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 23, 2012 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 40 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
SUNNY CLOUDY
53 60
CROSS CAMPUS Rock the vote! Today is the last day to register to vote by mail in Connecticut. But if you’ve been swamped by midterms, don’t worry: The deadline to register in person is Oct. 30.
GOSZTYLA
Artists bring back the activism in honor of the protest’s anniversary
CULTURAL CENTER SEES GROWTH IN COMMUNITY
Women’s cross country coach led the Elis to national ranking
PAGE 6-7 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
PAGE 3 CULTURE
PAGE 5 NEWS
PAGE 14 SPORTS
Campus climate weighed
6500
Faculty count
700
YC enrollment Estimated enrollment after expansion
Yale College enrollment
660
5100
620
4400
580
3700
540
3000
1995
2000
2005
2010
2018
BY CYNTHIA HUA STAFF REPORTER
Faculty count
President Richard Levin is under consideration to serve as the next Secretary of the Treasury if U.S. President Barack Obama is elected for a second term, according to a recent New York Times article. When reached Sunday night, Levin declined to comment on the story.
NATIVE AMERICANS
GRAPH FACULTY COUNT VS. STUDENT ENROLLMENT
Work hard, playing harder.
Will Mr. President go to Washington? University
OCCUPY
Faculty growth stagnates 5800
Tomorrow is the first day of Yale’s inaugural fall break. Make sure to use this time wisely, whether it’s to catch up on schoolwork, travel or just hibernate in your room.
DIAMONDS NEW, EXPENSIVE PLANET FOUND
500
OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Spectators at the Yale-Penn Game were treated to an extra surprise Saturday when the scoreboard temporarily featured desktop logos instead of game scores and updates. But the brief hiccup did not prevent the Bulldogs from overtaking the Quakers 27–13, a victory that snapped the football team’s four-game losing streak.
Party rockin’. Ezra Stiles
FroCos showed off their Gangnam style in a recent video set to the hit song “Gangnam Style” by South Korean pop star PSY. Apart from displaying wild antics and wearing colorful clothing, the FroCos also recruited Ezra Stiles Master Stephen Pitti ’91 to join the effort. In the video, Pitti dons oversized sunglasses and dances enthusiastically with his wife as the two jam to the popular tune.
Prizing the arts. The Yale Center for British Art was named this year’s recipient of the Benjamin West Prize for its work in furthering AngloAmerican partnerships. The prize, which is given out by the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust, will be awarded on Oct. 24 during the Royal Academy’s annual gala in New York City. THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1942 This week’s donations to Yale’s Budget Drive collect $928, raising the total to $19,521.26 — just short of the campaign’s goal of $22,000. The freshman class contributed $5,759.59, the largest amount from any class since the drive began. Submit tips to Cross Campus
crosscampus@yaledailynews.com
ONLINE y MORE cc.yaledailynews.com
BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER Though the student body will grow by roughly 800 students when Yale’s two new residential colleges are completed, the size of the faculty has remained stagnant since the onset of the nationwide economic recession in 2008. The number of tenured and tenure-track professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has hovered around 700 over the past four years but dropped
to 682 this fall — down from 691 in 2011 and over 700 in 2010 — Deputy Provost Lloyd Suttle said in a Sunday email. While he said 70 searches in 39 departments and programs are in progress this fall and “about a dozen” searches are under consideration for approval, he noted that these searches aim primarily to fill existing positions rather than to create new ones. With the faculty size stagnated, five department chairs interviewed said their depart-
Connecticut unemployment down slightly
ments struggle to cover new areas of research because they are unable to hire more professors. Provost Peter Salovey said Yale has not increased the proportion of its budget devoted to faculty hiring, adding that the University will need to increase the faculty size in the future if it is to meet the demands of a larger student body. He said the ongoing comprehensive academic review of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences — last held at the University roughly
two decades ago — will evaluate departmental organization and soon advise the University on the optimal future size of the faculty. The size of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has been held at roughly 700 since the financial downturn tore a $350 million hole in Yale’s budget. While University finances have begun to stabilize, Yale’s $19.3 billion endowment has yet to return to the dramatic growth of the SEE FACULTY SIZE PAGE 6
After a personal account of a rape written by a former Amherst College student went viral online last week, Communication and Consent Educators and the Women’s Center hosted an event to clarify Yale’s sexual assault reporting services. The informal panel discussion featured SHARE Center Director Carole Goldberg, University-Wide Committee Chair Michael Della Rocca, Yale Police Department Lieutenant William Kraszewski and University Title IX Coordinator and Deputy Provost Stephanie Spangler. The panelists described the functions and services of their respective organizations before an audience consisting of nine students, six of whom were CCEs and one of whom was a student representative on the UWC. Though the event immediately preceded an email Spangler sent to the student body requesting student input into the effectiveness of the University’s sexual assault reporting services, Spangler told the News her email was not related to the panel. “I hope [the panel] will be one SEE SEXUAL CLIMATE PAGE 4
Empty factory to become lofts
BY MICHELLE HACKMAN STAFF REPORTER Connecticut’s economy added 2,000 jobs in September, lowering the state’s unemployment rate to 8.9 percent. After the unemployment rate rose from 8.1 percent in June to a high of 9.0 percent in August, the September rate has dropped again, according to state-by-state jobs numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This lower figure reflects a national trend — the national rate fell threetenths of a percentage point to 7.8 percent in September, the first time that figure has dipped below 8 percent in 43 months.
The economic crash of 2008 was worse than anyone realized, which is why it’s taking us longer to climb out of the hole than any of us would like. GOV. DANNEL MALLOY In Connecticut, education and health services led the way in job growth, creating 2,400 jobs in September, followed by construction jobs, which grew by 600 this month. In contrast, government payrolls declined by 900 jobs, and professional and business services lost 600. Individuals who are self-employed are not calculated in the employment figures. “We’ve learned over the past few months that the economic crash of 2008 was worse than anyone realized, which is why it’s taking us longer to climb out of the hole than any of us would like,” Gov. Dannel MalSEE EMPLOYMENT PAGE 4
KAMARIA GREENFIELD/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Renovations to two vacant Winchester rifle factory buildings are part of the city’s efforts to redevelop Science Park. BY MONICA DISARE AND CHRISTOPHER PEAK STAFF REPORTERS Science Park has taken another step forward in its transition from an industrial wasteland to a livable area. On Wednesday, the City Plan Commission approved detailed measures for the renovation of two vacant Winchester rifle factory buildings into 158 new loft-style apartments in Science Park. The project, which is called Winchester Lofts, will cost about $50 million and will be undertaken by Forest
City Enterprises, an Ohio-based development company. Despite the City Plan Commission’s unanimous approval of the plan, some local residents question the building’s parking space and lack of retail. “These are very complicated projects and this is an important step in the process,” said Abe Naparstek, the vice president of Forestry City Residential Group, “[Forest City Residential Group is] moving very quickly to finish all the construction documents so we can start construction in the spring.” The renovations are the second
phase of the city’s effort to redevelop Science Park. While the area once thrived with industrial factories, like Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which was once the city’s largest employer, most of the buildings have since been abandoned. In recent years, the city has heightened efforts to revitalize the area with increased development. This March, Higher One, a startup that provides financial aid to college students that employs over 500, moved their offices into the neighSEE WINCHESTER PAGE 6
PAGE 2
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
.COMMENT “I'm really interested in Mitt's hair.” yaledailynews.com/opinion
When heroes fall
NEWS’
VIEW
W
The character of our colleges
O
ur college identities must be built on more than resources.
Earlier this month, Berkeley College became the first college at Yale to close its dining hall to members of other colleges on a day other than Sunday. It’s true, Berkeley is a popular and convenient dining hall. But we shouldn’t consider this event in isolation — it’s worth examining whether these restrictions reflect a growing trend in our residential colleges towards exclusivity. All dining halls, in theory, serve the same meals. But when students perceive the options in some residential colleges as superior to others, they flock elsewhere, leading to overcrowding and exclusivity to combat the rising number of students. Overcrowding is a problem, but restricting college resources is not the answer. Rather than directing students to dining halls perceived as inferior, Yale should address that some dining halls, purported to be equal, are in fact subpar. What made the Berkeley dining hall popular should be brought to other colleges. Improving other dining halls will solve overcrowding without locking doors in front of students. But more importantly, we believe our colleges are resorting to exclusivity in a larger, misguided effort to maintain their identities by restricting access to their resources. Yale developed its residential college system in order to create 12 — soon to be 14 — communities that can simultaneously stand on their own, yet complement one another. In doing so, Yale rejected the British model that creates students who believe their
first allegiance is to their college, rather than to the university. But in New Haven, colleges are facing conflicting pressures. Yale tells its colleges to be equal, while students demand they maintain their identities. But colleges often define their identities through their resources, and so when students are denied access to a theatre, dance studio or dining hall, the cost of exclusivity becomes clear. Residential college endowments are largely gone. Equalization is the new norm. But outrage over these cuts in funding misses an important reality. Our college communities should be fostered by currencies other than money. Our friends, our traditions and our inevitable college pride constitute the character of our colleges in a far more potent way than a dining hall ever could. Across the country, high school students choose Yale believing that they will be bound to a randomly selected community of 400 equally random peers. They believe that this will be an integral part of their identity at Yale, and these beliefs should be correct. But identical budgets should not mean identical identities, and college masters and deans need to help define their communities without the crutch of an expensive event or unique facility. Now, administrators, masters and student leaders must come together around a table to decide how colleges will remain robust in a world without endowments. But on every other Monday, they’ll have to pick a dining hall other than Berkeley.
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COPYRIGHT 2012 — VOL. CXXXV, NO. 40
'THEANTIYALE' ON 'EMBRACE INCIVILITY'
hen the International Cycling Union decided to uphold the sanctions against Lance Armstrong yesterday, it did not simply revoke his seven Tour de France titles. The Cycling Union brought down an American icon of durability and strength. In the process, I fear we have all become just a bit more cynical and apathetic. Americans often use martial language when describing diseases. Armstrong didn’t just “get better”; he “fought” cancer. He engaged in a multi-year “battle” and he emerged “victorious.” His subsequent seven straight Tour de France titles were a marker of how successful, how total, that victory was. Since ancient times, athleticism has served as a sort of proxy for military prowess. Armstrong’s cycling success thus became a sort of double military victory, defeating both a vicious disease and talented competitors. Armstrong represented something larger than life, a symbol for overcoming obstacles, both human and natural. And when he lent his name and face to companies and charitable organizations, money and talent flowed in response. Since 2004, Armstrong’s foundation has sold 80 million of its trademark Livestrong bracelets. But now, once again a
heroic image has been shattered, and what we thought was super-human excellence has revealed itself to be dope and YISHAI fraud and SCHWARTZ lies, fake. We live in a Dissentary world increasingly devoid of heroes. Those of us who watched this year’s presidential debates were treated to snark-fests and battles of sound-bites. There is no room for a president to adopt an elevated position of detached dialogue; the American people want him rolling in the mud with an energetic adversary. Universities, in particular, lead the push to tear down heroes. In our classes, we are taught to deconstruct and problematize the heroism of our greatest leaders. We seem unable to resist drawing attention to Churchill’s arrogance, Jefferson’s slave-ownership and King’s infidelity. At times, it seems as if the primary purpose of the modern academy is to explode our noblest mythologies. But in the long run, are these constant reminders of our heroes’ imperfections and vices good for
us? The question seems bizarre even to pose. After all, when looking at any specific example, the rightness of the myth-busting seems manifest. Certainly, the United States anti-doping agency should investigate athletes and punish cheaters. Certainly, our public officials should be held accountable and challenged on their beliefs without the protection of their office’s mystique. And certainly, our universities should insist on intellectual openness and our scholars should investigate all avenues that seem to advance the cause of knowledge. But concentrating on the specifics allows us to miss, and miss assessing, the broader phenomenon. And it is the broader phenomenon that is so disturbing. Entire generations are growing up patting themselves on the back despite their failures, made complacent by the knowledge that “we are all human.” But comfort can become a crutch, and absent models of perfection and greatness, we resign ourselves to our own foibles. Knowing that no one is truly great, we try for the appearance of success rather than the real thing. Aspiration has been replaced with ambition. Cynicism sets in. Even when individuals act from principle,
we insist on digging deeper. And when we find nothing through digging, we make it up. We are too thoroughly trained in the search for private interests to acknowledge the possibility of altruism. Every politician must be a new Nixon, every act of U.S. military intervention must be an attempt to assert our hegemony and every great intellect must be a hypocrite. This suspicion can be crippling to our leaders and a death-knell for courageous action. The best way to avoid charges of being a fraud or despot is to do nothing at all — and frequently, I worry that this is where we are headed. Most of us were not impacted personally by Armstrong’s victories, nor will we obsess over his meteoric demise. Some of us barely knew his name. But the possibility of human greatness — of any kind — is something that diffuses beyond the specific case. The very fact that there was such a person that overcame cancer, performed physically at an unheardof level and devoted tremendous energy to charity work can inspire awe and impel action. And so we ought to mourn this world, a world in which that hero no longer exists. YISHAI SCHWARTZ is a senior in Branford College. Contact him at yishai.schwartz@yale.edu .
