Vol. 43, No. 6 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 nyunews.com

WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWSNYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

Basketball star shoots for NCAA

tourney

Nearby attacks

put NYU on alert

Tisch sophomore crowdfunds tuition

JEREMY continued on PG. 5

SPORTS

THEATERFEATURES

PUBLIC SAFETY

KUPFERBERG continued on PG. 8 SLASHER continued on PG. 3

A bloody sweater lays outside of University Hall following attack on a pedestrian. The suspect is still at large and the NYPD is attempting to identify him.

STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN AMBROSIO

By ALANNA BAYARIN News Editor

Four people were attacked by a man with a boxcutter near Union Square last night after they refused to give him money. None of the victims are affiliated with NYU, but the at-tacks occurred in close prox-imity to University Residence Hall. The suspect has yet to be arrested.

The assailant slashed three people in the face with a box-cutter and slapped a woman. The assaults occurred at the bus stop in front of U-Hall, on an uptown No. 4 train between Broadway and Lafayette, in the Union Square subway station and in front of the Food Empo-rium on 14th Street.

Randy Vasquez, the first vic-tim, told the New York Daily News that the victim seemed unstable and was initiating confrontation with many peo-

By BOBBY WAGNERSports Editor

The UAA is loaded with talent this year, but NYU junior basket-ball star Evan Kupferberg has claimed his stake as one of its undisputed top players. Kupfer-berg, the conference’s leading rebounder at 10.8 per game and second leading scorer with 17.7 points per game, garnered his third UAA player of the week award over the weekend.

Kupferberg transferred from Lib-eral Studies to the Gallatin School of Individualized Study to study real estate. When he is not on the court, he passes time playing video games.

After such a successful sopho-more season, Kupferberg earned the confidence of his coaches.

“It’s a whole year process,” he said. “I’ve been working in the offseason to get better. During the season the coaches really put you in the right spots to succeed.

By DHRITI TANDONStaff Writer

To help Tisch sophomore Jer-emy Harris pay his spring semes-ter tuition, Steinhardt sophomore Ursula Seymour, CAS junior Erica Gonzales and Steinhardt junior Devin McNulty started a successful fundraiser on the crowd-funding website ‘Go-Fund-Me’.

The quartet surpassed its initial goal of $7,864, the amount Harris needed to pay for his petition, to raise $11,055 in just nine days. This overwhelming response was completely unanticipated.

“At the start we weren’t really expecting to reach the full $7,684,”

Seymour said. “I thought maybe we could get close to it and beg NYU for the rest. Then, we were ab-solutely in shock when we reached the full amount and people kept donating. We didn’t know how to stop it, really.”

Initially having given up all hope, Harris was prepared to head home to Minnesota. His hope returned, however, when mem-bers of his A Cappella group, The Mixtapes,began donating on the crowd-funding site.

“Most notably my fellow Mixtape, Jerry Wilson, donated a slightly larger amount than another Mix-tape, Tom Dziuba, with a caption

By WILLA TELLEKSON-FLASHContributing Writer

From the moment the cast of Fi-asco Theater’s “Into the Woods” stands together and announces “once upon a time,” the audience is transported into an engrossing world of magic.

A baker and his wife, cursed by a neighboring witch, are sent into the woods on a quest to re-verse the spell preventing them from having a child. Along the way, they encounter Grimm’s be-loved characters: Jack of “Jack in the Beanstalk,” Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel. Each on a pursuit of his or her own, the characters cross paths in the woods, finding that they need each other in order to re-alize their dreams. In 2014, the play’s journey was transformed

into a film adaptation.The first act ends in happily

ever after, leaving the audience wondering how the plot will ad-vance in the second act. Yet the second act is just as exciting, if not more compelling, as the char-acters join forces to defeat a king-dom-crushing giant. Betrayal, loss and culpability add new dimen-sions to the once-lighthearted tales, capturing the concern of the audience.

There is more to Fiasco The-ater’s interpretation of “Into the Woods” than its fairy tales, though. The music plays a key role in creating the magical tone, and the set doesn’t let the audience forget that. An upright piano sits at center stage, which musical director Matt Castle plays for the entirety of the show. Other instruments, played by the cast,

also remain on stage. The sides of the stage are lined

with the innards of pianos, evok-ing the singing harp of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The backdrop is covered with a web of ropes, which simultaneously remind the audience of the strings of a piano and a forest densely packed with trees.

Clever and charming lyrics bal-ance simple and poignant melo-dies, enchanting the audience with Sondheim’s music. In this mashup fairytale, Cinderella and Rapunzel’s respective princes are brothers, and they indulge the audience with some sibling rivalry in the wonderfully funny number, “Agony.” The melodra-matic lyrics of the princes strug-gling with the trials of love leave

WOODS continued on PG. 4

Venture back ‘Into the Woods’ Off-Broadway

ON THE SIDE COMPILED BY THE WSN STAFF

2 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | NYUNEWS.COM

STAFF PHOTO BY CALVIN FALK

STAF

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SNAPSHOT TODAY ON CAMPUS

TODAY’S EVENTS ARE FREE FOR NYU STUDENTS.

MARL Talk: Michael CaseyThe Music and Audio Research Lab is hosting “Towards Neural The-

ories of Music: Recent Work in Identifying and Decoding the Neural Representational Spaces of Music.” The lecture will be in the confer-ence room on the sixth floor of 35 W. Fourth St. starting at 1:45 p.m.

