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T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 35 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING

SUNNY SUNNY

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CROSS CAMPUS

MOLLUSKS FOSSIL QUESTIONS EVOLUTION

SENATE DEBATE

COMICS

MEN’S SOCCER

Candidates Murphy and McMahon continue personal attacks

CYANIDE AND HAPPINESS STOPS BY CAMPUS

Falling to Cornell, Bulldogs remain winless in the Ivy League

PAGE 6-7 SCI-TECH

PAGE 3 CITY

PAGE 3 NEWS

PAGE 12 SPORTS

María Rosa Menocal passes away AS ITS FORMER DIRECTOR, PROFESSOR MENOCAL EXPANDED THE WHITNEY HUMANITIES CENTER

What’s for dinner? Berkeley

College’s plan to close its dining hall to non-Berkeley students for two Mondays each month, and before 6:30 p.m. for the other two Mondays, went into effect yesterday. Berkeley College Master Marvin Chun said the new policy aims to address the dining hall’s overcrowding problem and alleviate the “unsustainable demand” that had been faced by Berkeley’s facilities and employees.

BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER

YALE

After a three-year fight with melanoma, humanities professor María Rosa Menocal passed away Monday afternoon. A Sterling professor of the humanities since 2005, Meno-

Trouble at Harvard. An article

published in The Harvard Voice last weekend has come under fire for its offensive editorial content and the way editors of the publication later responded to national criticism. Voice editors went through multiple apologies and changed the author line of the piece from “The Harvard Voice” to “Anonymous” after facing criticism, a move that then brought the publication additional waves of criticism.

cal served as director of the Whitney Humanities Center from 2001 to 2012. She told the Yale Bulletin in 2005 that the WHC is “the University’s center for conversations across the arts and humanities,” and spearheaded a period of expansion at the Center, where she appointed

285 fellows from several different academic fields and added new programs such as “Films at the Whitney.” “María Rosa Menocal was among the most brilliant, creative and original of Yale’s extraordinary scholars in the humanities,” University President Richard Levin told the News on Monday. “Her passions inspired and energized her students and colleagues and shaped a vibrant community at

‘We’re still here.’ Six months after Occupy New Haven members were evicted from the New Haven Green, movement leaders are affirming that their message still stands. Members have since focused their activist energies in different directions, working on foreclosure issues, homelessness prevention and education.

YSO tests ‘residency’ concept

BY JANE DARBY MENTON AND JULIA ZORTHIAN STAFF REPORTERS

dency to the YSO, which had never appointed a designer-in-residence before. And he receives no pay for his experiments. Anne Fadiman, the Francis Writer-in-Residence, described her appointment in 2004 as “one of those mysterious Yale things.”

Gilad Shalit, a 26-year-old Israeli soldier released from five-year captivity by Hamas in 2011 came to Yale Monday afternoon in a rare public appearance. In an event hosted by the Eliezer Society, Shalit and 14 members of his unit addressed an audience of approximately 200 students and faculty in Davies Auditorium. Professor Charles Hill, a former Israeli government official, and co-founder of the Eliezer Society Rabbi Shmully Hecht introduced Shalit and his unit, who then fielded prepared questions from audience members about their reactions to Shalit’s 2006 abduction and life in the Israeli Defense Force. The Slifka Center, Yale Friends of Israel and the Yale administration, headed by Provost Salovey and Executive Director of the Office of International Affairs Don Filer, helped Eliezer coordinate the day’s logistics and planning, said Aaron Hakim ’13, a member of Eliezer. He added that the Eliezer Society brought Shalit and his unit to campus during a 10-day-long visit to the New York area which aimed to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his release from captivity and provide closure for the unit members. “From the day Gilad Shalit was released, we hoped to bring him and his unit to Yale in a celebration of their courage and moral leadership,” Hakim said. Students interviewed said they appreciated the opportunity to hear the story of Shalit’s abduction firsthand. Danielle Ellison ’15, who heads YFI and helped organize the event, said she thinks Shalit’s visit

SEE YSO ARTIST PAGE 8

SEE GILAD SHALIT PAGE 4

T

he Yale Symphony Orchestra’s introduction of a new residency program raises questions about what arts residencies at Yale can be. JEFFREY DASTIN reports.

MATTHEW CHRISLIP

Staying informed. For those

of you looking for a midterms study break, consider tuning in to tonight’s presidential debate, which will focus on foreign and domestic policy issues. U.S. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney will meet at Hofstra University in New York tonight to answer questions from the crowd in a town hall debate format.

Matthew Chrislip ART ’13 at work in his apartment on a scaffold to be used for sonic and visual experiments. BY JEFFREY DASTIN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Every time Matthew Chrislip ART ’13 enters his living room, he is reminded of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Since beginning a design residency with the orchestra in September, Chrislip designated a wall of his apartment for sonic and visual

experiments. Today a six-and-ahalf foot tall scaffold occupies the space, which Chrislip called “a physical diagram to manipulate and to work with.” Chrislip is not “in residence” in the traditional sense. Rather than an established artist visiting the University, he is a second-year MFA candidate. He proposed the resi-

Another kind of debate.

Connecticut Senate candidates Chris Murphy (D) and Linda McMahon (R) faced off for the third time Monday night in New London, Conn. Much of their debate focused on the economy, though both candidates spent time discussing foreign policy issues and cybersecurity.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1985 More than 100 students return a dating questionnaire as part of a new dating service launched in Timothy Dwight College three weeks prior. Participants agree to meet with their matches at least once for dinner. Submit tips to Cross Campus

crosscampus@yaledailynews.com

ONLINE y MORE cc.yaledailynews.com

SEE MENOCAL PAGE 4

Israeli soldier visits campus

MUSIC AND DESIGN

Go pink. Pink and white

balloons on Cross Campus kicked off the start of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which began Monday. The effort aims to raise awareness of breast cancer issues and encourage students to take an active part in fighting breast cancer. In honor of the month, several local health centers, including Yale-New Haven Hospital, will hold screening and support services at a reduced cost.

the Whitney Humanities Center.” Levin said Menocal was interested in every medium of “human expression,” ranging from politics to cooking and professional hockey. Much of her research revolved around the cultural and religious environment of medieval Spain, and she authored several books on the time period, according to

Fall break activities revealed BY KIRSTEN SCHNACKENBERG STAFF REPORTER For students staying in New Haven, this year’s new October recess can be more than just rest and relaxation. The Yale College Dean’s Office, or YCDO, sent out an e-mail Monday night outlining the activities and services available to students during next week’s fall break, which runs from Wednesday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 28. The events, which include Yale-sponsored bus trips to New York City and discounted movie tickets, provide students staying in New Haven with cheaper transportation, several off-campus activities and academic workshops. According to a Yale

College Council survey sent out last week, 870 out of 1149 students said they plan to remain on campus during the recess, said YCC Events Director Bryan Epps ’14. Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry said the Yale College Dean’s Office worked with other organizations to offer additional activities for students staying on campus so they can take advantage of the break from normal academic schedules. “It’s a long span of time to have no break between August and Thanksgiving break, and this new fall break provides a welcome pause in the action,” Gentry said. “For those SEE FALL BREAK PAGE 4

