Washington Square News May 2, 2016

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: GENERATIONS OF NYU WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

COURTSEY OF WSN STAFF

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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM

Students Commemorate Cancer Victims at Relay for Life

By CHRISTINE WANG Deputy News Editor

With the help of over 1,000 participants, NYU’s 13th annual Relay For Life event has raised over $78,900 towards cancer research and treatment.

NYU’s Relay For Life, organized by Colleges Against Cancer at NYU, is an overnight experience during which participants walk around a track from sunset to sunrise to symbolize that although cancer may never rest, neither will those fighting against it.

Despite being surrounded by fun art activities and games, participants did not forget the severity and importance of their purpose. Stern senior Jenn Loh said she feels the event has given her a new perspective on life.

“Personally it’s important to me because my mother had cancer a few years ago and, even though she is better now, this stress continues to follow her every year, especially when she gets a checkup,” Loh said. “Relay helped me gain perspective and reminded me

that some of the struggles that have really bothered me aren’t that significant in the grand scheme of things. This, I feel, has enabled me a greater capacity to care about my friends and family.”

Tisch junior Elizabeth Young said she encourages those who don’t believe in the mission to still raise awareness and show support for those who are fighting.

“The American Cancer society does great work and they are making a difference for everyone who’s a survivor by helping them get treatment,” Elizabeth said. “Even if you don’t think there’s a cure about to happen, you’re still helping these people who are suffering every day. Even if you don’t believe in the mission, you should still come and support.”

Gallatin freshman Margaret Arabpour said the money raised will make a crucial impact.

“In addition to funding research towards finding a cure for cancer, American Cancer Society provides so many other services to those who are fighting, such as housing,

known as Hope Lodges, for those who must receive treatment far from home,” Margaret said. “The sheer amount of impact that this money will have is just mind blowing and makes me even more proud to be apart of the Relay for Life Committee.”

For CAS sophomore AJ Stone Jonathan the event was their fifth Relay For Life. At the first, they walked with their mother and father, but at their second they walked with only their sister, as their mother had passed away from uterine cancer. The following year, they walked with their father. But at their fourth relay for life, Jonathan walked alone — from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., without stopping for food or activities — as their father too had passed away from cancer.

To Jonathan, although the cancer took away those that they loved, it also pushed them to cherish every small moment they had. For them, Relay for Life is a time to continue cherishing those memories and honoring every person who has fought or is currently fighting.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE WANG

NYU’s 13th annual Relay For Life, organized by Colleges Against Cancer at NYU, helped raise over $78,000 this past week for cancer research and treatment.

“When we take the time to remember, we are taking the time to honor all of these people,” Jonathan said. “These memories are the reason why we come to Relay For Life.

It means we’re dedicated to making more memories, to making these memories possi-

ble, and to making life possible. We remember the people that we lost. We relay to make new memories and we relay to hold on to the people that we care about.”

Email Christine Wang at cwang@nyunews.com.

An In-Depth Look at Campus Crime This Semester

By ANNE CRUZ News Editor

More than 160 crimes occurred on-campus during the spring semester — 162 to be exact. Each week, WSN compiles reports from the NYU Department of Public Safety for our crime log. However, a week-to-week glance at on-campus crime is not very useful for determining overall trends in campus safety. WSN gathered information from every incident listed on NYU’s posted Crime Reports and Statistics for this semester and consolidated it in one single crime log map for the semester. Here are some of the highlights: The highest-rate crime was larceny, with 84 cases in total. Larceny differs from burglary and robbery in that a thief does not unlawfully trespass when they commit larceny, and they do not forcefully take an object from a person who is present during the crime.

There were seven cases of burglary and one case of robbery.

The place with the largest number of incident reports was Bobst Library, which had 13 incidents of larceny, one incident of forcible fondling and one incident of harassment.

A majority of crimes reported to the Department of Public Safety were centralized around Washington Square Park. Only eight crimes were reported on the Tandon campus while the rest of the incidents took place in Manhattan.

Almost 41 percent of incidents were reported in NYU Residence Halls. Third Avenue North Residence Hall and Weinstein Residence Hall tied for the most number of incidents in a residence hall,

with nine incidents each.

Of the 162 incident reports this semester, 31 were referred to the NYPD. Five cases were referred to the Title IX Office of Investigations.

NYU Spokesman Matt Nagel said the Department of Public safety aims to create a safe environment for all members of the NYU community. He also clarified that the crime data posted onto NYU’s website each month differs from the annual security report in which NYU must disclose specific crimes by federal law.

“The daily crime log includes all crimes, both felony and misdemeanor, reported to Public Safety that took place on campus and in other university owned or controlled locations,” Nagel said.

“The crime statistics that appear in NYU’s Annual Security Report are based on reports of specific crimes designated under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, which is required by federal law.”

He also stressed that students should not leave valuable items unattended, especially electronics, wallets and bicycles.

“Students should never leave valuable property unattended,” Nagel said.” Students are also encouraged to take advantage of the NYPD’s Operation ID days at NYU and have their electronic devices registered to make it easier for the police to identify them if they’re stolen.”

You can find WSN’s full crime case map online.

Email Anne Cruz at acruz@nyunews.com.

GRAPHICS BY LEXI FAUNCE

NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

Top 5 News Stories This Spring

By LEXI FAUNCE News Editor

As the school year draws to a close, WSN takes a look at some of the most impactful events that took place on campus during the spring semester.

Hayden Renamed to Lipton Hall March 22 — The university officially confirmed that Hayden Residence Hall will be renamed to Lipton Hall this June. The change honors NYU School of Law alumnus Martin Lipton, who now resides as chairman to the Board of Trustees. As the second name change of an NYU institution this academic year, students hope that its dining hall cookies don’t change along with the building’s title.

IEC’s 36-Hour Sit-In at the Kimmel Center March 25-26 — The Incarceration to Education Coalition occupied the Kimmel Grand Staircase for 36 hours to draw attention to their Ban the Box initiative. The IEC demanded that the university take action to remove the box on its under-

graduate Common Application that requests potential students to disclose prior criminal history and disciplinary action.

On April 25, the IEC met with President Hamilton to discuss how the movement would move forward — a demand granted during their sit-in.

Taxi Hits Woman Outside Weinstein Hall April 7 — A woman was struck by a taxi on the sidewalk near the intersection of University Place and 8th Street, just outside of Weinstein Hall. Some witnesses reported that the incident was caused by brake failure, though this was never confirmed. The NYFD was first to arrive on the scene and immediately evacuated the victim.

Bernie Sanders Comes to Washington Square Park April 13 — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke at a rally of more than 27,000 people in Washington Square Park. The Vermont senator was introduced by a variety of celebrities, including a performance by Vampire Weekend.

The event followed a voter-regis-

CRIME LOG

April 22 to April 29

By GRETA CHEVANCE AND DIAMOND NAGA SIU Deputy News Editors The NYU Department of Public Safety received eight reports of larceny, one report of forcible sexual assault, one report of harassment, one report of dating violence and one report of robbery between April 22 and April 29.

Larceny On April 25 at 5 p.m., a student declined to notify the police that four tablets were missing from her bottle of prescription medicine.

She stored it on her desk in Rubin Residence Hall.

On April 25 at 6:05 p.m., a faculty member declined notifying the police that her bike and cable lock secured at the Waverly Place bike rack were missing at 6 p.m., after she secured them at 10:20 a.m.

On April 25 at 11:30 p.m., a student filed a police report that his bike’s rear tire and bike frame were missing after securing the bike with a Kryptonite lock at the Waverly Place bike rack at 7 p.m.

On April 25 at 10:30 p.m., a student reported that $200 was missing from her bag that

she left in the prayer room on the fourth floor of Kimmel Center at 8 p.m. She returned at 10:30 p.m. Police notification was declined.

On April 26 at 4 p.m., a student reported that his laptop was missing from Rosenthal Pavillion after leaving it unattended on April 25 at 10:30 p.m. and returning at 11:30 p.m. Student declined filing a police report.

On April 27 at 11:20 a.m., an employee reported that her NYU-issued laptop was missing from a classroom at 726 Broadway after leaving it there at 11 a.m. and returning at 11:05 a.m. A police report was filed.

On April 27 at 4:10 p.m., a student reported that her iPhone was stolen from a counter at the NYU bookstore after leaving it unattended.

The bookstore has footage of a man taking the phone from the store. A police report was filed.

On April 29 at 1:15 a.m., a student reported that her locked bike was missing from outside of Shimkin Hall at Schwartz Plaza after locking it on April 28 at 11 a.m. and returning on April 29 at 1:15 a.m. Student declined notifying the police.

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tration drive in support of Sanders led by Danny DeVito and Susan Sarandon a few weeks prior.

Sanders addressed topics of particular interest to the youthful crowd in preparation for the New York primary on April 19.

Divest’s Occupation of the Executive Elevator in Bobst Library April 18 — NYU Divest organizers occupied the administrative elevator in Bobst Library for more than 33 hours. The sit-in was in response to the university’s failure to grant the organization a meeting with the full Board of Trustees, a demand promised to them by former President John Sexton.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted a statement of support to the group and their cause midway through the occupation. While 18 students remained overnight in the library, the occupation ended the following afternoon after university administrators informed the students they would face immediate suspension if the protest continued.

Email Lexi Faunce at lfaunce@nyunews.com.

Forcible Sexual Assault On April 26 at 6:59 p.m., an NYU student’s father reported that his daughter was sexually assaulted in Brittany Hall on April 23 at night. The father reported that his daughter declined notifying the police at the time of the incident.

Harassment A staff member notified the NYPD on April 25 at 2 p.m. about an unknown male who pushed him in the chest with both hands while he walked on Washington Square South near Bobst library.

