WSN040412

NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

washington square news Vol. 40, No. 41

wednesday, april 4, 2012

nyunews.com

N.Y. state announces sales tax break

Green efforts on display at gallery

By Julie DeVito and Hanqing Chen

By Emily Yang and Tatiana Baez

NYU Open House Gallery got greener last night.

The NYU Sustainability Task Force kicked off an exhibit to present their newest projects, along with a display of all their projects from the past five years.

Jeremy Friedman, manager of Sustainability Initiatives, said it was an opportunity not only to showcase their accomplishments but also to demonstrate that sustainability is a community-based, grass-roots effort just as much as it is an institutional one.

“We want to do more than simply inform our community that these initiatives exist,” Friedman said.

“We want to encourage our peers to take an active role in environmental leadership at NYU.” Pamela Tinnen, curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the

R SUSTAINABILITY continued on PG. 3

WENDI LIU FOR WSN

New York City residents and members of the NYU community gathered for the opening night of “Sustainability at NYU: Did you know?” at the Open House Gallery yesterday.

Sunday’s clothing tax break was no April Fool’s joke.

A tax exemption went into effect on Sunday for clothing and footwear that is sold under $110 per item. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, which announced the tax exemption last week, said consumers no longer have to pay the state’s 4 percent sales tax for these items.

The state has not determined when the break will end.

The new tax break also applies to most fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, hooks, zippers and similar items used to create or repair clothing.

The most recent tax exemption that started April 1, 2011, and ended on March 31, 2012, applied to clothing and footwear sold under $55. This is projected to bring in $210 million for the

R SHOPPING continued on PG. 3

CAS junior honored by Clinton Global Initiative

By Katya Barannik

Children are now fighting off the Boogie Man across the globe thanks to Delia Mandia, CAS junior and founder of Night Night Monster.

Night Night Monster is a nonprofit organization that recently won in the Peace and Human Rights and Poverty Alleviation division at Clinton’s Global Initiative University competition.

The group sends handmade, biodegradable, vegan, non-toxic and hypoallergenic dolls to children around the world who are suffering from night terrors.

Night Night Monster came to life last year when Mandia had to take emergency leave from school. She started sewing to pass the time, and before she knew it she had acquired quite a collection of dolls.

“Whimsical little happy monsters is what they look like to me,” she said. “I gave one away to a family friend’s son [Martin] and he was very excited. He told me that the little monster helps fight off and chase away the bad monster at night.”

Through word of mouth, Night Night Monster spread like rapid fire on Staten Island and then throughout United States. Eventually, Mandia was sending her little dolls to countries she had never visited.

CAS sophomore Cullen Schiele volunteers with Night Night Monster.

“There is so much to do here at Night Night Monster that anyone can get involved,” he said. “I can’t make a doll to save my life, but that’s okay because I help with what I can. I encourage any-

one interested in volunteering for a nonprofit to look into Night Night Monster.”

From founding Night Night Monster, Mandia has learned a lot about successfully starting a nonprofit organization.

“First take a visual idea and let it grow and develop,” she suggests. “Realize that there are a lot of different dimensions to running a nonprofit. You’re going to devote a lot of time to this idea. Do it in a team, you’ll need to delegate the tasks. And don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

Joanne Rizzi was Mandia’s advisor in the Liberal Studies Program before she transferred to CAS. “[Delia] is a kind and giving soul,” Rizzi said. “Her Night Night Monsters have helped my own daughter to sleep at night during times of transition and upheaval

when we recently moved and she transitioned to a loft bed in her own room. My daughter takes those little creatures with her on trips and overnight stays during summer camp.”

Don’t expect Mandia to slow down anytime soon.

“Even if I have one kid be a little less afraid to close their eyes, it’s worth the stress,” she said. “Sleep should be a time of peace and rest. If I make a little doll and it helps them, I’m not going to stop.”

With over 400 orders this month alone and the CGI award under its belt, Night Night Monster is a fast growing organization that is bound for monstrous success.

Katya Barannik is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

via facebook.com

Night Night Monster sends dolls to children worldwide.

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Washington Square news | wednesday, april 4, 2012 | nyunews.com

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6 to 8 p.m. | Gallery Space / Newman Reception Area | The Puck Building | 295 Lafayette Street, Second Floor

7 p.m. | Pless Hall | 82 Washington Sq. E., Third Floor

7 p.m. | Housing Works Bookstore | 126 Crosby St.

“Alien vs. Predator”

I Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust: An Earth Day Exhibit Opening

“so Says She” And “A Love Un-African”: Capturing a Global Perspective of Women of Color

This exhibit will feature Earth Day themed works

by New York City artist Erick Sánchez.

These student and alumni directed films focusing on gender issues in Africa will be screened tonight.

Cult favorite poet Michael Robbins celebrates the publication of his first collection, “Alien vs.

Predator,” with a free launch party.

