T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · VOL. CXXXIV, NO. 86 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
SUNNY CLEAR
40 43
CROSS CAMPUS
RAIN FORESTS CLASS PREPS FOR NEXT EXPEDITION
DISCRIMINATION
MIDDLE EAST
FENCING
Asian-American applicant to Harvard, Princeton alleges bias
AMANPOUR URGES CHANGE IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
Elis roll to easy victory in last match before Ivy League championships
PAGE 6-7 SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY
PAGE 3 NEWS
PAGE 5 NEWS
PAGE 12 SPORTS
DeStefano addresses ‘state of the city’ Mayor, BOA set agenda
Make love, not war. Five minutes into Professor Anthony Esolen’s True Love Week speech on “The Person as a Gift,” about 50 attendees staged a “kiss-in.” As Esolen delivered a line blaming the sexual revolution for cultural degradation, one attendee’s cell phone began playing the Diana Ross classic “I’m Coming Out.” At that point, around 12 couples, straight and gay alike, rose to their feet and began to kiss. Others looked on and cheered. After about a minute, attendees spilled out of the previously packed WLH 116, leaving around 20 people in the room. Get ’em next year. Destin “Dez” Duron ’14 appeared in the audition rounds of the TV show “The Voice,” in which judges cannot see the contestants and instead select who advances based only on the vocal skills. None of the four judges selected Duron, something judge Christina Aguilera said she regretted. “I’m so angry right now. I’m so angry right now,” Aguilera said, pointing out that Duron is “adorable.” One love. The Morse dining
hall celebrated Bob Marley’s birthday on Monday by playing a selection of his music, including “Jammin.” He would have been 67.
Gown meets town. In a
Monday interview with the News, Yale College Dean Mary Miller said she would like to have newly appointed New Haven Police Department Chief Dean Esserman teach a residential college seminar in fall 2012.
BY NICK DEFIESTA STAFF REPORTER
tives before they could assess its financial viability. “In 2011, we lost 34 people to violent crime,” DeStefano said in his address, referring to New Haven’s 20-year-high homicide count. “It isn’t normal. We must never think it’s normal, or that someone deserved it, or most important that we can’t do something
One month into his recordsetting 10th term, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. used his annual State of the City address to set out his priorities for the coming year. Speaking before a Board of Aldermen meeting, DeStefano spoke to the aldermen and members of the public in a full aldermanic chamber about his priorities for the coming year, which included increasing public safety, boosting job creation and resolving budgetary problems that continue to plague the city. Having recently returned from an education summit in Seattle, DeStefano focused on continuing New Haven’s education reform and argued that these efforts will promote the city’s long-term economic prospects. “Long-term and nearterm, our most pressing challenge and opportunity is public school change for our kids,” DeStefano said. New Haven’s three “big initiatives” in school reform — tiering schools according to performance, evaluating teachers and instituting the Yale-funded scholarship program New Haven Promise — have begun to reap educational rewards, DeStefano said. It would be the “great failure
SEE NHPD PAGE 4
SEE STATE OF CITY PAGE 4
JAMES LU/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
In his 19th State of the City address, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. proposed a new police strategy and stressed the importance of the city’s ongoing school reform and job creation efforts.
Aldermen hear new policing plan DESTEFANO PROPOSES NEW COLD CASE, INVESTIGATIONS UNITS IN NHPD BY JAMES LU STAFF REPORTER Mayor John DeStefano Jr. sketched out a broad strategy for improving the Elm City’s public safety in his State of the City address at City Hall Monday evening.
The mayor set out two missions — establishing a clear strategy for reducing violence crime and reinvigorating community partnerships with the police — as part of a five-pronged plan to enhance the security of city residents. DeStefano’s five strate-
gies, which include creating a shooting investigation unit and reviving the ‘cold case’ unit in the New Haven Police Department, as well as expanding the department’s community policing efforts, drew praise from members of the Board of Aldermen. But members of the board also said they were waiting on the mayor to finalize the staffing structure and financial plans for the new initia-
Surprised? According to a list
posted to the Huffington Post on Monday, Quinnipiac is one of the nation’s best schools for socially awkward students. Boston University and Carnegie Mellon made the list, as well; Harvard was nowhere to be found.
Radical honesty. Mayor John DeStefano Jr. just relased his annual evaluations of seven high-ranking city officials for 2011, describing the strengths and weaknesses he saw in each of his employees. In one evaluation, released to the New Haven Independent on Friday, DeStefano told social services czar Chisara Asomugha that her performance over the past year had been “mixed.”
Universities weigh complaint formality BY GAVAN GIDEON AND CAROLINE TAN STAFF REPORTERS The recent controversy surrounding an informal sexual assault complaint filed against Patrick Witt ’12, along with the release of Yale’s first University-wide report on sexual misconduct cases last week, have intensified scrutiny of the University’s formal and informal complaint processes. At Yale, 43 of the 52 complaints filed between July 1 and Dec. 31 of last year were informal, meaning they included
no formal investigation or disciplinary action. Yale College Dean Mary Miller said she recognized there are benefits to offering only a formal complaint process — such as the opportunity for accused parties to be notified conclusively of their culpability — but she emphasized that the informal option is important because it allows complainants to pursue a simpler route toward resolution. After the Department of Education released a “Dear Colleague” letter that clarified
Title IX regulations last April, a growing number of universities began emphasizing formal mechanisms for resolving issues of sexual misconduct, said Peter Lake, director for the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University. At Yale, which had both formal and informal complaint procedures before the “Dear Colleague” letter was released, administrators have worked in recent months to raise awareness of all complaint options in cases of sexual misconduct.
Daniel Siegel, a Californiabased lawyer who handles Title IX cases, said that whether a formal or informal procedure is more appropriate can depend on a complaint’s severity. Some circumstances may only require that administrators speak with a respondent and issue a reprimand, he said, while other more serious cases should give an accused perpetrator the right to a full investigation. “Having both procedures is valuable to the victim and may be necessary for the alleged
offender,” Siegel said. Lake said informal complaint procedures can be constructive since they allow students to “air out grievances or concerns without having to be really oppositional.” Still, he said there are also “enormous” disadvantages to an informal complaint process, such as the increased tendency of administrators to suppress serious issues “when they need to be brought to a higher level of attention and decision-makSEE COMPLAINTS PAGE 8
Surfing CT? The legendary
Beach Boys will bring their 50th anniversary reunion tour to Mohegan Sun in May, the venue told the New Haven Register on Monday.
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1943 Following the leads of the Harvard Crimson, Brown Herald and Daily Dartmouth, the Daily Princetonian announces plans to suspend publication for the duration of the war. The Princetonian’s announcement makes the News the only Ivy League daily still in publication. Submit tips to Cross Campus
crosscampus@yaledailynews.com
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SPH commencement invitation to stand BY MARIANA LOPEZ-ROSAS STAFF REPORTER Despite a week of controversy, the Yale School of Public Health will not be withdrawing its invitation to the head of the nation’s largest breast cancer charity to speak in this year’s Commencement. The school’s invitation to founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Nancy Brinker, came into question this week amid growing concern from faculty, students and staff owing to recent uproar over her foundation’s announcement last Wednesday that it would no longer pro-
vide funding for Planned Parenthood — a decision that has since been reversed. But SPH Dean Paul Cleary announced Monday afternoon that he will not withdraw Brinker’s invitation. Some students, however, have vowed to keep pushing for a different Commencement speaker. “Yale cannot allow the threat of disruption or the possibility of distasteful content or an objectionable speaker to constitute grounds for canceling an invited speaker,” Cleary said a Monday press release. “I support this policy — it is essential to the academic mission that we all embrace.”
Cleary told the News that in making his decision he considered the opinions of students, faculty and alumni. He also asked other University officials for guidance and considered Yale Corporation guidelines, he added, ultimately deciding not to withdraw the invitation to Brinker, which was made in October, because doing so “felt inappropriate.” He added that he personally disapproved of the foundation’s initial decision not to provide funding to Planned Parenthood — a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive, maternal and child health services, includ-
ing abortion — but that inviting Brinker to speak at SPH’s Commencement does not imply that the school endorses the decision. One of his concerns, Cleary said, was freedom of expression, and having Brinker as a speaker would assure that this freedom is maintained. He added that in order to encourage debate and exchange ideas, the School of Public Health will be holding public meetings for students and staff where he hopes “the anger and frustration” over Brinker’s invitation will be released. The first SEE KOMEN PAGE 8
Yale cannot allow … an objectionable speaker to constitute grounds for canceling an [invitation]. PAUL CLEARY DEAN, YALE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
“We should get rid of all programs which carry underlying presumptions .COMMENT that are specific, regionally interested, or politically consequential. How yaledailynews.com/opinion about we start with DS?” ‘DOMLAWTON’ ON ‘ER&M’S GOT PROBLEMS’
Sex Week and sensibility The anatomy W GUEST COLUMNIST MINHAL BAIG
of the kiss-in
W
hen I entered the talk entitled “The Person as a Gift” by Providence College professor Anthony Esolen last night, I was aware of two things. Esolen had written a 10-part manifesto decrying homosexuality, and I had been sent an email detailing a “kiss-in” demonstration to disrupt Esolen’s lecture. I had a preconceived notion that True Love Week’s organizers had made a serious mistake in inviting a guest whose past writings were more akin to a Directed Studies philosophy paper than serious scholarship. On one hand, I respected the intellectual courage of True Love Week’s members to invite a guest with such unpopular beliefs; on the other, I was concerned that they failed to recognize that Esolen’s talk about sexual culture might reflect his homophobic views. Esolen’s speech, however, was exactly what I expected. His argument was primarily aesthetic — often confusing the beautiful with the good. He claimed that reducing love to the science of body parts and appetites had completely written mysteries out of the picture. He constantly referred to the beauty of the mystery between the two sexes and how this gap in understanding drives desire for the other sex and justifies it. However, this argument is based on the assumption that there are universal male and female experiences and not human experiences. A man understands another man on a different level from a woman, who possesses the knowledge of childbearing. However, most of the students in WLH 116 did not intend to examine Esolen’s ideas rigorously. Bijan Aboutorabi ’13, one of the event’s organizers, invited those who could not demonstrate intellectual tolerance to leave before the start of the talk. About 10 minutes later, most of the audience stood up for the demonstration, kissed each other and promptly left. Stragglers laughed, made snide comments and also headed out the door. Esolen laughed, referring to the demonstrators as “kids, such kids.” He exploited the spectacle to reinforce his argument — sexuality was on exhibit as a power play. As I sat there, watching the majority of the audience leave, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. The impolite spectacle did not make me any more sympathetic to the talk; nor did the lackluster talk make me any more sympathetic to the spectacle. His audience called his
capability to speak about sexuality into question. At the same time, the demonstrators had no seriousness in purpose; the kiss-in was an effort to defeat Esolen’s arguments not in a discursive manner but through visceral exhibitionism. It made no argument but this: We think you’re wrong, and we don’t like what you have to say. There was no engagement between Esolen and the demonstrators. It seemed clear that Esolen had excluded homosexuals from his conception of a proper sexual culture, and the demonstrators had dismissed the possibility that Esolen could make any argument that was worth listening to.
SPEAKER AND PROTESTERS SHOULD LISTEN TO EACH OTHER I respected the demonstrators’ point of view — even agreed with it — but they made no effort to engage seriously with the guest on why he was wrong. Perhaps the demonstrators believed that a line had been crossed — a line that separated things that could be discussed civilly and those that could not. I understand that it would be nearly impossible for anyone to take seriously a speaker with hateful views. The demonstrators did not believe they had anything to prove. The most powerful act of the night, by far, was by a gentleman who stayed for the duration of the talk and asked a serious question: “Could there exist mystery within the sexes?” This sort of engagement — and not the demonstration — pushed Esolen to answer in a way that revealed his arguments to be truly illfounded. As students of philosophy, we can only present beliefs that we have some conviction are true, and at times, those beliefs can be so unwavering that we are unable to conceive of a view that could be any different. Discussion is meant to facilitate the search for truth. At the talk, the demonstrators were unwilling to hear what Esolen had to say, and Esolen had already dismissed them as unable to understand his views. But if we have already concluded that we know the truth, why search at all? MINHAL BAIG is a senior in Trumbull College. Contact her at minhal.baig@yale.edu .
e are, of course, in the middle of Yale’s legendary Sex Week. Remembering that evening two years ago when half of participants in a meeting I was attending disappeared for a massive “howto” workshop on oral sex (titled “Babeland’s lip-tricks: blowjobs and going down”), I found myself dreading this week. This year, however, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The tone just seems more normal. I’m not quite sure how, but the organizers seem to have reasonably navigated the perilous path between prurience and Puritanism. Before coming to Yale, I never considered myself particularly squeamish; hey, my mother has a doctorate in human sexuality and wrote her dissertation on women’s expectations and experiences when using vibrators. I thought I was cool with sex talk. Nevertheless, I found myself shocked at the unfamiliar combination of coarseness and openness that seemed to surround sex at Yale. I have no particular interest in the field of sexuality, and I don’t fall into either of those strange partisan camps that seem determined to remake the social and sexual culture of the country in their own image. Nevertheless, openness and education about
sex and sexuality certainly strike me as laudatory goals. Overwhelming shame about a universal aspect of the YISHAI human expeSCHWARTZ rience seems rather silly, The Gadfly and depriving people of helpful information about an aspect of everyday life is unhealthy. Naturally, then, some of the more extreme statements by the students vocally opposed to Sex Week come off as ridiculous and small-minded. And it also doesn’t help these students’ cause that their alternative program, “True Love Week,” is a marketing disaster. Its Disney-worthy name, unappealing advertisements and overtly Catholic flavor seem deliberately calibrated to repel Yale students. At the same time, we shouldn’t pretend that these students are reacting to nothing. Sex Week 2010 shocked me, but it was merely a reflection of the culture we already inhabit. Sex is not simply discussed openly; it’s discussed coarsely. On my first day
at Yale, my college dean encouraged my freshman class to get to know each other — biblically. When many of my friends try to be funny, they seem to think that alcohol and sexual innuendo are a substitute for actual humor. I hardly think I am the only one who leaves encounters feeling slimy. Openness and privacy do not necessarily exist in conflict. We can have meaningful conversations and transmit important information without reducing ourselves to a circus of titillating first-person narratives and raucous vulgarity. I am not a WGSS student, so there are certainly many minds much smarter, more learned and more qualified than mine to think about these questions, but surely there must be a way to salvage privacy, decency and genuine modesty without returning to Puritan New England? The problem, though, is that no one seems to be trying. As most readers are well aware, the schedule for this year’s Sex Week is very different from 2010’s. After significant criticism from the Marshall Committee on Campus Climate, and facing the threat of a withdrawal of University support, the event’s organizers adopted a series of impressive changes. The corporate spon-
sorships have disappeared, and there seems to be a wider range of workshops and presentations, with prominent time given to sexuality’s intersections with law, religion and medicine. The calendar still has its fair share of purely titillating events, but there does appear to have been a general swerve toward the educational. In all honesty, the exhibitionist stuff (like Stripped Stories: A Night of Hilarious Sex-Themed Storytelling and Games) still makes me uncomfortable. But I understand that these exist precisely because they have an audience, because people think they are fun. Sex Week’s organizers don’t want their event to be a dreary soul-less lecture series — and nor should it be. The problem, then, is not a Sex Week that mixes the popular with the educational. The problem is what’s popular. Society’s conception of fun banishes privacy and valorizes vulgarity. So how can a sexual discourse be open, affirming, educational and fun — and still stay modest? I don’t think we have an answer yet. But I hope we’ll know it when we see it. YISHAI SCHWARTZ is a junior in Branford College. His column runs on Tuesdays. Contact him at yishai.schwartz@yale.edu .
