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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012 · VOL. CXXXIV, NO. 128 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
P. CLOUDY SUNNY
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CROSS CAMPUS
For a good cause. The
University will host the annual Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive today in Commons from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., honoring former women’s ice hockey player Mandi Schwartz ’11, who passed away from leukemia in April 2011.
Pundits? An email from “YCC Elections Committee” — email address yccelectionscommittee@ yahoo.com — informed students that the YCC elections committee had overlooked yet another clause in the YCC’s election rules, and that there would need to be another runoff election. “The YCC Constitution specifies that if a candidate has a given name of four or seventeen letters, or a name that ends in the letter Y, they are prohibited from running in the election, unless they win by a margin of EXACTLY 43.9975835562 percent,” the email said. Continuing coverage.
Two Westbrook, Conn., men accused of stabbing several alpacas to death at Applesauce Acres Alpacas Farm in Essex, Conn., back in December appeared in court on Wednesday for their arraignment, the New Haven Register reported.
Stop the speeders. On Wednesday, the Connecticut NAACP came out against a bill that would allow Connecticut’s 19 largest cities — New Haven among them — to install red-light cameras at intersections, saying it would unfairly target the state’s urban populations, the Hartford Courant reported. More opportunity. A new summer fellowship program will allow more undergraduates to conduct research in science and engineering during the summer after freshman year. At least 25 more fellowship slots will be available to freshmen by summer 2013. THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1994 Prefrosh and their parents swarm campus for “Future Freshman Days.”
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PUBLIC HEALTH
W. LACROSSE
Grad students protest possible closure of cafe; admins seeking input
STUDENTS HOPE TO BOOST AWARENESS THROUGH ART
Elis move up to sixth place in Ivy League with comeback against Brown
PAGE 14 SPORTS
PAGE 3 NEWS
PAGE 5 NEWS
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ZAC H A RY B RU N T 1 9 9 2 - 2 0 1 2
Energetic scientist, musician mourned Zachary Brunt ’15, described by friends as a curious, outgoing musician and scientist, died Wednesday. He was 19. Brunt’s body was found early Wednesday afternoon in Gibbs Laboratories on Science Hill, and his death has been termed an apparent suicide. Known for his long, blond curly hair, Brunt was an active member of Davenport College and an aspiring engineer from Alexandria, Va. Brunt’s friends said he had an upbeat character and the ability to connect with a diverse group of students. “Zach was the most caring, fun, easygoing individual I have met on Yale’s campus,” said Lincoln Mitchell ’15, a fellow member of Davenport who considered Brunt an honorary suitemate. “He seriously had no social fears about anything. The first night I met him, he came into our room telling hilarious stories about his life, his childhood, his upbringing and his hopes for Yale.” Brunt came to Yale last fall after graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. A member of the Yale Drop Team, Brunt was scheduled to take a flight today to Houston, Texas, and take part in a zero-gravity experiment. The team was planning to test how zero gravity would affect metal surface tension screens, and Brunt had spent many hours preparing for the trip, his friends said. “If there was one guy [about whom] I would say, ‘Yeah, he was in zero gravity for four days at NASA,’ it would be Zach Brunt,” said Ruchit Nagar ’15, Brunt’s close friend in Davenport. Joe O’Rourke ’12, last semester’s copresident of the Drop Team, said Brunt’s work on the project’s electrical system was “invaluable,” noting that the project had been progressing far more smoothly than in previous years. The Drop Team canceled its Houston trip in the wake of
CAUSE OF DEATH STILL UNDETERMINED; VIGIL SET FOR TONIGHT BY JAMES LU AND DANIEL SISGOREO STAFF REPORTERS Davenport College student Zachary Brunt ’15 was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide. Brunt’s body was discovered on the sixth floor of Josiah Willard Gibbs Laboratories early Wednesday afternoon. The police were called by a student shortly after 2 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. Yale College Dean Mary Miller first informed the Yale community of Brunt’s death in an email at 6:29 p.m., and said there is “no evidence of foul play nor is there any indication of an accident.”
