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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
Face-to-Face With Bernie Supporters at the Rally By ANNE CRUZ and LEXI FAUNCE News Editors
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders drew a crowd of more than 27,000 people during his rally in Washington Square Park last Wednesday. WSN spoke to college students “feeling the Bern” and asked them why they support the Vermont senator.
Email Lexi and Anne at news@nyunews.com.
“The message he is conveying really speaks to a lot of frustrations that our generation feels. I think he’s the only candidate to address those issues like wealth and prosperity and definitely the student debt crisis. I think on the Republican side they sort of ignore those issues or say that they’re non-existent.” — Stephanie Hauck, CAS freshman
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“He wants affordable college for everyone. We have to pay for tuition, housing and books — it’s too much already. We shouldn’t be punished for learning.” — Oscar Salazar, student, Westchester Community College
STAFF PHOTOS BY ANNA LETSON
“[Sanders] has values that coincide with students’ values. He wants affordable education, he cares about the environment, he wants to take care of debt, make things more affordable for us and make sure we get jobs for the future. That’s what every student wants.” — Michael DeLuca, Vice President of NYU College Democrats, CAS junior
“I support Bernie because he’s a Democratic Socialist. I think he is a lot more anti-imperialist than Hillary, who I think is in fact very imperialist. We need to address those root causes of migration and not just making up some bullshit immigration reform. We have to address those root causes and not just put a mandate on it.” — Monica Millay, member of NYU College Democrats, CAS junior
CRIME LOG April 9 to April 12 By GRETA CHEVANCE and DIAMOND NAGA SIU Deputy News Editors The NYU Department of Public Safety received two reports of larceny, one report of burglary, one report of forcible touching and one report of controlled substance between April 9 to 12.
Larceny On April 9 at 7:50 p.m., a student reported his “Introduction to Java” textbook was missing from his desk on the fourth floor of Bobst Library after he left it there at 6:30 p.m. and returned at 7:30 p.m. Police notification was declined. On April 11 at 9:30 p.m., a student declined notifying the police after $80 was missing from a box in her Weinstein room. She last saw it on April 9.
Burglary On April 12 at 3:30 p.m., a staff member declined notifying the police after she realized her laptop charger was missing from a cabinet in her Krisner Dental Center office. She left it there on Feb. 1.
Forcible Fondling On April 11 at 1 p.m., a student declined an offer to notify the police after she reported being sexually assaulted by another student in her Brittany dorm.
Controlled Substance On April 11 at 2:15 a.m., marijuana was found in Third Avenue North Residence Hall after Public Safety received a report of controlled substance.
Email Greta Chevance and Diamond Naga Siu at news@nyunews.com.
“[Sanders] has this mentality of change that is something we haven’t seen in America in so long. A lot of our presidents have wanted to keep things the same and he just wants to completely change all the things that are wrong, and I think that’s amazing.” — Juanie Rodriguez, CAS freshman
Students Unmask Mental Health By GRETA CHEVANCE Deputy News Editor
Last fall, NYU students Sophia Wu, Franny Cacciola and Nikki Guillery created Project InterACT, a photo campaign initiative in order to address mental illness and health issues throughout the student body. Designed to change the stigma regarding mental health issues, Project InterACT shares pictures of NYU students’ thoughts and experiences with mental illnesses onto their Facebook page. Gallatin junior Guillery said Project InterACT was inspired by the photo project “Hello Neighbor,” which helps communities become more familiar with one another through photographs and interviews. “We decided to have people handwrite their words on the photos as we feel this puts a much more personal touch on them and takes away some of the anonymity that can often feel so overwhelming at NYU,” Guillery said. CAS junior Wu said Project
InterACT was formed from a need to share the feelings and stories of students who have had mental health issues. “We saw how prevalent these issues were among our peers, friends and family, but it never occurred to us that part of the illness itself was either not coming to terms with it because of embarrassment/its social stigma or not having an opportunity to release these emotions harboring inside you,” Wu said. CAS junior Julia Oxman, who participated in the photo campaign, said Project InterACT is different from other mental health-related organizations on campus because it’s personal, hand-written quotes from familiar faces at NYU bring conversations about mental health out into the open. “Rather than keeping the discussion private or anonymous, like other mental health platforms often do, Project InterACT normalizes the issue through the use of social media,” Oxman said.
Guillery thinks Project InterACT will add to NYU’s mental health and wellness resources and provide validation for those struggling with mental health. “It’s easy living in such a fast-paced city surrounded by so many other success-driven students for issues related to mental health to get pushed aside in an effort to maintain the image that we are doing well, but our hope is that through viewing these photos and taking part in the walk next semester people will begin to see that their feelings and experiences need not be minimized by this pressure,” Guillery said. Project InterACT is organizing a university-wide walk in Washington Square Park for September 2016, as a celebration of mental health. The event will consist of food, guest speakers and additional photos for the photo campaign.
Email Greta Chevance at gchevance@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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Get to Know Your Candidates
By ANNE CRUZ and LEXI FAUNCE News Editors
The New York presidential primaries are this Tuesday, bringing voters one step closer to the general election. Before you cast your ballot, WSN has everything you need to know about where the candidates stand on the economy, immigration, energy and health care.
John Kasich The most forgotten candidate from the Republican Party, the Ohio governor’s strongest suit is his economic experience. He was able to reduce income and eliminated estate taxes in the Buckeye State, but raised the sales tax. If he’s elected president, Kasich says he’ll reduce overall government spending to balance the budget, but increase defense spending. As for immigration, Kasich said in a Wisconsin town hall that he wouldn’t deport law-abiding illegal immigrants, but would rather they pay a fine to the government and strive toward legal status. Kasich’s “action plan” includes approving the Keystone XL pipeline and increasing means of domestic energy production. Kasich also states on his website that as president, he’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act, but he actually expanded Medicaid in Ohio, accepting billions of federal dollars from the Affordable Care Act in the process.
Ted Cruz The Texas senator said Friday that economic growth would be his first priority as president. Cruz plans to create a flat tax plan which would tax individuals at 10 percent after meeting certain economic thresholds and businesses at 16 percent. Like fellow Republican candidate Donald Trump, Cruz supports the building of a wall along the Mexican border and eliminating sanctuary cities — municipalities that protect immigrants in the United States illegally from deportation. On energy, Cruz has called climate change “pseudo-scientific theory” and pledged to end the Obama administration’s “war
on coal” if elected. Cruz also said he would repeal Obamacare — the law he was so against he took to the Senate for 21 hours to protest it.
Donald Trump Trump’s most prominent platform is his wanting to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico — and to make Mexico pay for it. Trump said he would threaten to cut off Mexico’s remittances from the Patriot Act unless they wire the U.S. government $5-10 billion for the construction of the wall. However, many have questioned whether he would have the authority to use such intimidation tactics, even as president. Like other Republican candidates, Trump wants to revitalize the coal industry and said climate change was a hoax created by the Chinese government. Trump would also repeal Obamacare and facilitate free-market healthcare reforms, issuing block grants to states for Medicaid.
Bernie Sanders Champion of economic reform long before the Occupy Wall Street movement, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders demands the rich pay “their fair share in taxes.” The Sanders campaign has specifically advocated for enacting a tax on Wall Street speculators to help pay for his plan of making all public colleges tuition-free. Sanders also plans to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. When it comes to immigration, Sanders has preached dismantling in-
humane deportation programs and reforming the path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In addition, he would ensure U.S. borders remain secure while respecting local communities. Sanders calls climate change “the single greatest threat facing our planet” and hopes to combat carbon emissions by cutting funding to subsidize fossil fuels. In addition, the senator would also put a tax on carbon pollution and transition toward a nuclear-free, clean energy system. If elected into office, Sanders would also build upon the Affordable Care Act and work to create a federally administered single-payer health care program.
Hillary Clinton Clinton’s economic plan includes raising the minimum wage to $12, but she said she would support a bill raising it to $15 if certain qualifications were met. She also wants to invest $350 billion so students will not accrue debt for paying for tuition at state schools. The former secretary of state has stated that she will preserve executive actions relieving DREAMers and their families from the risk of deportation. On the topic of energy, Clinton plans on installing 500 million solar panels and further invest in sustainable energy sources to combat climate change. As for healthcare, Clinton has defended the Affordable Care Act and would work to expand it while promoting accessible women’s reproductive health care.
Email Anne Cruz and Lexi Faunce at news@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
Senator Bernie Sanders spoke for 90 minutes at a rally last Wednesday in Washington Square Park.
INFORMING YOU FIRST
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Admitted Tandon students will get to tour Mars through virtual reality goggles.
