Vol. 41, No. 68 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 nyunews.com

WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWSNYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

Spot deconstructs dessert norms with autumn-inspired tapasChef Ian Kittichai debuts a new line of desserts at Spot’s two locations this October. Dishes include the Big Apple and the peach crumble and will be available alongside Spot classics like the chocolate green tea lava cake.

STORY, GALLERY ON NYUNEWS.COM

Professors seek to decrease solar energy costs

Orlando Bloom-led ‘Romeo’ mired by cheap gimmicks

Women’s tennis competes in regional championships

DANIEL YEOM FOR WSN

By NICOLE BROWN

Stern professor Bryan Bol-linger and his colleague at Yale University, economics professor Kenneth Gilling-ham, are entering the third round of a project on the dif-fusion of solar technology.

This fall, Bollinger and Gillingham will be using the $2 million three-year grant from the Department of En-ergy’s SunShot Initiative to continue their research on how to increase the use of solar energy and solve the problem of high costs.

The two are working with SmartPower, a green mar-keting firm, and the Con-necticut Clean Energy Fund, which started the Solarize CT program last spring. The program attempts to make solar energy accessible for consumers through grass-roots marketing and a tiered pricing system. Solarize pro-vides towns with contrac-tors to install solar energy, and the installation prices decrease when the number of residents that adopt solar

energy increases.Part of their plan this fall

will be to implement vari-ants of the Solarize program. One is called the Solarize Choice, where they will provide a town with more than one contractor, and the other is called Solarize Ex-press, which will reduce the time of the program from 20 weeks to 10 weeks.

Bollinger said in the first and second rounds, the program has had successes in towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts, but it is not clear what compo-nents of the solarize pro-gram are most important.

“Our funding is essentially to fund additional solarized programs in Connecticut and other towns, where we actually modify the pro-gram,” Bollinger said. “This will help us to access what components are crucial in leading to such success.”

Gillingham said the objec-tives of their project are to determine a cost-effective

SOLAR continued on PG. 3

By IVY OLESSEN

The worlds of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Romeo and Juliet” feel as though

they exist in different uni-verses. One reminds audi-ences of Hollywood’s fasci-nation with handsome men embroiled in swordfights,

while the other evokes memories of grueling high school essays, the dread of pop quizzes and the horror of Elizabethan English. But in David Leveaux’s Broad-way adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” now playing at the Richards Rodgers The-atre, these two worlds are connected by the presence of Orlando Bloom.

Bloom stars as Romeo, opposite Condola Rashad as Juliet, in a modern-day version of the classic story. The play literally starts with a bang — a jarring explo-sion at the beginning of the

ROMEO continued on PG. 5

By SYDNEY PEREIRA

From Sept. 28 through 30, Williams Smith College hosted the Intercol-legiate Tennis Association Northeast Regional Championships in Geneva, N.Y. at the Hobart-Williams Smith Tennis Center. CAS sophomore Ashley Masanto and Stern sophomore Alison Wang from the NYU women’s tennis team both played a Round of 16 in singles and advanced to the semifi-nals together in doubles on Sunday.

In singles play, Masanto started the weekend by defeating senior Emily Maggiore of the State University of New York at Oneonta 6-1 and 6-0, and she defeated freshman Sydney Arse-nault of Williams Smith, dropping only two games on a straight set win. On Sunday, Masanto’s singles run

ended against junior Yuliya Orkis of Brooklyn College, 1-6 and 2-6.

“Overall, I think I played well,” Masanto said. “My opponents were strong, so I tried to stay focused dur-ing every point.”

After defeating freshman Hannah More of Williams Smith, 6-1 and 7-5, Wang won a three-setter against junior Alison Tepas of Nazareth College. Wang and Tepas exchanged tie-breakers in two sets. Finally, Tepas fell to Wang in the third set, 10-7. Wang lost to junior Jessica Bourque of Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday, 6-1 and 6-2.

Wang and Masanto began their dou-bles play on Sunday, Sept. 29 by winning a Round of 16 in doubles against Ithaca College’s sophomore Marni Blumenthal

WTEN continued on PG. 8Condola Rashad performs among stunning set design.VIA FACEBOOK.COM

ON THE SIDE COMPILED BY THE WSN STAFF

2 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | NYUNEWS.COM

A homeless man collects several discarded items and sits comfortably in an old red couch.

PHOTO BY HANNAH LUU

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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 managing@nyunews.com or at 212.998.4302.

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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWSTOP TWEETS

This week, WSN writers applied for passes to cover New York’s annual music festival, CMJ. The music marathon is known for keenly predicting tomorrow’s popular acts. Honoring that tradition, here is a list of the breakout singles that debuted in past CMJ festivals and skyrocketed in indie and mainstream radio.

< Playlists WSN Arts Playlist Now Playing >

Edit Clear Delete

Shuffle Playlist

8 Songs

“Off the Record”My Morning Jacket

“Ready to Die”Andrew W.K.