Acting, nationally M
ost of us support free speech and artistic expression. As enlightened, creative and (largely) liberal young people, we value the right of artists to produce whatever they want. Should this prove awful, objectionable, even offensive, we trust that wider cultural forces will react accordingly, contesting bad art and relegating it to obscurity or infamy. However, I suspect that many of us would also like to see more government support for the arts. Especially in these troubled times, we might argue, the importance of the arts is disproportionate to their financial viability. If the government pays lavishly for ethanol corn in Iowa, it might at least shell out a few bucks for hungry ex-Yalies in Brooklyn. I am unqualified to discuss the economic ramifications of subsidizing the arts versus throwing them to the free market. Instead, I’d like to discuss some of the ethical dilemmas that can arise from the collusion of artists and politicians. A current case in Hungary illustrates both the dangers of such relationships and their importance in the process of national soul-searching. In Budapest, an actor known for his extreme right-wing views has assumed leadership of the city’s prominent New Theatre. The appointment was announced in October, when Budapest mayor István Tarlós vetoed the opinion
of a professional committee and appointed G y ö r g y Dörner to the post. In the days following the transfer SAM of power last LASMAN week, protestors battled Beartrap nationalist goons while the police struggled to keep order. Dörner is not a Gibsonian bigot who confines his prejudices to drunken rants and thinly veiled cinematic allegories. He proudly supports Jobbik, a party that blames Jews and Roma for Hungary’s problems and until recently retained a uniformed militia. These trappings have broad appeal — Jobbik won nearly 17 percent of the popular vote in 2010. However, the actor has stated that his true sympathies lie with the even more radical MIÉP, which openly calls for the expulsion of the Roma and warns of a Zionist plot to control the nation’s media and government. Shortly after his directorial appointment, Dörner nominated the MIÉP’s chairman, István Csurka, to aid him as artistic director. Csurka was a sometime playwright and full-time antiSemite whose death on Feb. 4 was mourned by the sort of deluded nationalists who still lament the
fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many commentators, ranging from bloggers to European Union commissioners, have decried the rightward swing of Hungarian politics under its autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orbán. In addition to curtailing leftist opposition, Orbán has done everything but actively endorse extremists like Jobbik. Yet the battle over the New Theatre has opened a new front in Hungary’s culture wars. While Dörner may be entitled to his political prejudices and their artistic expression, Mayor Tarlós has given him a pulpit and implicitly endorsed his reactionary view of art and society. In a statement, Dörner called for Hungarians to “declare war on the liberal entertainment state, which has sunk to the brothel level.” What would he like to see in its place? Evidently, works like those of his late friend Csurka, whose “Sixth Coffin” is scheduled for production in the coming year. “The Sixth Coffin” bewails the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, which stripped Hungary of vast territories. This might be mere chestbeating were the subtext not crystal-clear — Hungarians belong in Hungary, everyone else belongs elsewhere and someone today must bear the blame for a political injustice (if hardly a humanitarian crisis) nearly a century old. When the government puts its weight behind such work, the
line between art and propaganda becomes dangerously blurred. These are the wages of government-supported theater taken to its extreme. A domineering politician can give a microphone to an unqualified bigot. And yet there is something deeply moving about a battle for the national soul fought on and around the stage. Because of the links between government and art in Hungary, the modern theater can truly become a locus of protest and dissent, rather than a repository of one-sided, easily ignored screeds. Hungarians care deeply about what plays are produced in their capital city — so much that they will take to the streets to fight for their vision. It is hard to imagine Americans — Yalies in particular — taking similar action. We see art and government as uneasy bedfellows, both in terms of content and production. Yet a closer relationship between the two need not compromise artistic integrity — rather, it might force greater accountability upon both artists and statesmen. We certainly don’t want to become like Hungary. But how bad would it be to think, as they do, that there is a link between creative and political destiny? SAM LASMAN is a senior in Berkeley College. His column runs on alternate Tuesdays. Contact him at samuel.lasman@yale.edu .
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T
he summer before I started college, I was filled with anticipation. Ahead of me were four years when I could pursue my academic interests in an environment dedicated to learning. I would share and cultivate new ideas and build ambitious plans for the future with the smart, engaging professors and students I would meet. Almost everyone I talked to assured me that my years in college were going to be the best years of my life, revolving on an axis of learning, thinking and collaboration. I am now three-eighths through my college career. Looking back on these three semesters, I find that college is unquestionably a fantastical world — but not in the way I expected. In college, learning — in its purest form — is not prioritized. To the contrary, it seems that the general objective for many students is to learn the least and still do well on evaluations. This strategy of doing the bare minimum, moreover, is often as successful as the full-effort approach. It is probable that the student who puts in min-
imal effort will achieve the same exam scores as the student who puts in maximum endeavor. Students are often rewarded for cutting corners. I have observed that it is rare for students to attend all their lectures in any given week. For introductory classes, many students go to only a handful of lectures the entire semester. They use the textbook to complete their homework assignments. At midterm and finals periods, they cram enough to pass the exams. For most students, this strategy brings free time for other interests and social activities; often, it can culminate in a very good grade Although the student may have acquired knowledge during the semester, the class was not about learning. In college, many professors and students set high exam scores and excellent grades as the ultimate goal and appear to be ambivalent towards class participation. Especially in science classes, grades are often entirely based on exam scores. Professors rarely recognize passion and perseverance in college. Achieving high exams
scores, however, is not equivalent to learning. If one sporadically or rarely attends class, does that count as going to college? High schools require their students to attend a minimum number of school days in order to receive a diploma. So why should not the same rules apply for college? One could learn from a textbook without paying tens of thousands of dollars a year. Generally, a college degree is required for a decent white-collar job. But is college preparing us to become diligent employees? Does college teach the right message concerning work ethic? Perhaps the training we receive in college does not prepare us for our post-college vocation. We go to college expecting the University to prepare us for post-graduate life. Is it the school’s responsibility, therefore, to demand that we be more than good test-takers? In college, we learn the art of cutting corners to achieve arbitrary grades. But this rarely seems to work in life beyond college. As my dad often reminds me, in the
words of Woody Allen, “90 percent of life is just showing up.” Both my parents attribute their successful careers to hard work, persistence and diligence. Dedication, diligence, passion and drive are essential to success and fulfillment in life. In two and a half years, when I graduate and enter the real world, what will get me where I want to go? Will it be cutting corners or perseverance? Perhaps these four years in college are the only years of my life when assiduousness, diligence and dedication are not the keys to success. Maybe college, neglecting to instruct us in the practical and essential strategies for life, does not train us for the real world. Perhaps colleges and universities need to rethink the values they instill in their students — and reevaluate how they might teach the importance of tenacity, perseverance and dedication. WENDY DE WOLF is a sophomore in Morse College. Contact her at wendy.dewolf@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 3
PAGE THREE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 11:45 AM Yale School of Management Leaders Forum. The Yale School of Management presents a talk with Roland W. Betts ’68, the founder and chair of Chelsea Piers and L.P. and president of International Film Investors Inc. Free to the general public. Horchow Hall (55 Hillhouse Ave.), General Motors Room. 4:00 PM “Cell Engineering for the Production of Biofuels.” The Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry/Chemical Biology Institute is hosting a talk by Pamela Peralta-Yahya of the Keasling Research Group. Bass Center for Molecular and Structural Biology (266 Whitney Ave.), Room 305.
CORRECTIONS MONDAY, FEB. 6
The article “Activist pushes investing transparency“ misstated the name of St. Anthony Hall, the location of a talk with Martin Bourqui.
Suit alleges bias in elite admissions BY ANDREW GIAMBRONE STAFF REPORTER The U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into alleged racial discrimination by Harvard and Princeton universities has prompted discussion about whether discrimination impacts admission processes at the nation’s elite schools. Harvard and Princeton came under fire last week after Bloomberg reported that an Indian-American student from California, who declined to be identified, had filed complaints with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights claiming he had been denied admission to the schools because of his race. The student’s allegations have stirred discussion among higher education officials and experts as to whether racial discrimination plays a cloaked role in today’s college admissions process. While experts remain unsure whether the allegations have sufficient legal grounding, four of five interviewed said they think the complaints are linked to growing anxiety about the competitiveness of college admissions among AsianAmericans, many of whom who feel the system is unfair. An increasing number of students from Asian-American families are rejected from the nation’s top colleges and universities each year, four higher education experts said. “I think the kinds of folks who are suing these institutions reflect a real fear in the Asian-American community,” said OiYan Poon, a professor of Asian-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The fear is that compared to a white applicant with similar qualifications, the white applicant will be chosen over the Asian-American one.” Lee Cheng, secretary of the Asian American Legal Foundation — a non-profit organization based in San Francisco — predicted that claims of racial discrimination in college admissions from Asian-American students and their families will likely increase in the next five years. But Cheng and other experts said such complaints will be difficult to analyze until colleges and universities release admissions data in full — including demographics, legacy status and test scores. If that information were made public, Cheng said he expects the data would show that race and ethnic discrimination do factor into college admissions decisions. Both Cheng and Stephen Hsu, a physics professor at the University of Oregon who taught physics at Yale from 1995-’98, said Ivy League schools should be more open with their admissions statistics. “In my opinion, any educational institution, public or private, which receives significant government support should be required to release aggregate admissions data of this kind, which includes information about ethnicity, legacy and athletic status, and all other variables of significant weight in the admissions decision,”
Hsu said in a Sunday email. “Transparency is essential to this important discussion, and the requirement could easily be mandated by the Department of Education.” All five higher education experts interviewed also pointed to the holistic criteria that colleges and universities use to evaluate candidates as a factor in perceptions of discrimination among the Asian-American population. Asian-Americans statistically score better on standardized tests, Poon said, and thus often believe they must have exceptionally high scores to stand out among their peers. But she said that since colleges take into account many factors when making admissions decisions — grades, leadership experience, athletics and extracurriculars, among others — those standardized test scores alone are likely not the reason why a candidate would be rejected or admitted, and not sufficient evidence of racial discrimination.
I think the kinds of folks who are suing these institutions reflect a real fear. OIYAN POON Professor, University of California, Los Angeles Hsu added that Harvard and Princeton reject numerous Asian-American applicants each year who have perfect scores on the SAT, which by itself does not constitute racial discrimination. Poon said cases like the ones filed against Harvard and Princeton are “unfortunate” because they draw national attention away from “real educational issues” affecting Asian-Americans, such as racialized bullying in schools and poor education in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Roughly 700 to 750 students who identified as Asian-American were enrolled at Yale each year between 2005 and 2010, though that number jumped to 812 during the 2011-’12 admissions cycle, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel said in a Monday email that Asian-Americans make up at least 15 percent of current Yale undergraduates. Still, Brenzel cautioned that the actual percentage of Asian-American undergraduates would be greater because it would account for multiracial students and Asian-Americans who did not respond to the optional racial identity question on the University’s undergraduate admissions application. Of the current 812 Yale students who identify as AsianAmericans, 357 are male and are 455 female, according to the Office of Institutional Research. Contact ANDREW GIAMBRONE at andrew.giambrone@yale.edu .
ER&M change follows trend BY ANTONIA WOODFORD STAFF REPORTER The faculty’s approval of ethnicity, race and migration as a standalone major last Thursday has left South Asian studies as the only major at Yale that must be taken with a second area of study. Since the mid-1980’s, Yale has
NEWS ANALYSIS offered five majors that could only be pursued as second majors, four of which have since been replaced by standalone majors. Administrators and faculty interviewed said these “piggyback” majors are generally created on a trial basis until they acquire enough resources to stand on their own. While professors said achieving standalone status is a testament to a program’s coherence and rigor, they viewed the “piggyback” phase as useful for testing and growing a major. “There is no set period for when — or if — a newly created major becomes permanent,” Dean of Undergraduate Education Joseph Gordon said. “Sometimes a program will grow quickly and add a lot of faculty in a short time. Sometimes it will grow more slowly or not at all. It is a judgment call on the part of the faculty of the program as to when the program is ready to propose such a change, and a judgment call on the part of the faculty as a whole as to when to confirm it.” Last year, the global affairs major replaced the “piggyback” major in international studies, which administrators said was made possible by the new resources of the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Yale also previously offered such majors in “studies in the environment” and organismal biology. Students majoring in South Asian studies must still choose a second major, but the program has experienced significant growth in recent years, which South Asian studies professors said may prompt them to consider pursuing standalone status for the major in the future. The South Asian studies program now offers at least three times as many courses as it did in 2007-’08, its first year, and has
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also added language courses in Tamil and Sanskrit, said Kalyanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan, chair of the South Asian Studies Council. While only a few students chose the major in its first years, six seniors will graduate from the major this spring, and 11 more students are set to graduate next year, said Tariq Thachil, the major’s director of undergraduate studies. Thachil said he would like to see the major expand to include around 20 or 25 students per year, and he said faculty will “revisit” the question of whether it should stand alone depending on future growth. But right now, he said faculty in the program feel South Asian studies complements the other majors students pursue with it. As with second-only majors offered in the past, South Asian studies has flexible requirements, which makes it easier to attract students to the major in its early stage, Thachil said. “The thought was, we wanted to make this major an opportunity for students to engage with the region, but not do so in a way that
exempted them from the broader pursuits of a liberal arts education,” Thachil said.
