INSIDE 02 Bias Response Line Misses Deadline 04 Greta Gerwig and the Indie That Could 06 Real Food Challenges NYU Dining 11 $70K Is Enough for Rat-Free Dining Halls 12 NYU Hockey Falls Short in Season Opener
DESIGNED BY RACHEL BUIGAS-LOPEZ AND LAURA SHKOURATOFF
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
Langone Study Finds New Way of Killing Lung Cancer By CHRISTINE LEE Staff Writer
Researchers from the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health published a paper providing evidence for a new method of killing lung cancer cells in the Nov. 22 edition of Nature magazine, according to Langone’s website. Richard Possemato, an assistant professor at the Department of Pathology and lead author of the study, published the research information with the help of fourth year Medical Center student Vladislav Svidersky. “We are interested in understanding how changes in the environment of a cancer [in vitro culture or tumor] affected the metabolic pathways that cells needed to survive,” Possemato said, discussing the motivations behind conducting the study. “Therefore, we undertook a genetic screen in cancer cells growing in traditional cell culture conditions or as tumor xenografts in the mouse mammary fat pad, which meant to
simulate the environment of a mammary tumor.” The team focused on three elements within human cells: iron, sulfur and oxygen, as well as an enzyme called NFS1. Enzymes are catalysts within a human body structured to accelerate chemical reactions. NFS1 groups iron and sulfur together into iron-sulfur clusters, which help fight lung cancer in a myriad of ways. Iron-sulfur clusters are sensitive to oxygen, so if an environment has high levels of oxygen, these clusters get destroyed, making it necessary for NFS1 to create more clusters. Cancer cells in the lungs depend on NFS1 to create more iron-sulfur clusters. One of the study’s more prominent findings came when the team treated lung cells with pro-oxidants, making the cells produce less functional NFS1. This suggested that after suppressing the enzyme, the surrounding oxygen would be able to break down the iron-sulfur clusters created by NFS1.
“This is the first description of iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis as a pathway that is altered in cancer, and the first description of a metabolic pathway whose dependence is related to the concentration of an extracellular metabolite,” Possemato said. “Moreover, suppression of NFS1 or activation of the downstream iron-starvation response provides an avenue to induce ferroptosis in cancer.” According to Possemato, the study’s results have direct implications within the field, and can be used to produce more effective medications. “There is a growing body of literature suggesting that proper management of reactive oxygen species is an important adaptation in cancer, particularly lung adenocarcinoma,” Possemato said. “However, there are currently no drugs that readily target this liability. Hopefully this and similar work will spark the production of such drugs, which would provide a unique weapon in the armamentar-
Bias Response Line Misses Deadline
By SAYER DEVLIN AND ALEX DOMB News Editor and Deputy News Editor
NYU’s Bias Response Line has not issued a report or released data on the status of its work since its inception in fall 2016, despite repeated promises to release this report per an email to WSN in January as well as an announcement from NYU President Andrew Hamilton. NYU originally launched the BRL to create a centralized office where all instances of discrimination, bias and harassment could be documented and referred to specific departments. The BRL came directly out of the 2015 listening sessions that sparked an institutional shift on issues of diversity and inclusion. “The Bias Response Line is designed to enable the university to provide an open forum that helps to ensure that our community is equitable and inclusive,” BRL’s website reads. Hamilton said a report from the BRL would be forthcoming in an email sent on Nov. 30, 2016 but BRL has not issued a report, released data or updated the NYU community on the status of its work since. NYU spokesperson John Beckman gave WSN some preliminary data on incidents of bias. In Beckman’s email to WSN on Dec. 3, he said the BRL has received 173 total reports as of Dec. 1. He added that the BRL has received 63 reports this semester, a significant increase over the 36 reports received in the fall 2017 semester. After WSN asked for the num-
ber of reports the BRL had received, the breakdown of the reports and how many reports had led to disciplinary action, Diversity and Inclusion Case Manager Tera Nakata told WSN in an email in January 2017 that the BRL would release a report to the NYU community by the end of the semester. “We launched the BRL as a pilot this academic year,” Nakata wrote in the email. “We have consulted with the University Senate Ad Hoc Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force throughout this pilot phase, and will present a full report with the type of data you’re asking about to the university community at the end of this semester.” On Dec. 3, after WSN reached out to various members of the Office of Equal Opportunity, which oversees the Bias Response Line, NYU spokesman John Beckman told WSN that the report will be published early in the spring 2018 semester. In his email, Beckman did not immediately clarify why the report had not yet been released to the NYU community. NYU has not announced the altered timeline of the BRL’s report in any public statement to the community. The BRL has additionally been unclear about its progress in addressing a bias report initially covered by WSN last month. On Nov. 8., Steinhardt junior August Enzer reported NYU Psychology Professor Edgar Coons to the BRL for allegedly making transphobic remarks in one his classes. As of today, despite reaching out to the BRL multi-
ple times and being told that the matter was still being reviewed on Nov. 21, he has still not heard from the BRL on what, if any, discipline, Coons may face. “I am very frustrated,” Enzer said. “At this point I submitted the complaint almost a month ago with nothing [to show, in response to his complaints].” Multiple representatives of the Office of Equal Opportunity have been unwilling to provide information regarding procedures within the office. WSN has contacted four members of the OEO, none of whom have provided information on their department’s procedures despite several attempts to contact them both over email and in person. Email Sayer Devlin and Alex Domb at news@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
NYU’s Bias Response Line has created a centralized office where all instances of discrimination, bias and harassment could be documented and referred to specific departments.
ium of anticancer treatments.” Possemato said that in the future, the team would like to develop an inhibition of the NFS1, since it should be readily druggable as a metabolic enzyme. The team addition-
ally seeks to understand how the NFS1 suppression affects tumor development in genetic mouse models. Email Christine Lee at news@nyunews.com.
FILE PHOTO BY LILY XING
Researchers from Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health Center have published a paper providing evidence for a new method of killing lung cancer cells.
G O L E CRIM NOV.30 NOV. 30
NOV.24
NOV. 24 TO
By SAKSHI VENKATRAMAN Deputy News Editor From Nov. 24 to Nov. NYU Department of Safety received seven of larceny, one report glary and one report orderly conduct.
30, the Public reports of burof dis-
Larceny On Nov. 24 at 8:30 p.m., an NYU student reported that her sunglasses and shoes were missing from her dorm in Carlyle Court Residence Hall. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation. On Nov. 26 at 10:06 a.m., an NYU student reported that his wallet was missing from his dorm in Carlyle Court. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation. On Nov. 27 at 12:25 p.m., an NYU student reported that the front tire was missing from her bike at the Vanderbilt Hall bike racks. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation. On Nov. 28 at 12:10 p.m., an NYU staff member reported that her wallet was missing from her office at 726 Broadway. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation. On Nov. 28 at 9:35 p.m., an NYU student reported that his
bike was missing from corner of Mercer Street and West Fourth Street. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation. On Nov. 29 at 3:02 p.m., an Aramark employee reported that a non-NYU affiliate left the Weinstein Dining Hall without paying for his food. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation. On Nov. 30 at 10 p.m., an NYU student reported that a camera was missing from the fourth floor of 721 Broadway. A police report was filed, and the report is open and under investigation.
Burglary On Nov. 30 at 10 a.m., an NYU staff member reported that a gift was missing from her office at 726 Broadway. Police notification was declined, and the report is open and under investigation.
Disorderly Conduct On Nov. 30 at 1:54 p.m., an NYU Public Safety officer reported that an unidentified man was banging on the main door of 7 Washington Pl., and the man yelled and spat at the officer. A police report was filed, and the case is open and under investigation. Email the news team at news@nyunews.com.
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Divest Suspends Elevator Occupation By ALEX DOMB Deputy News Editor
PHOTO BY GEMMA PETRINI
A furnace fire erupted near the Lafayette residence building during the afternoon on Dec. 1.
Fire Engulfs Roof Near Lafayette Hall By MIRANDA LEVINGSTON News Editor On Dec. 1 at approximately 4 p.m. the roof of an apartment building located at 50 Franklin St., which stands next to Lafayette Residence Hall, went up in flames. The fire was extinguished in approximately 45 minutes by 20 firefighters and three fire engines. There were no ambulances present and no one was hurt, according to witness and LS sophomore Gemma Petrini. Petrini, a Lafayette resident, said that after she noticed smoke pouring in through her 16th floor window, she decided to call 911. “I called 911, and the firefighters were there within three minutes,” Petrini said. “We actually watched the fire from my window, and it took the firefighters like 40 minutes to put the whole thing out.” After Petrini called 911, she looked around for a Resident Assistant with her suitemate.
“Me and my suitemate split up after I called 911 and tried to knock on the doors of the RAs above and below us, but no one was home, so we rushed down to the Resource Center,” Petrini said. “By the time we got down there, the firefighters were already outside, so we brought the RA from the Resource Center outside with us to talk to them so we could all figure out what building it was.” Petrini’s friend, Tisch sophomore Fabiana Chotocruz, said that she found out about the fire from Petrini — not Lafayette Hall. “We got no announcement from Lafayette, and I’m pretty sure because I check my email,” Chotocruz said. “The fire took place during such a small window of time, though. It was a Friday during the day and so most people were not in the dorms in the first place.” Email Miranda Levingston at mlevingston@nyunews.com.
NYU Divest ended its occupation of an Elmer Holmes Bobst Library administrative elevator on Friday afternoon in response to conflicting information regarding one of the group’s demands. One of Divest’s three demands asked NYU to end its direct investments in the fossil fuel companies Anadarko and Noble. A letter from NYU Executive Vice President Martin Dorph soon responded to the group’s requests, explaining that NYU no longer holds direct investments in these groups. Divest had previously said that it would remain in the location until all three demands were met, but it has put its efforts on hold as it considers new information which contradicts its previous research. NYU has not
responded to Divest’s two other demands, which asked that the university hold an open meeting to reconsider divestment from all fossil fuel companies and that the university use screens for carbon use when deciding on commingled funds. Dorph’s letter said that the university’s investments in Anadarko and Noble are currently only in the form of indirect, commingled funds, not direct investments. NYU administration additionally told NYU Divest that its members would likely face disciplinary consequences if they remained in the elevator past midnight. According to Divest, the university had notified the group in 2014 that it held direct investments in Anadarko and Noble. NYU had not notified Divest about these investments having been dropped. It remains unclear at what point since 2014 NYU dropped these investments.
