NYU’s Independent Student Newspaper | est. 1973
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Monday, April 9, 2018
Volume L, Issue 11
ARTS
FEATURES
OPINION
SPORTS
Lorde Embraces the Intimate on ‘Melodrama’ Tour
Leaving the Bars Behind and Starting Anew
Early Decision Favors Affluent Students
The Hidden Injuries of Athletes
ON PAGE 5
ON PAGE 6
ON PAGE 9
ON PAGE 10
TISCH STUDENTS
ENCOUNTER
RACIAL
INSENSITIVITY
IN DRAMA PROGRAM
By Miranda Levingston Editor-at-Large The names of most students have been changed for their safety and the protection of their privacy.
T
amara was walking down a hallway after class last spring when one of her professors plunged their hands unexpectedly into her hair. Tamara is a black drama student at Tisch School of the Arts, and she said the same encounter happened earlier that year at the hands of a different Drama teacher. Both professors were white. After the second incident, Tamara said she almost started crying. “That is a violation of personal space, and for what reason?” Tamara said. “It was even more hurtful because it was a professor. They should know better than just to walk up to me and mess my hair up.” Stories of microaggressions were told to WSN by nine black Tisch students, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss issues surrounding race at Tisch because they did not want to affect relationships with their professors who control both their grades and oftentimes future job prospects in the close-knit theater community. Drama students said their instructors are typically active in the theater industry and become their employers and references. An amiable relationship with their teachers is crucial for their financial wellbeing and success in the field. The students described an atmosphere of racial insensitivity, where some professors stereotype, exclude and silence students and treat race as merely an academic topic. At a school that prides itself on sensitivity and respect for identity, students said the university’s flip attitude toward race is alarming. Ruben Polendo, the recently appointed chair of Tisch Drama, said he is working to address the concerns of marginalized students. Polendo said he recognizes some members of his faculty can be insensitive toward students of color and said he feels a sense of urgency in responding to these issues. “For me, as an artist of color, these conversations aren’t merely important, but they’re actually very personal,” Polendo said. Polendo said that his team has been working with Center for Multicultural Education and Programs to conduct a year-long investigation into each of the 10 Tisch Drama studios and produce mandatory workshops for faculty, staff and students which complement the program. Last September, a Tisch Drama teacher told Drama sophomore Paige she “can’t be all alone on her big mama island,” while critiquing her independence in work. Paige said that she feels constantly and unnecessarily chastised by a few of her teachers. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 |
Washington Square News | Monday, April 9, 2018
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NEWS
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CRIME LOG
Student Reports Bowl and Jeans Missing From Dorm By KRISTINA HAYHURST Deputy News Editor
From March 30 to April 6, the NYU Department of Public Safety received two reports of assault, one report of criminal mischief, one report of harassment, nine reports of larceny, one report of stalking and one report of trespassing.
ASSAULT
On March 31 at 7:28 p.m., two NYU students reported that they were assaulted while walking south on Lawrence Street around the Dibner building. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation. On April 2 at 8:46 p.m., an NYU employee reported that he was the victim of an assault in the Forbes Building. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.
CRIMINAL MISCHIEF
On March 31 at 2:40 a.m., a Public Safety Officer witnessed an unidentified male kick a glass partition, breaking it at 80 Lafayette. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation.
HARASSMENT
On March 31 at 11:50 p.m., an NYU student reported that she was harassed at Othmer Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.
LARCENY
On March 30 at 4:20 p.m., a Stony Brook University student reported that his jacket was missing from the sixth floor. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation. On April 1 at 3:00 a.m., a delivery person reported that his bike was stolen from outside Brittany Residence Hall. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation. On April 2 at 11:30 a.m., a student reported that his jacket was missing from the third floor common area in the Basic Science Building. The case is open and under investigation. On April 2 at 1:30 p.m., a student reported that her wallet was missing from a classroom in Rubin Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation. On April 3 at 1:13 p.m., an NYU student reported that his bookbag was missing from the cafeteria in Kimmel Center for University Life. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation. On April 3 at 3:30 p.m., an NYU Abu Dhabi student reported that his bike was missing from the bike room in Palladium Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.
On April 3 at 5:10 p.m., an NYU student reported that a bowl and a pair of jeans were missing from his room in Othmer Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation. On April 3 at 9:55 p.m., two NYU students reported that money was taken from their wallets stashed in an unsecured locker in Palladium Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation. On April 4 at 9:00 p.m., two students reported that a purse and money were missing from their dormitory in Carlyle Court Residence Hall. The case is open and under investigation.
STALKING
On April 2 at 5:23 p.m., a student reported that she was the victim of stalking in Washington Square Park. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation.
TRESPASSING
On April 4 at 3:48 p.m., a Public Safety Officer reported that a nonNYU affiliated person trespassed at 400 Broome Street. No police report was filed and the person was escorted out of the building. Email the News Team at news@nyunews.com.
Inside the Supreme Court of the United States.
VIA FLICKR.COM
NYU Takes Legal Action Against Trump Travel Ban By ALEX DOMB Deputy News Editor
On March 30, NYU’s general counsel filed an amicus curiae brief against the latest iteration of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The brief, addressed to the United States Supreme Court, was filed in support of the case’s respondents, representing the State of Hawaii. A federal judge from Hawaii, Judge Derrick Watson, blocked the most recent revision of the ban in October 2017, one day before it was set to take effect. In January, the Supreme Court considered hearing Watson’s challenge to the ban. NYU General Counsel Terrance Nolan wrote the brief with the Manhattan-based law firm Proskauer Rose LLP, which assisted on a pro bono basis, according to NYU Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Programs Josh Taylor. The brief is the fourth NYU has filed against various iterations of the travel ban, the previous three being filed in March and April of 2017. The brief filed on March 30 closely resembles the previous briefs. Lawyers argue that, in representing one of the most globally diverse universities in the world — with a primary campus situated in one of the most diverse cities in the world — the university maintains a significant stake in the case’s outcome. “NYU has a vital interest in the proper administration, within constitutional limits, of the immigration laws of the United States,” the brief states. “NYU is deeply concerned that Proclamation 9645 … like its predecessor Executive Orders, exceeds those limits. If allowed to stand, it would impair unique educational opportunities that NYU is otherwise able to provide, inflicting harm on the university, on its constituents and on the community at large.” The brief makes three primary arguments against the travel ban: that international diversity is critical to NYU’s identity and mission, that the ban significantly harms NYU’s present and prospective community members and that the ban violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. “By indiscriminately targeting individuals from the Muslim-majority countries of Iran, Libya, Somalia,
Chad, Syria and Yemen without any basis to believe that such individuals pose the slightest threat to the national security of the United States, the proclamation improperly compromises the diversity that is central to NYU’s identity and mission,” the brief states. The brief claims that prior statements made by the president provide evidence of Islamophobia, implying bigoted objectives in enacting a ban against Muslim-majority nations. This section of the brief cites eight tweets from Trump and other statements the president has made in various settings. “The Proclamation thus links itself to the countless statements of the president that, without any evidence whatsoever, perpetuate the stereotype that people of Muslim faith are largely terrorists seeking to harm the United States,” the brief states. The amicus brief continues the NYU administration’s outspoken opposition to Trump. Since the start of the 20172018 academic year, President Andrew Hamilton has released memorandums criticizing the travel ban, the White House’s rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Trump’s response to the “Unite the Right” Charlottesville rally in August and the Congressional tax bill signed by Trump in December 2017. NYU trustees have been criticized by student activists for their ties to Trump. Trustee John Paulson donated to Trump’s campaign and serves as an economic adviser to the president, and trustee Ken Langone, who made headlines in November 2017 for anti-immigrant rhetoric, also donated to Trump’s campaign. A previous memorandum released by Hamilton in March 2017 explained NYU’s reasoning behind filing the first rounds of amicus briefs against the travel ban. Taylor told WSN that the memorandum applies equally today as it did over a year ago. “It saddens and frustrates me to think of students and scholars who so wish to be at NYU, who worked so hard to be admitted or appointed, who might contribute so much to our community, thwarted from doing so because of an ill-advised policy,” Hamilton wrote in the 2017 memorandum. Email Alex Domb at adomb@nyunews.com.
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NEWS
Edited by Sakshi Venkatraman and Mack DeGeurin news@nyunews.com
Tisch Students Encounter Racial Insensitivity in Drama Program | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Paige said that this continued insensitivity factors into why she plans to transfer to a different university. “I’m trying to transfer next year,” Paige said. “It is because the environment that was advertised isn’t necessarily here, and I think that there needs to be a big increase of faculty of color ... How can we even enter this professional realm without a sense of who our people are, artistically?” Although former Dramatic Writing student Romaissaa Benzizoune does not intend to leave the university, the racial microaggressions she experienced played a role in why she chose to transfer out of Tisch after one semester. She is currently a sophomore in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study and was the only the Dramatic Writing student who spoke with WSN. Late last fall, a Dramatic Writing professor asked Benzizoune and the two other black students in her class to speak up during a 60-person lecture if they felt uncomfortable about the controversial skit parodying slavery they were watching. After this incident, Benzizoune said she had to temporarily leave the room. “I didn’t want to entertain a question that was so inappropriately leveled and also that was so obvious in its intent to make racial struggles and racism simply intellectual things to grapple with,” Benzizoune said. “It was very clear she was asking that question to have a conversation about political correctness rather than her caring about us and whether or not we were offended.” Benzizoune said her teacher apologized to her after class and asked her to explain what went wrong. In a later class, the same teacher also chose to read the n-word out loud in class as part of a script but censored “c-nt” in a different script. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced more microaggressions at NYU than during my one semester at Tisch,” Benzizoune said. While each student’s story was unique, all of them said they felt mistreated because of their race. Students also said that the responsibility of addressing microaggression is often put on their shoulders. Many said more faculty of color, a non-Eurocen-
tric curriculum and more mandatory trainings for the community would begin to recalibrate the character of the program.
