WSN042312

NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

washington square news Vol. 40, No. 51

Monday, April 23, 2012

nyunews.com

NYU Earth Week hosts clothing swap

Protest grows as NYU 2031 progresses

Dozens of people from all over the city celebrated NYU Earth Week yesterday at the seventhannual clothing swap.

Held in Eisner and Lubin Auditorium in Kimmel Center for University Life, the swap featured student bands who performed while people sifted through items and exchanged clothing, accessories, books and even household items.

The Earth Week Planning Committee, which hosts 10 to 20 events every April in celebration of Earth Week, tried to make this year’s swap different.

This year, the event featured numerous student bands for the first time, which gave the event a punk-rock theme.

Event coordinator and CAS senior Rebecca Kadosh said the group tried to make the event more exciting.

Led by New York State representative Deborah Glick, around 500 East Village residents geared up last Friday for the last leg of their battle against NYU 2031 — the university’s plan to expand 6 million square feet by 2031 — as they marched from Houston Street to Washington Square Park.

As the plan moves to City Planning Commission for approval this Wednesday, residents rallied to demonstrate a strong stand against the expansion plan and to encourage people to attend the commission’s meeting on April 25 to rally for their cause.

“Make no mistake: We are up against a very well-funded development machine,” Glick told the crowd of protesters as they gathered at the end of their march at Washington Square Park. “But they can and will be defeated.”

Some protesters showed their

By Claire Zajdel

R EARTH continued on PG. 3

By Hanqing Chen

Tisch students bring Shakespeare classic to the park

NYU’s Shakespeare in the Square performed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in Washington Square Park through both the sunshine of Saturday and the rain on Sunday.

Stern students open SchoolDate trial site to all university singles

By Nicola Pring

A group from the Stern School of Business is changing the way college students think about online dating.

Upon seeing the popularity of college dating site DateMySchool after its launch last year, Stern senior Simon Li had an innovative idea.

“I saw DateMySchool, and [it is] pretty much a traditional dating model,” said Li. “College students are definitely interested in dating, and [DateMySchool] is something kids are willing to check out, but it’s not something people will necessarily use, and it’s not something people will be proud of using at our age.”

In September 2011, Li and a group of friends from NYU and St. John’s University set out to design SchoolDate, a college dating site based on group dating rather than random meet-ups. The team recently completed the alpha testing phase for the website and opened it to anyone with a .edu email address early last week.

Emma Pliskin/WSN

File photo by Lauren Strausser

Simon Li helped design and launch SchoolDate last week.

SchoolDate allows users to post ideas for dates with groups of friends, and other users can respond based on their interest in the activities posted. The result is a group activity rather than an awkward first date.

“It’s kind of casual, and it’s really circled around the activity so people don’t feel really compelled to have these high expectations of dating,” Li said.

R DATE continued on PG. 4

R PROTEST continued on PG. 3

Women’s golf rallies, rain derails men

By Mary Jane Dumankaya

In the last tournament of the season, NYU men’s golf failed to finish on a high note, placing last among six teams at the Fred B. Kravetz Invitational hosted by the University of Rochester.

Golfers enjoyed good weather in the first round at the Irondequoit Country Club on Friday.

On Saturday, however, they had to play through rain and cold temperatures in the final round at the Oak Hill Country Club, which has hosted two U.S. Opens and is one of the most difficult golf courses in the United States.

Head coach Todd Kolean said freshman Charles Van Cook broke his wrist at the 17th hole but was still awaiting the test results to confirm. “[Van Cook] finished up the last hole, swinging with one hand,” Kolean said. “That’s how tough the conditions were.”

Improving to 85 strokes on the second day after hitting

a 90 on Friday, Van Cook finished with a total score of 175.

On Saturday, sophomore Kyle Demshki added 87 strokes to his first round score of 77, tying him for 20th out of 35 golfers. Sophomore Dillion Emry tied for 23rd with a two-day score of 167.

“Dillion Emry lead the way for us,” Kolean said. “He played incredibly well under incredibly difficult circumstances.”

NYU scored 321 strokes in the first round and 352 in the final round, bringing their two-day total to 673. First place went to Nebraska Wesleyan University with a total of 631 strokes.

Senior co-captains Scott Dow Jr., who placed 23rd with a total of 167, and Matt Riccio, who finished with a two-day total of 182, played their final rounds of golf with NYU as they will graduate at the end of the semester.

“I was really proud of my senior captains,” Kolean said.

R GOLF continued on PG. 6

2

Washington Square news | monday, April 23, 2012 | nyunews.com

on the side

Compiled by the

WSN staff

best of Web

TOP comments

TOP NYU tweets

@ninakarey

#NYU sweatshirt, warm blanket, tea, and my Kindle #SundayMornings in my hammock are my fav!

@SpitNice

#SLAM #NYU WINS THE NATIONAL POETRY SLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POW!! POW!! I never been more proud!! #CUPSI2012

@Dallassaywhat

This girl on the bus is about to have a mental breakdown about her career and she’s only a sophomore. #nyuproblems

In response to the article “Students continue to protest Chick-fil-A presence on campus” (April 20, 2012) “Why get rid of an Ultra-Conservative food chain in a den if Liberal sin? It’s the biggest (and tastiest) irony on campus and I personally love it.”

— Chick-fil-A should stay!

In response to the article “Expansion less beneficial to Village” (April 18, 2012) “really hoping NYU expands in downtown brooklyn. would be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.”

