Vol. 40, No. 43 MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012 nyunews.com WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper NYU Shanghai names new admin. ‘Penny Stock’ receives grant By JACK BROOKS Normally home to tourists, dog-walkers and hot dog ven- dors, Battery Park was overtak- en by more than 100 laughing NYU students, coughing and throwing handfuls of color- ful powder at one another this Saturday. Passersby stopped to watch, photograph and ask participants what was happening. They re- ceived quick, breathless lessons on the Hindu holiday of Holi. For the past three years, the In- dian Cultural Exchange and the Hindu Students Council have co- sponsored Holi at NYU. Holi marks the beginning of spring and cel- ebrates the Hindu faith. This year, Holi occurred in March, but the event organizers postponed their celebration for warmer weather. “We also felt that more people would attend if it were not held on the actual day of Holi itself, which fell around the time of spring break,” said Silpa Tadavarthy, a CAS senior and president of HSC. In Asia, Holi is known for loosening usually strict social norms. In Battery Park the ef- fect was similar. Covered in layers of powder, it became impossible to differentiate be- tween male and female, friend and stranger, Hindu and not. Participants threw 380 pounds of color indiscriminately. R HOLI continued on PG. 3 By JULIE DEVITO NYU announced last week that former Cornell University Presi- dent Jeffrey Lehman has been appointed as vice chancellor of NYU Shanghai. Since 2007, he has served as the chancellor of Peking University School of Transnational Law, where he is the founding dean. “I’m thrilled beyond words,” Leh- man said. “This is an opportunity to participate in the development of a compelling new vision of excel- lence in higher education.” As vice chancellor, Lehman will be in charge of all academ- ic and administrative opera- tions. He said the position will require him to create a compel- ling narrative for NYU’s enter- prise and help gather support for NYU Shanghai. Lehman wants to attract the best students in the world to study at R SHANGHAI continued on PG. 3 It Gets Better Project inspires NYU athlete New York City Hosts Seventh Annual Pillow Fight PAGE 4 New York City celebrates International pillow fight day with a battle in Washington Square park. 14th Annual Elegance on Water sells out again PAGE 3 400 students arrived at another sold-out IRHC Elegance on Water event. BU controversy misses point PAGE 7 Though an amateur mistake forced BU’s editor to step down, the more important issues were overlooked. DAVID LIN/WSN CARINA WONG/WSN By SARA LEVY Jay Hayes, a co-captain of the men’s volleyball team, has always been passionate about sports. Over his four-year tenure at NYU, he is certainly been a leader both on and off the court. Now he is ready to embark on another important aspect of his life with a project he holds close to his heart. Hayes recently wrote, produced and directed a short film for the It Gets Better Project. In conjunction with the NYU Athletic Department, the video is aimed at high school kids as well as other university stu- dents with one prevalent message: It is okay to be gay in sports. The It Gets Better Project was started in 2010 by Dan Savage and Terry Miller, a gay couple, and is aimed at defeating homophobia in schools, the workplace and across the globe. The project hosts an online community and encourages LGBTQ individuals to produce their own videos and share their experiences. “I wanted to show that both student athletes and coaches can be out, happy and successful,” Hayes said. “To see someone on a team identify as gay, and [sup- porting] that you can be out and happy in sports.” Hayes, a Stern senior, brought together the Athletic Depart- ment’s staff, coaches and play- ers, along with the Student Athletic R BETTER continued on PG. 8 NYU clubs host colorful Holi celebration NYU clubs celebrated together at Battery Park for the Indian holiday Holi by throwing handfuls of colorful powder. JONATHAN TAN/WSN By KEERTHI HARISHANKAR Imagine having a party thrown in your honor by the film industry’s top ex- ecutives. Then imagine being toasted by the Tribeca Film Institute. Those dreams came true Thursday night for one talented NYU graduate. Grainger David, an alumnus of graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts, re- cently won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Student Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting for his screenplay “Penny Stock.” The Sloan Foundation, in part- nership with the Tribeca Film Institute, created the grant to award screenplays that por- tray science and technology themes or include scientists in leading roles. David will re- ceive a $30,000 cash prize and an additional $20,000 to fund his film. “Penny Stock” was selected as the best screenplay from applicants who had already won respective Sloan prizes from the Foundation’s six af- filiate film schools: Univer- sity of California, Los Angeles, NYU, University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon University, America’s Conser- vatory for Filmmakers and Grainger David fuses science and film in “Penny Stock.” KEERTHI HARISHANKAR/WSN R DAVID continued on PG. 4
Transcript
Vol. 40, No. 43 MoNday, april 9, 2012 nyunews.com
washiNgtoN square NewsNYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
NYU Shanghai names new admin.
‘Penny Stock’ receives grant
By Jack Brooks
Normally home to tourists, dog-walkers and hot dog ven-dors, Battery Park was overtak-en by more than 100 laughing NYU students, coughing and throwing handfuls of color-ful powder at one another this Saturday.
Passersby stopped to watch, photograph and ask participants what was happening. They re-ceived quick, breathless lessons on the Hindu holiday of Holi.
For the past three years, the In-dian Cultural Exchange and the Hindu Students Council have co-sponsored Holi at NYU. Holi marks the beginning of spring and cel-
ebrates the Hindu faith. This year, Holi occurred in March, but the event organizers postponed their celebration for warmer weather.
“We also felt that more people would attend if it were not held on the actual day of Holi itself, which fell around the time of spring break,” said Silpa Tadavarthy, a CAS senior and president of HSC.
