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Washington Square News November 5, 2013TRANSCRIPT
Vol. 41, No. 88 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 nyunews.com
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWSNYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
Kokum brings south Indian Cuisine closer than ever for New Yorkers craving authentic dishesKokum, a recently opened Indian restaurant near Madison Square Park, offers healthy, homemade fare. From classic curries to traditional meat dishes, the variety of options on the menu cater to every appetite and craving.
STORY ON PAGE 4
Stern receives funding for scholarship
Fourth M.I.A. album balances gentle, chaotic sounds STERN continued on PG. 3
CHUCK KUAN FOR WSN
STORY on PG. 7
City voters to decide next mayorNew Yorkers will cast their ballots to determine which of the three remaining candidates they want to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Integrated Digital Media (IDM) • Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE) • Science & Technology Studies (STS)
For more informationVisit www.poly.edu/academics/departments/tcs
Come to an Open HouseNov. 19 (SUE & STS) | Nov. 20 (IDM)
Contact [email protected] | (718) 260-3231
*As of January 1st, NYU-Poly will be the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering!
By PETER SLATTERY
In the Hindu tradition, the god-dess Matangi represents the expres-sion of inner knowledge. But she is also, perhaps paradoxically, associ-ated with pollution and outsiders. And as the namesake for M.I.A.’s fourth studio album, “Matangi” is often a gentle, even spiritual, listen, but it includes jagged edges to keep the album stimulating.
Lyrically, “Matangi” has many of
the same themes as the artist’s previ-ous albums. M.I.A. maintains strong stances on a broad scope of personal and international issues. Most tracks on “Matangi” not only deal with M.I.A.’s life experiences, but also ex-press her beliefs about poverty, femi-nism, sex, love and religion.
The album showcases some of her best rapping, on “Bring the Noize,” and singing, on “Exodus,” to date. “Matangi” also shows off M.I.A.’s knack for intricate, inventive and
original wordplay — even if this tal-ent is sometimes hard to hear amid the album’s aggressive sonic blend.
Long-time collaborator Switch pri-marily handled production, alongside contributions from Hit Boy, The Par-tysquad and M.I.A. herself. “Matangi” is a collage, sampling from hip-hop, world, electronic, punk, pop and ev-erything in between, with spiritual sounds binding the album together.
There are abrasive bangers remi-niscent of her third album “Maya,”
such as “Bring The Noize,” but this album is a far cry from “Maya’s” abra-siveness. From the chants of “om” on “Karmageddon” and “Warriors,” to the haunting voices at the end of “Bring the Noize,” to M.I.A. and The Weeknd’s floating vocals on “Exo-dus” and “Sexodus,” the album often feels reflective and introspective.
Still, like “Maya,” the album is exhausting at times. The produc-
MATANGI continued on PG. 5
STORY on PG. 3
NYU Public Safety proves commendableAfter a rape incident and student rescue within the last week, Public Safety continues to show its invaluableness.
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By MARILYN LA JEUNESSE
As a part of the $1 billion schol-arship Momentum Campaign, Wil-liam Berkley, a 1966 alumnus of the Stern School of Business, donated $10 million to the Stern masters program.
This money will fund the Berk-ley Scholarship Program, which will aid students who want to pursue a masters of business ad-ministration at Stern immediately after graduating from NYU as an undergraduate. The scholarships will pay for the selected students full tuition costs for two years, a housing stipend of $18,000 per year and $10,000 a year for books and other expenses.
Paula Steisel Goldfarb, the ex-ecutive director of the MBA and executive MBA admissions and fi-nancial aid, said the Berkley schol-arship will be competitive.
“The program will be highly selec-tive with a maximum of 10 students
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STORY on PG. 5
‘Big Fish’ adaptation fails to capture magic of originalDespite plentiful talent both on stage and off, the Broadway version of “Big Fish” never finds its footing through story or song.
VIA BIGFISHTHEMUSICAL.COM/
ON THE SIDE COMPILED BY THE WSN STAFF
2 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | NYUNEWS.COM
A man dressed as Jesus, another as Beetlejuice and a woman as Maleficent pose on Halloween.
PHOTO BY JONATHAN TAN
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HANQING CHEN
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About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published Monday through Thursday during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.
Corrections: WSN is committed to accurate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact managing editor Jordan Melendrez at [email protected] or at 212.998.4302.
Erin HodgeshollERIN_at_you@
Post game cheesey pics ... Good game
boys
JakeNewYorkJakeNewYork@
New York in the fall. There are few places as glorious!
Jordan Taylor CookJordanTMCook@
Safe ride is magnificent.