“Halfway Home”TV on the Radio

“Myth”Beach House

“I Love It”Icona Pop

“Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”Kendrick Lamar

“Ready for the Floor”Hot Chip

“Polish Girl”Neon Indian

PHOTOS VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG

JORDAN HALPIN @jordanx93x

Just emailed New York University … Can’t believe this might actually be

happening!! #fingerscrossed #summerinNYC

ELLE VEEZY @ellevarner

Such an honor performing and cel-ebrating my school tonight cheers to the greatest staff and program of

all time #NYU #REMU #Clivedavis

GABRIELA CHING @gabrielaching50m

So excited to visit NYU Wednes-day and see Phoenix in Brooklyn

that night

TAYLOR STEVENS @taylorjoy3155h

My dream school since I was 13. Maybe for my Masters ...

#NYU

HASHTAGNYU @HashtagNYU

When you’re watching the #BreakingBad finale, remember that Vince Gilligan, the show’s creator, is an #NYUAlum! #NYU

MICHELLE WOLF @michelleisawolf4h

They should teach a required class at NYU called Pay Atten-

tion When You Walk and Don’t Talk So Loud.

HAZEL CILLS @hazelcills

If someone could bring, like, at least 3 bags of Cool Ranch Dori-tos to the NYU library I will give

you a NYT Op-Ed

PHOTOS VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG | FLICKR.COM | RAMIRO S. FUNEZ

CMJ ArtistsBy JAKE FOLSOM

NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 3

NYU, Yale professors receive grant to further

study of solar power

SOLAR continued from PG. 1

marketing approach to accelerate the diffusion of solar energy and to figure out why new technologies are adopted.

“The grant allows us to run a set of randomized controlled trials to see what interventions work better than others, while also funding our social network research,” Gill-ingham said.

Bollinger and Gillingham published a paper last year about the social influences that affect the solarization of a community, and now they want to better under-stand those influences.

“The whole point of the project is to assess the im-pact of possible interven-tions that could be used to help consumers under-stand the value of install-ing solar,” Bollinger said.

NYU environmental stud-ies professor Mary Killilea said the cost of solar en-ergy is one of the main

challenges associated with its use, and she stated that Bollinger and Gillingham’s research will be beneficial.

“It’s good to see them spending money on this research,” Killilea said. “We need to understand what kind of market and what kind of social structures are going to allow for that diffusion as this technol-ogy develops and becomes more affordable as well.”

Bollinger is hopeful that this research will help spread the use of solar energy.

“Solar energy is a fas-cinating topic, and it’s crucial for energy depen-dence and a variety of things down the road,” Bollinger said. “Solar has a lot of potential.”

Additional reporting by Davis Saltonstall and Em-ily Bell. Nicole Brown is a news editor. Email them at news@nyunews.com.

Public Safety releases Campus Security and Fire

Safety ReportBy MICHAEL DOMANICO and

NICOLE BROWN The latest Campus Security

and Fire Safety Report from the university’s Department of Public Safety, released on Sept. 24, shows that most of the crimes occurring around campus do not involve NYU students. The report takes into account all crimes occurring in the area around the Wash-ington Square campus.

The report, which contains statistics for the calendar years 2010 to 2012, shows zero weap-ons-related arrests in 2012, as well as significant decreases in drug-related and alcohol-related arrests on public property. The report cites 49 drug-related ar-rests in 2012 and 142 alcohol-re-lated arrests, down from 67 and 220, respectively, in 2011.

“By far, most of the individu-als issued citations for viola-tions of the alcohol and drug laws in the public property ar-eas such as Washington Square Park are not affiliated with NYU,” said Jay Zwicker, the as-sistant director of Public Safety.

While arrests around campus may be decreasing, there was a noticeable increase in instances of alcohol-related disciplinary action, jumping from 1,615 in 2011, to 2,086 in 2012. But Zwicker pointed out that these variations are common.

“There are always fluctua-tions from year to year in the number of referrals for drug and alcohol violations of law to the Office of Community Stan-dards,” he said. “I am unaware of any particular factors for the changes that occurred from 2011 to 2012.”

Burglary and forcible sex of-fenses were the most common crimes not including arrests, with 19 and 11 reported in-stances, respectively.

Zwicker noted that larceny remains the most frequent on-campus issue. Larceny is not included in the annual crime report, even though NYU main-tains records of these thefts. Larceny is different from both burglary and robberies — bur-glaries involve breaking and en-tering, while robberies involve threats or assault.

“Theft or larceny of unat-tended property, especially small electronics such as lap-tops, tablets and smartphones, remains the most prevalent type of crime not only at NYU but almost every university and college,” Zwicker said.

The university’s consistent levels of low-crime are due in part to NYU’s relationship with the New York City Police De-partment, Zwicker explained.

“The most important mes-sage students, and the entire university community, can draw from the report is that the Department of Public Safety maintains an excellent relation-ship with the NYPD,” he said.

Nicole Brown and Michael Domanico are news editors. Email them at news@nyunews.com. NYU’s Public Safety Department works with NYPD officers.

FILE PHOTO BY JONATHAN TAN

Panelists discuss global M.P.A. program By JULIANNE MCSHANE

The Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and the University College London presented a panel discussion on the changing landscape of global public policy on Sept. 30 at NYU Washington, D.C., which was broadcasted online.

The discussion was an op-portunity for the panel to introduce the joint Global Executive Master of Pro-gram Administration de-gree program between NYU Wagner and UCL.

The panel consisted of four senior policy experts from diverse backgrounds, including Google and the World Bank, who discussed changes they believe should be implemented in public policy education and the impact of Internet, technol-ogy and globalization.