Tandon Sees 2020 With VR Goggles By KATE HOWARD Staff Writer The Tandon School of Engineering wants to send its incoming freshmen to Mars. Well, virtually, that is. Tandon is sending out virtual reality goggles, dubbed Tandon Vision, to each member of the admitted class of 2020 living in the U.S. Incoming students will use the cardboard goggles in conjunction with a downloadable smartphone app to take a virtual reality trip to Mars with the Tandon-designed, award-winning robotic rover, Lunabot. Upon putting on the goggles, students are transported to a robotics lab at Tandon where they witness the production of Lunabot. Following a countdown, the student is blasted into space towards Mars, where he or she will be able to control the Lunabot to look for resources that would help astronauts build colonies on the planet. Mark Skwarek, director of the NYU Mobile Augmented Reality Lab, helped to create this virtual reality experience. Skwarek created a prototype of Tandon Vision with the help of Parth Darji and Shen Fang, graduate students at Tandon. Skwarek also worked in conjunction with Tandon senior Matthew Conto to create a realistic journey to Mars through a cardboard virtual reality headset. “The cardboard headset was made to bring the cost down of immersive virtual reality,” Skwarek said. “Cardboard makes VR accessible to anyone with a smartphone.” Cardboard goggles retail for about $5-10, whereas high-end motels can be hundreds of dollars. Elisabeth Ensweilerl, director of undergraduate enrollment at Tandon, was the one
who originally came up with the idea of creating a virtual reality experience for admitted Tandon students. “The NYU Tandon Vision app was created to encourage admitted students to experience what it’s like to be a School of Engineering student,” Ensweilerl said. “The experience showcases the type of work a Tandon student can do, including creating virtual reality experiences and the robotics used in the Lunabotics program.” While the virtual reality device is only being sent to the admitted Tandon class of 2020, Ensweilerl said this could change depending on the responses they receive about the app, noting that a successful rollout could prompt them to expand the project beyond Tandon. NYU Tandon Dean Katepalli R. Sreenivasan said he was thankful that Ensweilerl created an idea that showcased the projects and achievement at Tandon to the admitted class. “Whether they choose to be at the forefront of virtual reality with Mark Skwarek or explore robotics and other technologies in the computer science classes of Haldun Hadimioglu, students will discover the level of creativity and hands-on experience that will have a huge impact on them,” Sreenivasan said. Skwarek said the app was made to get students excited about coming to NYU Tandon. “It was made to encourage them to do great things, like creating works that travel to distant planets,” Skwarek said. “The colonization of Mars is the next great challenge facing humans, and Tandon is leading the way.”
Email Kate Howard at news@nyunews.com.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
ARTS
EDITED BY ZACH MARTIN ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Kimmy Schmidt Still Unbreakable By ANUBHUTI KUMAR Staff Writer
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Revealing the events before and after Snow White, “The Huntsman” focuses on the Snow Queen and her personal army.
Snow White and the Unwanted Sequel By CARTER GLACE Staff Writer
“Snow White and the Huntsman” received mixed reception from critics and the box office and some behind-thescenes drama came to light regarding the director and Kristen Stewart. Nevertheless, Universal has decided to return to the series by focusing on the Chris Hemsworth-led Huntsmen. NYU was treated to an early screening courtesy of Universal. “The Huntsman” serves as both a prequel and sequel to the events of Snow White, explaining that the huntsmen are actually children soldiers the Snow Queen kidnaps and raises to be her personal army, with Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain as her most valuable assets. But when the two form a relationship, she separates them, as Hemsworth is exiled in the original film. Cut to the present, Hemsworth is recruited by the king to retrieve the magic mirror, which has been radiating dark magic and disappeared. The film improves on the original by making Hemsworth the lead. While Kristen Stewart’s Snow White was a bit of a cipher, Hemsworth’s Huntsman is given a defined character that he pulls off effortlessly. He finds a solid foil in the ever-versatile Chastain, whose no-nonsense character complements his charm and energy. Their “will they, won’t they” relationship hits a series of somewhat familiar and fairly predictable beats, with vari-
ous twists and turns, giving the story just enough life, but not enough to make it feel particularly compelling. Any engagement is from the charisma of the two leads, with a few surprisingly dark turns that tease us with a more fascinating movie. The third act bursts to life with the help of the villainess. Anyone who remembers the original film remembers it for Charlize Theron’s manic portrayal of a scenery chewing, magic spamming queen. This time around, she is given a challenger in the form of Emily Blunt, who, while not as grandiose as Theron, holds her own. Once the film gets to the final act, where the two sisters come to blows, the film jolts to life and becomes an absolute blast, as we watch the two shoot magic and hurl insults. What helps “The Huntsman” is that everything good about the original is seen here. Once again, the film’s world is delightfully creative. The film’s visions of magic and creatures are fresh and utterly fascinating. The highlights are probably the liquid gold of the magic mirror and a horde of goblins who are part ape, centaur and ram. The leads have more than enough raw charisma to carry the story to the more magical bits, where sheer creativity makes the film a strange, silly, yet oddly watchable B movie. “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” will be released in area theaters on April 21.
Email Carter Glace at film@nyunews.com.
When a show comes along that walks the thin line between absurdity and bitingly true, honest satire, it’s a good guess to assume the involvement of Tina Fey in the creative team. Fey’s latest endeavor with Robert Carlock, with whom she worked on “30 Rock,” is the second season of the Netflix hit, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” The first season premiered last spring and, like most of her work, tackles more than just the challenge of providing entertaining and laughter-inducing material. It also deals with provoking issues such as extremist religious cults and coping with past baggage rather than smiling through it. The show continues to follow the life of the 28 year old Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper), as she adjusts to life in New York after being rescued from a cult that held her captive underground since middle school. This season sees the return of the wacky, screwball characters the audience came to love, including Kimmy’s best friend and roommate Titus, played by Titus
Burgess, and her rich, socialite former boss Jacqueline Voorhes, played by “30 Rock” alum Jane Krakowski. Carol Kane also reappears as Lillian, Kimmy’s landlord, who spends her time trying to fight gentrification in her upper Manhattan neighborhood in dramatic ways to varying degrees of success. The show aims to tackle very complex social justice issues with bubbly and ridiculous characters in humorous situations that take what could be dark and depressing story lines and instead make them light and digestible for the audience — much like how Kimmy deals with her past. The title character spends the season on a journey, with the aide of her alcoholic therapist, played by Fey, to come to terms with the fact that the smile on her face doesn’t always have to be so bright. Kimmy discovers that life won’t be as fulfilling if she doesn’t give in to her full range of emotions, from anger to happiness. Kemper pulls off with character with the frustration, comedic timing and innocence the role demands. The recently divorced Jacqueline
who tries to balance her desire to regain her place in the world of socialite women as well as to finally stand up for, rather than shy away from, her Native American heritage makes for many laughs as she blunders through life on the reservation with her parents, who eventually insist she go back to the city. Yet, when she arrives back in New York she finds herself falling back into her old social circles. A moment of absolute genius and hilarity ensues when her benefit event for Native Americans finally comes together because she gets all the rich businessmen’s mistresses to attend her event over her nemesis’. With the premise being so dark, it is impossible for the story to avoid serious issues and the show does so effectively using brilliant satirical approach to comedic writing and the ever optimistic title character that Kemper pulls off with enough sunshine to fill in the New York winter’s lack thereof. Season two of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is currently streaming on Netflix.
Email Anubhuti Kumar at entertainment@nyunews.com.