Amanda I @Amanduhhhh37
Had an amazingly successful weekend ... Now just three
days of class then off to Italy! #paris #france #nyu
#studyabroad #florence #italy
“Judas” — Lady Gaga“Fashion” — David Bowie
“Vogue” — Madonna“Your Body” — Christina Aguilera
“Holiday” — Madonna“Love You Like a Love Song” — Selena Gomez & the Scene
“If I Was Your Girlfriend” — Prince“Nasty Girl” — Vanity 6
“Black Cat” — Janet Jackson“Babooshka” — Kate Bush
“Marry the Night” — Lady Gaga
TRACKING HOMAGE IN “ARTPOP”By Jake Folsom
Whatever you have to say about Lady Gaga’s new LP, “Artpop,” it’s undeniable that she has an acute awareness of pop music. Before listening
to “Artpop,” try looking out for references to other artists — both peripheral and direct. This playlist highlights some notable moments of
Lady Gaga’s allusions to her own work, contemporaries and predecessors. There may not be a glaring example, a la “Born This Way” versus “Express Yourself,” but it doesn’t seem Lady Gaga has stopped sampling others’ pop
in her own.
PHOTOS VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG | COURTESY OF NYU ATHLETICS | FLICKR.COM | NYU.EDU
Heading off 2 have coffee w/ some old #nyu students.
Excited 2 c them and talk #digitalmarketing
#socialmedia #bigdata & #umsl, of course.
Perry Drake @pddrake
NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 3
per year,” Goldfarb said. “The school will select Berkley scholars each year based on the combination of stellar academic performance and exceptional potential to contribute to business and society.”
Goldfarb said the scholarship is not limited to undergraduate business majors, and both U.S. and international students are eligible to apply. She added that scholarship recipients will be determined as early as next fall. Seniors will be considered for the scholarship once they have ap-plied for a Stern MBA program.
“We believe that this can be a life-changing opportunity for the applicants who are selected,” Goldfarb said. “In addition to the generous scholarship support, the students will be able to ben-efit from all that a high quality business education can provide.”
NYU Stern dean Peter Henry said this scholarship can provide the means for students to com-plete their dreams.
“With Bill’s support, we have
the opportunity to inspire the best young minds around the world to dream big,” Henry said. “Whether they’ve studied engineering or eco-nomics, physics or philosophy and everything in between, we want to put the tools of business into the hands of the most promising lead-ers of tomorrow.”
Stern sophomore Harsh Daga is skeptical of the purpose of the scholarship.
“What about the undergrads?” Daga said. “Generally, most peo-ple start working before they get their master’s.”
Zack Nelson, a 2011 Stern alumnus, began working before attending graduate school. But Nelson might have pursued an MBA earlier if the Berkley schol-arship had been established.
“[The scholarship] might have been enough to sway me,” Nelson said. “Grad school is expensive.”
Marilyn La Jeunesseis a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
Berkley scholarship to help fund grad students’ MBA expenses
STERN continued from PG. 1
The scholarship will aid Stern students pursuing an MBA.
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New York City to vote for next mayor, decision among three
By EMILY BELL
New York City’s mayoral election is today, Nov. 5. Former Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman and Republican candidate Joseph Lhota is facing off against public advocate and Demo-cratic candidate Bill de Blasio. Adolfo Carrión Jr. is running as an independent candidate.
The last debate of the general election was on Nov. 30.
De Blasio has led the polls since Sept. 15. A recent Quinnipiac poll — from a sample period of Oct. 25 to 29 — showed de Blasio leading with 65 percent compared to Lhota’s 26 percent, and seven percent of voters reported as undecided.
De Blasio won the Democratic primary over former comptroller William Thompson with
40.3 percent of the votes. During a recount to determine if a runoff was necessary, Thompson withdrew from the race on Sept. 16.
Lhota won the Republican primary with 52 percent of the votes. Carrión Jr. ran unopposed.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not endorsing either candidate for the next election.
In addition to the mayoral election, the general election ballot features the race for New York City comptroller, which includes Democrat Scott Stringer and Republican John Burnett.
Check back later today for a live blog of election results at nyunews.com.
Emily Bell is a news editor. Email her at [email protected].
By PATRICK ANKER
After 12 years in office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will leave his position and a new mayor will be inaugurated. Since taking office in 2002, Bloomberg has impacted New York City in multiple sectors.
Bloomberg’s final term winds down, leaves behind legacy
public healthAccording to a 2010 document from New York State’s Department of
Health, adult obesity grew from 17.7 percent in 2000 to 24.5 percent in 2010. In the city, 58 percent of adults are obese and roughly 40 percent of of students in kindergarten through eighth grade are obese.
Victor Rodwin, professor of health policy and management at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, lauded Bloomberg’s efforts in health policy, namely his appointment of former health commissioner Thomas Frieden and current health commissioner Thomas Farley.
“The annual Community Health Survey based on a sample of 10,000 New Yorkers became an important tool for setting policy and was instrumental in developing the Take Care New York policy, the signature accomplish-ment of Commissioner Frieden,” Rodwin said. “The strategy to regulate tobacco consumption, and take on trans fats and soft drinks was begun un-der Frieden and has continued under his successor, Commissioner Farley.”