There is no set period for when — or if — a newly created major becomes permanent. JOSEPH GORDON Dean of Undergraduate Education Yale’s first “piggyback” major was studies in the environment, created in the 1984-’85 academic year, according to data from the Yale College Publications Office. As with the other “piggyback” majors that would follow it, studies in the environment was interdisciplinary, drawing from humanities, social science and science departments, but without ladder faculty of its own. Professors affiliated with “piggyback” majors said since these majors do not lie within a department, it is more difficult to
find faculty dedicated to them. Yale College Dean Mary Miller said the former major — which was replaced by the standalone environmental studies major in 2001 — did not have a permanent home and was at times supported mostly by the History and American Studies Departments — later by Geology & Geophysics — and has since become anchored in the School of Forestry & Environmental Science. While Yale’s other “piggyback” majors have been interdisciplinary, ecology & evolutionary biology professor Jeffrey Powell said organismal biology was created in 1990 because faculty felt that the biology of organisms was being overshadowed by molecular, cellular and developmental biology. The creation of the EEB Department in 1999 allowed an EEB major to replace organismal biology, he added. Yale College currently offers over 70 majors. Contact ANTONIA WOODFORD at antonia.woodford@yale.edu .
UConn changes marijuana policy BY CHRISTOPHER PEAK CONTRIBUTING REPORTER In response to a change in state law last summer that decriminalized possession of less than a halfounce of marijuana, the University of Connecticut announced a change to a more lenient disciplinary policy regarding the drug last week. While UConn lowered its minimum first-offense sanctions for possession of marijuana from suspension to a warning, Yale has made no changes to respond to the new state law, under which a first offense for minor possession carries only a $150 fine. Yale College Executive Committee Chairwoman Carol Jacobs said Yale has not changed any of its policies because it treats each marijuana incident on a case-by-case basis — the same way it deals with all other incidents, so there is no codified policy to alter. “The change in policy is a
matter of common sense,” said UConn spokesman Michael Kirk. “[It] reflects the idea that sanctions faced by a student ought to be proportional to the seriousness of their offense, whatever it is.” “Our policy has not changed as a result of changes to Connecticut law, which de-criminalized but did not legalize marijuana possession,” Jacobs said. This non-response stands to reason, New Haven Police Department spokesman David Hartman said — a school can never be more lenient in its punishment than the parameters set by the law. “Colleges may be able to impose additional administrative sanctions on a student or faculty member if they are in possession, but we’re not able to interpret anything beyond the legal parameters,” he said. According to the ExComm Chair’s Fall 2011 report, four students were called before the board
for use of marijuana. Three of the students were given reprimands, a mark on their record that will be removed at graduation: a freshman “for smoking marijuana in a residential college courtyard,” another freshman for smoking “outside of Vanderbilt Hall,” and a sophomore “for an odor of marijuana coming from his room.” The fourth student, who was also charged with “Acts of Violence, Alcohol, and Defiance of Authority,” was suspended for two terms. One other student was charged with a drug infraction, but the report did not specify a substance. Yale Police Department Assistant Chief Steven Woznyk said the department’s policing strategy regarding marijuana also remains unchanged. The only difference is a change in tickets for possession of half an ounce or less from a misdemeanor to an infraction. A male junior and marijuana user who requested to remain
CREATIVE COMMONS
The University of Connecticut recently announced a more lenient disciplinary policy toward marijuana possession in response to the drug’s decriminalization at the state level. There has been no policy change at Yale.
anonymous to avoid legal repercussions said he believed that the change in state law will have little
The change in policy… reflects the idea that sanctions faced by a student ought to be proportional to the seriousness of their offense. MICHAEL KIRK Spokesman, University of Connecticut effect on marijuana use on Yale’s campus because students already feel insulated from the New Haven Police Department and see Yale’s punishments as “lax.” “Dealers were the only people [YPD] cops were ever interested in,” he said. “It just makes sense for the University to treat [possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana] the same way as alcohol.” UConn’s Kirk said his school’s disciplinary policy is proportional to the gravity of the offense under current law. Just as someone under the age of 21 caught in possession of alcohol will receive a warning, so too should a student in possession of small amounts of marijuana receive a warning, he said. “Drug use of any kind is, was and will continue to be unwelcome at UConn, and illegal,” Kirk added. Before the new state law passed on July 1, 2011, those found in possession of small portions of marijuana could face a $1,000 fine and a year in prison under Connecticut law. Contact CHRISTOPHER PEAK at christopher.peak@yale.edu .
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FROM THE FRONT Details for NHPD plan unveiled NHPD FROM PAGE 1 about it. We can. We will.” To address the city’s violent crime — which dropped 11 percent in the first half of last year — DeStefano emphasized partnerships between the NHPD and state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as city residents. The NHPD will continue to implement strategies that address gang violence and “other blights” these gangs bring to local neighborhoods, such as open-air drug dealing, DeStefano said, calling the strategy “High Point” after the North Carolina city in which it was pioneered. The strategy aims to “interdict the behaviors behind violence” by bringing federal and state law enforcement, probation and social services agencies together to combat recidivism, he explained. NHPD Chief Dean Esserman, who was in attendance Monday along with his 10 district managers, said he would bring “High Point” to New Haven when he was appointed in October. When he served as chief of the police department in Providence, R.I., he oversaw the federal government’s first successful effort to replicate the program, according to the New Haven Independent. Since he took the NHPD’s top job Nov. 18, Esserman has introduced several of the other strategies DeStefano highlighted. With only 27 of last year’s 133 shootings solved, the NHPD has created a new shootings task force with funding from the Connecticut state attorney’s office, DeStefano said. In addition to this new unit, the NHPD will renew efforts to solve cold cases, DeStefano said, adding that the city may need to change some personnel rules in order to implement the move. “Every day the police depart-
ment needs to be out there building relationships,” DeStefano said. “Things like inviting the [community] management teams to staff to substations, or participating in youth programs, or just by walking the beat.” The NHPD will continue to roll out walking beats for its patrol officers in the city’s 10 policing districts as part of Esserman’s efforts to revive the community policing model he helped introduce to the city as assistant chief under former NHPD Chief Nicholas Pastore in the early 1990s. DeStefano’s proposed changes, however, will require more officers. The mayor said he believes the community wants to double the number of cops on walking beats from 20 to 40, as well as add additional school resource officers. All of these plans will require additional funding in the city budget, noted Board of Aldermen President and Ward 5 Alderman Jorge Perez. Perez said he looks forward to the mayor’s formal presentation of his plans to the Board, explaining that “there’s a lot of misinformation” in the discussion about expanding the police department. The city budgets for 467 officers, but only around 400 spots are filled at the moment, he explained. Ward 7 Alderman Doug Hausladen ’04, who represents the downtown area and sits on the Board’s public safety and finance committees, said he expects the city’s renewed efforts at partnership with state, federal and community groups will translate into increased grant money to help fund the new 40 to 45 new officers DeStefano intends to hire. So far this year, no murders have been recorded. Contact JAMES LU at james.q.lu@yale.edu .
BY THE NUMBERS POLICING STRATEGY 10 467 400 40-45 New Haven policing districts.
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“We uncompromisingly operate the schools for the kids, not the adults.” JOHN DESTEFANO JR. MAYOR, NEW HAVEN
In address, mayor sets 2012 priorities
JAMES LU/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. addressed aldermen, including Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez, right, Monday night in his annual State of the City. Among the priorities he outlined for 2012 were public safety, education reform and job creation. STATE OF CITY FROM PAGE 1 of our time,” he added, if the city were to discontinue these efforts. He also linked his other priorities to the city’s youth — from ensuring the safety of city teens through effective community policing to providing jobs for students by expanding job possibilities in the city. The address came three days after the Board of Aldermen released a vision statement and legislative agenda in a press release, signed by all 30 members of the board. In it, the aldermen declared their commitment to address jobs, youth, fiscal responsibility and public safety — all themes DeStefano echoed in his speech. There is a “mismatch,” DeStefano said, between city job growth and the education
level and skills of New Haven students. During his speech, DeStefano endorsed the board’s idea of a jobs pipeline, which would attempt to prepare residents for jobs available in New Haven.
There was concern … over what the agenda was going to be. It’s nice to see the board coming together. JORGE PEREZ President, Board of Aldermen After the address, Board of Aldermen President and Ward 5 Alderman Jorge Perez said he agreed with much what DeStefano said in his
speech. “I’m very happy to hear the mayor say he’s eager to work with us on the jobs pipeline,” Perez said. The board’s legislative agenda outlined two action items in particular: a resolution to increase the residency bonus on applications to city jobs from five to 10 points, and the creation of a 19-person jobs pipeline working group that represents various city interests. Both items were sponsored by all 30 members of the board and passed unanimously. The unanimity served as a possible harbinger of the new dynamics on the Board of Aldermen, 19 members of whom are now serving their first term after winning elections dominated by tensions over labor issues. Perez said the vision statement shows that members of the board
broadly agrees on their legislative goals and are willing to work together to achieve them. “There was concern, with the number of freshmen and labor-affiliated aldermen [on the board], over what the agenda was going to be,” Perez said. “It’s nice to see the board coming together.” Ward 22 Alderwoman Jeanette Morrison and Ward 23 Alderwoman Tyisha Walker both said they agreed with the policy vision laid out in DeStefano’s address, but warned that divisions might emerge when the board irons out the details of future legislation. Monday marked DeStefano’s 19th State of the City address. Contact NICK DEFIESTA at nicholas.defiesta@yale.edu .
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NEWS
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR Christiane Amanpour currently serves as the global affairs anchor of ABC News, as well as the chief international correspondent of CNN. She has received nine Emmy news/documentary awards.
Amanpour urges new U.S. policy on Iran BY ALEKSANDRA GJORGIEVSKA STAFF REPORTER CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour called for a “change in strategy” in American foreign policy toward Middle Eastern countries in a Monday talk at the Whitney Humanities Center. At the event, which was sponsored by the Yale Politic, an undergraduate publication, Amanpour spoke to a group of roughly 200 students and faculty members
about the current political, social and cultural challenges in the Middle East. Amanpour focused in particular on American relations with Iran, where she spent her childhood, and suggested that the United States should seek avenues of collaboration with Iran instead of imposing harsh sanctions. “Punitive measures have been the only American way of dealing with Iran,” Amanpour said. Rather than hoping Iran would eventually buckle, the United States needs to respect Iran as an
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN
In general the people of the United States are shielded from what it means to be a great power. As a reporter, you must stand outside — you must be unlike the people you are covering. We as journalists need to be the eyes and the ears of the majority. Content is vital, but it is being encroached on by opinion.
important political power in the Middle East, said Amanpour, who has worked as an international correspondent for CNN since 1990, covering politically charged regions of the Middle East and major world events like the Gulf War and the Arab Spring. But the American political system does not encourage the kind of patience and careful thought needed to develop a coherent strategic vision for the Middle East, she said, as initiatives that could potentially result in positive change are often unpopular. The United States should intervene in the Middle East in certain circumstances, she said, especially in Syria, where it should pursue humanitarian efforts and limit the Syrian government’s access to weapons. She added that these action would substantiate the American rhetoric that “al-Assad must go” — a slogan that refers to the Syrian President Bashar alAssad. The nature of Middle Eastern politics is evolving quickly as the voices of regular citizens begin to hold more weight, she said, and the United States must consider this change when dealing with Middle Eastern countries. “Foreign policy in the Middle East will be turned to the street,” she said. “The street will have much more voice in politics. The street is now in power.” In addition to discussing current events, Amanpour described how her background as an Iranian citizen has shaped her career. She called herself an “accidental
JOYCE XI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour urged changes to U.S. foreign policy toward Iran in a talk Monday. journalist” — one who knew little about politics as a child, but grew motivated to “tell stories of huge global changes and upheavals” after witnessing Iran’s political change. Faced with that goal, Amanpour decided she could best pursue her career by moving to the United States. “Having grown up in conservative Iran, I believed that if you had a mission, a goal, a dream, America is the place to realize that dream,” she said.
Amanpour, who has now worked in journalism for three decades, said she feels reporters today have begun to inject their opinions into coverage too frequently. Three audience members interviewed said they were impressed by Amanpour’s clear presentation of issues. But Stephanie Adcock ’15 criticized Amanpour’s stance that reporters have started including their opinions in their work too much.
“Opinions are becoming important for a reason,” Adcock said, adding that it is important for reporters to appropriately frame their presentations. Apart from being CNN’s chief international correspondent, Amanpour is also the anchor for ABC News Global Affairs and a board member of the International Women’s Media Foundation. Contact ALEKSANDRA GJORGIEVSKA at aleksandra.gjorgievska@yale.edu .
Panel discusses body image, sex BY ANYA GRENIER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Issues surrounding body image and its impact on mental and sexual health took the spotlight at a Monday panel in a crowded Branford Common Room.