A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE FACULTY AND CURRICULUM
Last semester, a teacher initially ignored Paige when she expressed discomfort about the use of n-word in a scene. After the interaction, Paige said she had to temporarily leave class because she was so upset. “I said that he, as a straight white male, won’t listen to me as a minority when I tell him that I’m feeling uncomfortable in the room, and I don’t feel heard and I feel silenced as a minority within this department,” Paige said. “It is really hard to feel like we can’t speak up against our faculty without having to explain race issues, privilege and why we feel uncomfortable — those aren’t things we would have to explain necessarily to faculty of color.” Within the larger university, the black or African-American faculty and staff make up just 10.4 percent of the total faculty and staff, according to data from the 2013-2014 academic year. That figure represented 1,322 people in the university and is currently the most recent available data. According to an anonymous Drama professor, only a few of their colleagues are professors of color. “Perhaps the number-one obstacle I face daily, as one of the handful of professors of color, is having to constantly remind my colleagues that there are different perspectives, a different point of view, a different way of viewing art and teaching,” they said. While there are no available statistics on the diversity make up of the Drama program, Senior Public Affairs Officer Cheryl Feliciano told WSN in an email that in the last year and a half of Polendo’s tenure, there have been three new professional hires, two of whom are artists of color. The anonymous professor critiqued some of their colleagues’ curriculums for their mostly white teaching material. “It has been surprising that some professors might have their students read 10 plays and they’re all written by white men,” the Drama professor said. “There is not any thought
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM KLIEN
Studio 3 of the Experimental Theater Wing is one of many studios at Tisch School of the Arts.
to having a black actor in the class get up and perform material that was written by a white person. Tisch Drama junior Grace is one of those students. She said she felt excluded from conversations in the classroom because the curriculum focused solely on Eurocentric films and scenes. This year, Grace said her teacher approached her and the other two black students in the class to ask if they had recommendations for shows that didn’t center on a white narrative. Grace and her two peers compiled a list of 50 different works, and he brought a selection of those into the curriculum. Tisch Drama sophomore Brooke said she’s had to explain to her teachers why it is not useful for her to study certain dialects based on the realities of type-casting in the industry. “I just feel like a lot of restructuring needs to happen, so that minorities feel like they’re actually getting training that’s going to be beneficial for them when we go out into the world and start working,” Brooke said.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION COMMUNITY TRAINING
Brooke said a Tisch Drama professor instructed her to add stereotypical mannerisms to her monologue portrayal of a black man during her first year. Brooke refused because she said that the historical figure the monologue was based on did not behave in such a way. As Brooke was leaving for the day, her teacher called after her to say that Brooke should “bring a do-rag next time.” “He should have said, ‘I don’t know about this piece so why don’t I do a little bit of research and get back to you so that I can better educate you,’” Brooke said. “Instead, he directed me based off of his own prejudices of how a black gang leader should act and look like.” According to two anonymous professors, there was one mandatory Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training for Tisch Drama faculty which lasted about an hour and a half. The Center for Multicultural Education and Programs referred questions about the trainings to NYU Public Affairs which declined to comment. “[Polendo] has taken this topic on wholeheartedly, and he is very much committed to changing the culture at Tisch so that it is an inclusive, diverse and equitable environment,” the anonymous Drama professor said. Tamara said that the training thus far does not seem evident in some of her interactions with her Drama teachers. “I just find myself often — and the students around me — having conversations with professors on how to conduct themselves around us,” Tamara said. “It just seems like they haven’t been trained in that they don’t know how to interact with LGBTQ+ students, they don’t know how to interact around black
STAFF PHOTO BY KATIE PEURRUNG
Tisch School of the Arts building on Broadway.
students or anyone not white — they kind of just don’t know how to approach us.” Student interactions can be microaggressive as well, according to Tisch Drama senior Anna. “When I got here, what surprised me was the things I encountered in regards to race, class and misogyny,” Anna said. “From students coming up to you and feeling your hair without asking or students saying ‘oh, you’re not like other black people,’ to even being called n-word by an international NYU student.” Polendo said the CMEP trainings will play a larger role in the community in the next year and that he also plans to establish an entry course for new teachers and new students. “Our students, and our faculty, are coming from so many different frameworks and points of view,” Polendo said. “If we can establish a baseline, then the conversation can keep moving forward.”
THE BURDEN OF THE STUDENT
Drama student Lucy once had a teacher tell her she couldn’t play a role because it was meant for a “pale young woman.” She said she believed it would negatively impact her training if she confronted her teacher or reported this incident. “My fear is always having to work twice as hard but now having to work three times as hard because you overstepped your bounds with your teacher, in their eyes,” Lucy said. “As black students — as students of color, we have to fight to be viewed as equal or on the same plane as our white counterparts.” Tamara said the effort involved is just one reason why students choose not to report injustices they experience. “Even if you do report it it,” Tamara said. “You don’t know who’s going to handle it. You don’t know where they stand, if you are going to remain anonymous and if it is going to negatively backfire.” Polendo said his goal is to create multiple avenues for students to have their voices heard. He created a regular meeting called the “Commu-
nity Call-In” and has supervised the creation of student leadership teams and affinity groups. “One of the most problematic things that can happen, and I speak from my own experience as a queer artist of color, is that my voice is taken away,” Polendo said. “The space of injury, aggression, misconduct and etc. is a very personal one. Therefore, it is also not for me to decide exactly how it happens but rather to create a range of avenues that creates a multitude of ways to engage in that conversation.” Tisch Drama junior Leah said they appreciate that the “Community Call-In” and other similar programs may educate some people in the community, but from their experiences, said that the conversations are dominated by privileged students. “Some people are taking up space because they don’t realize how much space they take up,” Leah said. “Those talks end up becoming people just voicing how privileged they are and how bad they feel about being privileged.” Polendo said that he thinks the role of the student in the resolution is a very individualized position. “There are different modes of engaging in the conversation,” Polendo said. “My argument is that as chair, we have to create a space for all of them.” Tisch Drama senior Mary said that while she has experienced microaggressive incidents, she thinks Polendo’s recent appointment as the Drama chair will be productive for the community. “I’ve run into people who I think ‘yup, I’m going to detach myself from you,’” Mary said. “Having [Polendo] come in as the drama chair, I feel that will be a good change. I think he’s making some good moves now — but I’m going to graduate, so it won’t affect me as much.” For the students who still have a ways to go before graduation, Polendo said brighter days are ahead. “Is there room to grow?” Polendo said. “Yes, absolutely. I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t.” Email Miranda Levingston at mlevingston@nyunews.com.
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ARTS
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Russ Entertains His Ego at Steinhardt Q&A
VIA TWITTER.COM
Students and faculty who attended Steinhardt’s Q&A with DIY rapper Russ pose for a photo following the one-hour session.
By CONNOR GATESMAN Music Editor
On March 28, to a crowd of people gathered in the audtorium of the Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, DIY rapper and producer Russ spoke about his path to success. The conversation spanned from the uncut singles he would upload to his SoundCloud as his career began in Atlanta, Georgia, to his recent stream of hit singles such as “What They Want” and “Losin’ Control.” The crowd included Steinhardt Music Business students and faculty, along with Russ fanatics who listened intently to the Q&A between Russell Vitale, who goes by Russ, and Larry Miller, the Music Business program director. All Steinhardt Music Business students attendance at the Q&A was mandatory. Originally the event was only open to members of the Steinhardt Music Business program and those in the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, but Russ gave out 30 tickets on his Twitter to anyone outside the NYU community. MAC Presents President and Music
By ANUBHUTI KUMAR Highlighter Editor
Business professor Marcie Allen arranged Russ’ talk because her agency represents the rapper for brand partnerships along with Cara Lewis of Cara Lewis Group. WSN reached out to Allen for information about how the event came to be, and she noted Russ’ rare public speaking appearances. “The purpose of the event was to let Russ tell his story in his own words for what was really the first time,” Allen said in an email to WSN. “As Russ mentioned in his talk, he doesn’t typically like doing interviews because his words can get taken out of context.” Allen spoke about the purpose of the Q&A and why they chose to partner Russ with Miller. “By pairing him with Larry Miller and putting him in front of a room full of students and fans who hung on his every word for more than an hour, Russ was able to share his insights and hard-won lessons with the exact type of people who helped get him to his current career status,” Allen said. Before the event began, a subtle but noticeable divide between Music Business
students and outside fans began to form. Music Business sophomore Cristeen Park expressed confusion in this phenomenon. “I was outside GCASL waiting to go inside, and I hear a bunch of Music Business kids going ‘Who the f-ck is Russ?’” Park told WSN. “I go inside and see a bunch of my friends who were pre-med, and they were like, ‘Oh my god, I love Russ.’ We were all like, ‘Wait, we’re the music students. What’s going on here?’” Once the talk began, Russ immediately captivated the crowd with his commanding presence, do-it-yourself attitude and comic demeanor. The college auditorium was slightly different than his usual venues, but as Miller explained, the rapper is just as competent of a speaker as he is a musician. “Russ is super talented and plays nightly in front of thousands of fans who know the words to every song in his set,” Miller said. “But it took him a minute to get used to the interview format and the Steinhardt audience. After that, I just needed to give him a subject and get out of the way.” His presence at Steinhardt was made somewhat ironic however, given a tweet he wrote the week following the talk. From his language — dropping the word “retarded” — and students’ responses, it seemed that Russ hadn’t considered the demographic of the talk. “Russ literally did not seem to know he was on a college campus,” Park said. “So he’d walk around and be like, ‘hey y’all. F-ck. F-ck yeah.’ And then he dropped the r-word. And there was a gasp in the audience.” Despite his clear from-the-ground-up attitude and path to stardom, Russ spoke in platitudes as if it was his last meal throughout the one-hour talk. Students didn’t feel as fulfilled by the artist’s abstract and philosophical responses to Miller’s ques-
tions. Many students, such as a first-year student who chose to remain anonymous, felt that the talk lacked substance, especially for those who want a future in the music industry. “I just feel like he didn’t have anything intelligent to say about the industry,” the first-year said. “It felt more like a talk show for our entertainment rather than an opportunity for us to gain real insight. There’s a lot of people I would love to learn from at collegium, and Russ was simply not one of them.” Russ’s well-documented attitude during past interviews seemed to carry into his Steinhardt appearance, which proved to be an issue for some. “He was very cocky and arrogant,” Park said. “There were times that everybody would laugh when he said something, but people in the back of their heads were like ‘uhhh.’” Julian Robinson, a Music Business sophomore, left the talk with mixed feelings, citing Russ’ personality as a main source of confusion. “After watching him talk, I can say that his musical passion and motivation is inspiring, as well as a trademark, not-acare-in-the-world attitude that makes him even more individualistic,” Robinson said. “However, his abrasive personality got in the way of any form of encouragement he tried to give us students.” However, as Robinson, Miller and Allen all pointed out, Russ clearly has a passion for music. His relentless work ethic arguably allows him to carry the kind of confidence that he does. “Russ has written, produced, mixed, engineered and performed hundreds of tracks all by himself,” Allen said. “Russ is a true ‘DIY pioneer’ who is an inspiration to many of the students currently enrolled here who are exploring how their career
paths can follow the same independent trail he’s helped blaze.” Miller echoed Allen’s sentiments, noting the importance of his motivational message to budding musicians trying to get a foot into the industry. “I don’t think Russ has ever experienced a moment of self-doubt,” Miller said. “But it’s always helpful when a successful artist tells young people to believe in themselves and keep at it. I mean, how do you hate on a successful young artist who says, ‘Celebrate the small wins and look at the long game.’” It is important to note that not all of the audience feedback was negative. As Allen points out, many were inspired by his sentiments, and a line of people waiting to speak with him quickly formed once the talk ended. The artist stayed for over an hour to answer questions from audience members. “He was wonderfully generous with his time and learned just as much from talking to the students as they did from him,” Allen said. Although many students criticized Russ for being baseless and showy in his responses, Allen spoke to many peoples’ disconnections from the artist since she’s worked beside him for so long. “Russ is an elite league of musicians, hip-hop or otherwise, that can sell both music and hard tickets, so he’s earned his bragging rights,” Allen said. “There are artists with more popular songs out there right now who couldn’t sell one-eighth of the tickets he can, and that comes from relentless hard work and self-belief.” Additional reporting by Pamela Jew. Email Connor Gatesman at cgatesman@nyunews.com.