In Asia, Holi is known for loosening usually strict social norms. In Battery Park the ef-fect was similar. Covered in layers of powder, it became impossible to differentiate be-tween male and female, friend and stranger, Hindu and not. Participants threw 380 pounds of color indiscriminately.
r HoLI continued on PG. 3
By JuLIe DeVIto
NYU announced last week that former Cornell University Presi-dent Jeffrey Lehman has been appointed as vice chancellor of NYU Shanghai.
Since 2007, he has served as the chancellor of Peking University School of Transnational Law, where he is the founding dean.
“I’m thrilled beyond words,” Leh-man said. “This is an opportunity to participate in the development of a compelling new vision of excel-lence in higher education.”
As vice chancellor, Lehman will be in charge of all academ-ic and administrative opera-tions. He said the position will require him to create a compel-ling narrative for NYU’s enter-prise and help gather support for NYU Shanghai.
Lehman wants to attract the best students in the world to study at
r sHaNGHaI continued on PG. 3
It Gets Better Project inspires NYU athlete
New York city Hosts seventh annual Pillow FightPAGE 4
New York City celebrates International pillow fight day with a battle in Washington Square park.
14th annual elegance on Water sells out againPAGE 3
400 students arrived at another sold-out IRHC Elegance on Water event.
Bu controversy misses pointPAGE 7
Though an amateur mistake forced BU’s editor to step down, the more important issues were overlooked.
DavID LIN/WSNCaRINa WoNg/WSN
By sara LeVY
Jay Hayes, a co-captain of the men’s volleyball team, has always been passionate about sports. Over his four-year tenure at NYU, he is certainly been a leader both on and off the court. Now he is ready to embark on another important aspect of his life with a project he holds close to his heart.
Hayes recently wrote, produced and directed a short film for the It Gets Better Project. In conjunction with the NYU Athletic Department, the video is aimed at high school kids as well as other university stu-dents with one prevalent message: It is okay to be gay in sports.
The It Gets Better Project was started in 2010 by Dan Savage and
Terry Miller, a gay couple, and is aimed at defeating homophobia in schools, the workplace and across the globe. The project hosts an online community and encourages LGBTQ individuals to produce their own videos and share their experiences.
“I wanted to show that both student athletes and coaches can be out, happy and successful,” Hayes said. “To see someone on a team identify as gay, and [sup-porting] that you can be out and happy in sports.”
Hayes, a Stern senior, brought together the Athletic Depart-ment’s staff, coaches and play-ers, along with the Student Athletic
r Better continued on PG. 8
NYU clubs host colorful Holi celebration
NYU clubs celebrated together at Battery Park for the Indian holiday Holi by throwing handfuls of colorful powder. JoNaTHaN TaN/WSN
By keertHI HarIsHaNkar
Imagine having a party thrown in your honor by the film industry’s top ex-ecutives. Then imagine being toasted by the Tribeca Film Institute. Those dreams came true Thursday night for one talented NYU graduate.
Grainger David, an alumnus of graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts, re-cently won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Student Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting for his screenplay “Penny Stock.” The Sloan Foundation, in part-nership with the Tribeca Film Institute, created the grant to award screenplays that por-tray science and technology themes or include scientists in leading roles. David will re-
ceive a $30,000 cash prize and an additional $20,000 to fund his film.
“Penny Stock” was selected as the best screenplay from applicants who had already won respective Sloan prizes from the Foundation’s six af-
filiate film schools: Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles, NYU, University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon University, America’s Conser-vatory for Filmmakers and
Grainger David fuses science and film in “Penny Stock.”KEERTHI HaRISHaNKaR/WSN
r DaVID continued on PG. 4
oN the side CompILED BY THE WsN staFF
2 WaSHINgToN SqUaRE NEWS | moNDaY, apRIL 9, 2012 | NYUNEWS.Com
Students dyed and decorated an array of Easter eggs in celebration of the holiday.
PHOTO BY BriTTanY Elias
oN the wire
not all dogs have to go to heavenA heroic canine from Staten Island is lucky to be alive after he suffered a gunshot wound to the head while trying to defend his owner from a home intruder. Kilo, a 12-year-old pit bull, was shot as he stuck his head out of the half-opened door
when the resident Justin Becker, 32, pushed the intruder — posed as a FedEx de-liveryman — to the ground. The bullet never entered the dog’s skull, as it deflected off of the dog’s skull and exited through his neck, leaving no brain damage. Greg
Panarello, the veterinarian who operated on Kilo, said the likeliness of such a fortunate outcome was one in a million.
— MSNBC
OhIO UnIvErSItyHerman Cain to make appearance at OU— The PoST
yAlE UnIvErSItyWomen lag in reaching tenure— Yale DailY NewS
today6 p.m. | nyU School of law | lipton hall |
108 W. third St.COUragE TO THink:
inTEllECTUal FrEEdOm in TUnisia and THE araB sPring
A panel of tunisian university professors will discuss the aftermath of the revolution in the Middle
About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student news-paper of New York University. WSN is published Monday through Thursday during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.
Corrections: WSN is committed to ac-curate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact managing editor Jaewon kang at [email protected] or at 212.998.4302.
@nycdigitalCongrats to @columbia University and #NYU for being 2 of the 25
most Buzzed Universities on the Internet: nycdigital.tumblr.com/tagged/Buzzed
@iqballinnnold dude sitting next to me at the #NYU bookstore is using a pocket knife to underline stuff ... what is
this #abnormal http://t.co/hK406kbw
@rYaNrIkIoBaNRandom Fact of the Day: the first floor of @nyulaw school’s Furman Hall
includes a preserved facade of Edgar allen poe’s home. #NYU
@ariel_beth1 year after graduation, I get a gold tassel in the mail for being an honors scholar. #alittlelate #nyu http://t.co/sI2Ux6hC
@NeesDeepThere’s varsity quidditch here.