G U E S T C O L U M N I S T M I C H E L L E TAY L O R
Advice from J. Alfred A
n idiot once told me that I’d only regret the things I never did. I was in the seventh grade, and I was being encouraged to confess love to my best friend’s older brother. To be fair, if I’d followed her misdirection and made said confession, I doubt by now I’d feel one way or the other about it. What’s more, a broad interpretation of the aphorism proves true. Certainly, for example, I regret coming home last Saturday night and not drinking any water before bed: I regretted it all of Sunday, and I will continue to regret it for the rest of this week. Similarly, I regret not keeping my mouth shut on numerous occasions. And, as usual, I will regret not revising or editing this column when I see it in print tomorrow. But even in the extremes of my most lamentable foolishness — such as those above — I also cherish what I didn’t do. Deeply. Imagine how productive my week would have been had I not spent Sunday listless and hungover, all of the lifelong friendships I would have enjoyed had I not proven myself a total nitwit by speaking, all of the employers I could have
had, but won’t because they’ll find these horrendous columns I’ve mistakenly penned! What else could sanction my rich imaginary life except such folly, such absurd failure to act?
WHAT IF YOU HAD DONE IT? To put it in terms that even the sane and capable will understand: think about your last hookup, if you’re into that sort of thing. Now think about your last flirtation — the librarian who smiled at you, or that boy who walked you back from section that one time, right before he dropped the class. Don’t you cherish the person you didn’t have more than the one you did? Aren’t you happier imagining he’s a good kisser, rather than nursing that really bizarre tongue wound? Sure, you’re saying, but maybe the next one will be different. Not every Yale man is a tongue-biter, right? Or maybe you’re smiling smugly, because you have a boy-
friend, and you finally succeeded in teaching him to French properly. Either way, mistakes are learning experiences, and now you know that you shouldn’t ingest IcyHot. True: in many cases it takes having made the mistake to know what a mistake looks like. I know. But, no matter how happy you are with your life, you can always imagine and cherish an alternate universe in which you are even happier. When you leave Yale, you will probably have done a handful of wonderful things and a smattering of absolutely miserable things, having left most things untouched. The same applies to people. Of course, there are things and persons you’ll have experienced that you will always joy to remember — columns you actually edited, and people who didn’t need lessons in the obvious. But while there’s only so much you can do — and put off doing — in four years at Yale, the imaginable possibilities are endless. What if you had taken a gap year? What if you had studied abroad? What if you had applied to EP&E?
Wait, okay, you know that last one would have made you pretty miserable. Still, there’s so much that you haven’t done that could have been wonderful. So many places and things that you could have explored that could have changed everything. And the less you do, the more you amass, and the more rich and wonderful your imaginary life becomes! If you don’t think this way already — and admit it, you do — I would encourage you to start now. Not just when you consider the things you’ve already shied away from doing — no. Consider, in times of great and minor crisis, what precious potential you save for yourself by hesitating. By taking the road more travelled. By not daring to disturb the Universe. Prufrock made a whole poem of it. All things end, except for those the imagination may keep alive forever. Cherish the words you never said — who knows how great they would have been? MICHELLE TAYLOR is a senior in Davenport College. Contact her at michelle.a.taylor@yale.edu .
GUEST COLUMNIST ALEC TORRES
Preserving free society T
here is a mistaken assumption amongst the haughty secularists of modern Western society that religion is not only antiquated and destructive, but also has no place on the political stage or in the public forum. The American secularists rightly acknowledge that church and state should be separated insofar as the state should not adopt a religion. But they mistakenly conflate the idea of the separation of church and state with the complete secularization of public life and the severance of all religious doctrine, belief and morality from entering the public sphere. To be clear, a separation of church and state is not a separation of religion and politics. Religion, and the requisite morality and virtue of religion, not only have a right to be involved in the public sphere and in political discourse, but they are also necessary for a free polity to exist and thrive. Alexis de Tocqueville stated that freedom “considers religion as the safeguard of mores; and mores as the guarantee of laws and the pledge of its own duration.” Without religion, political rights and the freedom that we
enjoy are badly secured and easily restricted. Religion was and is the basis of the rights we enjoy because it establishes our rights on the foundation of God, which even the most powerful man in the world cannot cross. Religion transcends politics and gives man higher worth and moral protection that would otherwise be absent. The secular view that man is merely an animal in a material world with neither a soul nor innate worth can’t provide the robust concept of human dignity on which our human order depends. Without religion every freedom we enjoy and every privilege we come to think is our right is only preserved to the extent that the sovereign of the nation wishes it to be preserved. Natural rights have no basis if not in religion, hence the reason why the Declaration of Independence claims that the natural rights of people are “endowed by their Creator.” No other source of endowment would be sufficient. Now, if being a Christian nation means that our government must adopt Christianity as the state religion and form all law upon the precepts of religious dogma then
we are not a Christian nation. However, this straw man is a completely inadequate representation of what it means to be a Christian nation. America was, and we can only hope it remains, a Christian nation insofar as the values and rights that are the bedrock of our society — for example, equality before God, a belief in the innate worth of the individual and basic freedom of action — are Christian and depend upon faith. To say we cannot have a religious rationale for our public actions, our laws and our rights is to reject the fundamental principles of the republican order in which we live. Only in the past few generations have Americans believed that government must adopt the religion of secularism in order to preserve the separation of church and state. Never before has religious principle been seen as an illegitimate basis of debate or law because never before has religion been so irrationally misunderstood. Now the secularist may set up another straw man stating that some founders were deistic and obviously they wanted religion as far away from American politics
and public life as possible. While the extent to which the founders were deistic is always highly over exaggerated (I welcome everyone to read the first four paragraphs of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and contest the fact that the most deistic founder still believed in a very active God), their values and the core of their political beliefs were Christian. Whether or not the religious people of America are on the right or wrong side of history is irrelevant. The course of history is neither progressive nor normative and all who think we properly and continually march forward toward a non-religious, pleasurecentered, utopian, social-democratic polity are deceiving themselves with the false pretenses of their own irrational dreams. Any good, free society needs religion to survive. The American religion has been and continues to be, albeit in a weakened form, Christianity. As such, we should not only recognize that America is a Christian nation, but love the fact that it is so. ALEC TORRES is a senior in Trumbull College. Contact him at alec.torres@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 3
NEWS
“He that dies pays all debts.” SHAKESPEARE’S “THE TEMPEST”
Pictures document Occupy
New dean plans tech advances BY JANE DARBY MENTON STAFF REPORTER
JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
A display of Occupy-inspired artwork went up in the School of Art to inspire political awareness among students. BY JESSICA HALLAM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The Occupy Wall Street movement has resurfaced in New Haven. A spontaneous exhibit of Occupyinspired artwork went up in the School of Art’s Green Hall exhibition space this Saturday. Dean Robert Storr organized the show to commemorate the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement that began on Sept. 17, 2011 in New York City. The display includes photographs, digital prints, videos and a makeshift tent fashioned out of printer paper. The exhibit is a work in progress: The school will be receiving and consequently displaying submissions from Yale alumni and international artists until the exhibit closes Nov. 5. Although the show contains explicitly political elements, its intent is to showcase the “little discussed” arts of graphic design and documentary photography, Storr said. Nonetheless, the social criticism embedded in the artwork may inspire political awareness in the “insulated” college environment, Associate Dean of the School of Art Samuel Messer said. “I personally find that students are very unengaged [in politics],” Messer explained. “I think the goal is, with the elections coming up, to think about that.”
STEPHANO FROM WILLIAM
Messer added that students are often not inspired to take political action, recalling individuals he knew who did not protest the Iraq War despite their disagreement with its purpose. The artists whose work is displayed at the exhibit may inspire such students with examples of socially active individuals. Artist Angie Smith, whose two-part video is running on loop in Green Hall, said in her submission statement that she herself protested when a police barricade during Occupy interfered with access to an exhibit held in the J.P. Morgan building that focused on the Sept. 11 attacks.
I personally find that students are very unengaged in [in politics]. SAMUEL MESSER Associate dean, Yale School of Art Michael Mikulec ART ’11, whose mixed media piece juxtaposes video footage of a news ticker with music, said he uses his artwork to comment on the media’s hyperbolic rhetoric. “[It comments on] the news media and how over-the-top it is, and how the rhetoric was so far out there in the
sense that, rather than focusing on trying to figure out what anyone was trying to say, it was creating a caricature or extreme portrait,” Mikulec said. The music in Mikulec’s piece ironically heightens the urgency of the quotes running in the news ticker, such as excerpts of Tea Party newsletters written during the Occupy movement, he explained. Another artist, whose name was not listed on the show’s press release nor in the exhibition space, said in their submission statement that they hope to use irony to convey a social message. The artist’s piece is a series of 29 digital print images of protests and police interventions that occurred over the course of Occupy. The artist uses a purple rectangle as a “roadblock” to censor portions of the images, tricking the reader into believing that something exists behind the obstruction. “The roadblock makes the viewer slow down and maneuver more carefully, weighing meaning more,” the artist said. “Since the absurd defies meaning the meditation becomes possibly infinite.” The exhibit consists exclusively of works submitted digitally to the Art School. Contact JESSICA HALLAM at jessica.hallam@yale.edu .
SARI LEVY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The pop-up Occupy art exhibit features a makeshift tent constructed out of printer paper.
Responding to rapid changes in technology, the Graduate School has appointed a new dean to oversee communications. This September, Robin Ladouceur GRD ’04, was appointed to an assistant deanship in the Graduate School, a position that was created to strengthen and streamline communications within the school, Graduate School Dean Tom Pollard said. Pamela Schirmeister, associate dean for Yale College and the Graduate School, said the evolution of communications technology has led Yale and other universities to create more communications-related jobs. With four years of experience in Yale’s Instructional Technology Group, which provides technological support to Yale faculty, Ladouceur will oversee all Graduate School communications, including social networking, emails and the newsletter. “This job is a really exciting opportunity to come back to the Graduate School after taking a non-academic career track and incorporate what I learned back into academics,” Ladouceur said. In her new position, Ladouceur said she hopes to use student and faculty input to determine new and more effective channels of communication within the Graduate School. She added that her experience working in technology and her relationships with former colleagues will keep her “upto-date” on cutting-edge applications and help her be flexible in a constantly changing field. Pollard said Graduate School communications must be “upgraded” to broaden their reach to students, faculty and alumni, adding that the school currently lacks a social media presence. “I want to figure out what are the best ways to communicate,” Ladouceur said. “Is it email, is it social networking or is it something else, and what can we be doing in this new age?” The Graduate School relies largely
on email, which Schirmeister said may not be the best way to disseminate information and foster open dialogue. She added that Graduate School administrators are often older than students and, as a result, may not know the best way to communicate with the student body. Ladouceur said she is currently expanding the Graduate School’s social networking presence by revamping its Twitter page, adding that she is looking to explore communications via Facebook in the near future.
This job is a really exciting opportunity to come back to the Graduate School after taking a non-academic career path. ROBIN LADOUCEUR GRD ’04 Assistant dean of humanities and social sciences, Yale Graduate School
Paul McKinley DRA ’96, who was named the Yale College Director of Strategic Communications last year, said his position, like Ladouceur’s, was created because the College did not previously have an individual charged with overseeing all communications. He added that while both he and Ladouceur are still adjusting to their new positions, he expects to work with the new dean in the future on facilitating University-wide communication strategy. Both McKinley and Ladouceur said they meet with their colleagues at the University’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications and in the professional schools to discuss their current projects and exchange communication strategies each week. Ladouceur graduated from Yale with a Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literature. Contact JANE DARBY MENTON at jane.menton@yale.edu .