Student Signs With Village Records By ALLISON STUBBLEBINE Music Editor
This past week, WSN sat down with up-and-comer Chris Hearn, aka Ceezar, to talk about the release of his single “Celebration.” Hearn, a sophomore in Steinhardt majoring in Music Business, is an MLK Scholar as well as a member of The Gentlemen of Quality. WSN: How long have you been making music? Chris Hearn: I’ve been making music for a long time, believe it or not. I’ve been writing my own raps for about 10 or 11 years now. I started out freestyling because my uncle forced me to. So I was four years old, and my uncle, who’s this producer, would come over to the house and be like, “Yo, rap.” It became a way for me to one, be able to go downstairs and be where the adults were, where no other kids were allowed because if I came down and rapped for them they would let me chill, and then also I found a lot of solace in it. So I was writing my own raps on paper by the time I was around eight and I started recording when I was maybe 13. WSN: At eight, what do you rap about? CH: I was the best at basketball, the girls loved me. WSN: So is there any sort of story behind your stage name? CH: Absolutely, Ceezar came from the original nickname that I had when I was a little kid, Little Ceez. It was also an homage to another hip hop figure, but when I decided
I wanted to make music I needed something that was more powerful. I wouldn’t be able to get out the energy that I wanted with just Ceez. I decided to make it bigger and say Ceezar, because I know there’s a lot of power in that name. Ceezar is spelled C-E-E-Z-A-R, and I did that one, to distinguish myself from the actual historical figure of Julius Caesar, because I’m not trying to be anyone, but I do respect the power that was in the name and the energy that was with it, and I wanted to take that and use it to create my own identity and character. It stands for Create Everything Excellent with Zero Acts of Recklessness, so that stands to embody the energy that I want to create in my music and as a person. WSN: What was the inspiration for “Celebration?” What is your writing process like? CH: Usually, my writing process happens a little bit differently than it did with this song. Usually, I have a feeling or a concept that I would like to elaborate on. I get in contact with my producers, and say, “Yo, I need a beat or an instrumental that feels like this, I need to express this kind of feeling.” They really come up with frames for the image that I’m trying to create. Once the instrumental is perfect I write the music to it. That’s usually my process, but with this song, I joined up with Village Records and we were going in to deliberately make a single. I felt a little bit of pressure and I probably overthought it, but I thought, what message do you want to communicate knowing that right now
you’re going to have an audience that’s larger than you usually do, you’re going to have opportunities that you haven’t had thus far, what message do you want to communicate? And it was absolutely, easily, positivity and inspiration for people who don’t feel like they have a lot of it. It’s very much an uplifting song in the form of giving power to people and making people want to celebrate and act silly and just be happy. WSN premiered Ceezar’s single “Celebration” last week. Catch Ceezar performing at the African Students Union of NYU fashion show on April 30 at 267 5th Ave.
Email Allison Stubblebine at astubblebine@nyunews.com
STAFF PHOTO BY POLINA BUCHAK
Steinhardt sophomore Chris Hearn has been making music for the past decade and recently released his single “Celebration” with Village Records.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
ARTS
EDITED BY ZACH MARTIN ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Modern ‘Job’ is Heartbreaking
TEDxNYU Gets Legit About Coloring
By JOSEPH MYERS Theater & Books Editor
By TONY SCHWAB Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY LILY XING
TEDxNYU hosted a color party to relieve some stress with art therapy. pursuits. First was Jordan Potash of the American Art Therapy association. Potash graduated from Syracuse with a double major in psychology and studio art and was deeply interested in the overlap between the two. He noted that art can not only serve as a calming form of escapism, but also help make someone aware of very deep seated traumas and self-perceptions. He told the story of a patient who drew himself as an angry, black and red ball with a calm, white center. The patient “realized that if this is how he saw himself, it was likely the way other people saw him. He had reached a new self awareness through his art.” Marygrace Berberian, an NYU Steinhardt professor of art therapy, spoke about the history and development of art therapy as a field. It
began in the late 19th century, but rose to prominence in the 1970s and ‘80s. She noted that there are now over 6,000 licensed art therapists in the U.S. in 34 states, with over 1,000 practicing in New York. “Art therapy is more than just drawing,” Berberian said. “It includes reflection and analysis on the work created, which can lead to important realizations for the patient.” As the speeches went on, the audience was given colored pencils and pages of coloring books to experience first hand the benefits of coloring. People got very caught up in their drawing, bringing home the points made by the speakers that coloring is not just for kids anymore.
Email Tony Schwab at entertainment@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM
This week, TEDxNYU held an event in Kimmel called Color Party that started by noting a very interesting recent trend. Coloring books, once thought to be solely for children, have become more and more popular among adults. While some may laugh this off as a silly fad, a number of speakers got to the heart of coloring’s appeal. Speaking first was Richard Chang, one of the developers of an app called Pigment, which allows users to color on iPads. He hopes that the app will help users relax, with the coloring serving a meditative purpose. “I work a lot and I often find myself feeling very stressed,” Chang said. “I used to watch half-hour TV shows to take my mind off of work, but this never quite worked. When I started coloring, I found myself feeling rejuvenated much more. It works because it is active and because it gives you a firm sense of control.” The app yielded impressive results, including a detailed drawing of a fruit arrangement. A number of art therapists also spoke about the benefits of creative
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Why do bad things happen to good people? “Head of Passes,” a play written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, based on the Book of Job, toys with the idea of testing faith in times of hardship. “Head of Passes” follows Shelah (Phylicia Rashad), a faithful, God-fearing woman with a big secret — she’s dying. On her birthday, she gathers her closest friends and family in her rural Louisiana home to tell them that she doesn’t have much time left. As family tensions rise, Shelah neglects to tell her loved ones the news and they all head out in the midst of a daunting storm. Shelah passes out, as her home collapses around her under the pressure of the storm. She awakes to even worse news — three of her children have died. She struggles with the idea of her family being taken from her after seeing herself as the one who is supposed to die. In Shelah’s desperation, she calls out to God for help, contemplating sacrifice and faith as the floods rise up around her. The play is incredibly wellrounded, infusing humor in the tragic and tragedy in the humorous. The despair of Shelah’s inner-monologue is mimicked by the set (designed by G.W. Mercier), which, in an impeccably well-executed way, deteriorates in front of the audience’s eyes. At the beginning of the play, the set is a quaint family home with a few leaks. By the end of act one, the house has collapsed and by the end of act two, the house is submerged in water. This incredibly bold set is intricate and striking
and serves as the lifeblood of the play. Phylicia Rashad’s performance as Shelah is breathtaking — she makes very strong and bold choices, creating a complex, three-dimensional character. Her passion makes Shelah’s pain incredibly apparent and heartbreaking to watch. Rashad embodies Shelah’s physical illness very believably and creates a moving duality between her physical exhaustion and emotional desperation. Rashad performs the second act of the play almost entirely alone, giving a rousing look into her character’s darkest fears. Another commendable performance was that of Alana Arenas, who plays Cookie, Shelah’s heroin-addicted daughter. Arenas gave an energetic performance and has impeccable comedic timing, also appearing vulnerable during the more tense moments. The entire cast was well-connected and played off each other’s energy, driving the play like a welloiled machine. What makes “Head of Passes” so tragic is its closeness to reality — while the story of Job is removed from reality by a couple thousand years, this story of God’s wrath is present and relatable, intensified by the detailed set and the well-developed realistic characters. The detail in every aspect of the play makes it impossible to not care for these characters. “Head of Passes” is easily one of the best plays from this theater season. “Head of Passes” is playing at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St.
Email Joseph Myers at jmyers@nyunews.com.
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Showing at the Public Theater, “Head of Passes” tells the story of Shelah and her family coming together to celebrate her birthday.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
FEATURES
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NYU Startup Makes Tattoos Commitment-Free
By KENDALL LEVISON Features Editor
For one team of NYU students and grads, tattoos are more than a symbol of rebellion — they are a business. The company, called Ephemeral, developed a tattoo ink that won’t last forever — just for a year or two. And if you change your mind before the art fades, there’s also a quick and easy way to remove your tattoo. The original idea came to Seung Shin, Ephemeral’s CEO, while he was still studying Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering. Although he’s always been interested in tattoos, he’d been apprehensive about getting one himself. “I come from a traditional Asian family, so my parents despise tattoos,” Shin said. But in 2014, he took the plunge. “I thought, ‘I’m a college guy, I’m an adult,’ so I decided to get a tattoo anyway,” he said. When he went home, his parents
weren’t happy with the new decoration on their son’s bicep, and convinced him to get it removed. As Shin discovered, laser tattoo removal can be painful, expensive and also has no guarantee of completely getting rid of the design. Complete tattoo removal can take up to ten sessions. Shin only went to one, returning to school with his tattoo and a new business concept. He pitched the idea to some of his fellow chemical and biomolecular engineering students at Tandon — Jason Candreva, Brennal Pierre, Vandan Shah and Anthony Lam — and started work on creating a new kind of tattoo. Traditional tattoos last forever because the ink is made of very large molecules. Macrophages, the cells your immune system uses to get rid of stuff like bacteria, just can’t break down the huge dye molecules. Ephemeral uses a different approach. Lam, another of Ephemeral’s co-founders and the company’s Senior R&D Researcher, said that each dye molecule in
their ink is small but it’s encased in a special capsule. “The reason it’s encapsulated is so that it stays in the skin, so the macrophages can’t eat it up,” Lam said. These capsules protect the ink from your immune system, but they also can easily be dissolved by a removal solution that Ephemeral has developed. If you decided you no longer want an Ephemeral tattoo, an artist would simply retrace the design with a tattoo gun loaded with the removal solution. Even if you don’t decide to use the removal solution, the capsules protecting the ink will eventually break, and your tattoo will disappear. Unlike traditional inks which are often made of heavy metals, Ephemeral’s formula is made up organic compounds that can safely be absorbed by your body. With the help of Josh Sakhai, the company’s CFO and a sophomore studying in both Stern and CAS, the Ephemeral team won first place in the Technology Ven-
ture category of last year’s W. R. Berkley Innovation Lab $200K Entrepreneurs Challenge. Just last month, the company was also awarded the title of “Coolest College Startup” by Inc.com. Sakhai has high hopes for Ephemeral’s future. “Five years down the road, I hope we’ve substantially dented the tattoo industry, its culture and its future,” he said. “I
hope to see a lot more people with ink.” Shin, Ephemeral’s CEO, is planning to be one of those people despite his negative experience with his first tattoo. “I already have plans for two full sleeves,” he said. “I’m gonna be decked out.”
