NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 40, No. 32
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2012
WSN EDITORIAL: Effect of Sandy, NYU and beyond STORY on PG. 7
nyunews.com
STUDENTS HELP LOCAL COMMUNITY GET BACK ON ITS FEET AFTER SANDY:
ONLINE
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, NYU students and faculty bring essential supplies to local communities.
For coverage of the Hurricane FULL on PG. 6, 7 Sandy’s effect on theSTORY university community, check out last week’s live coverage at nyunews.com.
STORY on PG. 5
NYU Langone outage due to city code
HURRICANE SANDY AND NYU:
University resumes activities after Sandy
By WICY WANG
NYU Langone Medical Center was forced to evacuate during Hurricane Sandy Monday night when the storm surge in New York City raised water levels to unprecedented heights and cut off Langone’s backup generator fuel reserves and pumping systems. The hospital administration initially drew some received criticism for the power failure that caused the hospital to be plunged into darkness and forced patients to evacuate. Many media outlets have described the power outage as a generator failure, but the
LANGONE continued on PG. 3
MADISON TODD/WSN
Hurricane Sandy left many NYU students and city residents in the dark and many locations on the east coast devastated. By TRICIA LIN A week after Hurricane Sandy damaged southern New Jersey and wreaked havoc along the Eastern Seaboard, the road to recovery has been split in two — one where life is returning to normal and another where
the prospect of normality is as dim as the city was during the power outage. While Lower Manhattan and NYU had power restored on Friday following a four-day power outage, other areas including Staten Island and devastated regions of New Jersey are strug-
gling to find basic necessities. The United States’ death toll is now at 113, with New York being the hardest hit with 48 fatalities, according to the Los Angeles Times. Eqecat, Inc., a company that projects economic losses of catastrophes, puts the potential
loss in the range of $30 to $50 billion, which is second only to Hurricane Katrina as the most expensive hurricane in U.S. history. “Sandy was an impressive storm because of its
SANDY continued on PG. 8
NYU alum, photojournalist lets curiosity lead his lens By KATYA BARANNIK
Just after Hurricane Sandy rampaged through the East Coast, photojournalist Adrian Fussell was out shooting the storm’s aftermath. The damage Fussell captured from Brighton Beach to Rockaway Park appeared in The New Yorker’s online Photo Booth series “Sandy” this week. At 23 years old, Fussell, who graduated from the College of Arts and Science in 2011, already has an impressive resume. He recently attended the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop, in Jeffersonville, N.Y., which invites 100 of the best photographers under 25 years old to work with some of the world’s top photographers. Fussell mostly publishes his work with The Wall Street Journal and Newsday, and he is currently represented by Getty Reportage’s Emerging Talent section. Fussell was also awarded the 2012 Ian Parry Scholarship for his series “My Name is Victory.” This multimedia project follows the Patriot Guards, a volunteer military program of Asian and Latin American youths, from Francis Lewis High School in Queens. Fussell’s work is inspired by his travels as
a child. His father is a diplomat, and Fussell grew up all over the world — no place in particular was home. “Throughout my upbringing [in places such as Guatemala and Africa] I had been witnessing current events first hand,” Fussell said. “Just being aware of my surroundings I always kind of knew I wanted to be a story teller.” Fussell first became involved in photography during his freshman year at NYU while capturing the streets of New York as part of a community service project with a nonprofit organization called Art Start. Soon he was contributing to blogs such as The New York Times’ Local. Fussell graduated from NYU with a degree in print journalism and political science. He considers print journalism an excellent foundation for photojournalism. “Not many photojournalists come from a background of writing,” Fussell said. “Thinking in terms of a story more than simply looking for good pictures is helpful.” After graduation, Fussell participated in the International Center of Photography’s 10-month, intensive documentary photography course. “[The ICP] is dreamland in terms of photog-
raphy, but it’s very intense,” Fussell said. “They push you. They give you real world deadlines and assignments. It kind of separates the men from the boys. I definitely wouldn’t be a photojournalist if it wasn’t for ICP.” Kathy Willens, a professor at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, worked with Fussell while he was at NYU. She initially advised him to not enroll in the ICP program, but later saw how it deepened his dedication to photography. “[Adrian] had the drive to push himself, propel himself forward and suck in like a sponge everything he was exposed to,” Willens said. “I was impressed by the amount of work he accomplished and his change in attitude. After [the ICP program] he was committed and more dedicated to his work, which was a wonderful thing to see.” Because of his recent success, Willens has invited Fussell to speak at one of her classes this week. “[Fussell] has gotten a lot of support. He is devoted, dedicated and passionate about his work,” Willens said. “People are seeing something in him or else all of this [success] wouldn’t be happening. He has
accomplished a lot of things which is unusual for someone so quickly.” Despite his quick success, Fussell warns aspiring photojournalists that the job is not all glory. “It’s a really tough field, low-paying and long hours,” Fussell said. “The motivation you have for [being a photojournalist] shouldn’t be a selfish one. It should be an innate curiosity about things and an instinctual desire to tell stories.” “You can’t go into [journalism] with any hope of being rich ever in your life,” he said. “The only thing you’ll be rich in is experience. You’ll have seen more than anyone will ever get to see. That’s an incredible privilege.” Fussell is taking full advantage of his young age to see the world. He is currently planning a road trip from Tijuana to Vancouver, and afterwards he is going to travel to Panama to document the story of his family’s history. “We [as journalists] are privileged to be the eyes of the world,” Fussell said. “It’s a very heavy but noble burden.” Visit adrianfussell.com to see Fussell’s work. Katya Barannik is deputy features editor. Email her at kbarannik@nyunews.com.