Wtf, that’s sick. #nyu
@fahnandoBobst needs to
introduce shoppingcarts. #nyu #gallatin
NYU Shanghai, which he said will be a fun process.
“I want us to provide them with a demanding education that is sculpted from timeless values into a form suited to con-temporary life, that draws on the unique resources of Shang-hai and that integrates seam-lessly into the overall network of NYU,” Lehman said. “I want us to conduct research that con-tributes meaningfully to the edifice of human knowledge.”
NYU Shanghai, which was an-nounced in March 2011, is the first American university with independent legal status ap-proved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Its first undergrad-uate class will enter in Fall 2013.
He previously served as the 11th President of Cornell Uni-versity from 2003 to 2005 and 13th dean of the University of Michigan Law School from 1994 to 2003.
NYU President John Sexton praised Lehman’s leadership in both the United States and China.
“His willingness to serve as NYU Shanghai’s leader is a tre-mendous validation of what we are trying to accomplish in Shanghai and throughout NYU’s global network,” Sexton said in the press release of Leh-man’s appointment.
“We have found a partner who understands the enormous
academic value of a global education and who has helped us realize this vision here in Shanghai,” Sexton said. “His guidance, wisdom, experience and entrepreneurial spirit has been and will continue to be indispensible to the success of NYU Shanghai.”
Chris Whitman, a colleague of Lehman’s at Michigan for five years, called Lehman an in-stitution builder.
“He is also razor-sharp both in legal argument and in dealing with administrative problems,” Whitman said. “He is one of the most intellectually curious people I know, which means he’s an excellent listener and also eager to learn about new cultures and new perspectives.”
Esther Tang, a student of Le-hman’s at Cornell and Peking, said he taught her how to con-nect words and behavior across cultural boundaries.
“As a kid fascinated by global-ization, I felt he handed me a missing puzzle piece,” Tang said.
Lehman’s appointment will be effective Summer 2012.
Yu Lizhong of East China Nor-mal University will be chancel-lor of NYU Shanghai where he will also serve as chairman of the board.
LSP professor named a top teacher Indian clubs celebrate Holi
NYUNEWS.Com | moNDaY, apRIL 9, 2012 | WaSHINgToN SqUaRE NEWS 3
By JuLIe DeVIto
LSP professor kathleen Bishop was named one of the 300 best undergrad-uate teachers in the country by the Princeton review last week.
Bishop teaches Cultural Founda-tions, a liberal studies course that combines literature and art history from a global perspective. In 2008, Bishop received LSP’s Students Teach-ing Excellence Award.
She has been teaching at NYU since 1992, when she studied in the English department at the Graduate School of Arts and Science. She holds a doctor-ate in English Literature from NYU. She said her goal as a teacher is to pre-pare students for the real world.
“I encourage students to think for themselves, make up their own minds about things and think their own thoughts because what they think and feel matters,” Bishop said. “I think the key thing is to relate to each student as an individual who is important and special.”
The new book features 300 pro-fessors in more than 60 fields, in-cluding journalism, neuroscience and sport management. The cho-sen professors make up less than .02 percent of the 1.8 million col-lege and university teachers in the United States. It includes profes-sors from Amherst College, Brown
University, vassar College, Yale University and Georgetown Univer-sity, among others.
“We developed this book as a trib-ute to the extraordinary dedication of America’s undergraduate college professors and the vitally important role they play in our culture and our democracy,” said robert Franek, Princeton review’s senior vice presi-dent and publisher, in an NYU Today Press release.
The professors were chosen from a combination of surveys and data from ratemyprofessors.com and then finalized through further input from school administrators and students.
LSP Dean Fred Schwarzbach said Bishop is fiercely dedicated to her stu-dents and makes many valuable con-tributions to the program.
“kathy always puts the academic needs of students first,” Schwarzbach said. “She has a great gift for inspir-ing both respect and affection. Liberal Studies is all about small classes and a student-centered learning environ-ment. kathy’s teaching style is a per-fect match for our program.”
Erin Boehm, an LSP sophomore and previous student of Bishop’s, said Bishop was extremely knowl-edgeable of the subject that she was teaching but was also open to other people’s opinions.
“If someone had a different interpre-
tation of a reading, she would discuss it further, rather than disregard it for being different than the typical inter-pretation,” Boehm said. “She validates the thoughts of her students.”
Boehm also said Bishop is a great resource when it comes to writing pa-pers, as she gives useful feedback that encourages students.
LSP professor Nancy reale said Bish-op has always been a dedicated col-league and friend.
“She is an extremely kind and thoughtful woman, and I am sure that comes across to her students,” reale said. “kathy is certainly committed to her students and to demonstrating to them what the value is, for them, of the kind of scholarship that so moves and excites her.”
Julie DeVito is university editor.
“It is an opportunity for in-dividuals to mask their iden-tities, forget their differences and indulge in unadulterated fun,” CAS senior Shantum Misra, co-president of ICE., said. “The colored powder helps facilitate this process by making everyone appear uniform. That’s the beauty of this colorful festival.”
Most attendees felt that goal was achieved.