Editor-in-Chief amanda randone Managing Editor

jaewon kang Deputy Managing Editor

Amy zhang Assistant Managing Editor

james lanning Creative Director

selena chen senior staff

university Julie devito city/state emily yang investigative hanqing chen arts jonathon dornbush features jessica littman sports daniel hinton multimedia david lin copy maximilíano durón senior editor jack brooks,

BRIDGETTE DORAN

deputy staff

university eric benson, eliza-

beth maguire city/state tony chau, kristine

itliong, jessica schultz investigative feiye wang music josh johnson film stefan Melnyk entertainment jeremy grossman books/theater clio Mcconnell dining hannah borenstein beauty & style shannon

loughran sports John axelrod, cole

riley special issues kristina bogos multimedia james kelleher copy jordan melendrez social media agent nicole gartside

opinion page

opinion editor olivia gonzalez deputy opinion editor ATTICUS

BRIGHAM, SANCHAY JAIN

advertising business manager

REBECCA RIBEIRO circulation manager

chloe coffman

university sales coordinator

Emilia Mironovici

SNAPSHOT

ON THE WIRE

Till death do bacon part From the men who brought us bacon salt and baconnaise comes a new baconcraze product: a bacon coffin. Though the coffin is not made of bacon, J&D’s Foods — owned by Seattle entrepreneurs Justin Esch and David Lefkow — is selling the coffin at a price of almost $3,000. A bacon-scented air freshener complements the coffin, in case the corpse could not get enough bacon in its lifetime. The casket is made of 18-gauge gasket steel and is lined with ivory linens, complete with a memorial tube and adjustable bed and mattress.

— NBC

Columbia University

Columbia commits $30 million to increasing faculty diversity — Columbia Daily Spectator

A couple enjoys a spring afternoon watching boaters in Central Park.

PHOTO BY james kelleher

University of Pennsylvania

Penn waitlists over 2,000 students for Class of 2016 — The Daily Pennsylvanian

sales representatives

Kaitlyn O’Brien, MICHAEL RYAN, Melissa Ynegas

advising editorial adviser

keith leighty EDITORS-AT-LARGE

jaywon choe kelsey desiderio russell steinberg KIRSTEN CHANG francis poon terka cicelOVa About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published Monday through Thursday during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.

Corrections: WSN is committed to accurate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact managing editor Jaewon Kang at managing@nyunews.com or at 212.998.4302.

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nyunews.com | wednesday, april 4, 2012 | Washington Square news

SUSTAINABILITY continued from PG. 1

NYU establishes Global Institute of Public Health

NYU Open Gallery showcases sustainability efforts

Kimmel Galleries, said though they often feature art exhibitions, she thought it would be interesting and informative to educate and engage the public.

“We wanted to create an exhibition to visually communicate and excite our audiences, doing aesthetic justice to their respective goals and accomplishments,” Tinnen said.

Friedman said each window is meant to educate, inform and engage the public and NYU community about projects underway and issues at stake, in addition to providing opportunities to get involved. The displays feature NYU Bike Share and the Sustainability Advocate Program.

Other concepts for the 13 windows were selected from a brainstorm of ideas by the Engagement and Communications group of the Sustainability Task Force.

Many members of the NYU community involved in the Sustainability efforts on display attended the reception to explore the works of their colleagues.

“I came to see what other people are doing and what our contribution is,” said Melanie Meadows,

a sustainability advocate for the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life.

Students in the environmental design class were also drawn to the urban design models of the NYU 2031 plan that were on display at the reception area.

“We work a lot with looking at plans, looking at actual buildings and how you would design them,” Steinhardt sophomore Stephanie Sherman said. “This kind of gives us fiscal representation of what the design and plans are all about.”

Friedman said sustainability permeates every aspect of campus life and is a powerful communitybuilding tool.

“While we have made significant strides over the past half decade, we still have much more to accomplish both here at the square and at our global sites abroad,” he said.

The exhibit will be on display until May 18.

Julie DeVito is university editor. Hanqing Chen is investigative editor. Email them at university@nyunews.com.

By Julie DeVito

Last week, NYU announced the inauguration of the Global Institute of Public Health.

GIPH will bring the public health departments at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development and Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU into one institution. It will also offer an undergraduate Global Public Health major, Master’s degree of public health and a doctoral degree in public health.

Undergraduate students will also be able to combine majors with global public health.

“The goal is to develop the full resources of NYU in Public Health, to produce excellence in research, teaching and public service,” vice chancellor for Strategic Planning, Robert Berne, said. “By creating the global institute, we can create synergies across the disciplines and the university which will enable NYU to make significant advances in Public Health.”

He added that because many of the most pressing problems of the society are related to public

Steinhardt professor helms new curriculum for schools

By Eric Benson

Steinhardt professor Cynthia McCallister developed a comprehensive school reform model that will be implemented in 10 schools throughout Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens.

McCallister said she founded her program titled Learning Cultures Curriculum on the idea that free speech is a fundamental, positive right and that schools are obligated to nurture and protect children’s opportunities to use language interactions with others as a main source of learning.

“Traditionally, schools have censored and silenced speech, and consequently limited reading opportunities of children,” McCallister said. “I would like to see substantive transformations in forms of life in mainstream classrooms so that students do a lot more talking and interacting with one another as a means to high achievement.”

McCallister’s curriculum is based on a foundation of Unison Reading program, in which students read together while simultaneously helping each other comprehend the material.

First piloted from 2007 to 2011 at the Jacob Riis School — a public high-poverty pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade school in lower Manhattan — the Unison Reading program has already been successful for students developing their reading skills, as proven by the Degrees of Reading Power comprehension assessment.

