Washington Square News, October 29, 2018

4 CULTURE

9 OPINION

Working With Bones, Bringing Peace to the Dead

Protecting the Rights for Advocacy at NYU

7 ARTS

10 SPORTS

Gary Hart and the Year Politics Collided With Celebrity

Los Angeles and Boston Control Their Coasts

VOLUME LI | ISSUE 9

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

Cam Girl. Stripper. Student.

Written by JOEL LEE | Photos by KATIE PEURRUNG

Lady Lola Lightning cams and strips to fund her entire tuition, living costs and more. No toys or tricks involved.

‘Alt-Right’ Leader Slated to Speak at NYU

By SARAH JACKSON News Editor Conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos is scheduled to speak at a class taught by self-proclaimed “deplor-

I

n only 40 minutes, Lady Lola Lightning had accumulated over 6,000 total viewers on her Periscope livestream and collected 10 down payments of $10 for her private group session to take place later that night. The smoke of lit incense gracefully filled the room as “Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” played on the caramel record

able” NYU professor Michael Rectenwald on Wednesday.

A former senior editor at Breitbart News, Yiannopoulos is known for calling for deportations of Muslims from Western countries, condoning pedophilia and commenting that vigilante squads should shoot journalists, among other incendiary remarks.

A copy of Yiannopoulos’s speech for Wednesday obtained by WSN shows the pundit’s derision of identity politics and people who accuse certain Halloween CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

player. Lola’s Brooklyn bedroom became centerstage for her performance.

Lola, a 23-year-old SPS sophomore and Salem, Massachusetts native started playing with Periscope just five months ago.

Through Periscope, a live video-streaming platform, she’s gathered a loyal following as a webcam model. “Camming” refers to those who perform erotic acts on live

streams for money or goods. In Lola’s case, she doesn’t use toys or do too many tricks; she just strips down and has a raw chat with viewers. Though she enjoys the work, the main motivation is financial. Lola initially didn’t make money through camming, but along with her new job as a stripper in Brooklyn, she is able to pay for her entire tuition and living expenses without sup-

Lola lies in bed after being banned from PayPal.

port from her family.

It was Sunday afternoon when she decided to start her public livestream for the day. She swayed in the camera frame wearing a vintage Harley DavidCONTINUED ON PAGE 11

October Calls for Cancer Awareness

By KRISTINA HAYHURST, News Editor All throughout his childhood, Zach Hausman’s best friend was his grandmother. He would go to her before anyone else, and they had plans to go on a trip to Europe together when he turned 21. However, on Jan. 10, 2012, these plans shattered when he found out she had terminal breast cancer.

Only a month after the diagnosis, Haus-

COURTESY OF ZACH HAUSMAN

Zach Hausman and his grandmother, who passed away on Feb. 10, 2012.

man’s grandmother passed away.

“The cancer spread very quickly,” Hausman, an LS first-year, said. “The only two parts of her left that didn’t have any cancer in the end were her eyes.”

Cancer has obvious, painful impacts on those diagnosed. But the emotional wounds inflicted on a patient’s loved ones can also be severe.

“Dying from cancer is treated differently CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Washington Square News

2

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

NEWS

NEWS@NYUNEWS.COM

Edited by ALEX DOMB, KRISTINA HAYHURST and SARAH JACKSON

October Calls for Cancer Awareness at NYU

NYU Endowment Growth Lags Behind Peers

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

than dying from an instant thing — [others say], at least you had time,” Hausman said. “But I literally I had 30 days as a seventh grader. My grandma and I will never get to go to Europe.”

This memory weighs heavily on Hausman, especially now, in the midst of breast and liver cancer awareness month. In the United States, more than 266,000 new cases of breast cancer and about 42,000 new cases of liver cancer are diagnosed each year.

However, during the month of October, liver cancer tends to be overshadowed by breast cancer, with its popular pink ribbon, sometimes coined the pinking of America. Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and oncology specialist at NYU Langone Marleen Meyers said breast cancer advocacy groups, large in size and supported by deep funding, sometimes overshadow smaller cancer advocacy groups.

“Some of the other cancers, such as pancreatic cancer for example, are far more devastating,” Meyers said. “But I think it has to do with the numbers and the fact that it’s a very compassionate type of cancer. When you hear about young women in their childbearing years and young women with children having a devastating illness, it’s much easier to raise money for that.”

Despite the comparative lack of fundraising, liver cancer still pervades. LS firstyear Madeline Cano first found out about her father’s stage three liver cancer on Christmas Day in 2015.

“My mom was trying to hold off on telling me, since she found out two days before Christmas,” Cano said. “But when I found my sister crying, she finally had to tell me.”

While Cano’s father’s cancer wasn’t terminal, the treatment took a significant toll on his body.

“He did some chemo to shrink the tumor, and he would tell me that his hair and his teeth were falling out,” Cano said.

“When I saw him for the first time after he started chemo, the reality of his cancer hit me. His cheeks had literally sunk in, It was so terrible.”

Cancer begins when individual cells

By SAYER DEVLIN Managing Editor NYU’s endowment — which contributes around 4 percent to NYU’s annual budget — grew 2.5 percent during the 2018 fiscal year, and the total combined endowment grew by $100 million, according to the Investment Office’s Endowment Fact Sheet, published earlier this month.

Though NYU’s Investment Office does not publish its returns on investment, the endowment’s growth rate slowed significantly from the previous year, which saw the fund grow nearly 14 percentage points or about half a billion dollars.

Universities typically spend around 5 percent of their endowments each year to fund university operations and programs.

The larger the endowment, the more money NYU has to spend on research, financial aid, building renovations and more. The Investment Office uses an active, long-term investment approach and does not look to maximize any single year’s returns, according to the fact sheet.

The growth rate of NYU’s endowment was lower than almost all of its peer

KATIE PEURRUNG | WSN

Dr. Christine Vogel, the lead author of a recent study on cancer treatment.

mutate, allowing it to escape control by the cell cycle. Christine Vogel, a biology professor and researcher at NYU, recently authored a new paper about cell processes.

Vogel’s studies investigate how genes respond to stressors, or specific environmental conditions, that cause such mutations to occur. These mutations can allow cells to escape apoptosis, or programmed cell death, letting them replicate indefinitely and take over the body.

“Think of [the cell] like Manhattan; you have to shuttle everybody and get them to the right place,” Vogel said. “So very easily if something goes wrong, because it’s so dense and so fast-paced, there can be chaos.”

One gene that Vogel and her team studied was the BRCA1 gene, which, when functioning normally, helps prevent cells from growing and dividing too rapidly. If this specific gene is mutated, DNA damage can no longer be repaired properly and cells continue to divide with mutated gene information, leading to breast cancer.

Vogel and her team took a large-scale approach to studying such mutations, because she thinks that in order to discover new routes, we first have to understand the connections between the cell and its genetic code.

“Regulation of gene expression is really really complicated, and there are many more connections and pathways than we thought,” Vogel said. “But in order to go from that to a drug, there’s a lot of work to be done to understand the underlying

pathways: the how. If we know how the cell suppresses protein production, we can maybe then design a drug to counter that and make enough BRCA1.”

Within Vogel’s work, many of her friends have asked her whether she’s found a cure. However, the solution to cancer is not so black-and-white.

“It’s a complex thing and it’s not going to be cured by one wonder drug,” Vogel said. “However, research is making great strides for cancer. Even in our work we’ve discovered new routes to new solutions.”

For some patients, the hope for a cure is not a practical outlook on their disease.

Instead, making cancer into a more tolerable disease might be the first step forward.

“There are many women who have had breast cancer for many years, and they think of it more as a chronic illness,” Meyers said. “We now want to maintain their health and improve survival, as the expectations are that even with stage three, many people with breast cancer will go on and live for several or many years.”

Many relatives of cancer patients feel the weight of the disease on their shoulders. However, most of those affected simply ask for sympathy and support.

“When someone [is touched] by cancer, you’re not always going to be able to understand,” Cano said. “You just have to be there.”

universities and was about half that of the worst performing school in the Ivy League, NYU’s upstate neighbor Cornell University. NYU’s 2.5 percent growth rate was also below NYU’s 15-year average growth rate of 8.4 percent, according to the Endowment Fact Sheet.

NYU spokesman John Beckman cautioned against drawing conclusions from yearly growth rates.

“The size of the endowment changes year over year as a consequence of various factors, including the return, annual spend — i.e., the income on the endowment that goes toward the budget — new contributions, and other withdrawals that are not part of annual spend,” Beckman said.

While the size of NYU’s endowment ranks about 25th in the country, the size of its endowment per student — which is a better indicator of how much the school can spend on its students each year — ranks around 200th, Beckman said.

Chief Investment Officer Kathleen Jacobs, who oversees NYU’s endowment, declined to comment.

Email Sayer Devlin at sdevlin@nyunews.com.

2018 Endowment Growth

Email Kristina Hayhurst at khayhurst@nyunews.com.

INFORMATION FROM UPENN.EDU; COLUMBIASPECTATOR.COM; CORNELLSUN.COM; MLIVE.COM; DAILY PROGRESS; DARTMOUTH.EDU; DUKECHRONICLE.COM; BROWN.EDU

Student Decarbonization Efforts Gain Momentum

By MEGHNA MAHARISHI Deputy News Editor After almost a year of campaigning, NYU Divest’s resolution for decarbonization was finally passed by the Student Senate Council last Thursday. The resolution will now most likely be presented to the University Senate during its Nov. 8 meeting. On the same day, NYU Divest will host a rally in Washington Square Park to garner support.

The resolution for decarbonization asks that NYU fully phase out its usage of fossil fuels for power, heating, transportation and cooling, and that the university extends these efforts to all of its global campuses. Divest — an organization that encourages complete divestment from the fossil fuel industry — is asking NYU to instead rely on renewable electricity. Its decarbonization proposal also asks for more transparency on the university’s sustainability efforts. One suggestion for making this information more accessible involves having the Office of Sustainability host forums to fa-

cilitate discussions on these efforts with the rest of the NYU community.

Divest’s resolution for decarbonization differs from NYU’s proposal of carbon neutrality in that Divest wants NYU to completely end its dependence on fossil fuels and cut ties with gas plants that rely heavily on fracking. NYU’s proposal primarily seeks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by creating energy-efficient buildings and reducing food and plastic waste in an effort to be carbon neutral by 2040.

In a press release, Assistant Vice President for Sustainability Cecil Scheib saw NYU’s efforts toward sustainability as measures to reduce NYU’s carbon footprint, although there was no mention of eventually stopping fossil fuel consumption.

“It would be wonderful if there was a magic wand that could solve the problem of greenhouse gases, but there isn’t,” Scheib said. “What is required instead is bringing to bear a wide range of determined efforts — and determined people — to achieve our goals.”

JAKE QUAN | WSN

NYU Divest outside Bobst during a rally in 2016.

While the Student Senators Council passed Divest’s resolution almost unanimously, with only three abstentions, the organization is unsure if the University Senate will pass the resolution.

NYU President Andrew Hamilton, Student Body President Husniye Cogur and the Executive Council must approve the resolution before it is presented on Nov. 8.

According to Divest member and

Gallatin sophomore Madison Kelts, Divest’s Nov. 8 rally is meant to ensure that the University Senate pays attention to the resolution. At the rally, Divest plans to march to the University Senate Colloquium room to greet senators as they exit their meeting. According to the Facebook event, over 50 people are currently expected to attend. Kelts sees the rally as a way to mobilize students to promote

their resolution.

“Divest is pushing for decarbonation [sic] now because it’s no longer an option to wait for others to change things,” Kelts said. “All of us have to join the fight for climate justice.”

