3 SPORTS
5 ARTS
Searching for silver linings in the Giants’ bleak season start
Review: Thematically, sonically, nothing is off limits in FINNEAS’ album ‘Optimist’
4 CULTURE
6 OPINION
Ranked: NYU Returns’ COVID emails
The UN is taking substantial action against climate change
VOLUME LVII | ISSUE 7
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
Langone researchers receive $470M grant to study long COVID
LEO SHINEGATE | WSN
Months after being diagnosed with COVID-19, some patients are still experiencing side effects. Doctors at NYU Langone have been awarded $470 million from the NIH to study long COVID-19.
Long COVID-19 is a devastating chronic illness that may affect up to 37% of all COVID-19 patients, but very little research has been conducted on its symptoms and treatment. A new study at NYU Langone seeks to change that. By RACHEL FADEM Deputy News Editor Stuart D. Katz, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Health, tested positive for COVID-19 in December 2020. Months later, he still experiences symptoms, and said he is only now starting to feel like himself once again. “There are some things that haven’t returned to normal, which are disconcerting to say the least,” Katz said. “I still have a few lingering things that are sort of perplexing to me, even as a doctor and a researcher.” Katz, the director of Langone’s heart failure program, hopes to integrate his experience with long COVID-19 — a term for the prolonged continuation of symptoms after a COVID-19 patient has tested negative — into his research. One recent study found that almost 37%
of all COVID-19 patients experience long-term symptoms after the initial illness. Along with colleagues Leora Horwitz and Andrea B. Troxel, Katz was awarded a $470 million grant by the National Institutes of Health to study long COVID-19 as part of the NIH’s REsearching COVID to Enhance Recovery, or RECOVER, initiative. Katz, Horwitz, Troxel and other NIH researchers are currently recruiting participants for the study. The Langone researchers will conduct research on patients with long COVID-19, monitor enrollment and supervise the study in over 200 sites across the country. Patients can be of any age, but children, pregnant women and newborn infants are being sought out in particular. The extent of the long-term effects of COVID-19 have yet to be determined, since few large-scale studies have been conducted on the illness. “The f irst goal of the study is to comprehensively characterize the features of long COVID-19,” Troxel wrote to WSN. “What is the range of symptoms, who is affected, how common is it and how long does it last?” Steinhardt senior Haley Nemec
was diagnosed with COVID-19 in early September despite being fully vaccinated. She visited the hospital numerous times, sometimes having to call an ambulance due to fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath and chest pain. Nemec received multiple inconclusive chest X-rays. She will now be participating in the research at Langone. “I feel pretty powerless,” Nemec said. “I hope researchers are able to f ind out a timeline of how long long COVID-19 actually is. I also hope they are able to f ind and create drugs and treatments that better mitigate long COVID-19 symptoms.” Since the onset of the pandemic, Langone has administered at least 26 other studies related to COVID-19, but most focused on the short-term effects of the disease. The researchers submitted a 300-page application in a three-week time frame — something Katz noted is extremely unusual for clinical research. “The medical school has put in a lot of time, effort and strategic thinking about how to build a research infrastructure that could support these types of large studies,” Katz said. “It’s a whole team of people who are trained and ready who all
came together in a moment’s notice. The highest leadership of the medical school said this is a high priority.” The researchers have emphasized the importance of allowing patients and caregivers to influence how the study is conducted. They created a national patient engagement panel so that patients could provide direct input to the NIH. “It’s a feature that is somewhat unique in this type of large multicenter research,” Katz said. “Hearing their stories is very compelling. So many patients were really not taken seriously by their health care providers. It’s a really important mess, and that’s part of our communications.” However, some academics have raised doubts about the effectiveness of the RECOVER initiative’s patient inclusion strategies. Lisa McCorkell is a co-founder and patient-researcher at the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, a group of patients living with long COVID-19 who are conducting research on the illness. She worries that RECOVER is not taking patient feedback seriously. “The protocols and inclusion criteria have not been made accessible for patients to comment on,” McCorkell said. “We have many concerns that could be addressed if we had the opportunity to review.” The Patient-Led Research Collaborative applied to be part of the RECOVER initiative as a research partner, but did not receive a subaward — awards given to smaller research teams to help create the protocols with and conduct studies. The group, however, hopes to influence the study in other ways. “We have been invited to the patient engagement calls and hope to have the opportunity to more meaningfully collaborate with the Langone team and RECOVER to ensure the study is helpful for people with long COVID-19 and people with related post-infectious illnesses,” she said. Clinical research into chronic illnesses is sometimes controversial. In the past, studies have not been representative of the actual population with the disease or ailment being studied, according to Katz. Others have neglected to take into consideration the underlying causes behind a patient’s illness. Sage Gustafson, a medical ethics researcher at NYU Langone, said she is cautious about most research related to post-viral infections, especially myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome, which has similarities to long COVID-19. But she believes research into post-viral infections is desperately needed.
