STORY 2 EDIT

Mazen Hassan

Hard News Story #2

With New York Fashion Week coming to a close this week, new statistics by Jezebel.com have taken the spotlight off the runway and on to diversity as it proves that this year’s fashion season has had fewer models of color than ever before; showing that racism is still prevalent within the fashion business, and that Caucasian models are dominating the field yet again, after promises of increased diversity on the runway by many top fashion editors, designers, and casting directors, who are now under fire.

Top feminist blog jezebel.com, has been tracking and researching statistics of model’s ethnicities since 2007. At the time, it was shown that out of 101 shows in NYC in the 2007 fall season, one-third had no models of color whatsoever. Fall 2010’s statistics of New York Fashion Week showed a great increase from previous years, but still a considerable lack of diversity overall.

Out of almost 4,700 “looks”, (articles of clothing displayed on the runway – each look is represented by one model, so therefore there are over 4,000 opportunities to use a model of color) about 8% of models were Asian, 2% were Latino, 9% were African-American, and around 3% were considered multi-racial. While Caucasian models once again dominated the catwalk and the press, as they were featured in almost 80% of all shows.

This year’s New York Fashion Week 2011, showed a significant decrease yet again. Out of 128 shows and 4,170 looks – around 2% were Latina, 7.% were Asian, 18.% were “not-identifiable” i.e. of mixed race, and around 8% were African-American - yet again Caucasian models were the highest in demand, as about 83% of them were the main focus of the shows.

No increase in diversity has been made whatsoever, as numbers are still were they were from over a year ago – even with an African-American president in office; which many fashionites, such as Anna Wintour, Editor-in-chief of Vogue Magazine, use as an excuse to say that diversity is prevalent in the media.

“The designer is in charge of who it is they want to have modeling their clothes. When we are giving casting breakdowns that specify only Caucasian. Asian, or ‘light-skinned’ models – or flat out state ‘NO ETHNIC MODELS’, that is the only type of model that we will sign to our agency or send out on castings,” said model booker and agent Nathan Morales, from ORB modeling agency in NYC. “Ultimately it is the designer’s vision, and it is what we must abide by in order to maintain good standing with designers so they continue to use us for business, and to do our job correctly.”

Bridget O’Hara, an assistant manager of Mode, a PR/Showroom agency in NYC, shared a startling story, that when asking one designer if he wanted any models of ethnicity cast in his show, claimed he said “if you can find a black girl that looks like a ‘white girl dipped in chocolate’, then yeah I guess.”

“I have been in this industry for five years, and am usually on constant request when working overseas in Europe, Asia, and even the West Coast…but this past week I’ve been going on castings for New York Fashion Week, and I haven’t gotten booked for one show yet,” says Az Marie, a multi-racial model, represented by Identities Agency in NYC. “While all the other white girls on my board are sent out on bookings left and right, I am made to stay behind. They get more work and exposure, and overall make more money than I do…It is beyond unfair, and is really disheartening.”

One person has been consciously gotten out of his way to instill more diversity in fashion is up and coming fashion designer Telfar. “I have 32 models in my show, and 24 of my models are of color, I am proud to say. Because I am black myself, I understand how difficult it can be for a young colored model to get their face out their and make a career for themselves. It’s 2011, Obama’s in office, Michelle is a huge fashion icon in her own right – people just need to get over it already.”

The general consensus given when interviewing these subjects, seems to be that they feel most marketers and advertisers may forget that people of color buy and wear clothes too. The models of color interviewed stated that not seeing their racial group identified in a specific brand’s ads disheartened them from wanting to support that designer. And overall, they felt that it could not only potentially have a label lose a ton of income, but it made the label lose them as fans and buyers.

"Fashion has always been a business full of fantasy – but it is time to try and start rooting it in reality, and change people’s perception of beauty," Telfar said. Only time will tell in the upcoming seasons whether that will ring true or not.

Unions across nation in uproar as "fundamental rights" are endangered in Wisconsin

Union members, organizers and leaders across the nation echo the uproar in Wisconsin at a set of budget cuts proposed last Tuesday that would endanger the right to collective bargaining, which gives unions the ability and power to negotiate hours and wages with employers on behalf of the union members.

The NY Times and the Huffington Post report that protests began in the last week in Madison, Wisconsin as unions react to a recent budget cuts proposed by Mayor Scott Walker (R), who has been in office for 6 weeks. Mayor Walker defends the bill that would provide $1,000 incentive for a laborer to choose not to pay union dues, via a press release from his office, that "We've also got to give those workers the right to choose." The voices from Wisconsin, echoed in cities across the nation, however, tell a different story, one in which it is not the right to choice that is in danger but the right to collective bargaining when negotiating labor contracts in the workplace.

At a press conference held Tuesday at City Hall in New York City, speaker for the city council, Christine Quinn (D), delivered a message of solidarity. “We are in Wisconsin today, we are standing with them.” Wisconsin is the first, the original battlefield. But the fight has spread and caught on as unions from state to state fear the loss of collective bargaining as a fundamental human right and a major tool in asserting and negotiating power in the workplace.

Collective bargaining refers to voluntary negotiations between trade unions (on the behalf of workers) and their employers. It is considered a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 23) that “enhances human liberty, dignity and autonomy.” The fight in Madison, Wisconsin is not about wages or salary but this core issue of collective bargaining, which for blue collar workers is, according to Mark Marley of Wisconsin, “the first step to freedom in this country.”

“In Wisconsin it is not a conversation, not a discussion,” said Christine Quinn. The mayor’s cuts to labor amoung to him “saying [he] wants the unions dead. Without collective bargaining, there are no unions.” Marley,, who spoke before Quinn, explained what the unions are doing in Wisconsin, saying that “in Madison, Wisconsin, we are making noise. It is messy. It is loud. We are determined.” The people involved are making noise and receiving national attention as they fight against Walker’s propositions regarding labor in Wisconsin. Their cries for solidarity and brother hood are being answered by unions like the one present at City Hall last Tuesday.