Specter remembered for reasoned politics BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER Arlen Specter LAW ’56, a former United States senator from Pennsylvania who stood out in Congress for his independent politics, died Sunday in Philadelphia of complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 82. Considered one of the few remaining moderates, Specter served as a Republican senator for almost 30 years before announcing in 2009 that he would run for reelection as a Democrat because the ideology of the Republican party had shifted too far to the right — a decision that preSEE SPECTER PAGE 8

UNITED STATES SENTATE

PAGE 2

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

OPINION

.COMMENT “When the gestalt of high school melts away, little is left but memoyaledailynews.com/opinion

Cheap talk at a high price “I

t’s just rhetoric, you know?” I was sitting in an interview the other morning, making small talk about the vice presidential debate, when this familiar phrase reared its ugly head: just rhetoric. The art of manipulating the American people has been on display for so long that many of us recognize the game. We’ve realized the so-called arguments trumpeted by both sides in the electoral circus are mere varnish on the decidedly unattractive products they peddle. In his closing statement, Congressman Paul Ryan channeled the Platonic form of the ideal used car salesman as well as anyone could have ever done. Many of the people with whom I have subsequently discussed the debate perceived that lack of transparency. Others remarked on the vice president’s clever strategy of laughing and interrupting Ryan’s key points to shore up the Democratic ticket’s perceived doggedness following the President’s lackluster performance in the first debate. Some, myself included, have suggested Obama’s reticence was a calculated strategy — designed to allow Biden, not Obama, to shoulder the lion’s share of blame for injecting negativity into these exercises. Throughout these debates, what was missing was a sense that these events were emblematic of the true underlying principles held by the speakers. At best they are ex tempore versions of constantly mutating and carefully vetted general sentiments, adjusted for the particular constituency that needs to be targeted that week. Thus, the GOP pretends "Romneycare" never happened and Democratic stalwarts assert that their guy has always been a fervent supporter of gays and immigrants. Any counter-narrative is propaganda peddled by the enemies of Freedom! Forget what the party line or platform was yesterday, pay attention to the new one. At worst, these “debates” consist of completely scripted monologues grafted onto any question with the slightest hint of topicality or relevance. A question about Libya gets you a well-rehearsed answer about Iran, Afghanistan and all of foreign policy in just two minutes. What a great value for your time, dear viewer! And don’t get me started on those paragons of pernicious sophistry, the god-awful zingers. Everyone knows speeches and debates rarely advance truly innovative or thoroughly jus-

tified and explained policy. Positions are carefully tested by focus groups and the wording of MICHAEL any proposal MAGDZIK r e m a i n s deliberately Making vague. We are left with Magic meaningless statements such as Ryan’s on foreign policy, indicating that his ticket stands for peace, democracy and individual rights. These, of course, are values unique to his platform. Personally, I’m a vicious autocrat with lucrative connections to sinister war profiteers, so I’m glad Ryan is so open about what he stands for so I can vote for the other side. It’s just rhetoric, and we all know it. But is there a harm? The American people get a spectacle, because let’s face it, quips about Big Bird and the like are great fodder for comedy shows. The four dozen cavemen we call undecided voters in swing counties come no closer to a decision. Political scientists tell us the debates don’t really alter electoral results. So does any of it matter? We have to remember the broader audience for our American political tragicomedy. The world is watching and taking note, and unlike American voters, it has a very different stake in the outcome of the race. When we hear Romney articulate the position that Russia is the greatest geopolitical threat to the U.S., American voters roll their eyes. Just rhetoric. We know that. But imagine you are Vladimir Putin. Or better yet, imagine you are the average 20-yearold Russian. Do you understand the intricacies of the Electoral College and the need to appeal to prejudiced, low-information voters? Or do you take these things at face value, fearing the fact that one of the major political parties of the most powerful country on the planet, led by a man who would have access to a nuclear arsenal capable of ending the world many times over, has singled out you and your countrymen as the enemy? Is it any surprise that anti-American sentiment runs high, poisoning the minds of future leaders there? It’s not for nothing that words are mightier than swords. Just rhetoric? Not so much. MICHAEL MAGDZIK is a senior in Berkeley College. Contact him at michael.magdzik@yale.edu .

ries.”

'THEANTIYALE' ON 'DON'T JUST DUMP YOUR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND'

Acting affirmatively L

ast Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, the latest major legal challenge to race-based affirmative action programs. A few days earlier, the deans of the Harvard and Yale law schools published a joint opinion piece in the Washington Post (based on their joint amicus brief) calling on the Supreme Court to leave the program intact. The deans write about law school admissions, but central elements of their case certainly seemed to cohere with my experiences as an undergraduate here. And so whatever the Court’s specific conclusions in this case, I hope the majority leaves room for educational institutions to continue promoting the values the deans defend. The deans’ argument was simple: Their institutions aim to accept the “best possible students” and to “assemble the best possible class.” In their experience and estimation, both of these goals require the consideration of race as part of a “holistic evaluation” process. After all, in determining what qualifies someone as “the best possible student,” law schools often search for amorphous and intangible qualities. Harvard and Yale seek not just academic merit, but indicators that applicants will somehow “give back to society.” Most of us think this is perfectly appropriate. Naturally, unscientific judgments

about character should include all aspects of an individual’s biography — and racial identity can be an essenYISHAI piece of a SCHWARTZ tial revealing personal narraDissentary tive. S i m i l a rly, the deans argue that the assembly of the “best possible class” might take into account considerations of racial diversity. Personally, I’ve often been skeptical of “diversity for education’s sake” arguments. A central premise of a liberal arts education is that we can learn a great deal about human experience from books and lectures. Besides, given the myriad of different ways we assess merit, diversity within a meritocracy is inevitable anyway — so the deliberate construction of diversity strikes me as artificial and unnecessary. Recently though, I’ve had a change of heart. What’s more, I largely owe it to some insensitivity within our very own Yale Daily News. Every year, shortly after the News changes its leadership (through an egregiously timeconsuming and self-important elections process), the outgoing managing board publishes a “joke issue” ridiculing the pre-

vious year. The content is traditionally outlandish and ridiculous, and so the News refrains from posting the issue online. This past joke issue contained a story chronicling a particularly farcical and circus-like paternity battle, and it used slang and tropes closely identified with certain strands of urban AfricanAmerican culture. Six months ago, I probably wouldn’t have been troubled by the article. Ambiguous slang and meaningless apostrophes would have struck me as fair game for mockery. These tropes seem to add needless ornamentation, reflect poor education, and are simply incorrect uses of the English language. Why not mock it? Aren’t ignorance and dismissal of social norms essential elements of paternity circuses? Criticism of the piece for racial insensitivity would have irritated me. I would have argued that the very act of associating these apparently shallow linguistic deviations with AfricanAmerican identity was the true offense. But then I started talking to Julian. Julian has strong opinions on the cultural significance and legitimacy of these dialectic tropes — what’s more, he intentionally and actively employs them. And he does so without the characteristic silliness, unintelligible theorizing and self-righteousness of some activists and academics. And so I came to see the mocking of “K’rystal” and

“trippin’” differently. I realize that even relating this story will trigger eye-rolling and smug charges of Orientalism. After all, there is something that feels trite and self-congratulatory about “White guy talks to black guy and understands racial identity and racism better.” But some truths are trite precisely because they are true. And those rolling their eyes at my parochialism are just as limited by their own orthodoxies; they understand as little about the perspectives of the joke article’s well-intentioned authors as I do about the linguistic patterns outside of the New York Jewish community. We all could do with a dose of humility. And so we return to the question of race as a factor in admissions. On the level of my own experience, the deans seem right: race is still important, and the cultural identities that surround race are still woefully misunderstood. Moreover, one student’s ability to embody and articulate a perspective can play an important role in another’s education. So however the justices rule, I hope they preserve space for the kind of values and processes the deans articulate. Ruling otherwise would do higher education a monumental disservice. YISHAI SCHWARTZ is a senior in Branford College. His column runs Tuesdays. Contact him at yishai.schwartz@yale.edu .

