WSN040814

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NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 42, No. 35

Tax credit encourages NY theater growth

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014

nyunews.com

Experts elucidate Bitcoin currency

FELIPE DE LA HOZ/WSN

By ANN SCHMIDT

By RAHUL KRISHNAMOORTHY

Theater companies outside of New York City will soon have incentives to put on productions due to a $4-billion tax credit that was included in the state budget for the 2015 tax year. The $137.9-billion budget was approved by the Senate and signed in the revenue bill by Gov. Cuomo on March 31. Since the tax credit will start in 2015, tax claims will not be filed until early 2016. Morris Peters, the press officer from the state Division of the Budget, said the tax credits are only for theaters outside New York City. “This incentive will encourage theater activities in New York State and will help spur economic activity,” Peters said. For students like Tisch sophomore Joel Yates, these tax incentives seem to be good news. “I feel like it will encourage preexisting producers to find and produce newer works with this

The new-age digital currency Bitcoin has been making waves in recent weeks, grabbing headlines since Newsweek’s legally contested outing of Bitcoin’s alleged founder Satoshi Nakamoto and the roughly $400 million implosion of the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange. The NYU School of Law hosted a symposium on the often misunderstood currency in conjunction with NYU Law’s Classical Liberal Institute and Federalist Society. Bitcoin, an open-source, nongovernment-backed currency, has rapidly expanded. In the space of a few years, Bitcoin has transformed from a fringe element into a currency and services market worth around $6 billion. NYU’s conference on the mercurial currency featured two panels. The first panel, “Bitcoin’s Legal and Policy Issues,” was moderated by Bloomberg News reporter Carter Dougherty and led by Jerry Brito of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, John Collins of

THEATER continued on PG. 3

Experts on the digital currency dissect the issues surrounding Bitcoin at the law school.

Freshman uses play to explore homelessness BY DYLAN JARRETT

Among the many well-known plays and musicals performed by NYU theater groups, it is easy to forget that some students on campus are producing their own works. One such project is the upcoming immersive theater piece “Shadows in the Streets,” conceived and directed by Tisch freshman Sarah Nichols. Nichols has spent the last six months working with the Tisch Profunds Project, a program that awards grants to students who submit proposals for creating new pieces of theater. When Nichols heard about the program, she knew it would be the perfect way to get her piece off the ground. “Shadows” follows the journey of four New Yorkers into homelessness, and the show’s immersive nature forces the audience to confront this often-ignored issue head on.

COURTESY OF LAUREN BRAHN

Nichols directed “Shadows in the Streets,” an immersive theater piece. “I’ve always wanted to do an immersive show that has some sort of community outreach aspect to it,” Nichols, a native Texan, said. “Moving to New York, I’ve obviously encountered a lot more homeless people, and the problem has become much more evident to me.” She said her goal is to create a similar awareness among theatergoers.

“I wanted to do something that provokes the audience to recognize these people and recognize that they have a story just like everybody else,” Nichols said. The cast of four has been in rehearsal for nearly a month. Although the project is funded through the Tisch Profunds Project, the students working on it — including freshman Lauren Brahn and two guides who lead the audience through the performance space — have operated nearly independently. Nichols also had help from a faculty mentor, but she is the primary creative force behind “Shadows.” When asked what it is like to be responsible for so many parts of a play, her laugh conveys the hours of effort she has invested in her project. “It’s so hard,” Nichols said. “I’ve

NICHOLS continued on PG. 5

BITCOIN continued on PG. 3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Clubs promotes healthy eating NYU’s Oxfam chapter spearheads the effort to bring local and organic food to campus with several other clubs. COURTESY OF OXFAM NYU

STORY on PG. 4

Holocaust survivor visits NYU Margot Friedlander, now 92, was 21 when she lost her parents to the Gestapo. DANIEL COLE/WSN

STORY on nyunews.com


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