When asked what brought Michelle Keller and five other members of the local 375 in Washington, D.C. to New York City last Tuesday, she answered, “one word: solidarity.” Keller continues, asserting that, for this issue, the danger is in “political fragmentation. We have to stand together on this issue.”
Danny Donohue had a message for Mayor Walker. He says, “It is the little guy that put you there, and it is the little guy that can take you down.” Donohue and a few others take an extreme route, believing that destruction of collective bargaining rights could lead to the destruction of democracy, in which labor relations reflect general relations between common citizens and the government, as it is replaced by oligarchy, in which employers and big business have most of the political power.

The press conference on Tuesday was populated with union member, supporters and leaders from CSEA, AFLCIO, AFSCME, OSA and local unions decorated with banners proclaiming “it’s about freedom!” and “solidarity!” and “we want respect!”. As speakers like Mark Marley, from Wisconsin and Chris Ericson, a union leader in New York, proclaimed messages of sympathy and solidarity with their counterparts in Wisconsin, the crowd sung songs like “Solidarity Forever” and recited chants echoing the messages proclaimed by the speakers. Faces were hard, hardened by the seriousness of the issue of collective bargaining and the fear that it is in danger, hardened by years of long hours put in at labor intensive jobs. This is a way of life in which one of the few tools for leveraging power is through the process of collective bargaining. The blue collar will not easily let it be taken from them.

Union Rally Story

In opposition to Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker’s proposal that requires state employees to make payments to state pensions, and in an effort to eliminate collective bargaining, thousands of union members and employees alike began protesting on February, 15^th 2011, in an on-going demonstration to “Kill the Bill.”

According to The New York Times, this is not only affecting the worker’s health insurance, but is also decreasing their take home pay by almost 7%. Walker has also made his intentions clear in regards to trying to weaken collective bargaining, essentially taking away the voice of the state workers, only allowing discussion to revolve around basic wages.

“Mr. Walker has effectively declared war on the working class…this is most certainly a class warfare, and a prime example of union busting which we will not tolerate,” said Marcia Grey, 47 of Long Island, New York, who has been working in the housing department for fifteen years. Dozens of protesters, comprised of various union workers, stood in line in the freezing cold outside of City Hall on Monday to stand in unity with their fellow union members. When asked why they were there and how it correlated with the events in Wisconsin, thirty-six year old staff analyst Alan Gabriel said “It is not a question of if - it is a question of when these issues will spill over to New York, as it is already spread to Ohio, and 6,000 teacher cuts have been announced…we must show solidarity in order to speak for those whose voices have gone unnoticed, and will continue to go unheard.”

Terri Trimbell, executive director of the Fox Valley chapter of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, was quoted at a union press conference saying “I think it’s very positive to have people from other states coming to (protest) Wisconsin’s demise.” Many of the protesters stated that they felt this was a personal vendetta that Walker was taking out on the citizens of Wisconsin, many of whom have been state employees for over thirty years, yet make a little less than 40,000 dollars a year, “barely enough to cover a single person’s expenses, let alone the head of a household who has mouths to feed, and children to put through college,” said Jennifer Wright, a public service member for almost twenty years.

According to The New York Times, this decision made by Governor Walker was because he had “no more options;” simply put by Walker himself “wer’e broke.” Wisconsin is facing its largest deficit in history, reported to be around the $137 million dollar range. Public voting is to be held by the end of this week, in a supposed effort to reinstate union bargaining rights. Though many fear it will not make a difference, as both the Assembly and State are predominately ruled by Republicans.

Protesters seemed optimistic that if enough people stood up, their voices will be heard, and a positive change will be made. “We are just asking for equality and basic human rights,” said Wright, “is that too much to ask for?”

City Hall Protest Unites New York Workforce Among Wisconsin Tensions

By Harrison Golden

NEW YORK - In protest against freshman Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his efforts to remove collective bargaining rights from his state’s public workforce, politicians and union leaders gathered outside City Hall on Wednesday hoping to bring a sense of local and national awareness to the issue.

“We are confronting an assault on labor that is so corrosive, so sweeping, and so destructive that if allowed to succeed, it will roll back nearly a century of American reforms in the workplace,” said Jack Ahern, President of the New York City Central Labor Council. “Dismantling the right to collectively bargain seeks to destroy the very principle many union organizers literally gave their lives to achieve.”

The protests, conducted under less than a full day’s notice, quickly aimed to unite workers from throughout the East Coast against Walker’s new budget proposals, which would not only prevent Wisconsin state employees from negotiating benefits with employers, but would also drastically cut the ability for unions to organize within his state.

“Governor Walker has truly awoken a sleeping giant,” said Jared Reinmuth, member of the Screen Actors Guild and a participant in Wednesday’s City Hall protest. “By connecting the dots here, both the public and private working people will become stronger, and everyone will realize that the wrong people are getting their rights taken away from them.”

In his attempts to follow through with the proposal’s legislation, Walker claims that he is not aiming to decrease the influence of unions on an ideological basis, but rather for the purpose of balancing Wisconsin’s budget and reducing the federal deficit. However, even after the state workers unions agreed to the aspects of the bill pertaining to upcoming rises in health insurance and pension costs, Walker is still continuing to move onward with his plans to stifle union organization. Accordingly, many labor leaders and opposing Democrats feel that the Tea Party-backed Republican Governor’s attempts are more partisan in nature, as union groups are the largest national contributors to the Democratic Party.

