Yale Daily News — Week of April 1, 2022

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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · VOL. CXLIV, NO. 18 · yaledailynews.com

DOJ case against Admit rate shrinks again Haifan Lin closed Unclear whether University suspension has been lifted

YALE NEWS

Lin, a professor of cell biology, leads Yale's prestigious Stem Cell Center.

BY ISAAC YU STAFF REPORTER A federal investigation into School of Medicine professor Haifan Lin has been discontinued, according to his lawyer.

The Department of Justice notified Lin’s legal counsel, Abe Rein of the firm Post & Schell, that its investigation had been “discontinued” as of Wednesday, March 30, according to a statement from the firm. The professor had been under investigation by the DOJ since at least July 2020 following a March 2019 inquiry by the National Institutes of Health regarding “the sufficiency of reporting of outside support” by several Yale faculty, including Lin. Lin was suspended by University Provost Scott Strobel and School of Medicine Dean Nancy Brown in January in light of an internal investigation due to what the University claimed was “credible information” provided by the NIH. Faculty members decried the suspension and investigation,

saying that the China Initiative, a DOJ anti-espionage campaign, unfairly discriminates against researchers of Asian and Chinese descent. It is unclear whether Lin’s specific case fell under the umbrella of the Initiative, which the DOJ ended in late February.

The University could not immediately provide a comment.

Lin, a professor of cell biology and director of the University’s prestigious Stem Cell Center, was not available to provide comment on Thursday, according to his law firm. Rein had been providing counsel to Lin regarding the government’s investigation, he said. The University had previously stated that it had acquired lawyers for Lin. It is unclear whether Lin's suspension remains in place. Colleagues reported that he had been barred from his lab and from contacting his research group since January. The Comparative Medicine Department and the Cell Biology Department, as well as the Stem Cell Center, released open letters in support of Lin, alleging that the University had violated due process by suspending Lin before the conclusion of an investigation by either the government or University itself. The University previously released a statement saying that its officials have followed all guidelines outlined in the Faculty Handbook.

“I hope that Haifan is reinstated as soon as possible,” School of Medicine professor and Chair of SEE DOJ PAGE 4

UNSPLASH

Admitted members of the class of 2026 hail from 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and 58 countries.

BY JORDAN FITZGERALD STAFF REPORTER Yale extended offers of admissions to 2,234 of a record 50,015 applicants this Ivy Day. The acceptance rate for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle is 4.46 percent, the lowest in recent history. It dropped from

4.62 percent for the class of 2025, 6.54 percent for the class of 2024 and 5.91 percent for the class of 2023.

Of the admitted students, 800 received their acceptances through early action and 81 matched with Yale through QuestBridge in December.

Yale also offered 1,000 stu-

dents seats on the college’s waitlist Thursday. The class will be joined by 46 students who were admitted during last year’s cycle but chose to defer their matriculation to fall 2022.

Previously this semester, the Admissions office reported that SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 4

Admin guilty for theft of $40M

BY HANNAH QU STAFF REPORTER A former Yale School of Medicine employee pleaded guilty on Monday to fraud and tax offenses after stealing $40 million in computer and electronic software from the school over a nearly ten-year period.

The former administrator, Jamie Petrone-Codrington, pleaded guilty in Hartford fed-

eral court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Arrested by criminal complaint on Sept.

3, 2021, Petrone-Codrington was released on a $1 million bond pending sentencing. In 2008, Petrone-Codrington was employed by the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine and most recently served as the Director of Finance and Administration for the department. According to

the DOJ press release, PetroneCodrington had the authority to make and authorize purchases up to $10,000 for departmental needs. Beginning as early as 2013, Petrone-Codrington illegally purchased and resold the hardware using funds from the School of Medicine.

In total, Petrone-Codrington caused a loss of approximately SEE GUILTY PAGE 4

Gerken criticizes protesters Reported disabilities soar

BY PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH STAFF REPORTER In her first public statement on the issue, Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken said that some of the 120 students who gathered to protest a conservative speaker two weeks ago engaged in “unacceptable” behavior but did not violate Yale’s free speech policy.

In a Monday morning email to the Law School community, Gerken addressed a March 10 student protest in which more than 100 law students protested the Federalist Society’s decision to bring Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom to campus. Waggoner and Monica Miller, a lawyer for the progressive American Humanist Association, discussed Waggoner’s recent argu-

YALE NEWS

YLS Dean Heather Gerken broke her silence on the recent protest. ment before the Supreme Court in Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, a civil liberties case regarding a student’s

right to proselytize on campus, which Miller supported. But students objected to Waggoner’s presence due to the ADF’s position on LGBTQ rights. In her email, Gerken wrote that the law school permits speech even when the content is inconsistent with the community’s core values.

Gerken wrote that the protesters complied with University free-expression guidelines and left the event after the first warning of Yale’s three-warning protocol. However, Gerken noted that the conduct of some students, which included “rude and insulting behavior,” making excessive noise in the hallways, interfering with concurrent events and ignoring staff, was “unacceptable.” Audio and SEE GERKEN PAGE 5

Number still likely an underestimate

BY MICHAEL NDUBISI STAFF REPORTER In three short years, registrations for Yale’s Student Accessibility Services have nearly doubled. Yet this number is likely two to three times lower than the actual number of Yale students with disabilities.

According to the affinity group DiversAbility at Yale, approximately 11 percent of U.S. undergraduates register a disability with their school, but the true number is estimated to be two or three times higher, as 66 percent of students who received accommodations in high school

choose not to self-disclose their disabilities in college.

Yale’s student disability leaders say stigma is the main cause of underreporting, especially with mental illness, which Yale considers a disability for which students can apply for accomodations. Their efforts to combat the stigma surrounding disability and mental illness have accompanied a shift in the number of students registered with Student Accessibility Services.

In 2019, only 842 students were registered with SAS, and as of Feb. 2022, that number now SEE DISABILITIES PAGE 5

Title IX report shows dip in complaints

BY TIGERLILY HOPSON STAFF REPORTER The University’s Title IX office released its semi-annual report on sexual misconduct this Tuesday — almost one year after its usual release date.

The report, which details all sexual misconduct complaints

brought to Yale’s Title IX Coordinators, the Yale Police Department and the University-Wide Commitee on Sexual Misconduct between July 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020, identified 86 complaints — a decrease from the past two reporting periods that could potentially be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.

CROSS CAMPUS THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY, 1962.

Julia Davis Healy donates John W. Davis' personal papers to the Yale University Library. John W. Davis ran for president in 1924 as a Democratic candidate."

The sexual misconduct report released on Tuesday was introduced and sent out to the Yale community by Stephanie Spangler, former Title IX coordinator and current COVID-19 coordinator. The first semi-annual Title IX report was released in 2011 under

INSIDE THE NEWS

SEE TITLE IX PAGE 5

ZOE BERG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Student Accessibility Services registrations have nearly doubled in 3 years.

BURNOUT

STAFF REFLECT ON PARTIAL LIFT OF MASK MANDATE

Understanding the science behind burnout could help people accept their resulting behavior and thought patterns.

PAGE 3 UNIVERSITY

PAGE 6 SCITECH

BOND

COMPANIES

New Haven Health Director Maritza Bond announced her official bid for Secretary of the State after a months-long exploratory run.

PAGE 7 CITY

Sonnenfeld's viral list of companies who have and haven't withdrawn from Russia has seen some changes.

PAGE 9 UNIVERSITY

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 2

OPINION Outrage is the New Gold O

n Sunday afternoon, I was browsing different news outlets to give myself an end-of-the-week update as to the general state of affairs — and yes, to look for a topic that piqued my interest for this cycle’s op-ed pitch. I read several op-eds lamenting the gradual toppling of classic big-screen cinema and Hollywood traditions like the Academy Awards.

It was truly thought-provoking: What does the future of cinema look like, I wondered, in the context of streaming giants like Netflix? I stored it away as a potential prompt. And then the next morning, my friends casually mentioned in conversation the “slap heard around the world,” and I realized after finding out more about the infamous incident that this was what I wanted to — had to — write about.

The incident goes as follows: Oscars host Chris Rock made a tasteless joke on stage about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, and after the camera panned to a shot of Will Smith laughing while she rolled her eyes, he strode onto the stage, slapped Chris Rock and told him to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth. Quoted here sans expletives.

Of course, the reactions were immediate and dramatic: a deluge of social media comments madeking a joke out of, condemnedning or applaudeding Will Smith’s actions.

It certainly sparked a storm of renewed interest in the Oscars, a ceremony that, only the day before, had been remarked upon as a dying tradition. However, after looking through the various tweets and statements about the incident, especially from fellow celebrities, I began to get a sense that people were riding the tide of this public outrage in order to virtue-signal or push their own prejudices or agenda onto the trending page.

Again and again, people stressed that violence was never the answer.

Words like “love” and “peace” flooded the topic feed, and people from all over the world felt invited to impose their own copy-and-paste morals and opinion on the situation. They qualified their positions: They allowed that neither man had been in the right, but repeatedly the word of online judgment punished Will Smith for his actions. Comedian Judd Apatow took it further and even stated in a now-deleted Tweet that Will “could have killed” Rock in “pure out of control rage and violence.” Other Twitter users were quick to condemn him for his placement of Will Smith in the role of the “so scary” black man, but the message was clear; A country as racially divided as America was going to dissect and maul this incident between two successful Black men, and drag it into politics.

Aside from virtue signaling, what happened at the Oscars should certainly not be an event for prejudiced or racist people, of which America has plenty, to chew up and blow

bubbles out of like gum. Ultimately, the altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock was an intensely personal one that, while highly BIANCA publicized, still NAM does not deserve the massive Moments blow-up and scrutiny it got.

Notice Will Smith’s Oscar acceptance speech, after the incident, stressed his determination to “protect” his loved ones, and I believe his actions on the stage were just that: an effort to protect his wife from a potential repeated, mocking and demeaning campaign.

Standard disclaimer: I do not condone violence. However, Will’s action was not political, it was not “out of control rage,” and frankly I believe the slap had less to do with the violence and pain of the impact than the public humiliation that Will wanted to return to its unprovoked inflictor.

I acknowledge that Will Smith has an immense public platform and is admired by vulnerable young people who may have been adversely affected by the incident. However, I argue that above being the Will Smith to his millions of fans, he has every right to claim his private role as husband, father and protector of his family.

Let the Academy fret over disciplinary measures, let Chris Rock decide whether he wants to press charges; Such is their right. But we must realize that celebrities don’t give up their personal identities in exchange for their fame, and their spotlight is no excuse to drown them in our delicious, lucrative outrage.

In the spirit of fairness: At the beginning of this piece, I described the process of my decision to write my article about this incident as an example, in and of itself, of the growing value of outrage. Even with a relevant background and current course, I was immediately drawn to the intense controversy of the Will Smith slap. Instead of waxing eloquently about the transforming face of film and cinematography, I offered my condemnation of the online outrage over the incident, and shared in the hogpile mentality of this age of outrage. I don’t think of myself as being in a better moral position than anyone who publicly commented on this; I simply wanted to share a certain growing feeling of disappointment with the wild trend of capitalizing on outrage at the expense of personal and private identities and lives.

BIANCA NAM is a sophomore in Saybrook College. Her column, “Moments Notice”, runs every other Wednesday. Contact her at hyerim.nam@yale.edu .

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We can’t all change the world T

wo years at Yale was all it took to turn a kid from rural Tennessee into someone who uses abbreviated names of private schools and IB firms as part of his vernacular. If I was to tell myself as a high school senior that I knew someone from Exeter with a summer internship at Goldman, he would look at me as if I had tasked him with deciphering a foreign language. And even if he had understood, he wouldn’t like the message about Yale I was giving him.

Now, I’ve discovered, contrary to the flashy advertisements, Yale’s primary goal is not shaping the next generation of world-changers. Instead, it funnels most of its students through time-tested passageways to careers achingly typical of an Ivy League graduate. Plenty of resources exist to help a student prepare for these jobs, but institutional support for genuinely novel career paths often feels lacking.

But why is it so important for Yale to guide these high-minded people onto well-trodden career paths? Ultimately, it’s not because Yale wants to create world-changers. Much higher on the University’s list of priorities is the production of world-sustainers.

This is why Yale functions as an elite mecca: It gives its students access to a plethora of opportunities in careers that “make the world go around.” Obviously, there are many careers vital to everyday life that don’t require an Ivy League degree, whether we’re talking about our electrician who attended trade school or the owner of our favorite local restaurant who may not have needed any postsecondary degree.

However, when I say “careers that make the world go around,” I intend it to be shorthand for high-responsibility, high-abstraction jobs. These two qualifiers actually go hand-in-hand, which is why it is important for Yale to admit people who “think big.” To be a thoughtful optimist

is to identify a large-scale problem and imagine a possible world in which it is solved – by you, the one ELIJAH with the big idea. Careers BOLES that make the world go around are usually found in sectors with an affinity for Ivy grads like technology, politics, finance and medicine. These occupations need people who can think big, on a high level of abstraction, in order to tackle the big problems that inhere within these careers.

Because these problems are very impactful and very complex, solving them is a high-responsibility burden to assume. That’s what it means to be a world sustainer: to think big in order to handle well the onus of responding to complex, multifaceted issues.

And, why does tackling big problems often require you to be a world-sustainer rather than a world-changer? In short, many of the world’s most intricate issues are best addressed using timetested solutions. And for many of the industries listed above, the most time-tested solution involves using world-sustainers from Ivy League universities to tackle their largest problems. Big-name clients continue to hire McKinsey consultants because the solutions they provide are generally effective. We need our bright computer science graduate at Google and Microsoft because they maintain these digital services that we use almost every day. If Yale sometimes kills professional ingenuity, that serves as a sacrifice to secure the basic needs of everyday life. We can’t all chase something heretofore unattained without failing to preserve the good that was in our grasp all along. Furthermore, there is no shame in

using your talents to solve big problems, even if your method for finding the solution is not ground-breaking or glamorous.

This is not to downplay the fact that innovations affect all the sectors I mentioned earlier. I also acknowledge that there is much in our grasp right now that warrants speedy release because it’s worlds away from good. Institutional criticism and improvement is important, but to effectively accomplish either, you have to understand how these institutions operate in their current iteration. And sometimes that means starting out on a typical career path for the industry with an eye for how best to change it.

While I’m aware of the meme about “changing McKinsey from the inside,” the question of whether your personal values can withstand being smothered by a fat paycheck is completely different from the one I’m addressing here.

Whether you see yourself as a world-changer or a world-sustainer, the metric for genuine success should not consist in your ability to fit well in your category of choice. You should be content with your post-Yale career path, no matter what, as long as you satisfy two criteria. One, your job has trusted you with an important responsibility. Two, you’re doing your best to make good on your promise to meet it. If you can identify a problem that needs to be solved, and you do your best to do just that, that’s the best sort of change you can hope to accomplish. Whether you did this in a novel way or you used the same technique as thousands before you, be proud. Perhaps a biblical quote captures my sentiment shortest and sweetest: Your labor is not in vain.

ELIJAH BOLES is a sophomore in Ezra Stiles College. His column runs every other Tuesday. Contact him at elijah.boles@yale.edu .

GUEST COLUMNIST JULIAN DANIEL

Dreaming Under a Taiwanese Flag Y

ou wouldn’t expect me to be such a patriot towards Taiwan. I’m half-white and half-Taiwanese, and white-passing by appearance; I can only speak a few words of Mandarin, and the only Taiwanese person I know is a grandfather I’ve never met. But for years I’ve surrounded myself with icons of my Taiwaneseness, from the Taiwanese flag trinket on my keychain to the flag I hang on the wall above my bed. I follow Taiwan’s president and its ministry of defense on Twitter, I frequent AACC events and I serve on the board of Yale’s Taiwanese American Society.

In embracing my Taiwanese identity, it’s become clear to me how, more so than nearly every national identity, Taiwanese identity is inherently political, an act of resistance against the domination of a powerful foe.

The powerful symbolism that Taiwan holds can be seen by just a cursory comparison of Taiwan and its neighbor on the mainland. In 1949, at the tail end of the Chinese Civil War, Mao Zedong’s Communists seized control of China, while Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to Taiwan, setting the stage for an ongoing flashpoint in the Cold War as both sides prepared for an invasion from the other, which never came. While China has since remained a repressive, authoritarian state, Taiwan has evolved into a model liberal democracy; in 2019, Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, signed into law a bill making Taiwan the first country in all of Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Freedom House, a human rights nonprofit, ranks Taiwan as extending more liberties to its citizens than nearly any country in the world, including a slew of Western democracies such as the U.S., Italy and France. Taiwan is an example that tolerance, democracy and freedom

are universal values which “the West” holds no monopoly on; it is an example that even the Chinas, Thailands, or Singapores of the world could one day become free and democratic. It is this example, of a country where over 90 percent of people trace their ancestry to China yet embrace values of democracy and human rights anathema to China’s leaders, that so frightens the Chinese regime.