— bkdowntowner

jaewon kang Deputy Managing Editor

Amy zhang Assistant Managing Editor

james lanning Creative Director

selena chen

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

BRIDGETTE DORAN university eric benson, eliza-

In response to the article “Pornography is constructiv and beneficial to society” (April 19, 2012) “Psychology studies have shown that watching pornographic scenes actually have somewhat of a negative effect on the mind, making people believe it may be ok to be sexually abusive and violent, something that could result in rape.”

— Sw1682

1

2

6 p.m. | Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art | 594 Broadway

6:30 p.m. | 61 Chelsea Piers | 23rd Street and Hudson River

The animation from the 2010 film “Howl,” starring James Franco, is on display in a multimedia exhibition through April 29. Tickets are $6.

Managing Editor

deputy staff

#NYU spoiled me with bathrooms in every room & apartment-style living before I’d even gotten a real place in the city. Not so at Harvard.

The Art of Howl

Editor-in-Chief amanda randone

senior staff

@skepticalface

TODAY

Washington Square News

3

Senior Week: New York City Harbor Cruise Only seniors from the class of 2012 can purchase tickets to this beautiful cruise in the New York City Harbor. Tickets are $25.

7 p.m. | Webster Hall | 125 E. 11th St.

The Vaccines

This indie band is playing a one night, must-see show tonight. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.

beth maguire city/state tony chau, kristine

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

loughran sports John axelrod, cole

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

opinion page

opinion editor olivia gonzalez deputy opinion editor ATTICUS

BRIGHAM, SANCHAY JAIN

advertising business manager

REBECCA RIBEIRO circulation manager

chloe coffman

university sales coordinator

Emilia Mironovici

SNAPSHOT

ON THE WIRE

From Walking Dead to Running Dead?

Zombies took over the streets in the Philippines on Monday. The spectacle was part of a survival-themed marathon where runners had to make it to the finish line without facing attack from the undead. Approximately 5,000 people made the five-kilometer trek. Organizers said it was a way to keep professional and amateur runners focused and prevent boredom while they ran.

— Reuters

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

PHOTO BY Rachel Kaplan

Kaitlyn O’Brien, MICHAEL RYAN, Melissa Ynegas

advising editorial adviser

keith leighty EDITORS-AT-LARGE

jaywon choe kelsey desiderio russell steinberg KIRSTEN CHANG francis poon terka cicelOVa

Female professors earn $10,000 less than males

About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published Monday through Thursday during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.

University of North Carolina

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

— the daily trojan

Andrew Vladeck and the rest of the Honey Brothers played at the Bowery Ballroom on Thursday.

sales representatives

Five UNC students to compete in Miss N.C. pageant — The Daily Tar Heel

nyunews.com GOT AN EVENT? EMAIL US AT AGENDA@NYUNEWS.COM OR TWEET US @NYUNEWS.

GOT SOMETHING TO SHARE? EMAIL US AT TIPS@NYUNEWS.COM.

nyunews.com | monday, April 23, 2012 | Washington Square news

EARTH continued from PG. 1

PROTEST continued from PG. 1

NYU Earth Week hosts clothing swap “We want to get the community excited about reusing what we already have,” Kadosh said.

“We want to expose people to this way of making clothes for each other.”

The event, open to the public, drew many regular swappers including Manhattan resident Josceleyn Arielda Gonzalez.

“I now go to many swaps,” Gonzalez said. “It’s really helpful for upgrading my wardrobe.”

Brooklyn resident Elizabeth Laudon, an NYU alumna, is also a passionate swapper.

“I’m a hardcore swapper,” Laudon said. “I go to so many swaps because I’ve always been an environmentalist, and I love getting new stuff in return for the things I bring. It’s amazing what you can find at clothing swaps. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

But Jeremy Friedman, manager of NYU Sustainability, said the NYU Earth Week Committee is not the only group making strides in terms of sustainability.

“Gallatin’s SLOTH, Tisch’s ITP and NYU Greenhouse are all cre-

Claire Zajdel/WSN

The seventh annual clothing event was held in Kimmel. ating year-round programs that promote sustainability,” Friedman said. “The programs include citizen tree care and NYU’s own version of a sustainable Craigslist.”

Other events of NYU Earth Week, which will conclude on

April 28, include an open house held by the Environmental Law Society and a tree planting initiative with The New School.

Claire Zajdel is a staff writer.

Email her at university@nyunews.com

NYU Local hosts panel on media

By Julie DeVito Journalists, bloggers and techies gathered Saturday at NYU’s Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life for the second Young Media Weekend Panel hosted by NYU Local.

Co-editor-in-chief and Gallatin junior Zoë Schlanger co-hosted the event, which included a data journalism panel this year.

“It’s the frontier,” Schlanger said of data journalism. “It’s what’s next and should be going with most stories these days. It’s nice to hear from these people who’ve really made it quite early on. It’s really blood, sweat and tears [that] is really the take home message here.”

The event began with the data panel, which included Al Shaw of ProPublica, Erik Hinton of The New York Times, Andrei Scheinkman of the Huffington Post and Chrys Wu of Hack/Hackers NYC.

3

Hinton said a data journalist’s main challenge nowadays is compiling information in a way that is true but also understandable, pouring through information and striving to put it together into a graphic that can tell a story.

Data journalism can include sorting through statistics about everything from roach infestation and the Olympics to election coverage.

“The whole idea of doing data journalism is to expose a story through numbers,” Wu said.

“Just because we’re working with data, doesn’t mean we’re not telling a story.”

Shaw said he used data journalism to build a network of information about the diversity of schools across the country and accessibility of education.

“You can make as many stories as there are lines on the spreadsheet,” Shaw said.

