Vol. 42, No. 85 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 nyunews.com WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper Outcry follows approval of LICH deal Divest projects images of Sandy App connects Greek life members Show explores Matisse’s creative jolt DENTITY continued on PG. 3 MATISSE continued on PG. 4 CLIMATE REVIEW FEATURES CITY AFFAIRS By AMANDA MORRIS Staff Writer Dentity, an app that essentially redesigns phone contact books, is reinventing and streamlining the process of exchanging con- tact information. Particularly for fraternity and sorority members, it allows users to easily network with one another. The app relieves the user of the task of updating contacts, making it much simpler to obtain con- tact information. Created in May of this year and still in its beta phase, Dentity has experienced a growth rate of roughly 50 percent per month, expanding to include about 150 Greek chapters and over 10,000 people. App users include members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at NYU, whose vice president of fi- nance SPS junior Ashwin Mathur, interned with the company over the summer. “[Dentity] is way better than posting in a Facebook group or sending messages via GroupMe,” Mathur said. “It is a very practi- cal application for large groups or clubs to use. However, I can defi- nitely see the application grow into attracting a larger target mar- ket in the business sector.” The app is available on iOS, An- droid and the Internet. The users By HENRY CHOA Contributing Writer With autumn comes Henri Matisse’s invigorating paperworks, currently showcased in “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs,” at the Mu- seum of Modern Art. The show arrived after five well-received months on view at the Tate Modern in London, where it became the gal- lery’s first exhibition to exceed half a million visitors. MoMA has not seen much of Matisse since a major retrospective in 1992 — the Metropolitan Mu- seum of Art, on the other hand, has had two blockbuster Matisse shows in the past decade — but “The Cut- Outs” is a perfect reintroduction. It takes an alluring look at the final surge of creativity in the fauvist’s work and life. In the early 1940s, a case of duo- denal cancer unhinged Matisse’s entire artistic method, limiting his mobility and forcing him to work exclusively from his bed and chair. Yet with the help of several assis- tants, Matisse began to express himself using colored paper and scissors, transitioning into one of the most creative and innovative periods of his life. The exhibition opens with “Two Dancers,” one of Matisse’s first works done using the cut-out method, which depicts a woman who springs jovially above a sturdy partner. The woman’s body is laden with small pins, each one tactfully holding a slice of her own paper silhouette in position. This particular work helped ini- tiate the malleable process that Matisse fell in love with. Viewers will only observe more of that cre- ativity as the exhibition unfolds. Matisse’s excitement for this new form of expression is pal- pable in the room dedicated to his 1947 book “Jazz.” Figures like “Icarus” glide through star-filled spaces as the viewer learns how Matisse likened the cutting pro- cess to “the sensation of flight.” There is, however, a sense of melancholy lying beneath the whimsicalities that spill across the exhibit walls — perhaps from his own physical condition as he painted such lively scenes, or per- haps from the misery the war had caused his family. A highlight of the exhibition is the short film on display. Gallery visitors can watch Matisse as he sits Nursing school freshman KP Mendoza carried a pillow throughout the day on Oct. 29 to show support for survivors of sexual violence. Inspired by Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz, who is carrying her mattress every day her alleged rapist attends Columbia, Wednesday was Carry That Weight Day. STAFF PHOTO BY SHAWN PAIK By SUEBIN KIM Staff Writer Attorney General Eric Schneider- man and New York State Comp- troller Thomas DiNapoli officially approved the sale of Long Island College Hospital to Fortis Property Group on Oct. 28. Brooklyn residents have fought the transaction between SUNY and Fortis for nearly two years. Brook- lyn resident Jon Berall submitted the Order to Show Cause to the court, asking to halt the transfer until the Appellate Court reviewed the fi- nal legal issues. Justice Johnny Lee Baynes rejected the appeal to delay the sale of Long Island College Hospi- tal to Fortis Property Group on Oct. 21. Berall has previously filed mo- tions to block the transfer. Community members and pa- tients hope officials will call an inves- tigation into the validity of the deal. Barbara Gartner, Brooklyn Heights resident and member of Patients for LICH, said various members of the By SUEBIN KIM Staff Writer On the two-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, members of NYU Divest projected images of the storm’s damage on a wall in the lobby of the Kimmel Center for University Life. NYU Divest’s Art and Design team created a video art instal- lation to memorialize the im- pact of the superstorm on NYU and surrounding communities. Many students stopped to watch the video and sign a petition to support NYU Divest’s mission to separate the university from the fossil fuel industry. Dorothy Lam, Steinhardt se- nior and Divest member, cre- ated the video. “It was a combination of both news source videos and also origi- nal photographs that I took the day after Sandy hit,” Lam said. Michael Leone, a graduate from Wagner Graduate School of Public DIVEST continued on PG. 2 DOCTOR continued on PG. 2
Transcript
Vol. 42, No. 85 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 nyunews.com
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWSNYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
Outcry follows
approval of LICH deal
Divest projects
images ofSandy
App connects Greek life members
Show explores Matisse’s creative jolt
DENTITY continued on PG. 3 MATISSE continued on PG. 4
CLIMATE
REVIEWFEATURES
CITY AFFAIRS
By AMANDA MORRISStaff Writer
Dentity, an app that essentially
redesigns phone contact books, is reinventing and streamlining the process of exchanging con-tact information. Particularly for fraternity and sorority members, it allows users to easily network with one another.