“Considering the turnout, Holi succeeded,” CAS sopho-more Dominique Bouavichith said. “It’s important that NYU hosts events like these because they can expose students to a culture or holiday they hadn’t know before, are lots of fun [and] can benefit a large num-ber of students.”
Participants said they appre-ciated the ability to learn more about an unfamiliar holiday.
“It was educational, both to less informed partici-pants like myself and to curious onlookers who wanted [to know] what we were doing,” said Martin Tsang, a New Yorker who attended Holi. “I tried not
to participate in Holi in a way that was ignorant or offensive to people who practice Hinduism.”
Some observers felt con-cerned by the event’s large non-Hindu presence. Brook-lyn resident Ari Davanelos supported NYU’s Holi but was worried about future takes on the religious ceremony.
“I can see this, in a few years, being totally removed from any religious aspect and becoming some event fea-tured at some dancey, MDMA-fueled, three-day bash in Mi-ami,” Davanelos said.
But from inside Battery Park, the spirit of Holi was unmis-takably present. The event was, undeniably, a devout cel-ebration of spring’s arrival.
“I think it was only secular if you wanted it to be,” CAS senior Samantha Haynes said. “I went into it knowing what Holi is about and with respect for the Hindus that were hosting it.”
NYU students rocked the boat Friday night during the 14th an-nual Elegance on the Water.
Hosted by the Inter-residence Hall Council, Elegance took stu-dents up and down the Hudson river, around the southern tip of Manhattan, up to the Brooklyn Bridge on the East river and passed a brightly lit Statue of Liberty.
Traditionally, Elegance took place on the Spirit of New York, which holds about 300 people. But because all 300 tickets were sold out last year, they upgraded the cruise ship for this year’s event and were able to accommodate 400 students. This year’s Elegance sold out as well.
The upgraded boat, called the Spirit of New Jersey, offered two levels of dancing and music, a chocolate fountain, desserts ga-lore and a fantastic view of Man-hattan. NYU students could go outside to grab a breath of fresh air from the third floor.
Abby Ehrlich, IrHC co-program-ming chair and an SCPS sopho-more, said they shortened the event this year by an hour to provide a shorter, better amount of time on the boat for dancing. Previously, the event lasted for four hours.
“My favorite party of the night was seeing everyone dance together,” Ehrlich said. “People who had never met were best friends at the end and that was what Elegance is all about. Community building and providing a fun night for students was the goal, and I loved watching it happen.”
Tisch freshman Martin Barshai, who obtained a free Elegance tick-et from Hayden residence hall, said he came to have fun and en-joy the night with his date.
“I’m broke, so a free night with free food sounds good,” Barshai said.
CAS sophomore Lauren Holter attended because she had never been on the cruise and wanted to check it out.
“I look forward to seeing the Manhattan skyline at night,” she said before Elegance.
Olivia Baackes, president of IrHC and a Gallatin junior, said she was happy to see many familiar faces on board.
“We work really hard to plan all of our other events, and this is our final culmination dance party,” Baackes said.
Baackes said the cruise was paid from the IrHC budget and the $20 admission tickets that people purchased. She estimated that for 12 out of the past 14 years, Elegance has taken place on a boat.
Baackes also revealed plans for Elegance’s 15th anniversary, in which IrHC hopes to host about 800 students at the Metropolitan Museum of Art next year.
“We’re in preliminary discus-sions, but we have a couple of dates on hold,” Baackes said. “Af-ter our time on the boat, I’m re-ally excited to be moving to such an iconic location.”
Columbia University. David’s screenplay was the best from this group.
“Penny Stock” tells the story of a community college geol-ogy professor turned mining prospector. After discovering a new theory, the main character gambles his family’s safety in the search for a legendary dia-mond pipe.
Tamir Muhammad, director of Feature Programming at TFI, spoke about the combina-tion of elements that set Da-vid’s film apart.
“Grainger had a really good understanding of the subject matter, but furthermore how to take the subject and make it dramatic, which is always the heart of every film,” Muham-mad said.
Muhammad continued to speak about the complexity and capability of David’s style.
“If you take the science away for a second, you can see the tal-ent in his ability to be able to make realistic characters, and when you add science on top of that, that adds another dimen-sion,” he said.
David, a South Carolina na-tive, studied directing and screenwriting at Tisch, though it was his journalistic roots that most influenced the creation of “Penny Stock.”
“I got the idea for this script when I was a journalist before I went to film school,” said Da-vid. “I followed a group of ex-ploration geologists who were looking for copper and gold in Mongolia, and it was this amazing, adventurous report-ing trip. I was really taken by their intelligence and determi-nation to go to these far-flung places in the world and chase ideas that were really hard to prove and discover.”
Doron Weber, vice president of programs for the Sloan Foun-dation, said he believes the fu-sion of science and film makes David’s film a success.
“It’s an adventure story about geology, and you learn a lot about geology as you go along but you don’t feel like you’re being lectured to,” Weber said of the film. “The idea was to make more realistic and com-pelling portrayals of science and technology and to challenge ex-isting stereotypes of scientists, engineers and mathematicians, and I think Grainger’s script re-ally succeeded in that.”
Keerthi Harishankar is a staff writer. Email her at [email protected].
DaVID continued from PG. 1
Tisch grad earns grant
from Tribeca Institute
Agape Week discusses, unites faiths on campusBy mIcHeLLe LIm
Several religious fellowships on campus are uniting to bring NYU some divine love and spiri-tual peace this week. Through-out Agape Week, Christian clubs on campus have organized events to spark discussions about various faiths among the student community.