James Kelleher/WSN

Young Media Weekend Panel was host to industry professionals.

Columbia junior and sustainable development major Kathy Zhang attended the event because she is curious to see what will come of new media.

“I’m a pretty visual person, so I’m personally attracted to anything that’s sort of graphics or interactive maps on news stories that engages me as a reader,” Zhang said. “It’s interesting because everyone’s just trying to figure it out and how to make money out of it.”

The second panel featured The New York Times’ Amy O’Leary, Daily Beast contributing writer Dana Goldstein, New York Magazine Daily Intel’s Joe Coscarelli, Gothamist co-founder Jake Dobkin, Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith and New York Observer editor Elizabeth Spiers.

This panel began with a discussion of the use of social media presence in the workplace. Smith said there has been an organic shift toward using Twitter for political news.

“It’s totally central to the way you report, both the way you consume information and the way you ... push out your scoops,” Smith said.

The panel also emphasized the importance of creating a balance between original content in reporting versus aggregation of other articles.

Though panelists agreed traffic is important to the success of news organizations, they said it should not be the sole motivator for reporters.

“The reality is there is no hard and fast rule,” Spiers said. “It’s always going to be an art and not a fine science.”

Julie DeVito is university editor.

Email her at jdevito@nyunews.com.

Residents protest as NYU 2031 moves to City Planning Commission love for the historic Greenwich Village area by taping “I love the Village” onto their backs. Others held signs that read “NYU 2031 expansion = destruction of the Village.”

As the longstanding tension between the Village and the university continues, representatives of university faculty have asked to be set apart from the plans of the institution.

“I’m here to represent a group of 300-plus faculty members,” said Patrick Deer, a professor of English and a representative of the NYU faculty members at the protest.

He said more than 15 faculty departments have now passed resolutions opposing the plan.

“When people say ‘NYU should do this’ or ‘NYU should do that,’ I hope they realize that this plan is not representative of NYU, of its students or faculty,” he said.

Village activist organizations used the platform to further mobilize and re-emphasize its dissatisfaction with what they view as meager adjustments to the construction plan.

“We know that this plan cannot take a haircut and be acceptable,” Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, said at the protest.

He added that NYU needs to rethink the design of the expansion plan and present a plan that works for New York City, faculty, students and workers.

In a statement regarding the rally, Alicia Hurley, vice president for Government Relations and Community, said the university has held more than 200 meetings with community groups, neighborhood associations and elections officials, which have resulted in adjustments to the plan that address community concerns.

“As NYU continues to move through the City’s mandated public review process, we look forward to continuing our discussions with all stakeholders involved,” Hurley said.

Hanqing Chen is investigative editor.

Email her at hchen@nyunews.com.

NYUSFBO register freshmen to vote

By Tony Chau As its final major event of the year, the NYU Students for Barack Obama helped register 68 students from Hayden and Weinstein residence halls to vote last Saturday afternoon.

The effort was coordinated on the seventh floor of Kimmel Center for University Life, where two volunteers also ran a phone bank making 245 calls out to Pennsylvania — a critical swing state for the election — encouraging people to vote. “[It is] considered a battleground state,” said Sara Moe, a CAS sophomore and volunteer for NYUSFBO. Moe also said Pennsylvania has the second highest number of electoral votes among battleground states behind Florida.

Mike Place, CAS sophomore and NYUSFBO media coordinator, said their voter registration drive is important because many students either forget to register or find it too cumbersome to do so.

“It’s tough because people forget that they should still vote when they’re in college, and we definitely want to remind them that it’s a good thing that you go out and vote and participate in the election process,” Place said.

Place said it is even more significant at NYU because of the number of students from different parts of the country.

“We have a collection of students from all over the country, so we have students who represent the political backgrounds of basically all of America,” he said. “It’s really key that we empower students and make them realize they’re basically representing their state here at NYU.” Students, including Tisch freshman Katrina Stokes, who participated in the registration were receptive of its effort.

“I think a lot of people, especially freshmen who just turned 18, are not registered like me, so I think it’s really great that they’re going around making us more aware of it,” Stokes said. “I think it’s really important that there’s a student group that’s kind of raising awareness about it and trying to make it happen.”

Place said the convenience and awareness is what makes the organization unique.

“We’re one of the only organizations that comes out to the students and really helps them register to vote and get their absentee ballot,” Place added. “It definitely feels good to register students to vote because you know that you’re helping someone get a voice for the future, and that’s definitely really special.”

Tony Chau is a deputy city/state editor. Email him at tchau@nyunews.com.

4

Washington Square news | monday, April 23, 2012 | nyunews.com

features DATE continued from PG. 1

Stern students launch new dating website SchoolDate’s model also eliminates some of the safety concerns that come with online dating.

“There’s a security concern, especially for girls, when you’re meeting somebody online,” Li said. “The group dating aspect really allows people to feel a little bit more comfortable.”

“With its focus on privacy and its ability to efficiently match folks with similar interests, [SchoolDate] has enormous future potential,” said Stern professor Anindya Ghose, who advises the SchoolDate team.

But according to DateMySchool Director of Public Relations Mealnie Wallner, DateMySchool has already received accolades for its advanced security and privacy.

“DateMySchool is safer than any other social platform: our members can’t be searched on Google, they control who may access their profiles, and they’ll only discover students and alumni from select schools.”

Li and a core team of five other students surveyed hundreds of students about their dating habits in order to create ideas for the site and have hosted several promotional events to generate student interest in the website.

CAS junior Holly Chiu was involved in the alpha testing phase for SchoolDate.