Divest Faculty Relations liaison and Graduate School of Arts and Science student Lola Jusidman Shoshana hopes the University Senate can pass the resolution with unanimity and, in the broader picture, motivate administrators to act quickly to decarbonize NYU. “We believe that the Office of Sustainability and the university need a unanimous mandate from the different constituencies at NYU — a mandate to be ambitious, to be comprehensive, and to be transparent,” Shoshana said.

“When that message comes loudly and clearly from the University Senate, NYU executives will the push to devote more resources to decarbonization, and to act with more urgency.”

Email Meghna Maharishi at mmaharishi@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News | News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

‘Less than $100 for 3 Years of Labor’ A North Korean defector spoke at NYU on Friday to raise awareness of labor abuses.

By SARAH JOHN Contributing Writer During his time as a laborer under the North Korean regime, Ro Hee Chang lived in near torturous conditions. He was forced to sleep in cramped, hot spaces in Pyongyang, the Middle East and Russia, where he ultimately defected. On Friday, he spoke at NYU about his journey.

“Overseas work of one person is valued at $3,000, but workers receive about $60, with the remaining going to the party,” Chang said. “This only serves to fill the bellies of Worker Party, [and is no different] than a prison camp. No matter how much they work, the workers are left with nothing after.”

Speaking through a translator, Chang explained his personal experience living under the North Korean regime in the past decade. He lived in Pyongyang before being sent as an overseas laborer to the Middle East and then to Russia, from which he defected in 2014.

Overseas laborers are a source of revenue for North Korea; they typically work in terrible conditions for years while receiving very little pay. Although the United Nations attempted to forbid countries from distributing work permits to North Koreans, Russia is still issuing them as of 2018. This year, 700 work permits have been issued from Russia to North Koreans as a minimum estimate from Russia’s Interior Ministry records, found by the Wall Street Journal.

Chang explained his difficult situation.

While working in the Middle East, shifts were often from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Ten to 20

costume wearers of cultural appropriation. The speech also includes claims that Halloween has become boring and heavily policed, and that liberals use their bodies as costumes and are not living in the real world. It ends by encouraging people to wear offensive costumes on Halloween.

This isn’t the first time Yiannopoulos has been asked to speak at NYU. In 2016, NYU College Republicans invited Yiannopoulos to speak, although his scheduled appearance was canceled by NYU due to safety concerns.

Rectenwald, a Liberal Studies clinical professor, is a frequent critic of political correctness and social justice. He recently lost a defamation lawsuit he made against the university and four professors for remarks made in a department-wide email exchange.

Rectenwald said he does not necessarily support Yiannopoulos’s views, emphasizing that he will be welcoming a socialist

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Student Spit on in Washington Square Park

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Mr. Ro Hee Chang (second from right), defector from North Korea, spoke in a conversation hosted by NYU Freedom For North Korea and International Relations Society at NYU on Oct. 26.

people would be crammed into small living spaces, which Chang described as “unbearable in the heat.” Injuries, illness and death were common, and workers often saw nothing for their efforts.

In a particularly tragic anecdote, Chang described witnessing a man take his own life after working in these painful conditions.

“The man had sold his entire wealth to support his family, but then he came and saw the misery of others was to become his future,” Chang said. “He was involved in a big accident, and heard that some compensation would be given to those who died.

That’s when he decided the best solution would be to take his own life and save his family. [The North Korean government] said he had earned too little, and did not send anything back. Even while he was dying, they said that it was a waste of the party’s resources to pay for his treatment. This was 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia.”

Chang finished the story, leaving a silence over the room.

“I sincerely hope that everyone in this room, and the world, comes to know that North Korean overseas workers are living under truly nightmarish condi-

tions,” Chang said.

Around 50 people came to the Silver Center to hear Chang speak. Audience members found the talk to be surprising and informative, and appreciated the opportunity to gain rare insight into the situation in North Korea from someone with first-hand experience.

“I’m from Georgia and Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, so the questions of freedom concern me,” Stern sophomore Nana Goguadze said. “I took the Russia and the Soviet Union class last semester, so now I’m expanding my knowledge to understand how in the 21st century, communists can still operate.”

At the end of the event, Chang hoped he had raised awareness about life in North Korea and had encouraged others to do the same.

“We beseech you, people of NYU, tell your friends and family that this is a reality,” Chang said. “That this is something of the 21st century. If you want to help, just help people be aware.”

Email Sarah John at news@nyunews.com.

‘Alt-Right’ Leader Slated to Speak at NYU CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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speaker to his class later in the semester.

“This appearance does not represent an endorsement of his views,” Rectenwald said. “It is just to get some perspective, some diversity of perspective in the classroom.”

Still, he said Yiannopoulos is better than he has been portrayed in the media.

“He’s a genius,” Rectenwald said.

“Once you hear him speak, you’ll see that he’s a genius.”

Rectenwald said he did not need clearance from the administration to host Yiannopoulos and that his idea was not outright opposed by Liberal Studies Dean Julie Mostov when he presented it to her.

“As Mr. Yiannopoulos will be addressing issues treated in the class and because he’s a New York Times best-selling author, the talk meets the policy qualifications for having an outside speaker to a writing class,” Rectenwald said. “If security questions loom given a concern about violent protests, that is another matter. I

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KATIE PEURRUNG | PHOTO VIA FLICKR.COM

can’t account for that, although I am taking precautions.”

University spokesperson John Beckman said the university was troubled by the lack of notice for Yiannopoulos’s appearance.

“The university only learned in the last few hours from press accounts about the possible presence in a classroom on Wednesday of Mr. Yiannopoulis [sic],” Beckman said in an email to WSN on Sunday. “Given the record of disruption that has accompanied Milo Yiannopoulis’ [sic] appearances on campuses, it is a source of concern to us that a faculty member would issue such an invitation without taking such rudimentary, common-sense steps as reaching out to our Dept of Public Safety to ensure his students’ — and other community members’ — safety.”

Yiannopoulos’s appearance is already raising objections.

The Graduate Student Organizing Committee at NYU spoke out against it on Twitter on Sunday.

“Milo and his fascist, white supremacist speech — which has often included calls to violence — are dangerous for many of our students,” the tweet reads. “For educational workers, this is what a workplace safety struggle looks like. He has no place in any classroom.”

Student Senators Council senator-at-large Rose Asaf also contested Yiannopoulos’s pending speech on Twitter. “...[A] white nationalist/pedophile is coming to class — a few days after another white nationalist murdered 11 Jewish people,” she wrote.

Email Sarah Jackson at sjackson@nyunews.com.

From Oct. 18 to Oct. 26, the NYU Department of Public Safety received one report of aggravated assault, five reports of controlled substance violation, one report of fire, five reports of harassment, seven reports of larceny, one report of simple assault, one report of stalking and one report of trespassing.

victim of harassment in Second Street Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 23 at 2:34 p.m., an NYU student in Gramercy Green Residence Hall reported that he is a victim of online harassment. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

Larceny

On Oct. 19 at 11:30 p.m., a resident assistant reported witnessing underage alcohol possession in University Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case has been referred to the Office of Community Standards.

On Oct. 21 at 1:30 a.m., an RA reported witnessing underage alcohol possession in Broome Street Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case has been referred to the Office of Community Standards.

On Oct. 22 at 11:47 p.m., an RA reported witnessing underage alcohol possession in Third Avenue North Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 25 at 1:41 a.m., an NYU student reported witnessing a drug law violation in Third North. Police notification was declined and the case has been referred to the Office of Community Standards.

On Oct. 26 at 3:17 a.m., an RA reported witnessing underage alcohol possession in Lafayette Street Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case has been referred to the Office of Community Standards.

On Oct. 19 at 11:20 a.m., an NYU student reported her laptop missing from her bag in the Basic Science building. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 19 at 12 p.m., an NYU staff member reported his laptop missing from a table in Tisch Hall.

The case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 22 at 12:35 p.m., an NYU affiliate reported witnessing food theft from the cafeteria in the Kimmel Center for University Life. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 22 an NYU student reported that his bike was missing from the bike rack outside of 721 Broadway. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 24 at 2:20 p.m., an NYU staff member reported that his iPhone charger was missing from a cubicle in the Dental Center. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 24 at 4 p.m., an NYU staff member reported that his iPhone charger was missing from a cubicle in the Dental Center. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 24 at 4:56 p.m., an NYU student reported her credit cards missing from her bag in the Starbucks on West 4th Street. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation.

Fire

Simple Assault

Aggravated Assault On Oct. 23 at 3:28 a.m., an NYU student reported being a victim of aggravated assault in Rubin Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

Controlled Substance Violation

On Oct. 22 at 11:46 p.m., an NYU staff member reported a fire at Broome caused by a malfunctioning dryer. FDNY reported to the location and put out the fire. No injuries were reported. The case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 20 at 12:10 p.m., a nonNYU affiliate reported that another non-NYU affiliate punched him.

New York Police Department was called to the scene. An arrest was made in Kimmel. The case is open and under investigation.

Harassment

Stalking

On Oct. 18 two NYU students reported being victims of harassment in Carlyle Court Residence Hall. Police notification was declined and the case has been referred to the Office of Community Standards.

On Oct. 19 at 9:20 a.m., an NYU student reported that she was spit on in Washington Square Park. A police report was filed and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 19 at 2 p.m., an NYU student reported that she was the victim of harassment in Carlyle. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

On Oct. 22 at 1:45 a.m., an NYU student reported that she was a

On Oct. 22 at 1:28 a.m., an NYU student reported being the victim of stalking in Second Street. Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

Trespassing On Oct. 24 at 10:50 p.m., several NYU RAs reported trespassing at Lipton Residence Hall. The unidentified man was escorted out of the building with no further incident.

Police notification was declined and the case is open and under investigation.

Email Crime Bot at news@nyunews.com.

Washington Scare News

4 CULTURE@NYUNEWS.COM

CULTURE

Working With Bones, Bringing Peace to the Dead

By NATALIE CHINN Culture Editor South America has had more than its fair share of mass violence, and NYU professor and doctoral candidate Jennifer Lila Trowbridge works intimately with the remains of these disasters.

Although she is currently in New York working on her dissertation, Trowbridge has conducted anthropological fieldwork in Colombia and Guatemala, two countries that have suffered from mass violence stemming from interventions by first-world countries like Spain and the United States. She spent four years in Guatemala and 17 months in Colombia with teams of forensic anthropologists working to exhume, study and identify the remains “It’s always powerful once you’ve excavated the whole area and the skeleton — or multiple skeletons — are visible and you see the positions that they were in when they were put in the graves, which sometimes they’re thrown carelessly in there,” Trowbridge said.

In both countries, the goals was to reconnect the remains with their families so they can have a proper burial.

“What we’re doing is trying to help the families, if not the spirits, if you want to imagine it that way, of the people killed to experience some sort of restoration or slightly more peace around what happened,” Trowbridge said.

Trowbridge was constantly surrounded by the remains of these victims. In Guatemala, her team worked at excavation sites in the mountains. After packaging up the bones, the team would pile everything into the back of a truck and drive it back to their lab. However, when the team stopped at a hotel for the night, they would have to sleep with boxes of bones in their rooms in order to keep them safe and maintain the chain of custody.

“In one particular time, when I had six different boxes — which is to say six different skeleton bodies — stacked up in the corner of my hotel room, I remember really having to talk myself through it,” Trowbridge said.

“Kind of like, ‘Okay, it’s possible that I could have some kind of ghostly experience tonight. I wonder if they will scare me.’”

Trowbridge had heard stories from coworkers about people who had dreamt of the bodies in their hotel rooms. Although she was initially wary about sleeping with the remains, Trowbridge knew she was helping the families of these people and hoped that if she had a spiritual experience, it would be a positive one.

“I didn’t experience anything and in the morning, I was a little sad,” Trowbridge said. “Because, on some level, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to feel a connection from the beyond.’”