“I do think that the Department of Population Health at NYU does very excellent work,” she said. “I hope that these projects are designed in consultation with those who have long COVID-19, as well as those who have existing expertise on POTS [postural tachycardia syndrome], ME/CFS, f ibromyalgia, and other conditions that seem to arise as post-viral sequelae.” Katz added that the RECOVER initiative and Langone are dedicated to ensuring that the study sample represents the population of those who have long COVID-19 — primarily underrepresented groups. “We’re recruiting everywhere,” Katz said. “The sites were selected by NIH, specif ically with this eye towards sites that have long-established relationships with communities for recruitment of underrepresented minorities — the communities that have been highly impacted by COVID-19.” After an initial questionnaire and the testing stage of the study, additional research will seek to determine what leads to the development of long COVID-19, its impacts on brain and body function, and who is most at risk. Clinical trials will then be conducted to f ind treatments for the condition. Along with drugs and treatment, Gustafson believes that a diagnostic test for post-viral infections would be valuable for patients with long COVID-19. “Ruling out anything else until all you’re left with is ‘nonspecif ic post-infection symptoms’ is a huge barrier to appropriate treatment and even a community,” Gustafson said. “There are equity issues in who gets diagnosed, who gets accommodations and who gets recognition, and a diagnostic tool would be a step toward alleviating those issues.” Nemec hopes that everyone, especially young people, will take COVID-19 more seriously and realize that it could impact their lives after the initial infection. “Long COVID-19 stops you,” Nemec said. “I have been unable to socialize, be self-functioning and independent, and I live in fear of going back to another emergency room. It isn’t just the f irst 14 days of testing positive. This can affect you and your health for months on end.” Contact Rachel Fadem at rfadem@nyunews.com
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
NEWS
NEWS@NYUNEWS.COM
Edited by ARNAV BINAYKIA
Afghan politician, US defense official discuss Afghanistan withdrawal at NYU event
IMAGE VIA NYU.EDU
NYU invited Fawzia Koofi, the leader of the Movement of Change for Afghanistan Party, and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Collins to an event to discuss the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Collins and Koofi discussed the factors that led up to the collapse of the Afghan government.
By CARNO MONIZ Contributing Writer An Afghan political leader and a former Department of Defense official sat down at an NYU event to discuss the aftermath of the U.S. military withdrawal and the future of Afghanistan on Oct. 18. The virtual event, hosted by the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School of Professional Studies, featured Fawzia Koofi, the leader of the Movement of Change for Afghanistan Party, and Joseph Collins, a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. They were joined by Barnett Rubin, an NYU fellow who has written extensively about Afghanistan. The three panelists examined the presence of military forces in Afghanistan, failed negotiations with the Taliban and the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis. One of the most pressing issues addressed at the event was the Taliban takeover of the country following the U.S. withdrawal in August. The event moderator, Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu, a clinical professor at the SPS Center for Global Affairs, said that other nations, such as the United Kingdom, decided to withdraw from Afghanistan due to a lack of American support. Collins attributed the collapse of the Afghan government to its failure to maintain morale among its supporters and army and the lack of planning by the U.S. military. “In the end, they stopped fighting, but that was only in the last inning,” Collins said. “Why did they do that? They did that because the Taliban, very
convincingly, were able to tell them, ‘Look, you’ve already been abandoned.’” Koofi, the first woman to lead an Afghan political party, was a key negotiator in peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. When asked why the peace process failed to prevent the Taliban takeover, she pointed to the agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban signed in February 2020, which senior Pentagon officials now say was at the root of the Afghan government’s collapse. “The peace negotiations failed because the U.S. signed and negotiated an agreement with the Taliban without the Afghan state and different political groups being part of it,” Koofi said. “So the Taliban already felt that the Afghan government was being replaced. The former government was corrupt, and was not able to create consciousness or motivate our forces.” Rubin, a senior fellow at NYU’s Center for International Cooperation, discussed the humanitarian crisis that Afghans are now facing. He said that Canada, the European Union and the United States are facing the difficult question of how to maneuver international aid so that it reaches the Afghan people instead of Taliban leaders. “Because of the country’s financial dependence, the longer it goes with all that aid being cut off, the less leverage they will actually have,” Rubin said. Koofi said the United Nations is currently working on a solution for the distribution of international aid, part of which will be used to pay the salaries of its Afghan employees. “Distributing aid to the local population and to the people in need, trying
to avoid the collapse of the economy and trying to pay the salaries of the civil servants is very tricky,” Koofi said. “We continue to depend on aid ... [The Taliban] could still use the private sector in terms
of private banks to deliver the salaries for the teachers who have not been paid since four, five months.” After the event, the audience — mostly NYU students — was invited to share
their perspectives on how the international community should respond to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Contact Carno Moniz at news@nyunews.com
INFORMING YOU FIRST
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM
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SPORTS
Edited by MITESH SHRESTHA
Searching for silver linings in the Giants’ bleak season start By DANIEL HAAS Contributing Writer
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
Many New York Giants fans have been disappointed in the team’s performance during the first six weeks of the NFL season. But fans should not lose hope — there is still a chance for a comeback.
