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New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

Akiva Thalheim

Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor

Akiva Thalheim was WSN's Social Media Editor from September 2018 – January 2020. 

All content by Akiva Thalheim
Mobile 3D printers can have many potential uses, including building infrastructure on construction sites. (Via NYU)

Moon Base-Building, Self-Aware Robots Are in Development at Tandon

A team of robotic engineers hopes to develop robots that will revolutionize the construction industry.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor October 15, 2019

Tandon School of Engineering researchers are hoping to bring together a team with lofty goals, like repairing U.S. infrastructure and building bases on the Moon, or even Mars....

NYU’s new Center for Social Media and Politics is studying how social media impacts politics, including how fake news is spread. (Photo by Christian Forte)

NYU Launches Center for Social Media and Politics After Rise of Fake News, Russian Trolls

The center will study the role of social media in politics, including how social media influences political ideologies and how fake news is spread.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor October 14, 2019

The university has received approximately $12 million in funding to establish a new Center for Social Media and Politics, which will research topics like how social media affects...

Researchers at Tandon have found Facebook pages that claim to be fact-checking sites are actually promoting highly partisan advertisements. (Via Facebook)

Fake Facebook Pages Are Influencing the Canadian Election, Tandon Researchers Find

The researchers found two pages posing as fact-checking sites are investing in political advertising leading up to the Canadian Federal Election.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor October 10, 2019

Fake fact-checking pages on Facebook have been attempting to influence the upcoming Canadian Federal Election, according to researchers at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. The...

NYU's new undergraduate major in Data Science teaches students the science of data collection and analysis. (via Pixabay)

University Launches Ethics-Forward Data Science Major

The new major consists of five courses in data science and four each in computer science and mathematics.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor September 16, 2019

A new major and minor in data science has launched, the College of Arts and Science announced last week. It’s the first new major in over five years. In development for more...

A student holds their phone, with dating apps displayed on the screen. (Staff Photo by Marva Shi)

The Dangers of Love in the Age of Dating Apps

Dating apps are deeply addictive, exploitative and dehumanizing — and there’s no way to escape them.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor September 8, 2019

Out of all the events that occurred on my 18th birthday, one stands out: signing up for Tinder. While others may have bought a lottery ticket to celebrate their newfound freedom,...

Stern graduate student Kyle Bergman pitched his Swoveralls on "Shark Tank" this week. (Courtesy of ABC Shark Tank)

Stern Student Pitches Sweatpants-Overalls Company to the Sharks

All five sharks declined to invest in Stern graduate student Kyle Bergman’s company, Swoveralls, citing issues with growth and the sustainability of the product.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor April 24, 2019

Stern MBA candidate Kyle Bergman pitched Swoveralls, a clothing line of sweatpant overalls, on ABC’s “Shark Tank” on Monday, asking for $150,000 in exchange for 15% equity....

Researchers are discovering that a lack of diversity in technology is problematic to the future of AI. (via Gerd Leonhard on flickr.com)

Researchers Find ‘Diversity Disaster’ in Artificial Intelligence Industry

A report from NYU’s AI Now Institute highlighted how a lack of diversity in the artificial intelligence industry has influenced discriminatory technology.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor April 23, 2019

Artificial intelligence tools created by leading technology companies have come under fire in recent years for discriminating against women, people of color and other minorities....

A new bot created by NYU IT in collaboration with OGS will assist students traveling from foreign countries to America through the
immigration and customs process. (Staff Photo by Jorene He)

University to Launch Chatbot in Response to Trump’s Travel Ban

The bot will assist students traveling from foreign countries to the U.S. through the immigration and customs process.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor March 31, 2019

When President Trump announced his travel ban in 2017, employees in NYU’s Office of Global Services panicked. With over 17,000 international students at NYU — more than any...

Yann LeCun (via Facebook)

Courant Professor Who Won Turing Award Sees Hopeful Future in AI

From digital assistants to medical image analysis, Professor Yann LeCun said artificial intelligence will continue to improve society.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor March 29, 2019

NYU Courant Professor of Computer Science Yann LeCun won the A. M. Turing Award on Wednesday. The award is considered by many to be the “Nobel Prize of Computing.” Announced...

Opening day of the Work Life office at NYU. One of their major initiatives is Keeyo, an app that will connect students to provide care services for the children of NYU faculty, staff, and other students. (Courtesy of NYU Work Life)

App Will Connect Faculty to Student Babysitters Next Year

The university hopes to launch an on-demand care services app in 2020 that will initially offer features such as babysitting and tutoring.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor March 11, 2019

Faculty members at NYU are outnumbered by students 10 to one. Managing their workloads can be overwhelming on its own, but professors with kids have even more to worry about. A...

NYU President Andy Hamilton's podcast: Conversations with Andy Hamilton. (via NYU)

President Hamilton Starts Monthly Podcast

In “Conversations,” Hamilton will speak with students, alumni and professors he sees as impactful.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor March 7, 2019

President Andrew Hamilton’s British accent can grace your playlist each month as part of his new podcast “Conversations,” he announced on Wednesday. The podcast will...

Citizens gather in Long Island City to protest the movement of Amazon into the area. (Staff Photo by Julia McNeill)

NYU Administrators Want Amazon Back

In an open letter, President Hamilton and Tandon Dean Kovačević asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to reconsider a headquarters in New York City.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor March 5, 2019

President Andrew Hamilton and Tandon School of Engineering Dean Jelena Kovačević signed an open letter in The New York Times last week urging Amazon to reconsider its decision...

Overhead shot of the 17th annual Venture Showcase,  part of the $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge. 41 teams presented their startups.  (Photo by Akiva Thalheim)

Startups Venture for Exposure at Annual NYU Showcase

Hundreds of members of the NYU community attended Thursday’s Venture Showcase, in which 41 of NYU’s top startups presented.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor February 22, 2019

Stern School of Business hosted its annual fair for startups on Thursday, with 41 teams presenting their businesses to a crowd of around 500 students, alumni and investors in the...

Over 500 students packed into Tandon's gymnasium for a 48-hour hackathon, the largest in New York. Prizes this year were valued at over $28,000.

HackNYU Emphasizes Sustainability, Inclusivity

Students across all three of NYU’s degree-granting campuses participated in a Hackathon with total prizes valued at over $28,000.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor February 19, 2019

Over 500 students squeezed into the Tandon School of Engineering gymnasium on Sunday for a 48-hour celebration of coding and creativity. CAS senior and Executive Co-Chair of...

A reply from the NYU BobChat system. (Via facebook.com)

Students Meme BobChat — and BobChat Memes Back

BobChat, a chatbot intended to answer questions about NYU, initially led to concerns and memes, but NYU has since ironed some of those kinks out.
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor February 14, 2019

NYU's launch of new chatting service, "BobChat," has resulted in a wave of memes made by students interacting with the surprisingly witty bot. Available through Facebook...

EMT Professor Greg Coleman (left) interviews Mavericks owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban about one of his first start-ups, Broadcast.com, an early audio streaming service he began in 1995 before selling it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion. (Photo by Victor Porcelli)

‘Shark’ Mark Cuban Bites Into Stern Entrepreneurs

Prominent entrepreneur Mark Cuban talked to members of the NYU community about his early career before discussing entrepreneur's businesses in a so-called “Stern Tank.”
Akiva Thalheim, Social Media Editor January 30, 2019

Mark Cuban spoke at Tisch Hall on Tuesday, touching on his early business ventures and contemporary politics before reviewing three current and former NYU students’ start-ups. Over...