Agape — pronounced “ah-GAH-pay” — is a Greek word meaning unconditional love. There are different levels of love in the Greek culture, but agape is the deepest form of love, provided from the both God’s love and the reciproca-tion from humans.
CAS junior Patrick Cheng, a member from the Agape Week planning committee, ex-pressed the main purpose of the events.
“Agape Week serves two purposes: to share the Gos-pel message and to unite the
Christian community,” Cheng said. “In sharing the Gospel, we are responding to our faith in earnest desire to see peo-ple’s lives changed. Just as God loves each and everyone one of us, we wish to follow suit. In uniting our Christian com-munity, we encourage healthy dialog, lasting friendships and effective communication.”
The festivities kicked off on Good Friday, April 6, with a presentation from Annie Lob-ert, a former stripper and pros-titute from Las vegas. At the event Broken and Beautiful: A Las vegas Call Girl Meets Jesus, Lobert discussed her experi-ence with sex trafficking.
“I am here to talk about the redemption in Jesus Christ with the women that are sex trafficked — I was one of them,” Lobert said. “Hookers for Jesus is an organization I started from my own pain, to reach out to girls on the strip.”
Lobert described the pro-gram’s main focus which stems from her own conversation.
“We have programs that will help women get out of sex traf-ficking, mentor and case-manage them and to provide homes for the ladies who have left the sex industry,” she added.
Lobert said she believes Agape Week at NYU can bring about change and spiritual break-throughs within the campus.
“I think it will bring aware-ness, for one, and also a greater understanding of what God’s love can do for a woman, or a man, who is hurting,” Lob-ert said. “Maybe it could spark them their own ideas to raise awareness on the campus.”
In addition to instilling compas-sion in students, Agape Week tries to answer tricky and controver-sial questions about religion and theology for Christians and non-Christians in an academic, civil and intellectual atmosphere.
CAS senior Paul rezkalla is espe-cially looking forward to a panel Making Sense of Suffering: How Can a Good God Allow Evil? that will be held today at 6 p.m. in the kimmel Center for University Life in room 401 by a teaching fellow from Fordham University who is also a former atheist.
“The speaker, David Wood, will engage the age-old prob-lem of evil,” rezkalla said. “If God exists, why suffering? This is the greatest objection to be-lief in God, I think.”
The highly anticipated Asian-American Christian music group, Tim Be Told, will per-form live in kimmel room 802 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Agape Week will conclude on April 14 when Feed 500 at NYU will be held in kimmel at 10 a.m. For a full schedule, visit facebook.com/agapeweek.
On Sunday, Washington Square Park filled with fighters and feathers. The participants were part of an event that spanned 150 cities.CaRINa WoNg/WSN
By cLara YaNG
A war was waged in Washing-ton Square Park, but this time it was not police officers and oc-cupiers who faced-off but grim-faced warriors bearing pillows.
New York City’s seventh an-nual Pillow Fight Day filled the park with fighters on Saturday. Warriors flooded the park with their soft pillows and cute bun-ny ears, while many bystanders marveled at the spectacle.
The organizer, a group called Newmindspace, created a Fa-cebook event that had nearly 8,000 attendees. The event web-site, pillowfightday.com, helped participants around the world
find a pillow fight in their city. Organizers of the event arrived later to help clean up.
The fight takes place in over 150 cities around the world, and thousands participate every year.
While most NYU students seemed to be unaware of this event, CAS junior Masha Sun-dararaman said she heard about the event just before it began.
“I just heard about it a couple of minutes ago,” Sundararaman said. “I came to study in the park and people were showing up with pillows in their hands. If I had some accompaniment, I would’ve [joined]. But I’d rath-er be a spectator. It’s funny to see it as well.”
Sundararaman explained that even though she had come to the square to study, she was quite inter-ested in the event. “[The] square’s a public place and people can do whatever they want,” she said. “It’s meant for everyone.”
Gallatin sophomore kristen Cor-dero came in peace to photograph the event, but ended becoming an unwilling participant.
“I didn’t hit anyone with a pillow but I got hit a few times,” she said. “I saw some pretty crazy things. There was one guy dressed up in a suit of armor, and I saw people in full body suits.”
Cordero said the fight com-pletely took over the square.
“There were just pillows and feathers flying everywhere,” she said. “It was like it was snowing in April.”
Above a sea of bright colors, Oprah Winfrey, the queen of day-time talk shows, emerges onto the stage of radio City Music Hall.
Though the Oprah Winfrey Network, which she launched at the beginning of 2011, is headquartered in Los Angeles, Winfrey is currently taking her popular show across the United States. “Oprah’s Lifeclass” is
currently on a three-city tour from St. Louis to New York City to Toronto.
This tour varies slightly from the first season of “Lifeclass” as it features a two-hour episode format that delves much more deeply into the week’s topics but still incorporates “all of Oprah’s lessons, revelations and aha moments over the past 25 years,” according to the show’s Facebook page.
Following a strand of promo-tional clips for Oprah’s shows from the comical “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” to the emotional “Iyanla Fix My Life,” self-help guru Tony robbins, who had a cameo role in “Shallow Hal,” came onstage to do a pre-show warm-up where he pumped up an already excited crowd at the live taping in New York City.
Brooklyn resident Deidra Towns, 41, said she enjoyed see-
ing robbins and the energy he brought to the show.
“I thought Tony’s warm-up was great,” she said. “I think he gives some valuable tools and gives you real-time infor-mation about how to make change and transform.”