For fans of the New York Giants, the first six weeks of the NFL season have been a major disappointment. The Giants (1-5) have lost to such struggling squads as the Atlanta Falcons (3-3) and Washington Football Team (2-5) and they were demolished by their biggest rival, the Dallas Cowboys (5-1). To make matters worse, their offense has been ravaged by injuries, with Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Andrew Thomas and Sterling Shepard all missing playing time. However, fans should keep their heads up, as Big Blue has displayed some promising signs. In Kadarius Toney, the Giants finally have a receiver who can fill the void left by Odell Beckham Jr. Their play styles are eerily similar: Both are extremely quick and elusive runners after the catch. While OBJ was definitely a more polished route-runner coming out of college, Toney has shown flashes of elite route-running and he is a more dynamic ball carrier. One can argue Toney is already one of the hardest players to tackle in the NFL. During Week 5, Toney lit the Cowboys’ defense on fire with 10 catches for 189 yards, breaking the team record for receiving yards by a rookie, which was previously held by Beckham Jr. Toney is going to be a problem for opposing teams for years to come, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he is a top-10 receiver in a couple of years. The Giants’ offensive line has been a problem in the past, but Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart have taken major steps forward
in their second seasons. Thomas has locked down the left side of the line, not allowing a single sack in his first four games. After a rookie season with plenty of ups and downs, he looks capable of being a cornerstone left tackle. On the other side of the line, Peart played an excellent game during Week 5; Peart had the second-highest offensive PFF grade for that game. While he’s going to need time to polish his game, illustrated by the two sacks he allowed against the Los Angeles Rams (61), his raw size and athleticism are promising. After being drafted sixth overall by the Giants in 2019, quarterback Daniel Jones’ first two seasons were plagued with major turnover problems. With 22 interceptions and 29 fumbles prior to this season, he seemed incapable of holding onto the ball when it mattered most. However, Jones is a completely new player this year. Through the first six weeks of the 2021 season, he only had four interceptions and five fumbles; his passing and rushing yards per game have increased by 43.8 and 12.0 respectively. Last week, however, the old Jones was on display, as he turned the ball over four times. If he has more performances like last week’s, he won’t be starting at MetLife Stadium next season. But one week shouldn’t change the overall outlook on a player. Before last week, Jones looked confident at the helm of this Giants offense. This should give fans hope that he can turn into a franchise quarterback and transform the Giants into a winning team. Contact Daniel Haas at sports@nyunews.com
How the Knicks can follow up on last season’s unexpected success Knicks, but it was necessary; Walker will be a significant upgrade from the recently departed Elfrid Payton. Walker’s ability to shoot from deep as well as playmake will add a dimension to the offense that the Knicks did not have with Payton on the floor. However, one player the Knicks should repeat from last year is point guard Derrick Rose, who can come off the bench to close out close games. Rose seems to have built strong chemistry with both Randle and the Knicks’ young core, and I believe having him in to close out games will help the team as a whole. 2. RJ Barrett should be the second scoring option and compete for an All-Star spot
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The New York Knicks surprised fans last season with their early success. Still, there are a number of steps that they could take in order to improve further this season.