Keeping it Real: A Panel DiscussionThe NYU Curatorial Collaborative will have a panel discussion

about the current and next 80WSE exhibitions, “Absence/Pres-ence” and “Senior Honors Studio.” The panel will be held at 5 p.m. in the Barney Building, and will be followed by a reception.

Fiction ReadingAuthors Nathan Englander and Chris Normandin will be

reading as part of the Creative Writing Program Reading Se-ries. It will be held in the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House at 7 p.m.

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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

As the 57th Annual Grammy Awards approach, the WSN staff looks back on this year’s nominees’ previous works.

DRAKE, “SO FAR GONE” “So Far Gone,” a 2009 release, marked Drake’s third mixtape and unde-niably launched the rapper’s career as an internationally renowned artist. The mixtape’s two singles, “Successful” and “Best I Ever Had,” assisted in building Drake’s fame. Collaborations also contributed to the mix-tape’s enormous success, including features from Trey Songz, Lloyd, Lykee Li and Lil Wayne. To this day, “So Far Gone” is still recognized as one of the most atmospheric-sounding modern mixtapes, blending to-gether R&B and hip-hop — a style that Drake has seemingly mastered and made his own. Not only did “So Far Gone” launch Drake’s career, but also marked the beginnings of the rapper’s signature sound. – Alexa Spieler, Arts Editor

HAIM, “DAYS ARE GONE”

The Haim sisters released their first album, “Days are Gone,” in 2013. The album has received a lot of atten-tion, including being named one of Pitchfork Media’s 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far. The album has pro-duced six popular singles, including “Forever” and “The Wire.” Haim not only records well, but also puts on an amazing live show. They are joining Taylor Swift’s “1989” tour in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois and Califor-nia. Currently, Haim is working on their second album. – Alanna Bayarin, News Editor

CHICK COREA, “THE ENCHANTMENT”

Chick Corea has enchanted the judges once again. The piano legend and 20-time Grammy winner has been nominated for the 62nd and 63rd time, including a nom-ination for best jazz instrumental album, “Trilogy.” “The Enchantment,” which won the Latin Grammy award for best instrumental album in 2007, features Corea and American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck. With a well-blended sound of American and Latin jazz, “The Enchantment” can put listeners in a trance to feel like they are floating in the ocean, the clouds or both at the same time. – Shawn Paik, Multimedia Editor

The sound the Arctic Monkeys are nominated for this year is more polished than what they originally became known for. “Favourite Worst Nightmare,” their second album, is the Arctic Monkeys at their most raw. “Fluorescent Adolescent” and “Balaclava” are particular standouts, with a chugging guitar and an unadulterated efferves-cence that echoes through in what is undeniably one of their best albums. The record shows Jamie Cook’s mastery of the electric guitar and a younger, more energetic Alex Turner still trying to figure out the image he wants to show the world. – E.R. Pulgar, Music Editor

VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG

ARCTIC MONKEYS, “FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE”

NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 3

One of the many flyers around Union Square offering a reward.

STAFF PHOTO BY SANG BAE

ple on the No. 4 train.“He was screaming his mind

out,” Vasquez said. “He was swaying left to right. He wasn’t stable. I thought, ‘Oh boy, an-other day in New York’.”

NYU sent a university-wide email informing students about the incidents. Resi-dents of U-Hall have expressed safety concerns.

Tisch freshman Victoria Sprowls, who lives in U-Hall, said the incident the incident has made her wary of walking around Union Square, especially at night.

“I always felt safe before in this neighborhood, but I am go-ing to go out tonight and I am having one of my guy friends walk me back to my dorm,” Sprowls said. “I wouldn’t say that I feel unsafe but I feel ap-prehensive to go out alone.”

NYU spokesperson John Beck-

man said NYU is cooperating with the New York City Police Department in all investiga-tions. He added that Public Safety officers have been ad-vised on how to deal with the situation and how to keep stu-dents as safe as possible.

“Violent incidents are un-common in our neighbor-hood,” Beckman said. “We have briefed all NYU Public Safety Officers about the at-tacks at their roll call, we have provided descriptions and re-porting instructions to all of our fixed posts and mobile patrols and we have directed those offi-cers posted to the Union Square area to be especially vigilant and report any possible sight-ings of the suspect.”

CAS freshman Robert De-Sisto, who also lives in U-Hall, said he thinks NYU cannot do a lot about the situation, con-

sidering it did not happen on NYU property.

“I feel pretty safe once I am inside U-Hall, but I can see how, especially in the early hours of the morning, it can be danger-ous walking by yourself,” De-sasdo said. “The incident obvi-ously happened outside of the building, and there’s not a lot the university can do about it.”

CAS freshman Alec Henson said he does not worry for his safety. He said NYU should let the NYPD conduct all further investigations.

“I definitely feel safe right now,” said Henson. “I think this is a series of isolated in-cidents that are unlikely to happen to most NYU students and NYU is probably best to leave the NYPD to do their work alone.”

Email Alanna Bayarin

Students cautious after local attack SLASHER continued from PG. 1

By JIMMY CHINContributing Writer

NYU Langone professor Arthur Caplan led a discussion on Wednes-day at NYU Law about the ethical use of experimental drugs for ter-minally ill patients.

Arthur Caplan, who is a mem-ber of the NYU Working Group for Compassionate Use, began the event speaking about Josh Hardy, a child from Virginia who suffers from a life-threatening kidney disease.

Hardy’s family sought a drug in development that showed poten-tial for treating Hardy’s viral infec-tion. Chimerix, the company that manufactures the drug, denied two requests to release it from St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, but eventually capitulated due to pressure from a social media campaign

Caplan explained that the drugs rarely make it from animal trials to pharmacy.