Email Kendall Levison at features@nyunews.com.
PHOTO BY ANDREA ANICETO-CHAVEZ
CEO and CFO Seung Shin and Josh Sakhai started Ephemeral to provide tattoos without the commitment.
Stargaze Past the Bright City Lights By TAYLOR NICOLE ROGERS Staff Writer
Back in September, hundreds of NYU students gathered in Washington Square Park in an attempt to get a glimpse of a unique red-colored lunar eclipse, commonly known as a Blood Moon, only to have their view obstructed by New York’s excessive light pollution. Here are some foolproof ways to see the stars without even leaving the city.
Guided Observation Through Columbia’s Telescopes The Columbia Astronomy Public Outreach Program regularly hosts events that would be of interest to both amateur astronomers and casual stargazers alike. Through their popular Stargazing and Lecture series, the program provides the public with the opportunity to listen to brief lectures from graduate students from Columbia University’s Astronomy Department on various aspects of astronomy before enjoying over an hour of guided stargazing through the university’s telescopes. The next installment of the series, entitled “The Explosive Origins of Our Elements,” will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 29, weather permitting.
STAFF PHOTO BY HANNAH SHULMAN
Though it can be hard to get past the light pollution, it is possible to see the stars while staying in the city. Stargazing in Lincoln Center Students looking for a more casual stargazing experience should consider joining Amateur Astronomers Association of New York at their weekly stargazing sessions in the Lincoln Center Plaza. On April 22, the club expects to see Jupiter. The AAA will stargaze every Friday and Saturday until August 12, excluding August 5 and 6.
Stargazing on the High Line
The Friends of the High Line also hosts weekly stargazing events open to the public at the High Line in conjunction with Amateur Astronomers Association of New York. The AAA provides high-powered telescopes to give astronomy enthusiasts of all ages and experience levels a special stargazing experience. Enter the park from the West 14th St. entrance around dusk any Tuesday until October to join in. Stargazing ends 30 minutes before the park closes
and is subject to the weather. The Friends of the High Line (@highlinenyc) tweet updates on the stargazing event every Tuesday by 3 p.m.
Catch a Planetarium Show To enjoy the stars free from the mercy of New York’s unpredictable weather, stop by the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium. For a suggested donation of $17, students can see “Dark Universe,” a film about
the history of astronomy narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson and projected on the planetarium’s 67-foot-wide hemispheric dome, in addition to admission to the rest of the museum. The planetarium also boasts Digital Universe Atlas, a 3D map of the observable universe that provides a shockingly realistic view of the stars and planets.
Email Taylor Nicole Rogers at features@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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FEATURES
EDITED BY KENDALL LEVISON FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM
Olivia Fay Rallies for Change By GABRIELLA BOWER Beauty and Style Editor
Rallier: defined as one that rallies, someone who brings people together for a common purpose — and most recently the namesake of Olivia Fay’s socially responsible company. Fay is a Stern MBA grad from the class of 2015 who, in February 2016, launched her fashion brand which specializes in dresses. With each purchase of a Rallier dress, one to three uniforms will be donated to a girl in Kenya allowing girls not only the opportunity of education but also for a better life. However, becoming a social entrepreneur in the fashion industry is not something Fay initially planned for her career. After graduating from George Washington University with a degree in Art History, Fine Arts and Sociology, she became a fashion publicist working for brands such as Cartier and Prada. “My dream job was to be a fashion PR girl of Prada and I thought, ‘If that happens I will be happy the rest of my life,’” Fay said. Then, Fay saw the documentary “Girl Rising,” planting the seed for what would become Rallier. “Girl Rising” tells the stories of nine girls from various places and cultures all over the world, each story striking and moving in its own right. Fay in particular remembers the story of Wadley, a young girl from Haiti. “Seeing ‘Girl Rising’ and learning about girls who don’t have access to education is a very different view of education,” Fay said. “There were moments like when [Wadley] said goodbye [as she was leaving for school] to her mom who is sitting at a little stand. [In this scene] you see the contrast of opportunities she has as a little girl if she does get an education versus her mother. That for me that just shows how education can take you down two different paths.” So in 2013, Fay decided to go back to school to get her MBA with intentions of acquiring a skillset to successfully launch her social entrepreneurial venture. Growing up, her grandmother owned a dress store in San Francisco and Fay was always interested in the process of product development. “I didn’t view it as social entrepreneurship at the time but she really gave me an appreciation for how things are made and why they’re made that way,” Fay said. During her time as an MBA candidate at Stern, she participated in the W.R. Berkley Innovation Lab, a start-up competition. Fay was also a SIIF Fellow which allowed her to be compensated to work full time on Rallier over the summer.
Now a year after graduating with an MBA, Fay has officially launched the company she has been working on since 2013. Rallier works to take traditional uniforms and reinterpret them for the modern woman. Fay’s designs are especially inspired by history, such as the image of Elizabeth Eckford from the Civil Rights era. In this photo, Eckford is walking poised and powerful in a peter pan collared shirt with a full ankle length skirt, gingham adorning the bottom half. She is surrounded by white females and police officers who are in clear opposition of Eckford’s mission of going to an integrated high school following the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling. “I found the image when I had already come up with the idea of Rallier. I was looking for gingham throughout history and particularly educative dress and how it played out,” Fay said. “When I came across this image it was just so serendipitous. She wasn’t in uniform and she just happened to be in gingham. She walked the line of being feminine and strong. There was so much about that image that aligned with the essence of what I wanted Rallier to be.” Every dress is named after an influential woman — a Rallier — a woman to which the consumer can aspire and be empowered by. Moreover, each dress donates one to three uniforms which provides girls in Kenya an education. The cost of uniforms is a common barrier for girls in their pursuit for education. Stern MBA candidates are generously allowed to take many classes outside of Stern to make their masters degree more well -rounded. Fay particularly remembered Elisabeth
COURTESY OF OLIVIA FAY
King’s class: International Education Development. King speaks of Fay in the highest regard. “As an educator, it is particularly heartening to see the influence of our classes and conversations in Olivia’s approach to not just try to do good, but to ask — and answer — tough questions about what works and what doesn’t in international development and about our place in the world.” Rallier is partners with Shining Hope for Communities. SHOFCO is a nonprofit based in New York City founded by Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner-Odede. Kennedy Odede is from Kibera, Kenya which is where the uniforms that Rallier helps fund are locally sourced. Fay chose SHOFCO for their authenticity as well as the potential for the two non-profits to grow together. Fay is also on the SHOFCO Leadership Council. When asked where she sees the future of Rallier going, Fay is hesitant to name specifics due to her mission of becoming an expert in one particular category. However, she hopes to authentically expand the brand while remaining true to Rallier’s socially responsible integrity. “Social responsibility is about your every day, every minute decisions. It’s really a way of life, it’s a way of thinking, it’s a way of being. I think the behaviors [of millennials] that we’re seeing are going in a positive direction and it is just a testament to how we now have this generation that’s really engaged in what’s going on in the world. We no longer have the excuse of ‘I didn’t know about it.’”
Email Gabriella Bower at gbower@ nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY ASHLEY ARNOLD
If you have a job interview over a meal, chew your way to success with proper etiquette.