The app relieves the user of the task of updating contacts, making it much simpler to obtain con-tact information. Created in May of this year and still in its beta phase, Dentity has experienced a growth rate of roughly 50 percent per month, expanding to include about 150 Greek chapters and
over 10,000 people.App users include members of
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at NYU, whose vice president of fi-nance SPS junior Ashwin Mathur, interned with the company over the summer.
“[Dentity] is way better than posting in a Facebook group or sending messages via GroupMe,” Mathur said. “It is a very practi-cal application for large groups or clubs to use. However, I can defi-nitely see the application grow into attracting a larger target mar-ket in the business sector.”
The app is available on iOS, An-droid and the Internet. The users
By HENRY CHOAContributing Writer
With autumn comes Henri Matisse’s invigorating paperworks, currently showcased in “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs,” at the Mu-seum of Modern Art. The show arrived after five well-received months on view at the Tate Modern in London, where it became the gal-lery’s first exhibition to exceed half a million visitors.
MoMA has not seen much of Matisse since a major retrospective in 1992 — the Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art, on the other hand, has had two blockbuster Matisse shows in the past decade — but “The Cut-Outs” is a perfect reintroduction. It takes an alluring look at the final surge of creativity in the fauvist’s work and life.
In the early 1940s, a case of duo-denal cancer unhinged Matisse’s entire artistic method, limiting his mobility and forcing him to work exclusively from his bed and chair. Yet with the help of several assis-tants, Matisse began to express himself using colored paper and scissors, transitioning into one of the most creative and innovative periods of his life.
The exhibition opens with “Two Dancers,” one of Matisse’s first works done using the cut-out method, which depicts a woman who springs jovially above a sturdy partner. The woman’s body is laden with small pins, each one tactfully holding a slice of her own paper silhouette in position. This particular work helped ini-tiate the malleable process that Matisse fell in love with. Viewers
will only observe more of that cre-ativity as the exhibition unfolds.
Matisse’s excitement for this new form of expression is pal-pable in the room dedicated to his 1947 book “Jazz.” Figures like “Icarus” glide through star-filled spaces as the viewer learns how Matisse likened the cutting pro-cess to “the sensation of flight.” There is, however, a sense of melancholy lying beneath the whimsicalities that spill across the exhibit walls — perhaps from his own physical condition as he painted such lively scenes, or per-haps from the misery the war had caused his family.
A highlight of the exhibition is the short film on display. Gallery visitors can watch Matisse as he sits
Nursing school freshman KP Mendoza carried a pillow throughout the day on Oct. 29 to show support for survivors of sexual violence. Inspired by Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz, who is carrying her mattress every day her alleged rapist attends Columbia, Wednesday was Carry That Weight Day.
STAFF PHOTO BY SHAWN PAIK
By SUEBIN KIMStaff Writer
Attorney General Eric Schneider-man and New York State Comp-troller Thomas DiNapoli officially approved the sale of Long Island College Hospital to Fortis Property Group on Oct. 28.
Brooklyn residents have fought the transaction between SUNY and Fortis for nearly two years. Brook-lyn resident Jon Berall submitted the Order to Show Cause to the court, asking to halt the transfer until the Appellate Court reviewed the fi-nal legal issues. Justice Johnny Lee Baynes rejected the appeal to delay the sale of Long Island College Hospi-tal to Fortis Property Group on Oct. 21. Berall has previously filed mo-tions to block the transfer.
Community members and pa-tients hope officials will call an inves-tigation into the validity of the deal. Barbara Gartner, Brooklyn Heights resident and member of Patients for LICH, said various members of the
By SUEBIN KIMStaff Writer
On the two-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, members of NYU Divest projected images of the storm’s damage on a wall in the lobby of the Kimmel Center for University Life.
NYU Divest’s Art and Design team created a video art instal-lation to memorialize the im-pact of the superstorm on NYU and surrounding communities. Many students stopped to watch the video and sign a petition to support NYU Divest’s mission to separate the university from the fossil fuel industry.
Dorothy Lam, Steinhardt se-nior and Divest member, cre-ated the video.
“It was a combination of both news source videos and also origi-nal photographs that I took the day after Sandy hit,” Lam said.
Michael Leone, a graduate from Wagner Graduate School of Public
DIVEST continued on PG. 2 DOCTOR continued on PG. 2
2 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | NYUNEWS.COM
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community have joined together to gain the attention of Schneiderman and DiNapoli.
“The role of the attorney general is to protect the public interest and maintain LICH’s charitable mission,” Gartner said. “The only outcome that does that is for SUNY to transfer LICH to a full-service hospital opera-tor and restore LICH’s endowment.”
The New York State Nurses As-sociation took legal action against the NYU Langone Medical Center in September to stop the hospital from taking control of the free-standing emergency room at the LICH. The lawsuit was dismissed.
Robert Femia, vice chair of Clin-ical Operations Department of Emergency Medicine at Langone said the Emergency Department would offer timely emergency care to the community.
“Similar to an ED located within a hospital, it will have the capability to treat patients with life threatening, time critical medical emergencies, including stroke, severe infections and heart attacks,” Femia said.
Langone also plans to provide ad-ditional ambulatory health services on the LICH site. Femia said Langone will be able to provide the commu-nity with access to both emergency care and preventive health services at physician practices.