Even though Trowbridge welcomed a friendly spiritual interaction, the paranormal has always frightened her.

“When I was younger, I loved horror movies — but the ones with ghosts scared me the most,” Trowbridge said. “So, it’s a little weird, or maybe makes psychological sense on some level, that I work in this area [of study].”

This fear definitely followed Trowbridge into her profession. Sometimes, when she was alone at the lab at night, she’d get spooked. And she wasn’t the only one.

“Some people used to come in and say, ‘Oh, there’s just such a bad vibe in here,’” Trowbridge said. “And I think there were legitimately hundreds, at any given time, of massacred bodies of people we’re trying to analyze and identify.”

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

While working in Bogotá, Colombia, she also encountered what appeared to be ghostly activity in her building’s elevator, which would frequently take people to floors they did not request.

“There would be times I was on it by myself and I would clearly have pushed the fifth floor and it would open, all of a sudden I would get off and be like, ‘Where am I? I’m on the sixth floor — it skipped the fifth floor,’” Trowbridge said.

Although the elevator seemed to have a mind of its own, Trowbridge, like many others, brushed off these mysterious occurrences. After all, the people who worked with her at the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses were doctors and scientists who rarely acknowledged the supernatural.

“Some people would make jokes about the elevator being haunted and it would make the other people very uncomfortable,” Trowbridge said. “They just wouldn’t respond or [they’d] give a polite but uncomfortable laugh.”

However, Trowbridge met several professionals who strongly believed that the institute was a hotspot for spirits of the dead.

“Other people said, ‘No, I mean, think about all of the kinds of people and all the kinds of deaths that come through these doors — it’s horrific,’” Trowbridge said. “‘Of course there are going to be spirits haunting this building. Of course there’s ghosts.’”

Elevator ghosts weren’t even the scariest things people witnessed at Trowbridge’s workplace.

“Some people who worked in the morgue were telling me that one time there was a body that came in, and you know, they all lie on these tray tables and refrigerated areas until they’re ready to be examined,” Trowbridge said. “They said that one time there was a body that just slowly started sitting up.”

Whether you’re a morgue worker or a forensic scientist, working with the dead leaves a lasting impact on you.

Although Trowbridge isn’t currently employed as a forensic anthropologist, she is still triggered by things that remind her of the work she did with remains.

“Smells are very powerful,” Trowbridge said. “And, sometimes the smell of some sort of decomposition — it can be a dead animal — but if it smells similar to dead human, it can really throw me off.”

The emotional toll forensic work takes on professionals like Trowbridge is astounding. According to Trowbridge, many fall into depression or leave their jobs.

“It’s just kind of seeing the worst things that humanity is capable of and staring that in the face every day,” Trowbridge said. “You’re [constantly] keeping a straight face, putting on the scientific glasses lens to look at it and [trying] not to become overwhelmed by it. Because if you do, you cannot do the work.”

Despite these challenges, Trowbridge wouldn’t trade anything for the experience she had working at sites of mass violence in South America.

“I sometimes miss the bodies,” Trowbridge said.

“And not just as bones — because there are bone collections here [at NYU] — but I felt a connection to them as a person I was trying to help identify. I miss that. That’s not something a hard scientist is supposed to say. But it’s also what made the work really meaningful to me.”

Email Natalie Chinn at nchinn@nyunews.com.

VIA YOUTUBE.COM

Jennifer Lila Trowbridge demonstrates the documentation process of the bones she works with at National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Bogotá, Colombia.

Edited by NATALIE CHINN

A DIY Horror Story to Chill Your Bones

COURTESY OF CALAI WATKINS

The graveyard cake the author made following a Pinterest recipe did not come out as expected.

By CALAIS WATKINS Staff Writer October means chilly weather, changing leaves and the students of NYU rejoicing in the tradition of changing their Twitter names to something spooky. Back in the suburban towns from where many of us came, PTA meetings have gotten that much more exciting as parents everywhere try to contain their excitement over the slew of DIY Halloween treats to try and, of course, post to their blogs. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Halloween Pinterest season has arrived.

I’ll admit, I’ve read the blog posts and I’ve even judged Linda for being way too thrilled about her perfectly sized black and orange Rice Krispies Treats, thinking anyone could do that.

Oh, sweet Linda. I am so sorry. After dipping my toe into the world of Pinterest innovation, I’ve come to realize that it’s hard and it’s scary and I’ll never say another ill word about your Rice Krispies Treats again. I commend you, Linda.

I commend all you crafty moms out there. You make it look so easy.

At the start of my quest to make my own blog-worthy treat, I figured I’d go spooky rather than cutesy. After scrolling through Pinterest and various mommy blogs, I decided gelatin worms would be the perfect beginner project for me. The materials were inexpensive, the work seemed minimal and I was ready to make the most realistic-looking gelatin worms the world had ever seen.

Getting the gelatin to be just the right shade of pinky brown was a breeze compared to the following steps of filling 150 straws with the mixture and waiting for the worms to set — all the while performing a precarious balancing act on top of a bag of cheese in my fridge. However, the worst was yet to come. Thawing the worms and getting all 150 gummies out of the straws and into a bowl took over an hour. In the end, the worms, albeit pretty damn spooky and a Pinterest victory, were not worth the trouble.

In all of my DIY baking arrogance, I decided to make things even more complicated. The gelatin worms soon became the inspiration for a graveyard-themed cake extravaganza, and along with various other brilliant DIY decoration ideas, my prized worms would be the star of the show, crawling through the delicious oreo dirt of my graveyard.

The project was doomed from the start. At this point, I was living and breathing Halloween so I thought, why not add a can of pumpkin to my chocolate cake mix? Not thinking about how adding pumpkin would affect the baking time and temperature, the foundation of my project came out soggy in the middle. It was every “Great British Baking Show” contestant’s nightmare.

However, like the pros, I continued to persevere, thinking if it wasn’t going to taste good, it might as well still look pretty.

My positive attitude, however, did not guar-

COURTESY OF CALAI WATKINS

The author fills straws with gelatin to mold gummy worms.

antee a positive outcome. You’d think the color of brownish-green dead grass would be easy to achieve with a simple mixing together of green, yellow and red food coloring, but you’d be wrong. A drop of anything was too much, and what was supposed to be the color of dead grass turned into a pastel green-beige concoction. If this ever happens to you, and you think mixing in crushed Oreos would be good for texture, don’t do it. Just don’t.

Also, be warned that a red frosting foundation for your Oreo dirt mound grave is not ideal. The frosting is white, and no matter how much red food coloring you add, you will still end up with pink frosting. Pink is so not spooky.

I thought I might redeem myself when my chocolate bar headstone with the acronym “RIP” frosted on the front turned out to be pretty decent. My hope peaked as the Oreo dirt making up my freshly made grave covered most of the pink frosting, but this is where things took a turn for the worse. As I went to retrieve my gelatin worms and integrate them into the scene, I found only a congealed lump of gelatin, and just like that, all ambition was lost. My success story.

My inspiration. Gone.

The finished product was truly repulsive.

Not to mention I frosted the cake before it had completely cooled, so the icing was running everywhere and the weight of the chocolate bar headstone kept it from standing up. Dreams I didn’t even know I had of being the perfect Pinterest mom were shattered. If it weren’t for my kind roommates, who ate the cake despite its appearance and slightly underbaked inside, I might have sunk into a state of despair. But then I realized, that’s really what the holidays are all about — surrounding yourself with people who will eat your disgusting cake because their stomach pains are worth it if it means making you happy.

Email Calais Watkins at culture@nyunews.com.

Washington Scare News | Culture

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

Food, Drinks and Halloween Spirit

By ROBERT COVENTRY Contributing Writer My eccentric, albeit upstanding parents frequented the Jekyll and Hyde Club in the ’90s. They raised me on stories of drunken bar fights and debauchery in the horror-themed pub. Since then, there have been a wide range of Jekyll and Hyde Clubs that have open and shut down, leaving the Greenwich Village location the last one standing.

If you’re the type to be quiet on the Uber ride back home, the Jekyll and Hyde Club might not be for you. This place is a spooky Rainforest Cafe with quaint and proactively chatty actors wandering around while you eat and drink into oblivion.

When I was seated immediately — quite quickly for a Friday night I might add — and warned that they only accept American Express or cash, I opted for the main dining area of the restaurant, directly under skeletons dangling from the ceiling.

There are horrors hidden in every corner and terrific surprises haunting you from above so there’s no best place to sit, though the bar itself is only for those 21 and over.

The first thing that struck me about the restaurant was its clientele — a decent portion of which were families with young children. It was strange to see so many kids in a room full of skulls with ominous and dismally lit decor.

The stacked yet plain $16 portion of nachos that I ordered was impressively

large, fit for a crowd of stoners looking to crunch their munchies. The $27 ribs were nothing to complain about, as they were pretty flavorful, unlike the bland fries they were paired with. Overall, the food was wildly overpriced and not really worth it flavor-wise. The drinks, while still expensive, were pretty damn strong.

The Transformation Cocktail, the Club’s signature drink, was very sweet and fruity, not what you would expect from a strong alcoholic drink. The Sweet Poison cocktail, startlingly green, and recommended by the staff, was a tangy coconut rum-infused cocktail with a hint of Curacao. The Pineapple Mint Mojito was exactly what you would expect — a refreshing concoction of tart and sweet. While there was a selection of beer and wine, opt for the cocktails if you can.

The club houses short performances as well, and you may be intrigued at the revival of Frankenstein’s creation. Or a quiz show with a werewolf. Or an Egyptian mummy speaking about a secret of secrets, one which I cannot publicly state. What kept pressing me were the questions of whether or not the spectacle was worth the hefty price. The actors, for what it’s worth, are genuine and nice people who are just trying to ensure you have a good time. But if you’re down for a spooky night of excess, this may be the place for you.

Email Robert Coventry at dining@nyunews.com.

JORENE HE | WSN

Jekyll and Hyde Club is like a spooky Rainforest Cafe with quaint and proactively chatty actors wandering around while you eat and drink excessively.

5

For NYC Natives, Halloween Has Never Been Traditional

By ELENA FOX Contributing Writer In the suburbs, Halloween is marked by community-neighborhood competitions for best decorated house and trick-or-treating adventures with friends from school.

But not everyone grows up in the suburbs. For those who were raised in the boroughs of New York City, the tradition of Halloween is a lot less traditional.

Instead of neighbors and friends, native New Yorkers hold fond memories of store employees doling out spooky sweets. Gallatin sophomore Kaylee Lamarche, a Bronx native, explained the uniqueness of the holiday in the concrete jungle.

“The experience trick-or-treating in New York City, like in a city environment, is really strange because you don’t really go to people’s houses,” she said. “It’s weird because I would go to Dunkin’ Donuts and be like, ‘Hello,’ and they would give me a munchkin.”

Though some were satisfied with scoring a free cookie or donut from the local store, others felt these activities lacked holiday spirit.

“It wasn’t a very personal experience,” CAS senior Kathy Huot said about trick-or-treating in her Fordham neighborhood in the Bronx. “It wasn’t like you knew the people you lived next to.”

Paloma Zarzecka, a CAS sophomore who grew up in Brooklyn, attributed the lack of spirit to the fact that New York City does not cater well to children on Halloween.

“Most places that don’t have houses don’t give out candy; it’s things like pennies, crayons stuff like that,” she said. “Some places have signs that say no trick-or-treaters allowed because they don’t have anything.”

One of the largest challenges of trick-or-treating in New York City, however, is the safety of the children, explained Huot. “There’s a thing with safety and a thing with isolation because there’s a lot of people in one

KATIE PEURRUNG | WSN

A child stands on a fence watching the Tompkins Square Dog Costume Parade.

area but you don’t necessarily know these people [and] you don’t know what their intentions are,” she said.