“We are heartened that NYU has dropped its investments in Anadarko and Noble,” NYU Law student Olivia Rich said in a statement released by NYU Divest. “However, we are disappointed that NYU is at this point unwilling to provide us with information about when and why these investments were dropped, and why we only found out about it this morning.” NYU Divest said that it was investigating Dorph’s claims and that it will resume its advocacy once it has considered how this new information impacts its requests. “NYU Divest plans on continuing their escalation on their remaining demands after attempting to gather more information about today’s developments,” the statement read. Email Alex Domb at adomb@nyunews.com.
PHOTO BY JEMIMA MCEVOY
On Friday morning, NYU Divest set out to occupy Bobst Library until the Board of Trustees responded to the group’s demands. However, this occupation ended after conversations with NYU administrators.
Holiday Card Signing for Incarcerated Individuals By SAYER DEVLIN News Editor
Instead of spending their Friday night cramming for the end of the semester or grabbing an after-work cocktail, students, professors and alumni of NYU’s Prison Education Program wanted to spend their evening writing holiday cards to incarcerated people. The event, held on Dec. 1 in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, was organized by Survived and Punished, an organization aiming to build a movement to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence and attempting to end gender violence; NYU’s PEP; and Project Nia, an organization that tries to reduce the reliance on arrest, detention and incarceration for addressing youth crime. Mariame Kaba, the founder of Project Nia and a key organizer of the event, reached out to advocacy groups including Black and Pink, a group that supports LGBTQ prisoners, and Liberation
Library, which provides books to youth in prison, to get the names of incarcerated individuals who wanted to receive a holiday card. “It’s a way to make a connection between people who are on the outside and people who are behind the wall to make sure that people know they’re not forgotten and we are not going to allow them to be disappeared,” Kaba said. “Especially during the holidays it’s often a
very lonely time for people who are incarcerated, so getting a card from someone that has been thinking of you is important and significant.” People were able to write cards to incarcerated youth and to people who have been sentenced to prison time for defending themselves against their abusers. Posters adorned the wall telling the stories of victims of domestic violence who were incarcer-
PHOTO BY SAYER DEVLIN
Members of the NYU community spent their Friday night writing holiday letters to incarcerated individuals.
ated for fighting back against their abusers, and participants were encouraged to send holiday cards to these people, sending messages of support and love. One of those stories was Tewkunzi Green’s. “Tewkunzi Green was holding her infant son when she was attacked by her child’s father,” a poster read. “He backed her up against the kitchen sink and choked her. Tewkunzi grabbed a knife and stabbed him once in the chest and he eventually died. She was prosecuted and sentenced to 34 years in prison.” Kaba, a prison abolitionist whose work often focuses on transgender people, victims of domestic and sexual violence and other marginalized groups, said prisons are not solutions to social ills. “Prisons make people worse I don’t think they solve any problems, I think they actually worsen the situation,” Kaba, who believes in transformative justice and community accountability processes as alternatives
to incarceration, said. “What we have to do is transform the conditions that lead to people feeling that they need prisons and jails and surveillance. That’s an abolitionist project.” Kaba decided to hold the event in partnership with PEP because she has known PEP’s Administrative Director Rachel Hudak for several years. The two organized together when they lived in Chicago. Richa Lagu, a CAS senior and office assistant for NYU’s PEP, was there to support incarcerated individuals and to ensure that the event went smoothly. “I think it’s really important to share love and support to the members of our society who are facing struggles and who a lot of people tend to forget about at this time of the year,” Lagu said. “The outpouring of care and the determination to be kind and helpful was something really amazing to see during the event.” Email Sayer Devlin at sdevlin@nyunews.com.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
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Social Media Like You’ve Never Seen It Before By JULIA FIELDS Staff Writer
COURTESY OF A24
Greta Gerwig’s film “Lady Bird” is her directorial debut and the best reviewed film of all time on Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of 100 percent.
Greta Gerwig and the Indie That Could By RYAN MIKEL Entertainment Editor
This year has brought about an astounding amount of profound and inspiring cinema, but none quite as collectively acclaimed as Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird.” Gerwig’s autobiographical love letter to a girl’s comingof-age and a mother’s letting go has taken audiences and critics alike by storm. With 185 fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, “Lady Bird” is the best reviewed film of all time, and having recently swept festival and early critics award circuits, it is positioned as next year’s “Best Picture” and “Best Director” frontrunner at the 90th Academy Awards. Last week, Gerwig spoke with WSN and other college newspapers about “Lady Bird,” where she discussed mothers and daughters, the magnitude of female storytellers and finding glory in your hometown. The following questions were discussed: I think Lady Bird’s coming-of-age story not only works, but soars, due to its central mother-daughter relationship. As a female filmmaker, do you feel like there’s an expectation portrayed in this relationship, and how do you portray these relationships realistically for all of their complexity and nuance? Greta Gerwig: I’ve made it a goal as a writer and a director to tell stories about women where the primary emotional relationship is one between two women. I don’t feel pressured to tell those stories. If anything, I feel like they’re stories that are somewhat harder to get made or green lit because they don’t have a genre. I think they’re important to tell because I think that these windows into the lives of girls and women –– to steal a phrase from Alice Munro –– we don’t get to see. In terms of making it realistic, I think I never want to turn away from the darkness, but I also don’t want to make villains ever with my characters. So I don’t try to present perfect people, nor do I ever want my filmmaking to take my characters down. I want them to be allowed to be flawed and to be loved. Your own story seems to run parallel to that of Lady Bird’s, but you have explicitly stated in interviews that none of the events in the film actually happened. Could you talk about writing from your own personal experiences? GG: I always start from a place of something that I know where it’s close to my heart. And with this movie, I wanted to write about Sacramento because I’m from Sacramento. [I] al-
most always start with some kernel that’s real and then very quickly the characters spin out and become their own people and the events of the film have their own shape and form that’s outside of the events of my life. I think for me, the impetus is starting from a place of familiarity and letting that be the thing that allows me to invent. I like filmmaking that’s personal, I like writing that’s personal. And whether or not it’s actually real is not the case. 2017 feels like the year of the woman director. I’m interested to know your take on why a coming of age story that’s focusing on the female experience is so important, especially in 2017?
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I don’t try to present perfect people, nor do I ever want my filmmaking to take my characters down. I want them to be allowed to be flawed and to be loved. GRETA GERWIG
“Reminder that clothes are required for the event — physical nudity is a valid mode of expression, but you cannot be naked at the Gowanus Ballroom on Dec. 9. Spiritually naked, though ... unleash your Jim Carrey on the masses.” This is one of the first posts by performing arts group Hidden Currencies in the Facebook event for its immersive art exhibit, “Live Stream // Fever Dream,” aiming to explore the effects of social media on society. The group includes students from NYU and the New School among others. Four students working on the exhibition — Dasha Zagurskaya, who is a freshman studying journalism at CAS, and New School students Duncan Figurski, Marcus Banks and Kai Mote — sat down with WSN to talk about what people can expect from the exhibit and why they should attend next Saturday. When asked to describe the event to someone who knows nothing about art Figurski called “Live Stream // Fever Dream” an “observation to the submission to the ritual of media in the era of Trump.” This observation will be taking place through a variety of different experiences and mediums — everything from painting and sculpture to dance and performance. Figurski continues to talk about the overwhelming presence of social media in our world today and how “these facets have been utilized and maladapted and adapted in positive ways to be able to sell us [as a society] all of these ideas.” Thus, the exhibition will focus on how media can influence us to think a certain way and how this impacts us as individuals and as a society as a whole. In one feature of this mass event, “The Monsanto Wellness Lounge,” participants will experience an endless stream of media and become aware of what we absorb every day through media and how much of this is real or fake. The space, which used to be an alleyway between cannonball and ammunition factories, will stretch for two floors. The first will hold dances and display artwork and sculpture, while the second will hold live
musical performances and more performance art pieces. The eclecticity of the exhibit comes from Hidden Currencies’ desire to create an interdisciplinary variable that allows for a multiplicity of different perspectives on one particular topic, in this case social media, as described by Mote. Inspiration for this collaborative project stems from rituals we create to cope with the oversaturation of media or intense bogs of static we experience daily. Mote hopes that all who visit the exhibit will “have a religious experience from the Media God.” Expect your entire view on social media to be altered and to think twice about how all the media you consume affects you in both positive and negative ways.
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These facets have been utilized and maladapted and adapted in positive ways to be able to sell us [as a society] all of these ideas. DUNCAN FIGURSKI
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This project, which has been three months in the making, is sure to be an unforgettable and immersive experience unlike any other. Be sure to stop by between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. next Saturday to experience the spectacle for yourself. To learn more about Hidden Currencies, visit the group’s Instagram and Facebook page, both at Hidden Currencies. Your eyes are sure to be opened to the hidden attributes and consequences of the beloved swiping, snapping and scrolling we do every day. Email Julia Fields at entertainment@nyunews.com.
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GG: Well, I agree with you. I think that this year has been an amazing year for women in film. I think with the directors who’ve had films this year –– whether it’s a big blockbuster like Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” or or Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” –– it’s just an extraordinary year and to be part of that conversation is very meaningful to me. I think in a way, “[Lady Bird]” is a story that is so universal. But because there’s been a lack of female creators, it’s one that is less documented than male coming of age. I’m always interested to see what the female version of that is, like what is “Boyhood” but for a girl, what is the “400 Blows” but for a girl? And I felt that I had not seen that as much as I wanted to. I wanted to make something that was about not only a young woman but about a mother and a family and a place. Email Ryan Mikel at rmikel@nyunews.com.
VIA FACEBOOK.COM
On Dec. 9, the Gowanus Ballroom will be hosting a student-run immersive art exhibit, aimed at exploring the effects of social media on society, titled “Live Stream Fever Dream.”
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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Angel Olsen Rocks Brooklyn By JOSHUA JONES Contributing Writer
VIA FACEBOOK.COM
Steinhardt senior Yasmin Williams plays guitar using a unique style called lap-tapping.