GUEST COLUMNIST SHIRA TELUSHKIN

Is this good enough? F

reshman year, my roommate was fond of a saying attributed to Winston Churchill: “Sometimes it is not enough to do your best. You must do what is required.” This phrase intrigues and terrifies me. How often do we justify our less-than-satisfactory performance by claiming that we did our best? Usually when I say I did my best, in a situation where I fell short, what I mean is that I did my best given the low priority I gave the activity. I did my best despite the fact that I don’t care and don’t have time or found the event unnecessary and burdensome. In fact, I didn’t even realize how much just-doingour-best was an internalized standard for me until I took a statistics class this semester. You have to appreciate just how funny it is to my friends that I am in statistics. Math is an area of life that I have pretty much written off. My small and very supportive high school found creative ways for me to pass required math courses. Let’s just say that I wrote a lot of

humanities papers about math and learned very little algebra. Finding two QR credits at Yale has been a fear I’ve carried since I received my acceptance letter. I knew I was going to have to work hard in statistics. Pay attention, take notes, read the textbook. Yet I also inherently felt I would need to develop a good relationship with my professor and TA. It was these people I would have to win over with my dedication, embellished interest in the subject and willingness to work hard despite my poor math background. I would have to convince them I was doing my best. It is now six weeks in (or eight, depending on your professor and his or her syllabus), and my professor has no idea who I am. Yes, I know that he is teaching over 300 students this semester. But I come to his weekly sessions once a week, and I have emailed him numerous times when my second problem set of the year was lost for a few weeks. In any other course I’ve taken at Yale, this professor would be my best friend, or at least recognize who

I was. But I’m still only doing my Yale best. I don’t own the highly recommended textbook. I asked to postpone my midterm the night before. For the first time in my Yale career, my effort — whether I’m giving my best or it just comes off that way — will have no relevance on my final grade. I have literally never seen the TA who has been grading my homework for the past however many weeks. He likewise has no idea who I am. His office hours are during another course of mine, and I can never find him at lectures. He doesn’t know that I go to other TA office hours, that I stop by the professor’s drop-in sessions, or how annoying it is for me to open Minitab, the statistical software we use, on my Mac laptop. It doesn’t matter that I have only the most basic math background, that sometimes I forget how to convert percentages into statistics, or that the first few weeks of school were consumed in an endless cycle of Jewish holidays that only finally ended last

week. My personal struggles in the course and how hard I am working stand completely independent of my grade. Here, no one cares if I am doing my best. When it comes to my problem set answers or the midterm, I just need to have the answer that is required. Being in a course where my work is bifurcated from my effort has made me re-evaluate the honesty with which I assess my own effort. Even in my areas of passion and interest I know there are situations where I wish I could say with absolute confidence — whether it is an event I planned or a paper I wrote — that I did my absolute best. But I can’t. There is rarely the time or the need to do one’s absolute best in most of our daily activities. Something worth doing may be worth doing well, but it is probably also worth doing poorly. Sometimes we just need to do what’s required. SHIRA TELUSHKIN is a junior in Pierson College. Contact her at shira. telushkin@yale.edu .

GUEST COLUMNIST MAGGIE YELLEN

Beyond Batman

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W

hen I was growing up, all I wanted was to be a superhero. Whenever I went on a car ride, I would turn up the music and launch myself into elaborate fantasies; for twenty minutes, at least, I could fly around in a tight, elegant unitard, beating up all the bad guys. The fantasy didn’t end with the music. I started to believe that maybe I actually could be a superhero — and so, two years ago, I came to Yale to learn how to save the world. Yale, it turns out, is actually a perfect school for superheroes. We learn how to forge iron (but highly professional) masks, how to brandish facts like weapons or conjure drivel like magic. Everyone becomes that kid in TD or Berkeley or insert-college-here, that kid from section — recognized but unknown. Yes, we make a pretty comic book. Love the world, love humanity and bust out the spandex at Safety Dance. But superheroes aren’t sup-

posed to cry. Freshman year, I cried in my room — quietly, of course, so my roommate couldn’t hear. For all my love of humanity, I wasn’t sure I could ever fall in love myself. One of my good friends had a disgustingly perfect long-distance relationship, and I simply couldn’t imagine the logistics. How did something like that happen? It must be either magic or fake. Beyond my powers, for sure. So, one day, I flopped down on his bunk bed and asked him the question that fills libraries and pays philosophers. “What is love?” After a few minutes of thought, he responded. “Love,” he said, “is looking at the person next to you and realizing that they are a whole person.” That summer, I travelled to Cape Town and discovered what he meant. For my work, I went to the townships and interviewed single mothers and their families; I spoke to daughters who had pulled their mother out of an abusive relation-

ship, a young man who aspired to be a DJ, a woman who had burned down her boyfriend’s house. During the interviews, all of my personal thoughts and emotions melted away. As long as the red “RECORD” light glowed, the person talking seemed more real than I did. I became the extra in the ongoing movie of their lives, just some student in a half-written script. When I returned to Yale, I couldn’t stop imagining them, those people with their mysterious joys, fears and loves. And then I understood. In the end, it’s easy to be a superhero. It’s easy to write a paper or wear a mask — to travel around the world, save the citizens and leave before they can hurt you. For me, it was easy to interview people thousands of miles and a culture away from home. It’s much harder, I discovered, to imagine the full stories and lives of the people who surround me every day — to realize that an annoying classmate goes home, falls asleep and dreams. It’s

hard to love someone distasteful. It’s even hard, on bad day, to look beyond personal anxiety and see any whole people at all. It’s strange that the most superhuman task ends up being the most human. Sometimes, I think that it would be impossible to love everyone. Stupid, even. After all, there are times when we need to get something done, times when an argument really matters. But why not try? If you dare, stop reading and look at someone sitting near you. If you dare, imagine their childhood, their fears, their dreams. If you dare, actually ask them. Try, for a moment, to see a whole person. Maybe we can’t save the world — but, bit by bit, person by person, maybe we can make a place with more love and fewer masks. MAGGIE YELLEN is a junior in Timothy Dwight College. Contact her at margaret.yellen@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

NEWS

“I’m not going to take any special interest money … when I get to Washington I want to be the voice for the people of Connecticut and not owe special favors.” LINDA MCMAHON CONN. U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE

CORRECTIONS MONDAY, OCT. 15

Cross Campus mistakenly stated that the inflatable movie screen that was to be used at Davenport College’s movie night last Friday blew away due to gusty wind. In fact, the movie screen did not blow away at all. It had previously been secured.