Dating Violence A staff member declined notifying the NYPD that on April 25 at 4:04 p.m., two NYU students who were involved in a romantic relationship engaged in a verbal dispute that turned physical in Third Avenue North Residence Hall.

Robbery On April 22 at 9:24 a.m., a faculty member reported to the NYPD that at approximately 9:10 a.m., a pistol fell out of a male’s pocket while he engaged in a verbal dispute in Washington Square Park.

The NYPD arrested the male and recovered an air gun.

Email Greta Chevance and Diamond Naga Siu at news@nyunews.com.

PHOTO BY YEHO HWANG

NYU alumna Anna Powers started Powers Education, aiming to offer the support and guidance needed for women high school students to succeed in the fields of math and science.

Alumna Startup Aims to Empower Women

By YEHO HWANG Contributing Writer

It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in the STEM fields. So NYU alumna Anna Powers decided to do something about it, launching her startup Powers Education, which aims to provide mentorship and tutoring services for high school students to increase female presence in STEM fields, at the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute on Friday.

Powers is a Core Curriculum fellow and has a Ph.D. in chemistry. She began developing Powers Education in October 2015, and has been dedicated to its growth ever since. The launch event began with Powers introducing the goal of the startup.

Powers Education seeks to equip women with the skills they need to succeed in STEM fields, offering one-on-one and group tutoring sessions. Master classes headed by Powers are also offered.

For Powers, teaching science has always been part of her life. She saw mentoring women as part of her passion and skillset.

“In many ways, I believe in education,” Powers said. “There is a real need for women to see that there are other people like them doing this because you want to feel like you belong.”

CAS senior Anahit Stepanyan began tutoring after meeting Powers in an elevator in Silver this past summer.

“When I was in high school, I did private tutoring for after-school programs,” Stepanyan said. “[Powers] pitched [the idea] to me and asked me if I wanted to tutor some students for her.”

Since then, Stepanyan and Powers have been building a relationship not only based on mentorship, but also friendship. Stepanyan said work-

ing with Powers broadened her networking experience within science.

Bruce Padron, a CAS IT support specialist and former student of Powers, said mentorship should be more than meeting someone for a brief period of time.

“If there could be more connected relationship that you could have with someone, it inspires you to learn better,” Padron said, adding that mentorship and tutoring should have a lasting impact on a student.

Powers added that women tend to face more negative stereotypes when it comes to math and science fields. She hopes that company would be a supplement for that stigma.

“Our society is moving in a way that everything is driven by science and technology,” Powers said. “We would enrich our society if we had the other half as equally represented.”

GSAS Master’s student Weihong Xu attended the event and said it was not only a networking experience but was also an opportunity to further women’s involvement in science.

“I agree with Dr. Powers in that more women should be involved in science,” Xu said. “I think I’ll become a better tutor after being in this company.”

Another student in attendance, CAS senior Nikela Smith, said getting involved with Powers Education would be an opportunity to begin her own tutoring service in the future.

“I think this will be a great platform,” Smith said. “I think it will give me a lot of experience. I didn’t have a mentor [in college]. I want to help somebody who was in my position because it’s hard to ask for help, so I want to offer it.”

Email Yeho Hwang at news@nyunews.com.

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ARTS

EDITED BY ZACH MARTIN ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

‘Butterfly’ Remake Pins Audience

By HAILEY NUTHALS Staff Writer

Ramesh Meyyappan’s original opera “Butterfly” takes its namesake to heart. The production, the latest from Brits Off Broadway and held in 59E59’s Theater C, leaves the audience feeling not unlike one of the play’s central props — a beautiful butterfly that has been trapped and pinned to a board, then finally torn apart.

Meyyappan, who wrote, directed and acted in the production, adapted the plot from John Luther Long’s short story “Madame Butterfly.” The title bears the most resemblance to its forbearer — apart from that the story veers in an entirely different direction. Meyyappan’s version centers around a woman named Butterfly (Naomi Livingstone), a gentle, smiling kite-maker.

She is visited often by a man, known only as Customer (Chris Alexander), who appears to admire Butterfly’s kites, and leaves her gifts in exchange for them. His tender, nervous affection for Butterfly is obvious, but she sweetly declines his advances. Instead, she falls for Nabokov (Meyyappan), a quiet butterfly-catcher who easily ends up with Butterfly in his figurative net.

Thus far, the production is lovingly done, without dialogue but with elegant, beautiful dancing and kite strings that pull on heartstrings. Things grow sour, though, as Customer becomes furiously jealous of Nabokov’s relationship with Butterfly and Nabokov displays his own possessive, dominating tendencies. After Butterfly rejects

Customer a final time, he, in a culminating fit of rage, rapes her and storms out. Butterfly, violated and sobbing, reaches to the stunned Nabokov, but he simply turns and leaves as well. The scene, for unfathomable effect, is then rewound and acted out again.

The second portion of the play is shorter and follows Butterfly as she, now alone, raises a child of whose parentage we cannot be certain.

The child is portrayed by a puppet, operated with admirable deftness by Meyyappan and Alexander jointly. We see Butterfly’s struggle to contain his mischief by herself until, in a shocking moment of frustration, she slaps her son after he tore apart the first butterfly Nabokov had given her. The play ends suddenly, as the boy disappears and Butterfly is left alone in her home, surrounded by suddenly flapping butterflies on the shelves behind her, leaving it unknown if the son ever truly existed in the

first place.

While the prop design, choreography, acting and music can all be said to have been lovely and enchanting, the same cannot be said of the writing itself. To be sure, not every play needs to be nice and happy, but it is hard to understand why so many plays that are not happy choose to focus on women whose agency is violated in one way or another. What’s more, it’s simply too hard to justify such brutality — between man and woman and woman and son — once, let alone twice.

“Butterfly,” may simply be for literature fans who want to compare the original plot to the new one, but not for anyone who is unwilling to witness a silent story of trauma.

“Butterfly” is running through May 14 at 59E59 Theater at 59 E. 59th St.

Email Hailey Nuthals at hnuthals@nyunews.com.

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Brits Off Broadway is performing Ramesh Meyyappan’s “Butterfly” at the 59E59 Theater at 59 East 59th Street through May 14.

Unpopular Is the New Vantablack

By ANGELA DIZON Staff Writer

For one night, art lovers and makers alike flocked to the Upper East Side to hear renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor in conversation with curator Norman Rosenthal as part of the 92Y Talks series. At 92Y, a community center and cultural institution, the living legend discussed his body of work spanning multiple decades. Themes of emptiness, identity and immateriality were introduced and expounded upon.

Kapoor started the conversation with his mantra. As said by the philosopher Levinas, “When the forms of things are dissolved in the night, the darkness of the night […] invades like a presence.”

He relates the quote to his “nonobjects,” which are sculptures that elicit the non personal quality of “emptiness.” For Kapoor, that is not the absence of something, but the presence of nothingness.

In his work, concave mirrors and deep indigos create a reflection or bleakness that invites our imagination to define it — as seen in

“Cloud Gate,” his bean-like public sculpture in Chicago, for instance.

“It draws you into its concavity in the same way it draws in the city,” Kapoor said.

Incidentally, after the sculpture was completed, he recalled sitting before it and thinking, “Oh no, this is Disney! What have I done?

I’ve made an object too popular.”

Indeed, Kapoor had made it clear that his artistic intent is never about popularity or coherence, but instead humanity’s mysteries. Throughout the conversation, he navigated the complexities of his life’s work with passion and authority while Rosenthal — not only an art expert but a longtime friend of the artist — interjected with a few witticisms and technical questions. At the end, audience members were invited to pose questions of their own. The most controversial asked was how Kapoor could reconcile his maleness with the customarily feminine symbol of the void as exemplified in the “Dirty Corner” exhibition and “Shooting in the Corner.” In reply, Kapoor acknowledged the ills of patriarchy, and stated that

he was, figuratively, not “all male.”

In that breath, he announced that gender transgression is necessary in art.

However, the hottest topic was perhaps on Vantablack, a material which, when placed in a reactor and used to coat an object, renders the deepest black possible.

In February, it became public that Kapoor had exclusive rights on this experimental substance developed by Surrey NanoSystem.

However, he clarified to the 92Y audience that he is the only artist who approached the defense firm about repurposing the material for art. They are in ongoing collaboration in learning its aesthetic potential. Kapoor is currently planning a bridge covered in Vantablack which would create the illusion of a silhouette and thus trick the senses. He gushed, “Wouldn’t it be terrifying?”

“Today You Will Be In Paradise,” a two-part exhibition of Kapoor’s recent work, will be on view through June 11 at Gladstone Gallery.

Email Angela Dizon at entertainment@nyunews.com.

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“Waitress” stars pop singer and songwriter Sara Bareilles, and is currently playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 W 47th St.

‘Waitress’ Is Good Enough to Eat

By EMMA GOLD Contributing Writer

Yes, that is the smell of freshly-baked pie wafting through the lobby of the Brooks Atkinson Theater. And yes, you will have a delicious time at “Waitress,” a new musical that opened this past Sunday, based on the 2007 movie of the same name. With music and lyrics by pop superstar Sara Bareilles and direction by theatrical superstar Diane Paulus — the pair team up in one of the first all-female creative teams in Broadway history — this new musical was satisfying, spirit-lifting and downright hilarious.

The show begins with a melodic mantra of “sugar, butter, flour,” which provides solace to Jenna (Jessie Mueller). Jenna works as a waitress at a Southern diner, finding strength in baking her cleverly named and well-loved pies. When she learns that she is pregnant with the child of her abusive husband Earl (Nick Cordero), Jenna is faced with a difficult dilemma. Enter Dr. Pomatter (Drew Gehling), Jenna’s tall, dark and handsome gynecologist. They fall into an affair, complicating her pregnancy even further.