Yasmin Williams Breaks Convention By CONNOR GATESMAN Music Editor
The guitar is one of the most versatile instruments on earth, and Yasmin Williams is not afraid to take advantage of that fact. Williams is a senior in Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development studying Music Composition. She played clarinet for 10 years, picked up guitar in eighth grade and never looked back. Williams plays an extremely unique style of guitar called lap-tapping, one she discovered on her own. “You play the guitar on your lap, horizontally,” Williams said. “It’s like a piano.” In addition to guitar, Williams has experimented with a variety of different genres from electronic to solo piano. Recently though, she’s been very committed to the guitar, citing live performance as one of the main reasons. “I can’t really perform a beat, I’m not a DJ, that’s not me,” Williams said. “I just prefer guitar over hiphop. I did a lot of rock and metal stuff when I was younger. I don’t really do that anymore, I’m not really into it. I’m way more mellow now.” Williams uses music as a way to relax. That’s how she finds her inspiration. “It’s a chill out moment,” Williams said. “If I’m having a stressful day, I’ll just play guitar and write music then. I rarely hear a song and get inspired, like ‘I really want to write a song like that.’ It’s maybe happened once. I’ll hear something and really appreciate it, but I don’t think in terms of ‘I should do that.’” With her unique playstyle, Williams often ends up in a creative space surrounded by peers with vastly different approaches to their instruments. “It can be tough — most people think it’s cool,” Williams said. “Sometimes it’s hard to find people to play with because they’re like ‘I
don’t know what to do with it,’ or they can’t do it so they don’t know how to write around it, so I have to be kind of creative in that sense.” Even with the talent and clear sense of control she exerts over the guitar, she has discovered that you can’t please everyone. “I was in Guitar Center, where [this kind of thing] usually happens,” Williams said. “Some old guy walks in, he’s like, ‘Why are you hitting the guitar? That’s not how you’re supposed to play it.’ I’m like, ‘I didn’t ask for your opinion, but thanks.’ I’ve gotten a lot of that.” However, the critics are definitely outliers. Yasmin recently won Culpepper’s Got Talent, a talent competition near her hometown of Woodbridge, Virginia. “It was really fun,” Williams said. “Everyone was really good, which is weird because Culpepper is like a small town. The show was put on really well, the venue was nice. It was a good experience.” Culpepper’s Got Talent wasn’t her first time in the talent show scene. She won NYU’s Ultra Violet Live competition her freshman year, where she performed for a sold-out venue at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. She said that performing in front of a full house doesn’t get to her when she’s playing. “I find that I’m really nervous hours beforehand, but while I’m onstage, it all goes away,” Williams said. “And then after I’m nervous again.” Williams said that her main focuses are releasing an extended play, getting a manager and playing more gigs. Williams is playing at Goldsounds on Dec. 10 and at Providence Town Playhouse on Dec. 16. You can find Yasmin Williams on Soundcloud. Email Connor Gatesman at cgatesman@nyunews.com.
Last Friday, Dec. 2, indie folk-rock singer and songwriter Angel Olsen performed an electrifying set for a packed audience at Brooklyn Steel. The sold-out show was attended by people of all ages, from college students to music fans in their late 60s. Olsen, born in St. Louis, Missouri, is known for her breakthrough second studio album, “Burn Your Fire for No Witness,” which the A.V. Club named the best album of 2014. She followed that record up with 2016’s “My Woman,” which gained even more critical acclaim, appearing on nine publications’ top 10 best album of the year lists. Last November, she released “Phases,” a collection of previously unreleased material, including the song “Fly on Your Wall” which was, until now, only available on the Bandcamp anti-Trump collaborative project “Our First 100 Days.” “My Woman” was a declaration against typecasting. Not wanting to be seen as just an independent lo-fi artist with her earlier albums, Olsen experimented with other genres such as synthpop, pop and grunge. Her music is an enchanting mix of confidence and vulnerability, aided by her endless vocal talent.
Psych-rock supergroup Heron Oblivion opened the show. The group joined together the forces of Meg Baird, Noel Von Harmonson, Charlie Saufley and Ethan Miller, all of whom were previously members of 2000s era psych rock groups. Their collective experience became very clear as they immediately set the crowd ablaze, and the music varied between dreamy and atmospheric to heavy and hard-hitting. It was a per-
PHOTO BY JOSHUA JONES
Indie folk-rock singer-songwriter Angel Olsen gave an electrifying performance to a packed audience at Brooklyn Steel on Dec.1.
fect headlining act for Olsen. As the main event started, the lights descended upon the stage. Five of Olsen’s band members appeared dressed in blue suits and bolo ties. They went to their respective instruments and began playing. The audience was bursting with anticipation for the singer herself to appear. After the band played solo for a while, Olsen made her way onstage, scored by the band’s instrumentals and roaring applause. She was dressed in a silver one-piece outfit that refracted light in all directions. She began the concert with the song “Hi-Five” off “Burn Your Fire,” before transitioning into her second song, the hit single “Shut Up Kiss Me” off “My Woman.” As the show went on, Olsen and her crew continued rocking the concert hall, playing songs like the grungy “Give It Up” and the intense “Not Gonna Kill You.” When it was time for the inevitable encore, Olsen came back on stage with a shiny silver wig that matched her outfit and performed a cover of David Bowie’s “Five Years” before ending the night with “The Waiting” from her debut album. Email Joshua Jones at music@nyunews.com.
On a ‘Quest’ for 9 Years
By SOPHIE BENNETT Staff Writer
When Jonathan Olfshefski sought to learn more about the Rainey family, he did not realize his quest to profile them would turn into a documentary. Olshefski’s unique film “Quest” devotes its entirety to exploring the life of Christopher and Christine’a Rainey’s role in their Philadelphia community, as well as their desire to provide a sense of well-being for their children. The idea of being black in Barack Obama’s America recurs throughout the film, which Olshefski originally envisioned as a photo series. The project quickly expanded into a documentary from over 300 hours of footage shot over the course of nine years. The Rainey family owns a recording studio that records local artists in their basement, which Chris (Quest) runs while Christine’a (“Ma Quest”) works at a homeless shelter for women and children. The documentary discusses the family’s hardships, including their oldest son William’s battle with cancer and contention with his new fatherhood. Nearly halfway through the film, the family experiences trauma when P.J., the couple’s daughter, is hit in the eye by a stray bullet one evening on her way home from playing basketball. These sequences, especially the family’s reactions to the events, are transfixing and heart wrenching. At the start of production, Olshefski was a photographer, but as he learned more about the Rainey
COURTESY OF SUSAN NORGET FILM PROMOTION
Olshefski’s unique film “Quest” devotes its entirety to exploring the life of Christopher and Christine’a Rainey’s role in their Philadelphia community, as well as their desire to provide a sense of well-being for their children. family and their recording studio, he decided to adapt the medium to something that would better suit their story. This change does not detract from the beauty of the story as the editing, done by Lindsay Utz, is what really shapes this film into something magical. Olshefski, originally from Pittsburgh, moved to Philadelphia in 2000 and became intrigued by the cultural differences between the two cities. He says in the film that he was “surprised by how segregated [Philadelphia] was, what with its stark barriers between communities of different races and ethnicities. It was a contrast to [his] experience in Pittsburgh.” Although Olshefski is white and is often questioned of his right to make a film like “Quest,” a film
about a black family in the Obama era, he stands by the project and his decision to make it. Throughout the documentary, Olshefski captures touching and tragic moments in the Rainey family: Ma Quest faces an internal struggle through both her role as a caregiver to her family and community, the family must grapple with its children’s extreme adversities, they react to Donald Trump’s rhetoric and they navigate American racism. It is the power Utz’s editing ability to string together the decade-long story so eloquently that gives the film its exquisite nature. “Quest” opens in New York theaters on Friday, Dec. 8. Email Sophie Bennett at film@nyunews.com.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
FEATURES
EDITED BY KAITLYN WANG FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM
Faculty Raises Money For Charities Real Food Challenges NYU Dining By JENDAYI OMOWALE Staff Writer
During the holiday season, NYU employees band together to give back to the community. The NYU Combined Campaign works to raise thousands of dollars for nonprofit organizations in Greenwich Village and Brooklyn near NYU campuses. The campaign, which started in early November, is an initiative by NYU to encourage faculty, staff and administrators to give back to their communities. The Combined Campaign consists of the NYU Community Fund, which uses the financial contributions of employees to award small grants to local charities, and fundraising for the United Way of New York City, a holistic organization that focuses on issues such as literacy and education programs in underfunded schools, hunger prevention programs and workforce development. Director of Civic Engagement Bill Pfeiffer said that the Community Fund has raised about $3 million since it started. “In any particular year, we raise roughly about $90,000 to $100,000 for the NYU Community Fund,” Pfeiffer said, “And for the United Way last year we actually set a record and we raised a little more than $31,000.” Pfeiffer said that NYU is one of the few institutions in the Northeast region to raise that
much money for the United Way, which receives the funds in quarterly installments. The NYU Community Fund gives small grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 to roughly 70 charities that specialize in areas from the arts to afterschool STEM programs to elderly care services. Nonprofit organizations who wish to receive financial support from the NYU Community Fund have to fill out an application or request for proposal that gets sent out to over 130 nonprofit affiliates, according to Pfeiffer. “The committee, as I just mentioned, these are the folks that actually go through each of these proposals and review the request,” Pfeiffer said. “They are charged with looking at the quality of the organization, in terms of how long they have been around, what kind of programming do they offer, what intersections that nonprofit might have with the [committee member’s] individual school, those kinds of things.” To raise the money for these nonprofit organizations, Pfeiffer organizes a team of 20 to 25 volunteers based in schools, departments, central administration and other offices whose sole focus is to get people to donate to the campaign. “It’s tough because people generally don’t like to ask for financial support, even though it’s not for them,” Pfeiffer said. “So what I tell my coordinators … is don’t worry
about who gives, just go out there and ask because the main reason why people don’t give is because they were never asked. Pfeiffer said that the school’s civic engagement went beyond the financial contributions the nonprofits received from the campaign. “These organizations may receive students through [Silver School of] Social Work or students through Steinhardt,” he said. “The [Stern School of Business] or [Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service] may have a capstone program at these organizations. Students might be doing an internship there. Some of our alumni might be working there. It’s kind of a multilayered approach.” The campaign started in November and lasts until January, during what Pfeiffer calls the season of giving. “So in early November we kick off the campaign with a university-wide email from Andrew Hamilton, and the campaign is based online so that all the donations go through our website,” he said. The NYU Combined Campaign tries to give back to the community through as many different organizations as it can so that donors can always feel that their money went to something they care about. “The mission is focused on ensuring a healthy and vibrant community,” Pfeiffer said. Email Jendayi Omowale at features@nyunews.com.
Learn Something Outside of NYU can get the full pottery experience for only $32 when you shop at Groupon. And if you’re 21 and over, you can even bring your own booze. You’ll get to learn the basics of clay, see a pottery wheel in use and create something from scratch that you can pick up in three to four weeks. Brooklyn Clay Industries advises that you bring clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.