‘Cyanide’ talks web humor

Debate centers on character EMILIE FOYER/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Cyanide and Happiness author Rob DenBleyker develops ideas for strips by reading classical philosophy and collaborating with friends. BY SEBASTIAN MEDINA-TAYAC CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

BENJAMIN ACKERMAN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Both Senate candidates have attacked the other’s record. BY MICHELLE HACKMAN STAFF REPORTER In their third of four debates, U.S. Senate candidates Chris Murphy and Linda McMahon continued to evade describing specific policies in favor of criticizing one another’s pasts. The candidates met at the Garde Arts center in New London, Conn. for a town hall-style debate sponsored by local TV channel WTNH and the New London Day, the city’s newspaper. After several polls last week gave Murphy, a Democrat, a small lead in the upcoming election to replace current U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman ’64 LAW ’67, the two candidates were eager to cast one another as unfit to represent Connecticut in the Senate. Though debate questions involved the candidates’ plans to restructure entitlement programs, their views on women’s access to contraception and U.S. involvement in Iran, both used their answers to blast each others’ records and personal character. In one exchange, Murphy pointed out that, during her tenure as CEO of the wrestling television network WWE, McMahon took $10 million in tax cuts from the state and laid off over 100 workers. “This is a perfect example of tax credits not creating jobs when a CEO puts herself ahead of dozens of her own employees,” he said. McMahon countered that Murphy had not put forward a specific plan to bolster job growth or deal with climbing federal entitlement spending. She added that his record as a U.S. representative from Connecticut’s fifth district did not boast job creation. “I don’t know why you haven’t already put forth your plan,” she said to Murphy during the debate. “Why haven’t you already created these jobs? You haven’t created any jobs.” Throughout the hour-long debate, both echoed stances that have been overshadowed by personal attacks from the other side. Murphy voiced his support for increased education spending, while McMahon opposed spending more money on public

schools without first strengthening the state’s economy. Murphy repeated his support to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans making less than $250,000 a year, while McMahon praised tax cuts as a way to bolster spending and create jobs. On issues of defense, the two candidates came to a concensus: Both agreed that Congress should take stronger measures to combat possible cyberattacks, and both supported placing stronger economic sanctions on Iran. Throughout the night, both candidates sought to cast doubt on their opponents’ honesty. When McMahon dodged a question on whether she would consider raising the taxable salary cap for federal payroll taxes, Murphy accused her of shielding her true views on the topic because they would be unpalatable to her constituents. He then read a quote from McMahon at a Tea Party rally in April in which she supported phasing out entitlement programs as they exist today, but McMahon charged that he had read the quote out of context. Unlike in past debates, neither candidate brought up the hotbutton controversies that have defined their race so far. McMahon avoided discussing a 2008 mortgage that Murphy received soon after a foreclosure while he sat on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. And Murphy did not allude to McMahon’s 1976 bankruptcy, after which McMahon did not pay back any of her debts until her 2012 campaign against Murphy. In his closing statement, Murphy emphasized that his record set him up to represent Connecticut’s interests in the U.S. Senate. McMahon, meanwhile, used her closing remarks to appeal to the crowd to elect the state’s first female senator — but no one heard, as a pre-programmed epidode of Law and Order interrupted McMahon’s remarks at 8 p.m. The final debate between the two candidates will take place on Thursday in Hartford, Conn. Contact MICHELLE HACKMAN at michelle.hackman@yale.edu .

Upon arriving on campus Monday afternoon Rob DenBleyker tweeted: “If this is New Haven I’d hate to see the old one! [cue laugh track].” DenBleyker, one of four authors of the popular web comic Cyanide and Happiness, came to New Haven for a Davenport College Master’s Tea, where he maintained the same sense of humor he displayed in the tweet as he answered questions from a crowd of 70 students. Cyanide and Happiness is known for its unusual, graphic and insensitive jokes and draws over one million visitors to its website every day. DenBleyker discussed the history and creative process behind the web comic, which he said often plays off the “darker side of humanity.” “My inspiration comes from people and how horribly they treat each other,” DenBleyker said. “I don’t think of it in terms of what’s okay and what goes too far — just in terms of what’s funny and what’s not.” DenBleyker and the other co-authors of Cyanide and

Happiness started working on the comic’s development in 2004. Though the comics were published daily beginning in 2005, the authors did not meet each other face-toface until the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con. The comic’s popularity grew in part due to the authors’ unique sharing policy, which encourages readers to repost and re-blog comics, effectively allowing anyone to spread Cyanide and Happiness’ content.

I don’t think of it in terms of what’s okay and what goes to far, just in terms of what’s funny and what’s not. ROB DENBLEYKER Co-author of Cyanide and Happiness At age 26, DenBleyker said he has not held a “real job” since he was 17. But his career in Internet humor started when, at 15, he founded “StickSuicide,” a website

devoted to animations and games graphically depicting the violent deaths of stick figures. While many of his Cyanide and Happiness stick figure characters have been ill-fated as well, he said he has at least “graduated from death humor to more mature themes like cancer and hookers.” Cyanide and Happiness regularly makes jokes about abortion, suicide and AIDS. Responding to a student’s question about the extent to which the comic will make fun of these controversial topics, DenBleyker said the authors have not received a huge amount of serious negative feedback and do not intend to tone down the edginess of their comics. The comic DenBleyker referenced that got the most laughs out of the crowd was one in which a young boy cries for four panels over the mangled corpse of his father who just got hit by a car. In an effort to come up with the high volume of content a daily comic series requires, DenBleyker said he develops comic ideas by reading classic philosophy texts, writing for up to ten hours a day, and

collaborating with friends. Davenport Master Richard Schottenfeld said DenBleyker’s creative process resembles that of Yale students in their studies. Three students interviewed at the event, who all read Cyanide and Happiness daily, said they enjoyed hearing DenBleyker discuss his work. “We need a reminder in this gray, crime-ridden city that the rest of the world is this depressing,” said Natalia Dashan ’16, who attended the event. After the Master’s Tea, a cluster of the comic’s fans converged around DenBleyker and asked him to sign their books. Though DenBleyker and the other authors have published two collections of Cyanide and Happiness’ strips, the site generates most of its revenue from advertising. The website’s newest book, a collection of each year’s most depressing and distasteful comics, will be released next month. Contact SEBASTIAN MEDINA-TAYAC at sebastian.medina-tayac@yale.

YALE CONCERT BAND FALL CONCERT

KERRI LU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

SOUND AND SMOKE, AMERICAN FANFARE IN WOOLSEY HALL An excited listener eagerly awaits the second half of the Yale Concert Band’s Fall Concert last Friday in Woolsey Hall. Along with several friends, he was participating in a local elementary school’s field trip to the concert. About 10 kids started out listening patiently and all but this little one had disappeared after intermission. He started dancing excitedly in his seat during the jazz drum set solo played by guest soloist Jonathan Allen MUS ’13.