Aside from just the non-resi-

“

It’s weird because I would go to Dunkin’ Donuts and be like, ‘Hello,’ and they would give me a munchkin.

KAYLEE LAMARCHE Gallatin sophomore

”

dential and unprotected feel of Halloween in the city, what NYU first-years will soon discover is that in New York, trick-or-treating is not necessarily the go-to activity.

In Manhattan especially, there are parades, parties and park festivities around every corner.

“There was always some type of event going on circling [big] holi-

days — like parades and huge, huge events, to the extent where people watch it on TV — like the Thanksgiving [sic] Parade,” Lamarche said.

“Stuff like that that I feel is invaluable to creating an atmosphere.”

While events like the Halloween Parade are quintessentially New York, many communities are still trying to bring more traditional celebrations to the city for the children.

According to Zarzecka, big trick-ortreating destinations like Prospect Park in Brooklyn are packed with families on Halloween. The brownstone homes host block parties, inviting everyone to join the festivities.

Some blocks even compete with others to see whose decorations are the biggest and attract the most trick-ortreaters — just like a good ‘ol suburban neighborhood.

Though it may not be easy to pinpoint on the surface, it is possible to recognize small parts of the typical small-town experience in New York City’s Halloween. But even if you don’t go ringing your neighbor’s doorbell, there is something endearing about doing it a little differently.

Email Elena Fox at culture@nyunews.com.

Halloween Is About Feeling Safe in Your Self-Expression

By HANNA MCNEILA Staff Writer Halloween, a night we once dedicated to running around with friends and eating candy, has now become a marathon of party-hopping and costume-flaunting. Although f inding upwards of three costumes for each night of the weekend might feel like a chore, Halloween is the only time of year where all judgement seems to be suspended.

New Yorkers have a seen-it-all attitude and don’t tend to stop and stare, but Halloween only amplif ies this freedom. Nursing sophomore, Stacy Kim, sees Halloween as the perfect opportunity to let her freak flag fly.

“Dressing up gives me such a sense of relief because there’s really no rules and you can’t mess it up,” Kim said.

Kim admits she regularly worries about what she wears and how its

perceived, whether it’s the formality of the occasion or just the possibility of a fashion faux pas.

“I’m always worried if I’m going to be overdressed or underdressed for something, but Halloween is the one time you don’t have to think about all of that. It’s a switch-up from our everyday mundane wardrobes,” Kim said. “I think that Halloween costumes have way more signif icance than just dressing up. I’m being Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, she’s such a dynamic and inspiring character, [and] that’s who I want to be.”

CAS sophomore Stephanie Than sees that the holiday as a time when people are relieved of their everyday identities and can, for a few hours, be whoever they want.

“It’s just really exciting to choose whoever or whatever you’re into at that time and just be someone else for the night,” Than said. “Whether it’s covering yourself in fake blood or being your favorite Disney char-

acter, Halloween is welcome to all.”

Than added that she plans to dress as Buttercup from “The Powerpuff Girls”: “I always loved that show as a kid, I didn’t realize it but it was my f irst glimpse at female empowerment, so I’m excited to have the opportunity to be her.”

Some students take the holiday more seriously than others, CAS sophomore Daniel Hawie believes that despite the varying effort put into costumes, its the participation that makes it fun.

“It creates this atmosphere you can’t f ind anywhere else and at no other time, and for me being a part of that [is] what makes it fun to dress up.” Hawie says. “Some costumes are funny and some are more serious, but it’s like this new society where people just are whatever they want to be.”

Halloween may not seem like the most worthwhile holiday, with no presents and no time off school,.

However, for a lot of people, this is a holiday that can be used as a day of freedom, self-expression and creativity.

Email Hanna McNeila at bstyle@nyunews.com.

JORENE HE | WSN

JORENE HE | WSN

Students posing for photos in her Halloween costume. For many, Halloween is a holiday where they are relieved of their everyday identities and can be whoever they want.

Washington Square News

6

ARTS

ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Music Taste Could Score You a Match on Tinder

By ETHAN ZACK Contributing Writer For those who spend their days swiping through Tinder stacks, the smallest details in a profile have the potential to make or break a match. An often overlooked but nonetheless vital feature is the Tinder Anthem, a song linked to the user’s profile, which has the ability to elevate a like to a superlike.

“I like it, especially the fact that you can play a bit of the song,” CAS first-year Diego Martinez said. “Instead of having to look it up, they can just tap it and see what you’re into.”

Others, like Gallatin first-year Katherine Shin, are skeptical of the relevancy of the feature, but can’t deny its effect on her judgement of potential matches.

“I do find it a little bit ridiculous, but I also can’t lie and say I [don’t] judge them based on their Anthem sometimes,” Shin said. “If they have certain artists, I’ll swipe [right] on them.”

Shin explained that Anthems usually only changed her perception of another person in a positive manner, if at all.

SOPHIA DIIORIO | WSN

“The Tinder Anthem has never kept me from swiping right, it’s only encouraged me to swipe right,” Shin said.

Stern first-year Charles Chang said he does not place too much emphasis on another person’s Anthem, but considers it a positive if someone’s musical interests line up with his.

“If it’s a song I like, it’s a nice conversation opener,” Chang said.

Shin spoke about the issue of people being disingenuous with their Tinder profile. She questioned whether people pick an Anthem that truly represents their music taste.

“I notice some guys who are looking for certain types of girls will put the music that those girls will like,” Shin said. “They want the person they’re looking for to reflect that music more than that music reflects them.”

Chang agreed that people extensively curate their profiles to be as appealing as possible, but, to him, that’s an unavoidable characteristic of dating services.

“We create the best version of ourselves and that’s not exactly bad, it’s [just] what we choose to show people,” Chang said.

Conversely, Martinez finds Anthems to be a refreshing move away from the pressure of creating the perfect Tinder profile. He thinks it’s a surprisingly effective method of representing users’ true natures. “[For] pictures, I would usually pick certain ones that I feel would appeal to people, but with music, it’s just me,” Martinez said. “That’s what I like and I don’t feel like I need to pick certain songs to impress people. I just picked a song that makes me feel something every time I listen to it no matter how many times I do.”

Email Ethan Zack music@nyunews.com.

The Poets Behind the First Queer POC Anthology

By ALEX CULLINA Books & Theater Editor Three award-winning queer poets of color came to NYU’s Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House last Friday for a reading and discussion to celebrate the release of “Nepantla: An Anthology of Queer Poets of Color,” published in May by Nightboat Books.

The title of the collection comes from the work of queer Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldúa — it’s a Nahuatl word that she uses to describe the in-between spaces that people of marginalized identities occupy physically and figuratively, in their own minds and in the minds of others.

The night was one of recognition and solidarity in reaction to a country that seems to treat people of color and LGBTQ people with increasing hostility.

“How’s everyone’s apocalypse going?” asked Saeed Jones, an executive editor at Buzzfeed and the author of “Prelude to Bruise” (Coffee House Press 2014), to a wave of laughter.

But more than just a somber recognition of a suffocating social and political climate, it was a night of community.

“Oh my god it’s all my people in this room! This is why I did the anthology, so you look out and you see hella [sic] black and brown faces,” said Christopher Soto, the editor of the collection and an alumnus of NYU’s Creative Writing MFA program. After an initial tentativeness, the audience clapped and snapped enthusiastically along with each poem.

Soto opened the night with a reading of two of his poems.

Jones read some of his work, including the poem anthologized in “Nepantla” and “Boy in a Stolen Evening Gown.” His booming voice, brimming with emotion and determination, filled the room.

“In this field of thistle, I am the improbable/lady.

How I wear the word: sequined weight/snagging my saunter into overgrown grass, blonde/split-end blades.

ALEX CULLINA | WSN

From left to right, Christopher Soto, Saeed Jones and Pamela Sneed at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House.

I waltz in an acre of bad wigs,” Jones said.

Pamela Sneed, a performer, visual artist, and visiting professor at Columbia, read her poem from the anthology, “Survivor 2014,” her voice sardonic and witheringly derisive, opening with “Contrary to what’s popular I never liked Diana Nyad.”

The three writers also read some of their favorite works from the anthology by poets like Audre Lorde, Danez Smith and Franny Choi.

“Nepantla” has been called the first anthology of poetry by queer writers of color.

In a Q&A session after the readings, Soto asked Sneed and Jones about the function of poetry in a time of political turmoil.

“I feel like the times are really making poetry really important,” Sneed said. “I feel like poets are really responding to it, and that we’re the people to look to as leaders, as healers.”

Jones, however, feels that what’s changed isn’t necessarily the function of poetry itself, but how people respond to it.

“For those of us where the stakes are higher, urgency burns bullsh-t away,” Jones said. “I think maybe as readers, we are maybe a little more honest with ourselves about what it is we feel we need from poetry.”

Email Alex Cullina at acullina@nyunews.com.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

Edited by RYAN MIKEL and DANIELLA NICHINSON

The Six Years Behind a Tisch Grad’s Debut Film

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHEVAUN MIZRAHI

Shevaun Mizrahi, an NYU Master of Fine Arts graduate, spent six years filming her upcoming documentary “Distant Constellation” at a retirement home in Istanbul.

By GURU RAMANATHAN Film & TV Editor Filmmaking can be a grueling process — one that takes a considerable amount of time and patience.

While there are horror stories of filmmakers needing to finish screenplays, principal photography or post-production in a matter of weeks, equally testing is when a filmmaker spends years working on their passion project. Such is the case for Tisch MFA grad Shevaun Mizrahi, who spent six years filming her upcoming documentary, “Distant Constellation,” at a retirement home in Istanbul.

Mizrahi’s feature debut takes place in the neighborhood where her father grew up. It explores the daily lives of the people living at the retirement home, including a former photographer now losing his sight and a woman scarred by memories of the Armenian genocide. Mizrahi grew up in Boston but often went to visit the retirement home, becoming close with the main subjects of the documentary.

“From 2009 to 2011 there were a few deaths and illnesses that made me understand that [life] was a very fleeting moment of time,” she said. “The landscape there was just starting to change.”

Mizrahi received a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Neuroscience and English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and has had her photography exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Though she considered Columbia University and the California Institute of the Arts, Mizrahi eventually decided to pursue a graduate degree in film at NYU. She put a great emphasis on the relationships she forged while at NYU. Some of her friends and collaborators from the MFA program make up her crew on “Distant Constellation.” Shelly Grizim and Deniz Buga both graduated from the same program and same year as Mizrahi and served as producers on the project, with Grizim co-editing alongside Mizrahi.

Working with her fellow alumni was one of the more seamless parts of the project, but that’s not to say she didn’t face a fair amount of obstacles. Mizrahi struggled to secure a budget and experienced some physical challenges transporting film equipment. But the passion she had for the project kept her going.

“In terms of the advantages, the intimacy you get with being with the people, the freedom you have to directly translate what you capture, there’s no filter, there’s no dialogue, it’s all kind of spontaneous,” Mizrahi said. “You can shoot to edit, you can understand how it’s gonna come together. I had this team offering this tremendous support and that all came out of my experience at NYU.” Mizrahi’s film is unlike most American documentaries, creating a dream-like quality that allows shots and moments to play out so naturally they seem almost ethereal. Inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the poetry of Wallace Stevens, Mizrahi’s film is brutally honest and distances itself from the stereotypical-Hollywood documentaries.

“It’s more of a reflection, a meditation on things.

It doesn’t approach the subject of aging, or modernizing cities, or politics of Turkey today,” Mizrahi said.

“It doesn’t have a specific agenda, so it’s taking a very open position on things. Where the objective is to be present tense, to convey this emotional experience of being in that time and place.”

Mizrahi used almost all the interviews that she shot. She was incredibly selective about what was filmed and was not looking at a surplus of interview footage on the cutting floor. The technical creation of the film was more important to Mizrahi than the subject itself.

