WSN STAFF Editor-in-Chief Deputy Staff Advertising Ashley Wu News Rachel Cohen, Rachel Fadem, Business Manager Mel Bautista Suhail Gharaibeh Director of Sales Yejin Chang Managing Editor Arts Isabella Armus Customer Specialist Catherine Chen Alexandra Chan Film & TV JP Pak Deputy Music Yas Akdag Advising Alex Tey, Trace Miller Performing Arts Jennifer Ren Director of Operations Nanci Healy Culture Alex Tran Editorial Advisers Alvin Chang, Creative Director Dining Gabby Lozano Amanda Sakuma Susan Behrends Valenzuela, Charitssa Stone Beauty & Style Joey Hung Identity & Equity Sabrina Choudhary About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN Copy Chiefs Social Media Ryan Walker 15499389) is the student newspaper of New Max Tiefer, Lorraine Olaya York University. WSN is published in e-print Opinion Page on Mondays and throughout the week online Multimedia Editor Kevin Kurian, Asha Ramachandran during NYU’s academic year, except for univer- Manasa Gudavalli Deputy Srishti Bungle, Michelle Han sity holidays, vacations and exam periods. Photo Jake Capriotti Under the Arch Corrections: WSN is committed to accurate re- Video Ryan Kawahara Managing Editor Caitlin Hsu, Vaishnavi Naidu porting. When we make errors, we do our best Deputy Photo Sirui Wu Senior Editor Ivy Zhu to correct them as quickly as possible. If you Deputy Video Shaina Ahmed Deputy Sydney Barragan believe we have erred, contact the managing Multimedia Brooklyn Nguyen editors at [email protected]. Senior Staff Voices Mariam Khan, Stacia Datskovska News Arnav Binaykia Exposures Julian Hammond Santander Culture Dana Sun Arts Sasha Cohen, Ana Cubas Abroad Arts Nico Pedrero-Setzer Abroad News Roshni Raj Sports Mitesh Shrestha TABLE OF CONTENTS pg. pg. 3–9 NEWS 18–21 UNDER THE ARCH pg. pg. 10–11 SPORTS 22–23 OPINION pg. 12–15 ARTS pg. 16–17 CULTURE 2 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR SUSAN BEHRENDS VALENZUELA | WSN WSN is undergoing a regeneration. We are more committed than ever to providing the truth to the students of New York University. By Ashley Wu Editor-in-Chief Dear Readers, one another and binds us together. Because it our print issues for good. Our hardworking staff A few weeks ago, I lost my notebook. is something we know how to do, and we want members churn out hours and hours of exem- It was a wire bound notebook from Muji that I to do it well. plary work every day for little to no compensa- wrote in almost every day. Powered by thoughts, Our team of undergraduates serve NYU tion. drawings and bad jokes, the notebook became students with rigor and dedication. Last semes- These financial shortfalls set a hazard- an organism that breathed life out of its gills. ter, we were on the frontlines nearly every day ous precedent. One of the biggest critiques When I realized it was gone, I trekked across covering the graduate student strike. I’ve seen of modern journalism is a lack of diversity in Manhattan revisiting all the places I might have firsthand the impact that WSN can have. After I newsrooms. However, if the publication be- left it. After checking every corner of my shoe- wrote an opinion piece on the six Asian women comes a place where students facing financial box apartment and turning up empty handed, I who were killed in my hometown, Atlanta, the pressures are unable to work without sacrific- began to experience all five stages of grief. Asian community breathed light into my piece, ing their livelihoods, our diversity takes a mas- Defeated, I sought out knowledge on using it to mourn and hope together. sive hit. An investment in WSN is an investment regeneration. I learned that certain species of With the idea of connection in mind, we in a future where unsung voices are amplified starfish can regrow legs that were gnawed off begin to rebuild. We globalize our publication and empowered to tell their own stories. by predators. Some lizards shed their tails as a and expand our abroad section, where stu- Maintaining this legacy is an uphill bat- distraction when they feel threatened. I bought dents at study away sites can contribute their tle. But it’s one that I will choose again and a new notebook. As I write in it, the topic of re- unique perspectives. A new column “The Soap- again to fight. For those of us who work multiple generation sticks in my mind. From cave art to box” by Suhail Gharaibeh explores trends in in- jobs to continue on at WSN, because they be- op-eds, the nature of storytelling is always in ternational news written with concise wit. On lieve in the transformative power of words and flux. When new forms of media usurp old ones, culture, Sabrina Choudhary spearheads a new free-flowing information. For our management, there is always the pang of loss and eventual mini-desk that tells illuminating