Due to decades of Chinese pressure campaigns, only 14 countries now retain official relations with Taiwan. The Chinese government has made no secret of its desire to “reunify” with Taiwan — which its leaders see as only a wayward province — through force if necessary, and patrols of Chinese fighter jets regularly violate Taiwanese airspace. The issue of Taiwanese sovereignty — constantly precarious, all-toofrequently affected at the whim of decisions made in Beijing and Washington — looms over all who care for Taiwan. At the Taiwanese cultural festivals I attended back home in Atlanta, exhibitions of songs and dancing on the venue’s main stage were often interspersed with exhortations to cheer for Taiwanese sovereignty. Watching Taiwanese athletes march into the Olympic stadium under the banner of “Chinese Taipei,” realizing that as a high schooler in Model UN I would never be able to represent Taiwan, seeing Taiwan depicted as a part of China on countless world maps, all are poignant reminders of just how insecure Taiwanese sovereignty is. So when the Chinese government is dead-set on denying Taiwanese nationhood, using its influence to exclude Taiwan from international organizations or forcing Taiwan to participate in them under the “Chinese Taipei” alias, choosing to assert

Taiwanese identity becomes a statement of defiance.

Taiwan, of course, is far more than its symbolism, and it’s often vaguely troubling to me when non-Taiwanese people seem to care more about Taiwan as a means of provoking China than as a country and a society in its own right. Taiwan is vibrant urban night markets and rolling jungle highlands, boba tea and Taipei 101. It’s indigenous festivals, historic temples and even the semiconductor manufacturer whose products power over half of the world’s laptops and automobiles. It’s 22 million people, and all of their hopes and aspirations.

But given the uncertainty of Taiwan’s position in the world, you can’t be Taiwanese without being political, and that experience brings with it a natural sympathy for the fellow democracies of the world struggling for acceptance. When Russia invaded Ukraine last month, my Taiwanese American Society board groupchat lit up with discussion about what the invasion meant for Taiwan’s future, as a fellow small democratic country threatened by a larger autocratic one. I’ve been heartened by the courage by which the Ukrainian people have fought on and the solidarity that democratic governments and ordinary people worldwide have shown them, even as I’ve been horrified by the videos and pictures bearing testament to all the brutality that invasion can bring. I pray that Kyiv today does not become Taipei tomorrow. Such is the way of being a part of the Taiwanese diaspora. We dream of Taiwan, we dream of its continued freedom and prosperity and we hope dearly that it will still be free for us to visit when we next can.

JULIAN DANIEL is a sophomore in Saybrook College. Contact him at julian.daniel@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

NEWS

“The truth is, I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let men sometimes fool themselves.” MARILYN MONROE AMERICAN ACTRESS

Students adjust to Yale’s relaxed mask restrictions

BY LUCY HODGMAN STAFF REPORTER S t u d e n ts re t u r n e d f ro m spring break this week to the most relaxed mask guidance all semester. Six students reflected on the first days back since break, recalling mixed emotions about the changes to masking policy that included surprise, hesitancy and relief.

On March 21, the University instituted a policy that face masks, which had previously been required in all Yale buildings, would only be necessary in classrooms and instructional spaces, on campus transit and at healthcare facilities. Members of the Yale community are no longer required to wear masks in dining halls, libraries or gymnasiums, or in New Haven restaurants, shops, bars and gyms per a change to city policy that went into effect on March 7.

For Anne Northrup ’22, the habit of wearing a mask everywhere has not been a hard one to break, but walking around without a mask still feels unnatural.

“Sometimes I’ll still have it on when I’m coming from class, but that’s about it,” Northrup said. “It still feels a little risqué though, especially in the dining hall; like I’m doing something that I shouldn’t. Logically it shouldn’t be an issue. I read the email, I’ve gotten my negative tests, I haven’t been exposed to any COVID-y situations. I know I don’t have to wear a mask. But still.”

Although Northrup said changes to the mask mandate felt like a reasonable response to current rates of COVID-19, she was nevertheless surprised by the announcement. Given Yale’s historically strict COVID-19 guidelines — among the most stringent

in the Ivy League — Northrup said she expected the previous mask mandate to remain in place for the rest of the semester.

Tiffany Toh ’25 and Diego Bolanos ’25 also voiced their surprise about the University’s loosened mask restrictions. For Bolanos, who is immunocompromised, the changes felt both premature and inconsistent.

“I wasn’t expecting it to happen this soon, and the mandate itself was pretty weird,” Bolanos said. “It didn’t really make sense to me that they would still keep the mask mandate in class, as if COVID doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

For others, including Edmund Zheng ’24 and Stevan Kamatovic ’25, the mandate lifting did not come as a surprise, but rather seemed like an inevitable response to loosening restrictions at other universities and new guidance from the CDC. Zhang said that while at first it seemed that people continued to wear masks even where they were no longer required to, more students began removing masks in spaces like dining halls and gyms as word about the new guidance traveled across campus.

Bolanos is still adjusting to the new policy — he noted that after two years of masking, he still takes a mask wherever he goes, even if he knows he will not need one.

Sometimes, he said, he forgets that masks are no longer required in certain spaces where he feels accustomed to wearing them.

“I end up just [wearing a mask] out of instinct,” Bolanos said. “But if I am consciously thinking about it, I choose not to wear a mask. I feel like it’s both just a personal preference and a little bit of peer pressure. It feels weird to wear a mask when no one else is.”

ZOE BERG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Students returning from spring break this week have begun adjusting to relaxations to University mask requirements.

Northrup, similarly, noted that while she did not find it hard to stop wearing a mask, it was hard to stop thinking about whether or not she was wearing one.

Toh said that her masking habits are mostly the same, with some gray areas — she might leave her mask off to clear dining hall dishes or if she is in a study room with one other person, but otherwise finds it similarly hard to shake the masking habits which the University has enforced since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Whenever I walk into a building, whenever I open a door, I find myself reaching into my pocket for a mask,” Toh said. “Even when I’m watching a movie, and I see people walking into a room without taking that step, I internally flinch a little bit. That’s going to be a hard habit to break. I don’t know if I will ever fully be able to erase the self consciousness that comes with being

unmasked in a public space, even long after the pandemic ends.”

Ted Shepherd ’25 characterized the current atmosphere on campus as a “moment of transition.”

Although Shepherd said he noticed others hesitating over whether or not it would be safe for them to go unmasked in public spaces on campus, he felt relieved to see more people grow comfortable with the more relaxed restrictions.

“Walking through a public space here on campus and seeing people not wearing masks is a welcome reminder to me, every time, that we are getting to the end of this long period of sickness and misery for so many people,” Shepherd said. “Everybody has been affected by the pandemic, and it is so heartening to us all that we can safely start to return to normalcy.”

Already, Kamatovic said he had noticed that people seemed willing to interact with each other in

a “more natural way” than they would while wearing masks.

For Northrup, the loosening of restrictions means that campus feels closer — although still not the same — to how it did before the pandemic. Now that concerns about COVID-19 are no longer “the elephant in the room” in public spaces, she said, she is more relaxed at the dining hall or the gym.

“Seeing people’s full face is magical, too,” Northrup added.

“Actually wonderful. The sort of thing you’d only miss when it’s gone. It’s a new small joy in my day to notice somebody’s expression. The full deal, not just around the eyes. Maybe a bit odd, I know, but it’s true.”

COVID-19 booster shots are currently required for students on campus.

Contact LUCY HODGMAN at lucy.hodgman@yale.edu.

Staff members reflect on partial lift of mask mandate

TIGERLILY HOPSON/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Following the recent removal of the mask mandate in most indoor spaces, staff members shared how they feel about the change.

BY TIGERLILY HOPSON STAFF REPORTER As the partial lifting of the mask mandate goes into effect, staff members grapple with feelings ranging from joy to fear.

The University’s modifications to its masking requirements were implemented on March 21, allowing students, faculty and staff to unmask in most indoor spaces, including dining halls, libraries and gyms. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, staff will have to be in close contact with unmasked students, and can no longer enforce mask wearing in their workplace. Masks are still required in classrooms and other instructional spaces.

The News spoke with 27 staff members — 21 dining hall workers and six library staff — many of whom said they were grateful to now have the choice to wear a mask or not. Others, however, voiced safety concerns, saying that the relaxing of the mask mandate has come too soon.

“I feel like it should be each individual person’s choice based on comfort level,” said Joshua Fontaine, first cook in the Berkeley dining hall. “I am glad for the choice.”

Many dining hall workers said that they would continue to wear their mask at first, and would decide to take it off depending on how many students are present at one time and if they are able to distance or be behind barriers. One staff member, Chy Quaan, described needing a “mask grace period,” before deciding to take his off in Davenport’s dining hall.

Some staff members described relief at the option of not wearing a mask, and said it will ease the struggle of working long hours over hot stoves.

“I’m happy,” Kelly Butler said about the change in the mask mandate as she stood over the grill in Silliman. “It’s 1,000 degrees over this thing.”

“It’s hard to breathe back here,” Jasmine McElya, another Silliman dining hall worker, chimed in.

“I have asthma real bad,” Stephanie Kotchey said in Davenport. “It can be stifling. I want to have the choice.”

Every staff member, when asked by the News, said that the testing accessibility and high vaccination rates put their mind at ease in some capacity. However,

many still said that they want to keep an eye on the COVID-19 case levels and monitor the situation if there is a spike.

According to the University’s COVID-19 dashboard, 1,092 faculty and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since Jan. 1. University Provost Scott Strobel, Senior Vice President for Operations Jack Callahan and University COVID-19 Coordinator Stephanie Spangler did not respond to a question about the breakdown between faculty and staff within the data.

Although cases have gone down significantly in recent days, four dining hall staff members told the News they felt it was unwise to take away the mask mandate when cases could easily rise again — especially after spring break, when many students are returning from across the globe.

“COVID is still here,” said Caprice Harris, who works in Berkeley’s dining hall. “[Not wearing a mask] affects everyone’s work and safety.”

June Beasley, another employee in Berkeley, agreed that it is “too early” for the masking requirement to be removed, and said that

she is afraid of getting sick with this new change.

Spangler told the News that any staff or faculty member who “feels that they have a condition that places them at increased risk for serious illness from COVID-19” may contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility for an accommodation.

Beasley added that she wished plastic guards would be put up for protection if masking is optional, and emphasized the importance for students to continue to sanitize their hands.

“As it relates to our operations, there has been little or no evidence of transmission in the dining halls and serveries,” Bob Sullivan, senior director of residential dining, wrote to the News.

“For those who are vaccinated and boosted, it is up to them to remove their mask should they choose to do so. I emphasize the choice as, if and when some of our staff choose to keep their masks on, they are completely welcome to do so.”

One student, Lusangelis Ramos ’25, said that for her, wearing her mask near staff members shows her respect for them, especially in spaces like dining halls and

Commons, where she and other students interact with workers every day.

“There’s a really big power imbalance between Yale and New Haven,” Ramos said. “I feel like it’s a sign of respect to wear these masks and make sure that we’re following all these protocols because we’re interacting with a lot of New Haven residents, everywhere.”

The library staff who spoke with the News said that the general protocol is to still wear masks behind the service desk out of “respect” to fellow co-workers, and to make sure students feel comfortable when walking in or asking for help.

Three workers at Sterling Memorial Library said that about half of the students are still wearing their masks in the building.

Individually, most of the staff members who spoke to the News said they would “keep [their mask] on” for the foreseeable future.

Alex Lance, a frontline services worker at Bass Library and previous student worker, said that throughout the pandemic they had spent many of their shifts walking the halls of the library, checking if students were wearing masks and enforcing the guidelines when they were not. This could spark conflict and push back, and made the job feel like they were “policing [their] peers.”

Now, to remove the masking requirement when they and their student co-workers had “spent so much time trying to enforce it” feels “frustrating,” according to Lance.

Yet, for some other staff members, the new option of not wearing a mask in many of these indoor spaces comes as a comforting return to normalcy.

“I feel like it’s time to turn to the next chapter,” said Richard Rodriguez, who works in Davenport’s dining hall. “To go back to normalcy.”

Yet, for Silliman employee Brandi Williams, who said she has underlying health issues, not wearing a mask leaves too many “what ifs.”

She said everyone is doing the best that they can, but that still this new change in the masking requirement “is a bit scary.”

In the last seven days there have been 27 positive cases for faculty and staff according to the University COVID-19 dashboard.

Contact TIGERLILY HOPSON at tigerlily.hopson@yale.edu.

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.”

MICHAEL SCOTT CHARACTER ON THE OFFICE

Dept. of Justice drops Lin investigation DOJ FROM PAGE 1 the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Senate Valerie Horsley wrote to the News. “I also hope that the University gives more clarity about why he was placed on leave and when faculty are subject to being placed on leave if an investigation is underway.”

Other faculty were more critical.

“The Yale Provost's Office could have come out of this looking good if they had backed up Haifan right from the beginning,” wrote professor of cell biology Joel Rosenbaum. “But as soon as there was just a smell of them not getting overhead from NIH grants, they took a cowardly stance.

One is presumed guilty, right from the start, before there is any thorough investigation; this is not the first time this has happened.”

Yale Vice President of Communications Nate Nickerson previously wrote to the News that the University has followed all policies and due process outlined in the Faculty Handbook.

The announcement came a day after a second medical school department issued a statement in support of Lin. The newest letter, issued by the Department of Comparative Medicine, expresses “strong opposition” to events leading to Lin’s suspension and also mentions the possibility that faculty other than Lin have also been suspended.

This is now the second departmental letter addressed to the University regarding Lin, after an initial school-wide inquiry and one issued by the Cell Biology Department, of which Lin is a member.

“The many recent public accounts of this situation have exposed a potential failure of due process on the part of Yale University, which appears to be, for all practical purposes, suspended him prior to the completion of the investigation,” the Comparative Medicine Department’s statement reads. “Our public discussion of this situation revealed other Chi-

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The news came a day after a second medical school department issued a statement in support of Lin. nese-American faculty may also have been similarly treated.”

The letter also attributes the investigation to the China Initiative. The News has not been able

to verify with the University or DOJ that Lin’s case specifically falls under the China Initiative.

The letter was released by the department’s Twitter account

on Tuesday and shared by many medical school faculty members.

Contact ISAAC YU at isaac.yu@yale.edu .

Yale admits 2,234 students to class of 2026

YALE DAILY NEWS

Yale College admitted 2,234 students to the class of 2026 from its largest-ever pool of 50,015 applicants.

ADMISSIONS FROM PAGE 1 50,022 students applied to Yale, but this number included these 46 students who postponed their attendance and excluded 39 students who were granted application extensions due to extenuating circumstances.

Admitted members of the class of 2026 hail from 49 states, Wash-

ington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and 58 countries. Yale denied admission to 44,783 applicants, and 1,998 applications were incomplete or withdrawn.

“The applicant pool’s strength and diversity are always more important to the admissions committee than its size,” Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale’s Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and

Financial Aid, said. “By these measures, the students who were admitted to Yale College this cycle are truly extraordinary. The committee was deeply impressed by their academic and extracurricular achievements, their wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, and the positive contributions they have already made to local and global communities.”

Though Quinlan may not focus on numbers, the applicant pool for the class of 2026 was the largest in Yale’s history.

According to Director of Undergraduate Admissions Margit Dahl, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions accommodated the deluge of applications by hiring more staff members and spending more time reading applications and holding committee meetings.

Nevertheless, she maintained that the office retained its “whole-person review process” for all applicants, despite the workload.

Dahl emphasized that “in the end, it is all about the individual student and their fit with Yale.”

The number of applications was not the only thing that set this newly-admitted class apart. The class of 2026 is the third cohort of admitted students to receive their acceptances during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are the second to apply without a standardized test requirement, which Yale originally suspended for the 20202021 admissions cycle due to pandemic-related challenges.

Nevertheless, this year’s class of admitted students will be the first group to be invited to New Haven for Bulldog Days — an admitted students program that showcases academic and extracurricular life at Yale — since the class of 2023 came to Connecticut in 2019. The event, which was held remotely during the last two admissions cycles, is set to run April 25-27.

Quinlan said that he and his colleagues are eager to see the event return to campus after two years of virtual programming.

“For decades, Bulldog Days has been a special experience for both admitted and current students,” Quinlan said. “I am excited to re-establish this important campus tradition and am grateful to the countless students, faculty, and staff across Yale College who will help to make this year’s event a success.”

Admitted students from low-income backgrounds are eligible for funding that will enable them to travel to campus.

Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Scott Wallace-Juedes emphasized that the Class of 2026 will be the first to benefit from four years of new financial aid supports.

These changes, which the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of Financial Aid announced in October, include eliminating what Yalies dubbed the “student income contribution,” covering the marginal tax rate for international students and subsidizing childcare for student parents.

Wallace-Juedes said that “for most students receiving financial aid, this new policy will reduce costs and increase the amount of Yale Scholarship by $7,500 over four years.”

The 2022-2023 academic year will also be the first in which Yale meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for Eli Whitney students, students who have taken non-traditional paths to higher education.

Admitted students must respond to their offers of admission by May 2.

Contact JORDAN FITZGERALD at jordan.fitzgerald@yale.edu .

Petrone-Codrington pleads guilty to stealing $40 million GUILTY FROM PAGE 1 $40,504,200 to Yale and a loss of $6,416,618 to the U.S. Treasury.

“Petrone-Codrington pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. She will be sentenced at a later date and will pay restitution to Yale University and the IRS,” University spokesperson Karen Peart said. “Yale initially alerted authorities to evidence of suspected criminal behavior last year and fully cooperated throughout the investigation. The University thanks local law enforcement, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their handling of the case. Since the incident, Yale has worked to identify and correct gaps in its internal financial controls.”