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At Brooklyn Clay Industries, you can learn how to throw your own pottery. By LAURA RUBIO Staff Writer
Being a student doesn’t just mean learning in lecture halls — it means learning in life too. One of the great things about living in a city like New York is that you can find a class for just about anything. Whether you’re looking to get creative with your date, share quality time with a close friend or go at it solo, here are some experiences to try outside the classroom — no note-taking needed.
Tap Into Your Inner Artist
At Brooklyn Clay Industries, you
Dance to the Beat of Your Own Drum
Over at Piel Canela Dance and Music School in the Garment District, you can buy one or two months of unlimited dance classes for only $30 or $57, respectively. They offer over 80 classes for different experience levels including salsa, swing and belly dancing. Piel Cenala, a nonprofit organization, hopes to teach students dance moves along with the history and culture behind the dances they belong to.
Fill Your Night With Pizza-zz
It’s lunch time at UNO Pizzeria & Grill where you can try your hand at deep-dish pizza making for $35. Not only can you eat your creation at the end of class, but you’ll also get to take the recipe home to repeat as often as you’d like. UNO Pizzeria is considered the first pizzeria to make deep-dish pizza. The
founder, Ike Sewell, popped out the first of its kind back in 1943 in Chicago, so you know you’re in good pizza-throwing hands.
Don’t Throw Away Your Shot
If you feel like it’s time to move beyond Instagram filters and make the switch to manual, then this $30 photography class is for you. With it, you get a threehour class titled “How Do I Use My Camera?” that covers basic concepts like shutter speed, exposure and aperture. Your teacher is JP Pullos, a professional photographer whose work has appeared in The New York Times and GQ magazine.
Plant the Seeds to a Night of Fun
You’ve seen plenty of Insta-worthy succulent and terrarium gardens, so why not make one yourself ? For $35, you’ll get to join members of Plant Nite as they create mini-gardens in glass bowls and shadowboxes. The best part is that after you’re done assembling your verdant paradise, you get to take it home and watch it flourish. Plant Nite provides all the materials, and you get to do the assembly. Email Laura Rubio at features@nyunews.com.
By AMELIA MCBAIN Staff Writer
The Real Food Challenge is demanding more transparency and greater responsibility in food sourcing from NYU Dining and its food service provider, Aramark. The Real Food Challenge is a national campaign that was adopted a few years ago by NYU’s Earth Matters, a student-run organization advocating for environmental issues. “Lots of students come to us looking for different ways to get involved and Real Food Challenge is a way for students to plug into that and make change,” Earth Matters president and CAS senior Aryn Aiken said. “We’ve gotten access to more and more information about the food we’re serving in the dining halls.” Two years ago, the group used the Real Food Challenge’s calculator to determine what percentage of food on campus was deemed ‘real.’ According to the Real Food Guide, a food must be ecologically sound, fair to workers, humane or local/community based. A product must only meet one of these standards to be considered real. “Two summers ago, we did the calculator with the help of the Office of Sustainability and we have less than one percent of real food,” Aiken said. “For comparison, the New School did the Real Food Challenge [calculation] and now they’re up to 30 percent real food.” In the time that has passed since the calculation, NYU unveiled Lipton Dining Hall as a representation of sustainable dining initiatives. “I do think some things have changed since then,” Aiken said. “Lipton [Dining Hall] is supposed to be majority local food, but I don’t know how true to its purpose it is. I know that based on the calculator, the soups in Kimmel [Dining Hall] are the realest food we have.” However, Aramark and NYU Dining Services have not yet agreed to other Real Food propositions. “We presented that data to Ar-
amark and NYU Dining Services and we asked them to sign a commitment saying that NYU will have 20 percent real food in their dining halls by 2020,” Real Food Challenge group leader and CAS senior Laura Palo said. “They said they would have an Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education stars assessment done, which is a sustainability assessment that has Real Food standards incorporated in it, but they never gave us the data for it.” As NYU’s contract with Aramark is about to expire next year, the group is trying to get the word out about the importance of real food. “Our contract with Aramark is about to be up, so that means NYU will be in a position where they can make more direct demands or even consider changing food service providers,” Aiken said. “We’re not sure how that process will go, but we do want a student voice to be incorporated and for those Real Food Challenge standards to be considered.” The group is not necessarily opposed to Aramark, but it wants the company to adhere to Real Food standards should it return. One student, Tisch freshman Anastasia LeDuc, supports the Real Food Challenge and believes a change of food service providers is crucial to their cause. “I think [the Real Food Challenge] is important,” LeDuc said. “I think we sure as hell shouldn’t be with Aramark though. I don’t want them feeding us while they’re also feeding prisoners food with maggots in it. I think, being in New York where we have easy access to real food, we should take advantage of that.” Though gathering student support is their main goal right now, group members are also working on a Real Food cookbook for seasonal winter recipes. It will debut on Monday, Dec. 11 at the Kimmel Center for University Life. “We’re trying to get the message across that making real food isn’t that difficult,” Aiken said. Email Amelia McBain at dining@nyunews.com.
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Aramark, NYU’s food service provider, is being urged to adhere to healthier and more responsible standards in their food and practices.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
FEATURES
EDITED BY KAITLYN WANG FEATURES@NYUNEWS.COM
Fry Guys Finish First
Society’s Impact on Style
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Brands like NotEqual focus their designs on being gender neutral that allow the wearer to express themselves regardless of their identity. By TYLER CREWS Deputy Sports Editor From the flapper style of the ‘20s to the normcore of today, fashion has historically been at the forefront of changing societal attitudes. Because of its reflective quality, fashion is ever-changing. This evolution has brought fashion to a pivotal and inspiring point today. For centuries, clothing signified a person’s status, gender and wealth, revealing how society labeled and segregated itself based off of demographics. In the 19th century, aristocrats donned luxurious fabrics, women wore dresses and makeup and men dressed in pants. In the 1920s, these trends began to shift along with the political climate of the women’s suffrage movement, with women putting on pants and shortening their dresses in opposition to the misogynistic values and fashion rules of their society. The 1960s went beyond granting further
By SHERAH NDJONGO Staff Writer
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fashion freedoms for women and introduced their liberation from both wealth-based and traditionally feminine clothing. While women started to dress themselves in suits, as seen in Yves St. Laurent’s “Le Smoking,” men’s hair started to grow longer and pants fit tighter, and both genders adopted a more relaxed sense of style, allowing T-shirts and jeans to erode wealth and status based fashion. Today’s fashion pushes this envelope even further, and every day is a new opportunity to rebel against societal values through fashion. We are coming into an age where women are fearless to be bold with their fashion, wearing whatever they want, whether it be considered masculine or feminine, promiscuous or prudish, from Goodwill or a designer label. Fashion brands like NotEqual and TILLYandWILLIAM are joined by many others in creating gender neutral lines that allow for self-expression without boundaries. Clothing and beauty
are ways to vocalize your independence from the boxes that society constructs. Men, like women, care about their appearance and are now experimenting with trends that were previously seen as too feminine for them to wear. Actor Jaden Smith reflects this, often donning skirts and dresses. Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière said of Smith, “He represents a generation that has assimilated the codes of true freedom, one that is free of manifestos and questions about gender.” We are working our way toward acceptance of gender fluidity in fashion, just as we are in our everyday lives. At NYU, students also embody boundary-breaking fashion by subverting the gender binary. For guys, this can be as simple as wearing makeup. One way LS freshman Max Ledesma expresses this is by wearing nail polish. “I really don’t mind having nail polish on,” Ledesma said. “The first time I tried it, my friend put it on me and, instead of removing it, I just waited for it to wear off. Nail polish sparks conversation with people and gives me a little extra flair that I didn’t have before.” Women also defy the gender binary. For example, LS freshman Simona Gemayel chooses to shop in the men’s department. “I shop in the men’s section all the time because I find the designs cuter and more comfortable, rather than the stereotypical female florals and pastels,” Gemayel said. Today’s fashion is at the forefront of individuality and self expression, as our generation continues to dress itself with the intention of reflecting who they are on the inside, rather than impressing others. Instead of allowing the world to tell us who we are, we are deciding to show it. Email Tyler Crews at tcrews@nyunews.com.
By LIV CHAI Staff Writer
On a chilly Thursday evening at 5 p.m., Fry Guys is already packed. From a couple lovingly sharing fries to a lone reader wiping away the grease from their lips while flipping through pages of a romance novel, the popularity of Fry Guys is definitely not to be missed. This is not your regular french fry joint: as soon as you enter the shop, Doge and adorable pastel cats with colorful angel wings and halos greet you on the walls to the left. The stream of disco balls reflecting against the light and the funky records lining the floor immerse you in an entirely new potato experience. Determined to “take your french fry experience to the next level,” Fry Guys offers a whimsical selection of its speciality “Loaded Fry.” For $8, you can get a wide array of unique combos including, but not limited to, “The Day Man,” a breakfast-lover’s dream made with bacon, queso and egg; and “The Southern Guy” fries with double
PHOTO BY LIV CHAI
Fry Guys is a ‘90s themed french fry shop located on the border of the East Village and Lower East Side.
fried chicken and maple gravy. Its most popular combo is the “The Drunk Guy.” With guacamole, bacon bits and Fry Guys’ signature homemade queso decorating a heaping pile of crispy fries, not much can go wrong. Rather than an overwhelming concoction of haphazardly gathered ingredients, the crunch of the fries paired effortlessly with the light queso creates a dreamy mix with the cold guacamole scooped on top. For something more personalized, the “Classic Fry” and “Fire Fry” can be the base for 16 different sauces. With sauces like “Chocolate Sea Salt” and “Curry Mayo” priced at an additional dollar, you can easily go a bit wild with your combinations. Also served is “The Frycano,” a $50 12-poundfries tower with three types of meats and five different sauces. To quench your thirst, shakes and floats are offered as well. Fry Guys makes consuming something as casual as fries an experience. With fun, colorful decor adorning the potato specialized joint, Fry Guys is most definitely something to try. Perhaps it’s the colder months and a craving for something hot and filling or maybe it’s just that fries are absolutely always the move to make regardless of season or level of hunger, but when a brightly lit store with disco balls hanging from the ceiling says “Fry Guys,” you are instantly drawn in and won’t be disappointed. Located on Second Street and Avenue A, open from 12 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the weekends, Fry Guys is the place to be if you’re on the hunt for something a bit more gourmet than your regular glorious plate of fries. Email Liv Chai at dining@nyunews.com.
When Fashion Meets Tech
Nowadays, blurring the lines between fashion and technology is no longer an impossible feat. With new discoveries being made in tech every day, both established brands and up-and-comers have decided to create innovate ways of using technology to improve the quality of their clothing and accessories. This collective move toward combining the best features in technology with easily accessible materials has led to a breakthrough in the fashion industry that has only just begun.