Paul Smoke, co-director of the new program and di-rector of international pro-grams at Wagner, said the decision to host the event at NYU D.C. stemmed from the desire to reach the broadest possible audience.

“To discuss these impor-tant policy issues, we wanted to reach New York and the D.C. audiences,” Smoke said. “We’re also able to reach a global audience via the [streaming] of the event.”

Among the panelists was Wagner dean Sherry Glied, who said the variety in ex-periences and backgrounds that the panelists brought to the discussion showed students the diverse ca-reers in public policy.

“The panelists’ back-grounds and organizations illustrate the mix of domes-tic and international work in the public and private sectors that we want to help students explore,” Glied said.

Susan Molinari, vice presi-dent of public policy and government relations for the Americas at Google, discussed the ability people have to instantaneously ac-cess information. She said college students need to have technical skills and be thinkers who can anticipate problems before they arise.

“Think really big thoughts, and set your goals so that you are uncomfortably ex-

cited,” Molinari said.Stern freshman Adeline

Guo, who is studying busi-ness and political economy, watched the event online and agreed with many of the points the panelists made.

“This seminar reiterated the idea that public policy can’t just be limited to just the do-mestic sector anymore,” Guo said. “It’s a changing world, a growing world, and we need to be conscious of our roles in the global sphere.”

The discussion was also aimed at introducing the new degree program. The year-long, full time program will launch in September 2014 and is aimed at mid-career civil ser-vants who already have seven to 10 years of experience.

As part of the program, students will spend their fall semester at Wagner in New York and their spring semester at UCL. They will also spend their summers in various global sites, working on client-based Capstone projects.

Julianne McShane is a con-tributing writer. Email her at news@nyunews.com.

Health care startup headlines tech meetup

By BAILEY EVANS

A crowd of around 50 gathered at Google Headquarters in Chelsea on Sept. 30 to kick off Tech@NYU’s Start-Up Week with a keynote speech from Joshua Kushner, the founder and man-aging partner of Thrive Capital.

Kushner, 28, provided insight into to-day’s technological and entrepreneur-ial climate, as well as explained his lat-est venture called Oscar, a company he founded that is seeking to revolution-ize the health care system in America.

“The ambition of the business is to take technology and data and human-ize the experience,” Kushner said. “[The relationship between you and your health insurance] is arguably the most important relationship any in-dividual has outside of rent, from the human perspective in that its your health and the financial perspective.”

Speaking on the eve of the launch of the Affordable Care Act, health insur-ance and the deficiencies in the industry resonated with the crowd of predomi-nantly college students.

“I just graduated, and I don’t have health insurance,” NYU alumna Jen-nifer Kim, 21, said. “Twenty-two and 23-year-olds don’t visit the doctor all that often, but the demographic that does need a service like Oscar won’t necessarily take advantage of it.”

Oscar seeks to offer what Kushner said other health insurance companies do not — service to the consumer. He said the company would provide cus-tomers with the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to get the medical care they need based on their symptoms.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” Kush-

ner said. “We’re trying to build a fantastic team that is trying to continuously inno-vate. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but people really don’t like their insur-ance companies throughout America.”

Stern senior and president of Tech@NYU Emanuel Kahn explained that Kushner was a fitting speaker for the group’s Startup Week because he ap-plied technology to tackle a real-world problem that millions of Americans, including NYU students, are facing.

“We wanted someone fresh, and Josh fit the bill,” Kahn said. “He’s young, ambitions and successful, but he’s also really humble.”

The Startup Week’s theme this year is Startup School, and events are geared to-ward examining how technology affects media, fashion, music, investments and other areas. The rest of the week fea-tures guests who speak on these topics.

“We wanted to focus on fashion and music and all those topics that are re-ally interesting to people,” Kahn said. “We wanted to target as many stu-dents as possible because we wanted to show that technology affects every industry that students care about.”

Bailey Evans is a contributing writer. Email her at news@nyunews.com.

The panel talks about the program in Washington, D.C. VIA TWITTER.COM

Tech@NYU is celebrating its Startup Week, a semesterly event.

VIA FACEBOOK.COM

4 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | NYUNEWS.COM

DINING EDITED BY DANIEL YEOM DINING@NYUNEWS.COM

Ilili executive chef offers to-go food options at BoxBy ADU MATORY

Already the executive chef at the upscale restaurant Ilili, Philippe Massoud opened his newest brain-child on Sept. 18. Serving Leba-nese-inspired street food on the go, Ilili Box maintains the quality of Massoud’s flagship restaurant in a less formal atmosphere.

A wide selection of sandwiches and spiced drinks immediately catches the patrons’ attention. The zesty red lemonade ($5), incorpo-rating basil and blood oranges, re-freshes the palate in between bites of any dish.

NYU sophomore Christopher Roderick, however, preferred green lemonade, made with mint, ginger and cucumber.

“Cucumber has been a trending vegetable in the health world,” Rod-erick said. “And I was surprised at how well its subtle green taste com-plemented a tangy lemon kick.”

The decadent duck shawarma

wrap ($14) comes with fig garlic whip, scallions and pomegranate seeds to form a tantalizing sand-wich with an occasional explosion of sweetness. A twist on the tradi-tional Mediterranean staple, Ko-rean and Mexican-inspired falafels ($10) are among the aromatic veg-etarian delicacies offered.