Then the actual live show be-gan. The show’s theme for the night was Fearless, which ex-plored how to live courageously and overcome fear. Much of the show focused on robbins giving advice on how to go about ac-complishing this.
The focus then shifted to Jacob Gardner, who struggles with in-tense fear on a daily basis. For the rest of the program, rob-bins helped Gardner gain con-fidence in himself. Gardner’s
transformation was amazing, as the audience saw a once timid, scared man take control of his life and change his perspective on life.
During commercial breaks, audience members shouted “I love you, Oprah,” to which Winfrey would always respond,
“Love you back.” But the night’s funniest moment came dur-ing the first break, as Winfrey complained that her high heels were painful and she decided to switch to flats. She then gave away her heels to the first wom-an who wanted them.
katie Grasty, 29, who traveled from Washington, D.C., to see the show, said she loved the energy of the live taping, espe-cially Oprah’s interactions with the audience during the com-mercial breaks.
“I loved it so much,” she said. “It was really interesting to see Oprah off-camera because I re-alized that she’s so funny and personable just on her own. She just seems like a genuinely awe-some person.”
“Oprah’s Lifeclass: The Tour” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. The Tony robbins episode aired April 2. NYU students can watch it for free at oprah.com.
Maximilíano Durón is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].
NYUNEWS.Com | moNDaY, apRIL 9, 2012 | WaSHINgToN SqUaRE NEWS 5
‘Oprah’s Lifeclass’ inspires viewers to live without fear
Tony robbins and Oprah Winfrey discuss how to change one’s life and live fearlessly.CoURTESY oF THE opRaH WINFREY NETWoRK
Senior photo projects on display at Calumet GalleryBy cLara YaNG
From exploring a series of self-portraits to documenting every-day fashion, the graduating class of 2012 of the department of Pho-tography & Imaging in the Tisch School of the Arts represents the visual and conceptual diversity of each student contributor.
Every year, Photography & Im-aging professor Mark Jenkinson makes sure to provide an oppor-tunity for the seniors to exhibit the selected works from their theses and other projects at gal-leries in New York City. Seniors have complete control over their exhibition while Jenkinson over-sees the process.
“Two months before the show, I have a meeting [with the par-ticipating students], and they do everything,” Jenkinson said. “They feel best if they have their own show.”
Laura Bluher is a Tisch senior and one of the core seniors in the preparation of the exhibi-tion. She expressed the show’s importance and added that she
was excited to display her works at the Calumet Gallery rather than at an NYU exhibition.
Bluher described the experi-ence as an opportunity for stu-dents to have a legitimate out-side university.
Her displayed works were selected from her series docu-menting a family from a tobac-co farm in Cuba. The exhibit is part of her long-term project that will continue for the next 10 years, supported by the de-partment and awarded with the Tom Drysdale Production Fund in November 2010.
“It’s always great to have time like this to share the work with fellow classmates and commu-nity,” Photography & Imaging senior Elizabeth Shrier said.
Shrier traveled to Nova Sco-tia several times to develop her project A Study on Landscapes and to form her senior thesis.
“On Landscapes is a project about synthesis between the nat-ural landscape and its modern day signifiers,” she said. “I devel-oped an understanding and ap-
preciation for the beauty found in both and hope to share this with my viewer.”
Tisch senior Claire Mahoney, an acting major, found the photogra-phy exhibition to be fascinating.
“It’s really interesting and nice to see what they like and have
found their passion,” she said.The works of the 21 graduating
seniors from the department of Photography & Imaging will be on display at the Calumet Gal-lery until April 26.
The gallery is located at 22 W. 22nd St. and is open from 10
a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from noon to 5 p.m. on Satur-days. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Elizabeth Shrier traveled to Nova Scotia to develop her project, which is featured at the gallery. WENDI LIU FoR WSN
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Laws must regulate fashion counterfeiting By LIsa totINo
The United States democracy, which takes an aggressive stance on protect-ing individual rights, falls short in extending protections to the fashion industry. A simple walk through SoHo reveals this ubiquitous problem: The streets are lined with cheap knockoffs — eye candy for the typical tourist and a blow to copied fashion designers. The thick — and probably fake — wal-lets of copyists reflect the six digit fig-ures that U.S. businesses lose annually to the counterfeit goods industry.
As an NYU senior, I have proudly lived in our country’s fashion capital for nearly four years now, but I have — not so proudly — been blind to the issues of counterfeit. I have culti-vated an interest for fashion outside the classroom with the same passion and fortitude that I have dedicated to my pre-law education inside the class-room. It is at the intersection of my fashion and legal interests, however, that I have grown conscious and sensi-tive to the plight of legally naked fash-ion designers.
The crushing problem is that the world is developing a primary palate for cheap goods. This is not a new observation. Whenever the economy takes a turn for the worse, like re-cently, societal tastes kick up their reflexes and respond to it. For this rea-son, price-conscience consumers are constantly scrounging for the next hot deal. The international proliferation of the discount super-store Walmart, for
instance, is an obvious indicator that society is examining its budget.
The consumption of cheap goods is threatening because it pushes the de-mand for counterfeits higher. People still want trendy items but they are just not willing to dish out the cash for them when knockoffs are at their fingertips. Whether economic times are tough or not, one thing is for cer-tain: If a demand for these counter-feits remain, there will continue to be a supply.
What we, as smart consumers, need to understand is that protecting the fashion industry is not a zero-sum game. Just because the producers win protection, does not mean the con-sumers lose out. In fact, consumers gain as well. If anti-counterfeit legis-lation is successfully implemented, major retail stores — such as H&M and Forever 21 — will be forced to create the same trend with slight differences in design, which means product diversification and more va-riety for the consumer.