“I’m approaching documentary more like fiction. This film is very stylized and composed. It’s more about how it’s made than what it’s about,” Mizrahi said. “Maybe I’ve fused these genres. I’m equally interested in both and I think there’s a lot of potential in both forms to experiment and break rules and try new things.”

Mizrahi described the joy of working on the project with her NYU friends like Grizim.

“We share a lot of mood, tone, and style sensibilities.” Mizrahi said. “The things she would share with me and the ideas she would have were usually in tune with my spirits. It was kind of like finding soulmates. It’s such a similar thing to have people speak a similar language.”

The first cut that Mizrahi was satisfied with clocked in at 45 minutes. The team took that cut to the IFP Documentary Lab, which helped guide the editing process. That cut was less comedic, but Mizrahi wanted to add some more silly scenes between the tenants to lighten the weighty concept of morality. There was also more places to take the film if it was feature-length.

From the start, funding was an issue. The film had done well in festivals and screened in many places, but Mizrahi and team were never able to get much money for it.

“We applied for a lot of different funds so it’s been difficult. I mean, even now we’re still trying to figure out how to manage things and do things as minimally as possible,” Mizrahi said. “It’s been difficult, we’re a small team.”

The film is gearing up for a release at The Metrograph on Nov. 2. Mizrahi has already started to prepare her next project, which she plans to start in December.

“There can be this long process of waiting for funding, so one of the benefits of working alone is that you don’t have to wait for money to come through,” Mizrahi said. “I hope to continue in this same language and style and develop it and expand upon it.”

Mizrahi still visits the retirement home when she goes back to Istanbul. In a sense, she is continuing the film even after it has ended, consistently capturing magical memories through her own life experiences and crafting an ever evolving emotional journey. It is a strange, almost indescribable feeling — one her new film briefly captures.

Email Guru Ramanathan at gramanathan@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News | Arts

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

7

Gary Hart and the Year Politics Collided With Celebrity We’ve basically said, in every other aspect of news, we are gatekeepers and we make judgments, but when it comes to the personal lives and celebritization of politicians, we just throw up our hands and abdicate because that’s what the voters want and there’s nothing we can do.’

By DANIELLA NICHINSON Arts Editor On May 8, 1987, Senator Gary Hart withdrew from the 1988 presidential race. It was the end of his campaign, but only the beginning of an era rooted in sensationalism, celebrity and pop culture.

Hart was a shoe-in for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Everyone expected it, but no one could have predicted the sudden downward spiral his campaign would soon take. A rumor of an extramarital affair with Donna Rice — then a model and actress — was a turning point in his campaign, but more importantly, it changed the face of American politics.

In “All the Truth Is Out,” the book that inspired the upcoming film “The Front Runner,” author and political columnist Matt Bai returns to Hart’s story, but to tell it through a different lens. He reflects on how Hart’s scandal wasn’t just the downfall of one man — it was the downfall of an entire political world at the hands of the media.

WSN spoke with Bai about his book, Gary Hart’s unique character and how politics have changed since that fateful week in 1987.

Washington Square News: “All the Truth Is Out” was published four years ago, but a lot has changed in that time with the Trump administration and even media itself. How do you think media has evolved and changed politics?

Matt Bai: The point to me of the story of 1987 was always that that was a moment where politics and entertainment collided, and ever since we treat politicians more like celebrities. When you create a process that treats candidates like celebrities, you’re inevitably going to draw celebrities into your political process. To me, there’s a direct through line from Hart to Donald Trump. There’s been some really good journalism done on this administration and there’s certainly an awareness that the process isn’t working, but I think there’s still a reluctance among leading journalists and journalism organizations to really reckon with their role — our role — in bringing this moment about. It’s fine, and I think appropriate, to oppose and stand up to President Trump’s bullying of the press and his reckless campaign

Gary Hart during his 1987 presidential campaign.

“

VIA COMMONS.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

I think that’s at the center of the book: it’s asking can we judge character and judgment and fitness in the context of a life and in the context of a career, rather than discarding people and making heroes of them one day and then berating them the next?

”

MATT BAI Author and political columnist against the credibility of a free press, but along with that, I think there’s some responsibility to reckon with what we did to help create this moment and to help make him possible.

WSN: Do you even think that it’s possible that we might return to an era of journalism, if such an era even existed, where we can just report on the truth and what’s happening?

MB: For the entire time I’ve covered politics, there’s been a feeling that stories are just out there and moving of their own volition and that we’re just

twigs in a current and the current carries us where it carries us. If one organization is covering a story, then you have to cover that story. There’s been a sense that we help control the flow of news; we just have to go cover it. I think that’s a mistake. I think the one thing I wish we could all agree on is we do have a responsibility to exercise judgment about every story. There is no one rule that says “you cover a personal life if A, but you don’t cover it if B.” Every case is different. The thing that has to govern us is our individual judgment. For too long, I think we’ve abdicated that.

WSN: In terms of Gary Hart, you mentioned the ’80s was the clash between entertainment and politics.

What do you think was the cultural aspect of the ’80s that made this happen?

MB: There were a lot of forces churning in the mid-1980s that you can see, in retrospect, made that moment inevitable. If it had not been Hart, it would have been someone else. He sort of walked into it. You were about a decade removed from Watergate and the renewed emphasis that that scandal had put on the character — the moral character — of politicians. You had the rise of the feminism on the left which changed attitudes [toward] adultery. You had the rise of the moral majority on the right, so that suddenly personal behavior mattered a lot more than it used to.

Then you had the birth of the satellite TV. You had the flyaway satellite dish and cable TV and punditry which played a huge role because it meant that you could essentially follow a story from anywhere, minute-by-minute, and the goal was to keep viewers in their [seats] and that creates more of an entertainment cult. All of those things were churning on the edge of our politics in the mid-1980s and Hart walked into it.

A lot of the underpinning of the book is that it was easier to see 25 or 30 years later than it was at the time.

WSN: I want to go into the film a little bit. When you were writing the film, how was that process like — did you find it more difficult than when you were writing the book?

MB: It was more difficult only because I didn’t know anything about screenwriting when I started out. It was less difficult in the sense that I had tremendous partners. I had this great collaboration with Jay Carson, who I started out writing with, and Jason Reitman, our director, who is just a brilliant writer and director. It’s not an especially hard story to tell on screen because it

has these six or eight or 10 vivid scenes that are both real and incredibly cinematic. The challenge for all of us is that we set out to tell a really complicated story around a bunch of different characters. We didn’t want you to just sit on Hart’s shoulders the entire movie, we wanted you to see the dilemmas that everybody faced: the candidate and the aides and the journalists. We wanted to give each of them their argument. We didn’t want to make anyone a villain or a hero. And we wanted it to feel real.

We wanted you to feel like you were dropped into the world of political campaigns in 1987. That was challenging.

It’s an unusual and chaotic movie with a lot of characters and a lot of dialogue happening at once. It’s a movie that, as Jason [Reitman] says, is constantly asking people in the audience what they should be paying attention to and what they should be listening to.

WSN: Hart said, “A man’s judgment had to be measured over 15 years in public life, not by a single weekend.”

Do you think that extends to presidents and public leaders? Is it possible to judge politicians with this moral spectrum?

MB: I hope so. You’ve seized on a part of the book that’s really important to me. It’s a theme that I come back to in a lot of my work, which is the idea that people are more than a moment and they’re more than their worst moment.

Sometimes, a person can do something so egregious, I suppose, that it does define their character and who they are. I think that’s at the center of the book: it’s asking can we judge character and judgment and fitness in the context of a life and in the context of a career, rather than discarding people and making heroes of them one day and then berating them the next? I think that is, in some ways, the test of a sophisticated and constructive media. I would go so far as to say that it has to be a hallmark of a media that helps its country vet candidates, which is the ability to see people for the whole of their careers and lives just as we would want people to see us.

I certainly hope we get better at that.

Email Daniella Nichinson at dnichinson@nyunews.com.

Read the full story at NYUNEWS.COM

Is There Still Room for Couch Multiplayer?

By ETHAN ZACK Contributing Writer Before online multiplayer gaming and servers hosted players from across the globe, there was nothing to multiplayer beyond you, a couple of friends, a TV and a couch.

Though the number of exclusively local or couch multiplayer games has dwindled in recent years, fans of these sorts of games believe the experience remains unique and cannot be replicated through online multiplayer.

“I feel like the human connection is lost,” CAS first-year Daniel Cienava said. “You can talk to a voice online, but you’re not specifically in that moment with them. You may be seeing the same thing, but you’re not in the room together.”

This lack of personal connection fosters rud or offensive online interactions, says CAS sophomore Matias Bermudez.

“They’re talking to these faceless voices so they just say all of this crazy stuff, even like racial slurs or something,” Bermudez said. “It’s only because they can’t see the other person.”

Certain online multiplayer titles lack the option for voice chat between players. CAS senior Steven Schiffner said the lack of an effective method to communicate in competitive online games often leads to frustration.

“I’m not the type to really tilt very easily, but I get really frustrated playing online sometimes,” Schiffner said. “It’s interesting because I wouldn’t [if it was] the same situation in real life. It’s definitely a lot friendlier and less salty offline.”

Aside from the suffering social atmosphere, some players believe that the online multiplayer version of more competitive games, such as the Super Smash. Bros series, cannot compare to the original couch multiplayer experience from a technical standpoint.

“There’s a lot of purists who [think] it doesn’t feel the same playing the game because of the input lag, so it’s not a true oneto-one experience,” Bermudez said. “Some people don’t see it as a viable alternative.”

However, Bermudez did emphasize some benefits to online multiplayerexist, especially for larger-scale multiplayer games.

“There are very obvious advantages to online,” Bermudez said. “You can play with people from far away, people you don’t know at all. You get to meet them because of the internet. If you need a game that’s going to have 100 people or 50 people, you probably can’t all be in the same room, so that also helps.”

Bermudez believes that online multiplayer will only continue to grow, making even more local multiplayer a more niche experience.

“I think as we move towards the future and online capabilities get better and better, what couch co-op is going to be limited to is people who willingly are couch co-op die-hards or just for really young children who don’t have their own separate console,” Bermudez said. “I think the demographic of people who do couch co-op is going to be drastically shortened to those extremes.”

Cienava agreed that couch multiplayer is on the decline, but argued those who still want the experience of local multiplayer games can rely on certain companies to continue giving players that option.

SAM KLEIN | WSN

Though the number of exclusively local or couch multiplayer games has dwindled in recent years, fans of these sorts of games believe the experience remains unique and cannot be replicated through online multiplayer.

“There are certain companies that gamers who want to have that quintessential couch multiplayer experience are flocking to, such as Nintendo,” Cienava said. “Nintendo does a really good job. They are the kings of couch multiplayer. They really capture that market and they’ve been doing it for years, so they know all the ins and outs” Schiffner concluded that fans of couch multiplayer will be the ones responsible

for keeping it alive in a gaming industry continually moving towards online-exclusive experiences.

“I think that as long as people are into retro gaming and as long as communities like the fighting game community exist, there will be a place for couch multiplayer,” Schiffner said.

Email Ethan Zack at arts@nyunews.com.

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OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

OPINION

Edited by JANICE LEE

UNIVERSITY LIFE

Against Non-Cooperation With NYU Tel Aviv

By JACOB HERSHISER Contributing Writer In the past week, several groups of students here at NYU have pledged non-cooperation with the university’s Tel Aviv campus. Among them are 30 clubs, students from the chemistry department and students in Liberal Studies. These students claim that NYU’s Tel Aviv campus is complicit in Israel’s discrimination against Palestinians, and that therefore NYU Tel Aviv’s students are also complicit in said discrimination. As a former student of NYU Tel Aviv, and as a current global ambassador for

the site, I find these statements to be false and uninformed.