SEX WEEK Lisa Wade, a professor of sociology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Yale’s Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Center Director Carole Goldberg, and Chief of Student Health James Perlotto spoke at a panel entitled “Your Body is a Wonderland: Body Image and Sexuality at Yale” as part of Sex Week 2012. More than 30 people turned out to hear the panelists discuss how sex is portrayed in the media, in addition to other topics more specific to the college experience. The conversation began with a general discussion of body image and sex in modern society. Goldberg, who is also a psychologist at Yale Health, addressed the issue from a clinical perspective. Victims of sexual trauma are far more likely to have problems with body image, Goldberg said, as both eating disorders and severe weight gain can be “an important kind of expression of pain or distance.” Wade spoke about body image from a sociological perspective, arguing that modern society presents
both men and women with unhealthy messages about what functions their bodies should perform in sex. “We are taught that men have bodies that do things … while women’s bodies are displayed as inert,” Wade said. “Women learn to think of their bodies as the objects of other peoples’ sexual desires, and men learn to think of themselves as machines that have to perform.” She said these separate mindsets alienate both men and women from aspects of sex beyond the purely physical. All three panelists said that stereotypes in the media, particularly in movies, fuel misconceptions about sex. Goldberg said people’s expectations of sex are often determined by the “Hollywood version of sexuality,” adding that she has seen patients who are confused as to why their experiences do not line up with what the media portrays. Wade agreed that the idealized sex shown in the movies creates an unhealthy sexual culture. “Nobody’s body ever does anything it is not supposed to do,” Wade said. “I think there should be more sex on TV, and that it should be ugly and messy and funny, because that’s what it’s really like.” Toward the end of the discussion, the panelists took questions from the audience and the conversation shifted from broader societal topics to more college-specific issues such
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Sex Week continued Monday with a panel discussion about body image and sex held in the Branford Common Room. as the hook-up culture, eating disorders and the perfectionist complex that prevail on many Ivy League campuses. Wade said the hook-up culture at many colleges and universities is problematic because it causes people to value themselves based on physical appeal alone. She added that the hook-up culture has its origins in the second wave of feminism, which encouraged women to seek empow-
erment by imitating male behaviors. “Women learned that the way to be empowered in sexuality is to have a masculine attitude towards sex,” she said. “What I think we need is a dismantling of the entire system that assumes that sex has a winner and a loser.” The panelists next addressed eating disorders as part of Yale’s culture of perfectionism. They said the inherent stress of the college expe-
rience can prompt eating disorders in people who feel that food intake and body image are some of the only things they can control. The event was cosponsored by Sex Week and Mind Matters, a student organization that aims to raise awareness about mental health issues on campus. Contact ANYA GRENIER at anna.grenier@yale.edu .
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
“Destroying rain forest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” E.O. WILSON AMERICAN BIOLOGIST
RAIN FOREST CLASS PREPS BY THOMAS VEITCH CONTRIBUTING REPORTER While many Yalies will head south this spring break, 15 will miss out on beaches to venture into the jungles of South America and forage for fungi. “Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory,” MB&B 230b, is a science seminar taught by chemistry professor Scott Strobel, along with professors Carol Bascom-Slack and Kaury Kucera. As they have for the past five years, students in the class will travel to the Amazon rain forest, where they will procure plants that contain fungal specimens and bring them back to New Haven. Students will then spend the rest of the semester and the summer working with the fungi in a laboratory setting, researching real-world uses for compounds that the fungi produce. “I’m really excited about doing the lab techniques that I already know in a different context,” said Meredith Redick ’14, a student in the class. “I’m going to be able to see how everything I’ve learned in classes applies in real life.” Since the semester began, students — generally science majors with no particular background in fungi — have received what Giovanni Forcina ’14 describes as a “crash course” in botany. He said they have learned about plant systematics, different plant families and the history of the native people in the rain forest they will be visiting. Strobel said that students must focus their research on a “theme,” such as poisons used by natives to kill fish or plants that stop hemorrhaging. Neither Redick nor Forcina has chosen a theme yet, though discussion of possible themes and their research implications has been a major part of the class so far. Former student Zach Belway ’13 said that fungi are not well-studied, especially endophytic fungi, which are fungi that live inside plants which they have a symbiotic relationship. “Because of this relationship, there’s a very high probability that they are producing something interesting,” he said. Trip preparation has also dealt with the medical dangers posed by the Amazon, Strobel said. A nurse spoke to the class about staying healthy in the rain forest, and students will be prescribed antimalarial medication and immunized against yellow fever.
Redick said she is nervous about the risk of mosquito-borne infection, and Emily Yin ’13, who took the class last year, admitted she had been nervous before the trip. Yin recalled one close call from her trip when a student almost stepped on a deadly snake, which even frightened their guide. This year’s trip will be the sixth since Strobel began teaching the class in 2007, and it will be similar to last year’s trip with only a slightly modified itinerary. For example, this year’s trip will spend more time in Yasuni National Forest, Strobel said, which he described as “the hottest of the hot spots for biodiversity” in South America. In addition to the rain forest, the students will visit an old-growth cloud forest, Strobel said. “Walking through the rain forest, [there are] really tall trees and you’re walking through a barren area underneath where there’s no sun and just falling leaves,” Strobel said. “In the cloud forest, everything’s growing on top of everything else because most of the water is collected not through roots but through the mist that’s in the air. Everything is covered with bromeliads and orchids.” Yin chose abortives and contraceptives as her theme. On Feb. 1, she and other former students spoke to this year’s class about their experience in order to help current students to choose their themes. Yin chose her theme after consulting ethnobiological texts, which describe how native peoples use various plants. Ultimately Yin abandoned her theme of contraceptives because the fungi that she obtained on the trip did not enable her to do such work. Instead, she researched the effects of different compounds on zebra fish development in the lab of molecular, cellular and developmental biology professor Scott Holley, a project begun by another former student of the class. According to Yin, it is common for students to spend the second half of the semester and the summer doing research that is not directly related to their planned themes, as a result of difficulties finding desired plants in the jungle. One strategy is to bring laminated cards with information about the plants they are seeking to the rainforest with them, but this is not always enough to collect the expected 25 specimens, Yin said. Moreover, she said, the endo-
FROM THE
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BY CLINTON WANG STAFF REPORTER
Twitter more addictive than alcohol
Rajita Sinha is the director of the Yale Stress Center and Foundations’ Fund Professor of Psychiatry. She primarily examines how gender is related to stress and addiction, as well as the biological basis for the close relationship between stress, selfcontrol and addiction. On Jan. 31, she published a paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry that describes the differences in the neurological mechanisms underlying cocaine dependence in men and women and suggests the different types of therapies that would best serve them. research has explored QYour how certain aspects of stress
and addiction depend on gender. Could you summarize the essential differences and their significance?
A
In every stage of the addiction cycle, alcohol and drugs affect men and women differently. For example, alcohol is metabolized differently, women approach drug dependence more quickly, and risk of relapse is also sex-based. There are also differences in stress levels, sensitivity and adaptation. Most of these differences are not dramatic, but they’re becoming clearer as the evidence grows. What this means clinically is that these key differences need to be reflected in treatment. Some medications are more effective in men rather than women, and the discrepancy can be pretty significant.
phytes, fungi that live inside of a plant and are the object of the class’s inquiry, are not always responsible for the observed functionality of a given plant. Belway’s initial theme was plants that purify their environment, and he ended up researching organic molecules that bind to iron in the hope of discovering molecules that could bind to pollutant metals. Even if many students don’t stick with their themes, the process of searching for particular plants makes for a more enriching experience, Strobel said. “Exploring [the rain forest] becomes a much more interesting exercise into seeing this huge diversity in front of you and saying ‘It’s not just all green, I’m looking for something that has a particular feature, a particular flower, a particular leaf,’” he said. In the past, the trip has discovered an average of one new genus per student. Redick said this statistic was intimidating, adding that she wouldn’t want to be the only student to fail to discover one. Students are admitted to the course by application.
are the challenges that QWhat you and the center have faced in research or in incorporating the findings of your research into therapies?
A
It’s been difficult to get funding. Traditionally, people did not pay attention to the importance of sex differences in improving health outcomes, and
Contact THOMAS VEITCH at thomas.veitch@yale.edu .
SCOTT STROBEL
Students in “Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory,” a Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Department seminar, spend spring break collecting fungal specimens in the Amazon.
Solar storms threaten Earth
BY RAHUL DODHAPKAR CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
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KAMARIA GREENFIELD/ PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The Yale Child Study Center is using new imaging techniques to examine the brains of children with childhood disintegrative disorder. Jason Schneiderman of the Harvard Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, said he was excited about the research being done at the Child Study Center. “From what I’ve seen, the clinical evidence suggests a type of late stage regression that is probably different from classical autism, where phenotypes can be tracked as early as 6 months,” Schneiderman said. “Any research into this would help elucidate diagnoses.” Westphal said one major challenge was getting children to lie still in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine. Theoretically, fRMIs are simple scans that can be done on patients of all ages, but children affected by serious neurological disorders may be unable to follow or comprehend simple instructions. “We have some pretty intensive mock scanning … if they have a thing for Skittles or M&M’s we’ll reward them and incentivize it that way, but sometimes it just doesn’t work,” Westphal said. To acclimatize the children to the scanning process, multiple dry runs and familiarization sessions are conducted with the
YALE
Rajita Sinha, psychiatry professor and director of the Yale Stress Center, studies the relationship between gender and addiction. health research mostly focused on men. Research is harder to do on women because of the menstrual cycle and many different hormones, so scientists have to control more variables. In the last two decades, there has been more of an effort to include women, with the establishment of the Office of Research on Women’s Health in the National Institutes of Health. So the funding situation is getting better now, but it is still not as easy as it really should be. the main focus of QWhat’s your future research?
A
We’re going in a couple of different directions. One is developing sex-based treatments and therapies and thinking about how to incorporate [those treatments] into individual therapies. The second direction is to understand the risk factors in addiction and how [addiction] interacts with stress, which is also sex-based.
many students at Yale, QFor having busy schedules seems to be the norm, which seems to be a common source of stress. What advice would you give to students who are stressed but feel trapped by their commitments and classes?
A
T h e m os t i m p o r ta n t thing is don’t ignore your stress. Ignoring it and pushing your body further will take a toll. Then there are some basic things people can do to reduce stress. First, social support is a key anti-stress agent. Building downtime for social interactions into one’s schedule and being able to build close relationships is number one, though it’s best that the activities are free of alcohol or drugs. The second thing is that some students work late into the night, but while working, they need to pay attention to food intake, water intake and sleep. Lastly, you need to do something that you’re passionate about. If these three broad areas don’t work, students should consider talking
to somebody, and Yale has many resources for that. At the stress center, we will be starting health services, offering yoga classes and stress classes. research has shown the QYour countless negative effects
of stress, which often translate into large costs for society. What will it take to reduce stress across society?
A
I think pressures have increased in the postindustrial era. We’re more isolated, our parents have gotten busier, and there’s a greater availability of unhealthy things. While reducing stress throughout society may be the best goal, we believe it may not be realistic in the short run. Our approach to this is not how we can reduce stress on a large scale, but how can we optimize our ability to handle and cope with it better and improve ourselves in the process. Contact CLINTON WANG at clinton.wang@yale.edu .
Mice crucial in autoimmune research
Imaging clarifies a cloudy disease Novel imaging techniques at the Yale Child Study Center are providing the first look at the active brains of children with a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), also referred to as late-stage regression in autism, is a disorder where children develop normally for at least three years before undergoing a period of sudden regression, in which they express intense fear, physical discomfort and may engage in self-destructive activities, such as jumping off of high places. Alexander Westphal GRD ’13, one of the major researchers on the CDD project, said this research will be the first to demonstrate that autism, as is commonly understood, is merely a set of symptoms that can be caused by “multiple [possible] paths”. “The way we think about autism is as a developmental disorder, one where early derailment leads to reduced skills,” Westphal said. “CDD is a derailment that comes out of nowhere, it’s a total mystery.” Childhood developmental disorder, Westphal said, appears to have fundamentally different causes than classical autism, though the two result in similar permanent conditions. By using a series of brain imaging techniques, both structural and functional, researchers at the center are starting to show that the two disorders have different patterns of brain activity. Westphal and his colleagues have identified areas in the brain that appear more normal in CDD patients than in patients with classical autism, and areas of the brain that appear more damaged in CDD patients than those with autism. Specifically, compared to the classically autistic, CDD patients exhibit abnormal activity in the amygdala, a brain region responsible for fear and other primal instincts. Westphal said that this finding could account for the intense fear observed in affected children during the regression period.
Sinha warns against stress
LEAKS
children and the machines. Westphal said this level of personal attention had enabled the Yale lab to go beyond any previous research on CDD. Westphal and other researchers are planning on coordinating their slowly accumulated data with the genomics research of Matthew State, professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. State’s lab, also part of the Child Study Center, has been searching for genetic markers for disease in patients with autism, Tourettes and CDD. “We are determined to improve treatment for serious neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood and believe that identifying genes contributing to these syndromes is a critical first step in doing so,” State said in an email. CDD is a disease affecting approximately 1.7 of 100,000 children in the developed world according to a study done at McGill in 2002. Contact RAHUL DODHAPKAR at rahul.dodhapkar@yale.edu .
ach season on Earth comes with the potential for bad weather. During winter, blizzards ground flights and close schools. High summer sees tornados, while late summer and early autumn bring hurricanes. In addition, a unique type of “weather” activity has been getting plenty of attention recently, and for good reason. During the past few weeks, the Earth has been bombarded with the intense radiation released from the Sun during a coronal mass ejection (CME), a potentially dangerous form of space weather. CMEs result from the release of energetic particles from the outer atmosphere, or corona, of the Sun. The corona has magnetic bubbles that trap superhot gases, but every so often, the bubbles pop, releasing their contents into space. This process normally produces nonthreatening solar flares. However, sometimes the bursting solar bubbles result in CMEs, which release up to a billion tons of plasma from the Sun that can travel at close to 5 million miles per hour. CMEs aren’t that uncommon, but recent events are notable for their magnitude (the largest we’ve seen since 2005) and their direction — heading almost directly at Earth. For the same reasons weathermen warn us about snowstorms and hurricanes, scientists around the world are keeping an eye on these solar storms. If the huge burst of radiation that result from CMEs hits the Earth, the collision with our planet’s magnetic field will creates a dangerous geomagnetic storm. Our most vulnerable assets are those we rely on daily without thinking about them — the multitudes of satellites in orbit that help us navigate and communicate with each other, spy on our enemies (and allies) and track terrestrial weather patterns. Even power grids on the ground can be disabled if they absorb the energy these storms produce, much as a power surge can wipe out your computer. We’ve seen major CME events cause blackouts in the past, including during the so-
called Halloween Storm of 2003 and other large storms in the late 1980s. Solar storms are especially hazardous for airplane travel. The communication systems used by commercial airliners are sensitive to interPENIEL including the DIMBERU ference, atmospheric activity that would result from a Technophile CME hit. In addition, the increased radiation found at high altitudes during these events could be dangerous to passengers. Fortunately, airlines have established protocols to reduce these risks by avoiding areas with excessive amounts of radiation, such as the North Pole and the stratosphere. Even the International Space Station (ISS), which is engineered to withstand exposure to radiation, calls for astronauts to avoid taking spacewalks and spend as much time as possible in the shielded core of the ISS. Nonetheless, CMEs have one bright spot. These storms produce some of the most brilliant displays of Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights. Some residents of countries such as Sweden and Norway have even reported that the lights are visible during the day because of their abnormal intensity. Forecasters predict that this activity may continue throughout the year and even parts of next year as the Sun nears the peak of its 11-year cycle. So if you happen to notice your GPS acting funny or your flight taking longer than usual, remember that it may have to do something with that wonderful, yellow glowing orb in the sky! PENIEL DIMBERU is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Immunobiology. Contact him at peniel.dimberu@yale.edu .