By ETHAN HOURIZADEH Staff Writer The early success of the Knicks last season came as a surprise. Led by breakout star Julius Randle, an improving RJ Barrett, a rejuvenated Derrick Rose and one of the deepest benches in the league, the Knicks were able to secure the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed, though they eventually lost in the first round of the playoffs to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. While the core of the Knicks team is the same, they have made some roster changes to improve the team. They upgraded at starting
point guard by signing veteran Kemba Walker and inked sharpshooter Evan Fournier to a four-year, $73 million deal. The Knicks were also able to re-sign important role players like Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks. While this team is still probably a superstar away from really competing for a championship, they have more potential than last season. They’re more than capable of pulling off an upset against a top seed in a seven-game series. On opening night on Oct. 20, the Knicks defeated the Celtics in a double-overtime thriller. The addition of Evan Fournier, who scored 32 points in that game, proved to be crucial. The Madison Square Garden crowd
seemed like it was watching a playoff game, with everyone standing on their feet all night. While this was only the first game of 82, fans hope that it is a sign of this team’s resilience and a display of their clutch potential, which the team will need to keep up further into the season. Here are some of the main goals the Knicks and their players must meet in order to find success. 1. Start with Kemba, finish with Rose Signing Kemba Walker was a surprise last-minute move in free agency from the
RJ Barrett added something to his game last year that not many thought he would in his entire NBA career: a lethal 3-point shot. Barrett shot over 40% from 3-point range in the 2020-21 season and has shown no signs of regressing. While making the All-Star game this year may be a stretch, I believe Barrett will earn a spot in the conversation. The team may have more scoring options than last year, but that may work in Barrett’s favor — more floor spacing will lead to more open looks for him. 3. Trade for assets at the deadline and give those minutes to younger players As I mentioned earlier, the Knicks resigned both Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel in the offseason. While I wouldn’t trade these integral players for just anything, it would be wise for the Knicks to entertain offers from
championship contenders that need Burks’ additional bench scoring or Noel’s interior defense. If the Knicks are able to secure valuable draft picks for these players, they could potentially throw these draft picks into a trade for a disgruntled star next offseason. Additionally, freeing up Burks’ minutes will give more playing time to Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes, both of whom have a lot to contribute to this team. 4. Let Julius Randle cook! Julius Randle won over New York City last year. Yes, his playoff performance was extremely disappointing, but I can’t really get mad at him — it was his first time seeing those double-teams, and not many players besides Derrick Rose were able to relieve the burden of the scoring load. Having proficient 3-point marksmen like Fournier and Barrett on the wings and shooters like Walker and Quickley who can score from the logo will add spacing for Randle. If opponents throw double-teams at him this year, I believe Randle will show his ability to kick it out to the open man, discouraging teams from leaving Knicks shooters open. Once that happens, Randle could elevate his game to the superstar level. Contact Ethan Hourizadeh at sports@nyunews.com
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CULTURE
CULTURE@NYUNEWS.COM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
Edited by SABRINA CHOUDHARY
Ranked: NYU Returns’ COVID emails #6 - (M)ask, and You Shall Receive (May 20)
By SABRINA CHOUDHARY AND JOEY HUNG Culture Editor, Beauty and Style Editor Let’s be honest, who reads NYU Returns’ COVID-19 emails anymore? They’ve been flooding our inboxes since January 2021, blurring together and recapping the same information — or lack thereof. But if you open those emails instead of marking them as spam, you’ll find that they’ve been trying to be hip with the kids in their desperate attempts to grab students’ attention. We ranked five of this semester’s emails and five from spring 2021. Our criteria? How %$&#ing silly they sound, not how much we learned about NYU’s policies. Enjoy! #10 - Do I need to present something different than the Daily Screener to get into NYU athletic facilities? (Sept. 1)
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from May 20 permitted students visiting other dorms within the same residence hall.
Just a simple email informing that NYU students had to continue wearing masks into June, but the pun is cute. Also, this was THE email that permitted students to visit each other within a residence hall. The students within their respective dorms got to know each other really well that semester! #5 - Skip the Trip (March 12) MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from Sept. 1 addressed the difference between the Daily Screener and the Vax Pass.
Informative and straightforward. And that’s what makes this email painfully dry. It lacks the spice of the other emails on this list. Where’s the flavor? The cheekiness? It didn’t put a smile on our faces or teach us a new vocabulary word or anything — @readers: You’ll get that joke later! If you’re going to send us emails we didn’t order, at least serve the best you’ve got.
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from March 12 encouraged students to refrain from traveling during spring break.
#9 - I’m hungry. Where am I allowed to eat? (Oct. 6)
Remember when they told us not to travel for spring break 2021? And the argument for why we should stay was: “It’s New York.” Yes, it IS New York and we want to be in Miami! Sounds like they needed a vacation too. #4 - What’s a nice way to tell someone to put their #$!^ing mask on? (Sept. 7) MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from Oct. 6 listed out the few permitted locations where students can dine.
