WSN043015

Vol. 43, No. 49

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015

NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

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New York City joins in Freddie Gray protests

By MARITA VLACHOU News Editor

Demonstrators took the streets of New York City Wednesday evening in solidarity with the people of Baltimore, who have been protesting police brutality following the death of Freddie Gray on April 21.

Gray, a 25-year-old black male, was taken into custody on a weapons charge. Gray incurred spinal injuries while being held by the police and was subsequently sent to the hospital, where he died a week later.

The death of Gray is the most recent case of police violence in a year of protests and riots surrounding the deaths of unarmed people at the hands of the police. As the protesters gathered on the north side of Union Square at 6 p.m., organizers handed out fliers and posters with the names of 44 people of color who have been killed by the police between 1994 and 2014.

Mike Wallace, a graduate student who attended the protests, said he is frustrated with the lack of action following police brutality.

“I’m here to show support for the minority communities who don’t have a voice of their own because they’re so repeatedly targeted and abused,” Wallace said.

Around 7:30 p.m., those who had gathered in Union Square

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started marching, ultimately making their way to Times Square. As of press time, protesters had reached as far as the Holland Tunnel and the West Side Highway.

Popular hashtags social media users have used to tweet about the protests include #NYC2Baltimore, #BaltimoreUprising, #BlackLivesMatter, #FreddieGray and #BaltimoreRiots.

The New York City Police Department warned protesters not to walk on the streets, threatening charges of disorderly conduct. More than 100 protesters were arrested, including Tisch junior Sam Bearzi, WSN photo editor, who was arrested for being in the street and obstructing traffic. NYPD put those arrested into police vans.

“Please be advised that pedestrians are not permitted to walk in the street or roadway,” the NYPD blared over loudspeakers. “If you unlawfully obstruct pedestrian traffic or walk in the street or roadway you may be placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct, a violation of New York state penal law.”

Brandon Mendez, a high school student who was at the protest, said he witnessed a man being arrested for without clear cause.

“NYPD are very abusive and I’ve seen it, especially tonight,” Mendez said. “I’ve seen a reporter do nothing and he gets tackled by seven cops.”

STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BEARZI

Police officers blocked off protesters from marching on 17th leading to a number arrests.

A large number of NYU students were part of the protest, including a group from NYU Divest and the Incarceration to Education Coalition.

LS freshman Fahad Iqbal said he was not afraid of being arrested, as all protesters were standing in unity.

“No one’s going to hurt me out here,” Iqbal said. “We’re a family out here. We’re working together.”

CAS sophomore Angie Hernandez said she attended the protest because New York City has been one of the cities where citizens have experienced police attacks.

“It is time that New York City people rise up and give a broad statement against what the NYPD has been doing in our communities, in our schools; the ha

rassment, the intimidation that we see all the time,” Hernandez said.

CAS sophomore Nick D’Angelo said police brutality cases across the country have been out of control.

“I think the police has definitely overstretched and overstepped what it’s supposed to be doing and I think there’s a massive system of mass incarceration that needs to be dismantled by activism,” D’Angelo said.

Following Gray’s death, there were several days of peaceful protests until his funeral on Monday evening, after which local demonstrations turned violent.

Many cars were set on fire, windows shattered and stores looted, leading Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to activate the National Guard and

set the city of Baltimore in a state of emergency. Curfew was also established for all residents.

Protests have also sparked in Boston, Minneapolis and other cities across the country.

D’Angelo said most of the people in Baltimore were protesting in a peaceful manner, even though violent actions attracted the public’s interest. In any case, D’Angelo said he supported the movement.

“I think most of the protesters were nonviolent,” D’Angelo said. “Either way I have full solidarity.”

Additional reporting by Alanna Bayarin and Alex Bazeley.

Email Marita Vlachou at mvlachou@nyunews.com.

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Affordable housing groups show support for NYU 2031

By ALANNA BAYARIN News Editor

Affordable housing groups announced on April 22 that they support NYU 2031, the university’s expansion plan, because a ruling against the plan could impede on future construction.