CT posts high student debt BY AMY WANG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER As college students across the nation graduate with record-high levels of loans, a recent report found that Connecticut ranks among the five states housing universities with the highest loads of student debt. Roughly 66 percent of college students from the class of 2011 nationwide graduated with student loan debt, and the average loan debt per person amounted to $26,600, the report concluded. The report — which was released Thursday by The Project on Student Debt, an initiative of The Institute for College Access and Success — asked universities to self-report debt figures from their graduating classes. In Connecticut, the 2011 average was $28,783, making it the fifthhighest debt state behind four other Northeastern states. But the average Yale student graduated with $9,254 in debt — a lower number than those of other private colleges and universities in the state, many of which reported triple that number. Caesar Storlazzi, director of financial aid, said Yale College has a “noloan policy for financial aid packages” that allows students to take loans but does not include or require it as part of the aid program. Most students who take loans choose to do so as an alternative to work-study programs, he said, which give students a campus job as part of their financial aid package. “We see less than one-third of financial aid recipients that will actually take out loans,” he added. Still, Storlazzi said that the national trend shows an increase in student loan debt because of the effects of the economic downturn, adding that he has heard about several schools that have stopped offering no-loan policies. Storlazzi said he predicts that more schools will tighten their financial aid policies over the next several years. Pauline Abernathy ’88, vice president of TICAS, said Yale is an unusual case in student debt where “the price is high, but the debt levels are low.” She said measuring student loans by state does not show the full picture, because
debt levels often vary in different colleges since schools have different policies determining financial aid packages. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org — two websites dedicated to college financial planning — attributed the state-bystate debt variances to the concentration of high-cost private institutions on the Eastern side of the country, particularly in New England. “States that have more private nonprofit colleges are going to tend to have higher average debt, and public institutions are going to have lower debt,” he said. Kantrowitz noted that a handful of top high-cost schools like Yale offer generous financial aid programs that reduce student debt to well below the average levels — but he said these schools are not the norm, and do not make a “big dent in the statistic.” He said he believes that the real numbers of student debt are even higher than the estimated numbers in the report, because more expensive institutions tend not to self-report their figures for debt at graduation. Additionally, the report did not include the debt figures of for-profit colleges, which tend to be generally higher than their non-profit and public peers, he said. Abernathy said the general growing debt levels are due to a national economic shift that places increasing financial strain on students and families as the cost to attend college increases. Sarah Boocock Beyreis ’85 GRD ’94, director of college counseling at Cincinnati Country Day School in Ohio, said she has seen students give-up “big-name places” for in-state universities because of the potential financial strain. According to the report, New Hampshire universities had the highest average debt at graduation at $32,450, and universities in Utah had the lowest figure, with an average of $17,250. Contact AMY WANG at xiaotian.wang@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“Just to even things out, here is all of my weird, secret stuff. I have been sexually rejected by not one, but two guys who later went to clown college.” LIZ LEMON “30 ROCK” CHARACTER
Campus climate assessment announced
NIKITA KHAITAN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The panel, hosted by the Yale Women’s Center and Communication and Consent Educators, addressed student concerns about the process for handling charges of sexual misconduct. SEXUAL CLIMATE FROM PAGE 1 of many opportunities to meet with students to answer questions and hear their ideas regarding the University’s efforts to prevent and address sexual misconduct,” Spangler said in an email Monday evening. “Planning for the campus climate assessment has been underway for quite some time, and, in accordance with that planning, the release of the email to the University community was scheduled to occur before the fall break.” In her email to the Yale community yesterday, Spangler requested that students send her
office feedback about the usefulness and effectiveness of sexual misconduct reporting and counseling services at Yale. The call for student input is part of a second assessment of Yale’s campus climate, following an initial report released by the Advisory Committee on Campus Climate in September 2011. Though Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Melanie Boyd ’90 said in a Monday email that the panel discussion was not intended to respond directly to the Amherst student’s account, she said the event’s organizers felt the widespread impact of the account created an opportunity to hold the
conduct complaints before the UWC and informal complaints with University Title IX coordinators, Spangler said. The difference, Spangler explained, is that the UWC can use formal procedures involving outside factfinders and a hearing, while Title IX coordinators work with other Yale departments to reach a private resolution. Zola Chihombori Quao ’13, a CCE in Morse, asked panelists to address student concerns that Yale processes for handling sexual misconduct are unfair to defendants. Della Rocca said the independent investigators that handle
panel. “In the wake of the Amherst story, the CCEs and the Women’s Center board members found themselves in a lot of conversations about how we handle sexual misconduct reports at Yale,” Boyd said. “They asked if they could hold an info session quickly, while these questions are in the air.” At the beginning of the discussion, the panelists compared the various on-campus resources available to victims of sexual misconduct. In addition to SHARE, which handles anonymous reports, and police reports, students can file formal or informal sexual mis-
sexual misconduct cases are neutral, adding that respondents to complaints also have access to advisors throughout the complaint process. Emily Hong ’13, a Pierson CCE, raised concerns that complainants might be revicitmized during the complaint process. Boyd said residential college deans are undergoing sensitivity training, adding that this training includes strategies that ensure students do not have to tell their stories repeatedly throughout the complaint process. Spangler said a guide has been developed for professors on ways to respond if approached by a stu-
dent with a sexual misconduct complaint. Boyd said she hopes the discussion will send a message to the community that there are always resources available to address student concerns, adding that the short notice of the event and the upcoming break may have precluded a large turnout. Spangler’s office will be accepting input for the campus climate reassessment until Nov. 16, 2012. Contact CYNTHIA HUA at cynthia.hua@yale.edu .
Experts question unemployment calculation
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month, from 4,802 per week in July to 4,779 per week in August. “Every month, whether it’s at the national or state level, we look to the unemployment numbers as an indicator of our overall recovery,” he said. “For the last two months, that data has been questionable at best.” Malloy is not the only governor to have criticized the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data gathering strategy. In the last
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few months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey have both pointed to inconsistencies across surveys as an indication that their states’ rates are artificially high. Connecticut was one of 41 states to report declining unemployment rates in September. Contact MICHELLE HACKMAN at michelle.hackman@yale.edu .
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loy said in a Thursday statement on the jobs numbers. “But it’s also important to remember that we’re making some progress.” Still, experts are raising concerns about the way in which the state’s unemployment rate is calculated. Ken Couch, a labor economist at the University of Connecticut, said the sample size of the survey used to determine the rate is too small. The national survey of 60,000 households is large enough to calculate a national unemployment rate reflective of the nation’s population, but the sample size in Connecticut — which Couch estimates to be closer to 1,000 households — is not adequately representative of the state’s population, he said. As a result, economists predict that the numbers seen in the last year show exaggerated highs and lows. In fact, a second household-based survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics every quarter revealed that the monthly household survey underestimates the employed population of Connecticut: The monthly survey estimates 10,000 people fewer than the actual number. Couch said that, when these 10,000 additional people are used to calculate the unemployment rate, it falls within the range of 8.1 to 8.3 percent — more in line with national figures. In his Thursday statement, Malloy expressed skepticism that the Bureau’s last two reports accurately reflected the state of the Connecticut economy. While the unemployment rate rose, he said, the number of people filing new jobless claims with the Department of Labor fell 23 in a
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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NEWS
“I get mail; therefore I am.”
SCOTT ADAMS AMERICAN
CREATOR OF THE DILBERT COMIC STRIP
‘A Good Day for Painting’
State post offices face hour reductions BY JENNIFER GERSTEN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The exhibit space at Green Hall will feature work by former School of Art professor Bernard Chaet’s students to celebrate his life. BY CORTHAY SCHOCK CONTRIBUTING REPORTER To honor and reflect on the work and influence of Bernard Chaet, the famed artist and School of Art professor who died last week, the school is launching an impromptu retrospective of Chaet’s students’ work over the course of this week. Chaet, who oversaw the development of Yale’s art department into a top independent professional school, died on Oct. 16 at the age of 88, prompting Associate Dean of the School of Art Samuel Messer to display student work from Chaet’s time at Yale. The pieces date as far back as the 1950s and represent a wide variety of media and subjects.
It’s [just as] important to put the show up, as … who actually gets to come and see it. SAMUEL MESSER Associate dean, Yale School of Art Ranging from watercolor to charcoal and painting to pencil, the pieces reflect the breadth of technique Chaet taught. Some of the pieces are recognizable — one, for instance, depicts Raphael’s “School of Athens.” Other pieces are simple studies exploring depth perception, everyday scenes and abstract thoughts. “In certain cultures, people are
remembered by remembering them, and talking about them,” Messer said. “I think in that way it’s [just as] important to put the show up, as … who actually gets to come and see it.” As an instructor of painting, Chaet spent much of life thinking about the act of painting itself, rather than just the subject of each piece; it was this focus on technique and style that he cherished, said Louis Newman, the director of the David Findlay Jr. Gallery in New York City and Chaet’s close friend and art dealer. “He had an ongoing fascination with different kinds of atmosphere through the manipulation of paint and color,” Newman explained. The works on display in the exhibit exemplified Chaet’s focus on painting technique. One piece, for instance, primarily explores the relationship between light and shadow in a still life. While the painting does depict several balls, these are not the focal point. Newman said that Chaet’s time at Yale was known as the School of Art’s “Golden Era.” Loved and respected by his students, Chaet frequently imparted advice to “just keep painting,” Newman recalled. Chaet had many former students go on to impressive careers in art, Newman added, including Janet Fish, Chuck Close and Richard Serra. Others have become clients of Newman’s to purchase Chaet’s work. A letter Storr sent to the School of Art community on Oct. 19 placed Chaet’s style into the painting tradition established by Vincent Van Gogh, Georges
Suerat and Edvard Munch, among others. Newman added that Chaet was one of the last remaining members of the “Boston Expressionists” — first generation immigrants who brought a European sensitivity to their art in contrast to the New York group comprised of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Yves Klein. William Bailey, Chaet’s close friend and colleague, explained that Chaet’s place within the artistic canon is, in a sense, even more valuable than his work as a professor. “I think what will come out in the future is what a wonderful painter he was, how important a painter he was, far more important in art than as a teacher,” Bailey said. “His paintings got better until almost the end, and he’s been the subject of a number of exhibitions accross the country. He is one of the great figures in American art, and I think, I know, that hasn’t been fully acknowledged.” Newman remembered how Chaet had once told him about a day he spent painting outside, which he usually did early in the morning to avoid the fishermen. One day, Chaet left later than usual, and a fisherman stopped by his easel, remarking on what a good day it was for both fishing and painting. Chaet looked over his glasses and said “everyday is a good day for painting.” The retrospective will be on display in Green Hall until Nov. 4. Contact CORTHAY SCHOCK at corthay.schock@yale.edu .
Connecticut residents may not need to worry about rain, snow, sleet or hail disrupting their mail service, but budget cuts could soon affect their post office hours. The United States Postal Service (USPS) plans to reduce the operating hours of 60 small Connecticut post offices as part of the “POStPlan” (Post Office Structure Plan), an effort to save a projected $500 million annually through similar cuts to 13,000 post offices nationwide. But post offices in New Haven, including Yale Station, will not be affected by the changes. Christine Dugas, a spokeswoman for USPS, said the decision to cut parcel service hours was the result of a new post office strategy to keep rural and small post offices open while accepting the realities of a smaller budget. While the USPS had considered closing post offices outright, customer feedback suggested the agency do otherwise. “People turned out to be very passionate about their post offices and wanted to keep them open even at reduced hours,” Dugas said. The USPS conducted workload studies at each office to determine the number of hours it needs to be open. Post offices under consideration will experience parcel-service-counter hour reductions from eight hours to as few as two. Residents with post office boxes will still be able to access their boxes at regular times, Dugas said, and only parcel window hours are subject to change. The reductions are accompanied by
news that the struggling USPS reached its $15 billion borrowing limit for the first time in September. An independent government agency, the USPS will become reliant solely on revenue it raises itself to sustain operations. In deciding the new hours, the USPS is surveying customers in affected ZIP codes. Respondents will be asked if they would prefer to close the office, change the hours of operation or switch to a village post office system, in which the post office will sign a contract with a private business that will host post office boxes and sell popular postal products. After the results are compiled, town meetings will be held at each post office to discuss what action will take place. “All opinions [will be] taken into consideration when deciding what changes to make,” Dugas said. Meetings at the Cobalt and Hadlyme branches have already taken place, with Grosvenor Dale, Quinebaug and Thompson slated for next week. But Shivani Bhatt ’13 said that the reduction of parcel window hours is the most inconvenient for post office patrons. “I think it will present many more challenges for people who rely on the post office, like those involved with small businesses,” Andrew Leu ’13 said. “It will make scheduling a lot more difficult.” The official changes in hours will not be complete until 2014. Contact JENNIFER GERSTEN at jennifer.gersten@yale.edu .
YALE
The United States Postal Service recently announced its plans to reduce the service hours of many smaller Connecticut post offices.