BOOOOOOO. This is the NYU equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s let them eat cake. We’re starving and they!! don’t!! care!! They left us for the ditches ): Guillotine behavior. Il s’en fout! #8 - Daily Screener Wonkiness (Sept. 13)
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from Sept. 7 suggested word choices options to remain polite when asking someone to put their mask on.
“You’re at NYU, so you’re officially a New Yorker, which means that by now you’ve probably absorbed the courtly good manners for which New Yorkers are world renowned,” NYU’s email said. WHO wrote this??? BOY EYE— Sarcasm game??? and NOT gatekeeping New Yorker status? Soft “yuhh.” AND THE NEXT LINE TOO: “You don’t have to go full-on Downton Abbey, but for the sake of harmony on campus, as well as safety, when you see someone without a mask, you could try saying” a million other things than “put your freaking mask on!” What in the Gen X . WE APPRECIATE YOU NYU. You always make us laugh <3 Live, Laugh, Love. #3 - Why the %$&# can’t I get into my building today? (Jan. 27)
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from Jan. 27 addressed possible reasons for not getting a pass on the Daily Screener.
This is the first email where NYU yelled at us. They finally realized that swearing is edgy and edginess is effective. It gave character development, dom energy… Love it, NYU. Give us more! MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
#2 - What the $#!% are you doing with the Binx test kits? (March 3)
The email from Sept. 13 addressed a technical issue with the Daily Screener not recognizing vaccination documentation of students.
“I’m fully compliant with the University’s vaccination requirement, but when I went to use the Daily Screener today, instead of the typical Green Pass screen, I got a screen that said that I don’t have an approved vaccination/exemption on file. What’s up with that?” #7 - Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — why can’t I get into my building today? (March 1)
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from March 3 urged students to turn in Binx kits, the COVID self-testing kit, on time.
Everything about this email is hilarious. NYU sent an email to the entire student body with the subject line “Quick Question” instead of the usual “Quick Answer” to ask why students were hoarding their testing kits. “We’ve got to admit — we’re a little perplexed,” the email said. They use the word “please” four times. They sound so Tired™. Aww! So are we. Hang in there <3 #1 - What’s the meaning of “peripatetic”? (Oct. 15)
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
MANASA GUDAVALLI | WSN
The email from March 1 addressed a change made to the Daily Screener that temporarily prevented eligible students from accessing NYU facilities.
A little weak. NYU wanted to say “WTF” but Whiskey Tango Foxtrotted out of it. Also, they apologized for changing the Daily Screener protocol without telling us. Somehow, we aren’t convinced that they’re all that sorry. Don’t worry though, we weren’t expecting them to be!
The email from Oct. 15 introduced the new location of NYU’s testing center, which had moved from 20 Cooper Sq. to the Jeffrey S. Gould Welcome Center, located at 50 West 4th St.
NYU’s testing center moving down the street should be a very simple announcement, right? We just want to know what went through their heads to approach it like this because??? We did not need to know the meaning of pEriPateTiC . We’re not going to remember it — we can’t even pronounce it — but you know what, babes? Thank you. Thank you for contributing this obscure word to our $74k a year curriculum. It’s teachable moments like this that make it all worthwhile. #Student4Lyfe #GoViolets Contact Joey Hung at jhung@nyunews.com and Sabrina Choudhary at schoudhary@nyunews.com
Washington Square News
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
ARTS
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Edited by SASHA COHEN and ANA CUBAS
Review: Thematically, sonically, nothing is off limits in FINNEAS’ album ‘Optimist’
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, SHAINA AHMED | WSN
FINNEAS’ debut album “Optimist” was released on Oct. 15. The album deals with topics such as the loss of loved ones, the implications of privilege and so-called cancel culture.