“The freestanding ED will be part of a future medical facility to be built by NYU Langone that will include primary care and specialty office practices, a cancer center, lab and ra-diology services, and an ambulatory surgery center,” Femia said.
Community groups, health care providers and local officials have expressed concern over the down-sizing of the hospital despite the growing population of Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Heights resident Ellen Grove questioned the ethics behind the transaction.
“There is a nexus of politics and money interests that is so power-ful in the state of New York that even enormous community oppo-sition — 50,000 signatures to keep the hospital open on the Gover-nor’s desk — and taking the mat-ter into court made no difference in the outcome,” Grove said.
Robert Pepper, long-time resident of Brooklyn Heights and former LICH patient, said closing the hospi-tal meant losing the only full-service hospital serving Brooklyn.
“When SUNY closed the hospital and let the doctors and nurses go against Court orders several times, the other full-service hospitals had an overwhelming overcrowding of their emergency wards causing long waits in outside ambulances and hospital hallways,” Pepper said.
Service and Divest member, said ignoring climate change is a huge risk and is no longer an option.
“We want to make sure that peo-ple don’t forget, and that people understand this is about climate change,” Leone said. “Climate change is just going to make storms like Sandy more frequent and more intense. The time has long passed for us to do something about it.”
CAS sophomore Sukhveen Soni, a Long Island resident, said more attention must be given to cli-mate change.
“I think the climate issue is definitely something that needs to be considered,” Soni said. “It’s not factored a lot into our education so I think we should do something about that.”
Gallatin sophomore Hunter Kurepa-Peers said Sandy did not di-
rectly affect her but she was devas-tated to hear about it because her family was on the East Coast.
“Now that I’m actually living here, I feel like I have much more responsibility and there’s some-thing I can do about it,” Kupera-Peers said. “I think that especially at NYU, where so many people want to change things, this is the best place to start these petitions.”
Tisch freshman Sebastian James Dillingham initially was not aware that it was the second anniversary.
“I don’t think about it much because I’m from the West Coast and [Sandy] doesn’t come up much,” Dillingham said. “Even here I haven’t heard about it all day so it’s good that Divest is here
to remind us about it.”Tisch freshman Gwenndolyn
Aume said she supports Di-vest’s efforts.
“To have NYU put their fund-ing, which is our funding, into something like climate change rather than fossil fuels — that’s something that I’m going to sign for,” Aume said.
Lam said it is easy to forget how tragic the storm was.
“Hopefully, though, re-watch-ing these videos reminds people that climate change is an issue that we definitely have to address urgently,” Lam said.
NYU Divest projected a video installation in the Kimmel Center.STAFF PHOTO BY SHAWN PAIK
By ALANNA BAYARINStaff Writer
Academics and leaders of vari-ous Christian denominations gathered on Oct. 29 to discuss the impact and facets of religion and politics. The eight-person panel, organized by Wagner graduate students Katelyn Riconda, Adam Cross and Carlos Rodriguez, was in the Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue.
Wagner dean Sherry Glied com-menced the panel and set the stage for discussion between the religious leaders.
“There are issues that engage our politicians, our public life, our public organizations and the question on the table today is how does religion play in that space?” Glied said.
Colt Anderson, dean of Ford-ham University Graduate School of Religion and Religious Educa-tion, said the Catholic Church is becoming more involved in policy and politics.
“Ever since Roe v. Wade, the Cath-olic Church has become more and more engaged in civic spirit, but it has also become eternally polar-ized,” Anderson said.
Helene Slessarev-Jamir, profes-sor at the Claremont School of Theology, said she first came into contact with Christianity through her political involvement.
“I had a religious transformation in my late 20s working on Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential cam-paign,” Slessarev-Jamir said. “It was the place where I, for the first time, saw a form of engagement in reli-gion, engaged Christianity, where Christian beliefs were tied to to jus-tice activism.”
Jill Rauh of the United States Con-ference of Catholic Bishops said the Catholic community has made an effort to impact social injustice.
“The Catholic Church has been consistently engaged throughout the last several decades,” Rauh said. “After the second Vatican council in the 1960s there was an effort by the U.S. bishops to recog-nize that there were so many is-sues impacting low-income com-munities, and people of color, and they wanted to do something, so they created the Catholic Cam-paign for Human Development.”
In addition to religion and politics, the panelists shared individual stories about their relationships with their respec-
tive denominations.After the formal panel, each
speaker joined a small group of at-tendees to discuss religion in poli-tics in a more intimate setting. At-tendees’ beliefs varied from very religious to secular.
Laura Seide, a graduate student at Wagner, said she values being able to engage with people of dif-ferent faiths, even though she does not affiliate with any.
“Especially since I come from a very liberal Massachusetts back-ground, so the whole faith in politics idea is so foreign to me,” Seide said. “At the same time, faith communities have already made constituencies, and if we don’t mo-bilize them we’re losing out on a large segment of the population.”
Cross said the discussion on religion started by the panel will continue during the two-day con-ference ending on Thursday.
“I think there is never enough time to go deep enough and it felt like we skimmed over a lot of things that we could have spent a lot more time talking about,” Cross said.
Panel parses religion, politicsEight speakers discussed societal intersections at the panel hosted by Wagner graduate students on Oct. 29.
