3 SPORTS
6 CULTURE
Five priorities for the Giants this season
The culture editors’ guide to on-campus etiquette
4 ARTS
8 UNDER THE ARCH
Dear Artists: Risks have rewards
Flaca o gorda: My struggle with pandemic weight gain
VOLUME LVII | ISSUE 1
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021
Masking, testing, reopening: A guide to the Fall 2021 semester
JAKE CAPRIOTTI | WSN
A parent stands outside Palladium Hall during move-in. NYU administration has introduced new procedures to allow for in-person operations during COVID-19.
Learn about NYU’s plan to return to near-normal operations and all the guidelines and requirements you should know about this fall. By RACHEL COHEN Deputy News Editor The Fall 2021 semester will be the first time many students return to campus since pandemic restrictions tightened in March 2020, when classroom instruction turned to remote learning. For other students, the upcoming semester will be their first exposure to New York City. WSN compiled a guide to- the university’s plan to return to regular operations, including the reopening of university buildings and the return of athletics. Table of contents Classroom instruction and building access In-person events COVID-19 testing Face coverings Vaccinations Residence halls Dining Athletics and sporting facilities Libraries NYU Box Office The Wasserman Center Student Health Center Campus transportation
Classroom instruction and building access Members of the community must show a green pass on the Daily Screener to enter any non-residential campus building. Mask-wearing and a 7-10 foot space between the lecturer and the class participants will be required in classrooms this fall. Students must occupy the same seat for the entire semester. The university has also equipped each classroom with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to improve air quality, as recommended by the CDC and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Classrooms will also be cleaned regularly. In-person events Indoor in-person events — which can only be two hours or less with a maximum capacity of 250 individuals — are permitted if they follow the guidelines under NYU’s Event, Meeting, and Gathering Requirements. Outside affiliates, vendors and visitors can not participate in gatherings and meetings until further notice. To enter an event, students and faculty must show their Daily Screeners, but hosts are not allowed to ask participants about their vaccination status. Event organizers are responsible for maintaining an attendee list for contract tracing purposes, including an individual’s first and last name, phone number and NetID or external email address. During events, unvaccinated individuals are expected to social distance. Outdoor in-person events can hold up to 500 people, and individuals who are not fully vaccinated have to wear masks if they cannot maintain at
least six feet of distance from other people. “We would ask community members to use common sense and consider whether planned or anticipated in-person events can be readily replaced with online alternatives or postponed until after we get the current year well underway and, we hope, the current surge starts to abate,” NYU said in an email to the university community. COVID-19 testing Students, faculty and employees who are not fully vaccinated will be tested weekly starting Aug. 16 through a Binx self-administered, at-home saliva test kit available at locations across campus, or a BioReference nasal swab test. NYU BioReference is located at 18 Cooper Square. Appointments are available Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Unvaccinated students, faculty or employees must receive a negative COVID-19 test no more than seven days prior to entering a university building. NYU will also continue to contact trace and provide campus access through the Daily Screener, regardless of vaccination status. For vaccinated individuals, there is no symptom questionnaire. “We will continually monitor testing results, as well as city data, for any uptick that necessitates a change in campus protocol, or a need to further increase the level of testing,” NYU said. Unlike its peer institutions, NYU will not make testing mandatory for vaccinated students. Columbia University and Cornell University plan on selecting a random sample of vaccinated individuals each week to participate in a surveillance testing program. NYU, however, encourages vaccinated students
and faculty to get tested regularly and for any reason. They are required to get tested if they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or deemed a close contact of someone who tested positive. Discretionary testing will also be available once a week for students and employees who were in a high transmission situation, such as out-ofstate travel, large social gatherings or crowded indoor settings. Any symptoms should be reported to the COVID-19 Prevention & Response Team on this form. Face coverings NYU will continue to require masks indoors in all university buildings for the Fall 2021 semester, according to an email sent by senior leadership to the university community on Aug. 19. “We will again have Public Health Ambassadors to distribute masks and to reinforce the masking rules and a culture of conscientiously observing health rules,” NYU said. The announcement comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in July that those in areas with “substantial” and “high” COVID-19 transmission rates should once again wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. New York and Kings counties — where NYU’s Washington Square and Brooklyn campuses are located — both fall under the “high” transmission category. Exceptions to the policy will be made if a student or employee is alone in a private office or eating in a designated area. If an individual fails to comply, they will be asked to leave the location and a report will be sent to the school’s dean, the Office of Student Conduct or a supervisor. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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NEWS
NEWS@NYUNEWS.COM
Edited by ARNAV BINAYKIA
Masking, testing, reopening: A guide to the Fall 2021 semester CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Vaccinations NYU is requiring all students and employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to enter campus buildings unless granted a medical or religious exemption. The requirement can be satisf ied by any vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization. According to an Aug. 26 email, over 95% of U.S.-based students, 94% full-time employees and nearly 90% of adjunct faculty are fully vaccinated. However, only 75% of international students have received the vaccine, in part due to conflicting guidance and local vaccine shortages, as WSN previously reported. Unvaccinated community members may receive the vaccine at their closest vaccination site or at the on-campus vaccination center at Bobst Library. “We will, of course, continue to monitor guidance from public health authorities on matters such as vaccine boosters, and provide direction to the University in turn,” the email stated.
The NYU Vax Pass was also introduced for the fall semester. It will be used for events that are limited to fully vaccinated individuals due to public health risks. However, it is unclear when the pass will be utilized, and whether it will be used in conjunction with the Daily Screener. Residence halls Student residence halls are fully-reopened and students will have to wear masks in public areas, including lounges, hallways and lobbies outside of their suite or apartment. Rooms have been set aside for quarantine and isolation. Students in university housing are now permitted in rooms of other students in residence halls and are expected to wear masks and social distance. Students living off-campus will no longer be permitted to enter NYU housing at the start of the fall, in addition to outside visitors under the 2020-2021 visitor policy. The university anticipates that the visitation policy will return to pre-pandemic standing with all guests allowed at the start of the 2022-23 academic year.
Dining Dining halls now offer both to-go and indoor dining. For now, NYU encourages students to eat outside. Students are required to wear masks on line and before and after eating, and the university asks those who do choose to eat indoors to stay less than 15 minutes. Some tables will have physically-distanced seating, where those who are not fully vaccinated are required to sit and fully vaccinated students are given the option. Athletics and sporting facilities Intercollegiate competition, intramural athletics and club sports will resume this semester after a yearlong hiatus. Sporting facilities officially reopened on Aug. 27 and are following a phased opening for vaccinated individuals — first beginning with students — according to city guidelines. The Palladium Athletic Facility and Brooklyn Athletic Facility are currently open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, and activity areas will close 30 minutes prior
to closing times. New hours of operation for the fall semester will begin on Sep. 2, but have yet to be released. Libraries Bobst Library and Dibner Library are open to NYU students, faculty and staff, including the stacks, lounges and event and exhibit spaces. Remote options are also still available. At Bobst, most individual study rooms will be closed, but a limited number of graduate study rooms are available. Dibner Library’s individual study rooms, however, are open for students to make a reservation online. Both libraries have group study rooms available. The Institute of Fine Arts, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and the Jack Brause Library are open only to their students. NYU Box Office The NYU Box Off ice, the university’s ticketing service for events, is in the process of reopening. Online purchases will be made available for NYU Skirball and ScholasTix over the coming weeks. In-person box off ice hours have yet to be scheduled.