BY JACQUELINE SAHLBERG STAFF REPORTER
Serious consequences from child abuse A Yale School of Medicine study published yesterday revealed that 300 deaths and 4,500 hospitalizations resulted from child abuse in 2006. Researchers used data from the 2006 Kids’ Inpatient Database to estimate these rates, which were highest among children in their first year of life. National costs resulting from child abuse treatment are estimated at $73.8 million. Despite the grim numbers, though, study leader John M. Leventhal said there is hope on the horizon: the data should be useful in helping to institute effective prevention programs. -Robert Peck
Fattening, delicious and now toxic Sugar will join the ranks of alcohol and narcotics as a controlled substance if researchers Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis have their way. In an op-ed they cowrote for the journal Nature last week, the trio argues that sugar is “toxic beyond its calories,” and that its ability to raise blood pressure, alter metabolism and critically damage the liver make it a prime candidate for government regulations. There may be something in it, too: as the Yale Rudd Center’s Kelly Brownell points out, “[research] helps confirm what people tell you anecdotally, that they crave sugar and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating it.” Suddenly, midnight Insomnia Cookie deliveries are starting to seem a lot more shady. –Robert Peck
A new Yale study on diabetes may enable breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of autoimmune disorders. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have discovered the mechanism behind teplizumab, an experimental drug used to treat Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own insulin — producing cells in the pancreas. This study’s use of a mouse model may help develop treatments for other autoimmune diseases, including cancer, scientists interviewed said.
Salamanders evolving in response to pollution
The study is significant for understanding the nuance of treatment for Type 1 diabetes.
A new Yale study has found that salamanders which live in roadside ponds are exposed to large amounts of salt car runoff, leading to high mortality rates in the first years of life. However, the salamanders that do survive evolve to be tougher than salamanders bred in normal conditions. Time to call Hollywood?
FRANK WALDRON-LYNCH Clinical fellow, Dept. of Internal Medicine Teplizumab was developed in 2007 to stop the destruction of the insulin-producing cells by altering the function of certain T-cells, which regulate the immune system. Frank Waldron-Lynch, clinical fellow in Yale’s Department of Internal Medicine and lead author of the study, explained that while the results of teplizumab’s phase three clinical trial have been published already, the complete mechanism of teplizumab was unclear before now. “The study is significant for understanding the nuance of treatment for Type 1 diabetes,” Waldron-Lynch said. “By understanding the mechanism of the drug, you gain an insight of how to better use that drug in patients.” Waldron-Lynch’s team utilized the established humanized mouse model to study the mechanism behind teplizumab. The model, developed by researchers at the Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit biomedical research institution, enables scientists to study human immune systems without
A study headed by University of Chicago business school professor Wilhelm Hofmann found that people were less able to resist checking Twitter on their Blackberries than they were able to resist urges to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Compared to other urges, such as spending, playing sports and sex, social media was dominant, which researchers attributed to the low costs of giving in to one’s Twitter addiction. They pointed out that even though incessantly checking electronic devices has minimal negative effects, it is still an activity that the subjects would have chosen to avoid, if they had had the willpower to do so. The study also found that a person’s self-control decreased throughout the day.
Lyme disease dangers mapped
CREATIVE COMMONS
Baby mice are injected with human stem cells and develop a human nervous system allowing translational research. human subjects. Newborn immunodeficient mice are injected with human stem cells and develop human immune systems within 12 weeks. The researchers found that in the mice, teplizumab caused specific T-cells to travel from the circulatory system to the small intestine. The T-cells then produced antibodies, which enabled them to regulate the immune system when the T-cells returned to the circulatory system. Previous studies had identified the T-cell antibodies as regulatory agents in the circulatory system, but the process occurring in the small intestine was unknown. Kevan Herold, coresearcher and
deputy director for translational science at the Medical School, said that while mice are different from people, the humanized mice model provides the best way for researchers to study drugs in mice and predict their effects on humans. “If you have a mouse with a human immune system you can address a lot of questions [about the mechanism and effect of the drug],” Herold said. In the same way that discovering the structure of penicillin enabled scientists to create more targeted drugs like amoxicillin, knowing more about the mechanism of teplizumab may lead researchers to develop more tar-
geted therapies for type 1 diabetes, Waldron-Lynch added. The study also opens doors to developments in the treatment of other autoimmune diseases, said Leonard Schultz, professor at the Jackson Lab. Improvements in the humanized mouse model could aid pharmaceutical companies in designing immunotherapy treatments for infectious and autoimmune diseases including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and HIV. The study was published on Jan. 25 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Contact JACQUELINE SAHLBERG at jacqueline.sahlberg@yale.edu .
A study from the Yale Center for Public Health has produced a map of the areas of the United States where Lyme disease is a danger. The Northeast was the most likely area to contract Lyme disease, due to the types of ticks and deer living there. Maria A. DiukWasser, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health and the lead author of the study said, “We can’t completely rule out the existence of Lyme disease in the South, but it appears highly unlikely.”
Catching fat? A study by Yale scientists has found that, contrary to previous beliefs, liver disease and obesity may be infectious. Richard Flavell of Yale’s School of Medicine was the senior author of the study, which used mice to determine that a certain combination of proteins, called inflammasomes, increased risk for these conditions in healthy individuals when transferred to them by close contact with at-risk individuals. “When healthy mice were co-housed with mice that had altered gut microbes, the healthy mice also developed a susceptibility for development of liver disease and obesity,” Flavell said.
PAGE 6
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 7
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
“Destroying rain forest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” E.O. WILSON AMERICAN BIOLOGIST
RAIN FOREST CLASS PREPS BY THOMAS VEITCH CONTRIBUTING REPORTER While many Yalies will head south this spring break, 15 will miss out on beaches to venture into the jungles of South America and forage for fungi. “Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory,” MB&B 230b, is a science seminar taught by chemistry professor Scott Strobel, along with professors Carol Bascom-Slack and Kaury Kucera. As they have for the past five years, students in the class will travel to the Amazon rain forest, where they will procure plants that contain fungal specimens and bring them back to New Haven. Students will then spend the rest of the semester and the summer working with the fungi in a laboratory setting, researching real-world uses for compounds that the fungi produce. “I’m really excited about doing the lab techniques that I already know in a different context,” said Meredith Redick ’14, a student in the class. “I’m going to be able to see how everything I’ve learned in classes applies in real life.” Since the semester began, students — generally science majors with no particular background in fungi — have received what Giovanni Forcina ’14 describes as a “crash course” in botany. He said they have learned about plant systematics, different plant families and the history of the native people in the rain forest they will be visiting. Strobel said that students must focus their research on a “theme,” such as poisons used by natives to kill fish or plants that stop hemorrhaging. Neither Redick nor Forcina has chosen a theme yet, though discussion of possible themes and their research implications has been a major part of the class so far. Former student Zach Belway ’13 said that fungi are not well-studied, especially endophytic fungi, which are fungi that live inside plants which they have a symbiotic relationship. “Because of this relationship, there’s a very high probability that they are producing something interesting,” he said. Trip preparation has also dealt with the medical dangers posed by the Amazon, Strobel said. A nurse spoke to the class about staying healthy in the rain forest, and students will be prescribed antimalarial medication and immunized against yellow fever.
Redick said she is nervous about the risk of mosquito-borne infection, and Emily Yin ’13, who took the class last year, admitted she had been nervous before the trip. Yin recalled one close call from her trip when a student almost stepped on a deadly snake, which even frightened their guide. This year’s trip will be the sixth since Strobel began teaching the class in 2007, and it will be similar to last year’s trip with only a slightly modified itinerary. For example, this year’s trip will spend more time in Yasuni National Forest, Strobel said, which he described as “the hottest of the hot spots for biodiversity” in South America. In addition to the rain forest, the students will visit an old-growth cloud forest, Strobel said. “Walking through the rain forest, [there are] really tall trees and you’re walking through a barren area underneath where there’s no sun and just falling leaves,” Strobel said. “In the cloud forest, everything’s growing on top of everything else because most of the water is collected not through roots but through the mist that’s in the air. Everything is covered with bromeliads and orchids.” Yin chose abortives and contraceptives as her theme. On Feb. 1, she and other former students spoke to this year’s class about their experience in order to help current students to choose their themes. Yin chose her theme after consulting ethnobiological texts, which describe how native peoples use various plants. Ultimately Yin abandoned her theme of contraceptives because the fungi that she obtained on the trip did not enable her to do such work. Instead, she researched the effects of different compounds on zebra fish development in the lab of molecular, cellular and developmental biology professor Scott Holley, a project begun by another former student of the class. According to Yin, it is common for students to spend the second half of the semester and the summer doing research that is not directly related to their planned themes, as a result of difficulties finding desired plants in the jungle. One strategy is to bring laminated cards with information about the plants they are seeking to the rainforest with them, but this is not always enough to collect the expected 25 specimens, Yin said. Moreover, she said, the endo-
FROM THE
LAB
BY CLINTON WANG STAFF REPORTER
Twitter more addictive than alcohol
Rajita Sinha is the director of the Yale Stress Center and Foundations’ Fund Professor of Psychiatry. She primarily examines how gender is related to stress and addiction, as well as the biological basis for the close relationship between stress, selfcontrol and addiction. On Jan. 31, she published a paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry that describes the differences in the neurological mechanisms underlying cocaine dependence in men and women and suggests the different types of therapies that would best serve them. research has explored QYour how certain aspects of stress
and addiction depend on gender. Could you summarize the essential differences and their significance?
A
In every stage of the addiction cycle, alcohol and drugs affect men and women differently. For example, alcohol is metabolized differently, women approach drug dependence more quickly, and risk of relapse is also sex-based. There are also differences in stress levels, sensitivity and adaptation. Most of these differences are not dramatic, but they’re becoming clearer as the evidence grows. What this means clinically is that these key differences need to be reflected in treatment. Some medications are more effective in men rather than women, and the discrepancy can be pretty significant.
phytes, fungi that live inside of a plant and are the object of the class’s inquiry, are not always responsible for the observed functionality of a given plant. Belway’s initial theme was plants that purify their environment, and he ended up researching organic molecules that bind to iron in the hope of discovering molecules that could bind to pollutant metals. Even if many students don’t stick with their themes, the process of searching for particular plants makes for a more enriching experience, Strobel said. “Exploring [the rain forest] becomes a much more interesting exercise into seeing this huge diversity in front of you and saying ‘It’s not just all green, I’m looking for something that has a particular feature, a particular flower, a particular leaf,’” he said. In the past, the trip has discovered an average of one new genus per student. Redick said this statistic was intimidating, adding that she wouldn’t want to be the only student to fail to discover one. Students are admitted to the course by application.
are the challenges that QWhat you and the center have faced in research or in incorporating the findings of your research into therapies?
A
It’s been difficult to get funding. Traditionally, people did not pay attention to the importance of sex differences in improving health outcomes, and
Contact THOMAS VEITCH at thomas.veitch@yale.edu .
SCOTT STROBEL
Students in “Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory,” a Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Department seminar, spend spring break collecting fungal specimens in the Amazon.
Solar storms threaten Earth
BY RAHUL DODHAPKAR CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
E
KAMARIA GREENFIELD/ PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The Yale Child Study Center is using new imaging techniques to examine the brains of children with childhood disintegrative disorder. Jason Schneiderman of the Harvard Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, said he was excited about the research being done at the Child Study Center. “From what I’ve seen, the clinical evidence suggests a type of late stage regression that is probably different from classical autism, where phenotypes can be tracked as early as 6 months,” Schneiderman said. “Any research into this would help elucidate diagnoses.” Westphal said one major challenge was getting children to lie still in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine. Theoretically, fRMIs are simple scans that can be done on patients of all ages, but children affected by serious neurological disorders may be unable to follow or comprehend simple instructions. “We have some pretty intensive mock scanning … if they have a thing for Skittles or M&M’s we’ll reward them and incentivize it that way, but sometimes it just doesn’t work,” Westphal said. To acclimatize the children to the scanning process, multiple dry runs and familiarization sessions are conducted with the
YALE
Rajita Sinha, psychiatry professor and director of the Yale Stress Center, studies the relationship between gender and addiction. health research mostly focused on men. Research is harder to do on women because of the menstrual cycle and many different hormones, so scientists have to control more variables. In the last two decades, there has been more of an effort to include women, with the establishment of the Office of Research on Women’s Health in the National Institutes of Health. So the funding situation is getting better now, but it is still not as easy as it really should be. the main focus of QWhat’s your future research?
A
We’re going in a couple of different directions. One is developing sex-based treatments and therapies and thinking about how to incorporate [those treatments] into individual therapies. The second direction is to understand the risk factors in addiction and how [addiction] interacts with stress, which is also sex-based.
many students at Yale, QFor having busy schedules seems to be the norm, which seems to be a common source of stress. What advice would you give to students who are stressed but feel trapped by their commitments and classes?
A
T h e m os t i m p o r ta n t thing is don’t ignore your stress. Ignoring it and pushing your body further will take a toll. Then there are some basic things people can do to reduce stress. First, social support is a key anti-stress agent. Building downtime for social interactions into one’s schedule and being able to build close relationships is number one, though it’s best that the activities are free of alcohol or drugs. The second thing is that some students work late into the night, but while working, they need to pay attention to food intake, water intake and sleep. Lastly, you need to do something that you’re passionate about. If these three broad areas don’t work, students should consider talking
to somebody, and Yale has many resources for that. At the stress center, we will be starting health services, offering yoga classes and stress classes. research has shown the QYour countless negative effects
of stress, which often translate into large costs for society. What will it take to reduce stress across society?