Bloomberg outlawed sugary drinks over 16 ounces in May 2012. The criticized ban did not last long, however, as New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division ruled the ban unconstitutional in June 2013.
According to the New York Times on Aug. 22, 2012, 60 percent of New Yorkers disliked the ban.
In 2007, Bloomberg created the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.Tobacco taxes have risen three times since Bloomberg took office — in
2002 the tax per pack of cigarettes was $1.11, while in 2010 the cost was $4.35. As of Oct. 30, 2013, Bloomberg said he will sign a City Council law that increases the age limit to purchase cigarettes from 18 to 21. The law will take effect six months after the signing.
economicsBloomberg raised property taxes
and focused on city development, including the construction of Brooklyn Bridge Park and the High Line.
According to the website for the office of the mayor, the city has regained more than 300 percent of jobs that had been previously lost in the 2007 recession. However, the most re-cent unemployment statistics for the city indicate that as of August 2013, New York City’s unemployment rate was 8.7 percent, c o m p a r e d to the na-t i o n a l average in August of 7.3 per-cent.
crimeAccording to the website for the office of the
mayor, crime has decreased by more than 30 percent since 2001.
The controversial stop-and-frisk policy reached its highest number of cases in 2011, with 684,330 people stopped. In the policy’s appeal case before the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Court, the plaintiff submitted a report that surveyed over 2.8 million stops since 2004. Of the 2.8 million, 1.4 million were black individuals and roughly 840,000 were Hispanic. 290,000
were white. The highest suspected violation of the black and Hispanic brackets was a “minor property” violation, such as theft.
Despite the public’s outrage with the policy, Bloomberg and New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly defended it.
Stop-and-frisk is currently on hold in the Appellate Court until after the new year when the next mayor takes office.
For more of Bloomberg’s legacy, check nyunews.com.
Patrick Anker is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].
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26%
EXPOSUREIntroducing WSN’s newest blog, Exposure. As our multimedia team
offers a complementary perspective to our written stories, Exposure will include the photo galleries that can’t fit on the printed page. Check out nyunews.tumblr.com every week for updates from our team, and email [email protected] to join the team.
65%
7% undecided
4 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | NYUNEWS.COM
DINING EDITED BY DANIEL YEOM [email protected]
Seasonal soups supply warmth in winter
By HANNAH TREASURE
As we transition into winter, keeping warm is an inevitable challenge to embrace in our daily lives. Instead of piling on layers of clothing, unthaw with a bowl of easy, seasonally inspired soup.
Coconut Pumpkin Soup (serves about 4)Ingredients:2 cups vegetable broth2 tablespoons olive oil1 medium chopped onion2 cups 100 percent pure pump-
kin puree1 (13.5 oz.) can of classic coco-
nut milk2 tablespoons chopped garlic
(optional)
Directions: Using the olive oil, saute the onions and garlic in a large pot. The onions should be soft but not brown. Slowly stir in the pumpkin puree, coconut milk and vegetable broth. Conti-nue to blend the ingredients until they’re mixed well, taking any-where from five to ten minutes to stir. For extra fall festivity, serve this soup in hollowed miniature pumpkins as bowls, dash a little cinnamon and top it off with cooked pumpkin seeds.
Kokum brings Keralan cuisine from coast of India to NYCBy ADU MATORY
Kokum, the first restaurant in Manhattan to specialize in cui-sine from Kerala, a coastal state in South India, opened Oct. 9.
The main man behind the op-eration at Kokum is owner Shiva Natarajan. Natarajan controls a miniature empire of Indian restau-rants in Manhattan and each one represents a different facet of Indi-an cuisine — Dhaba offers typical Punjabi food, Chote Nawab show-cases Mughlai cuisine and Kokum is all about Kerala.
“Many of these dishes have a southern Indian influence from my grandmother, who hailed from South India,” Natarajan said. “And it’s really healthy. We don’t use heavy oil. It’s very light, simple. The marriage of the ingredients is very good, in terms of spices.”
The menu is mostly written in Malayalam, the official language of Kerala, but English descrip-tions are offered for each dish. The wide selection of vegetarian, vegan and meat dishes served can be overwhelming. However,
every choice harbors true flavors of southern India. Parippu vada ($6), piquant fried lentil patties served with cool coconut dip-ping sauce, is one of the many enticing appetizers. Kumily chicken fry ($10), served with curry leaf, chilies and caramel-ized onions to complement its smokiness, is delicious as well.
For those unfamiliar with Ker-ala cuisine, it should be known that pumpkins, lentils and co-conuts are among the most commonly used ingredients. Erissery ($13), a red pumpkin and black-eyed peas porridge, is recommended as a great intro-duction to Keralan food.
Natarajan emphasized the use of vegetables in the dishes at Kokum.
“You can see that many of the options are vegan,” Natarajan said. “We have a dish called theeyal ($13), which is a mix of eclectic vegetables like green bananas, yams and eggplant. We have keerai masiyal ($13), which is spinach with lentils.”