By CANDACE PATRICK Staff Writer You would think an album titled “Optimist” might be, well, optimistic. This time that’s not the case. The singer-songwriter-producer FINNEAS’ debut album, released Oct. 15, features not-so-cheerful songs such as “The Kids Are All Dying,” “Hurt Locker” and “Love is Pain.” With FINNEAS’ popstar sister Billie Eilish
having released her subdued sophomore album this past summer, “Happier Than Ever,” it seems the O’Connell siblings get a kick out of giving their albums misleading titles. Along with ubiquitous topics of love and heartbreak, FINNEAS addresses heavier subjects such as so-called cancel culture, the loss of loved ones and the implications of privilege. In “The Kids Are All Dying,” he croons, “I know my pool is heated/
Business class is where I’m seated/And I’m whiter than the ivory on these keys/I think too much about myself/Drink my wallet and drive my wealth/But enough about me.” Laid over a pounding beat that evokes Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids,” it’s a lyrically poignant bridge that allows him to reflect on his fortune. In “Optimist,” FINNEAS speaks out on social issues. This is not the first time he’s used his music to do so. After
Joe Biden’s election, the singer released “Where the Poison Is,” celebrating Donald Trump’s ouster. Additionally, his single “What They’ll Say About Us” was written in response to last year’s racial justice protests. The new album’s third song, “Happy Now?,” feels like a Billie reject, possessing the same rhythmic groove as “Billie Bossa Nova.” Though it might feel overdone to compare FINNEAS to his younger sister, in this song, the listener can draw parallels between their music and styles. The duo grew up learning and producing music together, so it’s no surprise they’ve cultivated similar sounds. Adding to FINNEAS’ well-established repertoire of heart-wrenching ballads, “Love is Pain” confronts the heartbreaking aspects of love — from jealousy in romantic relationships to the brutal loss of a loved one. The song’s stream-of-consciousness lyrics create a bleak tone, as he moves from fighting with a significant other to a dream foreshadowing the inevitable death of his parents. In the final chorus, he paints another tragic scene, singing, “It’s all alright until your friend runs a red light/ You watch his car burst into flames/Love is pain,” with a dramatic pause emphasizing the heartache that accompanies love. “Optimist” is broken up by a soothing, arpeggiated instrumental piano piece titled “Peaches Etude.” An eponymous tribute to his pet pitbull, the piece showcases FINNEAS’ musical breadth and potential apti-
tude for scoring a movie. This simple and gentle wordless interlude — not entirely conventional for a pop album — adds a delicate flair to the rest of his more heavily produced work. “Around My Neck” is by far the boldest song on the album, replacing the artist’s typically mellow, romantic sound with a sulky, hi-hat-driven anthem. When he erupts into a scream in the final chorus, it feels like a certain departure from the saccharine ballads FINNEAS fans may be accustomed to hearing. The song feels a little misplaced between the syrupy tracks “Someone Else’s Star” and “What They’ll Say About Us,” but it diversifies the album. Along with the eclectic list of artists he has worked with, this gives us a taste of his potential to expand into a wider range of musical genres. Having won eight Grammy Awards for producing Billie Eilish’s music, FINNEAS’ artistic trajectory at just 24 years old is the inverse of most musicians’. His numerous accomplishments and accolades — all before releasing his first album — have made him one of the most in-demand producers in the industry; he’s worked with vocalists like Selena Gomez and Kid Cudi. “Optimist” is only the beginning of his long and lucrative music career. As he suggests on the album’s final track, “This isn’t how it ends/This isn’t where we put down our pens.” Contact Candace Patrick at arts@nyunews.com
The Uffizi Gallery proves NFTs are profitable, but will they last? By ANNIE HOSCH Staff Writer As the pandemic surged through Europe last year, Italy’s museums and galleries shut their doors to the public. The subsequent shutdown of the tourism industry put the country’s museums in dire economic straits, leading high art institutions to turn to fads like NFTs — cryptocurrency-driven non-fungible tokens. Among these museums was the Uffizi Gallery, which houses one of the largest collections of iconic Italian Renaissance works. Ranging from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Adoration of the Magi’’ to Filippo Lippi’s “Madonna and Child,” the Uffizi has long been a staple of Renaissance art collection and preservation as well as a key draw for tourists traveling to Florence. The museum typically receives over 4 million visitors each year. The Uffizi was forced to close in early March 2020, placing it in an unexpected position of economic precarity with the daunting task of recovering from an estimated 10 million euros in losses. In a statement to the Foreign Press Association in Italy, Uffizi director Eike Schmidt announced that in 2020 the museum had lost nearly three-quarters of its visitors from the previous year. While Italy’s tourism industry experienced economic distress, this past year has seen the rise of NFTs as they enter the mainstream discourse on art and art ownership. Gaining traction within the art world for high-profile sales, such as Beeple’s $69
million “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” or Larva Labs’ series of CryptoPunk characters, NFTs provide a method of possession over works of digital art. Operating on the blockchain, NFTs are digital access tokens that provide a unique certification of ownership over a digital image. Controversial because of their relationship to cryptocurrency and high price tags, NFTs constitute one of the most high-profile developments in the world of art collection, in addition to being environmentally destructive. NFTs have drawn criticism for their sizable environmental impact. The process used to authenticate NFTs is intensive, with a report by the digital artist Memo Akten estimating that the average carbon footprint caused by minting a single NFT is roughly equivalent to a month’s worth of electricity use for a person in the European Union. In May 2021, high art and trend collided when the Uffizi announced that they would be minting NFTs of some of their most iconic works. Michelangelo’s “Doni Tondo” was the first, eventually selling for $170,000 as a woman’s birthday gift to her husband who collects Italian art. Following this sale, the Uffizi announced that Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” Caravaggio’s “Bacchus,” Raphael’s “Madonna del Granduca” and Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” would each have their digital likeness represented as digital artworks, a specific form of NFTs developed by the Italian startup Cinello. In effect, buyers can purchase a token made in collaboration with Uffizi and