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“Now all I have left is to pay the fine that I incurred for committing a ‘hate crime’ against what the city is now claiming is a ‘Jewish’ tree!” LIZ LEMON “30 ROCK” CHARACTER

Gilad Shalit makes rare public appearance GILAD SHALIT FROM PAGE 1 garnered significant attention on campus because his capture and eventual release captivated global Jewish communities. “Essentially, the Jewish community around the world and in the U.S. got so attached to following Gilad’s story,” she said. “After he was released, there was an incredible feeling of relief and pride. We wanted to be able to share that feeling with the Yale community.” In 2006, Shalit was captured by Hamas, a Palestinian political party considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and Europe, in a raid on the Israeli border that killed two of his unit members. He was released in a 2011 exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, a negotiation that met considerable international

GILAD SHALIT

From the day Gilad Shalit was released, we hoped to bring him and his unit to Yale in a celebration of their courage and moral leadership.

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was 19-years-old when he was abducted by the radical Palestinian political party Hamas on June 25, 2006. Hamas held Shalit captive for more than five years in an unknown location within the Gaza Strip. Israel and Hamas reached a deal for a prisoner swap, and Shalit was released on Oct. 18, 2011, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli-Arab prisoners. Shalit is now a sports columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, a daily newspaper in Tel Aviv, for which he covered the NBA finals earlier this year.

AARON HAKIM ’13 Member of Eliezer Society attention. Due to the soldiers’ high public profiles and the sensitive nature of their story in a broader political context, the event was closed to the press, said Danny Avraham ’15, who served in the Israeli military before coming to Yale. Attendees said Shalit never spoke directly to the audience besides saying “Thank you” during the concluding remarks, though members of the unit answered audience questions through a translator. Shalit received a standing ovation from the audience when he was introduced with his unit, several attendees added. Ellison said Hecht contacted her a few weeks ago about working as a student organizer for

ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES/CREATIVE COMMONS

Gilad Shalit salutes Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after landing in IDF airbase in the center of Israel Oct. 18, 2011. Shalit and his unit spoke in Davies Auditorium Monday. the event, which members of Eliezer had been planning since last year. She added that University administrators were minimally involved besides providing security for the event. Assistant Chief of Police Michael Patten said Yale assigned a supervisor and two police officers for the event, following normal security protocols. Members of Eliezer, Slifka and YFI discussed whether or not to make the event open to the public, Ellison said, ultimately dis-

tributing tickets through several student organizations — including the Politic, Slifka, the Yale College Democrats and Yale International Relations Association — earlier this month. Hill said in an interview with the News that the Yale community can learn from the values communicated in the experiences of Shalit and his unit in the Israel Defense Forces. “What is important is the concept of not leaving a fellow soldier behind,” Hill said. “That’s

a major value in our civilization and in our military’s sense of the right way to do things.” Though student groups featured Shalit himself as a speaker at the event in advertisements, a majority of students interviewed said they understood why Shalit did not talk about his own experience. Will Jordan ’13 said he was not surprised that Shalit declined to speak because he thinks Shalit is still transitioning into civilian life.

But Leah Sarna ’14 said she thought the event was poorly organized and orchestrated, attributing her disappointment in part to “false advertising” that Shalit would speak. “I don’t think I got anything out of it and that was upsetting,” she said. Elizabeth Villarreal ’16 said she was surprised by the event’s unscrutinized assumption of an “unquestioned Israel-America alliance.” Avraham said Shalit’s story

Students eye discounted NYC tickets FALL BREAK FROM PAGE 1 Yalies staying in New Haven, we recognized that it would be helpful to provide some services.” The YCDO worked together with Vice President for Student Life Kim Goff-Crews ’83 LAW ’86, the YCC, WYBC radio station and the Undergraduate Organizations Committee to organize the events and services during fall break. On Tuesday evening, the YCDO will sponsor a block party on High Street with food vendors and a DJ. Later in the week, the Writing Center will provide writing workshops and the Science and Quantitative Reasoning Center will offer open houses with tutors, science and quantitative courses and research opportunities. In addition, the University plans to host a bowling night and a trip to Westfarms Mall in Farmington, Conn., as well as a bus ride to New York City for a day trip and another for the Yale-Columbia football game. The YCC survey also asked students to outline potential activities they would like to see over the recess. YCC President John Gonzalez ’14 said that most students requested

discounted bus trips to New York City. Epps added that he thinks the YCC — together with the Dean’s Office and the other collaborating groups — was able to accomodate most other events students suggested. Besides the activities offered, stu-

The block party was a creative event. On the other hand, the workshops are probably the last thing I would want to go to during break. SEYI ADEYINKA ’15 dents will be able to eat brunch and dinner in all residential college dining halls throughout the break. The YCC had previously worked on this intiative over the summer, Gonzalez said. All students interviewed said they think the cheaper bus tickets to New York City are the most helpful service offered by the University during fall

break. Two students said that it was “refreshing” to see Yale recognize that not all students can leave school for break. Sophia Jia ’14 said she thinks that if the YCDO had notified students of these services and activities earlier, some students who have now made plans to go away for fall break may have decided to stay on campus. Seyi Adeyinka ’15 said she is impressed by the range of activities and opportunities offered in Gentry’s email, but added that she does not think all are applicable to all undergraduates. “The block party was a creative event,” she said. “On the other hand, the workshops are probably the last thing I would want to go to during break. For the freshmen however, they might be helpful.” All emergency services will operate their normal schedule during fall break. Contact KIRSTEN SCHNACKENBERG at kirsten.schnackenberg@yale.edu .

FA L L B R E A K F U N KICK-OFF, TUESDAY

Block party on High Street between Chapel and Elm, 8:00 p.m.-midnight. ACADEMICS, WEDNESDAY

Listening and Note-taking Workshop, 11:00 a.m. - noon, LC 102 Writing Center Workshop, 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m., 35 Broadway TRAVEL, WEDNESDAY

Bus to NYC leaves from Phelps Gate at 9:00 a.m. Round trip cost is $10. ACADEMICS, THURSDAY

Science and QR Center Open House, 4:00-5:30 p.m., SSS410. SHOPPING, FRIDAY

Bus to Westfarms Mall leaves from Phelps Gate at noon. SPORTS, SATURDAY

Bus to the Yale/Columbia Game leaves from Phelps Gate at 9:00 a.m.

TGIWEEKEND YOU LIVE FIVE DAYS FOR TWO.

Email ydnweekendedz@panlists.yale.edu and write about it.

carries an additional emotional aspect for Israelis on campus. After the event, Avraham gave the entire unit a tour of Yale’s campus, and he said they were excited when they noticed Hebrew on the Yale crest. Gilad Shalit was a Sergeant Major in the Israeli Army. Contact JANE DARBY MENTON at jane.menton@yale.edu . Contact JULIA ZORTHIAN at julia.zorthian@yale.edu .

Menocal leaves mark on humanities MENOCAL FROM PAGE 1 Yale News. Her 2002 book, “The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain,” has been translated into several languages and is slated to be adapted into a television documentary.