Europe has already realized the benefits of anti-counterfeit legislation and has taken a more watchful eye in the policing of counterfeits. In France and Italy, specifically, not only can a counterfeit vendor be slapped with a pricey fine but so can the gluttonous consumer — a cautionary side note for future study abroad students.
I am not saying to kick the can on copying altogether. Ironically, the fashion industry largely thrives on the idea of copying. Think about it: One
designer releases a new trend on the runway and six months later, copies of it are seen in department stores every-where. Also, unlike music and movies — which are currently protected un-der U.S. copyright law — fashion does not have as long of a shelf life. Trends are constantly being reused and recy-cled — the glories of vintage.
Bottom line is designers are continu-ally copying trends — to some extent.
So, where do we draw the legal line on copying?
Susan Scafidi, a current Fordham law professor and leader in the fash-ion law movement, narrowed this down for us. She developed legisla-tion that prohibits the creation of a virtually identical fashion product, making it feasible to bring a legal claim to the unique culture of the fashion industry.
Critics, however, mock the term virtually identical for being virtu-ally vague. Perhaps it is time for them to bite their tongues because like all issues of law there will al-ways be areas of gray and that will have to be left up to judges.
I must credit the majority of my knowledge on this issue to Scafidi, who has developed a rich and rare ex-pertise in the field of fashion law. I am optimistic that my article can spread awareness to the issues of counterfeit and push her seven-year-long legisla-tive crusade into enactment.
Lisa Totino is a contributing columnist. Email her at [email protected].
FasHIoN
NYUNEWS.Com | moNDaY, apRIL 9, 2012 | WaSHINgToN SqUaRE NEWS 7
DiNardo, Emily Franklin, matt Kao, Ben miller, peter murphy and Richard Zhang.
Religious schools cannot ban FacebookeDucatIoN
By BrIttaNY sHermaN
Students at the all-girls Orthodox Beth rivkah High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn were outraged, and rightfully so, when they were recently forced to delete their Face-book accounts and pay a $100 fine or face expulsion. All 495 girls were asked to sign a contract at the begin-ning of the school year where they promised not to use the social net-working site. However, 33 violated this agreement and were forced to pay the consequences.
I understand this is a private school, which means they are free to enforce their own rules. I also realize the stu-dents should not have broken a signed contract. Nevertheless, I see the need for some emphasis on the school’s de-cision itself to enforce this rule on the basis of religion and morality.
The contract is based on the Tzniut, a number of laws that focuses on modesty and humility within the Jew-ish Orthodox community.
rabbi Benzion Stock, administrator of the Brooklyn school, said, “The In-ternet is a good way to ruin marriages and families,” and Facebook specifi-cally is “the wrong place for a Jewish girl to be. Facebook is not a modest thing to do.”
The relationship made among reli-gion, immodesty and Facebook seems tenuous, at best. Yes, kids can get into bad things using Facebook: They can post inappropriate pictures, write un-necessary comments or even engage in bullying. And these things do hap-pen, of course. But does not the same number of things have the possibil-ity of occurring through cell phones? Sure, cell phones are not globally con-nected, but the same adverse affects can occur from there as well. Should the students not be able to own cell phones, either?
It seems as if the entire idea of protecting students from immodest practices can be, and clearly is, taken too far in this case. Even further, the school is taking on the position of a parent. I do not understand how it is a school’s business to regulate what their students do outside of the class-room. If these girls were on Facebook during school hours then this would be a different case entirely. But given that there is no evidence of that oc-curring, the school’s say in whether or not a student may have a Facebook account seems utterly inappropriate and out of place.
Oftentimes, people are too quick to make associations between things. It is a temptation to say that this stu-
dent did one bad thing and then an-other, so the first must have caused the second. But that is not necessarily the case. The New York Post recounts how Chaya Tatik, 17, was kicked out of Beth rivkah when she was in ninth grade for using Facebook and dressing in an immodest way. But what needs to be realized is that people may dress, talk, act in an inappropriate way for a number of reasons. What is the connection between immodesty and Facebook? Is it too tough to see that this type of behavior could easily be a byproduct of a changing genera-tion? The wrong circle of friends? The way the children were raised?
I do not see why any school, even a private one, thinks it has the right to deny students of a valuable social networking tool that allows them to connect with family and friends. I do not think any school considers the positive effects that may come from Facebook. Banning access to a public site with considerable opportunities is not right nor is it right to not re-spect kids enough to trust that they can use the Internet properly. This is not protecting them — it is limiting them considerably.
Brittany Sherman is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
It is that time of year again — that time when an intended April Fool’s joke goes awry, and nobody is laughing.
This time, the yearly phenomenon took Chelsea Diana, former editor-in-chief of The Daily Free Press, Boston Uni-versity’s student newspaper, as its emis-sary victim. When BU’s paper released an April Fool’s issue making light of the university’s sexual assault record, the sophomore editor-in-chief was vilified by newspapers, blogs and activists. The media has a tendency to amplify issues with the intention of rectifying a soci-etal problem. But in this case, the media hype took the controversy and made it a side show instead of focusing on the issue of rape.
According to the NYU Student Health Center, one in five college women are raped during their college years, and one in four report experiences that meet the legal definition of rape or attempted rape. Aside from these widespread accounts, 35 percent of men report some likelihood that they would rape given an assurance they would not be caught or punished. Clearly the issue of rape in America is no laughing matter.