Keralan cuisine does not typi-cally utilize dairy products, so
the Kerala chicken stew ($15) in-corporates coconut milk with a medley of fresh vegetables. The result is an exquisitely creamy sauce, akin to a chicken pot pie without crust. Served with a slightly sweet rice crepe called appam, the stew warms bodies and spirits.
The lunch menu, which is at-tractive for college students on a budget, offers southern veg thali ($10), an assortment of small appetizers that includes breads, lentil soup, curries, greens, rice and a semolina-based dessert in small portions.
“I like [Kokum] because they offer different things than most Indian restaurants,” Steinhardt sophomore Aviv Goldgeier said. “If you want something new with that great old Indian taste ... They don’t have your ordinary tikka masala.”
Kokum is located at 106 Lexington Ave., between 27th and 28th streets.
Adu Matory is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].
Dishes at Kokum provide a variety of vegetarian and meat options for customers.CHUCK KUAN FOR WSN
Despite growing trend, juice cleanses may not be best optionBy GIANNA COLLIER-PITTS
With the growing interest in health and wellness around the United States, some people have taken drastic and controver-sial measures to combat weight gain and maintain their health. In recent years, juice cleanses have become one of the most popular trends among many while others find much to be desired. For an av-erage NYU student, however, these clean-ses might not be worth the hype.
A standard cleanse involves consuming a combination of green vegetable-based juices and additional veggie and fruit juice blends over the course of one to 10 days. One common cleanse is the Master Cleanse, which includes a mix of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Beyoncé Knowles allegedly used this diet to lose weight, as the calorie in-take is extremely low and solid foods are not consumed.
According to NYU Department of Nutri-tion, Food Studies and Public Health profes-sor Marion Nestle, cleanses done for more than one day pose several health concerns.
“The intestinal tract cleanses itself,” Nestle said. “[Juice cleanses are] a low-calorie, highly restricted, nutritionally incomplete diet.”
Kathleen Zelman, the director of nutri-tion for WebMD, wrote on the website that low-calorie diets are ineffective for long-term weight loss, and often leave us-ers with additional weight gain and food cravings once they return to a normal eat-ing regimen. She also recommended con-sulting a doctor before beginning a juice cleanse, and to limit the change in diet for a few days.
Although most famous cleanses offer deliv-ery services or can be found in grocery and specialty health stores, they are fairly expen-sive and cost upwards of $60 per day.
“I don’t have much motivation to spend money on an expensive trend,” CAS fresh-man Kim Nguyen said. “I’m already living a lifestyle that makes me feel healthy, [and] I don’t feel that I’m knowledgeable enough about the pros and cons of juice
cleanses to try one.” In a college setting, juice cleanses do not
provide the necessary amount of energy for a student’s body and schedule. Most cleanses advertise their recipes as a way to detox the body and reset the natural balance in the digestive system. But this can easily be done through a daily intake of vitamin-rich foods.
For the majority of the NYU community, cleanses are neither recommended nor necessary for sustaining a healthy lifestyle. If done incorrectly they can negatively affect health. For a cheaper and easier al-ternative to cleansing, try cutting down caffeine and other stimulants which can actually cause stress and lack of sleep if consumed in large amounts. Also, be sure to eat a balanced diet full of protein, fiber, vitamins, carbohydrates and healthy fats.
Gianna Collier-Pitts is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
Juice cleanses emphasize fruits and vegetables to detox the body.
VIA FLICKR.COM
Spicy Tortilla Soup(serves about 6)Ingredients:1 (15 oz.) can of vegetable broth1 tablespoon olive oil1 teaspoon chili powder1 teaspoon cumin2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes2 (15 oz.) cans black beans4 minced garlic cloves1 package frozen corn kernels1 avocado, sliced 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
Directions: Heat the olive oil in a pan with the garlic, chili powder and cumin for about one minute. Next, gradually pour the tomatoes, broth, corn, beans and a cup of wa-ter into the spices. Allow the soup to boil for one or two minutes un-til fragrant, and then let the soup simmer. After fully cooked, layer the tortilla chips and avocado on top along with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and lime juice. This is the vegetarian version — if you’d like to make more traditional tortilla soup, throw chicken breast in while heat-ing up the olive oil and spices. Make sure the meat is completely cooked before moving on to the next step with the soup ingredients.
Hannah Treasure is a staff writer. Email her at [email protected].
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NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 5
ARTSEDITED BY JEREMY [email protected]
M.I.A. taps into spiritual side with ‘Matangi’
MATANGI continued from PG. 1 Sky Ferreira debut LP offers promises impressive career for artist
By MACKENZIE BRADY
After a front-page drug arrest, a budding friendship with fellow pop rebel Miley Cyrus and two years of waiting, Sky Ferreira has released her debut LP, “Night Time, My Time,” which lives up to the hype in unexpected ways. With Ferreira and boyfriend Zachary Cole’s re-cent drug bust, “Night Time, My Time” could have been a mere ex-ploitation of the drug-chic lifestyle. Instead, listeners find a bubblegum pop album with some bite.