Native American student community grows BY CYNTHIA HUA STAFF REPORTER This semester has marked a significant increase in activities offered by the Native American Cultural Center, or NACC, due to greater involvement from Native American students in the class of 2016. Yale administrators hired Theodore Van Alst as dean of the Native American Cultural Center in 2010, and through his emphasis on targeted outreach to Native American high school students as well as those at Yale, interest in the NACC has grown considerably, according to students involved in the Native American community. The Native American community is typically one of the smaller cultural groups at Yale, students and staff said, but they have noticed an increase in involvement over the past two years because of the higher number of freshman and sophomore Native American students, said Elizabeth Rule ’13, vice president of the Association of Native Americans at Yale, the student group affiliated with the NACC. As a result, the center has increased its programming by adding five new events this fall that have seen higher attendance than in years past. “I most definitely noticed an increase this year in membership [and] attendance,” said Dash Turner ’15, a member of ANAAY. “This year, this new freshman class is ridiculously passionate and they’ve been setting up [many] new events.” Last fall, the NACC announced plans to move into a new location at 26 High St., but the cultural
center never moved and remains at its current house, 295 Crown St., which it shares with the Asian American Cultural Center. Still, under the guidance of Van Alst, the NACC has added new events to its schedule this year that include family dinners, movie nights and sweat lodge ceremonies — traditional purification ceremonies — which have helped students bond in a social setting, Sebastian Medina-Tayac ’16 said. Five students involved with the NACC also began a Native American arts organization called Blue Feather this month, said Naivasha Harris ’16, a member of the ANAAY and Blue Feather. The group sponsors weekly beading classes as well as a drum performance group that will have its first show on Nov. 3, she said. Medina-Tayac said he hopes Blue Feather will attract students involved with the arts and help the Native American community grow, adding that he has noticed several students not yet involved with ANAAY attend Blue Feather activities. Amanda Tjemsland ’13, president of ANAAY, said the organization has around 20 members this year, compared to between five and 15 in recent years. Many of the students that have recently joined are freshmen, Rule said, adding that many events this year have seen a higher turnout. On Oct. 8 — Indigenous People’s Day — ANAAY hosted an awareness event where 10 members passed out flyers on Cross Campus, Rule said. Only two students attended last year’s event, she said. The group also threw a new s’mores social to celebrate the holiday with over 30 students,
JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The Native American Cultural Center has expanded its offerings as the percentage of students at Yale who identify as Native American has grown. Rule added. “We still don’t have a lot of people but we have more than we’re used to,” said Dinee Dorame ’15. “We’re feeding off all the positive energy from the freshman.” Several students and faculty interviewed said an increase in student involvement with the Native American community comes from Van Alst’s efforts to recruit and engage undergraduates. Van Alst said he has given information sessions to high school students in Native American communities across the country since his arrival at Yale
two years ago. He added that he aims to show prospective students and their families the support networks available at Yale for Native Americans. The class of 2014 has 0.9 percent of students who identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native and 2016 has 2.8 percent Native American students, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Dorame said she thinks the substantial increase in Native American undergraduates over the past two years is a result of Van Alst’s focus on recruitment. Alyssa Mt. Pleasant, a profes-
sor in the history and American studies departments, said she thinks Van Alst has succeeded in making Native American high school students aware of Yale’s native community. “[Van Alst] has undertaken extraordinary efforts to raise Yale’s profile in Indian Country,” Mt. Pleasant said. “For many Yalies this may seem surprising, but it has been important to go out to reservation and urban Indian communities to let students and their parents know that native students attend Yale, that they are supported here and that they have home at the NACC.”
Freshman members of ANAAY interviewed said they have become involved with NACC because they have found a closeknit community through the center’s new programs. David Rico ’16 said he comes to the NACC almost every day, explaining that the house has become more than a place to understand his culture, but rather a community where he has made his closest friends. The NACC was formally established in 1993. Contact CYNTHIA HUA at cynthia.hua@yale.edu .
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FROM THE FRONT Faculty lament lack of growth FACULTY SIZE FROM PAGE 1 mid-2000s, when it saw annual returns of around or above 20 percent. The endowment posted a 21.9 percent return on investments in fiscal year 2011, but its performance fell to 4.7 percent in the latest fiscal year. The University’s “smoothing rule” keeps spending from the endowment relatively consistent on an annual basis despite fluctuations in investment performance. The annual returns of Yale’s endowment affect the University’s long-term financial plan, Suttle said, but administrators do not adjust the budget based on a single year’s performance.
There are as many classically important things to study as ever, and there’s always a growth of new areas. PAUL TURNER Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professors interviewed said the inability to create and fill new positions over the past few years has stunted their departments’ potential. The Comparative Literature Department was hit particularly hard by the faculty hiring freeze, department chair Dudley Andrews said, as it had already fallen from roughly 17 to nine professors due to deaths and retirements before the budget crisis. Many of these vacancies have
gone unfilled since then, as the department has roughly 10 faculty members now. The department is conducting three searches this year, two of which are joint searches with other departments. “If we hire well this year, that would be a big boost,” he said. “It would help with making us feel like we’ve got our body mass back.” Even as departments turn to joint appointments as a means of lessening the effects of limited hiring, department chairs said the current faculty size negatively affects their departments’ efforts to broaden their academic focus. Edward Kamens, chair of the East Asian Languages and Literatures Department, said his department would like to add a position in Korean literature and that he would prefer that such an appointment be part of a larger expansion of Korean studies at Yale, which is impossible given the limited resources currently available. Paul Turner, chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, said the restrictions on faculty hiring preclude departments from exploring some new areas of academic inquiry. “If you ask just about any department, there are as many classically important things to study as ever, and there’s always a growth of new areas,” Turner said. “The ambitions to have new fields represented in the department will occur faster than the disappearance of old fields.” Yale’s endowment was valued at $19.3 billion as of June 30. Contact SOPHIE GOULD at sophie.gould@yale.edu .
“I love seeing teachers outside of school. It’s like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs.” JANIS IAN “MEAN GIRLS” CHARACTER
Lofts add residential space
KAMARIA GREENFIELD/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The Winchester Lofts will include one or two parking spaces per housing unit but will lack retail space. WINCHESTER FROM PAGE 1 borhood. Kelly Murphy, head of economic development for the city, said that when she took her job six years ago, the area was only 10 percent occupied. “It was slow going for a long time. Most of the buildings hadn’t been fully renovated. All the factories had broken windows,” Murphy said. “In the last six years, a lot has happened to renovate the existing buildings, bring new tenants in and create new facilities.” The Winchester Lofts, the second phase of the city’s plan for Science Park, will add residential space to the neighborhood. The buildings will have classic loft-style apartments that showcase the historic wooden frame of the building, Naparstek said. The building will include 28 studios, 94 one-bedroom apartments and 36 two-bedroom apartments. Twenty percent will be set aside as affordable housing, he added. The funding for the project is a combination of state and federal tax credits and a grant from the state of Connecticut for
affordable housing, Naparstek said, adding that the “vast majority” of the funding has been secured. Some residents have raised concerns over the project’s plan for parking and its lack of retail space, with the current plan featuring one or two parking spaces per unit. “I question the necessity of having that many parking spaces,” said Ward 10 Alderman Justin Elicker, who previously served on the City Plan Commission. The optimal amount of parking is a little less than one parking spot per apartment unit, he added, describing the amount of parking currently planned “wasteful.” The plan approved Wednesday also eliminated retail space that had been a part of the project’s early concept. Napstarek said the move to a fully residential building was in the best interest of the neighborhood in the long-run, because it will fill the neighborhood throughout the entire day instead of leaving it empty at night when shops close their doors. Murphy said that adding residential space will help to fill existing, vacant
retail across the street from the site. “Retail follows roof,” she added. The plan still needs the approval of the city’s Development and Redevelopment Commissions in the next month. If approved, construction will likely start in late spring or summer of next year. Elicker said he hopes that the permanence of the neighborhood as a result of the new housing will spur economic development in the area. He added that if the project is successful, it may enhance New Haven’s image as a safe place for developers to invest. “We have less than a w percent vacancy rate for rental units. Particularly in downtown, we have a very strong rental market,” Murphy said. “We need to produce more.” New Haven’s population grew by 4.98 percent between 2000 and 2010, the first time it has increased in 60 years, according to census data. Contact MONICA DISARE at monica.disare@yale.edu. Contact CHRISTOPHER PEAK at christopher.peak@yale.edu.
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54
Democrats stress women’s health
Percentage of U.S. that is pro-abortion rights
According to a May 2012 poll by the Pew Research Center, 54 percent of the U.S. electorate believes abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Only 39 percent of respondants identified as anti-abortion, believing that abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.
Smith investigates institutional memory BY MARGARET NEIL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Figuring out how and why institutions came into being can deliver substantial insight about their modern purpose. This is the driving principle behind Charles Saumarez Smith’s new book, “The Company of Artists: The Origins of the Royal Academy of Arts in London,” which covers the final days leading up to the establishment of the Academy in 1768 into its official first days during early December of that year. On Monday, Smith — the secretary and chief executive of the Academy — spoke to an audience of roughly 150 Yale community members about how the institution’s history still affects how it operates today. Since Smith has already released his book, he said that his purpose at yesterday’s talk was to explain the motivations behind his writing than the book’s insights themselves. Smith emphasized throughout the lecture that histories such as his have great worth, joking that while some told him his book project seemed boring, he was motivated to continue working on it to help the Academy understand itself and its cultural role. He stressed that despite the Academy’s humble origins, it has managed to thrive for close to 250 years. To illustrate his point, Smith projected two contrasting images, one a caricature of young drunken men carousing and the other of a genteel group deliberating. “[It was] a motley group of artists who managed to establish [this] organization,” he said. Smith said the idea for his book was sparked by his own experience with the Academy as secretary, a role for which the institution’s other members held high expectations. When he came to the position in 2007, he was supposed to know the minutae of the Academy’s laws well enough to “be the guardian of
the process, quote precedent and adjudicate.” This made him wonder how such laws, which he described as “byzantine,” had come about in the first place. His resulting explanation focused on the artistic environment of the time. He described struggles between the older, more established artists and their younger, ambitious counterparts who felt they were being robbed of their share of limelight. The younger set of artists would ultimately compose the small conglomerate that supplicated King George III for the establishment of an Academy under the direct authority of the monarch. Christian Soler ’16, the freshman representative of The Elihu Athenaeum: The Yale Undergraduate Society of Art Historians, said he came to hear Smith to get a preview of the book. He added that he considers Smith to be very prominent in the British art world. “I thought the lecture was concise enough to understand what the book was about without reading it,” Soler said. Yanbo Li ’16 said he came to hear the perspective of someone who has been in the field of art history for such a long time. “It gave me a different perspective on the impact of seemingly arbitrary interpersonal relationships,” said Li, who added he was intrigued by the fact that they are being studied and written about so many years after their creation. Smith said that the university is an appropriate venue for his lecture, adding that he also believes Yale was the root of much of the Academy’s early scholarship. He has previously worked at and written institutional history books about both the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery. Contact MARGARET NEIL at margaret.neil@yale.edu.
JOYCE XI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Chris Murphy emphasized his pro-abortion rights credentials in contrast to those of Linda McMahon. BY APSARA IYER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Students, including some protestors holding signs that read “Don’t Regulate My Body” and “Stop Abortion Now,” gathered Monday to hear Senate candidate Chris Murphy, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation Cecile Richards, Senator Richard Blumenthal and women’s health advocates discuss the importance of women’s rights and healthcare in the 2012 election. The talk, which was organized by the Yale College Democrats and also featured president of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England Judy Tabar, Yale School of Medicine professor Mary Jane Minkin and Murphy’s wife Cathy Holahan centered on the importance of the right to women’s healthcare in the election and how the political focus on healthcare has shifted over the past few years. Speakers also highlighted the difference between Murphy and his Republican opponent, Linda McMahon. “With the election of the last Congress [four years ago], there was suddenly an intense focus and attack on women’s healthcare, and so that’s really brought new focus to the issue,” Tabar said. “I think women now understand what is at risk.” Murphy echoed Tabar’s perspective and emphasized the
implications of a Republican victory in the race when he said he “[has] been sitting in the Congress as the Tea Party has tried to dial back the discussion on women’s healthcare by about 60 years.” Blumenthal advocated for the importance of women’s healthcare, stressing that a woman’s personal choices on contraception are a fundamental component of one’s right to privacy — the “bedrock of our Constitution.” He noted that the right to “decide for herself what to do with her own future, her body, her being” is “at stake in this election.” Beyond discussing the stakes of the November elections, the speakers all cited specific policy issues that the Senate could influence, including Planned Parenthood funding, the Blunt Amendment to allow employers to withhold insurance coverage for contraception and the Affordable Care Act. With November elections less than two weeks away, speakers turned their focus to Murphy’s opponent McMahon and her positions on healthcare issues. While McMahon has publicly labeled herself as “pro-choice,” Blumenthal, Muyrphy and others criticized her opposition to women’s healthcare legislation, including her support of the Blunt Ammendment and her
opposition to providing emergency contraception to rape victims. “I’m tired of Linda McMahon telling us she’s pro-choice and then tell us that she’ll vote against every pro-choice measure which will come before the Senate,” Murphy said. “You’re not just pro-choice because you use the word.” During his tenure as a congressman and as the chair of the Public Health Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives, Murphy supported increasing access to contraception and Planned Parenthood funding. In an interview with the News, Murphy said one of the most impactful moments for his support of healthcare was meeting the father of a son with a heart condition while visiting the community pool with his family. “[The father] said not only will this bill make sure that [my son] has health insurance for the rest of his life, but it will give me peace of mind to know he will be able to choose whatever he wants to do with his life. He won’t be imprisoned by his condition,” Murphy said. Murphy has served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007. Contact APSARA IYER at apsara.iyer@yale.edu .