Proper Over-Meal Interview Etiquette By ANKITA BHANOT Dining Editor
Interviews are already nerve-wracking enough, having to deal with your own anxiety while trying to appear calm and confident to the person interviewing you. Add a meal into the mix, and things become all the more confusing. When an interviewer schedules an interview at a restaurant over lunch or dinner, now not only do you have to worry about appearing professional and impressing the other person, but you also have to make sure you’re not chewing with your mouth open or spilling food on your shirt. What is the proper etiquette for an interview over a meal? On Thursday, April 14, I went to “Dining For Success” put on by NYU’s Wasserman Center for Career Development, where students could practice their interviewing skills while eating dinner. The event was held at the Torch Club, and students were seated at a table with an employing recruiter and member of the Wasserman staff and served a threecourse meal. Here are the top pro-tips for your next lunch or dinner interview. - Start off the interview with some small talk. Since the interview is at a restaurant, the setting is more relaxed than an office. Avoid hot topics like religion and politics. Instead, try bringing up something the company has been in the news for. It’s an easy topic and shows that you’ve done your research. - When you’re ordering, the best thing to do is aim for something right around the average
price range — not too cheap, not too expensive. On one hand, you don’t want to order something so small that it appears odd, but it also shouldn’t seem like you’re trying to get the most expensive food out of a free meal. - The most general rule of thumb is to think of the letters “B” and “D,” which stand for bread and drink. Your bread should always be on the left of your plate, and the drink should always be to the right. - If you have two spoons, the smaller, pointier spoon is for your food, whereas the larger, more hollow spoon is for soup. - When you have three forks, the one in the center is your dinner fork, which is the largest fork. To its left is the slightly smaller fish fork, and to its right is the smallest fork, for salad. - With glasses, the largest will be for your water, the second largest is for red wine and the smallest is for white wine. However, you shouldn’t be ordering a drink at an interview unless your interviewer absolutely insists. - Your napkin should always be placed on your lap. Don’t tuck it into your shirt; this isn’t elementary school. If you have to leave the table, place the napkin on your chair. - Above all, try not to be nervous and act natural. If an interviewer takes you out to eat they’re going to want to see more of your personality than would be shown in a standard interview.
Email Ankita Bhanot at abhanot@nyunews.com.
Inside the Crisis: CAS sophomore Selin Yurtsever lived in Syria from September 2007 to May 2012. Selin experienced the Syrian conflict right from its start when anti-government demonstrations started as part of the Arab Spring and she had to leave the country when the situation escalated. Selin is also a member of the organizing committee of NYU’s Syrian Refugee Awareness Week. Washington Square News: How do you feel right now after having seen the events unfold from the start in Syria and the tragedy that is happening now?
WSN: You say that a lot of those people want to return to Syria. But at least in the media, the pictures we see as outsiders, all show a country in shambles. How can they return back to that?
Selin Yurtsever: The only thing that comes to mind is what a shame. I don’t know what happened for this country to be this drastically burned down. I’ve heard that in one of the houses that I lived a family from the suburbs of Damascus moved into it, because they don’t have houses there anymore. This only tells about these eternally displaced refugees. It makes me feel so sad how those innocent, uninvolved lives and families have to be put through this just because of big political actors that aren’t effective in bringing any solution. It has been five years and it’s only going downwards as living conditions. And refugees, the only thing you hear from them, is “I want to return to my country, but just let the bombing and the shooting stop.”
SY: Just imagine yourself, that someone is taking away from you your routine that you grew up in, your family, your friends, the local markets you used to go to, your school, parts of your everyday life are being torn away from you. The only thing you can think of is “I want this back.” And I think that explains why when you personally speak with someone who unfortunately became a refugee that’s what they tell you, I want to go back to my home. I want to go back to Syria. But rationally, they’re not talking about Syria, the destructed, bombed Syria. Logically, we know that they’re not going to return anytime soon. I’ve worked with international organizations, the International Organization for Migration as part of the UN and they work with UNHCR and I’ve worked with organizations in Lebanon and all the statistics tells you that even if the conflict is resolved in no matter what way those people won’t go back to their own countries.
WSN: What is life like for your friends who are still in Syria?
WSN: How do you feel NYU students have responded to the Syrian refugee crisis?
SY: They tell me about how to go from one area to the other they have to go through many checkpoints. Even when I was there every morning they would check under the cars for any bombs. If anything the Syrian secret services are stronger than ever. But it’s not a bad thing, because it ensures the safety of its citizens. What they tell me is that they don’t go out past 9 p.m., as some of them have exposure to sides [of the city] that are in active shooting areas. My best friend can’t sleep in his room, because of the windows. And when I was still there, when it was very new, a girl had her roof and the glass of her room fall off on her when she was sleeping because it was 5 a.m. and a bombing had happened. But in general, they have electricity cuts. They get electricity for two hours maybe, but they’ve accustomed their lives to that. People adapt.
SY: So far from general reactions you can very easily tell that students aren’t informed in the most basic way about the Syrian conflict, about the Syrian refugee crisis. Regular people who have not been abroad cannot picture how big this is, they cannot understand how many [refugees] are going through this, how they are actually going through this, what they’re missing. It starts simply with the fact that they don’t know enough about the Syrian conflict. Part of our goal for the Syrian Refugee Awareness Week is hosting events in order for students to learn more about the conflict itself so that students can grasp how dire the situation is in the country itself and what’s making them flee their home.
Staff Photo by Hannah Shulman CAS professor Colette Mazzucelli and her students created an installation of placards and candles which was displayed at the Washington Square Park rally as part of NYU’s Syrian Refugee Awareness Week.
Art Makes Its Mark in Times of Crisis By Nina Jang Deputy Digital Director
With a Student Who Lived in Syria
Living in New York City, it can be hard for people to comprehend the traumatic experiences many Syrian refugees have to endure while fleeing the war-torn country. For this reason, NYU students and faculty have developed projects to raise awareness on the crisis and encourage students to take action. CAS professor Colette Mazzucelli incorporated her class, “Conflict Resolution,” into NYU’s Syrian
Staff Photo by Hannah Shulman
By Marita Vlachou Special Editions Director
Refugee Awareness Week. Mazzucelli and her students organized a visual installation with active participation from people in Washington Square Park. The group drew a line, setting placards alongside it which outlined the timeline of the crisis. A row of candles, increasing in size, symbolized the accumulation of fatalities. “Through this module, we wanted to instill place-making, whether it be a safe haven or creating a place for dialogue,” Mazzucelli said. “This memorial space is meant to be a state to bring engaged citizens together, allow them time to deliberate and show their involvement in democracy.” Tisch junior Eugenia Efstathiou believes the global community has a responsibility to come together to to act upon this humanitarian crisis. Efstathiou decided to highlight the crisis for her video project in a Video Art class. The video consists of scenes from video games — violent murder scenes and poetic landscapes — that outline the history of the Syrian Civil War and the refugee crisis. Projections of unexplained numbers — that in fact correspond to statistics of the refugee crisis — remind us that this isn’t just a video game, but reality. “I decided to raise awareness about the ethical implications
of this recent agreement, which shelves the fundamental human rights of the refugees to a backseat in order to maximize Europe’s welfare; a decision that goes against all the ideals Europe was founded upon,” Efstathiou said. Transforming reaction to action has been the catalyst of Tisch graduate student I-Wen Huang’s video sculpture combining programming and art. Huang became aware of the crisis two years ago after seeing the highly publicized image of Syrian refugee four-year-old Hudea holding up both arms above her head. Thinking that the camera was a gun, the child surrendered. Highly affected by this image, Huang plans on creating the installation “Finding Hudea” to highlight the multiple refugees who she contacted directly through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The installation consists of a sculpture of a phone in a hand. When viewers remove the phone from the hand it will trigger a display of the messages Huang exchanged with the refugees. “The moment they take this phone, in a way it’s a change in perspective,” Huang said. “They can see my dialogue with the refugees. This will instill a reallife experience.”
Students Stand in Solidarity With Syrian Refugees
By Hannah Shulman Multimedia Editor
Organizers of the event chalk to raise awareness through artistic expression.
Above: At the end of the event, people gathered to discuss the current refugee crisis and their thoughts on how to take action.
Right: Organizers placed posters around Washington Square Park to attract attention to their cause.
The Ethical Case for an Open Heart The Syrian refugee crisis has proven one of the most pressing humanitarian issues to date. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has registered over 4.8 million Syrian refugees, who are mostly sheltered by Syrian neighbors Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and North Africa. Just under one million refugees have applied for shelter to various European nations, where the fates of the multitudes of men, women and children rest in the cold, unwelcoming hands of European politicians. Even the exemplar of Germany, where Angela Merkel’s “welcome culture” has led Europe in refugee acceptance, took a sharp blow when a string of widely publicized sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve turned public opinion sharply against refugees. So the story has been written across the continent, as politicians look upon fears of crime by refugees and cry out simultaneously: “Not in my backyard.” Economist Tim Harford calls it rational racism. More technically, it is known as statistical discrimination. By
NYU’s Syrian Refugee Awareness Week organizing committee planned a rally in solidarity with Syrian Refugees in Washington Square Park on April 15.