“When somebody says, ‘I want it,’ there’s a pretty good chance that it isn’t going to work,” Caplan said. “If it was easier to do this, we wouldn’t have so many diseases that we wouldn’t be able to cure.”

NYU Law student and co-president of the Health and Law Policy Society Isaac Ritter, who coordinated the event, said the compassionate use discussion is significant.

“This is all more acute in the age of social media, where campaigns can catch fire, pressuring stakehold-

ers to provide experimental drugs to patients,” Ritter said. “While these efforts are well-intentioned, they pose serious risks and ethical concerns we must address.”

Caplan added that there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the legal process of experimental euthanasia drugs. Some people are reluctant to move forward because it is currently illegal.

Caplan also discussed the difficul-ties in dealing with minors, hospice patients and disabled, non-termi-nally ill people who also want ac-cess to drugs.

“I don’t think right-to-try laws will result in any access,” Caplan said. “I would expect all 50 states to pass them by the end of this year.”

For steps to improve compas-sionate use, Caplan argued for improved awareness of the issue, independent vetting of drug re-quests, reporting of all treatment outcomes to the FDA and address-ing payment issues.

Ashley Ferguson, another co-pres-ident of the Health and Law Policy Society, emphasized the impor-tance of the debate.

“The way that health law is right now, so much of what we hear is coming from the other side,” Fergu-son said. “Even though they know the potential for complete failure of medicine, if they are willing to try, we should also be willing to try.”

Email Jimmy Chin at news@nyunews.com.

By JOEY BUIGazelle Editor in Chief

In an email addressed to the NYU Abu Dhabi community, Dean of Students Dave Tinagero an-nounced his resignation on Feb. 4. After three-and-a-half years at NYUAD, Tinagero will be leaving at the end of this academic year to return to the United States. Tinagero cited family reasons in explaining his resignation.

Signing off, “Warmly, Dave,” Tinagero framed the notice as a piece of personal news and empha-sized that to leave Abu Dhabi was a difficult decision.

“Joining NYUAD has been one of the best decisions my family has made. In the end, though, I have chosen to take a new opportunity for family reasons,” wrote Tinagero.

Tinagero became the third dean of students at the beginning of the 2013-2014 academic year, having served as deputy assistant for the former Dean of Students Julie Avi-

na. Avina had served as dean of stu-dents since Jan. 2011, and decided to return to NYU New York after two-and-a-half years. Jim Larimore was NYUAD’s first dean of stu-dents for half a year. Following his resignation, Charles Grim stood in briefly as dean of students before Avina took the position.

In his email, Tinagero thanked the staff, faculty, Vice Chancel-lor and NYUAD leadership. He mentioned his appreciation of the students in particular, to whom his “gratitude is, by far, the most significant,” and noted that “the NYUAD student body remains the most compelling narrative of this truly global institution.”

In light of Tinagero’s schoolwide announcement, Vice Chancellor Al Bloom noted Tinagero’s impact on the community.

“Dave is a truly extraordinary dean, who has given exceptional leadership to the development of Student Life at NYUAD,” wrote Bloom to The Gazelle.

“The model he sets of generosity of spirit, subtlety of response to student needs and wisdom and passion in educating for a world of greater mutual understanding will have a profound impact on the future of this institution. We will miss him greatly.”

Student Government Vice Presi-dent and senior Alex Nyikos said that Tinagero has been a great part-ner, especially in troubleshooting residential problems last semester during NYUAD’s transition to the Saadiyat campus. Nyikos com-mended Tinagero for his general receptiveness to student concerns.

In July, Tinagero will take the post of headmaster at St Andrew’s, a preparatory boarding school in Rhode Island. University adminis-tration has not yet released infor-mation regarding Tinagero’s resig-nation or his replacement for the next academic year.

Email Joey Bui at jbui@thegazelle.org.

Panel discusses ethics of experimental drugs

In the NYU Abu Dhabi campus, students recieved news that Dave Tinagero has resigned. STAFF PHOTO BY MARITA VLACHOU

Published on TheGazelle.org on Feb. 4, 2015

THE GAZELLE: DEAN OF STUDENTS RESIGNS

Arthur Caplan discusses legal issues surrounding euthanasia.PHOTO BY JAMES PARK

4 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | NYUNEWS.COM

ARTS EDITED BY ALEXA SPIELERARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

BY KIERAN GRAULICHStaff Writer

NYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music alumni Jesse Aicher and Matt Walsh are making waves as Prelow, a New York/New Jersey electro-pop duo. After forming in 2014, Prelow made a splash in the on-line music pool, as their track “Mistakes Like These” landed at No. 3 on HypeM and No. 1 on the Soundcloud streaming ser-vice. Their first EP, “Why Does Everything Happen So Much?” was released Jan. 27.

WSN: How did music become a part of your life and how did that lead you to NYU?

JA: I’ve been playing gui-tar since I was young, and my mom really wanted me to get into it. I started writing music in high school with my band. I actually went to NYU to study philosophy, but music just became a bigger part of my life. I decided to transfer into recorded music.

MW: When I was five, my mom enrolled me in this class where

we clapped along to music with tambourines and stuff. I took piano lessons after that for two years, and learned how to play by ear. When I was 16, I broke my leg and couldn’t walk for eight months, so I started producing, and then I just knew. When I went to music tech at Steinhardt, I actually didn’t know that Clive Davis existed. Then after [the Ultraviolet Talent Show at Third North Residence Hall], I saw Jesse perform with a couple of friends. I didn’t even speak to him after that, I think we ac-tually met a year and a half later. That’s when I learned about Clive Davis and transferred.