Cinello that gives ownership over a single digital image of the selected masterpiece. It doesn’t entail ownership over the physical work of art itself, nor does it give copyright over any other digital images of the art which already exist or may exist in the future. The scope of ownership is limited to lines of code and the image file itself, and is authenticated by the digital certificate — which is backed up by blockchain technology. The NFT buyer has no influence over what happens to the painting now or in the future, and the museum visitor’s experience
of the physical painting is unchanged. The creation of NFTs feels like a ploy to increase ticket prices. It is unlikely that the Uffizi would ever consider making any of their works of art inaccessible, as physically selling high-profile pieces is rare and legally complex for museums. However, in the United States, the pandemic has forced a relaxation of some regulations surrounding deaccessioning, which has in turn prompted a backlash from many in the art world. In May 2021, the Uffizi reopened their doors to visitors, a sign that they would
begin to recover from the pandemic downturn. Alongside the environmental concerns that accompany NFT production, it remains to be seen whether the Uffizi’s digital artworks are a pandemic-based fad or a long-term supplement to museum fundraising. While most museumgoers’ purchases are a gift shop tote bag or print, digital artworks may well become the new souvenir for ultra-wealthy art lovers. Contact Annie Hosch at arts@nyunews.com
ANNIE HOSCH | WSN
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence lost an estimated 10 million euros when it was forced to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2021, Uffizi announced that they would be creating NFTs of some of their famous works to recover from the losses suffered during the pandemic.
Washington Square News
6
OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM
OPINION
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
Edited by KEVIN KURIAN AND ASHA RAMACHANDRAN
ENVIRONMENT
The UN is taking substantial action against climate change
CAMILA CEBALLOS | WSN
The UN has done more than most realize to curb the effects of climate change. The organization is set to commence the Climate Change Conference on Oct. 31.
By CAMILA CEBALLOS Staff Writer As the United Nations prepares for this year’s Climate Change Conference, starting on Oct. 31 in the United Kingdom, the efficacy of past efforts regarding climate change reduction and prevention is being questioned — especially by youth activists such as Greta Thunberg. Although Thunberg says that institutions and people in power are doing “blah blah blah” to stop climate change, the U.N. is in fact doing its part to curb emissions. Through the Montreal Protocol, the U.N. organized a ban on chlorofluorocarbons — chemicals that damaged the ozone layer and exposed millions to the harmful effects of UV radiation — among all its member nation states. In the mid-1980s, it was predicted that CFCs would eliminate the ozone layer in just a few decades. Thanks to the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is on track to be fully restored, and some scientists claim that it is already fully restored. It’s estimated that since the protocol was passed unanimously by all member states, about two million people have been saved from skin cancer. The U.N. is proof that institutions can organize to create material change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is chartered by the U.N. and has produced six significant reports about climate change in relation to economics, the environ-
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ment, politics and more. Its last report was published on Aug. 9. These reports are helpful to companies and governments that base policies and actions on scientific knowledge. Through the IPCC’s recent report, the U.N. characterized the state of climate change as “code red.” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also urged all nations to reach a carbon neutral status by 2050 in order to prevent temperatures from rising globally by 1.5 degrees celsius — essential to averting climate catastrophe. One of the most legally binding strategies the U.N. organized to prevent climate change is the Paris Agreement. It is also organizing its upcoming COP26 conference in October and November to ensure that the Paris Agreement is actually implemented. The agreement faced major setbacks when the United States backed out under the Trump administration in 2019. Events such as COP26 demonstrate the U.N.’s effort to push countries into enacting action against climate change in a diplomatic way. This change can be seen in how major countries like Russia — under pressure with the COP26 coming up in two weeks — recently shared its plan to become carbon neutral by 2060. It is a testament to the U.N.’s impact that Russia, which has historically denied anthropogenic climate change, has even partially acquiesced to its demands. Without the U.N., the dominant powers of the international community — the United States, China and Europe — would be in charge of organizing strategies to fight climate change, giving them outsized influence. The U.N. is instrumental in facilitating the international fight against climate change. In light of the upcoming COP26 conference, it’s good to recognize that the U.N. has scored substantial wins in trying to end climate change before its effects are irreversible. Contact Camila Ceballos at opinion@nyunews.com
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Washington Square News
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
7
STAFF EDITORIAL
The NYU board of trustees must become more transparent
SAYER DEVLIN | WSN
Last week, the NYU board of trustees announced the addition of three new board members with little notice to students. Despite the major role they play in overseeing the university, the board is not transparent to the student body.