NYU 2031 includes the development of 2 million square feet in Greenwich Village that would provide more classrooms, art space and student housing for the Washington Square campus. The New York State Supreme Court previously ruled that the construction would need special permission from the state legislature, however, the court’s Appellate Division overturned this ruling in October 2014. NYU 2031’s opponents argued that the expansion plan would encroach on parklands on the Mercer Street superblocks.

Advocates of the plan from the affordable housing movement include the New York Housing Conference, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, Phipps Houses and 99 other organizations that have aided in the establishment

of affordable housing in New York.

Former federal judge Richard Holwell filed an amicus brief siding with opponents of the expansion because he believes it puts private interests over the public good.

“Petitioners’ argument seems to say that the only way to prevent an implied dedication is to lock the public out of municipal lands and to prevent stewardship of such properties by any public or private entity that is in any way connected with outdoor recreation or the preservation of open space,” the brief reads.

“Worse public policy can hardly be imagined.”

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said the amicus brief shows that a ruling against the expansion plan will hurt future prospects for public development.

“What the amicus briefs highlight is that an adverse ruling by the Court of Appeals could hamstring the government when it tries to achieve a public good, be it creating low-cost housing, needed health care facilities or other uses beneficial uses,” Beckman said.

Beckman added that if the plain-

tiffs win the case it could harm public service providers, including the NYS Council of Mayors and Municipal Officials, New Yorkers for Parks, the Greater Hospital Association, in the future.

“A victory for the plaintiffs would be very bad public policy,” Beckman said.

Mark Crispin Miller, an NYU professor and member of NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, said the city needs to work harder to preserve the little green space that remains.

Miller added that the prosecutors are standing for NYU employees and the Village as a whole.

“It makes no sense to smash the city’s last few parks, in order to make room for still more towers — even if those new developments include some token segments of ‘affordable housing,’” Miller said. “The plaintiffs in this lawsuit are hardly just a few ‘litigious residents,’ but groups that very clearly represent the vast majority of Villagers and NYU’s own faculty.”

Email Alanna Bayarin at abayarin@nyunews.com.

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Students speak out against Harold Koh

By ALEX BAZELEY Deputy News Editor

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SHAWN PAIK

STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BEARZI

Counterterrorism police prior to the NYC Rise Up & Shut It Down For Baltimore protest.

Thousands gather in Union Square prior to marching for the NYC Rise Up & Shut It Down For Baltimore protest on Wednesday.

NYU Law students continued their protests against scholar in residence Harold Koh on Wednesday morning, staging a demonstration on the corner of Washington Square South and Sullivan Street outside of the NYU School of Law. Koh is currently teaching international human rights at NYU Law. In early March, a group of NYU Law students released a Statement of No Confidence, criticizing Koh’s role in providing some of the legal rationale for President Barack Obama’s targeted drone strike program while acting as Legal Adviser of the State Department from 2009 to 2013. Koh has been a vocal supporter of the drone program, drawing scrutiny from those working in human rights.

“Given Mr. Koh’s role in crafting and defending what objectively amounts to an illegal and inhumane program of extrajudicial assassinations and potential war crimes, we find his presence at NYU Law and, in particular, as a professor of International Human Rights Law, to be unacceptable,” the Statement of No Confidence reads.

On Wednesday, six protesters, including three NYU Law students, handed out flyers to anyone who would take them. The demonstration included the a life-sized model drone.

Columbia Law student Shan Khan, one of the people handing

Koh has come under fire from NYU Law students for his involvement in American drone use. out flyers, said he felt it takes a lot of courage for NYU students to stand up and make a statement.

“There might be only a couple of us standing out here, but we don’t feel comfortable with the status quo where you can have these institutional figures that have such power go and be a part of something that a lot of us feel are war crimes,” Khan said.

Amanda Bass, an NYU Law student who helped organize the demonstration, said the protesters are not critical of Koh because of his ideas, but because of his actions within the U.S. government.