WSN: Who is your biggest influ-ence as musicians?

JA: I feel like it’s such a cop out to just say the Beatles, but I just listen to so much Beatles. It’s pressure to name just one. So yeah, it’s going to be the Beatles for me.

MW: For me it’s Bob Dylan. I can go back and play so many songs, so many random songs and I can just love them all. I heard “The Man in Me” in

“[The] Big Lebowski” and it’s like my favorite song ever. And I don’t think it was even a single.

WSN: You guys had the num-ber one streaming song on Soundcloud. How do you think music-sharing on the internet is going to influence the success of independent artists?

JA: It’s incredible. Sharing really helps spread your art around. Especially on Twitter and Soundcloud it’s so cool to see it get reposted and retweet-ed and how it compounds other stuff too, that’s maybe easier than ever. But, at the same time, it’s harder to make a dedicated fan base because there’s so many musicians who make music on those same platforms.

MW: Yeah, there’s so many singles coming out every single day, and in the same genre on the same websites, a lot of peo-ple and artists will be able to listen and keep coming back. People will be able to identify with the person and an artist with just a song that they like

or see online, and there’s so many options and that’s what I want to get to.

WSN: What’s your plan for the new year?

JA: We’re planning on getting on the road, doing a lot of live

dates, continuing music for our first album, to continue to grow everything and see where it goes. We’ve been working on music for a long time that didn’t end up on the EP.

Email Kieran Graulich at music@nyunews.com.

NYU alumni rule SoundCloud

Prelow released their first album after success with online singles.

VIA FACEBOOK.COM

the audience laughing. As for sentiment, “No One

Is Alone” stands out as the most touching and power-ful piece of the show. Feeling as though they have experi-enced the at-times lonely and isolating struggles of being in the woods, the audience understands the taxing emo-tional experience of the newly united cast.

The actors bring irresistible personality to their characters. Co-directors Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, who play es-sential characters as well, lead

their co-stars to a brilliant suc-cess of a musical. Brody plays Lucinda, the Wolf, and Cinder-ella’s Prince, whereas Steinfeld plays the Baker.

“Into the Woods” is magic simply because it does not shove magic in the faces of the audience; rather, it lures the au-dience into the power of what happens if one believes.

“Into the Woods” is playing at the Laura Pels Theatre, 111 W. 46th St., through April 12th.

Email Willa Tellekson-Flash at theater@nyunews.com.

‘Into the Woods’ brings back magic

WOODS continued from PG. 1

Sondheim’s ‘Into the Woods’ returns to the stage for the first time since its revival in 2006.

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BY TEJAS SAWANTContributing Writer

Bridges, a Muslim-Jewish In-terfaith student organization at NYU, devoted the last week of winter break giving back to the community. A group of 20 members, led by Hannah Katz from the Bronfman Center and Amira Shouman from the Islamic Center, undertook a disaster-relief service trip from Jan. 18 to 24 to the towns of Mayflower, Vilonia and Little Rock, Arkansas, which were both struck by devastating tor-nadoes last April.

As part of its mission, the group participates in service programs every year in regions hit by natural disasters in the United States, working in coop-eration with the Jewish Disas-ter Response Corp.

Beginning early in the morn-ing, the volunteers’ days were packed with work — building shelves, grouting floors, caulk-ing, spackling, building deck foundations and painting. After a day of work, the group would

then engage in an interfaith activity. On one of the eve-nings, they visited the Arkan-sas House of Prayer, where the local interfaith group hosted a dinner to welcome Bridges to the community.

CAS sophomore Afraz Khan was stunned by the hospitality despite it being Bridges’ first time in the particular area.

“It was beautiful, and it goes to show that places like Little Rock, Arkansas, in the south are taking major steps as well in bridging gaps between differ-ent beliefs,” Khan said.

Khan, a leader in the organi-zation, described the relation-ship between giving back ser-vice and upholding the mission of the group as complements of one another.

“In fostering a greater level of cooperation between the Mus-lim and Jewish faiths here at NYU, service work plays a piv-otal role in serving as a natural icebreaker to allow students to feel comfortable with one an-other,” Khan said.

This same sentiment was

shared by another leader, Sil-ver junior Emma Stein, who ac-knowledged the ability of service to bring strangers together.

“When painting the side of a house for five hours, or stand-ing on a ladder nailing a roof to chicken coop with someone spotting you for your safety, you get to talking,” Stein said. “You learn to put your trust in a stranger who very quickly be-comes a companion.”

CAS junior and secretary of Bridges Shanjida Chowdhury spoke about how, in addition to helping those in need, the ser-vice trip had a positive effect on her personally.

“It was definitely a life chang-ing experience,” Chowdhury said. “It taught me to have an open mind and an open heart to be grateful for my faith, my family and everything that I have. We spoke to many locals from Little Rock who lost ev-erything in the tornadoes, and they would share stories about how their faith kept them strong despite the fact that they lost almost everything

they owned.”As for Bridges’ future plans,

Stein hopes to continue build-ing the rapport between mem-bers by coming together to provide aid to more communi-ties around the nation.

“I hope to help facilitate expe-riences like this in the future,” Stein said. “I hope to see more wide eyes and big smiles.”

Email Tejas Sawant at features@nyunews.com.

Service trip brings groups together

Members of Bridges spent their break repairing tornado damage.