On Oct. 18, NYU announced that Terri Burns, David Ko and Traci Lerner will join the board of trustees. This announcement was made with little fanfare despite the enormous role that the board plays in our education, as they set “the overarching strategic direction of the University” and make significant financial decisions. Though President Andy Hamilton does not believe that NYU should be a democratic institution, students should at least receive basic information regarding members of the university’s governing body. The inconspicuous way that the university announced these trustees makes clear the need for a more open and transparent board, and their careers in elite finance raise questions about how effectively they can serve working class members of the student body. The board of trustees should provide more information about their deliberations and how they select new trustees. NYU’s charter includes almost no information regarding the selection of trustees. While trustee Lerner revealed that William Berkley, the chair of the board of trustees, offered her a position, we do not yet know if there is any recruitment mechanism other than informal elite networks. With 30% of NYU students taking on federal loans to pay for college, it’s necessary to have a board that is mindful of financial insecurity among the student body. However, Bloomberg reporting uncovered that NYU dismissed several lawsuits requesting partial tuition refunds due to pandemic-related financial stress. With zero transparency, the
student body has no idea how the board made this decision. If NYU continues to rely on elite networks to staff the institution’s governing body, the administration’s dismissive nature will keep hurting financially insecure students. NYU should reveal how they recruit members of the board so that as a community, we can deliberate and find a more egalitarian way to select trustees. In future recruitments, the board of trustees must properly vet prospective members to identify whether they have backgrounds that are in line with the university’s commitment to anti-racism and environmental sustainability. Previous reporting from WSN has examined trustee Larry Fink’s hypocrisy — advocating for sustainability while his Wall Street firm has significant holdings in the fossil fuel industry. Additionally, WSN has reported on trustee Maria Bartiromo’s role as a de-facto propagandist for Fox News, where she alleges that the 2020 election was stolen. With a more transparent recruitment process, some of the staffing choices that contradict NYU’s professed mission could be avoided. The board of trustees is also rather tight-lipped about the content of their meetings. While they are required to meet four times a year, the most recent meeting summary on their site is from Dec. 11, 2019. The student body has no information regarding the board’s deliberations on how to respond to COVID-19, the graduate strike of last semester or the difficult financial situations in which many students find themselves. While the
board, as a result of NYU’s charter, is not a democratic institution, they could at least offer some transparency and information when they are making decisions on our behalf. The board should release summaries or recordings of their meetings so that we can be made aware of the deliberations that shape our academic experience. NYU’s tax returns credit Berkley with eight hours of work per week and Fink with four, while most other trustees are only credited with two hours total, all unpaid. This calls into question what the trustees are responsible for and why they’re putting so little time into setting the “overarching strategic direction of the University.” It is incumbent upon the administration to keep the NYU community, especially students and families who pay record-high tuition, well-informed on how the board is operating. In a world dominated by COVID-19, it is more important than ever for clear, transparent and democratic decision-making. The secrecy of the board of trustees reveals that NYU disagrees — they would rather make management decisions in private, with no accountability. Such an attitude is dismissive of the student body, and heavily benefits the interests of members of the elite with jobs on Wall Street or at Fox News. Providing basic information on the recruitment of trustees and what happens during board meetings is not a controversial or difficult task. Contact the Editorial Board at opinion@nyunews.com
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We are telling big stories — the Bling Ring, Venmo fraud, drug donkeys — ones that expanded past our printstandard 500 words, ones that paint pictures with words. This magazine aims to be a platform where undergraduate and graduate students alike can mutter on about their love of the blue-seated MTA trains or put into words the flavor of their love of grandma’s dumplings.
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