Bill Hader and Alec Berg Talk ‘Barry’
Hitman actor is not an occupation you hear about every day, but that odd career path and the lifestyle that comes with it is exactly what HBO’s latest venture “Barry,” seeks to explore. The dramedy brilliantly navigates the absurdity that follows a former marine turned hitman-for-hire turned actor Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) as he attempts to reorient himself in Los Angeles. This story of a fish out water, or more appropriately, Clevelander out of Lake Erie, is as exciting as it is endearing. Co-creators Alec Berg (“Silicon Valley”) and Hader (“Saturday Night Live”) premiered their first season of eight episodes on March 25. On April 5, Berg and Hader sat down with WSN and other college newspapers to discuss “Barry,” how it came to be and where its titular aspiring actor’s story is headed. Hader commented on the character’s awkwardness –– as he pursues his passion of acting and attempts to balance his love for Sally (Sarah Goldberg) while living a secret life as a hitman –– which serves as a source for much of the humor. “I watched a lot of true crime shows because the reenactments on true crime
shows are pretty bad,” Hader said. “That was helpful. But mostly it’s just playing whatever the reality of that would be and not think too much about the comedy, in a weird way, and it kind of works. When you push the comedy, it starts to feel like you’re reaching for something that might not be there.”
“
When you push the comedy, it starts to feel like you’re reaching for something that might not be there. BILL HADER
”
A comedy about a hitman would presumably include a lot of violence, but given the ubiquitous nature of gun violence and mass shootings in the United States, the show’s creators decided to approach the genre with caution. They
felt it was necessary to tread carefully and use that platform to make a statement. Berg commented on how they decided to present the subject in accordance with their views. “We talked about the way we would shoot the violence is almost like security camera footage, where it just is, without slow motion and closeups and making it seem cool,” Berg said. “It should seem kind of sad and horrifying and uncomfortable because that’s what it is. So the idea of glamorizing it, we wanted to go the opposite.” Hader also expanded on his inspiration for Barry, citing his own experiences on “SNL” as influential to the character’s development, channeling how well-adjusted he felt on set into Barry’s confidence in being a hitman. Hader said he also related to the character because the acting class Barry takes reminds him of the environment at “SNL,” where he worked with people he admired. “How do I stay here? Because I know it will enrich my life somehow,” Hader said on the question that occurred to him when entering and interacting with the “SNL” community; a question that drives Barry’s own journey into acting. One surprising note for those who have watched the first two episodes of
the show is the development of Henry Winkler’s character, Gene Cousineau, an acting teacher revered in an almost godly manner. “Once you bring in talented actors and they put their spin on things, when we wrote Henry Winkler’s character, he was written as a much more darker, angrier, meaner, more sadistic guy,” Berg said. “Then when Henry Winkler came along and started performing that part, he’s just so naturally warm and likeable that it became this very different, totally interest-
ing thing where suddenly he is more three dimensional, not just a sadist. You can tell that there’s pain and there’s angst in him as opposed to just being a monster.” Berg and Hader both mentioned how a script, however ludicrous the premise may be, has to have an acorn of truth, a spark of relatability, to ground it and give it the value to make it work. “Barry” finds that acorn. Email Anubhuti Kumar at akumar@nyunews.com.
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Bill Hader stars as the eponymous hitman with a heart of gold in “Barry.”
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Hale and Posey Play ‘Truth or Dare’ By ANUBHUTI KUMAR Highlighter Editor
PHOTO BY JORDAN REYNOLDS
Lorde on stage at the “Melodrama” World Tour at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Friday, April 6.
Lorde Embraces the Intimate on ‘Melodrama’ Tour By JOEL LEE Staff Writer
“Hearing all you singing along to the songs is such an amazing thing,” Lorde confessed to a sold-out Prudential Center on Friday night. “To hear you guys sing these weird things I wrote down on my cell phone, and now they belong to you.” The 21-year-old New Zealander dazzled audiences last week at Newark’s Prudential Center on April 6 and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 4 as part of her “Melodrama” World Tour, addressing the audience like they were old friends catching up. Singer Mitski and rap duo Run The Jewels opened the show as audiences trickled in for the main event. At Barclays, co-writer of “Melodrama” and Lorde’s close friend Jack Antonoff ran from his Bleachers show at Madison Square Garden to support and join the avant-garde popstar. During an outfit change, Lorde entered a clear rectangular box that hung over the stage. The audience quietly watched as she adjusted her white two-piece crop top and flowing skirt –– a moment we usually aren’t supposed to see. These two minutes became a standout moment, reflecting her growing vulnerability from her teen angst debut album, “Pure Heroine,” to her sophomore album “Melodrama”. Despite featuring surefire hits like “Homemade Dynamite” and “Perfect Places,” “Melodrama” didn’t rise to the same chart-topping success as “Pure Heroine,” but the audience’s palpable energy indicated otherwise. Lorde brought back old favorites like “Ribs” and “Royals,” entrancing the crowd into a synthy, witchy euphoria. Catering each show to the respective city, Lorde sat down with Jack Antonoff in Brooklyn for a riveting acoustic cover of St. Vincent’s “New York.” While two days later in in Newark, she whipped out native New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” as the crowd shouted the his name repeatedly. What makes Lorde’s shows so exceptional and intimate is the rawness she emanates throughout. Before Lorde performed “Green Light” ––
the last song before an encore, she implored the audience to divulge all their energy into the song and assured them that she would do the same. The crowds roared in the acceptance of her challenge. The stadium even quaked during the chorus –– bodies unapologetically dancing to the song. Songs like “Supercut,” “Perfect Places” and “Green Light” are rife with nostalgia, bittersweetness and restlessness. One wouldn’t expect these extremely emotional to be the songs that would rile up audiences the most. However, during the performances of these hits, the audiences bounced joyously, embracing the spectrum of emotions. Tisch junior Chrissi Alexis reflected on her experience at the concert and the personal impact “Melodrama” has had on her. “It was so emotional for me because I recently got my heart broken, and I started listening to that album before that even happened,” Alexis said. “But that album really describes everything I was going through, so it was one of the most cathartic experiences I could have.” Cathartic indeed. As the piano prelude to “Liability” began to play, the Newark crowd belted the first few lines before Lorde could even begin singing. She graciously smiled and paused to hear the audience sing the heavy lyrics. She eventually picked up where the crowd left off and awed everyone with the performance. It was a sweet moment that encapsulated the show itself. Maybe “Melodrama” didn’t break all the records for an unexpected pop icon, but the album provides nuance and catharsis for those who are open and willing to listen. The shows became a place to let inhibitions go. Lorde elaborated on her feelings about the tour in between songs. “It can be very comforting because a lot of the songs are very personal, very scary, sad little thoughts,” Lorde said to the audience. “To hear you sing them back to me makes me feel like I’m not alone.” Email Joel Lee at music@nyunews.com.