A
I think pressures have increased in the postindustrial era. We’re more isolated, our parents have gotten busier, and there’s a greater availability of unhealthy things. While reducing stress throughout society may be the best goal, we believe it may not be realistic in the short run. Our approach to this is not how we can reduce stress on a large scale, but how can we optimize our ability to handle and cope with it better and improve ourselves in the process. Contact CLINTON WANG at clinton.wang@yale.edu .
Mice crucial in autoimmune research
Imaging clarifies a cloudy disease Novel imaging techniques at the Yale Child Study Center are providing the first look at the active brains of children with a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), also referred to as late-stage regression in autism, is a disorder where children develop normally for at least three years before undergoing a period of sudden regression, in which they express intense fear, physical discomfort and may engage in self-destructive activities, such as jumping off of high places. Alexander Westphal GRD ’13, one of the major researchers on the CDD project, said this research will be the first to demonstrate that autism, as is commonly understood, is merely a set of symptoms that can be caused by “multiple [possible] paths”. “The way we think about autism is as a developmental disorder, one where early derailment leads to reduced skills,” Westphal said. “CDD is a derailment that comes out of nowhere, it’s a total mystery.” Childhood developmental disorder, Westphal said, appears to have fundamentally different causes than classical autism, though the two result in similar permanent conditions. By using a series of brain imaging techniques, both structural and functional, researchers at the center are starting to show that the two disorders have different patterns of brain activity. Westphal and his colleagues have identified areas in the brain that appear more normal in CDD patients than in patients with classical autism, and areas of the brain that appear more damaged in CDD patients than those with autism. Specifically, compared to the classically autistic, CDD patients exhibit abnormal activity in the amygdala, a brain region responsible for fear and other primal instincts. Westphal said that this finding could account for the intense fear observed in affected children during the regression period.
Sinha warns against stress
LEAKS
children and the machines. Westphal said this level of personal attention had enabled the Yale lab to go beyond any previous research on CDD. Westphal and other researchers are planning on coordinating their slowly accumulated data with the genomics research of Matthew State, professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. State’s lab, also part of the Child Study Center, has been searching for genetic markers for disease in patients with autism, Tourettes and CDD. “We are determined to improve treatment for serious neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood and believe that identifying genes contributing to these syndromes is a critical first step in doing so,” State said in an email. CDD is a disease affecting approximately 1.7 of 100,000 children in the developed world according to a study done at McGill in 2002. Contact RAHUL DODHAPKAR at rahul.dodhapkar@yale.edu .
ach season on Earth comes with the potential for bad weather. During winter, blizzards ground flights and close schools. High summer sees tornados, while late summer and early autumn bring hurricanes. In addition, a unique type of “weather” activity has been getting plenty of attention recently, and for good reason. During the past few weeks, the Earth has been bombarded with the intense radiation released from the Sun during a coronal mass ejection (CME), a potentially dangerous form of space weather. CMEs result from the release of energetic particles from the outer atmosphere, or corona, of the Sun. The corona has magnetic bubbles that trap superhot gases, but every so often, the bubbles pop, releasing their contents into space. This process normally produces nonthreatening solar flares. However, sometimes the bursting solar bubbles result in CMEs, which release up to a billion tons of plasma from the Sun that can travel at close to 5 million miles per hour. CMEs aren’t that uncommon, but recent events are notable for their magnitude (the largest we’ve seen since 2005) and their direction — heading almost directly at Earth. For the same reasons weathermen warn us about snowstorms and hurricanes, scientists around the world are keeping an eye on these solar storms. If the huge burst of radiation that result from CMEs hits the Earth, the collision with our planet’s magnetic field will creates a dangerous geomagnetic storm. Our most vulnerable assets are those we rely on daily without thinking about them — the multitudes of satellites in orbit that help us navigate and communicate with each other, spy on our enemies (and allies) and track terrestrial weather patterns. Even power grids on the ground can be disabled if they absorb the energy these storms produce, much as a power surge can wipe out your computer. We’ve seen major CME events cause blackouts in the past, including during the so-
called Halloween Storm of 2003 and other large storms in the late 1980s. Solar storms are especially hazardous for airplane travel. The communication systems used by commercial airliners are sensitive to interPENIEL including the DIMBERU ference, atmospheric activity that would result from a Technophile CME hit. In addition, the increased radiation found at high altitudes during these events could be dangerous to passengers. Fortunately, airlines have established protocols to reduce these risks by avoiding areas with excessive amounts of radiation, such as the North Pole and the stratosphere. Even the International Space Station (ISS), which is engineered to withstand exposure to radiation, calls for astronauts to avoid taking spacewalks and spend as much time as possible in the shielded core of the ISS. Nonetheless, CMEs have one bright spot. These storms produce some of the most brilliant displays of Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights. Some residents of countries such as Sweden and Norway have even reported that the lights are visible during the day because of their abnormal intensity. Forecasters predict that this activity may continue throughout the year and even parts of next year as the Sun nears the peak of its 11-year cycle. So if you happen to notice your GPS acting funny or your flight taking longer than usual, remember that it may have to do something with that wonderful, yellow glowing orb in the sky! PENIEL DIMBERU is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Immunobiology. Contact him at peniel.dimberu@yale.edu .
BY JACQUELINE SAHLBERG STAFF REPORTER
Serious consequences from child abuse A Yale School of Medicine study published yesterday revealed that 300 deaths and 4,500 hospitalizations resulted from child abuse in 2006. Researchers used data from the 2006 Kids’ Inpatient Database to estimate these rates, which were highest among children in their first year of life. National costs resulting from child abuse treatment are estimated at $73.8 million. Despite the grim numbers, though, study leader John M. Leventhal said there is hope on the horizon: the data should be useful in helping to institute effective prevention programs. -Robert Peck
Fattening, delicious and now toxic Sugar will join the ranks of alcohol and narcotics as a controlled substance if researchers Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis have their way. In an op-ed they cowrote for the journal Nature last week, the trio argues that sugar is “toxic beyond its calories,” and that its ability to raise blood pressure, alter metabolism and critically damage the liver make it a prime candidate for government regulations. There may be something in it, too: as the Yale Rudd Center’s Kelly Brownell points out, “[research] helps confirm what people tell you anecdotally, that they crave sugar and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating it.” Suddenly, midnight Insomnia Cookie deliveries are starting to seem a lot more shady. –Robert Peck
A new Yale study on diabetes may enable breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of autoimmune disorders. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have discovered the mechanism behind teplizumab, an experimental drug used to treat Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own insulin — producing cells in the pancreas. This study’s use of a mouse model may help develop treatments for other autoimmune diseases, including cancer, scientists interviewed said.
Salamanders evolving in response to pollution
The study is significant for understanding the nuance of treatment for Type 1 diabetes.
A new Yale study has found that salamanders which live in roadside ponds are exposed to large amounts of salt car runoff, leading to high mortality rates in the first years of life. However, the salamanders that do survive evolve to be tougher than salamanders bred in normal conditions. Time to call Hollywood?
FRANK WALDRON-LYNCH Clinical fellow, Dept. of Internal Medicine Teplizumab was developed in 2007 to stop the destruction of the insulin-producing cells by altering the function of certain T-cells, which regulate the immune system. Frank Waldron-Lynch, clinical fellow in Yale’s Department of Internal Medicine and lead author of the study, explained that while the results of teplizumab’s phase three clinical trial have been published already, the complete mechanism of teplizumab was unclear before now. “The study is significant for understanding the nuance of treatment for Type 1 diabetes,” Waldron-Lynch said. “By understanding the mechanism of the drug, you gain an insight of how to better use that drug in patients.” Waldron-Lynch’s team utilized the established humanized mouse model to study the mechanism behind teplizumab. The model, developed by researchers at the Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit biomedical research institution, enables scientists to study human immune systems without
A study headed by University of Chicago business school professor Wilhelm Hofmann found that people were less able to resist checking Twitter on their Blackberries than they were able to resist urges to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Compared to other urges, such as spending, playing sports and sex, social media was dominant, which researchers attributed to the low costs of giving in to one’s Twitter addiction. They pointed out that even though incessantly checking electronic devices has minimal negative effects, it is still an activity that the subjects would have chosen to avoid, if they had had the willpower to do so. The study also found that a person’s self-control decreased throughout the day.
Lyme disease dangers mapped
CREATIVE COMMONS
Baby mice are injected with human stem cells and develop a human nervous system allowing translational research. human subjects. Newborn immunodeficient mice are injected with human stem cells and develop human immune systems within 12 weeks. The researchers found that in the mice, teplizumab caused specific T-cells to travel from the circulatory system to the small intestine. The T-cells then produced antibodies, which enabled them to regulate the immune system when the T-cells returned to the circulatory system. Previous studies had identified the T-cell antibodies as regulatory agents in the circulatory system, but the process occurring in the small intestine was unknown. Kevan Herold, coresearcher and
deputy director for translational science at the Medical School, said that while mice are different from people, the humanized mice model provides the best way for researchers to study drugs in mice and predict their effects on humans. “If you have a mouse with a human immune system you can address a lot of questions [about the mechanism and effect of the drug],” Herold said. In the same way that discovering the structure of penicillin enabled scientists to create more targeted drugs like amoxicillin, knowing more about the mechanism of teplizumab may lead researchers to develop more tar-
geted therapies for type 1 diabetes, Waldron-Lynch added. The study also opens doors to developments in the treatment of other autoimmune diseases, said Leonard Schultz, professor at the Jackson Lab. Improvements in the humanized mouse model could aid pharmaceutical companies in designing immunotherapy treatments for infectious and autoimmune diseases including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and HIV. The study was published on Jan. 25 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Contact JACQUELINE SAHLBERG at jacqueline.sahlberg@yale.edu .
A study from the Yale Center for Public Health has produced a map of the areas of the United States where Lyme disease is a danger. The Northeast was the most likely area to contract Lyme disease, due to the types of ticks and deer living there. Maria A. DiukWasser, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health and the lead author of the study said, “We can’t completely rule out the existence of Lyme disease in the South, but it appears highly unlikely.”
Catching fat? A study by Yale scientists has found that, contrary to previous beliefs, liver disease and obesity may be infectious. Richard Flavell of Yale’s School of Medicine was the senior author of the study, which used mice to determine that a certain combination of proteins, called inflammasomes, increased risk for these conditions in healthy individuals when transferred to them by close contact with at-risk individuals. “When healthy mice were co-housed with mice that had altered gut microbes, the healthy mice also developed a susceptibility for development of liver disease and obesity,” Flavell said.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT Miller affirms informal option COMPLAINTS FROM PAGE 1 ing.” “One thing that formality brings is finality,” he said. “It gives a sense of ‘this has been dealt with’ and ‘this is what was done.’” Bonnie Fisher, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati, said there is significant variation in sexual misconduct policies at universities. Fisher, who has researched campus responses to incidents of sexual misconduct, added that many critics of universities’ procedures argue that cases of sexual assault should be left to the criminal justice system. Lake said the “Dear Colleague” letter “spooked” administrators and led to “almost an arms race” among universities to enhance sexual misconduct response programs. “Every day, it gets a little bit closer to a criminal justice system,” he said. “It’s starting to look much more formalized.” As Yale adjusts its sexual grievance procedures — including the establishment of the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct (UWC) last July — it faces an ongoing investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights into a Title IX complaint filed by 16 students and alumnae last March alleging that the University has a hostile sexual environment. Both Title IX coordinators and the UWC address informal complaints, though formal complaints must pass through the UWC. Students can also bring complaints to the Yale Police. Of the 52 complaints listed in last week’s University-wide report, 36 were brought to
Title IX coordinators, 12 were filed with the UWC and four were brought to the Yale Police Department. Contact GAVAN GIDEON at gavan.gideon@yale.edu and CAROLINE TAN at caroline.tan@yale.edu .
S E X UA L G R I E VA N C E PROCEDURES FORMAL COMPLAINTS
Formal complaints include a full investigation with an external fact-finder. They result in an official finding of whether sexual misconduct took place and can lead to disciplinary action, ranging from a reprimand to expulsion. Formal complaints generally are resolved in under 60 days. INFORMAL COMPLAINTS
Informal complaints involve either no investigation or a limited investigation and do not result in a formal deliberation of whether sexual misconduct occurred. Instead, either the UWC or Title IX coordinators work to resolve the issue in a way that is acceptable for both the respondent and complainant. Informal complaints are often resolved within a couple weeks, and complainants can later pursue a formal complaint if they wish.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS NANCY BRINKER Brinker founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1982 after Komen, her sister, died of breast cancer at age 36. The organization has been widely credited with erasing the stigma surrounding the disease.
Despite controversy, Brinker to speak KOMEN FROM PAGE 1 meeting will take place this Wednesday at noon in Winslow Auditorium at 60 College St. Still, concerns persist over Brinker’s expected involvement at commencement. A group of 20 SPH students began a petition to rescind the Brinker’s invitation. According to one of the group’s organizers, Christine Dang-Vu SPH ’12, the list has now grown to 80 students — about 50 percent of SPH’s graduating class. Connor Essick SPH ’12, a signatory of the petition, said Komen’s ultimate backtracking on its Planned Parenthood announcement does not change his stance on her invitation. He said he would still prefer that Brinker not serve as this year’s Commencement speaker because the political convtroversy surrounding her foundation would now detract from the event itself.
