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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
CAS Dean Search: Looking for a New Starr
By GRETA CHEVANCE Staff Writer
In an effort to identify candidates to assume Professor Gabrielle Starr’s position as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences next fall, President Andrew Hamilton and Provost Katherine Fleming have assembled the CAS Dean Search Committee. “We have asked the committee to seek candidates of great achievement who are respected scholars in their fields and who are passionate about undergraduate education, with strong records of academic leadership and demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion,” Hamilton and Fleming’s statement to the CAS community said. “The new dean will be a forceful advocate for the liberal arts at NYU and for the undergraduate academic experience.” The committee is comprised of 12 NYU faculty members and is supported by Park Executive Search, a search firm that works with various institutions to identify qualified candidates to fill academic, executive and board positions. Since its inception in mid-January, the committee has launched an advertisement that summarizes the deanship role and addresses the credentials and characteristics that its candidates
should embody. The group will also facilitate discussions between committee members and CAS students, faculty and administrators through its listening sessions next week. Chair of the Search Committee and Chemistry Professor James Canary said that the committee will use the comments and concerns raised at the listening sessions when assessing candidates for the deanship. “These sessions are intended to offer an opportunity to participate in the process with the greatest inclusion of arts and science community members as possible,” Canary said. “We are seeking input about the challenges and opportunities facing the College, the top priorities for the next dean and the credentials and experience we should be seeking in candidates.” Canary said that members of the CAS community have been reflecting on Starr’s term in evaluating the qualities that they feel her successor should have. “Although the committee is only at the very beginning of its work, we have already heard much about Dean Starr’s commitment and accessibility to undergraduates,” Canary said. “These are without a doubt high priorities sought in the next dean.” Sociology Professor and Search Committee Member Michael
Hout said that the listening sessions are held to obtain a wide variety of input from the CAS community. “We are holding listening sessions so that participants can present the views of all the stakeholders in this important choice,” Hout said. “No doubt we could come up with some of that material by brainstorming among ourselves, but it is more authentic to get the input from a broader community, phrased in the terms chosen by the speakers.” CAS sophomore Janice Lu said that she appreciates the university extending the search process to involve the opinions of members of the CAS community. “The efforts of the Search Committee, particularly through the listening sessions, demonstrate an interest on the part of the university to integrate student and faculty’s judgments in assessing who might be a viable candidate for the position,” Lu said. Hout said that while the university encourages the input of CAS students and faculty in the search for candidates, the initiative is still rather private, so the university is unable to discuss specific candidates or anything about the process that could suggest who might be a candidate with students and faculty members not on the search committee.
Q&A: NYU Protester Arrested By HERMAN LEE Staff Writer
Underneath the sirens and metal of police vehicles that oftentimes accompany protests, inside might sit a fellow Violet. While the majority of recent rallies and protests have remained peaceful, there have been occasions when situations have escalated and NYU students were caught in the crossfire. Steinhardt sophomore Zane Kerr was arrested at a rally on Jan. 24 responding to President Donald Trump’s executive order that will facilitate the revival of the Dakota Access Pipeline. After the rally, some protesters began marching uptown and it was during this trek, he was arrested. Washington Square News sat down with Kerr to discuss the situation that led to his arrest and his
subsequent experience of being detained at a rally. Washington Square News: What happened at the protest before you got arrested? Zane Kerr: There was the rally at the park and the march, which started moving uptown. The whole time, the cops were riding on mopeds trying to keep us on the sidewalk, and then I think it was on 54th Street when the front of the march turned onto the street, and we followed. We were doing one of the chants — the “Whose streets? Our streets” chant — and I remember some people shouting “Whose streets?” That was when the cop started arresting people. WSN: Could you describe what happened when you were arrested? ZK: I remember getting pushed a little bit by one of the cops, and
I tried to ignore him and keep walking. At that point I remember him calling me and pushing me off, and two cops tried to grab me, and five others were arrested. Then they took us to central holding in Chinatown to process us and kept us in a holding cell for a while. I got released later that night with a violation — a little worse than a ticket — but not that bad. It won’t go on my permanent record or anything. WSN: What advice do you have for fellow Violets if they’re arrested during a protest or rally? ZK: Through my experience, the best advice is definitely just to stay calm and recognize that you are probably going to get out at the end of the night. The cops, when I got picked up, they take you to the holding cell and keep you there for a really long time when they go through your entire record. Their goal is to keep you overnight if they can — so they try to find unpaid tickets — and if they find anything like that, they’ll keep you overnight. If they don’t find anything like that, then they just let you out. I waited for two hours at least in there with the other guys, but for the most part you’re fine. Just stay calm and it’s going to be a process, but it’s not that bad.
STAFF PHOTO BY EUAN PRENTIS
Arrests of students are not isolated events, such as when 11 reported arrests we made on Tuesday outside Kimmel.
Email Herman Lee at news@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY POLINA BUCHAK
The CAS Dean Search Committee hopes to choose a new dean by the end of the spring semester. “A dean search is high stakes for the university, for the person who is picked and for the ones who are passed over,” Hout said. “Some outstanding people would not even let us consider them if they thought it might get out that they were a candidate.” The search committee hopes to have a new dean for CAS by the end of the spring semester. “Items learned from the consultative activities over the next
couple of weeks will be used to develop criteria and to set priorities in weighing the candidates,” Canary said. “By the end of spring, the committee will recommend a shortlist of candidates to the provost and president for their consideration with the goal of having a new dean in place for the fall semester.” Email Greta Chevance at news@nyunews.com.
CRIME LOG
Jan. 28 to Feb. 2
By THE NEWS TEAM The NYU Department of Public Safety received six reports of larceny, one report of controlled substance, two reports of criminal mischief, one report of harassment and one report of dating violence between Jan. 28 and Feb. 2.
Larceny
On Jan. 30 at 5:15 p.m. a student reported that her violin and violin case were stolen from Tisch Hall. The case remains under investigation. On Jan. 31 at 12:35 p.m. a student reported that their bicycle was stolen outside of 194 Mercer St. Police notification was declined. On Jan. 31 at 7:05 p.m. a student reported that her external hard drive was missing from a computer lab in 721 Broadway. On Feb. 1 at 1:55 p.m. a student reported that his backpack missing from a coat closet in the dental center. A police report was filed. On Feb. 1 at 5:40 p.m. Public Safety reported that a student was prevented from stealing merchandise from the NYU Bookstore. The case has been closed and the student was referred to Wellness resources.
On Feb. 3 at 3:30 a.m. a student reported that her coat was missing from the seventh floor of Bobst Library. Police notification was declined.
Controlled Substance
On Jan. 30 at 10:30 p.m. Public Safety responded to a report of a controlled substance and recovered a small amount of marijuana at Third North Residence Hall.
Criminal Mischief
On Jan. 31 at 8:20 a.m. Public Safety found graffiti on an outdoor trash can. A police report was filed. On Feb. 2 at 8:56 p.m. Public Safety received a report of window damage in the Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life due to a thrown projectile. A police report was filed.
Harassment
On Jan. 31 at 4:18 p.m. a professor reported that they received harassing emails from an unknown source. Police notification was declined.
Dating Violence
On Feb. 2 at 4:13 p.m. Public Safety reported an incident of dating violence at Rogers Hall. Police notification was declined. Email the news team at news@nyunews.com.
Holocaust Survivor Speaks at Panel Celebrating Elie Wiesel By COCO WANG Deputy News Editor In honor of Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust writer Elie Wiesel, a panel was hosted by Realize Israel, CAS and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life on Thursday. The panel — named after Wiesel’s autobiographical trilogy Night, Dawn, Day — was hosted on the last day of Holocaust Remembrance Week and featured a dialogue between Holocaust survivor Mirian Adler and NYU Medical School Assistant Professor Allen Keller. CAS Dean Gabrielle Starr, a predominant organizer of the event, said that the idea for the event was inspired by a discussion with Executive Director of the Bronfman Center Rabbi Sarna. “The idea for me for an event to honor Wiesel began this summer, on the night he passed away,” Starr said. “I was emailing with Rabbi Sarna, and we both were sharing in mourning his loss. We wanted to do something, and decided to wait until fall.” Starr said that in early fall, Gallatin junior and Realize Israel President Jacob Sternberg approached her about working together on a Holocaust Remembrance event, and Sternberg, along with other students — Starr’s CAS team and the Bronfman Center’s Dana Levinson — began working on ideas. Holocaust survivor Mirian Adler was invited to the university by her great-grandson Ari Spitzer, a Realize Israel member. Adler is a Jewish author and activist who speaks about her experience of the Holocaust at synagogues, Jewish high schools, universities and other venues. “My grandmother was explaining to me once about her childhood,” Spitzer said. “My grandma was born two years after the war, but all the people that she grew up with — they all knew that everyone’s parents were a part of [the Holocaust], but no one ever speaks of it. It was very taboo.” During the event, Adler gave a speech about her life in Auschwitz and on the Death March. Spitzer said his great-grand-
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
Law Classmates Appeal to NYU Alum Jared Kushner By ARUSHI SAHAY Contributing Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY POLINA BUCHAK
The Bronfman Center hosted a panel with Holocaust survivor Mirian Adler to broaden students’ perspectives. mother overcame many difficulties to share her phenomenal story of survival and resilience. Spitzer also said that speaking about Holocaust experiences is very rare among survivors. He said that they feel embarrassed to face the turbulent time during which their families were lost. “It was difficult for her physically to leave her home and come out to do something like this,” Spitzer said. “Also mentally, it’s very tough, because when she speaks about this, she has days — weeks — of nightmares. But she does it because she knows it’s important.” Sternberg is one of the core student organizers who worked closely with the Bronfman Center on this event. As a grandson of a Holocaust survivor, he also said that it is rare to hear first-person accounts of the Holocaust. “When it comes to the Holocaust, there are so many documentaries, research papers [and] documentations of exactly what happened and who was killed,” Sternberg said. “But to really see and hear from someone who had her siblings killed and her family taken away, who witnessed with her own eyes the atrocities, the destruction and the darkness of what the Holocaust is incredibly powerful. It’s something we don’t experience very often today.” Email Coco Wang at cwang@nyunews.com.