Ferreira croons punk rock lyrics over a pop backbeat on songs about
love, Japanese slang and tough-girl attitudes. While some songs drag on, anticipating a big moment that never comes, Ferreira’s debut al-bum proves she has talent behind her headline-making lifestyle.
The album radiates ’90s grunge and the best of ’80s pop without feeling like a cheap knock-off or uninspired rehash. Ferreira ef-fortlessly pays homage while si-multaneously making her own signature sound. Her dreamy voice sounds like it was made to sing pop songs, and it often masks the grittiness of her tracks’ self-deprecating lyrics.
Ferreira opens herself up to the listener just to cut herself down. On “Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay)” Ferreira laments that peo-ple do not “seem to care if I’m feel-ing lost” and calls a lover out for being too self-involved. The album opener, “Boys,” is by far the catchi-est song on the album, and it could easily be her biggest hit yet.
But despite her album’s bliss-ful pop goodness, Ferreira strug-gles to maintain her spark. “24 Hours,” the weakest song on the
album, sounds like it could play in the credits of a Disney Channel Original Movie. The song indulges in countless pop music clichés, as evidenced by her lyrics — “It’s slippin’ away/There’s nothing we can do/It’s slippin’ away/There’s no tomorrow without you.”
In a world where Cyrus is one of the hottest pop stars and the empty commodification of ’90s counterculture is running rampant, Ferreira is a breath of fresh air. At a glance, Ferreira may seem in line with this com-modification — she is posing, affecting grunge for street cred. Stylistic quibbles aside, on “24 Hours,” when Ferreira tries on saccharine ’80s pop, she com-mits entirely. Her voice seems to ache with the longing of teenage years — the cheesy synths never feel like an ironic joke. “Night Time, My Time” was worth the wait and is poised to give Fer-reira her well-deserved spotlight.
Mackenzie Brady is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
Tennis delivers solid, familiar sound on EP
By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM
Indie pop band Tennis kicks off their new EP “Small Sound” with the plucky and strong “Mean Streets,” and continues to maintain the same nostalgic synth-pop vibe for which the band is known. “Mean Streets,” for example, offers the band’s signature sound through a strong drumline and sweet lyrics along with a hint of ’80s pop style.
But while Tennis’ music has always walked a line of sug-ary sweetness, “Small Sound” veers into a cloying musicality that fails to demonstrate any evolution for fans that have listened to Tennis since their debut LP “Cape Dory” in 2011. Alaina Moore’s angelic, almost childish voice carries the EP through ballads and anthems with a strong consistency, but that stability comes at the cost of fresh sound.
Any of the five songs fea-tured on this EP could be found on “Cape Dory” or its follow-up “Young & Old,” and while all of Tennis’ songs are beautiful and easy listens, none of them strike a differ-ent or unique chord. “Small Sound” delivers exactly the kind of music Tennis has made in the past and, despite still being fun, fans hoping for anything but familiarity will be disappointed.
For those looking for noth-ing but recognizable sound, from aforementioned “Mean Streets” to the upbeat and dancey closing track “100 Lov-ers,” Tennis does supply an appealing range of emotions in their music. In the ballad “Dimming Light,” a high point on the EP, Moore sings the bit-tersweet line “Although you’re
lying next to me/I know that you’re not mine” with a be-lievability that makes the sad-ness palpable. Tennis produces such a strong and distinctive sound that it is often easy to overlook their simple and poi-gnant words, but on “Small Sound” the lyrics encourage multiple listens.
The album may not have a breakout song, but its uni-formly catchy vibe should de-light Tennis’ fans. The saxo-phone on “Cured of Youth” lends a jazzy feel to an oth-erwise strongly indie record, but the saccharine “Timothy” represents exactly what Ten-nis unfortunately often strays into — an overly sweet terri-tory that feels more corny than passionate.
The problem with Tennis is that they aren’t polariz-ing — it’s hard to imagine loving or hating themwith extreme passion, and this EP won’t likely change opinions. “Small Sound” is exactly the type of record Tennis fans can expect from the indie pop outfit. And despite a lack of innovation, it’s as angelic and pleasant as Tennis has been since their debut.
Charlotte Graham is a staff writer. Email her at [email protected].
tion is impressively diverse, but M.I.A. isn’t quite able to execute the pacing that made her second album “Kala” her best release to date. And, despite the spiritual interludes on “Matangi,” things remain unintentionally chaotic.
M.I.A.’s sonic palette remains one of the most interesting in music, deftly mixing sounds to the point where her songs defy genre categorization. From a dis-torted sampled yell on “atTEN-Tion” to an Apple Photo Booth sample in “Come Walk With Me,” her attention to detail gives “Matangi” the texture M.I.A. is
known for — a digital and cos-mopolitan feel. “Bad Girls” and “Bring the Noize” are some of M.I.A.’s most interesting work to date, especially when paired with the music videos.