VIVIENNE ZHANG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Smith’s new book “The Company of Artists” analyzes the origins of the Royal Academy of London.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Steps taken in herpes prevention HOUSTON, BY KATHRYN CRANDALL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Yale professor Akiko Iwasaki is in the process of creating a new method of vaccination that may be the first step in preventing the spread of genital herpes, also known as herpes simplex virus. Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine and member of the molecular virology program at the Yale Cancer Center, worked alongside immunobiology postdoctoral fellow Haina Shin to develop an alternative approach to traditional herpes vaccines. In the study, which was published Oct. 17 in the online scientific journal Nature, researchers used mice to test what Iwasaki calls the “prime and pull approach”, which distinguishes this method from previous herpes vaccines. Priming consists of activating the body’s T-cells — a type of white blood cell that protects the body from infection — using a conventional vaccine. Once responsive, the T-cells are “pulled,” or chemically drawn to the vaginal tissue by chemokines, proteins that activate white blood cells, she added. The recruited T-cells were able to “establish a long-term niche” in the vaginal tissue of the mice, protecting them from contracting herpes, according the study. “Tissue-resident memory T-cells are crucial for protection against genital herpes,” Iwasaki said. Scientists have tried to produce a vaccination for genital herpes in the past, but none have been entirely effective, researchers said. Typical methods of vaccination do not produce a memory T-cell response in the genital tract, a major obstacle to creating a successful genital herpes vaccine, Iwasaki said. Thus far,
the vaccine has only been tested with vaginal tissue, as there is little known about the target cells in the penile tissue, she added. However, the “prime and pull” approach used in vaginal tissue alone could still prove effective. “If we can protect women, the benefit will trickle down to men and population as a whole,” Iwasaki said. Although the vaccine has only been tested on female mice and is not yet ready to be tested on humans, Iwasaki said she has high hopes for the vaccine when it reaches that stage. The mice she tested showed very few side effects, and the vaccine lasted up to 13 weeks in the mice, a relatively long time, she added. Paul Aronson, assistant professor of pediatrics at the medical school, said the method of priming and pulling could potentially inhibit the transmission of genital herpes from mother to infant in the process of childbirth. Though there is no existing cure for the virus, Iwasaki said there is hope that the treatment could be used to prevent the reactivation of pre-existing genital herpes. She added that the method could possibly also be applied to other STIs including HIV-1. Robert Siegel, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, noted the difficulties that Iwasaki and her colleagues face. He compared creating a vaccine for herpes with discovering the vaccine for chicken pox. “We might get lucky again, but all obvious strategies haven’t worked,” he said. The next step of the research process will be to test this technique on non-human primates, Iwasaki said.
BY LINDSEY UNIAT STAFF REPORTER Herb Allison ’65 is not afraid to talk about his struggles with debilitating anxiety throughout high school and college. In fact, his personal experience with mental illness is one of the motivating factors behind his recent $3 million donation to the Yale School of Medicine. The grant from his family’s foundation — The Allison Foundation — will fund the Psychiatry Research Scholars Program, an initiative that will provide $1 million per year for three years to facilitate clinical research in the Department of Psychiatry and the Yale Child Study Center. The program will fund three young researchers studying mental illness in children and young adults. Although the idea for the program had been discussed for over a year, the first round of funding was distributed in early September. “This gift from Mr. Allison is a wonderful opportunity for the Child Study Center and the Department of Psychiatry to work together to enable young scientists in both departments to get their first start in research of illnesses that affect children and young adults,” said John Krystal MED ’84, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical School.
I want to get the message out there that there are ways of getting help, and there is no shame in getting help. HERB ALLISON ’65 Donor, The Allison Foundation Krystal said that often the hardest part of research is getting initial data to sustain investigations, both to justify receiving funding from the government and to generate independent research grants. Allison’s donation money provides a “wonderful starting place” for the three clinical researchers, he added. “It’s enough for the three researchers to get the start they need to move forward, and the way that it is flexible will ultimately have a big impact on the field that they work in,” Krystal said. Psychiatry Research Scholar Tamara Vanderwal MED ’06, DIV ’08 said she is currently working on a project aiming to help very young children stay still while they are in the fMRI scanner. Doing so, she said, would lead to more accurate data collection. She added that she hopes to use EEG and fMRI technology together to better understand how the developing brain organizes itself during rest. After understanding more about these networks in normal development, Vanderwal said she hopes to turn her attention to disorders in child psychiatry. “Mr. Allisons’s gift and vision for this
program is, unsurprisingly, extremely strategic,” Vanderwal said. “This launching program fills a major developmental gap for young investigators like myself, and puts us in the position to be competitive for the next stage of research funding that would otherwise be way out of reach.” The other two researchers in the program are Thomas Fernandez MED ’05, who studies psychiatric genetics, and Christopher Pittenger MED ’94 GRD ’94, who studies Tourette disorder. Allison said the idea for the program developed from a conversation with a classmate at their 45th college reunion. That classmate, a psychiatrist at the Yale Child Study Center, invited Allison to meet with Krystal. Working with Dr. Matthew State GRD ’01, the Donald J. Cohen Professor and deputy chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry, Allison helped design a more holistic and comprehensive program to research these mental illnesses. The two wanted to integrate clinical practice and research and build ties between the Child Study Center, the Department of Psychiatry and other research areas, Allison said. “Mr. Allison wanted to contribute so as to have a big impact here and in the field,” Krystal said, adding that Allison asked a lot of “hard questions” during the program development. Allison said one of his goals in developing the program was to provide resources for young scholars to move in new directions, especially where funding may not be available early on. He added that he hopes this grant will help alleviate the stigma associated with these diseases. “When I was at Yale, I suffered anxiety attacks that were debilitating,” Allison said. “I’d withdraw to my room, and sometimes they would last for up to 10 days. Back then it was hard to diagnose — I was told to just get over it. I was lucky and I did get over it, but many others don’t.” Though psychiatric medicine has improved since his Yale days, Allison said it is important for those suffering to get help and for others to understand that mental illnesses are not character flaws but rather often have physical or environmental causes. Allison said he hopes this research will lead to a great understanding of mental disorders in children and young adults, and will encourage those who need help to seek it. “When I was in college, I was told one in four students would need psychiatric assistance,” Allison said. “Everyone seems super-confident, but many are suffering in silence. I want to get the message out there that there are ways of getting help, and there is no shame in getting help.” Allison graduated with a B.A. in philosophy before spending four years in the Navy and obtaining a business degree from Stanford. Contact LINDSEY UNIAT at lindsey.uniat@yale.edu .
One of the earliest uses of diamonds was as a tool to polish ceremonial burial axes in China in the late stone ages.
Nanoparticles reduce herpes BY EMMA GOLDBERG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
WE HAVE A PLANET
Contact KATHRYN CRANDALL at kathryn.crandall@yale.edu .
Donation funds mental illness research
Polishing Axes:
MICHAEL MCHUGH
Citizen scientists find new extrasolar planet BY PAYAL MARATHE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Yale researchers and collaborating citizen scientists have discovered a new astronomical phenomenon — a planet that revolves around twin suns while at the same time being orbited by a second pair of stars. This planet, called PH1, is the seventh circumbinary planet — a planet that orbits two stars — that has been discovered, said Megan Schwamb, Yale physics postdoctoral fellow. The presence of a second pair of revolving stars makes PH1’s discovery entirely unique, as it is the first identified circumbinary planet in a four-star system. Schwamb and her team of researchers announced the discovery of PH1 at an annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Reno, Nev. on Oct. 15. Schwamb, the lead author of the paper, said PH1 can help scientists understand planet formation. “If we want to understand how planets form in a solar system like ours, we need to understand the extremes,” she said. “This is the end case of planet formation because of the impulses and gravitational pulls of four interacting stars.” Yale astronomy professor Debra Fischer said this discovery increases the chances of finding life on other worlds. Even if there’s no sign of life on PH1, the fact that a planet could be made under such challenging circumstances indicates that there are many more planets in the universe, some of which could sustain life, she said. PH1, she added, will prompt scientists to “revise our model for planet formation and accept that it’s a much more robust process that we ever guessed.” PH1 was discovered with the help of Yale’s Planet Hunters, an organization Fischer helped launch in 2010. Planet Hunters is Yale’s experiment in citizen science, a new approach to astronomical science that takes advantage of “excellent human pattern recognition skills,” said Chris Lintott of Zooniverse, a collection of citizen science projects that includes Planet Hunters. Volunteers search for irregularities in the data, mostly measurements of star brightness graphed into light curves from the NASA Kepler space mission, Fischer said. Unlike humans, computers need a precise algorithm to identify data irregularities, she added. Volunteers Kian Jek of the Uni-
versity of California and Robert Gagliano of the University of Arizona discovered PH1 when they noticed a “regular blip” in the “absolutely crazy” light curve data for the twin suns, which led them to suspect the presence of a third body, Fischer said. Jek and Gagliano reported their observations to Planet Hunters, and Schwamb then assembled a team of 10 astronomers to follow up. Schwamb’s team looked at radiovelocity data from telescopes stationed in Hawaii and determined PH1, a gas giant with a radius 6.2 times that of the earth, is slightly larger than Neptune. The team also noticed a “wobble effect” generated by the smaller, more distant stars, which allowed them to calculate the distance between the four stars and PH1, Schwamb said. Using this data, the team was able to conclude PH1 exists in a four-star system. Schwamb called each new circumbinary planet a “real gem” for what it contributes to the study of planet formation. “We hope to find smaller and smaller planets and more systems with more than one planet,” said Jerome Orosz GRD ’96, who worked with Schwamb on the paper presenting PH1. Professors of physics and astronomy recognize the impact this discovery could have on their field in the coming years. Princeton professor Lucianne Walkowicz said knowledge of extrasolar planetary systems is changing rapidly, adding that PH1 is just one more piece of new information that sends scientists “back to the drawing board to revise theories.” Yale astronomy professor Sarbani Basu said this discovery shows how unexpected the field can be. She added that she hopes PH1 will encourage astronomy curricula to pay more attention to stellar dynamics, the statistical study of the motion of stars due to mutual gravity. Schwamb’s next goal in the study of circumbinary planets is to continue encouraging citizen science and looking for these “rare gems.” “We know we can do it, we’ve done it and now we’ll see what we can say about the whole population of these planets,” Schwamb said. The paper has been submitted for publication to the “Astrophysical Journal.” Contact PAYAL MARATHE at payal.marathe@yale.edu .
Yale researchers have developed nanoparticle technology that could one day cure herpes simplex virus type 2, or HSV-2. Mark Saltzman, chair of the biomedical engineering department of the Yale School of Medicine, and researchers in his laboratory have been working to develop nanoparticles to decrease symptom severity and boost survival rates of mice with HSV-2. Saltzman and his colleagues published a paper in the August issue of the “Journal of Controlled Release” in which they state that administering three doses of siRNA nanoparticles improved survival rates for mice infected with HSV-2. By delivering siRNA molecules to the site of infection, these nanoparticles reduce the expression of the nectin-1 protein involved in HSV-2 infection and cell-to-cell transmission. As a result, HSV-2 is less likely to enter cells surrounding the site of infection. “This work provides proofof-concept that these siRNA delivery vehicles are promising options for topical, localized therapeutics for sexually transmitted infections,” postdoctoral researcher Jill Steinbach said in an October press release. Steinbach, the lead author of the paper, told the News on Sunday that administration of nanoparticles increased the amount of
time mice could live with the disease to an “unprecedented 28 days.” Administration of nanoparticles can cause inflammation and leave patients susceptible to additional infections, an issue that has hindered similar experiments in other labs, Steinbach said. The researchers successfully decreased inflammation in mice by using an FDA-approved, biodegradable non-toxic polymer — polylactic co-glycolic acid, she added.