NYU Law alum Jared Kushner has received a blast from the past in the form of a letter from his law school classmates. The letter, written by NYU Law alum Rebecca Davidson Zipp and signed by 50 members of NYU Law’s class of 2007, appealed to President Donald Trump’s adviser and sonin-law to use his newfound power for good. The letter, which was also published online, was sent to Kushner on Dec. 16, but received no response. Kushner’s classmates focused on their concerns regarding Trump’s policies while still complimenting his intelligence and thoughtful attributes. The letter appealed to Kushner’s Jewish background and asked him to ensure that members of other historically marginalized groups have the opportunity to enjoy the same privileges that have been extended to him. “Jared, you, a member of a historically despised religious minority, have enjoyed a first-class education and unparalleled privilege in this inestimable country,” Kushner’s classmates said in the letter. “Please exercise your power and your incredible access to ensure that members of other historically despised groups have an opportunity to enjoy some of the same privileges that have been extended to you.” NYU Law alum Geraint Chen also signed the letter and said that he was unsure of how effective the letter would be. Chen did not help author the letter, but still signed it as he believes its message is important. “I was asked by a friend and law school classmate of mine if I’d be willing to sign on to a letter that asked Jared to show compassion toward disenfranchised groups and the powerless,” Chen said. Chen said that he was not persuaded that the letter would provoke Kushner to urge compassion from Trump, but felt that it was important to try in a respectful manner. NYU Law alum David Farkas, another member of Kushner’s class, said that he was disappointed that Kushner had compromised his integrity for a position of power.
“I can only speak for myself, but what I took away from the letter was that we as classmates of Mr. Kushner suspected that his principles were strong enough to stand the allure of power,” Farkas said. “I think we’re appealing to those principles and to his integrity.” Farkas said that he hoped the letter will spur Kushner to consider his integrity and principles, and will motivate him to push back against the more hateful and dangerous aspects of his administration. However, like Chen, Farkas is unsure of how much change the letter will incite. Stern freshman David Wang said that he does not believe it is the nature of Kushner’s education as much as the influence tied to his current position that deems him responsible for improving the country. Wang also said that just because NYU is a liberal school does not mean that the students have to follow those same ideals — Kushner included. “This public letter is an echo of the overwhelming pressure to express liberal ideas that oftentimes becomes counterproductive,” Wang said. “It is not Kushner’s identity as a NYU graduate or conservative, but rather the fact that he possesses a senior role in the new administration that mandates him to strive to improve the country.” Email Arushi Sahay at news@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY RENEE YANG
NYU Law students sent a letter to their former classmate, Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump, to remind him of the power he has to change the country for the better.
IT Mixup Forfeits Students’ Administrative Control By JEMIMA MCEVOY News Editor
Silver School of Social Work graduate student Nanychi Franquiz accepted the terms and conditions that appeared on an app before she realized that she was giving up control of her phone. “When I saw that they could remotely access and erase my data I tried to erase it,” Franquiz said. “However, before I even
PHOTO BY MOOJIG BATTSOGT CHIMID
On Friday morning, many NYU students were prompted to download an app that would forfeit their administrative control of their phones.
got to that point I was required to put a password on my phone. I was not allowed to simply swipe, that option was blocked when I went into my phone’s lock and security setting.” On Friday morning, students with Android devices or iPhones without passcodes were prompted to download an app called Google Apps Device Policy when trying to log into their NYU email accounts. A notification appeared on users’ phones and would not disappear until students clicked ‘next’ to download the app. In the written explanation of the update, the terms and conditions said, “This application allows administrators to enforce policies on how your mobile device is used to access work information.” It outlined a list of administrative powers that would be forfeited if the student accepted the terms — it granted administrators the authority to erase all the data on the phone, set password rules such as controlling the length and characters allowed in screen lock passwords, monitor screen-unlock attempts and delete data after too many incorrect inputs, and change
the lock screen, among other things. In a service report, NYU IT explained that if students installed the app, they should now uninstall it and restart their devices. IT apologized for the inconvenience and said that students should not be prompted with this message again, and there should not be any security concerns related to the incident. NYU spokesperson John Beckman said that NYU administration was aware that some members of the NYU community received this notification but that it was not the fault of the university. He said it was a change in the Google interface that caused this notification, and NYU has never required students to agree to the Google Apps Device Policy. “This notification came from Google, not NYU,” Beckman said. “Google made a change in the user interface and in the process turned this requirement on for the NYU Google domain, in error.” Beckman said that the university did not request the change and that once the issue was reported to Google, it was corrected immediately. Therefore, it is
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no longer necessary for students to agree to the terms and conditions to access their NYU accounts. Although Beckman said that the issue was sourced with Google as opposed to the university, a customer services representative from Google said on the phone that Gmail accounts assigned by the university can still be controlled by the university. Franquiz said she originally thought the app asking her to cede administrative command was a joke — she said that since the phone is hers, she should not be asked to relinquish her rights to the university. “There was certainly a little deception there and too many unanswered questions,” Franquiz said. “At no point did these terms and conditions state a reason behind this registration and I personally feel that since they did not contribute to the purchase of my phone they should have no access to it whatsoever. It’s an invasion of privacy and an overreach on [the university’s] end.” Email Jemima McEvoy at jmcevoy@nyunews.com.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
ARTS
EDITED BY HAILEY NUTHALS ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Identity Politics Ring True at KJCC By MARIA JOSE LAVANDERA Contributing Writer
When people discuss what constitutes the territory of the United States, they often forget the “unincorporated territory” of Puerto Rico, even though it has been under the U.S. government since 1899. Given the current political climate, where American identity has been called into question, Puerto Ricans’ citizenship can be challenging to comprehend. Their island is a part of our country and subject to federal laws while at the same time it is also considered a “free associated state” — meaning that Puerto Ricans cannot directly vote in presidential elections due to provisions of the Electoral College. Since the United States invaded the once-Spanish territory, its residents’ in-between status has created a culture built upon political and economic hegemony of remote lands. Puerto Rican artist and photographer Pablo Delano explores this ambiguity in his new exhibition “The Museum of the Old Colony” at NYU’s King Juan Carlos I Center, which is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of modern Spain and the Spanish-speaking world. Delano uses a combination of still and moving images collected over the past 20 years to investigate the island’s colonial history and its nebulous cultural impact. The images come from books and magazines of U.S.
propaganda that validate the United States’ colonial mission. “The text is often condescending,” Delano said. “If you read one of these captions, they would generalize by saying that under the Spaniards, everything was very bad and [that] now, under the U.S. flag, ‘we are going to make everything better for this poor, ignorant, unfortunate people,’ almost as if they were missionaries.” Delano was born and raised in Puerto Rico and lived there until he was 18. He moved to the continental United States to study at Philadelphia’s Tyler School of Art and Yale University. Today, he is a professor of Fine Arts at Trinity College. Delano’s roots have guided much of his work — a trip to the former British colonies Trinidad and Tobago initiated his fascination with the political situation of his homeland. “It was really inspiring for me to see how this small country was establishing itself as a free country and leaving the colonial days behind to start in a new mission, to try and see how it would create itself as a nation,” Delano said. “One of the things that really struck me was that the government had invested strongly in the arts and in diversity as a positive thing — as a means to move forward.” For the artist, working on this project resulted in a great deal of personal reflection regarding racism, the nuances of his identity and
current ideological discourses circulating in the United States. He hopes the exhibit will prompt the same sort of reflection from its visitors. “You can see that the tone [imprinted in the documents] changes along time, the way that ideas are expressed becomes more politically correct and liberal-minded, but the attitude now is still very similar and hasn’t changed very much,” Delano said. “To the question if people are today less racist, I don’t know.” “The Museum of the Old Colony” will remain on view through March 16. On Feb. 16, the center will host a roundtable discussion with the artist to discuss politics of representation in photography, the cultural impact of colonialism and the image repertoires and national imaginaries of Puerto Rico. Email Maria Jose Lavandera at entertainment@nyunews.com.
PHOTOGRAPHER UNIDENTIFIED, STEREO-CARD BY M. H. ZAHNER
A group of newly made Americans at Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Bob Ross Event Reflected Philosophy By CARTER GLACE Staff Writer
*To celebrate the start of the spring semester, the Student Resource Committee hosted a tribute to everyone’s favorite military-sergeant-turned-inspirational-art-teacher, Bob Ross, as a part of Spring Welcome Week. While streaming his painting tutorials via Netflix, organizers encouraged students to try their hands at painting tiny bushes, trees and landscapes at Kimmel on Wednesday. What resulted was a relaxing evening of Ross’ auditorily orgasmic instruction and some truly impressive works of incredibly indistinguishable art. While Ross used various acrylic paints, simple watercolors were provided for the event — you know, those little
PHOTO BY CARTER GLACE
Attendees painted as Bob Ross videos played in the background.
rows of colors used in standard elementary school classrooms. Of course, this by no means reflects an oversight by the SRC — rather, it lent itself to a bold commentary on the sad truth that most art forms are incredibly cost-prohibitive. This carried itself into the art that was created. While Ross gives instructions in his videos, he simultaneously encourages viewers to use creative license. This came as a welcome reminder that the first step for any self-respecting artist is to stop being a sheep and do whatever you want. One stand-out piece depicted a particularly melancholic dog that looked like an Ewok, suggesting that fandoms have become too self-serious since the release of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” making pop culture as a whole more miserable. Perhaps one of the most politically charged pieces of the night was a painting of several aliens tumbling out of a UFO into a body of water — a tragic reminder that if extraterrestrial life ever came to earth, they would surely look at our current political climate and hurl themselves into the ocean. Truly, however, there was not a single poorly-executed piece of student artwork at the “Painting with Bob Ross” event
— it was clear that every single attendee gave it their all. Going in somewhat expecting to have a bunch of art to playfully riff off of, the sheer talent in the room was admittedly disappointing. The various landscapes created were gorgeous, ranging from the minimalist and pastel to the technicolored and abstract. The fact that people could make such detailed works with watercolors was nothing short of baffling — especially given these artists’ speed, completing their oeuvres in a little over an hour. Ultimately, SRC’s “Painting with Bob Ross” event was a success. There was something incredibly encouraging and invigorating about seeing such incredible art being made in a fun and casual space. It’s a reminder that everyone is capable of art in one form or another, and that great and simple pieces can be made under any circumstance. That’s the kind of idea and message Ross advocated in his time, and it’s one that was undoubtedly embodied by the evening. *Artist names have been removed from this piece for satirical reasons. Email Carter Glace at entertainment@nyunews.com.
PHOTO BY AMUN CHAUDHARY
Up-and-coming musician Nick Charger talks about his creative process and personal outlook on life.
Nick Charger’s Ever Evolving Sound by CONNOR GATESMAN Contributing Writer Steinhardt sophomore and California native Nick Charger is a self-proclaimed vocal artist, producer, engineer, sound creator and poet — he is out to prove that he has the champion sound. Charger started his musical training with drums, and by the age of 17, he already dropped his first mixtape. WSN sat down with him to discuss his multi-talented ambition and creative musical outlook. Washington Square News: Where are you from? Nick Charger: I’m from the Bay Area [of] California, south of San Francisco in this little place called San Jose. I was born in San Francisco, but now I live in New York City, so I hit up both coasts. WSN: How has moving to NYC with your West Coast background influenced your music? NC: Starting out in the West Coast, I grew up on the hi-fi beats and the Bay Area sound that they were poppin’ off with when I was over there. When I moved to NYC, I really stepped up my game in terms of lyrics, bars and chopping up samples, which [has] hip-hop roots. WSN: Who are some of your favorite musicians? NC: In terms of who I just love to listen to on my way to school or skating down the street, I bump Joey Bada$$ all the time, [as well as] Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper, Kaytranada and Mac Miller. WSN: How would you describe your sound specifically? NC: I think one of the things about my music is that I create records of all types of different sounds, but it always revolves around hip-hop in terms of the percussion and the drum sequences that I create. The message that I like to get across in my music is high energy at the end of the day, whether I’m talking about sad
breakups or just ballin’ in the club. It’s always high energy, high intensity. My life is always fast-paced and I like to show that in my music. WSN: In a sense, you like to translate your life directly into the vibe of your music? NC: Exactly. WSN: Has the recent political situation affected your creative outlook? NC: Absolutely. I live right on Union Square. I see protests every week, and that gives [me] inspiration to write music that either is a narrative on what’s happening or simply to give you energy to go out there on Saturday night when everyone is fighting for Black Lives Matter, for LGBT rights [or] fighting against the Muslim ban, which has directly affected a lot of my friends and family. WSN: How has this immigration ban affected you? NC: I’m from the Bay Area where there’s a high concentration of people from Iran [and] from a lot of the places that our current president has mentioned in the immigration ban. I actually have a friend whose father cannot come back to the [United States] and meet his family because he’s stuck in his home country of Iran with a work visa and absolutely legal ways of coming back. But because of this ignorant ban, [my friend] can’t see her father again. WSN: Back to the music, are you currently working with a label of any kind? NC: I’m working with [the NYU student-run] West Fourth music group. West Fourth really started out as a bunch of NYU students who have a passion for music. Because we know each other so well, we’re like a well-oiled machine. We just started up but we’re making big moves. You’ll see us in the future, you’ll see us. Email Connor Gatesman at music@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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“Oklahoma City” Proves Depressingly Relevant By SOPHIE BENNETT Staff Writer A federal building was destroyed by a bomb in 1995 in Oklahoma City, OK and the town itself was left shaken. White supremacy, restrictive gun laws and anti-government sentiments were all motivators for bomber Timothy McVeigh. The act of violence was one of the worst instances of domestic terrorism in U.S. history and disturbed citizens nationwide. “Oklahoma City,” Barak Goodman’s new documentary, recounts the shock of McVeigh’s attack and traces back all the details surrounding the man’s extremist beliefs. It’s a riveting humanization of a domestic terrorist, and the film itself frighteningly echoes tensions that are prevalent today. Although McVeigh became a terrorist who murdered 168 people, viewers learn that in his youth he was a shy introvert with no police record. In documenting his adolescent years, the film takes the audience on a journey through the process of McVeigh’s radicalization. As a child, he was bullied and developed a hatred for his attackers. Later, McVeigh joined the U.S. Army since he couldn’t figure out which career to pursue – he
By MICHAEL LANDES Staff Writer “People who don’t read poetry read Anne Carson,” said Deborah Landau, Director of the NYU Creative Writing Program, with twinkling irony in her introduction for Anne Carson at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House on Thursday. It was easy to confirm the truth of her statement — the doors to the event closed at 6:25 p.m., but the crowd outside remained for the duration of the reading. Few other po-
thought he would enjoy it because of his affinity for guns. Although he excelled in marksmanship during training, he became quickly disillusioned once deployed to Kuwait. The documentary highlights this as a critical moment in McVeigh’s life. He had no purpose until he joined the Army — but once deployed, he couldn’t understand why he was there. His Army years were a formative period in which McVeigh began to see the U.S. government as a ruthless bully rather than a protector. The film goes on to examine two historical events that influenced McVeigh. One was the death of white supremacist Randy Weaver, who had led a secluded life in the forest with his family. Weaver’s purchases of several black-market firearms with other white supremacists led the government to arrest him and his family, which ended in a shootout and the family’s deaths. Soon after, in Waco, TX, a racist cult was raided by the police this resulted in the deaths of cult members and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officers. Although the cult leader himself ordered their shelter to be burned down to avoid
arrest, McVeigh believed the government’s actions were unwarranted. Following the Waco massacre, his anti-government stance grew stronger, culminating in the burning hatred that led to his attack in Oklahoma City. Considering the current climate of American politics, it is hard not to notice the ideals of McVeigh in the actions of Trump and his supporters. White supremacy and anti-government zeal isn’t a new idea, nor have these principles been relegated to the past. By showing McVeigh as a real human and giving his past a story, it is much more difficult to write off his actions — and the attitudes of others like him — as the work of the mentally ill. This intense and complex documentary is not only troubling because it shows the lives of white supremacists and other extremists, but because of the resurgence of white supremacist movements in America today. With a president whose own actions have some citizens noticing the similarities to white supremacist theories, the documentary is even more disturbing. Email Sophie Bennett at film@nyunews.com
COURTESY OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE FILMS
Barak Goodman’s new documentary “Oklahoma City” recounts Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of a federal building in 1995.
Anne Carson: Icon of Intellect
ets could draw a comparable crowd on a weeknight. Carson’s writing spans almost every imaginable genre, including translation, fiction, criticism and drama, but is always unmistakably hers. In her introduction, Landau spoke about some of the most recent developments in Carson’s writing, including her experiments in randomization and digital media with her husband, Robert Currie, as well as her performance art pieces that have taken over the Lillian Vernon
House in recent years. Although her academic focus is classics, the innovative Carson embraces new technology. Still, many audience members were curious about her NYU undergraduate class in ancient Greek. Her interest in ancient Greek poetry is constant in her work, and among her books are translations and adaptations of Sappho, Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles. On Thursday, however, Carson read three newer prose pieces. She began the reading by con-
fessing that the distinction between prose and poetry seems arbitrary. Her work proved her point, sliding gracefully between lyrical prose and verse, hovering between memoir and fiction. The first two shorter pieces were included in her collection of chapbooks, “Float,” released last year. The third, however, was a long meditation on an unnamed narrator’s quest to write a novel, and was written “about a week ago.” The story undoubtedly resonated with the crowd of hopeful writers
PHOTO BY ALEC SQUIRES
Poet and NYU Professor Anne Carson spoke on Thursday at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House.
in the home of NYU’s MFA program. Carson’s ability to inhabit the mind of a fresh and failing writer despite her international renown evidences her ability to connect with readers – a key reason for her fame. In the shocked words of one audience member during the question-and-answer session, “You wrote that a week ago?” Perhaps surprising to readers of her often painfully frank and sincere work was her sense of humor, both in her work and in conversation with the audience. When asked about why she chose to teach Homer’s “Odyssey” this semester, she responded by dryly saying, “Well, they told me to teach Homer.” Her first prose piece, partially about reading Hegel in the winter, drew frequent laughs when she commented candidly on his complete unreadability. Thursday’s reading proved to the crowds inside, outside and following on Facebook Live why Anne Carson has received unanimous praise. She reaches past the contemporary moment to craft her unique and universal voice, one that is both as ancient as Sappho and intimidatingly modern. Email Michael Landes at books@nyunews.com.
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FEATURES
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Demystifying Green Thread The End of Brick-and-Mortar By JIAYUN YANG Contributing Writer
By CHLOE TRAN Contributing Writer
Thousands of students take out food from NYU’s dining halls each day. By now, some may have realized a small sticker on Meals 2 Go containers that state the boxes are made from biodegradable, tree-free materials. However, there are probably many who don’t know that these containers were created as a result of NYU’s Green Thread platform. Green Thread, NYU’s sustainability platform, is an environmentally-friendly approach to campus dining services. According to the program’s website, it aims to provide responsible sourcing, reduce waste and make operations more efficient. Downstein Dining Hall is a great example of Green Thread at work. The dining hall no longer provides straws to ensure that only food waste is discarded and can be composted daily. Employees are trained to cut vegetables more efficiently to minimize food waste. Downstein also offers green plastic takeout boxes on sale for $5. All other non-reusable takeout boxes are compostable. In 2010, NYU Dining Services began removing trays from its dining halls, leaving them at only Kimmel Market Place and Palladium Dining Hall, where trays are necessary due to separated serving and eating areas. Green Thread’s efforts to go trayless not only conserve water and reduce the amount of chemicals going into the water stream but also significantly reduce food waste. However, not all NYU students are pleased with the university’s efforts in promoting environmentally sustainable behavior. Some wishing that Green Thread would take more drastic steps to decrease the environmental impact of NYU’s dining halls, so organizations such as all-university club Two Birds, One Stone brings untouched food from dining halls to various community organizations throughout New York City. They have done this since 2006. While CAS Senior Mac Hughes-Cromwick,
In 2017, do we still need physical retail stores, especially in a digital age when it consistently saves time and energy to order online? How often do you find yourself going to Walgreens hauling 12 rolls of toilet paper when you could be placing an Amazon Prime order in the comfort of your bed and at a cheaper price? On a surface level, it seems like the effort of shopping in-store is considerably higher than that of shopping online. The announced closures of 100 full-line Macy’s department stores — one of the largest department store chains in the United States — and the impending liquidation of American Apparel provide just a few examples of how physical stores are faring in this digital age. Seeing as major retail companies are falling into economic hardship and closing down many of their physical locations, one wonders if the era of the brick-and-mortar storefront has come to an end. But brick-and-mortar is not dead — it is revolutionizing itself to serve a different function. One example is Sonos, a consumer
STAFF PHOTO BY VERONICA LIOW
NYU’s sustainability platform, Green Thread, strives to make NYU an environmentally-friendly campus.
the organization’s president, sees the shortcomings of NYU’s sustainability efforts, he respects the university’s efforts with the Office of Sustainability and Green Thread. “I don’t think I’m the right person to ask about NYU’s food waste, though I can tell you that last semester, we delivered over 2,500 pounds of leftover food from NYU dining establishments,” Hughes-Cromwick said. “The Food Recovery Network, of which TBOS is a part of, has a lot of great information on food waste, including facts such as the average college student generates 142 pounds of food waste a year.” Kimmel Marketplace has started using eco-friendly cups and plates this year. Additionally, Lipton Dining Hall is experimenting with becoming vegan next month. Despite learning about these efforts from NYU Dining Services’ weekly emails, Steinhardt freshman Chanel Vidal still does not view NYU as an eco-friendly school. She does, however appreciate the steps the university is taking to become more green. “Well, at least they have recycling for trash in dorms,” Vidal said. Despite students’ mixed reviews on ecofriendly projects such as NYU Unplugged, Earth Matters, and Green Thread, NYU is on its way to becoming a more eco-friendly and sustainable school. Email Jiayun Yang at dining@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY VERONICA LIOW
With modern society’s growing reliance on technology, the era of brick-and-mortar storefronts may be coming to an end. Though some people continue to try on clothes in physical stores, that is becoming less of the case as online shopping becomes more popular.
electronics company that prides itself on its high-quality speakers, which has its flagship store in Soho, housing three well-equipped listening rooms. They allow consumers to experience sound in a setting that resembles one’s home, and not the average retail store. The rooms were designed to be covered in sheetrock and custom-beveled glass to ensure they are both soundproof and acoustically perfect. The work Sonos is doing with its store is exactly what other retail stores are aiming for now. Retail stores in general are shifting their focus to provide a signature customer experience in their stores, where they previously focused on distributing and selling products. Another example is Apple, whose mall locations are always crowded due to their exceptional in-store experience – Apple provides a unique experience for customers. Customers don’t necessarily have to buy anything when they enter an Apple store. Instead, visitors can test products, discuss questions and concerns with sales associates and learn more about popular Apple products. Also, Eataly, the biggest Italian marketplace in the United States, performs well in providing its clients with a tailored, creative experience. Customers can eat in a variety of restaurants, shop for retail items and learn to cook all in one place. And according to a PwC study, shoppers still rely on physical locations to make major final purchases. It showed that 60 percent of consumers shop in-store to receive a product immediately, while 61 percent shop in-store, because they want to see the items in person and try them on. Because of these key factors of in-store shopping, any solution that results in the complete elimination of retail stores should offer a chance to inspect the product. It is true that the retail industry is in crisis, but it can implement changes. Retailers need to know their customers to be successful. The best way to achieve this feat is to leverage technology into the in-store customer experience and integrate online and offline buying channels. Email Chloe Tran at bstyle@nyunews.com.
MLK Week to Provide Prospective Through Turmoil By HAN WANG Contributing Writer In the midst of weekly protests in Washington Square Park, NYU invites students to reflect on a time even more tumultuous than our own — the 1960s. NYU’s 12th annual Martin Luther King Week celebration titled “Essence of a True Revolution” stretches from today until Feb. 11. Its signature university-wide event on Thursday will feature speakers such as actress and activist Rosie Perez, author and advocate Janet Mock, former NFL player Wade Davis and NYU Journalism Professor Pamela Newkirk. It includes performances by NYU alum Amy Leon and Steinhardt sophomore Patience Carter. This year’s theme will focus on lighting a spark under the brewing social revolution and its relevance in today’s political climate. Steinhardt graduate student Gee Salas, Vice President of NYU’s
Graduate Student Organization, oversees the MLK oratorical contest scheduled for Tuesday in which graduate and doctoral students create original speeches that relate to this year’s theme. “[The theme] important to me, because I am a daughter of immigrants,” Salas said. “I am a first-generation student, a woman of color; there are so many systems that are supposed to work against me. We have a lot of students here with differences and all of MLK’s work was about that.” Salas also oversees all the social media accounts for MLK Week, introducing a new, contemporary aspect to the established tradition. “The committee knew what to do already, but at the same time they’re open to new ideas,” Salas said. “We all bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Everyone’s open and welcoming and very passionate about this event.” Along with Salas, Rose Ampuero, Assistant of Student Affairs
at Tandon, oversees the week’s events at NYU Tandon’s Brooklyn campus. She also works as part of a larger committee, whose dedication ensures that the week runs smoothly. “The committee meets regularly beginning in September,” Ampuero said. “We are divided into sub-committees and [put] in our ‘two cents’ for the larger university-wide event. We also work with various departments across the university.” Despite all of the community member’s long hours and hard work, the busiest man during the week will be Monroe France, NYU’s Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Diversity Initiatives. As the chair of the MLK Week Planning Committee, France understands the importance of finding the ‘Essence of a True Revolution.’ “For some of us, we’re going to find that our role is to be at the forefront and be the people that lead visibly,” France said. “Others
will say that the essence of being revolutionary is using your skill set to organize people and not as much in having to be out in the forefront and being a speaker or an orator like King was.” Despite the political turmoil of the past three weeks, France believes that MLK week comes at just the right time. “I think that’s a part of revolu-
tionary change,” France said. “People need to do something. People need to be a part of showing up and being active, and it looks very different for different people. I think we’re at a time in which this theme really causes us to reflect on where we’re going to show up.” Email Han Wang at features@nyunews.com.
PHOTO BY TAYLOR NICOLE ROGERS
NYU’s Martin Luther King Week will run from Monday to Feb. 11.
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International Students: What I Wish I Knew Before NYU By TIFFANIE HWANG Contributing Writer
sorship, from the United States to work or intern here. CAS junior Samaira Prothi, an internaGoing to a university is a daunting experi- tional student from India, wishes someence, as students find themselves in a new one from NYU or Wasserman would have setting — often a new city or state, with helped explain sponsorship and the compliunfamiliar faces. But college is an even big- cated process to her. “Norms regardger adjustment for ing visa policies and students studying in sponin a completely difI wish someone would’ve told changes sorship rules tend ferent country. to be huge chalNYU students arme that in the United States, lenges,” Prothi said. en’t strangers to a you eat pizza with your hands NYU provides reglobal student body, sources to help inseeing that NYU has and not with a fork and knife.” ternational students the second highest transition, but these number of undergraduate international students in the United resources don’t always reach their inStates, with more than 5,000 coming from tended targets, leaving students unaware over 130 countries. Adjusting can be a diffi- of their presence. “Wasserman and OGS [Office of Global Sercult transition, as international students must acclimate not only to the NYU campus, but vices] tend to be great resources, but I would appreciate greater coordination and vigialso the New York City way of life. NYU students work year round – not just lance on their part to keep all international in the summer – but international stu- students informed,” Prothi said. Many students experience culture shock, dents require special permission, or spon-
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with even little things inherent to American culture that can make it seem very foreign. CAS senior Jun Park from Brazil experienced this with American food norms. “I wish someone would’ve told me that in the United States, you eat pizza with your hands and not with a fork and knife,” Park said. “I used to look like a fool for such a long time.” Some students have had to deal with more immediate consequences of cultural differences. Park experienced this firsthand when he encountered tipping culture. “My first time here, I just left a restaurant, and the waiter ran after me saying I had to tip,” Park said. “Of course I did after, but I just didn’t know, because in most countries, you don’t tip or it’s optional.” For some students, it can be difficult to navigate a new social scene while balancing a social life with schoolwork. CAS junior Jane Han from China encountered this dilemma when trying to decide what she wanted to do with her future while trying to make friends. “It was hard for me to figure out my goals
STAFF PHOTO BY POLINA BUCHAK
International students often struggle while adjusting to both the college environment and American culture. for the next four years and still enjoy and learn the social scene here — the drinking culture, how to make friends and not just stick to my same circle,” Han said. “It would be helpful if international students had orientation leaders or staff from NYU that would actively try to guide you through the process. It would make the international student’s experience and adjustment to the school and city a lot easier.” Email Tiffanie Hwang at features@nyunews.com.
Nicoletta Puts Midwestern Twist On Italian Classics
STAFF PHOTO BY RYAN QUAN
At 160 Second Ave., Nicoletta serves a fresh Midwestern perspective on classic Italian cuisine. By DREW LEDERMAN Contributing Writer At first glance, a mix of the American Midwest and classic Italian fare seems like the ultimate disaster, but Michael White’s Nicoletta Pizzeria in the East Village manages to marry the flavors of these two distinctly different regions in menu items such as Midwestern
pizza and soft-serve gelato. Although the pizza doesn’t live up to its hype, White’s unique creations stand out in a sea of traditional New York pizzerias. White, who graduated from Kendall Culinary Institute in Chicago and owns Michelin star restaurants, opened Nicoletta as a tribute to his favorite childhood dish — pizza. As both a big name chef and a mere human, White cannot constantly be in all his restaurants at once. Therefore, Nicoletta’s Executive Chef Bill Dorrler oversees the kitchen operations, Chef di Cucina Michael Cariglio leads daily operations at the East Village location and pastry chef Bob Truitt is the guy behind the fior di latte soft-serve gelato. The gelato combines the smooth texture of Midwestern soft-serve and Italian creamy vanilla — their only flavor of gelato — which provide a not-too-rich canvas for an array of creative toppings. The toppings are the stars of the gelato, featuring rosemary caramel popcorn, pistachio brittle, peanut butter crumble and amaretti cookie crumble.
This marriage of Midwestern and Italian flavors continues throughout the menu, best highlighted with the Midwestern Pizza. As a tribute to his Wisconsin roots, White’s pizza has a thick crust, a uniquely crispy and chewy texture and a weighty blanket of add-ons including thick-cut tomato and cheese, all characteristics of Midwestern-style pizza. Two slices of Nicoletta’s signature pizza costs $4.50. And while the price of Nicoletta’s plain slices might not compete with that of dollar pizza, the flavor certainly triumphs. The Tartufata Pie with prosciutto cotto, mushrooms, crema di tartufo and mozzarella is a winner due to the sheer goodness of its ingredients. Additionally, Nicoletta’s menu features homemade gluten-free dough, which is a real draw to students with celiac disease who often struggle to find delicious and safe pizza near campus. Most pizzerias in the area outsource their dough. The restaurant is very casual and not at all crowded on a weekday, although the servers
could be a little more attentive. The ambiance of the warm, cozy East Village location is described best by Jonna Gerlich, Nicoletta’s managing director. “[When you walk in] you see the chefs tossing pizzas, have that amazing smell from the ovens fill the room and see groups of people sharing classic Italian snacks, salads, pizzas and classic dishes,” Gerlich said. The pizzeria also hosts many fun events. This past weekend, students could have spent valuable time with their significant others at a couples’ pizza making class or have gotten more bang for their buck with the pizzeria’s game day deals. Best yet, Nicoletta offers NYU students a 20 percent discount – Mamma mia! Although the pizzeria has some delicious options, Nicoletta is not one of the best pizza places in the United States. Still, with unique flavors and events, it might be worth a try. Email Drew Lederman at dining@nyunews.com.
Ageism Plagues In The Fashion Industry
By SHERAH NDJONGO Staff Writer
In the fashion industry, trends come and go, style evolves and timeless pieces are never a dime a dozen. But what’s rarely mentioned is that this philosophy extends to people as well — models suffer the most from the prevalence of ageism in the fashion world. Unlike other forms of discrimination, ageism in the modeling sector is rarely acknowledged. With many prominent fashion houses utilizing social media to interact with their followers and potential shoppers, it’s no surprise that they have started to cater to younger demographics for whom social media is an important part of their everyday life. Therefore, to market themselves, brands have allowed social media to drastically change which models get to represent them. With models walking the runway at ages as young as 13, age plays a huge role in a model’s ability to book a job. The older the
models are, the harder it is for them to land work, since older models are in less demand. Younger models are now being chosen to capture the attention of the younger generation. Recently, with 17-year-old Lily Rose Depp closing the Chanel Spring 2017 Haute Couture show, one can argue that fashion houses are choosing to represent themselves with models who are most reflective of the fashion industry’s targeted audiences. While this isn’t exactly a bad thing, the problem is that in prioritizing this new group of younger customers, fashion houses simultaneously neglect their older audiences. Just because younger audiences are more interactive doesn’t mean that those who do not fit into this category should be excluded. Many consumers of luxury ready-to-wear and couture attire are older than the faces of these brands themselves. With this in mind, designers should make room for models of different ages to represent them. The good news is that there has been a push for this particular
type of inclusivity. While a youthful look is often standard on the catwalk, some designers are challenging this mold. For example, Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei chose Carmen Dell’Orefice a 85-year-old model, to close his runway show at the Spring 2017 Couture Fashion Week in Paris. This was a bold statement, because if designers truly wish to appeal to the masses, they should strive for inclusion instead of being overly selective and completely factoring out one group. In the end, age diversity is often overlooked in favor of other types of diversity, but it deserves equal emphasis. It’s refreshing to see brands broadening their horizons and allowing models of all ages to grace their runways to make their clientele feel welcome. After all, fashion isn’t exclusive to a particular age group – it’s something people of all ages use to express themselves to the fullest. Email Sherah Ndjongo at features@nyunews.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY VERONICA LIOW
Though only 15 years old, this model stands on a podium at the Raun LaRose Presentation.
POP YOUR BUBBLES By JORDAN REYNOLDS Highlighter Editor Ever since election night, people have been scrambling to name the reason President Donald Trump won — or, more accurately, why former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost. From Russian hackers to the Clinton campaign overlooking the Midwest, everyone seems to have their own theory. One idea that has gained some traction is that coastal elites live in a liberal bubble: The New York Times-reading, latte-sipping Democrats just don’t seem to know or care about those living in fly-over states. What often goes unmentioned is that many of these liberal elites aren’t actually “elite” in any way, and many of them actually come from those same fly-over states. Take, for example, someone who grew up in a small Midwestern town, but escaped to New York for college. Do they automatically become a coastal elite? Or are they considered a half-breed, an absentee swing-state voter who lives and studies in the liberal bubble? This argument ignores a key quality of these bubbles — that they exist everywhere. Rural, conservative bubbles played more of a role in this election than anything else besides possibly the Kremlin. Men and women in these bubbles own “Hillary for Prison” T-shirts and Confederate flag bumper stickers. They are National Rifle Association members, pro-lifers and Blue Lives Matter advocates. Are these broad, sweeping generalizations? Sure. But conservatives who subscribe to the liberal bubble theory are making the same kinds of generalizations. People who live on the coasts are often open-minded and accepting individuals, partly because these coastal enclaves include people from almost every walk of life. Whether it be young adults escaping their close-minded hometowns or immigrants landing at JFK or LAX, the coasts are home to people from almost everywhere. California
and New York both have some of the highest populations of immigrants in the United States. These new citizens often tend to fall on the left side of the political spectrum, but how is this any different from middle America? Aren’t small rural and suburban towns mostly comprised of white voters who always swing right because they’ve never been exposed to the broad depth of human experience between that of their own communities? This is another generalization, but no more so than saying that liberal bubbles are out of touch with “the real America.” It’s easy to live inside a bubble. And it’s hard not to shame those who are in a bubble different than your own. The challenge comes in empathizing with those in the other bubbles, because it’s all too easy to make fun of liberal elites or dumb rednecks. But we all face common problems, and when a president is elected in spite of three million more votes for his opponent, introspection from both sides is in order. When it comes down to it, the values most Americans hold are essentially the same. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — we hold these truths to be self evident. They are interpreted in many different ways, and that’s part of the beauty of this nation. But in order to form a more perfect union, respect and discipline must fall hand in hand with those ideals — including respect for those who aren’t in agreement. Mutual understanding is a two-way street, and it won’t work any other way. Email Jordan Reynolds at jreynolds@nyunews.com.
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The challenge comes in empathizing with those in the other bubbles, because it’s all too easy to make fun of liberal elites or dumb rednecks.”
SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, LOOK GOOD By HAILEY NUTHALS Arts Editor As our political environment grows more partisan and more thoroughly divided, there has been an increasingly large outcry against celebrities who have the audacity to voice political opinions. This is not the first time the outcry has occurred, but surrounding the especially charged 2016 presidential election, reactions have been getting stronger and louder. Take, for example, the disdain for Meryl Streep voicing her objections to President Donald Trump during her Golden Globes speech. Even the president himself threw his glove in the ring to dismiss her as “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood.” Coincidentally — or rather, contradictorily — celebrities are also derided for their behavior when they fail to act as what the public deems to be appropriate role models. Role models for children, representatives of their respective generations — what they’re supposed to be standing for is unclear, but the notion seems to be that they’re supposed to be good role models, and with behavior like Nicki Minaj’s flagrant and frequent appreciation of her body or San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial inequality, large factions of the public feel that they’re in fact being bad role models. It’s both a dichotomy and a Catch-22. Celebrities should speak up, have a voice and be good role models — but they shouldn’t force their politics on their fans, kill the buzz of a concert with unrelated activism or use their platforms of fame to make any definable statements. It is a terribly unrealistic expectation to have of people who by varying amounts of skill and luck gained a platform to influence millions of people worldwide. The issue lives in the contradiction of what we think of when we try to define “celebrity.” On one hand, they are the best and brightest of our culture – they epitomize what we want to be. Ryan Gosling epitomizes the smooth, casual feminist that might as well have just walked out of a photoshoot for a calendar whose proceeds go to charity. When Taylor Swift first became a staple on the Top 40, she was America’s back-home country girl, with bouncing tresses and a beautifully broken heart. Football players like Kaepernick are
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NEVER A FOREIGNER IN NEW YORK By PHOEBE KUO Staff Writer
Ambition. Diversity. Belonging. For hundreds of years, New York City has been the embodiment of these values. The city takes pride in the fact that there are no differences in color, lanas swift, strong and representative guage or culture here — there are only of our home territory as it gets. New Yorkers. As one of the most iconic Then, on the other hand, celebrities universities in this city, NYU is the are our entertainment. Many of them epitome of the diverse New York didn’t have to go to any sort of secondary spirit, sporting the largest internaeducation to qualify for their roles (though tional student body in both nummany of them still do). We turn on sports ber and proportion in the coungames in our free time after work and blast try. As Violets, we share the Kanye West in our cars on the drive to the groambition to excel, embrace cery or the subway ride, as it were. They provide us the diversity of the school, the service of escapism in some form or another. Pothe city and the country and litically driven statements or actions that break with bond over our fierce love the story of the celebrity we have written for ourselves for this vibrant city. are jarring — how could the sweet girl from Barbados As the adage goes, “If who gave us the romantic hit track “Umbrella” show you make it here, you up to an awards show with nothing but diamonds covcan make it anywhere.” ering her breasts? New York City, by any It’s hard to reconcile celebrities as human beings standard, is an incred— the best and worst of everything. They just happen ibly hard city to live to have millions more in. Yet it is also a city followers on Twitter. Cewith all kinds of poslebrities are as human as sibilities. Be it interwe are; they have family national students or histories of breast canlocal students, young cer, they date more than people flood into this one boy throughout their city with hopes to adolescence, and heck, fulfill their wildest maybe they’ll date boys dreams. NYU students while identifying as share the aspiration to boys themselves. And write their own stories they’ll have opinions and have their 15 minon everything from utes of fame. The only the U.S. presidential difference between interelection to whether national students and lomeat has a place in cal students is that interthe human diet. national students’ homes Moreso, celebriare further away and their ties have a right to those opinions. Agree or disagree, stakes are higher. they’re no better or worse than us. Just because we As an international stuuse entertainment as a release doesn’t mean that dent, my relationship with these artists signed away their humanity when New York was love at first they signed their contract of employment. sight. When I came to New York Any role model is going to have flaws and for a conference five years ago. I characteristics that contrast with our own vowed to myself that I would re— especially if the paparazzi has teleturn someday. I gave up offers to photo lenses to capture their private work at prestigious companies closer moments and social media allows to home and scholarship offers from anyone to share their thoughts on a global scale. It’s time to let celebrities live.
Celebrities should speak up, have a voice and be good role models — but they shouldn’t force their politics on their fans, kill the buzz of a concert with unrelated activism or use their platforms of fame to make any definable statements.”
Email Hailey Nuthals at hnuthals@ nyunews.com.
other universities to move to New York City two years ago. Naturally, it was a hard city to transition to. In Taipei, the subway is always clean and stable; on the other hand, MTA is never reliable. It’s also harder for me than it is for my American classmates to
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I was so afraid to tell my parents any bad news that I kept telling them New York was great, even when it wasn’t.”
find an internship – international students cannot get paid until they have finished a whole academic year. And because of that, most reputable companies will not hire an international student. After going to tons of interviews, I started to wonder whether I was failing. I was so afraid to tell my parents any bad news that I kept telling them New York was great, even when it wasn’t. However, I cannot give up. I love this city. I love to meet interesting people who are doing interesting things. New York City is always full of surprises, and as long as you are resilient, it is a great place for dreamers to meet like-minded people. At first glance, every NYU student represents a certain culture in their own way, and the gap between those cultures may seem to be huge. However, living in the Big Apple means sharing a bond that highlights our similarities: dreams of success, an appreciation of dynamic cultures and a passion for this city. We are all members of this enormous community that celebrates diversity and equal opportunities. Our differences should not divide us; instead, we can be stronger together. Email Phoebe Kuo at pkuo@nyunews.com.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
OPINION
EDITED BY THOMAS PRICE OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
POLITICS
By CHRISTOPHER COLLADO Contributing Writer In the wake of President Donald Trump’s Electoral College win in and Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory, America has displayed increasing polarity in political beliefs. Instead of trying to find solutions to issues affecting the United States and the world, liberals and conservatives spend more time arguing and insulting each other than collaborating. It can be frustrating to discuss politics with people who had different viewpoints, but we should
It’s Time to Bring Back Civil Discourse never shut ourselves away from opportunities to engage. People with different perspectives can broaden their views on politics, policy and the world if they are only willing to converse. In talking about politics, it is important to listen, reflect and then speak, instead of insulting each other and refusing to listen to the other side. Trevor Noah, host of the Daily Show, was able to have a civil conversation about the controversial topic of race relations with the conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren. Civil discourse can help
foster respect between the Democratic and Republican parties, even if the only thing they can agree on is to disagree. In protests against Gavin McInnes on the Washington Square campus on Feb. 2, 11 people were arrested. The
speaker himself was even pepper sprayed. Protesting is a powerful way to convey a message. However, when words turn into violence their message is lost; outside observers only focus on the violence, not the argument. Regardless of how people feel about Trump, the issues this country faces will not be resolved until people listen to each other without violence. What makes the United States great is that it is a diverse nation filled with people from different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. We must continue
to embrace these differences to strengthen our community, instead of creating more division. Regardless of how we feel about what others are saying, everyone in the United States has the right to free speech. Protesting and opposing hate speech are important, but violence distracts people from the message of protest. We must use civil discourse to unite America. If we do not, Americans of all political affiliations will suffer. Email Christopher Collado at opinion@nyunews.com.
UNIVERSITY LIFE
Reply to LS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group By MICHAEL RECTENWALD Guest Editorial Now that I have returned from my leave of absence, I am addressing you in reply to your open letter, which you wrote in response to my interview with the Washington Square News. Although I have written about this elsewhere, including in the Washington Post, and have spoken about in it in several interviews, I am publishing this open reply in Washington Square News to make sure that you and the rest of the community have easy access to my response. First, I would like to say how deplorable I think it was that an apparently official committee of NYU’s Liberal Studies Program responded to my interview and criticized my Twitter account as it did. The alacrity with which this committee rendered its guilty verdict served to validate my suspicions regarding the peril of openly opposing politically correct authoritarianism on campus. As several commentators in the media have suggested, your response was Stalinesque in its foreclosure of dissent and Orwellian in its double-speak. Many have noted the irony of a working group operating under the aegis of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” while demanding the exact the opposite — conformity, inequity and exclusion — conformity to a prescribed perspective, inequity for those who do not abide by it and exclusion from the university for those with the temerity to speak their minds. One wonders just what this working group might be working on, if not on ensuring ideological homogeneity within the domain supposedly under its purview. Is one not allowed another opinion without the
possibility of official censure? As for the kinds of campus policies and mechanisms that have been put in place over the past few years at NYU and elsewhere, I argue that they are not merely silly but also pernicious. Under the influence of Social Justice Warrior ideology, we now encounter demands for safe spaces to protect students from ideas that may disturb or trigger them. There is an expectation of deference to special identities wherever they go. We see the incursion of trigger warnings, which have the potential to scare students from particular materials; slippery slope that they are, trigger warnings may even undermine curricula, potentially banishing classic works of literature and art to the dustbin of history. We have Halloween costume surveillance under which students are not only shamed into compliance, but at one university – Tufts – could even face campus police arrest for donning an offensive costume. We have bias reporting lines, which turn the university and its surrounding environs into a veritable panopticon, with every one of its members acting as a sentinel of surveillance. So much like the terrorism reporting that many leftists scorn, the explicit rule amounts to the subway and train imperative: “If you see something, say something.” I must say here that the committee’s suggestion that my argument lacked evidence is suggestive of the strong possibility that as members, you were not cognizant of the “social justice” developments taking place around the country in academia today. Your response to my interview would have been better had it been informed by the broader context and not merely
Letter to the Editor your own experience within the Liberal Studies Program at NYU. If you have not since done so, I suggest that you begin to undertake some research. Many good sources exist. Although some are right-leaning (Campus Reform, The College Fix, etc.), I can attest to the fact that their reporting is generally accurate. I have checked the primary sources myself. But your own apparent lack of knowledge of trends in the academy does not equal a lack of evidence on my part. In my original WSN interview, I suggested that the university – generally, not NYU in particular – had become a “hospital” under SJW ideology. What did I mean by that? I was referring to effects of the various SJW mechanisms – safe spaces, trigger warnings and bias reporting lines. As I have written about bias reporting lines elsewhere, I will limit my discussion to safe spaces here. The earliest use of safe spaces allowed beleaguered and oppressed minorities to meet in groups, free and safe from the interference of members of dominant identity groups. They were likewise valid and useful. Today’s college safe spaces are nothing of the sort. Instead, they amount to infirmaries for those who putatively experience adverse psychological symptoms in response to intellectual and social encounters. I am not being satirical when I say that some of these safe spaces have come to resemble pediatric units, re-
plete with pacifiers, coloring books, crayons and therapy pets. If this is not hospitalization and infantilization, I do not know what is. Safe spaces have been established adjacent to auditoriums where such relatively “harmless” thinkers as Christina Hoff Sommers and Camille Paglia have spoken. As they are booed continuously by SJWs and unable to get a word in edgewise, those who might inadvertently hear something objectionable may nonetheless escape to a nearby safe space. Meanwhile, as the leftist responses to conservative speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos grow more violent, the speakers and their fans are blamed. Taken together, these SJW mechanisms amount to the potential for a self-imposed, administrative and faculty-enabled cultural isolation of the kind that the Harlem Renaissance author Ralph Ellison lamented in his reply to socialist critic Irving Howe in 1964. Howe had suggested that Ellison’s fiction “Invisible Man” was not sufficiently black, and that he and James Baldwin must be appropriately angry to be a real black authors. In his essay “The World and the Jug,” Ellison responded by arguing that his influences, style and content were not limited by his identity, and that certainly they should not determined by someone else’s beliefs about his identity. Ellison further suggested that the kind of cultural containment that Howe demanded of him amounted to a ghettoization worse than Jim Crow. I worry that this is the very kind of cultural curtailment and containment that universities are enabling today. Finally, my contention is that SJW ideology is not limited
to campus SJWs themselves. Rather, it is now a dominant ideology. Powerful institutions, including the institutions of the academy but also mass media, social media, corporate America and government, wield it as a weapon. As numerous cases make clear, SJW ideology serves as a rationale and means to discipline and punish its subjects. And worse, SJW ideology serves to legitimate the status quo. It is now one of the primary means by which the capitalist order justifies itself: by pretending to a kind of radical egalitarianism under the banner of diversity, equity and inclusion, SJW ideology actually serves to legitimize real material and social inequity. Lastly, SJW ideology is a religion, replete with unverified and unverifiable dogmas, such as the claim that there is no such thing as biological sex. Like religious fundamentalists, the defenders of SJW dogma do not even permit inquiry or discussions of such questions. Those who dare to address them are deemed sexist or worse. And SJW ideology includes its own form of original sin – whiteness/masculinity – although, unlike Christianity, which at least included some notion of mercy, it does not even hold out the possibility for redemption. Identities are inescapable traps. Thus, it is my contention that SJW ideology must be rigorously exposed and opposed, both within the university and beyond it. I am sorry that Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, but even that does not justify this creeping totalitarianism. Email Michael Rectenwald at opinion@nyunews.com.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
OPINION
EDITED BY THOMAS PRICE OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
POLITICS
STAFF EDITORIAL
Echo Chambers Make Things Worse By DYLAN SIEGAL Contributing Writer
Attending a global, liberal university like NYU allows students to engage with like-minded individuals from around the world, but it provides little exposure to opposing viewpoints. While students are encouraged to vocalize their beliefs, the extensive and outspoken nature of our liberal campus often overshadows the voices of differing viewpoints. Small town perspectives such as those from Youngstown, Ohio – a manufacturing town in which Trump’s promises to save middle-class jobs incited great hope – are lost among the abundance of voices within New York City that share similar political perspectives. Rather than forgetting or ignoring the voices of those we don’t agree with or are rarely exposed to, we must make an effort to understand them in order to embark change. Many people see the Democratic party as open-minded. But today, democrats often ostracize those with opposing viewpoints. Many have retreated into their echo chambers
and shut people down or refused to listen to them just because they don’t identify with the same party. Certainly, there are ideals the Democratic party must continue to reject. As liberals, but more importantly, as humans, they must reject racism, sexism, misogyny and homophobia. This is where the line must be drawn in the sand. The fact that black lives matter is non-negotiable and should not be a controversial topic. Liberals should not stand for a Muslim database, especially in a country that was founded on the freedom of religion. A ban on tens of millions of immigrants cannot be supported in a country made of and by those immigrants. It is deeply upsetting that there are people who attempt to bargain with these con-
cepts, people who say that all lives matter and that Islam is hurting American values. But instead of deleting these people from their lives, liberals should make a conscious effort to talk to the other side. Talking to the opposition makes it easier to understand different people’s mindsets in the context of specific environmental factors. Not everyone is exposed to the same level of diversity or education. Gender studies should be a required curriculum for all high school students, but it isn’t. Unfortunately, most people have never heard of the concepts of intersectionality or toxic masculinity. Maybe you were privileged enough to read Marilyn Frye, but most were not, and shutting out those who may not understand social constructs as well as you do accomplishes nothing. If we want a more tolerant country so badly, we have to start talking to people instead of alienating them. If we go about it respectfully, maybe people will begin to listen. Email Dylan Siegal at opinion@nyunews.com.
UNIVERSITY LIFE
Too Left, Too Right – Stay Slightly Left By TOM MIRITELLO Contributing Writer
Roughly five years ago on David Letterman’s show, Barack Obama said, “One thing I’ve learned as president is that you represent the entire country.” At the time, he most likely would not have expected to have someone frequently characterized as a “man-baby” succeed him. The events that led up to Gavin McInnes’ speech in the Kimmel Center for University Life on Feb. 2, however, proved Obama’s quote to be frighteningly true. Both the sides of this debacle — McInnes and the College Republicans versus the anti-fascist movement and other protesters — are prime examples of the growing partisanship and irrational thinking and behavior that our president has both embodied and encouraged. With the majority of NYU students being liberal, the actions of McInnes have been received by most in a similar way. McInnes has a narrow, selfish worldview full of xenophobic thoughts, and
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he projects them onto the masses in an effort to instigate. Despite being a self-identified Libertarian, he spews a purely conservative agenda focused on hate. His discourse is sophomoric and edgy, and he resorts to over-the-top Islamophobia and the alt-right’s favorite meme term, “cuck.” Whether you agree with what he says, to stoop to the level of the protestors in front of and in the Kimmel Center would be just as bad as to be a xenophobe. Setting hats on fire in a crowd, pepper-spraying McInnes and interfering with medical and police services are not forms of protest – they are symptoms of intellectual de-evolution. This was a crowd of anti-fascist protesters surrounding an outnumbered Trump supporter and sticking
their tongues out at him. He was berated and threatened with assault. After speaking to McInnes, I learned that the Trump supporter is a registered Democrat and the son of Mexican immigrants who is fed up with the Democratic National Convention after it allowed corruption to end the Sander’s campaign. For people who don’t like fascism, these protesters sure surfaced close to it. Whether you agree with this, the right to free speech allows people to be xenophobic. Being intolerant of anyone on the right — regardless of xenophobic tendencies — to the point of violence and assault is authoritarian and intolerant. You cannot juxtapose violence, political discourse and people who act like children. Just as conservatives should be ashamed that the alt-right is the most prominent representation of conservative ideals, liberals should be ashamed of the anti-fascist movement. Email Tom Miritello at opinion@nyunews.com
NYU’s Role in Gentrification
NYU’s recent development of the building at 181 Mercer St. into a multipurpose facility and its newest endeavors on the Brooklyn campus have reignited the issue of gentrification by the university. Detractors mourn the displacement of residents who can no longer afford to live in developing areas, while others believe that the relative safety and prosperity of these areas justify pricing out the locals. While it is tempting to take a hard line for or against gentrification, it is important to acknowledge both its progressive changes and harmful effects in order to strike a balance that helps everyone. The concept of gentrification comes from a long-standing mindset built into the U.S. culture — “out with the old, in with the new.” When first introduced in the 20th century, it came with more pros than cons, in part because it was not done on such a massive scale. Now, however, the displacement of native New Yorkers and long time residents, specifically in minority neighborhoods, has people questioning what exactly will become of the cultural aspects left behind by generations of families. Filmmaker Spike Lee criticizes what he calls the Christopher Columbus Syndrome, in which wealthy white people claim to have discovered neighborhoods and flip them into the newest trendy area. Street performers who withstood decades of change and parks named after black icons all suddenly did not fit the image crafted by a select few new housing developments in Harlem. Both families and traditions are being forced out of their homes due to spiking prices, and the loss must be taken into account in order to accurately reflect what New York City stands for. Nevertheless, gentrification reduces crime rates in the area. Because it raises property values, poor neighborhoods, which usually have high violence rates, crumble as their residents are pushed out. However, the improved infrastructure and lower crime rates invite outsiders who are more critical of their community to move to the city, which results in cleaner and safer streets. Newcomers also expand local markets that are part of the dynamics of the neighborhood, stimulating the local economy, as it generates jobs and increases tax revenues. Although the complexities of new developments are often forgotten, not every situation is black and white. NYU’s continuous gentrification of Greenwich Village has displaced people and at times has overridden Greenwich Village’s unique culture and charm. At the same time, gentrification stimulates the economy and lowers crime. NYU walks a fine line between being an integral part of the city and taking it over, and the university must remember that going forward. If not, the university is completely ignoring its commitment to providing a quality global education while remaining dedicated to diversity and equity.
Email the WSN Editorial Board at opinion@nyunews.com. EDITORIAL BOARD: Thomas Price (Chair), Emma Rudd (Co-chair), Andrew Heying (Co-chair) STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BEARZI
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.
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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | NYUNEWS.COM
SPORTS
Sports Update: Jan. 30-Feb. 5 By NIKA WOODFILL Deputy Sports Editor
Women’s Basketball (12-8, 2-7) After a string of recent losses, the women’s basketball team gained its first official UAA win this season, upsetting first place University of Rochester 64-61 on Friday. The team continued its success yesterday with a 67-61 defeat against Emory University. The team fell behind Rochester in the first quarter of the match despite early scoring momentum initiated by junior Kayla Patterson. The Violets regrouped to gain a slim threepoint lead at halftime, maintaining their dominance until the final quarter. After a series of late free throws by senior captains Amy Harioka and Lindsey Oldshue, the Violets secured the lead once more, ensuring the squad a narrow victory. The Violets delivered a similarly nail-biting performance Sunday in their close win against Emory, clinching their second straight UAA victory of the season. Harioka led the Violets’ score sheet with a total of 23 points during the game. The team’s next matchup will be against Case Western Reserve University on Friday, Feb. 10.
Men’s Basketball (7-12, 2-7)
The men’s basketball team delivered a much needed 80-79 victory over Emory on Sunday, following a painful 101-58 defeat against Rochester on Friday. Friday’s game commenced with an early five-point advantage for Rochester. The Violets failed to recover, and by the end of the first half Rochester took a lofty 27-point lead. Rochester maintained their advantage throughout the remaining half leading to a high point victory against the Violets. The match was marked by turnovers and aggressive play from Rochester. Despite the heavy loss, the Violets redeemed themselves on Sunday in a dramatic win over Emory. The game featured fast-paced play and eight lead changes just in the first half. By the end of fourth quarter, the teams had reached a 77-77 standstill, with senior John Timmes securing victory with a game-winning three-pointer in the last 30 seconds. The Violets will return to the court against Stevens Institute of Technology on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Men’s Volleyball (4-2)
The men’s volleyball team had a disappointing weekend, falling to both Vassar College and Kean University in three sets. The team’s defeat against Vassar on Friday was marked by three consecutive heavy losses (25-11, 25-13, 25-15) and defensive failures. Despite the disheartening final tally for the Violets, a notable performance was delivered by freshman Alex Li, who completed six straight kills. The following loss against Kean on Saturday resulted in a similar score board, with Kean winning three straight sets (25-20, 32-30, 25-17). The first set had a promising start with strong efforts from both teams resulting in a 18-18 tie. However, Kean managed to usurp the lead, winning the first set and providing momentum for an overall victory. The team’s next game will be against Bard College on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Wrestling (15-4)
The wrestling team had a successful tournament weekend with a trio of key dual victories over United States Coast Guard Academy (27-9), Bridgewater State University (45-6) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (37-9). The Violets’ exceptional performance was bolstered by seniors Nathan Pike and John Messinger, freshman Sean Lyons and junior Raymond Jazikoff, who each won all three of their rounds. The squad will perform again at the UAA Championships on Sunday, Feb. 12.
Fencing (Women’s 11-10, Men’s 12-7)
EDITED BY RACHEL RUECKER SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
What NYU Sports Hall of Fame Means By MADDIE HOWARD Staff Writer NYU Athletics has been home to many accomplished and hard-working athletes for many generations. Each year, dedicated team members set the bar even higher for athletic excellence in their respective sports. Those whose records have remained intact despite the passing of time earn themselves a spot in the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame. Recently, the department announced its 2017 inductees. The group includes 2004 graduate and women’s track & field team member Melinda Childs, 2007 graduate and women’s volleyball team member Elena Drinka, 2008 men’s swimming and diving team member Brad Thornton and finally, 1959 graduate and men’s fencing team member Martin Jay Davis. Among those individuals, the 1997 women’s basketball team and the 1966 and 1967 men’s fencing teams will be inducted for their NCAA championship victories. The Hall of Fame’s existence and its recent choice of inductees have meant a great deal to the NYU Athletics student-athlete community. Current student-athletes hold plenty of appreciation for the greats that came before them. Senior captain for the women’s basketball team Kaitlyn Read commented on the team’s efforts to live up to the legacy that this year’s inductees demonstrated throughout their careers. “As an athlete, I can do nothing but respect and try to emulate the kind of athletes the Hall of Fame inductees represent,” Read said. “All athletes work hard, but the athletes in the Hall of Fame have gone above and beyond to be the best at their sports. I can only hope to one day be as good as they are in the sport that I play.”
Read recently helped her team to a win over number one-ranked Rochester last Friday. Freshman women’s softball player and Texas native Mary Tindall explained how her respect for the inducted athletes stems from the NYU student body’s overall lack of appreciation for the Athletic Department. “It’s definitely a huge deal for me, because it’s a pretty widely known fact that nobody at NYU really cares about sports,” Tindall said. “I’ve even had professors say ‘everyone knows that sports at NYU don’t matter.’ And everyone that I know in sports is always trying to get people to come to our games, but there’s still very little hype, especially coming from Texas, where high school and college sports are [a] religion. So to see athletes coming from NYU and having that much success really makes me happy and is just one more way to convince people that sports at NYU do, in fact, matter.” Tindall and the rest of the women’s softball team will be starting the season on March 5 against Fairleigh
Dickinson University. Freshman women’s basketball player Nikki Tucci echoed her captain’s sentiments. However, she highlighted the deep dedication that being a top-ranked university athlete requires. “There is an incredible amount of sacrifice that an athlete gives to the school,” Tucci said. “To be recognized for excelling at your specific sport and reaching that highest level of achievement within the school is a remarkable honor.” Tucci had her collegiate debut against Baruch College on Nov. 17. Ultimately, it is an enormous honor to be chosen for this recognition among the hundreds of athletes that have competed at NYU throughout the years. The time and dedication the inducted individuals and teams have given to their sport means an incredible amount to the current student-athlete community. It motivates current athletes to strive for that same athletic excellence each day. Email Maddie Howard at sports@nyunews.com.
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
The Hall of Fame class of 2017 inductees are Melinda Childs, Martin Jay Davis, Elena Drinka and Brad Thornton.
What’s In My Bag: Student-Athletes By DIANA KING Contributing Writer
As an NYU student-athlete it’s easy to forget and lose track of clothes, shoes, food and just about anything else among all of the bags you have to carry — transferring items from a workout bag to a school bag to a shoulder bag and back every single day. With the constant hustle of running from class to the gym to practice, what items do athletes always carry to be prepared for any and every situation? A member of the women’s basketball shared what she keeps in her bag on a daily basis.
Olivia Linebarger, Sophomore Women’s Basketball
Martin Luther King Jr. Pin: The pin just appeared one day and I thought about putting it in my room, but I wanted it to be something I really looked at everyday. Five-Subject NYU Folder: Every class has its own notebook and it gets heavy, but you never leave anything at home, which is especially good for away games. Basketball Shoes: Ready to lace up anywhere at anytime!
The women’s fencing team had a week of mixed results against formidable foes, coming out on top against Tufts, Haverford and Brandeis, but falling to Harvard and MIT. The men’s team also lost to Harvard on Saturday but redeemed themselves with three wins Sunday against Haverford, MIT and Brandeis. Both teams will compete in the upcoming US Junior Olympic Championships this weekend leading into the following week.
Lotion: Some percent of me is Irish, and we have pretty sensitive skin.
Email Nika Woodfill at nwoodfill@nyunews.com.
Email Diana King at sports@nyunews.com.
Pens: I prefer writing over typing. No pencils because I’m always snapping the lead in half. Phone Charger: My phone has all of my music on it, and sometimes when I need to feel some good vibes I walk down Fifth Avenue and listen to “She’s So High” by Tal Bachman. It would be pretty devastating if my phone died mid-walk. Deodorant: Can you ever apply too much? No.
NYUNEWS.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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SPORTS
EDITED BY RACHEL RUECKER SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Superstitions in Sports: Real or Fake?
By TREVOR FRANCESCONI Contributing Writer
What do your six-year-old brother, who will only eat a PB&J before his T-ball game, and Michael Jordan, who wore his lucky UNC basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls jersey, have in common? They are both superstitious. Athletes, no matter what age or skill level, develop routines and practice them religiously. Confidence and peace of mind are huge components to the success of professional and amateur athletes. Whether someone has been playing for one year or 20, their pre-game rituals remain the same. If the old rituals aren’t working, a new superstition will be born. Professional athletes have been known to go to extremes to escape a funk and improve their performance. Jason Giambi, former New York Yankee first baseman and designated hitter, wore a gold thong to break out of hitting slumps during his career. The gold thong made its way around the Yankee clubhouse, continually ending slumps and bringing smiles to struggling hitters’ faces. Yankee legend and captain, Derek Jeter, admitted to wearing it one time and hitting a homerun on his first at bat after being in a cold streak at the plate. Throughout his career, Giambi and his teammates embraced the power and superstition of the gold thong is sometimes you have to sacrifice comfort in one area to gain it in another. LS sophomore Qizhi Wong, a golfer from Singapore, and CAS freshman Mary Tindall, a softball player from Houston, TX, have both held personal superstitions and
experienced others’ superstitions throughout their athletic careers. Wong has played golf for 10 years, now playing for the NYU varsity golf team. He once played alongside a player who was averse to tees that were any color other than black. “I once played with someone who could and would only hit a ball with a black tee.” Wong said. “He believed that if the color was something other than black, it would distract his eyes which would cause him to hit a bad shot.” Everybody has his or her own preferences, right? This golfer went to the extent of playing an entire round of golf without teeing up a single golf ball after a particular golf course didn’t sell black tees and his own supply ran dry. Wong’s own superstition can be seen in his pre-shot routine, which consists of a motivational message before every shot. “I guess my pre-shot routine came about in a tournament when the shot really mattered,” Wong said. “I muttered to myself ‘Come on Cheech’ just to motivate myself. I managed to hit a good golf shot which bumped me a few spots up in the tournament. I have been doing that ever since.” The 22-year-old golfer says that when he doesn’t follow his routine, his results usually reflect it. CAS freshman Mary Tindall has been playing softball since she was seven years old. Tindall recalls a time when she played on a team where every single player had her own handshake that had to be performed before the game. This routine consistently pushed back the start of games
VIA GONYUATHLETICS.COM
Qizhi Wong, LS sophomore golfer, mutters “Come on, Cheech” as part of his pre-shot routine. and caused the umpires to stand and wait. In addition, she has many superstitions of her own. “I always have to put my left sock on before my right sock, and my left cleat before my right cleat,” Tindall said. “I listen to the same playlist before every game and I wear the same hat every game. I never step on the foul line in warm-ups and I never go first in fielding drills. Before every at bat I draw a cross with my bat on the plate and say the same prayer.” Tindall’s longest and most sacred superstition is her sock and cleat routine, with the rest falling into place in high school. The freshman corner infielder once broke
her sock and cleat rule at a tournament, forgot her headphones and was quick pitched by the opposing pitcher. “For almost that whole tournament I was in the biggest hitting slump I have ever been in,” Tindall said. Regardless of whether superstitions are true, these routines can ease an athlete’s mind and instill confidence before a high-pressure game. For many, breaking a superstition can mean a devastating loss or a bad game — and most athletes would rather not take that risk. Email Trevor Francesconi at sports@nyunews.com.
Hockey Splits Penultimate Weekend
By RACHEL RUECKER Senior Editor
At home at the Chelsea Piers Sky Rink for another weekend, the NYU hockey team hoped to extend its winning streak Friday against Montclair State University and Saturday against Sacred Heart University. Friday, the Violets topped MSU in stunning fashion, remaining dominant throughout and earning freshman goaltender Adam Salisbury the 6-0 shutout. The team began slow and steady, but after building some momentum, soph-
omore forward Mason Gallegos got the Violets on the board. That was all the scoring the first would call for, but NYU had a strong lead in shots on goal after one, leading 20-6. They began the second finishing up a too many men penalty, but quickly wound up back on the kill when junior forward Michael Conslato got sent to the sin bin for interference at 1:13. It became a 4-on-4 soon after, but neither team could capitalize. Later in the frame, senior forward David Morgan put the Violets ahead by another and soon after, freshman forward
STAFF PHOTO BY RACHEL RUECKER
The NYU hockey team had a busy weekend with two very close and competitive games.
Brandon Ritchey had NYU leading 3-0. That’s where the score stayed heading into the third, when things really came alive. The Violets again heavily outshot the Red Hawks 19-4. After an early 4-on-4, Ritchey got his second of the game and the Violets’ fourth, with assists coming from senior defenseman Evan Ripley and Morgan. The offensive onslaught persevered when sophomore forward Jack Orne scored NYU’s fifth, with helpers to Ritchey and Morgan. Morgan headed to the penalty box at 16:28, inspiring Gallegos to get a shorthanded goal to put an exclamation point at the end of an already strong night for the Violets. Saturday night, the competition was much tighter against the Pioneers in a game they dropped 5-4. SHU struck first, scoring on junior goaltender Calvin Burkhart at 2:03. The Violets caught up exactly midway through the frame thanks to Conslato. Soon after, NYU notched a second, this one coming from weekend standout Ritchey just moments after failing to capitalize on a power play. NYU stayed hot when sophomore forward John Kowalewski moved the Violets ahead 3-1 at 14:29. The Pioneers got within one at 15:53, but NYU restored their two goal lead on an Orne goal late in the frame. After a high-scoring first, NYU outshot Sacred Heart 19-7. Sacred Heart was not finished, however, and earned their third goal at 7:32
in the second. After plenty of visits to the box for both teams, Sacred Heart tied the game with only 30 seconds left in the second, to make for an interesting third. The Pioneers successfully killed a pair of penalties early in the second and managed to get one past the Violets at 13:07, which proved to be the game winner. This was the Violets’ first loss of 2017. Morgan was pleased with the increase in offensive output shown this weekend but also thought the loss to Sacred Heart was a welcome reality check prior to the playoffs. “I thought we had a good weekend altogether,” Morgan said. “We had been struggling to score more than three goals in a game and this weekend we put together two games where we scored four or more. We gave Sacred Heart way too many great scoring chances. They capitalized and we came up short. I think it’s good to get a loss in before playoffs start. It’s definitely a good wake up call for us and it’s a feeling we don’t want to have again for the rest of the season. If it takes a loss late in the season to remind us of that feeling, then so be it. We’ll bounce back and finish off the season strong.” The Violets will be back home at the Sky Rink for their final game of the regular season Friday, Feb. 10 at 8:30 p.m. Email Rachel Ruecker at rruecker@nyunews.com.
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ELISE BURKETT, MAKENA MUELLER, BRIAN CHRISTENSEN ZAPLECKI
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APOORVA NORI
ADVISING
news JEMIMA MCEVOY, NATASHA ROY arts HAILEY NUTHALS features TAYLOR ROGERS
Director of Operations
Interactive Director EMILY FONG
RACHEL HOLLIDAY SMITH
DEPUTY STAFF
news SAYER DEVLIN, MIRANDA
LEVINGSTON, HTOO MIN, COCO WANG
sports NIKA WOODFILL film ETHAN SAPIENZA books and theater ALLI PIERSON entertainment NATALIE WHALEN features FAITH GATES dining YASMIN GULEC beauty and style SOPHIE SHAW abroad PARIS MARTINEAU, ALI WEBB photo RENEE YANG video JULIA SALIBA
OPINION PAGE
editor THOMAS PRICE deputy ANDREW HEYING, EMMA RUDD
BLOGS
violet vision MICHAELA HOFFMAN the highlighter JORDAN REYNOLDS under the arch BOUREE HUANG
NANCI HEALY Editorial Adviser Editors-at-Large
ALEX BAZELEY, GABRIELLA BOWER, LEXI FAUNCE, GRACE HALIO, JESSICA MARTINEZ,SHAWN PAIK Senior Editor
RACHEL RUECKER
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. Corrections: WSN is committed to accurate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact the managing editors at managing@nyunews.com or at 212.998.4302.
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