Jenna’s support system comes in the form of two fellow waitresses: Dawn (Kimiko Glenn) and Becky (Keala Settle). Both women have their own storylines and romantic trysts: the former with Ogie (Christopher Fitzgerald), whose song “Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me” is a comedic tour de force; and the latter with Cal (Eric Anderson), the owner of the diner. The strong vocals Glenn brings to Dawn and Settle’s physical comedy makes them both memorable and lovable characters.

Mueller’s prowess is evident as she grounds “Waitress” in empathetic excellence. Her uber-naturalistic and beautifully nuanced acting is only complemented by power-

house vocals which shine in her heartbreaking 11 o’clock number “She Used To Be Mine.” Mueller presents the difficult choices this woman has to make while avoiding emotional exaggeration, and it’s clear that having Mueller back on Broadway is a gift.

Bareilles’ witty lyrics and infectious melodies are one of the strongest elements of the show. The singer-songwriter’s simple chord progressions pull at the heartstrings. The book by Jessie Nelson is also impressively funny, fitting Bareilles’ score well. Set design

by Scott Pask is dreamy and flexible, framed by two towering, rotating glass cases filled with pies.

At times, the sweetness in “Waitress” can err on the side of cloying; stylized ensemble moments at times feel reminiscent of show choir, and some of the supporting characters have trouble distancing themselves from stereotypes. However, the joy and buoyancy of this piece is unbeatable, especially when it’s folded in with the bold flavor of feminist theater-making.

The strength and struggles of the women onstage, including the tricky dynamics of abusive relationships and seemingly unattainable autonomy, provides a vessel of empowerment for not only the characters, but the actors. The artistic hand of female creators is clear in this piece and makes a mark on Broadway that demands female voices to be heard, both onstage and off.

With this driving force serving as an undercurrent to the narrative onstage, “Waitress” reminds us of our ability to lift one another up and find the magic in friendship, motherhood and even a piece of pie.

“Waitress” is currently playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 W 47th St.

Email Emma Gold at theater@nyunews.com.

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ARTS

EDITED BY ZACH MARTIN ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Pity Sex Talk ‘White Hot Moon’ and Going Global

By E.R. PULGAR Staff Writer

Rising indie rock band Pity Sex put out their second full-length LP, “White Hot Moon,” last Friday. On the heels of the album’s release, WSN spoke with the band’s drummer and co-lyricist Sean St. Charles to discuss making the new record, the different phases of a band and their new tour, which will see the band going back to the U.K. St. Charles noted that they approached recording with far more confidence this time around.

“I think your first record is always like a bundle of nerves, and what comes out of that is very exciting, but it’s nice to have a more measured approach to a record,” he said.

Pity Sex played the U.K. last May and is set to return to Europe for this tour. Despite taking their act internationally, they have yet to venture to countries that aren’t English-speaking.

“I think it’s hard to go somewhere and not feel guilty about [not speaking the language],” St. Charles said. “It’s really relieving if you don’t, but there’s a factor

of when you go to a different country and you can only communicate in English because it’s all you know and then you feel kind of stupid.”

Despite the cultural uncertainty, the band is interested in taking their act to global scenes. “[In] the U.S., we’re so familiar with the cultural output that it’s easy to have a sense of where we’re popular. With Europe, it’s a little more difficult,” said St. Charles. “In the U.K., [we’re] cognizant of the scene, but the rest of Europe is kind of new territory. I have the sense that we’ll do well in countries that have music that sounds like us — Scandinavia has had dream pop bands forever, and I think Germany has a pretty big punk scene, so I think we’ll have a fun time.”

Back in the states, Pity Sex has been supporting big acts like Tiger’s Jaw while playing smaller shows. This tour sees them helming larger venues, such as New York’s Bowery Ballroom on June 10. The band will be supported by label mates Petal and queer punk duo PWR BTTM, who have been gaining traction since their SXSW appearance. St. Charles noted the importance of chemis-

try when picking touring mates.

“When you plan a long tour, you want to pick people you’ll get along with,” he said. “[Kiley Lotz] from Petal is a great friend. As for PWR BTTM, none of us have ever seen them; I was just into the record. I thought the band seemed really exciting, so we reached out to see if they were interested and snatched them up before anything else came along.

They seem like the nicest people, so we’re really excited.”

At a time when artists have become synonymous with their marketing strategies, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” serves as a much-needed bit of levity. The film sees through the egotistic self-images of superstars with an acidity that has been missing not only from comedy, but from music writing.

NYU students were lucky enough to see the film at Cantor Film Center on Thursday, five weeks before its release.

Andy Samberg stars as Conner4Real, a Bieber-Macklemore type hip hop superstar. We follow him, in mockumentary form, through the release of his second solo album. Bad reviews and low sales cause Conner to take on a Tyler the Creator-like opening act and contemplate a reunion of his beloved old group The Style Boyz.

On one level the movie is similar to the SNL videos that made Samberg famous. His Lonely Island castmates directed the film and co-wrote it with Samberg, and appear as the other two Style Boyz.

There are wacky comedy songs that match their previous repertoire. A pro gay marriage song plays up Conner’s tolerance, even as he repeatedly reminds his listeners that he himself is straight.

Another song involves Osama Bin Laden foreplay.

The soundtrack alone would make the movie worthwhile, but

what makes the movie a stand-out satire is the way it goes after the process of making a star. Conner becomes famous by writing a verse made up entirely of catchphrases.

The Style Boyz fight over whether to license their music to a refrigerator company. There are lots of cynical agents and managers speaking in legalese. Music fans are satirized for their devotion and energy to artists who are really just mundane people.

As with many satires, the movie is much stronger during its first half. After the midpoint, the demands of a Hollywood plot interfere with the humor. Conner is put through the typical cycle of hitting rock bottom, soul searching and returning stronger and wiser than ever. The movie tries to do this with a sense of irony, but it feels too much like it has given in to the showbiz forces it satirizes. Nevertheless, even these stretches are redeemed by some very good jokes.

Along with recording new material, some band members are headed back to school and their jobs. They will continue to juggle their day-to-day lives with creating the fuzzed-out, ‘90s inspired tracks that have gained them a fanbase. “[Figuring] out how all of that works is going to be big in the next year,” St. Charles said.

Email E.R. Pulgar at epulgar@nyunews.com.

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WSN sat down with Sean St. Charles of Pity Sex to discuss the band and their upcoming tour.

The Lonely Island’s Acerbic ‘Popstar’

By TONY SCHWAB Staff Writer

St. Charles said that the band will probably dive back into writing after the tour, although they’ve yet to start.

“We’re basically touring for the rest of the year, and then we’re going to start working on new songs and maybe a new record in full force,” he said. “I think being in a band is about phases, and we’re going to enter a phase of touring quite a bit and then move back to writing.”

The cast is good, especially the character actors. Tim Meadows plays Conner’s manager, hilariously tormented by his expulsion from R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, while Sarah Silverman is Conner’s publicist, hoping to “get Conner to the point where he’s just kind of everywhere, like oxygen or gravity or clinical depression.” Bill Hader plays a roadie who loves flatlining, coming so close to death that he needs to be resuscitated.

The direction is impressive. All of the film’s concerts, parties and lavish mansions are made to look as excessive as possible. Older periods of music history are captured with a mix of nostalgia and mockery reminiscent. “Popstar” is a hilarious satire of the pop music world that will earn its inevitable comparisons to “This Is Spinal Tap.”

Email Tony Schwab at film@nyunews.com.

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“Popstar” follows the story of pop/rap superstar conner4real, played by Andy Samberg, while his life goes into a tailspin after his unsuccessful album release.

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FEATURES

EDITED BY KENDALL LEVISON FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM

New Kids on Campus: From Russia to NY

By JESSICA MARTINEZ Social Media Editor

This semester, WSN’s Features Desk has been investigating the lives of transfer students in a series called “New Kids on Campus.”

Each piece features a Q&A with a transfer student at NYU about their past and present college experiences and how they’ve adjusted to New York City.

For our last week of this series, WSN talked to Tisch student Maria Koblyakova. Originally from Moscow, Russia, Kobylakova transferred from Baruch College to NYU in fall 2015. Kobylakova is a performance studies major and plans to graduate next May. WSN: Can you talk about where you’re originally from and how it compares to New York?

Maria Koblyakova: I’m from Moscow. New York compared to

Moscow is super different in the sense of culture and the sense of people. Of course, there are people here from so many corners of the world — so many people, so many opportunities — that I don’t think that we can find that anywhere but this place.

WSN: When did you come to the United States from Russia?

MK: My senior year of high school. I had never come to America before. I wanted to be a cinema producer. I watched “The Avengers” and loved this movie and that’s why I came to America.

WSN: Why did you decide to move to New York specifically?

MK: In Moscow, I was working in cinema and TV production.

During my last semester of high school, I visited New York. I said, “I need to see how TV production works here.” I immediately applied for university, but NYU’s

Book Finds Hierarchy of Ethnic Foods

By MILTON ZOU Contributing Writer

As the Chair of NYU’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Dr. Krishnendu Ray spends much of the week teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses revolving around food. Ray channeled this passion for dining and restaurants into his latest book, “The Ethnic Restaurateur. ” A professor at NYU since 2005, Ray is the author of three books about the complex trends and diverse forms of American cuisine. “The Ethnic Restaurateur” tackles the sensitive issue of what exactly defines ethnic food, and our changing perceptions of it. It delves into exploring the various attitudes of the producers and creators of such food rather than the consumers, as many others have previously done.