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN FORTE
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
By ILONA TUOMINENStaff Writer
Halloween is finally here, and
New York City is ready to celebrate. While dressing up is not a neces-sity, participating in a city event is always a good time. Here are a few fun and spooky Halloween events taking place this weekend.
Nightmare: New YorkThis ’80s-inspired haunted
spectacle on the Lower East Side promises to take you on a horrific railway adventure. Subway zombies, humongous rats and mole people are
only a few of the highlights. “Nightmare: New York” ends on Nov. 1 and is located at 107 Suffolk St. between Delancey and Rivington Streets. Go with some friends for the $20 student rush tickets and be prepared to be terrified.
Asphalt Screams
Head to the Upper East Side for this free and family-friendly Halloween event on Oct. 31. Located on 555 E. 90th St., “Asphalt Screams” includes a haunted house and outdoor games like zom-bie freeze tag. This is a good
option to remind yourself of your inner child and enjoy a slightly less scary version of this holiday that was, after all, meant for children in the first place. Perhaps top your night off with some shame-less trick-or-treating.
Village Halloween Parade
Starting at Spring Street and ending at 16th Street along Sixth Avenue, this year’s Hal-loween parade theme is “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” drawing inspiration from the painting of the same name. The parade will also feature
puppet shows. Starting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31, the party is sure to last all night.
Brooklyn Night BazaarFor the holiday weekend, the
Brooklyn Night Bazaar is throw-ing a special Halloween extrava-ganza with a light show, face painting and a $500 prize cos-tume contest. The Bazaar at 165 Banker St. is open on Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1, with free admission. The event will also showcase a variety of live sets from Diarrhea Planet, Hop Along, Desert Sharks, Weird Womb and DJ Lady Guy.
Annual Halloween Party at New Museum
The New Museum is transform-ing its modern art ensemble into a bloody Halloween party. The event takes place on Friday, Oct. 31, and is located at 235 Bowery. To enter, you must be a member, and stu-dent memberships are $50. While this event is slightly pricy, it will give future free access to any of the museum’s annual events. Drinks, games and artsy crowds make the New Museum’s annual Halloween Party one you do not want to miss.
Much of the aesthetic of Kith NYC, a multi-faceted brand and sneaker store, comes from its creative director Mellany San-chez, a Steinhardt alumna in her second year in the position.
Sanchez works behind the scenes with Ronnie Fieg, the shoe designer behind Kith NYC.
“I’ve known Ronnie for a long time. He’s an amazing person,” Sanchez said. “At the office, there is a constant conversation about how to run a business at its best and that’s a huge learning expe-rience. He appreciates my vision and lets me do my thing.”
Kith NYC partners with major labels such as Nike, Converse and New Balance. Sanchez curated and directed photo shoots for the most recent campaign, “Classics.”
The Brooklyn native had done styling and merchandising for J.Crew, Rag & Bone and OAK be-fore she became the creative di-rector at Kith. In 2013, she was approached by Nike to be a part of its ad campaign, which she describes as her first step toward her current successes.
“Having a brand as big as Nike recognize the kind of styling I was into, and the noise I was making via social media with my own personal endeavors was amazing,” Sanchez said.
“They were really interested in who I was as a student, online personality and stylist. It was one of the peak moments in feeling like I was doing some-thing right.”
Through her studies in me-dia, culture and communica-tion, Sanchez developed a unique worldview.
“Taking Architecture as Media with professor Erica Robles was the first time I started critically thinking about the world,” San-chez said. “I feel it is because I went to NYU and studied in a cer-tain way that made me look out-ward. It gave me the education and confidence to speak on ideas that may be outside of the box.”
Although she lived off campus, Sanchez says the Kimmel Center for University Life was one of her favorite places to work, and she is still in touch with other NYU alumni such as Matthew Tram-mel, the current digital director at The Fader magazine.
“I would say [my] biggest accom-plishment would be helping take this young New York brand across the world and helping curate the pop-up shops and everything we have done so far,” Sanchez said. “I dream of taking the kind of things that I’m doing for this brand to a bigger brand someday.”
on Dentity are only responsible for updating their own contact information, and then the app sends out contact requests, which are similar to Facebook friend re-quests, to other people.
Once the request is accepted, one can gain access to a variety of information such as phone numbers, addresses, emails and social media accounts, all of which are automatically updated if they change. Within the app, users can also create groups among contacts in order to mass text or email.
Co-founder of the app and Northwestern alumus Ashish Singal was inspired by his own poorly organized contacts.
“I came up with the idea in 2013 because my contact book was just a mess,” Singal said. “I was in Hong Kong and trying to contact my friend Bella, but I had multiple numbers in my phone under her name and didn’t know which one to call. I thought to myself, ‘There’s got to be some-thing better than this.’”
The app’s other co-founder and Punjab Technical Univer-sity alumus, Savinger Singh,
worked on the development while Singal handled feedback, marketing and product design. Within a month and a half, the app was completed.
“The main problem with cre-ating an app isn’t the idea, it’s possible to build an idea,” Singh said. “What’s difficult is getting people to use your app.”
Dentity’s initial targets were sororities and fraternities be-cause those organizations of-ten use Excel spreadsheets to record member information, which is difficult to keep track of and share.
Mathur said the app develop-ers are receptive to feedback and continually update the app.