“Politics or not, the everyday, hard-working citizens of this great country are going to hurt if this bill follows through,” said Chris Shelton, Vice President of the Communications Workers of America’s New York-based District 1. “State to state and city to city, people need representation for their service. Supporting our Wisconsin friends here at City Hall is just the start. And if today’s turnout means anything, then I think we are stepping ourselves in the right direction.”

Solidarity Rally for Wisconsin at City Hall

Julia Taveras

A group of Union workers rallied on City Hall this Wednesday morning to show their support for workers in Wisconin/Wisconsin workers. who are faced with a bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker that would cut worker’s benefits.

“We’re going to fight tooth to nail over what we’ve won over the years!” says Joe Rivera, 52, Lieutenant of the NYC Fire Dept. in response to the proposed bill. He was one of the many standing outside on a chilly morning to protest against the bill that, according to The New York Times, would “require public workers to pay more for their health insurance and pensions, effectively cutting the take-home pay of many by around 7 percent.” The bill would also threaten collective bargaining for union workers in Wisconsin.

A press conference accompanied the rally, in which Jack Ahearn, President of the NYC Central Labor Council, amongst other officials spoke. “Dismantling the right to collectively bargain” said Ahearan “seeks to destroy the very principle many union organizers literally gave their lives to achieve.” Many members of Firefighters and Police Unions agreed with Ahearan’s words.

One of the biggest controversies about the bill that is causing even workers in New York to be riled up is that Governor Walker’s proposal, according to a report by The Huffington Post, would actually put at risk 46.6 out of 74 million dollars in Wisconsin’s federal funding. “They take your benefits and cover it up with ‘the health care crisis’” says Rivera.

Herman Meritt, 60, retired school principal who was present at the rally as well, emphasized how important it is for Union members and the general community to stand together: “The people in this city need to understand that what happened to them could happen to us.” He and his peers are alongside Wisconsin’s workers, “with a mayor like Bloomberg, who’s trying to break Unions in New York, we don’t want this to build momentum.”

City Hall Protests

On February 23 at 11:00 am, a crowd gathered outside Manhattan’s City Hall for a rally to show their support for unions and workers in Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker is planning to go ahead with a controversial bill to rid unions of the right to collective bargaining and cut budgets for public workers’ benefits.

Protestors from around the city held up signs with slogans such as, “Worker’s rights are human rights!” and “We are all Wisconsin.” They joined together in a series of chants such as “What’s disgusting? Union Busting!” which has been used in Wisconsin’s protests as well.

There is debate over whether Wisconsin’s governor is acting practically by looking to compensate for deficits or if his actions are more oriented ideologically motivated. Many are concerned that the advancement of this political agenda in Wisconsin could spread across the nation in a wave of anti-union sentiment.

"Let's be clear,” said Jack Ahearn, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, “Attacking workers' rights anywhere is a step backwards for everyone. Attacking public employees is an assault on the fabric of our society. Attacking the role of unions in America demeans the very principles upon which our nation was founded. We shall not let these attacks go unanswered today, tomorrow, or ever."

Here in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed budget cuts a week ago for the next fiscal year starting in June, which include layoffs for teachers and a reduction in library hours according to the Huffington Post.

The rally’s attendees were there for a variety of reasons. Some were there due to a growing fear of anti-union sentiment while others were focused on the issues facing public workers.

 “The teacher, the student, the nurse had to take a cut—that’s not America,” said sympathizer Seth Goldstein.

Another protestor at the rally was Aliqae Geraci, a public librarian at the Queens Library. She came out of solidarity to public workers across the nation, and expressed concern over Bloomberg’s budget cuts, which will affect her and her coworkers personally and may entail layoffs or at least cut backs in hours. Although she doesn’t think New York will get rid of collective bargaining rights anytime soon, she is concerned about the effects that Wisconsin’s actions will have across the nation.

“Walker’s leading the pack,” Geraci said.

Around the time that all of the protestors managed to get through the metal detectors set up by the NYPD, the rally dispersed into tête-à-têtes and photo ops.

Rally attendees were there for preemptive reasons, in order to prevent a similar situation to the one in Wisconsin happening in New York, and to protect their rights.

“It’s not about waiting until there’s a bill on the table,” Geraci said. “It’s about fighting [for worker’s rights] everyday.”

Meredith Pollack

New Yorkers Rally in support of Wisconsin Brothers

On Wednesday outside City Hall in Downtown New York City, union supporters gathered in a peaceful reaction to recent government crackdown on unions in Wisconsin.

“I’m out here to support my union brothers and sisters throughout the country,” Said Michael Arrabito, a 50 year old US Navy Veteran. He was one of the many union workers standing beside the fence of City Hall. “What happened [in Wisconsin] could happen to us. A lot of us served this country, and this is how they treat their veterans.” The New York City protest was scattered with people from all walks of life and all different types of unions. The group was full of veterans and city service workmen, as well as fire fighters, and union officials.

Many protesters were gathered among their own fellow union workers dressed in every day work clothes, but a few men up front stood out in expensive suits and jackets. One of these men was Dante Dano, JR. who has been a union official for the International Sheet Metal Workers Association for ten years. “At the end of the day, its scary because we’re next,” he said as he checked the time on his Rolex.

Later on that afternoon at Bar None in the East Village, Nat Brower, 22 and a Wisconsin native sipped at a beer. When asked what he felt the main reason behind the protests in both Wisconsin and New York, he shared that “Plain and simple, our governor is a monster.”

According to Fox9 News, as of February 18th, many Wisconsin teachers have joined the protests and schools have been shutting down. “My brother and I had to go back home last weekend,” says Brower. “My siblings are out of school and my Dad joined the protest so we had to be with family. Its really just crazy over there.”

Although not all the supporters in New York City have a direct connection to the events of Wisconsin, their loyalty to the rights of their unions brings them together. “This is a slippery slope,” said Matt Servitto of the Screen Actors Guild and of Soprano’s fame. “Do I have anything in common with the people in Wisconsin? No. I’m an actor in New York City. But what is happening to them is frightening, because it could surely happen to us.”