[María Rosa Menocal’s] passions inspired and energized her students and colleagues. RICHARD LEVIN University president Menocal served as director of graduate studies and chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese before stepping into her role at the Whitney. Born in Havana, Cuba, Menocal attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.A. in Romance languages, an M.A. in French and a Ph.D in Romance philology. After teaching at Penn and at Bryn Mawr College, Menocal joined the Yale faculty in 1986, teaching Spanish and Portuguese. She became a tenured professor in 1992. Menocal is survived by her parents, three siblings, husband, ex-husband, two children and one grandchild. Contact SOPHIE GOULD at sophie.gould@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

NEWS

The first Venice Biennale exhibition took place in 1895. The event was intended to celebrate the 25th anniversary of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy. It featured both well- and lesser-known artists, each of whom could participate with no more than two works.

Curator outlines development

Grad school honors alums BY AMY WANG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

KAMARIA GREENFIELD/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Museum curator Viktor Misiano related anecdotal challenges in adapting a “collaborative” approach to artistic presentation. BY NITIKA KHAITAN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A Monday lecture at the School of Art exposed members of the Yale community to a myriad of anecdotes about the curating process: from the effect of political upheavals on art exhibits to an artist’s unforeseen decision to perform naked as a dog and to bite audience members. International curator and art critic Viktor Misiano, who spoke as part of the school’s Monday night lecture series, explored his creative development as a curator for an audience of about 30. Misiano, who has curated exhibitions at several museums in Russia, focused his talk on his more innovative curating creations, rather than the more conventional exhibits he worked on early in life. Although curating is a primarily intellectual endeavor, Misiano also spoke to the logistical hassles that force the curator to look at the exhibit in a new light. “I want to think about curatorship as a permanent challenge,” he said. Misiano said he transitioned from his role as a mediator between various artists to a storyteller focused on conveying a historical narrative to an activist engaging with contemporary political issues over the course of his career. In 1995, for instance, Misiano was invited to curate the Russian Pavilion in the biannual Venice Biennale international art festival, where he said he acted as a curator focused on facilitating collaboration and dialogue between the artists. But he also provided the audience with an example of how the collab-

orative method can fail. Misiano said that in 1996, he co-curated the “Interpol” exhibit in Stockholm with Swedish curator Jan Aman. Meant to serve as a metaphor for the European condition in the post-Berlin world by bringing artists from different regions into the same artistic tradition, the exhibition was a “total disaster,” Misiano said. He explained that the Swedish artists had grown up in an art bubble, shielded from outside influence, and were thus uncomfortable with the idea of collaboration.

The audience that came to see the opening [was confronted] with the disgusting screaming of a newly converted musician. VIKTOR MISIANO International curator and art critic Misiano jokingly described the dinner with all the artists before opening day as “The Last Supper”: During the meal, Russian artist Alexander Brener declared he did not want to be an artist any longer under such conditions and would instead become a musician. At the opening, he played the drums for the first time in his life and physically destroyed many of the exhibition pieces, changing the exhibition’s focus from collaboration to his work alone. “The audience that came to see the opening [was confronted] with the dis-

gusting screaming of a newly converted musician,” Misiano said. Oleg Kulik, another artist involved in the project, declared that he hated humans and did not want to work with them, leading him to perform naked as a dog, Misiano said. He caused an “enormous, enormous scandal” by biting audience members, Misiano said, adding that he co-edited a book on the subject. Misiano said he faced another challenge during a 1991 Moscow exhibition, which featured “fresh and crazy” young artists to emphasize perestroika and what then-USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev called “Russia’s return to the civilized return of nations.” A week before the exhibition’s scheduled start, Misiano received news of the coup d’état against Gorbachev and phone calls from artists asking if the exhibition would still be held. He replied that it would, saying that if the coup lasted three days, the exhibition would be one of victory and celebration; if the coup lasted three months, it would be one of resistance. Ria Roberts ART ’15 said she feels it is important to understand the political aspect of art history so as to better understand what contemporary artists can do in politically troubled situations. Darja Bajagic ART ’14 said she enjoyed gaining an understanding of how different artists work. Misiano has held curator positions at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the Contemporary Art Center in Moscow. Contact NITIKA KHAITAN at nitika.khaitan@yale.edu .

Four alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were welcomed back to campus last week to accept the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medals and hold public talks on their respective career fields. The Graduate School Alumni Association gave the awards to recognize distinguished achievements in the areas of scholarship, teaching, academic administration and public service — the areas in which Wilbur Cross 1885 GRD 1889 himself excelled. The medalists — ecologist John D. Aber ’71 GRD ’76, historian Alfred W. McCoy GRD ’77, linguist Sarah Grey Thomason GRD ’68 and scientist and entrepreneur Jonathan M. Rothberg GRD ’91 — were chosen by a selection committee to receive the medal, which is the graduate school’s highest honor. They spoke in four separate lectures on Thursday about ecosystems, global surveillance, linguistic change and DNA sequencing. “I am deeply honored,” said McCoy. “The whole event was the most elegant thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.” All four honorees said that their academic experiences at Yale shaped much of their career paths and interests. McCoy and Rothberg said they both looked up to mentors in their departments who led them to pursue their current paths. Aber said that as a undergraduate at Yale, he appreciated the independence given to students when choosing a field of interest to pursue, and was surprised at the lasting effect of the positive intellectual environment. “There was a tremendous freedom and respect for students and their ability to pick a path and follow it,” Aber said. “It was a very intense time — a really rich intellectual environment. I didn’t think it would resonate so much.” Aber, who conducts research on climate change and ecosystems at the University of New Hampshire, said his Thursday talk on ecosystems and agriculture was well-received, which he said demonstrated college students’ growing interest in creating an environmentally friendly food industry. One student even suggested that the sustainable food movement could be the “next edge for student activism,” he said, adding that most recently, Aber has focused on sustainable agriculture practices. McCoy, a history professor at the University of WisconsinMadison, said he thought the discussion during the question-

and-answer period of his talk on the history of surveillance was “lively” and thought-provoking. During his time at Yale, McCoy published a book on covert Central Intelligence Agency surveillance that met considerable political controversy. He said he was “stunned” to receive the award because of the intense scrutiny surrounding his book, including a period of academic probation at Yale and an investigation into his academic affairs. He added that he found his reception back on campus “very welcoming” and that he felt his work was validated.

It was a very intense time — a really rich intellectual environment. ALFRED M. MCCOY GRD ’76 Rothberg studied chemical engineering as an undergraduate and later worked in the field of molecular biology at Yale, where he was able to apply engineering principles to develop technologies for understanding the human genome. As the founder and CEO of Torrent Systems Inc. — a company based in Guilford, Conn., that develops DNA sequencing systems — Rothberg said he was happy to see students and faculty express interest in his work. “It’s great to be recognized for one’s work, and it’s even better for me to be recognized locally,” he said. “It’s better when the award is next door and your family can go attend.” Thomason, who works as a linguistics professor at the University of Michigan, said in an email to the News that receiving the medal reminded her of the appreciation she felt toward Yale as the only woman in the linguistic graduate program in her class year. During her time as a graduate student, she said, the University prepared her well for her academic career and gave her the same treatment as male students, even though male faculty and students far outnumbered female ones. “They might not have wanted to hire women faculty [at the time], but I was treated like all the other students,” she said. In addition to their public lectures, the four award recipients attended a private medal ceremony with their family and friends. Contact AMY WANG at xiaotian.wang@yale.edu .