“What’s at issue is his role and his action as legal adviser in providing the legal defense for the Obama administration’s targeted killing program,” Bass said.

The Statement of No Confidence prompted backlash from NYU faculty members, as well as Koh’s colleagues. More than 750 people, including current and past students of Koh’s, signed an open letter supporting him, calling the movement against him “misguided.”

Koh released a statement in which he said he appreciated how much support he received from both inside and outside the NYU community.

“I’m very moved by the outpouring of support I’ve received from such a broad spectrum,” Koh’s statement reads. “I’ve truly enjoyed my visit to NYU and have had many thoughtful conversations with many NYU students, especially my human rights class, which has taught me a lot about many hard questions.”

Koh added that he wished those who had a problem with him had spoken directly to him.

Bass admitted that the group has not talked to Koh, but said because Koh’s position on the drone program has been very public and well known, they did not feel a need to.

“In terms of understanding the legal arguments that he put forward, we have a lot of information about the role that he played,” Bass said. “For us, it was not useful to actually sit down and talk to him when we’re taking issue not with the reasons for why he may have done what he did, but with his concrete actions in his time in government.”

The group told WSN it plans to hold demonstrations the next two Wednesdays.

Email Alex Bazeley at abazeley@nyunews.com.

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ARTS

EDITED BY ALEXA SPIELER ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Alum talks ‘Melissa’s Choice’

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The Cerny Brothers have been making music since high school.

The Cerny Brothers discuss artistic progress

By ALEXA SPIELER Arts Editor

With their forthcoming album “Sleeping Giant,” the four-piece Americana band The Cerny Brothers are changing their sound.

Featuring Robert Cerny, Scott Cerny, Robert Anderson and Alby Hickman, they are evolving into a more electric guitar-heavy, rockbased quartet. The shift in sound, however, was something that happened naturally.

“It was a very unconscious thing,” Robert Cerny said. “We were in the studio and thought a lot of these songs are very electric guitar based and are very driving.

They were very different than the last album we did, which was all acoustic instruments.”

The Cerny Brothers previously released “Dream,” but only Robert and Scott Cerny were members of the band then. After parting with their previous bassist, the Cernys met Hickman, who introduced them to Anderson, a friend from the California Institute of the Arts. Though Anderson has not been with the band for long, he has quickly adjusted to being a member.

“This kid’s been with us for a little over a month and after this experience, it just feels so tight,” Hickman said. “There is no more thinking about it anymore — we just go out there to entertain.”

The Cerny Brothers recently completed their spring tour with The Giving Tree Band, which gave them the opportunity to practice and perfect playing as a quartet.

“That’s the biggest thing — putting on a show for people,” Hickman said. “If you’re thinking about chord changes or worrying about the next section, you can tell.

When you got it down, you can have a great time.”

For The Cerny Brothers, being on the road offered lessons that spanned beyond the stage.

“Music aside, just being with these guys, I feel like we’ve seen everything,” Anderson said. “You definitely don’t learn that in school.”

Scott Cerny also saw touring’s benefits, including how it permits professional and personal growth.

“Being on the road, things get real,” Scott Cerny said. “There’s nowhere to run. If you have a tough show or a tough night, you can’t let everything get to your head.”

The band is now focusing on the May 12 release of “Sleeping Giants.” Recording at Bear Creek studios in Seattle, the Cerny Brothers teamed up with producers Jerry Streeter and Ryan Hadlock, who have previously worked with Brandi Carlile and The Lumineers.

“Jerry Streeter, who we worked with in Seattle, he guided us more the electric guitar way,” Scott Cerny said. “He was more excited about those songs.”

With The Cerny Brothers straying from the acoustic-based music, Hickman discussed the pitfalls of solely remaining within that genre.

“There’s a trend now with that kind of music — sleepy acoustic guitar, people strumming away,” he said. “It gets tiring after a while and he [Streeter] got tired of it. He was just excited about the project and it felt natural.