The dairy-based desserts, such as the clotted cream ashta ($5) with hibiscus and roasted pineapple, leave a light, fragrant aftertaste. Ilili Box also offers gluten-free variations of almost all its dishes.

The kiosk stands in the Flatiron District, near the cross-section of Broadway and 23rd Street. While

eating in the square, surrounded by potted flora, the bustle of cars zipping by is forgotten after bit-ing into one of the mouth-water-ing sandwiches. While it’s per-fect for a quick lunch, Ilili Box is a bit pricey for a student budget. But it is definitely worth trying for those in the mood to splurge.

WSN sat down with Chef Mas-soud for a short Q&A.

Q: How does serving food in a

grab-and-go atmosphere differ from serving in the upscale restaurant to which you are accustomed?

A: The beauty of it is that the experience is very linear. There’s just a direct connection from the food being cooked to the food go-ing straight out to the customer. In addition, it’s a lot more playful because a sandwich can be like a permutation. It can evolve into so many different concoctions. Unlike having a composed dish, which is a lot more studied and

precise, a sandwich is a lot more playful. But the pressure to ex-ecute a delicious bite is still there.

Q: This kiosk is the product of winning a competition or-ganized by the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership?

A: We put the neighborhood before ourselves and that was always our intention. We wanted to do something that fulfilled the neighborhood’s needs and then we would find a way to make it a successful business. That was the way we approached it. And we of-fered a decent amount of variety.

Ilili Box is located at 999 Broadway and is open Monday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Adu Matory is a contributing writer. Email him at dining@nyunews.com.

Check out the full version of the ar-ticle at nyunews.com.Ilili Box serves a Lamb Pastrami sandwich with wasabi mayo.

COURTESY OF ILILI BOX

Village ice cream parlor serves homemade flavors

Trio of owners bring San Diego-style taquitos to LES

By MADISON FRASER

Everyone jokes about quitting their day jobs and pursuing their wildest dream. David Yoo, a former graphic designer and streetwear fashion businessman, however, followed through on that when he opened Davey’s Ice Cream in the East Village.

Davey’s, which makes its desserts from scratch, opened on Sept. 13. When walking into the East Village store, customers can watch the process through a glass window.

“Our business is going to be seasonal,” Yoo said. “As it gets colder, we’ll begin to make more hearty, warmer flavors.”

The first fall flavor on the menu is sweet corn. With a dash of salted cara-mel sauce on top, it tastes like a creamy, delectable corn bread. The next flavor slated for release is pumpkin spice.

Yoo’s personal favorite is the Mexican vanilla, which is made with a distinct, smooth Mexican variety of vanilla ex-tract that he imports to the store.

“It tastes fresh and homemade, and definitely not artificially flavored,” Tisch freshman Nicole Dawson said.

Davey’s strong coffee flavor is made from beans from Birch Coffee, Yoo’s fa-vorite coffee shop. He was inspired by the shop because it imports beans from Ke-nya — it adds an extra kick to the flavor.

But beyond the exotic and special menu options, the classic flavors are great as well. Cookies & cream is made with fresh cookies and a fudgy-like va-nilla ice cream.

“It’s super rich and has an extremely good cookies to cream ratio,” Tisch freshman Alisha Litman-Zelle said.

A single scoop of ice cream costs $4.25 and two scoops cost $5.50. Freshly made waffle cones are $1.25 extra.

Yoo anticipates his store fostering a microcosm of ice cream lovers.

“I want to make the best ice cream around, but I also want the store to be a place where people can hang out and feel welcomed,” Yoo said. “Everything here is relaxed.”

Davey’s Ice Cream is located on 137 First Ave.

Madison Fraser is a contributing writer. Email her at dining@nyunews.com.

The Mexican vanilla ice cream is made with imported vanilla extract.STEFANIE CHAN FOR WSN

By HELEN OWOLOBI

Finding taquitos that are baja fresh in the Lower East Side is a rarity — one that inspired Matthew Conway and his two partners to open Taquitoria.

The three co-owners, Brad Holtzman, Barry Frish and Matthew Conway, all worked under Iron Chef alum Marc For-gione at Restaurant Marc Forgione, where they came up with their taquito-filled idea.

After a trip to San Diego and sampling the best taquitos Southern California had to offer, the trio came back to New York and designed a business plan. The result was Taquitoria — a hip restaurant on Lud-low and Houston streets, serving its au-thentic namesake dishes at a reasonable price since Sept. 17.

“If you’re in a hurry, on a budget, you’re out drinking or you don’t have time to sit down for dinner, this is a perfect option,” general manager Holtzman said.

The menu is simple and straightforward. There are four filling options of chicken, beef, pork or beans, and two styles — clas-sic or cheesy. Classic comes with guac sauce, shredded lettuce and cotija cheese,

while cheesy has a mix of nacho cheese, sour cream and pickled jalapeño relish. The prices for these deep-fried, palette pleasers are $5 for three or $8 for five. They all come with their specialty Pancho red sauce, and you can add extra guacamole, sour cream or pickled jalapeño relish for $1 more.

Holtzman also aims to attract a college audience.

“I remember being in college,” Holtzman said. “I wish I had a place like this “We would love for the NYU students to grab a hold of it and make it their own.”