STAFF PHOTO BY HANNAH SHULMAN

Freshman discusses musical growth

BY ZOE THOMPSONContributing Writer

Singer-songwriter Leah Lavigne, a bubbly and ambitious freshman in NYU’s Liberal Studies program, has recently released her second album “Peripeteia.” Classifying her sound as a fusion of acoustic indie pop and adult alternative, Lavigne proves that her young age does not deter her from a budding music career.

Lavigne describes the new al-bum as an account of her per-sonal development, including songs she wrote during difficult periods in high school.

“Peripeteia is a Greek word and it means a sudden reversal of fortune. The Greeks believed the world was this great unknowable thing and it’s always changing,” she said. “This album is about growth, ups and downs.”

Influenced by Ingrid Michael-son, John Mayer and Regina Spe-ktor, the aspiring solo artist con-siders her second album to show significant progress when com-pared to the first.

“With my first album, I pro-duced it myself and was only four-teen,” Lavigne said. “My vision was still kind of limited and the studio was a bit overwhelming.

Going into this one, I am a lot more comfortable with the studio and different sounds.”

So far, Lavigne has received support from a wide variety of people. Detroit radio hosts played Peripeteia’s first track “Easy” a few weeks ago and engaged cou-ples have chosen “Right Next To You” as their wedding song.

Lavigne is self-managing her career, so she has been depen-dent on local shows, open mics and press interviews as ways of getting her name out to a larger audience.

“You can find a lot of gig oppor-tunities online, but a lot of infor-mation is mainly through word of mouth,” Lavigne said. “We live in New York City — there are end-less opportunities everywhere. It is just being social and interacting with others.”

Lavigne has found the resources offered at NYU to be helpful in the development of her music career.

“Luckly, Clive offers a really well-rounded curriculum that

helps you not only develop as a musician but as a savvy member of the music industry,” she said.

It is clear that Lavigne’s vision for the future holds no limits.

“For me, dreaming is the same as growing,” Lavigne said. “You need vision and hope in order to go somewhere.”

Leah has recently raised over $2,000 through a crowd fundrais-ing project to film her new music video, which will be released this summer. With her album already available on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube, Leah is currently work-ing on making it available in inde-pendent music stores.

Advising other artists who are hoping to get their name out, Lavi-gne’s resounding message is to have impassioned determination.

“Go for it,” she said. “You can’t sacrifice your dreams to be prac-tical. It is so important to keep dreaming. Just go for it.”

Email Zoe Thompson at features@nyunews.com.

Leah Lavigne released her sophomore album “Peripeteia” on Nov. 4.

VIA FACEBOOK.COM

that said, ‘Get at me, Dziuba,’” Harris said. “I honestly didn’t get my hopes up until the crowdfunding reached around $3,000. Then I realized that our goal was achievable.”

The campaign took off and at-tained success when the fundrais-ing page was posted on the Face-book page NYU Secrets. Among the top contributors were Roy Rosen-berg, the father of one of The Mix-tapes’ members, and Cole Snyder, a benevolent stranger, donating $800 and $2,930, respectively.

“Once we got the campaign post-ed on NYU Secrets, though, money was rolling in by the hundreds or thousands every hour,” Seymour said. “The donors were so gener-ous. A lot of friends and parents donated, and a lot of the funds came from kind strangers.”

Because the NYU administration was unable to fully cover Harris’s need for additional aid, Harris

turned to the website as another solution. However, Harris still rec-ommends fellow students in debt to persevere and work with the administration to look for more alternatives in their financial situ-ation.

The NYU Office of Financial Aid could not be reached for comment.

In the end, Harris attributed de-termination to remain at NYU to his wish to continue pursuing the acting in Tisch, a community in which he found comfort.

“I love, love, love acting. It’s the only thing I’m really good at,” Har-ris said. “But the reason I am so de-termined to stay at NYU is because of the communities I have found. I have made so many beautiful con-nections over my brief stay at NYU and I’m not ready to give that up.”

Email Dhriti Tandon at features@nyunews.com.

Crowdfunding, passion kept student at NYU

JEREMY continued from PG. 1

Jeremy Harris raised over $11,000 to pay for his tuition.

VIA GOFUNDME.COM

6 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | NYUNEWS.COM

THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD & DAILY SUDOKU

ACROSS 1 Person close to

100?

9 Kind of game or line

15 Belt and hose

16 Poker declaration

17 Neil Armstrong declaration

19 Film critic Jeffrey

20 Part of a dovetail joint

21 Sub

23 Seizure sensors, for short

26 What a parent might warn a child to watch out for

31 Deviate from one’s path

32 Bash with a splash

33 “___ inglés?”

35 Noir alternative

36 Part of a Spanish explorer’s name

37 “Funny Girl” composer

38 Chutes and ladders locale

41 Ho Chi Minh City festival

42 1961 Tony winner for Best Musical

43 Sistine Chapel painting setting

45 Antennae, so to speak

46 Charged48 Butterfly, but

not a caterpillar53 Average … or

a literal hint to 17-, 26- and 42-Across

58 Cave59 Trump60 Duke’s

transportation?61 Game for which

it’s helpful to have hands-on experience?

DOWN 1 House work? 2 Comedian Mort 3 Deuce follower 4 Until 5 Beginning 6 “Now ___

shakes my soul”: Sappho

7 Highest power? 8 Traveler’s

checks, for short?