We should not have people speaking at Yale University that do not stand for the ideals and values that we believe in. VANESSA LAMERS SPH ’13 In response to this concern, Cleary said the situation “is unfortunate, and it pains me, but on the other hand, if we cancelled the invitation the focus would be on Yale,” so avoiding controversy would be impossible. Stephanie Platis SPH ’12, another signatory of the
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In October 2010, thousands participated in the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in Little Rock, Ark. The organization has recently come under fire for cutting funding to Planned Parenthood. petition, said she believes Brinker is an inappropriate choice for Commencement speaker because she allowed Komen to make its orginal decision to cut funding for an organization that provides abortions. Despite Brinker’s achievements in breast cancer advocacy, Platis said, Komen’s now-reversed stance reflects the foundation’s focus on “political over public health concerns.” Vanessa Lamers SPH ’13 said she thought a Commencement speaker should be someone students look up to as a role model. Brinker, through her organization’s actions, “cannot be seen as a role model anymore,” she said. There should be other venues to invite Brinker for open discussions, she added, but the Commencement stage is not one of them. Platis said that she is dis-
appointed with Cleary’s decision, but applauds his willingness to consider student voices. She added that the petition’s signatories will continue to press SPH to rescind its invitation to Brinker, including at Wednesday’s public meeting. Lamers said that she believes having Brinker as a speaker will “tarnish the school’s reputation,” while by rescinding the invitation Yale will show that it is “a strong school capable of making radical decisions.” “We should not have people speaking at Yale University that do not stand for the ideals and values that we believe in,” Lamers said. Melinda Irwin, an associate SPH professor and coleader of the school’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, said in an email that she has had a
“great relationship” with the Komen Foundation. Her first research application focusing on breast cancer was funded by the foundation in 2003, she said, setting her up to receive two large grants — a difficult process for a junior professor. Irwin declined to comment on Brinker’s Commencement invitation, but added that she is pleased that the Komen Foundation reversed its move to eliminate Planned Parenthood funding. Past SPH Commencement speakers have included public health officials such as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health Howard Koh ’73 MED ’77 and Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Contact MARIANA LOPEZ-ROSAS at mariana.lopez-rosas@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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ON CAMPUS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8 4:00 PM “Vessels of Influence: The Formation of the Porcelain Industry in Japan.” The Council on East Asian Studies presents the 13th annual John W. Hall Lecture in Japanese Studies with Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, director of the Sainsbury Institute in Norwich, England. Luce Hall (34 Hillhouse Ave.), auditorium. 6:00 PM “The Gun on My Teacher’s Thigh: Theorizing Organizational Adaptation in Wartime.” Attend a workshop with Sarah Parkinson, a postgraduate associate at the University of Chicago, as a part of the Program on Order, Conflict, and Violence workshop series. Rosenkranz Hall (115 Prospect St.), Room 005.
DOONESBURY BY GARRY TRUDEAU
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9 6:30 PM “Prometheus: Poem of Fire.” Documentary and concert featuring the music of Alexander Scriabin and the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Presented in conjunction with the “No Boundaries” series. Free to the general public. Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St.), auditorium. 8:00 PM “Hegwig and the Angry Inch.” By Stephen Trask. Come see a senior project in theater studies for Brennan Caldwell ’12. Free to the general public. Reserve free tickets through www.yaledramacoalition.org. Calhoun College (189 Elm St.), Cabaret.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 12:00 PM “Autism, Aspergers, and a New Clinical Definition: A Discussion with Dr. James McPartland.” McPartland, assistant professor and associate director of the Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory at the Yale Child Study Center, will speak to the Public Health Coalition over lunch. Branford College (74 High St.), small dining room.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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US closes Syrian embassy BY ELIZABETH KENNEDY AND BRADLEY KLAPPER ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIRUT — The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Monday in a new Western push to get President Bashar Assad to leave power and halt the murderous grind in Syria — now among the deadliest conflicts of the Arab Spring. Although the diplomatic effort was stymied at the U.N. by vetoes from Russia and China, the moves by the U.S. and Britain were a clear message that Western powers see no point in engaging with Assad and now will seek to bolster Syria’s opposition. “This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague told lawmakers as he recalled his country’s ambassador from Syria. “There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally.” President Barack Obama said the Syrian leader’s departure is only a matter of time. “We have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go,” Obama said during an interview with NBC. “This is not going to be a matter of if, it’s going to be a matter of when.” The most serious violence Monday was reported in Homs, where Syrian government forces, using tanks and machine guns, shelled a makeshift medical clinic and residential areas on the third day of a relentless assault, killing a reported 40 people, activists said. More than a dozen others were reported killed elsewhere. Those deaths followed a regime onslaught in Homs that began Saturday, the same day Syria’s allies in Russia and China vetoed a Western- and Arabbacked resolution aimed at trying to end the crackdown on dissent. Some 200 people died,
the highest death toll reported for a single day in the uprising, according to several activist groups. Even as the U.S. steps up pressure on Assad to halt the violence and relinquish power, Obama said a negotiated solution was possible, without recourse to outside military intervention. Later, however, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was taking “no options off the table.” In a signal that the window for diplomatic efforts may at some point close, Carney said: “We need to act to allow a peaceful political transition to go forward before the regime’s escalating violence puts a political solution out of reach.”
This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime. There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally. WILLIAM HAGUE Foreign Secretary, United Kingdom U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and 17 other U.S. officials left Syria on Monday, arriving in Amman, Jordan, several hours later. Ford was to travel on to Paris to spend time with his wife, the State Department said. As part of what was clearly a concerted Western effort, the Italian Foreign Ministry said it had also summoned Syria’s ambassador in Rome to express “the strongest condemnation … over the unacceptable acts of violence perpetrated by the regime of Damascus against the civilian population.” More than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March, the
U.N. said early last month. Hundreds more are believe to have been killed since then, but the U.N. says the chaos in the country has made it impossible to cross-check the figures. Syria has blocked access to trouble spots and prevented independent reporting, making it nearly impossible to verify accounts from either side. The Assad regime says terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country are behind the uprising, not people seeking to transform the authoritarian regime. There are fears that international intervention, akin to the NATO airstrikes that helped topple Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, could make the already combustible conflict in Syria even worse. Syria is a highly unpredictable country, in part because of its web of allegiances to powerful forces, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and close ally Iran. The country also has multiple sectarian divisions, which the uprising has laid bare. Most of Syria’s 22 million people are Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect - something that has bred seething resentments. The violence has reinforced opposition fears that Assad will unleash even greater firepower to crush dissent now that protection from China and Russia against any U.N.-sanctioned action appears assured. After the U.N. veto, the commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Col. Riad al-Asaad, said “there is no other road” except military action to topple Assad. With diplomacy at an impasse, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for “friends of democratic Syria” to unite and rally against Assad’s regime, previewing the possible formation of a group of like-minded nations to coordinate assistance to the Syrian opposition.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anti-regime protesters play drums and wave a revolutionary flag during a demonstration in Syria on Monday. Expanding on the idea Monday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. would seek to work outside the U.N. to “strengthen and deepen and broaden the international community pressure on Assad, … to work with as many countries as we can to increase both regional sanctions and unilateral national sanctions on the Assad regime.” The contact group is likely to be similar, but not identical, to the one established last year for Libya, which oversaw the international help for Gadhafi’s opponents. It also coordinated NATO military operations to protect Libyan civilians, something that is not envisioned in Syria.
Tea party: Warming to Romney? BY KRISTEN WYATT ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER — Long skeptical of Mitt Romney, tea party activists are either warming up to the GOP presidential front-runner or reluctantly backing him after abandoning hope of finding a nominee they like better. Whatever the reason, the former Massachusetts governor who is coming off of back-to-back victories in Florida and Nevada now is picking up larger shares of the tea party vote than he did when the Republican nomination fight began. And that fact alone illuminates the struggles of the nearly three-yearold movement to greatly influence its first presidential race. “We haven’t gone away,” insisted Amy Kremer, chairwoman of the national Tea Party Express. But, in the same breath, she acknowledged lower expectations and a shift in focus to Senate races over the White House campaign. She also pleaded for patience, saying: “Anybody that thinks we are going to change things in one cycle or two cycles is fooling themselves.” Tea party activists across the country entered their first presidential contest this year expecting to hold major sway over the Republican race following a 2010 congressional election year in which their favored candidates successfully knocked off a string of insiders in GOP primaries in Colorado and elsewhere. The movement influenced the presidential race early on, with candidates from Romney on down parroting the movement’s language and promoting its agenda of restrained spending to curry favor with its adherents. But the coalition was greatly fractured and plagued by infighting. It also watched as one favored candidate after another lost standing or quit the race, among them Georgia businessman Herman Cain and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. The remaining candidates — Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul — have attributes that tea party backers like but they face huge hurdles in knocking Romney off his stride. That’s left many in the tea party shifting focus to Romney, a candidate viewed by many as most likely to unseat President Barack Obama, even if he doesn’t vociferously bang the drum of their top issues. “We’re warming up to Romney,” said Brian Walker, a tea party member and 62-year-old sheet metal contractor in the Colorado mountain town of Florissant. He raves about Santorum but said he’s lean-
Syria has seen one of the bloodiest crackdowns since the wave of Arab uprisings began more than a year ago. Deaths in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen have numbered in the hundreds. Libya’s toll is unknown and likely higher than Syria’s, but the conflict differed there: Early on, it became an outright civil war between two armed sides. Syria, in contrast, has developed into a murderous grind — although many fear it is swiftly developing into a civil war. Though internationally isolated, Assad appears to have a firm grip on power with the loyalty of most of the armed forces, which have moved from city to city to put down uprisings. In each place,
US targets Iranian central bank BY ANNE GEARAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
GERALD HERBERT/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican candidate Mitt Romney after his victory in the Florida primary last Tuesday. ing toward Romney because he wants to support the candidate he views as the likely nominee. Such perceptions may be one of the reasons Romney has seen a bump in support among tea party followers even though the movement has long been irked by Romney’s tentative embrace of it and evolution on several issues it holds dear. In South Carolina last month, exit polls showed that only about 1 in 4 selfdescribed tea party supporters backed Romney in the primary, which Gingrich ended up winning. But 10 days later, 41 percent of tea partyers in Florida’s primary chose Romney as he cruised to victory there. And in Nevada, entrance polls showed that Romney won 47 percent of the tea party vote on Saturday, crushing his rivals in the state. Romney could perform just as well in Colorado and Minnesota caucuses on
Tuesday. He won both four years ago. Since then, both states have been heavily influenced by the tea party. In 2010, tea party supporters in both states claimed credit for usurping wellfunded GOP insiders and producing conservative gubernatorial nominees, Dan Maes in Colorado and Tom Emmer in Minnesota. Both lost the general election, despite big Republican successes elsewhere. Colorado Republicans also nominated a conservative tea party favorite, Ken Buck, over a better-funded candidate, former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. But Buck also lost the general election to the appointed Democratic senator, Michael Bennet, who had never before run for political office. Mindful of the tea party strains in both states, Romney’s rivals are playing to the movement in hopes of engineering comebacks.
however, protests have resumed, and now army defectors and others are taking up arms to fight back, adding to the bloodshed. Ford arrived in Damascus just over a year ago as the first American ambassador to Syria since the Bush administration broke ties over Syria’s alleged role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Obama administration had hoped to persuade Syria to change its often anti-American policies regarding Israel, Lebanon and Iraq, and to drop its support for extremist groups. Syria is designated a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the State Department.
WASHINGTON — Targeting Iran’s economy, the U.S. ordered tough new penalties Monday to further pinch the country’s financial system and encourage Israel to give sanctions more time before any military action against Iran’s nuclear program. The new, stricter sanctions, authorized in legislation that President Barack Obama signed in December, will be enforced under an order he signed only now. They give U.S. banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to move money despite earlier restrictions imposed by the U.S. and Europe. The action against the Central Bank of Iran is more significant for its timing than its immediate effect. It comes as the United States and its allies are arguing that tough sanctions can still persuade Iran to back off what the West contends is a drive to build a nuclear bomb. The U.S. and Europe want to deprive Iran of the oil income it needs to run its government and pay for the nuclear program. But many experts believe Iran will be able to find other buyers outside Europe. T h e E u ro p e a n U n i o n announced last month it would ban the import of Iranian crude oil starting in July. The U.S. doesn’t buy Iranian oil, but last month it placed sanctions on Iran’s banks to make it harder for the nation to sell crude. The U.S., however, has delayed implementing those sanctions for at least six months because it is worried about sending oil prices higher at a time when the world economy is struggling. Iran exports about three percent of the world’s oil. The faster and more painfully sanctions can be seen to work, the better the case to shelve any plan by Israel to bomb Iran, a pre-emptory move that could ignite a new Mideast war. Taking this initial step against the
Central Bank, the first time the U.S. has directly gone after that major institution, is one way the Obama administration can show momentum now. Israel, meanwhile, has been increasingly open about its worry that Iran could be on the brink of a bomb by this summer and that this spring offers the last window to destroy bombrelated facilities. Many Israeli officials believe that sanctions only give time for Iran to move its nuclear program underground, out of reach of Israeli military strikes.
The isolation on Iran and the economic sanctions on Iran have caused added turmoil within Iran. JAY CARNEY ’87 White House Spokesman White House spokesman Jay Carney denied that Monday’s unexpected announcement of new banking sanctions was a sign of heightened worry about an Israeli attack. “There has been a steady increase in our sanctions’ activity and this is part of that escalation,” he said. Carney said U.S. sanctions on Iran are already squeezing Iran’s economy and have exacerbated tensions within the Iranian leadership. “There is no question that the impact of the isolation on Iran and the economic sanctions on Iran have caused added turmoil within Iran,” he said. Iran is the world’s third-largest exporter of crude oil, giving its leaders financial resources and leverage to withstand outside pressure. Last year, Iran generated $100 billion in revenue from oil, up from $20 billion a decade ago, according to IHS CERA, an energy consulting firm.
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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SPORTS
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS KOBE BRYANT Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, passed former teammate Shaquille O’Neal to take fifth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring lis with a 28-point effort in the Lakers’ 95–90 loss to Philadelphia Monday night.
Gymnastics excels on uneven bars
Elis lose 18th straight
GYMNASTICS FROM PAGE 12 Hampshire, although not ideal, is better than a loss to an Ivy League team, she added. The Bulldogs were strongest on the uneven bars. Brianna Chrisman ’15 started off with a routine that scored a 9.650, which Yabut said sparked excitement on the team. Feld had Yale’s top score of 9.700, the first stop on her way to all-around victory. The team scored a 47.900, which Tonry said was almost enough to reach the team’s goal of 48 points per event. While the Bulldogs usually face difficulty on the beam, this week the beam did not present its normal problems. After a hard week of beam practice, Yale counted no falls towards its overall score, which was a huge improvement from last week, when they had two, Yabut said. Despite this improvement, bobbles still cost the team points. “[Beam] still wasn’t what we can do …” Tonry said. “They were just a little nervous.” After hitting bars and improving on beam, the Elis faced a challenge on the floor. They were forced to count an uncharacteristic two falls towards their score on floor and struggled to stay in bounds on their tumbling passes. Floor, which is traditionally a strength of the team, was their lowest scoring event at the meet, with a total of 47.175. The highlight on floor was Feld’s routine, which earned her a 9.825, her highest score of the day. Vault put an exclamation point on the meet for the Elis. Traina stuck the landing of her Yurchenko tuck full, which earned her a 9.475. Feld concluded her meet by landing a Yurchenko layout full for a score of 9.725. “I was really proud of our vault line-up for coming together and really pulling through for the team after a disappointing floor performance,” Yabut said. Feld won the all-around with a score of 38.775, the highest all-around performance in her collegiate career. Close behind were teammates Li and Traina, who earned scores of 37.850 and 38.100, respectively. The Bulldogs are home for their next meet, which will take place next weekend at 1 p.m. against Bridgeport, Rhode Island College and Springfield. Contact MONICA DISARE at monica.disare@yale.edu .
