National - Thursday, November 5, 2009 10:52 - 4 Comments
Gratuitous Pictures of President Obama Doing Cute Things
It’s been a rough week for the NYU community, so let’s attempt to remember the lovelier side of life with a little G rated Presidential pornography. The White House Flickr stream hosts an epic collection of photos of our outrageously photogenic First Family, and it never fails to leave me swooning. Below is a gallery of some of the most “awwww!”-inducing photos. Babies and puppies!
On Campus - Thursday, November 5, 2009 8:30 - 1 Comment
Matt Damon and Howard Zinn Coming to NYU
In an effort to drum up publicity for their joint-film venture The People Speak, Matt Damon and Howard Zinn are coming to speak at NYU on November 12th at 2pm at the Cooper Union Great Hall. The film is a dramatic and musical reenactment of historical US documents and speeches of “Americans who spoke up for social change throughout US history,” and is based on Zinn’s widely-acclaimed The People’s History of the United States (a book a high school history teacher of mine once deemed “too liberal” to include on a source list). For US history nerds, it’s a dream come true, but for those of you who didn’t spend your junior year in grueling study sessions striving for a 5 on the APUSH exam, several celebrities (aside from Damon) are also affiliated with the project–Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Josh Brolin, to name a few. The event will consist of live performances, audience discussions and preview clips of the film. Registration is free, but you have to RSVP here, so make sure you do it soon since space is limited. The People Speak premieres on The History Channel on December 13th at 8pm.
Featured, On Campus, On-Campus Developing - Tuesday, November 3, 2009 12:22 - 23 Comments
NYU Student Found Dead in Bobst Library
A male NYU student died in Bobst this morning at 4:30am, according to a report by WSN. The library is currently closed. We’ll get back to you with more information as it becomes available.
Update 9:20am: Public Safety would not confirm anything, and we’re waiting for John Beckman to get back to us.
9:21am: Bobst is now open. NYU spokesman John Beckman will be releasing a statement shortly.
10:10am: No area of Bobst has been cordoned off. Spoke to a security guard and a Bobst employee – neither could confirm the nature of the death.
10:41am: Gothamist is reporting the death as a suicide. A tipster who e-mailed us early this morning also believed it to be a suicide. However, there has not yet been official confirmation on this fact.
10:54am: Note that Gothamist says NYPD confirmed the student jumped. There are Plexiglas walls in addition to the railings on every floor with a walkway overlooking the atrium except for the 2nd floor.
12:20pm: President Sexton just sent out a university-wide e-mailing acknowledging that a junior in CAS has died by suicide. Full text of the e-mail after the jump.
12:22pm: NYU is still running campus tours in Bobst.
If you want to discuss this or any other problems that you’re experiencing, please remember that the Wellness Center is available to help 24/7 at 212-443-9999.
City - Thursday, October 29, 2009 13:58 - 7 Comments
In Which You Will Dwell In Your Parents’ Basement for All of Eternity
The economy! It sucks, right? Intelligent journalism grads are resorting to food stamps, enterprising young students are applying for godawful jobs just to pay the bills, and through it all our parents are footing our Parliament Lights/Ramen bill. Over at the NYTimes’ Room for Debate blog, the issue at hand is adult children still cashing in on the Bank of Mom and Dad. It’s one thing if your parents help you pay your undergrad tuition, but apparently the new trend is to keep letting them fund your lifestyle far past graduation. This could be attributed to the staggeringly depressing job market, but it also might have something to do with… laziness. But Kathleen Gerson, a sociology prof at NYU, places the blame on the government:
Parents who do provide support are not coddling their adult offspring. To the contrary, they are helping them cope with a rapidly changing world.
The real underlying problem is that public policies provide little help to parents or children to meet these new challenges. We have made a social problem into a family problem, especially for families without the economic resources.
Let me hear all the Libertarians say, “Ohhh nooo she didn’tttt!”
On Campus - Thursday, October 29, 2009 12:35 - 1 Comment
Nora Ephron and Spike Lee to Speak at NYU J School
According to a press release issued today, screenwriter and director Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Julie & Julia) and Tisch grad and director Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, 25 Hours) are slated to take part in the J-School’s “Primary Sources” conversation series. Ephron will be speaking from 3-4pm with former NY Post and NY Daily News editor-in-chief Peter Hamill on November 10th. Lee will speak with writer and composer James McBride on November 12th from 2-3pm. More information, plus the full press release, after the jump.