For the 2011 to 2012 academic school year, McCallister’s Learning Cultures Curriculum was piloted at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women. The Urban Assembly Schools are a network of 21 schools in Manhattan, The Bronx and Brooklyn that teach impoverished students in need of academic help.

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“Learning Cultures provides a consistent and coherent approach to literacy for all students, and we want to reach all students,” UAS network leader Jonathan Green said. “It’s the rigid and clear guidelines of the model that direct the behaviors of both students and teachers that make it a success.”

The Learning Cultures Curriculum is designed around activity blocks, which include reading, math, science and language arts that are first initiated by teacherdeveloped lesson plans. They are then organized into learning formats, consisting of lessons, work time, conferences, group lessons and sharing.

McCallister said she was inspired during her 25 years in the public school system.

“I was dissatisfied with the limitations of existing instructional models that neglect the underlying intentional states of children,” McCallister said. “I felt that the role that they play in learning was underappreciated.”

Julie Nariman, principal of the High School of Language and Innovation in The Bronx, said the program is an innovative, rigorous and fun way of presenting learning. Nariman, who began applying ideas of McCallister’s program to her curriculum, said the school has been impressed by it so far.

“It is one of the few programs out there today that holds students accountable for their own learning,” Nariman said.

“It uses real texts and is built on social practices that we could encounter in our everyday life and trusts that kids can handle it.”

McCallister said she hopes to expand her Learning Cultures Curriculum to other institutions.

Eric Benson is deputy university editor.

Email him at ebenson@nyunews.com.

health, there has been a strong demand for people to engage in public health research and teach on a global level.

The university has received New York State approval for the undergraduate and masters level programs. The first class of students for the unified masters program was admitted in September 2011, and students will be able to declare undergraduate majors in global public health beginning September 2013.

They will be seeking State approval for the doctoral programs in the upcoming months and will search for a director to lead the institute.

Mary Northridge, assistant professor at the College of Dentistry, has been involved as a member of the Search Committee for the director of the GIPH and the MPH Practice Committee — a group responsible for integrating two former MPH programs into a functional one.

“There is great excitement among both NYU undergraduate and graduate students regarding public health but no central

focus to date,” Northridge said.

“If NYU is to be a global leader in educating the next generations of citizens, government officials and creative leaders, a public health approach to solutions is key.”

Scott Spiegler, a public health graduate student, said his interest in public health began while working at a hospital in Israel.

“Researching why people and the communities they live in suffer from poor health outcomes drove my desire to learn more about public health,” Spiegler said. “The idea of taking a community approach to health seemed like the ideal arena for me to focus on.”

He also said this institute will be the first step in establishing NYU’s MPH program as a leader in the field and will enable their students to attain a broad, but intensive, educational foothold in the public health sector.

The institute’s physical location has not yet been determined.

Julie DeVito is university editor.

Email her at jdevito@nyunews.com.

SHOPPING continued from PG. 1

N.Y. state announces new sales tax break

SAMANTHA BILLINKAS FOR WSN

N.Y. tax exemption for clothes and footwear under $110 began last Sunday.

2011-12 fiscal year, according to the New York State Division of the Budget.

The last tax break for clothing sold under $110 brought the state $330 million between Oct. 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011.

The state implemented the first tax break for items under $110 in 2000.

Currently, there are no estimates for this year’s budget from the tax break.

Some politicians, including State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, say they think the break will boost the economy in New York as a whole.

At a press meeting this Sunday, Silver said she hopes the new tax break will encourage New Yorkers to shop locally, and more people from out of state to shop in New York.

Stern professor Nicholas Economides said there will be benefits for both consumers and businesses from the elimination of the sales tax.

“The positive effects will be most felt by low income consumers since these consumers pay a disproportionately high percentage of their income in sales taxes,” he said. “Consumers would be better off if sales tax was reduced or eliminated in all items.”

West Village resident Jess Kerhardt, 26, said she favors the new tax exemption.

“I think the tax exemption is pretty cool for people my age because money is really tight,” she said. “I wish they would raise it to stuff over $300 or maybe even more.”

Local retail businesses had mixed responses to the sales tax exemption. Ann Marie Parente, store manager at Rugby on University Place, said she thinks it will allow customers to purchase more items.

“People always come in and ask about the tax, especially tourists and people from outof-state,” she said. “It’s a good thing overall that might encourage people to pick up an extra thing or two in the store.”

Nicole Howell, store manager at True Religion Brand Jeans in Union Square, said she does not think the tax break will impact her store too much because it does not affect more expensive items.

“It will probably help younger customers buying cheaper items, but not our core customers,” she said.

Emily Yang is city/state editor.

Tatiana Baez is a contributing writer.

Email them at cstate@nyunews.com.

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Washington Square news | wednesday, april 4, 2012 | nyunews.com

features

Gallatin blogger uses iPhone to organize

By Heather Mundinger

Concentrating in a combination of Art, Design, Business and Technology, Gallatin freshman Cheryl Wu has an iPhone that is as collaborative as her major — with a cute bunny ear case to boot. While attending school, Wu has also started various online projects, including her increasingly popular blog frootlooppokemon.tumblr.com, where she displays interpretations of iconic Pokemon characters with Froot Loops. Managing all of her projects is undoubtedly a challenge, and Wu’s iPhone has the apps where all of these interests intersect.