New Yorkers Protest For Wisconsin

Heather Pusser

February 23, 2011

New Yorkers Protest for Wisconsin

Protestors gathered outside the Manhattan City Hall in support of the labor unions in Wisconsin, yesterday morning, as Jack Ahearn, president of the NYC Central Labor Council, held a press conference outside of Manhattan City Hall.

Due to Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker, labor unions from all over the city gathered in an effort to stunt the slashing of collective bargaining. Protestors included a number of members from the Screen Actors Guild and a number of small labor unions located in Manhattan.

Mike Lafferty, a 63 –year-old Transportation Officer expressed his need for action outside the press conference. “We need to take action!” Lafferty exclaimed, “Think about it: if all of the labor unions in Manhattan, including the bus drivers, truckers, and MTA Staff, the entire city would be shut down. Even teachers could refuse to work, and then maybe they’ll listen.”

Jack Ahearn reinforced Lafferty’s strong desire to take a stand during his press conference speech. “We are confronting an assault on labor that is so corrosive, so sweeping and so destructive that if allowed to succeed, it will rock back nearly a century of American Reforms in the work place.” Ahearn continued to describe the nation’s public employees and union members a “scapegoat for our country’s economic problems,” voicing the fears many protestors themselves felt.

Robert Foreman, a 49-year-old member of the Screen Actors Guild was disappointed by the turn out. “I came here because I needed to stand up for the rest of America. People on salaries don’t understand that without us, they have nothing. People should be here. EVERYONE should be here.” Foreman later continued to explain that a slashing in collective bargaining would hurt every American, not just those in labor unions.

Once again Jack Ahearn expresses these same concerns in his speech. “Lets be clear. Attacking workers’ rights anywhere is a step backwards for everyone. Attacking public employees is an assault on the fabric of our society.” Ahearn believes that go after labor unions “demands the very principle which our nation was founded.”

“People asked why we weren’t going to Wisconsin and we said why?” Ina and Eric Madison claimed, “If this happens in Wisconsin it is going to happen everywhere. The unions have to stick together, and we can show our support from here.” The Madison’s are 76-years-old and are members of the Screen Actors Guild, “There are a lot of us here, and it’s good to know.”

Mike Lafferty, age 63, stands in line to express his freedoms.

Wisconsin Protests Finds Support from New York Unions

By Emily Katz

February 24, 2011

Showing solidarity with the union protesters in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana, union members in New York City gathered outside City Hall on Wednesday to demonstrate how union workers across the country are a united front in protesting state legislations that circumscribe unions’ collective bargaining rights.

A line formed outside City Hall, where security guards were letting demonstrators in five at a time. Amongst the demonstrators waiting was Michael Arrabito, 50, a member of the American Postal Workers Union. “I am here to show support for all my union brothers and veterans,” he said. Mr. Arrabito has worked as a maintenance worker at the United States Postal Service for twenty-seven years, he said, “I gave my life to the U.S. government,” and now he wants is for the government to start taking care of America. Like many union workers, he is concerned that with the unions’ loss of collective bargaining rights, his forty-hour workweek may be prolonged and that he will lose his health care and pension.

According to the January 2010 Current Population Survey, 36.2% of public sectors are unionized, and union workers across the country are angered by the proposed bills that call for the busting of public-sector unions.

Jack Ahern, President of the NYC Central Labor Council, said, “Attacking the role of unions in America demeans the very principles upon which our nation was founded. We shall not let these attacks go unanswered today, tomorrow, or ever.”

In an interview in the New York Times article, “A Watershed Moment for Public Sector Unions” published on February 19, Mr. Walker denies accusations that he is attacking the middle class and purely out to bust unions. He claims that the legislation is about “balancing the budget.”

However, many union workers still hold the Republican party responsible for assaulting rights. “The Republicans are using the crisis, meaning our budget problem, to attack collective bargaining,” said James N. Perlstein, the co-chair of the Professional Staff Congress, a union for the faculty and staff at the City University of New York (CUNY).

According to John Trumpbour, the Research Director at The Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, the Republicans have long viewed the public sector unions as being too powerful a force in disrupting their political agenda. “Knocking unions out of the box will fatally weaken unions and their support for the Democrats,” he said.

In their ninth day of demonstration, the protesters in Wisconsin are getting both national solidarity and international solidarity from countries like Egypt and Germany. Mr. Trumpbour also said that he thinks such demonstrations and protests “can be very helpful.” Democratic senators have also block a quorum in efforts to stop the legislation from going into vote, according to the New York Times article, “Discord, State by State,” published on February 24.

Quotes from Press Conference

Thanks Rey and Oona!

Here are quotes, guys:

Jack Ahearn, President of the NYC Central Labor Council:

"We are confronting an assault on labor that is so corrosive, so sweeping and so destructive that if allowed to succeed, it will roll back nearly a century of American reforms in the work place."

"Across our nation, public employees and union members are being made the scapegoat for our country's economic problems. State budgets are in the red and desperate elected officials would like to place the blame on those who work hardest to maintain public services. Teachers, police officers, fire fighters, transit workers, sanitation workers: hard working men and women who make up the middle class of our great nation and who represent the foundation of a strong economy."

"Dismantling the right to collectively bargain seeks to destroy the very principle many union organizers literally gave their lives to achieve. Wisconsin, the state where government workers were first given the right to organize and collectively bargain, has now become a battleground where a governor would replace job growth with public service job cuts to advance his own political agenda."

"Let's be clear. Attacking workers' rights anywhere is a step backwards for everyone. Attacking public employees is an assault on the fabric of our society. Attacking the role of unions in America demeans the very principles upon which our nation was founded. We shall not let these attacks go unanswered today, tomorrow, or ever."