“Matangi” solidifies M.I.A. as an imaginative artist with a lit-erally and figuratively unique voice. It’s a hard album to lis-ten to in full in one sitting, but when taken in doses, “Matangi” can be a rewarding experience.
Peter Slattery is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].
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‘Big Fish’ flounders in transition from silver screen to Broadway stage
By DYLAN JARRETT
Seeing a mediocre show on the Great White Way is always disap-pointing. But seeing a mediocre show on Broadway with a great cast and creative team is downright de-pressing. Unfortunately, that’s ex-actly the case with the new musical “Big Fish,” currently playing at the Neil Simon Theatre.
Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman (“The Produc-ers”) and starring Norbert Leo Butz (“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”), “Fish” is fantastic on paper but fails to translate to the stage. It’s the story of tall tale-teller Edward Bloom (Butz), a traveling salesman who spends his life sharing stories that seem too big to be true with his son, Will (Bobby Steggert). When Will grows up and decides he wants to know the truth about his father’s past, he uncovers a hidden history that his father hoped would remain a secret.
For a show focused on the motif of storytelling, “Fish” certainly does not know how to invest its audi-ence in the story. Andrew Lippa’s score is forgettable, while John Au-gust’s book does little to build the world of the musical.
Stroman’s direction feels scat-tered at best and desperate at worst. It is hard to believe this is the same individual who directed “The Producers” when basic in-consistencies plague “Fish.” Why does Will wear a tie on a fishing
trip of all places? If this takes place in present day, why is there a television set from the 1970s on stage? The creative team needed to be more attentive to the details of the production.
The flashbacks to Edward’s stories exhibit similar laziness. With a 46-year-old man playing a teenager, for example, projecting enormous photographs of him as a homecoming king is not a great idea — the pictures make Butz look like a middle-aged man play-ing dress-up.
Butz is the strongest actor on stage, but he, like the rest of the cast, is poorly served by the material. Steg-gert has almost nothing substantial to work with — he has a few songs, but they’re boring and uninspired, and simply unpleasant to listen to. Kate Baldwin, as Edward’s wife San-dra, has a few nice moments, but
they’re just that — moments. “Big Fish” is made of up those mo-
ments, which more often than not feel disconnected and random. One moment the show is in a circus, then it moves to Will’s childhood bedroom and then it shifts to Cen-tral Park. The jumps are so inconsis-tent, with no thematic arc linking them together, that it makes it im-possible to form a connection with any of the characters.
Throughout the musical, Will continually wants to know why his father feels the need to tell these seemingly pointless larger-than-life stories. And leaving the theater, it’s difficult not to sympathize with him. There’s nothing harder than sitting through a story that you sim-ply don’t care about.
Dylan Jarrett is books/theater editor. Email her at [email protected].
Kate Baldwin and Norbert Leo Butz embrace during “Fish.”VIA BIGFISHTHEMUSICAL.COM/
VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG
6 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | NYUNEWS.COM
THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD & DAILY SUDOKU
ACROSS 1 Tennessee team,
for short 5 Acknowledge as
true10 Pole or Czech14 Admit openly15 Often-maligned
relative16 ___ mind17 Blue-skinned
race in “Avatar”18 With 50-Across,
it’s represented by 15 squares in an appropriate arrangement in this puzzle
19 Some Monopoly purchases: Abbr.
20 French pupil22 Grandpa on “The
Simpsons”23 Boot24 Live it up26 N.F.L. player with
a black helmet28 Hebrew month
when Hanukkah starts
30 Richard Branson’s airline company
33 Hundred Acre Wood resident
34 Place to hear fire and brimstone
38 Personal question?
39 Washing machine contents
41 David of “The Pink Panther”
42 Rear half of a griffin
43 Writer Katherine ___ Porter
44 Barely adequate45 Iams competitor46 1943 penny
material48 Suffix with meth-
or prop-49 What you might
buy a flight with 50 See 18-Across53 Place with
complimentary bathrobes
56 Pronoun for Miss Piggy
57 Rodeway ___58 Past the
expiration date61 Ship sinker63 Pep up65 “Not my call”66 Words of
encouragement67 Calls it quits68 Weatherproofing
stuff
DOWN 1 Revolver with the
letters N-E-W-S 2 Speed skater’s
path 3 Make-out
session spot 4 Spin, as an office
chair 5 It might be
bummed 6 Basketball player
who starred in “Kazaam”
7 Commoner 8 Police stun gun 9 “I ___ you one”10 Barber, at times11 Medical directive12 With, on le menu13 Item under a
jacket, maybe21 At any time23 Nefarious25 Roulette bet27 ___-garde28 Caffeine-laden
nuts29 “Not gonna
happen”31 Comment made
while crossing one’s fingers
32 Pitchers’ hitless games, in baseball slang
35 Experienced through another
36 The first Mrs. Trump
37 Shakespeare’s Antonio and Bassanio, e.g.
40 Judge
42 Reclined
47 British sailors
49 One of the friends on “Friends”
51 No-show in a Beckett play
52 Certain belly button
53 Tuxedo shirt button
54 St. Peter was the first
55 B.A. part
58 Cabo’s peninsula
59 Lots
60 Thing often of interest?
62 Hawaiian dish
64 Blanc or Brooks
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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.