I am not denying — and it should not be denied — that this discrimination exists and that it is unlawful and immoral. But, equating the Israeli government with the actions of NYU Tel Aviv and its students is misguided and erroneous; these two bodies cannot and must not be compared.

Furthermore, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, non-cooperation has historically been an ineffective form of protest that has solely exacerbated tension and violence. Preaching non-cooperation now means perpetuating willful ignorance on this subject and restricts us from creating dialogue within Israel to advocate for the Palestinian cause.

I specifically take issue with the letter sent via email by anonymous students within the Chemistry department, urging the department to “refrain from teaching or participating in academic events at NYU Tel Aviv.” Their rationale was as follows: “NYU Tel Aviv, as an academic institution

in occupied Palestinian land, allows for the violation of the rights and dignity of Palestinians in a violently discriminatory environment, where hegemony, prejudice, and exclusion are rampant.” Statements made by the 30 clubs last week were made on a similar basis. The Tel Aviv site is an NYU institution, not an Israeli one; NYU Tel Aviv holds and enforces NYU policy — which does not discriminate against anyone — not Israeli policy.

The Director of NYU Tel Aviv, Dr. Benjamin Hary, is a linguist who has dedicated his life and studies to the Arabic language, including the Palestinian dialect. Hary has continually preached for inter-communal peace, Palestinian rights, human rights and gender equality; he has instilled these values in his staff, and together they create programs that reflect the complexities within the region and support students from all backgrounds. Last semester specifically, this took the form of supporting students in their travels to Palestine and other Arab states, helping them find educational and

volunteer opportunities within Palestine and continuing to teach the Arabic language as a language of Israel, contrary to the laws and policies passed by the Knesset.

The deeper issue embedded in the argument against NYU Tel Aviv is the call for non-cooperation with a consistent lack of mutual recognition by both parties.

Non-cooperation regarding peace-building has proliferated the era following the establishment of the initial Oslo Accords of 1993, in which the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization granted one another formal recognition for the first time in history. Article XXII of Oslo II stated that the two governments must work to “foster mutual understanding and tolerance” and make sure their education systems “contribute to the peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.”

However, research done by Palestinians and Israelis has found that neither government made significant changes to their curriculum or textbooks. The literature continued to refer to each group as the enemy of the

other and maintained strong biases in favor of their respective people. This undoubtedly contributed to the increasing tensions that eventually resulted in the second intifada, a period of intense violence and Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in the 2000s (which itself was a consequence of non-cooperation by Ariel Sharon in his unwanted visit to temple mount). Non-cooperation never has been, and never will be, an effective solution to this conflict.

NYU Tel Aviv is not an Israeli institution; viewing it as such and preaching non-cooperation eliminates any opportunity for our students to engage in meaningful dialogue and to represent NYU’s ideals of acceptance and non-discrimination in Israel. Most importantly, it takes away our chance to actively support the Palestinian fight from within Israel and Palestine. We shouldn’t ignore the problem. We should engage with it.

Email Jacob Hershisher at opinion@nyunews.com.

POLITICS

It’s Time for the U.S. to Stop Supporting the War in Yemen

By FEDERICA CARDAMONE Contributing Writer With the recent death of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, numerous individuals and institutions have begun disavowing the long-time alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Though these calls have been highly publicized, advocacy for U.S. separation from Saudi Arabia has existed for quite a while.

For example, Senator Bernie Sanders is extremely critical of this relationship, as are many progressives. The ongoing human rights violations inflicted by Saudi Arabia are repulsive, and a clear indicator that the

United States should cut ties immediately.

The crisis in Yemen is an ongoing humanitarian disaster that began in 2011 amid the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East, which resulted in a transition of power from former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the following Houthi rebellion. The Houthis, a minority Shia rebel group battling the Sunni Yemeni government, capitalized on the resulting political instability and took control of Saada province and the surrounding area. Houthi rebels then tried to gain control of the country, forcing Hadi to flee in March 2015 and starting the Yemeni Civil War between the government and Houthi forces. In an attempt to restore Hadi to power and fearing Houthi political power, Saudi Arabia intervened, granting Hadi sanctuary, and, with the support of other states, began a bombing campaign.

In their air war, the Saudis have received support from the United Kingdom, France and the U.S. So why is this only now coming into

the general public’s awareness? Why not in 2011 or in 2016, at the beginning and peak, respectively, of the Yemen crisis? Some might think that compared to the deaths of thousands of Yemeni people, the murder of one journalist working for a U.S. publication is more immediate, making it more digestible and relatable. Because Khashoggi wrote for the Washington Post, a fixture of American journalism, his murder was extensively covered in the U.S., complete with follow-up stories frequently headlining newspapers. The exposure placed the Saudi-U.S. relationship under scrutiny in a way that no direct coverage of the war could, and considering the climate surrounding journalism now with Trump’s anti-press rhetoric, there’s something about Khashoggi’s death that resonates with the American people.

Throughout the past four years, beginning with the Obama Administration, the U.S. has been involved in 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s arms purchases. Because Saudi Arabia is using these weapons in the

war, this country is complicit in the murder of countless civilians. By acknowledging that these deaths are on our country’s hands, the consensus becomes fairly clear: The U.S. government should stop supplying Saudi Arabia with weapons. Some might argue that hundreds of thousands of Americans are employed through these military efforts, and therefore not all of the effects of the war are necessarily a negative. However, the inhumane atrocities of this conflict arguably outweigh these benefits; we should have cut this military support long ago — or not begun it at all.

Unfortunately, the odds of ending this relationship with Donald Trump in office are slim. His grossly inadequate response following Khashoggi’s murder served as a major indicator of his stance on the issue of U.S.-Saudi relations. Because of our reliance on oil and his admiration of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman, Trump has strengthened the Saudi-U.S. relationship. In addition to providing Saudi Arabia with weapons, we

have provided refueling to Saudi planes engaging in airstrikes in Yemen, again displaying our active participation in the war. However, Congress can and should end our participation in this genocide, and they would be doing just that with the new bill introduced by House lawmakers prior to the murder of Khashoggi.

With over 10,000 civilians in Yemen killed by fighting, 14 million people near starvation and over 50,000 children dead as a result of the conflict in 2017 alone, you would think that we would have been infuriated enough to act. However, we cannot go back in time to make people understand the U.S.-Saudi relationship sooner — we can only be thankful that so many citizens and institutions are speaking out now to initiate a move forward in ending ties. Perhaps the murder of Khashoggi will be the match in the American oil barrel.

Email Federica Cardamone at opinion@nyunews.com.

UNIVERSITY LIFE

My Parents and I Don’t Talk Often, and That’s Fine

By SIMA DOCTOROFF Staff Writer For some odd reason, people never talk about the pressure to stay in touch with their parents once they get to college.

However, the pressure that I’ve experienced hasn’t just come from my parents.

Sometimes it’s from my peers. People seem to expect me to keep in constant contact with my family and if I don’t, I receive unwelcome judgment, reprimand and, most often, pity. The fact that this is the automatic response reveals strict and problematic standards for how we should communicate with our parents in college — but not everyone fits this standard. Contrary to popular belief, the amount that I talk to my family does not reflect a poor relationship with them.

I have a solid relationship with my parents. Granted, we have our differences and we go through rough patches, but we still really love one another. It was living separately from my family that actu-

ally helped me become better at communicating with them during the first few months of college.

Before, even being in the same room as them was pretty uncomfortable because we couldn’t agree on anything, which tends to happen when you live in close proximity to other people. The distance has been good for all three of us.

We now have a more adult relationship — we can have a meal together without any awkward silences or passive-aggressive comments. Seeing them now lacks the same tension — I appreciate them more when they’re around.

To those with warm, fuzzy parent-child relationships, the interactions

with my own family may sound cold and foreign. But to me, this newfound kinship is preferable to the dynamic when I was growing up. That being said, when I got to college and was bombarded by several — four, to be exact — homesick first-years asking me whether or not I had called my parents in the past week, I was somewhat frustrated by the fact that I was made to feel as if I was doing something wrong by not frantically typing into a stupid family group chat. At the time, I had felt as if things were going well.

If any of the four people who told me to call my parents had approached me in a prudent fashion, they would have not

have found that I have an unsatisfying relationship with my parents. My family still loves each other — we just express it differently. We talk from time to time and tell each other the important happenings in our lives, but we do not frequently express our feelings toward each other. Perhaps it is somewhat unconventional, but that’s nobody’s business.

Of course, it is great to have an openly loving relationship with your parents, but relationships differ from person to person, and parent-child relationships are no exception.

Email Sima Doctoroff at opinion@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News | Opinion

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

9

AT WHAT COST?

A Slow Transition for First-Generation Students

By DYSHERE LOGAN Columnist For the majority of college students, stress is never far away. Academic and extracurricular obligations can prove diff icult to manage at times. But what if you were thrown in a lion’s den without ever realizing it? This analogy, though hyperbolic, is a reality for many f irst-generation students, as they have been systemically underprepared for the stress and culture of higher education. The current treatment of f irst-generation students is shy of acceptable and requires more ref ined methods of support. While I myself am not a f irst-generation student, this issue undoubtedly affects members of our community, making it worthy of everyone’s discussion and recognition.

While diversity is now a priority for universities, prior to the mid-1960s, the landscape of higher education in the United States was, for the most part, monolithic and exclusive. The notion of diversity to which many institutions now cling was essentially nonexistent, and the nation’s f irst universities were founded with one target demographic — white, male and wealthy.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and higher education in the United States has been signif icantly restructured. Aff irmative action and the expansion of federal aid programs have given marginalized students increased access to postsecondary institutions. For many of these students, they are the f irst members of their family to attend college.

That said, f irst-generation students are now facing new social and academic pressures, stemming from the behavior of prior generations and collegiate institutions. In order to understand the real-world implications of this stress, I sat down with CAS sophomore Bianny Magarin, the co-founder of NYU’s First-Generation Low-Income Partnership. FLIP is a safe space for f irst-generation and low-income students to engage in open dialogue surrounding socioeconomic class, education access and future strides to aid their community.

Magarin acknowledges that every student faces academic and societal pressures, but believes there is a kind of pressure specif ic to f irst-generation students.

“There’s this need to succeed and be the best in your entire family,” she said.

“Your family sets this expectation for you to become that doctor or lawyer and have this very professional career after

Submitting to

college, making you feel the need to succeed based on your parents’ sacrif ices.”

In the eyes of f irst-generation students, failure feels like it would be a slap in their parents’ faces. The expectations and risks associated with being a f irst-generation student manifest in the form of constant stress, social exclusion and self-deprecation. These pressures negatively impact students’ self-esteem and drive, detracting from their academic responsibilities.

Magarin continued to describe the pressures placed on f irst-generation students by referencing imposter syndrome — a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. Essentially, f irst-generation students feel an overwhelming sense of not belonging at elite universities because of their background and socioeconomic status.

These students cannot expect their parents to understand the culture of higher education institutions, as they were systemically barred from attending. This pressure is then compounded by the fact that many universities offer limited or misguided means of support.

Here at NYU, we have several programs for f irst-generation students and their families, including the FOCUS Mentorship Program, CAS’s Proud to Be First and the Wasserman Center’s First Class program. Many of these initiatives are specif ically geared toward professional development. Though useful, these programs focus on the very topic which causes f irst-generation students the most stress — academic and professional achievement.

By focusing mainly on career and professional development, NYU and other schools are providing a superf icial avenue of support for students who are affected by deep-seated issues within higher education. It would be more benef icial to offer services to f irst-generation students that help them with the transition to higher education. With f irst-generation students comprising 19 percent of NYU’s student body, it’s only sensible to expect an institution to cater to the needs of its students — not only professionally, but also personally. It’s hard to focus on internships and networking when you’re already playing catch-up.