The Wasserman Center The Wasserman Center, which administers NYU’s career services, will reopen its physical locations at Union Square and in Brooklyn on Sep. 1. Career coaches will be conducting in-person and virtual sessions through appointments on NYU Home or NYU’s Handshake. Appointments will be 20 minutes in length until Oct. 4, when regular 30-minute sessions will resume. Student Health Center The Student Health Center is open for COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots, but annual check-ups and walk-in appointments are still unavailable. Counseling and wellness services are remote via Zoom or over the phone. Campus transportation The NYU Shuttle will resume on Aug. 28 and run between 7 a.m. through midnight on seven routes. Safe Ride and Brooklyn Overnight Shuttle will start operating on Aug. 31 at 12:01 a.m. Contact Rachel Cohen at rcohen@nyunews.com
The Soapbox: Kabul, Hurricane Ida, Nabisco strike among civilians. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Aug. 27 that U.S. off icials believe “another terror attack in Kabul is likely” and “the next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date.” In statements reminiscent of those issued by President Bush nearly two decades ago at the beginning of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, the White House threatened Friday, Aug. 27, to “hunt down, go after, and kill the terrorists who are responsible” for the attack. Late Friday evening, the f irst reports emerged of U.S. drone strikes targeting an IS-KP attack strategist in the eastern province of Nangarhar. CNN reported on Aug. 29 that nine members of a single family were killed in a U.S. drone strike in a residential area of Kabul.
SUSAN BEHRENDS VALENZUELA | WSN
The Soapbox is a weekly news column rounding up stories worth reading for a global university.
By SUHAIL GHARAIBEH Deputy News Editor In Kabul, a deadly suicide attack heightens the chaos of the U.S.-led airlift Amid the urgent airlift of foreign citizens and refugees from Afghanistan, warnings circulated that the Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or IS-KP, would attack the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The IS-KP is an Islamic State aff iliate operating in central and south Asia, in a region it calls Khorasan. Afghan civilians have crowded outside the airport’s fortif ied walls
for almost two weeks, trying to make it past checkpoints armed by Taliban forces and into the largely U.S.-controlled airport where they hope to board flights out of the country. The Biden administration warned as early as Aug. 17 that there was evidence of a plan to attack the perimeter of the airport. On Thursday, Aug. 26, those predictions came true. A suicide attacker bombed crowds packed near the airport’s Abbey Gate, reportedly killing at least 169 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the U.S. armed forces. A Taliban off icial initially told Reuters that 28 of
the group’s f ighters were also among the dead, but a spokesperson for the group later denied that any Taliban had been killed in the attack. IS-KP claimed responsibility for the attack via the Islamic State’s Arabic-language propaganda outlet, Amaq News Agency. IS-KP, a sworn enemy of both the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and the Taliban, has become known for brutal bombing attacks on civilian crowds in Kabul and other Afghan cities. By attacking the perimeter of the airport, IS-KP can eliminate enemy f ighters, weaken security in the Taliban-held capital and sow terror
In the Gulf of Mexico, a hurricane threatens to strike New Orleans on the 16th anniversary of Katrina Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29, exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the state. The hurricane previously passed through western Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico and was labeled as a Category 4 hurricane when it struck the United States. Isolated regions experienced up to 20 inches of rain over a 20hour period and the hurricane unexpectedly reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. On Friday, New Orleans’ emergency management off ice ordered a mandatory evacuation of low-lying neighborhoods outside the levees that protect against flooding and a voluntary evacuation for the rest of the city. In Louisiana, around
400,000 individuals have been left without power, according to an independent tracking website. “The storm is a life-threatening storm,” President Joe Biden said. “Its devastation is likely to be immense.” In five U.S. states, Nabisco workers are on strike Since VICE f irst reported on Aug. 17 that employees at Nabisco manufacturing plants in Oregon, Colorado and Virginia had gone on strike, workers in two more states — Illinois and Georgia — have joined the effort. The unionized workers, who bake and package popular snack foods such as Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers, are protesting cuts to overtime pay proposed by Nabisco and its owner Mondelēz International, as well as proposed changes to healthcare benef its despite the worsening effects of the Delta variant. Workers are also calling for a boycott of snacks made in Mexico in order to “protect American jobs” as well as workers in poorly regulated lowwage workplaces. “The main thing we’re trying to get is a fair contract,” Nathan Williams, a longtime Nabisco employee striking in Richmond, Va., told VICE. “During the pandemic, we came in seven days a week. Some people worked every day — 16 hours a day — for three months.” Actor Danny DeVito and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) both tweeted in support of the strike. “If Nabisco can rake in billions of dollars in corporate prof its, they can afford to treat their workers with dignity and respect,” Sanders wrote. Contact Suhail Gharaibeh at sgharaibeh@nyunews.com
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SPORTS
SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Edited by MITESH SHRESTHA
Five priorities for the Giants this season
Expectations are high for the New York Giants, who have not made an appearance in the playoffs in four years. Managing players and strategy will be crucial for the team to find success this season.
By ETHAN HOURIZADEH Staff Writer Keeping Saquon Barkley healthy Star running back Saquon Barkley tore his ACL in a game against the Chicago Bears early last season, sidelining him for the remainder of the year. While Barkley has shared videos of himself rehabbing and getting back into shape, he has still not fully recovered from his injury. It would be wise for the coaching staff to lighten his workload at the beginning of the new season. However, with a short turnaround between the Giants’ first two games of the season, carefully easing Barkley back into his pre-injury level of involvement is imperative. With the Giants’ former running back Wayne Gallman now signed with the San Francisco 49ers, the remaining carries will go to free agent signings Devontae Booker and Corey Clement. The Giants’ second preseason game provided some insight into which of the pair will be relied on more heavily. Despite Clement being given the most opportunity, Booker proved to be more productive and efficient, as he scored a touchdown. Regardless, it will benefit the team in the long run when they have Barkley — only the third rookie running back ever to rush 2,000 total yards — to lean on later this season after his recovery.
Building the chemistry between Daniel Jones and Kenny Golladay With Barkley not in full health, another player on the Giants offense will need to step up. Earlier this offseason, the Giants added wide receiver Kenny Golladay to the team. While he was recognized as one of the league’s best wide receivers with a Pro Bowl selection in 2019, Golladay still has a lot of work to do in building chemistry with his new quarterback Daniel Jones. Even star receivers, like former Giant Odell Beckham Jr., can face setbacks when signing with a new team and working with a new quarterback. The season after Beckham Jr. was traded from the Giants to the Cleveland Browns, his total number of catches, receiving yards and touchdowns all fell from the previous season, despite playing four more games. A strong connection between quarterback and wide receiver is important in determining both individual and team success. With Barkley limited, it will be more important than ever for Golladay and Jones to avoid a scenario like Beckham Jr.’s by building chemistry and getting comfortable playing together early in the season. Golladay has a much different play style than that of Beckham Jr. Golladay has fewer average catches per game than Beckham — a more volume-based receiver — but averages more yards per
catch. This difference makes Golladay less likely to suffer a drop-off in performance. While Beckham Jr.’s success is reliant on being provided many opportunities to make a play with the ball in his hands, Golladay won’t need the ball as often. This allows the focus to remain on Jones making the right decisions instead of forcing the ball one way. Improving offensive line play A major factor that contributed to the Giants’ losing 6-10 record last season was the team’s offensive line play, which Pro Football Focus ranked 31st out of 32 teams. The offensive line did not give Jones much of a chance to succeed. It also contributed to Barkley’s injury issues, as opposing defenses had more direct hits on him. Every good offense has at least an average performing offensive line. The Giants poor offensive line performance last season can be attributed to the youth and inexperience of the position group. With Andrew Thomas (22 years old), Will Hernandez (25) and Matt Peart (24), the position group should improve with time. Veteran Nate Solder returns to the team after opting-out the previous season. While Solder is no longer the top player he was earlier in his career when he played for the New England Patriots, he does bring veteran leadership that will help the younger players who are still transitioning into the NFL.