The DOJ alleged that as part of the scheme, Petrone-Codrington falsified Yale internal forms and electronic communications to claim that the hardware was for medical school needs, such as medical studies. She broke up the fraudulent purchases into orders below the $10,000 threshold that would necessitate additional approval. An out-of-state busi-

ness, which resold the electronic equipment to customers, paid Petrone-Codrington by wiring funds into an account of a company in which she is a principal, Maziv Entertainment LLC. According to the government court filing, Yale received an anonymous tip that PetroneCodrington was “ordering suspiciously high volumes of computer equipment, some of which was placed into her personal vehicle.”

Petrone-Codrington used the proceeds of the sales of the stolen equipment for various personal expenses, including expensive cars, real estate and travel.

She has agreed to forfeit $560,421.14 that was seized from the Maziv Entertainment LLC bank account as well as a litany of expensive cars: a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G550, a 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sv Autobiography, a 2015 Cadillac Escalade Premium, a 2020 Mercedes Benz Model E450A, a 2016 Cadillac Escalade and a 2018 Dodge Charger. She also has agreed to liquidate three Connecticut properties that she owns or co-owns to help satisfy her restitution obligation. A property she owns in

Georgia is also subject to seizure and liquidation.

Petrone-Codrington did not pay taxes on the money she received from selling the stolen equipment. She filed false federal tax returns for the 2013 through 2016 tax years in which she claimed as business expenses the costs of the stolen equipment, and failed to file any federal tax returns for the 2017 through 2020 tax years, according to the DOJ press release. This caused a loss of $6,416,618 to the U.S. Treasury.

According to the complaint, Petrone-Codrington provided a voluntary statement to law enforcement on or around Aug. 26. Among other things, she admitted to having devised and executed the scheme, and indicated that it had been going on for several years, possibly as many as 10. Petrone-Codrington estimated that approximately 90 percent of her computer-related purchases were fraudulent.

She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of filing a false tax return, which carries a maximum term

TENZIN JORDEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Petrone-Codrington used the proceeds of the sales of the stolen equipment for various personal expenses, including expensive cars, real estate and travel. of imprisonment of three years.

The lawyer representing Petrone-Codrington could not be located or identified by the News. Pe t ro n e - Co d r i n g to n could not immediately be reached for comment.

Petrone-Codrington is scheduled to be sentenced by the U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on June 29, 2022.

Contact HANNAH QU at hannah.qu@yale.edu

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

FROM THE FRONT

“I never feel more alone than when I'm trying to put sunscreen on my back.” JIMMY KIMMEL AMERICAN COMEDIAN

Gerken breaks silence on YLS protest

YASMINE HALMANE/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

In her email, Gerken wrote that YLS permits speech even when the content is inconsistent with the community’s core values.

GERKEN FROM PAGE 1 video of the event shows students occasionally interrupting the law professor moderating the discussion and one student cursing at an attendee and threatening to fight him. When the moderator told stu-

dents to “grow up,” one replied, “Will those trans kids grow up?”

“Under the University’s free expression policy, student groups have every right to invite speakers to campus, and others have every right to voice opposition,” Gerken wrote in the email. “Our commit-

ment to free speech is clear and unwavering. Because unfettered debate is essential to our mission, we allow people to speak even when their speech is flatly inconsistent with our core values.”

While Gerken wrote that the protest was in line with University policy and did not warrant disciplinary action, the behavior of certain protesters has triggered a “serious discussion” within the Law School about its “policies and norms for the rest of the semester,” Gerken wrote.

Rachel Perler LAW ’22, who protested the event said that the administration has scheduled to meet with protesters this Thursday, and has called it a “norms discussion.”

Gerken wrote that “at a minimum,” some of the protesters violated the norms of Yale Law School.

“I expect far more from our students, and I want to state unequivocally that this cannot happen again,” Gerken wrote.

But Zack Austin LAW ’22, president of the Yale chapter of the Federalist Society, took issue with Gerken’s message as the dean did not punish the protesters. In his view, they did violate Yale’s free speech policy, he wrote to the News.

“If this protest is what compliance with the University’s policies looks

like, then there is no meaningful Free Speech policy left at Yale,” Austin said.

He pointed to six specific violations of the report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale, commonly known as the Woodward Report, which has set the University’s policy on free speech for over four decades. The report states that students may not disrupt an event by obstructing the view of those attempting to watch an event or speaker nor shout down a speaker. Austin asserted that the actions of the protesters violated half a dozen of these policies, specifically that they held up signs that blocked the view of event attendees, that they made noise that interfered with listeners’ ability to hear the speaker and disrupted nearby events and that they blocked access to the hallway outside.

Several protesters, however, doubled down on their opposition to the event, and particularly the University’s decision to call armed police officers to respond.

“We regularly work with student groups for various events and speakers,” Law School spokesperson Debra Kroszner wrote to the News. “When visitors to the Yale campus bring their own security,

as in this case, University policy requires the Law School to inform Yale Police. We then work with the police to determine the appropriate level of support for the particular visitor and/or event.”

Henry Robinson LAW ’24 said that they felt that Gerken’s message failed to address one of the students’ primary concerns: the presence of armed police at the protest. Perler echoed Robinson and said that, though she was glad Gerken defended the right to protest, the dean’s statement did not adequately explain why police were present at the protest.

Over four hundred Yale Law School students, more than half of the student body, signed an open letter condemning the administration for the presence of at least four armed Yale police officers at the protest.

“There has been very little communication from the administration on the school’s policy with regards to calling armed police on nonviolent protesters, despite the fact that over half of the student body has signed on to an open letter seeking clarity on that front,” Robinson wrote.

The Yale Law School is located at 127 Wall St. Contact PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH at philip.mousavizadeh@yale.edu .

Title IX report shows drop in complaints TITLE IX FROM PAGE 1 the leadership of Spangler, who concluded her role on Dec. 31, 2021.

If on schedule, the report covering this time period should have been released last March, yet because of the COVID-19 pandemic and “staff transitions,” reports have been delayed, according to a February email from new Title IX Coordinator Elizabeth Conklin and Deputy Title IX Coordinator Jason Killheffer.

In all, the 86 complaints marks an 8.5 percent decrease from the 94 complaints between January and June 2020, and a 33 percent decrease from the 129 complaints between July and December 2019. Despite the return of some students, faculty and staff to campus during the most recent reporting period, the decrease in reported offenses could have been due in part to many students still engaging in remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In alignment with COVID19 health and safety precautions, repopulation of the campus was gradual and partial during this semester, as sophomore students were asked and other students chose to continue to study remotely and many staff and faculty contin-

ued to work from home,” Spangler wrote in the report.

Last March, when the report covering the complaints filed between January and June 2020 was released, Spangler told the News that she could “only speculate” that the shift to remote learning “may have had an effect.”

Within the reporting period between July and December 2020 that is covered in the newly-released report, Yale’s procedures for reviewing formal complaints of sexual misconduct shifted. New Title IX regulations enacted by the Trump administration in August 2020 — which Yale lobbied against — meant the definition of sexual misconduct was narrowed and a school’s obligation to investigate complaints was limited to only offenses that occurred on campus.

Spangler said in the report’s introduction that these changes did not affect the role of Title IX coordinators in “providing supportive services and accommodations to those impacted by sexual misconduct.”

The sexual misconduct report contains statistics of filed complaints, with each complaint categorized as sexual assault, sexual harassment, intimate partner vio-

lence, stalking or other. According to the report, 39 percent of complaints were sexual harassment and 26 percent were sexual assault. The majority of complaints were filed by Yale students, who made up 73 percent of the sexual assault reports.

In response to these assaults, Yale College complainants were most often “referred… to other University support resources” and “no contact agreements” were typically set up between the complainant and their assaulter. The outcome for the majority of those who committed sexual misconduct was to be “counsel[ed] on appropriate conduct.” The YPD was largely not involved unless the respondent was a non-Yale member.

“Whenever possible, it is the complainant who decides whether or not to pursue a complaint, and in what venue,” the report states. “In rare circumstances, such as those involving risks to the safety of individuals and/or the community, the University may take additional action independently of the wishes of an individual complainant.”

According to a table included in the report, out of the 86 complaints, no further action was taken in response to 34 of them.

In addition to the semiannual reports, in 2015 and 2019 Yale participated in a campus climate survey on sexual misconduct conducted by the Association of American Universities, or AAU. According to the survey’s findings, most students who experience sexual assault do not report it to campus resources or the police.

Many students who participated in the survey stated that their lack of action was because they felt that their assault was not significant enough, or that officials would not take their assault seriously.

According to Conklin and Killheffer, the AAU surveys play an important role in determining what steps would be appropriate to bettering campus culture surrounding sexual misconduct.

“Barriers continue to exist that prevent individuals from coming forward to report misconduct and to seek assistance from University resources,” Conklin and Killheffer wrote to the News in February. “With this invaluable data in mind, we have developed new and enhanced programming to help prevent sexual misconduct on our campus and to increase community awareness of resources.”

Two of the semi-annual reports have still not been made publicly available — the missing reports cover complaints reported in January to June 2021 and July to December 2021. If on schedule, the latter would have been released in March.

Conklin and Spangler did not respond in time for publication when asked when the two backlogged reports would be published or when Conklin would take over in leading the process of these reports.

“I am very enthusiastic about this transition,” Spangler said in her Tuesday email, regarding Conklin’s new position as Title IX Coordinator. “Not only because this important responsibility will be in Ms. Conklin’s extremely capable hands but also because placing the role in Ms. Conklin’s Institutional Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging portfolio will expand opportunities for collaborations and synergies as we work together to address and prevent all forms of discrimination and harassment on our campus.”

Nineteen semi-annual Title IX sexual misconduct reports have been released since 2011.

Contact TIGERLILY HOPSON at tigerlily.hopson@yale.edu .

Number of students reporting disabilities at Yale soars DISABILITIES FROM PAGE 1 stands at 1,318 students — nearly double the number registered three years ago.

“The importance of destigmatizing mental illness and all disabilities is that it allows more people to feel comfortable recognizing it in themselves, to get help and to not be embarrassed or feel alienated by the fact they have an illness disability and instead feel empowered to live more fulfilled, and engaged lives,” former Disability Empowerment for Yale, or DEFY, President Joaquín Lara Midkiff ’24 said.

“In a high-intensity, high stakes environment like Yale, your chances of developing depression or anxiety rocket,” Lara Midkiff continued, adding that if more students do not feel comfortable reaching out to register for the services they need their lives “will measurably be poorer.”

Lara Midkiff also noted the role COVID-19 has played in worsening mental illness for many Americans. The average share of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression increased thirty percent between January 2019 and January 2021 — from 11 percent to 41.1 percent, with younger Americans reporting symptoms at the highest rates. Fifty-six percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 reported experiencing anxiety or depression during the pandemic, making them the only age group with a majority. That, in addition to the fact that

one in five adult Americans already experience some form of mental illness and the average delay between symptom onset and treatment is 11 years, makes the need to identify and support students experiencing mental illness particularly important to disability advocates.

“Just like any physical illness, some mental illnesses can be disabling,” disability activist Alexis Sye ’25 said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, defines a person with a disability as someone whose impairment substantially limits major life activities. Leaders in Yale’s disability community say more students are coming to consider themselves disabled using the ADA’s definition. Groups like the Disability Peer Mentor Program, or DPMP, run by SAS, aim to make clear that all individuals who fit that description are a part of their community and are welcome to disability resources.

SAS offers an array of services to students with disabilities, so long as they register the disability. Services include testing accommodations, such as extended testing time or reduced distraction environments, alternate format material and assistive technology, such as text-tospeech or speech-to-text applications as well as ASL interpreters and Computer Assisted Real-Time Translation services.

But despite their work, many students in the Yale community

remain unaware of the fact that mental illness can be registered with SAS for accommodations.

One such student, Xander Calicdan ’25, said throughout the summer and orientation before the school year, there was no mention of disability registration or the SAS accommodations available for students with mental illness. He cited the lack of available information for the disparity between SAS registrations and the likely actual number of disabled students on campus.

“I wish I knew that sooner.

That’s information everyone should know,” Calicdan said.

Calicdan added that he hopes the University will do a better job communicating that mental illnesses can qualify as a disability, as more and more students come forward with their disabilities.

Even students who know mental illness can be registered believe the school should do a better job informing students sooner. Sophia Groff ’25 said that while she knew that mental illness could qualify as a disability, she only became aware through a friend who struggled and learned too late, after he had withdrawn from the University.

“It’s terrible what happened to him, and I miss him every day, but now I try to make sure everyone I know also knows,” Groff said.

Josie Steuer Ingall ’24, the Disability Peer Mentor Program coordinator, said that the culture that prevents students from register-

ing with SAS persists at Yale due to “chronic underfunding and understaffing” of the SAS office, onerous registration requirements and persistent claims that accommodations are an “unfair advantage” among peers.

“Yale needs to invest in a significant expansion of SAS’s staff, space and services and build long-term infrastructure to support peer-topeer and student-staff relationship-building,” Steuer Ingall said.

Sye agreed, saying, “Destigmatizing both mental health and accommodations themselves is necessary to bridge this gap between those who are eligible for accommodations and those who actually receive them.”

Director of SAS Kimberly McKeown said that there are many types of accommodations, and they vary depending on the needs of the individual student.

McKeown added that while “systemic change takes time, SAS is unwavering in its commitment to support students with disabilities,” and that control of what services they use in what classes are in the students’ hands. She further added that SAS’s work remains private and is not shared with faculty or staff, except in the rare case of self-harm.

In addition to the work that DEFY, DPMP and others undertake, professors also play a critical role in ensuring students in need of accommodations receive them. Senior Lecturer in Hellenic Studies Maria Kaliambou,

who serves on the Provost Advisory Committee on Resources for Students and Employees with Disabilities, said she specifically looks for students in their classes that may need accommodations.

In her experience, students and instructors cannot afford to lose time in a working semester before they receive accommodations.

While she understands that students may sometimes feel “disappointed” or “embarrassed” when directed to SAS, registering a learning disability can help both faculty and students to work together toward a more inclusive learning strategy, she said.

“We should accept and respect that we learn differently,” Kaliambou said. “We need to work together to create a learning environment that works for all.”

SAS plans to continue working with groups like DEFY and others across the University to engage with students to coordinate accommodations.

“We are committed to normalizing the accommodation process and removing barriers that prevent students from requesting accommodations,” McKeown said.

All Yale students can request accommodations for disabilities with SAS and are eligible for counseling through Yale Mental Health and Counseling free of charge.

Contact MICHAEL NDUBISI at michael.ndubisi@yale.edu .

PAGE 6

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY “How people fall apart”: Yale faculty discuss the impact of burnout on the brain

BY KAYLA YUP STAFF REPORTER Burnout can make one feel helpless, incompetent, emotionally exhausted, isolated and cynical. Yale faculty provided insight into the neurobiological basis behind symptoms of burnout — and what can be done to reverse it.

Professor of neuroscience and psychology Amy Arnsten’s decades of research on the effects of stress on the brain were inspired by seeing “how people fall apart,” she said. When her father was very ill, Arnsten witnessed the process by which people who are normally “very rational” can suddenly become “emotional tornadoes.”

Through volunteering in her local state psychiatric hospital, she further witnessed how even small stressors had immediate effects on thought patterns. Arnsten found that understanding the effects of stress on the brain would provide vital clues as to how higher brain functioning is regulated.

“A lot of my own research is on how uncontrollable stress affects the prefrontal cortex, which is the most recently evolved part of our brains,” Arnsten said. “It does higher cognition, abstract thought, working memory, the executive functions — so being able to concentrate, multitask, plan and organize, all these things you ideally need to thrive at Yale, for example.”

Arnsten highlighted that a person’s perceived ability to control a stressor is a key determinant of its effect on their brain.

For example, if someone is overwhelmed by what is being asked of them, believing it to be beyond their capabilities even if it is not, they will view the task as something to be afraid of and such fear will prevail. The stress signaling pathways engaged will then weaken the prefrontal cortex and strengthen more primitive parts of the brain. According to Arnsten, this phenomenon may have had survival value over the course of human evolution.

Arnsten recounted walking in the woods in Vermont, when suddenly along the path, a bear appeared in front of her. Luckily, the bear was facing the other way. Rather than consciously reasoning that most mammals lack a ventral stream, and therefore would not be able to recognize a still object, she froze. In this moment of fear, her reflex of freezing was engaged. When the bear turned around, it did not notice her because of her lack of

movement, and ended up wandering off.

“Freezing is a reflex that can be mediated by the brainstem,” Arnsten explained. “So you can see that there are many instances where having this rapid switch to more primitive brain circuits can save your life. But there are others where the stressor really demands that you need your prefrontal cortex online. For example, during COVID, being able to imagine an invisible virus, you can’t see it the way you see a bear.”

Human neuroimaging can help researchers study the prefrontal

“We can see symptoms of breakdown when we begin to lose our ability to concentrate,” clinical assistant professor of psychiatry Mark Rego said. “We have the tip of the tongue phenomenon, we lose things easily — these are both from working memory breaking down — and our emotions escape their confines into harsh speech.

Eventually the system will break down and we will need to rest to focus at all.”

The Cornell study found that after a month of reduced stress, these effects disappeared. In healthy individuals, the plas-

Rego said that if frontal fatigue represents a state of vulnerability, then burnout is the next step before stress overwhelms an individual into a state of depression.