VIA CALVETICA

VIA INSTAGRAM

Calvetica Wu keeps track of her busy lifestyle on this app, using the minimalist calendar’s many features to ensure she is always aware of what’s going on in her own life.

“I input my schedule and set custom alerts because I forget everything,” she said.

Instagram Though Instagram may be a staple for many iPhone users, Wu sees the app in a different light.

Rather than aimlessly taking pictures that can be instantly retrofied and simply made into Facebook material, Wu views the app from an artistic point of view and uses Instagram to create images for her blogs and other projects.

“I use Instagram for filters and sharing,” Wu said.

VIA BILLR

VIA PUzzlejuice

VIA evernote

Evernote Puzzlejuice Billr This online notebook helps Wu Despite all the projects with Everyone knows the frustration sift through the ideas that she that comes with going out to dinner which she is involved, Wu still jots down throughout the day. in a pack of people because splitting finds some time to procrastinate “It’s a cross-platform, cloudthe bill can be more difficult than with fun game apps. Puzzlejuice based app made as an ‘extension an Organic Chemistry course. A is one such app. of your brain,’” Wu said. “It’s “It’s a fast-paced game that smart solution found in Cheryl’s true. I use it for ideas, notes and phone is Billr, an app that simplifies combines Tetris [and] word personal writing. I like having acgames,” Wu said. “Don’t downthe process. cess to my ideas anywhere I have “I love food,” Wu said. “Living in load Puzzlejuice if you can’t a tech device, so everywhere.”

New York City means eating out lose several hours or don’t love all the time, and Billr solves dinner bright colors.” math for you. You list each person’s order, choose tax and tip percentages and it splits the bill fairly.”

Heather Mundinger is a contributing writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

Photo gallery home to renovated Rock legends

By Aliza Katz

Accentuated with kaleidoscopic combinations of neon hues, iconic faces populated the walls of Chelsea’s Chair and the Maiden gallery in an exhibition of revamped photographs from acclaimed rock ‘n’ roll photographer Mick Rock.

In Mick Rock: The Legend Series, Rock has selected several images of iconic musicians from over 40 years and used techniques such as photographic synthesizing and collage work, resulting in vibrant multi-colored recreations of his original works.

Rock, commonly known as The Man who Shot the Seventies, has photographed musicians ranging

from Paul McCartney to Freddy Mercury of Queen and is the photographer behind several of the ’70s most legendary album covers ranging from David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” to Lou Reed’s “Transformers.”

Rock was highly instrumental in building the overall images of a slew of musicians.

“He is single-handedly responsible for branding rock ‘n’ roll as far as imaging goes,” the exhibit’s curator David Zelikovsky said.

Just as Rock helped fashion the images of artists through his photographs, now several years later, he has reformed his photographs into a new artistic form by using techniques including photographic synthesis and collage methods.

“I found a new excitement in viewing myself as an artist rather than simply a photographer,” Rock said in a statement to CATM gallery in January.

CAS senior and Rock fan Andrew Tepper said he appreciated the inventive reformatting of the images of familiar faces.

“Mick Rock’s use of colors refreshed these iconic images of rock stars that are now older,” Tepper said.

Yet while the images Rock has fashioned appear to be an homage to the silk screen works of Andy Warhol, his close friend, there is a key difference between the two artists’ techniques.

“Warhol always appropriated his

Classified Ad I, Gaurav son of Mr Jagdish Raj,resident of 236 West 64, #1-f, New York, NY 10023, have changed my name to Gaurav Raj Kashav for all purposes.

images,” Zelikovsky said. “[Rock] never had to, these are all his own.

He works with only his own work.”

Also unique to Rock is his intimate relationship with the celebrities he photographed. Rock discovered many musicians before they became famous and propelled their careers by photographing them.

Zelikovsky explained the story behind a scintillating image of a young Madonna, repeated several times on a panel in varying neon hues, comically posing with her tongue sticking out.

“She walked into a studio in ’82 as a dancer,” Zelikovsky said. “She just felt like she was going to go do that.

He basically forgot that he met her and back in ’98 he realized, ‘Oh, you

know I took a picture of her.’ ” The images now featured in The Legend Series not only trace the growth and new direction of Rock’s career but have also similarly renewed the image of ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll idols.

“The same way that Rock has looked back at the images from his career and found a new way to refocus them, he has in a way kind of revitalized the images of the famous people,” Tepper said.

Mick Rock: The Legend Series is on display at the CATM gallery in Chelsea located at 500 W. 22nd St. until April 22.

Aliza Katz is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

nyunews.com | wednesday, april 4, 2012 | Washington Square news

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edited by jessIca littman features@nyunews.com

Fashion business club hosts themed show for charity

By Shannon Loughran Chaos will rule the runway on Monday as NYU’s Fashion Business Association hosts its annual fashion show. This year’s show, titled Couture for Chaos, will benefit the charity (PRODUCT)RED. The show, which has a post-apocalyptic theme, will feature the works of seven student designers from a number of universities in New York City.