Entertainment - Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:30 - 6 Comments
Remember to Wish Your BFF the Internet a Happy Birthday
According to Mashable, “On October 29, 1969, the first two nodes of ARPANET were interconnected between UCLA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and SRI International (SRI) in Menlo Park, California.” In normal person speak? It’s the internet’s 40th birthday!
This is a momentous occasion. Let us take this time to revel in the wonder of this day with some beautiful things the internet hath wrought:
- The fun of “warning” a friend on AIM in middle school.
- The grave importance of keeping your AIM profile up to date with the latest Blink 182 quotes and initials of your best friends.
- The creation of “memes” which have given us more trite bullshit to discuss during awkward elevator rides.
- Your 8th grade Xanga that got you grounded because “stuff” is not a clever code word for “Smirnoff Ice.”
- The increased societal acceptance of unparalleled narcissism.
Continue…
Entertainment - Thursday, October 22, 2009 15:31 - 1 Comment
Hulu’s Evil Plot to Destroy the World? Charging for Content by 2010
For those of us too lazy to sift through broken links on Surf the Channel, or too HD-obsessed to withstand awful grainy quality, Hulu has become a welcome sanctuary for free TV. Or, as their commercials like to call it, “an evil plot to destroy the world.”
But that clever tagline was more genuine back when they hadn’t decided to throw a paywall up around the site. According to B&C, News Corps. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey has announced that he’s had enough with the free model, and Hulu will begin to charge users for certain content by “at least 2010.” He was clear that not all content would be blocked by a paywall, but that “specially-created content and TV previews” will begin to cost money. That’s CEO speak for “we’re sick of you getting to watch 30 Rock for free.”
National - Thursday, October 22, 2009 13:03 - 2 Comments
Georgetown Sophomore Will Pay You $12/Hour to Be His Mom
J-school grads on food stamps, your dream job has arrived. Georgetown’s blog, Vox Populi, posted a classified ad last week conjured by a G-town sophomore who is apparently so monumentally important that he requires a personal assistant to aid him with daily tasks. This kid is both a student and a part time employee (WOW!), so he clearly has no time to do things like laundry or… drive his own car. For $12/hour you can personally assist this frazzled fellow student in errands such as “scheduling a haircut appointment,” “making his bed,” and “driving him to and from work.” His douchiness was so pronounced that even the Washington Post picked up on it. But folks, the job market is despairing. We must take what we can get. Surely if your unpaid internships have taught you anything, it’s that there’s no shame in becoming a latte slave.
Entertainment - Thursday, October 22, 2009 12:03 - 2 Comments
Culturally Relevant Halloween Costume Ideas: The Good and the Lame
Halloween is almost upon us, and the well of costume ideas overfloweth with things both wondrous and lame. Here at NYU Local, we decided to compile a list of timely costume ideas for the creatively challenged. Culled from this year’s news, we’ve come up with a few options that are acceptable, and some that are decidedly lame. These are all obviously subjective, so we welcome arguments and addendums in the comments. Behold the results:
THE GOOD
Twitter grew so tremendously popular this year that even Bobst decided to get in on the clusterfuck. Unfortunately, it seems as if the shoddy servers that manage the site are continuously unprepared for the barrage of fake Kanye West death rumors and #shecutebut tags. Twitter handles this the way some handle their parents’ anger over an exorbitant credit card bill: by shrinking away into soft-spoken cuteness. Enter the adorably angering fail whale. I don’t know how you’d pull this costume off, but, as with most costumes, you could probably do it with a little help from some poster board and sharpies.
Entertainment - Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:36 - 2 Comments
CMJ for All: The Postelles and Golden Silvers
One of the wonderful things about working for NYU Local is that CMJ was kind enough to award many of the Entertainment writers badges so that they could attend and write about shows. This means they get to share their experiences with the NYU masses who didn’t enter our giveaway contest. For your enjoyment, below is a video recorded by Local staffer Natan Edelsburg of the Golden Silvers, and after the jump, The Postelles.
Golden Silvers – True No.9 Blues (True Romance) – Bowery Poetry Club 10/21/09 from NYU Local on Vimeo.