9 Not let up in criticism

10 Site of a 1953 C.I.A.-directed coup

11 Paddle around12 Organlike

legume13 Function14 Taxi eschewer,

for short18 Animal shelter

animal21 2013 Joaquin

Phoenix film22 Chest

compressor, for short

24 In abundance25 Ritzy26 Promoted27 Real imp28 Brio29 Big name in

morning radio30 “The

Confessions of ___ Turner” (1967 Pulitzer winner)

32 Wallop33 “___, boy!”

34 Canned food made by Nestlé

36 “L.A. Law” actress

38 Peter Fonda’s role in “Easy Rider”

39 ___ Lingus

40 TV channel with the slogan “Very Funny”

42 Concern

44 Clinton-backed pact

47 “Don’t blame me!”

48 Brain-freezing treat

49 Sitcom character who curses by shouting “Shazbot!”

50 Special quality51 Eats

52 “Hedda Gabler” setting

53 Org. that’s most likely to appreciate this puzzle?

54 Sketches, e.g.

55 Short flight

56 New Year’s ___

57 Job ad abbr.

PUZZLE BY JILL DENNY AND JEFF CHEN

For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554.Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS.AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

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19 20

21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

32 33 34

35 36

37 38 39 40

41 42

43 44 45

46 47 48 49 50 51 52

53 54 55 56 57

58 59

60 61

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De Blasio’s State of the City overlooks police

STAFF EDITORIAL

WSN welcomes letters to the editor, opinion pieces and articles rel-evant to the NYU community, or in response to articles. Letters should be less than 450 words. All submissions must be typed or emailed and must include the author’s name, address and phone number. Members of the NYU community must include a year and school or job title.

WSN does not print unsigned letters or editorials. WSN reserves the right to reject any submission and edit accepted submissions in any and all ways. With the exception of the staff editorial, opinions ex-pressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.

Send mail to: 838 Broadway, Fifth Floor New York, N.Y. 10003 or email: opinion@nyunews.comSUBMITTING TO

NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 7

PUBLIC HEALTH

Anti-vaccination crowd endangers everyone

Inexpensive education reform still effectiveEDUCATION

By MATTHEW TESSLER and TESS WOOSLEY Opinion Editors

We are privileged to live in a coun-try where vaccines against deadly diseases are readily available to every-one. These vaccines and public health initiatives in the 20th century led to the elimination of harmful, common diseases like polio and, in 2000, mea-sles. Yet in recent years there have been several measles outbreaks in the United States — the most recent one linked to Disneyland in California.

While the United States is rela-tively disease-free compared to many other areas of the world, these recent outbreaks show that our vaccine-bolstered health cannot be taken for granted. The anti-vaccine cam-paign, spurred by a now-retracted 1998 paper that falsely linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism, has had a massive effect in California. The state allows religious and philosophical exemptions to vac-cines, creating concentrated pockets where vaccination rates reach only 90 percent — including Orange County, where Disneyland is located. As vac-cination rates fall, the herd immunity

that protects the unvaccinated or sus-ceptible dissipates.

Unfortunately, some conservative politicians have responded to the Disneyland outbreak by campaigning for votes. Fringe opinions that con-tradict proven science are given a na-tional platform when politicians like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul mention anecdotal cases of vaccines supposed relation to mental disorders. Even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie com-mented that parents should have a choice, despite the fact that many an-ti-vaccine parents have proven they cannot make the right one. Christie has since backtracked and said that, at least with diseases like measles, there is no question kids should be vaccinated. But the initial statement — the dangerous one — caught the most press.

President Barack Obama is right; kids need to be vaccinated. As the

2016 election cycle kicks off, politi-cians must at least be united against the threat of terrible diseases. Living in a society as healthy as the U.S. is not a right — it is a privilege. Our society is safe against preventable diseases because scientists and politi-cians worked together to make it so. Personal belief exemptions to vacci-nations cannot be allowed, or else we risk falling down a slippery slope.

While measles was eliminated here, it is still common in nearly every other country. Hundreds may have been exposed to measles in Penn Station on Jan. 25 when a sick Bard College international student took the Amtrak after returning to New York City from Germany. New York state only allows vaccine exemp-tions for religious reasons, but the consequences could be dire if vaccina-tion rates were lower or the student attended college in California. These exemptions would be to blame, just as they are at fault for causing the Disney-land outbreak. When lives are at risk, it’s time to step up and ban personal belief exemptions.

Email them at opinion@nyunews.com.

By KENNY KYUNGHOON LEEContributing Writer

Inequality in education still persists despite numerous large-scale educa-tion reforms for public schooling. A 2011 study shows that students from low-income families have a 9 percent chance of getting a college degree, while those from high-income families have a 54 percent chance.

Education reformers and politicians have been strenuously trying to solve this problem, but their efforts are both ineffective and costly. According to the National Center for Education Statis-tics, between 1965 and 2005 Ameri-can taxpayers invested more than $778 billion on federal programs for elementary and secondary education. Yet fewer than one in 10 low-income students obtain a college degree. More recently, the George W. Bush adminis-tration’s No Child Left Behind Act has been criticized for failing to foster any progress in education. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, denounces this act as “the massive administrative and bureaucratic costs the federal government imposes on state and local authorities.”

