NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 40, No. 27
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012
NYU releases admission rates for New York, Abu Dhabi NYU NY
nyunews.com
CLASS OF 2015 CLASS OF 2016
NYU AD
TOTAL NUMBER OF APPLICANTS
TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS ACCEPTED
GRAPHIC BY MERYLL PREPOSI/WSN
By JAEWON KANG NYU saw a modest change in the acceptance rate for the class of 2016, its fifth consecutive year of receiving a record-breaking number of applications. NYU NEW YORK According to the Office of Ad-
missions, NYUNY offered admission to about 35 percent of almost 43,000 applicants. This marks approximately two percent increase from last year’s 33 percent admit rate for the class of 2015. This year, the university implemented several changes in its admissions process. For the first time, applicants were required
Professor unveils Utopia to modern readers By JONATHAN KESHISHOGLOU When Sir Thomas More wrote “Utopia” in the 16th century, he envisioned a perfect society, built on openness and transparency. Gallatin professor Stephen Duncombe is bringing More’s ideas — and text — into the 21st century with “Open Utopia,” an open-access, online edition of More’s book. Duncombe created the site as an innovative way to read, understand and interact with “Utopia.” “The guiding principle of More’s society [in ‘Utopia’] was that all property should be common property, so ... by making it easily downloadable from the
VIA THEOPENUTOPIA.ORG
site, I’ve done my best to honor this ideal,” Duncombe said. Duncombe had the idea for the site several years ago when he was asked to teach a seminar on political imagination at Moscow
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to indicate their primary choice of campus — either New York or Abu Dhabi. Shawn Abbott, assistance vice president of admissions, told WSN last December that the university made this change to better illustrate the portal campus structure of the university. About 96 percent of applicants
to NYUNY selected the New York campus as their primary choice of interest. This number includes students who applied exclusively to NYUNY. The remainder selected NYUNY as their alternate choice of campus to NYU Abu Dhabi.
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New York green policies at new low By ANDREW KARPAN
The Environmental Advocates of New York issued their annual Voters’ Guide, naming 2012 as one of the worst in recent years for the state’s environment. The guide divided all of the proposed bills regarding environmental problems from 2012 into Super Bills, Tree Bills and Smokestack Bills. The guide defines the Super Bills as those that should be legislative priorities, Tree Bills as those that will benefit New York’s environment if passed and Smokestack Bills as those that may cause harm to New York’s environment if passed. It also includes a summary of all the bills, how far each bill was able to reach in the legislative process and the votes of all the assembly and senate members. The report pointed to 2012 as one of the worst years for New York with the reasoning that the state passed three Smokestack Bills in Congress and failed to
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Outside the box, inside the Square
By DYLAN JARRETT Pedestrians at Washington Square Park are bound to see a variety performers. From dancers and pianists to singers, there is always something to watch. Twice a year, however, you can walk through the park and see something special — a full-length performance of a Shakespeare play. Shakespeare in the Square, NYU’s student-run Shakespeare company, has been presenting the Bard’s plays in the park for two years. The troupe has performed both comedies and tragedies, making them available to NYU’s student body and the general public. Their next production, “Romeo and Juliet,” will be performed on Oct. 27 and 28.
Shakespeare in the Square was created two years ago by Dan Hasse and Rose Bochner, who is also one of the producers of this year’s “Romeo and Juliet” rendition. The company’s goal is to present Shakespeare in an outdoor setting, giving everyone who walks through Washington Square access to the show. The troupe includes approximately 15 students, working as actors, designers, directors and crew. Any NYU student is able to audition for the biannual productions. “That’s a thing we like to stress,” Hasse said. “Even though this is a Shakespeare company, anyone can audition.” This emphasis on inclusiveness is the driving force within the company. Their intention is to break down the separation
between audience members and the players. “The whole point is being with the audience, and we’ve found that Shakespeare works best when the actor really uses the audience to his advantage,” said company co-director and Tisch junior Noam Tomaschoff. Both Hasse and Tomaschoff cited this as one of the most amazing parts of their production of the play. Tomaschoff said it will attract passersby. “During the Capulet ball, the men in the cast are going to be asking women on stage to dance with them,” he added. These components are missing in ordinary proscenium stage, which is the type of theater setup where the main part
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