The lab is like a family and we all collaborate and support one another’s research. KSENIYA GAVRILOV GRD ’15 Molecular physiology Ph.D. candidate, Yale School of Medicine Saltzman’s lab specializes in drug delivery, particularly in transmitting nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier and across mucosal surfaces such as the intervaginal wall. Biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate Rachel Fields GRD ’13, who works in Saltzman’s lab, said this lab is one of many working to identify diseases that can be treated using nanoparticles. Saltzman’s research team currently includes seven gradu-
ate students as well as four postdoctoral researchers. “The lab is like a family and we all collaborate and support one another’s research,” molecular physiology Ph.D. candidate Kseniya Gavrilov GRD ’15 said. “Professor Saltzman is a wonderful mentor, and he doesn’t micromanage, but expects all of us to be responsible and not waste time or resources.” Saltzman and his colleagues seek to improve upon their work by developing surface modifications that will advance nanoparticle delivery, easing cell penetration. Steinbach said the researchers are currently working on attaching peptides to the nanoparticle surfaces to increase cell binding and internalization, boosting the efficacy of the nanoparticles. Researchers also said they hope their use of FDA-approved, non-toxic materials in the nanoparticles will permit quicker licensing of the treatment for humans suffering from HSV-2. “We are hopeful to further improve delivery of these materials and apply them to a wide range of pathologies in global health,” Steinbach said in the press release. HSV-2 infects one of every six people between the ages of 14 and 49 in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control. Contact EMMA GOLDBERG at emma.goldberg@yale.edu .
Synthetic biology ‘MAGEs’ compete
Diamond planet far, far away BY ERIC XIAO CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Researchers have discovered a diamond planet 40 light years away from our solar system. Led by postdoctoral fellow Nikku Madhusudhan of the Yale Physics Department, the research team has proposed that the planet 55 Cancri e has a carbon-based composition containing an outer layer of diamond that composes roughly a third of the planet’s mass. The planet revolves around a sun-like star called 55 Cancri A. The team’s research paper, which showed that the planet’s observed radius and mass could be best explained by a carbon-rich composition, will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in a few weeks. First detected in 2004, 55 Cancri e’s radius was measured in 2011 and its mass was calculated to be roughly eight times that of Earth. Yale geology and geophysics professor Kanani Lee, another author of the study, said 55 Cancri e’s mass classifies it as a “Super-Earth” — a planet with a mass larger than that of Earth but much smaller than that of large gaseous planets such as Neptune. To determine the planet’s composition, the research team generated a model of 55 Cancri e using a computer program that predicts a different hypo-
thetical planetary mass and radius for each proposed chemical composition, Madhusudhan said. They then tried to find a composition with resulting mass and radius values closest to those of 55 Cancri e. Having tried multiple Earth-like models in which iron, water and oxygen were abundant, the team found their desired result when they made carbon the dominant element on the planet. Madhusudhan said. Abundant traces of carbon were also found in the planet’s star, 55 Cancri A, and the model of the protoplanetary disk, which further supports the hypothesis, he added. “The idea that rocky planets elsewhere could have completely different chemical compositions from Earth — it was very hard to get over that mental block,” Madhusudhan said. “We had to get rid of that bias and start looking at other compositions.” Lee said the size similarity between 55 Cancri e and Earth makes their compositional difference even more significant. The carbon-rich composition of 55 Cancri e’s suggests the presence of large amounts of diamond on the planet, Lee said. Since the planet’s orbiting period is 18 days as opposed to Earth’s 365 days, the surface temperature of the planet is approximately 4000 degrees Farenheit, she
added. These high temperature and high pressure conditions favor diamond formation, she added. “You could have a planet completely composed of diamond,” Lee said. Madhusudhan and Lee both said further research on 55 Cancri e’s atmosphere should be conducted to confirm the accuracy of the proposed model. Adam Burrows, professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, said the atmospheric thickness and composition of the planet must be determined before any definitive conclusion regarding the planet’s core can be drawn. The Yale Center of Astronomy and Astrophysics, or the YCAA, awarded its postdoctoral prize fellowship to Madhusudhan in January. His project proposal was chosen from a pool of over 300 applicants, said YCAA director and astronomy professor Meg Urry. She added that the center viewed his research as instrumental in “creating synergies” between different disciplines, as exemplified by his collaboration with Lee. Lee said the discovery of 55 Cancri e “helps us forget our biases of Earth-like planets.” 55 Cancri e and its star can be observed as part of the Cancer constellation.
Genes influence social networks BY TIANYI PAN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A new study shows friendship formation may be influenced by both genetics and social situations. In a paper published on Oct. 8 in the scientific journal “Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences,” Jason M. Fletcher, health policy professor at the Yale School of Public Health, re-explored prior research establishing a correlation between genes and friendship. Entitled “How Social and Genetic Factors Predict Friendship Networks,” the paper concluded that a complex array of environmental influences — as well as genetic factors — play a role in influencing people’s decisions about friendships and social networks. The study found that genetic factors on a gene called DRD2 predict friendship formation in schools, suggesting a biological role on friendship formation. However, selecting friendships is “not strictly a biological phenomenon”, Fletcher said. The team examined data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that included genetic samples from 1,503 participants from 100 schools, as well as information regarding participants’
social networks and ethnic and racial heritage. Fletcher’s study additionally examined whether the correlation between genotypes and friendships persists among students from the same school. In schools with students from a wider range of socioeconomic backgrounds, students tended to form friendships with people who are genetically similar to them, Fletcher said. Students from schools with a more uniform socioeconomic background tend to make friends who are dissimilar to them genetically, he added. The research also found a potential correlation between this gene-friendship relationship and schools offering multiple academic or vocational tracks. Students in these tracks, who share similar characteristics, are more likely to befriend each other, Fletcher said. “Schools with tracks that are hard to cross tend to have kids who spend time together with people just like them,” he added. The team also explored whether race was a determining factor, but found no evidence to support this hypothesis. The study’s findings led the authors to believe the friendship selection process happens much “farther upstream” and can be caused by factors such as gender, eth-
nicity, class and social environment, said Jason Boardman,lead author of the paper and sociology professor at the University of Colorado. In fact, the research discovered that social environment — in this case, the schools they attended — plays an important, if not more direct, role in the friends people select, he added. Dalton Conley, professor of sociology at Northwestern University, said he believed the October paper puts genetic research in a larger context. Fletcher echoed Conley’s comment and said the research shows how basic genetics studies might be further enriched by including social factors. Understanding the true causes of friendship formation requires a detailed knowledge of both the influencing environmental and genetic factors. “Rarely with any phenomenon is it either entirely genetic or entirely environment. Most often it is simultaneously nature and nurture, and that’s why biological scientists and social scientists need to work together to find answers,” Boardman said. The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Contact TIANYI PAN at tianyi.pan@yale.edu .
SPENCER KATZ/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Yale’s team for the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition won “Best Presentation.” BY IKE SWETLITZ CONTRIBUTING REPORTER One day over the summer, David Lim ’13 brought a sleeping bag to his biology lab to complete a 20-hour procedure. Lim’s scientific dedication was part of his work on Yale’s research team for the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, which invites groups of students to submit original synthetic biology research projects. Yale’s team attended the regional competition in Pittsburgh on Oct. 12-14, where it won the award for “Best Presentation.” The team expects to submit its research for publication by the end of the month and will advance to the iGEM world championship held the first weekend of November, said team member Aaron Hakim ’13 in an email to the News. “We do good science not just because we like to win these competitions,” team member Aaron Lewis ’14 said. “We do good science because we’re excited to do good science, and then we are happy when we get immediately gratifying results in competitions.” The team’s goal was to improve a procedure called multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE), which generates genomic diversity in organisms, said team member Spencer Katz ’13. MAGE, a repeating procedure that uses random genetic mutations to optimize chosen cell functions, was developed a few years ago in part by the team’s faculty advisor, Farren Isaacs, assistant professor of
molecular, cellular and developmental biology. The team wanted to set up a framework for applying this technique to two species of bacteria commonly used in industry, Lim and Hakim said. By the regional competition, the team had succeeded in creating a library of recombinases — enzymes used by MAGE to modify genetic material — and an array of tests for determining the impact of these recombinases, Katz said. The next step is to implement MAGE with the library of recombinases and the tests, a task they hope to complete by November’s world championship, he added.
Before joining iGEM and going to conferences, I didn’t appreciate how much engineering had come to influence biology.” DAVID LIM ’13 Participant, iGEM Isaacs said Yale’s iGEM team has been working hard toward their goal. “They are pioneers, both in genome engineering and microbiology,” he said in an email. Katz said the iGEM team’s project has applications in industry and beyond. For instance, MAGE could be applied to bacteria that dissolve oil in water,
creating a strain of bacteria even better at dissolving oil than the original organism, Lim said. iGEM sees itself as a key player in the developing industry of synthetic biology, Meagan Lizarazo, vice president of iGEM, said. “Synthetic biology is going to become an industry,” Lizarazo said. “There are going to be companies, there are going to be careers in it. It’s going to expand greatly, and iGEM is going to be at the core of it.” By participating in the iGEM research team, Lewis said he learned of this emerging field. Lewis said iGEM also helped him find his focus as a student. “Before joining iGEM and going to the conferences, I didn’t appreciate how much engineering had come to influence biology,” he said. Isaacs said iGEM provides students with valuable learning experiences in teamwork and collaboration. By reading scientific papers and working through procedures on his own, Lim said he learned more through the iGEM process than he would have by taking microbiology courses. “I think this is the way science is best learned,” he said. “It was pretty awesome.” Last year’s iGEM project, which investigated an antifreeze protein, was published in the scientific journal “Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications” in May. Contact IKE SWETLITZ at isaac.swetlitz@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Steps taken in herpes prevention HOUSTON, BY KATHRYN CRANDALL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Yale professor Akiko Iwasaki is in the process of creating a new method of vaccination that may be the first step in preventing the spread of genital herpes, also known as herpes simplex virus. Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine and member of the molecular virology program at the Yale Cancer Center, worked alongside immunobiology postdoctoral fellow Haina Shin to develop an alternative approach to traditional herpes vaccines. In the study, which was published Oct. 17 in the online scientific journal Nature, researchers used mice to test what Iwasaki calls the “prime and pull approach”, which distinguishes this method from previous herpes vaccines. Priming consists of activating the body’s T-cells — a type of white blood cell that protects the body from infection — using a conventional vaccine. Once responsive, the T-cells are “pulled,” or chemically drawn to the vaginal tissue by chemokines, proteins that activate white blood cells, she added. The recruited T-cells were able to “establish a long-term niche” in the vaginal tissue of the mice, protecting them from contracting herpes, according the study. “Tissue-resident memory T-cells are crucial for protection against genital herpes,” Iwasaki said. Scientists have tried to produce a vaccination for genital herpes in the past, but none have been entirely effective, researchers said. Typical methods of vaccination do not produce a memory T-cell response in the genital tract, a major obstacle to creating a successful genital herpes vaccine, Iwasaki said. Thus far,
the vaccine has only been tested with vaginal tissue, as there is little known about the target cells in the penile tissue, she added. However, the “prime and pull” approach used in vaginal tissue alone could still prove effective. “If we can protect women, the benefit will trickle down to men and population as a whole,” Iwasaki said. Although the vaccine has only been tested on female mice and is not yet ready to be tested on humans, Iwasaki said she has high hopes for the vaccine when it reaches that stage. The mice she tested showed very few side effects, and the vaccine lasted up to 13 weeks in the mice, a relatively long time, she added. Paul Aronson, assistant professor of pediatrics at the medical school, said the method of priming and pulling could potentially inhibit the transmission of genital herpes from mother to infant in the process of childbirth. Though there is no existing cure for the virus, Iwasaki said there is hope that the treatment could be used to prevent the reactivation of pre-existing genital herpes. She added that the method could possibly also be applied to other STIs including HIV-1. Robert Siegel, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, noted the difficulties that Iwasaki and her colleagues face. He compared creating a vaccine for herpes with discovering the vaccine for chicken pox. “We might get lucky again, but all obvious strategies haven’t worked,” he said. The next step of the research process will be to test this technique on non-human primates, Iwasaki said.
BY LINDSEY UNIAT STAFF REPORTER Herb Allison ’65 is not afraid to talk about his struggles with debilitating anxiety throughout high school and college. In fact, his personal experience with mental illness is one of the motivating factors behind his recent $3 million donation to the Yale School of Medicine. The grant from his family’s foundation — The Allison Foundation — will fund the Psychiatry Research Scholars Program, an initiative that will provide $1 million per year for three years to facilitate clinical research in the Department of Psychiatry and the Yale Child Study Center. The program will fund three young researchers studying mental illness in children and young adults. Although the idea for the program had been discussed for over a year, the first round of funding was distributed in early September. “This gift from Mr. Allison is a wonderful opportunity for the Child Study Center and the Department of Psychiatry to work together to enable young scientists in both departments to get their first start in research of illnesses that affect children and young adults,” said John Krystal MED ’84, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical School.