MARIA ZEPEDA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Captain Aleca Hughes ’12 put the puck on net against St. Lawrence and opened an opportunity for forward Lynn Kennedy ’15 to score. BY LINDSEY UNIAT STAFF REPORTER The women’s hockey team played strongly in the first two periods of its away games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend, and if hockey games consisted of only two periods, the team might have managed to tie a game.
W. HOCKEY The Elis were trailing by just one point at the end of the second period in both Friday’s game against the Saints (17–8–4, 11–5–2 ECAC) and Saturday’s game against the Golden Knights (18–7–5, 12–4–2 ECAC). But the Bulldogs (1–24–0, 1–17–0 ECAC) met their Waterloo in the third period of play and ultimately lost 6–2 to St. Lawrence and 7–0 to Clarkson. Assistant coach Jessica Koizumi said saw improvement in the team, which has struggled to compete for a full 60-minute game all season. “Instead of being out of games early on, we were competing and finally believing that we could win,” she said. “From the energy on the bench to the amount of scoring opportunities we created, we saw
glimpses of what our team could really do.” Goaltender Genny Ladiges ’12 said she agreed the team was improving and added that the small goal discrepancy going into the third period indicates “we were in both games.” In Friday’s game, St. Lawrence managed to score in the first period. But the bulk of the Bulldogs’ action occurred in the second period. Three minutes and 39 seconds into the second, forward Lynn Kennedy ’15 scored one for Yale, off an assist from team captain Aleca Hughes ’12. The Saints scored again quickly after, but capitalizing on a power play, forward Danielle Moncion ’13 tied the game 2–2 at 14:52. In the second period, the Bulldogs were “keeping up with St. Lawrence” and “even outskating them at times,” Ladiges said. But with less than a minute left in the second period, St. Lawrence managed to slip one in past Ladiges and reclaimed the lead, which the Saints would not relinquish for the rest of the evening. “That goal was the gamechanger,” Koizumi said. “St. Lawrence took the momentum we had
Bulldogs clinch double wins
GRAHAM HARBOE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Fencing faces off against all seven Ivy rivals at home next weekend in a round robin to decide the Ivy League championship. FENCING FROM PAGE 12 ships,” team manager and foilist Jose Martinez ’12 said. “We were expecting to do well, but we kept up the pressure all day. They might not have the talent to match some schools in the Ivy League, but they are building strong programs and are doing better every year.” Despite subjugating the two rivals, Martinez said, the team feels like it has a ways to go if it is
to take the Ivy title. He added that the entire season’s training is designed with only the Ivies in mind, and the team is combining a heavy practice schedule with scoutings of other Ivy teams. “This will by far be our toughest test of the year, although we have fenced some of the best schools in the nation already,” Martinez said. “Regardless though, we are fencing at home, and if another team wants to take the championship
from us, they know that road has to go through Yale fencing.” Whereas the men’s team exchanged some wins and losses in the previous week’s matches, the Elis dominated this week’s lineups and won in all weapons except épée against Vassar. In the match against Vassar, foil went 9-0, épée 4-5 and saber 8-1. Against Drew, foil, épée and saber all finished 8-1. While every player contributed to the wins, Martinez singled out Canadian foilist Sam Broughton ’15 as the man of the match. “[Broughton] won all 5 of the matches he fenced this season and put on an amazing display of skill and determination,” Martinez said. In the women’s team, foil went 6–3, épée 7–2 and saber 6–3 against Vassar. Against the Rangers, épée went 8-1, saber 9-0 and foil 9-0. “Our victories over Vassar and Drew were definitely team victories,” team captain Robyn Shaffer ’13 said. “In previous matches, one squad had faltered while the other two performed well; this weekend, all three squads were competing strongly.” Shaffer said Brenda Seah ’14 and Rachel Hayes ’15, both on the saber squad, especially shined as non-starters. She added that the team is looking to the Ivies next weekend and will compete in a round robin against the other seven of the Ancient Eight. “It’s a very tough tournament, so we are aiming to fence well while keeping a positive attitude. Coming off this weekend’s strong performance, we are hoping to improve over last year’s results,” Shaffer said. The Elis will be competing in the Ivy Championship from Feb. 11 to 12 at the Coxe Cage. Contact EUGENE JUNG at eugene.jung@yale.edu .
gained in the second period by scoring that goal, and we just couldn’t get it back in the third period.” St. Lawrence scored three times in the third period for the win. Overall, Yale was outshot 41–16, and Ladiges made 35 saves. On Saturday, the goals-against floodgates opened similarly for the Bulldogs in the third period, solidifying Clarkson’s overwhelming victory — and Yale’s third shutout in its past four games. The Golden Knights scored at 15:22 of the first period, and the scoreboard held steady at 1–0 for the next 30 minutes of the game. But the game soon turned treacherous for the Bulldogs as Clarkson scored six times during the third period. Six minutes from the end of the game, Erin Callahan ’13 took to the net to relive Ladiges and she also let in one goal before the buzzer. The Golden Knights scored in nearly regular intervals throughout the period at 5:23, 7:17, 9:31, 10:33, 13:16, and 17:38. “We didn’t generate a great deal of offense, but we were still very much in the game up until the third period,” Ladiges said. “It’s tough to explain what happened in the final period — it was both a physical and
mental meltdown. Once Clarkson scored on early in the third, we crumbled.” She added that the period was likely her most frustrating this year. Koizumi reiterated that the team struggled to stay in the game for its entirety. “Clarkson showed up for sixty minutes and we didn’t — that’s the difference,” she said. Forward Stephanie Mock ’15 said some positives came out of the weekend’s defeats. The team dynamics, she said, stayed strong as the team members kept a positive attitude on the bench and supported one another despite the lopsided score. “This season the importance is not our record, but it’s about making sure we don’t ever give up,” Koizumi said. “I am proud of our team and how they are responding to the adversity. They may not see it now, but it is a life lesson that will create better character in the long run.” Clarkson is ranked third in the ECAC, and St. Lawrence is tied with Dartmouth for fourth place. Contact LINDSEY UNIAT at lindsey.uniat@yale.edu .
Track and field improves in invite TRACK & FIELD FROM PAGE 12 record as she took second place in the 200-meter dash — a race in which the Elis took seven of the top 27 times. The Bulldogs also saw success in the 500meter run, with Jennifer Downing ’12 finishing third, followed by Jennifer Donnelly ’13 in fourth and Hannah Alpert ’15 in sixth place. While day one had only one topthree result for the Elis, the following day of the invitational featured four more Bulldog podium finishes. Dissapointed by a ninth place finish on the first day of competition, Alexa Monti ’12 turned things around and finished first in the 60-meter dash, edging out a Manhattan College competitor by just a hundredth of a second. “This weekend was a great team effort,” Monti said. “Everyone competed hard. We have some solid momentum rolling into next weekend, and hopefully we can capitalize on it after a week of quality training.” Emily Urciuoli ’14 marked a personal best in the pole vault, capturing first place with 3.75 meters. She now is second in pole vaulting on the Bulldogs’ all-time list for indoor track. Urciuoli said that the competition was especially exciting for her as the invitational marked the start of the competitive part of the season, and it was a good indicator that the team has the training and the talent to succeed over the next few weeks. After earning a personal best and attaining a silver medal performance at the Terrier Invitational last weekend, Nihal Kayali ’13 took second once again in the mile run. Sarah Barry ’14 and Allison Rue ’14 matched Kayali and took seconds in the 1000-meter run and the 500-meter dash, respectively. Annelies Gamble ’13, who took third behind Rue in the 500-meter dash, said that while she wished she had run faster in the 500 meters, it was the first time running the event in a long time, and she thinks she was able to improve her
ANDREW GOBLE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Men’s track and field captain Matthew Bieszard ’12 took second place in the 500meter dash on February 4. turnover enough to show promise in the 800-meter dash later in the season. In the 3000-meter run, the Elis took fourth through sixth place. “Personally, I was happy with my race,” said Clare Kane ’14, who took fourth. “I’ve been coming off an injury that sidelined me for a year, and Saturday’s race was the first race where I started to feel like my old self again.” The men’s and women’s teams will compete against archrivals Harvard and Princeton this weekend in Cambridge, Mass. Contact JORDAN KONELL at jordan.konell@yale.edu .
IF YOU MISSED IT SCORES
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SPORTS QUICK HITS
GREG MANGANO ’12 CENTER EARNS TWO AWARDS The Ivy League named Mangano, a center on the men’s basketball team, Player of the Week, while College Sports Madness picked him as National Mid-Major Player of the Week. Mangano averaged 21. 5 points and 11 boards for Yale last weekend.
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EMILY BILLING ’13 ELECTED WOMEN’S SAILING CAPTAIN Billing, a skipper, was named captain of the women’s sailing team on Sunday. In the fall season, Billing performed exceptionally well, earning third place in the ICSA Women’s Single-Handed Nationals in Chicago, Ill. The spring sailing season begins February 18.
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“We have some solid momentum rolling into next weekend and hopefully we can capitalize on it.” ALEXA MONTI ’12 SPRINTER, WOMEN’S TRACK YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
Gymnasts leap over Brown BY MONICA DISARE STAFF REPORTER Yale beat Brown and dominated the all-around competition at last Saturday’s tri-meet in Durham, New Hampshire.
GYMNASTICS At the University of New Hampshire Invitational, the Bulldogs took second place to New Hampshire’s 195.475 points and defeated Brown, which finished with a mark of 189.675. Yale scored 190.275 points, the team’s highest score of the season, and better than any result the team achieved last year. The Elis also dominated the all-around competition, with first, third and fourth place finishes from Tara Feld ’13, Morgan Traina ’15 and Joyce Li ’15. Members of the team said they were satisfied by the results, but think they are capable of a better performance. Head coach Barbara Tonry said the team can score 192 or 193 if it minimizes mistakes. She added that in order to do this, the team needs to work on maintaining confidence throughout the entire meet. “The team’s standards are higher this year,” team captain Mia Yabut ’12 said in an email to the News. She added that while the team did not perform to its full potential, she was pleased with the results. Because the team’s main goal this season is to win the Ivy League championships, defeating Brown was especially important, Traina said. The loss to New SEE GYMNASTICS PAGE 11
SARAH ECKINGER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Morgan Traina‘15 took third place in the University of New Hampshire Invitational on Saturday. She scored a 9.200 on floor and had a total score of 38.100.
Individual efforts lead Elis at home BY JORDAN KONELL STAFF REPORTER The men’s and women’s track teams each collected four first-place finishes this weekend against teams that included Sacred Heart, St. Joseph’s and Ivy League rival Penn, as they hosted the eighth annual Giegengack Invitational at Coxe
TRACK & FIELD Cage. On Friday, the highlight for the men’s team was a podiumsweeping performance in the 5000-meter run. Isa Qasim ’15 took first in the event, with Matthew Thwaites ’13 and Kevin Lunn ’13 following just behind him in second and third. All three Eli runners set personal best times as they distanced themselves from the rest of the field. “It’s great to see the hard work that the team has been putting in start to pay off,” Qasim said. “I am pleased with how I ran, and I am looking forward to going faster next week at Harvard. Everyone on the team ran well. It was awesome to see everyone looking so strong.” Friday also found weight thrower Mike Levine ’13 bounce back from a disappointing ninth place performance last week at the Terrier Invitational in Boston and finish first with a throw of 16.87 meters. Levine said that while he could have thrown even farther, he was pleased with his performance and the win. He
added that the team still needs to work hard to be successful next week against Harvard and Princeton. In addition to Levine’s success, captain Matthew Bieszard ’12 earned second place in the 200-meter dash, as did Dana Linberg ’14 in the long jump. The second day of the invitational proved equally successful for the Bulldogs. Both Paul Chandler ’14 and Michael Pierce ’13 had first place finishes — Chandler in the pole vault and Pierce in the mile run. “Most of us were asked to run two or three events this weekend to prepare us for the two day/ trial-and-final structure of the [Ivy League Heptagonal Championships], and the results were definitely encouraging,” Pierce said. “The team as a whole handled the increased load really well.” Chandler and Pierce’s results were followed up by favorable finishes in many other events. Bieszard added another silver medal to his collection after his performance in the 500-meter dash, and William Rowe ’15 was close behind in fifth. Daniel Jones ’14 set a personal record in the 60-meter dash and matched Bieszard with another second place result. The women’s performance at the invitational largely mirrored the men’s in its outcome. Its first day was marked by impressive performances across the board. Emily Cable ’15 set a personal SEE TRACK & FIELD PAGE 11
Elis sweep weekend at home BY EUGENE JUNG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER On Saturday, both the men and women’s fencing squads dominated Vassar College and Drew University at Payne Whitney Gymnasium.
FENCING M: YALE 21, VASSAR 6 M. YALE 24, DREW 3 W: YALE 19, VASSAR 8 W: YALE 21, DREW 6
ANDREW GOBLE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Annelies Gamble ’13 took third place in the 500-meter dash in the Giegengack Invitational at Coxe Cage last weekend.
STAT OF THE DAY 190.275
The No. 10 men’s team (8–4) defeated Vassar 21–6 and Drew 24–3, while the women’s team (6–7) beat the Brewers 19–8 and obliterated Drew with a 21–6 win. The teams show promise going into the Ivy League Championships — the first time the teams will face Ancient Eight opponents this season — at home at the Coxe Cage next weekend. The men’s team is currently ranked fourth in the Ivy League, and the women’s team is ranked in eighth place. “The matches against Vassar and Drew were a great tune-up for the Ivy League ChampionSEE FENCING PAGE 11
THE NUMBER OF POINTS THE GYMNASTICS TEAM SCORED THIS PAST WEEKEND AT THE UNH INVITATIONAL. It is the team’s highest score so far this season, and higher than any score it posted last year.