NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 40, No. 39
NYU professor joins tech conference
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012
nyunews.com
Pace professor re-examines post-Sandy response
By JACQUELINE HSIA
Oded Nov, an assistant professor of Technology Management at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, has been selected to participate in the 2012 National Academies Keck Future Initiative. The conference “The Informed Brain in the Digital World,” held from Nov. 14 to 17 in Irvine, Calif., is a meeting of top researchers in fields like science, engineering and medicine. Nov is one of 100 researchers who have been invited to participate. NAFKI, a program created by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and W.M. Keck Foundation, is a prestigious convention that provides a forum for researchers to discuss interdisciplinary research and to create unique solutions to global issues. This year’s conference will explore the consequences of a digital world on the field of neuroscience, including how an increasingly
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JONATHAN TAN/WSN
Professor Chris Williams addresses the root problems in New York City’s growing response to Hurricane Sandy relief needs. By DANIEL HINTON Two weeks ago, Tisch sophomore Francisco Sanchez had to evacuate his apartment on East 10th street. Even though Sanchez and other residents in New York City and the TriState Area have moved back into their abodes, many still have questions regarding how preparations leading up to Hurricane Sandy and the political and social aftermath have been handled. “Now, more often than ever, climate disasters and events relating to the weather are becoming more frequent,” Sanchez said. “I want
Cast shines in new ‘Anna Karenina’ film By SOFIA LIZZA
Mink hats, biting wintery cold and snowfall set the scene for “Anna Karenina’s” journey towards finding true love. In the new film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel, director Joe Wright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard seamlessly transform the book into a theatrical, intimate screen experience that demonstrates, as Stoppard puts it, “love in all its forms.” “Karenina” tells the story of Anna (Keira Knightley) a nurturing mother and the faithful wife of a well-respected government official (Jude Law). On a train ride to visit her brother Oblonsky (Matthew Macfadyen) — who has recently cheated on his wife, Dolly (Kelly
Macdonald) — Anna meets a cavalry officer named Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), with whom she eventually develops an affair. The romantic entanglements become even more complicated when Oblonsky’s best friend Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) comes to visit, too. Even though he seeks the affection of Dolly’s younger sister, Kitty (Alicia Vikander), she is actually in love with Vronsky. The film is not “another period movie,” as explained by Wright, but rather a distinctly theatrical interpretation of Tolstoy’s classic novel. Mostly shot in an 1870 Russian theater with enormous painted backdrops on the main stage,
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to understand the system and the patterns that have caused this to happen.” Sanchez, along with over 30 other students from NYU and Pace University, attended an event hosted by NYU Socialists, titled “Hurricane Sandy, Climate Change, and Capitalism: How the 1% Conjure Monster Storms,” on Wednesday night to begin to find the answers to similar questions. Chris Williams, who led the discussion, is an adjunct professor in the department of Chemistry and Physical Science at Pace University and the author of “Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis.”
“In large part, the current environmental crisis has a social cause under the system that we live under, namely capitalism,” Williams said. “Ultimately this is bigger than the fossil fuel industry, but about the whole system. Capitalism cannot be made sustainable.” Williams pointed to the failures of corporations and all levels of governments in preparing for the consequences of climate change. “There have been multiple reports by the city in recent years, but those plans need to be accelerated greatly and expanded,” Williams said.
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NYU, theater group address issue of suicide By JONATHAN KESHISHOGLOU A group of actors, dressed as an eclectic mix of characters, sit on a small stage. A soft bass line plays in the background. A man walks onto the stage and speaks to the group as if he were leading an acting class. The subject of the class? Suicide. With Drama Lab NYC, a New York-based theater group, NYU’s Drama Therapy department addresses issues related to suicide in a new way with their upcoming show, “The November Project: Suicide as Performance.” The show, directed by Cecilia Dintino, is composed mainly of improvised vignettes, most of which are set in an acting class where each performer
takes on a different role and explores the themes and implications of suicide. The show, which opens Thursday night, will be performed twice. Because most material is improvised, neither show will be exactly the same. Dintino is the founder of Drama Lab NYC, which hosts many dramatic performances to help people with anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression and personality disorders. The cast of “Suicide as Performance” includes members of Drama Lab NYC and NYU students. Dintino said she hopes to tackle issues of suicide through the play. “Theater is an ancient way that man explored things that are hard to understand,” she said.
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Students explore suiciderelated issues via improv. DRAMA continued on PG. 4