Keeping the defense strong One of the few bright spots from the Giants’ past season was their stellar defense. The Giants’ defense was within the top 10 for fewest total points per game allowed and within the top 12 for fewest total yards per game allowed. Newcomers James Bradberry and Logan Ryan excelled as part of the defensive secondary, with Bradberry earning a Pro Bowl selection. Defensive end Leonard Williams led the charge on the defensive line with 11.5 sacks. Although the Giants lost defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency to the Minnesota Vikings, the Giants can continue their success from last season. The addition of former Titans defensive back Adoree’ Jackson and second round pick Azeez Ojulari, as well as the improved play of linebacker Blake Martinez and defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, will contribute to an even better-performing defense. After extending Williams contract, the Giants’ defense is in a position to stay together and thrive for years to come. Making a final decision on Daniel Jones Heading into his third NFL season, Jones has lots of doubts to put to rest with his play on the field. In an article for Pro Football Focus, Seth Galina describes his opinion on Jones.
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
“Right now, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones simply exists as one of the 22 players on the football field for each play — nothing more,” Galina wrote. Although his work ethic is not in question, as exemplified in the many videos of him working out with new teammates, fans and management are still unsure if he is the quarterback of the future for the team. Given the daunting circumstance of filling in for his two-time Super Bowl champion predecessor Eli Manning, who retired in 2020 after 16 seasons with the Giants, Jones performed well his rookie season and improved in his second season. Next Gen Stats named him the top deep passer in the NFL. However, ball security has still proven to be an issue for Jones. His fumbling problem from his rookie season persisted this season, as Jones was tied for the most fumbles in the NFL. Additionally, Jones missed some time with injuries last season; head coach Joe Judge recently spoke on the setback. “What I would say about the injury last year — it was much more serious than maybe people thought on the outside,” Judge said. While Jones did not have many playmakers around him in his first two seasons, it seems this year is pivotal for his future with the team. Contact Ethan Hourizadeh at sports@nyunews.com
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MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021
ARTS
ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM
Edited by SASHA COHEN and ANA CUBAS
Dear Artists: Risks have rewards
SUSAM BEHRENDS VALENZUELA | WSN
The world is full of critics and people wanting to shut you out. That’s all the more reason to make your art.
By SASHA COHEN Arts Editor Let’s face it: people are insecure. Between balancing the desire for social acceptance and putting forth our most authentic selves, we feel as if ev-
ery decision we make puts our reputations at stake; we question whether our talents are good enough, if our images are different enough or when we will be cool enough. But, who decides what is or isn’t enough? While everyone experiences judg-
ment, artists get the worst of it — their talents and personal choices are constantly being examined and dissected. With social media, fans — and of course, haters — can now troll creatives’ choices from the comfort of their futons, which are covered in Cheeto dust. Meanwhile, outside of the virtual world, artists are bombarded with criticism from magazines and people on the street. Sure, such toxicity is part of being an artist, but it also influences some creatives to produce work that appeals to the broadest audience as opposed to what they f ind creatively fulf illing. Think about it. No one likes rejection. We want to feel love and acceptance. So when an artist receives hate, it feels personal — as if there is some sort of greater issue with who they are as people. Consequently, these feelings influence many artists to create too many songs about trucks, plays about star-crossed lovers and movies about mean teenage girl, becuase that is what sells. On the other hand, don’t we remember the outliers who challenged
the conventions of their artistic facets the most? Look at Pablo Picasso and cubism: critics despised his work, and yet his paintings decorate the walls of MoMA, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof ía, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, and more. Toni Morrison fought to represent the Black experience in a whitewashed literary canon; with a net worth of 20 million dollars at the time of her death, Morrison’s novels f ill people’s bookshelves around the world. In the music video for “Like a Prayer,” Madonna kissed a Black saint and burned crosses, but that did not stop her from selling 15 million copies worldwide. If artists make safe choices, innovation does not occur. Without courageous creatives like Alvin Ailey Jr., Bong Joon-ho, Billie Eilish, Laverne Cox, Norman Lear, Mindy Kaling and many others, we would be trapped in a wasteland of homogeneous culture. Art is all about taking risks and expressing one’s genuine thoughts, emotions and beliefs, so creating something for the sole pur-
pose of appealing to the widest audience feels contradictory. With that said, now is the time for artists to trust their intuitions. They know if their talents are good enough, if their images are different enough or when they are cool enough. Art is about the work itself as opposed to ephemeral money, fame or appreciation, so who are we to use these measurements to determine which artist is the best? So, to the artists reading this article: not everyone is going to like your work, and that is OK — art is meant to disrupt the mainstream. Use people’s disapproving remarks to fuel your passions and ambitions. Take a risk. Dye your hair that color. Sing that song. Bust that move. Write that lyric, set or line. Listen to feedback, yet trust your gut. But most importantly, be willing to endure the growing pains that come with transforming into the artist you want to be. Then — and only then — will you truly feel like enough. Contact Sasha Cohen at scohen@nyunews.com.
Review: The White Existentialism of ‘The White Lotus’ By ISABELLA ARMUS Deputy Arts Editor Cradled by lapping tides, a boat full of white, wealthy and unreasonably attractive patrons arrive at the paradisiacal island of Maui as doting staff members wave from the distance, relegated to a mere speck within the frame. This is one of the first scenes of creator Mike White’s latest show “The White Lotus” — a moment that remains emblematic of the entire series throughout its six-episode run. The show’s opening concerns a mysterious corpse being packed into an outgoing flight and a man returning from his (presumably ruined) honeymoon. This image hangs over the audience as the series then loops back to the beginning, showing the events leading up to this untimely death. With this, we officially meet the primary cast of characters. First, a WASP-y tech family and their daughter’s friend Paula, then a lonely woman named Tanya mourning her dead mother (played with hilarious brevity by one Jennifer Coolidge), and finally, the newlywed couple — who have already grown to disdain each other — going on their honeymoon. These three groups each have equally fraught dynamics that bleed into one another and come to separate dramatic climaxes as the series continues. But what really gives the show depth is the eclectic staff that runs the hotel on the sidelines, including a bellhop named Kai, who begins a secret tryst with Paula that eventually goes south, and the powerhouse hotel manager named Armond, whose eerie ability to snap from drugged-out mania to a hospitable Cheshire cat should receive several accolades. Also on staff is the show’s center of rotation: a Black spa worker named Belinda, whose immaculate service causes Tanya to turn obsessive and demand that Belinda remain at her beck and call. It’s on these characters that the families wreak their havoc, as they belittle, disregard and even flatout insult the staff in a vain attempt to exert control over their situations.