Banneya
London-based fine jewelry line Banneya puts a new twist on the meaning of customizable jewelry. The company offers a simple customer-centric process in which cus-
tomers are able to edit and decorate whatever they’d like, essentially creating their own luxury pieces online with the guidance of a professional jewelry designer they are paired with. What’s unique to Banneya is its use of 3-D printing, a process which is fairly new to the jewelry industry. As the first fine jewelry company to rely on 3-D printing while using materials such as gold and various precious stones, Banneya has challenged the jewelry industry to step up its game.
Uniqlo – HEATTECH Collection
This major retailer embarked on an ambitious path when it introduced its line of clothing made from moisture-wicking fabric that not only resolves the issue of odor buildup by drawing off sweat, but also is meant to be perfect for chilly weather. HEATTECH’s popularity is due to the fact that one could wear
fewer layers of clothing during the colder months and still manage to stay cozy. Therefore, it’s a win-win situation for everyone. Customers get to spend less, dress more comfortably and stay warm while Uniqlo gets to continue experimenting with new clothing styles that are fashionable and innovative at the same time.
Rothy’s
Rothy’s signature ballet shoes are anything but ordinary. They combine the comfort provided by sneakers with the look of classic ballet flats. Better yet, these original shoes are made entirely from low-waste, low-impact materials that are made by hand, which ensures they last long and are of the highest quality. Rothy’s only provides its customers with classic designs that will never go out of style, ease mixed with sophistication and the opportunity to promote sustainability. These
flats can be worn to any occasion, only adding to their already impressive versatility.
Kate Spade – Hybrid Smartwatch
One of the latest big name brands to jump onto the wearable tech bandwagon is Kate Spade with its own spin on the smartwatch. The smartwatch, in addition to trackers, is iPhone and Android-compatible so that users can keep track of their various everyday activities such as counting down days, hours or minutes until an event, setting alarms and receiving texts and emails. This advanced watch is water-resistant and has a battery life of six months. What’s interesting about the hybrid smartwatch is that it has a chic, more fashionable look to it compared to the typical smartwatch. It’s hard to believe that a watch with such a trendy exterior
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London-based fine jewelry line Banneya offers a simple customer-centric process in which customers are able to edit and decorate whatever they’d like. would be able to carry out such advanced commands. Tech intersecting with fashion makes for an unlikely duo that works. Because this combination has resulted in such phenomenal products, it’s no wonder that it is already on the rise. Email Sherah Ndjongo at bstyle@nyunews.com.
Aqua Con
Cats vs. Dogs: The Debate By RYAN MIKEL AND EMILY CONKLIN Entertainment Editor and Staff Writer We’re all familiar with debates over this vs. that, from favorite soda brand — Coke or Pepsi? — to the perceived colors of that optically confusing dress. But no feud has quite divided households as ferociously as the ultimate question –– cats or dogs? With New York City apartments averaging less than 900 square feet, even the most ardent dog lovers make the choice to choose a cat as their new best friend. While no dog or cat-owning New Yorkers were immediately available to comment, NYU students offered their own two cents on the feud. “Unless I lived in a much bigger space, I could never have my own dog and take care of it like it should be taken care of,” LS sophomore Hannah Stacks said. “Cats are definitely better for city living.” Yet some dog lovers, like Tisch sophomore Rachel Lachaga, are willing to get creative when thinking of how to incorporate canines into their city life. “Dogs always,” Lachaga said. “I love dogs because not only are they better companions, but a dog will force me to get outside.” And most NYU students
seem to agree. “No matter how energetic a cat is, I don’t think they will ever play fetch with you or run to greet you at the door the way a dog would,” LS sophomore Toni Melhado said. “Definitely dogs.” Not every student, however, sees the two species as opposing parallels or foes. Ciara McMullin, a bipartisan CAS sophomore, loves both animals. But the caveat for McMullin is litter boxes. “Both cats and dogs can be playful, energetic and loyal,” McMullin said. “But dogs don’t require a litter box.” Many might add that, while cats –– in all their self-sufficient glory –– teach themselves to use litter boxes, dog owners must teach their canines how to be housebroken. But to counter the earlier argument about those miniscule apartments lining the city streets, you can walk your dog on the expansive landscape we’ve been given. And if you’re too busy, that’s what Wag is for! Argument settled and case closed, NYU students have officially voted in favor of dogs over cats. Now NYU, can we get your opinion on Peet’s vs. Starbucks?
By JEMIMA MCEVOY Managing Editor
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
Email Ryan Mikel and Emily Conklin at ame@nyunews.com.
My fish, Phineus, is beautiful and purple and resilient beyond belief. He has survived the countless goggling eyes of college students commenting on the tasteful architecture of the Roman Colosseum in his tank, outlived many companions without a single tear shed and most importantly, survived living with me for the past year and a half. Keeping a fish in college is not as cute and easy at it seems. I purchased my first fish without much thought about the consequences and responsibilities of caring for a live animal. Although fish are relatively small in size, they require a surprising amount of attention and care. You have to remember to feed them once a day and clean their tank every couple of weeks when the water begins to emanate a strange, seafood-like smell. As fish are the only pets that you are allowed to keep in an NYU dorm per NYU Housing policies, it’s likely that you’ll find yourself with an aquatic roommate. Tandon junior and former WSN Deputy News Editor Htoo Min never expected to become a fish dad. Min and his girlfriend were playing a carnival game at a festival in Little Italy when they accidentally won four fish. “My girlfriend and I got to the carnival booth, and it was $5 for a bucket of ping pong balls and you had to throw the ping pong ball into these little basket-like things — if you made one in, that’s one goldfish for you,” Min said. “Whether it be that my luck was actually really good that day, or laughingly bad, I sank four of those ping
A Home Away From By NATASHA ROY Assistant Managing Editor
COURTESY OF KATE BAIER STAFF PHOTO BY JULIA SALIBA
Unfortunately — or, fortunately, for some — students are not allowed to bring their dogs from home when they move into NYU’s residence halls. For us dog lovers, being away from our canine pals adds to our homesickness. Luckily, though, some of our beloved faculty fellows in residence bring their pet dogs with them to NYU, and their dogs provide a sense of home for students living on campus. WSN spoke to some of these FFIR whose pets are as much a part of NYU residence life as the students themselves.
Lucia Lucia is Carlyle Court Residence Hall’s beloved 10-year-old Maltese-poodle mix. Her owner, Associate Professor of Education in Steinhardt Lorena Llosa, has had Lucia since she was a puppy and plays fetch with her every night. Lucia has been a fixture at Carlyle for six years, but she was no stranger to NYU housing when she walked into the C3 tower — Lucia lived with Llosa in faculty housing before moving into Carlyle. Lucia may be small, but she has an enor-
mous personality. She loves trotting around and receiving attention from all the students who happen to cross her path. “Lucia is very people-oriented,” Llosa said. “When they want to pet her, she’s ready.” Llosa brings Lucia to all her Carlyle programs, and she said Lucia has an incredible social life, assuming everyone loves her — and the little pup isn’t wrong. “She’s really smart, actually,” Llosa said. “I love her confidence. She walks around wagging her tail, knowing people love her.”
Huckleberry Gramercy Green Residence Hall residents have the pleasure of sharing living space with Huckleberry, a 10-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback whose owner, Senior Director of Residential Life Kate Baier, said still acts like a puppy. Huckleberry is very much an essential member of Gramercy Green, and though he is a bit standoffish with people he doesn’t know, he is gentle and loving with his family. “He’s a lap dog with his people,” Baier said. Huckleberry is a large dog, and because of this, Baier and her family are sensitive to the potential fears from other students.
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pong balls. So I ended up with four goldfish. Mind you, this was right before I was supposed to go to the Meadows that day and all of a sudden, I had four kids to take care of.” They scrambled to get to PetSmart before the music festival so the fish wouldn’t have to stay in plastic bags all day. Min was shocked by how much it cost to accommodate his new pets. “Cue me dropping over $100 for a tank, filtration and food — a college student’s nightmare,” Min said. “We fed them, went to the Meadows, came back and they all were alive. Solid. Cool. I’m a great father.” But tragedy struck two days later when Min received a call from his girlfriend that one of the fish wasn’t hanging out with the other three. They dubbed their introverted child McLonely and didn’t worry too much about this antisocial behavior. However, McLonely’s companions — the McNuggets — didn’t seem to have the same sympathy as his loving parents. “The next day, she calls me and tells me McLonely is not moving and the other fish are eating him,” Min said. “Nature is metal.” Other students, like Steinhardt sophomore Emma Burnham, have had less emotionally scarring experiences with their pet fish. Burnham decided to get her blue betta fish, Gil, last semester after her boyfriend bought four fish who all died very quickly. Burnham and her friends bought fish to see who could take care of theirs the longest. “I don’t find him burdensome,” Burnham said. “I feel bad sometimes because I forget to clean his tank a lot and his daily feeding is sometimes in the morning and sometimes at night depending on when I remember. I feel like a bad fish mom a lot of the time.”
Despite the difficulties of motherhood and the challenge of figuring out what to do with Gil over breaks, Burnham said she would recommend keeping a fish. “Even though he’s just a fish, he gives me joy on bad days,” Burnham said. “He’s beautiful.” It seems like the biggest issue across the board is figuring out what to do with fish over vacations. LS sophomore Marlee Glassberg was unable to overcome this challenge and was forced to find a new home for her red and blue betta fish. “I was feeling lonely, and I had a friend from high school that got a pet fish and was keeping it in a Tito’s vodka bottle in her dorm at Emory, so I was like, ‘If she can do it, then I could,’” Glassberg said. “I bought a fish — his name is Frank — and bought a tank thing with an LED light in it, and I bought a mini Gary from Spongebob to keep Frank company and I bought a green leafy thing so he could feel in his natural habitat.” Everything was going swimmingly for Glassberg and Frank until she realized that she couldn’t bring him home to Miami during a vacation from school because he requires more water than the three ounces she was permitted on an airplane. “I took him on a train to Rhode Island where my aunt, uncle and cousin live,” Glassberg said. “I left him there to vacation for the summer and then when I went to pick him up once I got back north, my family had grown attached to him and now I no longer have him.” Email Jemima McEvoy at jmcevoy@nyunews.com.
m Home However, Baier also said he helps anchor the hall, and many students love seeing him. “He’s sometimes a nonhuman stress reliever,” Baier said. “He’s a good reminder of home for people.”