FBA co-president Laura Hayat said previous shows have not been themed, but this year’s theme was presented as a loose guideline for the designers.

“We tried not to stifle [the designers] with a theme,” Hayat said. “Most took it as urban and avant-garde.”

Steinhardt sophomore Catherine Singer is FBA’s event coordinator.

“Why fashion is so interesting and why I’m so passionate about it is because it’s so forward moving and I think that the theme of the post-apocalyptic world kind of encapsulates that,” she said.

Hayat, who graduated from the College of Arts and Science last year with a double major in English and American Literature and minors in Politics and Psychology, is now a student at the Graduate School of Arts and Science for English and American Literature.

This is Hayat’s fifth year in the FBA. The sole menswear designer for this show, Fashion Institute of Technology student Sunyoung Lee, recently placed second in a design competition during the 2012 New York Korean Fashion Festival.

Other student designers that will be featured in the show include Stern freshman Zixi Zhang, FIT senior Janice Hijin Lee, NYU alumna Laura Daza, FIT senior Quinn Zhu and Stern freshman Anny Caba.

Zhang used fabrics including plastic and patent leather with star designs as her interpretation of the post-apocalyptic theme.

The FBA will be donating all of the ticket sale profits to (PRODUCT)RED, which partners with companies to create products — mainly clothing

— that benefit AIDS research in Africa. Hayat and the other club members decided proceeds should be given to a charity that was related to clothing. “[We] didn’t want [the proceeds] to go to a cause that is secondary in a sense,” Hayat said.

A (PRODUCT)RED spokesperson will speak during the show’s intermission.

As part of last year’s event, the club started to include gift bags containing treats for the guests. This year’s bags will contain customized M&M’s, coupons for nearby businesses, FBA pens and other surprises. Last year one gift bag surprise was a Marc Jacobs key chain.

Hayat said the show will be “a fun night out for anyone interested in fashion.” It will be covered by the popular fashion news blog College Fashionista, and special VIP guests will include executives from Kenneth Jay Lane, DKNY Jeans and previous FBA club presidents who are currently working in the fashion industry.

Tisch freshman Eliana Halevi will be modeling in the show.

“You can tell by looking at all the clothes that the designers have been working very hard,” Halevi said. “I’m very excited to be a part of this.”

DJ Hot Skull, whom Hayat described as “up-and-coming,” will be performing during the show and reception.

Couture for Chaos will be held on April 9 in the Kimmel Rosenthal Pavilion. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Hayat is hoping to raise around $1,000 this year with an attendance of 150 people. Tickets for NYU students are $6 in advance and $7 on the day of the show. For non-NYU students the tickets are $7 in advance and $8 on the day of the show.

Tickets are available through NYU Ticket Central with a valid ID. Shannon Loughran is beauty and style editor. Email her at sloughran@nyunews.com.

FRINGE APRIL 5, 2012

WNYU debuts provocative Republican talk show

By Brittany VanBibber Steinhardt sophomore John Watts and CAS junior Mel Zelikovsky have brought a conservative flair to NYU’s public radio with their political talk show, Earshot.

The show airs from the basement of Weinstein every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. on 89.1 FM. “Thursday is my favorite day of the week,” Watts said.

“The whole day we’re here and it’s fun, and we get to talk and laugh and chat.”

Both co-hosts are Republicans, support the Keystone pipeline and oppose Obama’s health care bill, but they have also made it a point to counteract their conservative views with liberal guests, including Jamie McGonnigal, founder of talkaboutequality.org, and Greg Stebben, editor of Men’s Health magazine.

The show covers current, hot-button topics and feeds off the strengths and weaknesses of both hosts. And though the emphasis is on politics, Watts wants the show to remain open for all listeners.

“Politics is naturally boring,” Watts said. “That’s not the answer to a good show.

The answer is to be provocative, controversial, heated and plain-spoken.”

As for being Republicans at a largely Democratic institution, both admit to encountering some animosity. But the show offers a release.

“Being a Republican and everything around you is Democratic, it’s very difficult,” Watts said. “And it’s very easy to get angry. We come out of the show, and I don’t want to

COURTESY OF JOHN WATTS

Mel Zelikovsky and John Watts are the new hosts of Earshot on the WNYU radio station. talk about politics at all.”

To try to keep the show lighthearted, Watts and Zelikovsky turn to impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger and other controversial politicians for comic relief.

“We try to bring in the Governator any way we can to lighten up the mood,” Watts said.

“And we have a Bachmann voice too,” Zelikovsky explained.

All kidding aside, the hosts hope their show does more than entertain. They want their listeners to learn from the debates and conversations.

“Regardless of what we’re saying, as long as we’re making people upset, then they’re much more likely to research a topic and form an opinion,” Zelikovsky said.

CAS junior Harris Penn hosts another show on WNYU

called Mindtime, which discusses psychology. Penn has been a guest on Earshot in the past as a liberal representative on the show.

“They have a really good platform for getting people to email them to get interviews,” Penn said.

Regardless of NYU’s liberal bias, Watts and Zelikovsky are thankful for the openness of the listeners and WNYU. “We wouldn’t have been able to come here and express our views if it weren’t for the total graciousness and openness of the leadership here,” Watts said. “ They allowed us to talk about what we believe in. At other universities I would expect that I would not be in the same place.”

