NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 42, No. 36
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014
nyunews.com
UK’s Brown encourages worldwide education By RAHUL KRISHNAMOORTHY
Fish-borne infection infiltrates boroughs
As the international community grapples with a rapidly escalating refugee crisis in areas including Syria, Afghanistan and the litany of ailing states in the post-Arab Spring world, the humanitarian fight for the right of education for the world’s most vulnerable children has come into the spotlight. Gordon Brown, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, spoke at NYU on April 8 at a discussion titled “Education Without Borders: Global Infrastructure for Aid and Delivery of Education in Conflict Situations.” Brown is also the U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education and NYU’s inaugural Distinguished Leader in Residence. Brown began on a note of solemnity, referencing the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide earlier this week and the lessons it engendered in an international community still struggling with the question of how to best deal with the plight of the world’s children in moments of humanitarian crises. Recalling the chilling anecdote of
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced that a skin infection is spreading through raw fish contaminated with Mycobacterium marinum in Chinatowns across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Thirty cases of the infection were reported in March. Since April 2, that number has risen to 66. The health department warned that the bacterium enters through wounds in the skin and that those who handle fish in Chinatown should wear gloves to prevent infection. However, no risk is associated with eating the fish. “Symptoms of M. marinum include red, tender swelling under the skin of the hands and arms, hand or arm pain and difficulty moving fingers,” the press release said. If left untreated, the infection can require surgery to be cured. Environmental studies professor Jennifer Jacquet, who researches fisheries and marine conservation, said she suspects irresponsible fish farming is the cause. “It’s another one of a long series of problems in [seafood] imports from Asia,” Jacquet said.
BROWN continued on PG. 3
By CLAIRE SCIMECA
FELIPE DE LA HOZ/WSN
Fish markets in Chinatowns throughout New York City may sell contaminated fish.
INFECTION continued on PG. 3
Broadway musical Firth, Kidman shine in ‘Railway Man’ finishes on sour note By J.R. HAMMERER
By ADDY BAIRD
Idina Menzel is back on Broadway. Viewed as the childhood idol of so many young theatergoers thanks to her role as Elphaba in the original cast of Broadway showstopper “Wicked,” Menzel returns to the Great White Way in the musical “If/Then.” The same young girls who were so inspired by Menzel’s Elphaba can relate to Menzel’s new character Elizabeth, a recent divorcee who moves from Phoenix to New York City to reinvent herself. Here, the storyline splits, playing out the answer to the question “What if ?” One storyline follows Liz, who wears glasses and finds love after going a certain way in the park one afternoon, and the other follows her counterpart Beth, who finds success in her
career after going the other way that same day. The storylines of Liz and Beth are not difficult to follow. They are woven together well with parallel life experiences like pregnancies and weddings. However, the music, which plays throughout and weaves together the two storylines, is unfortunately forgettable. While Menzel has her moments of musical power that showcase her incredible talent — particularly a big belting number at the end — they are not the sort of musical numbers the audience would quietly hum while leaving the theater. The design of the show is colorful and clean-cut, topped with a mirror overlooking the stage that appropriately adds new viewpoints of Elizabeth’s story.
IF/THEN continued on PG. 5
“The Railway Man” is three different movies bolted together with overtures toward a fourth tacked on at the beginning. There is potential in its premise — a former World War II prisoner of war attempts to track down his tormentor and find peace — and there are isolated moments when the movie works. Yet, director Jonathan Teplitzky smothers his proceedings with a blandly pretty style and an annoyingly overblown score. It is impossible to be drawn into this film, which hits audiences with its message as aggressively as the Japanese torture it so dotingly depicts. The script, credited to “Millions” writer Frank Cottrell Boyce and the film’s producer Andy Paterson, strands its characters, forcing them to talk about the story and its themes instead of dramatizing it and adding subtext.
COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
Firth and Kidman star in the film as Eric and Patti. At the very least, Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman are good sports. As an older Eric Lomax and Patti, who comes to love him, they have enough chemistry to make viewers wish the couple had better material to work with. An early scene of the lovers
meeting on a train could have been plucked out from one of Firth’s warm romance films. But soon, Firth begins exhibiting post-traumatic stress disorder and does nothing beyond brooding silently, walking on the beach and surrendering to sudden bursts of violence. Kidman puts her all into the material, proving again that she can be good in absolutely anything, but her character does not do much besides simply asking Lomax’s friends what happened. Jeremy Irvine, the talented lead of “War Horse,” also does quite well for himself and adapts many of Firth’s mannerisms as a younger version of his character. Teplitzky presents scattered, brutal moments of Lomax’s time as a POW, leading up to Firth’s character being accused of aiding the enemy, when the sequences get even uglier. The issue with this plot is that the
RAILWAY continued on PG. 5