Imagine spring break gone wrong to the absolute extreme. That mental image might hint at what to expect with Blumhouse Productions’ latest film, “Truth or Dare.” An after dark game of truth or dare in an abandoned church with a stranger leaves a group of California college seniors with a demon on their tails. Friendships, relationships and secrets are tested as the friends fight for their lives. Stars Lucy Hale (“Pretty Little Liars”) and Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf”) talked to WSN and other college papers about the making of this film and what sets it apart from others in its genre. Hale mentioned how her characters in “Pretty Little Liars” and “Truth or Dare” share many qualities, such as being a loyal friend and a brave ally. These characteristics play a major role when the love triangle between Olivia (Hale), her best friend Markie (Violett Beane) and Markie’s boyfriend Lucas (Posey) begins to escalate. “She’s more afraid of losing Markie as a friend,” Hale told WSN. “I think that’s why over all these years she’s never made a move on Lucas … She puts everyone before herself. But I think there’s also a part
of her that’s excited that the game exposes this secret and dares her to go for it with Lucas because otherwise it would never happen.” Horror may not be the most intuitive genre for improvisation on set, but the balance of humor and horror in “Truth or Dare” allowed the actors to put their own spin on the story. “One thing we got to have a lot of freedom with was the actual truth or dare game,” Posey said to WSN. “When the lap dance was happening, everyone was throwing out ad libs and we just had a lot of fun with that game. It really did feel like we were playing truth or dare because we were always ad-libbing stuff and trying to one up one another and make each other laugh.” Hale shared more interesting insight into her character when discussing what brought her to this script. Olivia’s psychological trauma
COURTESY OF BLUMHOUSE
Lucy Hale stars in a new, twisted game of “Truth or Dare.”
is her biggest fear in the game as opposed to being forced to complete a dare with fatal consequences. This choice of subtlety over gore is what Hale found most compelling, and Posey agreed. “I like when movies mess with your head, it’s creepier that way,” Posey said. When asked what kinds of films they would be interested in pursuing in the future, the stars offered insight into their professional processes. “For me it doesn’t matter if it’s TV or film or what genre it is,” Hale said. “I just really want to try new things and things that seem really challenging to me and what I love so much about ‘Truth or Dare’ is that there is a really strong female lead and we need a lot more of those. I was really excited that for once I got to play that character. For me, that was what was really appealing about ‘Truth or Dare.’” The tested friendships, intelligent character development and tension between selfishness and selflessness are all factors that attracted Posey and Hale to this project and are exactly what will ensnare audiences in “Truth or Dare.” “Truth or Dare” opens nationwide this Friday, April 13. Email Anubhuti Kumar at akumar@nyunews.com.
The Dark Consequences of Poverty in ‘Where Is Kyra?’ By JILLIAN HARRINGTON Staff Writer
As thousands of people continue to flock to New York City with hopes of actualizing their dreams, the cost of living and the difficulty of making it only increases. The new film “Where Is Kyra?” shines a rare and harsh light on the face of modern-day poverty in New York City as embodied by Michelle Pfeiffer. Kyra Johnson (Pfeiffer) is a middle-aged and unemployed divorcee who has no other options but to move into her elderly, ailing mother’s Brooklyn apartment. She splits her days between taking care
COURTESY OF PALADIN FILMS
Michelle Pfeiffer gives a careerdefining performance in “Where Is Kyra?”
of her mother (Suzanne Shepherd) and submitting just about every job application she can get her hands on. Just as her life finds a kind of rhythm, she arrives home to find her mother dead, sending Kyra into a downward sprial. The film soon develops a surrealist tone — shots of an eerily-dressed woman who looks like her mother, hobbling in slow motion, her cane exploding into a dramatic clash of symbols with each touchdown, are spliced with depictions of Kyra in her grieving aftermath. The audience is left to slowly piece the clues together. As we are shown her mother’s falsified death certificate, it soon becomes clear that Kyra, rendered hopeless by the oppression of poverty, is stealing her dead mother’s identity to cash her pension checks. This morbid twist is unique and surprising, emphatically conveying Kyra’s level of anxious desperation. Kyra continues to push the limits of this temporary loophole — the window of opportunity decreasing all the while — even as her new boyfriend Doug (Kiefer Sutherland) implores her not to. And yet, as much as she tries to look elsewhere for legitimate work, with rent payments, bills and no income, she struggles to maintain her promise.
“Where Is Kyra?,” directed by Nigerian filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu, is dimly lit and swimming in shadows. Exchanges of dialogue are just as sparse as musical interjections, which in turn emphasizes the absence and presence of both for tense, dramatic effect. The visual and sonal darkness of the film matches the increasingly bleak plotline as Kyra’s crimes grope after her. Sutherland plays a suffering yet hardworking foil to Pfeiffer, who succumbs to the easy option before her. Pfeiffer stuns as Kyra with her well-played despondency, obvious in her face and movements despite her silence. The film takes a subtle yet unequivocal stance on poverty and its power to lead moral people down immoral paths. As Kyra’s once tidy, average American life disappears before her, she is left to dig herself out of the wreckage of her debts. This atypical representation of the mental toll of poverty is grippingly persuasive, making it an accurate on-screen portrayals of the effects of poverty in a specific situation. “Where Is Kyra?” opened at The Quad at 34 W. 13th St. in New York on Friday, April 6. Email Jillian Harrington at film@nyunews.com.
Washington Square News | Monday, April 9, 2018
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FEATURES
nyunews.com Edited by Yasmin Gulec features@nyunews.com
Leaving the Bars Behind and Starting Anew By YASMIN GULEC Features Editor
The impact of the incarceration of a parent on families is not something that can be understood through reading textbooks. It is not a reality that many are aware of, a concept that is known but can never be grasped. The “Fatherhood After Incarceration” panel on March 29 brought together people whose lives have been impacted by incarceration. The panel was moderated by Silver School of Social Work Clinical Assistant Professor Kirk James, whose research focuses on mass incarceration, specifically the systems that uphold it and the trauma it causes. Carlos Evans and Five Mualimm-ak spoke about their experiences with fatherhood during and after the time they were incarcerated. They were both accompanied on the panel by their sons. The event was organized by CAS junior Jose Diaz, who was approached by Mualimm-ak to host a panel about the repercussions of incarceration on families. Despite growing up in a stable household with parents who worked good jobs, Diaz got involved with gangs as a teenager. “You are exposed to certain things and a kid is susceptible to a lot of things especially if there are gangs around,” Diaz said. “Sometimes a kid has to make decisions and in my case I made many poor decisions.” In a random moment that turned into a big brawl, Diaz found himself in a gang fight that led to him to plead guilty to a felony,and become incarcerated for 11 years and 20 days at 18 years old. While reflecting on his time spent in prison, Diaz talked about rehabilitation and how it changed throughout the years. “There is this narrative that promotes correction facilities are meant to rehabilitate people,” Diaz said. “But as things started to progress on a historical level, political agendas started to change and you saw the flip of the new age from the Democrats having 35 years of consecutive politicians in office to the Republicans coming into presidency and starting to revamp how politics and rhetoric happens in America.”
VIA INSTAGRAM.COM
Street style from Seoul F/W 2018
By SHANNON HU Contributing Writer
Monochrome tracksuits are elongated by heeled sock-fit boots. Blazers and dress pants are paired with chunky sneakers. Socks and sandals are a statement of the compatibility between comfort and style. Men sport heeled metallic clogs. This is a place where rules are broken; this is Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the street style hotspot of Seoul Fashion Week.
can be used as credit toward a college education after serving the sentence. “What they do is try to give these guys education as a tool for reaffirmation,” Diaz said. Diaz applied to the the Cornell Prison Education Program while at the Auburn Correctional Facility in 2009 and was ac-
cepted. He completed the course and his credits were transferred to NYU after he was out of prison. During their time in prison, Mualimm-ak and Diaz were in opposing gangs that could not stand each other. “We were about to go to war,” Diaz said. However, after the realization that they had both built up anger toward the injustices in the U.S. prison system, they started to talk about these issues instead. The war stopped, the hate disappeared and talk of social change took precedent. “Sometimes when you are in the system and you are being digested by it, you can’t really name it but you see the oppression,” Diaz said. With talks of giving back to their communities that seemed like pipe dreams, Diaz and Mualimm-ak started planning their advocacy work for when they got out. During the panel, Mualimm-ak talked about the collateral consequences of incarceration, specifically regarding the issues he has had with child support. While he was in prison, his family only received $500 for child support and when he got out he had to help support his family. Although Mualimm-ak has not committed a crime since his release, many people do if they’re not given time to heal or the opportunity to survive financially. The vulnerability panel members displayed was striking. Talking to an audience about one of the most scarring experiences of their lives, while trying to maintain a light atmosphere is not an easy task, but the panelists led a deep, thoughful conversation. “We cannot heal what you don’t reveal,” James said about the importance of sharing and creating spaces to talk. According to Mualimm-ak, discussion on these subjetcs is made even more difficult because of the macho facade upheld by most people in the community. “Black masculinity is toxic,” Mualimm-ak said. The psychological toll of not being able to afford calls from family — let alone not seeing them — is straining for both sides. Mualimm-ak’s son, Shaquille, spoke
Unfolding over the course of five days, from March 19 to 24, the biannual celebration of both experienced and up-and-coming Korean designers is setting global trends and buoying Seoul to the surface as a fashion capital soon to be on par with the likes of New York, London, Milan and Paris. The engagement and demand for high quality fashion in Seoul is unprecedented. According to Jay Lim, an experienced Korean street-style photographer who has shot fashion week attendees’ unique outfits from Seoul to London to Paris, South Korea has developed a unique culture around fashion. “Korea is very sensitive about fashion trends,” Lim said. “People take lot of notes when looking at the street style pictures.” Because Korea has many online magazines which actually buy photos from famous street photographers like himself, Lim said that his street-style snapshots are able to gain salience within formal, fashion publications.
Lim also acknowledged the strong relationships that blossom between brands and celebrities — “the street advertising effect affects brand promotion.” It’s no joke — the press that street fashion generated during Seoul Fashion Week in the recent Fall/Winter shows covered fashion bloggers, models and K-pop idols such as Jamie Chung, Irene Kim, SHINee’s Key, Lee Hi, Jessi and NCT 127. A major up-and-coming brand to watch from Seoul Fashion Week is HuPot. A menswear focused brand based in Seoul, it was created by two alumni from Parsons School of Design in New York — DO and YK. According to YK, the decision to move back to Seoul after graduating from Parsons was due to SFW’s explosive growth. “Culturally, Seoul has become a big force in Asia, and it’s been inspirational to see if [it] grows and grow with it,” YK said.