Watching privileged people spiral under the stylish and seductive atmosphere of a tropical hotel makes “The White Lotus” a late-summer catnip and daring satire of the American tourism industry that has taken over Hawaii — one of the more famous yet ignored examples of stolen and colonized land. However, as well-intentioned as this parodic rendering of the 1% is, the show’s constant focus on the hotel guests creates yet another piece of media obsessed with whiteness. Instead of opting for parts of the narrative to narrow in on the staff, who are predominantly people of color, White chooses to only skewer the problematic behavior of the new arrivals. We see the twists and turns of snobby newlywed Shane’s erratic behavior towards Armond as retaliation for Armond’s failure to give him the suite he wanted. We watch in horror as tech company girlboss Nicole espouses neoliberal Twitter lingo about cancel culture to her teenage children. Even more heartbreakingly, we see Tanya’s obsession with Belinda’s service culminate in her revoking an offer she made to fund Belinda’s wellness company, leaving Belinda in tears at the front desk. All of this is as wild as it is painfully accurate. Unfortunately, the hotel industry is curated to satisfy every demand of entitled white people. The working-class people of color employed at these establishments are seen as completely replaceable, perhaps best represented by the pilot episode in which a trainee gives birth in the hotel lobby — only to never appear in the series again. There’s a cruel cyclical nature to the hospitality industry that “The White Lotus” completely nails, as the white guests take over or even colonize the frame. However, it can be argued that the series leans too far into a realm of existential pessimism for its point to resonate. Though the series is spot on in its representation of overwhelming whiteness in the tourism industry, the plotlines are not nuanced enough to warrant embodying its own critique. The same points about
class, colonialism and race can be made while giving secondary characters an equal amount of screen time. Why can’t the audience know exactly why Kai told Paula that he was forced to take this job? How does Belinda recover everyday from catering to white people? In short, why are these characters not portrayed as interesting enough to legitimately be represented — even when the narrative is about them? A didactic history lesson about America’s colonial past isn’t even required here. Indigenous TikTok creators have already gone viral doing the free labor of explaining how Hawaiian tourism has gotten so out of hand. Even just an outline of these hotel worker’s lives would have painted a richer portrait of the gruesome effects of the hospitality industry, rather than merely showing the fiery entitlement we’ve already come across in HBO’s other popular outfits such as “Succession” or “Big Little Lies.” Beyond the way unlikeability is constantly performed and presented here,
the way some of the characters are written leans more toward caricature than complexity. Though played with gusto, Shane’s whiny condescension as he calls his new wife a trophy makes for more of an operatic villain than a legitimate breakdown of the male ego. “The White Lotus” could’ve created human or even slightly relatable characters that evoke the quotidian microaggressions that most people in the service industry have to face on a daily basis. Instead, the series seems determined to address all problems with tourism in Hawaii with a few crazed examples rather than as a nuanced problem with many moving parts. The finale of the miniseries sees the three parties swiftly making their exit as the murderous plotline comes to a harrowing conclusion. The families remain relatively unscathed, but the staff members go back to exactly where they started: smiles plastered on and waving to the horizon. This ending relays the hopelessness that “The White Lotus” was determined
to convey and presents the characters’ separate fates as inevitable. This sequence mourns for yet accepts tourism’s effects in Hawaii and makes the twisty plotlines feel more like an admission of obvious guilt rather than a revelatory exploration of underserved populations. “The White Lotus” is a series that is undeniably successful by way of entertainment. From its swelling score to the mesmerizing set design, the series begs the viewer to stay glued to the screen for whatever narrative sucker punch may approach the idyllic location. It was this aspect that most likely caused HBO to renew the series for a second season and possibly more in the future. However, as “The White Lotus” continues, it’s in the audience’s best interest to consider how much more self-indulgent critique from white creators is needed and if they should just move aside. Contact Isabella Armus at iarmus@nyunews.com.
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
HBO’s The White Lotus was the streaming darling of the summer. The show attempts to probe America’s colonial past in this satire of the tourism industry.
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Review: ‘WE LOVE NYC: The Homecoming Concert’
IMAGE COURTESY OF MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE
A star-studded lineup of musicians celebrating the return to semi-normalcy drew large and enthusiastic crowds. Unfortunately for the revelers, the event was cut short due to lightning from Hurricane Henri.
By ANA CUBAS Arts Editor With a Broadway-like dazzle, “WE LOVE NYC: The Homecoming Concert,” was a candy-coated outlook on the city’s resurgence after COVID-19. In the assortment of indulgent performances, hesitation was absent, and only the positives were noticed by the audience. The optimism floated above current events until Hurricane Henri brought things back to reality. The concert took place on Aug. 21 in Central Park’s Great Lawn to celebrate the city’s vaccination efforts and return to semi-normalcy. The event marked the end of eight days of celebratory events across the five boroughs. For the grand
finale, music industry icon Clive Davis, the namesake of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, worked with New York City and Live Nation to develop a flashy lineup. The artists span genres and eras, from Andrea Bocelli to Maluma, with The Killers, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon and audience favorite Bruce Springsteen as headliners. It was a pride-filled party for New York, with the same kind of idealistic patriotism as the Fourth of July — aesthetic idolization of the city’s landmarks and characteristics became the background for performances. New York-themed songs were scattered in between performances, or even overtly integrated. The New York theme also found its way into the clothing sported at the event — Rob Thomas wore
a New York or Nothing tee and a flood of John Lennon’s famous black and white New York City shirts were seen among event staff and concertgoers. Concertgoers acted as if they each drank three coffees before the event, showcasing an excitement that carried into the breaks between acts. These brief pauses were filled with the kind of classic tracks that are usually found among family barbecues and middle school dances. As much as they seemed to discriminate little in their excitement towards artists, the audience howling of “Bruce” was as eminent as hearing “Free Bird!” shouted at a rock concert. The Homecoming event opened with the New York Philharmonic, an orchestra whose music is easily stereotyped as stuffy and uppity. Any preconceived notions of the group were defied. The orchestra began with the overture to Bernstein’s “Candide” before melting into Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” Christopher Cross’ “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” and a rendition of “New York, New York.” Their swift blending of tracks sparked fist pumping and shouts of thrill and surprise; clarinet solos and climaxes in the medley kindled hearty whoops. When the Philharmonic’s time seemed to be coming to an end, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli joined them on stage. As he sang the Neapolitan song “’O Sole Mio” backed by a fleet of strings, Bocelli’s voice was dense with emotion and furiously unwavering. Were the crowd not already standing, I’m certain they would have risen to their feet. After Bocelli exited the blinged-out stage, Jennifer Hudson gracefully appeared. Her performance was brief, but potent. She sang Puccini’s “Nessun dor-
ma,” a well-adored opera classic. The man standing in front of me turned around, pointed at his arm and said, “Look, goosebumps!” There is no better summary of Hudson’s performance at the concert. In a stark turn of genres, the softhearted rock band Journey prompted ferocious singing from the crowd. Arnel Pineda, a new and improved version of Steve Perry, led the audience in “Any Way You Want It” and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” with an abstract design of New York’s subway map serving as their background. Like Journey, singer Carlos Santana shared his hits “Maria Maria” with Wyclef Jean and “Smooth” with Rob Thomas. Although a slightly rigid performance, Santana’s charisma and presence were enough to make up for it. Earth, Wind & Fire performed similarly — concise and without improvisation, but lively and gratifying. Each performance felt like a tease, a display of the classics that only made the ending of the acts that much more tragic. And whether it was underwhelming or as thrilling as expected, there was no time to savor what was experienced before the next artist emerged. While most performers sang two full songs and others strung together the catchiest of their hits, LL Cool J made the most of his time. He and his ensemble of accompanying artists stormed the stage with a compilation of hip-hop hits from five decades’ worth of the genre’s history. Audience members were gasping for breath from both rapping along with surprise guests Run of Run-DMC, Fat Joe, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s Melle Mel and Scorpio.