With the loud hip-hop music, edgy graf-fiti walls and friendly, hospitable service, Taquitoria could be the new late-night snack spot for NYU students.

Lesley Greenberg, a junior in the College of Arts and Science, was a fan of every-thing Taquitoria had to offer.

“I really liked the friendly service,” Greenberg said, “and the fact that I had great-tasting taquitos ready for me within five minutes was awesome.”

Taquitoria is located on 168 Ludlow St.

Helen Owolobi is a contributing writer. Email her at dining@nyunews.com

The cheesy taquitos come with pickled jalapeño relish, cheese and sour cream.FELIPE DE LA HOZ FOR WSN

NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 5

ARTSEDITED BY JEREMY GROSSMANARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

By ERICA GONZALEZ

Lorde’s first studio album “Pure Heroine,” includes 10 songs, such as current hits “Royals” and “Ten-nis Court,” which all demonstrate Lorde’s characteristic nonchalant vocals, buzzing synthesizers and minimal, yet thumping beats.

The 16-year-old from New Zea-land is a younger, cooler version of Lana Del Rey, but is more electric and sounds more ener-getic. She has teenage spunk, but is not as in-your-face or des-perate as Miley Cyrus.

Lorde’s unique sound shines on the overnight chart-topping sin-gle “Royals,” a pulsating, snappy, female harmony-infused critique of the shallow lifestyle common-ly illustrated in contemporary pop music. Lorde glorifies the real teenager — the youth who “didn’t come from money.”

“Royals,” first released in 2012 on Lorde’s EP, “The Love Club,” served as the perfect preface to “Pure Heroine,” which does not stray far from the single’s over-all sound or lyrical messages. In “Team,” she declares “We live in cities you’ll never see on screen/Not very pretty but we sure know how to run things,” exalt-ing the teenager who thrives in a grunge environment. Like “Roy-als,” “Team” takes another hit at mainstream pop music themes with lyrics like “I’m kind of over getting told to put my hands up in the air/So there.”

As someone who grew up in a neighborhood that draws no “post code envy,” Lorde sings of a teenage lifestyle that involves partying in average-sized homes, loitering on sidewalks and con-gregating below underpasses rather than Porsches, exclusive

clubs and bottle service — illus-trated on “White Teeth Teens.”

She is a self-proclaimed pres-ident of the average youth, and her allegiance proves strong. She refers to her peo-ple with we. Lorde does not try to separate herself from a background others would call shameful, and unlike rappers who boast about their rags-to-riches stories, Lorde does not try to take individual owner-ship of her background.

In “Tennis Court,” another sin-gle released earlier this year, her loyalty is tested. Lorde describes her nascent fame and its perks. She rides a plane for the first time and gets “pumped up from the little bright things,” but she sees through the materialism and phoniness. Her first line is biting — “Don’t you think that

it’s boring how people talk?/Making smart with their words again, well I’m bored.”

Critics have argued that Lorde’s vocal and musical ma-turity far surpasses her age, which is true. Her tongue-in-cheek lyrics are uncommon even for older artists. But thanks to her young start as an artist, watching her grow and seeing how her perspec-tive evolves will be enjoyable.

Take note of her lyrics in “Still Sane.” Lorde recognizes that she’s a rookie in the grand scheme of music, but she’s working hard and is determined to make her mark — “I’m little but I’m coming for the crowd.”

Erica Gonzalez is a contribut-ing writer. Email her at music@nyunews.com.

By ASHLEY AHN

With several bestselling crime nov-els under his belt, author Jeffery Deaver knows best when it comes to the formula for cooking up another crime success. “The October List” is no different. The fast-paced fiction is a complex, page-turn-ing thriller with one big twist — it begins with the end.

Deaver dives into the climax of the story by beginning with the last chapter of the book and progressing backwards. He quickly introduces Gabriela McKen-zie, a mother desperate to reclaim her kidnapped daughter. The same chapter introduces Daniel Reardon, McKenzie’s handsome and wealthy companion, whom she has only known for two days, and Joseph Astor, the sadistic kidnap-per. Although the novel begins in vague fashion, it is precisely this technique that keeps readers enticed, as Deaver leaves deliberate clues that come together as the book progresses.

Early on in the novel, Gabriela and Dan-iel have several encounters with the po-

lice as they venture off in search of the coveted October List — a mysterious list left behind by Gabriela’s boss, which everybody is trying to acquire. This list is also the key to reclaiming Gabriela’s daughter. As the two heroes tear up Man-hattan in order to find the list, a series of compelling characters arise to further complicate the matter at hand.

Although Deaver focuses the plot on Gabriela and Daniel’s journey to re-trieve ransom for Gabriela’s daughter, the novel itself is built upon several different stories. Deaver masterfully weaves in the lives of smaller charac-ters, like mob boss Hal Dixon, leaving readers with all the dots to connect the story, but no pencil.

Deaver purposefully places vague de-tails throughout the chapters, making the reader completely blind and ill informed in comparison to the characters of the novel. With the readers left in the dark, it is only natural for an onslaught of ques-tions to follow — who is the man in the yellow shirt? Why is Gabriela bleeding from her mouth? How did Gabriela and

Daniel meet? And, most importantly, how will Gabriela find her daughter?