According to Ray, it is the impoverished immigrant classes who, after first settling in the United States, comprise as much as 90 percent of all restaurant businesses in America and still do today. The differing food prices between each cuisine is determined by a complicated hierarchy in which foods are considered more prestigious. For example, French and Japanese food generally have considerably higher prices than Mexican and Chinese cuisine. It was poor German immigrants who introduced hot dogs and hamburgers to this country, just as it was lower-class Italian immigrants who brought with them pizza; these foods, as we all know, while not the most prestigious, have become the three most globally renowned symbols of modern American cuisine.

Conducting extensive research mostly based in New York City over a period of roughly six years, Ray was able to slowly gather a considerable amount of data on the assorted

ethnic groups that owned restaurants over generations. Essentially, Ray believes that we are presently undergoing the “Third Great Transformation in American taste,” with Asian, Latin American and Caribbean immigrants each successfully adding their own unique flavors to the ever-growing melting pot of American culinary tastes.

Ray’s own personal experiences have been integral in formulating his own work and interests. He was born abroad and first came to the United States in 1989 for graduate school. Over time, he became homesick for the cuisine of his native country. Having virtually no firsthand training in cooking, he began yearning to learn more and more about the subject of food and the deeply fundamental role it always plays in one’s society.

Of course, there are some more unusual findings in Ray’s sociological research as well — for example, there are only around 7,000 to 8,000 people of Thai descent living in New York City, yet their restaurants are both numerous and relatively popular; on the contrary, Bangladeshi-Americans in the same area number at least 30,000, yet their restaurants are barely visible by comparison.

These statistics are what interest Ray the most, as he is trying to delve into how immigration affects America’s cuisine and culture.

“My interest is on the sociology of immigration, and globalization, and transnational migration,” Ray said.

“Immigration is not only about economic opportunity or loss of aspects of a culture but also comes with certain insights precisely because a body is leaving one and entering another cultural world.”

Email Milton Zou at dining@nyunews.com.

deadline had already passed. So, I applied for Baruch College.

WSN: What was your experience there like?

MK: It’s actually kind of the same experience that it’s a university right in the center of New York. But it’s smaller and business-oriented. So, people there have their own communities. If you come there, it’s very difficult to immerse yourself if you’re not into business. If you’re into art, as I am, it’s like there is no way.

WSN: How are you adjusting academically at NYU? MK: The atmosphere of classes is super great. My performance studies department is not big — there are only seven people in the whole undergraduate program, and the majority are transfer students.

From the first time I came to NYU, everyone was so interested in me, and not just as a student, but as a

person outside of university, too.

WSN: What’s been the biggest thing overall that you’ve had to adjust to?

MK: At my previous college, it was way less people so everyone knew each other, while here, every day you meet new people. It was very cool when I just came here that everyone is so self-determined and everyone knows what they want and everyone wants to put a lot of energy into what they’re doing.

WSN: What would you advise incoming transfer students do to make their experience enjoyable?

MK: When you’re a transfer student, it’s very important to know small tricks, like how to print from your computer. It’s so small, but it makes you feel more at home. Another thing is never be afraid to approach people. People are willing to help you.

STAFF PHOTO BY MEETALI GUPTA

In this week’s installment of New Kids on Campus is Tisch student Maria Koblyakova who transferred from Baruch to NYU in fall 2015.

Note: the questions and answers in this interview have been edited for length and clarity purposes.

Email Jessica Martinez at jmartinez@nyunews.com.

Students Film for ‘HeForShe’

By ANKITA BHANOT Dining Editor

Students involved in NYU’s HeForShe campaign, an initiative that invites men into the discussion on gender inequality, came together to create the “In Support of HeForShe” in an effort to bring attention to this issue. The film, set to be released this summer, focuses on two major aspects: the thoughts of NYU-involved personnel — administrative, student and alumni — on gender equality, and the many inequality issues that are present both on campus and in the world.

The film, which is currently in post-production, began its development last December, starting pre-production at the beginning of 2016 and filming over a weekend in March.

Executive producer Natalina Schappach, a CAS sophomore, conceptualized the film after her time at a HeForShe Global Youth Engagement Internship with the U.N. this past fall semester. Schappach then started reaching out to other students in an effort to make her idea a reality.

Emily Elizabeth Thomas, a graduate student at Gallatin, was called on by a few of the producers to write and direct the film. A creative activist herself, Thomas felt this film gave her the opportunity to combine her talent for film and passion for the subject of gender equality.

“I wanted the film to authentically document real, unfiltered, collaborative and heartfelt conversations about gender equality,” Thomas said.

“Most of all, I wanted to highlight what HeForShe is doing for the progress of gender equality in this country, and all over the world — bringing together all of humanity to fight

for the equality of historically disenfranchised individuals.”

Other students on the team include Anna Fredrikke Bjerke and Devin Tusa as additional producers and Nadia Gilbert as the director of photography. Since the film was run entirely by students, the most challenging aspect for the team was finding enough resources.

However, Schappach said they were able to move forward because of the generosity of many organizations, such as Clif Bar, Essentia War and Gruppo.

“We were overwhelmed with gratitude as many organizations and businesses stepped forward to donate time and resources without charge,” Schappach said. “Our incredible post production team at Cutter Productions has made the creation of a high quality film possible and has brought the story we have envisioned to life.”

The film features interviews with many notable NYU students and alumni, including actors AnnaSophia Robb and Suraj Sharma, Kate Bolick, a journalist and a New York Times bestselling author of “Spinster” and Janet Grillo, Emmy Award-winning producer, filmmaker and professor at NYU. Overall, the team is proud of their hard work and is excited to

see how it will act as an agent of change when it is released. Bjerke, a freshman in Gallatin, is part of a creative writing, directing and producing team with Thomas titled LLC Jane Street Productions. She believes one of the film’s biggest successes is its power to bring together influential people who are passionate about the topic.

“The most rewarding part of making this film has been to work with incredible talented, dedicated activists and artists in making a collective effort to raise awareness of HeForShe, and our shared vision that gender equality will benefit all of humanity,” Bjerke said.

Everyone on the team had their own reasons for joining the project, but they were all motivated by a great passion for this cause.

Tusa said to him, gender equality is important because of his own upbringing by a single mother.

“I came onto the film because I personally believe in the power of the individual to make a difference, and that social media is a very powerful tool for social impact and change,” Tusa said.

“Anything I can do to help out is worth doing.”

Email Ankita Bhanot at abhanot@nyunews.com.

PHOTO BY ADAM REYNA

“In Support of HeForShe” is a film created by students in the hopes of facilitating the discussion of gender inequality.

NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

BEAUTY & STYLE

EDITED BY GABRIELLA BOWER BSTYLE@NYUNEWS.COM

BStyle: A Fashionable Year in Review

The industry underwent major restructuring.

Designers left, fashion week locations and formats changed and movements continued.

DECEMBER 15, 2015 The CFDA announced they are planning to reformat NYFW.

Photo by Valentina Bojanini

OCTOBER 22, 2015 Raf Simons left Dior.

Via Tumblr.com

OCTOBER 27, 2015 Women’s Wear Daily predicted that the fashion industry is headed towards a burnout.

OCTOBER 28, 2015 Albar Elbaz left Lanvin.

is banned in the U.K. for featuring models who appear to be unhealthily thin in efforts to improve body positivity images

in the industry.

SEPTEMBER 2015 The PlusIsEqual campaign launched by fashion brand Lane Bryant premiered. Industry made strides towards body positivity.

GABRIELLA BOWER

Beauty and Style Editor JANUARY 20, 2016 Grace Coddington stepped down as Creative Director of Vogue.

JULY 2015 New York Fashion Week Men’s premiered the second week of July. For the first time in NYFW history, men’s fashion had a week of their own, which shows just how serious men’s Ready-To-Wear is being taken in the industry.

Skylight Clarkson hosted NYFW Men’s which became the new home for NYFW both men and women’s; the former runway locations at Lincoln Center were officially retired.

JULY 29, 2015 Alexander Wang left Balenciaga.

Via Wikipedia.org

FEBRUARY F/W 2016 FASHION WEEK Designers such as Burberry, Tom Ford and Rebecca Minkoff announced that this season they would be presenting See Now Buy Now collections. This allowed consumers to immediately purchase the clothes and accessories they see on the runways.

MARCH 3, 2016 The CFDA and Boston Consulting Group released their studies regarding the current but outdated fashion industry model for fashion week. Collections are presented six months ahead of the time they are dropped in stores for consumers to purchase which no longer accommodates the modern consumer. The results were obvious and no definitive solution was determined but multiple solutions were proposed.

Photo by Gabriella Bower

APRIL 1, 2016 Hedi Slimane left Saint Laurent.

APRIL 2016 Christian Louboutin announced expansion of his nude shoe collection to support and encourage diversity.

DECEMBER 2015 Gucci launched its Cruise 2016 campaign which

Via Instagram.com

Email Gabriella Bower at gbower@nyunews.com.

Victoria’s Secret Trades Swimwear for Sportswear

By MEDARDO PEREZ Staff Writer

Retailer company L Brands announced earlier this month that Victoria’s Secret is scheduled to undergo an entire organizational restructuring, rumored to include eliminating its swim line altogether.

Considering the band of Angels that flood Instagram in their skimpy bikinis, it comes as a shock that Victoria’s Secret may no longer keep its swim category after this year. Just last month, the brand aired its second-annual “Swim Special” on CBS — similar to its annual fashion show, minus the extravagant wings and in a place much

7

more exotic.

While Victoria’s Secret is a retailer of lingerie first, its swimwear is a popular staple of the brand.