But nobody exuded more energy and enthusiasm than Jon Batiste. His positivity was that of a Disney character, his dancing a mix of James Brown and a puppet on strings. He sang “Freedom,” a track fitting for the extravagant optimism of the event. The celebration was just starting to peak when Hurricane Henri began to make itself known with subtle clouds and trickles of rain. Barry Manilow was the unlucky victim of the demise of the concert. The hitmaker sang the tropical-influenced “Copacabana” and “Mandy” before being cut off while singing “Can’t Smile Without You.” His pure, jubilant spirit radiated from the stage, which made the timing of the alert all the more unfortunate. The blind positivity that hung over the event was undercut by the weather, and the concert halted in a seemingly split-second decision. Screens once showing aesthetically worn down apartment buildings and the Statue of Liberty now asked over 60,000 audience members to evacuate immediately. Murmurs of confusion and annoyance, shouts of “Bruce” and remarks of “poor Barry” were heard in the process. With the concert’s slightly eerie undertone, Hurricane Henri was almost a manifestation of all that was overlooked to make the celebration happen. If the concert occurred at a safer time, it would have been as iconic as anticipated. It is disappointing that such an explosive event, of its capacity and caliber, was thrust naively into a moment too early. Contact Ana Cubas at acubas@nyunews.com.
Review: Forget Lorde, ‘Solar Power’ is Ella’s Album
SUSAN BEHRENDS VALENZUELA | WSN
Singer-songwriter Lorde released her latest album Solar Power on June 10. The album, her first in four years, reflects her progression into a new phase of her artistic journey.
By MICHAEL CAMPANELLA Contributing Writer When Lorde first teased her new album, “Solar Power,” my initial reaction was “oh no.” Anyone who listened to her last album “Melodrama” close to a breakup can likely relate: the project is earth-shattering and gut-wrenching. “Writer in the Dark,” “Hard Feelings” and “Supercut” are songs that fundamentally changed my understanding of love and heartbreak. The thought of another “Melodrama” — an album containing the same level of emotion-
al evocation — was both frightening and exciting. Born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, Lorde released the album’s first single, “Solar Power,” on June 11. With it, the prospect of the album being a Melodrama 2.0 went out the window. The song is a light and zany musing on the flirtatious air of the summer months, with cultic imagery and a music video reminiscent of “Midsommar,” a horror film about a Swedish cult. As Ella runs around the beach, accompanied by dancers wearing neutral clothing, the scene resembles the May Queen dance in “Midsommar.” “Solar Power”
contrasts the devastating track “Green Light” — the first single from “Melodrama.” In an interview with Zane Lowe from Apple Music 1, formerly known as Beats 1, Lorde described “Green Light” as a musical representation of the “drunk girl at the party dancing around crying about her ex.” The second single of “Solar Power,” “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” came out just over a month after the title track, and it completely debunked any predictions I had made about the album being breezy and carefree. With “Solar Power,” we got an upbeat single about the beauty of summer at the beach, but with “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” we got an affecting folk song about getting older, choosing the right path and feeling confident in the life you’re building for yourself. Ella is not shying away from more serious topics after all. Then the final single “Mood Ring” dropped on August 18th, three days before the full album release. A searing satire on wellness culture and pseudo-spirituality, it further concealed Ella’s agenda for “Solar Power.” So what is “Solar Power”? Is it a reflection of Ella’s experiences gallivanting in nature? Is it an introspective folk album? Is it a distillation of what it means to connect spiritually? Turns out, it is all of those things and more. Album opener “The Path” directs listeners to the sun for healing and growth. “California” is a rebuke of the glitz and glam of celebrity life. “The Man With the Axe” is a vulnerable poem about the simple side of being in love. “But there, by the fire, you
offered your hand,” she sings in this song. “And as I took it, I loved you, the boy with the plan.” Each song on the album, in its own unique way, says the same message: return to nature. Embrace simplicity. Be present. The answers to all your questions await you. But “Solar Power” is also about the familiar turning unfamiliar. The most exciting thing Lorde did in the four years since “Melodrama” was nothing — she essentially went on hiatus, refraining from putting out music or performing in public. That close examination of mundanity is what makes “Solar Power” so compelling. Take “Stoned at the Nail Salon.” Ella begins with the seemingly banal phrase: “Got a wishbone drying on the windowsill in my kitchen,” but then follows it with, “Just in case I wake up and realize I’ve chosen wrong.” In doing so, she puts the mundane under a microscopic lens, making the familiar become foreign and then it becomes beautiful. Ella did not write “Solar Power” to cater to her fans, capitalism or bogus music award ceremonies. She did not write it to fit a certain theme or genre — she wrote it as an earnest and meditative reflection on her four years since “Melodrama.” As she stated in her newsletter announcing the album, “Solar Power” is a “celebration of the natural world, an attempt to immortalize the deep and transcendent feelings I experience when I’m on the outside.” Lorde’s previous two albums — “Pure Heroine” and “Melodrama” — still have a grip on the music industry
and pop culture. Young up-and-coming artists continue to explore heartbreak and the tragic romance ballad, a genre of which Lorde is a master. But Lorde has grown out of the music she loved at 16, and odds are, you might have too. The extent to Ella’s growth becomes explicit in the stellar “Oceanic Feeling,” which tops off the album. In the refrain, she sings: “Now the cherry-black lipstick’s gathering dust in a drawer/I don’t need her anymore/ Cause I got this power.” The items that used to make Ella happy do not anymore. Ella has gotten older, and she has changed. As listeners, we should not expect her to revert. “Solar Power” might not have been what we anticipated, but that is the point. Beginning in her 2013 breakout single, “Royals,” Lorde continues to rail against our hyper-capitalist society in songs like “Leader of a New Regime.” She is opting not to produce any CDs of the album for environmental reasons. This album is about Ella; it is her journey away from her popstar persona and into a mature and defiant artist. The songs are self-aware and subdued and the writing intensely vulnerable. The guitar-heavy instrumentals are the perfect backdrop to her meditations. “Solar Power” is more than Lorde’s album — it is Ella’s album. You’re welcome to come along for the ride. Contact Michael Campanella at arts@nyunews.com
Washington Square News
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CULTURE@NYUNEWS.COM
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021
CULTURE
Edited by DANA SUN
The culture editors’ guide to on-campus etiquette
ALEXANDRA CHAN | WSN
Washington Square Park is the center of both NYU and the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood. There is a certain culture of etiquette that new students should abide by when out in New York City.