“I think a big feature to add is a calendar where events can be posted and everybody in their group will receive a noti-fication that the specific event is happening,” Mathur said.
Dentity has also incorpo-rated privacy filters so that users can control which of their contacts or groups are al-lowed to see certain informa-tion. For example, users can set it so that all co-workers do not have access to one’s Twit-ter account name, but close friends do.
Evan Moskal, Poly junior and member of the recruitment selec-tion committee in Sigma Phi Epsi-lon, said he enjoys using the app.
“It’s an almost fool proof way of getting information out to our brothers both in advance or on short notice,” Moskal said. “The experience aspect of it is valuable be-cause its simplicity makes it to where there is no confusion when communicating.”
in his chair, wrestling energetic sheets of paper with oversized tailor’s scis-sors. The paper wobbles in his hand, but Matisse has a preciseness in inten-tion and movement that quells any sense of fumbling.
Matisse’s cut-out “The Swimming Pool” was the impetus for the exhibi-tion — Karl Buchberg, MoMA’s senior conservator, spent years on its restora-tion. In 1952, Matisse reportedly be-came dissatisfied with the heat of his favorite swimming pool in France, so he decided to construct his own. The artwork now lines the walls of an en-tire room and intimately submerges those who enter. Creatures wallow on all sides, discovering depth in flatness, while the viewer wades alone, decid-ing whether to swim above or below the water’s surface.
There is an indisputable feeling of liberation in walking among the cut-outs. Matisse’s newfound freedom in old age pervades the exhibit hall through his pliable artwork. Viewers can stroll through his gardens, dive into his swimming pools and revel in the impermanence of it all. The exhi-bition draws viewers into the sweet, buoyant world that Matisse handled so masterfully in life.
“Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs” will be on view through Feb. 8 at the Mu-seum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St.
Previously on view in London, the show is now at the MoMA.
VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG
‘On the Town’ excites with helluva showBy CLIO MCCONNELL
Editor-at-Large
It would be nearly impossible to write a show as perfectly suited to Broadway as “On the Town.” With mu-sic by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, this is the New York musical to end all New York musicals. First per-formed in 1944, the show carries with it an impenetrable waft of nostalgia, using sequins and dance numbers to dress up a time in American history that was not very glamorous.
The story follows three naval offi-cers, Gabey, Chip and Ozzie, as they take a whirlwind tour of New York City on their 24-hour leave from the navy. Each sailor has a different goal for the day, but everyone becomes distracted when Gabey falls in love at first sight with a poster on the sub-way. She is Miss Turnstiles, otherwise known as Ivy Smith, and the boys decide they are going to find her, nevermind the fact that she could be anywhere in the city.
Naturally, the gang splits up in order to cover more ground, and within an hour each boy has paired up with a girl. Chip has been lured into a taxi by sexy driver Hildy, Ozzie has become anthropologist Claire’s favorite speci-men and Gabey has managed to find Ivy Smith at Carnegie Hall.
The sailors’ adventure takes off with a swinging start, and the accom-panying song-and-dance interludes are completely silly and so much fun. Tony Yazbeck is perfectly cast as Gabey, with a wonderfully clear voice
and puppy dog demeanor. His moves are not at all shabby, either, and the audience witnesses his abilities dur-ing a ballet duet with Megan Fair-child’s Ivy. Individually, Yazbeck and Fairchild are quite talented. Together, their footwork is almost dazzling.
The other two leading ladies, Alysha Umphress as Hildy and Elizabeth Stan-ley as Claire, are phenomenal. Both women are gorgeous and confident with voices to match, but they are also quite adept at physical comedy. Often they outshine the talents of their male counterparts, Clyde Alves’ Ozzie and Jay Armstrong Johnson’s Chip. John-son is a little bit overly dopey, turning him into more of a caricature than a sympathetic character.
Many audience members will at-tend “On the Town” with the movie version in mind, remembering the excellent performances of greats like Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Vera Ellen and Anne Miller. For better or for worse, this Broadway production only features musical numbers from the original staged version, so fans will miss familiar songs like “You’re Awful” and “When You Walk Down Mainstreet With Me.”
Yet the incredible cast and crew of this show work hard to match the fun pace of the film, and perhaps manage to exceed it by sheer impressiveness of set and choreography. New York is a helluva town, and “On the Town” is a helluva show.
For fans of art that embraces the ephemeral, “The Floral Ghost” is a must-see gallery show. Unlike most pieces of art, which are in some sense perma-nent, the artwork in Planthouse Gallery’s Plant District space re-flects the fleeting quality of na-ture. When visitors step into the gallery, they first see a pattern of colored-pencil flowers drawn on the wall in 15 shades of gray, appropriately titled “Farewell.” When the show is over, this piece of art by Katia Santibañez will be erased from the wall, and this is just what she intended.
The other works of art in the gallery range from minimalist to whimsical. Anton Würst’s engravings on woven paper con-trast the softness of the paper with the extreme permanency of engraved designs, while other works focus more on the cere-bral, such as Fred Tomaselli’s
blooming flowers, which look like nerve endings. At the end of the gallery, 60 silkscreened monotypes on newsprint paper dominate the entire wall in a burst of color that contrasts with the gallery’s grey opening. Flo-rian Meisenberg and Simryn Gill also contributed pieces to the gallery — the bright floral piece “Text me if i feel better next week! (working hard to pretend working hard)” and the scenic matte paper print “Scale or Ta-sha and the Tree,” respectively.