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” ROBERT FROST AMERICAN POET

New fossil may end mollusk evolution debate BY JESSICA HALLAM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

MICHAEL MCHUGH

An unassuming, golf ball-sized rock unearthed from volcanic ash in the United Kingdom has flipped the scientific community upside down. A paper released in the scientific journal “Nature” Oct. 3 detailed the newly discovered evolutionary implications of the fossil Kulindroplax perissokomos. Yale and United Kingdom researchers found the fossil approximately a decade ago in the Herefordshire fossil deposit in the Welsh borderlands. The Kulindroplax fossil could resolve the long-lasting dispute about the evolutionary relationships of shelled chitons and shell-less Aplacophorans, two classes of mollusk. Bristol University’s Jakob Vinther, who helped with the research, said traditional hypotheses state that shelled mollusks evolved from their shell-less counterparts. However, evidence collected over recent years supports the contrary argument, which suggests the worm-like shape of Aplacophorans is a derivative of something much like a chiton. Kulindroplax delivers the physical evidence necessary to prove that the worm-like body of the Aplacophorans evolved from shelled chitons. “To understand where mollusks fit in the big tree of life you need to understand what the most primitive mollusks looks like,” said Imperial College London professor Mark D. Sutton, the lead author of the paper.

Kulindroplax has characteristics of both the shelled chitons and shell-less Aplacophorans, Sutton said. Whereas chitons have shells, spicules and a large, flat foot for mobility, Aplacophorans have no shell and no foot, but instead possess a round, wormlike body. To determine Kulindroplax’s morphology, researchers had to create a threedimensional image of the fossil. Scientists had to repeatedly grind away small portions of the fossil and, after washing the remaining structure, photograph the exposed portion of the fossil at micronlength distances. These photos were then compiled into a digital three-dimensional reconstruction of the entire Kulindroplax specimen. This virtual image is now all that remains of the fossil, which was completely ground away. Through this reconstruction, the researchers were able to deduce that Kulindroplax had a series of seven shells, spicules, no foot and a wormlike body. Therefore, Kulindroplax is an intermediate between shelled and shell-less mollusks, said co-researcher Derek E.G. Briggs, Director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Vinther said the research done on Kulindroplax has sufficiently shut down the argument that chitons evolved from Aplocophorans. “With this discovery we really put the nail in the coffin of the traditional hypothesis, and radically,” Vinther said. The Kulindroplax fossil evidence, Briggs said, confirms genetic evidence from

FES researcher talks metal recycling BY MAREK RAMILO CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Industrial ecology professor Thomas Graedel and associate research scientist Barbara Reck of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies recently published a paper in “Science” calling for an improvement in the recycling of scarce specialty metals. Current techniques do not favor scarce metal recycling, and as a result, specialty metals are inefficiently recycled. In addition, manufacturers are only just learning of the economic benefits of following recycling practices. A lack of recycled rare metals — such as indium, tantalum and europium — have led manufacturers to use up has dwindling supply because these specialty metals are the only ones that can serve their respective production purpose. Reck, who contends that a feasible solution is to collect and recycle these metals more effectively, spoke with the News Friday afternoon. you provide some backQCould ground that led you to consider this policy?

A

We have 60 metals on the periodic table, and 10 to 15 are the big ones — iron, aluminum, copper. What we found is that these are recycled relatively well: once they’re used in products and discarded at the end of their life, more than half of them come back and are recycled. And we have a few metals, those that we call specialty metals, which are currently not recycled at all at end-of-life, or only very little.

there are efforts currently QBut being made to recycle these specialty metals?

JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Researchers at the Yale School of Forestry support a rare metals recycling policy.

A

They are sometimes recycled — not from end-of-life products, but during the manu-

facture of products. Here, they are recycled for two reasons: One, the fabricators are very well aware of the value that’s in these particular materials, and two, these are clean materials that are not contaminated through mixing during the use phase or at end-of-life collection.

Q

What are some of the applications of these specialty metals?

A

Indium, for example, is required for LCD technology used in televisions and touch screens for smartphones. There, it is currently non-substitutable. It is concerning to see how rapidly the use of these LCDs is growing when we consider that indium is currently entirely supplied from primary sources, while no recycled material is being used. Another example is tantalum, which is widely used in capacitors found in many electronics.

Q

On the note of substitutability, is it worth researching whether or not certain elements can be substituted for, as opposed to conceding that another element cannot be found for a given function, which in turn increases the need for recycling?

A

Yes, this is a huge topic, and there’s a lot of research going on. For example, indium in LCD technology — do we really need indium, or are there other material combinations that would provide similar properties? In a lot of these technologies, there is quite good knowledge where we have more substitution possibilities. But then there are some key applications for which no substitute materials can be used.

there hope for something QIssynthetic or artificial for these purposes?

molecular sequences in DNA and proteins that also refutes the traditional argument, Briggs said. He added that he would be surprised if the scientific community did not accept Kulindroplax as definitive evidence of the evolutionary history of mollusks. Yale University ecology and evolutionary professor Thomas Near said that Kulindroplax provides a line of evidence for the evolution of mollusks that has never existed before — evidence that turns the traditionally accepted evolutionary path of the mollusk on its head. A re-evaluation of the data, he added, would have to argue against Kulindroplax’s classification as an Aplacophoran. “This is the missing link that the model predicts,” said Briggs. “It’s confirming what we thought based on molecular evolution — the controversy is resolved.” Or, at least, it is resolved for now. Briggs said there is always the possibility that new evidence, such as different gene sequences, could come along and derail what is currently accepted as the truth. Since evolutionary biology is an inference-based science, these disputes are never completely settled, Sutton said. He said he hopes, however, that the strength of the newly discovered fossil evidence will shift people from the opposing camp into his own. Researchers from the University of Leicester and Queens University Belfast also contributed to the paper. Contact JESSICA HALLAM at jessica.hallam@yale.edu .

Study links genetics, autism BY DHRUV AGGARWAL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Researchers have come one step closer to unraveling the genetic origins of autism. A study examining the relationship between genetic abnormalities and autism, which appeared online on Oct. 9, is slated for later publication in the journal “Molecular Psychiatry.” Yale School of Medicine psychiatry resident Daniel Moreno De Luca, the study’s lead author, said the researchers were interested in a particular kind of autismrelated genetic abnormality called Copy Number Variant, or CNV. CNV abnormalities display increased amounts of DNA and are distinct from genetic mutations, which show a deficiency of DNA, he said. “There are many different genetic causes for autism,” he said. “Some places in the human genome are more predisposed to it.” De Luca said the additional Yale authors of the project, Stephan J.

Sanders GRD ’17, A. Jeremy Willsey GRD ’16 and Matthew State GRD ’01, looked for CNVs in three large databases — the Simons Simplex Collection, the Autism Genome Research Exchange and the Autism Genome Project. From these databases, the project team monitored 30,000 documented cases of neurological patients and also observed a controlled population of 13,000. CNVs were found to be more common in the population of neurological patients than in the controlled population, indicating that CNVs were correlated with autism, De Luca said. Willsey, a graduate student working towards his Ph.D. in genetics, said the researchers also observed factors affecting the prevalence of autism among siblings — genetically and environmentally matched siblings showed different probabilities of developing the disease. He added that the Simons Foundation’s database provided the researchers with a record of 2,650 “simplex families,”

which consist of two parents, one offspring with autism and another unaffected by the disease. The study has laid out a clear path to finding the genes central to autism, Willsey said, as nobody had previously categorized these mutations as carrying risks for the disease.