We never felt like we were being pulled in one direction.”

Throughout recording, The Cerny Brothers took away more than a new sound, as Hickman said they learned the benefits of collaboration.

“People say that you need to be an independent, self-sufficient artist to make it, but I don’t believe that,” Hickman said. “The more people you have around you, that believe in you and are working with you, the easier it is for you to make great music. It just pushes you to do great things.”

Email Alexa Spieler at aspieler@nyunews.com

CORRECTION Actor Christopher Imbrosiano is not in a wheelchair, Ann Marie Morelli uses a wheelchair in the performance. Additionally, the number of able-bodied cast members does not outnumber the number of disabled artists. WSN regrets these errors.

By CAROLINE CUNFER Books/Theater Editor

are. The material was easy for me to grasp onto.

NYU alumnus Ari Butler stars in in playwright Steven Somkin’s new play “Melissa’s Choice: An American Dilemma.” In the production, Butler plays Tad, a headstrong scientist who believes his partner Melissa should have an abortion. “Melissa’s Choice” opens on May 7 at the Lion Theatre at 410 W. 42nd St.

WSN: Do you relate to your character, Tad?

WSN: What made you pick this topic and why do you think that a play is the place to start a discussion about abortion?

SS: The reason I chose to write about it is because I’m a playwright — there’s that.

Population explosion is probably the single greatest driver of degradation of the environment. All the political and economic and social consequences influence things like global warming. That’s the general framework in which I’m operating.

AB: I had a baby a few months ago so the idea of playing a guy who is fighting to have an abortion isn’t an immediate parallel to my life, for sure. When I said I had a baby, I mean, of course, that my wife had a baby. But the idea of a man being encouraged to step more quickly into that stage of his life than maybe he anticipated is something that I understand and certainly I imagine most men struggle with at one time or another. My character is deeply passionate about being out in the woods and alone time, and I share similar passions with being in this rehearsal room and on stage, both for which a kid presents extra challenges. I won’t pretend that I’m exactly like Tad, but there’s something about his struggle that I latched onto.

WSN: How did you get involved in this play?

WSN: The show’s subtitle is “An American Dilemma.” Why is this uniquely American?

AB: I went to the audition and it was material that I connected with, which I think helped to have a good audition. As an actor, you go where opportunities

SS: In most countries in the world, either abortion is legal or it’s not legal. In the United States it’s legal, but there is tremendous pressure against abor-

tion and against the freedom to choose an abortion, so that’s why it’s a uniquely American construct.

WSN: What do you hope people leave thinking about?

AB: The abortion conversation seems only public when it’s about rape victims or politicians in Republican states, and when it’s very heightened and dramatic. But the fact of the matter is people who want to have babies or don’t want to have babies are still having the abortion conversation because it’s in the air. So I think this play deals with the abortion question from more of the everyman point of view, instead of the more sensationalized conversations that you see on CNN or whatnot.

SS: What I would hope people would take away is the difficulty of the journey that this young woman is going through, and connect it to both men and women because it’s usually a couple’s decision. And also that it could go the other way. If anything, I want people to have a tolerance and an understanding of both the pro-choice and the pro-life decision.

Email Caroline Cunfer at ccunfer@nyunews.com

Renaissance ‘Hamlet’ reborn in modern day

By JOSEPH C. MYERS Contributing Writer

Classic Stage Company’s production of “Hamlet” is an innovative, modern take on the Shakespearean classic. Instead of being performed in English renaissance style, this version of “Hamlet” is performed in standard American English, and the idiomatic change makes the play accessible for modern audiences.

The theater is arranged in an intimate amphitheater setting.

The actors use the entire space, including the floor level of the audience as well as the aisles, creating an immersive experience.

During most of the play, there is one set that features a lavish dinner table, a bar, a table with a wedding cake and couches that surround the perimeter. Walt Spangler’s set represents the wedding of Claudius (Harris Yulin) and Gertrude (Penelope Allen), turning the setting into a volatile post-wedding after-party.