“When I first signed up, I really liked the features and saw great potential for it,” Chiu said. “You can see what [activities are] happening around you and meet friends.”

Li has been in contact with several investors who are interested in SchoolDate. Li and his team are currently semifinalists in the NYU New Venture Competition, which awards $75,000 to winners each year.

Li said he thinks SchoolDate will be successful among students because it mimics natural off-line interaction and brings those connections to an online platform.

“Unfortunately, now that college students see DateMySchool out there, they kind of have this idea that this is what college is,” Li said. “We want to break that perception.”

Nicola Pring is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

SCPS hosts second visual, literary arts festival

By Brittany VanBibber

Cutting-edge technology and artwork filled the School for Continuing and Professional Studies on Friday and Saturday as the school hosted its second festival for the visual and literary arts.

An SCPS tradition that will happen every two years, the festival displays works of undergraduate students, master’s students and working credit degree students. Additionally, the pieces cover a broad range of artistic mediums, such as design, digital applications and three-dimensional printing.

These projects were displayed on Mac computers throughout the SCPS building and were separated by discipline.

“SCPS has a very distinctive mission,” said Susan Kinsey, the Paul McGhee Division dean in SCPS. “It emphasizes applied practice in a whole range of domains. It’s wonderful to be able to offer this kind of education and feature the work of students that are so talented and who come from all of these different walks of life.”

Instructors in the various departments of SCPS selected the works

for the festival by indicating which projects best demonstrate their particular field.

Some of the work on display at this year’s festival included figures from the students of the 3-D printing department.

Students created these figures on computers. They can take the form of action figures or random objects, and once the students have generated the object they want, it is printed on a 3-D printer. This results in a physical replica of the image from the computer.

“The specific material is different for each student and also depends on their interest,” said Kathy Wang, assistant director at the Center for Advanced Digital Applications.

Some of the 3-D objects displayed included a set of plastic gaming toys and some metal creatures with these skills students can become toy creators or prototype generators.

In addition to 3-D printing artwork, the event included laptop computers set up to feature different animated shorts, short documentaries and design projects.

SCPS alumnus Geoff Bock created a video for the Digital Communications and Media section, which

Emma Pliskin/WSN

Students showcased various artistic pieces at the festival. showed a sustainable vision of NYC in 2030.

The video featured digital images of New York City and focused on ways to improve the city’s environmental sustainability through housing and park changes.

The festival also included readings of creative writing, fiction writing, non-fiction writing and translation.

“We’re such a very large school, and it’s difficult when you’re this big to feature things,” Kinsey said. “But, you’re seeing the work of people of all ages.

It’s this incredible mixture of experience, talent, perspective and industry.”

Brittany VanBibber is a staff writer.

Email her at features@nyunews.com.

PeruFest 2012 examines internal conflicts of country

By Lavya Yalamanchi The second annual PeruFest film festival kicked off last Friday night at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain center at NYU with a screening of “Las Malas Intenciones,” which translates to “The Bad Intentions.” Rosario García-Montero, who also served as keynote speaker, directed this feature film.

The film is a coming-of-age story set in Lima during the ’80s, a period of unstable social change for Peru. The film, along with the others in the lineup, reflects Peru’s tumultuous his-

tory and cultural transformations. The theme of this year’s event focused on the Cinema and Memory of the Internal Armed Conflict in Peru.

Now in its third year, PeruFest is the first film festival dedicated to Peruvian filmmakers and Peruvian issues. Claudia Salazar, NYU alumna and the founder and artistic director of PeruFest, explained this year’s theme.

“It was my generation, we were children or teenagers when this internal armed conflict happened so I think that ... we are trying to elaborate our memories of what happened

during those years and try to understand why that kind of cruelty and violence happened in Peru,” Salazar said.

PeruFest runs from April 20 to 27 and will screen 12 short films, 12 feature-length films and three medium-length films as part of its program. All films have English subtitles and the events are free and open to the general public.

One of the films screened this weekend was Milagro Farfán’s “La Tarea,” Spanish for “The Assignment,” a story about an eight-year-old girl named Sayné who is asked to write a story

via lasmalasintenciones.com

“Las Malas Intenciones,” which takes place during the 1980s, reflects Peru’s cultural transformations.

about her family as a homework assignment for school. She comes to know herself and her family better through the assignment.

This film has a magnified focus on one very specific story in the context of a larger Peruvian society, which turns out to be an interesting cultural foray.

Another film in the same session of the lineup was Malena Martínez’s “Felipe, Come Back,” a memoir and documentary about a figure from the director’s childhood. Martínez, her uncle and her mother go on a mission to track down Felipe Valer, the last peon worker at her grandmother’s hacienda.

Under the antiquated contracts of the past, peon workers are unpaid, have few rights and are essentially attached to the estate.

The story explores this colonial aspect of Peru’s culture and the subsequent Peruvian Agrarian Reform. This film is a beautiful examination of the troubles and tensions that arose from changes in Peruvian culture and society.

These are just a few of the many issues PeruFest 2012 will continue to explore in the coming week.

Several of the screenings will have post-film question and answer sessions with the directors.

For the festival’s full schedule and additional information, visit perufest.wordpress.com.

Lavya Yalamanchi is a staff writer.

