NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
washington square news Vol. 40, No. 33
wednesday, march 21, 2012
nyunews.com
Renowned bioethicist to join Langone
National comedy students square off By Hanqing Chen
NYU and Columbia comedians faced off in a battle for laughs last night at the Gotham Comedy Club. “We’re looking for the funniest people around,” said Bonnie Puckett, an organizer of the New York branch of the National College Comedy Competition. As part of the first stage in the NCCC sponsored by TBS and Wendy’s, two teams of NYU and Columbia students shared the stage in a live showcase judged by local professional comedians including Jermaine Fowler, Hy Bender and Reid Faylor. This showcase is the first in several rounds of competition. In February, TBS toured college campuses nationwide to select comedians. At their New York stop, NYU and Columbia’s rivalry was revived. This year, 32 colleges from
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Wendi Liu for WSN
NYU and Columbia students competed for V.I.P. trips to Chicago’s “Just For Laughs” festival.
By Eric Benson Renowned bioethicist Arthur Caplan from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine will lead the new Division of Medical Ethics in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Langone Medical Center beginning in July. A renowned educator and researcher, Caplan is currently the Sidney D. Caplan professor of bioethics and professor of medicine, philosophy and psychiatry. He began working at Penn in 1994 and chaired the Department of Medical Ethics from 2002 through 2009. Before joining Penn, he taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University. He will begin his career at NYU this summer by conducting research and aiding the development of the Medical Ethics Division and will likely begin teaching in January of 2013. The courses he will
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Shins surpass five-year hype with ‘Port The Morrow’ By Daniel Fuchs Five years between albums will inevitably create hype. New fans build up while old listeners grow nostalgic. When the band in question has put out three of the past decade’s best albums, the bar of expectations is certainly set high. On “Port of Morrow,” the Shins not only surpass those expectations but also create a classic album in its own right. For Shins fans who fell in love with “New Slang,” “Morrow” may come as a bit of a shock. The songs feel like hybrids of the band’s past two albums, “Chutes Too Narrow” and “Wincing the Night Away,” employing the former’s shiny folkpop and the latter’s grandiosity. While James Mercer is the only
remaining original member of the band, its fundamental sound remains intact. The album’s opener, “The Rifle’s Spiral,” starts things off on a high note with a jangly production reminiscent of a Broken Bells song. The album’s first single, “Simple Song,” is a powerful ballad with pianos chiming under massive guitar riffs. “It’s Only Life” slows the album down tonally, and the acoustic “September” uses simple, modest arrangements that help to accentuate the brilliant songwriting. By contrast, “No Way Down” is a lush piece full of twanging surf-rock guitars over a full bass-line. The highlight of the album, “40 Mark Strasse,” falls somewhere in between modest and massive, using layered vocal harmonies, an infectious chorus
and smooth instrumentals to craft an unforgettable track. Yet no matter how mellow or grand the arrangements are, the flow of the album is never disrupted. The album feels like a total package, a truly emotionally complex experience. If nothing else, “Port of Morrow” dazzles in its concise, resonant songwriting. James Mercer delivers perhaps the best lyrics of his career. “Simple Song” details childhood dreams of love and fear with infectiously feelgood lyrics like, “I know that things can really get rough/ When you go it alone/ Don’t go thinking you gotta be tough/ And play like a stone.” “September,” one of the more somber tracks on the album, features its most complex lyrics, conveying such imagery
as, “Into this strange elastic world/ Pontus kindly gave up a pearl/ Of his eternal stone and mud/ Ain’t she lovely bone and blood.” Mercer is at his most emotionally vulnerable and profound level on “Morrow.” In a way, “Port of Morrow” feels like the next logical step in the Shins’ catalog. “Wincing The Night Away” was on the verge of brilliance, and with this latest album, the Shins thrust that concept forward, borrowing from the past but still crafting a wholly enjoyable piece of music. While the hype might cloud some listeners’ interpretations, “Port Of Morrow” is an emotional, brilliant album not to be missed. Daniel Fuchs is a staff writer. Email him at arts@nyunews.com.
via theshins.com
James Mercer is the lead singer behind the Shins.