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ENVIRONMENT
New York City must focus on water supply
Digital advances outpace cultural evolutionTECHNOLOGY
NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 7
OPINIONEDITED BY RAQUEL [email protected]
EDITORIAL BOARD: Raquel Woodruff (Chair),
Edward Radzivilovskiy (Co-chair), Peter Keffer (Co-chair),Harry Brown, Marcelo Cicconet, Christina Coleburn, Omar Etman,
Nina Golshan, Nickhil Sethi
Email the WSN Editorial Board at [email protected].
By CARLOS ESTEVEZ
As residents of New York, we take our water for granted. Students liv-ing in dorms and in certain apart-ments have an unlimited supply of water at no additional cost to the point where they might imagine an impossibly vast water supply di-rectly under New York City.
In reality, the city relies on a frag-ile and antiquated system of tun-nels that could render the city un-inhabitable in an instant. Seldom do we conceptualize what would become of New York if its water supply system failed.
During the 19th century, prob-lems with the water quality and the spread of disease made the public painfully aware of the need for a reliable water system. The major reservoirs located in Central Park and the New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Bryant Park were directly ex-posed to the toxic urban environ-ment. After a hundred years, our water supply infrastructure has gone underground just as public interest in water works has seem-
ingly shifted to health reasons. For the past hundred years, New
York City has depended on Water Tunnel 1 and 2 to supply water to all five boroughs. City officials have never shut down these tun-nels for inspections or repairs for fear that they will not be able to turn the system back on. In other words, these tunnels may have leaks and other serious complica-tions that we do not know about.
Instead of advocating water con-servation, the history of the city’s water system has been one of ex-pansion. Only two weeks ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg participated in the opening ceremony of Water Tunnel 3, which serves as an alter-native way to bring water from the Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers. The construction of this tunnel has oc-curred outside of the public eye for
the past 40 years and will not con-nect all boroughs until 2021. Even then, the system relies on two aqueducts as old as the first two water tunnels, which brings water from the Catskill Mountains.
City officials should ensure pub-lic awareness of the work needed to maintain New York’s water sup-ply. They should also shift their attention to water conversation as a way to prepare New Yorkers for droughts or possible failures of the system. The absence of calls to con-serve water or suggestions for im-proving the supply system points to a larger disinterest in environ-mental issues. The recent New York City mayoral debates have focused on crime and affordable housing, certainly the issues that most preoccupy the public. Never-theless, it should not take another Hurricane Sandy for the public to realize that environmental issues can have the deepest, direct and long-term effect on urban life.
Carlos Estevez is a contributing columnist. Email him at [email protected].
BY MARCELO CICCONET
There is a theoretical concept in computer science called tech-nological singularity. It refers to the hypothetical point in time when artificial intelligence passes the cognitive capabilities of the human brain, implying radical changes in human nature and so-ciety as a whole.
The prospect of this scenario has received considerable attention from theorists and science fiction authors, notwithstanding that it lies in the future. But there is an-other type of singularity, much less discussed, which has already happened and that is causing rapid changes in human nature and soci-ety — the sociocultural singularity.
Sociocultural evolution outpaces natural evolution. Modern humans evolved from archaic homosapiens about 250,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic era. Cultural evolutions, on the other hand, happen at a speed that is orders of magnitude faster, causing the way of life to change drastically within a generation.
This fact makes it remarkable how stable in the face of change
our physical and mental systems are. But as cultural revolutions hap-pen in increasingly shorter inter-vals of time, the question arises of how long such stability will persist.
The sociocultural evolution trig-gered by Internet technology is an example of how these changes can be harmful. A recent report by researchers at Oxford University, for instance, revealed a number of threats related to Internet use, in-cluding bullying, self-harm and an increased risk of suicide.
The human brain and psychol-ogy evolved in an environment that hardly matches modern life, especially in large urban centers. Competition with one or two tribe members is now competition with hundreds, at a global scale. The ob-vious threat of a rival group, or wild animals, is now the subtle threat of
economic instability, of a media that consistently makes us aware of the worst that is happening and of a culture that forces us to be happy no matter the circumstances. Thus, it’s no surprise that anxiety and depression became such a main-stream problem. In fact, in 2008 the third most common prescription drug taken in the United States was a type of antidepressant.
We should be aware of and vigi-lant to these changes. That is not to say we shouldn’t embrace cul-tural evolution. Modern societies tend to be more inclusive and ethically minded. But unfortu-nately, progress is being paid for in part by increased burden to the human psychology. Scientific studies and public discussions are needed to further explore the is-sues. Natural evolution assures the survival of the fittest, but since it is slow in comparison to cultural evolution, we should be careful not to produce a psycho-logically stressful environment in which none of our descendants will be able to fit.