However, its popularity with the masses on social media is not reflected onto its sales. Last August, Citi Analysts reported that the swim category “had trended down over the last several years,” only making the company about $500 million last year. Joining the swim category on the chopping block are the brand’s print-catalogue and 200 of the brand’s employees.

In its press release, L Brands delineates its strategies for expanding the company’s profit, which includes “focusing resources on core merchandise categories, where

the company believes the greatest growth potential exists.”

They explained the company is reorganizing to concentrate on PINK, Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Victoria’s Secret Lingerie. Citi Analysts also reported that the brand is replacing the swimwear space in-store with its sport activewear line — believed to be a more profitable category.

Victoria’s Secret’s decision to eliminate certain merchandise categories seems to be affecting more than just women. A comment by Citi Analyst Paul Lejuez suggests the brand needs to consider its responsibility to men as well.

Lejuez called Victoria’s Secret decision to stop printing its catalogues

“every guy’s worst nightmare.” His comment points to an important issue with the brand’s image that may be linked to its sales.

Though it claims to appeal to women, Victoria’s Secret’s brand is built on flat stomachs and thin legs — clearly not a representation of all women. With body-positivity trending, more women continue to reject strict standards of beauty and are embracing their unique builds.

Conversely — but to no surprise — Victoria’s Secret reinforces these exclusionary standards, so much so that it led one former Angel to quit after she was repeatedly told to lose weight, developing body image issues and depression. In another failed attempt at appealing to

women, the brand released a bra campaign with the tagline “The Perfect Body,” which included its famous lineup of Angels who they believed fit the tagline — implying that all other women without full chests and defined abs are less than perfect.

A different restructuring of Victoria’s Secret’s brand would be much appreciated. Rather than replace its swim category with active wear and further reinforcing the idea that its brand caters to thin women only, Victoria’s Secret’s business strategies need to be formed with the everyday woman in mind.

Email Medardo Perez at bstyle@nyunews.com.

GENERATIONS ON GENERATIONS ABIGAIL WEINBERG DEPUTY FEATURES EDITOR

MILLENNIALS

Percieved Percievers

18 to 34-year-old

MILLENNIALS

GEN X

GEN X

35 to 50-year-old

“I think [millennials] are very aggressive, I think very passionate, much more openminded than we’ve ever been, but that open-mindedness has also caused there to be lots of divide within our opinions.”

“I feel like although [millennials] are more technologically forward, [Gen Xers] were more socially advanced in terms that we have so many more ways to communicate nowadays but we are not using those ways properly, we’re more so using them to criticize.”

– LS freshman Jake Steel

– LS freshman Jake Steel

“Smart. Well-informed. Wanting everything that second — impatient, maybe. Connected to social media.”

“I think the parent-child gap was greater.

The Millennials kind of have friendships with their parents, or there’s less of an authoritative or authoritarian relation between the child and the parent.”

– Lori Moore, Manager of Ticket Services at Skirball

BABY BOOMERS

Millennials are entitled and lazy, Generation Xers are cynical and unmotivated and Baby Boomers are mooching off the hard work of their descendents. We all know these trite stereotypes, but here’s what members of each age group actually believe about generational divides.

– Laura Amelio, Spanish and Portuguese Language Lecturer

52 to 70-year-old

“They paved the way and they’re still paving the way for millennials.”

– LS freshman Jake Steel

“I think that they’re more well-informed than you’d expect, that they do try to keep up with technology a lot.”

– Lori Moore, Manager of Ticket Services at Skirball

“I don’t have any particularly strong associations when I think of this age group as a whole. I used to think ‘apolitical,’ but then again, a lot of Bernie Sanders’ support comes from under-30 voters.”

“Since I was born in 1959, I’m toward the tail end of the baby boomer generation. In a very real sense, my age group is the one that will be paying for the boomers.”

- Tisch ’86 Alumnus David Newman

- Tisch ’86 Alumnus David Newman

HOW NYU’S STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS DENG HAVE CHANGED AUDREY MANAGING EDITOR Under the nearly two-decade leadership of John Sexton, NYU changed in many ways: the university expanded beyond its namesake to Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, Coles Sports Center closed its doors after 35 years, the university embarked on its 2031 plan while faculty and student body expanded alongside university. However, one significant change, largely unpublicized, was NYU’s rapidly evolving student demographics.

When the university first opened in 1831, its aim was to provide an education for the young men of the city. The next 185 years saw the onset of new goals. In particular, the last 10 years — 2006 to 2015, inclusively — tell a revealing tale of the university’s evolving politics.

NYU has steadily increased student enrollment since 1831: from 2006 to 2015 alone, the undergraduate population went up by 25.7 percent, or about 4,998 students.

The larger undergraduate student body was accompanied by a similarly upward trend amongst specific ethnic groups of the student body: Asian male students, African American students, Hispanic students and international students.

Since 2006, the proportion of African American males in the undergraduate student body increased by .3 percent, from 1.7 percent to 2 percent, while Hispanic females and males each increased by 1.5 percent of the student body, from 6.7 percent to 8.2 percent. The statistics for Asian students provided by the university start only in 2010, but since then, there has been an increase of Asian males on campus by 1.1 percent, starting in

BABY BOOMERS

2010 with 9.5 percent and ending with 10.6 percent.

The most significant increase in the student body has been the surge of international students.

International students now make up 19 percent of the student body growing steadily since 2006; in that time, international females have increased by 6.5 percent while males have increased by 5.4 percent.

The expansion of certain demographics brought with it an obvious decrease in others: Asian females, white females and white males. Overall, the proportion of Asian females of the student body dropped by 2.3 percent, while white males decreased by 12.8 percent, with white female demographics shrinking by the most: 24 percent.

If you were on NYU’s campus 10 years ago, you would see an undergraduate student body comprised mostly of Caucasian students (about 77 percent) and very few international students (7 percent).

Today, the demographics of the student body are different: 39 percent Caucasian. Despite there being a more dominant female presence on campus, there are more male students now (43 percent) than in 2006 (38 percent). At the same time, students with Hispanic backgrounds also increased from 11 percent to 14 percent, while the proportion of African American undergraduates remained almost the same (6 percent) for the past 10 years.

Data about student demographics from NYU only reports from 1994. Since then, enrollment almost doubled from 12,766 to 24,480 undergraduate students;

graduate enrollments also doubled, from 6,388 to 12,814. These are not only changes in quantity, but also more of a change of the faces of the university.

The changes in the student body create new challenges in course enrollment and housing. One major challenge the university must now meet is hiring more faculty to teach 40,777 students.

In the academic year of 2009 to 2010, there were 1,842 tenure/ tenure-track faculty and 1,963 non-tenure track faculty. Six years later, tenure and tenure-track faculty numbered at 1,982, while 3,046 were on the non-tenure track as full-time faculty. As student enrollment increases, the university is not offering more tenure to professors, but instead filling the positions with more non-tenure track

faculty. It seems that the university has offered fewer opportunities for professors to be on tenured track as the student population grows.

If the undergraduate student body is projected to grow, how can the university rely on a faculty comprised more of non-tenured, parttime professors?

As the university continues to expand without any sign of slowing, student demographics matter more than ever. The university must address mounting questions

about how it will accommodate its growing international student population, how it can attract professors and faculty and how it will adapt for a diversifying and growing undergraduate student body. In the face of the impending 2031 plan and housing, the university must learn to adapt to these demographic changes without constantly playing with risk.

Email Audrey Deng at adeng@nyunews.com.

Undergraduate Student Population by Race and Gender

Built in 1972, Bobst Library was one of the largest in the country. Although the atrium was originally open, metal barriers were attended to prevent further suicide attempts after three incidents.

VIA NYU.ORG

Now a popular stop on campus, the Washington Mews was originally a part of the Lenape trail and was developed into horse stables. It now houses faculty and a few of the language departments.

Once the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the site of the infamous fire in 1911, the Brown Building is home to the Biology and Chemistry departments.

1

st

As the first in the family to attend college, first-generation students wade into a sea of unknowns that are often overlooked without a second thought. To alleviate the confusion of academic requirements and the endless possibility of career paths, several NYU programs have sought to help these students maneuver through the daunting yet incredibly rewarding path of higher education. Here are two of the things that have lent a helping hand to these students.

Proud to be First Program

With 19 percent of the CAS class of 2019 identifying as first-generation students, the newly launched CAS program seeks to coordinate programs, mentoring and advocacy to directly assist these students. Upon identification as first-generation, the student is immediately linked with one of eight Proud to be First mentors — fellow college students that help plan and implement meetings, social events and workshops. By connecting

COURTESY OF WSN STAFF

VIA WIKIMEDIA.ORG

THEN AND NOW: NYU LANDMARKS OVER TIME ANNA LETSON PHOTO EDITOR VIA GVSHP.ORG

LOOKING OUT FOR THE FIRSTGENERATION STUDENTS OF NYU NINA JANG DEPUTY DIGITAL DIRECTOR these first-year students to university resources, faculty and staff, the program hopes to transcend the message that these students are what make CAS a stronger and more successful community.

CAS Assistant Dean and Leadership Team member Sarah Beth Bailey is dedicated to serving as a visible advocate for first-generation students at NYU. “Proud to Be First fosters diversity and inclusion at NYU,” Bailey said. “There is not one single experience of a first-generation college student and we need to convey this through story sharing, allyship and advocacy.”

Hearing the stories of other first-generation faculty, staff and fellow students helps the first-generation students feel more comfortable to realize that they are not alone in their college careers. Simple things such as how to navigate going home during breaks, how to reach out for support or how to help their families understand the college experience are valuable knowledge to the participants.