Despite the thoughtful jux-tapositions, it is difficult to fully appreciate each individ-ual piece of art, as visitors are simply given a piece of paper just short of a checklist that denoted the works. A lack of any description at all makes some works difficult to under-stand. The experience would have been more interesting if onlookers had known what the artists’ take on this “Flower Ghost” project was.
Overall, “Flower Ghost” is based on clever ideas from talented art-ists, but the gallery lacks stabil-ity. The idea of impermanence was perhaps too enthusiastically embraced, and one could feel the consequences of this ghostliness in the gallery — it is lucid, but transparent. Still, it is more often powerful than not, and the works come to take on a life of their own for viewers that can under-stand the art’s ephemerality.
It is difficult to accept the transience and impermanence of most art, but despite its prob-lems, this show bravely captures this sentiment, doing so with a sense of self-awareness that makes this collection visceral. Like the flowers and ghosts of the exhibition’s title, most of the artwork on view is evanescent.
“The Floral Ghost” is on view at Planthouse Gallery, 107 W. 28th St., through Dec. 12.
Artist Katia Santibañez will erase her colored pencil drawing when the show ends. Other pieces in the exhibition, including Fred Tomaselli’s (right), are also on display in “The Floral Ghost.”
PHOTOS BY AUDREY DENG
REVIEW REVIEW
NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 5
Thank goodness the NBA is back. It is going to be one of the most en-tertaining years in recent memory not only in terms of gameplay, but also in terms of offshoot side sto-ries as well. This season sees the return of marquis stars, and newly developed rivalries are emerging due to free agency.
On the NBA’s opening night, Oct. 28, the Los Angeles Lakers squared off against the Houston Rockets, marking veteran Kobe Bryant’s return from a season-ending Achilles injury last year. The most interesting part of the night was a skirmish between Bryant and former Laker Dwight
Howard. Howard grabbed a re-bound and promptly stuck his elbows out to protect the ball. Bryant, clearly frustrated with his team’s lackadaisical effort and perhaps Howard’s poor stint in Los Angeles, got in How-ard’s face trying to strip the re-bound from him. He caught two elbows to the jaw and was not happy about it.
Make no mistake, Bryant is an all-time great player. He has five championship rings, a league MVP award and is often regard-ed as one of the top five bas-ketball players of all time. He knows people may have forgot-ten about him last year, and that they even wrote him off as being an old man. He also knows How-
ard’s ego has grown since ditching Los Angeles for Houston, where he now has the help of fellow all-star James Harden, who is notably more sprightly than Bryant.
Bryant’s actions on Tuesday night sent a message: “I’m still here.” He was seen yelling “Try me, try me” at Howard as they were being separated.
This is what fans love about sports. Not fighting, per se, be-cause that can often detract from competition — unless its hockey, then throw off the gloves and compare beards as much as pos-sible. It is the somewhat primal drive to win and fearlessness in competition. Bryant is, by all means, an alpha dog personal-ity, at times to a fault Yet that is
what fans love about him.NYU sophomore and men’s
soccer player Bryan Walsh said even as a child he was taught to be aggressive.
“Starting at a young age, it’s instilled in all of us that we have the right to stand up for ourselves when the time comes,” Walsh said. “Playing on my U18 club team, we were known as an aggressive team that often found ourselves in al-tercations … Each player wanted to be seen as one that could hold their own on the field and impress their teammates.”
Sports exist in a dog eat dog world, but this mentality has given viewers some of the most entertaining moments and con-flicts in sports history. The bad
boy Pistons dished out flagrant fouls on anyone who came down the lane. The steel curtain Pittsburgh Steelers punished anyone who came over the mid-dle trying to catch a pass. In the 1992 Olympics, USA Basketball’s Dream Team was determined to embarrass every team it left in its wake. These were some of the most riveting moments in sports history, and it is all be-cause of the mentality Bryant showed last night — fierceness in the face of any opponent. NBA fans can only hope the rest of the season pans out with sim-ilar storylines along the way.
Intensity, aggression important parts of competition
By KYLE LUTHERStaff Writer
NYU men’s wrestling team looks to build on last season’s success in its 20th year under head coach Bruce Haberli.
At the end of last season, the Violets had a record of 10-9 in dual matches, won their third straight UAA Championship and finished 27th in Division III.
The Violets will be anchored by their four co-captains: se-niors DJ Albonico, Patrick Shee-han, Matthew DiGiovanni and Brandon Jones. Last year, Jones tied for third place in the high-est individual finish at the NCAA DIII Championships.
Junior Matt Eulau said the large team size of over 30 wres-tlers has caused more competi-tion for the starting positions.
“I think this team has the po-tential to be the best I’ve been a part of in my three years at NYU,” Eulau said. “Many return-
ers put in a lot of work this off-season and, even in the first few weeks, the improvements are obvious … Almost every starter has a guy, or even two, threaten-
ing his spot every day and hav-ing that constant competition is going to push this team to the next level.”
The team is in its last days
of preparation before the first tournament, the Monarch Invi-tational in Wilkes-Barre, Penn-sylvania. With the first match looming, the team has stepped up training with more twice-a-day practices. The team’s fitness for the season will be tested. While dual matches are more significant because they determine the team’s record, the Monarch Invitational will gauge individual abilities right off the bat.