Rego quoted Arnsten’s conclusion that if something is deemed “mental illness,” then it likely involves the prefrontal cortex. “[The prefrontal cortex] does not function well under stress,” Rego said. “Virtually all imaging and injury studies have found that mental illness always involves the [prefrontal cortex]. Change the [prefrontal cortex] and changes in personality and behavior follow.”

ALICE MAO/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

cortex’s specific response to stress, such as the stress students experience before an important exam.

Arnsten pointed to a Cornell study that analyzed the brains of medical students after a month of preparation for a major board exam.

The month of study for the exam can be characterized as “psychosocial stress,” an imbalance between adverse life situations and one’s ability to cope with them. Brain imaging revealed that the stressor of studying for the major exam weakened the connectivity of the prefrontal network, leading to impaired prefrontal function and impaired attention regulation.

Study looks at origins of oxidation states in volcanoes

JESSAI FLORES/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

ticity of the prefrontal cortex allowed for such cognitive impairments from stress to be reversed. However, this cycle could threaten long-term mental health.

In Rego’s book “Frontal Fatigue” he hypothesized that if this cycle of mentally breaking down and resting is repeated enough, the prefrontal cortex can become vulnerable to dysfunction, possibly leading to mental disorders. Rego terms this vulnerability “frontal fatigue,” defining it as a background condition caused by the “unique pressures of modern life” overwhelming the prefrontal cortex.

According to Rego, without the prefrontal cortex, humans would be unable to control any action compelled by emotion. The prefrontal cortex’s numerous connections to the limbic system, where emotions form, explain its vital role in dealing with “our emotional lives,” he explained.

Professor of psychology Laurie Santos said that burnout consists of three different phases.

The first is emotional exhaustion, characterized by feeling worn out and drained, with not even a good night’s sleep seeming to help. The second phase is known as depersonalization or cynicism. This stage causes a person

BY ELIZABETH WATSON STAFF REPORTER

ferric acid to ferrous acid, it is highly oxidized, which is essential to magmatic arc formation.

When an oceanic plate undergoes subduction, it is heated and dehydrated. This process produces aqueous fluids that begin to rise. These aqueous fluids become oxidized as they travel through the highly-oxidized sediment layer, which the team found acts as a reduction-oxidation, or redox, filter. Once the aqueous fluids ascend to the mantle, they become the driving forces behind partial melting, which starts the formation of the oxidized magma that feeds the arcs.

“What our group has done here, what Jay has really pioneered here, is the idea of the sediments that are going down on the subducting slab, acting like a redox filter,” said Megan Holycross, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell and a co-author on the paper. “[...] The fluid itself could be reduced, but if it passes through these sediments which are oxidized, those sediments act as a redox filter and actually oxidize that fluid. It’s suggesting that sediments are really key when we’re thinking about the transfer of oxygen throughout Earth’s deep interior.”

To study this sediment as a redox filter, the team analyzed subducted and metamorphosed sediments called metasediments from the Cyclades in Greece. The analysis was carried out with an electron-probe microanalyzer, or EMPA, to determine the chemical compositions of the minerals such as hematite and magnetite within the rock samples. Based on this data, it was possible to calcu-

A new study led by Jay Ague, professor of earth and planetary sciences at Yale, has provided crucial insights into the role of oxidation in volcanic formation.

The team behind the study is an international group of researchers at universities from the United States, China, Germany and Greece. The researchers’ goal was to understand the oxidation states of magmatic arcs, also known as volcanic arcs. Magmatic arcs are chains of volcanoes that take on arcuate shapes, such as the arc of the Aleutian Islands and form as a result of magmatic activity beneath the surface of the Earth over subduction zones — areas where one oceanic plate is compressed beneath another into the mantle. According to Ague, magmatic arcs are responsible for some of the most powerful volcanic eruptions on Earth.

“The relatively oxidized nature of magmatic arcs, which form above Earth’s subduction zones, has been a challenge to interpret for many years,” Ague said. “When studying subducted sediments in the Cycladic islands of Greece, I noticed that many were highly oxidized and sought to test whether this oxidized character was connected to the genesis of oxidized arc magmas.”

Magmatic arcs are the result of subduction by oceanic plates. The plates, or “slabs,” are layered with sediment originating from processes like hypothermal seafloor activity or deposition from continents. When this sediment contains a high ratio of

to be annoyed with others, have a shorter fuse, become more cynical of people’s intentions and become more distant with people.

“The final feature is a reduced sense of personal accomplishment,” Santos said. “You never feel like you’re doing things effectively and so you feel ineffective and like the work you do doesn’t matter. If you notice signs like this, it’s important that you pay attention early on and make some changes in order to feel better.”

Because it is the prefrontal cortex that helps control emotions and thereby avoid panicking, this continual stress cycle can cause a person to spiral downwards. Meanwhile, primitive circuits like the amygdala are strengthened, becoming enlarged as a result of burnout.

“The amygdala’s job is to look for threats,” Arnsten said. “And it’s something called the aversive lens, where people who are depressed, their amygdala actually views neutral faces as sad or threatening. So, yes, by being in chronic stress, you’re setting up your brain to be concentrating on the negative and interpreting things in a negative way.”

Arnsten advised people to have a low threshold for reaching out for help. She observed that many students may not be aware that help is available, and may view asking for help as a personal sign of weakness. She noted the importance of a balanced diet, deep breathing, exercise and good sleep.

Rego emphasized the need to lean into life “with your hands, senses and via others.” To allow the prefrontal cortex to rest, he suggested doing hands-on activities, such as arts and cooking, and indulging the senses — especially in nature — and talking to people often. Rego also recommended quieting the mind, whether through sports, long walks or yoga.

“Understanding the neuroscience can give you perspective to say ‘it’s not that I’m stupid or weak,’” Arnsten said. “This is how our neurobiology is built. This is a natural response of my brain, and I need to do things that will help me feel more in control.”

Students can schedule meetings with counselors at Yale Mental Health & Counseling by calling (203) 432-0290, or access the expanded mental health services through Yale College Community Counseling.

Contact KAYLA YUP at kayla.yup@yale.edu .

late the redox state of the metasediments with thermodynamics and evaluate how the calculated redox state may affect the aqueous fluids that travel through these kinds of rocks.

Magmatic arcs can contain significant deposits of metals such as copper, molybdenum and gold and also produce extremely violent eruptions. These eruptions typically release sulfur gas into the stratosphere, resulting in the subsequent presence of sulfur aerosols that lower the temperature of the atmosphere via transient cooling, which can affect the climate. An instance of this was observed in 1816 — “the year without a summer” — as a result of the 1815 eruption of the Mount Tambora volcano, a magmatic arc volcano that caused a decrease in global temperatures.

Understanding the geochemistry behind magmatic arcs — and how they become oxidized — could lead to a better understanding of their characteristics and effects.

“This work was truly an interdisciplinary effort involving collaborators from around the globe,” said Santiago Tassara, a Bateman Postdoctoral Scholar and a co-author on the paper. “It reveals the dynamic nature of the Earth and demonstrates how its evolution is shaped by the complex interaction between surficial and endogenic processes in subduction zones.”

Ague is also the curator-incharge of mineralogy and meteoritics at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Contact ELIZABETH WATSON at elizabeth.watson@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

NEWS

“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.” JAKE HANDEY AMERICAN HUMORIST

Sara Suleri Goodyear dies at 68

BY ISAAC YU STAFF REPORTER Sara Suleri Goodyear, proclaimed by many as the eminent Pakistani writer of her generation, died on Sunday, March 20. She was 68.

The professor emeritus of English joined Yale’s faculty in 1983 with a specialized focus in Romantic and Victorian poetry.

Through several prominent texts that remain classroom classics, Suleri became well-established as a prominent scholar of postcolonial studies — though she resisted that label for its oversimplifications. Colleagues in the department remember Suleri as a dramatic personality and provocative scholar who spoke her mind and fearlessly confronted and criticized texts.

“Sara was never afraid to go against the grain: to speak what she believed was right, true, and important, about literature, politics, or life,” Murray Biggs, a semi-retired professor of english, theater and film, wrote in an email to the News. “Academics are apt to be cornered by intellectual or philosophical categories. But Sara was impossible to pigeon-hole.”

Suleri died in Bellingham, Wash. where she had been liv-

ing with relatives after battling health issues for several decades.

She is survived by two siblings as well as many nieces and nephews.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Suleri was the third of five children. Her family, whose history Suleri recounts in her widely acclaimed memoir “Meatless Days,” split time between the United Kingdom and Pakistan, moving frequently for her father Z. A. Suleri’s work as a prominent journalist and activist. Her Welsh mother, Mair Suleri, was an English professor at Punjab University in Lahore.

Suleri went on to study English literature at Kinnaird College, Punjab University and finally Indiana University, where she earned her Ph.D. After a brief stint at Williams College, Suleri came to Yale as a junior professor of Anglophone literature, teaching several seminars on British India. Suleri entered academia at a time when post-colonial studies trended increasingly towards anti-Enlightenment ideas, but she was known to hold an ironic tolerance for the writings of the British imperialists such as Rudyard Kipling and Edmund Burke.

Her charisma in the classroom was carefully controlled, colleagues recalled, and she spoke with a

soft, even-keeled voice. Still, she inclined towards mischief: once, in front of a large lecture audience, she quietly tore a book to shreds to stunned applause.

“Throughout the decades she was a voice for surprising and disturbing truths,” English professor Leslie Brisman wrote to the News.

In 1989, Suleri published “Meatless Days,” a survey tying together tragic personal memories with the history of post-colonial Pakistan in nine semi-autobiographical tales. Her work blurred the line between fiction and non-fiction, and often compressed or re-arranged time periods. “‘Meatless Days’ is an achievement so extraordinary that it often exceeds the capacity of reader, reviewers and critics to calibrate or categorize it,” proclaimed the book “South Asian Novelists in English: An A-to-Z Guide.” “Few South-Asian writers in English have produced as distinctive an idiom or density of thought and metaphor.”

In 1993, Suleri published “The Rhetoric of English India,” which is still a seminal text in postcolonial studies, as well as a wealth of scholarly articles. The same year, Suleri married retail company executive Austin Goodyear, who

YALE NEWS

The English professor is remembered for her dramatic personality and a tendency to go against the grain. died in 2008. Suleri was a founding editor of the Yale Journal of Criticism and also served as an advisor to the Yale Review. Throughout her career, she was an ardent defender of free speech and held an affinity for the writings of Salman Rushdie.

Later in her career, Suleri faced a number of health issues that limited her teaching and research activities. Still, she remained connected to her colleagues and continued writing, most recently co-writing “A Tribute to Ghalib: Twen-

ty-One Ghazals Reinterpreted,” a translation and commentary of 17th-century poetry.

“The choice has to be made between either saying ‘I cannot represent a culture’, or ‘Like it or not, I do,” Suleri said during an appearance on a 1993 documentary, cigarette in hand.

Suleri is expected to be buried in New Haven, with a memorial service held at a later date.

Contact ISAAC YU at isaac.yu@yale.edu .

Maritza Bond to run for Secretary of the State

PIA BALDWIN EDWARDS/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Maritza Bond, the current New Haven Health Director, entered the race for Secretary of the State.

BY PIA BALDWIN EDWARDS STAFF REPORTER On Sunday, city Director of Health Maritza Bond announced her candidacy for Connecticut Secretary of the State.

Bond is running against State Rep. Stephanie Thomas of Norwalk, Meridian State Rep. Hilda Santiago, Hamden State Rep. Joshua Elliott, New Haven Alder Darryl Brackeen and Middletown State Senator Matt Lesser on the Democratic

side. Dominic Rapini and Brock Weber are the only Republicans to announce their candidacy thus far.

“She’s shown time and time again that given new challenges, she thrives. She did it with the pandemic in New Haven, and

she’ll do it again as the next Secretary of the State,” said Andrew McIndoo, a spokesperson for Bond’s campaign.

If elected, Bond said she would seek to make it easier to vote and do business. She aims to bring early voting to Connecticut, restore trust between local election officials and the Secretary of the State’s office, improve business services by restoring fiscal autonomy to the SOTS office and restore the SOTS small and minority business unit, according to her campaign website.

McIndoo noted that Bond rose up the ranks to be the Director of Public Health in Bridgeport and now New Haven and that she is the first Hispanic public health director in the state.

The decision is “kind of inherently related to her decision to go into public health to begin with, which is to help people, and she’s a born problem solver,” McIndoo said.

Bond is capitalizing on her experience throughout her campaign. What differentiates her from other candidates, according to McIndoo, is “her perspec-

tive, it’s her lived experience, and it’s her job. At the end of the day, the Secretary of the State job is an executive position. She’s done this for years. She’s been successful.

She’s thrived in these positions, and she would hit the ground running from day one.”

Michael Licamele, who worked with Bond during her previous job as Bridgeport’s health director, told the News this fall that he supports Bond because “she’s got the energy for this job and the executive experience which is definitely transferable to the Secretary of the State.”

Bond led New Haven throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, leading efforts to educate citizens to socially distance, get vaccinated and wear masks. According to McIndoo, Bond’s biggest challenge will be getting through the Democratic convention.

The primary election for Connecticut’s Secretary of the State will take place on Aug. 9, 2022, and the general election will take place on Nov. 8, 2022.

Contact PIA BALDWIN EDWARDS at pia.baldwinedwards@yale.edu .

Admin considers relaxing COVID testing requirements

BY SARAH COOK STAFF REPORTER Two weeks after Yale partially removed its indoor mask mandate, University administrators are seriously considering reducing undergraduate testing requirements from twice to once weekly, according to members of Yale’s public health committee.

The twice weekly requirement for testing has been in place for undergraduates living on campus since after Thanksgiving break. As students return from spring break this week, Richard Martinello, medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Hospital and a member of the public health committee, told the News that the surge in cases that could come from student travel is “certainly a concern,” especially as the new BA.2 variant has spread across the country. He said he suspects that the testing requirements will not be changed until there is data to show whether cases spiked in the aftermath of spring break travel.

“I think people are enthusiastic about the possibility of decreasing the burden of testing on people,” Martinello told the News.

Before students left for break, there were 11 positive cases on Mar. 19, and there have now been 83 positive cases in the past seven days, when undergraduates were largely off campus.

The testing reduction would come in the wake of Yale’s deci-

sion to remove its mask mandate in many public spaces. Vermund told the News that while he approves of the partial removal of the mask mandate, it is important to continue requiring masks in classroom settings due to the density of students in classrooms. He also emphasized the need to continue tracking the state of the pandemic within the student population and respond to any changes.

“I do think that, given the minimal transmission levels in the state, that routine mask use is no longer necessary,” Vermund told the News, “I do think we should be mature about it and thoughtful about it that if we see a resurgence, and if in the highly vaccinated Yale community we actually see substantial case numbers we may need to mask again, but for the time being, I think we’re fine.”

Howard Forman, a School of Public Health professor, told the News that with the current rise in cases, the University should continue to monitor cases when making decisions on changing testing policies. Connecticut has seen a 17 percent increase in COVID-19 cases over the past 14 days.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next, so some level of mitigation is appropriate,” Forman told the News.

However, he added that if the case numbers stabilize at a low level, he expects the testing requirements will change.

Forman said he is optimistic that there will not be any large outbreaks for the rest of the school year. He added that, during his shifts, he has not seen a hospitalized COVID-19 patient in the ER in at least four weeks, whereas a few months ago, he would see up to five cases each night.

“I think we’re going to have more cases,” Forman said. “The question is, will it be out of control or will it have another little bump up, then come down again.

Based on the very low prevalence in the community right now, even though it’s growing, but from a very low level, I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to manage these final seven weeks without a massive outbreak.”

Dean of the School of Public Health Sten Vermund said that University COVID-19 Coordinator Stephanie Spangler and University Provost Scott Strobel have been comparing Yale’s policies with other universities including Brown, Harvard and Cornell when designing the University’s approach. Cornell University has recently seen a rise in cases associated with the spread of BA.2.

Because of Yale’s recent surges, the University has exercised more caution than many peer institutions, Vermund noted.

“I think the reality is that rates were declining in Connecticut, rates were rising in Yale undergraduates,” Vermund

REGINA SUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Administrators are considering moving from twice to once a week testing for undergraduates. told the News. “ I think in that sense, a modicum of caution was indicated.”

These updates come as the BA.2 variant spreads across Connecticut, with predictions that it may make up 95 percent of Connecticut’s COVID-19 cases by April. The BA.2 variant is a subvariant of the omicron variant, but is 30 percent more infectious than the original omicron variant which was 100 percent more infectious than the delta variant.

Vermund told the News that it is “prudent” to be concerned about BA.2 and track its presence. Martinello said he is “definitely concerned” about BA.2 and he is “keeping a close eye” on

the movement of BA.2 across the country and within Connecticut.

According to Martinello, it is estimated that over half of the COVID19 samples from Yale New Haven hospital — which are analyzed at a School of Public Health lab led by Associate Professor of Epidemiology Nate Grubaugh —are cases of BA.2.

Vermund added that state funding for Grubaugh’s lab was just cut, so researchers will have to work with the state to continue to support the efforts that help track variants like BA.2.

Yale currently has five COVID19 testing locations.

Contact SARAH COOK at sarah.cook@yale.edu .

PAGE 8

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

THROUGH THE LENS

T

he last time I was here was before the world changed. Before sickness. Before quarantines.