Director Austin Pendleton takes several creative liberties with this well known story, successfully giving it a bolder, edgier feel. For instance, Ophelia (Lisa Joyce) is on stage observing all the hap-

penings until her demise. She physically reacts to whatever she overhears, and because of this directorial choice Ophelia’s growing hysteria can be observed by the audience throughout the entire play. Another surprising choice is portraying Hamlet, Rosencrantz (Scott Parkinson) and Guildenstern (Daniel Morgan Shelley) as rowdy jocks, including a radical scene where they snort cocaine.

Shockingly, the Ghost of Hamlet’s father is never seen, further playing into the ambiguity of the ghost’s existence.

At 44 years old, a significant age difference exists between Peter Sarsgaard, the lead actor portraying Hamlet, and his character who is supposedly 30 years old. Despite this discrepancy, Sarsgaard portrays Hamlet with youthfulness and energy, contributing to a thrilling and at times terrifying performance. Sarsgaard’s performance is phenomenal and intense. Stephen Spinella also gives a notable performance as Polonius — his comedic timing in portraying the dim-witted character adds humor to counterbalance the play’s drama.

Justin Townsend’s innovative lighting design was essential, as

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Glenn Fitzgerald & Harris Yulin in Hamlet. it encompassed both dramatic low-lighting as well as full house lighting. The low-lighting, as well as more traditional lighting, added to the play’s suspenseful tone. However, the bright house lighting gave the audience a feeling of inclusivity, which contributed to the feeling of uneasiness.

Ultimately, the modern production of “Hamlet” is a novel take on the well known Shakespearean classic. The new spin makes it immensely more relatable and easier to understand. Though it proves to be radical and pushes boundaries, increasing the craziness of the plotline to explosive extremes, Classic Stage Company’s production of “Hamlet” is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

“Hamlet” is playing at the Classic Stage Company on 136 E. 13th St. until May 10.

Email Joseph C. Myers at theater@nyunews.com

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FEATURES

EDITED BY MARINA ZHENG FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM

Junior expands outreach program

By TIFFANIE HWANG Staff Writer

After summer trips to India encouraged Anish Patel to make a difference, he founded Uplift Humanity. Now, over four years later, the Stern junior has led the nonprofit to significant growth and expansion from the grass roots of forming a group of students to volunteer at juvenile facilities and detention centers.

With branches already established in Vadadora, Hyderabad and Indore, Uplift has just announced its newest location for this summer — New Delhi, the capital and second most populous city in India.

What differentiates Uplift from many other organizations is that it reaches out to youth in juvenile detention centers, a group not often recognized for needing help.

“In India, people don’t really pay attention to or focus on the problem of juveniles,” Patel said.

Patel explained that a gap

is created when youths are left alone in these centers because of their crime, but he believes this isolation should be tackled differently.

“The actual way to look at it is: if these kids have committed some kind of crime, the only way they can assimilate back into society is through education,” Patel said.

Consequently, the organization focuses on teaching lessons in fundamental skills such as anger management, tactics to avoid peer pressure, relationship building, goal setting and career counseling. The youth can apply these to their daily lives to prevent them from ending up at the facilities again.

In addition to this three-week summer initiative, the organization uses the Uplift Continuation program as a way to continue administering these life skills as well as enforcing an educational curriculum long after the summer program is over.

Uplift has partnered with local

volunteers and educators to teach math, English, computer literacy and academic skills that cannot be established in just a month during the summer.

The program is run and supported by a team of educators, advisers and students who serve as volunteers. Executive board members, comprising both current NYU students and alumni, also play a role.

As for the future, Patel plans to launch in new locations and increase their impact across India and other urban areas.

“Our main goal is to spread awareness for this cause and make sure our work is being done everywhere in India,” Patel said. “This is a huge goal, but I think you can only get far if you have that big goal going forward for you.”

Patel said his passion for the cause and desire to make an impact push him to keep going.