As funding for prisons diminished, more money was funneled into law enforcement and a larger carceral state. The prison system became more punitive and government-funded colleges failed to successfully rehabilitate prisoners or provide education. Rather than helping formerly incarcerated people rejoin society, they taught formerly incarcerated individuals skills that only served to further alienate them. “So now you have programs that really don’t teach up-to-date skills and their locations are like a horse farm,” Diaz said. “If I [were] able to live in a horse farm, I [could] learn how to treat horses. I take care of horses, but I am going to Brooklyn [so its] not really a transferable skill.” Now, with non-governmental organizations and colleges that don’t cater to political agendas, the education system has an opportunity to operate independently within prisons. Schools like NYU and Cornell have prison education programs that
“
Sometimes when you are in the system and you are being digested by it, you can’t really name it but you see the oppression. JOSE DIAZ
”
about the toll that the incarceration of his father took on his own childhood. “When I needed my father, he got incarcerated,” he said. “I was pissed and I did not care when he got out.” Omar, Mualimm-ak’s older son, agreed that not having a father also significantly impacted his childhood. “I learned a lot of things that you cannot learn alone,” Omar said. “A lot of standing up for yourself when there is an absence to fill.” Evans is in his third year of freedom after being incarcerated for 13 years. He met Diaz while studying in Cornell’s Prison Education Program. He praised the moms and grandmothers who were left behind to carry the weight of the family, the women in his life who were great examples of resilience and strength. “Prisons are hard to get to,” Evans said. The geographical inconvenience of these facilities makes it extremely challenging and oftentimes expensive to maintain relationships while incarcerated. Shaquille also mentioned that the current structure of the prison system in the United States is problematic because it never accounts for everyone else who are affected when one person is incarceration. It is a system that separates. “Prison systems incarcerate not only one person, they lock everyone up,” Shaquille said. “I was incarcerated too.” When asked to reflect on what he learned during his years incarcerated, Diaz answered me with his own question. “There is this idea or theory that I kind of throw out sometimes: Does oppression create awareness?” Diaz said. He believes that the current prison system is numbing for the spectators, and that society normalizes concepts like incarceration. “When I think about ways prison has changed me, I can definitely say that it has made me more aware,” Diaz said. His main goal in organizing this panel was to inform people about the challenges during and following incarceration. When there is a person in front of you talking about their experiences, it exceeds what any
Seoul Fashionable
HuPot’s latest Fall/Winter collection “Exodus” was modeled in both New York and Seoul, a first for the brand. The brand’s target market is definitely expanding globally, bridging language and culture gaps with ease. Other notable shows included BESFXXK by Bona Kim and Jae Lim, in which models rocked the runway with their heads completely masked by silk scarves. Lee Kyuho’s MOHO had a concept of “Stability from Instability,” which brought attention to the environmental concern of radioactive decay. Seoul Fashion Week has a long way to go before joining the “big four” fashion capitals. As fashion is an extremely Western-centric industry, Asian representation rides on a tough road to success which growing fashion capitals such as Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo are fighting to pave. Seoul Fashion Week, being largely sponsored by the government, may have different end goals than simply inspiring fashion innovation and creativity. The govern-
PHOTO BY YASMIN GULEC
Jose Diaz is a junior in CAS and the organizer of the “Fatherhood After Incarceration” panel that occured on March 29.
book can teach. “It is about organizing an event that brings that reality much closer,” Diaz said. When asked about how to improve the prison system, he smiled. I realized the irony of my question. “The idea of making the prison system better is with the notion that prison could be a better place,” Diaz said. “Oftentimes we are concentrated on one particular problem but thinking about how to make the prison system better, is to question how do we make the neighborhoods better because essentially these prisons are being filled from particular neighborhoods.” Diaz added that everything leading up to incarceration has to change as well. Poverty has to decrease, public education has to improve and neighborhoods have to become safer. To make the prison system better, is to decrease the number of people becoming a part of it. “Prison is the end result, it’s either prison or death,” Diaz said. Email Yasmin Gulec at ygulec@nyunews.com.
ment may be motivated to use Seoul Fashion Week to export Korean culture as a product since commercially, there is a huge pressure to sell and make money. As a result, the well established “big four” fashion weeks may have greater freedom in creating out of the ordinary, standard-challenging collections. Whether Seoul Fashion Week fits in with that is questionable. However, Seoul Fashion Week has a unique street-style phenomenon that seems to be key in propelling and situating it on the global radar of fashion capitals. Global interest in the styles of influencers is growing and, refreshingly, Asian representation in fashion is as well. If anything, Lim’s optimistic view is heartening. “I think Seoul Fashion Week is the best fashion week in Asia, and there is going to be bright future for it,” Lim said. Email Shannon Hu at bstyle@nyunews.com.
Washington Square News | Monday, April 9, 2018
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FEATURES
Edited by Yasmin Gulec features@nyunews.com
Moonlight Ball Says ‘Goodnight’ to the Met By JENDAYI OMOWALE Staff Writer
Some traditions are meant to be broken. For the first time in 20 years, one of NYU’s biggest events, the Moonlight Ball, will take place at the Whitney Museum of American Art instead of its past venue, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Moonlight Ball is an annual formal hosted by the Inter-Residence Hall Council and features dancing, gallery tours and light desserts. The event, which sold out a day after tickets went on sale last Wednesday, will take place on April 19. In preparation for the event, IRHC members have been working tirelessly for the past months, organizing and reimagining the ball. IRHC Vice Presidents of Events Karan Ganta, a Tandon sophomore, and Kyle Haynes, a Steinhardt sophomore, said that most of the event planning had to do with finding a new venue. “One of the big difficulties this year is that we don’t have the Met anymore because they are low on money so they had to raise their prices for booking the special events,” Haynes said. “A lot of the beginning logistical parts were touring different venues, asking if they are able to accommodate us and
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seeing which one we thought was best for the NYU community.” Haynes said that along with the views of the city and Hudson River at the Whitney, he looks forward to the gallery tour of the current exhibit “Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables.” “We’re opening one of the galleries on the fifth floor that students can do walkthroughs of and right now the exhibit that’s there is the ‘American Gothic,’” Haynes said. “It’s the painting of the farm couple, the mantle with the pitchfork and everything, so I am very excited about that, it’s a famous painting, people will love seeing it.” Students think having the open gallery is a nice perk of the event being hosted at the Whitney. “In my opinion, the Met’s cooler,” LS first-year Joey Mancini said. “But, seeing ‘American Gothic’ is just an added bonus to having the dance at the Whitney.” Although IRHC is shaking things up with a new venue, the departure from the Moonlight Ball’s traditional venue was a difficult one. After finally landing on the Whitney for this year’s venue, the VPs are enthusiastic about the change. “I think we were kind of going for that traditional Moonlight Ball look
STAFF PHOTO BY ALESSIA GARCIA
The IRHC’s Annual Moonlight Ball will be taking place at the Whitney Museum of American Art this year.
that it has with the Met, you know it’s like classic and grandesque, but I also really have gotten excited with the contemporary look the Whitney has,” Ganta said. “It’s going to be really nice for the 20th anniversary.” Ganta said that on a weekly basis along with keeping their fellow IRHC members informed with the event-planning, Moonlight Ball preparation consisted of finding vendors, handling costs and even purchasing decorations. As co-vice presidents of events, Ganta and Haynes are responsible for organizing a number of large events such as Flurry and UltraViolet Live The duo also mentors all of the directors of events in each residence hall and attend weekly meetings. Haynes said his experience at Flurry factored into him to running for VP of Events. “I wanted to help others make great memories,” Haynes said. “I feel like people remember our events and they think back to that time on how much fun they had.” Organizing IRHC events requires a lot of Haynes and Ganta’s time, especially for large-scale events like Moonlight Ball. However, they have learned to balance their IRHC responsibilities with their academics. “I usually do most of my IRHC stuff after hours just so I can do school stuff during the day,” Haynes said. “I say I can handle it pretty well, I thrive under pressure really.” All the hard work IRHC has put into planning Moonlight Ball is already paying off as students are becoming more and more excited for the event. “I’m excited to go with friends,” CAS first year Madison Conkle said. “Our RA [resident assistant] even made an event and we’re all going together as a floor.” Email Jendayi Omowale at features@nyunews.com.
Groceries in the Digital Age By SCOTT HOGAN Staff Writer
Back home, I loved slowly perusing the aisles of my local grocery store, imagining all the ridiculous and mouthwatering things I could eat or create. However, in New York, this love isn’t quite as common. Whether it’s the notorious line at the Union Square Trader Joe’s that wraps around the entire store to meet you at the entrance, the exhaustion of carrying three grocery bags or the heavily inflated prices of food in crowded stores, grocery shopping in . For many New Yorkers, the bodega on the corner or food delivery services, such as Seamless or Postmates, serves them well enough to minimize trips to Whole Foods. And with the opening of Amazon’s new cashier-less grocery store, many are even questioning the future of physical food markets. In today’s technology-driven society, the masses demand things fast, easily and cheap — not a simple task for stores to achieve since the food industry has so many moving parts. This complicated chain has caused a growing interest in grocery delivery services such as Amazon’s Prime Pantry or Instacart. With these services, patrons are able to select their desired items, add them to their cart and have their fresh produce, cheese and ice cream delivered without any of it going bad. However, could this be negatively affecting people in low-income households? If grocery stores begin to close their doors because of the competition from AmazonFresh, people who are already struggling to pay for groceries would not be able to afford the additional delivery fee and could be stuck getting groceries from a corner store or 7-Eleven. The epidemic of food deserts, usually low-income neighborhoods in parts of the country devoid of fresh pro-
duce, has been relevant in politics over the past few years because of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. The popularity of grocery delivery services could possibly end up exacerbating this issue. But are enough people using the service to put regular grocery stores out of business? LS sophomore Corrine Tumpson regularly uses Instacart and AmazonFresh and finds it convenient. “Yeah it’s like groceries right on your computer,” Tumpson said. “You can order cereal and milk and that’s cool. It just saves so much time.” However, many students opt for cheaper choices, such as Trader Joe’s. Tisch sophomore Jack Petersen buys his groceries weekly in person. “I buy a lot of vegetables and I like to pick them out myself so I get the best I can,” Petersen said. “I just like being able to choose. Also I don’t want to pay a delivery fee.” Most people prefer brick-and-mortar stores for two reasons. They like being able to pick out things for themselves, and they don’t want to waste money to paying for delivery. Even people who use AmazonFresh find themselves venturing to the grocery store to pick out their own produce. “It’s different from when you’re choosing your own apples,” Tumpson said. While Amazon may be making the process of grocery shopping easier, culturally, most people tend to solely utilize brick-and-mortar stores over online options, if not a combination of the two. While Amazon provides great pantry basics, most people prefer the ability to choose for themselves, ensuring that grocery stores won’t be going anywhere — at least for the time being. Email Scott Hogan at dining@nyunews.com.
