NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 40, No. 36
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012
nyunews.com
Men’s cross country runs to victory at regionals
Energy drinks raise concerns
NYU men’s cross country is the National College Athletic Association Atlantic Regional Division III Champion. The Violets finished first at the championship held on Saturday, Nov. 10, in Genesee Valley Park in Rochester, N.Y. The men’s cross country team has had a great season, consistently finishing in the top three of their tournaments. Most recently, the Violets finished second at the University Athletic Association Championships on Oct. 27 in Rochester, N.Y. The UAA Championships had 44 teams competing, including the University of Rochester, NYU’s UAA rival. NYU captured first with 50 points, followed by State University of New York at Geneseo in second with 59. SUNY Cortland finished in third place with 94 points, while host University of Rochester totaled 131 points for a fourth place finish. Prior to the race, NYU was ranked second by the U.S. Track and Field
Stern senior Jason Castro drinks three or four Monster Rehabs every day he has class for an extra caffeine fix to remain energized. “I drink one in the morning, to wake myself up, and one before most of my classes, “ Castro said. “It really helps me stay focused and be engaged in most of the classes I’m in.” Even though Monster may help students stay focused, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently investigating five reports of deaths in the last three years that could be linked to the consumption of the energy drink products. The FDA has not ruled whether it has enough evidence to take any action against Monster. Energy drinks like Monster are sold as nutritional supplements and are not subject to normal FDA caffeine limits for beverages. A couple in Maryland recently filed a lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corporation after their
By ANDREW KARPAN
By MARY JANE DUMANKAYA
CROSSCOUNTRY continued on PG. 8
GLORIA LEE/WSN
Stuffing the trolley for hurricane relief Students and faculty filled the purple NYU trolley outside of the Kimmel Center for University Life on Friday with blankets, winter coats, batteries and non-perishable food that was delivered to victims of Hurricane Sandy in the New York City area.
ENERGY continued on PG. 3
NYU students create site to strengthen college applications By ALYSSA NOUD
Any overachiever remembers their high school years as joining every club and honor society, volunteering at nursing homes and homeless shelters, applying for internships and working in offices to stack up college résumés. The competition to get into college is only getting tougher. With SAT preparation courses and AP classes, high school students are constantly looking for ways to stand out from their classmates and eventually receive a large acceptance envelope from the university of their dreams. SCPS sophomores Ezra Mosseri and Sam Haddad have devised a way to help. Having only recently completed the college application process themselves, Mosseri and Haddad co-founded a new startup company called Exceleratr — a website designed to connect high school students to the extracurricular opportunities that will make a difference in their lives and enhance their college applications. “We couldn’t believe that there was no forum for high school students to find everything extracurricular, whether it [is] an internship, pre-college program or non-academic travel program,” Mosseri said. Mosseri and Haddad are in the process of establishing the
site, which is currently in its beta phase. When it is operational, students will be able to create accounts that give them access to a personal homepage where they can search for internships, as well as academic and nonacademic programs. When searching the catalogue of potential extracurricular activities, students can specify preferences in location, field, compensation and cost. From there, students can look into a specific opportunity and then apply to it directly from the Exceleratr page. As the duo develops their company and further creates its concept, they are still looking to involve two particular groups of people: companies or organizations that will list internships or non-academic programs on Exceleratr, and educators who will act as the connection between these companies and high school students. High school students who have heard about the site, like Kaitlyn Bloom, a sophomore at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., are excited to see it put to use. “Because I go to such a big high school, it’s sometimes hard to find out what extracurriculars are out there and which would best fit my interests,” Bloom said. “I’ve joined a bunch of clubs, but so has everyone else. This website could really give me an edge on other students my age because I could land a job working for a great
COURTESY OF EXCELERATR.COM
Exceleratr.com is focused on prospective college students. company and gaining incomparable experience.” Until the website officially launches, students can receive updates through a mailing list and like the site’s Facebook page for up-to-date information. When Exceleratr is up and running, Mosseri hopes to bring in as much traffic as possible. “We want to revolutionize the internship space for high school students,” Mosseri said. “High school internships are demanding to become commonplace, and we’d like to help make that happen.” Alyssa Noud is a staff writer. Email her at features@nyunews.com.