Before masks. 2019. I was so innocent — a firstyear student at Yale — seeking refuge from my schoolwork through the sunset by a pretty mountain range or an antique car racing by a factory with a lonely smoke billow rising from it.

It’s not the same anymore. I’m older. 21 years old and starting to worry about what exactly I’m going to do with my life when this whole college thing is done with.

New friends, new joys, new stresses. But the power of a cruise at sunset has never lost its shimmer. Radio on, some advertisement slipping in and out between the electropop and the dramatic flair of the host.

What’s real? What’s fake? What even is my dream?

“Stop worrying about it! Just dance!” the radio host shouts. And now it’s just me and the open road, finding a way forward with each passing road sign.

LUKAS FLIPPO reports.

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 9

NEWS

“It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.”

JERRY SEINFELD AMERICAN STAND-UP COMEDIAN

SOM prof. updates Russia-affiliated firms list

COURTESY OF YALE CHIEF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE/DONOVAN MARKS, PHOTOGRAPHER

The list of over 450 companies now includes five tiers of business involvement with Russia.

BY CHARLOTTE HUGHES STAFF REPORTER Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld’s viral list of American companies that have cut ties with Russia was updated to indicate which companies have fully severed relations with the country — and which have kept open the option to return.

After Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Sonnenfeld, an advocate for corporate social responsibility, compiled a list of companies who had cut ties with Russia — and those who had not. Now,

with complex corporate public relations campaigns and differing degrees of involvement in Russia, Sonnenfeld and his team of researchers at the SOM have updated the list to include five degrees of corporate involvement with Russia. The categories include “Withdrawal,” denoting an absence of corporate operations in Russia; “Suspension,” denoting a temporary stop to operations in Russia; “Scaling Back,” reflecting a lessening of operations in Russia; “Buying Time,” denoting a postponement to new operations in Russia; and “Digging In”, indicating a con-

tinuation of typical operations in Russia.

“Initially we wanted to distinguish those companies authentically curtailing operations from the PR-drenched pretenders and the stubborn set of those simply remaining [in Russia],” Sonnenfeld wrote in an email to the News. “However clever PR platoons still created smokescreens blurring those who either truly withdrew permanently or suspended operations from those making cosmetic moves which we legally had to recognize but were, in reality, inconsequential to the Russian economy.”

Sonnenfeld’s original list had an “unexpectedly catalytic effect” by praising the companies that were the first to cut ties with Russia while also giving a point of comparison for CEOs hoping to sever relations with Russia but facing cautious boards, he added. It reached the pages of the New York Times, Washington Post and Fortune.

Companies that hoped to quietly do business in Russia were “outed by the spotlight of public attention from our list,” Sonnenfeld said.

Sonnenfeld believes that American corporations have a moral responsibility to enact “business blockades” that profoundly affect civil society, he said. This is the “only way to beat a blood-thirsty tyrant short of war,” he argued.

On March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the United States Congress to implement additional sanctions on Russia.

“All American companies must leave [the Russian] market immediately because it is flooded with our blood,” Zelensky said in a video address to Congress.

Sonnenfeld’s list includes 174 companies categorized as having completely halted Russian engagements and exited Russia — including many oil companies, professional services firms and tech firms, such as BlackRock, Deloitte and Apple.

According to Sonnenfeld and his research team, 195 companies have temporarily curtailed operations, but have kept return options open.

A total of 31 companies on the list have scaled back business operations while continuing certain other operations. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are winding down business in Russia but are buying Russian debt, according to the published list.

“Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements,” a bank spokeswoman told CNBC. “In our

role as market-maker standing between buyers and sellers, we are helping our clients reduce their risk in Russian securities which trade in the secondary market, not seeking to speculate.”

According to the list, 56 companies are postponing future planned investment, development and marketing while continuing “substantive business.” Hilton and Marriott, for example, have suspended new investments and closed their corporate offices, but their hotels, mainly run by thirdparty groups, continue to operate in Russia.

Lastly, 42 companies are defying demands to exit or reduce their activities. Koch Industries is included in this category. A statement signed by Koch Chief Operating Officer Dave Robertson said that the company would continue to operate its two Russian glass facilities owned by Guardian Industries, a company acquired in 2017. According to Robertson, closing the facilities would “only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.”

“Yet other [companies] are cynically trying to drape their cowardice and greed with concepts of humanitarian services, nutritional necessities and concern to innocent long term Russian employees — missing the fundamental purpose of these economic measures as an urgent last-ditch effort to prevent a catastrophic WWIII,” Sonnenfeld said.

The list’s data comes from company website announcements and public statements, financial regulatory filings with the SEC, multi-anchored documented mainstream news coverage, industry analysts, FactSet and other databases, Bloomberg and a Wiki-style network of 200 whistleblowing company insiders.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is the founder and CEO of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute.

Contact CHARLOTTE HUGHES at charlotte.hughes@yale.edu.

City receives $2 million for crisis response

HANNAH QU/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The city held a roundtable discussion on Monday morning on how to integrate the Crisis Response Team into the current 911 and non-emergency dispatch system.

BY HANNAH QU STAFF REPORTER In an hour-long round table discussion on Monday morning, city and community leaders discussed the integration of the city’s Community Crisis Response Team into the existing 911 non-emergency dispatch system and human services network within the Greater New Haven area.

Funded by a $2 million grant introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), the team will be deployed to non-emergency 911 calls and will also be

available as an additional resource to first responders. The program, which was formerly known as the New Haven Crisis Response Team, is now named “COMPASS,” or “Compassionate Allies Serving our Streets,” according to Mayor Justin Elicker. It aims to respond to the issues pertaining to homelessness, substance abuse and mental health by sending out specially trained social workers in the place of members of the police or fire departments. The team will respond to 911 calls that do not include any medical emergencies, violence or criminal activity, and

serve as an additional resource to first responders upon request. The grant comes from the $13,662,455 that DeLauro secured in Community Project Funding for Connecticut’s Third Congressional District and is included in the $1.5 trillion federal spending package.

The city has submitted a proposed contract to the Board of Alders to request approval to enter a multi-year contract with Yale University and its subcontractors to implement the COMPASS program.

“I want to congratulate the city and the community for

such an outstanding proposal,” DeLauro said at the event. “The mobile crisis team that will be integrated into the new Department of Community Resilience that is going to be responsive, to answer incidents that may be best addressed by trained social services and using a suite of services and programs and not always having to be handled by law enforcement…We believe it’s going to make the needs of our community stronger and safer.”

According to New Haven Community Services Administrator Mehul Dalal, between 10 and 20 percent of pre-COVID 911 calls could be redirected to a community crisis response team rather than to the NHPD or the fire department.

Acting New Haven police chief Renee Dominguez said that police could attempt to fix an urgent problem, but are not equipped to dig deeper into the root cause and are unable to provide services beyond “kind of putting a bandaid on it.”

Acting Director of the newly-formed Department of Community Resilience Carlos Sosa-Lombardo said that the Crisis Response Team expects to take five to six calls per day.

T h e p ro p o s e d c o n t ra c t between the city and Yale would allow for the implementation of the Elm City COMPASS pilot for 12 months and subsequent phased implementation. Both phases will last a total of 3 years and 2 months with a total cost of $3,513,842. The start date is May 1, 2022, and the end date is June 30, 2025, according to the submitted proposed contract written

by Sosa-Lombardo.

The Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on the contract on Wednesday, according to the City of New Haven Calendar.

Michael Sernyak, professor of psychiatry at Yale, said it was “wonderful…to scale up in collaboration.”

The local mental-health-support nonprofit Continuum of Care has signed with the city to

serve as the lead subcontractor on this project.

Recovery Support Specialist Bridgett Williamson said that it is important to have a crisis response team available 24/7. Having been clean since 1991, she shared her experience of struggling to “get [herself] together” at night when all the organizations were closed.

“My substance abuse issues come on around 11-12 at night,” Williamson said. “If I wanted to get clean, this should be a place where I can go lay my head down and get myself together… if you wait five more minutes, somebody might come down with a bag or tell me something else and then I’ll change my mind.”

According to Continuum of Care Vice President of Acute and Forensic Services John Labienic, for Phase 1, the team has posted job descriptions for a licensed social worker position and a “peer with lived experience.” These two staff will answer select 911 calls from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During Phase 2, the team will include additional staff for the second shift, and during Phase 3 there will be overnight staff to answer calls.

Patti Walker, president and chief executive director at Continuum of Care, said that the organization has received a planning grant for the evaluation process, and Labienic and his staff will go to Colorado, Arizona and Baltimore and learn from their experience with their own similar teams. “[I always leave these meetings] with such enthusiasm for the city, and for what the resources are, and the cooperative relationships to accomplish,” DeLauro said. “The next appropriations process is coming up.

We think we got done with that and it was March, the president’s budget comes out today, the appropriations process starts up, we have bills ready by July.”

The meeting was held at 200 Orange St. Contact HANNAH QU at hannah.qu@yale.edu.

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 10

SPORTS

“I think they like the overtime rule in the regular season," Goodell said. "I don't necessarily beleive that just becausre we're doing it in the postseason that'll lead to regular season" -ROGER GOODELL NFL COMMISSIONER

Emme Zhou '23 named All-American

COUERTSY OF YALE ATHLETICS

Chen was joined in his second nationals competition by fellow foil competitor Yee in the men’s field.

FENCING FROM PAGE 12 exciting to fence and meet new competitors but I am also filled with nostalgia knowing that this will be my final competition as a Bulldog.”

Chen was joined in his second nationals competition by fellow foil competitor Yee in the men’s field.

Rounding out the Blue and White’s men’s delegation, Safi Haider ’22 earned 20th in men’s épée with 76 touches scored.

Yee finished right behind Chen in 16th place, and both teammates noted the significance of having a fellow Bulldog in their event. Yee described it as both comforting and sad given Chen’s departure.

“Having another teammate competing is always a huge plus,” Chen said. “We both support each other the whole way which helps keep up motivation and morale. I definitely performed better when I am competing with another Bulldog. Unfortunately, we couldn’t qualify more members of Yale to fence at NCAA Championships, but the seven of us who did really came together and helped each other perform our best.”

The Bulldogs had two representatives in women’s foil: Zhou and rookie Helen Tan ’25, who finished 17th with eight wins. Rookie Stephanie Cao ’25 competed in women’s foil with Hirsch and finished 21st. Hirsch echoed Yee and Chen’s sentiments about competing with a fellow Bulldog in the same event.

“This competition format was neat because Stephanie and I got to

travel together as a ‘pod’ as we competed,” Hirsch said. “This means that we got to watch every bout the other person fenced and thus cheer each other on the whole time. We were also able to give each other advice in addition to our coach's input. Having that built-in support at such a challenging competition was really incredible.”

Hirsch took a year off to maintain her fencing eligibility and hopes to return to nationals next year after missing out her first year in 2020 when the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s result tied for the second-best out of the last 15 national competitions that the Bulldogs competed in.

While rookies Ted Vinnitchouk ’24 and Erica Hooshi ’25 did not compete in nationals, they traveled with the team to Indiana.

Vinnitchouk echoed Israelian’s sentiments of a stronger return next year.

“It was an interesting experience watching my teammates compete and it inspired me to work harder for next year so that hopefully we could move up the rankings,” Ted Vinnitchouk ’24 said. “I have full confidence in our coaching staff and student-athletes that we will come back stronger next year.”

While the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championships did not occur, the United States Fencing Coaches Association still selected NCAA Fencing All-American teams.

Contact HAMERA SHABBIR at hamera.sh@yale.edu.

Softball returns to Ivy play SOFTBALL FROM PAGE 12 and Harvard sophomore Anna Reed.

Latta pitched a complete game, only allowing two hits and one earned run. An error in the third inning helped Harvard add two additional unearned runs. Yale ultimately outhit the Crimson 5–2, but fell 3–1.

Game two followed a similar script, but this time, Nicole Conway ’23 pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits and one unearned run in the seventh. The Bulldogs could only muster two hits and lost 1–0.

The Bulldogs responded well in the third contest, winning 4–3 and recording seven hits. Yale scored four runs in the first four innings with RBIs coming from catcher Sam Goodcase ’24, second baseman Carmen Muscolina ’24, third baseman Lauren Perren ’25 and designated player Miranda Papes ’22. Latta started the game and pitched into the sixth inning when Conway came on in relief. Latta recorded seven strikeouts and retired 11 consecutive batters before allowing three runs towards the end of her start. Conway was tremendous, retiring all four batters she faced and recording two strikeouts. The Bulldogs made two highlight reel plays as well. In the fourth, Perren made a catch while falling into the dugout. Two innings later, right fielder Alex Perren ’25 made a diving catch to save a hit.

“Our team got a lot out of it and I think they were getting better every day,” Goodcase said. “We are in

stride for success for a successful Ivy League season. I’m impressed with how this young team is performing at such a high level so early on and I’m excited to see what’s to come.”

The Elis struggled against Central Connecticut State, however, losing the first game 6–1.

Latta homered in the sixth, her second of the year at the time.

The second contest went to extra innings with Papes pitching all eight. The Blue Devils mounted a furious comeback, scoring three runs in the final three innings to tie the game and then adding four in the eighth to win the game 10–6. Shortstop Carolyn Skotz ’24 led the way for the Elis with three RBIs. Goodcase added three hits, an RBI and a run.

Yale fared better at Dartmouth than their opening series against Harvard. Conway and Latta split pitching duties in game one with the latter starting the game and going five innings. The story of the game was the offense, though, as the two teams combined for 16 hits and 15 runs. Yale took a 4–1 lead in the third but the Big Green responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame. In the sixth, the Bulldogs took the lead again, scoring four runs on three home runs: Latta, Muscolina and Grayson Vives ’25 all went deep. Dartmouth added three of their own in the bottom of the sixth but never tied the game and the Elis went on to win 8–7.

“As the season progresses, I am going to keep working hard on both sides of my game,” Latta said. “They deserve a substantial amount of focus, and I value them both equally.

I look to get a little bit better each time I go out on the field.”

Yale controlled game two the entire way through, taking the lead in the first and never trailing in the contest. Conway pitched a complete game, only allowing four hits. The ball continued to fly out of the yard for the Elis — Vives, center fielder Katie Donahey ’25 and Latta all went yard en route to a 6–2 victory.

The Bulldogs dropped the last game of the series 10–3. Conway and Latta gave up five runs each as Yale got outhit in the contest. Latta homered for the fourth consecutive game, bringing her season total up to five. Donahey also homered again, her second of the series and third of the year.

Latta earned Ivy League rookie of the week honors for her performance.

“When we are ‘on’ as a team, there is nothing quite like it,” Latta said. “It is the best feeling in the world as a player, and I have felt it a few times since we have started Ivy play. If we can figure out how to make this happen more consistently, we will be in really good shape.”

Yale is tied for third place in the conference after its first two series.

Contact NADER GRANMAYEH at nader.granmayeh@yale.edu .

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

The Elis struggled against Central Connecticut State, losing the first game 6–1.

Lacrosse faces off against Penn Women's tennis heads ’22 made eight saves over the course of the game.

“Penn has proven they are an excellent team and this will be a huge challenge,” Brandau said.

This season, the Quakers have won four games, with the wins coming against Duke, Penn State, Villanova and Cornell. Penn has lost to No. 3 Georgetown and No. 4 Princeton, 10–8 and 21–20 in overtime, respectively.

On March 26, Penn tallied a 15–11 victory over No. 4 Cornell. The Quakers had a strong first half and outshot Cornell on the day, 52–42, also going threefor-three on its first three extraman opportunities.

“We refused to get stepped on by Cornell, who has a pretty high-powered offense,” Quaker head coach Mike Murphy told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Except for a couple self-inflicted wounds in the clearing game, I felt like we played better on defense today.”

M idfielder Sam Handley recorded six points, bringing his total over the past two games to 17. Eight different Penn players scored on Saturday, including attackman Cam Rubin, who scored three, and attackman Jack Shultz and midfielder James Shipley, who each tallied two goals.

Goalkeeper Patrick Burkinshaw made 15 saves and has a season

On March 26, Penn tallied a 15–11 victory over No. 4 Cornell.

record of 67–61 goals saved. He has a 11.64 goals against average and .525 save percentage.

As the Quakers match the Bulldogs’ record at 4–2, the Elis are ready to resume a winning streak and take down their next Ivy competitor.

“The Ivy League is so competitive this year,” Brandau said. “[It] only adds to the excitement every week.”

USA Lacrosse named Brandau and midfielder Brian Tevlin ’22 members of the Sixes squad as part of the 12 players selected to represent the United States at The World Games 2022.

Contact AMELIA LOWER at amelia.lower@yale.edu .

COUERTSY OF YALE ATHLETICS

to FL, men to CA

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

The Bulldogs earned a 6–0 victory at No. 1 singles, and across all three lines of doubles, lost only four games. ’25 for clinching her No. 6 singles match against FIU in the third set (7–5, 2–6, 6–2) and Caroline Dunleavy ’22 for “pulling out a close match against UCF” (7–5, 7–6).