Mark Maierle, labor leader with International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 317 (Affiliated with AFL-CIO), Milwaukee WI

"Unions work very hard to make their employers successful. A successful employer, whether it's public sector or a private company, is critical to this country and to the economy, and that's what union workers do. They're there everyday, they do the work, they do the best job, they make fair wages, they have a decent retirement that they can rely on, and they can commit to those employers because they know at the end of the day, they're gonna be taken care of. They have a pension, they have health care, and it's a win-win situation. And right now, there are forces out there who are bound and determined to make this a win-lose situation, and we are not gonna stand for it. We will not stop this fight."

Fogelman's Librarians- Edits

On February 15 “Ask a Librarian Live,” a service that Fogelman’s librarians began offering in the fall to become more accessible to students, started up again for the spring semester in the Lang Café.

A librarian from the New School’s Humanities and Social Sciences library will be there every Tuesday and Wednesday from 11:30 to 1:30 to field students’ questions by helping them find particular sources as well as beginning research on a topic.

Lang Academic Advising first sent out email notifications in November and then again in February to announce the return of “Ask a Librarian Live” sessions.

This Fall, the Fogelman librarians got the idea to reach out to students from other academic libraries in places such as Penn State where librarians make themselves more available by positioning themselves in areas that students already frequent. Last semester, the Fogelman librarians also held sessions for NSSR students at 6 16^th Street and are planning to expand to the new student center unveiled last month at 90 5^th Ave as a means of reaching a broader base of students from a variety of divisions.

The librarians sat down with Lang administrators including Kathleen Breidenbach to establish a time slot that would maximize student traffic so as to make themselves available at a time and place convenient to students.

“We’re trying to reach as many students as possible in the space where they gather or hang out,” Fogelman librarian Brita Servaes said.

Lang sophomore Mia Bruner expressed confusion with the online “Ask-A-Librarian” service currently offered and also mentioned she dislikes the Fogelman stacks on the mezzanine floor since books fall due to the poor design of the moving shelves.

It’s been two years since Fogelman was moved temporarily to Arnold Hall where they will remain until 65 5^th Avenue is finished.

“We’re spread throughout the building so it’s kind of hard to have an identity as a library here,” said Fogelman librarian Paul Abruzzo.

Fogelman’s Director John Aubrey explained that there’s a lesser flow of students and faculty in Arnold Hall as compared to 65 5^th Ave and attributes this to the fact that there are fewer faculty offices and less humanities classes, especially NSSR ones, held in the building.

“People have a hard time finding the space,” said Servaes.

Since the move, much of the collection has been moved off site and what remains available is spread out between three floors of Arnold Hall. The first floor hosts the circulation desk and the reference room where one of the three librarians is available 9:00 to 6:00 on weekdays and 11:00 to 4:00 on Saturday. After hours, students can ask questions through an email service called “Ask-A-Librarian.” This name transferred over to their sessions in 16^th Street and the Lang Café and those upcoming at 69 5^th Avenue, as “Ask A Librarian Live.”

The mezzanine of Arnold Hall hosts Fogelman’s offices and several stacks and the rest of the books circle the 3^rd floor computer lab.

“[“Ask A Librarian Live” is] something that we probably will continue even after we have the new space. It makes sense to be where the users are, providing it works,” Aubrey said.

Bruner seemed positive about the idea of “Ask A Librarian Live” but also wondered how the sessions will be used.

“I don’t know how many questions people have about the library.”

The librarians also acknowledged the lack of student involvement.

“Sometimes nobody will come up [to “Ask A Librarian Live”], sometimes you spend an hour there and nobody has any questions. But that happens at the reference desk anyway,” Aubrey said.

Cholera in New York Sparks Fear of Outbreak (Edit)

By Harrison Golden

In the wake of an ongoing cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed thousands of people, three cases of the disease were reported in New York this month, leaving many city residents and health officials fearful of local and regional outbreaks.

According to Candace Burns Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control, the three known infected individuals contracted cholera last month after attending a 500-guest wedding in the Casa de Campo resort, located in the nearby Dominican Republic. Their names and identities have not been released to the public, though they have since recovered from the disease without hospitalization and are not considered to be posing any significant public health threat. However, public health officials still urge citizens to remain aware of the infectious bacteria and its capabilities to still emerge within the city, even in the most obscure of areas.

“It’s definitely something we should be keeping a close eye on,” said Dr. Michael Phillips, member of the New York City Board of Health and an assistant professor for the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at New York University. “Right now, it seems under control with these three, but infections can often surprise us. But by simply containing it, taking precautions, and hoping for the best, we are greatly reducing our chances of contracting the disease.”

Cholera is a water-borne bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhea, dehydration, and vomiting. The last major American outbreak of the disease took place in 1911, and through modern reconstruction of pipes and sewer systems, its presence has not been significantly felt within the nation since then. However, if not treated, or if treated poorly, patients suffering from it can still succumb to its effects within a few hours, regardless of location. Those treated in both a timely manner and with adequate mixtures of antibiotics, water, sugars, and salts face a generally decent prognosis and exhibit less of a threat to public health.

Dr. Edward Ryan, author of “The Cholera Pandemic, Still With Us After Half A Century,” acknowledges that, following last January’s massive earthquake that left hundreds of thousands dead, injured, and homeless, Haiti’s sewage systems and medical facilities have fallen behind in efficiency. With these factors, Ryan argues, the region has gradually become more vulnerable to widespread exposure to the disease. Health care workers, including local doctors and nurses, were initially forced to address the immediate issues regarding the earthquake’s victims. As such, many of these professionals have been left overwhelmed with work and forced to turn down patients, which has since resulted in many once-uncommon illnesses gradually resurfacing as a result of this lack of widespread medical attention.