“Uplift does something very different that other people don’t real-

STAFF PHOTO BY HANNAH SHULMAN

Patel was featured in Vogue India for his organization. ize that there is a need for,” Patel said. “That is something that really drives and propels me to bring awareness for this cause.”

Although non-profit is what the Stern business curriculum recognizes as a “risky endeavor,” Patel encourages other NYU students to act upon their passions to bring change to the world just as he did.

“Keep pursuing it,” Patel said.

“What you do matters and whether it is on a smaller or larger scale, any sort of difference will make some sort of change.”

Email Tiffanie Hwang at features@nyunews.com.

Chinese Mei Society throws annual gala As part of Asian Heritage Month, the Chinese Mei Society hosted its annual cultural gala, Yuan V15ION, at the Kimmel Center for University Life’s Eisner & Lubin Auditorium on April 24. Yuan V15ION gave the traditional Chinese festival a sleek modern twist by bringing together fashion, fine dining and performance.

Yuan has been Chinese Mei Society’s annual largest production since 1988, with all proceeds donated to the China Care Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing Chinese orphans with special needs through direct humanitarian service since 2000.

CAS junior Tony Lam, who is

president of NYU China Care, prides the foundation on being part of the biggest provider of immediate care and medical care for Chinese orphans.

“China Care has saved 120,000 orphans and trained 12,300 caregivers,” Lam said. “Our goal is to save 1 million happy children, because that’s how many orphans in the real China that need our support. It is part of our obligation as a person in society to give back.”

Stern senior and president of Chinese Mei Society David Li said he is proud of the club’s partnership with China Care to celebrate Chinese culture for a humanitarian cause.

“Giving a little of love is probably part of every person’s destiny,” Li said. “We hope to carry on our

tradition of service to the community and the world.”

Chinese Mei Society’s name originates from the Chinese word for “plum blossom,” and just as the plum blossom flowers during even the harshest winters, the society hopes it can shine at NYU while serving the niche of those interested in Chinese culture.

Chinese Mei Society’s hallmark event of the year boasted almost 200 participants, featuring a wide variety of programs that crossed instrumental performance, dance, fashion show and live music.

The show reached its climax when Synchronic Dance Team kicked off its high-energy hip hop dance. Performers also included the Madi Rindge Band.

Chinese food was served,

with authentic Chinese delicacies including scallion pancake and fish in wine sauce available throughout the night. Groups of 10 were seated around each round table, just like a traditional Chinese family would be for their festival meal.

Steinhardt senior Helen Li, who attended the gala to see a friend’s show, said the event was worthwhile and meaningful.

“The performances are awesome, so is the food. And their proceeds are all going to China Care,” Li said. “I am not only coming here to enjoy the performances, but also able to donate money to help those children in need.”

Email Lingyi Hou at features@nyunews.com.

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By LINGYI HOU Staff Writer

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Concert celebrates women in tech

By BENJAMIN MOK Staff Writer

It is not every day you see a lone woman standing in a dark hall, crooning softly to her Macbook, or an intense virtuoso electric cello performance. Yet both of these appeared at the Society of Women in Technology hosted a concert on April 22, featuring a series of performances by young women through sights and sounds.

Performances ranged from electro-pop to experimental filmpiano duets, and featured pianist Rob Schwimmer. Some performances were no more elaborate than a laptop left open in front of the audience, playing the artist’s music over the speakers, while others were more actionpacked, even featuring a DJ mixing live music on stage.

Although some of the presentations were esoteric and marred by minor technical glitches at times, the concert commanded the attention of the audience.

The performers hailed from all areas of NYU including SWITCH members and their friends, the music technology department and more. The night’s diversity is representative of SWITCH itself, which is made up of “engineers, scientists, artists, musicians, educators and music industry professionals who strive to inspire and learn from one and other” — giving its members the chance to empower one another through creative endeavours.

Lena Matthews, president of SWITCH, stated that the purpose of the concert was to give women a platform in the male-dominated field of music technology.