I want to get the message out there that there are ways of getting help, and there is no shame in getting help. HERB ALLISON ’65 Donor, The Allison Foundation Krystal said that often the hardest part of research is getting initial data to sustain investigations, both to justify receiving funding from the government and to generate independent research grants. Allison’s donation money provides a “wonderful starting place” for the three clinical researchers, he added. “It’s enough for the three researchers to get the start they need to move forward, and the way that it is flexible will ultimately have a big impact on the field that they work in,” Krystal said. Psychiatry Research Scholar Tamara Vanderwal MED ’06, DIV ’08 said she is currently working on a project aiming to help very young children stay still while they are in the fMRI scanner. Doing so, she said, would lead to more accurate data collection. She added that she hopes to use EEG and fMRI technology together to better understand how the developing brain organizes itself during rest. After understanding more about these networks in normal development, Vanderwal said she hopes to turn her attention to disorders in child psychiatry. “Mr. Allisons’s gift and vision for this
program is, unsurprisingly, extremely strategic,” Vanderwal said. “This launching program fills a major developmental gap for young investigators like myself, and puts us in the position to be competitive for the next stage of research funding that would otherwise be way out of reach.” The other two researchers in the program are Thomas Fernandez MED ’05, who studies psychiatric genetics, and Christopher Pittenger MED ’94 GRD ’94, who studies Tourette disorder. Allison said the idea for the program developed from a conversation with a classmate at their 45th college reunion. That classmate, a psychiatrist at the Yale Child Study Center, invited Allison to meet with Krystal. Working with Dr. Matthew State GRD ’01, the Donald J. Cohen Professor and deputy chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry, Allison helped design a more holistic and comprehensive program to research these mental illnesses. The two wanted to integrate clinical practice and research and build ties between the Child Study Center, the Department of Psychiatry and other research areas, Allison said. “Mr. Allison wanted to contribute so as to have a big impact here and in the field,” Krystal said, adding that Allison asked a lot of “hard questions” during the program development. Allison said one of his goals in developing the program was to provide resources for young scholars to move in new directions, especially where funding may not be available early on. He added that he hopes this grant will help alleviate the stigma associated with these diseases. “When I was at Yale, I suffered anxiety attacks that were debilitating,” Allison said. “I’d withdraw to my room, and sometimes they would last for up to 10 days. Back then it was hard to diagnose — I was told to just get over it. I was lucky and I did get over it, but many others don’t.” Though psychiatric medicine has improved since his Yale days, Allison said it is important for those suffering to get help and for others to understand that mental illnesses are not character flaws but rather often have physical or environmental causes. Allison said he hopes this research will lead to a great understanding of mental disorders in children and young adults, and will encourage those who need help to seek it. “When I was in college, I was told one in four students would need psychiatric assistance,” Allison said. “Everyone seems super-confident, but many are suffering in silence. I want to get the message out there that there are ways of getting help, and there is no shame in getting help.” Allison graduated with a B.A. in philosophy before spending four years in the Navy and obtaining a business degree from Stanford. Contact LINDSEY UNIAT at lindsey.uniat@yale.edu .
One of the earliest uses of diamonds was as a tool to polish ceremonial burial axes in China in the late stone ages.
Nanoparticles reduce herpes BY EMMA GOLDBERG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
WE HAVE A PLANET
Contact KATHRYN CRANDALL at kathryn.crandall@yale.edu .
Donation funds mental illness research
Polishing Axes:
MICHAEL MCHUGH
Citizen scientists find new extrasolar planet BY PAYAL MARATHE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Yale researchers and collaborating citizen scientists have discovered a new astronomical phenomenon — a planet that revolves around twin suns while at the same time being orbited by a second pair of stars. This planet, called PH1, is the seventh circumbinary planet — a planet that orbits two stars — that has been discovered, said Megan Schwamb, Yale physics postdoctoral fellow. The presence of a second pair of revolving stars makes PH1’s discovery entirely unique, as it is the first identified circumbinary planet in a four-star system. Schwamb and her team of researchers announced the discovery of PH1 at an annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Reno, Nev. on Oct. 15. Schwamb, the lead author of the paper, said PH1 can help scientists understand planet formation. “If we want to understand how planets form in a solar system like ours, we need to understand the extremes,” she said. “This is the end case of planet formation because of the impulses and gravitational pulls of four interacting stars.” Yale astronomy professor Debra Fischer said this discovery increases the chances of finding life on other worlds. Even if there’s no sign of life on PH1, the fact that a planet could be made under such challenging circumstances indicates that there are many more planets in the universe, some of which could sustain life, she said. PH1, she added, will prompt scientists to “revise our model for planet formation and accept that it’s a much more robust process that we ever guessed.” PH1 was discovered with the help of Yale’s Planet Hunters, an organization Fischer helped launch in 2010. Planet Hunters is Yale’s experiment in citizen science, a new approach to astronomical science that takes advantage of “excellent human pattern recognition skills,” said Chris Lintott of Zooniverse, a collection of citizen science projects that includes Planet Hunters. Volunteers search for irregularities in the data, mostly measurements of star brightness graphed into light curves from the NASA Kepler space mission, Fischer said. Unlike humans, computers need a precise algorithm to identify data irregularities, she added. Volunteers Kian Jek of the Uni-
versity of California and Robert Gagliano of the University of Arizona discovered PH1 when they noticed a “regular blip” in the “absolutely crazy” light curve data for the twin suns, which led them to suspect the presence of a third body, Fischer said. Jek and Gagliano reported their observations to Planet Hunters, and Schwamb then assembled a team of 10 astronomers to follow up. Schwamb’s team looked at radiovelocity data from telescopes stationed in Hawaii and determined PH1, a gas giant with a radius 6.2 times that of the earth, is slightly larger than Neptune. The team also noticed a “wobble effect” generated by the smaller, more distant stars, which allowed them to calculate the distance between the four stars and PH1, Schwamb said. Using this data, the team was able to conclude PH1 exists in a four-star system. Schwamb called each new circumbinary planet a “real gem” for what it contributes to the study of planet formation. “We hope to find smaller and smaller planets and more systems with more than one planet,” said Jerome Orosz GRD ’96, who worked with Schwamb on the paper presenting PH1. Professors of physics and astronomy recognize the impact this discovery could have on their field in the coming years. Princeton professor Lucianne Walkowicz said knowledge of extrasolar planetary systems is changing rapidly, adding that PH1 is just one more piece of new information that sends scientists “back to the drawing board to revise theories.” Yale astronomy professor Sarbani Basu said this discovery shows how unexpected the field can be. She added that she hopes PH1 will encourage astronomy curricula to pay more attention to stellar dynamics, the statistical study of the motion of stars due to mutual gravity. Schwamb’s next goal in the study of circumbinary planets is to continue encouraging citizen science and looking for these “rare gems.” “We know we can do it, we’ve done it and now we’ll see what we can say about the whole population of these planets,” Schwamb said. The paper has been submitted for publication to the “Astrophysical Journal.” Contact PAYAL MARATHE at payal.marathe@yale.edu .
Yale researchers have developed nanoparticle technology that could one day cure herpes simplex virus type 2, or HSV-2. Mark Saltzman, chair of the biomedical engineering department of the Yale School of Medicine, and researchers in his laboratory have been working to develop nanoparticles to decrease symptom severity and boost survival rates of mice with HSV-2. Saltzman and his colleagues published a paper in the August issue of the “Journal of Controlled Release” in which they state that administering three doses of siRNA nanoparticles improved survival rates for mice infected with HSV-2. By delivering siRNA molecules to the site of infection, these nanoparticles reduce the expression of the nectin-1 protein involved in HSV-2 infection and cell-to-cell transmission. As a result, HSV-2 is less likely to enter cells surrounding the site of infection. “This work provides proofof-concept that these siRNA delivery vehicles are promising options for topical, localized therapeutics for sexually transmitted infections,” postdoctoral researcher Jill Steinbach said in an October press release. Steinbach, the lead author of the paper, told the News on Sunday that administration of nanoparticles increased the amount of
time mice could live with the disease to an “unprecedented 28 days.” Administration of nanoparticles can cause inflammation and leave patients susceptible to additional infections, an issue that has hindered similar experiments in other labs, Steinbach said. The researchers successfully decreased inflammation in mice by using an FDA-approved, biodegradable non-toxic polymer — polylactic co-glycolic acid, she added.
The lab is like a family and we all collaborate and support one another’s research. KSENIYA GAVRILOV GRD ’15 Molecular physiology Ph.D. candidate, Yale School of Medicine Saltzman’s lab specializes in drug delivery, particularly in transmitting nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier and across mucosal surfaces such as the intervaginal wall. Biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate Rachel Fields GRD ’13, who works in Saltzman’s lab, said this lab is one of many working to identify diseases that can be treated using nanoparticles. Saltzman’s research team currently includes seven gradu-
ate students as well as four postdoctoral researchers. “The lab is like a family and we all collaborate and support one another’s research,” molecular physiology Ph.D. candidate Kseniya Gavrilov GRD ’15 said. “Professor Saltzman is a wonderful mentor, and he doesn’t micromanage, but expects all of us to be responsible and not waste time or resources.” Saltzman and his colleagues seek to improve upon their work by developing surface modifications that will advance nanoparticle delivery, easing cell penetration. Steinbach said the researchers are currently working on attaching peptides to the nanoparticle surfaces to increase cell binding and internalization, boosting the efficacy of the nanoparticles. Researchers also said they hope their use of FDA-approved, non-toxic materials in the nanoparticles will permit quicker licensing of the treatment for humans suffering from HSV-2. “We are hopeful to further improve delivery of these materials and apply them to a wide range of pathologies in global health,” Steinbach said in the press release. HSV-2 infects one of every six people between the ages of 14 and 49 in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control. Contact EMMA GOLDBERG at emma.goldberg@yale.edu .
Synthetic biology ‘MAGEs’ compete
Diamond planet far, far away BY ERIC XIAO CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Researchers have discovered a diamond planet 40 light years away from our solar system. Led by postdoctoral fellow Nikku Madhusudhan of the Yale Physics Department, the research team has proposed that the planet 55 Cancri e has a carbon-based composition containing an outer layer of diamond that composes roughly a third of the planet’s mass. The planet revolves around a sun-like star called 55 Cancri A. The team’s research paper, which showed that the planet’s observed radius and mass could be best explained by a carbon-rich composition, will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in a few weeks. First detected in 2004, 55 Cancri e’s radius was measured in 2011 and its mass was calculated to be roughly eight times that of Earth. Yale geology and geophysics professor Kanani Lee, another author of the study, said 55 Cancri e’s mass classifies it as a “Super-Earth” — a planet with a mass larger than that of Earth but much smaller than that of large gaseous planets such as Neptune. To determine the planet’s composition, the research team generated a model of 55 Cancri e using a computer program that predicts a different hypo-
thetical planetary mass and radius for each proposed chemical composition, Madhusudhan said. They then tried to find a composition with resulting mass and radius values closest to those of 55 Cancri e. Having tried multiple Earth-like models in which iron, water and oxygen were abundant, the team found their desired result when they made carbon the dominant element on the planet. Madhusudhan said. Abundant traces of carbon were also found in the planet’s star, 55 Cancri A, and the model of the protoplanetary disk, which further supports the hypothesis, he added. “The idea that rocky planets elsewhere could have completely different chemical compositions from Earth — it was very hard to get over that mental block,” Madhusudhan said. “We had to get rid of that bias and start looking at other compositions.” Lee said the size similarity between 55 Cancri e and Earth makes their compositional difference even more significant. The carbon-rich composition of 55 Cancri e’s suggests the presence of large amounts of diamond on the planet, Lee said. Since the planet’s orbiting period is 18 days as opposed to Earth’s 365 days, the surface temperature of the planet is approximately 4000 degrees Farenheit, she
added. These high temperature and high pressure conditions favor diamond formation, she added. “You could have a planet completely composed of diamond,” Lee said. Madhusudhan and Lee both said further research on 55 Cancri e’s atmosphere should be conducted to confirm the accuracy of the proposed model. Adam Burrows, professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, said the atmospheric thickness and composition of the planet must be determined before any definitive conclusion regarding the planet’s core can be drawn. The Yale Center of Astronomy and Astrophysics, or the YCAA, awarded its postdoctoral prize fellowship to Madhusudhan in January. His project proposal was chosen from a pool of over 300 applicants, said YCAA director and astronomy professor Meg Urry. She added that the center viewed his research as instrumental in “creating synergies” between different disciplines, as exemplified by his collaboration with Lee. Lee said the discovery of 55 Cancri e “helps us forget our biases of Earth-like planets.” 55 Cancri e and its star can be observed as part of the Cancer constellation.