Email Natasha Roy at nroy@nyunews.com.
The Pet Prohibition By ADRYAN BARLIA Deputy Opinion Editor It is frequently emphasized by our beloved university that we are only allowed to keep pet fish in our dorm rooms. However, some sneaky students bring illicit pets into their residence halls. We talked to a few of them under the condition of anonymity — for the safety of their pets, of course — about how they manage to keep their animals a secret.
CAS sophomore Two parakeets, Fox and Falco Why did you choose parakeets as your pets? I was having a rough time with pressure from the city and I got them, so every day I would wake up to them singing which got me through each day. What were your biggest concerns with them? Not being able to love them to my fullest every day. They are dead now. I mean what are your biggest concern in terms of being caught? Oh, none. [I] had a good hiding place for them. Our dorm was always a mess with everything on the floor, so all it would take was to take a pile of clothes and toss them on top of the cage.
GLS sophomore Two hamsters, Chad and MatzoBall
Biggie Biggie is Broome Street Residential College’s most loving being. As soon as you see the Shih Tzu mix, he will trot up to you and stretch out on your legs. If you scratch him, he’ll lean into you — and maybe never let you go. He is the extrovert to his owner, Senior Language Lecturer in the Expository Writing Program in CAS Michelle Dent’s, introvert. “He’s an icebreaker,” Dent said. “He’s amazing and gregarious and flirtatious.” Students aren’t afraid to walk right up to Biggie and start petting him. The adopted pup — who Dent believes to be about 6 years old — is accepting and loving, and Dent said he takes his job as Broome’s resident dog seriously. “He loves the student energy,” Dent said. “He’s a lovebug — a total lovebug.”
STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
PHOTO BY NATASHA ROY
Why did you choose these pets? Because they were free on an online sale, and me and my roommate ordered them not believing that we would get them. But we did. Were you ever concerned that you would be caught by your Residence Assistant? Not really. Our RA was our homie. We eventually did get rid of them though — they kept rolling in their cage wheel all night, which made lots of noise.
CAS junior A turtle named Leonardo Why did you choose a turtle? We wanted to have a pet that did not make a lot of noise and that would not be distracting. Why did you get a pet at all then? It was my roommate’s idea really. I thought it was impulsive, but I was feeling whatever about it. Were you ever concerned that your RA would find out?
No, since turtles make zero noise and our RA never came into our room once the entire year. Where is Leo now? We gave him away.
Gallatin sophomore A small bunny named Mr. Snuff Why and how did you get a bunny? I live in Brooklyn, so Mr. Snuff was already mine from Christmas. So one day, I brought him over for a weekend and decided to have him live in the dorm for a while. Were you ever afraid of your RA catching you? Well our RA actually did catch me. I am 100 percent sure that someone on the floor told her, since Mr. Snuff never made any noise. And what happened? Actually, she was really excited and played with her and told us to make sure not to tell many other people or it was going to get taken away. She played with him a couple of times throughout that semester, but I did eventually bring him back home since school was getting to be too busy to have to go back to check up on him between classes when my roommates weren’t home.
Tisch sophomore A gecko named Blaze Why did you get a gecko? I originally wanted to have a snake, but my roommate refused to have any sort of snake but was OK with getting Blaze. I really wanted one to just have something live to look at while I did work in my room. Mostly for motivation to do anything since I tend to actually do stuff if I feel someone looking at me or judging me. And that’s it what Blaze is for. Were you ever afraid that your RA was going to find out? Yeah, I was pretty paranoid that he would find out. I didn’t want to have him taken away. Where is Blaze now? I gave him to one of my friends last semester for that reason of not wanting to get in trouble. He told me he died out of nowhere, but I seriously think it is because he forgot to feed him or something. Email Adryan Barlia at abarlia@nyunews.com.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
OPINION
EDITED BY ANDREW HEYING OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
CULTURE
We Need More Feminine Females in Television
By CARINE ZAMBRANO Deputy Opinion Editor
On Nov. 29, Amy Sherman-Palladino’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” released its first season on Amazon Video. The show follows Miriam (Midge) Maisel, a picture-perfect Jewish housewife from 1958 whose life crumbles after her husband leaves her. Midge turns her life around by becoming a stand-up comedian and changes the narrative at a time when being a divorced woman was synonymous with ultimate doom. Even though Midge is fictional, her story is relevant. She is unapologetically feminine, but nobody questions her ability to stand on her feet, or be success-
ful in a male-dominated career, because of her personality — even though she knows it will be harder to succeed because she has ovaries and lives in a patriarchal society. Nonetheless, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” emphasizes how female narratives are still pushed to the side, just because they are centered on issues and situations pertinent to women. If you watched “Gilmore Girls,” you probably know Sherman-Palladino, and you are probably still mad at her for that dreadful revival. Even though her name is well-established, her work is still underrated because it is centered on and targets women. “Gilmore Girls” shows the struggles of being a single mother, being heart-
broken and questioning whether you are good enough, but the show is often shoved to the side as a girly show and never recognized for itself. Throughout its seven-season run, “Gilmore Girls” was only nominated for one Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for a Series. The lack of recognition of female narratives still drags on today. Even though “Crazy Ex-Girl-
friend” has a painfully realistic depiction of living with mental illness and brilliant performances, the show is still trying to find its audience just because it is centered on a woman who does not apologize for being a woman. The main character cries, falls in love, falls out of love and drinks mimosas like there is no tomorrow, and this is apparently too hormonal for any man to handle. There is no denying that female narratives are often marginalized and underrated. While most well-acknowledged series like “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Sopranos” have a common denominator — a male anti-hero main character — sto-
ries centered on women must never follow a formula to be considered relevant. However, this constant reinvention never secures recognition. Regardless of male-centered small-screen depictions, femininity is not weakness. Women are still intelligent, independent and strong, even if they are wallowing while watching “Bridget Jones” and eating a pint of ice cream. If we can see value in watching a line-up of men struggling with the concept of masculinity, there is nothing stopping us in doing the same with watching women redefine womanhood. Email Carine Zambrano at czambrano@nyunews.com.
CULTURE
The Art of Fake Apologies in Sexual Harassment Cases By TYLER CREWS Contributing Writer In the string of apologies from perpetrators of sexual harassment and assault in political and entertainment circles, “I’m sorry” has become a quick fix, like a bandage men can slap over any wounds they may have caused. However, it can be seen clearly in their publicly issued apologies that, as the cliche goes, they aren’t sorry they did it, they’re just sorry that they got caught. Let’s begin with the man who started this trend of recent self-serving, meaningless apologies: Harvey Weinstein. In his written statement, Weinstein started by saying, “I came of age in the 60s and 70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were dif-
ferent. That was the culture then.” Weinstein continued on to apologize for his actions, assert that he does respect women, reassure us that he is getting the help he needs and then joke about his retirement party. He presented his apology in a sandwich of sorts. First, he excused his actions, blaming them on the shift in cultural views on women. This discredits the sincerity he later claims to possess, as he has already refused to assume full responsibility for what he did. He says he respects women, yet certainly doesn’t respect them enough to take the matter seriously, ending his statement by joking about how their accusations spurred his downfall and retirement, rather than acknowledging how he hindered their lives. Wein-
stein’s apology was intended to control the damage he created and redeem his image in the eyes of his fans and colleagues, not to make the victims feel heard. While there are many different empty apologies we can study, there’s one in particular that had my eyes rolling and teeth clenching — that of Minnesota Senator Al Franken. Franken has mastered the art of apologizing without assuming any responsibility what-
soever. He discredited each accusation through vague responses and excuses while apologizing for how the women accusing him may feel. In his Thanksgiving statement following countless accusations of groping and sexual harassment, Franken stated, “I’m a warm person; I hug people. I’ve learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many … some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that.” First, inappropriate and invasive behavior has nothing to do with being warm or a hugger, and everything to do with entitlement and complete disregard for a woman’s ownership
of her own body. Second, he never expressed responsibility or regret for his actions and acknowledged how the women may feel while attempting to discredit the source of their feelings. In apologizing, he was trying to salvage his political image, not having a care in the world about the women he harmed and the values he perpetuated. These men, along with many others, including Matt Lauer and Dustin Hoffman, have perfected a way of apologizing for the damage they cause without apologizing for or even admitting to their actions. While an honest apology is truly not enough in the first place, a fake one means even less. Email Tyler Crews at tcrews@nyunews.com.
CULTURE
By THEO WAYT Staff Writer
What Do We Mean By ‘Mainstream Media’?