“Women are a minority in the technology field and by hosting a concert, we hope to give women in particular have a means to showcase their work, network and collaborate with other artists,” Matthews said.

The group has many events coming up, including lectures and an appearance at the Audio Engineers Society’s convention this fall. Through its future endeavors, the club will continue to be dedicated to its mission statement — to give women a voice.

“SWITCH empowers women to succeed in technology related fields, be it academic or professional, with an emphasis on music technology and the industry and arts professions.”

Email Benjamin Mok at features@nyunews.com.

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HIGHER EDUCATION

Student-only performance reviews misguided

By DANA BROWN Contributing Writer

One student describes a professor as “insanely smart and very helpful.”

Another said he has “no clue how to assemble thoughts into a coherent lecture.” Such contradictions are long known to university students who use ratemyprofessors.com or similar websites in choosing courses. These sites demonstrate how individual student judgments can be flawed. Unfortunately, the Iowa State Senate is currently considering a bill that would base professors’ performance ratings solely on student evaluations — and then allow low-rated professors to be fired without potential for an appeal.

This proposal is extremely misguided. It is true that poorly performing professors should not continue to teach and student experience should form a part of performance evaluation, but student ratings do not always correlate with a professor’s teaching ability. The Boccini University economics department found that professors with low ratings actually produced the students who were most successful in later classes. Although very high performing students gave effective

teachers better ratings, most students did not like the teaching styles that led to their success — perhaps because it meant more work. Easy ‘A’s may garner high ratings, but they do students no favors in the long term.

An April 28 CNN article about a Texas A&M Galveston professor threatening to fail an entire class of disrespectful students demonstrates the complex classroom dynamics that sometimes occur and that warrant outside evaluation. This particular teacher chose to quit because of his frustrations. In a situation where student evaluations are the sole metric for performance, professors would be forced to pander.

Even in the cases where student ratings accurately reflect a teacher’s effectiveness, there are other issues with this proposal. When schools request student evaluations for professors, the collection rate is not high; in some

classes, fewer than half the students complete evaluation forms. There is also the previously mentioned issue of inconsistency. Students in the same class may have very different perceptions of the professor’s performance. It is difficult enough for students trying to get a sense of their professors before the term starts to balance out these disparate descriptions, but it would be ridiculous for Iowa to try to make major employment decisions from them. Professors with middle-of-theroad ratings would be allowed to stay, but it would be difficult to discern the status of those with both positive and negative evaluations.

The qualities students and administrations look for in professors are not always the same, and may not even match the teaching styles that benefit students. While universities should make an effort to weed out bad teachers, Iowa’s proposal is not the right direction. Rather than focusing on any one factor, universities must evaluate professors holistically by using a combination of student ratings, peer evaluations and student portfolios.

Email Dana Brown at opinion@nyunews.com.

GENDER ISSUES

Striving toward unisex marketing

By ADNAN ZARIF Staff Writer

With the May 1 deadline approaching, many high school seniors have already decided which college they will attend in the fall. As students begin the rite of passage that is precollege shopping, some women will find that they are paying more, sometimes much more, than their male counterparts for the same home and personal care products.

The current trend in marketing is to price women’s products higher than the equivalent men’s products due to the greater demand from women and a subsequent willingness to pay these higher prices. There is, of course, an obvious solution: to walk to the other side of the store and purchase the other gender’s product.

Regardless, this surface-level sexism is unacceptable.

Last week the Youtube channel The Daily Share released a video comparing the different cost of items such as razors and even pillows that were marketed toward men and women.

Overwhelmingly, the men’s products were cheaper. The video detailed the price discrimination

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women face with moisturizers, haircuts, fragrances and other beauty products. The unfortunate reality is that companies are unlikely to independently change their pricing models in the near future.