Brittany VanBibber is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation The york times crossword & daily sudoku 620new Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Edited by Will Shortz Across 1 Noted handler of dogs 7 Mother of Helios 11 Tubes 14 Sports star who wrote 2009’s “Open: An Autobiography” 15 Whom Othello declares “is most honest” 16 Actress Charlotte 17 Security desk at a Broadway theater?

19 ___ de France 20 Starts at either end?

21 Certain Alaskan 22 Large bra feature 23 Simian on a Broadway set?

26 Challenge for a H.S. honor student 29 Author Dinesen 30 “Even ___ speak …”

31 ___ & Young (accounting firm) 34 Cancel 37 Understudy in a Broadway show?

41 Place with a waiting room: Abbr.

42 Gather 43 Son or grandson, say 44 Italian beloved 46 Greek peak SE of Olympus 48 Pessimistic Broadway investors?

53 Owns, in the Bible 54 Actress Rene 55 “___ made clear …”

58 Egg: Prefix 59 Nighttime Broadway wardrobe?

62 “The Simpsons” character who says “Oh geez” a lot 63 [Giggle]

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE O P I E

S L A V

L O G E

A L I A S

R A N O N

T I T L E

T H A W

H U G O

I B A R

O O D P O O R Y S S A S P U T M H I S E R E R S I S R T E B A I N S T

L O R I

E L A N

F O P S

F R U I T

M E M O S

N A M E

S O O R N I G L E S E N A T E A Z Z L R E A P S P E L E T I L N I E N

C I R C

O V A L

M E N U

E R I E

L I E D

A S H E S

S L A N T

T E S T Y

E L I A

R I M S

S O P S

A T O L L

64 It’s awesome 65 Mac alternatives 66 Love god 67 ___ régime (pre1789 French government) Down 1 Whittle (down) 2 A long, long time 3 Plumbers’ wheels 4 D-Day craft, for short 5 Walt Disney had 26 of them 6 Color akin to plum 7 Emperor who completed the Colosseum 8 Author Bret 9 A star can have a huge one 10 CD mailer of the early 2000s 11 Bad conditions for playing hoops, say 12 Care about 13 Running slowly 18 “Sesame Street” supporter, in brief 22 Strands in a cell?

23 Will of “The Waltons” 24 Odds and ends: Abbr.

25 Bone: Prefix 26 Circus cries 27 Natl. Merit Scholarship qualifying exam 28 Minneapolis/St. Paul 31 Green org.

32 Literary inits.

33 “Stillmatic” rapper

1

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Puzzle by Kevan Choset

35 “Last one ___ a rotten egg!”

36 More, in adspeak 38 ___ avis 39 Slate, e.g.

40 Conductance units 45 Rhine whine?

46 Siege site of A.D. 72

47 ___ horse 48 Bite 49 Rack and ruin 50 Prefix with pedic 51 M.T.A. fleet 52 Subj. of a spaceto-Earth experiment on Apollo 14

55 Mine, in Amiens 56 “Me, too”

57 Library ID

59 Tony-winning role for Mandy Patinkin 60 ___ Lingus

61 “Desperate Housewives” network

For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554.

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nyunews.com | wednesday, april 4, 2012 | Washington Square news

OPINION

edited by olivia gonzalez opinion@nyunews.com

mind

Psychoanalysis will not devalue literature

By Jane Stewart Adams More than 60 years ago, literary critic Lionel Trilling wrote, “A specter haunts our culture — it is that people will eventually be unable to say, ‘They fell in love and married,’ let alone understand the language of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ but will as a matter of course say ‘Their libidinal impulses being reciprocal, they activated their individual erotic drives and integrated them within the same frame of reference.’” In the face of recent unbridled successes in neuroscience — which are nothing short of staggering — it would appear that Trilling’s inevitable future is upon us, at least in the pages of our novels.

Recently, trends in literature mirror the recent trends in psychology, neuroscience and the philosophy of the mind.

Where the latter disciplines have returned, overwhelmingly, to looking at the brain itself in explaining the ever-elusive mental life of human beings — moving away from Freudian psychoanalysis — the novel has made a similar transition out of well-worn topics of psychosis and into the uncharted territory of neurosis.

What we get is the so-called neuro-novel: stories of people as, first and foremost, brains whose motivations, desires and actions are

teased out at the level of the neuron rather than at the level of psychoanalysis. In other words, Freud is so last century.

But while neurology might be able to provide an exact account of what is going on in the brain, psychology still triumphs in expressing the subjective experience of everyday life that brings emotion and color to novels. Reflection of the self and others is the primary tool of both psychoanalysists and novelists, and the enigma of character is at the heart of nearly every novel we read.

Even where psychology triumphs, however, it too has played a part in unweaving the rainbow, as it were.

Where evolutionary psychology has not already drained some of the mystery from human nature, neurology will finish the job where individual human personality is concerned.

Austin Allen, associate editor at Big Think, wrote, “I believe it actually will become harder to speak of Faulkner’s Jason Compson as ‘evil’ in a metaphysical sense — or as a raging but thwarted id, or an instrument of repressive patriarchy — rather than positing some kind of defect in his orbitofrontal cortex.”