By CULTURE DESK Hello, NYU students! Congratulations to those of you who are new here, and welcome back to our returning students. We recognize that some of you have never stepped foot on campus before this semester, while others are back from a rather long hiatus. In any case, we could all use a primer on how to act at NYU, and we hope all y’all f ind our guide useful. Transportation New York is known for its infamous subway system. It’s great for daytime use, but expect to wait 20 minutes with the rats and roaches if you’re out past midnight. Don’t be afraid of the buses — they’re often cleaner and quieter than the subway — and take the crosstown buses if you don’t want to walk across the avenues. Yellow taxis are cheaper than Ubers and Lyfts, and we recommend taking them late at night instead of public transportation. If you prefer using your phone to get a ride, the Drivers Cooperative offers a driver-owned ride-hailing app. If you’re planning to take public transportation, leave 20 minutes earlier in case of delays. If you have to walk or take the subway, Citymapper is superior to Goo-
gle Maps. Citi Bikes are fun because you’re busy trying not to get hit. It’s a great way to see the city; Hudson River Greenway has a long and scenic bike path, and Central Park has wide paths perfect for exploring. Attire College is a great place to rebrand yourself. Lots of people dress up the f irst few weeks of school. Believe me, I’ve tried. But it’s OK to pull up to class with sweatpants, especially at 8 a.m., despite the pressure to show off in the big city. Speaking of rebranding, shopping for second-hand clothing is a great way to ball on a budget. Buffalo Exchange and L Train Vintage are not the only thrift shops in the city. In fact, they’re not even thrift shops. Our personal favorites, though, are The Attic NY, Crossroads Trading Co., Beacon’s Closet and 2nd STREET USA. When washing your newly thrifted clothes in your dorm, keep a close eye on them. Make sure no one takes your drying time. It would be a pain in the butt, especially when it’s the middle of the semester, and it’s 3 a.m. and you’re burnt out. Oh, also, NYU is no longer using Campus Cash. Instead, download the app Hercules CP Mobile to input cash, and select your
washer and dryer. Believe us, we’ve tried. Dining We’re lucky to have three on-campus coffee shops, but they are not all created equal. Dunkin’ in New York sucks in general, Peet’s Coffee is OK and Starbucks is the most reliable. As such, Starbucks is popular. If you’re ordering Starbucks before a 9:30 a.m. class, please take one for the team and place your order before 9:15 a.m.. When we all order at 9:15 a.m., we all end up late. Starbucks is also a good place to spend extra Dining Dollars on non-food items like mugs. In terms of cheap food, dollar pizza, halal cart meals and baconegg-and-cheeses are your new best friends. Joe’s Pizza is overrated and literally 300% more expensive than 2 Bros. — if you can get a slice for $1, why pay $3? Finally, if you have extra meal swipes, you can use an app called NYU Share Meals to donate them to students experiencing food insecurity. IT It is common to have non-Stern classes in the basement of the main Stern building on West 4th Street, and this comes with two dangers.
First, that building is called Tisch Hall, not to be confused with Tisch School of the Arts around the corner on Broadway. Second, you cannot print in Tisch Hall without a Stern email, so print your assignments before rushing to recitation. Speaking of rushing to print things, the closest printer to 194 Mercer Street is in the library on the top floor of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Bobst is another great resource for students. They boast tech workshops like Research 101: Back to School Basics — which helps you navigate NYU Libraries’ online environment — and Introduction to Git and Github, as well as a huge suite of software resources like Microsoft Suite, video and editing software Final Cut Pro, and data services and analytics tools like MATLAB and Tableau. Washington Square Washington Square Park is an essential part of the NYU experience. There’s also free entertainment in every corner for an outdoor moment. That’s that for daytime, but you can’t walk through it when it’s past midnight; the park is closed. And for the millionth time: Don’t walk under the arch or you won’t graduate on time! For those of you with classes in
the Silver building, we kindly advise you to suck it up and take the stairs, especially if your recitation is just a flight away. The elevators are generally packed, and waiting on them will make you late for your expensive elite education. Curriculum Heed your adviser’s words and just do your core requirements. Don’t be that senior. Parks and recreation Central Park is amazing, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Hudson River Park and Inwood Hill Park are great for pretending you’re in a real park with trees and stuff, while Tompkins Square Park has more of a WSP vibe. We also encourage you to explore outside of Manhattan. Touristy ways to do this include walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (note that it’s deceptively long and breezy) and taking the Staten Island Ferry for a free view of the Statue of Liberty. Enjoy your time off campus, and always carry $20 in cash just in case. Contact Sabrina, Alex, and Joey at culture@nyunews.com
Washington Square News | Culture
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021
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Read this before you kill your succulents By ALEX TEY Deputy Managing Editor Succulents are beautiful plants. From the otherworldly Lapidaria margaretae to the humble aloe, they’re popular for their fascinating leaf patterns, stunning blossoms and charming personalities. Who wouldn’t want one for their dorm or apartment? They’re also not as indifferent to mistreatment as their reputation lead you to believe. If you keep buying cute succulents at the grocery store that were grown in a sunnier state only for them to repeatedly die on you, you might need to change your approach. Here’s how to do it right. Light These are desert plants, not studio apartment plants. Succulents, broadly speaking, need a lot of light. More light than you can likely provide, in fact. If you’re stuck in a tiny dorm room or New York City bedroom with just one window that doesn’t even face south, don’t bother — your succs will suffer. When plants don’t get enough light, they undergo a process called etiolation. Etiolating succulents shrink their leaves and stretch out their stems, which become elongated and feeble, in search of light. Neither of these things is good for the plant and more or less defeats the visual appeal of keeping succulents anyway. You probably bought an Echeveria because you thought the rosette was so colorful and cute, right? It’s not going to look so cute when its stem is straining for light that it’ll never reach and its vibrant
leaves fade to a feeble, pale green because you did the botanical equivalent of raising a Samoyed in Arizona. Growing healthy light-hungry succulents in this climate typically requires grow lights. If you decide to fully commit and buy some, I respect your dedication — just don’t blame me if the Resource Center finds that package suspicious. I recommend just getting plants that don’t need as much light as, say, a Lithops. Watering Yes, succulents do need water. No, not that much water. By far the most common way to kill a succulent is by overwatering it. Succulents are very sensitive to excessive watering, as they’re susceptible to root rot. When there’s too much water in the soil, whether from overwatering or insufficient drainage, the plant decays from the roots up. It’s often too late to save it by the time you notice. Don’t water your succulents like you would for your other houseplants. Depending on the species and climate, succulents like to be watered from once every two weeks to once every two months. You can ask your plant if it wants water by gently squishing a leaf between two fingers. The leaves are where succulents store water, so if the leaves squish, it means the leaves aren’t full of water and the plant will want water soon. It’s very easy to kill a succulent by overwatering it, and it’s very difficult to kill one from underwatering it. Err on the side of caution and don’t water your succulents all the time just so you can feel like you can take care of something in your life.