The concept of gender should not apply to products such as razors, face creams or pillows. There simply is no such thing as a feminine scent or a masculine design. There is nothing inborn that ties the experience of being a woman to the smell of flowers or the experience of being a man to the smell of tobacco or musk. Beyond products designed for specific biological purposes, gender divisions in marketing are completely arbitrary and utterly unacceptable. To be disturbed by the price difference but continuing to buy the women’s product anyway plays right into companies’ marketing design. The same

occurs when a man keeps from the women’s section of a perfume store out of the false belief that there is a certain way a man ought to smell.

These stereotypes increase the idea that marketing companies have created over the years in order to boost product sales: that men’s products and women’s products are somehow meaningfully different and fundamentally exclusive.

California is the only state that has demonstrated that it is possible to end gender-discriminatory pricing through legislation. However, it is a more worthwhile goal to strive toward unisex marketing as a whole — a trend only individual companies can create. Unisex marketing would not only end the blatantly unfair prices, but would be a step closer in eliminating the unnecessarily prescriptive effects manipulative marketing has placed on consumers. For now, an immediate remedy exists: it is as simple as buying the products marketed toward the other gender in order to show unisex marketing will work.

Email Adnan Zarif at opinion@nyunews.com.

STAFF EDITORIAL

LS must clarify goals to reduce student confusion

A recent study conducted by CAS junior Drew Kogon found that Liberal Studies students tend to feel inferior to other NYU students. Kogon, originally an LS student himself, was prompted to orchestrate the study after he became aware that many of his peers in the program felt like “second-class students.” This sentiment is understandable, given the general sense of confusion surrounding the Liberal Studies program among many NYU students across all of the undergraduate schools. Until the fall of 2011, students were not even able to apply directly to the program, which in the preceding four years had shuffled names three different times — from general studies to liberal studies to the core program. NYU should become more transparent about the purpose of the LS Core Program in order to reduce this stigma and attract more direct applicants.

The LS Core Program requires students to fulfill two semesters of a writing class and three semesters each of Cultural Foundations and Social Foundations. Upon completing these requirements at the end of their sophomore year, students are guaranteed transfer into most of NYU’s other schools, including the College of Arts and Science and Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and can also apply for an internal transfer to Tisch School of the Arts, Stern School of Business or Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

The LS website does little to quell uncertainty. Although it features a robust FAQ section — unlike the more traditional NYU schools — the site offers an ambiguous explanation for why and how students who applied to other schools were instead accepted to LS. While it does state that students are selected who would “thrive in an interdisciplinary curriculum with small, seminar-style classes,” there is no account of how admission officers make that decision. As Kogon explained, saying “NYU is making the decision of where they want them to go to school as opposed to the individual.”

There is negative chatter about this program on several college websites, only further increasing confusion among incoming LS freshmen. Many NYU students view LS as a way for NYU to increase enrollment, and therefore tuition revenue. This negative view contributes to LS students feeling stigmatized within the university.

NYU can begin improving the perception of LS by working to better integrate it with the other schools. In addition, they should work to more clearly explain the program’s purpose in order to alleviate some of the mystery. If NYU can clarify the program’s mission and why it would be attractive to certain students, they can promote it more heavily at high school admissions events, and perhaps then more people would directly apply. LS is a laudable program, and with some clearing up, students will no longer feel stigmatized.

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

EDITORIAL BOARD: Tess Woosley (Chair), Annie Cohen (Co-chair), Tommy Collison (Co-chair), Matthew Tessler (Co-chair) ILLUSTRATION BY JOURDAN ENRIQUEZ

Send mail to: 838 Broadway, Fifth Floor New York, N.Y. 10003 or email: opinion@nyunews.com WSN welcomes letters to the editor, opinion pieces and articles relevant to the NYU community, or in response to articles. Letters should be less than 450 words. All submissions must be typed or emailed and must include the author’s name, address and phone number. Members of the NYU community must include a year and school or job title.

WSN does not print unsigned letters or editorials. WSN reserves the right to reject any submission and edit accepted submissions in any and all ways. With the exception of the staff editorial, opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.

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NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS