VOLUME 50 • ISSUE 5 • MARCH 2016
MASTHEAD
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Dara Kenigsberg Editor–in–Chief Jenny Kim Executive Editor Dana Heyward Managing Editor Dan Nissim Digital Content Editor
A LE T TE R FRO M TH E E D ITO R Having held a position on the staff for the last three years, I know that this is something that will look great on a resume. I can now use words like “leadership,” “team-building,” and “management skills,” when describing myself and what I have accomplished. But more importantly, W27 has given me a sense of belonging. A place to call my own and a family that goes with it. From the writers to the staff, our faculty advisor Professor Simone and our amazing printer Joe, and everyone in the student association - you all have a hand in making W27 the wonderful newspaper it is. I know that without you, I wouldn’t be able to do my job and I am so thankful for each and every one of you. I can only hope that I have been everything you could ask for in an Editor-in-Chief.
Marina Herbst Treasurer Jonathan Lee Copy Editor Hayden Werp Advertising Manager
EDITORS Kaylee Denmead Jordyn Ferriss Dan Nissim Dana Heyward Kaitlyn Gorecki
ART Danielle Gosda Art Director Aoi Fujikawa Carmen Li Rose-Ann Reynolds Senior Designers Joanna Bugenis Amber Chae Kim Junior Designer
CONTRIBUTORS Natalia Pereira Andrea Navarro Zatanya Cooke Jordyn Ferriss Melissa De Oliveira Lily Wright Caterina Nicolini Meghan Kane Kayla Renshaw Veronica Marrinan Martin Allen Allison Hatch Kaylee Denmead
For this editor’s letter, I thought I would do something a little different. As my time as EIC is coming to an end, I wanted to share what this position, this paper, has meant to me. W27 has had the largest impact on my life at FIT, more so than anything else that I have done in the last four years, and it has also been the best part of my time here. So I figured I should explain why so as to encourage other students to join, but also because I want to share my gratitude for this newspaper with all of you. I may not have always appreciate all the emails that pile up and that I spend hours answering, but once it is done, I always feel like I have accomplished something. Yes, I may be obsessive over certain (all) aspects of editing, and a total control freak, but that is because I take so much pride in what we produce that it has to be perfect.
Professor John Simone Editorial Faculty Adviser
In ten years time, when I look back on my time at the paper, you are what I will remember most - the friends who I have made and who have become like family. The memories that we share, from editing late into the night in my office on the 7th f loor (my home away from home) to meeting with the writers to go over articles, I love everything that this job entails. I love getting to share with the students at FIT what is going on in the world and getting to know the various talented students whom we feature on our covers. I love being able to teach our writers how to be better and watching them grow both as journalists and as people in general. I know that next month, when I graduate and have to say goodbye to this paper, I will be left with a void in my chest. In anticipation, I have already offered to help edit next year because I can’t imagine not doing it. I can’t imagine my life without W27 in it. But I know that it has been instrumental in preparing me for whatever comes next, and for that I will be forever grateful. “LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW. LEARN AS IF YOU WERE TO LIVE FOREVER”
Professor Albert Romano Advertising Adviser
-MAHATMA GANDHI
ON THE COVER: Illustration by Hyeon Wuck You Dara Kenigsberg Editor–in–Chief
W27 NEWSPAPER
@W27NEWSPAPER
W27 IS PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER. PLEASE RECYCLE AFTER READING. @W27NEWSPAPER
A FIT STUDENT ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION.
W27
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APRIL 2016
CONTENTS BEAUTY BUZZ 4
Four Must- Have Products for Spring- Ready Skin / Four Budget- Friendly Ways to Store Your Makeup
A LETTER FROM TH E A RT D I R EC TO R
ON THE BLOCK 5
FIT Impacts Community in Style / Annual Drag Pageant Winner is the New Bitch in Charge
6
An Evening With Bevy Smith / We Wore What’s Danielle Bernstein Visits FIT
7
Student Spotlight: Student Association President- Elect Scott Girvan
DEAR INDUSTRY 8
Sustainablt Style: Returning to Slow Fashion / Drinking in Public Now (Somewhat) Legal in NYC
9
Demna Gvasalia: From Vetements to Balenciaga / ABC, NBC Ban Lane Bryant’s #ThisBody Campaign
10
Anrealage’s Fall/Winter Collection: Noise / Tattoo Artist Covers Up Self-Harm Scars for Free
12
2016 SXSW Interactive Fesitval Highlights / CFDA’s Plan to Solve NYFW
13
Humans of FIT: Marisa Hagerty and Laura Supnik
HOFIT
FEATURE 14
Hyeon-Wuck You
15
Dakota Haraden
16
New Way to Transplant Could Save Thousands of LIves
17
She’s Strong! She’s Powerful! She’s . . . Eye Candy?
18
Chipotle’s Resurrection: Real Change or Just Lip Service?
19
The Green Rush is Not So Black and White: It’s Mostly Just White.
20
Lead Water Crisis Bigger Than Just Flint
21
As New Delhi’s Air Pollution Crisis Intensifies, Partial Solution Found Using Fashionable Air Filtering Masks
22
Hide Your Kid’s! Hide Your Wife! Hide Your Data?
23
Immigrants Beware: How Saying the Wrong Things on Social Media Might Get You Deported
24
Seaworld to Stop Breeding Killer Whales
25
Apple v FBI: The Future of Data Protection
HAUTE CULTURE 26
Album Reviews: “Mind of Mine” - Zayn / “Untitled Unmastered” - Kendrick Lamar
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Restaurant Review: Salvation Burger / Museum Review: ‘The Met breuer / Movie Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Darkness
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Theatre Review: ‘American Psycho’ Kills it on Broadway
29
Concert Reviews: Adam Lambert / Pusha T / Fall Out Boy
MONTH IN REVIEW 30
US Student Sentenced to 15 Years Hard Labor in N. Korea/ Brazil in Crisis: Looking at Political and Economic Turmoil Plaguing Brazil
FIT SPEAKS 31
Cominp Up on Graduation
STYLE ON 27 32
Spring Affair: Denim Lovers
I recently took over the position of art director and with this being my second issue, I am still getting the hang of things. There is always a learning curve to starting something new, but the rest of the team has been so patient and helpful that the process, although not f lawless, has been a positive one. The paper is such an important part of the school and I hope to be able to exploit its full potential. If you are interested in being a part of the art team for W27 please email w27art@gmail.com
Danielle Gosda Art Director
BEAUTY BUZZ
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F O U R M U S T- H AV E P R O D U C T S
F O R S P R I N G - R E A DY S K I N BY JORDYN FERRISS
PHOTO COURTESY: ALLURE.COM SEPHORA.COM
With warmer weather fast approaching, it is time to ditch our heavy-duty winter makeup and bring out the spring skin care. As temperatures rise so does humidity, making wearing layers of makeup outside undesirable. Spring is a great time to revamp your skincare routine so you can wear less makeup when summer rolls around. Below are four products that will help prep your skin for spring days and summer nights.
KIEHLS.COM
KIEHL’S DERMATOLOGIST SOLUTIONS NIGHTLY REFINING MICRO-PEEL CONCENTRATE $54.00 For anyone interested in taking care of their skin, Kiehl’s is a one-stop shop. While most of their products are cult classics, their newest release is already making waves in the beauty world. The Nightly Refining MicroPeel Concentrate is said to refine the feel of rough, tired skin and help reveal the refreshed, supple skin underneath. This nightly serum also improves skin tone, making it more even. With a smoother, more even-toned face you can say goodbye to heavy concealer and foundation. This spring you’ll be letting your natural self shine through.
ORIGINS ORIGINAL SKIN RETEXTURIZING MASK WITH ROSE CLAY $26.00 One of the major problems with winter skin is that it becomes dull and dry due to the constant cold drying it out. In order to renew our winter skin and turn it into the glowy spring skin we all desire, we need to do one major thing: exfoliate. By exfoliating you are removing dead cells on the surface of skin and allowing the newer skin below to come through. With the Origins Original Skin Rose Clay mask you get the best of both worlds; an exfoliating treatment with the brightening ability of rose clay. This 2-in-1 mask leaves skin feeling refreshed, plump and bright. It is perfect to use before heading out for a nice spring picnic, where your skin will glow under the warm sun.
NARS SKIN REPLENISHING EYE CREAM $58.00 Everyone knows NARS for their cultclassic makeup products and boldlybeautiful color. What they might not know is that NARS has their own line of skincare products, created with the help of their parent company, Japanese skincare giant Shiseido. A product that you may want to add to your spring regimen is their Skin Replenishing Eye Cream. The winter can leave us with dry, tired eyes with dark circles underneath. To bring out the brightness under the eyes, which makes us look more awake and younger, we need to hydrate and de-puff, and the NARS eye cream does just that. With the presence of hyaluronic acid, the skin is instantly moisturized. The addition of beech bud extract and illuminating pearls help the skin produce collagen naturally and brighten the area instantly.
JACK BLACK INTENSE THERAPY LIP BALM SPF 25 $7.50 Of course, we can’t forget about the lips. Most people seem to forget that the lips are just as important to take care of as the rest of the face. Dry, chapped lips are a natural occurrence in the winter, but with the help of lip balms like the Jack Black Intense Therapy, you can have smooth, kissable lips in a matter of days. Coming in 5 f lavors, such as Black Tea/Blackberry and Mint, this lip balm is easily one of the best on the market, and at a low price of $7.50 it is worth a try. The product is over 40% Petrolatum, which acts as a humectant, creating a barrier that protects and locks in moisture. The formula also contains SPF 25, ensuring your lips will be protected from the bright spring sun.
F O U R B U D G E T- F R I E N D LY W AY S TO S TO R E YO U R M A K E U P BY JORDYN FERRISS
I would consider myself somewhat of a makeup “collector,” and that is putting it lightly. With hundreds of products, ranging from lipsticks, palettes, nail polishes, and brushes, I find myself struggling to find storage in my New-York-sized apartment. A quick search online and you can find elaborate acrylic makeup organizers which seem appealing until you see the price tag, ouch. Instead of spending hundreds on these types of makeup storage, here are some cheaper options that work just as well in protecting and displaying your precious makeup collection.
CLEAR GLASS VASES
BLICK CANVAS BRUSH ROLLS
$4.99-$7.99
$17.99-$28.79
Vases aren’t just for f lowers anymore. In the world of makeup storage, vases have many uses and are a great addition to any vanity. Since they come in multiple shapes and sizes they can be used for brushes, lipsticks, eyeliners, lip pencils, etc. Use a shallow vase for lipsticks and a taller one for liners and brushes. You can also add clear beads to the bottom of vases to make sure your products stay put—and it looks nice, too! Compare these glass vases from World Market at $4.99 and $7.99 to a rotating acrylic organizer, which holds everything the vases do, for $69.82 and the choice is clear.
It wouldn’t be a budget-friendly article without a quick trip to the craft store. No, we aren’t constructing our own makeup organizer, although I’m sure it is cost efficient. Take a quick trip to Blick to pick up a brush roll, a perfect alternative to pricey brush holders on the market. Intended for paint brushes, this 60-pocket canvas brush roll works perfectly for your ever-growing makeup brush collection. They conveniently roll up and can be transported easily unlike some bulkier brush holders. The Blick brush roll will save you about $10. It retails for $28.79 while a CosmoCube brush holder retails for $40.00.
SHOE DRAWERS FROM THE CONTAINER STORE $8.99 The Container Store is basically heaven on earth for anyone who likes to organize, myself included. So when I came across these cheap drawers that were intended for shoes, a lightbulb went off; I thought they would actually make a great nail polish drawer. They are compact, clear plastic drawers that slide out, with a good amount of depth to them. One drawer can fit approximately 50 polishes depending on the size of the bottles. Compare this $8.99 option to nail polish wall racks that hold 60 polishes for around $32.99. Another plus is the drawers are stackable so you can keep adding more nail polishes without the fear of the tower toppling over.
PHOTO COURTESY: CONTAINERSTORE.COM DICKBLICK.COM
BIGSO BRIGHT STOCKHOLM MAGAZINE FILE $9.99 Palettes are some of the most tricky makeup products to store. Because they come in so many shapes and sizes, there is usually no way to stack them uniformly and they just end up sprawled all over your vanity. Many beauty bloggers turn to the Alex drawer system from IKEA to store their makeup palettes, but why would you want to hide your beautiful Urban Decay Vice 3? These days eyeshadow palette packaging has become like a work of art and they should be on display. My solution is using magazine filers on your makeup table. At $9.99, these sleek and fun containers can hold up to five-to-six palettes, and come in eight different colors, both bright and neutral. Compare this cheaper option to the $129.00 Alex drawer unit from IKEA.
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APRIL 2016
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FIT IMPACTS COMMUNITY IN STYLE BY ANDREA NAVARRO
For the FIT students who staycationed in New York over Spring Break and spent one day donating their time to doing community service, we salute you. It was a pioneering event, the very first organized by FIT. A select a group of 30 participants were chosen to partner with various non-profit organizations that actively work to better the community or support a social cause. The group departed the FIT Campus at around 9:30 on March 24 to visit the Do Something headquarters in Chelsea. Students first got a full
tour of the facilities and a chance to meet and chat with the staff, who fielded questions regarding the institution’s practices, business model, partnership inquiries, internship opportunities and work ethics. Do Something is one of the largest global organizations for young people who want to create social change in the world. It networks with a select group of charities such as Housing Works in New York. By noon the group had a lunch break hosted by the college, and then students were divided in smaller groups of around five to seven people who were then dispersed to different locations of the Housing Works Thrift Shops throughout Manhattan. Housing Works describes itself as a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Their mission is “to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain these efforts.” FIT’s volunteers were there to support the thrift shop’s business by greeting and attending to customers, taking inventory of donations, sprucing
up the visual elements of the store and providing support and encouragement to the members of the staff. By 3:30 those students seeking an opportunity to shop the fashion and home decor selection in the store were given a chance to do so before returning to the campus with their facilitators. A moderated discussion ensued on the merits of service and how it relates to greater leadership roles and social change in the community. There were also talks about the day’s events and how they can be improved for future efforts. The expectation is to be able to connect with different non-profit organizations and social cause agencies every year in order to have a distinctively unique experience as students actively form teams and engage with their communities and make an impact with inimitable FIT style.
ANNUAL DRAG PAGEANT WINNER IS THE NEW BITCH IN CHARGE BY JOHN SIMONE AND DARA KENIGSBERG
“Walking with your chest out and your head held high,” proclaimed the singular Rupaul who made drag a national sport, “says you have earned the right to stomp and pummel this particular piece of real estate.” But honey, at this year’s Tenth Annual Miss FIT Drag Show the crowd of rowdy attendees did most of the stomping-- and the shouting, hooting and jeering in their light-up royal crowns they were handed before walking into the Haft Auditorium March 17. Show host Bianca Del Rio, who is no bar queen (and is in fact a Rupaul’s Drag Show Race 6th season winning contestant) commanded the stage, swooping down and ‘clocking’ contestants and even audience members without fear or favor doing her shady-bitch best. And that was just the warm-up act. There were four contestants—all Glamazons, competing for the coveted crown each having created and rehearsed a wholly original act. Make no mistake, the four girls and their frocks were totally ‘dusted.’ Tiffany Darling, Candy Sterling, Sundae Lush and Jessica James each put on a show that was for the gods, honey! While all were awaiting the judges’ decision, FIT freshman and backup dancer Gavin Laiche broke the tension with his impromptu act during intermission. When he took the stage and danced to Beyonce’s Partition, no one in the audience could take their eyes off of him. The pageant resumed with judges deciding it was down to two: Candy Sterling and Sundae Lush, followed by each giving a last-chance performance for the title. Not today Satan, not today! Halleloo! A winner was announced. Shantay, you stay, said the judges who handed the crown to Candy Sterling winning her the title to 2016’s Miss FIT Drag Queen. Ms. Sterling sashayed one mo’ time down the aisle in victory while the crowd stomped and cheered one last time before the lights went up and the doors swung open. 10 years of royalty never looked so fabulous! PHOTO COURTESIES: DANNI SIMINERIO
ON THE BLOCK
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AN EVENING WITH BEVY SMITH BY ZATANYA COOKE
While some students rushed off to their spring break destinations, on Friday, March 18, a small group stayed on-campus to attend “An Evening With: Dishing with Bevy Smith,” in the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre. Hosted by Students Excelling with Lifestyle Fundamentals (SELF) and in honor of Women’s History Month, the event started with introductions from the current president of SELF, Chameka Pander, and student life director, Michelle VanEss. It was moderated by FIT adjunct professor and former fashion director at Essence Magazine, Pamela Macklin. Macklin currently owns and is the principle creative strategist at Lola Lilies, Inc. which boasts clientele such as VH1, BET, Vanity Fair, O Magazine, Lafayette 148 and many more. Also in attendance was former Editor-at-Large for Essence Magazine, Mikki Taylor. Macklin — who is a friend of Bevy Smith’s — appropriately described her as a phoenix rising. Both ladies enthusiastically talked about how they met, the growth of their friendship and their love and respect for one another. Their friendship and comfort level kept the event light-hearted and fun while still being informative. A proud New Yorker, Smith credits her success to her background. Being raised in Harlem, she represents the legacy of the greats that lived, worked and created in Harlem before her time.
Smith also stated that she always had a great sense of self, even at her first position in the fashion industry as a receptionist for a fashion advertising agency. While at the agency, she met iconic figures like hairstylist Vidal Sassoon. “I understand who they are, but I also understand who I am and so I don’t feel less than,” Smith said. Her confidence in herself made her feel like those icons are good company to keep. Smith then credited her youthful demeanor to the evolution of hip-hop. “I feel like the culture of hip-hop has kept me young and has kept me relevant,” Smith said.
FIT
She was both entertaining and encouraging. One of the event’s major highlights was when digital marketing adjunct professor Mercy Adhego asked Smith, “How could I be apart of your fabulosity.” Smith responded with a possible job offer befitting to Adhego’s skills. Smith left a great impression on the students and gave them valuable advice such as “Get you a white gay friend” as her biggest supporters and mentors were “white gay men.” However, her closing words were perhaps the most important. Smith ended by encouraging students to do the “work work work work work work.”
Smith also talked about her fascination with media in general. She expressed her genuine love for social media and how she became interested in television and radio after years of working in the magazine industry. One day while working for Rolling Stone, she decided to quit her job and go into television. “It’s all about relationships guys,” Smith exclaimed with regards to how she met Andy Cohen and the multiple projects that she was supposed to work on with him. Though neither “Project Runway” nor the “Tim Gunn Show” panned out for her, Smith found major success in “Fashion Queens,” which she hosted with celebrity hairstylists Lawrence Thomas and Derek J. She also has a wildly popular radio show called “Bevelations,” under Radio Andy on SiriusXM. Smith can be seen on the Wendy’s Style Squad segment on the “Wendy Williams Show” as well. “The gathering was more intimate than I expected,” Pander said. But the small crowd was very grateful to have gotten so much out of their time with Smith.
PHOTO COURTESY: BEVYSMITH.COM
W E W O R E W H AT ’ S DANIE LLE BE RNSTE IN VISITS FIT
BY NATALIA PEREIRA
When interviewed after winning the competition at Refinery29, Bernstein said, “My goal was to puttogether a lookbook of daily outfit inspiration by photographing street style to share with people who weren’t surrounded by fashion every day, and simply didn’t know what to wear. As my blog quickly grew, I realized my personal style posts were resonating with my readers, which brought me to where my blog is today,” with 1.4 million Instagram followers.
PHOTO COURTESY: LAIAMAGAZINE.COM
We Wore What, founded by 23-year-old FIT alumna Danielle Bernstein, is a popular fashion blog that she started four years ago while in school. As a former advertising and marketing communications major, her blog, which initially focused solely on street style, started out as a hobby while she was still a student at FIT. Even in her wildest dreams she never would have believed that it would become the popular, personal style blog that it is today. The transformation from hobby to full-time inf luencer happened when Refinery29 named her a Next Big Style Blogger in the company’s second annual contest in 2012. This brought her national attention and landed her a brand partnership with Macy’s to promote its in-house label, Bar III.
On March 31, 2016, Bernstein came to FIT’s Haft Auditorium to speak about her experiences to a full crowd of beginner bloggers. Organized by the Merchandising Society and the AMC Department, the presentation consisted of a casual Q and A with FIT students asking various questions about how she started and where she sees her brand in the future. Bernstein, who prefers to be called an “inf luencer” rather than a “blogger,” refers to blogging as a 24/7 job. She explained her content calendar schedule of posting, uploading between two and five pictures of her daily outfits and her various apparel and cosmetic promotions at certain scheduled hours of the day. Inf luenced by Instagram, magazines, street style and her other friends that are also social media bloggers, Bernstein also discussed the brands she works with and gave advice to aspiring bloggers on how they can work with them as well. She explained that when she started, she would contact the brands individually and ask to borrow pieces for her shoots. Now, after four years of hard-work and persistence, brands
are approaching her and paying her to post photos wearing their garments. Bernstein described her fashion choices as an amalgamation of vintage and high end pieces together to promote a more relatable, unique style. Having once been a college student shopping on a budget, she is all too familiar with the difficulties of dressing stylishly without going broke. However, by pairing inexpensive vintage pieces with a few highend, luxury brand staples, she shows her followers that being fashionable is not synonymous with paying through the nose. We Wore What has expanded into an overall lifestyle blog, even covering interior design and menswear. According to the New York Times, “Ms. Bernstein plans to design a shoe line this fall and create blog sections about travel (We Traveled Where) and food (We Ate What). She also wants to publish a book that goes behind her blog. ‘I want to be able to share all of these other parts of me besides fashion,’ she said.” Getting paid $15,000 just for sitting on your couch is not an easy gig to nail down, but with over 1 million Instagram followers, Bernstein has become one the most inf luential fashion bloggers and has managed to stay true to herself. She is living proof that hard work and dedication eventually pay off. She shared five tips for aspiring bloggers with fashionweekdaily. com, saying, “Consistency is key, high-res images are important, be a fearless networker, learn when to say no and don’t give up!” Sounds good to us!
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APRIL 2016
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT S T U D E N T A S S O C I AT I O N P R E S I D E N T- E L E C T S C O T T G I R VA N BY JONATHAN LEE
There’s something slightly humbling about being in the presence of Scott P. Girvan. Everything about the FIT Student Association president-elect is pristine, spotless and so meticulously organized that even the rest of us can’t help but feel put in our proper place. Girvan dressed up in one of his many perfectly tailored suits, complete with a power tie, to meet with W27 for an interview March 15. Jonathan Lee: So you’re from Cape Cod, Mass. What was it like growing up in the quintessential New England WASP’s nest? Scott P. Girvan: I wouldn’t say it’s a WASP’s nest. There’s certainly a lot of money and wealth. But I grew up in Barnstable, which is one of the towns. … It was a lot of fun. There’s not much to do in Cape Cod except for during the summer and obviously beaches and whatever. … Then coming to a bustling city like New York — it’s just crazy. But I was ready to leave. In high school, I had some rough patches senior year, but I was just ready to get out of Cape Cod, I think. I don’t know how some people manage to stay in Cape Cod all their lives. … It’s crazy. Go see the world. JL: How do you define “success”? SPG: Success is the result of ambition and passion, and you find what you love, and you go after it. Every person sets their own bar for what success is. Some define it as money. Some define it as happiness. Some define it as making a memorable mark on the world, leaving it a better place than when they came. Personally, I think it’s a little bit of everything. JL: It takes a certain amount of popularity to be elected the next president of FITSA, doesn’t it? How have you built and maintained your campus reputation? SPG: Not FITSA, please — FIT Student Association. … One, it’s annoying, and it’s kind of an unwanted representation of what the Student Association is. It’s unprofessional, and we prefer to be the FIT Student Association. … I think people are over-obsessed with using acronyms for everything. I think you can give the extra second and a half to say six more syllables or whatever. But to answer your question, even before I came to FIT, I think I had made a name for myself through the class of 2018 Facebook page. Also, I
got involved very early, and I think in my first semester, I started attending student council. … And you just have to be social. JL: You did run unopposed, though. Why do you think you’re the only one who ran for the position? SPG: This year, we’ve had a lot of trouble with keeping positions on the board, people maintaining their positions and with having people apply for positions starting next year. I think the majority of that has to do with the campus culture. I know a lot of people that don’t even know we have a student government on campus. … I feel like a lot of people don’t want to get involved, or maybe they’re scared to get involved because they don’t think they can run for president. … I want people to run. I want competition. JL: What are your strengths and weaknesses? SPG: I’m sociable, definitely, and I love to win people over. I have kind of that certain woo about me. … And I’d say I’m pretty strategic. I have experience taking charge. … I’d say I’m relatively well-spoken. I’m good at writing. … I’m very particular about my language use. Then weaknesses — sometimes I have a big mouth. I’m very impulsive oftentimes, which kind of goes against the planning part, but with certain decisions, I can be very rash, and I’ll just put my foot in my mouth and say things that I probably shouldn’t have.. JL: Did you know you wanted to be president when you first joined the Student Association, and if so, how did you achieve your goal? SPG: I knew I wanted to be president the first semester I came here. … Then I started f lip-f lopping a lot over whether I wanted to or not, if I wanted to make that commitment. … But I overcame it and realized that I love the student body, and being president is what I want to do. … And how I achieved it — it’s just a combination of being on the board, getting to know people and just putting myself out there.
PHOTO COURTESY: JONATHAN LEE
“I KNEW I WANTED TO BE PRESIDENT THE FIRST SEMESTER I CAME HERE.”
and I feel like a lot of people are like, “I like this, and I like this, but I don’t like anything else,” and I’m just like, “Give me all of it.” JL: What’s one of the biggest misconceptions that people have about you? SPG: I’m rich — because I’m not all that rich. I’m not rich at all, but I just know how to present myself in a way that makes me appear to be. I don’t know. I don’t think there’s a lot of misconceptions. What you see is what you get. I’m me. I do have a lot of different mes, though. … But, if you talk to me and you get to know me, you find out who I am. There’s not much more to it. JL: How would you describe your personal style? SPG: People know me as the guy in the suit, or always well-dressed, and I take pride in that. I think the way you present yourself is very important, and if I’m wearing, I don’t know, jeans that are sagging off my butt and baggy clothes and a hat covering my eyes, it certainly gives a different impression than if I’m wearing a suit. And there’s nothing better at boosting your confidence than wearing a perfectly tailored suit, at least for me. It may not apply to everybody. Putting on a suit, I feel like I can conquer the world.
JL: What makes you unique? SPG: I think one of the things that’s unique about me is that I’m very interested in so many different things. I wish I could do everything in the world. … The world is such an amazing place,
JL: In our last issue, you said you believe that you have a “strong awareness of what [students] want, need and enjoy in regards to both advocacy and programming.” What exactly do you think we want, need and enjoy?
SPG: You guys enjoy fun, I think. Everyone likes fun. Then, a lot of the student body enjoys things that will advance them in their careers because, naturally, we are a very career-oriented school. … You need a better education, or a better college experience is something a lot of students want. And they want their concerns to be heard, their opinions to be heard, their art to be shown, their ideas to be cultivated and harvested into something real. As much as I love this school, there’s a lot wrong with this school — or, I wouldn’t say wrong. There’s so many areas that could be improved upon. … I have been advocating for the last year, and it’s hard to make changes when you’re part of a large organization. … There’s a certain point that you reach where you can’t really go any farther because it’s not in your control; it’s not in your hands. JL: Finally, what would you like to say to your voters? SPG: Less than 2 percent of our student population voted this time around, and there’s a lot of factors behind why that happened: There was a very short voting period, the marketing and advertising wasn’t there … the whole time schedule was off. But for those that did, thank you, and I hope you continue to vote during your time here and tell all your friends to vote, as well. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
DEAR INDUSTRY
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FIT
S U S TA I N A B L E S T Y L E :
R E TU R N I N G TO S LOW FA S H I O N
fashion on people and the planet, as one of her inspirations for making the move from fast to slow fashion.
BY JONATHAN LEE
Fast-fashion retailers such as H&M, Zara and Forever 21 quickly turn around the latest fashion trends to a mass market at cheap prices, but the true cost may prove far more expensive in the end. “Slow-fashion” designer Jussara Lee visited her alma mater at FIT on March 11 to educate students about the harmful environmental impact of industrialized fast-fashion manufacturing. With her bicycle helmet in tow, the eco-friendly entrepreneur also came to offer a sustainable solution to the problem. “Basically, if you find a pair of jeans for $20 or something that is cheaper than your sandwich, there’s got to be something wrong with that,” Lee said. In fact, there is something wrong. Over the last 10 years, fashion has become the second-leading industry, behind energy, for causing pollution, a statistic that Lee attributes to the abundance of fast fashion. “And that is really bad,” she said. “And it got to the point that it’s giving us a very
bad reputation because no longer we can just kind of sweep the crap under the rug. It’s just so out there in the world. It’s the second largest polluted. I mean, you can’t hide this anymore.” Lee also pointed out how fast fashion hurts laborers in developing countries, such as Bangladesh, by forcing them to work in horrible conditions under autocratic governments. Although she admits that it might sound New Age-y, she said she believes that suffering while making clothes infuses the products with bad karma. “The karma is so evident because I’m so much happier [making slow fashion],” Lee said. “I’m so much more energized, and somehow it translates into the actual product, and people — the consumers, my customers — they respond.” Lee, who has 24 years of experience in the fashion business, said despite her financial success, she felt unfulfilled by mass producing clothes and sought a greater purpose for her work. She cited “The True Cost,” a documentary that explores the negative impact of fast
“That’s when I really had to reach out to a deeper soul-searching kind of process where I started to think, ‘What is it that I really want to do that contributes to the world?’ because that was what I was missing,” Lee said. “I was missing something that made me feel engaged with what was going on and not just be another person making clothes.” Now, Lee said, she feels relieved and happy in her career for the first time, and she has no desire to let her signature label, which currently has one shop in the West Village, get too big like it was before, with showrooms from New York City to Tokyo.
dyes are a major contributor to water pollution. Unfortunately, sustainable style comes neither fast nor cheap. For example, a custom hand-woven jacket by Lee can be time-consuming to make and set you back $3,500, a bit out of the average college student’s price range. But she argues that the superior quality is worth the investment. Not to mention, it’s more economical than continually buying cheap clothes in bulk, which, if you’re like Lee’s daughter, you never take out of the shopping bags. “The whole idea is that you make clothes that will last and be cherished for a lifetime,” Lee said. She went on to say, “Just save it. Instead of buying 10 jackets, just buy one that’s really good. You don’t need that much clothes.”
“I don’t think a big company can be sustainable. … Being small, you really are hands-on, and you see where things have to go and what needs to be done,” she said. “If you have a big company, things get just really — you lose control.”
Lee said she wants consumers to know that they have the power to make a real difference when it comes to sustainability.
In her sustainability efforts, Lee takes advantage of all kinds of natural materials that she finds from around the world for artistic recycling, such as mismatched vintage mother-of-pearl buttons from Texas and centuries-old fabric from Pakistan. She also uses indigo dye extracted from plants grown on a farm in Japan, as synthetic textile
“Our existence by itself is pollutant,” she said, “but all we want to do is just be conscientious about it and diminish the impact, and that is already a huge deal. If everybody does a little bit within our realm of action, it is a huge deal. … Collective action actually is super powerful. … As consumers, we have a huge power.”
DRINKING IN PUBLIC NOW LEGAL IN NYC ( S O M E W H AT )
BY KAYLA RENSHAW
On March 1, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced that the NYPD will no longer arrest people drinking alcohol in public. Instead of spending a night in jail for consuming a beverage, you will now receive a summons from an officer. Although the act is still illegal, legal action will not be as drastic as it was before. The purpose of this law is to keep New Yorkers safe and at ease. “Using summonses instead of arrests for low-level offenses is an intuitive and modern solution that will help make sure resources are focused on our main priority: addressing threats to public safety,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an official statement. It seems that this announcement is long overdue; many major European cities have already adopted similar laws that have been in place for several years. Paris, for example, has laws in place that prohibit the consumption of alcohol in public, but you will often hear of police turning a blind eye to the activity. This is where the lines tend to become a little blurred.
The NYPD has had a long history of cracking down on citizens who aren’t committing violent crimes—“Stop and Frisk” being one of the most notable practices exercised. Alcohol consumption was something the department definitely did not ignore. In fact, the department was particularly fond of arresting those that chose to drink in public. Mr. Vance predicts that 10,000 fewer arrests will now be made per year, according to the Observer. To put that number into perspective, 124,498 tickets were given out for drinking in public in 2011 alone, according to The New York Times. These new policies come at a time when the department is trying it’s best to decriminalize offenses that are more trouble than harm. In 2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD created new guidelines decriminalizing marijuana in the city. Since the law has been implemented, marijuana arrests have decreased by 40 percent according to the New York Post. Public consumption of alcohol and urinating in public are also considered low-level offenses. These issues can be
defined as “quality of life’” violations due to the fact that they are causing no harm and not putting anyone at risk. “By ensuring courts are not unnecessarily bogged down with minor offenses committed by those who pose no threat to public safety, we help focus police and prosecutorial resources on those who commit serious crimes,” Mr. Vance said. Offenses such as these are contributing to the overcrowding of jails around the country. Even though open containers in public are still illegal in New York, there are cities around the country that allow public consumption of alcohol — Las Vegas and New Orleans among them. Of course, public intoxication is still a federal offense across the board. The hope is that this law will ease some of the tension that has been building regarding police nationwide. Officers in the city will now be able to reduce the amount of arrests that are made for low-level crimes and focus on offenses that put the public at risk.
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D E M N A G VA S A L I A :
FROM VETEMENTS TO BALENCIAGA BY CATERINA NICOLINI It seems like the fashion industry constantly morphs and expands, yet when it comes to Creative Directors, picking a new head of design is never that simple of a task. Artists with expertise and vision are needed to undertake the responsibility of conserving the brand’s essence and integrity, while at the same time daring the fashion industry with new ideas. This season’s hot topic, 34-year-old Demna Gvasalia, graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp, became Creative Director of Balenciaga for Fashion Week’s Fall 2016 show. As expected, the outcome was nothing less than brilliant. The Georgian designer moved from head of Vetements, a recently groundbreaking brand which landed in the eight finalists for the LVMH Prize in 2015, to Balenciaga this season. He managed to exquisitely merge the haute couture soul of Cristobal Balenciaga with contemporary-urban accents like platform boots and denim and puffer jackets — unfailingly marking a translation in the house’s history. Gvasalia has once again continued the quirky revolution Alessandro Michele commenced while at Gucci and is said to be reminiscent of Mr. Margiela’s
genre. His style from past Vetements collections resounded in Balenciaga’s fall 2016 show. Gvasalia’s use of proportion, and the dichotomous way he played with edginess and sensibility, were shown through deconstructed jeans and f loral prints. He shared with the press that his “first priority was to understand the methodology of Cristóbal, his work around the bod, and how to do it today, in 2016,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. Isabelle Guichot, CEO and president of Balenciaga, is more than pleased to have Gvasalia as a part of the team. “He has quickly emerged as the best choice for the new artistic direction of the maison. With his mastery of techniques, his expertise and fashion knowledge, in conjunction with his innovative and carefully considered approach, Demna Gvasalia adopts a unique vision of the designer’s role today and thus recalls Cristóbal Balenciaga’s own vision. I am confident that he will succeed in embracing Balenciaga’s core values and developing them in harmony with today’s global changes,” she told Vogue. Every aspect of his debut impressed the audience. From the showroom itself to the actual clothes paraded by the
models to the padded walls inside of the Canal+’s studio that made the room vibrate with every beat of the music — his show was alive. Greatly supported by former creative directors Alessandro Michele and Jacquemus Simon, the show embodied a f lashback from Balenciaga’s recognizable couture shapes while incorporating a new contemporary realism. His collection was varied with accents of all sorts, such as padded hip suits, dresses, hourglass silhouettes and thigh-high boots. The colors seen ranged from black and white to cobalt and Kelly green, as well as candy cane-striped tights and f loral combinations. Fashion lovers couldn’t be any happier about Demna Gvasalia’s arrival at Balenciaga, not only due to his amazing talent, but his dedication and passion for what he does as well. When it comes to creating a collection he said, “I start the season with a list of clothing: double-faced clothes, tailored jackets, three-quarter-length skirts, etc.,” and is now going to “put those garments in a Balenciaga context,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. Congrats, Demna Gvasalia, on your first Balenciaga show and here’s to many more to come.
ABC, NBC BAN LANE BRYANT’S #THISBODY CAMPAIGN BY ANDREA NAVARRO
PHOTO COURTESY: SELF.COM
Last month, a heated conversation about what’s conventionally attractive and what constitutes an “indecent” advertisement for television stirred up social media. ABC and NBC, two of the largest TV networks in the U.S., banned Lane Bryant’s #ThisBody campaign. The company is one of the most recognized names in plus-size clothing, and its campaign is aimed at empowering its customer base to accept their bodies and gain self-confidence. The brand, which is no stranger to controversy, released a 30-second video on its YouTube channel and then shared it across the rest of its social media platforms. The video starred recognizable plus-size models Precious Lee, Tara Lynn, Denise Bidot, Geornia Pratt and Ashley Graham. Graham is the first ever plus-size model to be
featured on the covers of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Maxim. In the black-and-white video, the models are shown talking about what their bodies are made for: “turning heads,” “proving them wrong,” “being bold, powerful and sexy,” “loving,” “living,” “rocking denim” and “getting it on” — just a few of the descriptions they provide. They are also shown laughing, moving and posing in underwear, showing “Every curve. Every roll. Every inch. Unapologetic, strong and beautiful.” Even though there’s some mild nudity, it is no more explicit than Victoria’s Secret ads, which constantly run on the same networks that banned the Lane Bryant campaign. This immediately got people asking why the ban occurred as it enraged women of all shapes and sizes.
Some sources believe it’s a matter of size, not nudity, because thinner women frequently appear in commercials that are already airing — think Victoria’s Secret again. A representative from NBC turned down the #ThisBody ad because it didn’t “comply with broadcast indecency guidelines,” according to the New York Daily News. The Federal Communications Commission defines indecency as “language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities.” Although the ad has been surrounded by a lot of controversy — as were some older Lane Bryant campaigns such as #PlusIsEqual and #ImNoAngel — its notoriety has helped it go viral in a very short period of time.
The double standards in the fashion industry and the media are nothing new, but advances keep being made every day. Less than a month ago, IMG Models, the same modeling agency behind names such as Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, introduced its new “Brawn” division, which will represent male models that are “big and tall.” The division has already signed its first plus-size male model, 26-year-old Zach Miko. The practice seems to be heavily inspired by the advances seen lately in the female plus-size modeling industry. Although the campaign hasn’t made its way to television yet, it did accomplish what it intended by starting a conversation that has long been overdue in terms of self-acceptance and tolerance.
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ANREALAGE’S FALL/WINTER COLLECTION: NOISE BY: MEGHAN KANE
PHOTO COURTESIES:ANREALAGE.COM
Seasons ago, Kunihiko Morinaga of Japanese fashion brand Anrealage, started to gain attention for experimenting with visual stunts involving light reactive fabrics, ref lections and shadows. Morinaga took these objects and turned them into themes which served as ocular inspirations for previous collections. For his FW16 collection, Morinaga incorporated a revolutionary technique that expanded upon his innovative aesthetic. Fashion industry insiders have constantly asked Moringa about his new collection, Baptized Noise, has received several speculations regarding the reasoning behind the theme. Though speculation has run the gamut, one idea that may have stimulated Morinaga’s creative process for this collection is the 2016 U.S. Presidential race, according to Irenebrination. Rather than showing models carrying picket signs covered in political messages, Anrealage presented printed garments that appeared similar
to the pixelated static of a television screen. This could have been a metaphor for “the confusion we live in, too often generated by the contrasting images, messages and slogans that we receive on a daily basis,” Anna Battista of Irenebrination said. Noise is comprised of black, white and gray patterns reminiscent of the random dots displayed when no transmission signal is obtained by an antenna. The strong and occasionally cocoon-like silhouettes and thick tweeds are evocative of Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel. As models with obscured faces marched in futuristic head pieces towards the glass walls of the transparent box that encased the runway, the textiles of the clothes seemed to change into more recognizable, conventional prints such as houndstooth or f loral print, according to Refinery29. The surprise reveals of these patterns were due to visual cryptography. This technology was a collaboration developed by
Morinaga and computer programmer Toru Urakawa. Among the swaddling trusses are sleek, collared coats. Other wearable items include chunky knits cropped above the waist and blazers inspired by the 1980s — and with big hair and even bigger shoulder pads, it was certainly a time no one will soon forget. Morinaga, for some pieces, applied “a sort of waving pattern” to the tailoring, deconstructing and reconstructing the shapes, said Battista. Jackets and dresses appear to “distort and redesign” the shape of the body. Anrealage employed Japanese artisanal techniques and arrived at patchwork designs that include approximately one thousand pieces of fabric. Jewelry echoed the main theme of the collection through delicate pieces which imitate interferences and wave propagation. One model sported a body chain complete with sporadically located waves over a quadrate white blouse.
“While some designers are currently playing with embroideries and embellishments, Morinaga is mainly focusing on giving a new dimension to the textiles themselves rather than simply embellishing them on their surface,” Battista pointed out. “He is proving that key collaborations among creative minds from different fields can definitely push fashion forward and produce wearable pieces developed with the help of technology.” This marriage between tech and fashion is an ongoing cultural and commercial trend that reaches every aspect of our lives. The relationship between handmade and machinemade clothing is becoming more entwined. But in an industry that is constantly evolving, brands have to keep up. Anrealage’s head on approach to innovation is both daring and admirable, making it a brand to watch. We may not know what the future holds, but at least they will have us looking good finding out.
TATTOO ARTIST COVERS UP SELF-HARM SCARS FOR BY LILY WRIGHT
On March 1, a Brisbane, Australia-based tattoo artist, Whitney Develle, posted an Instagram picture that would quickly generate thousands of likes and shares. In her post, she told her followers that she will be doing 50 free tattoos for people who had self-harmed in the past. The spots filled up quickly, and she is now offering discounts to other clients who have self-harmed in the past and want to cover up their scars. Develle got the idea after a friend, who in the past struggled with self-harm and an eating disorder, told her how much pain it caused her when people would ask about her scars. Develle felt awful, and told 9News Australia, “No one should ever have to feel like a public museum for people to ridicule.” Develle has had an overwhelming response to her post, so much so that she told 9News that she has been up late for most nights replying to emails. Although she is happy that so many reached out to her, she is also saddened to learn that so many people intentionally harm themselves, saying “The hardest part was that statistically probably 98 percent of [those who had written in] were people [who] had self-harmed.” Develle isn’t the only tattoo artist who has used tattooing as a way to cover up scars. ABC reports that Ohio-based tattoo artist Brian Finn is also spending about one day a week covering up scars from domestic abuse, human trafficking and self-harm on his clients for free. He started in October of last year after he realized that a lot of clients could not afford to cover up their victim-related scars, according to The Huffington Post. “It’s just something I can do that
won’t take much time that can make a big impact on other people,” he added, “A tattoo can help disguise the scars, so… it’s like a new chapter.” One of the most common tattoos that victims get are butterf lies. Not only do they signify life and being free, but they are also symbolic to those who have found relief through the Butterf ly Project. The Butterf ly Project tells victims to draw a butterf ly on their wrist when they feel like cutting, if they don’t cut until the butterf ly fades away it means it has lived and f lown away, giving them a sense of accomplishment, according to the Suicide Project. In the United States alone, Mental Health America estimates that around 2 million people injure themselves in some way. However, that number could actually be much greater because of how often it goes unreported. The stigma that surrounds self-harm and mutilation is so great that the “majority of them were too scared to speak with a tattooist out of fear of being judged,” according to Refinery 29. With this in mind,Develle was inspired to change the way society thinks about people who self-harm, telling 9News, “Society looks [down at people with self-harm scars] and immediately thinks they are unstable or unfit to be amongst the rest of us — I want to change that stigma.” As for Develle’s friend, “The look on her face — money can’t buy that,” Develle said. “[Afterward] people were asking her about her tattoo. The scars became irrelevant — a thing of the past.”
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2016 SXSW
INTERACTIVE FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS BY MARINA HERBST
South by Southwest (SXSW), the Austin-based annual interactive music and technology festival, was held last month — gathering around 80,000 attendees in its 30th year. For one week, the Texas capitol became the epicenter for all things tech, music, innovation and cinematography.
CFDA’S PLAN TO
SOLVE NYFW BY MARINA HERBST
Scattered about the city, two thousand bands played around the clock— hailing from places all over the world, including Brazil, Africa, Latin America, and of course, the United States. However, it was one of the keynote speakers that really stole the show. President Obama was a welcome addition to this year’s festival. He sat for a Q-and-A with the editor of the Texas Tribune, Evan Smith. Obama called on the tech industry to help solve one of D.C.’s most pervasive and serious problems: encryption and privacy. He spoke about the importance of upgrading outdated federal networks, privacy concerns and the legal battle between Apple and the FBI. Obama didn’t reprimand the attendees — 2,000 engineers, dot-com leaders and techies — on what they should be doing, but instead asked for their help. “The reason I’m here is to recruit all of you,” Obama said. “We can start coming up with new platforms, new ideas across disciplines and across skill sets to solve some of the big problems we are facing today.” A few panels focused on the increasingly important subject of online harassment. One of the summits included testimony from those who have been abused on social media and offered real and practical advice on what to do about it. The key lesson the panelists shared: be a good bystander and call out toxic behavior as soon as you see it aimed at someone. Model Coco Rocha was one of the most surprising panelists at SXSW. Many were confounded by the fact that she was chosen to speak at a technology festival. That was until Piera Gelardy, executive creative director and co-founder of Refinery29, introduced her as “the world’s first digital supermodel.” Rocha, who has a new athleisure fashion line, which is produced with modern technological fabrics, said she needed technology early on in her modeling career. She didn’t appreciate how models were only something for people to see twice a year during fashion shows, so she used social media to share what she ate, when she exercised and other details about her life. “They said to stop doing what I was doing, and to make everything a myth and a fantasy,” said Rocha during her talk. “Now those people are posting about their food, what they are watching and the pajamas they wear.” She called out both the fashion industry for being slow to change and adopt new ideas and the tech industry for not thinking they need fashion and just seeing it as frivolous. One of her biggest statements was to call for more innovation in production — asking those present to consider the high impact that 3-D printing would have if it could create on-demand, one-off garments and how it would redefine the luxury goods experience. Interestingly enough, this years festival conveyed somewhat mixed messages. SXSW prides itself on being at the forefront of technology, from film to music and everything in between. “How do you sell people on the glorious economic promise of the digital realm while warning them of the dangers? Yes, in its daylong “online harassment summit” and other panels, the interactive slice of the SXSW pie paid lip service to the worrisome, dangerous aspects of our online lives. But the dominant offerings told another story. While Obama spoke, a Friday panel convened on the subject of “Short-Form Filmmaking: Stars of Social Media.” In the same Friday afternoon time slot, convention center SXSW panel options included “Dude, Where’s My Par? Making Virtual Reality Golf,” the Chicago Tribune points out. To further bring this point home, one need only to have been at the Austin Convention center and watched the live-stream of Obama’s interview with Smith, during which he discussed getting younger and more tech-savvy people, like those at the festival, involved with improving the government. He pointed out the fact that people now have shorter attention spans, and that we are “fetishizing our phones above every other value,” and “how much of our lives are digitalized.” As his words reverberated throughout the ballroom, those who happened to not be on their smartphones nodded in tacit agreement. Then they went back to posting on their social media and checking out the festival schedule on their devices.
Fashion weeks around the world have been criticized for many years. Each time there is a new and different reason: models being too thin, lack of diversity in the casting, underage models, inappropriate nudity, etc. Failures at this year’s NYFW seem to highlight the broken system. The Council of Fashion Designers of America has set out to fix this issue by turning the twice-yearly fashion shows in consumer driven industry with the collections on the runways available immediately in stores. The CFDA partnered with Boston Consulting Group to run a study over the course of six weeks where they conducted around 50 interviews with designers, retailers, members of the press, inf luencers and other industry insiders. The study aimed to explore the conversation many people were already having — the traditional twice a year fashion week format. Some of the key findings of the study show that given the technological advances, shows are becoming more accessible to a vastly larger audience in real time. This results in an anticipation around designs up to six months before the product is available. By the time it reaches the market, the willingness to buy has died off. “We have designers, retailers and everybody complaining about the shows. Something’s not right anymore because of social media, people are confused,” said Diane von Furstenberg, chairman of the CFDA, to Women’s Wear Daily. Many consumers crave instant gratification. They have a “see now, buy now, wear now” mindset, and the six month delay between a show and the moment the collection hits the stores is impacting businesses. Other concerns include “a lack of newness, customers conditioned to wait for markdowns (or uninterested in the clothes by the time they’re in stores), fast-fashion chains producing instantaneous runway knockoffs quicker than you can say ‘Zalenciaga,’ and social media creating buzz around collections that won’t be in stores for half a year,” according to New York Magazine. There are also issues with, designers themselves. Last year Raf Simons and Alber Elbaz brought to our attention the fact that it is very difficult to continue coming up with
new and innovative collections. Young designers are feeling the pressure as well because they are expected to produce extraordinary shows, but lack the capital to do so. According to the study, designers and big fashion houses do have some options. Possible solutions include: putting on intimate presentations four to six months before the collections arrive in the stores, designing capsule collections that are made available to consumers immediately after being shown in the traditional fashion shows, twice-yearly in-season activations geared towards consumers and merging of men’s and women’s collections as well as merging pre and main season collections. Another suggestion provided by the study is for the industry to adjust their delivery dates so that they better match with the seasons. This would help designers avoid scenarios like the surplus of winter coats brands had in 2015. Though the aforementioned ideas are not new, the CFDA’s study has taken a more formal approach to these issues, and it is now offering additional resources and options for America’s designers and creative minds. Despite there being a clear consensus that changes need to be made, the fashion industry has yet to do so. Change is not an easy thing to come by, and although the CFDA is being supportive, it is up to the designers to make the first move. According to New York Magazine, “And who do designers take their cues from? Other designers, especially successful ones. So if Burberry, Tom Ford, and the numerous other labels that have already adopted the in-season model succeed with it, droves will follow. For now, we’re still in wait-and-see mode: Expect the next few seasons to be a little bumpy as everyone collectively figures it out.”
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HOFIT HUMANS OF FIT
BY MELISSA DE OLIVEIRA
MARISA HAGE RT Y PA C K A G I N G D E S I G N M A J O R WHAT IS THE TOUGHEST PART OF BEING AT FIT? “I would say the toughest part of being at FIT is I guess like it’s really hard not to compare yourself to other people. You’re kind of doing your own thing and you think it’s so great and then you show up to class and you see other people with their own great stuff. Everyone has their own specific inspiration, it’s just really interesting to see what other people’s brains can do but it’s also intimidating because it’s like ‘oh my god why couldn’t I have done that’. So I guess in summation the toughest part is seeing that everybody’s different and sort of learning to not compare yourself to other people because different things inspire people and different people work differently. Just because you don’t do the same things as other people doesn’t mean you’re bad, it just means you’re good in your own way.”
WHEN ARE YOU THE MOST RELAXED? THE MOST STRESSED? “So honestly I feel the calmest when I’m by myself. I mean, I like being with people and surrounding myself with other people casually - or in a professional sense I love bouncing ideas off of other people. But I kinda like to just be left alone sometimes. I feel calmer when I’m just by myself and allowing myself to be creative and I have my sketchbook or computer out. If I’m just by myself my creative juices really get f lowing, and that’s when I feel the most relaxed. I’m the most stressed when I am around people. Though I love being around people and I love dealing with people, it’s really hard because like I said before, everybody’s different so it’s really hard to coordinate with people sometimes. So I feel the most stressed then. When I’m working with
PHOTO COURTESY: MELISSA DE OLIVEIRA PHOTO COURTESY: MELISSA DE OLIVEIRA
others I realize that we may not have the same ideas or be going in the same direction. Even in a social sense, I was just talking about this with my brother the other day, they have this saying that ‘the best people talk about ideas, good people talk about things, boring people talk about other people.’ We decided that most people we know talk about other people and I don’t have a
lot of people that talk about ideas in my life. I mean I have people that talk about ideas but not really ideas. So this makes me feel sometimes that I can’t really relate to people in that sense. So I guess I feel different and that’s difficult for me. But sometimes it’s not a bad thing because then I find out about other people and how they think.”
L AUR A SUPNIK FA S H I O N BUS I N E SS M E RC H A N D I S I N G M A J O R / I L L U S T R AT O R WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE SAD AND YOU WANT TO CHEER YOURSELF UP? “I used to carry around a moleskin, but I couldn’t decide if I liked the normal paper or the sketchbook paper better because I write but I also sketch so it’s hard for me to decide. So now I Just carry around a muji notebook and I write little reminders in it or I write observations of people in the street or like things people tell me that I like. It kind of helps.”
WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO THE MOST? “Patty Smith. [laugh] She’s my favorite writer. Her book, “Just Kids,” has a lot of good things to take away. It’s about her living in New York in the seventies and it’s interesting to see someone who’s so similar to me living in a different time ref lect on a place that means the world to me.”
WHAT IS YOUR STORY? “ I took art classes at the Philadelphia Museum of Art when I was six, because my dad is an artist, he’s a landscape architect. So he got me to take art
classes when I was little. I saw a Picasso when I was about that age and I have a bunch of like children’s versions of Picassos that I drew, and I also did Calder replicas. Since then, I have taken a bunch of classes at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. I’ve taken like three or four classes there. In high school they got rid of A.P. art, because art programs suck in small towns, so the highest level of art I could PHOTO COURTESY: MELISSA DE OLIVEIRA take there was a studio class, there were like seven kids in the class and WHAT’S THE WHAT’S SOMETHING it was fantastic. But it’s not even just TOUGHEST PART EXCITING THAT taking art that makes you an artist, it’s ABOUT BEING AT YOU HAVE DONE like the way you see things. My mom FIT? RECENTLY? is not an artist, and we always joke that my dad’s an artist, my brother is into “Keeping an open mind. There’s a lot “My illustrations were published on graphics, and my mom...appreciates of...not even competition but there’s Man Repeller’s blog, so that’s exciting. art [laughs]. But it’s true, seeing things just a lot of people that think the same It was originally supposed to be 13 or the way an artist would is a big element way as you versus people that think so illustrations but there ended up of becoming an artist. Me and my dad differently. It’s hard to think that other being about 10 in the end. For each would be on trains and when you look people think the same way as you one, there is a little blurb about how to out the window at golden hour, about 3 because at an art school, everyone is get ahead in the fashion industry, but or 4 p.m., you see the light hitting the trying to be unique but you can’t be it was also helpful for people outside top of trees and the ways the shadows completely unique. So you have to keep the industry. My friend who’s in the ref lect. I think people forget about that. an open mind that other people feel music business messaged me and said The world is made up of art and shapes. the same way as you do about certain that the article even related to him. It’s It’s the first thing you learn in art class, things. Be nice to everyone, make really interesting that fashion can relate that your hand is made out of a circle connections and you’ll be okay. Say to so many other creative industries. and small rectangles. Now I am an yes to every opportunity and don’t be I did ten portraits of the people who illustrator, and I illustrate album negative, because negativity will never were being interviewed, it was really and book covers, articles, and get you anywhere.” interesting to do.” others things. ”
HAUTE FEATURE CULTURE
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Q-AND-A WITH
HYEON-WUCK YOU FASHION DESIGN MAJOR HYEON-WUCK YOU HAS MANY TALENTS. BORN AND RAISED IN KOREA, HE IS INTERESTED IN HAIR STYLING, COSMETICS, SHOE DESIGN AND OF COURSE FASHION. HE SAT DOWN TO CHAT WITH W27 AND GAVE US A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE INNER WORKINGS OF AN ARTIST.
JK: Can you tell me a little bit about your thought process while coming up with these illustrations? HY: I have been drawing based on the emotional experiences I have had while living in New York. I wanted my drawings to really capture just how vivid things are so that people who see my drawings experience the same wave of emotion
JK: What made you want to become a designer? HY: To me, being a designer is like completing a complicated food dish — I think they are leaders in making sure that every little detail is correct so that everything “tastes” amazing. After working at a company in Korea and being unsatisfied with my life, I decided to go on a journey to find myself. As a result, I am now living and studying abroad in New York. I am destined to find what my true calling is and definitely achieve that. The message I want to deliver through my designs is re-living childhood in the current times. For example, when we were little, we were always in the arms of our mothers — not wanting to leave. However, we must adjust to the current society but we never should forget where we came from. So in essence, when people wear my designs, I want them to love themselves for who they are as well as who they were. JK: What is happening in these looks? HY: My illustrations are always related to spirituality as well as style. For example, the modern faceless ballerina, who is a stripper, portrays the standard woman who loves city life. I call this modern because in the 19th century, strippers were heavily mistreated and were only able to live out in the society by covering their identities. The illustration of the modern faceless ballerina’s body language expresses the freedom that the ballerinas have today. JK: Did your vision manifest on paper the way you expected? HY: Yeah, I actually have a specific way of drawing each time. For example, when I draw a person, I always like to draw them as a whole and I make sure that their body language and facial expressions contain emotion. The white background ensures that the figures stand out.
W27
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APRIL 2016
DAKOTA HARADEN
DAKOTA HARADEN IS A FIRST-YEAR ILLUSTRATION MAJOR. W27 SAT DOWN WITH HIM TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE MAN BEHIND THE CANVAS.
TO VIEW MORE OF DAKOTA’S WORK, CHECK OUT HIS VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA SITES: INSTAGRAM: DAKOTAARTWORKS TUMBLR: DAKOTAHARADEN FACEBOOK: DAKOTER ARTWORKS
DANIEL NISSIM: When did you know you wanted to study illustration? DAKOTA HARADEN: Art has been an interest of mine for as long as I can remember and I always knew I wanted a career in it. Towards the end of my junior year in high school, with college just around the corner, I realized that out of all of the fields of art, illustration was the right one for me.
DN: Other than portraiture, what kinds of subjects do you like to work with? DH: Apart from portraiture I don’t have much of a preference for subject matter. I like to do anything from still lives to character design. I try to vary as often as I can so that I can be as versatile as possible.
DN: What is your favorite part of the Illustration program at FIT? DH: My favorite part of the school’s illustration program is that I never really feel like what I’m doing is mundane. Every teacher is well versed, experienced and enthusiastic about the subject they teach. Not a week goes by where I don’t learn something new.
FEATURE
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FIT
NEW WAY TO TRANSPLANT COULD SAVE THOUSANDS OF LIVES BY LILY WRIGHT
According to the Living Kidney Donor Network, there are currently
93,000
people on the waitlist for a new kidney. The wait time can last anywhere from five to 10 years, and many people’s immune systems will reject almost any organ, making it nearly impossible for them to get a transplant. But transplant rejection may be a thing of the past. A recent study produced by the New England Journal of Medicine has discovered a way for anyone in need of a kidney transplant to have a successful procedure, regardless of whether their immune system is compatible or not. According to The New York Times, this new procedure is called “desensitization.”. The first step in this process involves filtering out all of the antibodies that the patient has and then transfusing new ones into the body. This transfer gives the body protection while it makes new antibodies which are much less likely to reject a new organ. If doctors are still concerned with the patient’s new antibodies, they treat them with drugs that destroy any white blood cells that would continue to reproduce the problem antibodies. The study tested 1,025 patients at 22 medical facilities who all had an incompatible donor, and compared them to an equal number of patients
who stayed on the waitlist, or had a deceased but compatible donor. After studying the patients for eight years, they found that 76.5 percent of the patients who had an incompatible donor but went through the desensitization procedure were still alive. This is compared to the 62.9 percent of patients who stayed on the waiting list and got a deceased donor, and the 43.9 percent who stayed on the waiting list and never received a donation. Doctor Jeffrey Campsen, a transplant surgeon at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, told the New York Times that he supports the desensitization procedure. This comes after his group had focused on looking at kidney exchanges - this is when patients who have incompatible donors can switch donors with someone if they will be a match. They found that if the patient has a close relationship with their donor, they are reluctant to switch, and many of them refuse. Therefore, after seeing this study he says “I do think it is something we would consider” and that this study “lets people get behind it.” Although this procedure sounds like a great option for everybody, the price may make it impossible for some families to afford it. According to the New York Times, the desensitization process cost about $30,000, while using drugs that are not approved for this purpose. In addition, the patients have
to pay around $100,000 for the actual transplant surgery. Kidney specialists argue however that in the long run the procedure costs less than dialysis treatment, which is nearly $70,000 a year for life. The procedure takes up to two weeks, and the recovery time after the surgery is around 10 days in the hospital, if there are no complications, but feeling completely better could take months. Also, the patient must have a living donor which could be a problem for some, although doctors say they often see family and friends that want to help. Dialysis, on the other hand, is a lifelong commitment and patients have to spend hours in the hospital every week. Mr. Smith, who spoke to the New York Times about his experience in the study even further strengthens the claims it makes. Mr. Smith’s kidneys had failed in 2004 and he had a transplant, although after six and a half years, the transplant failed. His only option was to spend hours a day, four times a week hooked up to a dialysis machine. Then, he found out about the study from his nurse, but he needed a donor. His longtime friend David Watkins, a state court judge, came to his rescue. He told Mr. Smith, “I have something you need, so what’s the big deal?” So Mr. Smith was then able to go through the procedure, and four years later he is happy and healthy. He is completely
“IF NOTHING HAPPENED, IN A FEW YEARS THERE WOULD BE OVER 100,000 PEOPLE ON THE WAITING LIST, MAKING THE WAIT TIME FOR A NEW KIDNEY WELL OVER 10 YEARS” grateful for his friend, telling the New York Times, “But for David giving me this gift, I would still be in that dialysis chair.” As of right now, the best use for the desensitization procedure is kidney transplants. Although, researchers who spoke to the New York Times are hopeful that it can be used for other types of transplants such as liver and lung transplants. Doctor Dorry Segev, the lead author of the study, said it “is theoretically possible,” although he does not know of anyone doing it yet. Researchers agree that this was a much needed procedure. If nothing happened, in a few years there would be over 100,000 people on the waiting list, making the wait time for a new kidney well over 10 years, according to the Living Kidney Donation Network. Desensitization now has the ability to reduce this number and save the lives of many who cannot find a compatible donor.
PHOTO COURTESY: HADASSAH-MED.COM
This new procedure is especially good news for people like Rebecca Wright, who lost one of her kidneys to cancer a few years ago. Because she only has one kidney, if something were to happen to her other one, she would need immediate surgery to save her life. There would be no time to wait on a waitlist. As long as she has a donor, doctors could do the procedure. She told us at W27, “It gives me peace of mind to know that there is something out there that could save my life, and thousands of other lives.”
W27
JESSICA JONES / JEWEL:
SHE’S STRONG!
Universe: Marvel
SHE’S POWERFUL!
Full Name: Jessica Campbell Jones Cage
SHE’S …
Abilities: Superhuman strength, resistant to physical injury, f lying
E Y E C A N DY ?
First Published in: “Alias,” (2001), by Brian Bendis and Michael Gaydos
BY VERONICA MARRINAN The female audience of DC and Marvel comics are often at a loss for characters who are portrayed in a way that shows the world who women truly can be. It’s a sad truth that Hollywood doesn’t think a strong female character can exist without adding sex appeal, and this issue spills over into comics as well. Over the course of history, male audiences have been continually spoon-fed supporting female characters in costumes that could have been bought at Victoria’s Secret, and the result is a warped view of women that affects both men and women. Now you might think, “But I don’t read comics! I’ve never even seen a superhero movie. Why should I care?” But with comics, movies and their TV show spinoffs being such a big part of our media, the way in which female characters are portrayed and even formed has a remarkable effect on everyone in the slightest proximity to mass media. After decades of producing hypersexualized female characters, Marvel and DC seem to be moving in the right direction. There has been a renewed effort to provide female readers with characters to whom they can relate and who can bring in a larger female audience.
Spinoffs: “Jessica Jones” on Netf lix Backstory: Jessica Jones received her powersJessica Jones received her powers through a car crash, which killed both of her parents. Later, she donned the name Jewel and began fighting crime as a private investigator. Shortly after becoming a superhero, Jewel was raped and abused by the The Purple Man, better known as Kilgrave to anyone who has seen the Netf lix series. In the comics, she later goes on to marry another superhero and continues to shift between being a stay-at-home mom and fighting crime. When her husband takes on the name of Powerman, she becomes Powerwoman. Creating a series about Jessica Jones was a huge move for Marvel, as they chose to explore her struggles with being a rape survivor. It gives them a chance to provide social commentary on emotional and physical abuse as well. However, Marvel fell short when they decided to use it as an opportunity to add some steam to their show. Using sex scenes continually throughout the narrative of a rape survivor turns her struggle into an erotic experience for some viewers— and that is never what a character’s recovery should be about.
PEGGY CARTER / AGENT CARTER: Universe: Marvel Full Name: Margaret Carter Abilities: None, but can do 107 onehanded pushups PHOTO COURTESY: BLOG.THREADLESS.COM
First Published in: “Peggy Carter,” (1966) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Spinoffs: ABC Studios, “Agent Carter”
PHOTO COURTESY: IDIGITALTIMES.COM
PHOTO COURTESY: HAIKUDECK.COM
PHOTO COURTESY: UNCOUTHREFLECTIONS.COM
APRIL 2016
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Backstory: Born in Britain, Peggy Carter later began working as a secret agent for the United States in the Strategic Scientific Reserve, meeting Captain America during WWII. After his disappearance and the end of the war, she continued working at the SSR in New York City. A close friend of Howard Stark, she works to clear his name when he the government accuses him of treason and hunts him down. With butler Edward Jarvis as her sidekick, Carter finds the underlying cause of conspiracies while coping with the loss of Captain America. In the comics, Carter also appears as an Agent of Shield. A TV show based around the character of Agent Carter has provided Marvel with the opportunity not only to bring a supporting female character into the spotlight, but also to make room to tackle situations such as workplace inequality, harmful
stereotypes that women face and the dynamics between a female hero and a male sidekick. Because she is not a superhero, Carter does not wear a costume. And, instead of wearing clothing that would make her vulnerable during battle, she is covered up. This allows viewers to actually focus on her abilities and not her assets. She finds a male ally in the workplace in Agent Sousa and often uses the misogynistic system to her advantage to complete her missions. The show also explores her friendships with other women. One problem with “Agent Carter,” though, is that like many other comic-based shows and movies, the directors are both men, and only two out of the 11 executive producers — on a show about a woman — are women themselves.
WONDER WOMAN / DIANA PRINCE: Universe: DC Full Name: Wonder Woman Abilities: Superhuman speed, endurance, and agility; a gelessness, f light First Published in: “All Star Comics #8”, (1941) by William and Elizabeth Marston and HG Peter Spinoffs: Multiple movies, most recently appears in “Batman v Superman” and “Wonder Woman” Backstory: Created out of clay by her mother on an island off the coast of Greece, Diana Prince is the warrior princess of the Amazons, the group of women who inhabit the island. In addition to her super powers, she has an arsenal of weapons based on Amazonian technology. Inspired by his wife, Elizabeth’s plea for a female character, William Marston wrote her story with the help of artist HG Peter. Created during WWII, she was originally depicted in battle and used for American propaganda. In “Batman v Superman,” she is given a new costume to closer resemble armor, linking back to the Greek roots of her storyline. Predominantly male writers and illustrators have worked on her character. As a well-known cultural symbol, Wonder Woman has become synonymous with feminism. However, there have been minimal effort to f lesh her out as a character and put her on the same plane as her male counterparts. When she debuted, her costume consisted of a strapless top and mid-thigh length skirt, which quickly gave way to the swimsuit-like costume we know now. This attitude that illustrators have had toward dressing her leaves little care for her protection in battle and leaves many female readers wondering why women superheroes need double-stick tape to go into battle. (Honestly, how does she keep that costume up in combat?) While the costume worn by Cathy Lee Crosby in the 1974 movie paid more heed to these questions, it wasn’t long before Wonder Woman had to shave her legs again to look good in her costume. Although Wonder Woman has a strong backstory, the fact remains that no young woman wants to read a comic designed to be a part of male fantasy.
BARBARA GORDON / BATGIRL: Universe: DC Full Name: Barbara Gordon Abilities: Similar to Batman, uses technology to aid in her missions First Published in:“Detective Comics No. 359” (1967) by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino Spinoffs: Most recently, “Batgirl: Year One” (2009), “The Batman” (2007-2008) Backstory: As the daughter of Police Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon had always had the safety of Gotham at the forefront of her mind. Eventually, she began working with Batman as a sidekick alongside Robin. After two successful decades as Batgirl, the Joker attacks her, and it is heavily insinuated that he sexually assaulted her. Left paralyzed from the attack, she becomes the Oracle, working behind the scenes as a computer hacker and data analyst on Batman’s missions. She still manages to take down the Joker and later has experimental surgery that returns her to Batgirl in 2011. After a fire in her apartment, she makes herself a new costume and continues as Batman’s sidekick. Batgirl is a very strong character in the DC universe, but she has always been a sidekick. Her role as a supporting character has downplayed her storyline, leaving a lot of room for improvement. That said, DC has explored the portrayal of a character living with a disability in a respectful manner, making her assume another just-asimportant and vital role in Batman’s operations. Because she is not defined by her disability nor does it make her weak, she is a positive role model. Her disability does not make her weak, making her a positive role model. Her new costume is both functional and powerful, proving that it’s okay to be strong and smart. Also, she is sexy without dressing provocatively. Batgirl’s character is a testament to the idea that being successful does not have to be synonymous with sexy, and that is a huge step forward. When a strong female character withholds her body from the camera to the same extent that male characters typically do, the male audience is forced to acknowledge her as a real character as opposed to merely eye candy. Also, it shows the female audience that you don’t need to put your body on display to be strong and successful. There is still a need for female characters to be prioritized just as much as male characters in both their storylines and character development. The next generation is being shaped by what they see, and we’d better make sure it’s good for how women see themselves and how men understand them.
FEATURE
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FIT
CHIPOTLE’S RESURRECTION: REAL CHANGE OR JUST LIP SERVICE? BY KAYLA RENSHAW
Since their doors first opened in Denver, Colorado in 1993, Chipotle had gained a steady following. That was until numerous outbreaks sparked concerns regarding the companies’ food safety. Now, once loyal customers are scared to step foot into a restaurant anytime soon. Headlines outlining the problem have been dominating newspapers across the country for months. Since July, norovirus, salmonella and E. coli have all been linked to the fast food chain. Recently, the company has taken additional safety steps to ease the minds of consumers as well as prevent a future outbreak from occurring. In early February, over 2,000 Chipotle restaurants were closed for four hours because a virtual meeting was taking place for all employees across the country. The topic of the meeting was food safety. The steps the company was planning on taking to regain their customer’s trust and how they were going to provide ingredients that were reliable were also topics of discussion. In an effort to save the company and their employees, Chipotle is now offering paid sick leave for all employees. The policy that has been implemented is to encourage employees to stay home when they are ill to stop the spread of viruses from occurring. This measure came after it was confirmed that the norovirus contamination that occurred in stores in Simi Valley, California and Boston, were linked to employees at those restaurants said Monty Moran, Chipotle’s co-chief executive. The hope is that with this new policy in place the threat of employees spreading a virus will be eliminated altogether. Previously, the policy for calling out of work required the sick employee to find a replacement for their shift, which is not always easy, if possible at all. Many other fast food chains follow the same policy, making it difficult for their employees to call out of work.
germs that may have festered while the rice was being prepared. It is no surprise that many Americans have become more aware of the ingredients in their food and the effects they may have on their body. Over the past few years American’s have gravitated towards healthier lifestyles. NonGMO products have increased a considerable amount. In 2014, all Non-GMO sales totaled $200 billion according prnewswire.com. By 2019, those sales are projected to reach $330 billion, a 65% increase. Healthy foods, however, are often more expensive, but as long as there are consumers willing to pay a higher price, then there will always be a demand for theose foods.. Consumers all over the country are realizing that consuming certain foods can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of more severe problems. With Americans pushing for mandatory GMO labeling, companies are either giving into the pressure or opposing the bills that are waiting to be passed. General Mills and Campbell Soup Co. have both stated that they support mandatory GMO labeling and would label ingredients even if the government did not make it mandatory. General Mills pulls in about $17 billion annually and Campbell’s makes about $8 billion annually. Both are huge staples in American households and understand what their customers are looking for.
“CHIPOTLE HAS SET THE BAR HIGH IN REGARDS TO OTHER CHAINS WITHIN THEIR REALM AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO”.
On the other hand, the salmonella outbreak that occurred in Minnesota and Wisconsin could not be traced back to employees but instead were linked to chopped tomatoes. In an attempt to prevent future outbreaks, the company now washes, dices and tests tomatoes in its central kitchens and then ships the tomatoes in sealed bags to restaurants, thus testing the tomatoes before they are sent to the restaurants. This process allows the tomatoes to be tested before they are sent out to restaurants. Lettuce and bell peppers are also prepared and tested in a central kitchen as well to prevent contamination from occurring. Other produce used in the restaurants such as onions, avocados, jalapenos and limes are still prepared in restaurants. The only difference is now the ingredients are put into boiling water to rid any harmful microbes that may be lurking on the produce before they are used. As far as the E. coli outbreak goes that occurred in 14 different states, there is currently no exact cause. Chipotle and the Center for Disease Control have not been able to find a direct link to the cause and the investigation has since been closed. In an effort to reduce the risk of future E. coli outbreaks, Chipotle is now adding cilantro to cooked rice immediately so that the heat will kill any
A bill outlining the need for national GMO labeling recently failed in Congress according to capitalpress.com. General Mills has acknowledged that the food industry needs consistency across the board and something needs to be done about the issue. If we continue on the path we are on, consumers are going to keep resisting and buying from others retailers.
Chipotle became the first national restaurant chain to remove GMO’s from their menu in April 2015. The company recognized that GMO’s were a concern for their customers long before others caught onto the trend. Prior to banning all GMO’s from their menu, the company labeled all GMO ingredients so that their consumers were aware of what was in their food. Like Chipotle, Panera Bread has been mindful of the needs and wants of their customers and has taken steps to implement healthy ingredients into its products. The company pledged to remove all artificial additives and trans fats from their food by the end of 2016. Right now, the main focus for the company is the food items that are on the menu. Beverages will be the point of interest in the future, where the company hopes to remove high fructose corn syrup from many, if not all, of the drinks sold in the restaurants.
Chipotle and Panera Bread have both recognized the changing needs and interests of the American consumer. In 2014 Chick-Fil-A announced that they would be removing all antibiotics from their chicken supply according to the company website. Chipotle, Panera and Chick-Fil-A are leading the pack in regards to providing cleaner ingredients for their customers. Chipotle has set the bar high in regards to other chains within their realm and will continue to do so. In the future, rules and regulations such as these will become standard within the food industry.
PHOTO COURTESY: CHIPOTLE.COM
W27
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APRIL 2016
THE GREEN RUSH IS NOT SO BLACK & WHITE: BY DARA KENIGSBERG AND JENNY KIM Over the last year, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska have all legalized the recreational use of marijuana and profits have been staggering. However, state laws mandate that anyone with a drug felony is prohibited from working in the cannabis industry. Recent race issues in law enforcement as well as racial disparities in the war on drugs has led many to argue that the marijuana industry is racist. BuzzFeed’s recent video “Does The Weed Industry Have A Race Problem?” tells the story of weed enthusiast Unique Henderson — a black man who has always been genuinely interested in working in the cannabis industry. When Colorado’s first medical marijuana dispensaries opened in 2009, Henderson learned how to grow the plant, spending $750 on classes that taught him how to run this type of business. Along with a friend, he applied to work at a Denver pot shop, but did not get the position because of his past drug felony. When Henderson was sixteen years old, he and three friends, one Mexican boy and two white boys, were caught in possession of a gram of weed — a considerably small amount. While one might assume that all four teenagers got arrested, that was not the case. Instead, the cops dismissed the two white boys and arrested both Henderson and his other (Mexican) friend. This incident has prevented him from growing, working or even investing in the industry. “It really does piss me off,” Henderson said. “And to see a lot of people come to Colorado to work in weed, that pisses me off even more. They’re coming here, living comfortable, and it’s like, I could be doing the same thing, but I can’t, because of my past with marijuana.” The video also introduces us to Jason Ray, a master cannabis cultivator at Sundance Gardens in Denver — one of the largest and most profitable spots in the industry. Before cannabis was legalized, Ray worked in the black market — illegally growing marijuana. He was caught with an ounce of weed (there are 28 grams of weed in one ounce). He was charged with a misdemeanor and spent one night in jail. The main differentiator in these two scenarios is that that Ray is white. According to the American Civil Liberties Union’s report on “The War on Marijuana in Black and White,” in every county of America, black people have been two to 10 times more likely to get arrested and serve long sentences for drug crimes as opposed to white people, even if they are using and selling drugs at the same rates. A direct result of this is that more white people
can and do work in the marijuana industry than black people. The legal cannabis industry is the fastest growing industry in the U.S. In 2014, it increased at a rate of 74% growing from $1.5 billion to $2.7 billion, according ArcView Market Research. In Colorado, legal sales reached $700 million in its first year — making it a force to be reckoned with. However, as more states begin to legalize marijuana, and potrepreneurship opportunities abound, entry in and access to the market seems to be limited to white males. NBCnews.com asks, “If getting rich by rolling up is no longer restricted to underground drug lords, why is it that the people who are disproportionately affected by the war on drugs are not the ones benefiting from the economics of legalization?” In addition to the systemic racism that exists within the legal system, there is also a long-standing history of institutional racism in the business world, and it is making it even more difficult for black people to enter the marijuana industry. In order to break in, one must have a access to a large amount of additional funds. However, because getting a bank loan is out of the question, “you have to rely on angel investors and groups that can give you the money—that’s where you get the subtle but real barriers of entry for people of color,” Dr. Malik Burnett told NBCnews.com. “In some states you have to have a performance bond of one million dollars just sitting in an account, available in the event the state wants to make a claim against you for not following the rules,” he continued. “That amount of money, when you can’t even use it towards building your business, is a barrier to entry that many people, particularly minorities, can’t meet.” Before any of this, however, one has to apply for a license to sell weed. Doing so requires experience in dealing with government regulators and applying for government licenses. Unfortunately, this process is far from easy and so is learning about it. Politics play a huge role and “You have to have a well-established political relationship with the people who are writing the rules,” Burnett said. “You either have the relationships yourself or you can pay lobbyists to develop the relationships for you. At the end of the day, it boils back down to money and inf luence.” Another reason the marijuana industry is predominantly made up of white males has to do with the fact that weed has been associated with criminality for a long time. This, in conjunction with the fact that black
people have long been more likely to get arrested for drugs, it is no wonder why there might be some hesitation on the part of black men. While selling weed may be legal in several states, it is still illegal to sell under federal law. “African Americans know that whenever something is in a gray area of the law they will feel more vulnerable, and for good reason since statistically minorities are more likely to be targeted or seen as suspects. It may be that the general element of racism and racial disproportionality in law enforcement around drugs can make minorities queasy about entering an area which is not fully legal,” the director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Ethan Nadlemann, told NBCnews.com. However, not everyone agrees that there is a race problem in the cannabis industry. An anonymous commenter on BuzzFeed said, “This is a sad attempt at trying to be modern by addressing racist, but in the end it’s just them grasping at straws and bending facts to suit their point. That’s like me saying there is a race issue in the working world as it’s harder for black people with felonies to find a job, but white guys don’t have a problem.” So, can anyone really cash in on the green rush? Or are there racial barriers preventing black people from doing so? Some argue that the legal weed industry is not racist, but rather, the lack of diversity stems from a much larger problem — the racist nature of capitalism and the inveterate racial barriers to entrepreneurship. Though black people have been indecorously charged and sent to prison on drug charges, being penalized for having a felony is colorblind.
PHOTO COURTESY: WWW.BUZZFEED.COM
marijuana dispensaries in the United States are owned by black people — about 1 percent. Perhaps if criminal records were expunged and sentences commuted, the disproportionate number of black people still shut out from the legal marijuana industry would start making inroads. But until then, people like Henderson remain unable to break into the profitable, legal cannabis industry, even though the amount he was charged for possessing in the first place has been decriminalized.
Even though nobody keeps statistics on race and cannabis business ownership, based on BuzzFeed’s 150+ interviews with dispensary owners, cannabis industry insiders and salespeople who constantly interact with large amounts of cannabis, it appears that fewer than three dozen of the 3,200 to 3,600
“IF GETTING RICH BY ROLLING UP IS NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO UNDERGROUND DRUG LORDS, WHY IS IT THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED BY THE WAR ON DRUGS ARE NOT THE ONES BENEFITING FROM THE ECONOMICS OF LEGALIZATION?”
FEATURE
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FIT
RACIAL DISPARITIES IN LEAD POISONING CASES HINTS AT ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM BY DARA KENIGSBERG KAYLA RENSHAW
PHOTO COURTESY: CENTERFORFOODSAFETY.ORG
The lead water crisis in Flint, Mich., has enraged Americans across the country over the last few months. Stories of families who have been affected have f looded the media and we shook our heads in disbelief that it went on for so long and went so deep. How did it get so out of hand? But what was until recently believed by many to be an isolated incident has turned into a nationwide disaster with 41 states reporting high levels of lead in their water supply. According to USA Today, “An analysis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data showed about 350 schools and day-care centers failed lead tests a total of about 470 times from 2012 through 2015. That represents nearly 20% of the water systems nationally testing above the agency’s ‘action level’ of 15 parts per billion.” A preschool in Pennsylvania had levels that were 14 times while another water sample taken from an elementary school in Maine had levels that were 41 times higher. In Newark, N.J., water samples from at least 30 public schools have shown high levels of lead, leading he president of the Newark Teacher’s Union, John Abeigon, to tell CNBC that the schools are like a “mini-Flint.” The problem is exacerbated by the fact that this water is used to make school lunches, as well as in making baby formula. Also, because schools and daycares are often closed for long periods of time, the unused water becomes even more toxic as it builds up over time. Unfortunately, blood testing for lead poisoning is not common in elementary school children, just in babies – dangerously high levels of lead accumulates in their blood before they become symptomatic and so it goes untreated. Even schools that are required to test for lead pose a risk due to “spotty enforcement from the EPA and some state governments, as well school leaders’ failures to test as often as required, notify parents about problems in a timely way or fix problems immediately in many cases,” explains USA Today.
Cleveland, located a mere 150 miles southwest of Flint, may have an even bigger lead crisis. The difference is that Cleveland’s problem stems from a decade-long debacle concerning lead in household paint. Although lead paint is no longer used, it can still be found in older homes and in low-income neighborhoods, which is where the issue is causing the most problems. Lead in household paint has long been a point of contention. In 1978, the federal government banned all leadbased household paint. The problem is that the responsibility lies in the hands of the city and the homeowner, not the government. Charm Warren-Celestine, a 64-year-old woman in Glenville, Ohio, a neighborhood located in East Cleveland, said it took her three years to get the help she needed from the city. She realized the severity of the problem when her grandson showed high levels of lead in his blood after he spent the summer with her. Warren-Celestine finally had the issue resolved. “You had to be relentless to make it happen,” she said, because funding is so tight. Many cities like Cleveland have lead problems, but the worst of it is usually confined to poor neighborhoods such as Warren-Celestine’s. There simply isn’t enough money circulating in those neighborhoods to address the situation with the urgency needed. In 2003, the Ohio legislature created a Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund to attack the problem head on. The fund’s objectives were to pay for blood tests of children who did not have medical insurance as well as to replace the paint in homes affected. However, it never received a single dollar, and has since been unfunded. To make matters worse, the City of Cleveland continuously failed to utilize the federal grants for the state program that removed lead paint. Now 14.2 percent of children there have high levels of lead in their blood, which is just over double the amount of children affected in Flint. A study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development revealed
that 37 million homes throughout the U.S. still have lead based paint and potentially harmful levels of lead can be found in soil, household dust and paint chips in 23 million homes. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that four million of those most dangerous households have children. A half-million children — in Atlantic City, Philadelphia and Allentown, Pa., where a remarkable 23.1 percent of children tested had excessive lead — are believed to have enough lead in their blood to merit a doctor’s attention,” according to the New York Times. Though much progress has been made, efforts have drastically slowed in the last decade, and Congress and the CDC are largely to blame for this lack of urgency. In 2000, $2.1 billion was to be allotted over a 10-year period to eliminate the hazard of lead in old homes. However, since 2003, funding for lead-reduction programs has fallen 43 percent, and Congress never ended up fulfilling their promise, according to The New York Times. Since 2009, the CDC has cut state grants for testing for lead poisoning in half. This has led to a 40% drop in the number of children under 6 who are tested. Equally alarming is the fact that 16 states currently don’t even show the results of their lead tests to federal officials. The White House, along with 150 other institutions, has pledged more than $5 billion to improve water accessibility and quality across the nation, according to CNBC. Only nine states are reporting safe levels of lead in their water supplies. The remaining 41 states have high levels of lead. The government is now stepping in to relieve tension and cut down on the amount of money that could potentially be lost due to the problem. The money put into this program would improve piping, water treatment plants and other water-related infrastructures. The project is slated to cost more than $80 billion over a nine-year period, CNBC reported. These repairs may come with a hefty price tag, but without
them, we could easily slide into a national catastrophe. We have known that lead paint was dangerous since the 1800s, and it still took until 1978 to get rid of it in paint and then another seven years before we eliminated it from gasoline. And yet, children are still being poisoned. Part of the reason that this has only recently garnered national attention is because of the disproportionate number of mainly black and low-income children that are affected by it. Dr. Dorr Dearborn, a pediatric lung specialist and former director of the Mary Ann Swetl and Center for Environmental Health at Case Western Reserve University told Cleveland.com, “It’s our society mindset to put it into the category that it doesn’t affect me, and it’s just [the inner city] and they have so many problems, what’s one more?” In 2013, the CDC released a study that showed between 2007 and 2010, black children had twice the amount of lead in their systems than white children, according to campuspress. yale.edu. And there are countless other findings like this. is a clear example of environmental racism that can be traced back to the 1930s and redlining. Some might even call it institutional racism. Thegrio.com states, “the poisoning of Black communities in America is certainly not a new phenomena. Historically and contemporarily, people of color, especially in low-income communities, have been and are continuing to be killed slowly, softly, and silently in their households, in their schools, and on their jobs with impunity – and at a greater rate than police killings and racialized state violence.” Maybe now that word has gotten out and these situations can no longer be swept under the rug, The Office of Civil Rights will actually try and do something to help. Sadly, only time will tell, and time is not something people in these neighborhoods have to waste.
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APRIL 2016
AS NEW DELHI’S AIR POLLUTION CRISIS INTENSIFIES,
PARTIAL SOLUTION FOUND USING FASHIONABLE AIR-FILTERING MASKS BY ANDREA NAVARRO
Every disaster is an opportunity, or so the saying goes. At least when that opportunity is in business and especially when that business is fashion. Air contamination in India has been an issue for a number of years, but in early 2014, the World Health Organization declared New Delhi the most polluted city on the planet. According to Plume Labs, last year New Delhi was two times as polluted as Beijing, a city notorious for their polluted and smog filled air. The difference between both cities until the last couple of months, however, was New Delhi’s citizens’ apathy in regards to the poison they have been breathing.
PHOTO COURTESY: VOGMASK
This might have been because India’s main issues like the high poverty levels and over-population (India is home to about one-third of world’s extreme poor and is set to become the most populated country by around 2022, beating China, according to the United Nations) are more pressing and require more attention in terms of immediate action. If you don’t have enough money to eat, you will feel hungry instantly, but the damage that polluted air causes in your organism can go undetected for months, if not years. That apathy, however, might be reaching its end thanks to fashionable new masks promising that “protect[ing] your health in public can now be a fashion statement.” Vogmask, a brand of Ohlone Press, a limited liability company launched in Santa Cruz that is now based in San Francisco, describes itself as “the first stylish, high efficiency, well-fitting, comfortable and reusable filtering face mask in the world.” These air-filtering masks have only been sold in India for a year but they are not new to the global market. China has been selling these masks for years because of their high pollution levels. According to a Scroll article, anti-pollution masks are in vogue across East Asia, which also faces catastrophic air pollution, though not to the levels that have reached India. Japan spends $230 million in masks every year, and China and Korea practice similar precautions against PM (particular matter) agents.
PM is the term for particles found in the air including dust, dirt, soot, smoke and liquid droplets. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, PM2.5, can be inhaled and absorbed into the gas exchange regions of the lungs, endangering the respiratory system. According to EPA guidelines, air quality is considered unhealthy if the average concentration of the PM2.5 particles is more than 100 micrograms per cubic meter. In January of last year, the average PM2.5 level in Delhi was 226, according to the US embassy that monitors their air levels. The average in Beijing for the same period was 95, making Delhi’s air more than twice as bad as Beijing’s. In both cities, however it continues to grow progressively worse as time passes. Despite the fact that this is not a new problem in New Delhi, the air-filering masks are just beginning to become popular with expatriates and Indians that are health-conscious and have a significant amount of disposable income; an arguably compact group of the 25 million people that live in the metropolitan area. Vogmask’s air-filtering masks provide “superior protection from PM 2.5 particles, dust, germs, pollen, and other airborne contaminants.” They are manufactured with award winning filtering textiles and offer “features of N99 filter, active carbon layer (C), and exhale valve (V) in microfiber or organic cotton outer and inner layers,” according to the company’s website. They are made in many designs, colors, patterns and styles. A total of 34 different models in three different sizes are now offered on their website, ranging in prices from 2,000.00 to 2,800,00 Indian rupees (around $25 to $40). However, according to the Indian SocioEconomic and Caste Census (SECC), 75 percent of Indians earn less than 5,000 rupees per month, making the purchase of a mask that would cost half of their salary highly improbable for the regular low-income person living in poverty. The same census that surveyed 300 million households, also revealed that only 10 percent of those homes have salaried jobs. Other mask options have been available in Delhi for a while, though so far, only the high-end designer masks are considered effective in terms of protecting against PM agents. Lightweight cotton masks (the type that surgeons wear) are not really effective because they are designed to trap large particles, such as sawdust. These masks, along with scarves and bandanas, can’t protect the wearer against small particles like PM2.5. Only masks that have filters can stop the small particles
that cause the most serious damage, as Vogmask does, because they use, according to their website’s specifications, a “revolutionary microfiber filtration fabric it filters an average of 99.978% of particulate matter such as tiny PM 2.5 particles.” A recent three-year study by the Kolkatabased Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute found that poor air quality is most harmful to children in the city. In fact, nearly half of the city’s 4.4 million schoolchildren suffer from irreversible lung damage because they have been breathing in the poisonous air. In SouthEast Asia, deaths attributable to ambient air pollution in children under fiveyears old reached 40,800 cases in 2012, according to data from the World Health Organization. In another study by the same organization, of the 6000 adults surveyed, 33.2 percent had symptoms indicating respiratory ailments. It has gotten so bad that many schools in the city have canceled their sport’s days because the excess of physical activity in such contaminated conditions can be detrimental to children’s health. The American Embassy School in New Delhi has instituted a policy against students doing aerobic activity without wearing protective masks when the particulate levels reach the hazardous range. In February of this year, Surenda Singh, an employee of a nonprofit company in Delhi described to The New York Times an instance in which he was the only person wearing a mask on a bus during his daily commute. All the other passengers regarded him with suspicion, believing that he must be “really sick, perhaps tuberculosis.” Other people also thought that he could be mentally ill. One passenger even believed he must be sick that, “he will die if he does not wear that mask.” According to Vogmask’s co-founder, Wendover Brown, that attitude has restricted sales in India. In China, sales are four times as high, and it is actually that sentiment that drives them. One of the most trivial reasons why people weren’t using them there (especially when considering the extent of the damage that PM can cause) was that they weren’t f lashy enough. Wearing masks can be inconvenient, because they are either seen to be unfashionable or unsuitable.
In China, the masks have become such a regular and widely accepted clothing item that most people have several of them, in different colors and patterns. Some women even customize them with their own designs, while most men stick to black and dark blue. They are so common and such a large part of Chinese culture, that they were even part of Hong Kong’s 2014 Fashion Week, when designer Nina Griffee used Vogmask’s air-filtering masks as accessories on her runway. Right now, Vogmask’s website features designs by top Indian fashion designer Manish Arora, who is based in New Delhi as well. Arora was appointed creative director of the French fashion house Paco Rabanne’s women’s wear collection in 2011, where he remained for one year. Jai Dhar Gupta, the official distributor of the masks in India said that he began selling them in January 2015. He calculated that he would sell about 10,000 masks a year, but he ended up selling that many in nine days. This past winter he has sold between 500 and 700 masks each day from two retail stores in the New Delhi area as well as the American Embassy School shop and on the mask’s official website. Some profitable business, that is.
“THEY ARE SO COMMON AND SO LARGELY INGRAINED IN CHINESE CULTURE, THAT THEY WERE EVEN PART OF HONG KONG’S 2014 FASHION WEEK, WHEN DESIGNER NINA GRIFFEE USED VOGMASK’S AIR-FILTERING MASKS AS ACCESSORIES ON HER RUNWAY.”
FEATURE HAUTE CULTURE
22
FIT
HIDE YOUR KIDS ! HIDE YOUR WIFE !
HIDE YOUR DATA ? BY ZATANYA SMITH
However, the AIDS Trojan was f lawed. It wasn’t long until experts could not only reverse the malware but they were also able to pinpoint the perpetrator. Popp declared mental instability during his trial and claimed that the money from the Trojan would be donated to fund AIDS research.
PHOTO COURTESY: 2WIRED2TIRED.COM
That’s right, the new and growing tech trend is seizing data for payment, also known as ransomware. Techopedia.com defines ransomware as a type of malware that infects, locks or takes control of a system and demands a ransom to release your files. Ransomware, or extortion malware, attacks and infects a computer with the intent to extort money from its owner. Ransomware may also be referred to as a crypto-virus, crypto-Trojan or crypto-worm. On February 15, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid $17,000 in bitcoins to hackers who seized their data 10 days prior. Simultaneously, two hospitals in Germany were hit with ransomware attacks. Lukas Hospital in Nuess, Germany, had to shut down their systems—they did not pay the hackers. Lukas Hospital reported their issues to the proper authorities. During the few weeks of their operation systems shut-down, they resorted to an outdated paper, pen and fax machine filing system. Hospitals are a prime target for two reasons: they need access to their patients’ information fast in order to treat them, leaving them more likely to pay up, and their IT infrastructures are not secure enough to block these attacks. While ransomware attacks on hospitals have only started recently, this phenomenon is not new. In 1989, Dr. Joseph Popp created PC Cyborg, also known as the AIDS Trojan. The AIDS Trojan encrypted file names and hid all folders. Then a dialogue box would pop up demanding victims to pay $189 to PC Cyborg Corp.
Since then, extortionist malware has only grown more and more sophisticated. In the past three years alone, over 25 different versions of ransomware have been sold on the market. Cryptowall and TeslaCrypt seem to be the most popular, while others include PCLock, El Polocker, CoinVault, CryptoFortress, Cryptolocker, Alphacrypt and more. All of the aforementioned extortionist malware were designed to attack PCs. However, according to bleepingcomputer.com, in early March of this year, the first known ransomware attack on a Mac took place. Palo Alto Networks was in the midst of updating Transmission, a BitTorrent client, when they discovered the intrusion. Called KeRanger, this extortionist malware would download onto a user’s system during an update of Transmission.
businesses and institutions will often pay so they can recover their databases rapidly, it sends the wrong message to hackers. Also, hackers often become more inclined to do it again once they see that they were able to manipulate their target. Unfortunately, the only way to remove extortion malware is by wiping the system clean, but there are some preventative steps that PC and Mac owners can take.
Here are a few tips to avoid ransomware from tripwire.com:
1. Back up your important files on a regular basis 2. Personalize your anti-spam settings correctly 3. Do not open suspicious attachments 4. Keep your operating system up to date 5. Keep the Windows Firewall turned on and properly configured at all times 6. Double up on firewall protection
KeRanger sleeps for three whole days before encrypting the victim’s Apple device. Once the files are encrypted, a ransom note appears with an explanation of what happened to the files and directions on how the user can regain access to their computer. The amount to decrypt the files is one bitcoin—valued at $400.
7. Enhance the security of Microsoft Office components (Excel, Word, Power Point, Outlook, etc.)
John Clay, a representative for the open-source Transmission project, told Forbes that “KeRanger was downloaded about 6,500 times before Apple and developers were able to thwart the threat.”
11. Turn-off unused wireless connections, Bluetooth and Infrared ports
Transmission also speedily removed the malicious 2.90 version of its software from its website. Fidelis Cybersecurity threat systems manager John Bambenek told Rueters, “It’s a small number, but these things always start small and ramp up huge. There’s a lot of Mac users out there and a lot of money to be made.” It is important that victims of ransomware know not to pay the ransom. While hospitals, major
8. Deactivate Autoplay on USB storage devices 9. Use strong passwords 10. Disable file sharing
As society continues to increase, and rely upon, their digital usage, the ransomware trend will continue to grow—assaulting companies, individuals and institutions without discrimination. As long as you are careful with the programs that you use and the files you choose to download, you should stay out of harm’s way.
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APRIL 2016
I M M I G R A N T S B E W A R E : H O W S AY I N G T H E WRONG THINGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA M I G H T G E T YO U D E P O R T E D
BY ANDREA NAVARRO
security threats and terrorism that social media screenings are now a standard part of immigration investigations. Matthew Kolken, an immigration attorney from Kolken & Kolken Immigration Lawyers said that “immigration offices routinely review social media in making assessments of eligibility for immigration status, or alternatively, if they are planning on charging someone with a violation of immigration law.”
PHOTO COURTESY:READTEXTMESSAGES.NET
International students living in the U.S. and immigrants that have resided here for a long time are subject to strict rules and regulations in order to remain in good standing with their foreign visas. If you are an international student living in the U.S. or an immigrant that has resided here for a long time, you are probably well aware that there are some rules and codes of conduct that we must follow in order to remain in good standing with our foreign visas. Some of these are fairly obvious, like don’t do anything illegal. Others include maintaining full-time student status (12 credits minimum), don’t accept a job offcampus without previous authorization from the school or immigration offices, and while being on your F-1 (student) visa, you may only study at the academic institution through which the visa was granted. That is, don’t go changing schools without telling the right people about it. An infringement of any of those rules could potentially cause the student to lose their status, and understandably so. However, a new rule has recently been added that has some up in arms about whether or not the government has finally crossed a line. Though we already know that big brother is watching and nothing is really and truly private anymore, those in the U.S. on visas are no longer able to post whatever they wish on social media without risking deportation. Whatever happened to freedom of speech being a bedrock of the United States? Last month news broke that Emadeldin El-Sayed, a 23 year-old Egyptian and Muslim f light student attending the
Universal Air Academy in Los Angeles, got his I-20 (the document showing an institution’s support for a student to get an F1 visa) revoked after the f light academy saw a post he made on his personal Facebook. It was a picture of Republican Candidate Donald Trump along with a comment stating that he “wouldn’t mind serving a life sentence for killing this guy,” and that in doing so, he’d be “doing the world a favor.” Without his I-20 (basically, without his school’s support), his student visa became invalid and therefore he was in violation of his terms of admission to the United States and thus here illegally. Even though U.S. prosecutors didn’t charge him with an actual crime, El-Sayed was arrested by immigration authorities last month at the f light school he attended. After trying to deport him for being here illegally, authorities allowed him to return to Egypt voluntarily upon request from his lawyers as a way to avoid the black mark that deportation would have left on his record. El-Sayed said he is “devastated at seeing his dreams of becoming a pilot dashed” over what his attorney acknowledged was a foolish social media post. “Immigration officers are absolutely looking at social media,” said Danielle Claffey, an immigration attorney for Kuck Immigration Partners. “We’ve come to realize that, when it comes to immigration issues, the government will definitely use social media to investigate an individual.” Claffey said that only five years ago, social media wasn’t on her radar in terms of immigration. Today, however, the internet is increasingly becoming a forum for
According to Kolken, the majority of things that immigrations officials review on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, are evidence of fraud and illegal activities, as well as inconsistencies in testimony. He said that even a picture (whether posted by the individual or tagged by someone else) showing that person involved in drunken activities or taking illegal drugs can be enough for immigration authorities to deny a visa application. “I’ve seen that happen in the past, where the client had pictures of illegal activity” he told Vice. “The government brought print-outs from social media into court.” This information comes shortly after the news that the Department of Homeland Security, at the urging of Congress, is “building tools” to “more aggressively examine” the social media channels of all visa applicants and people who are asking for asylum or refugee status in the U.S. for possible ties to terrorist organizations. These security measures were implemented in February after last December’s San Bernardino shootings aroused concerns that the counterterrorism official’s efforts were not as “robust as they could be,” according to Francis X. Taylor, one of the top counterterrorism official at the Department of Homeland Security. On the same front, El-Sayed told The Associated Press that the agent who interviewed him regarding the post he made about Trump also mentioned the shooting rampage by the Muslim married couple in San Bernardino and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which were executed by Muslims who had sought f light training in the United States. “It’s just a stupid post. You can find thousands of these every hour on Facebook and the media,” El-Sayed told The AP in a phone interview from jail. “I don’t know why they would think I am a threat to the national security of the United States just because of a stupid post.”
“THOUGH WE ALREADY KNOW THAT BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING AND NOTHING IS REALLY AND TRULY PRIVATE ANYMORE, THOSE IN THE U.S. ON VISAS ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO POST WHATEVER THEY WISH ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT RISKING DEPORTATION.”
El-Sayed’s post was unwise and regrettably imprudent, especially in a time where security concerns in the U.S. are completely legitimate. However, posts made on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites can hardly be taken seriously, especially taking into consideration the statements that Trump has made in the past about his views on immigration issues, such as his vow to build a wall along the entire Mexican border (and made them pay for it, without explaining how) and his wish to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the country. Just this month, Ted Cruz told Jimmy Kimmel, “If I were in my car and getting ready to reverse and saw Donald in the backup camera, I’m not confident which pedal I’d push.” This came after Cruz said last month that police should reinforce patrol and security in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. and likening it to increasing police presence in areas with known gang activity. So if Cruz can joke about killing Trump on live television without fear of repercussions (and without fear of looking like a cretin, either), other people should be able to express their opinions freely as well. Social media, after all, was created mainly as a way to connect with like-minded individuals, share opinions and rant (or as some people call tweeting, “shouting into the void”) to our heart’s content. Certainly, posts online can reveal infinite information that can be used to identify potential terrorists, but according to the New York Times, the department of Homeland Security is faced with “an array of technical, logistical and language barriers in trying to analyze the millions of records generated every day.” This new policy is f lawed and it can easily lead people who pose no threat to national security to being detained. Guilty by association does not, in fact, make someone guilty. Nor does posting your beliefs, even if they are critical of America and it’s policies. If there’s a lesson to be learned from this case, it is one that you have probably heard countless times from your parents: everything you post online is forever and yes, anyone can and will read it. And no, it doesn’t matter that your accounts are private. So be careful the next time you post that obnoxious joke— don’t say you weren’t warned.
FEATURE
24
FIT
S E AWO R LD TO STO P BREEDING KILLER WHALES BY LILY WRIGHT
BY LILY WRIGHT
PHOTO COURTESY: GUARDIANLV.COM
Since opening its doors to the public 57 years ago last month, SeaWorld has attracted millions of people by providing them with a unique experience to see killer whales up close. Today, the organization boasts 24 killer whales, or orcas, at its five parks, yet visitor numbers have decreased within the last few years due to public backlash against holding the animals in captivity. Now, SeaWorld is trying to change how many critics view the theme park by not breeding the killer whales in its facilities any longer. The documentary “Blackfish” accounts for one reason behind the drop in the number of visitors to SeaWorld, as well as the rise of attention regarding how the parks treat their marine life, according to San Diego-based radio station KPBS. “I think [the film] galvanized people into seeing something that they hadn’t seen before,” Gabriela Cooperwaite, director and producer of the documentary, told KPBS. The film, which aired on Netf lix in 2013, reached 60 million people, according to Fortune.com. As a result, park revenues dropped 84 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to The Guardian. Although the documentary raised awareness about the animals in captivity there, SeaWorld yielded to threats from activists long before the film came out. Last year, the parks stopped doing their orca shows, which featured the mammals doing tricks and splashing the crowd in the process. Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute told NBC that this decision was “a monumental and important first step forward in achieving a more humane business model.” SeaWorld said in an official statement that it has not captured any killer whales from the wild in 35 years. Joel
Manby, president and CEO of SeaWorld Entertainment said he’s hopeful that this change will show the public that SeaWorld is committed to taking the best care of these animals as possible, and that they want to keep their visitors happy and entertained. “We’ve helped make orcas among the most beloved marine mammals on the planet,” Manby said. “As society’s understanding of orcas continues to change, SeaWorld is changing with it. By making this the last generation of orcas in our care and reimagining how guests will experience these beautiful animals, we are fulfilling our mission of providing visitors to our parks with experiences that matter.” These “experiences that matter” could be the new Educational Encounters with which the parks have replaced the orca shows. They will take place at the old showing areas, remodeled after an orca’s natural habitat. The educational part of these viewings will focus on research, education and care of the animals that will advance their mission to show the audience how they protect the well-being of the mammals. Construction is scheduled to start next year in San Diego, followed by San Antonio, and finish with the Orlando park in 2019.
the majority of their lives,” he said. “If we release them into the ocean, they will likely die.” Despite the backlash from PETA, there are those who believe the company is making moves in the right direction. “These changes are something that advocates have been urging for years, and I think SeaWorld will find that visitors will reward their actions with a renewed interest in the parks,” California Congressman Adam Schiff told The Guardian. Last November, Schiff introduced the ORCA Act to try to prohibit breeding and the holding of the whales. Three days after he introduced the Act, SeaWorld decided to end its theatrical shows. The conditions at SeaWorld raise the question, what about other animals in captivity at zoos and circuses? PETA has taken a huge stand against the captivity and exploitation of these animals. SeaWorld wants the public to know that it cares about its animals, stating on its website, “SeaWorld has committed $50 million over the next five years to be world’s leading marine animal rescue organization, to advocate for an end to the commercial killing of whales and seals and an end to shark finning.”
“SEAWORLD MUST OPEN ITS TANKS TO THE OCEANS TO ALLOW THE ORCAS IT NOW HOLDS CAPTIVE TO HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF A LIFE OUTSIDE THESE PRISON TANKS.”
However, the animal rights organization PETA doesn’t think these measures are enough, calling it a “payoff” from its campaign to change the way SeaWorld operates. “Today is the day to stop breeding, not sometime later this year,” PETA director Mimi Bekhechi told NBC. “SeaWorld must open its tanks to the oceans to allow the orcas it now holds captive to have some semblance of a life outside these prison tanks.” Many responded by explaining that letting the orcas out would end in disaster. “Most of our orcas were born at SeaWorld, and those that were born in the wild have been in our parks for PHOTO COURTESY: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
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APRIL 2016
APPLE V. FBI:
THE FUTURE OF DATA PROTECTION BY DANIEL NISSIM
In this age of information, there is nothing more important than personal data. Today, cell phones have become vaults of valuable information: health data, banking information, emails, photos and many more forms of highly sensitive data. Tech companies pride themselves in encrypting cell phone data so it’s secure from intrusion. Apple, one of the major cell phone manufacturers, is in the midst of a battle with FBI that could threaten both the security of its devices and set a dangerous precedent.
“THE LEGISLATION OUR COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON MUST CONTINUE TO EVOLVE TO KEEP UP WITH ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY. WHILE THERE IS A RIGHT TO SEE JUSTICE FULFILLED IN THE SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING, THERE IS AN EQUALLY MORAL RIGHT TO SEE PRIVATE COMPANIES’ RIGHTS PROTECTED FROM UNDUE GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE.”
On Dec. 2, 2015, 14 people were killed in a shooting in San Bernardino, California. The perpetrators of this attack, Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, are believed to be homegrown terrorists – not part of any active cell, particularly ISIS. In an effort to discover more information about the planning of the attack (and any possible ties to ISIS), the FBI requested Apple’s help in retrieving the data from Farook’s government-issued iPhone 5c. By Apple’s encryption standards, they do not have access to their customer’s data, and the only way to access the data is with the encryption key — a passcode. To circumvent this obstacle, the FBI requested that Apple rewrite the phone software — create a custom iOS — so they can retrieve the necessary data. Apple said no. In an open letter to his customers, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to the FBI’s request. On the matter he said, “Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.” He added, “The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.” By denying the FBI’s request, including multiple orders from the Justice Department, Apple is taking a stand for the rights of their customers and their own freedom against government control. Apple is not alone in this fight. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and many more have filed amicus briefs in an effort to make the FBI withdraw its request. They understand what this decision could mean for the future of their business and the very slippery slope it could lead to. In an odd twist of fate, the government messed up their initial chance at retrieving the data. In one of the Justice Department’s motions for Apple to comply with the FBI, it was revealed that after the attack, a San Bernardino County employee changed the Apple ID pertaining to Farook’s iPhone. The change ceased any further iCloud backups – a data source Apple would have happily shared with the FBI. While Apple has allies backing them, there were some opponents. One of the most interesting, and more colorful, of amicus briefs against Apple was filed by the San Bernardino County District Attorney, Michael Ramos. In his filing, he said, “The iPhone is a county owned telephone that may have connected to the San Bernardino County computer network. The seized iPhone may contain evidence that can only be found on the seized phone that it was used as a weapon to introduce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino’s infrastructure.” A “cyber
pathogen?” There is no basis in technology for a cyber pathogen – which is probably more likely to be found in the realm of science fiction. In February, a US Magistrate in New York ruled against the government’s request, issued through the All Writs Act, for Apple to unlock iPhone. While the case involved drug trafficking, not terrorism, it is still a considerable win for Apple. On March 1, Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell and FBI Director James Comey appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. Sewell argued three major points: (1) “Do we want to put a limit on the technology that protects our data, and therefore our privacy and our safety, in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks?” (2) “Should the FBI be allowed to stop Apple, or any company, from offering the American people the safest and most secure product it can make?” (3) “Should the FBI have the right to compel a company to produce a product it doesn’t already make, to the FBI’s exact specifications and for the FBI’s use?” Comey argued, “From the founding of this country it was contemplated that law enforcement could go into your house with appropriate predication and oversight. So to me the logic of that means they wouldn’t have imagined any box or storage area that couldn’t be entered. … This entire country of ours is based on a balance. It’s a hard one to strike, but it’s so seductive to talk about privacy as an ultimate value in a society where we aspire to be safe, and have our families safe, and our children safe — that can’t be true, we have to find a way to accommodate both.” In an interesting exchange, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) posed to Comey, “The FBI is the premier law enforcement organization with laboratories that are second to none in the world. Are you testifying today that you, and or contractors that you employ, could not achieve this without demanding an unwilling partner do it?” To which he responded, “Correct.” There seemed to be no resolution in sight until the FBI withdrew its claim against Apple and sought private help with their case — with success reported in the beginning of April. “Litigation between the government and Apple over the San Bernardino phone has ended, because the government has purchased, from a private party, a way to get into that phone, 5C, running iOS 9,” Comey said. However, the tool may be ineffective against the 5s, according to CNN. Select senators have been briefed on this “tool,” as Comey calls it — one of which is Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Feinstein, along with Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), who was also offered a chance to be briefed, are working on an antiencryption bill, according to Engadget. Clearly, the FBI is being strategic in sharing pertinent details. When asked whether or not the FBI would be sharing this information with Apple, Comey said, “We tell Apple, then they’re going to fix it, then we’re back where we started from.” The argument here is not whether or not Apple supports terrorism or just doesn’t wish to comply with the FBI. It is whether or not the FBI can lawfully ask these things of a company. The legislation our country was founded on must continue to evolve to keep up with advances in technology. While there is a right to see justice fulfilled in the San Bernardino shooting, there is an equally moral right to see private companies’ rights protected from undue government interference. While this case may have seen a successful conclusion, there still remains the New York drug case that has yet to be resolved. The battle over encryption, and government interference, remains unconcluded.
HAUTE CULTURE
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ALBUM REVIEW:
“MIND OF MINE” — ZAYN BY NATALIA PEREIRA
“Mind of Mine,” which was released on March 25 and continues to climb the charts.
PHOTO COURTESY: @ZAYNMALIK
If you are unfamiliar with Zayn Malik’s newer solo career then you will definitely remember him from his days as a member of British boyband One Direction. The teenage heartthrob split from the band in March 2015 with aspirations to launch his own music, under simply the name “Zayn,” breaking millions of fans’ hearts. But if you happened to be one of those diehard followers, don’t fret. You will get your fill with his newest album,
Though many are still upset by his sudden departure from One Direction, US Weekly raved, “Leaving his old One Direction brethren in his dust, Zayn sprints ahead with an alluring solo debut.” This album has reached the same level of success as One Direction, but in a different spotlight. In fact, this new sound of Zayn’s could not be steered more away from his teen boyband persona — allowing him to produce tracks that portray his vast falsettos and mature lyrics that were never relevant to his boyband days. Zayn spoke with The Fader about his time in the band, saying, “If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or slightly myself, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight version that was pop, generic as [expletive]. I just wasn’t convinced with what we were selling. I wasn’t 100
percent behind the music. It wasn’t me.” And with that came his final departure from One Direction followed by the start of his solo career.
of growing up as a musician — from a carefree boy writing poppy, unrealistic love songs to a 23-year-old man writing about the realities of love.
“Mind of Mine,” on its March 25 release date, was already on top of the iTunes pop album charts — surpassing No. 1 releases by Justin Bieber and Adele. I disagree with iTunes’ classification of Zayn’s album as “pop,” as I believe it lies outside the broad genre. In fact, his tracks have more of an R&B vibe mixed with a twist of soul — as shown in one of my most played hits of Zayn’s, “Like I Would.” Other than its ironically similar title to One Direction’s hit “I Would,” Zayn’s song has a vastly different sound and more mature lyrics — targeted outside the younger demographic of the British band.
And if you crave a tasteful falsetto, tracks including “It’s You” and “Drunk” are the perfect selections for your playlist, which showcase Zayn’s famed high notes highlighted during his time in One Direction.
Having a sound similar to current R&B/soul artist The Weeknd, it was evident that songs, such as “Pillowtalk” and “Truth,” showed a large transition
To declare Kendrick Lamar one of, if not the best rapper of this generation would be an understatement. After three game-changing studio albums and a riveting performance at the Grammys this past February, Lamar is in his prime both as a performer and storyteller.
PHOTO COURTESY:EMORYWHEEL.COM
ALBUM REVIEW: “UNTITLED UNMASTERED” — KENDRICK LAMAR BY DANA HEYWARD
While many, including myself, are still listening to his 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterf ly” on repeat, Lamar released a new album into the rotation this March. “Untitled Unmastered” is an eight-track collection of demos that didn’t make the final cut for “Butterf ly.” Many of the songs are clearly raw tracks free of mastering and edits, while others sound as though they could easily blend right into “Butterf ly.” But like all Lamar projects, they require more than one listen in order to even attempt to unpack all their meanings. The first track opens with an intro from the neo-soul singer Bilal as he beckons to an unheard woman. His voice is discomforting to say the least. But the slow, sensuous intro plays well when the track picks up and Lamar goes into a powerful rant about the Book of Revelations. However, the song doesn’t set the stage for the whole album and only gives a small taste of the rest of the project. Many of the tracks convey the same themes and ideas as “Butterf ly.” The concept of the “mortal man” appears again on “Untitled 06, 06.30.2014.”
This album’s track list shows that Zayn’s departure from One Direction gave him the chance to write and sing however he wanted, which was impossible to risk under his past contract. “Mind of Mine” gives us, the listeners, the true persona of Zayn, who is finally performing content that he is passionate about for the first time in his music career. Goodbye One Direction. Say hello to Zayn.
The track includes a feature from Cee-Lo Green as the two come together in an attempt to woo a lover to accept them, f laws and all. But this time, the idea of the mortal man refers more to the acceptance of identity rather than a question of one. Green sings, “Am I a mortal man, or make-believe? Anything you want.” “Untitled 04, 08.14.2014” features fellow TDE label mates SZA and Jay Rock and is probably one of the strongest tracks on the album despite Lamar making a very brief appearance on the track. SZA soulfully sings, “They say the government mislead the youth,” as Lamar interjects with whispers about his own past in relation. The song in general consists of mulledover thoughts about the future and about what it may or may not mean. Despite its ambivalent meanings, the sound is calming, soothing almost. While the album definitely feels as though it’s lurking in “Butterf ly’s” shadows at times, it still packs a punch that’s distinctly its own. The content is still gripping, but it’s much more relaxed in its execution. In the past, Lamar took us on a full journey of the inner workings of his complex mind. But “Untitled Unmastered” feels more like brief glimpses into smaller narratives.
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APRIL 2016
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R E S TA U R A N T R E V I E W : S A LV AT I O N B U R G E R BY DANA HEYWARD
You can buy quite a few things with $25 in New York City. You can visit the Museum of Modern Art, take a day trip to Coney Island, buy a King Kong Banana Split at Morgenstern’s or splurge on the Salvation Burger at the newest April Bloomfield outpost in Turtle Bay. Burgers have become associated with Bloomfield like water lilies are with Monet. From her lamb burger at The Breslin to the famed Roquefort burger at The Spotted Pig, Bloomfield has become a force to be reckoned with in the New York restaurant scene. The New Yorker even dubbed her the “burger queen.” So it’s no surprise that this past February, she opened a restaurant dedicated to her claim to fame. The design and layout of Salvation Burger is relatively simple and definitely takes a few cues from Bloomfield’s British roots. It’s a cross between a gastropub and a modern fast-casual restaurant, lined with wood-paneled walls, small TVs that display a roasting fireplace and an open kitchen where you can see burgers carefully cooked over a wood-fired grill right before your eyes. Bloomfield told the New York Post that classic American fastfood spots like Five Guys and even McDonald’s inspired her. But what separates Salvation Burger from the
competition is that everything is made in-house, whether it’s the beef that’s ground and dry-aged in the kitchen or the cheese that’s made from scratch. While the menu offers a range of dishes including smoked hot dogs, fried fruit pies and boozy shakes, the restaurant’s namesake burger is the go-to pick on the menu. For $25, you get the Salvation Burger, a hefty 8-ounce, dry-aged beef burger topped with caramelized onions and rich Taleggio cheese. And no, that doesn’t include fries or any other sides, but the burger alone is really all you need. And if the burger somehow leaves you hankering for more, compliment your meal with a chocolate-and-mint boozy shake — or two — and some fries. However delectable it may be, it’s hard to ignore such a steep price. Is it really worth it at $25? The burger is thick, and despite its simple ingredients, it’s wrapped with undeniable f lavor that’s more reminiscent of a steak than a typical burger. Halfway through it, the faint taste of smoke from the grill lingers on the patty. However, the taste and house-made operation behind it still doesn’t quite justify the price tag. It’s good, just not $25 good.
MUSEUM RE VIE W: THE MET BREUER BY MEGHAN KANE The walls within the galleries of the Met Breuer are anchored to neither the f loor nor the ceiling, and while they can theoretically be moved, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is unlikely to do so. The building, owned by the Whitney and leased to the Met, is a landmark and therefore can’t be changed or altered in case the Whitney wants to reclaim the space someday, according to an anonymous Met Breuer security guard. The air is that of something ephemeral, something not quite finished growing. The Met Breuer is home to an array of world-renowned works of art, but something about it feels temporary. Although the space is complete, it’s almost as if the idea behind the exhibit “Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible” has seeped into the unattached dividers throughout the institution. An exhibit fragmented by works from a wide range of artists who lived and worked during different time periods and in various styles, “Unfinished” is an unconventional, revealing and amusing collection of art. Though each piece is distinct, because none have been completed, there is a commonality among them. The works, had they been finished, would likely never have come into contact with one another if not for this
exhibit and therefore look unnatural hanging adjacent from one another. Perhaps the most memorable artwork that can currently be viewed at the Met Breuer is “Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)” by Felix GonzalezTorres, originally on view at the Art Institute of Chicago. This 1991 work, located within the Emily Fisher Landau Galleries, is described as an endless supply of candies individually wrapped in multicolored cellophane. It is an unconventional portrait of Gonzalez-Torres’s partner, Ross Laycock, who died of an AIDSrelated illness in 1991. The public is encouraged to take a piece of candy from the pile until it eventually dwindles down to a much smaller mound. The museum where the work is on display replenishes the supply of candy, which weighs in at 175 pounds, Laycock’s ideal weight, before it vanishes completely. The concept is heartbreaking, referring to Laycock’s shrinkage of mass and weight as well as the dark art of continually taking, which is what the disease is known for. Although the space may or may not be permanent, as indicated by the mysterious Met Breuer employee, it’s a place worth exploring even if its concept is as coolly disjointed as its façade.
MOVIE RE VIE W:
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAW N O F DA R K N E S S BY DANIEL NISSIM
PHOTO COURTESY: COMINGSOON.NET
DC Comics’ latest film, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” is another failed attempt at matching the magic of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Even though the film features DC’s trinity — Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman — it disappointed this DC fanboy. From its poor script to its lack of character motivation, director Zack Snyder’s film is a mess. Within the first 10 minutes, I knew I was in for a rough ride. Snyder depicts the famous murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne à la “300”-style slow-mo. The effect detracts from the brutality of the moment and only makes the whole thing seem comical. The following scene includes more of Snyder’s distractingly obvious religious overtones — seriously? From there, the whole movie is just a setup to the showdown between Batman and Superman. There are scenes in between, but they were ultimately filler. Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is certainly an interesting addition. His is a more Silicon Valley start-up billionaire/maniac portrayal that has its merits, but is taken a little too far. Luthor is the main character pushing the plot forward, but it is unclear why he hates Superman. In the comics, he hates Superman because he is an alien who has achieved his power without hard work. The film, however, just has him hating Superman because that’s just what Lex Luthor does — sloppy. Lois Lane was a powerful female character in “Man of Steel,” but in “Batman v Superman,” her only role seems to be Superman’s personal plot leader. Lois ends up in a situation where Superman has to save her (surprise surprise), and then he has to deal with the fallout. Henry Cavill’s Superman is no beacon of hope. He seems to go from saving a Russian rocket to a little girl in a building without smiling and
without inspiring. It’s as if he’s just saving people because he can, but he’s conf licted about the whole thing because that’s Snyder’s dark universe. “Jeez guys, do I really have to keep on saving you?” Ben Aff leck’s Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman were two sources for hope. Aff leck’s Batman is darker than Christian Bale’s Batman from the “Dark Knight” trilogy. He’s weary, having served as the Batman for 20 years, and has become jaded and cynical. As the Batman, he’s imposing — he really f lexes that signature batstrength from the comics. The film gives us a taste of Gadot’s Wonder Woman, leaving me anticipating the release of her solo film out next year. I had my doubts about whether she was going to do that role justice; however, she truly embodies the warrior spirit of Princess Diana of Themyscira. All in all, I’m not on board with Warner Bros.’ vision for a DC Cinematic Universe. “Man of Steel” was dark, and a lot of people died — Superman even killed someone. I was OK with that. “Batman v Superman” continues in this regard, but it seems forced, even unnatural. Batman seems to kill with reckless abandon. Marvel has had success with darker television shows like “Daredevil,” but this film tries too hard to be gritty. Ultimately, if you are a comic-book fan, there’s some good stuff there for you. I would not recommend this film to the casual moviegoer. Looking to the future, Warner Bros. has Snyder set to direct the next two Justice League movies — a move that seems ill-advised, but unfortunately set in stone. At best, he’s an OK director, but he hasn’t quite hit the mark with “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman.” Here’s hoping this summer’s “Suicide Squad” is better.
HAUTE CULTURE
THEATER REVIEW:
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‘AMERICAN PSYCHO’ KILLS IT ON BROADWAY BY JONATHAN LEE
Twenty-five years after Bret Easton Ellis wrote his controversial novel “American Psycho,” the Broadway premiere of “American Psycho: The Musical” began previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on March 24, with an official opening set for April 21. Directed by Olivier Award winner Rupert Goold with book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the show stars Benjamin Walker (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) as Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street investment banker living the American dream in New York City circa 1989. Patrick wears the most expensive designer clothes, dines at the most exclusive restaurants and parties at the trendiest nightclubs. But beneath the shallow, materialistic surface, Patrick is deeply disturbed — and as his mask of sanity starts to slip, people close to him start to disappear. The beautiful and talented female leads include Heléne Yorke as Evelyn Williams, Patrick’s diva fiancée; Morgan Weed as Courtney Lawrence, his moody mistress; Tony Award winner Alice Ripley as Mrs. Bateman, his overbearing mother; and Tony nominee Jennifer Damiano
as his dowdy secretary Jean, the one genuine person in his life who could be his chance at redemption. Patrick’s entourage of interchangeable Bud Fox look-alikes consists of Craig McDermott (Anthony Sagaria), Timothy Price (Theo Stockman), David Van Patten (Dave Thomas Brown) and Luis Carruthers (Jordan Dean), who harbors a crush on Patrick. Drew Moerlein plays his colleague/rival Paul Owen, who manages to one-up him at every turn. Sean Bateman (Jason Hite), his hipster younger brother, also makes an appearance in this version. And Keith Randolph Smith steals every scene he’s in as Detective Donald Kimball. Choreographed by Lynne Page, the ensemble performs intentionally overstylized dance routines reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to classic ’80s new wave hits by Tears for Fears, New Order, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, and Human League mixed with an original synthpop score by Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik. Although the concept of turning Ellis’ macabre masterpiece into a musical might seem absurd at first, this adaptation actually works brilliantly.
The smoke, haze and strobe lighting effects give the stage production a hauntingly surreal ambience that perfectly illustrates Patrick’s role as an unreliable narrator of events. And yes, true to its source material, the spectacle delivers plenty of violence as well as some simulated pornography. Act I could almost be “FIT: The Musical.” Much of the first act plays out with campy humor, mocking the characters’ obsession with fashion and appearance. For instance, the song “You Are What You Wear” rhymes the word “ironic” with Manolo Blahnik, and during the “Cards” number, the hotshot corporate executives compete to show off who has the best taste in typefaces (“My font, Imperial, yours Times New Roman”), which incidentally, happened at a recent W27 meeting — minus the singing and dancing, of course. By Act II, the story gets increasingly darker as Patrick’s isolation and rage intensify with a series of awkwardly frustrating social encounters that leave him feeling like a “ghost,” as he puts it. Walker spends most of the second act in his blood-splattered underwear, which seems to go unnoticed by the other characters as they continue to interact
with Patrick as normal, a sign that he’s having a complete psychotic breakdown at this point. Warning: possible spoilers ahead. Once Patrick finally snaps out of his delusional fantasy life as a serial killer, the show ends with an interesting twist that’s a little different from the original ending. He marches down the aisle with Evelyn, the bride he doesn’t love, showered with confetti by all the “friends” he doesn’t like, as they sing “This is Not an Exit.” Unable to escape his hopeless reality, he’s forced to face it and carry on as usual with his superficial, meaningless existence. In case you still don’t get what “American Psycho” is about by the end of the show, Patrick dumbs it down for the audience: It’s not a fable, an allegory or even a cautionary tale, he lyrically explains. While it’s fair to interpret the story as a criticism of Reagan-era yuppie culture, it’s essentially about an angst-ridden young man’s struggle to fit in among a world that he doesn’t understand — at least, on a purely authorial intent level.
W27
CONCERT REVIEWS ADAM LAMBERT BY NATALIA PEREIRA
Adam Lambert. If you are anything like me, than just the mere mention of his name sends a shiver down your spine. Adam Lambert. As each letter of his name f lickered and the opening track began, I couldn’t believe the time had come. I’d been waiting for this night for eight years. Like so many other crazed Glamberts, I felt that the release of his first solo album could not come soon enough! The beautiful and talented “Glee” star, Alex Newell opened the show. As she took the stage, it was hard not to be mesmerized by her beauty as well as her eccentricity. She simply blossomed and it was certainly a sight to see, and of course hear. Her musical prowess was the perfect compliment to Lambert’s powerful range. Both Newell and Lambert advocate strongly for individuality and being able to choose who you want to be in life, and their stage presence is so intense that it makes you feel that way too. I found I had a little extra pep in my step and that my inhibitions were lower. Maybe it was the building anticipation for Lambert to start the show, and maybe she really is that intoxicating, I will take it either way. Following Newell, Lambert, accompanied by two vibrant backup dancers, strutted to the stage with his opening number “Evil in the Night” from his newest album release “The Original High.” He followed it up with his 2009 popular radio hit, “For BY MARTIN ALLEN Your Entertainment” — an instant Bronx-born, Virginia-raised crowd pleaser. MC Pusha T delivered a hardhitting, fast-paced and wellorganized set list to a capacity crowd at PlayStation Theater March 26. The rapper made sure to bring his signature style and hardcore energy, as the show was the only New York stop on his Darkest Before Dawn tour.