Last Sunday, Chelsea Kung ’23 led the team in singles, followed by Jessie Gong ’23, Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25, Rhea Shrivastava ’23, Kathy Wang ’22 and Kim. Kung and Gong played No. 1 doubles, ahead of Shrivastava with Brettkelly and Wang with Dunleavy. The team held the same line-up against FIU, with the exception of Vivian Cheng ’23 at No. 5 singles. Against UCF, the Bulldogs switched up their singles line-up. Kung headed the team in singles, followed

by Dunleavy, Brettkelly, Gong, Shrivastava and Cheng.

After their Florida trip, the women welcomed Stony Brook (3–7, 0–0 CAA) to Cull-

man-Heyman Tennis Center on Sunday. In its non conference finale for the season, Yale dominated the Seawolves (7–0). Kung and Gong played No. 1 doubles, ahead of Dunleavy with Wang and Cheng with Kim. Kung headed the team in singles, followed by Dunleavy, Gong, Cheng, Wang and Kim. The Bulldogs earned a 6–0 victory at No. 1 singles, and across all three lines of doubles, lost only four games.

This weekend, both teams will begin conference play.

Saturday, the women will host Brown (6–7, 0–0 Ivy) in Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center at 1 p.m. The men will travel to Providence to take on the Bears (9–6, 0–0) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Contact GRAYSON LAMBERT at grayson.lambert@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 11

SOFTBALL Harvard 5 Princeton 1

M LACROSSE Penn 15 Cornell 11

BASEBALL Penn 13 Columbia 7

SPORTS

W LACROSSE Dartmouth 7 Brown 12

FOR MORE SPORTS CONTENT, VISIT OUR WEB SITE goydn.com/YDNsports Twitter: @YDNSports YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

SOFTBALL BULLDOGS COMPETE IN ARIZONA The Bulldogs struggled in their final games before the kick-off of Ivy action this weekend, failing to record a win at the Bear Down Fiesta tournament.

Yale will have to quickly turn its attention to the Ivies, as old rival Harvard comes to New Haven for a three-game series this weekend.

WOMENS LACROSSE BULLDOGS LOSE TO BC The Bulldogs’ winning streak ends at four after recording their first loss to Boston College.

"I woke up this morning and it didn't feel real... After the first [home run], it was a big weight off of my shoulders” CARSON SWANK '23 BASEBALL

Fencing place ninth at Nationals

Softball split Ivy Openers

BY NADER GRANMAYEH STAFF REPORTER

LUKAS FLIPPO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Over the weekend, select members of Yale's fencing team traveled to Indiana to compete at the 2022 NCAA Championships

BY HAMERA SHABBIR STAFF REPORTER Seven Bulldogs helped Yale place ninth at the 2022 NCAA Fencing Championships, including Emme Zhou ’23 who was named an All-American in women’s foil.

Notre Dame hosted the national tournament in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27. This competition marked Yale’s return to the fencing national championships after a hiatus since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seven Bulldogs across both the men’s and women’s squads qualified after the team earned six top-10 finishes at NCAA Northeast Regionals on Sunday, March 13. Three Bulldogs earned top15 finishes at NCAA Championships, including Zhou who earned the Bulldogs’ best result by placing eighth in women’s foil “Finishing ninth nationally with one All-American is a good

ending to a very difficult season,” interim head coach Marat Israelian wrote. “I’m proud of the team for fighting with top Division I programs and not [shying] away from the challenge and beating out schools that qualified more people than us, but I [am] mainly proud of the team for being there for each other [throughout] the year, at NCAA [Championships] and Regionals especially.”

While Notre Dame clinched its second consecutive championship with 189 total team points, Yale finished with 67 total points to place ninth in a field of 27 teams.

Out of the Ivies present, Yale placed fifth ahead of 14th place Cornell and 24th place Brown.

Winning 15 out of her 23 matches, Zhou earned her second All-American selection in women’s foil after first getting the distinction in 2020.

“It was a really long tournament with a lot of tough matches,” Zhou wrote. “I want to thank my

Men's lacrosse to face No. 7 Penn

proud of guys today. We are getting great leadership from our older guys which are allowing our younger ones to be contributing players.”

The last time the Bulldogs met the Quakers was on May 19, 2019 in the NCAA Quarterfinal in East Hartford, CT, where Yale won 19–18 in overtime, despite falling to the Quakers in the Ivy playoffs.

Midfielder Jack Tigh ’19 scored 1:28 into the extra session, sending the Bulldogs to Philadelphia to compete in the semifinal against No. 1 Penn State.

The Elis had an edge in shots, 53–47, and goalkeeper Jack Starr

STAT OF THE WEEK

SEE LACROSSE PAGE 10

4

SEE FENCING PAGE 10

BY GRAYSON LAMBERT CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

After their 14-12 win against the Princeton last Saturday, the Blue and White will face Penn in their second home Ivy game of the season.

The No. 7 Elis (4–2, 1–1 Ivy) will face No. 5 University of Pennsylvania (4–2, 1–1) at Reese Stadium in New Haven on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for their third conference contest.

Last Saturday, the Blue and White won their first Ivy game against No. 1 Princeton, where the Bulldogs won 14–12 and attackman Matt Brandau ’23 had another eight-point game, following his eight-point game against University of Denver on March 13.

“It was a grind. We knew it was going to be a tough game and we gutted it out,” head coach Andy Shay said to Yale Athletics after the game. “I'm pretty

teammates, family, and coaches for always cheering me on and supporting me throughout the two days. Big thank you to Coach Israelian and administration particularly, who were able to provide effective training plans and guide our program through this difficult season. Overall, I’m honored to have represented Yale on the podium!”

Maxwell Yee ’23 described Zhou’s second All-American title as his “absolute favorite moment of the competition.” Sydney Hirsch ’24 clinched Yale’s second top-fifteen finish of the tournament after winning 11 matches in women’s saber to place 14th.

Yale’s third top-15 finish came from Earnest Chen ’22, who capped off his last year representing Yale by placing 15th in men’s foil.

“I am grateful that I get to qualify for national championships once again as a senior,” Chen said. “It’s

Over spring break, Yale softball competed in its first official conference action since 2019.

Prior to the team’s opening series against Harvard, only three players on the roster had any Ivy League softball experience. The Bulldogs went 3–3 over their first two series, winning the series at Dartmouth, but dropping the home series to Harvard.

Yale (5–13, 3–3 Ivy) played eight games over a busy spring vacation. The Bulldogs hosted Harvard (9–13, 3–3) and Central Connecticut State University (3–23, 1–5 NEC) before traveling to Dartmouth (4–18, 1–2).

“We waited a long time for this day, it was hard to believe

it when we were actually on the field again,” head coach Jen Goodwin said of their season opening tournament earlier this season. “There were definitely some nerves, but it was mostly excitement when all was said and done.”

On the Friday before students began spring break, the Bulldogs hosted the Crimson for a conference-opening doubleheader.

The Crimson entered the year third in the Ancient Eight pre-season poll, but received the most first place votes of any team. The two games were close, but Yale ultimately dropped both by a combined three runs.

Game one featured a pitching duel between Maddie Latta ’25 SEE SOFTBALL PAGE 10

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

Yale went 3–3 in its first two Ivy series since 2019, most recently winning two games at Dartmouth

Tennis play through spring break

COURTESY OF YALE ATHLETICS

BY AMELIA LOWER STAFF REPORTER

W GOLF Columbia +52 Princeton -2

This week, the Yale men’s tennis team battled its way through California while the women’s team picked up three wins against Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Stony Brook and lost to Central Florida.

The Yale men’s tennis team (8–7, 0–0 Ivy) added three hardfought losses to its record. It traveled out to the Golden State to take on the University of California, Berkeley (10–5, 1–2 Pac12), Saint Mary’s (3–11, 1–2 West Coast) and Santa Clara (7–6, 2–0).

Michael Sun ’23 led the Bulldogs in singles against the Bears, followed by Theo Dean ’24, Cody Lin ’22, Shervin Dehmoubed ’25, Aidan Reilly ’25 and Luke Neal ’25. Renaud Lefevre ’24 and Lin headed the team in doubles, ahead of Dean with Reilly and Walker Oberg ’25 with Sun. Sunday and Tuesday, the team maintained the same doubles line-up but changed the last three lines of singles. Reilly played the fourth line of singles, followed by Neal and Oberg.

“Despite losing a few matches, the trip was really good overall for our program,” men’s tennis head coach Chris Drake said.

“We are fortunate to be able to take the team out to the Bay Area for a week of great competition in really nice weather.”

Through the California stretch, Reilly didn’t drop a single match, showing off his promise and grit. Dean’s mental strength

also shined through in California with wins against UC Berkeley and St. Mary’s on back-toback days.

Lefevre mentioned how nice it was to play in his home state of California, with his “friends and family supporting and watching.” Despite the losses, the team showed tremendous resilience. He and his doubles partner Lin came close to beating Cal’s doubles team of Yuta Kikiuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck, which is nationally ranked 28th, but they were pulled off the court when the Bears clinched their fourth point, securing their team’s win.

Our team is already so close because we only consist of eight players, but the trip did allow us to spend a lot more time together off the court,” Lefevre said. His off-court highlight of the trip

was mini-golfing with his teammates.

While the men battled it out in California, the women’s team (8–7, 0–0 Ivy) ventured to Florida, where they took on No. 66 Florida Atlantic (10–9, 0–0 CUSA), No. 40 Florida International (12–3, 0–0) and the No. 18 University of Central Florida (12– 6, 0–0 AAC).

After tight battles against the Owls and the Panthers, the Bulldogs clinched 4–3 and 4–2 victories, respectively. The Elis ended their Florida saga with a 1–4 loss to UCF. “Getting the chance to play three ranked teams was a great opportunity [for the team],” women’s tennis head coach Rachel Kahan said.

Kahan highlighted Jamie Kim SEE TENNIS PAGE 10

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

The Yale tennis team hits the read for a busy week of matches with the men picking up three losses and the women picked up three wins and a loss.

THE NUMBERS OF HOME RUNS CATCHER JAKE GEHRI '22 HIT IN ONE GAME AGAINST PRINCETON SETTING A SINGLE-GAME IVY LEAGUE RECORD BASEBALL

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

WEEKEND // RACHEL FOLMAR

THE RETURN OF THE SKATEBOARD // BY IRIS TSOURIS I hear them everywhere, from the Egyptology Reading Room, where I study, to the Cross Campus picnic blanket, where I nap.

It is spring, and the skateboarding community has risen from its winter slumber. Gone are the days of salted asphalt, sub-zero temperatures and controlled, constrained mobility. Hello to the familiar thunder of wheels on concrete, the mustard-yellow hoodies, the knit beanies — the energy, zeal and relentlessness of YUSU, the Yale Undergraduate Skateboarding Union.

I spoke with three YUSU members; Kaleb Gezahegn ’23, Shomari Smith ’25 and Addison Beer ’23.

“We essentially used to host these pop-up skate sessions,” Gezahegn said. “Little kids from the community would come up to practice and learn things from members and that would make a small community. But that sort of died off because [the founders] graduated during COVID. With a lot of clubs, there was a problem with the transition of power, especially because skating is very much like, a social thing.”

Although not as active as it once was, YUSU still operates regularly.

When it is just warm and beautiful enough to warrant a skate session, members will text their group chat and convene at one of Yale’s many skate spots; the Beinecke Plaza, Hendrie Hall, the parking lot of Mamoun’s to name a few.

The group is accessible to skaters with different levels of experience, too. Beer, for one, told me skating was something they picked up during the early months of the pandemic. Smith, on the other hand, has been skating since childhood.

“I started skating in middle school, in like, eighth grade. My dad gave me like, $50 for my birthday,” Smith said, “and I found this skateboard that had the American flag on it. I was like, ‘This is so ironic. It would be really cool if I just got this and did something with it.’”

Many members additionally express themselves through their boards.

“I got this new deck,” Gezahegn said, flipping over his board. It is painted teal, and a small boy resembling him, in the Peanuts art style, adorns its center. “Really nice. I’m really excited about it and stuff. I’ve been trying to customize it more.

And so over the break, one of the things that I was doing was just like, sketching out these graphics… I’m trying to make it pop.” ** My suitemates are ruthless, cold-blooded people. “Just watched a Beinecke skateboarder eat shit,” one said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one land a trick,” another told me.

“Well, the better you are, the more you fall,” Beer said, when I asked them about the frequency of skating accidents at Yale.

This is, I’ve gathered, an essential truth of skateboarding. Beginners, when they first step foot on their boards, are aware of their lack of prowess and, as a result, self-conscious. They are embarrassed to take the plunge.

And when they inevitably do so, this self-consciousness may feel emotionally debilitating.

“I was in ninth grade, and I tried to do a manual,” Smith said.

A manual is a skateboard trick in which the rider glides on their back wheels while the nose of the board sticks in the air.

“I fell in the middle of the skate park,” he said. “There were people doing kickflips around me the whole time. I remember falling, and I remember leaving immediately because I was just like, ‘I can’t do this.’ And I didn’t go back for another year. And I regret that.”

But Smith returned with confidence.

“I realized that nobody’s actually really looking,” he explained.

“And nobody actually cares. Most of the people, they’re encouraging and want you to get better.

Nobody’s really going to shit on you for not being able to do anything because we’re all learning.

There are always bigger fish in skateboarding.”

Smith held his hand out to show me a recent scar, a hard dent across the base of his palm.

“It’s actually pretty healed now.

There were like, layers of skin just dug out. I think I was skating for about five minutes,” he laughed.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go out and have a good time. The first trick that I did, I think it was an ollie, I just like, fell. And then I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not so bad. It’s just bleeding. Let me try again.’

And then I fell again… things like that just happen.”

Skating has its unexpected triumphs too.

“This break, I took my board to California,” Gezahegn said.

“One of the nights, I was at the park, there was one kid [there].

He struck up a conversation that we just started talking… He was like, ‘Do you have kickflips down? And I was like, ‘Not really, but I’m close.’ And so I put my board down, and just like, did the motion. And then, I landed it.” ** At Yale, the Beinecke Plaza, with its flat stone and expansive, open atmosphere, is a primary skating spot.

“It’s really smooth,” Gezahegn said. “There’s little gaps between the tiles, but they have like these like, black plastic things in between them, so it’s even a smooth transition as you’re skating over. There’s these nice three-step stairs that lead from the base of the Beinecke to the Schwarzman center. That’s nice, to just do tricks over.”

Smith, who has been skating for years, now views architecture in a different light.

“I think, ‘Wow, this is really smooth pavement,’ all the time,” he said. “Like, ‘This would be really great if I had my skateboard right now.’ Or even with benches, I judge how high they are, to see if I can do a trick and like, ollie up the benches. I count stairsteps, too.”

Beer has also noticed a change in his perspective.

“It’s another way of utilizing space and using the built environment for a different purpose,” they said. “You also notice a lot more of the ways skating is controlled in the environment. Like,

there’s a lot of skate stoppers [in New Haven].”

Skate stoppers typically come in the form of small metal slabs, bolted to the edge of a curb.

“The salt on the ground, too,” Smith mentioned. “It will be 70 degrees outside and there will still be sea salt. In the back of Murray, there’s a path before Scantlebury, and I usually skate up. And I remember, that day that I went to the skate park, there was a ton of salt. It was literally like 60 degrees, and it just did not make any sense because there was no snow that came.” ** YUSU is routinely turned away from the Beinecke Plaza. There is always a new reason for this — that the Beinecke’s tiles are precious, that the office spaces underground need not be disturbed, that a collision may occur one day.

“I just think the policing of space, in general, is not good,” Beer said. “It’s not like we’re skating inside Commons or anything like that. And like, skating’s not a crime.

I think it’s just kind of wack.”

Skateboards, also, are not the only vehicles that traverse the Beinecke stones.

“They never say anything to anyone that’s biking or longboarding,” he said. “Random cars, sometimes they come through for security or maintenance procedures. We have not broken the stone or anything. I could understand if we had been causing massive damage, but we’re not…

A lot of times the security guards are like, ‘Just go to a park’... but like, street skating is kind of the point a lot of the time.”

I asked him to elaborate.

“It is a cultural thing as well,” Beer said. “Skating around and doing things you’re not explicitly supposed to do is a part of it. Also, it’s just fun. I mean, just look at the Schwarzman Center, the Beinecke. It’s just like, this massive concrete plaza. It’s built for skating.”

Smith was just recently kicked out of the Beinecke, on the first day of Spring Break.

“I remember, one of the times, a security guard asked me if I actually went to this school,” Smith said. “Last time, they kicked a group of us out.

What the security guard said to me after, because I stayed a little bit and I was like, going back and forth with him, because I was pissed… he was just like, ‘Okay, now you guys can skate, now that most of the people have gone.’”

“Why do you keep coming back?” I asked in return.

“It feels bigger than like, just a one-off moment. Or like, a kick-out,” Smith replied. “Skateboarding has shown me a lot of peace. Every time I go back, I can be in front of however many people and still be falling on my ass.

But it still feels good to go out.”

He paused to think.

“Like in New York, when I started skating, I had just gotten into private school,” he continued. “I had to wear a blazer and tie and khakis and hard shoes, the whole thing. And every day, I would take the train and go through my neighborhood. And I always felt people staring at me.

It was crazy. I got to Manhattan, and it was the same thing.

I was one of like, two Black kids in my entire school, and I always felt like I was being judged or watched.”

Smith’s persistence, the unrelenting manner in which he returns to the Beinecke, even after he is spurned, even after security turns him away, feels like an intentional push against this surveillance. Making use of this space, beyond engaging with its structure so consciously and dynamically, is both a source of his solace and an expression of his dissent.