Infrastructure erosion has also caused the disease to spread throughout Haiti. Pipes and sewage systems were destroyed as a result of the earthquake, leaving many vulnerable to infection.

In an effort to prevent from getting infected with cholera, the CDC recommends taking such precautions as avoiding raw food, boiling uncooked foods, washing hands with soap, and avoiding swimming or bathing in rivers.

“For the most part, the chances of getting cholera and spreading it around in a structurally elaborate city like New York is slim to none,” said Dr. William Polf, Senior Vice President of Public Relations at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “But we must constantly analyze how things evolve. New strains of diseases develop constantly, so people of all ages must work to take care of themselves. Right now, examining all the factors and seeing what we have, we think people can feel hopeful.”

Assign 2

Roses are red, violets are blue, people are dying, what will you do?
Sarah Garrity Guenther

THE VILLAGE, New York City: As part of a larger movement too protest cuts to HIV/AIDS medication funding, this Monday, the 14th, a group of some 30 New School students collapsed in the Lang Courtyard, symbolically dying to represent the thousands of individuals with HIV/AIDS on ADAP (AIDS Drug Assistance Program) waiting lists for medication and health care.

At 1:40, students clad in black t-shirts proclaiming allegiance to the student-led AIDS/HIV advocacy group, Queerocracy, marched out into the courtyard as university classes were letting out. Armed with protest banners and a megaphone manned by Suzanne Exposito, the protestors took their places, standing silently as bystanders looked on and Ms. Exposito recited a mission statement. With her last words, the group fell to the ground and chanted, staying down for around 5 minutes, when the New School security appeared in the courtyard and the protest dissolved.

ADAP is a federally funded drug and health care assistance programs that has began in 1987. It has only recently been a target for budget cuts that began in 2007. This past January, the Kaiser Foundation collected and released nation-wide data that supports the recent movements, like the recent protest at the New School and efforts by ACT UP!/Health GAP, against ADAP. The data reports the number of people on ADAP waiting lists, the presence of a cost-containment strategy (efforts to spend what money ADAP gets in an efficient manner, helping as many people as possible) and the presence of movements on the part of Congressmembers to reform ADAP laws. High numbers are reported in Florida (2,816 people), Louisiana (583 people) Ohio (438 people) while low numbers come from Wyoming (1 person) and New York (no waiting list). Such waiting lists exist in states where ADAP’s funding has been cut or is currently insufficient.

Protest banners advertised each state’s ‘number,’ the number of people waiting on the federally funded ADAP to dispense the medication and health care funds that they need to live and function in society. One of Queerocracy’s founders and leaders, Cassidy Gardner says that the groups focused on protesting against the more than 6,000 people that are waiting on HIV/AIDS medication as a result of funding that has been cut drastically.. Recent budget cuts in the United States drain money from nearly every public program, including ADAP, but Gardner says that this program is “crucial.”

The chants that rang out in the courtyard continued the message proclaimed by the protest banners and signs. Protestors sang out “Barack Obama you’re breaking our heart, fund ADAP and do your part” and a variation of “Roses are Red.” On a day such as Valentine’s Day, usually reserved for candy hearts, lovers and roses, the protest and its message took on the theme of Valentine’s Day, a day for love and friendship. DO YOU HAVE A QUOTE FROM SOMEONE SAYING THEY WOULDN’T HAVE EXPECTED SUCH A THING? OR FROM THE ORGANIZERS SAYING THAT’S WHY THEY PLANNED IT FOR VDAY? OTHERWISE SEEMS LIKE AN ASSUMPTION.

This protest was only the beginning in a series of die-ins being organized by Queerocracy. Elizabeth Harvey Richard, one of the group’s founders and leaders, said through email that the group wants to take its protest against ADAP waiting lists to a larger arena, beyond college campuses.It was a brief protest, a sting operation designed to make noise and get a point across in a short period of time.  What occurred last Monday in the Lang Courtyard was but “a call to action for a larger protest [to be organized] outside of Chuck Shumer’s office.” “Chuck” Shumer is the senior United States senator from New York. Mr. Shumer has considerable influence in Washington.

Health GAP and ACT UP!, two well-known New York based AIDS advocacy groups, held similar protests to the recent one at the New School in September and October of last year. Attendees to the protests held in Philadelphia stretched out in a long line, symbolizing the large amount of people waiting on ADAP waiting lists. Kaytee Riek of Health GAP and Cliff Williams of ACT UP! were present at the Philadelphia protests. Mr. Williams comments on the ideal potential of ADAP, asserting that in order to be able to carry out its purpose, to help HIV/AIDS infected individuals to afford the medication and care that they need to live, the programs needs better funding. He has hopes that the current administration could help to fund ADAP. “Obama could be the president to end AIDS by giving adequate funds to ADAP,” he said through email.

Queerocracy intends to bring their protest plans in front of Health GAP and ACT UP! in the coming weeks, looking for participant, funds and advice. Gardner and Richard promise that the die-in that occurred last Monday is only the beginning of a slew of events centered on ADAP and funding for HIV/AIDS medication.