On the other hand, it’s a common misconception that succulents don’t need to be watered. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people saying that they just mist their succulents with a spray bottle because they don’t want to overwater them. Yes, overwatering kills succulents, but lightly dusting the plant in a fine mist that evaporates in five minutes doesn’t do them a whole lot of good either. It doesn’t mist in the Sonoran Desert. It just doesn’t. It’s really dry for a long time, and then there’s a torrential rainstorm. Simulate that for your succulent by watering it deeply every few weeks — soak all of the soil in the pot, and let it drain fully. You do have drainage holes, right? Planting You had better have drainage. You cannot grow a succulent in a completely sealed pot. Don’t even think about a glass jar, and that terrarium is a death trap. And no, you cannot put charcoal or rocks at the bottom for drainage. Think about that for just a second. No matter what you have down there, there is no movement if the water is not going to be draining to anywhere. If you have drainage holes, those kinds of substrates will help the water drain out of them better. But without anywhere for the water to flow through, it doesn’t matter what you have at the bottom of your pot — rocks, gravel, charcoal, excuses, whatever — it’s not going to change the fact that the water has nowhere to go. Once you’re cured of terrarium fever, you can start thinking about the soil you’ll grow your succulents in. Let’s set
down that political compass quiz and look at the soil triangle instead. Like the political compass, the left side of the soil triangle is the good one. Clay and silt retain water well. You want a sandier soil where relatively little water is retained by relatively small amounts of organic matter. Succulents want coarse soil that drains quickly and doesn’t hold a lot of water. You want coarse dirt with not a lot of organic matter and a lot of inorganic matter — less beautiful dense brown soil, more gritty substrates like fine gravel and bark shavings. You wouldn’t keep a freshwater fish in a saltwater aquarium, so don’t try to raise a desert plant in a tropical environment. Store-bought succulent mix is usually fine. Try to pick one that’s as coarse as possible, though, since they’re usually a little on the wetter side. Recommendations Now that I’ve intimidated you into thinking that you need a Ph.D. in botany and a government-issued license to buy any kind of succulent, here are a few forgiving options that are forgiving to beginners. Jade plant Crassula ovata These are more or less indestructible. They tolerate less careful watering than most succulents and do just fine with suboptimal light. The leaves do turn pretty shades of red and orange with full sun, but they don’t mind partial shade. I have heard of one that survived in a closed closet for months. They also multiply — larger jades will self-prune, dropping clusters of leaves that can be propagated
into another jade plant. Stick the stem in some soil, water it occasionally and let the meristem cells do the rest of the work of putting out roots. The jade plant’s cousins in the genus Crassula are some of my personal favorites — check out Crassula tetragona, C. perforata and C. capitella. String of pearls Senecio rowleyanus This is a unique succulent that produces dangling vines of green orbs. Old, well-cared-for specimens come to resemble a botanical bead curtain. They’re healthiest with more sun, but they can do well on a windowsill. In a hanging planter, they can be a striking accent for a window alcove. Aloe vera Aloe vera Who could forget aloe vera? They’re resilient, elegant and their leaves are just so juicy. Though they prefer more sun, they tolerate lower light well and are forgiving when it comes to watering. You can even harvest the leaves off of a larger plant for the gel’s health benefits. With patience and care, an aloe will occasionally send up a flower stalk, typically in summer. Watching an aloe gradually put forth a stem and seeing the buds unfold into gorgeous red blossoms will make you feel like a proud plant parent. Succulents aren’t as easy to take care of as you might have been led to believe, but they’re also not that easy to kill. If you do manage to kill one, remember: It’s just a plant. They’re not sentient. It’s not a big deal if you accidentally kill one. I won’t judge you — at least not to your face. Contact Alex Tey at atey@nyunews.com
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
Succulents are known for their ability to handle extreme heat and low maintenance. While succulents are a popular choice of dorm room plant decoration, poor treatment can cause them to die.
Washington Square News
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UNDERTHEARCH@NYUNEWS.COM
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021
UNDER THE ARCH
Edited by MARIAM KHAN and STACIA DATSKOVSKA
Flaca o gorda: My struggle with pandemic weight gain
NATALIE OLAYA
An exploration of the impact a global pandemic can have on one’s body and self-image.
by LORRAINE OLAYA Copy Chief Content warning: This piece discusses weight gain and body image issues.
I stand in front of the mirror, my hands on the jeans bunched up around my thighs. They refuse to be pulled up any higher. My fingers struggle, but I am determined to wear the size 00 jeans that used to fit me perfectly a year ago. Finally, after enough tugging, they work their way up. The pandemic forced me to stay at home, where homecooked meals and snacks were available in steaming pots and cupboards when I was hungry. I spent my quarantine days lying or sitting down. And with the belief that I didn’t need to work out since I was still underweight, I began gaining a significant amount of weight, which had never happened to me before. “I just have a fast metabolism,” was my answer to how I stayed thin. I was the kid who’d hear “you’re so skinny,” “you
should eat more” and “are you sure you’re not anorexic?” all the time. Thumbs and middle fingers wrapped around my wrists, and pointer fingers pointed at my ribs. I was always 80 to 90 pounds of bony elbows and knees. It bothered me when I had to spend hours looking for clothes small enough to fit and drinking nutritional shakes to put on pounds. But aside from wanting to gain weight, I never took issue with mine — and I didn’t expect that finally gaining some would change my self-image. After a year of the pandemic, and still lacking the motivation to start working out, I’m unsure and insecure about my weight, even though I shouldn’t be. Staring down at the numbers on the scale in June 2020 was the first time I saw how much weight I gained since the start of the pandemic — 104 pounds. I’d surpassed the 100-pound mark, which I’d never accomplished before. “I’m finally a normal weight,” I beamed. My curves grew in, stretch marks sprouted, stomach rolls packed on like
stacked hot dog buns. But then I barely fit into my shorts. The grey ones that used to be so big on me that I needed a belt were now tight around my waist. Sitting down was a new nightmare, with the hems digging into my thighs. In June 2021, the numbers on the scale said 114 pounds. Some days I long for the flat stomach I used to have, others I feel happy in my skin. My weight gain has invaded my thoughts, haunting me now and then. The clothes and bathing suits that don’t fit me anymore are stuffed in a box under my bed along with the hope that I’ll be able to fit into them again one day. When I’m hungry and haven’t eaten in a while, I sometimes let myself wallow in hunger pangs for a couple more hours. I don’t prevent myself from eating, but rather just put it off, in the hope of eating less. And since I never felt like I had to work out before, I struggle to make exercise a habit. I know this isn’t healthy. It’s dangerous. I’ve never worried about my weight this much. Gaining weight in a way
that I had never experienced before impacted my mental health. In the Latine community, weight is a frequent topic of conversation, and the bodies of Latin American women are commented on by everyone. Families, friends, even strangers make remarks like “estás muy flaca, porque no comes mas,” or “estás gordita, deja de comer.” We are constantly sexualized and objectified because of our curves and how we look. I know I’m not the only Latine woman who has been told not to walk around older men in revealing clothing. It’s clear that being too skinny or being too fat is deemed undesirable by society. But in reality, weight fluctuation is human. Commuting on foot was something that I lost while in quarantine; as a New Yorker, it had been my sole form of daily exercise. Now, I’m making small changes to my diet and doing light physical activity. It’s minimal progress, even when combined with learning to love my body and change my self-perception — but it’s helping me feel more comfortable
and beautiful in my skin. I should love my body; I’m at a healthy weight, but sometimes I feel much chubbier than I look. I’m not alone. According to the American Psychological Association report “Stress in America,” 42% of U.S. adults have reported unintentional weight gain. Among these adults, women, Gen Z and Hispanics have reported more undesired weight gain than their counterparts. The report found that 52% of Gen Z adults (ages 18 - 24), 46% of Hispanic adults and 45% of women reported inadvertent weight gain — each a category I find myself in, as a 19-year-old Latine woman. While it’s a constant struggle coming to terms with my rapid and unfamiliar weight gain, knowing that others are also dealing with similar repercussions in a post-pandemic world gives me some comfort. Hopefully, returning to campus and pre-pandemic routines will help us feel a bit more comfortable in our skin. Contact Lorraine Olaya at lolaya@nyunews.com.
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021
Washington Square News | Culture
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From Walter Reed to Ph.D.: how a motorcycle crash catalyzed an NYU professor’s chemistry career
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MICHAEL HALPIN | WSN
A portrait of Dr. John Michael Halpin.