Deaver leaves a trail of loose ends that requires the reader to take a leap of faith in trusting that the story will tie up nicely. It is not until the very last chapter of the novel that Deaver fully explains the ori-gins of Gabriela, Daniel and the October List and pieces together the blanks.

Although “October” is an addictive read, the journey is unfortunately far more in-teresting than the destination. With the entire basis and meaning of the book stuffed into the very last chapter, the end-ing feels unfair in relation to the story that preceded it.

Ultimately, “The October List” is fast-paced and well developed. It provides a refreshing approach to the standard crime novel, as it requires readers to think just as much as the characters do. Even though the ending seems short-changed, the novel’s engrossing nature makes it a must-read.

Ashley Ahn is a contributing writer. Email her at books@nyunews.com.

Lorde embraces normal teenage life on ‘Pure Heroine’

‘October List’ puts fresh spin on crime novel formatVIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Despite impressive performances, stage design, ‘Romeo and Juliet’

production disappoints

ROMEO continued from PG. 1

show is accompanied by a sud-den blackout and fire.

However, these gimmicks feel cheap during the play. It is un-necessary for Bloom to make his first entrance on a motorcycle, which is absent for the rest of the play. And while the fiery stage effects are impressive, they serve little purpose. Shakespeare plays do not require these types of stunts for a sense of vitality.

In many ways, this production of “Romeo and Juliet” feels like Bloom’s show, and his star per-sona helps fill many of the seats. His performance is quite good, considering this is his first time both on Broadway and perform-ing Shakespeare. His co-star Ra-shad also plays her part well. At 26, she is a decade younger than Bloom and plays an almost shockingly youthful Juliet, who is only meant to be 13.

However, the supporting cast carries the production. Shake-spearean English rolls out of the mouths of stage veterans like Jayne Houdyshell and Chuck Coo-per with such effortlessness one would think they spoke in verse at home. The younger actors also exhibit a wonderful ease with the language as they liven the stage with full-bodied gestures.

The design elements are also superb. David Weiner’s lighting is beautiful, and subtle shifts in color projected onto the back screen aid every scene change and clarify the passage of time. Jesse Poleshuck’s set is elegant and simple from the opening of the play to the end. The fa-mous balcony scene appears

strikingly because the balcony itself is so visually pleasing. At one point, the sparseness and beauty of a simple sunrise is al-most heartbreaking.

Despite the high-quality pro-duction and talented actors, this adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” suffers from its own bombasity. True Shakespeare fans will be turned off by the play’s obnox-iously sensationalist elements, while high school English classes will still be dozing off, except during the brief appearance of Bloom riding on a motorcycle.

Ivy Olessen is a contributing writer. Email her at theater@nyunews.com.

VIA JEFFERYDEAVER.COM

Bloom and Rashad work well as the Shakespearean duo.

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6 WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | NYUNEWS.COM

THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD & DAILY SUDOKU

ACROSS

1 Chowder ingredient

5 Go fish

10 “Dear” advice-giver

14 Opera set in Egypt

15 Pricey watch

16 Hacienda room

17 Product of colliding weather systems

19 Lowlife

20 Extra-powerful engine

21 Mr. ___ (Peter Lorre role)

22 What some strummers strum, informally

23 Fainting fits, e.g.

25 Grinders

27 Carve in stone

29 Manage

32 “Bonanza” brother

35 1982 Fleetwood Mac hit whose title is sung three times after “Come on and”

39 Altar constellation

40 Tolkien creature41 Coupe, e.g. …

or a hint to 17- and 64-Across and 11- and 34-Down

42 Breach43 Expert44 Really enjoys45 “All ___ are off!”46 Annoy48 McEntire of

country50 Rustic

accommodations54 Cheap booze58 Digging60 Meara of

comedy62 More than elbow63 Weenie

64 Annual tennis tournament played on clay

66 “Bye now”67 Do without68 “Dies ___”

(hymn)69 Bowlful for

Bowser70 Admittance71 At sea

DOWN 1 Flings 2 Began to smoke 3 Dig, so to speak 4 Children’s game

in which players “knuckle down”

5 Kennel sound 6 Usual figure 7 Melancholy 8 Slow, musically 9 Laud10 Give one’s word11 Behind the

scenes12 Feeling down13 Thanksgiving

dish18 Shed24 Vowel sound

represented by an upside-down “e”

26 Teen follower28 Happening with

lots of laughs30 Sitter’s

headache31 Goes on and on

and on32 Bucket of bolts33 How many times

Laurence Olivier won a Best Actor Oscar

34 Metaphor for a sharp mind

36 Mormon Church inits.

37 Forbidding, as an expression

38 Sullen sort41 Angry, with “off”45 Aromatherapy

purchase47 Kind of doll

49 Claptrap51 Faux pas52 Noted

bankruptcy of 2001

53 Hägar the Horrible’s dog

55 Switch from amateur status

56 Eye parts57 Article of faith

58 Ancient Andean

59 Dog on TV’s “Topper”

61 M.I.T. grad, often: Abbr.

65 Coquettish

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Shutdown shows reckless partisanship in congress

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Texting and walking must be checked

Richard Dawkins’ rhetoric has weakenedRELIGION

NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS 7

OPINIONEDITED BY RAQUEL WOODRUFFOPINION@NYUNEWS.COM

EDITORIAL BOARD: Raquel Woodruff (Chair),

Edward Radzivilovskiy (Co-chair), Peter Keffer (Co-chair),Harry Brown, Marcelo Cicconet, Nicki Sethi, Nina Golshan, Ian

Mark, Omar Etman, Christina Coleburn

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

By MARCELO CICCONET

I rarely idolize writers or public personalities. But last Wednesday I found myself in a long line at Kimmel Center to get my copy of Richard Dawkins’ new book signed after a talk he gave. The talk at NYU was part of a series of appearances to advertise the launching of his memoir, “An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist.” The nov-els describe the events which led to his well-known intellectual po-sition as a proponent of new athe-ism, and in particular to the writing of “The Selfish Gene,” the book that turned him into a global celebrity in the ‘70s.