“There’s always somebody that has something to say, and somebody that has a perception of me,” he told me. “It’s unavoidable. With skateboarding, it’s one of the few things I can do where the perceptions that other people have placed on me feel like they don’t matter at all.”

Contact IRIS TSOURIS at iris.tsouris@yale.edu .

PAGE B2

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND NAVIGATING

A Day in the Life of a New Yorker Tote // BY MARS ADAMS 9 a.m.: My day begins as I am rudely torn from my home — a shower hook perilously attached to the door — and violently loaded with assorted heavy objects. Do you really need a one-liter Hydro Flask for your 9:30 class? Guess we’ll find out.

9:35 a.m.: I flap with reckless abandon in the wind as my owner bravely speedwalks against gale-force gusts to LC. Once indoors, I am abruptly thunked onto the unpolished wooden floor. Due to this poor treatment, I suspect I am not the first — and may not be the last — New Yorker tote this person has owned. Sigh.

10:15 a.m.: Suddenly, I am being violently rummaged through as the professor drones on about the Odyssey. Several books are produced from inside of me, along with a binder labeled “Directed Studies” in calligraphy. Raising their hand, my owner clears their throat with an air that I can only describe as snooty. If I had eyes, I would be rolling them.

12:30 p.m.: I am being proudly paraded through Cross Campus. My owner appears to know half of Yale College based on the number of people to whom they’ve just offered the platitude “We should grab a meal!” Contrary to these empty offerings, we proceed to journey through the cavernous hall of Commons; cold rotisserie chicken is promptly boxed and thrown inside me for precarious storage. Yum. We venture back to our room.

1 p.m.: My owner appears to be preoccupied reading a review of the latest A24 film when I first feel the leak. Just as I suspected: that wretched Hydroflask has indeed betrayed me. I wonder how long it will take before my owner realizes their precious manuscripts are beginning to drown in here.

1:20 p.m.: An answer has been obtained.

Their eyes latch onto the small puddle seeping from my underside and they go into a frenzy of swearing. I am now being turned upside down and vigorously shaken. They seem to care an awful lot more about the stupid early works of Kant than about my precious fabric. God, I hate my job.

2 p.m.: I am back on the streets and a menace to all of Hillhouse Avenue as my

owner jostles through small clumps of Yalies to make it to our next class. The ice cubes in the refilled Hydro Flask clank miserably, chiming a tune of warning to those in our path.

3:30 p.m.: I have been freed from the confines of the lecture hall and rejoice in the strangely frigid late March air. But not for too long, because we appear to be headed back inside. I observe the red-walled interior of this noisy establishment and think to myself that this may be what the kids call an “indie” coffee shop. I feel at home here, slumped against my owner’s feet. Suddenly, I am picked up and placed on a seat of my own. Bewildered, I consider what has prompted this kind treatment after a day of being abandoned on grimy floors, wantonly trampled by the feet of college students. As someone sits down across from us and engages in a conversation about modern literature with my owner, I realize my role here: I am a trophy bag. I sit proudly, bearing my New Yorker logo for the literate world to see, a universal symbol of mild pretension.

5:30 p.m.: We are out and about once again, and my owner walks us into a pseudo-gothic building jarringly adjoined to a giant slab of concrete. We sit down at a computer desk, and various semantic commands are barked at my owner. I wonder who our boss is. Various newspapers on the wall bear the markings “Yale Daily News”. I shudder — metaphorically.

6:30 p.m.: At long last, it is time for dinner. My owner has made the bold choice of braving the Berkeley dining hall. As I brush against a series of vaguely sweaty athletes in line, I am less than thrilled. At least this time, the pizza my owner sloppily slides onto a plate is not boxed and put inside me.

Silver linings.

8 p.m.: Finally, the day draws to a close as we return to our dorm room. After my owner kicks off their dirty white sneakers, I am hung back upon my hook, still filled with books and other debris. I pray that my flimsy beige straps live to see another day.

Contact MARS ADAMS at mars.adams@yale.edu .

// RACHEL FOLMAR

What’s Under the Mask? Navigating What Constitutes an Appropriate Response To Mask Removal // BY ANASTASIA IBRAHIM If you’re reading this piece, you’re probably ugly, just like me, and that’s why you’re worried about taking off your mask.

Have no fear. Today, we’re going to normalize facial nudity. When you think about having to respond to everyone else being ugly, you’ll feel a lot better about taking off your mask and revealing your ugliness to the world.

To the readers of the Yale Daily News, if you are easily offended, please read this piece. I want you, like me, to develop thick skin about the way you look. Personally, I’m on my road to recovery after recognizing that my eyes exist on two different geometric planes, and my nose looks like a distribution curve — my brother and I were trying to slap each other running around a table, and I fell and broke my nose, and my parents felt no obligation at all to build up my self-esteem. In fact, they felt a strong inclination in the opposite direction, so it has stayed broken for the last decade.

I am not damaged, and neither are you.

Let’s rip off the Band-Aid, together, and feel better about ourselves as we prepare to collectively face-strip as a community.

Instead of being a decent and reasonable human being, as I never once was, I’ve decided to concoct a series of scenarios where I’d be forced to react to horrifying, under-the-mask, extremities. This is a guide on how to respond to those situations appropriately.

1. In Office Hours: I hate to break it to you, but your TA has a massive wart that’s growing out of his right nostril. I know his eyes are baby blue, and his forehead skin — not foreskin — is fucking hot, but now office hours are getting steamier; all of the mask moistness is getting released. If you find yourself in this situation, what do you do? Stare directly at his pants. Be subtle. Make sure your TA doesn’t know where on their pants you’re staring. It’s not at all objectifying if you’re staring at ankles. Also make sure to remain

WKND HOT TAKE eliminate the Harkness Bells

silent. Don’t ask them any questions, and don’t respond when they ask, “So what can I help you with?” All that should be going through your brain is: pants.

the chance to answer, and then poke your head behind the glass on your way out and give him an air high five.

2. On a Date: Are you on a date with another person from Yale? Ha! You stupid bitch, did you really think that was gonna work out?

Don’t even sit through them pulling down their mask. Make your way out the door.

And don’t walk — run.

5. In the Dining Hall: You’re finally sitting down over some food with that one friend you met in class last semester.

You’ve been planning this for months and failing — don’t worry! every other Yalie is just as shitty and narcissistic as you! Remember to wear your mask while you’re grabbing food in the kitchen area!

Once you sit down, they tentatively take off their mask, and you realize they have no eyebrows! Oh fuck! They had no eyebrows this whole time, but you didn’t even notice since they were wearing a mask! A mask covers a multitude of sins!

What do you do? Take off your mask, very slowly, apologize that you were in a huge rush and didn’t have time to put on makeup before you got there. Set your phone up against the napkin holder, put it on selfie mode, take out your makeup bag, and start applying brow gel. Give yourself a good look, and say “You know what, I think this is all I need. I feel a lot better.” Carry on with a big smile and chapped lips.

3. In the Classroom: You always sit parallel to the blackboard because there’s a beautiful girl who always sits right under it. Also, you want to see what your professor is writing. She pulls down her mask. You realize she has no nose at all. What do you do? Make a joke!

Lighten the mood for everyone. Say: “People always pick their noses, but I never did!

I’ve always liked the nose I was born with!

Haha.” Make sure that delivery is as insensitive as possible.

4. When You’re Walking Out of the Library and Realize the Security Guard Doesn’t Have a Mask On Anymore & You’re Just Now Realizing That You’re a Senior and It’s the Same Exact Guy From When You Were a First Year & You Still Don’t Know His Name But what’s important now is that he has a bunch of acne. You are struggling — you internally berate yourself because you have passed by him 66 times and have not made conversation. But you know now’s your chance because he has no mask, but he does have maskne. What do you do?

You say: “Hey! I can’t believe you’re still around! Not that I thought you were old enough to die… sorry — that delivery was so insensitive. I just mean to say — I’m so happy you’re here. Remind me of your name? I try to put names to faces — want to make sure you’ve kept the same name.

Haha.” Give him a fist bump before he has

6. When Your Calc Professor Pulls His Mask Down to Sneeze: Say Bless You, Jerk. They’re nice enough to teach you math you should’ve learned in high school. What is wrong with you?????

7. When the Person Overseeing You Administer a Covid Self-Test Takes Their Mask Off and Throws It on The Floor and

// SOPHIE HENRY

Screams “I Feel Useless!”

Throw your covid test in the garbage and gaslight the YCDO over email. But please make sure you do this tastefully.

Seems to me like all the bases are covered. I’m now sending you out into the world with strong confidence in your ugliness — but now it’s inside and out!

Contact ANASTASIA IBRAHIM at anastasia.ibrahim@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND TOYOTA

PAGE B3

HILUX

TUFF LUCK AND A TOYOTA // BY ANABEL MOORE

// SOPHIE HENRY

The Toyota Hilux is marketed — at least in England and other left-handdrive countries — as “the world’s toughest pickup.” There’s a lot to unpack here: the “world’s toughest,” yet not sold in America, land not only of the free and home of the brave but also of the Ford F-150, and also “toughest,” despite a relatively small 4-cylinder engine and more compact chassis.

There is quite a lot I notice about the interior of the Hilux that I haven’t noticed before this particular ride: comfortable, spacious seating, modern infotainment amenities. I focus intently on these details, you see, to avoid the nauseating scene out the window, bracing one hand against the roof of the cab for stability and fumbling with my phone in the other. I haven’t the slightest idea where the seatbelt is, not that I would be able to buckle it if I wanted to.

My uncle’s driver is named Blacks, a younger man of average stature fond of patois gospel radio and the local soccer scores. The Hilux handles Blacks’ wild driving with elegance, particularly as he steers with one hand and swats at mosquitoes with the other through each terrifying hairpin turn. I can only imagine what that man could do with some race fuel and an Aston Martin. Mind you, I’m not sure I want to know.

The texts on my phone come just as fast as the flashing scenery: yes, Dad, we’re on our way to the airport. Yes, I do have my passports. Yes, my flight does take off in an hour. Yes, we will make it, because as Google finally tells me, we are hurtling through the tight, potholed streets of Kingston, Jamaica going 90mph, or 145 km/hr, all because one case of COVID-19 has landed upon the country’s shores. “Tank Gad” we’re in

WKND HOT TAKE The Will Smith slap matters not at all

the world’s toughest pickup, because from there on out, the world was about to get a heck of a lot tougher. *** On March 10, 2020, I fly from Seattle to Kingston, missing a week of junior year high school classes to train with the U-17 national soccer team, the culmination of years of hard work and the final achievement of a longstanding dream to represent my dad’s homeland in my sport. The trip is already chaotic: I’m trying to end my three-month standoff with Jamaica’s Passport and Immigration Control office; after getting my Jamaican citizenship by descent, I’ve twice been denied a passport, first for sending a photo with the wrong measurements and then the wrong background color. I’m coincidentally — and conveniently! — waiting on my new U.S. passport, which I hadn’t realized was about to expire and sent for expedited processing a mere week before. I churn out English papers and French homework à la Chromebook in the airport. I’m also nursing Achilles tendonitis, some intense sleep deprivation and the fallout from a not-so-great calculus midterm.

By the time I make it onto my connecting flight in Florida — new U.S. passport still in its Priority mail box — I think all my woes are over. Both passports in hand! Homework — not done, but certainly manageable! Tendonitis — not healed, but hey, I can jog on it!

There wasn’t much I could do about the math exam — save for completely abolishing the discipline of calculus, which I’m still imploring of math departments everywhere — but the worst must be behind me!

The gate agent in Fort Lauderdale scans my U.S. passport for recent travel to China and Iran, then-hotspots for the virus — “nice and clean, huh,” he said, to which I respond “sir, this was literally issued yesterday.” Blacks picks me up at Norman Manley Airport and takes me to my family’s house in New Kingston. I spend a night there, munch on oxtail and plantain, give some love to my uncle’s mastiff, Tuffy, attend a local Red Stripe Premier League game and finally finish my French conjugations before Blacks ports me to training camp at the University of the West Indies.

At camp, we’re put through two days of two-a-day trainings; morning fitness tests — not fun — and evening scrimmages — very fun. I play well. Then, on day three, halfway through camp, the head coach pulls us aside after breakfast and informs us that the Jamaica Football Federation has recommended we cut camp short. There has been one confirmed case of COVID-19, and it is at the University of West Indies, he said. It is time to go home.

Keep in mind, now, that home for most of the players at this camp is at most an hour away. For myself and a few other overseas players — local speak for those of us who now lived in the United States or Canada and held citizenship not by birth by descent — getting home is no small task. Seattle is a border and three flights away. It’s hard enough trying to get to Kingston without nasty layovers, let alone trying to coordinate said flights under threat of national lockdown.

Because one of my family members is immunocompromised, and because I am training in a University of the West Indies facility where this first ill patient is being treated, we decide it is unwise

for me to go back to my uncle’s home.

But Blacks, he tells me, is happy to get me to the airport; they’re booking the flight now. “Anabel, I’ve got you on a 5:15 flight if you can make it” — my uncle. “Bel, Uncle Bruce has you on a 5:15 flight. Can you make it?” – my dad. Me: “Blacks, I have a 5:15 flight. Can we make it?”

It is 4:30 p.m.. We are now in the middle of a classic afternoon Caribbean squall, sheets of rain pouring down and pooling in alleys. It’s like traveling through a claustrophobic car wash at 90mph.

Unsurprisingly, I do not make the flight, though I do get chastised by a security guard at the airport for banging on the door of the JetBlue gate agent.

She is eating her sandwich. She will not call the plane back, nor will she let me onto the tarmac to sprint after it. She also tells me that it is the last flight out of the day, so I’ll be in Jamaica for another night, unless I want to drive three hours north through the mountains to Montego Bay. Poor Blacks has already been through enough; hotel it is.

I check into a hotel in New Kingston and set ten alarms for 4 a.m., when Blacks is to pick me up to head back to Florida. I stay in Florida for a while with my dad — he had been working in Fort Lauderdale, which in the end proved to be quite fortuitous — then finally board Alaska Flight 122 back home.

I land in Seattle March 18 and turn seventeen on March 20. My best friend Emma comes over, and we bake a delightful box cake.

She was the last friend I saw for months.

Contact ANABEL MOORE at anabel.moore@yale.edu.

PAGE B4

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND FRENEMIES

FOOD FIGHT

TEAM GRILLED CHEESE

TEAM CHICKEN TENDER

// BY ANGELIQUE DE ROUEN

// BY HOLLY SEXTON

As the semester quickly comes to an end, it’s time to have a serious discussion on a topic that has been spreading through the Yale community. Endowment justice? Effective activism? Environmental impact?

No, this topic is far more tasty. We’re talking about Grilled Cheese versus Chicken Tenders. I fear that the kid’s menu is far more powerful than people realize. Who knew some cooked dead animals and melted hard milk between two slices of bread could create such visceral, youthful joy in a cohort of jaded overachievers? But the time is now to create a divide in the student body because Ted Cruz can’t do it on his own.

While I almost always advocate for the consumption of dairy products — Cow’s milk gets way too much hate in my opinion — I have to stand on the chicken tenders side of this debate. There is nothing that gets Yitter, myself, or literally anyone else on this campus more excited than the prospect of pulling ourselves out from a Pset or the first circle of hell, as my friend refers to the place we all call Bass Library, and consuming the crown meal of small children.

Maybe it’s the fact that we are all just large and slightly more intelligent — a fact that is still to be determined in my book — iPad kids deep down. Maybe it’s because the chicken tenders are one meal that is consistently good in the dining hall. Regardless, when you go about campus from week to week, you always hear about “Chicken Tender Thursdays” and the overzealous excitement that follows. There is nothing I personally look forward to more than eating dead, breaded chicken on Thursdays.

Grilled cheese may not be for hot girls, because all hot girls are lactose intolerant, it’s just a fact. But there is no doubting that Grilled Cheese Day is a day of triumph. One — or two…or four… — sandwich has the power to turn your day around from a flop to a slay.

Whenever I chow down on that good good, I can feel the nutrients coursing through my veins, and I know that the constipation I’ll have the next day is beyond worth it. Every moment spent not pooping is time spent eating a grilled cheese. There is no other way to convey my questionable love for grilled cheese than through a knockoff Rupi Kaur poem. Please enjoy — or don’t, I’m an ally for both sides <3 what is more beautiful than you who fills me up over and over again with your hot and tender cheese in between crispy sliced bread did you know that Betty White is literally older than sliced bread like no joke rip legend anyway back to grilled cheese so you remember that really weird glee episode where one of the characters saw jesus in a grilled cheese and they called it grilled cheesus cheesus crust if you will i can’t make this stuff up go watch it or else <3

And, in response to my wonderful friend Angie’s Rupi Kaur-inspired poem, I have drafted my own dedicated to the superior meal of Yale dining:

// SOPHIE HENRY

From the delicious breading To the abundant sauces, There is no way To describe my affections For chicken tender thursdays.

While it is true that sliced bread Is older than Betty White (i agree, rip the legend) and we cannot compare To grilled cheesus, The facts stand true.

Nothing excites yalies more than consulting internships and chicken tender thursday.

Contact HOLLY SEXTON at holly.sexton@yale.edu.

Contact ANGELIQUE DE ROUEN at ava.saylor@yale.edu .