Email her at features@nyunews.com.

nyunews.com | monday, April 23, 2012 | Washington Square news

5

edited by jessIca littman features@nyunews.com

Swim spots to soak up the sun

By Clara Yang

As New York City heats up and summer approaches, it is nice to know that not all pools in Manhattan charge astronomical membership or entrance fees. If you are in the city for the summer or want to cool off after working up a sweat while studying for exams, check out these swimming spots.

via nycswim.org

Wendi Liu for WSN

Asser Levy Recreation Center 329 Asser Levy Place at East 23rd Street This recreation center has both indoor and outdoor pools for people to enjoy. There are two outdoor pools that are free to the public but only open from late June through Labor Day. However, the indoor pool is open all year with a $50 annual membership, featuring a fountain and skylights. With this membership, you can also enjoy basketball courts, a playground and an Arts and Crafts room.

via nycgovparks.org

John Jay Pool and Recreation 77 Cherokee Place at 77th Street Are you one of those people who has to dive into the swimming pool? Well, if you are, John Jay Pool is one of the very few public pools in Manhattan that has a diving board. This pool even has a snack bar and a playground nearby. The suggested annual donation is just $25 for adults and $10 for teens.

NYC Swim For more athletic or competitive swimmers, or anyone looking for a watery challenge, check out the NYC Swim events coming up this summer. The organization promotes swimming with various races and relays around the city. Events include the Brooklyn Bridge Swim through the East River and the Great Hudson River Swim from the Christopher Street Pier near NYU to the North Cove Yacht Harbor, Battery Park City. If you finish in the top 85 percent at the Hudson event, you are eligible for the Statue of Liberty Swim in June, a once-in-alife-time experience.

via Flickr via centralparknyc.org

Lasker Pool Central Park between 106th and 108th streets Right in the middle of Central Park, there is a beautiful outdoor pool featuring a wading pool and Olympic pool for people to enjoy. While this pool is an ice rink during the winter, it becomes a free pool from the end of June through Labor Day each year. The pool provides lockers and series of free programming throughout the summer. You can enjoy the wonderful Central Park while taking a swim here.

Coney Island Beaches Sick of the pools or want to pretend you are on a beach vacation just a subway trip from Manhattan? Visit the 14 miles of beaches at Coney Island. Check out the old fashioned boardwalk and go for a swim in the Atlantic. The beaches open to the public on Memorial Day and are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until Labor Day. If you cannot wait until the end of May, do a guest swim with the Polar Bear Club, the famed group that takes daring swims at Coney Island every Sunday from November to April.

Clara Yang is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

Steinhardt USG organizes tip-to-tip walk across Manhattan for charity

By Keerthi Harishankar Manhattan feels limitless, but the island is actually only 13.4 miles long. Conquering that distance in a day may seem challenging to most, but to those who participated in the Tipto-Tip Charity Walk on Saturday it felt like a stroll in the park. About 40 walkers smiled from ear-to-ear as they walked from tip-to-tip.

The event, hosted by the Undergraduate Student Government at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Communication and Human Development, started at Broadway and 215th street and ended at Battery Gardens with pit stops at various locations along the way.

Jessica Hawk, a Steinhardt freshman and programming co-chair for the Steinhardt USG executive board, talked about the charity walk’s roots.

“It actually started last year,” Hawk said.

“Our co-programming chairs Jameson and Ezra thought it would be a really fun idea. It’s always fun to say you walked from one tip of Manhattan to another in one day.”

The proceeds of the walk, including a $5 entry fee from the participants, went to The After-School Corporation, a nonprofit based in New York City. Their mission is to give children of all backgrounds access to a good education. TASC works not only in New York but also in Baltimore and New Orleans.

“In Steinhardt, a lot of our majors deal with school and education, and we didn’t want to just give to an arts program or a music program,” Hawk said.

“We wanted to encompass what Steinhardt is. Lots of kids in New York City may have

parents who work late, so instead of sitting home and watching TV they can participate in after-school programs where they can learn.”

The Steinhardt USG team began organizing this event before the semester had even commenced.

Alec Foster, a Steinhardt sophomore and the USG publicity chair, was excited to be part of the event organization.

“Steinhardt USG, like any other USG, tries to put together events that students from Steinhardt and other schools would want to go to,” Foster said.

“This tip-to-tip walk that we’re doing right now is definitely our thing. Other student governments have tried to take it, but no, we’ve held onto it.”

Foster also spoke on what TASC means to him.

“The After-School Corporation helps give students a place to go after school and puts on a

lot of events for them, like we do for NYU students,” he said. “As someone who went to public school and had two working parents, having a place to go after class especially in high school and middle school is really important and I think that the work they do is wonderful to benefit from.”

Walkers were treated to snacks at the checkpoints and also given plenty of Steinhardt swag, including T-shirts, lanyards and sunglasses.

By the end of trip, the participants, including Steinhardt freshman Lindsey Conn, were more animated than exhausted.

“Each neighborhood has such a different feel,” Conn said. “It’s interesting to see how everything changes even while we’re just walking on one street.”

Keerthi Harishankar is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.

6

Washington Square news | monday, April 23, 2012 | nyunews.com

GOLF continued from PG. 1

Women place fifth at Amherst, men finish last in Rochester Follow us on Twitter: @nyunews

Courtesy of NYU Athletics

Sophomores Kristina Shalhoup and Kyle Demshki both played well under difficult circumstances.

“I’ll miss them both. I’m very proud of the team and how we finished up this season.”

Traveling out of state, the women’s golf team competed in the Jack Leaman Championship, hosted by Amherst College.

The first round took place on Amherst’s campus and the final round was played at Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass., on Saturday and Sunday.

The Violets, who were in eighth place after the first round, moved up three spots on Sunday to finish fifth out of 12 teams. On Saturday, NYU shot a total of 349, but the team was one of only three to score better

164 strokes tied for 14th out of 65 competitors. Freshman Deanna Lee Jia Yi shot 86 in the first round and followed that with a 87 on Sunday, tying for 26th place.

