known as much for his outspoken criticism of apartheid as he is for his work as a playwright, is a masterful interpreter of his own work. “Blood Knot” is no political creed, rather it approaches the issues of racism and economic inequality with a deft hand. The contentious topic, however, does not upstage the raw characteristics of the actors. In the first half of the production, a pair of brothers, Morris (Scott
Shepherd) and Zachariah (Colman Domingo) wile away several evenings after Zachariah returns from work. In a series of vignettes, their daily life is revealed. These scenes might be unremarkable were it not for the disparity between the two brothers — one of race. While they share the same mother, Morris and Zachariah have different fathers. Because Morris’ father is white he can pass as such, unlike Zachariah, whose dark skin makes this impossible. However, their differences extend beyond varying skin colors. Morris is literate and obsessive, allowing his life to be ruled by a wind-up alarm clock while Zachariah is uneducated and more interested in physical realities than Morris’s dreams for their future on a twoman farm in the wide open spaces of Africa.
This conflict between an imagined future and harsh reality comes to a head in Zachariah’s desire for a woman. Morris suggests a pen pal instead. All of the exposition about this subject and the introduction of the pen pal work as a slow build to the second act’s emotional explosion. This act makes the play — as it brings Zachariah’s resentment for his brother and Morris’ sense of entitlement — and the shared titular blood knot into high relief. The end of the second act is the most emotionally charged moment in “Blood Knot,” but there is something ultimately distancing about the piece. In some ways, Fugard’s work has not fully reached a visceral level. This is actually a positive aspect of the show; it saves the play from
via signaturetheatre.org
Athol Fugard directed the initial version of “Blood Knot” in 1961. melodrama and allows the audience a certain amount of subjectivity. It gives the spectators a chance to think about the play rather than feel some marginal impact from it. “Blood Knot” is playing through
March 11 at the Pershing Square Signature Center at 480 42nd St. Tickets are $25. Christopher Gellert is a contributing writer. Email him at theater@nyunews.com.