Recently, in my journalism class, our professor assigned us a final project about a marginalized group. We were supposed to consider whether this group is subject to bias or discrimination and whether the public is getting a fair, accurate and reasonable portrait of them, among other things. “We are more interested in a critique of mainstream coverage — if the group receives any mainstream coverage,” the assignment read. In class, our professor listed suitable mainstream outlets: CNN, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, NPR and a
couple of others. He didn’t mention Fox News or Breitbart News, but at the time I did not notice. To me, those barely qualified as news outlets. Though I sometimes enjoyed gawking at their stories — like this Fox News segment pointing out that “99.6 Percent of ‘Poor’ Households Have A Refrigerator,” or Breitbart’s article titled “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive And Crazy” — I never took them seriously. But as I conducted my first interview, I realized my professor and I had made a major oversight. To David Schiminow, a conservative graduate student at NYU, Fox is the television station closest to the center. “Not to sound corny, but their slogan is ‘Fair
and Balanced,’” he said. He also reads Breitbart News regularly, describing it as “true conservative Republican … not alt-right by any stretch of the imagination.” I must look skeptical, because Schiminow laughs and admits, “They do lick Trump’s tushie a little bit. There’s no question that the mainstream media is biased to the left.” Schiminow is not alone. In a
2017 Gallup poll, only 14 percent of self-identified Republicans said that “media get the facts straight,” compared to 62 percent of Democrats. This polarization is a relatively recent development: less than 20 years ago, over 50 percent of respondents from both parties responded affirmatively. Whether those of us in college lecture halls acknowledge it or not, right-wing news organizations like Fox and Breitbart are feeding off conservative discontent. According to Google Analytics, Fox News’ website gets tens of millions more monthly views than The Washington Post; Breitbart’s web traffic is roughly equal to that of NPR, and double that of
The New Yorker. My professor often says David Remnick is the most important person in journalism, but could it actually be Steve Bannon? Of course, journalism professors should not tolerate the terribly misleading reporting styles of Breitbart and Fox. But to not address the fact that these news outlets, which are definitely mainstream, are informing millions of people — plus the president himself — is to misrepresent American journalism and to encourage the right-wing cliche that universities are bubbles of liberal fantasy. Email Theo Wayt at opinion@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
OPINION
EDITED BY ANDREW HEYING OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
CULTURE
STAFF EDITORIAL
Another Perspective on the Holidays By SHRADDHA JAJAL Contributing Writer
It’s officially December, and that means that the holiday season is truly upon us. Walking around New York City, you can see the holiday spirit, whether it be the smiles on people’s faces or the smell of hot cocoa in the air. I love the holidays and everything they bring — including presents, vacations and family time. However, there is a stark difference in the way I celebrate the holidays versus the way the majority of the people around me celebrate the holidays. I have been raised Hindu in America. In the United States, while there are many holidays celebrated around this time, such as Hanukkah, the predominant holiday is Christmas. For my family, the break we get in the winter for Christmas is just an average break, not a religious holiday and that changes my perspective of what everyone likes to call the holidays. My parents are immigrants who came to the U.S. when I was just a baby. Growing up, I was taught
Hindu shlokas and chants, and I never even heard of the concept of Christmas or Christmas carols until I started elementary school. I distinctly remember coming home from school one day and asking my mom what Christmas was. I think she told me it was like Diwali for people in the U.S. So, when my classmates came back to school in January when I was little, all they talked about were the cool toys and games that Santa brought them, and I couldn’t help but feel a little left out. And this feeling still lives with me today. People’s spirits lift in the holidays, and as the semester is winding down, everyone around me is chattering about how they’re going to go home and do all these spe-
cial holiday rituals. Yet, last year I was the rogue one on Christmas Day. And I, as a non-Christian, am completely OK with that. However, some people couldn’t believe that’s how I chose to spend my Christmas, and that is preposterous. In a country such as the United States, even with the current political and social climate, there are people of many different backgrounds who do not always share the same holidays and ideals as you. During Hindu holidays, there is no vacation for me: I have to go to class and go on with my day as if it were just an ordinary day. What may be a holiday for one person can be a normal day for another. I will always love the idea of Christmas, but it will never be a part of my identity and my culture. So, next time you ask someone how they celebrated Christmas, take a moment and realize that maybe they don’t view the holidays the same way as you do.
Email Shraddha Jajal at opinion@nyunews.com.
TECHNOLOGY
Elsagate Shows our System Is Broken By HENRY COHEN Staff Writer
Elsagate — the recent propagation of YouTube videos with violent and sexual content aimed at children — has generated a lot of concern about corporate accountability, financial incentives and how parents expose their children to media and technology. At the core of these concerns is the internet and a network that invites systemic, lucrative abuse on a massive scale. The inherent flaws of the internet, issues that have been brought to light by Elsagate and other similar trends, need to be addressed soon before this technology gains even more control over our society, or else the consequences will be even worse. Elsagate happened largely because of increased reliance on automation. YouTube does not, and cannot, review every video that is uploaded, so it uses algorithms to decide which videos get ads, which are suitable for children and so on. These algorithms can be manipulated by people with the incentive and ability to do so at the expense of children caught in the
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loop. A system has been created that is too massive for oversight and too driven by human behavior to be trusted. The system is home to around one billion websites and at least 4.66 billion individual web pages. The internet encompasses almost every aspect of our lives, and it is reasonable to assume that its influence will only continue to grow. Controversies like Elsagate and the influence of fake news in the 2016 presidential election have helped to illuminate how reliant our society is on the internet, from the tendency of some parents to let YouTube raise their kids to the faith many people have in legitimate-sounding Internet media. The system has also been entrusted with becoming the primary means by which our society shops, communicates, keeps track of its
money, educates itself, consumes art and documents its thoughts. Any system that has been given such monumental responsibilities will by its nature be too large and anarchic to regulate, and will consequently invite harmful, and often criminal, abuse. This image is often used to illustrate the true size and scope of Internet content, and how beneath the thin layer of sites most people use every day lies a vast network of credit card theft, drug trafficking, arms trafficking and child pornography. Net neutrality has been in the news a great deal lately, and while the threat posed by greedy ISPs is real and demands public attention, it is important to realize that the Internet is besieged both from the outside and from within. It has been allowed to grow with fundamental flaws, and if we are really going to continue granting it control over society then major, comprehensive changes have to be made on the government, corporate level and individual levels. Email Henry Cohen at opinion@nyunews.com.
$70K Is Enough for Rat-Free Dining Halls
Last week, WSN reported that a presence of rat droppings, filthy flies and hot food held at less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit was discovered at Lipton Dining Hall during a recent health inspection. Although this is undoubtedly not the most serious issue facing campus, it is nevertheless important. With the exception of tuition rates, arguably nothing affects students more — especially underclassmen — than the quality of food served at NYU. Because of this, NYU must take action to fix such a troubling and disgusting situation. Lipton has earned a more favorable reputation among NYU dining halls in the past. It is close to Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, looks objectively cleaner than nearby dining halls and brands itself as the healthy dining hall. The fact that Lipton received 39 points — a perfect score is zero — during the inspection is eyebrow-raising for many students. If rat droppings and flies are present in the cleanest dining hall here on campus, what might be in the other dining halls with less favorable reputations, such as Third North Courtyard Cafe and Downstein? In fact, many dining halls have struggled to receive favorable ratings in the past, despite how costly NYU dining plans are. Furthermore, all NYU’s meal plans exceed $1,400 per semester. While the university is located in Manhattan, one of the most expensive locations in the country, NYU’s meal plan is even more costly than those of other New York-based universities. At Columbia University, an upperclassmen meal plan with 175 meals and 200 dining dollars totals $2,163 per term, while NYU’s 175 Flex plan with 300 dining dollars is $2,325 per semester. Barnard’s upperclassmen Platinum Plan with 19 meals per week and 120 meal plan points — a similar system to dining dollars — is only $2,290 per semester, while NYU’s 300 Flex plan with 150 dining dollars is $2,715. With tuition averaging $47,000 per student and meal plans that are equally pricey, it is unacceptable that sanitary guidelines are not being followed thoroughly. With finals season coming up, students deserve a reliable and clean dining hall that can satisfy and fuel them. Lipton, along with Downstein and Kimmel, is the closest traditional dining hall to Bobst. Students can grab food and head to their study spots without much hassle. Lipton’s poor rating will discourage students from eating there, further limiting the options available for students on campus. While Lipton’s reputation will suffer from these findings, NYU should focus on thoroughly investigating this issue and promptly resolving it. NYU is too expensive to be this dirty.
Email the WSN Editorial Board at opinion@nyunews.com. EDITORIAL BOARD: Andrew Heying (Chair), Adryan Barlia (Co-chair), Paola Nagovitch (Co-chair), Carine Zambrano (Co-chair) STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON
Send mail to: 75 Third Ave. #SB07, New York, N.Y. 10003 or email: opinion@nyunews.com WSN welcomes letters to the editor, opinion pieces and articles relevant to the NYU community, or in response to articles. Letters should be less than 450 words. All submissions must be typed or emailed and must include the author’s name, address and phone number. Members of the NYU community must include a year and school or job title.
WSN does not print unsigned letters or editorials. WSN reserves the right to reject any submission and edit accepted submissions in any and all ways. With the exception of the staff editorial, opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
SPORTS
EDITED BY MADDIE HOWARD SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
NYU Hockey Falls Short in Season Opener By TYLER CREWS Deputy Sports Editor
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Although the team lost to Drexel last Friday, it will have another opportunity to reedem itself in a game next Friday, Dec. 8 against SUNY Stony Brook.
NYU hockey fell short in the team’s first game against Drexel University on Friday, Dec. 1 at the Chelsea Piers Sky Rink. The five starters kicking off the game were SPS seniors Michael Conslato and Steven Esposito, SPS juniors Mason Gallegos, John Kowalewski and SPS sophomore Giancarlo Pochintesta. SPS sophomore Patrick Cavanaugh started the game off in goal. Drexel kicked off the excitement for the first period, scoring its first two goals, which ended the period with the score at 2-0. While Drexel had more goals at the end of the first period, the two teams were equal in shooting, tied 7-7. In the second period, NYU dominated the play, keeping the puck out of its end for the majority of the period. The team had many fans there to support it, and you could feel the crowd’s excitement when NYU secured its first goal at minute 8:46, scored by SPS junior Hamilton Whyte and assisted by Pochintesta. A mere
NCAA Championship Teams Visit the White House By TORI BIANCO Contributing Writer
Recently, President Donald Trump hosted several National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship teams at the White House. From observations of this event, it appeared to be a mild-mannered day for Trump and collegiate athletes. Trump happily interacted with
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This facade of unambiguous support for the current administrative system did not prove true for all NCAA Championship teams.
” many athletes, hitting a volleyball with an Ohio State University’s men’s volleyball player and even acknowledging a member of the West Virginia athletics who was wearing a “Trump ‘16” tie. Some teams even brought Trump gifts,
such as a personalized glove from the Oklahoma softball team and a jersey from Pennsylvania State University’s women’s rugby team. However, this facade of unambiguous support for the current administrative system did not prove true for all NCAA Championship teams. Two teams rejected their invitations: the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill men’s basketball team. Interestingly enough, both of these teams dominate their home courts in traditionally conservative voting states. “We did hear from the White House about attending tomorrow’s event, but we will not be able to attend,” head coach of the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, Dawn Staley, said to the Washington Examiner. “As I’ve been saying since our practices for this season started, all of our focus is on the season ahead. The only invitation we are thinking about is to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.” On the other hand, due to a scheduling conflict, Roy Williams, the head coach of the UNC men’s basketball team and public critic of Trump and his social media behavior, declined the offer to visit the White House and meet with Trump, according to the New York Times. This is not the first time that athletes and athletic staff have rejected invitations from the cur-
rent administration. Professional athletes, such as Steph Curry and Colin Kaepernick, have appeared in the news for their public criticism of Trump. Now, the collegiate sector is choosing to use its platforms in similar ways. Championship teams have traditionally viewed an invitation to the White House as an honor and a privilege, but this view has clearly begun to shift. Email Tori Bianco at sports@nyunews.com.