“We’ve been really working hard in both the wrestling room and the weight room,” sopho-more Nathan Pike said. “We just had our wrestle-offs last Fri-day and everyone is looking in pretty good shape, but there is always room for improvement and that’s where the coaching comes in. We have a great set of trainers and coaching staff, and I think that is going to help us out a lot as well.”
Freshman Jake Legotte ex-
pressed his excitement to work with the other new freshmen on the team.
“We have a good recruiting class and the coaches and team are all excited about our chanc-es this year,” he said.
Junior Brian Anderson empha-sized the team dynamic as a po-tential catalyst for success.
“My expectations are very high,” Anderson said. “We have a great team dynamic this year, whether we’re all at Downstein joking and laughing or getting after it on the mat, there’s a lot of natural chemistry, and that makes for a great general vibe. As long as we all stay healthy, I foresee us having a really im-pressive season.”
The Violets will begin their dual matches on Nov. 15 in Wilkes-Barre at the Metro vs. PA Duals.
Wrestling team prepares for 20th season under coach Haberli
The men will begin their season with a tournament on Nov. 15.
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UNDER THE ARCH
COME TO OUR NEXT SUNDAY PITCH MEETING
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WRESTLING
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6 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | NYUNEWS.COM
THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD & DAILY SUDOKU
ACROSS 1 Oscar-winning
Hanks role 5 Reinstate, in a
way 9 Oklahoma tribe14 About15 Exude16 Corrective17 Golden girl?19 Polite word in
Palermo20 Czech playwright
who coined the word “robot”
21 It may be raised in a company’s new building
22 Jockey, e.g.25 Protein
generators27 Series of watering
troughs?28 Usurper29 Big guns31 Delta hub, briefly32 Many a modern
game
35 Rampaging37 Yerevan is its
capital40 37-Across was
the smallest one: Abbr.
41 Nickname43 Wine judge, e.g.44 Comes to light47 TV character who
says “Captain, you almost make me believe in luck”
48 Enterprise, for one
51 Perfects52 Soft rock53 God on whose
name Iago swears55 Setting for
van Gogh’s “The Yellow House”
56 New Americans of 1898
60 Walter ___ Theater (part of Lincoln Center)
61 Like some punished 1-Down
62 Lifeguard’s concern
63 Aware, with “in”64 They’re big on
Wall Street65 Gold-medal
skater Vasiliev
DOWN 1 Ones on base? 2 Argentine article 3 Howard
Cunningham, informally
4 “Later, bro!” 5 Dish contents 6 Air traffic control
sites 7 Book that
describes the destruction of Gog and Magog
8 Hot spot? 9 Counter10 Imp11 Time to retire,
maybe12 Figure on
Mexico’s flag13 Tart fruit18 Rapper who
co-starred in 2002’s “Half Past Dead”
21 According to legend, at age 2 he identified a pig’s squeal as G sharp
22 “Parenthood” actress Sarah
23 Millions of millennia
24 Thick smoke26 Nickname for
Angel Stadium, with “the”
30 “Fifty Shades of Grey” topic
32 Russian composer Arensky
33 King or queen
34 City department purview
36 Overnight, maybe
38 Mixed media?
39 First N.H.L. player to score 100 points in a season
42 Literally, “northern capital”
44 Acquiesce45 Not thrown away,
say46 Villain in “Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
48 Bare
49 Gay ___
50 Assuage
54 Cheese ___ (Nabisco product)
56 Mothra or MUTO, to Godzilla
57 Zip
58 Sapphic work
59 Line div.
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Edited by Will Shortz No. 0925CrosswordThe human body is said to have 10 three- letter body parts. All 10 of these are hidden inside Across answers in this puzzle. Can you find them all?
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Criminal record inquiries on Common App unjust
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NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 7
SCIENCE
Moratorium hurts important research
Unwarranted criticism for ‘Apple sheep’ TECHNOLOGY
By TIM BISHOPContributing Columnist
In response to safety incidents at federal laboratories, the White House recently announced that it will temporarily stop funding new experiments that attempt to increase the infectiousness of disease-causing agents, referred to as “gain-of-func-tion” research. The announcement urged similar ongoing projects work-ing with influenza, SARS and MERS viruses to pause their research while the White House deliberates. This moratorium will be in effect until the adoption of an official policy regard-ing this type of research, which is not expected until 2015. The publication of specific mutations that increase pathogenicity has been controversial in the past but, whether published or not, this type of next-generation research should be pursued.
Several significant biosafety ac-cidents have provoked censure of safety practices in labs han-dling these pathogens. Earlier this month, vials of smallpox, a disease thought to be entirely eradicated besides the known and secure sam-ples, were found in a National Insti-tutes of Health lab after being for-gotten for 60 years. Several months ago, a separate Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention lab poten-tially exposed dozens of employees to anthrax, a deadly bacteria known for use in bioterrorism. These were not isolated incidents, and they have prompted due criticism. At-tempts to increase pathogenicity of the H5N1 avian flu strain have also received heavy criticism, citing the potential of gain-of-function re-search for use in bioterrorism and the current breaches in biosafety as risks for human infection.