How to Stock Your Kitchen Like a Semi-Pro By BETH SATTUR Staff Writer
Figuring out what to bring to college and what to leave at home can seem like an impossible task for first-year students and returning upperclassmen alike. But don’t be concerned, here are some tips to ease the transition to pseudo adulthood.
FOR STUDENTS IN TRADITIONAL HOUSING:
For first-year students in traditional housing, a kitchen is not provided and you are required to remain on a meal plan. However, it is definitely worth bringing a few essentials, such as a microwave to warm up leftovers or quickly cook microwavable meals, at least one full set of dishes (dish, plate, spoon, fork, knife, mug) and a sponge, dish soap and plastic gloves to clean them off in your sink. Coordinate with your roommates to see who should bring the bigger appliances like microwaves and mini fridges.
FOR STUDENTS IN APARTMENT-STYLE HOUSING:
If you are living in apartment-style housing, you either have your own kitchen or a communal one — whichever is the case, you are not required to remain on a meal plan. If you plan to frequent the dining halls, maybe opt with the basic appliances listed before. But if you plan on cooking, the NYU kitchen has a basic setup of an oven with a stovetop, a full-size refrigerator, a sink and limited cabinet space. Again, coordinate to decide who should bring the microwave. There is no dishwasher (except at Gramercy Green Residence Hall), so it wouldn’t hurt to bring dish soap, a sponge and plastic gloves. For basic cooking, bring at least one large pot for dishes that need to be boiled, a frying pan, a casserole dish, a baking tray, a cutting board and a colander. Also, pack a
basic set of kitchen tools such as wooden spoons, a ladle and a pasta scooper. Based on personal experience, plastic is usually easier to clean than stainless steel, so I would go for those if possible. Do not forget about basics such as oven mitts, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, plastic containers and plastic bags to store your leftovers. For a dish set, you’ll want to pick up biodegradable plates and silverware to minimize the amount of dishwashing. For a more sustainable alternative, bring a few sets of dishes, bowls and silverware so you don’t have to repeatedly wash the same one. For more advanced cooking, a blender might be useful for making smoothies. Smoothies are a quick and healthy on-the-go breakfast, essential for any college students. A rice cooker might also be an investment to consider. If you are a coffee person, it might even be worth it to bring
your own coffee maker. Although a seemingly pricy purchase, in the long run it will save you money on daily Starbucks runs. Some non essential but useful kitchen supplies to bring would be a smaller pot for hot chocolate or old-fashioned popcorn and a Brita bottle with a filter, for trips to the gym and to keep hy-
drated during class. Whatever you decide to bring, make sure it’s something you are going to use because these four years go by quickly and the vacancy of kitchen space is just as fleeting. Email Beth Sattur at dining@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY ECHO CHEN
Toasters are useful appliances, especially in residence hall kitchens.
Washington Square News | Monday, April 9, 2018
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OPINION
Edited by Tyler Crews opinion@nyunews.com
CULTURE
Don’t Invade My Language, Too By ALEJANDRO VILLA VÁSQUEZ Copy Chief
In the midst of social movements led by American youth demanding equality, I have been feeling disillusioned. The commodification of social justice into something consisting of clothing with particular sayings or phrases, social justice’s dissemination in social media and the flood of buzzwords into our everyday vocabulary has created a leviathan of forward-thinking young people hungry for change. But change can be harmful; change can sometimes be worse than what’s already in place. ‘Latin’ as a denomination was created by French colonists in order to identify who was a part of French colonial projects and who wasn’t. The word found new usage in En-
glish-speaking Americans in order to maintain the racial imaginary — an argument for another day — that somehow people of Latin American descent were inherently different from them. We were labeled as ‘Hispanics’ for a while in the 20th century. But that word, linguistically speaking, associated us too much with our estranged “Mother” Spain, so ‘Latino/a’ became the umbrella term. Later, the befuddling term ‘Latinx’ emerged. First, I want to dispel any gathering suspicions you may have about my qualm with ‘Latinx.’ I understand why it exists. It serves a purpose in a society where many of us have realized that not everyone is a man or a woman. To start, the letter x does not exist as an ending in Spanish, which
is gendered — like German, French and many other languages. And if we were really going to follow the logic of using x, important words like ‘el orgullo’ would have to be ‘xl orgullx’; ‘la Latinidad’ would be devolved into ‘lx Latinidxd.’ Not to mention all the other words in Spanish that don’t abide by typical rules for gendered words, like ‘la radio,’ and the sort of changes those words would have to undergo.
It only gets worse when huge institutions like NYU start flinging the word in official, university-wide announcements. The more it’s normalized, the less likely people are to realize that this is an instance of serious linguistic imperialism. This word has been developed by activists in the United States to make the Spanish language more inclusive; I get that. But think of the millions of Latin Americans in this country that probably aren’t even aware we’re having this debate in the first place. They deserve to be included in the conversation too. The entire community needs to come to a consensus, lest we allow Spanish to be altered by English-speakers. Instead, I think ‘Latine’ is perfectly fine. It’s not a masculine or femi-
nine ending, and Spanish actually has words that end with e. And when we speak English, I think there’s some power in claiming ourselves as ‘Latin Americans’ or even just ‘Latins.’ Whether Europeans want to admit it or not, our languages and cultures are intertwined through a common ancestor, the Roman Empire. Italian and French are always hiked onto pedestals for being extraordinarily beautiful. It’s time to remind people that Spanish is just as beautiful of a language, and demands the same respect. Read the full article online at nyunews.com/vasquez Email Alejandro Villa Vásquez at avillavasquez@nyunews.com.
CULTURE
Every Immigrant Has a Different Story By WAYNE CHEN Staff Writer
There are many classes of immigrants in the United States, to the extent that it is hard to underscore all of them the way we currently seem to be doing. Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. at a very young age by their guardians — have been at the forefront of the debate, along with other undocumented immigrants. For the most part, immigrants are depicted as one of two extremes: extremely vulnerable or extremely dangerous. However, little of our consciousness focuses on other types of immigrants: those who worked themselves up and garnered skills to
stay in the U.S., those who invested a hefty amount of cash in exchange for a permanent visa, those who paid for a “birth vacation” to have their children take advantage of birthright citizenship, those fleeing a dictatorship from their own country and granted a visa — the list goes on. I am an immigrant that is somewhat privileged because I was primarily raised as an American. Yet, most people do not recognize that immigrants like me even exist. My father was born in Taiwan in the 1950s as the child of Nationalist refugees fleeing communist rule in mainland China. While he might have been profiled as a refugee, my father was definitely one of the more privileged bunch in Taiwanese society — main-
landers who settled in Taiwan after the Chinese civil war received more favorable educational opportunities, more income and subsequently more upward mobility. I was born in Taiwan and raised across the greater China region where my father worked. I attended elite schools that spoke English in class where burgers and fries were served
for lunch. I did not move to the U.S. until the age of 15. However, because of an almost all-immersive American upbringing, I managed to fit in seamlessly — which makes me ask myself, am I an immigrant? You can look at this in multiple ways, and each way offers a unique interpretation. I am of Asian descent. The fact that I was born outside of the U.S. and can command another language indicates that I am an immigrant. However, I was able to receive an American-like education everywhere I lived. Academically, and I can perhaps make a case for socially, I grew up all-American, and ultimately, I don’t feel foreign in the U.S. When I applied for my citizenship, I did not apply to migrate to the U.S., I
applied as a the child of U.S. citizens who just happen to be born abroad. Looking at it this way, I am certainly not an immigrant, but just a U.S. citizen by birth who reported late. All of my backstory reaffirms one point: we have looked at immigrants in such a singular way that we too often forget that immigrants are not necessarily vulnerable, dangerous or any other adjectives that the media and political officials would like us to believe. There is a medium within the politically polarized extremes of immigration, and many of us exist within it. Email Wayne Chen at opinion@nyunews.com.
UNIVERSITY LIFE
Buyer’s Remorse: My College Degree By JANICE LEE Contributing Writer
Within the first few minutes of meeting someone new, I’m guaranteed to hear a variation of “What are you studying?” Exchanging this detail is an inescapable formality for any college student. A major is a crucial identifier that contributes to a significant portion of your personal brand. Now as I approach the end of my junior year at NYU, I find myself in countless conversations with my peers about what life after graduation will entail. As the pressure to pull together a post-college plan becomes more salient, I can’t shake the feeling that, in choosing Psychology, I chose the wrong major. A claim that I frequently heard as a concerned first-year was your major is not as important as you think.
People around me retold anecdotes of others who serendipitously ended up in careers that diverged from what they studied in college. During a firstyear cohort meeting, my academic advisor even presented a slideshow comparing the areas of study pursued by accomplished celebrities and their current occupations to demonstrate that the incongruence was rather common. This surprising flexibility was always emphasized, not to be nihilistic, but to be encouraging in that your working life is not confined to your major. Immersion in a discipline will naturally lead to more exposure to and more connections within that particular field, which could also result in more opportunities specific to that field. As a Psychology major, I have been able to find work relatively easily as a research assistant in a psy-
chology lab and as a human resources intern, presumably because my studies overlap with the skills needed in these positions. Though instead of moving closer to a more defined future through these work experiences, I only felt that I was discovering what I didn’t want to be doing. I was more than halfway through my junior year when I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in journalism, at which point it was too late to change my major. The alternative is to gain work ex-
perience, and in my ongoing search for summer opportunities relating to journalism, I have found that it takes a lot more for me to be considered a competitive applicant. Even for the places that don’t explicitly state that a Journalism major is required, there is still an additional expectation for me to prove that I have suitable experience and translatable skills despite my major. In a cutthroat job market, this disadvantage is evident in the ratio of how many applications I have submitted versus the places I actually hear back from. The extent of this struggle was considerably surprising to me. Psychology especially has a reputation for being applicable to a wide variety of fields, as it’s regularly featured on listicles describing the best majors for those who are unsure of what to do after college. The assumption isn’t
baseless either — the American Psychological Association reported that according to a 2013 survey, only 26.7 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology work in a job “closely related” to their major. I, like many others, chose this major because I believed in the promise that it keeps your options open, but as I try to outgrow it, I can’t help but feel boxed in. As you mature and change throughout the course of college, your aspirations can change too. Yet the structure of university doesn’t leave room for that, as your major becomes a path that you need to see to completion. I’m in school to achieve my professional dreams, but ironically, it’s the major that I chose that seems to be holding me back. Email Janice Lee at opinion@nyunews.com.