Still, politicians often ignore the

fact that the quality of education and the amount of money spent by gov-ernments in the name of reform are not necessarily correlated. They have prioritized large-scale initiatives with catchy names over low-scale alterna-tives that actually work. Many of these alternatives better suit low-income stu-dents’ needs, and directly address the obstacles in their way to tertiary educa-tion. According to the Department of Education, 10 to 20 percent of college-eligible, low-income high school stu-dents across the nation do not enroll in college due to lack of support and re-sources. To fight this problem, two re-searchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Pittsburgh tested an automatic text message system that sends high school students reminders about deadlines with links to required forms and counselors. They discovered those who received the text messages

were 7 percent more likely to enroll in college than those who did not. The cost of this program is very low — just $7 per pupil.

Policymakers should reassess their focus in education reform and look not at the size of an initiative, but its effectiveness. They should also ac-knowledge that the high costs of their projects do not guarantee success. In his recent State of the Union Ad-dress, President Barack Obama made bold promises. He unveiled America’s College Promise, his new proposal to make two years of community col-lege free, which would cost the federal government about $60 billion over the next 10 years. His proposal will make tertiary education far more affordable, but it is questionable if this proposal can reduce inequality in education un-der the status quo. More hurdles than high tuition fees still remain between low-income students and college edu-cation such as complicated financial aid application processes and the lack of quality college counseling at public high school. It is time to adopt policies that actually are effective.

Email Kenny Kyunghoon Lee at opinion@nyunews.com.

Email the WSN Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com.

Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered the annual State of the City address on Feb. 3, his second since taking office last year. Fighting inequality in New York City has been a theme throughout de Blasio’s tenure as mayor, proven by his suc-cessful advocacy for universal pre-K and paid sick leave. Despite these achievements, de Blasio’s administration has been troubled from the fallout of the Eric Garner decision, which resulted in massive citizen protests and an early Janu-ary police slowdown. Given the scale of this issue, it came as a surprise when de Blasio failed to make any mention of it in his speech. While de Blasio deserves praise for his progres-sive policies, he must address various lingering police con-troversies before he proceeds to make any sweeping changes.

Many in the New York Police Department publicly stated that they felt betrayed by de Blasio after the murder of two NYPD officers in late December that was related to the Garner deci-sion. The tension culminated at the slain officers’ funerals, with many other officers turning their backs to the mayor in a blatant act of protest. Coupled with the racial tensions already plaguing the city in the wake of the Ferguson decision, de Blasio is under more pressure than ever to balance the interests of the police and their critics.

His failure to discuss the issue in his State of the City address is unfortunate because it sends the message, true or not, that he is trying to sweep it under the rug. Anti-police brutality activ-ists held a press conference outside City Hall Wednesday, where they condemned de Blasio for ignoring the problem. “Yesterday there was a glaring omission — we thought this mayor was committed to this issue,” said Michael Skolnik, an activist with the protest group Justice League NYC.

Also in the speech, de Blasio outlined broad goals to construct 80,000 affordable housing units over the next decade, and an-nounced well-received plans for creating a “new citywide ferry service.” While his progressive ideas are admirable and worth pursuing, New York City comptroller Scott Stringer expressed some concerns about the financial feasibility of de Blasio’s lofty ambitions. “When you talk about affordable housing, you have to figure out a way to pay for it,” Stringer said. Eventually de Blasio must be held accountable for his plans, but the proposals are commendable.

In the coming year, de Blasio must prioritize rehabilitating his relationship with the NYPD in addition to turning his bold plans for the city into a reality. This will involve making more concrete plans for his projects. After a tumultuous first year in office, marked by triumphs and failures alike, de Blasio must communicate better with activists and the NYPD in order to properly serve the people of New York City.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOURDAN ENRIQUEZ

EDITORIAL BOARD: Tess Woosley (Chair),

Annie Cohen (Co-chair), Tommy Collison (Co-chair), Matthew Tessler (Co-chair)

OPINIONEDITED BY TESS WOOSLEYOPINION@NYUNEWS.COM

I’m really happy they have trust in me. I’m just continuing to get better.”

The Violets are 13-5 this season, and are coming off one of the biggest wins of the year against Emory last Sunday. Despite their solid overall record, they are just 4-3 in the conference, but Kupfer-berg isn’t worried about bringing home a UAA title.

The team’s three conference losses should not be a problem, as long as they continue to play at their current clip. Because the UAA is so competitive, it has left them some opportu-nity to recover from some early season letdowns.

“This season is crazy,” Kupfer-berg said. “The winning team for the UAA title is probably go-ing to have five or six conference losses. It’s so competitive, teams are beating teams left and right. Against Rochester we came out flat, and that’s what happens in the UAA. Anybody can lose.”

But Kupferberg is confident that this season will be a season to remember. The team is closely knit and prepared for a deep post-season run together.

“I would say the camaraderie

on our team is probably as tight as any team in the UAA, if not the entire country,” Kupferberg said. “I’m friendly with all the guys, and the freshman have come in and accepted their roles.”

Max Ralby, Kupferberg’s fel-low junior captain at NYU, has been around Kupferberg for years before NYU. Ralby played at Kupferberg’s rival high school in Florida.

“Evan is a great player, friend, and teammate,” Ralby said. “In high school we always battled against each other. It’s nice hav-ing him on my side these past three years. He is a big part of our success not only with his per-formance on the court, but the person he is off the court. I’ve known Evan since lower school, and I feel very blessed to be his

teammate. I know we will be life-long friends.”

For Kupferberg and the rest of the Violets, it’s all about the team getting to the NCAA tournament this year. That doesn’t take away from their regular season accom-plishments though, one of which came recently in the form of a long overdue victory.

“I just told the guys in the lock-er room on Sunday that that was my first time beating Emory,” Kupferberg said. “It felt good to finally get a win against them.”