When dealing with matters of public safety, caution is necessary and safety violations are inexcus-able. As such, the moratorium has been considered by many a very sensible decision that will even-tually produce a better system of oversight. The government may also decide to permanently halt funding for the risky, but impor-tant, gain-of-function studies, how-ever. This is a condemnable course of action.
While hazardous in unsafe con-ditions, gain-of-function research provides a very useful service. These studies allow for better comprehen-sion of human-pathogen interaction and improve understanding of more dangerous forms that could emerge. Many of the mutations that occur in the lab are found in nature. The abil-ity of pathogens to become resistant to treatment is well-documented and poses large public health risks as cur-rent treatments become less effec-tive. The panic generated by MRSA provides clear evidence of this. As humans continue to encroach on the habitats of animals that are disease reservoirs, the threat of emerging in-fectious diseases increases.
Gain-of-function studies have the potential to provide us with an ar-senal of drugs and vaccines that could be used to combat emerging and evolving human pathogens such as H5N1. This type of proac-tive response to emerging infectious diseases is sensible considering the dynamic nature of many pathogens. Determining necessary safety pre-cautions should be a priority for the government so that this important research can continue.
We are all familiar with the excited, overenthusiastic young folks who are happy to wait in line in an Apple store for hours to buy the next iPhone, iPad or iDevelopment. Yet, consistently hovering on the outskirts of this happy bunch are the Apple nay-sayers. It seems that over the last few years, the term “Apple sheep” has become very trendy. For every person who rushes to the nearest mall on the day of a launch, there is also someone ready to launch into a lecture on the flaws of Ap-ple products and their users. In other words, harsh critics believe Apple is a cult, a symbol of inef-ficiency, and choosing an iPhone over an Android phone is a sign of low intelligence.
There is certainly an element of truth to this criticism. Apple does release new products often — many new, very expensive and very simi-lar products. Any excitement over
the newest iPad will inevitably re-sult in it becoming the oldest iPad available within a few months.
Yet the element of free will is ig-nored in criticisms of Apple and its consumers. As with any argument about new technology or media, people tend to talk as if the human race is being brainwashed, as if we are all being tricked into spending half our days on Facebook, into oversharing our lives on Twitter and into spending hundreds of dol-lars on gadgets.
As addictive as the Internet and technology appear, the reality of the situation is human beings have free will. None of us have to be on Facebook, none of us have to Instagram our lunches, none
of us even need to have a phone. No one is being duped or fooled into spending his or her money. We buy new Apple products be-cause we love them. We choose to spend our money on them. We spend time on Facebook because it is fun, or at least more fun than writing an essay due tomor-row. In the same way that our parents’ generation collected records and comic books, we are the generation that collects new pieces of technology.
Technology is alluring, but it is not evil. We have to stop talking about it as if it is out to get us. Apple sheep are not silly little peo-ple who are fooled into spending their money by a big corporation. They are simply people that love Apple and are choosing to spend their money on an iPhone as big as their heads and an iPad as thin as a piece of paper. In my mind, that is a choice deserving of respect.
October has been a monumental month for the campaign to remove inquiries regarding previous arrests and crimi-nal convictions from college admission applications. At an Oct. 7 NYU Law discussion, former Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech was interrupted by members of the NYU Incarceration to Education Coalition, which “works to end discrimination against … applicants with criminal records.” Three local New York colleges completely eliminated this question from their applications on Oct. 26. The change is a critical step in reducing criminal discrimination in the admissions process — especially because it removes unjust inquiries about arrests that may not have led to convictions.
While the progress made by these three schools is significant, most critics aim to entirely remove conviction-focused questions from the Common Application. The application asks: “Have you ever been adjudicated guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony or other crime?” and notes that applicants whose records are confidential can respond “No.” The Common App is used by over 500 universities, including NYU. While these universities accept students from every state, there are discrepancies in han-dling juvenile offenses across the country. Expunging or sealing criminal records for juveniles varies across states in numerous ways, including in the definition of juvenile age, the cost and the permitted timeframe. The cost of removing this criminal history is perhaps the most unfair barrier, as economically dis-advantaged individuals have a harder time paying the fee and navigating legal channels.
By asking for information on an applicant’s criminal record, colleges disregard the systematic privilege given to certain demographics. This is arguably inherent in old and persistent policies such as stop-and-frisk and minor marijuana arrests, in which black Americans are four times as likely to be arrested than white Americans for possession, though the two groups use the drug at tantamount rates. In New York City, for exam-ple, a disproportionate number of black and Hispanic men are arrested, and therefore more likely to be convicted, for mis-demeanors each year. By requiring applicants to disclose any misdemeanor charges, colleges allow discriminatory police ac-tions to taint their selection process. Considering the national history of racial injustice, it is time universities insulate them-selves from the influence of these unfair principles.
While it is understandable that universities want to be aware of this criminal history, there is no evidence showing colleges that ask about criminal records are safer than those that do not. Janet Lavin Rapelye, dean of admissions at Princeton Uni-versity, has defended criminal inquiries, saying “We take all of this information into account in our holistic review of the ap-plicant.” However, a prospective student’s previous interaction with the criminal justice system should not be a factor in the admissions process given the prevalent racial bias. Questions forcing students to disclose their criminal status dispropor-tionately target marginalized minority groups and function as another unacceptable barrier to higher education.
ILLUSTRATION BY JOURDAN ENRIQUEZ
8 NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