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OPINION
Edited by Tyler Crews opinion@nyunews.com
TECHNOLOGY STAFF EDITORIAL
Big Data, Big Problems By VICTOR PORCELLI Staff Writer
In my Investigating Journalism course, the Librarian for Journalism Katherine Boss gave a presentation on the various resources at our disposal as NYU students, mainly focusing on the $22 million worth of databases we have access to. Such a staggering amount of money is what allows us to access an even more staggering amount of information. Later completing a quiz on the different databases, I felt the power of the knowledge at my fingertips: U.S. Census data, issues of The New York Times from decades ago, case data from a seemingly infinite number of legal cases and more. Me geeking out may not be a true indicator of significance, but I am not alone in my excitement for a nice, thick data set. From political campaigns to advertising agencies, big data has played an essential role in the shaping of modern society. Big data, which is exactly what it sounds like — extremely large data sets — provides information that allows people to predict human behavior more accurately than ever before. Advertisers have been quick to use big data to their advantage, with companies like Netflix using it to create algorithms that optimize the shows it suggests to its users, and others using big data to create more accurate and personalized advertisements. Companies can better predict the messages consumers want to
hear, and form their marketing strategy around this information. Because of these benefits, it is predicted thatby 2019, 66 percent of digital advertising will be spent on ads on Google, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. However, this creates an ethical problem, as some users do not like the idea of their data being used or sold by and to companies. Facebook in particular has had a long history of selling user information to advertisers, as well as general problems with user privacy. These actions are worrisome, because not only do they allow advertisers to use big data for behavioral targeting — using the personal information of consumers to tailor advertisements to them — they do so without user consent. Unfortunately, big data threatens our democracy in more ways than one. Gerrymandering has been revolutionized by access to applications like Maptitude, combined with data both public and purchased which allows mapmakers to scientifically redistrict in ways that favor their party tremendously. Detailed information on voters and an application which integrates it all
gives them power like never before. In many states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, elections do not reflect votes. A majority of democratic votes results in five more seats for Republicans, a 50-50 vote split results in four more, making elections — at least for the House of Representatives — tipped in Republican’s favor. Big data has also resulted in infringements on one’s right to privacy, as government programs like PRISM and Upstream have been re-instituted, allowing the National Security Agency and FBI to gather and access, respectively, data on individuals from social media sites and the internet as a whole, with no warrant necessary. With privacy threatened and the political process more corrupt than ever, big data seems to be the price of the technological innovation we obsess over as a society. Yet big data can be used for good. Researchers use it to do amazing things — from creating a computer simulation of the universe to improving cancer treatment. Big data is a tool, and as NYU students, we will soon be the ones to wield it, to do the research, lead studies, create marketing plans and strategize political campaigns. It is up to us to decide how big data should be used — and how it should not. Read the full article online at nyunews.com/porcelli Email Victor Porcelli at opinion@nyunews.com.
Early Decision Favors Affluent Students
As NYU Admissions has broadcasted all over its social media, NYU’s acceptance rate has dropped to a record low of 19 percent for the class of 2022. Much of this has to do with the fact that over 75,000 students applied. Although this represents a 12 percent increase in total applicants, people who chose to apply Early Decision I and Early Decision II increased by 26 and 22 percent, respectively. Not only are more students applying early decision, more are getting in. Last year, the overall acceptance rate was 28 percent, while NYU admitted Early Decision applicants at a rate of 38 percent. With fewer spots to compete for and less perceived demonstrated interest, regular decision applicants are at a disadvantage. So why doesn’t everyone apply Early Decision? Perhaps interest in the school is a factor, or perhaps some students cannot be bound to a school that costs almost $70,000 a year. Students who have to wait and weigh financial aid packages cannot apply Early Decision and are inherently disadvantaged when applying to NYU. Applying Early Decision may be a viable strategy to improve admissions odds for students who can afford to foot NYU’s hefty bill, but for less affluent students, Early Decision is just another barrier in a college admissions process that favors the upper and middle classes. Early Decision prevents students from comparing financial aid packages from different universities and rewards students who can afford to apply with increased admissions odds. NYU prides itself in admitting students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, but by favoring Early Decision candidates, shuts out the possibility of increased socioeconomic diversity. NYU should abandon its Early Decision application option and instead provide a non-binding Early Action option. Schools like Stanford University, Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer a Restrictive Early Action application option, which allows students to demonstrate their interest without the financial obligation. NYU should implement a similar application procedure to ensure that any student who wants to attend is given a fair opportunity and money doesn’t act as a barrier to apply. It is important to note that NYU does enroll a high percentage of low- and middle-income students compared to other elite schools. NYU’s mobility index also ranks eighth among elite colleges. Yet 62 percent of its students come from the top 20 percent, so even if NYU enrolls more low- and middle-income students than schools like Princeton, there is still a lot of work to be done. Its high mobility rate is a good sign, but only serves as a reason for enrolling more students from lower incomes to provide them with the opportunity to achieve greater success. Eliminating Early Decision is one way to do that. While NYU makes a greater effort than some universities to accommodate low- and middle-income students, the application process is flawed and favors the wealthy. While Early Decision may help NYU drive down the acceptance rate and boost enrollment of students paying in full but the consequence is a lack of economic diversity.
Email the WSN Editorial Board at opinion@nyunews.com EDITORIAL BOARD: Tyler Crews (Chair), Paola Nagovitch (Co-chair), Alison Zimmerman (Co-chair) CARTOON BY VICTOR WU
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Washington Square News | Monday, April 9, 2018
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SPORTS Keeping up with the
Edited by Maddie Howard sports@nyunews.com
BOBCATS
Men’s Tennis April 11
Women’s Tennis April 12
Track and Field April 13
at Stevens Institute of Technology
at The College of New Jersey
Coach P Invitational at Moravian College
The Hidden Injuries of Athletes By BELA KIRPALANI Deputy Sports Editor
All athletes must be mentally tough to compete at the highest level. But student-athletes are also young adults and face the same gamut of mental health issues as other adolescents. Stern first-year and basketball player Reiko Johnson said she has personally dealt with her share of battles with mental wellness as a student-athlete. “Being a student-athlete definitely has mental tolls on you,” Johnson said. “I have not had major mental health concerns during my time as a student-athlete, but I have had minor mental challenges. My experiences are from not meeting personal expectations during games and practices, and certain outcomes that I thought [were] going to happen.” Tandon junior and swimming and diving team member Claire Liu added that the time commitment of being a student-athlete has taken a toll on her mental wellness. “Being a student-athlete sometimes feels like you are always at war with your self-doubts, insecurities and fears,” Liu said. “The biggest pressures are caused by the time constraints imposed by playing a sport and constant expectation to perform. I have spent so much time in the pool that I don’t necessarily feel integrated to my school and since I have been Tandon’s first and only diver, I felt extremely isolated and alone. Because the majority of our athletes practice off of the NYU campus, we are all very much on completely different schedules and there is little
space for integration.” Cassie Steinberg, a current graduate student in Clinical Nutrition at NYU and dietetic intern at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, spent four years as a member of the NYU women’s soccer team while pursuing her undergraduate studies in Nutrition and Dietetics. While competing for the Violets, Steinberg said she observed the mental health concerns she learned about in the classroom on the field. “I would say I definitely became much more aware of mental health concerns in my teammates in my junior and senior year, once I was further along in my degree and had developed my interest in nutrition and health,” Steinberg said. “I definitely noticed a good amount of stress, anxiety and depression. Not necessarily fullfledged eating disorders, but a lot of broad image concerns, and obsessions with looking a certain way and eating healthy, and talking about food all the time.” Competitive sports can do great things for athletes — they increase health, boost self-esteem and teach leadership and teamwork skills. However, Steinberg mentioned that some sports can put athletes at an increased risk for eating disorders. “There’s a significantly higher prevalence of eating disorders in aesthetic based sports,” Steinberg said. “So, in gymnastics, swimming, running, cheerleading, wrestling — your body plays such a huge role in your identity. Your body is literally your vessel for performance and success, so you place so much emphasis on making sure it’s perfect. Some-
STAFF PHOTO BY JULIA MOSES
An NYU swimmer at the 2018 swimming and diving Senior Ceremony on Jan. 27.
times it can become an addiction or an obsession to an unhealthy extent where you start developing bad habits in an attempt to make your body into something you think it’s supposed to be.” Liu said she has seen the impact of eating disorders play out in the world of diving. “In the sport of diving and many other acrobatic sports, smaller physiques are more desired,” Liu said. “I have not been diagnosed with an eating disorder, but I know that I have spent most of my life to get skinnier by trying extreme fad diets and exercise plans. I have met many divers who have struggled with weight — it could be as nonchalant as skipping meals for half the day in order to not feel bloated before a competition or practice, to being diagnosed with anorexia or other eating disorders. Diving does not necessarily burn that many calories, so it makes sense why some divers would take matters into their own hands and restrict their caloric intake.” Providing support and education is a crucial part of decreasing the mental health issues that plague student-athletes. In recent years, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has recognized the increasing prevalence of mental illness among college athletes and created the NCAA Mental Health Task Force to provide student-athletes with more information and resources about the interconnectedness of mind, body and sport, including a Mental Health Best Practices guide on its website. Additionally, professional athletes such as NBA player Demar DeRozan and MLB player Mike Marjama have opened up and spoken publicly about their struggles with mental illness and eating disorders, which Johnson said could help student-athletes realize that they are not alone. “It’s important because it shows that very successful athletes, that seem like they wouldn’t have any struggles with mental health, actually struggle just like everyone else,” Johnson said. We should always remember that athletes are more than just athletes. They are people who go through their own daily struggles, just as we all do, and require support and love at every turn. Email Bela Kirpalani at bkirpalani@nyunews.com.
WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE April 3 to April 7
By WARNER RADLIFF and BELA KIRPALANI Deputy Sports Editors
BASEBALL
On April 3, Stern sophomore Cole Tait led the Violets to a thumping 13-7 win over the City College of New York going 5-for-5 at the plate with four extra base hits. The NYU baseball team traveled to Troy, New York on April 7 for a doubleheader against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Violets won the first game 4-2, when pitcher and SPS senior Cameron Serapilio-Frank allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter while striking out four, raising his season record to 6-0 in the win. SPS first-year Gabe Golob struck out two while pitching a perfect ninth inning for his first career save. NYU baseball recorded a resounding win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 16-2 in the second game. SPS junior Colman Hendershot and Stern junior Ryan McLaughlin recorded three hits and four RBIs, and four hits and four RBIs, respectively. The Violets completed the sweep over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, winning game three 15-1 on April 8, taking their record to 20-4. NYU baseball returns to action on April 13 when it heads to Cleveland, Ohio, to begin a four-game University Athletic Association series against Case Western Reserve University.
SOFTBALL
NYU Softball defeated the College of Staten Island 7-4 on April 8. The Violets started off hot, leading 6-0 by the sixth inning. CAS sophomore Mary Tindall recorded two home runs and five RBIs in the win. The win takes NYU softball’s record to 10-6.
MEN’S GOLF
The men’s golf team finished fourth out of 15 teams at the Hershey Cup in Hershey, Pennsylvania on April 1. Although originally scheduled as a two day event, inclement weather conditions caused the tournament to be canceled following the first of three scheduled rounds. GLS sophomore Matt Shen stood out for the Violets by finishing third out of 84 golfers given his three over par performance. Over the weekend of April 7, the Violets hosted the NYU Invitational at the Forest Hill Field Club in Bloomfield, New Jersey. With only a six stroke differential, NYU claimed first place over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Three Violets finished in the top 10 with Tisch first-year Robbie Keyes tying for first, Shen tying for third and Stern firstyear Patrick McNary tying for fifth. The team will return to the links on April 27-29 to compete in the Liberty League Championship in Baldwinsville, New Jersey.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
The NYU women’s tennis remain un-
defeated at 6-0 after a narrow 5-4 victory over Brandeis University on April 7, at the Stadium Tennis Center in the Bronx. Stern sophomores Rupa Ganesh and Judy Kam (third seed doubles) won 8-3 in the first doubles match, followed by a tight 8-6 victory by Stern first-year Anna Maria Buraya and CAS sophomore Coco Kulle (second seed doubles). In singles, Buraya (first seed singles) defeated her opponent in two sets (64, 6-2). Stern junior Flyora Shiyanova followed up with a victory in third seed singles (6-2, 6-4). Kulle gave the Violets their fifth and final win of the matchup in a back-and-forth contest in second seed singles (6-2, 2-6, 6-2).
MEN’S TENNIS
The NYU men’s tennis team, playing in its first UAA match of the season, fell to Brandeis University in a 7-2 loss on April 7, at the Stadium Tennis Center in the Bronx. NYU (2-4) got off to a strong start against Brandeis with Stern junior Benedict Teoh and Stern sophomore Michael Li winning the first match of the day in second seed doubles (8-5). CAS senior Umberto Setter had the only other win for the Violets, with a dominant performance in first seed singles (6-3, 6-1). Li had an impressive third seed singles match as well, mounting a comeback in the second set only to come up short in the third (6-3, 4-6, 6-4) It was also simultaneously Family, Alumni and Senior Day for the Violets.
MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
The men’s track and field team traveled to Princeton, New Jersey on April 6 to compete in the Sam Howell Invitational held at Princeton University. Top 10 finishers for the Violets included a first place finish by SPS sophomore Julian Montilus in the 400-meter hurdles, fourth place finish by SPS senior Malcolm Montilus in the 400-meter sprint and ninth place finish by Stern senior Max Mudd in the 5000-meter run. The Violets will compete next at the Coach P Invitational on April 4 at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
The women’s track and field team competed against a field of Division I competition at the Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton, NJ on Friday, April 6. Two Violets found their way into the top 10 of the 3000-meter steeplechase with Steinhardt seniors Morel Malcolm and Megan Davis finishing in eighth and ninth place, respectively. Other standout performances by the Violets include CAS senior Hannah Haley placing ninth in the 5000-meter and Stern senior Brianna Yee taking sixth in the triple jump. The Violets will return to competition on April 4 when they compete at the Coach P Invitational at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Email the Sports desk at sports@nyunews.com.
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SPORTS
Edited by Maddie Howard sports@nyunews.com
Jonathan Iaione Named to UAA 30th Anniversary Team By WARNER RADLIFF Deputy Sports Editor
Contrary to recruiting norms, Head Baseball Coach Doug Kimbler never saw Jonathan Iaione take the field or step up to the plate in person prior to Iaione’s arrival at NYU. With only statistics to analyze and a recruiting tape to evaluate, Kimbler took what Iaione described as a “shot in the dark” on the New Jersey slugger when assembling the 2014-2015 recruiting class for the program’s inaugural season of varsity competition. Four years later, Iaione’s athletic excellence has earned him selection to the University Athletic Association 30th Anniversary Team, making it safe to say that Kimbler’s shot hit the bullseye. Since his first day at NYU, Iaione has made his presence known on the diamond. Throughout his tenure, the CAS senior has started nearly every game for the Violets while demonstrating his versatility as a ballplayer at numerous positions across the infield and outfield while making a name for himself at the plate. “I think I’ve always been a strong hitter,” Iaione said. “That’s where I made my legacy at NYU — my offensive numbers. I’m known for my bat, and that’s what I take the most pride in.”
It was with his bat that Iaione secured the honor of being named the 2016-2017 UAA Position Player of the Year. The then-junior earned the recognition by leading the UAA with 59 hits and a conference-high .447 batting average, while also recording the second most doubles, home runs and runs batted in. Understanding that baseball is both a physically and mentally demanding game, Iaione credits his success to his taciturn and business-like approach on the field. “I’m a pretty loud person off the field, but when I’m on the field, I play the game super quiet,” he said. “I know what I need to do on the field, and I’m going to do it. I don’t like hype. Baseball is a sport where everyone is yelling and screaming. For me, hype does nothing. I’m going to do what I need to do.” Now, one season after his MVP-caliber campaign, Iaione was named to the UAA 30th Anniversary Team as the sole representative of NYU. The team, which consists of every past and present player who garnered a specific calculation of All-Association and Player of the Year honors, was constructed in celebration of the athletic accomplishments of UAA student athletes over the past 30 years. When asked about the impact the recognition will have on the pro-
gram, Kimbler made it clear that Iaione’s success has played an integral role in the development of the young program. “It puts NYU on the map as a legitimate baseball program,” Kimbler said. “We talk about players on our team all the time when talking about recruiting, recognition, expectations. Jonny usually is the topic of discussion.” SPS senior, baseball captain and pitcher Cameron Serapilio-Frank echoed Kimbler’s comments on the impact Iaione’s recognition will have on the program. “Showing the type of talent that our team consists of and competes with— this selection helps bring NYU baseball validation,” Serapilio-Frank said. “Most importantly, it validates the competitive culture that we have in this program, something that pushes our playing levels to new heights and gets the attention of other high-performing recruits.” Furthermore, Serapilio-Frank said that he expects the next generation of NYU ballplayers will carry on the “swipe and pipe” culture of swiping bases and piping fastballs that Iaione established over his tenure. “Something that has spurred our offense and defense, the ‘swipe and pipe’ approach to the game has given our team identity,” Serapilio-Frank
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Jonathan Iaione up to bat on April 1 in Brooklyn in a match against Washington University, St. Louis. Iaione was recently named to be on UAA’s 30th Anniversary Team.
said. “The approach has simplified our attack and energized our lineup and dugout and will leave a philosophy [to be] adopted by hitters for years to come.” As for himself, Iaione said the legacy he will imprint on the program is only a baseline for what the next generation of Violets can accomplish. “It’s nice to start something and be the first to put up a year like I had and to be named UAA Player of the Year,” Iaione said. “I’d love to look back and see some more UAA Players of the Year. I set the standard and for guys to exceed that, good for them,
and I would really welcome that.” Iaione will finish out his senior season before graduating next month with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and dual minor in Mathematics and Business Studies. With aspirations to work in finance, Iaione said he will continue to leverage the time management, mental toughness and teamwork skills he has developed over his time as a student athlete while he continues to undergo the interviewing process. Email Warner Radliff at wradliff@nyunews.com.
EXPOSURE
Edited by Echo Chen multimedia@nyunews.com
Pillow Fight By KATIE PEURRUNG Deputy Photo Editor
Despite the “fight” in pillow fight, Saturday’s annual event in Washington Square Park felt more like a celebration than a battle. Pillow fighters young and old hit each other with fervor as feathers flew into the air. The first broken pillow brought cheers as its fluffy contents floated above the crowd members’ heads. The ground was quickly covered in pillow entrails, but the battle continued. Dueling fighters hugged it out after particularly intense matches, while adults pretended to be knocked out by small children in superhero costumes. Even Coco the dog, who as I was told, had attended three previous pillow fights, was being oh-so-gently bopped in the spirit of the fight. In the midst of the chaos, I found a small girl dressed head-to-toe in pink. The crowd seemed to make room for us as I began taking photos of her throwing feathers into the air. Despite the many moving bodies around us, we found a moment of calm within crowd. See more online at nyunews.com/pillow-fight
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