NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 41, No. 97
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013
Hunger Banquet raises awareness
nyunews.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
COURTESY OF 558 GALLERY
Willardt debuts new exhibit
NFL must improve culture
Kenneth Willardt fights against body image tropes with “Size Does Matter.”
With Jonathan Martin’s exit, the NFL must monitor players’ emotional health.
STORY on PG. 4
STORY on PG. 7
By MARIYA KARCELOVA
As students filtered into the Eisner and Lubin Auditorium at the Kimmel Center for University Life on Tuesday, Nov. 19, each received a single strip of paper that would dictate their fate for the night — the paper assigned each guest an occupation, a country, a name and a socioeconomic class. Oxfam organizers directed them to a table and issued a ration of food based on the person’s status indicated on the paper. The social experiment was a part of NYU’s Oxfam America chapter effort to promote awareness of social inequality and the struggles of poverty called The Hunger Banquet. LS sophomore and Oxfam secretary Lila Carpenter began the banquet by reading off names of people whose life experiences — losing or gaining a job — resulted in a change of their social class. The wealthy table was dismissed to help themselves to food first, followed by the rest of the social classes in descending wealth. The wealthy class also received the largest amount of food, while those in poverty received the least. Carpenter said the event was important in raising awareness on campus. “An NYU student is supposed to be a ‘global citizen’ and in order to be so, you must really be aware of global issues and the state of your fellow global citizens
OXFAM continued on PG. 3
Town Hall addresses financial aid, GNU, NYU-Poly By AFEEFA TARIQ
WARD PETTIBONE/WSN
5Pointz receives final sprays of paint, leaves legacy behind Early on Tuesday, Nov. 19, the graffiti mecca in Queens, N.Y., 5Pointz, is painted over in white paint to cover the graffiti. Artists leave notes on the empty walls that were once a canvas for spray-painted images.
The second Town Hall of the semester with NYU President John Sexton took place in the Kimmel Center for University Life on Nov. 19. Students had the opportunity to ask the university’s president questions and voice concerns. The format of the Town Hall differed from previous meetings. Student were allowed to speak up if they had questions, unlike the previous structure when questions were chosen from a fishbowl. Student Senators’ Council chair and CAS senior Mariam Ehrari said the fishbowl system had to be altered. “I’ve just realized that sometimes you don’t get the hot, pressing issues of the day because there is a fishbowl system,” Ehrari said. “So I thought, ‘Why not just open up the forum like any Town Hall and allow people to come up and speak their mind.’” In response to a question about financial aid at NYU, Sexton emphasized the importance of statistics. “Twelve years ago, we met 30 percent of our students’ demonstrated need,” Sexton said. “Today, we’re meeting 57 percent.” Second-year Steinhardt graduate student Loris Jones-Randolph asked Sexton when university-wide scholarships would
TOWN HALL continued on PG. 3
Chris Lilley discusses revival of fan-favorite character By JEREMY GROSSMAN
DANIEL COLE/WSN
Students eat on stage during a simulation of class inequality.
“I like weird shows,” Chris Lilley said. “I like things to be a bit unusual.” There’s no one else in the entertainment world quite like Lilley — certainly not on American television. Perhaps that’s why the Australian comedian has garnered millions of fans across geographic borders ever since his show “Sum-
mer Heights High” aired on HBO in 2008. Lilley’s talent lies in his ability to play a variety of characters ranging in gender, age, race and nationality, and he plays them all with a sincere level of humor and profundity. Only Lilley could play an old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s and not be incredibly offensive — but rather, give one of the most genuine,
touching performances portrayed on television. In an exclusive interview with WSN, Lilley discussed his series “Ja’mie: Private School Girl,” which premieres on HBO Sunday, Nov. 24. In “Ja’mie,” Lilley revives rich, racist, spoiled, bratty Ja’mie King — one of his most popular characters — and follows her through her last year of private school.
“Maybe I just watch too many reality TV shows. I honestly don’t know where I get the inspiration for her,” Lilley said. “I’m always conscious of youth culture stuff … I have a lot of teen girl fans, so I’m probably always aware of their language and the way they communicate.” It’s hard to love or identify
LILLEY continued on PG. 6