Kinship at Yale: Fictive, Not Fictional // BY ANNIE SIDRANSKY I’m taking Introduction to Cultural Anthropology with professor Louisa Lombard this semester — highly recommended! — and recently in this course, we learned about kinship. Kinship has many definitions, but the simple way I think of it — far too simple I’m sure — is family.

In lecture, we learned about the three different types of kinship — kinship by blood, kinship by marriage and imagined kinship. That last one is also called “fictive kinship,” and it’s actually a bit contested in the anthropology world. Some say that it’s separate from “real” kinship.

I think this is wrong, but I don’t know if I would have said that before coming to Yale; because at Yale, I’ve discovered fictive kinship for myself.

I walked into Anthropology that day ready to learn about human relationships, thinking I already had a pretty good idea of what those were. Then professor Lombard said the words “fictive kinship,” and it was like I discovered a label for something I already knew existed but still hadn’t quite put my finger on.

I finally understood why the thought of losing the friends I’ve made at Yale brings an ache to my chest.

Why my friends and I eat together every chance we get. Why we sit in the dining hall at the same table every time, laughing about something one of us did six months ago.

Why we purposefully take classes together. Why we have study sessions late into the night or early in the morning the week before an exam.

Why they practically steal my water bottle to refill it for me.

Why I go out of my way to refill the candy bowl on their common room table.

Why we talk about moving to the same town after graduation and buying houses next to one another, picturing our kids

playing together some day.

Why “best friends” doesn’t feel like a strong enough word.

I’d never been outrageously social — I spent most of high school studying like I imagine many other Yalies did as well.

Sometimes, I would lay my head on my desk, surrounded by piles of textbooks, dreaming of coming to Yale, but I didn’t really know what was waiting for me here.

Yale boasts about its community.

17-year-old me couldn’t have known just how serious Yale was about that claim. I figured the people would be nice — they’d hold the door open and give me directions if I asked. I didn’t know they’d also offer to mop the winter salt stains from my suite’s floor or walk all the way to East Rock to buy a projector so we could watch “Avatar.”

I’ve found kinship at Yale, and I think that makes me the luckiest person in the world — that I’m here right now, that the stars aligned, that I’ve gotten the chance to make friends I can call family and that I get to say those words at all.

To be fair, it does feel a little corny to admit all of this.

Even when I was writing this piece, I wondered if I should hold off on submitting it for publication. I thought maybe I should wait until the week before finals, the end of the semester, the beginning of next semester, the day before I graduate. I felt like words this strong, a declaration this grand — that I’ve found true family at Yale — needed prompting.

But what even is a right time, or a right place? Time doesn’t pause; the planet doesn’t stop spinning.

Kinship is a big deal. To take it for granted, to let the connections we form at Yale go unappreciated or slip through our fingers, feels sacrilegious. There’s so much love to be found, and I think a random Friday is just as good a

time as any to metaphorically shout that from the rooftops.

Contact ANNIE SIDRANSKY at annie.sidransky@yale.edu .

// RACHEL FOLMAR

WKND Recommends Subscribing to the National Enquirer

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE B5

WEEKEND SURGERY

VISIONS FROM THE KETAMINE HELL:

Please Don’t Have Surgery at the Yale Hospital // BY GAMZE KAZAKOGLU

Until Monday, March 13, it had never occurred to me how dreadful the consequences would be — both mentally and physically — if I were to experience a serious health problem and my only option was Yale’s healthcare system. From my initial visit to Yale Student Health at 11 a.m. to the emergency room surgery later in the evening and onwards, what bothered me the most in my unnecessarily long hospital odyssey was misinformation — or, actually, deceit.

I first decided to visit Yale Health due to back pain beginning from the morning of the previous day. I didn’t take it seriously whatsoever — I thought that this was just another problem that could be solved with an abundance of painkillers and antibiotics. As the hours passed by, however, the pain increased along with my impatience, and after a sleepless night, I paid a visit to Yale Health on Monday morning. Since I did not have an appointment, I joined two patients that were in the emergency room line.

The fictitious “26 minute estimated visit time” sign annoyingly kept prolonging the lengthy waiting time even more in my consciousness, and after a solid two hours or so, I was finally admitted to the room. After the physical examination, the doctor informed me that she was going to prescribe me what I predicted — thylmon and antibiotics. I nodded as she left the room. When she came back, however, I shortly found out that the cards were turned around: she told me that after a consultation with her colleague, they decided to send me to the Yale Hospital emergency room for a surgery to remove the cyst I apparently had. What do you do? I of course agreed.

By the time I arrived at the Yale Hospital, the adults section was full, but because I’ve just turned 21, they sent me to the pediatrics ER. That did not mean there was no wait time there. I waited for 3 hours in an ER. The ultrasound, physical examination and me painfully explaining what the problem was to every person who happened to walk into the room — the number accumulated to almost 15 or so in total — took even longer than the surgery itself. Yet, despite falling short in actual medicare, Yale Hospital made no compromises in its hospitality: after asking whether I was dating someone or not, a nurse gave me his number, encouraging me to “reach out whenever [I] feel like talking to someone.” Unfortunately, there were a couple of things that he was missing from the equation: 1. the capability, or almost obligation, of people to be “lighthearted” in “difficult” situations for themselves, which does not indicate anything about the tone of their interactions with or thoughts on others, given the fact that we were in the emergency room of a hospital during the event — implicating the situation rather than the actors had a more significant role in the

conversation, and 2. that I was literally a patient who was unable to move and the conversation took place while he was carrying me in a bed to the ultrasound room.

At 8 p.m., the surgery decision was made along with the type of anesthesia to be used. After asking various questions, the doctors grasped my ignorance of biology and asked me what my major was. I answered psychology and humanities. “No science?” they asked. “No science,” I answered.

Then they asked me if I have ever used, received or even just heard of ketamine.

I answered no.

Ketamine was introduced to me as a drug “that will put me into a peaceful sleep,” that I was going to see “sweet dreams,” that it will distort my memory, but it “won’t be important” since I will not remember, and I should think of a happy place or a holiday or someone I like, since that’s what the drug makes people dream of anyways. I was told that I could play music if I wanted to, which got me even more excited, given that I basically fall asleep to music every night. After the drug, however, it would be normal for me to feel nauseous, so they insisted that I find someone to take me back home. I told them that it was the midterm exams era and I did not want to bother anyone for a 15 minute Uber ride or I could even walk myself, but they kept pushing me even more. I guess I should’ve known from the oddity of their intense insistence.

Yet, the scientific age already blurred my vision and they had my complete trust, so I said “ok.” How little I knew that I was about to go to a minefield all naked, my vision clouded with a veil of ignorance.

As they were injecting the drug, the doctor asked me, “what was your favorite holiday?”

I described to her the beautiful Mediterranean sea, how I go there every summer with my mom and there is nothing like sipping wine by the sea after a long day of swimming. There was something off in the air. I was trying so hard to picture the blue-gray waves and sounds in my mind, but the sea never came to me.

Then someone turned off the lights and the effortful illusion was completely gone. All of a sudden, I saw myself tripping from one tunnel to another in a feast of visual and sensual distortions, I heard roaring noises screaming at the top of my head. There were faces doubling, merging with one another and forming creatures, a strange taste and smell, one person cynically whispering to me “You knew it was coming, didn’t you? Well, now here we are” —in other words, unusual thoughts and voices, apparently one of the most notorious effects of ketamine that I did not

know of at the time. Instead of a mere local anesthesia, America, the drug empire, of course had to show off. Funny enough, I regardless held on, trying to resist the allure of amnesia, and tried to picture myself as a journalist — yet another dissociative thought I suppose — repeating to myself — “I’ll remember this, I’ll remember this, I’ll remember this.” I remember focusing on one specific thought to make the moment more memorable — how absurd it was that, when he was around my age, my dad also had to go through a surgery on his own. Whether we like it or not, we end up repeating the patterns of our parents one way or another Other than self-schemas, is there a concept in psychology that encapsulates something like family-schemas?

Maybe I’m just rambling now, and it was merely my Freudian sublimation reaching its peak at the moment in order to distract myself from the swamp of hallucinations.

Then, I thought, what if all of this actually makes sense?

By the time I woke up, I could not stop crying. I remember the nurse’s doubled head removing my mask for me to breathe and wiping away the tears from my face.

What caught me most off guard was surprise and effascination, I have to say, because I asked her to tell if the promised sweet dreams do not happen at all or they just didn’t decide to come to me.

“Do people usually cry a lot after this drug?”

She nodded yes. At this point, I’m not sure if that was true or not either.

The lying saga continued when I asked them if I were going to be able to go to work and class tomorrow. They slowly nodded and said “hmmm-hmmm.”

As I’m writing these lines, it is the fifth day since I had the surgery. The first three days I could not move at all, let alone go to classes. I live on the eighth floor and the elevator has been broken for three weeks, so leaving the suite for a brief walk wasn’t even an option. When my friends saw me almost fainting at the dining hall in my attempt to grab food, one of them informed the dean and that’s how he learned about the elevator. The services, however, said that they were lacking a piece to fix it, so I was moved to another room on the first floor. Yale, being the second richest school in America, is not able to ship a piece for the elevator in an entryway which has a patient that had a surgery. By the time I got back home from the hospital, I climbed the

stairs still somewhat under the influence of the drug. I remember trying to focus on counting the stair numbers to prevent myself from throwing up.

Did they also lie about the painkillers?

I’m not sure if that was the intention. I called at 8:30 the following morning to ask for one more because the thylmon they gave me wasn’t doing anything, and I was informed that someone was going to give me a call back. After 5 hours at 1:30 p.m. I called again, and the secretary was so shook to hear my voice once more, inquiring if they still did not give me a call back. She soon remembered her role though, and added that they will of course, the reason for the delay is just that they call between patients. I guess the latest patient was very ready to leave right after the call, because only 10 minutes later, I finally received a call from my doctor.

Perhaps not telling me how the events after the drug and the surgery were going to proceed was a way of convincing me that they were both on urgent business and if I knew a little bit about all of this, I would give up. So perhaps the intention was good under the disguise of so many lies. I don’t know, but I still think healthcare professionals owe the truth to patients. If that were the case, for me at least, I would have prepared myself mentally rather than becoming more and more disappointed after each unprecedented incident. I’ve later found out that Yale is actually big in ketamine research.

After a few questions about domestic abuse and whether I was feeling suicidal or not, that may explain why they immediately rushed to go for ketamine, pretty much overlooking the fact that there is a large spectrum of mental health states in between being suicidal or not and not every patient may react the same way to the same medicine. And I may not be one of Yale’s brilliant activists who, if — God forbid — had what I experienced, were probably to start a campaign or organize a talk about Yale’s health resources, but I regardless felt the obligation to write this piece, that someone should know what was waiting for them. Because unlike me, I don’t want anyone to find themselves off guard — suddenly lying down on the operation table all alone, mind miles away in the ketamine hell.

Contact GAMZE KAZAKOGLU at gamze.kazakoglu@yale.edu .

// SOPHIE HENRY

Blow Job Shots 1 part Amaretto 1 part Irish cream garnish with whipped cream (and drink without using your hands!)

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, APRIL 1 2022 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND REVIEWS

SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT:

PRESERVING OUR SANITY // BY LAILA DELPUPPO

I’ve thought a lot about how we fell for eaYou walk out of Bass. It’s dark outside.

It’s only five p.m.; that’s not okay.

The Sunshine Protection Act, having just passed the Senate, will ensure that the clocks will stay with the extra hour at night. Time will no longer shift an hour behind in November and will stay in the daylight-saving time that was changed to in March.

I have never been a morning person, so the Sunshine Protection Act essentially basically just gives me an extra hour of daylight. The morning hour will definitely not be missed. I assume most other Yalies agree on this one: I don’t know very many of us who enjoy waking up before 6 a.m..

Having to turn on my desk lamp when I come back from my class in the afternoon.. Having to walk back from Science Hill after section in the dark. Not going on runs after 4:30 because I won’t make it back before sunset. Feeling like it’s ten pm at seven because it’s been pitch black outside for hours. Thinking I have a ton of time to go watch the sunset from the stacks but then leaving your room way too late and it’s already nighttime.

All these situations I’ve experienced throughout the Fall semester.

This article was intended to be in favor of the Sunshine Protection Act. Now, I’m not sure whether my motivation to extol the extra hour of sunlight stems from

merely my hatred against the Winter Darkness Act that nature imposed on us.

I come from Brazil and Morocco, both places famous for their sunshine. It isn’t even about warmth, Yale’s heating works, thank goodness, relatively well.

It’s about the fact that the blue sky of a sunny day makes everyone happier. It’s about the fact that we have more hours of happiness to enjoy.

Especially in New England, where it already gets dark early (definitely much earlier than it did in Brazil or Morocco), the Sunshine Protection Act is essential to preserving our wellbeing and sanity.

Just think back to that sunny Friday right before Spring Break–the glorious Friday with 20 degree weather (Celsius that is) and the blue sky stretching above New Haven. Every single Yalie was outside. The sun made us happy, it reminded us that there would be better times coming, times free of midterms and stress. And along with that sunny day, soon after, came an assurance that this could remain, at least a little longer.

We can now have more sunlight than we used to.

The Sunshine Protection Act is splendid, I have no negatives.

So I guess my real critique of the Act is: what took it so long?

Contact LAILA DELPUPPO MESSARI at laila.delpuppomessari@yale.edu .

// ZIHAO LIN

“Crash” Review: The Queen of Hyperpop Goes Mainstream // BY SURAJ SINGAREDDY

// JESSAI FLORES

Charli XCX’s career has skyrocketed in the last 3 years. From the release of “Charli” and “How I’m Feeling Now” to the renewed popularity of songs like “Lock It (Unlock It)” and “Vroom Vroom,” it seems like she’s finally found her audience. It’s surprising, then, that she’s now decided to so radically change up her sound.

On her 5th studio album “Crash,” Charli XCXswaps out the musical experimentation which she’s become known for for a more mainstream and retro-inspired sound, building on the early-2000s vibes of “1999.” XCX’s new direction was obvious from the album’s first single “Good Ones,” a 2000s-era pop, breakup banger about self-destructive romantic tendencies. The song’s instrumentation is reminiscent of Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” and it has theatrics to match. In the music video, XCX dances on her lover’s casket clad only in a bikini, with the similarly promiscuous support of 4 backup dancers.

The song and accompanying video both exude pop diva energy, and it becomes obvious that Charli XCX has finally decided to use pop as escapism. This sentiment is best captured on the album’s

closer, “Twice.” On the track, she sings “Nothing is forever / One day, you’re never gonna be there” before repeating “Don’t think twice / Don’t think twice … Don’t think about it.” The song, which is essentially an ode to the fantasy and distraction pop can provide, is a far cry from the introspection-heavy “Pop 2,” “Charli,” and “How I’m Feeling Now” albums. Of course, XCX is too smart to embrace this escapism without adding a dash of irony. “Twice,” despite being a song about ignoring your feelings, is still peppered with lyrics on XCX’s greatest fears. This sense of ironic escapism extends to songs like “Every Rule,” about the guilt of falling in love with someone who’s already in a relationship. The mellow track’s music video features XCX dancing in a style similar to that of “Good Ones”, the only change being her pouty look and her dancing speed. In the past, XCX aimed to viscerally represent her feelings through music, with methods such as literally screaming in desperation mid-song on “Tears.” However, she now seems to acknowledge and embrace the intrinsic barrier between her emotional

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state and her music. She sees that art and life are separate, and she enjoys using a pop persona to dance around her feelings instead of presenting them in their sincerest forms.

Central to the escapist aspect of this album is the songs’ undeniable ease of listening. In contrast to the harsh instrumentation of past tracks like “c2.0,” the songs of “Crash” are extremely easy to slip into on the first play. “Baby” and “New Shapes” are 80s-inspired, synth-heavy tracks that could be played at any summer pool party. “Yuck” is an equally easy listen with a disco aesthetic in the vein of Doja Cat’s “Say So.” It features no hint of the jarring production that forced listeners to pay attention to songs from XCX’s past albums. Instead, it has faith that a catchy hook and a warm melody will be enough to draw in an audience, and indeed it is.

This same groove and earworm quality are audible on the deluxe album’s track “Selfish Girl.” Unfortunately, on other tracks like “Used to Know Me,” this mainstream attitude falls flat, making the tracks forgettable and doomed to be played only during emphatic soul cycle classes.

However, for all this talk of Charli XCX’s new direction, traces of her past style are still audible. The cyborg-like vocals, which were once omnipresent in her songs, appear in full force on “Lightning.” They also appear in subtler forms in the robotic delivery of the “Twice” and “Crash” choruses.

“How Can I Not Know What I Need Right Now,” a deluxe addition to the album, features a mellowed-out version of the techno, hyper-happy instrumentation that was common on past albums. Another song worth mentioning is “Move Me,” whose off-kilter tempo also falls in line with XCX’s past discography and whose tone feels straight off of FKA Twigs’ Caprisongs.

“Crash” is ultimately an album meant to be enjoyed in the club. Will it be remembered for pushing the limitations of pop?

Probably not. But is it a banger? Absolutely.

It’s an album that you can dance your feelings away to while ignoring your homework on any night Wednesday through Saturday.

With “Crash” playing in the background, the world is your dance floor.

Contact SURAJ SINGAREDDY at suraj.singareddy@yale.edu .