T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 · VOL. CXXXIV, NO. 129 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
SUNNY SUNNY
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CROSS CAMPUS
INTERNET TROLLS FROM CYBERSPACE TO YOUR SPACE
YALE-NUS
DOLLARS AND SENSE
M. LACROSSE
Singaporean student panel discusses new liberal arts college
RESIDENTS GIVE ALDERMAN EARFUL ABOUT BUDGET
No. 20 Elis look to stretch winning streak at red-hot No. 19 Bryant
PAGE B3 WEEKEND
PAGE 5 NEWS
PAGE 5 CITY
PAGE 12 SPORTS
Campus mourns Brunt ’15
Hope. The annual Mandi
Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive came to Commons on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. During those six hours, over 500 potential marrow donors were added to the national Be The Match Registry. The University has held four such marrow drives in honor of former women’s hockey player Mandi Schwartz ’11, who died last April after a battle with leukemia. During those four drives, Yale has added 3,000 potential donors to the national registry.
It’s official. The Yale
College Council officially announced the lineup for next Tuesday’s Spring Fling concert, launching a website and YouTube video for the event. As the News reported in March, the lineup will feature rap artist T-Pain, indie superstar Passion Pit and fratmusic.com DJ 3LAU. The winners of Tuesday night’s Battle of the Bands competition — Jamestown, A Streetcar Named Funk and 9 Tigers — will open.
JAMES LU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A vigil held in the Davenport courtyard Thursday night honored the life of Zachary Brunt ’15, who was found dead in a physics lab Wednesday afternoon.
AT DAVENPORT VIGIL, BRUNT’S FATHER URGES CAMPUS: ‘DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN’ BY GAVAN GIDEON AND JAMES LU STAFF REPORTERS The Yale community came together Thursday to commemorate the life of Zachary Brunt ’15, a student who shone as a
musician and a scientist, and who engaged all kinds of people. The grief that gripped campus after students and faculty learned of Brunt’s death Wednesday was apparent at a candlelit vigil in the Davenport
College courtyard Thursday night. Davenport Master Richard Schottenfeld ’71 MED ’76, Dean Ryan Brasseaux GRD ’11 and Brunt’s family and friends described Brunt as a student who was committed to the communities and friends that shaped him. His death, Schottenfeld said, reminds the Yale community that “we don’t live in a per-
fect world.” “Zach Brunt was such a vibrant, visible part of the Davenport-Yale community,” Schottenfeld said. “It’s just not possible yet to comprehend fully and believe that we won’t see him again tomorrow or soon.” Brunt was found dead in a physics lab on the sixth floor of Josiah Willard Gibbs Laborato-
ries Wednesday afternoon. His body was taken for an autopsy at the state medical examiner’s office, which said Thursday afternoon that Brunt died by “asphyxia due to exclusion of oxygen” and ruled his death a suicide. After Schottenfeld opened SEE VIGIL PAGE 4
Yaliens Among Us. On
Tuesday night, a group of Yale alums took over East Village Tavern in New York City for a performance called “barplay.” The show featured performances by four Yalies — William Alden ’10, Cory Finley ’11, Charles Gariepy ’09 and Sophia Lear ’08 — and was directed by Maggie Burrows ’09 and Cordelia Istel ’10.
Welcome to Panem. Students
at the Yale School of Medicine put out a YouTube video parodying the Suzanne Collins blockbuster “The Hunger Games” called “The Haven Games.” The video features Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they sing the School of Medicine’s praises. It was designed to welcome members of the Medical School’s class of 2016 to Yale.
More “Hunger Games.” Posters for this Sunday’s Mr. Yale pageant have popped up all over Facebook. They, too, are “Hunger Games”-themed, featuring a mockingjay pin and the ubiquitous slogan, “May the odds be ever in your favor.” Relay for the cause. The Lanman Center at Payne Whitney Gym will be closed today and through midday tomorrow for Relay for Life. Remembrance. The fraternity
Alpha Epsilon Pi partnered with the Slifka Center Thursday afternoon to host the second annual “Walk to Remember,” in which a dozen students dressed in dark colors and bore stickers on shirts reading “Never forget.” The students walked in single file, staying silent throughout the march in remembrance of the Holocaust.