Autism spectrum disorders are amongst the most poorly understood. ANDREW TIMBERLAKE ’11 GRD ’18 MED ’19 “We have to take these genes and say what’s actually happening in autism,” he said. “That’s the next step.” De Luca said the research provides statistical evidence suggesting that CNVs have clinical relevance in detecting autism. He added that

he would like to continue observing mutations and CNVs in patients and that he is currently participating in a sequencing project that observes each DNA base pair. Andrew Timberlake ’11 GRD ’18 MED ’19 said the CNV research exemplifies the vast resources and established collaborations that make Yale ideal for biomedical research. “Autism spectrum disorders are among the most poorly understood,” Timberlake said. “These findings contribute to a greater understanding of the genetic etiology of such disorders, which will hopefully lead to more efficient diagnosis and clinical management.” All the sequencing conducted for the project was performed at the Yale Center for Genomic Analysis, located on West Campus, Willsey said. Contact DHRUV AGGARWAL at dhruv.aggarwal@yale.edu .

Neural activity necessary for vision BY HARVEY XIA CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have demonstrated in living mice that a spontaneous wave of neural activity occuring in early mammalian development is crucial for proper brain development. Michael Crair, professor of neurobiology at the Yale School of Medicine, James Ackman, postdoctoral fellow and Timothy Burbridge GRD ’14 published an article in the Oct. 10 issue of the scientific journal “Nature” presenting their findings. Crair said the findings have “fundamental implications” for understanding diseases and that mental illnesses such as autism or schizophrenia could potentially be linked to disruptions of the neural burst. “For the first time, we’ve shown explicitly that this spontaneous activity exists in vivo and propagates all the way up into the higherorder brain structures, like the cortex,” Crair said. This wave of neural activity, which originates in the ret-

ina, plays an important role in priming the development of vision, Ackman said.

For the first time, we’ve shown explicitly that this spontaneous activity exists in vivo and propagates all the way up into the higher order brain structures, like the cortex. MICHAEL CRAIR Professor of neurobiology, Yale School of Medicine Research on this topic has been conducted in the past, but Crair’s study is the first to observe the activity in live animals. This study has “confirmed a lot

that people have suspected for a long time,” Burbridge said. Using a technique called photon microscopy, Crair and his team created a fluroescent image of the mouse nervous system that allowed them to visualize the burst. Ackman said the waves are caused by interactions between different cells in the retina, but the precise mechanism remains unknown. The wave is spontaneous, meaning that it does not require external sensory input to occur. This phenomenon is analogous to dreaming, in which human brains exhibit spontaneous activity even though we are not receiving significant environmental stimuli. “I think it’s amazing that even in the womb there is ongoing, patterned activity in the developing brain, which is essential for wiring the brain,” Crair said. “If you disrupt that activity, then the wiring of the brain gets messed up.” This research could provide a more complete explanation as to why smoking and drinking alcohol

are detrimental to a baby’s growth in the womb. For instance, the study shows that the neural burst involves acetylcholine receptors, which are the same neural receptors involved in nicotine addiction. Because nicotine activates these receptors, the presence of the drug could alter the neural burst and potentially affect the development of the fetus’s nervous system. Though the research was conducted in mice, the information can be applied to understanding how human brains develop. Ackman said mammalian nervous systems follow similar principles of organization. “The power of genetic technologies in mice makes them a very powerful model.” Further study is necessary to elucidate the exact relationship between developmental diseases and the spontaneous burst of neural activity. Contact HARVEY XIA at harvey.xia@yale.edu .

Smoking bans in bars may cut drinking

A

In some cases you have nanotechnology that can come in. Sometimes you have a substitute that’s not a metal, like PVC or ceramics.

else must one consider in QWhat the recycling process?

A

One of the key factors for efficient recycling is economics. Economies of scale play a major role. That’s much easier to achieve for iron than for lithium.

this — getting economies of QIsscale — feasible with the specialty metals addressed in this policy?

A

That is currently a big challenge, and often it is not the case. If something is recycled at end-of-life, you have two other aspects [to consider]: Is it technologically feasible, and do I have enough material to allow economies of scale for this to make sense? We find both. We find those that are easily recyclable, that can be reprocessed with the same technology as the primary ores. But then, there are a lot of metals, where, until a few years ago, nobody even thought about [recycling] because they were used in so small amounts and the technology is more complicated.

some form of polluQIstionthere reduction that comes as a

result of recycling specialty metals?

A

Yes, you have much lower energy requirements when you recycle metals — up to 70 to 90 percent less energy when you use recycled materials as opposed to primary metals. That means lower carbon dioxide emissions, so there is definitely a big difference. Contact MAREK RAMILO at marek.ramilo@yale.edu .

ZOE GORMAN/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Smoking bans in bars may reduce alcohol consumption, according to a recent Yale School of Medicine study. BY HANNAH SCHWARZ CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A study conducted by the Yale School of Medicine has found that states with smoking bans in bars may also have higher recovery rates from alcohol use disorder, or AUD. Past data have shown that smokers are four times as likely as non-smokers to have AUD, and approximately 35 percent of individuals with AUD are nicotine-dependent. However, the Yale study was the first in the country to observe the relationship between smoking bans in bars and AUD remission rates. The study’s findings were published in the journal “Drug and Alcohol Dependence” in late September. Using information collected by the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, researchers analyzed data that surveyed

19,763 citizens in 49 states from 2001-’02 and 2004’05. Almost 85 percent of the study’s participants came from states that do not have smoke-free bar policies. The other 15 percent came from the eight states in the country that do — Delaware, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. “Smoking and drinking are considered complements, so if smoking becomes more difficult, use of alcohol may decline,” said Jody Sindelar, one of the study’s lead authors and a professor at both the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine. “This would be likely to occur in bars in which smoking is banned.” Professor Kurt Ribisl of the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health said the findings were intriguing. Smoking bans, he

said, were originally created to decrease tobacco smoke in public places and private establishments, but this finding adds a new boon to a longfought public health campaign. Yet policy recommendations related to smoking bans in bars may not necessarily result from this study. “This is not a strong enough study, with strong enough results linked to causality, for which you could make [a policy] recommendation and not be faced with a lot of criticism,” said Adam Goldstein, Professor at the UNC School of Medicine and Director of the UNC Nicotine Dependence Program. Location-specific smoking bans, Goldstein added, may not necessarily lead to an overall decrease in smoking — only smoking in those locations. This principle may extend to

alcohol consumption as well, he said. In order to prove causality between bar smoking bans and AUD, Goldstein said, experiments would need to eliminate existing differences in factors besides the presence or absence of a smoking ban. Both Goldstein and Ribisl said states with smoking bans in bars tend to focus more on public health and may already have strong campaigns focusing on AUD. Although causality has yet to be proven, Ribisl added that studies establishing relationships usually occur before those determining causality. “It’s the natural evolution of research,” he said. The study was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health. Contact HANNAH SCHWARZ at hannah.schwarz@yale.edu .

JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Approximately 35 percent of individuals with alcohol use disorder are nicotine-dependent.