Marcelo Cicconet is a staff columnist. Email him at [email protected].
In light of recent events such as Thursday’s sexual assault and robbery of a 24-year-old woman in front of the Global Cen-ter for Academic and Spiritual Life and the recent rescue of a sophomore stuck between Lafayette Street residence hall and a parking garage, concern over public safety is understandable. While these incidents are unnerving, NYU Public Safety’s swift and considered response should put the community at ease.
Public Safety has done an excellent job at responding and communicating with the NYU community in times of emergency. When the Public Safety department was alerted on Saturday night that Asher Vongtau, an LS soph-omore, was missing, they began looking for him immedi-ately. An NYU officer heard the student groaning and lo-cated him in a two-foot crevice on Sunday at about 5 p.m. The expediency with which they carried out the search, from finding his belongings at Lafayette Street residence hall, a dorm where Vongtau does not live, to immediately inspecting that building, helped lead to the student’s res-cue on Sunday evening.
Three hours after the sexual assault in front of GCASL on Oct. 31, Public Safety released a university-wide memoran-dum, notifying the NYU community of the incident and offering preventative measures to ensure future safety. Emergency notifications have remained a top priority for the safety department. The speedy investigation and re-port of the rape case demonstrates that Public Safety is ac-tively working to assure that the faculty and student body are always aware and know how to keep themselves safe.
Public Safety also has made thoughtful efforts toward transparency. Its website lists each reported safety viola-tion and crime statistic in New York City, helping to create a secure environment for NYU students and their visitors. Equally important, the department catalogs the outcomes and statuses of crime reports, providing the NYU commu-nity with access to important, relevant information.
While we live in a safe neighborhood, it’s important to remember that we still live in a daunting city, and events like these can occur. Although last week’s incidents are rare, they serve as reminders that we must take precau-tion throughout our daily lives and remain aware of our surroundings. Fortunately, NYU students and faculty are informed and protected by an adept and experienced safety department. Our public safety officers have shown us tremendous reliability when they’re most needed.
8 NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
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By CHARLES SURETTE The New York Knicks have con-
sistently held court as the city’s basketball royalty. With an il-lustrious history full of some of the game’s greatest players, they have reigned supreme from their throne in Madison Square Garden in the heart of Midtown Manhat-tan, playing host to the likes of Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Patrick Ewing and Carmelo Anthony.
For a long time, the Knicks’ leg-endary status seemed untouch-able, especially by the lowly New Jersey Nets, now Brooklyn Nets, who spent most of their three-decade history wandering the hinterlands west of the Hudson at the bottom of the NBA’s East-ern Conference.
Fast forward to 2013. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov moved the Nets from Newark, N.J. to nouveau-hip Brooklyn.
With an influx of money from their wealthy owner, the Nets have made waves since the team acquired high-profile veteran forwards Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Pierce and Garnett now play alongside established point guard Deron Williams and a sup-porting cast of Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez — a championship-caliber team in the making.
The Nets have not come this close to rivaling the Knicks for New York basketball supremacy since Jason Kidd arrived in the summer of 2001.
The newly minted Brooklynites now inhabiting Barclays Center seem to sense this special op-portunity to shock the world and shift control of the city’s basket-ball scene across the East River. Upon arriving in Brooklyn after a 15-year stay with the Boston Celtics, Pierce remarked that “it’s time for the Nets to start running this city,” firing the first shots of an escalating crosstown rivalry.
When Knicks guard J.R. Smith
dismissed Pierce as a “bitter per-son” and reminded fans of the name written across the front of the Knicks’ jersey. Pierce was asked about this comment by the media and could only cheekily respond, “who?”
This kind of sparring between the Knicks and the Nets is some-thing almost entirely new to the city’s basketball culture. The Nets have been a mere afterthought for most of their existence, save for two consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. The Nets have otherwise been absent from the playoffs recently and have a history of little fan support.
Now things feel different. The Knicks haven’t seen champion-ship glory since 1973, leaving many fans restless and disillu-sioned after front office failures and problem players sullied the
franchise’s good name in the de-cade after the successes of the Ew-ing-led teams of the 1990s. More-over, the feeling pervades that the Knicks remain a club for Manhat-tan rather than for all boroughs. Brooklyn, without a professional sports team since the Dodgers left for Los Angeles in 1958, finally has a team to call its own.
Although the Knicks command a massive amount of fans, the seeds of homegrown support for the Nets are already being sown on the corner of Atlantic and Flat-bush avenues. With a reloaded roster and newfound support, the Nets appear ready to show the Knicks that they’re not alone in the city anymore.
Charles Surette is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].
Knicks, Nets history differs from current basketball scene
NYUNEWS.COM
Former Knicks guard Jamal Crawford congratulates teammates. KEITH ALLISON VIA FLICKR.COM