VIA WIKIMEDIA.ORG
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill men’s basketball team and University of South Carolina women’s basketball team rejected the NCAA invitation to the White House this year under the Trump administration.
nine seconds later, the Violets scored again, as Conslato was able to get past Drexel’s goalie with an assist from Esposito. This tied the game at 2-2. NYU had an advantage at minute 9:35 when a Drexel player was put in the box for slashing, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Drexel secured its lead once again at minute 11:48 with the go ahead goal. Shortly thereafter, Drexel got the puck past Cavanaugh once more, reclaiming its two-goal lead. After Drexel scored its third goal of the period at 14:21, Cavanaugh was subbed by Steinhardt sophomore goalkeeper Adam Salisbury. NYU kept up, though, and was able to bag a short-handed goal at 19:12, scored by SPS freshman Alex Peck off of an assist from SPS freshman Frankie Horowitz. The second period ended with a score of 5-3, and Drexel had taken seven shots, whereas NYU took 12. During the third period, Drexel hit hard first at 1:15, bringing its lead to 6-3. At 7:11, Drexel was sent to the box for checking from behind. An-
other Drexel player joined the first at 8:24, bringing NYU to an advantageous five-on-three. NYU was not able to secure a goal in this time, though, and called a timeout with 11:36 to gather themselves. Despite their efforts, the Violets could not shut Drexel down, and the opposing team scored its seventh goal at 14:00. The game ended as a 7-3 loss. After the game, Head Coach Chris Cosentino said the team is young and is focusing on improving every day and practicing the right way for 60 minutes every night. “Early in the season we struggled with inconsistency, but I really like the way we are developing and we just need to keep pushing forward,” Cosentino said. “We had a good series last week against Liberty, but we know we need to be better and it starts tonight.” You can watch the team play again on Friday, Dec. 8 at 8:30 p.m. against SUNY Stony Brook at the Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers. Email Tyler Crews at tcrews@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
SPORTS
EDITED BY MADDIE HOWARD SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 By TYLER CREWS Deputy Sports Editor
Men’s Basketball On Monday, Nov. 27, NYU men’s basketball defeated host Brooklyn College at the West Quad Center in Brooklyn. NYU was leading 31-28 after the first 20 minutes, but Brooklyn came back to tie the game up at 34. However, the Violets bounced back and scored 12 more points in order to secure a lead of 46-37. They kept their lead until the end of the game, with a final score of 74-64. Silver sophomore Jimmy Martinelli led in scoring and rebounds, with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The team was less fortunate on Saturday, Dec. 2 when they played Medgar Evers College, and lost 79-77 in Brooklyn. At halftime, the team trailed behind 32-39, but came back with a 7-0 run at the beginning of the second half. However, the Violets fell back once more and were outscored 25-11 in the final six minutes of the game. CAS junior Douglas Gertner led NYU in scoring for this game with his 19 points. The Violets will play at home on Thursday, Dec. 7 against the College of New Rochelle.
Women’s Basketball Women’s basketball struggled to finish strong in its game against the College of Staten Island, pulling up short with a score of 65-62, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Sportsplex in Manhattan. SPS graduate student Kaitlyn Read was NYU’s leading scorer for the fifth time in six games this season. She finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The team bounced back on Saturday, Dec. 2 when it traveled south to Lexington, Virginia and collected a 77-53 victory from Washington and Lee University. CAS senior Kayla Patterson scored 19 points and secured 11 rebounds to bring the Violets to victory and bump them up to a 4-3 record. The Violets will play again on Tuesday, Dec. 5 when they travel to Brooklyn College.
Men’s Swimming and Diving The NYU men’s swimming and diving team completed the first two days of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Winter Invitational on Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After the first day, the Violets were in third place with
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110 points. Individually, CAS freshman Peyton Lucas placed second in the 1,650-yard freestyle, earning himself a NCAA “B” cut with a time of 16:09.56. SPS senior Ian Rainey also got a NCAA “B” cut and set an NYU team record for his 200-yard IM time of 1:28.74. Gallatin senior Adam Betts also made a “B” cut with his 100-yard backstroke time of 50.25. On the diving board, SPS junior Connor Brisson won the three-meter dive with a score of 390.5. After the second day, Saturday, Dec. 2, the Violets moved up to second place, having accumulated 732 points, behind only host MIT. Individually, Stern senior Tim Kou won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.50, making him one of the four NYU swimmers to place in the top five. Rainey produced top finishes in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard IM with times of 1:47.63 and 3:53.79 respectively, and Stern senior Chad Moody won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.86. In diving, Brisson dominated the one-meter event with a score of 338.35.
Women’s Swimming and Diving The NYU women’s swimming and diving team also competed the first two days of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Winter Invitational on Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After the first day, the team was in second place with 140 points, which was only one point behind the leader, Tufts University. Nursing sophomore Jaime Robinson won the 1,650yard freestyle with a time of 17:05.27, and CAS junior Grace Wakabayashi took second place with a time of 17:08.52. The two both earned NCAA “B” cuts. In diving, CAS sophomore Carmen White earned a fourthplace finish in the one-meter dive with a score of 277.35. The Violets maintained their rank after their second day of competing, totaling 687.5 points and are behind only MIT. CAS freshman Sydney Catron took first in the 200yard freestyle with a time of 151.86., while CAS junior May Li earned the Violets a victory in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.41. In diving, White took third place in the three-meter event with a score of 227.00. Email Tyler Crews at tcrews@nyunews.com.
Colin Kaepernick Named GQ’s Citizen of the Year
By HELEN XIE Staff Writer
There are those who hope to be famous so they can revel in the prestige, luxury and comfort it affords. There are others who are thrown into fame and utilize their position to enlighten the public on core social justice issues. The former is a stereotype too common in the National Football League, where players dream of making it into the league to prove their haters wrong or to buy diamond-encrusted Rolex watches. Managed by older white males, both those who own the individual teams and who control the league, these players are pawns at the hands of the elite. Football is a sport of profit, with Super Bowl Sunday generating advertisement revenues of almost $3.5 billion every year. It is the most watched show in TV history, and the sport itself brings in hundreds of millions of viewers combined, which incidentally makes it a great medium for protest. This year, GQ released its decision for Man of the Year: Colin Kaepernick. A cover star in 2013 as well, this year, GQ hoped to use the issue to celebrate his bravery and commitment to a cause that is too often brushed under the rug. Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the
national anthem sent ripples through the football and global communies, as some criticized his actions for being disrespectful while others praised his audacity. He risked his career, losing his job as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers to end up as a free agent, but he insisted on committing to his values to enact greater change for the black community.
really alone when he started and regardless of anyone’s views, it is respectable that he is doing this.” Augustine Liu, a Stern sophomore, echoed this same belief and added his own belief that Kaepernick’s kneeling was “a personal choice, voicing something that, in his mind, is against his morality.” He further emphasized that Kaepernick truly de-
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A cover star in 2013 as well, this year, GQ hoped to use the issue to celebrate his bravery and commitment to a cause that is too often brushed under the rug.
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Many NYU students praised and admired Kaepernick for his actions. CAS sophomore Charlie You referenced similarities between demonstrations in history and Kaepernick’s, recalling how “a lot of people in history have done their own unique forms of protest which were not really appreciated, but the magazine is respecting [Kaepernick’s] unique form of protest” with its new issue. You further added that Kaepernick was “commendable, he was
served the position because “it’s not easy to stand up against the majority,” much less an entire nation divided by racial issues. While Liu was not as familiar with Kaepernick before his protests, he said he gained “some real respect for [him afterwards as] it is really important for the black community to have a representative to voice their concerns.” Email Helen Xie at sports@nyunews.com.
VIA FACEBOOK.COM
Colin Kaepernick was announced as GQ’s Citizen of the Year.
Drunken Love Letters By LOIS EVANS What I’ve learned, again and again, is that I love you. And I wish you’d lay your edges and scars in my lap like fallen stars in a broken constellation. Wrap them around me. Wrap you around me. *** We argued a few hours ago. Well, it wasn’t really an argument, now that I think about it. I was (partly and only partly) wrong and was unprepared to be wrong and unprepared for our bickering to thicken into mudslinging. I realized that I was about to strike a nerve with you only after I had done it. I watched the warmth of your eyes cool on me, your smirk vanish. The tension between the two of us make the air stink. And I felt like a little girl. “I think we agree with each other.” I said, my words an olive branch, the closest I’d get to begging for reconciliation. “We never do.” You said, knocking my branch to the ground. So I’m the hurt one now. And I wonder if you’re up replaying my words in your head. My gut instinct is to apologize, but I know it won’t help my heart much. Never is a burning word. Sorry feels like a bandaid sitting in my mouth, buckling behind my teeth before I can conjure the strength to be audible. Perhaps the strength is not saying sorry. You don’t say it enough. *** We look blue in this light. Or, rather, you look blue in this light. I’m not too sure of myself. You seem so calm—head pressed to pillow, eyes closed. My body is still buzzing. Somehow, I can feel everything, but can’t move at all. This is paralysis, I think. But a kind I don’t mind so much. This is what making up feels like. Darkness and moonlight and silence except for
the colliding of bodies. I blink, remembering the warmth of your breath on my neck, the careful movement of your fingers through my curls. And for a moment, I can forget everything else. You wake up as I’m finally about to sleep. Neither of us says anything. We’re better not talking at times like this. I want nothing to sour the lingering taste of you all over. Just for a few more hours. So you can keep looking at me in that way you do; like you’re carrying a question. And until I fall asleep, I’ll pretend to hold answers. *** I hate watching you eat. You make a mess out of what should be beautiful, just like I do. And you always make me laugh when my mouth is full. *** You, in some way, are in all my drunk stories. Pouring a shot, holding open a door, making me feel like a woman. I’ve been a woman for a while now. Longer to some than others, but only a little while to me. You, if I’m honest, don’t matter much in the calculation of that time. Be aware of that. Loving you, as silly as that sounds and feels and is, reminds me of the youth I’ve almost had stolen so many times. This loving thing is stupid and misguided and indulgent. Thankfully, I’ve got some time to be all those things. The trainwreck, that is me, chooses to kill time with the car crash, that is you. *** A friend of mine once told me something I still think about every time I write. She said while chewing on white cheddar Cheetos, that no man is worth more than one poem or story. I lay on my rug agreeing with her at the time, but my opinion has since changed. One unearned thing. This is all you get. This is all you have earned.
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Exposure: Animals Abroad By ANNA LETSON, VERONICA LIOW AND EUAN PRENTIS Multimedia Team
When you’re abroad and separated from your pets at home, it’s hard to find an animal to fill the void. To do so, a lot of us end up taking pictures of other people’s animals, strays on the street and other random animal spottings. From cats running around the Greek Isles to dogs in Barcelona, and even a rogue camel in Tunis, the animal kingdom reigns in all shapes, colors and sizes. Whether they are replicas of our beloved nonhuman best friends or exotic creatures we may never see again, these animals add an element of home to a foreign country.