PUSHA T
PHOTO COURTESY: CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
FALL OUT BOY BY NATALIA PEREIRA
APRIL 2016
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Pusha T, formerly of rap duo Clipse, is known for his complex metaphors and ominous-sounding tracks that range in subject matter from designer handbags to his cocaine-dealing past. The rapper was also named president of Kanye West-founded label, GOOD Music in December.
Fifteen years ago, American rock band Fall Out Boy appeared on the scene. Now on its fifth headlining tour, Wintour is Coming, the band played to a crowd of adoring and loyal fans at one of the most iconic venues around the world, Madison Square Garden, a mere five blocks from FIT.
The show, which took place on March 5, opened with PVRIS and Awolnation taking the stage to get the crowd hyped for the headlining act. Powerful anthems, “You and I” and “Sail,” brought fans to their feet as they shouted the lyrics along with the band. The energy was palpable and Fall Out Boy hadn’t even come out yet. The room became dark, curtains obstructed the stage from all angles and the crowd grew silent, all pressing the red record buttons on their iPhones, anxiously waiting to get a first look at Fall Out Boy. The countdown began, the lights f lashed in an instant and the music began blaring from the various stage instruments, indicating that the show was about to begin. When the curtains opened, out came Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley ready to rock Madison Square Garden’s sold-out show. The band started the set with a newer hit off their latest album, “Irresistible,” very much a fan favorite. Following the more recent tracks, Fall Out Boy continued to please as they took a trip down memory lane singing, “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” and “Dance, Dance.” It was clear that the audience was full of long-time fans because they sang along to each and every song. In addition to playing various popular songs that the crowd raved over, the extraordinary special effects helped make the show a success. During “Fourth of July,” another track from the group’s last album, “American Beauty/American Psycho,” fire cannons shot out f lames in tandem with the song’s drum beats, making the pulsating performance very eye-catching.
Rappers Tiara Thomas, Bia, G Herbo and Lil Bibby supported Pusha T at his New York date. While the openers played a bit too long, they still helped set a fun, loud and raucous atmosphere that would only enhance the performance of “King Push.”
The crowd itself differed from the typical general admission atmosphere of today. Going into this show, knowing that there were no seats and expecting just a f loor full of teenage fans to make PHOTO COURTESY: the first dash to the NATALIA PEREIRA stage’s barricade as usual at today’s general admission shows, I was shocked to have a different reaction. Actually, I was probably one of the youngest crowd members, surrounded by women in their 40s who shared the same love for Lambert — fangirling over his every move. The more mature crowd helped make the performance more enjoyable — none of these ladies pushed her way through the barricade and held up her cell phone to record every song on her Snapchat story, again, like the current generation of concertgoers. That said, the crowd’s interaction with Lambert was more lively as dedicated fans sang every lyric, especially during Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” Lambert was the frontman of Queen’s last tour during Summer 2014. Throughout the set, he not only played his well known covers from “American Idol,” such as his iconic Tears for Fears’ “Mad World,” notably the most popular rendition of the entire season, but played many of his newer crowd favorites from his latest album, including “Ghost Town,” “The Original High” and “Another Lonely Night.” And of course, Lambert would not be where he is today without his first single that skyrocketed his career, “Whataya Want from Me,” to which the diehard fans screamed every last word. If members of the crowd were not familiar with Lambert’s newest works, they were bound to know this track. Lambert is known for his unique personality portrayed through his theatrics — a trait that can make or break a star in the industry. He performs each individual song differently from the next, leaving audience members intrigued and interested for the entire show. If you are looking for some pop ballads His setmixed with exotic costumes list featured and light shows, Lambert highlights from his is definitely the new new album, “Darkest show to add to your Before Dawn,” including bucket list. a dark, eerie “Untouchable,” as well as GOOD Music staples such as “Mercy,” “So Appalled” and “Don’t Like.” He closed the show with an energy-packed version of Future’s “Move That Dope,” accompanied by G Herbo, Lil Bibby and Bia.
The performance reaffirmed this fan’s opinion that Die-hard fans Pusha is by far one of the most lyrical, artful and talented were ecstatic upon MCs in the rap scene today. The only downside was that hearing“Thnks fr th Mmrs” there wasn’t a second night. live one more time. The audience jumped to their feet, Pusha T’s latest release, “King Push – Darkest shouting the lyrics along with the Before Dawn: The Prelude” is out now on band, the ground shaking with every GOOD Music. note. Though it was a f leeting moment, in that instant, I could feel myself connecting with the almost 18,000 other fans. We share a deep appreciation for Fall Out Boy and the amazing 15 years of music they gave us and it was like a jolt of electricity f lowing through us all. After returning to the stage for a final encore, Stump and Wentz thanked the crowd one last time for their ongoing and continued devotion. They closed out the show with 2014 radio hit “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ’Em Up)” along with 2003 track “Saturday” from the band’s very first album. Once again, Fall Out Boy exceeded expectations and made it a night to remember.
PHOTO COURTESY: NATALIA PEREIRA
MONTH IN REVIEW
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FIT
US STUDENT SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS HARD LABOR IN N. KOREA BY ALLISON HATCH
After stealing a political banner from the Yanggakdo International Hotel in North Korea, 21-year old University of Virginia student Otto Frederick Warmbier was stopped and arrested by government officials right before trying to board a plane back to the United States on Jan 2.
PHOTO COURTESY:
CNN.COM
Just over two months later, on March 16, Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. This occurred around the same time that the hostile North Korean and American relationship began to further escalate due to North Korea’s recent missile weapon testing and nuclear weapons program. The sentence has come amidst a stream of other Americans being held and arrested by the North Korean government. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said it was “increasingly clear that the North Korean government intends to use these citizens as pawns,” according to The New York Times.
Warmbier was part of a five-day trip organized through the Young Pioneers Tours company. It’s website describes itself as providing Their website says they provide “budget tours to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.” While staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel over the New Year’s holiday, Warmbier stole a political banner from a staffonly area with the intention of giving the banner to a church member back home in Wyoming, Ohio. Warmbier said the church member offered him a $10,000 used car in exchange for the banner, which was to be displayed in the Friendship United Methodist Church. However, the Guardian reported that church officials said Warmbier was not actually a member of their congregation, nor did they know the woman he had referred to.. The North Korean government has been accused of coercing Warmbier to confess his crime at a press conference given in February, where he said, “I made the worst mistake of my life.” According to the BBC, Warmbier was further quoted saying, “The aim of my task was to harm the motivation and work ethic of the Korean people. This was a very foolish aim.” U.S. officials have raised questions regarding the accuracy and truthfulness of such statements,
as Americans imprisoned in similar situations in North Korea admitted upon release to being forced into confession and apologizing. While sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, we have no knowledge regarding what “hard labor” constitutes, or if Warmbier will be forced to serve out his entire sentence. Previously, Americans imprisoned under similar conditions were often released early following a top U.S. government official’s visit to North Korea. CNN reported that Greg Scarlatoiu, the executive director for the Committee for Humans Rights in North Korea, said Warmbier “may spend his day planting apple trees. It will be fairly grueling forced labor.” Agricultural work has been the penalty for detained Americans in the past, with the labor camps forcing prisoners into strenuous physical labor, long hours and little food. “His detention was completely unjustified and the sentence North Korea imposed on him is an affront to concepts of justice,” Ohio Governor and Republican primary candidate John Kasich said in a press release. The U.S. State Department has been working closely with the Swedish government on the issue, as Sweden serves as the go-between for the U.S. and North Korea because of the lack of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
BRAZIL IN CRISIS: L O O K I N G AT P O L I T I C A L A N D E C O N O M I C TURMOIL PL AGUING BR A ZIL BY ALLISON HATCH
Former Brazilian President Lula de Silva recently told foreign journalists that, “A climate of hate has been established on the streets of this country,” reports the Financial Times. Sadly, this strong statement actually downplays the dire situation Brazil has found itself in. Brazil is in the throes of a financial crisis as the country increasingly approaches its worst economic recession in over a century. Meanwhile, the state-owned oil company, Petrobras, fights to maintain its reputation in the wake of recent scandals; the company’s directors were caught securing private funds of up to $100 million in Swiss banks through collaboration with Petrobras’ contractors, according to the Financial Times. Opposition to the currently ruling Workers’ Party have accused the party of financing its political campaigns through bribery coalescing with Petrobras’ contractors.
With high inf lation, unemployment and a drastic devaluation of the real — Brazil’s currency — Brazilians across the country have openly condemned the current government regime. According to the BBC, more than 3.5 million people in 300 cities nationwide have held demonstrations in the streets, while the country’s most widely read newspaper, Folha de S Paulo, has created an entire section called “Brazil in Crisis” with news relating to recent protests, corruption investigations and the ongoing debate over impeaching President Dilma Rousseff. While only 15 months into her second term, President Rousseff has been accused of hiding accounts and the actual financial figures of Brazil’s staggering deficit, while political opposition has argued that her 2010 and 2014 presidential campaigns were funded through kickbacks from the Petrobras scandal. Rousseff served as
the chairman of the oil company from 2003 to 2010, while also serving as the energy minister before becoming the chief of staff under da Silva. The impending threat of impeachment has been spurred by the recent deterioration of Brazil’s ruling coalition. The BBC reported that the largest party in the coalition, the PMPD (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party), has voted for an “immediate exit” from President Dilma Rousseff’s government. Meanwhile, two other senior officials have resigned amidst a growing list of political leaders stepping down in light of the corruption and investigations taking place. Col Adilson Moreira, who prior to resignation, led the security measures for the approaching Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, wrote that he was ashamed that “an unscrupulous group” was leading the country. In order to avoid impeachment, Rousseff must secure
the vote of one-third of Congress. The exit of the PMPD from the ruling coalition has further damaged the authority of Rousseff, while her opponents have suggested that she will attempt to win the votes of smaller political parties by offering them ministry and cabinet positions. The economic and political upheaval marking Rousseff’s regime has attracted attention around the world. While the vote on Rousseff’s impeachment next month is unlikely to take place in Brazilian Congress, the Financial Times noted that the scandals marking the current government has placed more attention on the independence of the country’s investigative institutions. If Rousseff is impeached, the decision will heed Brazil’s increasing call for transparency throughout its political organizations, which is a fundamental element of democracy.
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FIT SPEAKS:
COMING UP ON
GRADUATION BY KAYLEE DENMEAD
To say I’m ready to graduate from FIT would be an understatement. It’s been a long four years, a trying four years and an exhausting four years.
“FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN I STARTED, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WANTED TO DO OR WHO I WANTED TO BE. FIT WAS MY DOOR OUT OF A SMALL TOWN, AND NEW YORK CITY WAS MY ENTRANCE TO A PLACE WHERE NO ONE KNEW WHO I WAS.”
Looking back on my time at FIT,, it’s not the all-nighters or group projects that stand out. It’s the people, the professors, the education and the style. It’s the opportunities. It’s the one’s who made it, adding to FIT’s long list of successes, who reminded me that I am going to make it, too. It’s the days when I got it all done on time even if it took two days without sleep. FIT was my dream. I got my acceptance folder on St. Patrick’s Day when I was a senior in high school, and none of the other acceptance letters mattered anymore — I had gotten in. My life was starting elsewhere, in Manhattan, nestled into 27th Street. Now, I’m on the cusp of graduation, and FIT has become just another stepping stone in my life rather than the one big stone. From the moment I arrived on FIT’s — let’s be honest — ugly, concrete campus, I knew I had found a new sense of home. While my high school friends trekked to frat house parties and posted pictures with red Solo cups, I had an entire world to uncover spreading out from 27th Street to hundreds of blocks in multiple directions. I had a subway system to drunkenly ride in the wrong direction for two stops before realizing I was getting farther away from home and not getting closer. I had museums to explore — all of which were budding with works and exhibits to spend Saturdays submersed in. I had warm fall Sundays to go to Central Park and sit in the midst of its greenery and people watch. I had stores to shop in, whether for a classification course project or simply for an outfit for Friday night. I had the West Side Highway to pound with my feet as I went for a sunset jog; a jog that slowed into a walk when the colors of the sky got just right. I had SoHo, in all of its highend, artistic glory and Williamsburg in its hipster sense of pride. I had Times Square, which I learned to avoid before I learned just about anything else. I had bars to get into, shows to see, people to meet and a life to make. I had taxis to hail, streets to walk, big buildings to look up at, diners to narrow down for late-night favorites. I had bright lights guiding me through, reminding me that success is never that far away in a city like New York. FIT was just my starting point. Who could I become among this sea of people? How would this city of dreams affect mine? Four years ago when I started, I had no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be. FIT was my door out of a small town, and New York City was my entrance to a place where no one knew
who I was. I started out in too many bright colors — my wardrobe not yet seeped in black. I didn’t understand the concept of quality over quantity in this fast fashion world. I studied too hard — forgoing fun for A’s. I thought going out at night meant you had to wear heels, when in reality the gross dive bar that I frequented on weekdays didn’t care about my shoes. I consistently underestimated how much everything in this freakin’ city costs. I tried to be an every-day-of-the-week club rat before realizing that scene didn’t have to be for me. I made the wrong friends before realizing that I had to seek out the real, better ones. It’s been four years: I’ve studied abroad twice, I’ve joined a club and I’ve realized what I want to do. I’ve spent money on the right items in my closet and added an incredible amount of black T-shirts to the hangers stuffed side by side. I’ve found my favorite five diners for each area of Manhattan’s criss-crossing streets. I’ve got a go-to bar for happy hour and a different one for when 10 p.m. strikes. I have friends I can call in a moment and places on campus where I know I’ll find a comfortable seat between classes. I’ve interned and interviewed and networked, and my life is more diverse, educated and all around better than it was four years ago. But what is a place without the people? FIT didn’t always make it easy to find friends, but when I finally did, they were the most dream-driven, intelligent and inspiring people I have ever met. These people — mostly women because this is fashion school with a man here or there — inspired me. They lifted me up and shoved me in the direction of internships and interviews, handsome guys and great shoes. They didn’t measure their successes against my own but rather looked at them all as goals met, experiences had and a step forward together. The FIT group, my FIT group: they’re witty and fashionable, confident and tough. Together we’ve cried on sidewalk corners when this city is just too much and laughed on a ledge of the FIT walkway when finals week delirium has set in, but the sun is too bright to neglect some springtime warmth. We’ve spent far too much time at Brooklyn Bagels, bitching about internships, part-time jobs, classes and the friends at normal college who only have one of those three things to worry about. Yet, at the end of the conversation, we dragged our tired bodies back to 27th Street, overjoyed that we never settled for a life at a normal college — no matter how much more trying this life might be. My FIT friends live blocks and boroughs from each other, but through this school, we found each other, and through this school, I know we’ll never be far apart.
Aside from my peers is the abundance of professors — not just in fashion, but also in English, math and art history. They are the people who remind us that we can do it, even when a snowstorm hits in March and we leave our f lash drives in a taxi that speeds away and that guy that we met at the coffee shop stopped answering back. They bump up our Cs to Bs when they know we’ve been trying hard, tell us the truth about being a personal stylist and remind us that the unsureness of a degree in the fashion industry can become a real-life job. These professors look at us and see our potential when we see our failures. These professors are complemented by our favorite bosses, who helped us determine just what we want to make out of this education. They teach us the out-of-the-classroom skills so that we can truly nail that interview that will one day get us the real-life fashion job that we’ve been defending since the moment we chose to come to a fashion school. With four years of college education coming to a close, there’s one person, aside from my family and friends, my professors and bosses, who’s worthy of praise. She pushed herself through four years of classes and internships and jobs. She unwound herself from crappy friends, terrible heartbreaks, the occasional bad grades and failing group projects. She survived difficult internships and horrifying retail jobs and somehow still hasn’t gone broke or overdosed on coffee. She’s me. She’s all of us who are graduating on May 19 — a Thursday?! Come on, FIT! We made it! We’ve struggled through the night classes, made it through eyetwitching registration times and built up a résumé at the same time. We’ve turned in daunting final projects, written those random research papers and not murdered our group project members. It seems that not too long ago we were moving into an FIT dorm room on a hot August day, our parents overbearing and embarrassing. Now, we are mere weeks away from graduation, our degrees waiting to take us to the next stop. And although FIT seems like just a stepping stone now rather than the biggest, most solid rock, it’s FIT I have to thank. It’s a campus, a school, a stone that’s given me an education, a résumé, endless inspiration and unyieldingly incredible people. It’s a place that’s taken my dreams and turned them into a reality. It’s a place that I’m saying goodbye to — four years later, four years wiser, four years older, four years more like the person I hoped I would become.
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STYLE ON 27
S PR I N G A F FA I R: DE N IM LOVE RS
B Y: C A R M E N L I M Y F AV O R I T E G O -T O J E A N S R E A S O N S W H Y I LOV E J E A N S
DUSTIN GEHRINGER - COMMUNICATION DESIGN
REVERSIBLE BOMBER JACKET FROM BEACON’S CLOSET, CALL ME 917 T-SHIRT, LEVIS 511 CUT OFF JEANS, NIKE VINTAGE BLAZER SHOES The pair I have on ( My only pair).
YI PENG YAP - FBM
TOPSHOP JUMPSUIT
PACSUN JEANS, ZARA COAT
High- waisted skinny jeans.
A more relaxed fit boyfriend jeans
To me denim is really comfortable and super practical for a lot of occasions.
I love jeans because it’s easy to mix and match with statement pieces, and it also makes your body figure stand out.
ZARA JEANS
KENYON PARKS - PHOTOGRAPHY
KELLY MCHUGH - FD
LEVIS JEANS, NIKE HOODIE, NIKE AIR MAX
AMERICAN APPAREL JEANS, STEVE MADDEN TROOPA BOOT
Black Levis 511 or 506
Light wash High waisted skinny jeans.
Comfortable. When I wear jeans I feel the American culture and heritage of it. Jeans never go wrong and the style lasts forever. It also gives a sense of quality to the outfits.
Jeans can work with everything and it gives a vintage feeling for your style.
Light wash boy friend jeans I love jeans because it’s super comfortable, and it’s quite trendy right now. I want to be in the look. Jeans is also very flexible that suits everyone.
JULIANNA CASALE - PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
JEANS AND COAT FROM BEACON’S CLOSET High waisted loose cut jeans
I really do not like wearing jean besides the pair I have on. I’ve owned them for 3 years and they are extremely broken in. Actually, I prefer Khakis, Chinos, etc… more.
NADYA ZELENOVA - AMC
VALERIE FIGUEROA - AMC
I like jeans because they are a staple with every outfit.
JIWON SONG (JENNY) - FBM
WHITE PEPPER DENIM JACKET, AMERICAN APPAREL CROP TOP, SUECOMMA BONNIE POINTED-TOE FLAT Gray high waisted jeans It fits in every different kinds of style and is easy to wear.