As a mentor and a first-generation student herself, CAS junior Tazmin Rahman recognizes the importance of connecting the students with resources on campus after witnessing the positive boost of confidence within each mentee.

“As I watched all those scared faces enter Hermindinger Hall the first time, I could see parts of myself in each one,” Rahman said.

“Each person brought charisma, intelligence and stories to our newfound family, building its character and forming its foundation. After each conversation, I saw the visible impact I’d had on my mentees; the fear in their eyes vanished and they seemed much more relaxed and relieved.”

First Class: Professional Development and Mentorship Program Recently launched by the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development, the program features a series of workshops to guide first generation students beyond their

studies to concentrate on honing their career paths. Paired with a professional mentor and career coach, the program provides a platform to incorporate the students’ academic interests as indicators for potential internships and careers. As a participant, CAS sophomore Jeremy Muhia had been drawn to this aspect of inclusiveness and opportunity for further career development. But more importantly, Muhia believes that the focus on helping first-generation students catch up to their peers establishes a stronger NYU community by encouraging a cycle of giving.

“This experience has been helpful because I’ve learned more about navigating the corporate environment,” Muhia said. “I feel that this program benefits the overall NYU community by encouraging us students who have benefitted from the program to pay it forward by helping younger students and advising them.”

Email Nina Jang at njang@nyunews.com.

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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM

OPINION

EDITED BY RICHARD SHU OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM

RACE

Tamir Rice Case Ends Without Justice

By CONNOR BORDEN Staff Writer

A year and a half after Tamir Rice was shot and killed by Cleveland police, the city has finally reached an settlement with his family for $6 million.

This settlement marks the abrupt end to the Rice family’s search for emotional recompense after almost two years of bitter legal struggle. But despite the sputtering end to the Rice family’s story, it doesn’t mean that the pursuit of racial justice should be discouraged.

Although the Rice family can no longer press charges against the Cleveland police, there are still avenues through which they

can attain justice for their son.

The city of Cleveland owes the Rice family much more than a settlement. Money could never pay for the life of a human being, especially not the life of an innocent child. Often used as a means of avoiding a lengthy and expensive legal battle, settlements consist of a private agreement made by the offender with the wronged party. Should the perpetrator never face legal punishment for their crime, they might continue to repeat the same patterns of behavior since they have essentially gotten away with it.

Ultimately, the burden of justice should not fall on the Rice family. After losing their young

son to a tragic event, they do not deserve to be expending their time, energy and resources to get closure. When offered the $6 million to settle and put an end to the emotionally exhausting process, they naturally elected to take the deal. As a result, the city of Cleveland is free from having to admit to wrongdoing and the Rice family can no longer continue to fight for their

slain relatives under the law.

This denial of justice speaks to a larger problem with the American legal system. Families get backed into a corner when it comes to cases like the Rice’s, choosing to settle after a long and painful series of indignities meted out to them by the law.

It is extremely difficult to win these types of cases as one family and those representing them are up against an entire city with a close-knit network of district attorneys, police and local law offices. Rather than pursuing truth and an end to hostility, the officials would prefer to protect themselves from the repercussions of systematic violence and to stew in the malev-

olence brought about by a history of racial inequity.

There are still opportunities in which anyone can pick up the Rice’s cause to seek true recompense for Tamir’s death.

Protests and anger are still valid and effective. Other organizations can pursue civil suits and pressure the city to investigate similar cases of police negligence. Despite what seems like a deliberate failure on the justice system’s part to end the indifference towards black lives, the nation will hopefully continue to march forward to true justice.

Email Connor Borden at opinion@nyunews.com.

POLITICS

Keep Warren in the Senate — She Can Do More There

By MATTHEW PERRY Staff Writer With a string of crucial primary victories positioning Hillary Clinton as the presumptive Democratic nominee, pundits and casual politicos alike have shifted their attention to possible selections for the role of vice president. Several names are being thrown around — Sherrod Brown, Julian Castro, even Bernie Sanders — but one candidate has excited the party base more than any other: Elizabeth Warren.

Long a darling of the progressive wing, Warren’s well-documented stances against corporate greed and excess assuage the very voters that Clinton’s cozy relationships with the financial

sector aggravated. Also, her experience as a special advisor to the secretary of treasury, as well as her tenure in the Senate, preempt the “lack of executive experience” arguments that would plague other possible candidates.

However, the most exciting option is not always the best one for the party. Elizabeth Warren is an influential, galvanizing politician who has the proper combination of policy expertise and personal charisma to spearhead national political movements. That power would languish if confined to the vice presidency.

Vice presidents do not shape legislation as much as advise presidents and conduct backdoor political bargaining. This is not to say that vice presidents cannot be

powerful — vice presidents such as Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney were infamous for how much influence they exerted on federal policy. Rather, their influence doesn’t extend beyond closeddoor activities. This would waste Warren’s exceptional ability to generate headlines about her pet political causes — Google “Elizabeth Warren Wall Street” if you have doubts — and her ability to champion progressive legislation.

As senator, she can both shape political narratives and actively craft congressional bills — actions that could result in more tangible progress than the somewhat empty back and forth that characterizes most vice presidential roles. Vice presidents can only advise those who shape political narratives, and are largely removed from directly impacting legislation — they can neither author nor vote on bills. Simply put, the vice presidency would seriously curtail Warren’s power.

Lastly, the argument that Warren would appease Bernie supporters, and thus boost Clinton’s electoral odds, misunderstands the impact of a vice president. It is unprecedented for a vice president to increase the electabil-

ity of the president who nominated them — their role is to be largely inoffensive, and have enough executive experience to make voters feel comfortable with them serving as president in an emergency. Warren meets these criteria, but so do other candidates who are much less vital to the Democrats’ congressional power. Tim Kaine, for example, is about as risk-free as a potential vice president could be. Warren would not increase Clinton’s likelihood of being elected, but would certainly diminish the power of the Democratic Party to implement their policy goals via Congress.

Email Matthew Perry at opinion@nyunews.com.

CITY

Let Uber and Lyft Ride On Outside Manhattan

By PARIS MARTINEAU Staff Writer Uber’s convenient services and reasonable prices are often taken for granted within New York City. The nearly ubiquitous ride-hailing service is the drunk New Yorker’s 2 a.m. best friend. However, the widespread use of this service masks a little known truth: outside of the comfort of the city’s five boroughs, a frightening reality awaits — an entire state devoid of a single Uber or Lyft.

Yes, it’s unfortunately true, New York State has banned the use of unofficially sanctioned ride-hailing services since long before Uber’s rise. New York

State law makes it almost impossible for outside companies to provide the proper insurance to their drivers throughout the state, and Uber has not fared well against these regulations — other than in New York City, where the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission begrudgingly struck an agreement with the rideshare company.

Uber and Lyft have tested these restrictions time and time again — the two companies have spent nearly a million dollars since 2013 attempting to fight the regulation. Their attempts to open up the New York transportation market to technologically savvy competitors have been met with vehement criticism by taxi driv-

ers and owners of private car services. However, their luck may soon change, as over the next seven weeks New York lawmakers will be meeting to discuss the fate of hundreds of bills, one of which concerns the use of app-based ride-hailing services throughout the rest of the state.

This has reignited the debate over the potential consequences of non-yellow transportation.

Many pro-taxi lobbyists have argued that Uber’s rise could lead to a transportation monopoly that would leave the iconic yellow cabs as nothing more than nostalgic reminders of the past.

But this may not be necessarily a bad thing. The intense regulation and governmental support given to the taxicab industry has certainly helped standardize transportation throughout New York City, and influenced the rest of the state, but if customers prefer Uber, they should be allowed to have it. While it may be frightening for cab drivers to realize that rideshares are overwhelmingly preferred to traditional yellow cabs, this reality should not inspire heavier regu-

lations, but instead push the taxi industry to fix its faults.

Instead, the mass panic for yellow-cab supporters has resulted in a state that is beyond behind in transportation. The people of Syracuse are forced to overpay for taxis, while those living in more than 60 smaller cities throughout the U.S. can Uber or Lyft themselves to their heart’s content. Competition should not continue to scare legislators into restricting thriving industries.

The people of New York deserve the right to choose whether to surge or not to surge — that is not a lawmaker’s decision.

Email Paris Martineau at opinion@nyunews.com.

NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

OPINION

EDITED BY RICHARD SHU OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM

EDUCATION

STAFF EDITORIAL

The Hypocrisy of University Moral Codes

By RICHARD SHU Opinion Editor Much ado is made about free speech on campus these days, usually by conservatives in contempt of outspoken leftist students. But at too many universities, the censuring of unsavory conduct is still done the old-fashioned way — top-down. So it was at Brigham Young University when a student was allegedly raped in her apartment off-campus. She only reported the incident to Provo police four days later, citing fears that the university would kick her out if they learned about it.

Sure enough, weeks later, she was brought before the administration and told that she was being put under investigation for violations of the university’s honor code.

But she hadn’t cheated on a test or anything like that. After all, most other universities’ honor codes limit the focus specifically to academic integrity.

No copying, no plagiarizing, no lying on official materials. Simple expectations from any university. But certain universities, particularly those with a religious bent like BYU and Liberty University, delve much more deeply into personal and social conduct.

Students at BYU are expected to uphold all sorts of archaic and, frankly, silly behavioral standards that have nothing to do with their academic attainment or respect. No skirts above the knee, for example. No tea or coffee.

No homosexual conduct, of course.

And no women and men together in private rooms.

Not only are these standards silly, but they also provide a convenient excuse for the university to wash its hands of any responsibility for the crime. If the student had followed the honor code, this wouldn’t have happened. Victim blaming at its plainest.