BY GAVAN GIDEON AND TAPLEY STEPHENSON STAFF REPORTERS
NATALIE LAPIDES
Davenport student Zachary Brunt ’15 was found dead on campus Wednesday afternoon. the tragedy. In addition to his scientific pursuits, Brunt also played both electric and acoustic guitar in a group called “Honest Liars” with four other freshmen. The band played casual covers of “HindiEnglish fusion” music, said Nagar, who is also a member of the group. He added that the band had just begun recording its first song, and that Brunt played his part “exceedingly well.” Constantly exploring and trying new things throughout his life, Brunt began teaching himself Russian as a child, competed in Yale’s Iron Chef competi-
tion in February and developed an encyclopedic knowledge of trivia, his friends said. Other students said they will remember Brunt for his offbeat sense of humor and wild blond hair, which he insisted on leaving long despite jokes that he should cut it. “We always joked about him wearing hair nets [during Iron Chef] because of his huge ’fro,” said Julie Leong ’15, who competed on Brunt’s team in Iron Chef. “Instead he put on a bandanna, so he SEE OBITUARY PAGE 7
His death is a terrible shock to all of us, and we hope that we will be able to give each other comfort and support this evening and in the days ahead. RICHARD SCHOTTENFELD Master, Davenport College The Yale Police Department is conducting a full investigation into the death, Miller wrote. YPD Chief Ronnell Higgins deferred comment on the investigation to the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. Davenport College Master Richard Schottenfeld ’71 MED ’76 held a meeting at his house Wednesday evening at which he said the death appeared to be a SEE BRUNT PAGE 7
I N T E R NAT I O NA L S
What next? Around a dozen
former occupiers were spotted lingering outside the New Haven Green around 9 p.m. They were gone by 10 p.m., their new curfew.
BLUE DOG CAFÉ
Davenport freshman found dead
Drumroll please. At the
second-annual Yale College Council App Challenge, YaleTravelogue took home the $1,500 first-place prize. Built and developed by Jared Shenson ’12, Charlie Croom ’12, and Bay Gross ’13, the app works to help Yalies connect with each other over the summer by mapping out their travel plans. A $500 secondplace prize went to YaleMobile, an app designed by Danqing Liu ’13 to create a hub for various facets of Yale life, while Rafi Khan’s ’15 Screw Me Yale won $200 for third place.
SOFTBALL YALE SNAPS LOSING STREAK
Greek Elis weigh heritage, home turmoil
Occupy leaves Green in defeat
W
ith food and dancing in celebration of Greek Easter last weekend, Yalies from Greece shared their nation’s culture with other students. But as Greece continues to face economic and political struggles, Greek Elis are considering their obligations toward their homeland. JANE DARBY MENTON reports. Last Sunday, approximately 120 students and faculty members lounged on the grass in the Ezra Stiles courtyard, eating from plates piled high with homemade spanakopita, baklava and souvlaki as they celebrated Greek Easter. A student wearing a blue Yale Hellenic Society T-shirt watched over a blackened lamb slowly turning over a simmering fire, a traditional component of the festivities. The Hellenic society, which aims to “promote and disseminate Greek culture at Yale” and “provide a home on campus for Greek nationals, those of a Greek descent and others interested in Greece,” hosts several events throughout the year. But its Easter celebration is the largest, drawing both Greeks and non-Greeks in attendance. Greek Easter falls on a different date than the non-Orthodox Easter
each year because the Greek Orthodox Church adheres to the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar. For both religious and cultural reasons, Easter is one of the most important holidays celebrated by Greeks, said Stefano Gandolfo ’13, president of the Hellenic Society. As the familiar strains of “Zorba the Greek,” a song and associated dance popularized in the 1964 movie by the same name, came over the speakers, people leapt up to join the dance. They linked arms, rotating in an ever-growing circle. “Everyone thinks they know the steps,” Gandolfo said with a laugh, “but really they just make it up.” Eight Yalies from Greece interviewed said they are proud of their heritage SEE GREEKS PAGE 7
NICK DEFIESTA/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
New Haven Police Department officers arrived at the Occupy New Haven encampment Wednesday morning to force remaining protesters to leave the Green. BY NICK DEFIESTA STAFF REPORTER The “occupation” has ended: after six months on the Green and a protracted legal battle with the city, Occupy New Haven is finally gone. Police removed Occupy protesters from their Upper Green site early Wednesday morning, allowing the city’s parks department to clear the Upper Green of tents and debris. Occu-
py’s departure ended a two-month saga of city efforts to bring about the protest’s removal — first through talks and then forcibly — and came one day after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the city could legally remove the protesters from the Green. “In the 28 weeks since Oct. 15 this became less about [protesting income SEE OCCUPY PAGE 4