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1963 Campus mourns the death of University President A. Whitney Griswold, who died April 19 after a battle with colon cancer. He was 56. Submit tips to Cross Campus
ONLINE y MORE cc.yaledailynews.com
Influencing policy, or ‘wasting time’? Committee on Undergraduate Organizations, Cultural Houses, Dean’s Advisory Committee, Dean’s Advisory on Student Grievances, Financial Aid Committee, Fraternities and Sororities, Freshman Year Advisory Committee, Global Health Studies Advisory Committee, LGBTQ Co-op, Provost’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee, Student Advisory Committee on Science and QR, Yale College Council BY MADELINE MCMAHON STAFF REPORTER On March 1, Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry called a meeting of all fraternity and sorority leaders to inform them that their rush procedures would change. Beginning next year, he said, they would no longer be able to hold freshman rush activities during the fall.
UPCLOSE The Greek leaders in the room said they were shocked. “This rule came as a 100 percent surprise to every fraternity,” said Ben Singleton, vice president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. “We didn’t have an inkling that this was coming.” Greek leaders and students across campus claimed the policy was misguided, and many felt that administrators made the decision before students could offer input. Administrators offer multiple channels for students to present their ideas — including committees with the Yale College Dean’s Office and other University offices, cultural centers, the Yale College Council and individual meetings — and they said they feel these mechanisms allow them to accurately gauge student sentiment. John Meeske, associate dean of student organizations
and physical resources, added that he meets with students nearly every day about issues pertaining to undergraduate organizations. Four of five members of Dean’s Office committees interviewed, along with many YCC members, said they play important roles in discussing specific issues when administrators seek their input. But in terms of influencing actual policy, student leaders said they are unsure to what extent they can affect change.
It’s not profitable for us to form a committee to talk about [a policy change] if we’re convinced of what needs to be done.
Gender imbalances found at Law School BY DANIEL SISGOREO STAFF REPORTER Men are 16 percent more likely to speak in class than women in Yale Law School courses, according findings in a study released by a Law School student group last week. The group, Yale Law Women, replicated a study of gender dynamics it conducted at the school in 2002. The 93-page study — which included interviews with 54 of 83 non-visiting faculty members, observations of student participation in 113 sessions of 21 Law
School courses and a survey of 62 percent of the student body — found that women are 1.5 percent more likely to speak up in class now than they were 10 years ago, among several other observations. The majority of students and faculty interviewed by the News said gender imbalances are an endemic problem in the legal profession and are not unique to the Law School, though many were disappointed by the lack of substantial improvement over the decade. SEE LAW SCHOOL PAGE 4
Ward 1 likely to expand eastward BY NICK DEFIESTA STAFF REPORTER Aldermen are struggling to determine the shape of New Haven’s wards ahead of a fast approaching deadline. A special committee of the Board of Aldermen considered three different ward maps at a Thursday evening meeting at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy, the latest in a series of meetings held in an effort to equalize populations across the city’s wards.
The committee was unable to come to a consensus during the meeting, and if they do not agree upon a final ward map by May, the redistricting project will be taken out of their hands — and into Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s. By city charter, the Board must redraw lines between the city’s 30 wards every decade, based on updated U.S. Census population figures. In redrawing the wards, aldermen must SEE REDISTRICTING PAGE 4
JOHN MEESKE Associate Dean of Student Organizations and Physical Resources, Yale College Meeske said administrators can often predict how students will react before a policy is announced. In cases when administrators know a decision will be “unpopular” but still feel it is a “necessary step” — such as the fall SEE POLICY PAGE 6
NICK DEFIESTA/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
At a special committee meeting Thursday evening, aldermen failed to achieve consensus on changes to ward boundaries necessitated by the city charter.