“The women got a last-minute invitation to one of the premier events hosted by Williams,” Kolean said. “We look forward to that next weekend.”

The NYU women will finish their season at the Williams Spring Invitational in Williamstown, Mass., on April 28 and 29.

on day two with 348 strokes for the final round, bringing their two-day total to 697.

Amherst captured the Jack Leaman Championship with a total 633 strokes, shooting 308 in round one and 325 in round two. On Sunday, Williams College closed the gap by hitting six less strokes than Amherst but finished two strokes behind in total strokes for the weekend.

Sophomore co-captain Kristina Shalhoup, who has consistently played well this season, was the best individual performer for NYU, hitting a 85 in the first round and a 79 in the final round. Shalhoup’s total of

Mary Jane Dumankaya is a staff writer. Email her at sports@nyunews.com.

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation

Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 The620new york times crossword & daily sudoku For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Monday, April 23, 2012

Edited by Will Shortz Across 32 Either the first or last vowel sound 1 From Athens, in “Alaska” say 36 Stratford-upon6 Sharp product ___ from Sharp 38 Africa’s 10 Labyrinth northernmost 14 “___ Vice” capital 15 Days long past 40 Actress 16 ___ Madeline of contraceptive “Blazing Saddles” 17 Image on an Indian pole 41 Lite 18 Destitute 43 Guadalajara girls 45 Pedantic quibble 19 Redding who sang “The Dock 46 Academy Awardof the Bay” winning role for both 20- and 2620 Academy Award Across winner for playing 4649 Vie (for) Across 52 Eagle’s home 23 Backbone 53 Academy Awardwinning film 25 Let out, as a released in fishing line March 1972 26 Academy Award 57 ___ Major winner for (constellation) playing 46Across 58 Actress Skye of “Say Anything 30 “Can’t Get It Out …” of My Head” rock grp.

59 Place for gold to be stored 31 Clear part of 63 Encounter blood

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE P O P A P I L L

O N A S P R E E

T E S T P A G E

P P P P P P

R E A L I A

A L L I E S

S M O K L I T E Y S T E T E P S R E T E R A T O H A M S O S A I S E G L S O E S O N K O T I N H T O

E R M I N E S D O W N L O W

D E B I T D E S A D E

D I S C A L E A T E X T A T T W O L E L Y E L A S L C U S E A S S N E D E R E T N T E D A E T O M R E H E

U S M A I L

S T E R O L

P O R N S T A R

A N D S C E N E

64 Large coffee holders 65 Follow 66 Rose of the diamond 67 Butcher’s stock 68 Wild West transport Down 1 World clock std.

2 ___ de Janeiro 3 Consume 4 Lagasse in the kitchen 5 Japanese robes 6 Ballyhoo 7 “Let’s Make a Deal” choice 8 Gait not as fast as a canter 9 W.W. I’s longest battle 10 Object retrieved on an Apollo mission 11 Clarinetist Shaw 12 Congo, from 1971 to 1997 13 Spanishlanguage newspaper that brings “light” to its readers 21 Author Stephen Vincent ___ 22 Termini 23 Blast from the side of a warship 24 Homework problem in geometry 26 Brunch or dinner 27 Sacha Baron Cohen alter ego 28 Ancient kind of alphabet

1

2

3

4

5

6

14

15

17

18 20 23

8

9

12

13

33

34

35

61

62

19

25 27

30

28

29

31 37

41

32 38

42 46 50

11

22

24

36

10 16

21

26

49

7

No. 0319

39 43

40 44

47

45 48

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

63

64

65

66

67

68

60

Puzzle by Jeremy Horwitz

29 Protein-building acid 33 Vietnam’s capital 34 Complain annoyingly 35 Initial stake 37 Steer 39 Politico Palin 42 What may give pause to couch potatoes?

44 What tank tops lack 47 Ho-humness 48 Straying 49 Tree remnant 50 Number of little pigs or blind mice 51 Put back to zero, say

54 Golfer’s cry 55 “___ and the King of Siam” 56 Examination 60 Anytown, ___ 61 Schlep 62 Links peg

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

Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

nyunews.com | monday, April 23, 2012 | Washington Square news

OPINION

edited by olivia gonzalez opinion@nyunews.com

Justice

Straus Institute benefactor faces judgment

By Adaner Usmani A few months ago, several dozen students, workers and community members assembled in front of the NYU School of Law to protest the university’s continuing ties to mega-millionaire — and NYU Law School trustee — Daniel Straus. The charge was straightforward. As even a weakkneed National Labor Relations Board has recognized, Straus’ nursing-home empire has consistently violated the rights of its employees. In both New Jersey and Connecticut, Straus subsidiaries have behaved abominably, seeking concessions from already squeezed employees, punishing and even firing, workers who have summoned the courage to unionize.

After explaining the substance of the protest to one intrigued but gruff passerby, I encountered a common rejoinder.

“NYU’s job is to put his money to good use, not to stick its nose in his pockets,” my interlocutor stressed.

Certainly, as a private university committed to providing a quality education to tens of thousands of students, it is reasonable to expect NYU to deal with a variety of companies and individuals. The university, understandably, has incentives to procure goods and services at competitive prices — and, particularly given its low endowment base, to seek donations from fabulously wealthy individuals.

Do we really care where this money comes from?