As the alleged victim herself explained, the university’s honor code presents a significant obstacle in something as ordinary and proper as reporting a crime. Rape is underreported enough as is. Lord knows how many other cases have been forgotten

because the survivors were afraid of the same consequences.

But even more broadly, intrusive honor codes like these are symbolic of a university attempting to dictate the moral code of its students. That’s a scary thought. Never mind that universities are meant to create leaders who will determine for themselves the ethics of tomorrow. A proscriptive moral code like BYU’s, reminiscent of the house rules at a middle school dance, can only result in arrested development, a generation of students who will carry the same unexamined prejudices of their forebears — the same prejudices that keep rape survivors from reporting their crimes.

Honor codes like BYU’s are simply artifacts of an older generation who are content to have children seen and not heard. But if universities are meant to create a new generation of thinkers and leaders, then these codes need to go. These authoritarian university practices are much more destructive than any form of peer-led political correctness, simply because students cannot fight back.

Email Richard Shu at opinion@nyunews.com.

POLITICS

A Clinton Guide to Repairing Voter Trust

By TEGAN JOSEPH MOSUGU Staff Writer At this point, Bernie Sanders has little chance of becoming the Democratic nominee, much to the dismay of his supporters. That being said, Hillary Clinton is having trouble winning over Sanders supporters — particularly those who identify as independents and progressives.

If Clinton wants to have a chance at the presidency, she needs to bring disillusioned Sanders supporters into the fold.

Clinton has always carried with her a certain degree of appealing wonkishness. Her vast experience with domestic and foreign policy is extremely hard to contend with and many analysts positioned her as the most capable candidate. However, trust seems to be her biggest weakness. A significant amount of voters feel uneasy with her because they are unsure of what Clinton truly stands for.

As the saying goes, “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.” Though extreme, the value of a politician’s dependability and trustworthiness cannot be un-

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derstated. If she ever wants to convince the Bernie base that she is, in fact, on their side, there are few basic things that she needs to clear up on her end.

Firstly, she needs to reconcile with Sanders when the cameras are not rolling, and discuss how she can work towards implementing some of the popular reforms that formed the basis of his campaign. Sanders’ ideas were able to engage a wide swath of people who felt disenfranchised by the Democratic Party, and capturing those votes should be a priority for Clinton.

She also needs to ask for an official, public endorsement from Sanders. As the primaries progressed, it seemed that the two candidates grew more and more hostile towards each other, and their supporters followed suit. Because of this, political

experts have been saying that Clinton might lose a significant chunk of the electorate if Sanders supporters fail to rally around her, especially if Sanders decides to run in the general election as an independent.

Secondly, she needs make clear her stance when it comes to hot button issues such as Black Lives Matter, immigration policies and student loan debt. Instead of being a vertical leader — tossing opinions down from above by delivering speeches — she should have more town hallstyle meetings with activists and those with the most at stake.

Thirdly, she needs to show she can be vulnerable as a leader. Clinton needs to do away with this perfect public persona and give the public a glimpse of what some of her failures have been. If she can admit that she is a person who has made mistakes in the past, and that she is willing to learn and be open to constructive criticism, people would resonate with and come to trust the commander-in-chief that she aspires to be.

Email Tegan Joseph Mosugu at opinion@nyunews.com.

Judgment Day Looms for Hamilton Promises

In the five months he’s been president, Andrew Hamilton’s short tenure here at NYU has resulted in plenty of responses from us at the Washington Square News Editorial Board. Certain choice actions have received plenty of praise, such as the formation of the Affordability Steering Committee, the freezing of tuition increases and the creation of “How might we…?” events. Yet, many in the student community are concerned with the lack of actual implementation that has occurred. Hamilton has certainly proposed many idealistically sound plans, but it is still too soon to tell whether this is merely talk. Now that Hamilton is at the end of his grace period, the university expects to see some real change soon.

Over the last six months, Hamilton has made affordability the cornerstone of his administration. Several town hall meetings and the ASC’s public forum demonstrate Hamilton’s efforts to keep his ear to the ground concerning NYU’s rising cost of attendance. On the policy side, Hamilton has capped tuition growth at 2.9 percent and frozen costs of housing and meal plans for the 2016-2017 academic year. But Hamilton himself has noted that these are merely stopgap measures — the university’s financial woes are rooted in our dismal endowment. Commitment to affordability is a step in the right direction, but the total impact of these measures have yet to be realized.

Hamilton has thrown olive branches aplenty in the form of town halls and public discussions. Interacting with the student body is a valuable sign of engagement and may win popularity points, but it is not a substitute for direct involvement in the policy process. Instead, student leaders need to directly collaborate with the administration whilst regularly informing the student body about the details of policies under consideration. Public discussions make for good PR, but the administration needs to institutionalize student involvement in order to further progress.

In a way, this first semester has been Hamilton’s learning period. He studied the particularities of our university, put in a few stopgap measures and defined his priorities as president. Between the numerous public forums, the meet-and-greets, the regular emails and the ASC’s online idea forum, Hamilton’s attentiveness to the community has been a far cry from Sexton’s rather curt town halls.

But as the new semester looms, the time to just learn is over. Now is the time to start doing. And with the release of the ASC report in the fall, Hamilton will have a plan that we’ll be able to hold him accountable for. Ultimately, this upcoming semester will demonstrate whether this administration has become the standard-bearer for the students or the new face of an old regime.

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

EDITORIAL BOARD: Richard Shu (Chair), Emily Fong (Co-chair), Abraham Gross (Co-chair) STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BEARZI

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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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM

SPORTS Baseball Finds Form Late in Season

By KYLE RYAN Contributing Writer

As the baseball season starts to come to a close, the NYU baseball team has begun to play like the team they predicted themselves to be at the beginning of the year — the pitching has been nearly flawless, the fielding errorless and the hitting off the charts. This resurgence was put on display once again this weekend, as the Violets swept their rain-shortened weekend three-game slate against the City College of New York and Lehman College.

On the mound for the Violets on Friday against CCNY was freshman right-hander Chad Johnstone, who pitched six innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit. The Violets grabbed an early lead in the first inning when sophomore infielder Jonathan Iaione brought in a run with an RBI triple after an infield error scored freshman outfielder Jack

Walter. CCNY’s troubles continued, as a wild pitch struck sophomore Michael Vokulich, scoring Iaione for the third run of the inning. Later in the game, the Violets poured it on in the seventh inning with an onslaught of hitting power. Iaione, junior outfielder Adrian Spitz and sophomore second baseman Jeremy Wayne all knocked in runners during the inning, good enough for a decisive 9-0 win.

The Violets stayed hot against Lehman (8-25) in a home doubleheader the next day. Not letting fatigue affect their play, the Violets started strong in the first inning, as freshman first baseman Colman Hendershot’s RBI groundout brought home Spitz for the first run of the game. Freshman infielder Jack Elias followed with an RBI single that brought in Iaione for the 2-0 lead. This lead was secured by sophomore pitcher Chase Denison, who threw a full game and only allowed two runs off of five hits. The

Violets won 6-2, finishing with 10 hits and zero errors.

The second game of the day did not start out in much the same way as the previous two. Starting on the mound for the Violets was Vokulich, who was pulled after only three innings following a lackluster performance that included giving up three runs off of five hits. His replacement was freshman Jack Kurtenbach, who gave up one run and pitched for only one inning before a plethora of other relievers — including sophomore Matthew Wells and freshman Eli Edwards — came into the game to hold the Lightning scoreless for the rest of the afternoon.

The Violets were trailing 3-1 after three innings. It was in the fourth inning, however, that the Violets came alive and went on a batting tear.

Hendershot, sophomore catcher Scott Hilbrandt, sophomore third baseman Christian Bloom and Spitz all singled. Combined with Lehman

Softball Finishes 13-1 at Home

VIA GONYUATHLETES.COM

NYU Baseball played three games over this past weekend, beating CCNY on Friday 9-0, and Lehman College twice on Saturday, 6-2 and 10-4. walking one batter and hitting another, allowed for the Violets to pick up five key runs. The Violets would then hold the lead for a 10-4 win.

Edwards cited the team’s consistent pitching as a key to victory.

“Our pitching was excellent the whole day and got timely hitting in some key innings,” Edwards said. “When that happens you

usually win.”

Sunday’s games against the College of Mount Saint Vincent were cancelled due to rain. The Violets next take to the field across the Hudson River against New Jersey City University on Tuesday.

Email Kyle Ryan at sports@nyunews.com.

Track Splits Team Between 4 Competitions

BY ASHLEY ARNOLD Staff Writer

By RACHEL RUECKER Deputy Sports Editor

Though their Sunday games were canceled, the NYU women’s softball team still had a busy weekend, competing in back-to-back doubleheaders at home on Friday and Saturday where they emerged victorious in all four games.

The Violets began their weekend sweep against New Jersey City University with a stellar 9-0 shut out of their cross-state foes.

The team’s shining moments came early and often as NYU took an initial stranglehold of the game, jumping up by five runs by the end of the first inning. Freshman utility player Claire Stefanelli’s two RBI effort got the opening runs that sent both freshman infielder Dakota Damiani and senior captain Kahala Bonsignore home, the latter of which was due to an error.

Later on in the first, freshman catcher Jacqueline Finn notched NYU’s second two RBI-effort of the game, this one sending sophomore captain Sage Scheiwiller and Stefanelli home.

Following that epic shut down effort, the Violets made it a pair later on the afternoon as they came out on top once again, allowing a lone run as they dominated 13-1.