           

News Story - Edited

Julia Taveras
“New School University’s re-drafting faulty Sexual Assault Policy”
A group of staff and students at The New School are preparing a revision of The University’s Sexual Harassment policy, which has not been revised since 2004, to present it in a Board of Regents meeting in April.
Ms. Tamara Oyola, a health educator at the New School, as well as a member of the ‘re-drafting team,’ was interviewed in regards to the revision. Among the problems of the current policy, available online through The New School’s ‘Student Services’ tab, Ms. Oyola highlighted there is only a general definition of “Sexual Assault;” there is no specificity about the types of sexual assault. Also, Oyola noted, there are no direct links to University and community resources available to students, faculty and staff. “If there are any” she said “they are not updated, like the contact information for St. Vincent’s Hospital in the village, which is now closed.”
Tracy Robbins, Assistant Vice President for Student Health & Support Services, has been actively involved in the re-drafting process along with Oyola and other team members from Student Services. At the same time, the Feminist Collective was in conversation with Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER), an organization dedicated to “help organize change by empowering student-led campaigns to reform college sexual assault policies,” according to their Website. The feminist collective organized, back in October, a teach-in with SAFER that included a policy-writing workshop. During the exercise, the students realized the faults in their own University’s Sexual Harassment-Assault Policy. Ms. Robbins could not be contacted for an interview on time, but according to Oyola, Robbins reached out to The Feminist Collective, thinking they would provide the ideal student input to the process.
Rihannon Love Auriemma, a student from the University’s Feminist Collective who’s been actively engaged in the process of re-drafting the policy as well, expanded on the faults of the current policy: “There is no definition of consent. A definition of consent not only establishes what is considered assault by the school, but is also a valuable tool for students in terms of sexual education.” Auriemma noted that one of the major issues, besides blurry definitions, is that the Sexual Harassment policy presents a reporting process that is “not transparent in the slightest sense.”

(540 words)

News Story 2 (Edited)

Dance Majors Seek Curriculum Changes from Department

By Emily Katz

February 22, 2011

Keen on further improving their technique, the freshman dance majors at Eugene Lang College submitted requests on the Fall 2010 teacher evaluation forms for the dance department to offer more levels of dance technique classes and for an additional ballet class a week to be added to the curriculum, thereby prompting the potential program changes to be materialized.

“[Classes don’t] have to be [from] nine to five, but we need more technique classes,” Natalie Marrero, a freshman Dance and Education major at Lang, said. She and her fellow classmates voiced their requests for a third ballet class per week on the teacher evaluation forms for Mary Carpenter, the instructor for Ballet Technique 1.

Generally, dance majors take Modern Technique 1 and Ballet Technique 1 in their freshman year and move up to level two for both dance styles respectively in their sophomore year. In their junior year, dancers can take Modern level three but have to repeat Ballet level one or two. By their senior year, dancers have to inevitably repeat courses for both styles of dance.

Bach Mai, a BAFA major and a senior at Lang for a B.A. degree in Arts in Context with a Dance concentration, is currently repeating Ballet Technique 1 with the freshman dance majors. He wishes there were four levels of modern and ballet technique classes so that one’s skills can actually build up. “In an ideal world, we would have more technique classes so our technique can actually improve,” he said, “cause it is not.”

The freshman dance majors at Lang study four and half hours of Modern technique and three hours of Ballet technique per week.

Mary Carpenter, the instructor for Ballet Technique 1, recommends eight hours of ballet technique classes a week for serious dancers. “Students cannot improve at all with just two ballet classes a week. It is just a fact,” she said.

Being a liberal arts college, Lang’s dance program is not a program for professional ballerinas. Liberal arts colleges’ dance programs usually cater to those who wish to pursue academics as well as dance, and thus do not prepare the students for professional careers in dance. Danielle Goldman, the Dance Department coordinator at Lang, said, “We want to train dancers to be able to consider dance in a social and historical context, to gain diverse understandings of the body, and to be able to articulate their artistic choices.”

At Lang, academic and liberal arts classes receive equal weight with the studio dance classes. During the four years of a dance major’s college career, only nine credits of studio technique classes are required. The dancers satisfy the rest of their track requirements by taking Aesthetics, Anatomy and Kinesiology, Improvisation, Choreography, Dance History, and four Integrative Arts courses. Rather than training dancers to replicate existing idioms, the Lang dance program seeks to train dancers to think critically about their art.

The advantage of liberal arts dance programs is that it offers dancers more flexibility to explore other interests, take other liberal arts courses, or even double major. Unlike the dance conservatories in the country that offer Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, Lang offers its dancers a Bachelor of the Arts degree. However, dance majors at Lang do not earn a bachelor’s degree in dance; rather they graduate with a B.A. in the Arts, with a Concentration in Dance.

When asked about the role that technique classes should play in a liberal arts dance program, Ms. Carpenter said, “I don’t think students should be in [technique] classes every minute, but if we are calling ourselves a dance program, technique classes need to have their due.”

The dance department is only allowed to offer thirteen courses a semester under the course master code LDAN. According to Ms. Goldman, the department is currently going through some changes, and there have been conversations between the dance department and Simonetta Moro, the Chair of the Arts. There has been talk about adding a third ballet class to the Fall 2011 curriculum for Ballet Technique courses. Ms. Goldman also alluded to a possible gathering of the dancers and the dance faculty sometime this semester. She sees the dance family get-together as an opportunity for all the students and faculty to get to know each other even better and to exchange ideas on how to improve the dance department.

Brianna Lyle: 600 word article

In order to conduct research on gay men staying healthy, NYU Steinhardt is now paying young men to participate in an unusual survey, as of last month, yet some participants are finding the process too uncomfortable to bear.

“The surveys are set up in order to gather information for NYU’s databases on sex and relationship issues,” said Nina Paulson the associate director of P18. According the P18 webpage, the project is “designed to learn more about young guys who hook up with other guys. The goal is to follow a group of young men over three years to learn about their lives and what they do to stay healthy.” The project also aims to change the way services are designed and delivered to young men.

The surveys are not set up like other research projects often flooded by college students, such as sleep studies and dietary studies done by local hospitals. This study, Paulson explained aims to learn how to execute the information they have received, not just analyze the data. The information gained by the project will help create programs that are effective and appropriate for gay men.