stories about our board, our writers, photographers and copy rebirth. intersectional identity. As our in-person news- editors who create and shape our paper with Washington Square News is a publica- room reopens, we pledge to delve deeper into love and care and pour it forth into the hands of tion that knows regeneration. Through a pan- issues that are important to an ever-evolving our readers. demic, budget cuts and a resignation, the paper student body. Regeneration is never easy. As I fill the has been through a lot of reshuffling, remodel- As journalism adapts, we must adapt pages of this notebook, the aforementioned ing and restarting. It has been scrutinized and with it. However, the path to innovative report- dilemmas weigh heavy on me. Despite the loved fiercely not only by NYU students but the ing is uncertain. Large journalistic organiza- pressures and risks, I took the position of Edi- larger Greenwich and East Village communi- tions are shifting away from print and institut- tor-in-Chief because I believe that passion is a ties. Our staff and alumni devoted countless ing paywalls to keep their papers running. Local driving force that begets inspiration. There is so hours to get us back on our feet because we newspapers are absorbed by conglomerates much good work to do and we will continue to believed it was worth it. or sentenced to death by a thousand budget do it with spirit, humility and conscience. How- Now, we are left with a clean slate. With cuts. Journalism is an industry on the brink of ever, all of it is impossible without your support. this start, we aim to be louder and bolder than becoming extinct; the consequences of which With our community and readers rallying be- ever before. We will not shy away from investi- would uproot the foundations of democracy. hind us, we can emerge from these challenges gating topics that are taboo or difficult to cov- Washington Square News educates the fully-formed and even stronger. er. We write. Not because we want acknowl- journalists of the future, but we are not immune edgement. But because writing is a force that to the threats that face newsrooms across the Sincerely, exposes corruption, explores how we relate to country. We are in imminent danger of losing Ashley Wu 3 AS NYU RETURNS TO IN-PERSON LEARNING, STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES URGE THE UNIVERSITY TO CONTINUE OFFERING REMOTE CLASSES By Rachel Fadem Deputy News Editor my health status or because of [fight for accommodations and accessible learning] my immunocompromised state. on my own. Especially because we saw how ac- And I think that’s completely un- commodating they were before.” acceptable — at any time — but Gallatin junior Chad Evans, who has hous- especially during a pandemic ing accommodations for chronic OCD, shares that isn’t over.” Brinzan and Mendoza’s frustration with the Mo- Brinzan requested for her ses Center from his experience in NYU quarantine fall classes to have a remote op- during spring 2021 and his overall dorming experi- tion and was told by the Moses ence. While in quarantine, he contacted the Moses Center that it was unable to offer Center and NYU housing to find out why he did not accommodations to her without have accommodations. He was told by members of speaking to CAS administration. each office that he would have to contact the oth- She has not heard back from er office to receive them, leading him to believe that the Moses Center, but has been there is a disconnect between the Moses Center ALESSIA GARCIA | WSN During the pandemic, the Moses Center provided students with disabilities with helpful advised to change her in-person and NYU housing. accommodations. Students with disabilities appreciated the option of remote learning, but classes to online ones, which Evans noted that the Moses Center has re- are disappointed that this policy is being phased out as the school returns to in-person in- would push back her graduation sources and faculty to help students with disabilities, struction. date and require her to pay for but he is not confident that they can accommodate CAS fourth-year Lucia Brinzan took three classes unrelated to her career his needs. Although he does not feel supported by semesters of medical leave after being diagnosed and personal interests. Currently, she is still enrolled the Moses Center, Evans feels supported by his with Crohn’s disease in February 2020. Now, she in two in-person classes and has contacted NYU professors who — for the most part — have been wants to return to NYU so that she can graduate in administration and the Moses Center asking for her extremely accommodating, especially during the the spring, but remains concerned about the return requests to be fulfilled since she will not return to pandemic.