NYU was up by five after one inning yet again with key

EDITED BY MICHAEL THOMPSON SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

VIA GONYUATHLETES.COM

NYU softball was scheduled to play a total of six games throughout the weekend, ending with NYU beating New Jersey City University twice on Friday, and Brandeis University twice on Saturday; their games on Sunday were cancelled. plays coming from NJCU errors. Junior captain Val Schwein opened the scoring as she sent Stefanelli and Damiani to home plate, the first of many runs on the day. The Violets tacked on four more in the second inning, and pairs of runs in the third and fourth before the mercy rule was enforced.

The Violets took on Brandeis University on Saturday and celebrated their seniors for what would turn out to be their final games of the season, as Sunday’s games were cancelled due to rain. Morale was high with the ladies taking the first game 11-0, continuing the offensive onslaught that seemed to be the theme of the weekend.

An exciting moment came early on from freshman outfielder Ashley Mains as she scorched a home run to bring both herself and Bonsignore home. The Violets added six in the second inning when Mains struck again with a triple, scoring Bonsignore, Damiani and freshman pitcher Diana King to capitalize on.

The damage wasn’t done, as the Violets went on to score

three more runs in the inning and another three in the third.

The squad’s final game was surprisingly the weekend’s closest with an 11-7 end score.

A win’s a win, and the Violets certainly ended their season on a high note, closing out with a 23-15 record that included a rise in the ranks as they took 10 of their last 11.

Freshman pitcher Karissa Zubulake was very pleased with the season’s trajectory and how things shaped up for the team.

“Our two wins Saturday showed how much the team has improved since the start of the season and how much hard work we put in,” Zubulake said. “It felt great to beat Brandeis twice and score 11 runs in each game. We’re very excited to have finished the regular season with a winning record.”

The team also posted an impressive 13-1 home record on the season, reminding us all as the school year as well as the softball season end, that there is no place like home.

Email Rachel Ruecker at rruecker@nyunews.com.

With the team broken down into contingents over the weekend, the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in Philadelphia and New Jersey. While some Violets competed at the Penn Relays, other were in action at the College of New Jersey’s Lions Invitational.

Men For the College Men’s 4x800-meter College of America Invitational, sophomore Vince Booth, senior Max Avila, junior Curtis Mann and freshman Sohma Kamat competed together in Philadelphia. The group performed well, finishing in 13th place with a time of 7:45.73.

Their teammates were in action elsewhere at the Lions Invitational on Saturday.

Sophomore Sam Praveen did exceptionally well, capturing third place in the 3000-meter steeplechase, his best performance of the season. Senior Eddie Cruz-Desintonio claimed ninth in the 1500-meter while freshman Ben Haderle landed in 12th place in his first collegiate attempt in this event. In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Nick Torsitano claimed 26th place. Following right behind him was fellow teammate freshman Daniel Sovich, who came in 34th place. Junior Nick Hespe won in eighth place in the pole vault, and freshman Abhishek Panigrahi placed in 19th place in the discus throw.

Women A small group representing the women’s team competed at the Penn Relays, one of the more popular track events on the East Coast that attracts a number of competitors. Consisting of senior Sarah Sisk, sophomore Ireland Gibson, senior Becky Tulip and junior Wendy He, the group finished 14th in the 4x800-meter in 9:14.06. Sisk was amazed by the amount of attention the event received and was thrilled to be a part of it.

“They announced that the the crowd was around 45,000 people,” Sisk said. “By far the biggest crowd any of us had ever run in front of. So being there in itself was something incredible.”

Back In New Jersey, junior Simone Cooper accomplished her personal best in the triple jump competition. Fourth place was also in her favor when it came to breaking the 11-meter barrier. With even more success, she placed ninth in the long jump. Senior Danielle Medellin and junior Brianna Yee placed side by side in the triple jump, 22nd and 23rd.

And in the pole vault, junior Dana Placentra and senior captain Ilana Brown finished close together, in 16th and 20th.

Next weekend, the Violets will make their way to Lakewood, New Jersey to compete in the Georgian Court University Last Chance Meet on Friday, May 6.

While other seasons have already come to a close, the track season will remain active until the end of May.

Email Ashley Arnold at sports@nyunews.com.

NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

SPORTS

EDITED BY MICHAEL THOMPSON SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Opinion: Why NYU Sports Matter

By RACHEL RUECKER Deputy Sports Editor

I, along with the small populace of this desk, am living living proof to discredit the oft-propagated notion that sports culture doesn’t exist at NYU. Just because we don’t have a toptier athletic program full of Division I teams and all the ensuing tropes doesn’t mean we don’t still have a sizeable contingent of students who live and breathe any given sport.

If people don’t come to NYU for sports, fine. They come for name brand schools like Tisch and Stern, but most of all, they come for the one, the only, New York City. New York is a hotbed for sports culture, saturated by the presence of professional teams like the Mets, Giants, Knicks and Yankees. Walk just about anywhere in Manhattan on Rangers game day and you’re sure to see a myriad of jerseys and hats.

The thing about NYU students is that those who come here to play sports aren’t likely to move on with their athletic careers upon graduation. They’ll be parents who tell their kids how they played college ball while driving them to their first practice at the local diamond.

Whereas sports-crazed state schools are built to send players to the pros — and are often criticized for the

emphasis placed on athletic accomplishments and talent during the admissions process — NYU athletes are scholars first, enriched by their athletic experience.

The artists-only narrative that seems to permeate NYU is an unfair one. I made my collegiate decision independent of the school’s sports culture because I am not an athlete. That doesn’t mean I don’t like sports. NYU students like sports; they just don’t seem to like NYU sports. The real problem is that most of them don’t even stop to give them a chance.

At the beginning of freshman year, I gave NYU sports a chance.

I saw the WSN open house in my little NYU Guide app and nervously asked my roommate if she wanted to go. She did. And for some reason I stuck around, at the sports desk, of all places. Last semester, I let it be known at WSN that I was Canadian, and so when NYU’s hockey team hit the ice to start their season, guess who was desperate to cover it? But somewhere along the way, the fact that it was NYU sports that I was covering washed away, and it became about the team and the game. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and you could catch me crying at the WSN office while watching what turned out to be the hockey team’s last game of the season. Sports matter, no matter

how small.

I, clearly, love hockey, but this was not my team’s year. The Vancouver Canucks tried but in the end, the playoffs were not in the Hockey Gods’ divine plans this year. But the Violets, though not quite the National Hockey League, sort of helped bridge the hockey void in my heart.

They became my go-to team. But if either Sedin twin ever asks, I deny that last comment.

The point is, I became not just a follower, but a fan of an NYU team.

I went to a few games, and then a few more, and then before I knew it I was so invested that the aforementioned crying scene ensued. NYU sports aren’t ESPN fodder. There are no politics, no Gary Bettmans, just the good ol’ hockey game, or whatever your sport-poison is. I watched the Violets without having to be distracted thinking of the billion-dollar industry behind it all. I just watched a little team that could.

So next year, if your team fails to clinch the season’s crown, or even play in the postseason, no matter what sport it is, consider exploring the NYU alternative, because you might just be ever-so-pleasantly surprised with what you find.

Email Rachel Ruecker at rruecker@nyunews.com.

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STAFF PHOTO BY YULIN LOU

One of the key moments of the semester occurred when the facilities at Coles Sports Center closed for renovations and facilities opened at 404 Fitness for NYU students to continue their workouts.

Notable Moments From Sports This Year

By MICHAEL THOMPSON Sports Editor With May upon us and final exams just around the corner for most, the WSN Sports Desk says goodbye until next fall.

With that in mind, it’s time to look at some of the most notable moments from the last three months of Violets (and Grapplers) action.

Nathan Pike Earns Silver at NCAA Championships This wasn’t unfamiliar territory for the junior 133-pound wrestling standout. After finishing as a runner-up at the NCAA Championships in 2014, Pike was determined to return, and he did just that — with authority. With a fantastic 31-4 record and an Ithaca Invite Championship under his belt, Pike finished second at the NCAA Regionals, and tore his way through the competition to reach the final once again. Though he was defeated for the second year in a row, the junior is expected to return, ready to ascend to the top next season.

Goodbye Coles, Hello 404 At times it seemed as if the inevitable closing of Coles was destined to be perpetually delayed.

However, after months of life support — just enough for the basketball teams to finish the season — the decades-old sports and recreation center was closed, and will soon be demolished.

While a new and improved student center is constructed in its place, students who don’t want to travel to Palladium can get their workouts in at 404 Fitness, which opened its doors this year.

Though the new location is filled with modern equipment and amenities, it does not include a basketball court or natatorium, much to the disappointment of many students.

Grant Williams Makes an Impact in Fencing

The freshman sabre established himself as a force on the Violets immediately, racking up 31 wins this season with one of the team’s best overall records.

Perhaps his biggest moment occurred in February, when he earned a bronze medal at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Cleveland. Williams capped his strong season off by receiving the Freshman Athlete of the Year from the university.

Dawe and Kupferberg Finish Their NYU Careers The men’s and women’s basketball programs each lost a key piece this season, as seniors Megan Dawe and Evan Kupferberg have played their last games as Violets. Their contributions were critical, as both players helped lead their teams to the second round of the NCAA Championship Tournament this past season.

Dawe and Kupferberg are both scheduled to be given awards for NYU Senior Athlete of the Year next Sunday. Kupferberg finished the year averaging about 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, while Dawe averaged 15 and six.

Emerging Freshmen Set the Stage for Future Williams wasn’t the only first-year stud this semester. Diana King has used her powerful bat and arm to help lead the softball team to one of its biggest winning streaks in team history. Meanwhile, Jenni Bluetling made her presence felt on the golf course when she finished first in the Liberty League Championship with a cumulative score of 155. Her efforts earned her UAA and Liberty League weekly honors in April.

Email Michael Thompson at mthompson@nyunews.com.

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