By IVY ZHU UTA Senior Editor With only six and a half months left of his time in the U.S. Army, John Michael Halpin woke up in a hospital bed at Walter Reed Medical Center with a shattered left wrist, fractured pelvis, broken shoulder, head trauma and abdominal lesions from surgeries. His motorcycle had collided with a telephone pole as he headed back to the base on a typical off-duty night in the 1970s with a couple of friends. He drifted in and out of consciousness for days, not waking up until a week after the crash. “I can remember being woken up a couple of times and not really knowing where I was or anything like that. It was a gradual thing,” Halpin said. Recovery is still ongoing, according to Halpin. Nerve damage and restricted movement in his wrist still prevents him from performing tasks like lifting heavier objects with his left hand. Scars cover his abdomen as a result of surgery on a damaged intestinal tract. As he reflects on his time in Walter Reed, he remains grateful for his successful surgery. “I was in the hospital with another victim of a motorcycle accident who lost both his legs,” Halpin said. “You know, I was extraordinarily lucky.” The recovery period consisted of surgeries and waiting as he transitioned back and forth from the main hospital to a second facility a few miles away. Halpin spent months alternating between the two facilities with nothing but books to keep him company. “It pretty much sucked,” Halpin said. “It was very painful. It was kind of a lonely time.” Lying awake in the hospital, he began contemplating his future. Without the Army, what was he supposed to do now? *** Halpin decided to join the Army after graduating high school. At first, it was just an occupation he settled for. The role was something different from the shifts he used to work at grocery stores and gas stations.
“The Army seemed like a good way to move forward,” Halpin said. “It turned out that it was, though not in the way I had foreseen.” Throughout his youth, Halpin’s family never emphasized the importance of education. Instead, they believed that with the arrival of high school graduation, job hunting began. As a result, Halpin was surrounded by the mindset that he would have to always dread going to work, as had been his parents’ experience. He didn’t fully grasp the true meaning of a career at that time. Now a professor at NYU, Halpin teaches general chemistry to first-year students, but it was not an easy journey for him. From the outside, he appears like any other professor as he travels from lectures to meetings and works on his administrative duties. However, he comes from a background that is a bit different from most of his peers in higher education — Halpin is a first-generation college student. “Things changed as I got into academia and immersed myself in my education, and then that turned into graduate school. And that turned into teaching at the university level,” Halpin said. *** Halpin entered vocational rehabilitation for his undergraduate degree soon after his accident. To prove he was ready for college, he took remedial classes through an individualized employment program for workers with disabilities. The program covered his educational costs and provided him with a living stipend, an opportunity that was more important to him than any rehabilitation he was undergoing. After spending two years at Hudson Valley Community College and one year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Halpin transferred to NYU. At this point, Halpin was taking classes in math, physics and chemistry. During his senior year at NYU, Halpin conducted undergraduate research for a young assistant professor and decided that he wanted to continue working for him after completing his undergraduate degree. He applied for graduate school at NYU and was accepted. Unfortunately, during graduate school,
the young assistant professor he was working for was denied tenure and left NYU, forcing Halpin to switch graduate advisors. Despite the sudden change, he was still grateful to his new advisor for accepting and teaching him. His undergraduate years had involved many transfers between schools, but graduate school allowed Halpin to focus on the subject he loved and meet people with similar interests. One of them would become his wife. They now teach chemistry together. Initially, Halpin aspired to be a chemical engineer. As he took more science courses, though, he began to see how much his professors enjoyed the work that they were doing. “I realized the engineers weren’t having as much fun as my college professors,” Halpin said. “My chemistry professors would be there at 8 o’clock and they were 75 years old and hadn’t left yet. I want to be 75 years old and not want to quit either.” During graduate school, Halpin juggled working as a TA at NYU along with teaching positions at Long Island University in Brooklyn, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and a tutoring center. Working with his tutoring students spurred his development as an educator, forcing him to study harder and get better at explaining concepts. The instant feedback students gave him ensured that he knew right away when his teaching wasn’t effective. “These kids weren’t afraid to tell me what they thought,” Halpin said. “One of them would look at me and say, ‘You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.’” Becoming a professor had not been among Halpin’s aspirations, but the path he took and the decisions he made led him to teaching. *** His interest in chemistry persisted throughout his academic journey. He completed his master’s in chemistry, then a chemistry Ph.D., then a master’s in science education. The university was also a consistent presence; Halpin received four of his five degrees from NYU and was made a clinical professor in the NYU chemistry department.
Since then, Halpin has received extensive recognition for his teaching, including the NYU Distinguished Teaching Award in 2017. It began, though, with the education he began to pursue after the crash. Halpin says he owes the first foundational step of his first-generation story to his motorcycle accident. He believes that, while random events like his will happen in life, it’s how you turn those events around that makes you who you are. Being a disabled veteran could have been no more than a hardship, but this status allowed him to access educational opportunities that completely transformed his life. “He had the ability. He had the skill set, and he pursued it,” Donald McManus, a New York state vocational rehabilitation counselor, said. “If you don’t have a certain passion about what you want to do, what’s the point?” With the possibility of new financial aid from the government, nothing stopped Halpin from pursuing an education. “You’re not telling the story of a veteran,”McManus said. “You’re telling the story of a human being, who made his life choices.” *** When first-year NYU students attend their first day of class with Professor Halpin, it’s incredibly powerful for them to learn that their professor was a first-generation college student. Talking about his accident and academic journey allows him to connect with students. “It’s in sharing these stories and experiences that it creates these connections that otherwise would have never existed,” said Deana Stafford of the Center for First-generation Student Success. “And so in Professor Halpin, leading with agency around his experience, it provides not only an example but [an] opportunity to students who might find themselves in a similar position.” In a small Zoom window, Halpin teaches general chemistry to an audience of 700 undergraduate students. Even through a virtual setting with such a large class size, Halpin still manages to leave a
lasting impact on many of his students. Emily Zhang, a former student of Halpin’s, believes that his experiences contribute to the quality of his character. Being a first-generation college student allows Halpin to understand where many students come from and the difficulties they may face, and Zhang remembers how inspiring it was to hear that her professor was first-generation. “Dr. Halpin is so loved by his students because of his compassion and forgiveness,” Zhang wrote in an email. “He is very understanding of the difficult nature of college courses and gives his students second chances to succeed. I think his story is very inspiring and shows that even in the face of adversity, we should persevere and stay optimistic.” “By no means would I say it was a good thing that Halpin went through the ordeal, but what is good, what we as students and colleagues take with pride, is the extraordinary devotion to learning, chemistry, and his career that has brought Halpin to where he is today and is what radiates from him every day on the NYU campus,” Adhithya Vijayathevar, another of Halpin’s former students, wrote. Though the motorcycle accident could easily have been much worse than it was, Halpin looks at it in a different light. If it weren’t for the collision, he wouldn’t have received life-changing educational opportunities. “I realized that in life, a degree would mean something,” Halpin said. “Little did I know that the college education would change my entire perspective on life and my entire perspective on the world — it’s much more than getting a degree.” To him, being inquisitive about the world around you is the most important part of education. “I am totally interested in learning things for the rest of my life,” Halpin said. “I enjoy even the most trivial things, like watching water boil, because I understand what’s going on at the molecular level. It just changes you. And that’s what was important. It made me into a more perceptive, deeper-thinking, happier person.” Contact Ivy Zhu at izhu@nyunews.com
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