I have yet to read the book, but his talk at Kimmel and the extended in-terview he gave to John Stewart on “The Daily Show” already shows that his discourse has grown milder, less combative. He seems to have exten-ded his reach to broader concerns in-stead of only ridiculing religious prac-tices in interviews with creationists.

Dawkins has certainly made a lot of religious enemies, but he has also angered atheists. Critics ar-gue that he ignores the social and

psychological benefits provided by religious practices and instead at-tacks beliefs, dogmas, rituals and sacred scriptures.

Although I agree with this criti-cism, I also think that people like Richard Dawkins and books like “The God Delusion” are necessary. As I wrote in a previous article, Dawkins provides an argument for individuals who want to elimi-nate religious superstition. There is a distinct lack of credibility for atheists after their religious ties are broken. While it’s easy to see what is wrong with blind faith, no alternative is provided and the atheist is left to deal with major life questions traditionally broached by religion — such as ethics, will and purpose.

Dawkins’ new discourse indicates his awareness of these issues. It can

be seen predominantly in his in-terview at “The Daily Show,” when John Stewart asked about the con-sequences of knowing that man is just “individual genes fighting for their own survival.”

“Natural selection working at the level of genes has put our bodies here and our brains here, but our brains are capable of taking off and departing from, cutting ourselves adrift from the dark side of our Darwinian heritage,” Dawkins said in response. “You don’t have to be pessimistic and say we’re only a machine for our genes. We rise above that. We’ve got big brains, we’ve got culture, we’ve got art, we’ve got music, we’ve got poetry, we’ve got science. We’ve left be-hind the wild world in which our genes were naturally selected.”

Much like this response, I hope the author will further discuss sec-ular accounts for major life ques-tions in future publications. As is the case with religious criticism, a secular approach to those major questions is also necessary.

Marcelo Cicconet is a staff columnist. Email him at opinion@nyunews.com.

In a news conference late yesterday evening, President Barack Obama reprimanded the Tea Party faction of the Re-publican Party. Obama rightly declared that “one faction of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of govern-ment doesn’t get to shut down the entire government.” De-spite the government shutdown, there is a more fundamental issue to address — paralysis and shutdown have become the new norm in the Capitol. The Tea Party is a scourge on govern-ment efficiency, and the electorate must hold members that ascribe to the group’s practices accountable for their detri-mental actions.

The current Congress, the 113th, is on pace to become the least productive in American history, and by and large, a small minority is to blame. While this Congress has passed some sub-stantive legislation — namely relief for the Hurricane Sandy vic-tims and the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act — nearly all of prospective legislation has faced unprece-dented opposition. The political climate has receded to an affair where an obstinate faction has the ability to impair the func-tions of the entire government, undermining any balance.

Despite only having a 49 member caucus in the House of Rep-resentative, the influence of the Tea Party is far greater than their small number implies. Speaker John Boehner’s decision last week to succumb to Tea Party demands and make defund-ing Obamacare for one year a provision of continued govern-ment funding came as a shock to both Democrats and GOP members alike. Boehner’s inability to control this faction high-lights his diminished influence over congressional Republicans.

The economic impact of the shutdown is already being felt in the financial markets. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P all closed down in light of the heightened uncertainty. Obama also noted the human toll in his conference — two million civilian government workers and over 1.4 million active mili-tary personnel will not receive their paychecks. Entire depart-ments will be forced to send their employees home, including NASA, the National Park Service and the IRS. These implica-tions are evidence of the Tea Party’s blatant disregard for the basic provision of government services.

Rather than working with their counterparts to fuse a com-promise between two ideologies, a faction of the GOP has ef-fectively muted a democratically elected voice and has signifi-cantly compromised legislative efficiency. The implications of a government shutdown are vast and damaging, and the very possibility that these results might happen exposes a portion of the Republican party as rampantly irresponsible. Ideologi-cal concerns, no matter how significant, are not cause for the subversion of the most basic functions of our government.

By BRITTANY SHERMAN

If you take a look around NYU’s campus on any given day, the flood of students glued to their phones is overwhelming. This trend has been confirmed on many college campuses, most re-cently at the University of Penn-sylvania. The vice president of public safety, Maureen S. Rush, said, “We’re seeing people totally unaware of their surroundings, walking around streets with ear buds … their face totally in a dif-ferent zone.”

The effects of this trend are not to be taken lightly. Rush noted that the University of Pennsylvania hos-pital “has seen many a broken an-kle because of people not realizing they’re walking off the curb.”

A recent study released in Au-gust 2013 by Safe Kids Worldwide echoes the concern that young people have become distracted. The study shows that one in five high school students and one in eight middle school students were found to be crossing the street while distracted.