Kupferberg will look to lead the Violets to another win when he suits up this Friday as the Violets take on the University of Rochester.

Email Bobby Wagner at bwagner@nyunews.com.

8 NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

SPORTS EDITED BY BOBBY WAGNERSPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Evan Kupferberg shoots during a game against Emory.

Player hopeful

for future games

Intramurals offer opportunities for fun

By JONATHAN SCHIFMANContributing Writer

With over a week of classes already complete, students in-terested in sports and competi-tion can start registering for NYU spring intramurals.

Intramurals have become pop-ular at NYU in recent years, and can get very competitive.

Tisch senior Kahlil Maskati has enjoyed a long intramural career here at NYU.

“NYU intramurals are really fun,” Maskati said. “I’ve played basketball and volleyball, and I love how organized and com-petitive everything is. It’s got-ten cooler and more interactive every year.”

CAS senior Justin Gee felt simi-larly, saying intramurals can be a great way for students to inter-act and find common ground.

“Being a part of a team was awesome,” Gee said. “You build community and develop your skills together as the season goes on.”

Those who sign up should ex-pect one or two times per week. But Gee emphasized the balance between intramurals and aca-demics is not difficult.

“The structure of intramurals is great,” he said. “The sched-uling was flexible enough for me to be able to handle school and enjoy playing during the semester.”

Registration on IMLeagues ends for some sports next week, while others have deadlines in March and April.

Sports:

3-on-3 Basketball: A six to seven week regular season followed by an NCAA March Madness-like single elimination tournament. The reg-istration deadline is Feb. 9 with a league start date of Feb. 16.

Men’s and Women’s Volleyball: A six to seven week regular sea-son followed by a single elimina-tion tournament. Registration deadline is Feb. 9 with a league start date of Feb. 16.

Team Handball: A coed league that plays on Tuesday nights. Registration deadline is Feb. 9 with a league start date of Feb. 14.

Indoor Cricket: A six week season followed by playoffs. Registration deadline is Feb. 10 with a league start date of Feb. 17.

Tennis (singles and doubles): A single-elimination tournament played on the rooftop courts at Coles Sports Center. Registra-tion deadline is March 23 with a league start date of March 30.

Indoor Soccer: A 32-team soccer tournament that plays at the Chel-sea Piers Field House. Registration deadline is March 23 with a league start date of March 27.

Bowling: A coed league that meets on Friday afternoons at Bowlmor Lanes. Registration deadline is March 23 with a league start date of March 27.

Softball: A coed league that plays on Sunday mornings and afternoons. Registration deadline is March 24 with a league start date of March 29. Email Jonathan Schifmanat sports@nyunews.com.Wrestling wins big at home

By KYLE LUTHERDeputy Sports Editor

The NYU men’s wrestling team won dual matches in an impres-sive fashion at home last night at the Coles Sports Center, improv-ing their record to 16-3.

Due to inclement weather on Jan. 24, the Grapplers’ match against Stevens Institute of Technology was postponed until Feb. 5 as part of a double header. The Grapplers entered the night on a seven match win streak. Senior Brian Ander-son, a team captain, was recently awarded the UAA Athlete of the Week title for his dominant perfor-mances against Ursinus College and Muhlenberg College.

In the night’s first match, the Grapplers faced the United States Merchant Marine Academy, beat-ing them 28-7 and giving them their 15th win and a 5-0 re-cord in the Centennial Confer-ence. They earned their eighth straight win and 24th-seed rank-ing by the National Wrestling Coaching Association.

The match against Stevens was much more hard fought. It be-gan with NYU sophomore Wayne

Yuan winning the first match by forfeit over Stevens’ Rob Murray. Grappler standout sophomore Na-than Pike dominated the second match over Anthony Geiger, 19-5 giving NYU the 4-3 lead.

“Our team is really starting to mold together and things are looking great,” Pike said. “A lot of our wrestlers fought hard this match because we knew how important coming away with a win was.”

Brandon Jones, 14-3 for the sea-son, competed in the next match against Stevens’ Ryan Wilson. Jones won by technical fault 20-3 giving NYU a lead of 9-3 in the match overall. Sophomore Mat-thew Coppola won both of his matches on the night. In his sec-ond match, Coppola was able to pull out an overtime victory on a takedown.

After five bouts against Ste-vens, NYU led 12-7 when sopho-more John Messinger took to the mat. Although Messinger ulti-mately lost his match 14-9, he was able to avoid the major de-cision and NYU held the advan-tage of 14-10. Junior Matt Eulau did not fare any better, losing

his match and allowing Stevens to take the lead 16-14. However, senior captain Patrick Sheehan was able to put the Grapplers back on top with a 12-4 victory to tie the match up 16-16 with two matches remaining.

Sophomore William Gockel-Figge was able to pin his opponent 1:23 into his match, giving NYU a cru-cial six-point lead. The Grapplers then sent out Anderson, who sim-ply needed to avoid being pinned to ensure the Grapplers’ second vic-tory of the night.

“The team had been looking forward to the Stevens match ever since they beat us in Madi-son Square Garden,” Eulau said. “Everyone understood that if we wrestled to our potential we could beat them. There wasn’t anything really special we did, the coaches told us we could beat them and we all bought in and wrestled hard.”

The Grapplers will be back in ac-tion on Feb. 7 to take on McDaniel College at Washington and Lee in Lexington, Virginia.

Email Kyle Luther at kluther@nyunews.com.

KUPFERBERG continued from PG. 1

STAFF PHOTO BY RACHEL KAPLAN