This all paints a dark future for the novel in the face of neuroscience.

Aside from spawning a new literary trend, neuroscience threatens to suck the fun out of analyzing char-

acters and speculating about their motives. Even worse than diminishing the fun of reading novels, neuroscience also threatens to undermine our favorite pastime as readers of novels: passing judgment. This poses the terrifying and compelling question: How will knowing our own brains affect literature?

But as Jonah Lehrer, neuroscientist and author of “Proust Was a Neuroscientist,” said, the literati must have had as many (if not more) reservations in the pre-psychonovel era.

“There is nothing new or trendy about novelists borrowing the language and theories of contemporary science,” he said.

The novel fared well in embracing the trends of psychology, and there is no reason to believe that it will fare worse in embracing the trends of neurology.

When all is said and done, storytelling is as old as mankind, and knowing our brains well will not deter us for a moment from contemplating the mysteries of the mind that remain. As Allen so poetically put it: “Neurology won’t discourage us from self-contemplation any more than astrophysics keeps us from gazing at the stars.”

Jane Stewart Adams is a contributing columnist. Email her at opinion@nyunews.com.

health

Proton research could inspire cancer breakthrough

By Mahesh Yaragatti

I recently read an article about the discovery of the God particle or Higgs boson in the Washington Post published on March 12.

As a medical student, and having recently read “The Grand Design”

by Stephen Hawking, I certainly do not expect to understand an esoteric field like particle physics, especially at such a scholarly level — just like I don’t expect a physicist to understand the microscopic aspects of human physiology. However, this area of physics is quite important because it will not only help in understanding the quantum universe, but it is also a field that will guide the development of futuristic technologies.

The smallest molecules in life are studied using colliders or accelerators such as the state-of-the-art Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research located in Switzerland. Other studies take place at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in New York and the recently defunct Fermilab Tevatron in Illinois. These are billion dollar technologies and the only ones in the world that can accelerate subatomic particles like quarks, leptons and bosons into straight beams of light. Subatomic particles can then combine to form composite particles like protons and neutrons that repre-

7

sent various types of atoms as in the 118 elements of the periodic table.

In a particle accelerator, these colliding beams of light can be studied by analyzing how particles impact each other and their energy states, equivalent to mass, which is measured in electron volts (eV). It is proposed that by the late 2010s, the International Linear Collider will be built and will have a collision energy of 500 Gigaelectron volts (GeV). A single GeV is equivalent to 1 billion eV and by comparison, one proton is about a billion eV, whereas an electron is about .5 million eV. As reported in the article, the boson particle offers 115-135 GeV of energy. One GeV equals the amount of energy in a proton — for example quarks held together. As a reference, diagnostic X-rays used in healthcare usually have 150 Kiloelectron volts while therapeutic gamma and X-rays for medical treatment are about 25 Megaelectron volts (1 MeV = 1 million electron volts).

There are medical treatments for cancer patients that involve light beams, or lasers, aimed at tumors or cancerous tissues. According to an article in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, as of 2008, there were 28 treatment facilities worldwide that treated over 70,000 cancer patients by means of pions and other heavier ions like carbon.

With the use of highly sophisticated image-guided technology, the higher eV offered by these particles allows deeper penetration into tissues with less energy deposition into the healthier tissues. The accelerators used for proton therapy typically produce protons with energies in the range of 70 to 250 MeV. As of June 2011, there were a total of 37 proton therapy centers throughout the world including the United States, and more than 73,800 patients were treated according to the Particle Therapy Co-operative Group located in France. The major problem in applying this technology for cancer treatment is the size and cost of the cyclotron or synchrotron equipment. According to a 2009 article in Physics Today, smaller accelerator systems that deliver proton therapy to patients include technologies such as the superconducting synchrocyclotrons, known as FM Cyclotrons, ultra-compact synchrotrons and the dielectric wall accelerators. Although the practical applications of the Higgs boson particle are not immediate, it would be interesting to hypothesize its possibility or effectiveness in particle therapy for cancer patients.

Mahesh Yaragatti is a contributing columnist. Email him at opinion@nyunews.com.

staff editorial

N.Y. tax exemption signifies stability

Last week, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced a tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $110 per item, effective beginning this past April 1.

This exemption was first put in place in 2000, but because of the state’s ongoing budget problems, it has been occasionally suspended — including one year ago. Instead, the state offered a lower exemption threshold of clothing and footwear sold under $55.

This tax exemption has taken a burden off the shoulders of New York consumers. In these dire economic times, lower tax rates encourage people to shop more within the state, as opposed to either out-of-state or worse yet, not at all.

New Jersey, with its long-standing tax exemption, has been notorious for luring New York shoppers away from local clothing stores.

Detractors of this tax exemption point out that the government stands to lose money from an increase in tax exemptions. The lower threshold implemented in 2011 earned the state an extra $210 million. The government also needs to balance its budget in the current economic climate, and the loss of tax revenue could lead to further cuts in key social services.

However, this reasoning fails to acknowledge that tax exemptions entice more consumption, resulting in increased tax revenue. Even if the government were to lose a slight percentage of immediate tax revenue, they will gain in the long run. The tax break will increase the profitability of businesses and should create sustained economic success for both the state’s apparel industry and government.