Letter From the Editor
By Richard Shu Opinion Editor whatever name, it is the phenomenon of people judging individuals by perceived group averages. This flavor of discrimination appeals most to politicians determined to spin old-fashioned bigotry into a more palatable platform. It’s about keeping our citizens safe, they claim. It’s about evaluating things objectively. Never mind that accepting refugees has not actually increased crime rates overall. A few juicy news stories are enough to get people worried. But no rationality — not even the twisted, faulty rationality of Western nativists — was ever meant to stand in the way of common ethics. And amidst the cacophony of arguments, it is common ethics that make the strongest case for the West to accept more refugees. The truth of the matter is that the danger in Syria was largely the result of Western powers. Sectarianism in the Middle East has its roots in the Sykes-Picot Agreement and other similarly imperialist arrangements after World War I. Even today, drone strikes pepper the Syrian countryside, killing civilians with wild disregard for
the inevitable conclusion — the dead breadwinners, the lost livelihoods, the displaced and frightened and hungry who have nowhere to go but West. This is not to say that globalization is necessarily a bad thing, nor that isolationism is the solution. Indeed, globalization has made every nation starkly aware of its worldwide impact. But the globalization that has molded the world thus far has largely been brokered on the disproportionate power of Europe and the United States. These are the nations that have dictated the fate of the Middle East and distanced themselves from the consequences. Now, with refugees demanding an opportunity to start their lives over, they have once again decided that they want no part. So yes, the West has the duty to accept more refugees. Yes, the United States as well as Europe. And yes, it is imperative that each nation tackle the mess that they themselves have created. We cannot let statistical discrimination, imperialism or plain shortsightedness keep us from doing the right thing. To do so would simply be irrational.
The UN Refugee Agency reported that over 4,837,208 refugees have been affected by the violence in Syria. Every day we read stories about Syrian citizens having to flee their homes, leave their lives behind and try to build a new future. It’s easy to get lost in these articles and ignore the magnitude of this crisis. It’s easy to forget that behind the figures like these are real people who are struggling. Their dreams of a new future in many cases are crushed when they are faced with closed borders and hostility by much of the world. For this reason, we chose to devote this week’s issue to our fellow students — those who have gone past the headlines and decided to help fight this crisis. I hope that reading this issue inspires you to act in your communities on behalf of those who are affected.
Marita Vlachou
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | DAY, MONTH XX, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
OPINION
EDITED BY RICHARD SHU OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
POLITICS
Slurs Betray Bernie’s Progressive Message By APARNA ALANKAR Contributing Writer Paul Song, health-care activist and supporter of the Bernie Sanders campaign, came under fire Wednesday night after he used a slur while speaking at a Sanders campaign rally in Washington Square Park. Song used the phrase “corporate Democratic whore” just seconds after mentioning former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s name, to national backlash. Clinton’s Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri called on Sanders to disavow the comment. Hundreds took to Twitter to express their own outrage, using hashtags like #DemocraticWhores and
#WhoAreYouCallingaWhoreBernie. Song’s statement was sexist, regressive and at odds with the purported positivity of the Sanders campaign. However, the response to Song’s words represents something more unsettling. The reserved cheers elicited from the rally crowd of nearly 30,000 people, the failure of Sanders and his campaign to immediately denounce the slur and the justifications of the phrase in Song’s public apology all point to an increasingly regressive culture. Though some may masquerade as the vanguards of a liberal revolution, in reality they are invoking schools of thought that attack the concepts of social equality that are
central to progressivism. This is not the behavior of liberals and the Sanders campaign should do more to denounce it. Sanders supporters have too often looked the other way in the face of this kind of behavior. They continue to attack female supporters of Clinton and harass Sanders’s critics, using language similar to Song’s. Last Saturday, a group of 100 Sanders supporters
showered Clinton’s motorcade in 1,000 single-dollar bills as the candidate drove to a fundraiser. Howard Gold, organizer of the event, said the protest was a “fun way” to show the absurdities of campaign financing. Many others expressed their own opinions — “people throwing dollar bills as if in a strip club,” said MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid. It was a poor choice of action after Song’s words on Wednesday, which the Sanders campaign has yet to address. “Corporate Democratic whore” means something. It implies greed and immorality, but more than anything else, it is tied to gender and women in both politics and the corporate world. Song’s words were about women
in Congress, not just anyone in Congress. The implications carried by these types of actions and the support of these types of words are not expected by a campaign on the side of egalitarianism and social equality. A campaign’s supporters do not make the candidate, but every candidate is, on some level, responsible for their supporters. The Sanders campaign should do more to denounce the sexist and misogynistic actions committed in the name of their campaign. Failing to do so only encourages behavior that is dangerous to the progressive and liberal cause.
Email Aparna Alankar at opinion@nyunews.com.
UNIVERSITY
Georgetown Reparations Are Long Overdue By CONNOR BORDEN Staff Writer Though slavery has passed, its after effects are still being felt today. The United States was built on slavery, it pervades our literature and it has left a profound degree of persistent racial stratification. Sometimes, slavery even makes the news. This Saturday marked the 178th anniversary of the day Georgetown University sold nearly 300 slaves in order to keep the school from bankruptcy after financial troubles. Students and faculty on campus continue to rally for reparations to be paid for the school’s involvement in the trade of human lives. Although
Georgetown has removed the names of the figureheads responsible for the transaction from their buildings, the groups argue it is not enough. Georgetown should answer the call of its students and faculty and take just action in giving reparations to the descendants of the people sold to profit the university and keep it afloat. Gestures and apologies are obviously gravely overdue for Georgetown as well as for the United States government. But those in Congress might ask whether reparations — a controversial means of penance with much more tangible consequences — are deserved, beneficial or appropriate. The argument in favor of reparations for
the horrifying actions of those in the past is not new. Each time a story surfaces of another institution or figure tied to slavery, the argument is revitalized. Many other historic colleges — including Harvard, Columbia and the University of Virginia — have acknowledged having a hand in the slave trade, but have yet to offer recompense for their mistakes. No one can hope to escape from the marred
past of this nation, and no one should look to escape. History informs and teaches so that all learn from the injustice of our predecessors. The United States could never do anything to make amends for robbing human lives and degrading them as objects under the foot of our Founding Fathers and the rest of the nation. Because slave owners benefitted from owning human beings, and families across the country still live off of that old money, the issue cannot die. The economy of the country, and particularly the agricultural powerhouse of the South, flourished by the sweat and blood of slaves. The most appropriate symbolic gesture
of apology would be to repay the debt owed for the billions generated by their hands properly — with the money that they produced. Even in the modern era are black people in the United States still systematically disadvantaged and targeted for the color of their skin. The gesture of reparations for a heinous violation of human rights will begin to show some sliver of repentance, although it is still far too late. Going forward, the United States must do its best to address these issues, and paying rightful reparations would be a great starting point.
Email Connor Borden at opinion@nyunews.com.
HEALTH
Needle Exchanges Are a Model of Good Drug Policy By ABRAHAM GROSS Deputy Opinion Editor In 1990, a needle exchange program was founded in the South Bronx to distribute clean syringes to heroin users in order to reduce the spread of blood-borne HIV and other STIs. At the time, the program was controversial, but now, a quarter-century later, the exchange has helped reduce disease and even lift users out of addiction. Similar programs have cropped up across the country. The needle exchange program demonstrates a more effective drug policy, one that places treatment and care ahead of punishment and elimination. Needle exchange programs were a direct response to the AIDS epi-
demic. As one article in the American Journal of Epidemiology put it, “The process of needle exchange program development and expansion is due in part to epidemiologists who helped to frame a controversial topic in the scientifically grounded area of infection prevention.” “Epidemic” is hardly an exaggeration: A research paper published in the late 1990s estimated that nearly one-third of all AIDS infections were a result of drug-related injection. Government-sponsored studies into needle exchange programs revealed consistent declines in HIV infection; in the first government study into one such program, HIV infections declined by 33 percent. Time yielded greater results, as a 2010 CDC study linked
the consistent success of needle exchange programs to the nearly 80 percent reduction in HIV incidences among injecting drug users over a 15-year period. Detractors have often argued that public safety measures which reduce risk only encourage riskier behavior. It is a cautionary gripe with implications beyond drug treatment. Efforts to provide greater access to contraception have been
combatted by claims that it will only encourage riskier and more promiscuous sex. These dire warnings have proven unfounded, and the stronger trend associated with greater access to contraception is a downward spiral of STIs. Likewise, needle exchange programs have faced criticism for providing drug users fuel to feed their addiction without concern for consequences. But evidence seems to show that needle exchange programs, which usually provide some sort of drug treatment program, are associated with a reduction in injections and more time spent in treatment. The claim that needle exchanges support drug use is dubious, but what is indisputable is the sharp reduction of HIV and other STIs as
a result of needle exchanges. Condemning the addicted to a lifelong illness to serve as a deterrent for others encapsulates the callous approach that characterizes so much of U.S. drug policy. The needle exchange typifies an increasingly favored approach which chooses treatment over punishment. Just this January, Congress effectively lifted a ban on federal funding for certain operations of needle exchanges. National support for exchange programs lends hope to a future where society treats the ill with care instead of punishing the victim and labeling caregivers as accessories to addiction.