Of the 34,000 teens, 39 percent

of distracted walkers were engag-ing in texting, 39 percent were wearing headphones, 20 percent were talking on the phone and 2 percent were playing games on their devices.

The statistics from this study are daunting, as they show the degree to which young people are dis-tracted. This distraction might be used as an explanation for the in-crease in injuries at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ironically, it is these very devi-ces designed to keep us connected and increase our awareness that are distracting us from our po-tentially dangerous surroundings. We are losing an important facet of life that technology has no way of repairing — our common sense. The idea of looking both ways be-fore crossing the street has be-

come a secondary concern for young people, less important than looking down at the text messages or games on your phone.

It is highly unfortunate that bro-ken ankles and overall unaware-ness are the side effects of tech-nological advances. Yet it is more regrettable that that these issues are not sufficiently addressed. We warn against texting and driving and have taken severe legal action in 41 states to tackle distracted drivers. But these same strict stan-dard should be applied to walking while texting.

This is a serious issue and should be tackled with the introduction of state laws. This may seem to be an ex-treme step, but it would certainly en-sure that more eyes would be on the streets, rather than on our devices.

For now, the best thing we can do is raise awareness. It should be discussed in the household, in schools, among loved ones and transmitted to police personnel. Only then can awareness spread and legal action be implemented.

Brittany Sherman is a contributing colum-nist. Email her at opinion@nyunews.com.

8 NYUNEWS.COM | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

SPORTS EDITED BY FRANCISCO NAVASSPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Exorbitant contracts fail to guarantee ability of baseball players

By TONY CHAU

It is no secret that the New York Yan-kees are not shy about spending money on the cream of the free agent crop. For the current season, three of the top five salaries in baseball are being paid for by the Yankees, and that does not include the $16.7 million salary captain Derek Jeter received.

But there is absolutely no reason to conform to the 10-year, $305 million con-tract that star second baseman Robinson Cano requested last week, according to an ESPN report.

The chances of the Yankees agreeing to Cano’s proposed contract are about as slim as their playoff chances — zero — especially because they are still suffer-ing from the economic hangover that is Alex Rodriguez’s contract. This is proba-bly just the first offer in what is destined to be a long negotiation process.

But rewarding Cano, a player who has unquestionable talent but has often been criticized for lackadaisi-cal efforts, with anything more than eight years, $140 million would be reckless and unwise. Even that kind of $17.5 annual salary contract would pose many risks.

Earlier this year, fellow second base-man Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox set the standard with an eight year, $110 million contract. Cano may be a better player than Pedroia, who is a for-mer Rookie of the Year and AL MVP, but

not by much. And Cano is definitely not better by more than $30 million.

If Cano rejects such an offer by the only team he’s ever known, then the Yankees should let him test the mar-ket and see for himself that if the rest of the league is observant and logical, then Cano will not receive an offer greater than Pedroia.

After all, the realities of these exorbi-tant near decade-long contracts are fi-nally starting to settle in. The Yankees know this first hand and not just with Rodriguez. Former ace C.C. Sabathia still has three years and over $70 million re-maining on his contract and is coming off the worst season of his career — 14 wins, 13 losses and a 4.78 ERA. Similarly, the once durable Mark Teixeira has be-come injury prone, spending nearly the entire season on the disabled list. With a drop in production in recent years, and three years, $67.5 million remaining on his contract, it won’t be long before the Yankees begin to regret that deal, too.

This headache is not unique to the Yankees or to other teams in the MLB. The Los Angeles Angels have already begun to feel the harsh effects of these contracts, and they have only inked them recently. Albert Pujols, a hitter once as feared as any in the league, has also suffered from injuries and a drop in production. But Pujols is signed through 2021 and has $212 million remaining on his contract. The Phila-delphia Phillies still have to pay Ryan

Howard over $85 million for at least three more seasons. They have a $10 million buyout for the 2017 season, even though it has been four years since he was at his prime.

It should also be noted that none of these teams finished better than third place in their respective divisions. With all this guaranteed money on the books for the next few years and no foreseeable production to match it, this should serve as a warning to any team considering re-warding Cano, or any other player, with such an absurd contract.

Tony Chau is a senior editor. Email him at tchau@nyunews.com.

Baseball contracts prices are rising even though players do not deserve it.

VIA FLICKR.COM

and graduate student Allison Young. In the quar-terfinals, they defeated Vassar College’s freshmen duo Shayna Becker and Emily Hallewell 8-6. After two days of matches, Masanto and Wang played against Stevens Tech’s Bourque and junior Lisa Tes-sitore in the semifinals, where they lost 8-2.

“Alison and I play well together, and we always encourage each other to do our best,” Masanto said. “Overall, I think it was a good tournament.”

Bourque and Tessitore advanced to win the doubles title, and William Paterson’s freshman Brittany LaBruna won the singles title of the 2013 USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championships.

Masanto and Wang, along with the rest of the women’s tennis team, return to the courts at the New York State Division III Champion-ships at Ithaca College on Oct. 11.

Sydney Pereira is a contributing writer. Email her at sports@nyunews.com.

After strong play on first day, women’s tennis sophomores

fail to claim victory

WTEN continued from PG. 1

Alison Wang returns a volley during her play at Williams Smith College.

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