Despite these jarring statistics, the at-tention has diverted from addressing the issue of sexual assault on college campuses to focusing on The Daily Free Press’ response as the media attempted to diffuse the situation. reports circu-lated about Diana’s public apology for the April Fool’s edition and on her need to resign from the position of editor-in-chief. Her picture, taken from Facebook and Twitter, was plastered across the In-ternet, displaying Diana as a poster child for journalistic failure.
This amateur mistake had the oppor-tunity to raise intelligent debate and discussion on possible solutions for reducing rape among college students. Instead, the media trivialized the situ-ation. Compared with the graveness of the rape issues, the editor’s careless blunder does not deserve the attention it has been given.
Violets fall to Princeton in five sets
8 WaSHINgToN SqUaRE NEWS | moNDaY, apRIL 9, 2012 | NYUNEWS.Com
Distance runners log personal bests at Sam Howell Invitational
Advisory Committee to create the video.
“It was a huge group effort,” Hayes said. “My role was starting the dialogue of it, [to make it known that] homophobia is not okay. It’s not acceptable.”
Hayes, an Illinois native, admitted that before coming to NYU, he never felt comfortable being open about his sexuality in a team environment.
“I was petrified of coming out [being so involved in sports], but I received great feedback,” Hayes said. “Not everyone will have the same experience, but I think peo-ple will be pleasantly surprised. I always encourage [other LGBTQ kids] to come out. It’s not as bad as you think.”
Because of Hayes’ efforts, assistant athletic director Peter krasny instituted mandatory training sessions for athletic staff and coaches on how to combat homophobia in sports.
“Every team is a safe zone and this en-tire building is a safe zone, and I love that message,” Hayes said.
Hayes’s video premiered today on You-Tube and other blogs across the internet.
Sara Levy is a staff writer. Email her at [email protected]. Jay Hayes has brought the It Gets Better project to NYU.
RaCHEL KapLaN/WSN
NYU student-athlete and Athletic Department take stand against homophobia in sports
Better continued from PG. 1
By sara LeVY
The No. 5 men’s volleyball team fell to Princeton University on the road Friday in five sets, 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 17-25 and 15-11.
After dropping the first two sets to the Division I foe, NYU rallied back but fell short in the fifth.
“I think we played hard and well,” senior libero Jay Hayes said. “We set ourselves up for the op-portunity to win in the fifth set, [but we] just couldn’t pull it out.”
Sophomore middle blocker Nick Capriccio led the team with 15 kills, and junior outside hitter Taylor Fauntleroy racked up 14 as well.
Senior opposite/middle block-er Luke Hamlet and freshman opposite/setter Matthew Mac-Donald racked up 10 kills apiece.
“It was a pretty good perfor-mance by the team and a great bounceback from the Baruch match,” head coach Jose Pina said. “We made a few key serving er-rors, but overall played well.”
For Princeton, freshman outside hitter Cody kessel spearheaded the attack with 14 kills. Sophomore
setter Davis Waddell chipped in 12 kills as well.
“As a team we need to maintain focus from beginning to end in a match,” Hayes said. “I believe that is our biggest weakness we have right now.”
The violets will be hosting the United volleyball Championship next weekend and will kick off first round play against Pennsly-vania State University-Behrend on Saturday April 14.
A select group of violets from the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at Princeton Uni-versity’s Sam Howell Invitational this past Friday and Saturday. The meet featured some of the best run-ners from Division I, II and III uni-versities on the East Coast.
Senior ryan Boyd and junior kevin Bonilla, along with other NYU distance runners, high-lighted the weekend competi-tion on the men’s side.
Boyd finished 19th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a season-best time of 9:32.76. Meanwhile, Bonilla ran the 5,000-meter, completing the race with an impressive time of 15:34.11.
The men’s team found some their strongest performances on Saturday. Again, distance had solid runs, especially in the 1,500-meter.
Sophomore ryan Gilmore and freshman Justin Turlip ran against 41 other competitors in the 1,500-meter event. Gilmore placed 15th overall with a time of 4:03.01, which was good for second in his heat. Turlip like-wise had an impressive show-ing, finishing the race 32nd overall.
In the 800-meter run, freshman Dharen kadiyala finished strong-
ly with a time of 1:58.91, placing fourth in his heat.
Freshman Jon Simon partici-pated in the 100- and 200-meter races on Saturday. In the 100-meter he came in third place out of 35 runners overall with a personal best of 10.90. In the 200-meter, Simon finished 19th out of 35 runners with a time of 22.73.
Sophomore Gilson Cortes also saw success in the 200-meter sprint, placing 25th with a time of 23.05.
The women’s team had success from their distance runners as well.
Seniors Laura Santoski and Paige zelinsky competed in the 5,000-meter run. Out of 43 run-ners, Santoski came in 19th overall with a personal best of 17:34.61 finishing time, and zelinsky finished in a time of 17:46.21, placing 24th.
In the 1,500-meter run, senior Maeve Evans and junior Geor-gina Norton competed against 40 other runners. Evans had a solid race, coming in 22nd with a time of 4:38.46. Norton com-pleted the race with a personal best of 4:46.91.
Freshman Alyssa Binczyk was the only violet from the women’s team to compete on Saturday. In the 800-meter event, she ran 2:20.76, which placed her in seventh in her heat and 23rd overall out of 39 runners.
The violets return to action on Saturday, April 14, at The College of New Jersey Invita-tional in Ewing, N.J.
Amy Rose Ramapuram is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
Senior ryan Boyd finished 19th in the steeplechase.