Most importantly, the decision to reinstate a tax exemption is an optimistic sign of the state’s fiscal future. Last year, the exemption was taken out as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s push to deliver the state’s first balanced budget in many years. Cuomo did not just secure a balanced budget, but he also managed to do it on time — the first on-time budget since 2006. This year, not only did Cuomo manage to balance the state budget again, but he simultaneously restored this boon to consumers. After years of dealing with incredible amounts of mismanagement, residents of New York can rest assured that the state’s fiscal condition is stable and sound.

Email the WSN Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com.

Editorial Board: Olivia Gonzalez (Chair), Atticus Brigham (Co-Chair), Sanchay Jain (Co-Chair), Chris DiNardo, Emily Franklin, Matt Kao, Ben Miller, Peter Murphy and Richard Zhang.

8

Washington Square news | wednesday, april 4, 2012 | nyunews.com

SPORTs

edited by daniel hinton sports@nyunews.com

Kentucky victory marks beginning of new era in college basketball

By John Axelrod

Well before the University of Kentucky Wildcats won the NCAA National Championship on Monday night, many sports writers bemoaned the arrival of a new era of college basketball.

In their columns, they wrote that head coaches, namely John Calipari of Kentucky, have manipulated the college recruiting system to the advantage of a select number of schools.

If Anthony Davis is drafted first overall in the NBA this summer, he will become the third player that Calipari coached a single season to be chosen number one in the past five seasons. Kentucky deftly outplayed the rest of the field in this year’s tournament, reinforcing the idea that every player on Kentucky’s starting lineup has the potential to be chosen in the first round of the upcoming draft.

The practice of high school players skipping college reached its height during the 1990s and early 2000s. But a new rule enacted by the league in 2005 required all players to be at least one year removed from high school in order to be eligible for the draft.

Now the best players usually at-

tend college for one year before entering the NBA. I don’t blame student athletes for doing this.

They are poised to be millionaires in a year, and pursuing a college degree would actually limit their professional careers.

On the other hand, many analysts and columnists say the rule has damaged the competitive amateurism of college basketball, and they cite this year as the primary example. In a column published last Wednesday, Chuck Klosterman, author and contributing editor for sports website Grantland, expressed his fear of the consequences of Kentucky winning the title.

“There will be five schools sharing the 25 best players in the country,” Klosterman wrote. “It will skew the competitive balance of major conferences and split D-I basketball into two completely unequal tiers.”

I do not see why that would be a bad situation. Although watching underdogs like Butler University and Virginia Commonwealth University in the Final Four last year may have been heartwarming, the games were not good. I would rather see the Final Four stacked with perennial powerhouses who

have the best players, which generally leads to better games. Next year Calipari has to start over with a new team. Eventually other teams will catch on and there will be about eight schools that dominate basketball every year, which has essentially been the status quo anyway.

Unless the game is Duke University versus University of North Carolina or the University of Kansas versus University of Missouri, the college basketball regular season has never been very competitive. The best teams generally lose no more than five games in a season. A field stacked with overwhelmingly talented teams will make March Madness even more fun to watch. Hard-fought contests between schools laden with top athletes will occur more frequently, and upsets, if and when they happen, will be even more exhilarating.

We should welcome this new, more competitive era in which the best players choose to play for the best coaches and with the best teammates for national titles.

John Axelrod is a deputy sports editor. Email him at jaxelrod@nyunews.com.

Violets’ win streak ends at Baruch College

By Sara Levy

NYU men’s volleyball suffered their first defeat in more than two weeks at CUNY Baruch College last night. The Baruch Bearcats, ranked No. 15 in Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, dealt the No. 5 Violets their seventh loss of the season.

Baruch celebrated Senior Day prior to the match. The athletic program honored seniors middle blocker Vincent Cruz and right side hitter/setter Sam Park.

After dropping the first set 28-26, the Bearcats dominated the second and third 25-16 and 25-17, respectively. Baruch took the fourth set 26-24 for the victory.

“We were sluggish from the start and were not able to get on-track until late in game 4, but by then we had dug too far a hole to climb out of,” head coach Jose Pina said.

As a team, NYU recorded higher stats but was plagued by errors throughout the match. Though the Violets recorded more kills overall, they earned a low .240 hit percent-

age to the Bearcats’ .337 percentage. The Violets also made 15 service errors compared to the Bearcats’ 11.

“We hit too many balls out, attacking at the net mostly but also serving, and made too many blocking errors,” Pina said. “These unforced errors accounted for 54 out of Baruch’s 101 points.”

NYU junior outside hitter Taylor Fauntleroy recorded a match-high 17 kills and opposite Karl Johnson led all players with 46 assists.

Baruch sophomore middle blocker Steven Coniglio led the Bearcats with 16 kills and a .625 hit percentage.

The Violets are now 9-7 against non-conference teams and 20-7 overall.

“Now that we are winding down the season, the goals are to make it to the NCAA championship tournament, win the UVC and to get healthy,” Piña added.

NYU will conclude the regular season at Princeton University on Friday, April 6 at 7 p.m.

Sara Levy is a staff writer. Email her at sports@nyunews.com.