“At What Cost?” is a testimony-based column which takes the lived experiences of NYU students and connects them to broader societal challenges. As much as we’d like to view NYU as a utopian “safe space,” our fellow students are forced to make difficult choices every day — this is our opportunity to unpack them. Dyshere Logan is a sophomore at the Stern School of Business studying Finance and Sustainable Business.

Email Dyshere Logan at opinion@nyunews.com.

STAFF EDITORIAL

Protecting the Right to Advocate at NYU Last week, someone placed an Israeli flag over a Palestinian flag hung up on a window in the Kimmel Center for Student Life while Students for Justice in Palestine were tabling for their organization. The smaller Palestinian flag, hung inside Kimmel, was completely obscured by the larger Israeli flag pasted over the outside window. Although the identities of those who hung up the flag are unknown, members of SJP believe it was an effort by student Zionists who are vehemently against SJP and other supporters of Palestine. This is yet another incident that emphasizes the prevalence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on campus, highlighting the power imbalance between the two groups and the long, complex history of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine efforts at NYU. Organizations like SJP should be able to raise awareness of a cause without such expressions of disrespect It is crucial that an instance like this one, in which one group’s right to advocate was staunched and threatened by another, is acknowledged by the larger student body.

This is not the first time that SJP has been targeted on campus. Last year, members of SJP received three different sets of anonymous death threats, which were publicly condemned

by NYU spokesperson John Beckman. The disturbing and graphic content of these threats solidify the silencing of SJP voices in Kimmel last week as a troubling development on campus.

Incidents like these are, undoubtedly, unsettling. And in light of the tragedy that occurred in Pittsburgh this weekend, it is crucial to make clear that there is no lack of understanding regarding the fact that anti-Semitism still runs rampant in the United States. But in choosing to discuss the covering of the Palestinian flag in Kimmel last week, the Editorial Board would like to acknowledge what seems like an adamant threat to a campus group’s right to advocate.

By emphasizing — in a quite literal way — the power imbalance between the two territories, this pro-Israeli individual or group has attempted to silence the peaceful attempts of a student organization that should have the right to gather

and advocate for their beliefs.

Conversations about the Israel-Palestine conflict can seem steeped in controversy and dissension, but it is critical for students to at least be understanding of its history, and of the Palestinian cause. The conflict is an ongoing geopolitical schism that has pervaded the international sphere for decades, and involves many human rights atrocities. In the international conversation, criticism of Israeli politics can become misconstrued as criticism of Judaism, and while there has been a 57 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents since 2017, this can not be associated with anti-Zionism or with groups that advocate for the liberation of Palestinians from a state that frequently commits war crimes. Specifically, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement — inspired by the anti-apartheid movement — calls for a boycott against Israel until Palestinians are given the same rights as everyone else in Israel. It’s important to note that the sanctions that BDS calls for can negatively impact the economic prosperity of Israel, but these sanctions are designed as measures of accountability that would be put in place for the interest of human rights.

As two of the largest pro-Israel groups on campus demonstrated last year in response to the BDS coalition, peaceful protest among opposing groups is possible and an integral aspect of our active student body. The issue that occured at Kimmel last week highlights a case of flagrant campus disrespect — a group supporting fundamental human rights for a sector of people was outwardly silenced by a group with opposing political values in a blunt and inappropriate way. When a group on our campus is subjected to such a public threat to their right to gather and demonstrate, we, as students, must recognize and be made aware of the injustice. We must protect the rights of clubs on campus to peacefully express and advocate for their causes, and refuse to allow the overt silencing of a student cause — particularly if that cause involves a group’s advocacy for recognition of human rights and equality.

Email the Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com.

JANICE LEE Chair HANNA KHOSRAVI Co-chair MELANIE PINEDA Co-chair

SEND MAIL TO: 75 THIRD AVE. #SB07, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10003 OR EMAIL: OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM WSN welcomes letters to the editor, opinion pieces and articles relevant to the NYU community, or in response to articles. Letters should be less than 450 words. All submissions must be typed or emailed and must include the author’s name, address and phone number. Members of the NYU community must include a year and school or job title. WSN does not print unsigned letters or editorials. WSN reserves the right to reject any submission and edit accepted submissions in any and all ways. With the exception of the staff editorial, opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.

Washington Square News

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SPORTS

SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

SPORTS UPDATE

Women’s Fencing Starts Off Their Season Strong

By ZACH HAN Sports Editor Women’s Fencing The women’s fencing team started its season off strong with two fencers qualifying as top-10 finishes at the Temple University Open on Oct. 27.

CAS first-year Sarah Prilutsky, in her first collegiate competition, placed fifth out of 65 fencers in foil. Prilutsky won all of her first- and second-round bouts, and defeated two opponents in the direct elimination rounds before falling in the round of eight. In addition, Gallatin senior Jackie Tubbs tied for 10th place in Sabre.

Tubbs advanced to the direct elimination rounds before falling in the round of 16.

Other notable finishers included CAS junior Audrey Edgington (13th place in Sabre) and CAS junior Lily Gabay, who finished first in her foil consolation bracket after losing in the first round.

A few members from the fencing team will represent NYU at the North American Cup on Nov. 9 while the whole team will be back in action on Nov. 13 when NYU hosts Columbia University at the Kimmel Center for University in St. Louis.

Women’s Soccer Women’s soccer upped their win streak to nine after going 2-0 on the week but could not ride the momentum to a 10th straight win as it lost to UAA rival and the top-ranked DIII team in the nation Washington University in St. Louis.

The Violets shut out John Jay College 5-0 on Oct. 22 as five different players scored for NYU. CAS senior Maddie Peña, LS sophomore Julia Raith and CAS junior Jade Keane scored one goal apiece in the first half while Stern junior Isabelle Turner and Tisch sophomore Lila Keltz scored the final two goals in the second half.

Stern sophomore Meghan Marhan and Stern senior Michaela Brickley split time as goalie, posting NYU’s eighth shutout of the season.

The win streak and shutout streak continued when the Violets defeated UAA rival University of Chicago 1-0 on Oct. 26. This was the first time they defeated Chicago since 2002. Peña scored the only goal of the game off of an assist from CAS first-year Ellie Marks in the fourth minute of the game. Marhan continued her pristine defense, stopping all 11 of Chicago’s shots on goal.

Riding a hot streak, the Violets sought their 10th straight win on Oct. 28 when they faced the undefeated WashU Bears, but came up short after getting shut out 0-2.

The Violets will look to bounce back from the disappointing loss when they host UAA rival Brandeis University in their regular season finale on Nov. 3.

Men’s Soccer Men’s soccer failed to get in the win column after going 0-1-1 on the week against two UAA opponents.

The Violets could not find the back of the net on Oct. 26 against UAA rival and fifth-ranked University of Chicago when they were shutout 0-1. CAS senior and goalkeeper Grant Engel had six saves on the game. Chicago out-shot NYU 19-6.

NYU played better on the offensive end on Oct. 28 when it tied with UAA rival WashingtonU 1-1.

The Violets will look to end the regular season with a win in their regular season

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

finale on Nov. 3 when they host Brandeis University.

Women’s Volleyball Women’s volleyball had a jam-packed two days from Oct. 26 to 27, when it played four games at the NY Region Challenge, going 2-2 overall.

On day one, the Violets dropped their first match against Fredonia College in four sets (25-23, 24-26, 25-27, 19-25).

The Violets bounced back in the second match of the day against Nazareth College in four sets (19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-21).

To start day two, the Violets fell behind early in the first game of the day against Rochester Institute of Technology, losing the match in four sets (22-25, 21-25, 2624, 19-25). Kupeli led the team in digs with 21 and CAS senior Daryl Mitchell led the team with 16 assists. The Violets flipped the script in the second match of the day, convincingly defeating Buffalo State College in three straight sets (25-12, 25-12, 25-11).

The Violets return to the court on Nov. 3 at the UAA Championship in Rochester.

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Men’s and women’s cross country finished with a sixth-place and eight-place finish, respectively, at the UAA Championship on Oct. 28.

The men totaled 151 points on the day over the 8K course, securing them a sixthplace finish. NYU had a trio of Bens as its top three finishers. GLS junior Ben Karam was the first Violet to cross the finish line at 21st place, followed by Tisch senior Ben Haderle at 31st place and Tisch junior Benjamin Heintz at 32nd place. Two more runners scored for NYU: CAS sophomore Dillan Spector (37th place) and CAS sophomore Jonathan Sussman (43rd place).

The women finished the day with 248 points over the 6K course, placing them last in the eight-team competition. Gallatin first-year Valentina House was NYU’s top performer, finishing in 41st place. She was followed by CAS junior Isabella Steains (62nd place), CAS first-year Athina Zodl (71st), Stern senior Karen Yao (72nd place) and Stern first-year Ashley Storino (75th place). Seventy-nine runners competed in the course.

The cross country team will return to action in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 3.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Two NYU divers, one each from the men’s and women’s teams, were named UAA Athletes of the Week on Oct. 22.

Nursing first-year Cole Vertin for the men’s team and CAS junior Carmen White garnered the honors after their performances at the meet against Rowan University on Oct. 20. Vertin won the three-meter diver with 340.81 points and placed third in the one-meter dive with 292.27 points. He was responsible for 12 of NYU’s 177 total points in the meet.

White won both the one- and three-meter dive, with 312.75 and 300.98 points, respectively. She contributed 18 points to NYU’s 181 total points. This is White’s 13th career honor and Vertin’s second.

Email Zach Han at zhan@nyunews.com.

Edited by BRENDAN DUGGAN and ZACH HAN

Los Angeles and Boston Control Their Coasts

By BRENDAN DUGGAN Sports Editor After making it back to the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers have claimed their spot as the best team in Major League Baseball’s National League for two years in a row. After winning two games at home, the Boston Red Sox took a 3-1 series lead heading into Sunday night. With David Price on the mound, Boston scored five runs to win the game 5-1, clinching their fourth World Series title in the last 15 years.

With three home runs in the final two games of the series, Steve Pearce earned the World Series MVP award.

The 2018 World Series was fueled by back-and-forth offense, lights-out pitching and clear displays of talent from each team’s young core. For Los Angeles, Cody Bellinger and Manny Machado have helped carry their team both at the plate and in the field. For Boston, MVP candidate Mookie Betts and 24-yearold prospect Andrew Benintendi show promise for the Red Sox future.

Both teams also have personalities that heighten the excitement around the sport. Baseball is a traditional game — dating back to the 19th century — and does not require the same athleticism as basketball or the same physical intensity as football. LA Dodger Yasiel Puig has provided a spark in the Dodger’s roster, and the Cuban-born 27-year-old has become a team favorite, known for his explosive offensive showcases. Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers was born in the Dominican Republic, and his infectious energy is helping incite Boston’s baseball scene

SOMEONE | WSN

at just 22 years old.

However, baseball is not the only sport where young players fuel the cross-country rivalry. In the NBA, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have been rivals for decades. With a league-high 17 championship titles, the Celtics are hoping to ride the talent of their young all-stars, including 20-yearold Jayson Tatum, 22-year-old Jaylen Brown and superstar Kyrie Irving. With 16 championship titles — next best is the Bulls and Warriors with six each — the Lakers are hoping LeBron James can help guide the young core consisting of 21-year-olds Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, and 23-year-old Kyle Kuzma. Although both teams have gotten off to a rocky start this year, the young teams have the opportunity to meet in the NBA Finals in future years for an NBA-record 13th time.

On the football field, the LA Rams have started their season at a perfect 8-0, looking to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since moving from St. Louis.

After a 1-2 start, the Patriots are back on top in the AFC East at 5-2, and a Boston-LA Super Bowl would bring the historic rivalry to a new level.