Email Abraham Gross at agross@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | DAY, MONTH XX, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
OPINION
EDITED BY RICHARD SHU OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
RACE
Let White People Talk White Privilege By PATRICK SEAMAN Staff Writer For the past few months I have been working with a campaign called The Whiteness Project. Now before you close this tab and label me as a white supremacist, hear me (and its creator, Whitney Dow) out. The project is an interactive look into how white Americans perceive their racial identity, and experience their race. Being white in America affords individuals a significant degree of privilege, but the specific ways that privilege manifests itself are hard to pin down. The Whiteness Project recognizes this, and looks deeper into how that privilege affects day-to-day life. It seeks to explore what the role of whiteness in American society should be, as opposed to what it is. Much like the white man has dominated American society for hundreds of years, racial conversations are dominated by minority voices, often leaving white people out of the debate. When white people make a move to put their thoughts out into the open within
a racial context, their thoughts are often invalidated due to the position of white people within American society. Notions of fairness, ultimately, aren’t the central issue here. Whiteness has been used for centuries to invalidate the experience of other races to continually subjugate and oppress people of color. Having white people once again enter the realm of race can appear, in a sense, imperialistic to some people, as if they are once again forcing themselves onto minorities. But this kind of thinking is only detrimental. Racial issues, especially in the United States, will never be solved if the conversation inherently invalidates white people. However, the blame for the lack of inclusive racial dialogue doesn’t rest on the quality of conversation.
Many white Americans simply don’t see the value in engendering a debate about the role of whiteness in societies. In fact, as the Whiteness Project — which takes the form of a series of interviews of white or partially white Americans — shows us, white people in America often refuse to confront the role that their race plays in their lives. The project aims to end that habit, as well as encouraging white people to join the racial debate. Joining the racial debate as a white person is possible. In order to do it, white people need to confront the inevitable consequences of their racial identity, and how whiteness plays into these conversations. Reflection is hard to do, especially when you, like me, are part of an exceptionally privileged race, gender and class. Regardless, it is important as white people looking to improve the dialogue around race and identity to look for ways to confront and grapple with our own whiteness, and reflect on how that affects us all.
Email Patrick Seaman at opinion@nyunews.com.
CAMPUS
Israel Apartheid Week Blind to Middle East Issues By JOSEPH STERN Contributing Writer This past week on NYU’s campus was deemed “Israel Apartheid Week.” Spearheaded by Boycott, Divest Sanction and supported by Students for Justice in Palestine, the week hopes to bring to light alleged attrocities. But, in truth, it seems these actions are more about a strategy of deflection, which neglect addressing the dysfunction of many Arab societies. In fact, the Palestinian plight is a pan-Arab issue, and events like NYU Israel Apartheid Week miss the bigger picture. In 1959, the Arab League passed Resolution 1457, which states: “The Arab countries will not grant citizenship to applicants of Palestinian origin in order to prevent their assimilation into the host countries.” In Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Egypt, Palestinians have been marginalized through a series of laws, royal decrees and security measures, often banning them from education, healthcare and certain jobs. In Libya, Palestinians have been forced to pay a special tax, and have recently been banned from entering the country. In Syria, thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes and
SUBMITTING TO
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killed in the civil war. But countries within the Arab League go further than just discriminate against Palestinians. Their policies include depriving many groups of their civil, religious and political rights. Throughout the Arab League, persecution against religious minorities, such as Christians, Jews and Baha’is, has become rampant. Beyond persecution, rampant inequality plagues large swathes of the population in Arab countries, particularly with women. A 2002 United Nations report states: “women in Arab League countries suffer from unequal citizenship and legal entitlements often evident… In voting rights and legal codes [and] from inequality of opportunity.” And yet, these human rights infringements are met with little uproar. Across the country, universities have become complacent with the hypocrisy of allowing anti-Israel organizations to assault the one Middle Eastern
country that guarantees equality for all of its citizen across all religions, races and genders. Around 1.4 million Palestinians are given full rights as Israeli citizens and more freedom than any other Arab country grants, while Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank enjoy far more rights, as well as a far higher standard of living, than they would in almost any other Arab League Nation. Palestinians have held seats in the Knesset and served as diplomats, mayors and ambassadors. In civilian life, Palestinian Israelis are distinguished academics, doctors and businessmen. Arabic, along with Hebrew, is an official language of the state of Israel. The claim that Israel is an apartheid state is a malicious falsehood. While the supposed objective of Apartheid Week is to lead to justice, it ends up ignoring actual instances of apartheid. If these actions are truly about injustice, those at the forefront should turn towards the rampant bigotry that is systemic throughout the Arab world, rather than attack the one democratic state in the Middle East.
Email Joseph Stern at opinion@nyunews.com.
STAFF EDITORIAL
Hamilton Needs a Better Party Planner
Earlier this semester, President Andrew Hamilton announced that increasing affordability for NYU students would be a top priority for his administration. From presenting the lowest increase in NYU’s cost of attendance in 20 years, to creating the Affordability Steering Committee, Hamilton has made it clear that he is seriously dedicated to addressing student qualms regarding tuition cost. Integral to his approach is his push for greater transparency and community involvement in administrative actions. These efforts have been met with appreciation from the NYU community, as they reflect a sentiment not found in previous administrations, but they have also suffered from low levels of attendance. However, the poor attendance is less a reflection on the dedication of students than on the university’s failure to advertize these engagement events. His latest affordability event, called “How Might We…?,” intended to engage students through a community brainstorming session. However, it was poorly publicized, and as a result, student turnout was low. The discussion series was not well-advertised despite Hamilton’s self-professed importance of community engagement on the subject of costs. Visibility for these events needs to be consistent and as attention-grabbing as the subject of affordability itself. In the same vein, students too should spread awareness. As the payers of tuition, we have more at stake than anybody in the decisions that NYU makes on costs. Students must do everything possible in order to secure a more desirable affordability plan, including promoting the talks with President Hamilton. What makes this lack of involvement so odd is that NYU’s cost of attendance has always been a contentious issue here. Hamilton himself is not an unpopular figure on campus by any means, and students would have jumped at the opportunity to personally voice their concerns to the top of the university’s bureaucratic hierarchy. Indeed, past events with Hamilton, which were better publicized, had plenty of students in attendance, asking relevant questions and holding a constructive dialogue with the president. This time around, the administration just neglected to remind students, and that kept the event from getting off the ground. It’s unfortunate that they assumed that people would simply show up without sending out some information. In this case, the “if you build it, they will come” strategy failed miserably. With his calls for community involvement, Hamilton has the opportunity to bring about important and necessary change, in a way that could serve as a potential model for universities across the nation. Lofty goals to meet, sure, but between the pressing importance of affordability and the concern of the student body, events like these should not be allowed to go to waste. Ultimately, every good idea must be followed up with thorough execution. None of these community events will work if the university can’t be bothered to send an email. If engaging the student body is as important as Hamilton claims, the administration needs to take action to show it.
Email the WSN Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com. EDITORIAL BOARD: Richard Shu (Chair), Emily Fong (Co-chair), Abraham Gross (Co-chair) STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BEARZI
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | DAY, MONTH XX, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM
SPORTS
EDITED BY MICHAEL THOMPSON SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Golf Warms Up for Liberty League Championships
By MICHAEL THOMPSON Sports Editor
The NYU golf teams were busy preparing for Liberty League play, as the men traveled to Ballston Spa, New York for the Dr. Tim Brown Invitational while the ladies competed at the Jack Leaman Invitational in Massachusetts. Highlighted by a number of strong performances, the Violets looked to be in top form ahead of championship competition. Sophomore Kristin Lee had the best performance of any Violet during the weekend, finishing in second place, nine shots behind
Amherst College’s Jamie Gracie. Lee had a remarkable turnaround in two days. After struggling Saturday with an 82, Lee went two under par on Sunday, finishing with an impressive 72. With pristine conditions, Lee has never felt better on the course. “The greens were still tough but my swing felt so solid,” Lee said. “I was hitting the ball the best I’ve ever hit it and my score definitely showed that. Overall, I was just in a good mood the whole day and am so ready to win Liberty Leagues next weekend.” Freshmen Jennifer Bluetling and Catherina Li were next in line
behind Lee, finishing in a tie for eighth place with total scores of 164 apiece. The path to that score, however, differed tremendously. Bluetling played consistently, scoring 82 twice to get to finish with +16. Meanwhile, Li had to battle back from a tough 87 on Saturday, greatly improving on Sunday with a solid 77 to climb the leaderboard. Junior Mikeala Santos wasn’t far behind, finishing two strokes behind Bluetling and Li in a congested field to finish in a tie for 16th. Finally, sophomore Phoebe Zhao finished in a tie for 25th with a 172 and Rose Freidman finished
in 38th with a score of 182. Derrek Drozdyk played steadily on the men’s side for an eighthplace score of 147. Similar to the ladies, several Violets were near the top of the board, with freshman Qizhi Wong just one stroke behind, good enough for 10th place. Meanwhile, freshman Lucas Olberholtzer dropped eight strokes off of his first-round score on Sunday to finish in a tie for 14th with a score of 150. Junior Eric Tarakjian finished slowly farther down the leaderboard in a tie for 27th with a 154, while junior Matthew Love finished tied for 46th with a score of
164. Senior Julius Oppenheimer was the final Violet to compete on the men’s side, finishing in 48th with a 165. It’s time for championship action as the Violets will be in action next weekend at the Liberty League Championships. The men will compete in the third and fourth rounds of the competition in Baldwinsville, New York, while the women will travel to South Hadley, Massachusetts. Currently, the men are in sixth place, and the ladies are gearing up for a great performance.
