Washington Square News April 30, 2018

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NYU’s Independent Student Newspaper | est. 1973

nyunews.com

Monday, April 30, 2018

Volume L, Issue 14

features

OPINION

SPORTS

Coverage of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival

Phillip Picardi: Giving ‘them’ a Seat at the Table

A Response to Your Letter in Support of Minority Students at NYU Stern

The Understated Importance of Team Managers

ON PAGE 4-5

ON PAGE 6

ON PAGE 13

ON PAGE 14

ARTS

Returning Puerto Rican Students Face Uncertainty

PHOTO BY JAMARIS MARTINEZ-LUGO

Left: A house is in front of Jamaris Martinez-Lugo’s grandparents’ house. Right: Martinez-Lugo’s family collects rainwater.

By YASMIN GULEC, NATALIE CHINN and PAMELA JEW Features Editor, Deputy Features Editor and Deputy Managing Editor

D

ispersed around Sophia and Alex’s room one night, Jamaris and her three friends belt out the lyrics to “Salimos de Aquí” by Fiel a la Vega. Mariana leads the group, dancing around the room taking each of the girls’ hands. The song comes to a close and Jamaris hits pause, turning to her friends. “Have you guys heard this song?” Jamaris asks, as she hits play on “Mi Duena” by Kany Garcia. It’s a unanimous ‘no.’ She gasps, runs to the light switch and the room goes dark — only illuminated by the city lights out-

side. A guitar greets Garcia’s words, and the girls’ energy dims as they melt to the floor. The somber lyrics flood their ears, and suddenly, there’s only one thing on their minds: home. It has been almost five months since Jamaris Martinez-Lugo, her three friends and 53 other students left Puerto Rico for the United States. Much of the island was ravished by the Category 5 Hurricane Maria after it struck on Sept. 20. Puerto Rico was left in ruins, with its government estimating that 200,000 residents will leave the U.S. territory by the end of 2018, causing the population to drop by 5 percent, according to The Washington Post. In November 2017, NYU announced that it would be offering admission to 50 students from Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria under the Hurricane Maria Assistance Program. After an influx of

400 applications, NYU extended its offer to an additional 13 students, bringing the total of accepted students to 63 — 57 of which decided to attend. NYU’s program covers the visiting students’ tuition, meal plans, healthcare and housing. Three other American universities — Tulane University, Brown University and Cornell University — offered similar programs. Now, as their semester at NYU draws to a close, students in the HMAP program are asking NYU to extend the program another semester. The HMAP Students Initiative, which has the support of 27 of the visiting students, penned a letter addressed to President Andrew Hamilton on April 27. In the letter, they cite the upcoming hurricane season and the time Puerto Rico still needs to rebuild. Growing up, many of the HMAP students dreamed

Looking at Alternative Food Providers to Aramark By SAKSHI VENKATRAMAN and KRISTINA HAYHURST News Editor and Deputy News Editor NYU’s food service provider, Aramark, has had a controversial year. Since November’s failed health inspection in Lipton Dining Hall and February’s stereotype-ridden Black History Month meal, there have been many appeals from campus activist groups for NYU to

divest from the Fortune 500 service provider when its contract goes up for bid in August. In a March meeting of the Dining Advisory Committee — a group comprised mostly of NYU undergraduates — Assistant Vice President for Campus Services Owen Moore and Senior Director of Campus Services Michael O’Brien presented a timeline for evaluating potential Aramark replacements in the coming year. “Quality (food, service, sanitation) variety, diversity of program (vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher, food relat-

ed allergens, health and wellness) affordability and value, convenience and an exciting program are the primary qualifiers,” Moore said in an email to WSN. When asked if NYU would consider going independent like the University of California, Los Angeles or contracting with a smaller service provider, Moore said the idea was in consideration but most likely not sustainable for the university at this time. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3|

of attending NYU. But they never imagined they’d ever get the opportunity. “I’d always wanted to come to NYU, but it was never a possibility — it was just a mere dream of mine that I never thought would become a reality,” said Martinez-Lugo, a visiting sophomore studying Education at University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. “The hurricane was a horrible thing, but this came out of it.” The HMAP students come from a number of different universities, both public and private, with majors ranging from Drama to Electrical Engineering. While many of the students came from the same Puerto Rican universities, most did not know anyone when they arrived in New York. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11|

Check Out

The Kite from wallkill correctional facility on Page 7 and nyunews.com/KITE-APRIL-30


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