The truth is that we do, though often without recognizing it. What if

NYU, for example, decided to hire child slaves to overhaul its Greenwich Village campus (cost-effective, no doubt)? Or if NYU President John Sexton accepted money from a billionaire sex-trafficker who found philanthropy a useful salve for his troubled conscience?

The modal strategy has been to rest easy in the conviction that nothing the university does would offend our basic convictions, if we knew about it. Intuitively, no one actually believes that NYU’s being in the business of higher education frees it from the obligation to educate itself about those with whom it does business.

In the case of Straus, again, the facts are clear. Here, one of those benefactors, whose good favor our university is desperate to enjoy, has donated millions to us. Simultaneously, the Straus empire has been at the vanguard of the corporate attack on popular living standards.

In recent negotiations in Connecticut, for example, one company Straus’ parent corporation commands, HealthBridge, demanded savage concessions from workers, proposing hikes in their health care costs that would amount to tens of thousands of dollars over the six years of their contract. Management also sought to roll back basic protections, calling for advance notification if union organizers wanted to visit the facility and indiscriminate power to fire workers or subcontract work. When workers refused, HealthBridge locked them out — right before the Christmas holidays.

It took several months of protests and a

stern reprimand from the NLRB to compel the company to end the lockout a few weeks ago, and even then the contract issues remain unresolved.

The irony is particularly delicious in this case because Straus’ personal fortune sustains the Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law and Justice, a center whose task is to promote “fundamental deep thinking about serious social issues.” It is to these terribly mistreated workers that the richly endowed Straus Fellows owe their freedom to think and write.

Clearly for Straus, “fundamental deep thinking” is best begun at home. The end of the lockout at HealthBridge is an important victory, but the wrongs endemic to the Straus empire remain unaddressed. As mentioned, the NLRB condemned another subsidiaries’ actions in New Jersey, as well, where a union organizer has labeled the company the Wal-Mart of nursing homes.

For its part, NYU must cut ties and remove Straus from the Law School Board of Trustees until he sees fit to align his conduct with his pretensions.

At a time when ordinary people in this country are struggling to repel a sustained attack on their living standards, no university — and certainly not one with a motto as ambitious as ours — can plead indifference.

Adaner Usmani is a third-year graduate student in the NYU Sociology department and a member of the Student Labor Action Movement.

Email him at opinion@nyunews.com.

Discrimination

Domestic law in dire need of gender equality

By Atticus Brigham Last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that car insurance companies could no longer factor gender into calculations of car insurance premiums as the practice constitutes gender discrimination. This level-headed ruling seeks to solve a problem that also occurs in the United States: sex-based discrimination.

Feminists have long and valiantly fought for equality of the sexes; today, their plight should be no different. Not to be discriminated against on the basis of one’s gender is a human right. The plight of the women’s rights movement would be furthered by supporting practices that ensure equal treatment of the sexes in every facet of life rather than clinging to entitlements as a form of repayment for our society’s patriarchal traditions. I would hope that a coedauthored Op-Ed would agree on this point.

Statistics support the assertion that men have and will get into more car accidents and die younger than women. Statistics also show that Native American and Latino drivers, independent of education levels and the proportion of female-to-male drivers in the population, are more often drinking in accidents in which they are killed. If we would not tolerate discrimination based on the second statistic, why do we base it on the first?

For health care, gender discrimination has the opposite effect. Women currently

7

pay at least 26 percent more for health insurance in 19 states, costing women approximately $1 billion a year. For example, women in some states are charged more for health insurance than men who smoke. Women’s health care costs are approximately one-third higher than men’s over a lifetime ($361,200 to $268,700) because women visit the doctor more often and live longer. The Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, would prohibit such gender discrimination. This is a commendable aspect of the act and should serve as a model for other areas in which gender discrimination persists.

New York bars are an area more familiar to most NYU students. As all drinkers know, women are frequently granted entry to bars and nightclubs free of charge and typically receive drink specials on select ladies’ nights. In such situations, establishments treat women less like customers and more like attractions. In fact, four states have ruled these types of promotions unlawful.

Though the ladies’ night marketing strategy does not manifest itself in insurance, the same dynamic is at play: It is still acceptable to charge people different amounts of money for the same service based on incontrovertible traits.

It matters little whether such practices arise from risk-assessment calculation or ensuring what some find to be desirable gender ratios; they are all forms of

discrimination that have no place in our society. Gross profiling, judging individual members of a group on the basis of characteristics of the group at large, goes directly against the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. Thus, law as well as logic should serve to forbid these practices.

American lawmakers can look to international law in for guidance moving toward equal footing, which affects everyone. The United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which only seven countries in the world — including the United States, Iran and Sudan — have not yet ratified, is a model for domestic reform that warrants bipartisan support. Yet, American jurisprudence’s lengthy history of isolationist policies has retarded the passage of progressive policies other nations adopted well in advance. In this instance, it is incumbent on us to look beyond our borders for remedies to domestic discrimination in all of the forms it takes.

Comparative discounts, however convenient for some consumers, go against our core values. The price Americans pay for drinking, driving and health insurance should be affected by neither their race nor their gender. Hopefully, the people will not drink, drive and visit the hospital in one sitting though.

Atticus Brigham is a deputy opinion editor.

Email him at abrigham@nyunews.com.

staff editorial

Economic success in an unstable job market

Getting a post-secondary degree takes an incredible amount of time and dedication. But in the current economy that favors computer scientists, nurses and engineers, will your hard-earned certificate and thousands of dollars of debt be worth it? Is it worth the effort to get a degree only to apply for a job as a waitress later? Unemployment and underemployment is a growing problem for college graduates coming into a toxic job market. Now, more than ever, college-educated young people are having to settle for mid-level jobs that do not require the skills they worked so hard to acquire in college.

The state of underemployed graduates is particularly dangerous in this context because it can lead to competent members of our workforce being underutilized and because the underemployment will exacerbate the damage by putting this work-force kneedeep in education debt. The vicious cycle continues.

Perhaps the problem with the economy is that humanities students are likely graduating with few practical skills marketable in this global economy. Humanities-oriented students should consider complementing their education with vocational training or schooling. If they developed vocational training along with their liberal arts educations, they would be culturally enriched as well as competitive in the job market. This competitive edge will be based on the development of transposable skills that their majors alone may not give them.

Given the monetary cost of attaining a degree nowadays, students who are not comfortable financially and are more concerned about the stability of their future jobs should consider professional schools or directly seek employment opportunities and internships. Concrete work experience, in conjunction with studies in the liberal arts, creates a more impressive résumé for employers looking for this balanced combination of work experience and education.

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

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

8

Washington Square news | monday, April 23, 2012 | nyunews.com

SPORTs

edited by daniel hinton sports@nyunews.com

Violets earn top 10 finishes at East Stroudsburg meet

By Amy Rose Ramapuram Over the weekend, a few members of the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to New Jersey and Pennsylvania to compete in two separate meets.

On Friday, seniors Laura Santoski, Maeve Evans and Andrew Zitek ran against Division I athletes at Princeton University’s Weaver Stadium.

Santoski headlined the day with her 37th place finish in the 5,000-meter run. She ran against a field of 98 other competitors and recorded a personal-best of 17:25.08.

Zitek also competed in the men’s 5,000-meter, placing 92nd out of 99 runners.

In the 1,500-meter run, distance runner Evans finished in last place with a time of 4:51.81.

The following day, several other Violets traveled to East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania to compete in the AllAmerican meet. Both the men’s and women’s teams had a few outstanding performances.

Sophomore Stefan Stark and freshman Kevin Hill ran in the 3,000-meter event against 21 runners. Stark had a great performance, finishing the run in 9:33.96 for 7th place. Meanwhile, Hill came in 12th with a time of 9:51.02.

Junior middle-distance runner James Patterson also gave a solid performance, competing in the 800-meter race. Out of 41 runners, Patterson was close to finishing in the top ten, coming in 11th place with a time of 2:01.69, right on the heels of his 10th place contender who finished with a time of 2:01.41.

Freshman Sebastian Liu competed in the 400-meter hurdles notching a season-best time of 1:00.59. Liu finished sixth out of 17 athletes.

Meanwhile on the field, freshman William McCoy participated in the high jump.

McCoy cleared the pole with the seventh best height of 1.75 meters, a season-best jump for the athlete.

“The meet was okay,” sophomore team member Gilson Cortes said. “There was a lot of

wind so the times weren’t that great, but there was a lot of good competing.”

The women’s team recorded some impressive finishes as well. In the 800-meter run, freshman Caroline Saba had an amazing showing, placing 10th in this event with a time of 2:30.23. Sophomore Lorraine Brancale finished six runners back in 16th with a time of 2:34.82.

Sophomore Vivian Pitchik also placed 14th out of 26 runners in the 1,500-meter.

Senior Vanessa Ortiz dominated in the field, especially in shot put, recording a great throw of 10.81 meters for thirdplace. Ortiz also competed in the discus throw, notching a 29.53 meter hurl, placing 13th out of 23.

The Violets will travel to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to compete in the Penn Relays on April 27 to 28.

Amy Rose Ramapuram is a contributing writer.

Email her at sports@nyunews.com.

Men’s tennis sweeps Ithaca, women fall short again

By Sebastien Van Heyningen

The men’s and women’s tennis teams traveled to upstate New York to take on Ithaca College this past weekend. The men continued their hot streak, winning 9-0, while the women added to their woes, losing 4-3.

Although junior co-captain Connor Witty was unable to travel with the team, the Violets were able to shutout Ithaca and register their third straight victory.

The men’s team is 8-5 for the season.

Freshmen Ting Yee Lai and William Smithline teamed up in doubles play to win 8-3. Meanwhile, sophomores Daniel Kil and Steven Wu took down their opponents in shutout fashion, winning 8-0.

Wu defeated senior Bomber Jimmy Newton in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Lai beat freshman Justin Levine 6-3, 6-4.

“The biggest part of our current winning streak is a combination of focused practices, determination from each team member to contribute his part and the confidence that has built on each successive win,” sophomore co-captain Tim Wu said.

The women’s team fought hard on Saturday despite their loss. Although the women are 0-10 for the season, this was

one of their more impressive showings.

Sophomore Ramya Pokala and freshmen Haley Mears and Megan Moore were the only girls to travel with the team. The three of them had to play two matches apiece. Saturday’s match was played best of seven instead of best of nine as usual to accommodate for the lack of able bodies.

In NYU’s lone doubles match, Pokala and Mears were victorious, squeezing out a win 9-8(3).

Pokala also picked up a win in singles play, defeating Bombers freshman Allison Vizgaitis 8-1. Moore also won her match 8-3.

“I feel that the women on the team are getting more experience, and there are improvements,” head coach Horace Choy said. “The improvements are not necessarily showing up in the results because, due to injuries, all of the players are playing higher in the line-up than they might.”

The women’s team will strive for their first win of the season at the UAA Championship on Friday, April 27, in Orlando, Fla. The men’s next match is at home against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday, April 24.

Sebastien Van Heyningen is a staff writer.

Email him at sports@nyunews.com.