Email Michael Thompson at mthompson@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | DAY, MONTH XX, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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SPORTS
EDITED BY MICHAEL THOMPSON SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Seniors Headline Track’s Weekend By RACHEL RUECKER Deputy Sports Editor
The NYU track and field team took to the track this Saturday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania as they participated in the Greyhound Invitational, hosted by Moravian College. Here are the squad’s best finishes.
Women 1. Senior Becky Turlip ran a stellar 1500-meter coming in second place at a breezy pace of 4:38.45. She continued her senior season swan song with a third-place finish in the 800-meter with a time of 2:17.36. 2. Teammate and fellow senior Sarah Sisk scooted to seventh with a time of 4:45.90 in the 1500-meter. 3. The 4x400-meter relay contingent of senior Drew Washington, sophomore Ireland Gibson and freshmen Danielle Murray and Mary Conti executed their best time of the season at 3:58.86 for a third-place finish. 4. Washington stormed her way to eighth in the 400-meter race with a time of just under a minute at 58.64. Fellow senior Lydia Guo finished 20th.
6. Brown ran to a second-place finish in the 200-meter with a time of 21.80. Powers was close behind in third with a time of 21.83. “This weekend was just about getting some times in,” Powers said. “For a lot of us these were our first individual races of the season and to have the times we put down makes me really optimistic about our conferences next weekend.” 7. In the 1500-meter contest, NYU had three top-10 finishes, with Nick Karam in fourth, Max Avila in fifth and Karn Setya in eighth. 8. Brown finished fifth in the 400-meter as he rounded the track in 48.85 seconds. Fellow Violet Montilus came in 32nd as he completed the round in 51.17.
9. Sophomore Sam Praveen finished fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase as he topped the hurdles in 10:08.75. 10. “A lot of people had great performances and I think it just sets up what we are capable of doing at UAAs next weekend,” Murray said. “I’m very excited to see what happens at that meet because I think that I’m at place I want to be physically now I just have to run the times.” The track team is headed to Missouri next weekend for the University Athletic Association Championships against hosts Washington University in St. Louis.
Email Rachel Ruecker at rruecker@nyunews.com.
Men 5. The 4x100-meter relay squad comprising of junior Budd Brown, senior Matthew Powers, junior Caleb Su and sophomore Malcolm Montilus secured second place with a time of 42.27.
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Senior Becky Turlip placed in the top three for two races.
Lai, Shiyanova Power Tennis By MICHAEL THOMPSON Sports Editor
After cracking the top 30 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, the NYU women’s tennis team kept their hot streak going on Saturday in their regular season finale against the University of Rochester, winning in dominant fashion 7-2. In other action, the men dropped their second straight against Rochester 6-3. The 29th-ranked women’s squad was firing on all cylinders once again, running the table in doubles and taking four out of six matches in singles play. The stellar combination of senior Carmen Lai and freshman Fleura Shiyanova defeated Rochester’s Christine Ho and Camila Garcia 8-4. Meanwhile, freshmen Vanessa Scott and Alice McGinty defeated Alex Wolkoff and Lauren Zickar 8-3, while junior Laila El Dessouki and senior captain Madeline King gritted their way to an 8-6 win over Grace DiGiovanni and Darby McCall. Lai, Shiyanova and Scott also made it look easy in singles, as the top three improved their combined record to 27-1 in the spring. Each won in straight sets, most notably Scott’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over Molly Goodman. El Dessouki got the Violets’ fourth singles win, besting Lauren Zickar 6-2, 6-0. Shiyanova
credited the weather with making the win enjoyable. “We were very solid starting from the doubles,” Shiyanova said. “The weather was very nice so we enjoyed our matches and that had a great impact on our win. There were no doubts.” Unfortunately, the men didn’t have the same level of luck, only winning one doubles match and two singles matches. The day’s best performances were from junior Matthew DeMichiel and freshman Benedict Teoh, who both notched two wins. Teamed with each other in doubles, the duo defeated Rochester’s Ian Baranowski and Kevin Hunt 8-3. In singles, DeMichiel
scored a 6-2, 6-3 defeat over Aaron Mevorach. Teoh’s singles match against Baranowski was a thriller, with Teoh coming from behind to grab a dramatic 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-6 victory. Though the women’s regular season has finished, the men are not quite there yet. They’ll be in action this Tuesday in Flushing, New York against Baruch College. After that the stage will be set for both the men and women as they prepare for UAA Championship action from April 21-23 in Almonte Springs, Florida.
Email Michael Thompson at mthompson@nyunews.com.
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Freshman Benedict Teoh had a double victory against University of Rochester.
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Freshman Eli Edwards pitched three scoreless innings against Brandeis.
Baseball Swept on Road, Pitching Falters By ALEX BAZELEY Editor-in-Chief
The NYU baseball team’s five game win streak came to an abrupt halt this weekend following a three game sweep by Brandeis University. The tough series — their first on the road since the UAA Championship in Florida at the beginning of March — pushed their record on the season to 12-16. In Saturday’s first game, the Violets took a 7-3 loss. Sophomore starter Chase Denison gave up five earned runs on eight hits over three innings, taking his first loss of the season. It was a rocky outing for the pitcher who had put together back to back quality starts coming into the game — Denison had surrendered just one run over his last 14.2 innings, hurling seven shutout innings against City College of New York in his last start. Junior outfielder Adrian Spitz and sophomore infielders Jake Smith and Jonathan Iaione each notched an RBI but were unable to overcome the damage done by Brandeis’ bats. Still, the Violets made contact all day long, only striking out once while walking twice — both times with Walter at the plate. Ultimately, it was too little too late, with the Violets dropping game one 7-3. “Our bats looked good this weekend,” Spitz said. “Unfortunately it was not enough to pull out a win.” Hendershot took the mound in game two of the doubleheader, allowing five earned runs on seven hits across two innings. NYU tried to rally in the top of the fifth by taking advantage of an error made by Brandeis, but only managed to get one run across the board. Sophomore catcher Scott Hilbrandt doubled in a run, but the team was unable to score again, taking the loss 6-2. Freshman Eli Edwards pitched three scoreless innings of relief. “After a six game winning
streak it was really discounting to see us lose three in a row,” Edwards said. Senior catcher CJ Picerni notched three hits between the two Saturday games. Picerni, who has struggled to get things going this season, had an encouraging series overall, going 6 for 12 over the three games and bumping his batting average up to .245, the highest it has been this season. After the tough Saturday games, Sunday’s 11-9 loss was a heartbreaker for the Violets. Sophomore pitcher Cameron Serapilio-Frank gave up four earned runs on nine hits in four innings of work. The Violets put up a whopping 17 hits, Hendershot leading the way with four hits and four RBIs. Smith and Picerni each tallied three hits as well. After going back and forth with Brandeis the whole game, the Violets took a 9-8 lead in the seventh inning as Walter and Iaione scored on an error by Brandeis. But the good fortune wouldn’t last, as freshman pitcher Paul Gadaleta gave up an RBI double following a two run homer, putting Brandeis up 11-9 for good. It was a rare tough outing for Gadaleta, who had only surrendered one run in 10 innings coming into Sunday’s tilt. Coach Doug Kimbler didn’t mince words when breaking down the tough weekend, voicing his disappointment in the team’s performance. “It was a tough weekend on paper and we had leads six or seven times this weekend and nothing to show for it,” Kimbler said. “Being young is not an excuse anymore and we have to execute in key moments of games.” The Violets take on St. Joseph’s College in a doubleheader at home next Thursday, with game one slated to begin at 12 p.m.
Additional reporting by Ashley Arnold. Email Alex Bazeley at abazeley@nyunews.com.
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THE UNITED NATIONS REPORTS THAT MORE THAN
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