The ongoing rivalry between Boston and Los Angeles represents a historic East versus West coast matchup, and the two cities’ bright futures means the rivalry isn’t going away anytime soon.

Whether you support one city, both or neither, get used to seeing Boston and Los Angeles in future championships across all sports. Both cities will be competing at the highest level for years to come.

Email Brendan Duggan at bduggan@nyunews.com.

Women’s Golf Team’s Successful Campaign

By BRADFORD YAU Contributing Writer The fall campaign for NYU Women’s Golf has finally come to an end.

The Violets played their final tournament of the season on Oct. 13 to 14, in Bloomfield, New Jersey as part of their annual NYU Fall Invitational. NYU finished strong on day one, holding on to first place with an eight-stroke lead, but couldn’t hang on to the momentum when it finished 19 strokes behind Williams College, earning them second place. Though they did not finish with a victory, they had an impressive season nonetheless, including first-place finishes in their last two tournaments.

Ranking-wise, the girls finished first in the East Region and fourth in national Division III rankings.

Breaking down the end of the season, Coach Brad Johnson sees room for improvement, but still feels the team isn’t given the credit and recognition it deserves on a national level. Despite this, Johnson remains very optimistic about the second half of the season in spring 2019 with winning a national championship as their ultimate goal.

“Come spring, we should be back strong, and we should have a great shot in winning the Liberty League,” Johnson said. “We are a mentally better compared to last season because we are an older team with more experience.”

The numbers verify Johnson’s claim:

upperclassmen make up more than 50 percent of the roster, and the leadership and knowledge that they provide are invaluable. Due to this, the chemistry between teammates has never been higher.

CAS senior Jennifer Bluetling credits this cohesion to the team’s collective history. “[We] have known each other for a long time and spend so much time with one another,” Bluetling said.

This is only one piece of the puzzle, as there are also four first-years that have joined the roster. In past years, the underclassmen have needed some time assimilating with the team and adjusting to college golf, but Bluetling finds the opposite has happened.

“The [first-years] have meshed extremely well with us, and we feel like a complete team,” Bluetling said.

Teamwork, surprisingly, is an essential aspect of golf, even though it’s known as an individual sport. The bond formed by the girls on the golf team is the most important factor in their success on the course.

“Even though golf is an individual sport, it is important to emphasize that this is a team effort,” Bluetling explained. “We have five players and only four scores count play at a time, so we can rely on our teammates to carry us if we have a bad day and we must support on one another to perform the best.”

In women’s golf, you are only as good as your team is. However, it is a considerable advantage when a teammate per-

forms extraordinarily well, ultimately helping their team win the game. CAS junior Arisa Kimura did just this, as her career-best performance set the Violets up to win the General’s Invitational tournament just two weeks ago.

“Everything was going in that day, such as making putts that I usually wouldn’t make on a regular basis,” Kimura said. “But overall I was just focusing on maximizing the most points for the team.”

While she believes that her skill set isn’t the best, she credits her performance to the team’s strong mental state.

“We have a disadvantage compared to different colleges because of our lack of land and resources, so we have to make it up with a mental edge,” Kimura said.

The women’s team will get a fivemonth break before it has to play its first tournament of the spring season. Plans for the offseason vary depending on the schedule of the athlete, but Kimura already knows her project. Given the luxury of many more golf courses in Japan, she will be there working out in the gym and practicing during her winter break.

However, she emphasized that she will be taking a short break from golf to physically and mentally re-energize.

The Violets’ spring season will begin on March 9, when the path to a national championship begins.

Email Bradford Yau at sports@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News | Under the Arch

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018

11

Lola Pays Her Tuition Lightning Fast Through Stripping and Camming CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

son T-shirt and black cotton underwear.

Lola leaned over toward her phone camera, put her hands on her knees and responded to the incoming comments, “My tattoos?

How many times do you guys want to see my tattoos?” For Lola, this was just an ordinary session of sifting through comments about her age and body.

No one can deny the calm, witchy energy Lola exudes. When she turns on the camera, there is no alter ego—she stands nonchalantly, leaning to one side, unabashed to be watched and unafraid to demand what she wants. Her charisma enchants viewers.

Out of high school, Lola enrolled herself at North Shore Community College near Salem, as a Liberal Arts major, and completed an associate’s degree after three years. After graduating, she had her sights set on NYU and was accepted to the School of Professional Studies as a Digital Communications major. After her first semester, she accrued debt from NYU that she had put off on paying. She took a two-year hiatus from NYU to pay off her student loans by babysitting and working at a creperie in the city. Then this past June, she moved to Chicago just for the summer to experience a new urban culture. Still strapped for cash, Lola discovered the camming world, unaware of the financial payouts it would bring. Camming allowed her to work on her own schedule with only digital gazes.

“I like camming because I can literally do it from my room, and I’m not having to dance [in a club] seven times for a couple dollars,” Lola said. “And I’m the only person there, it’s not like a full club of other girls too. I wouldn’t call [stripping] competitive, but it’s obviously easier for me to make more money.”

It’s clear: Lola calls all the shots. On Periscope, she can block trolls instantly, set prices for her private streams and go live whenever she pleases. All of her private streams are 15 minutes: $10 for a private group, $30 for a topless one-on-one and $50 for a full nude one-on-one.

Lola jots down usernames in her pink faux-leather notebook during her public livestream for those who want to pay upfront for her private group later. She won’t start the private stream until everyone has listed their age and agreed to her terms of not stealing content from her live streams. And as much as she is willing to explore her sensuality and body with others watching, there are certain things that aren’t for viewers.

With what she does and how visible she is to her viewers and the general public, Lola is unafraid to speak openly about her business. According to her, people’s reactions when she mentions her job are banal.

“I tell anyone. I’m definitely not too shy about it,” Lola said. “Usually everyone is like ‘Oh ok, I know someone who knows someone that does that too.’”

Lola considers herself relatively tame compared to other cammers. She draws the line at sexual acts, straying away from more erotic acts, such as masturbation, and keeps things strictly to sensual nudity.

“Some girls sell feet pics or literally their

underwear or socks,” she said. “There are just people who have certain fetishes, and they need to be catered.”

If users are being aggressively demanding or making her uncomfortable, she can block them with a single tap.

A self-proclaimed loner, Lola often turns to Periscope to get her dose of human interaction for the day. When a wave of boredom overcomes her, Lola goes live. A bagel and hummus are her sole props as she talks to viewers. These mundane streams fulfill her viewers most basic need: their desire to engage with her. Other times, going live signals her dwindling cash. An urgent “NEED MONEY RIGHT NOW” headlines her live stream, and a regular fan would transfer a down payment for a later private session. Her profits are made on an irregular basis from camming viewers, so money can be tight at times. The symbiotic relationship between Lola and her viewers becomes clear in these times.

But it’s not like she doesn’t have friends.

“

Somewhere between a muse and amusing. Lola is a free spirit if I’ve ever met one. She was born for the stars.

”

BRI BORN Rutgers University student and DJ

She can often be seen in the crowd of her favorite band, Porches, as one of their groupies. With her friend, Bri Born, a Rutgers University student and DJ, she formed the band, Group the Group — a nod to their self-proclaimed groupie identities.

“Somewhere between a muse and amusing,” Born said. “Lola is a free spirit if I’ve ever met one. She was born for the stars.”

Despite her hectic schedule, Lola makes it a priority to see shows and get lost in the world of music while also experimenting with her own.

Outside of her bedroom, the strip club becomes a haven for empowerment and money-making. Stripping was always on Lola’s must-do list before she moved to New York. In actualizing this fantasy and in conjunction with camming, she’s learned her patrons come from all walks of life — some can afford the expensive luxury of strip clubs and others are limited to online chat rooms. For Lola, the strip club is a place of female worship that allows her to, for a moment, level the playing field between men and women as patrons pay to watch her perform. That liberating energy spills into her daily life.

“I’ve become way more confident in how I carry myself — like especially when I talk to men too,” Lola said. “I used to be sort of shy in a way, and now it’s like I’m this unstoppable force, and they’re smelly.”

However, with one hand in the online world of streaming and the other on the pole, Lola has faced unforeseen problems in both realms. It’s not always simple and fun.

A couple weeks ago, Lola tried to hail a cab after her shift outside the strip club.

Changing into an NYU T-shirt and shorts,

leaving on her large work heels, she wailed her arms to multiple cabs — none of which stopped. She only had cash on her and didn’t want to stray too far from the club.

“At least three cabs passed by, and I had to take off my shoes and walk a block for cab to stop for me,” she said.

The hardships of her job continue with payment platforms online that deter Lola in her financial pursuits. That same Sunday afternoon, she battled it out with a PayPal agent about her blocked account.

“They think I’m a terrorist, receiving money for nuclear war,” Lola said in a moment of pure exhaustion after the phone call.

PayPal claimed suspicion over the fast and daily small payments that Lola receives from her international clientele. After the phone call, Lola went right to streaming to find new methods of payment, and with a few nudges to her fans, a viewer had successfully sent a dollar through Cash App to test if it would go through.

Having as many viewers as she does, Lola has learned to navigate the Periscope cautiously. There are times when trolls will tell her to shave her armpits; other times, viewers will get into heated political arguments.

One user on the livestream commented, “I’ll stab you in the p***y with my d--k” to which Lola giggled and responded, “oh, how nice.” She gracefully plays the role of both subject and moderator of her streams.

Through it all, Lola does what she can to control her business.

“They’re just bored really. It’s very clear,” She said. “They’re just looking

Clockwise from top: Lola outside her Brooklyn apartment. Lola begins a Periscope live stream.

The heels Lola wears at the strip club. In order to get a cab to stop for her, she had to take them off and walk away from the club.

Lola climbs out onto her balcony.

for someone to pick on. But I’m always standing my ground. A lot of people call me a feminist as if it’s a horrible thing.”

Despite the numerous precautions she takes, some viewers have illegally stolen her copyrighted private streams and posted them onto third-party sites. As a result, others wrongfully profit off of her content. She prefers to use Periscope because the revenue isn’t cut by hosting sites.

Little is free in this world. Porn has always lived behind the veil of social taboo.

However, Lola experiences firsthand what happens when people take her services for granted just to disappear behind a screen.

“I definitely think everyone should be paying for porn.”

If camming doesn’t bring in profits, she can’t sustain herself or lifestyle. Coming from a big family, Lola made the conscious decision to be financially independent and not rely on her family. All of her tuition and rent money comes out of her

stripping and camming gigs. “[My mom] doesn’t like it,” Lola said. “She just worries about me, like any parent would.”

Lola is taking in her future as it comes.

Her only priority is to stay in New York and continue onto Columbia for her master’s in literature or anthropology.

In the mix of all the streaming, stripping and studying, Lola defines herself as a sex worker who has forged her own place in the industry.

“My type of camming may seem more timid in comparison, but creating a hierarchy isn’t beneficial to anyone,” Lola said. “We all share the struggles and social stigmas of whatever kind of selected service we provide.”

If you blink, you might just miss her.

Juggling all of what she does, Lola has learned to enjoy the madness. She’s sure of herself and won’t budge from any disapproving glances. Her Sunday stream is about to come to close. She must leave her viewers abruptly to handle other matters.

The rest of her seemingly ordinary life needs her attention.

Email Joel Lee at underthearch@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News Staff ILLUSTRATION Sophia Di Iorio Opinion Page EDITOR Janice Lee DEPUTY Hanna Khosravi, Melanie Pineda

Editor-in-Chief Jemima McEvoy Managing Editor Sayer Devlin DEPUTY Sakshi Venkatraman, Alejandro Villa Vásquez

Under the Arch Pamela Jew EDITOR Yasmin Gulec FICTION George Hajjar, Danielle Matta

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ABOUT WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published in print on Mondays and throughout the week online during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.

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