“When we first started this, we weren’t paying people. Now that we are, we have an overwhelming amount of volunteers,” Paulson said. Just a simple sheet needs to be filled out and two weeks later participants receive a check. “The first time I went in for an interview, I thought it was a scam. [I thought] there is no way it can be this easy,” Chan said. However, Chan received his $150 check in the mail shortly after taking part in the survey. NYU also gave him business cards with a special number on it; if Chan gets more men to attend, he is compensated. But some think this idea of paying for intimate details is strange.

“Sometimes these guys are sharing things they normally wouldn’t, all for a little dough,” said Casey Miller, 20, a one-time participant in the surveys. “I think it’s weird. It made me feel dirty.” Miller was not the only one to voice concern with the survey, several other participants dropped out after the first interview. “The guys are welcome to drop out of the survey anytime they wish,” Paulson said. Contrary to Miller, other participants say there shouldn’t be any reason to feel uncomfortable once they are in the room. In the contract, everything is thoroughly explained out.

Men are asked questions such as “when did you know when you were gay” and “how long have you been sexually intimate with other men?” The answers are then recorded by a staff member at CHIBPS (Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies). Participants explain the process as simple and not embarrassing.

Chan was so pleased with the survey that some of his straight friends even wanted to pretend to be gay for the pay. “After I saw that I would have to keep up my act for an hour, I knew I couldn’t pretend to be gay,” said Michael Kepp, 19. Participants said that some men have even gotten up and left in the middle of a session because they could not keep a straight face. “The men who pretend to be gay can never make it through a whole survey,” said Paulson. “So, it hasn’t affected our research yet.”

Chan is one of the hundreds that are now actively participating in the surveys conducted by NYU’s CHIBPS. “We hope that it brings us some interesting research,” said Paulson. For most, however, the research doesn’t matter. Participants only care that there check shows up in the mail.

***HARD NEWS STORY #2 - FASHION DIVERSITY***

Mazen Hassan

Hard News Story #2

With New York Fashion Week coming to a close this week, all eyes will be focused on the longstanding issue of the promise of an increased presence of models of different colors and ethnicities on the runway.

Top fashion blog, jezebel.com, have been tracking and researching statistics of model’s ethnicities since 2007; which at the time stated that out of 101 shows, one-third used zero models of color. Last season’s statistics of NYFW2010 showed a great increase, but still a considerable amount of lack of diversity. Out of almost 4,700 “looks”, (articles of clothing displayed on the runway – each look is represented by one model, so therefore there are over 4,000 opportunities to use a model of color) 7.3% of models were Asian, 2.4% were Latino, 8.6% were African-American, 2.6% were considered mutli-racial, while an overwhelming difference was found in Caucasian models, as they were featured in 78.4% of all shows.

This years NYFW2011, showed a significant decrease yet again with 128 shows and 4,170 looks – 2.3% were Latina, 7.1% were Asian, 18.2% were “not-identifiable” i.e. of mixed race, 8.4% were African-American, and yet again Caucasian models dominated the runway with 82.5%. So though there may have been a slight improvement in diversity, the numbers are still were they were from over a year ago – even with an African-American president in office; which many fashionites use as an excuse to say that diversity is prevalent in the media.

“When it comes down to it, the designer is in charge of who it is they want to have modeling their clothes. When we are giving casting breakdowns that specify only Caucasian. Asian, or ‘light-skinned’ models – or flat out state ‘NO ETHNIC MODELS’, that is the only type of model that we will sign to our agency or send out on castings. It is ultimately the designer’s vision, and it is what we must abide by in order to maintain good standing with designers so they continue to use us for business, and to do our job correctly,” said model booker and agent Nathan M., from a top modeling agency in NYC. “Being a person of color myself, it of course bothers me and I do think it is completely unjustified…but that is just the way this business goes unfortunately.”

Bridget O’Hara, a manager of a top PR/Showroom agency in NYC that aids designers with a lot of casting direction and overall production of shows, stated that when asking one designer if he wanted any models of ethnicity cast in his show, claimed he said “if you can find a black girl that looks like a ‘white girl dipped in chocolate’, then yeah I guess.”

“I have been in this industry for five years, and am usually on constant request when working overseas in Europe, Asia, and even the West Coast…but when it comes to New York Fashion Week, I am barely sent to any castings for designers, let alone do I get booked for a show,” says Az Marie, a multi-racial model (though she looks and is perceived by most casting agents as Black, she says), represented by Identities Agency in NYC. “While all the other white girls on my board are sent out on bookings left and right, I am made to stay behind. They get more work and exposure, and overall make more money than I do – but we all have the same height, measurements, and relatively the same walk – so why am I being held back? It is beyond unfair, and is really disheartening…. as much as I love fashion and modeling, maybe this business just isn’t for me anymore.”

“I have 32 models in my show, and 24 of my models are of color, I am proud to say,” said up and coming fashion designer Telfar. “Maybe because I am black myself, I do fully understand how difficult it can be for a young colored model to get their face out their and make a career for themselves, and I want to help. It’s 2011, Obama’s in office, Michelle is a huge fashion icon in her own right – people just need to get over it already.”

Diversity in any aspect always seem to be an issue; but when it comes to fashion and advertising, it is beyond imperative to showcase as many different races, cultures, and ethnicities as possible. Many people view fashion as something frivolous, but people do not understand just how serious it can be in terms of influencing and setting healthy images for young people out there to aspire to.

An image depicted in the media delves a lot deeper into issues of racial intolerance, and generally sending a message to the public consumers that “white is right,” and is essentially deemed the only thing to be considered beautiful.

Yet most marketers and advertisers may forget that people of color buy and wear clothes too; so to not see their racial group identified in a specific brand’s ads, could potentially have a label lose a ton of income, and the loss of many loyal fans.

"Fashion has always been a business full of fantasy – but it is time to try and start rooting it in reality, and change people’s perception of beauty," Telfar said. Only time will tell in the upcoming seasons whether that will ring true or not.