Genes influence social networks BY TIANYI PAN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A new study shows friendship formation may be influenced by both genetics and social situations. In a paper published on Oct. 8 in the scientific journal “Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences,” Jason M. Fletcher, health policy professor at the Yale School of Public Health, re-explored prior research establishing a correlation between genes and friendship. Entitled “How Social and Genetic Factors Predict Friendship Networks,” the paper concluded that a complex array of environmental influences — as well as genetic factors — play a role in influencing people’s decisions about friendships and social networks. The study found that genetic factors on a gene called DRD2 predict friendship formation in schools, suggesting a biological role on friendship formation. However, selecting friendships is “not strictly a biological phenomenon”, Fletcher said. The team examined data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that included genetic samples from 1,503 participants from 100 schools, as well as information regarding participants’
social networks and ethnic and racial heritage. Fletcher’s study additionally examined whether the correlation between genotypes and friendships persists among students from the same school. In schools with students from a wider range of socioeconomic backgrounds, students tended to form friendships with people who are genetically similar to them, Fletcher said. Students from schools with a more uniform socioeconomic background tend to make friends who are dissimilar to them genetically, he added. The research also found a potential correlation between this gene-friendship relationship and schools offering multiple academic or vocational tracks. Students in these tracks, who share similar characteristics, are more likely to befriend each other, Fletcher said. “Schools with tracks that are hard to cross tend to have kids who spend time together with people just like them,” he added. The team also explored whether race was a determining factor, but found no evidence to support this hypothesis. The study’s findings led the authors to believe the friendship selection process happens much “farther upstream” and can be caused by factors such as gender, eth-
nicity, class and social environment, said Jason Boardman,lead author of the paper and sociology professor at the University of Colorado. In fact, the research discovered that social environment — in this case, the schools they attended — plays an important, if not more direct, role in the friends people select, he added. Dalton Conley, professor of sociology at Northwestern University, said he believed the October paper puts genetic research in a larger context. Fletcher echoed Conley’s comment and said the research shows how basic genetics studies might be further enriched by including social factors. Understanding the true causes of friendship formation requires a detailed knowledge of both the influencing environmental and genetic factors. “Rarely with any phenomenon is it either entirely genetic or entirely environment. Most often it is simultaneously nature and nurture, and that’s why biological scientists and social scientists need to work together to find answers,” Boardman said. The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Contact TIANYI PAN at tianyi.pan@yale.edu .
SPENCER KATZ/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Yale’s team for the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition won “Best Presentation.” BY IKE SWETLITZ CONTRIBUTING REPORTER One day over the summer, David Lim ’13 brought a sleeping bag to his biology lab to complete a 20-hour procedure. Lim’s scientific dedication was part of his work on Yale’s research team for the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, which invites groups of students to submit original synthetic biology research projects. Yale’s team attended the regional competition in Pittsburgh on Oct. 12-14, where it won the award for “Best Presentation.” The team expects to submit its research for publication by the end of the month and will advance to the iGEM world championship held the first weekend of November, said team member Aaron Hakim ’13 in an email to the News. “We do good science not just because we like to win these competitions,” team member Aaron Lewis ’14 said. “We do good science because we’re excited to do good science, and then we are happy when we get immediately gratifying results in competitions.” The team’s goal was to improve a procedure called multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE), which generates genomic diversity in organisms, said team member Spencer Katz ’13. MAGE, a repeating procedure that uses random genetic mutations to optimize chosen cell functions, was developed a few years ago in part by the team’s faculty advisor, Farren Isaacs, assistant professor of
molecular, cellular and developmental biology. The team wanted to set up a framework for applying this technique to two species of bacteria commonly used in industry, Lim and Hakim said. By the regional competition, the team had succeeded in creating a library of recombinases — enzymes used by MAGE to modify genetic material — and an array of tests for determining the impact of these recombinases, Katz said. The next step is to implement MAGE with the library of recombinases and the tests, a task they hope to complete by November’s world championship, he added.
Before joining iGEM and going to conferences, I didn’t appreciate how much engineering had come to influence biology.” DAVID LIM ’13 Participant, iGEM Isaacs said Yale’s iGEM team has been working hard toward their goal. “They are pioneers, both in genome engineering and microbiology,” he said in an email. Katz said the iGEM team’s project has applications in industry and beyond. For instance, MAGE could be applied to bacteria that dissolve oil in water,
creating a strain of bacteria even better at dissolving oil than the original organism, Lim said. iGEM sees itself as a key player in the developing industry of synthetic biology, Meagan Lizarazo, vice president of iGEM, said. “Synthetic biology is going to become an industry,” Lizarazo said. “There are going to be companies, there are going to be careers in it. It’s going to expand greatly, and iGEM is going to be at the core of it.” By participating in the iGEM research team, Lewis said he learned of this emerging field. Lewis said iGEM also helped him find his focus as a student. “Before joining iGEM and going to the conferences, I didn’t appreciate how much engineering had come to influence biology,” he said. Isaacs said iGEM provides students with valuable learning experiences in teamwork and collaboration. By reading scientific papers and working through procedures on his own, Lim said he learned more through the iGEM process than he would have by taking microbiology courses. “I think this is the way science is best learned,” he said. “It was pretty awesome.” Last year’s iGEM project, which investigated an antifreeze protein, was published in the scientific journal “Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications” in May. Contact IKE SWETLITZ at isaac.swetlitz@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
WORLD
“Stop right there. I know people are feeling sorry for me because my wife was kidnapped by Kim Jong-Il.” JACK DONAGHY “30 ROCK” CHARACTER
South Korean activists send leaflets to North Korea BY HYUNG-JIN KIM ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean activists floated balloons carrying tens of thousands of antiPyongyang leaflets into North Korea on Monday, eluding police who had disrupted an earlier launch attempt due to threats from North Korea. North Korea’s military warned last week that it would strike if the South Korean activists carried through with their plan to fly balloons carrying the propaganda leaflets across the border. South Korea pledged to retaliate if it was attacked. South Korean police, citing security concerns, had sent hundreds of officers Monday to seal off roads and prevent the activists and other people from gathering at an announced launch site near the border. Residents in the area were also asked to evacuate
to underground facilities, according to local official Kim Jin-a. Later in the day, some of the activists, mostly North Korean defectors, moved to another site near the border that was not guarded by police and carried out the launch of the balloons. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was closely monitoring North Korea’s military movements but there were no suspicious activities. Before taking action Monday, the South Korean government had implored activists to stop their campaign, but had cited freedom of speech in not making further attempts to intervene. South Korean activists have in the past sent leaflets across the border, and North Korea has issued similar threats to attack without following through. But Seoul’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday that the ban on entering the border area was
imposed as South Korea detected that North Korea had uncovered artillery muzzle covers and deployed troops to artillery positions in possible preparation for an attack. Yonhap cited no source for the information. Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters Monday that North Korea was believed to have acted in line with carrying out its threat. He declined to elaborate on the North’s army movement as that was confidential military information. He said South Korea had bolstered its military readiness following the North’s threat and would “strongly” retaliate if attacked. The activists said they floated balloons carrying about 120,000 leaflets critical of North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong Un and his country’s alleged human rights abuses. They said they wanted to let North Korean people know the true nature of their country.
AHN YOUNG-JOON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pro-North Korean activists stage a rally to stop sending anti-North Korea leaflets across the border.
r e c y c l e y o u r y d n d a i l y
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
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BULLETIN BOARD
TODAY’S FORECAST A chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64.
TOMORROW
THURSDAY
High of 62, low of 50.
High of 65, low of 50.
SCIENCE HILL BY SPENCER KATZ
ON CAMPUS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23 4:00 PM A Talk with Nathan Harden The author of “Sex and God at Yale” will discuss the issues raised in his book and take questions from the audience. William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St.), Room 117. 5:30 PM Ballet Technique Class for Undergraduates Featuring instructors from the New Haven Ballet. Sponsored by the Dance Studies Curriculum and the Alliance for Dance at Yale. Broadway Rehearsal Lofts (294 Elm St.), Room 303.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24 12:30 PM Chamber Music Performance Graduate students from the Yale School of Music will perform chamber music. Yale Center for British Art (1080 Chapel St.).
ZERO LIKE ME BY REUXBEN BARRIENTES
2:00 PM Center for Language Studies Language Learning Strategies Workshop Suzanne Young and Nelleke Van DeusenScholl of the Center for Language Study will offer a languagelearning strategies workshop. Writing Center (35 Broadway St.).
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24 5:30 PM “Fit at Any Weight” Lisa Sanders, M.D., will give a talk describing how the benefits of exercise are greater than the benefits of weight loss at virtually any weight. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (170 Whitney Ave.). 9:30 PM Undergraduate Late Night Bowling Come if you are interested in a fun evening of bowling with your friends! The bus leaves Phelps Gate at 9:30 p.m., and it leaves the bowling lane at midnight to return to campus. Bring your $5 payment to the Yale College Dean’s Office by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, if you would like to attend. Phelps Gate (344 College St.).
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CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Athenian with harsh laws 6 Sink-cleaning brand 10 Greenish-blue 14 Put one’s feet up 15 Olympics sled 16 Expressions of disapproval 17 57-Across bestseller made into a 1971 film, with “The” 20 Golf club now made of metal 21 Line on a graph 22 Move crab-style 23 Heredity unit 25 Lake formed by the Aswan Dam 26 57-Across bestseller made into a 1993 film 31 Japanese cartoon art 32 Exposes 33 Shortest mo. 36 Despicable 37 57-Across bestseller made into a 1995 film 39 Tear go-with 40 Chopper 41 Head of the manor 42 Windy City airport 43 57-Across bestseller made into a 1997 film 46 Across the sea 49 Accessories for a “Just Married” sign 50 Plumbing woes 51 Not real 53 Ref’s call 57 Doctor-turnednovelist born 10/23/1942 60 Concept 61 Turn sharply 62 Stunned 63 It may be standardized 64 “Don’t get excited” 65 Sports page figures DOWN 1 Deadlock 2 Gambling mecca near Carson City 3 Fashion’s Gucci
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10/23/12
By Steven J. St. John
4 Bridge, e.g. 5 Tic-tac-toe dud 6 Former Soviet premier Kosygin 7 Dench of “Iris” 8 “Jumpin’ Jack Flash, it’s __ ...”: Rolling Stones lyric 9 Symbolic signatures 10 Vulnerable 11 Campus courtyards 12 Practical 13 Ed of “Lou Grant” 18 Controls, as a helm 19 Nicholas and Peter 24 Houston-to-Miami dir. 25 Bosnia peacekeeping gp. 26 Mud in a cup 27 Operating system on many Internet servers 28 Agitate 29 Time-share unit 30 Flat-nosed dog 33 Dread 34 Banjoist Scruggs 35 Reared 37 Not just for males
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3 9 5 2 9 6 3 (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
38 Basketball’s Magic, on scoreboards 39 Question of identity 41 Tibetan capital 42 MYOB part 43 Astaire/Rogers musical 44 Flee, mouse-style 45 Curbside call 46 Ticket word 47 Bouquet tosser
10/23/12
48 Reduces to small pieces, as potatoes 51 __ circus 52 Hard-to-hit pitchers 54 Chichén __: Mayan ruins 55 Champagne brand 56 Finishes 58 Holiday lead-in 59 DJ’s assortment
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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
NATION
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Dow Jones 13,345.89, +0.02%
S NASDAQ 3,016.96, +0.38% S Oil 88.73, 0.00%
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10-yr. Bond 1.80%, +0.03%
TEuro $1.3059, -0.0517
Foreign policy fireworks: face-off before election BY DAVID ESPO AND KASIE HUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS BOCA RATON, Fla. — President Barack Obama sharply challenged Mitt Romney on foreign policy in their final campaign debate Monday night, accusing him of “wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map.” The Republican coolly responded, “Attacking me is not an agenda” for dealing with a dangerous world. With just 15 days remaining in an impossibly close race for the White House, Romney took the offensive, too. When Obama said the U.S. and its allies have imposed crippling sanctions on Iran to halt nuclear weapons development, the Republican challenger responded that the U.S. should have done more. He declared repeatedly, “We’re four years closer to a nuclear Iran.” Though their third and last face-to-face debate was focused on foreign affairs, both men reprised their campaign-long disagreements over the U.S. economy — the top issue by far in opinion polls — as well as energy, education and other domestic issues. The two men did find accord on more than one occasion when it came to foreign policy.
Each stressed unequivocal support for Israel when asked about a U.S. response if the Jewish state were attacked by Iran. “If Israel is attacked, we have their back,” said Romney — moments after Obama vowed, “I will stand with Israel if Israel is attacked.” Both also said they oppose direct U.S. military involvement in the efforts to topple Syrian President Bashir Assad.
I will stand with Israel if Israel is attacked. BARACK OBAMA President, United States The debate produced none of the finger-pointing and little of the interrupting that marked the presidential rivals’ debate last week, when Obama needed a comeback after a listless performance in their first meeting on Oct. 3. With the final debate behind them, both men are embarking on a home-stretch whirlwind of campaigning. The president is slated to speak in six states during a two-day trip that begins
Defendant sentenced in FAMU hazing case
RED HUBER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brian Jones was sentenced in Orlando, Florida on Monday due to his participation in last year’s hazing incident at Florida A&M University. BY KYLE HIGHTOWER ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. — The first of a dozen defendants to be sentenced in last year’s hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major avoided jail time when he received his punishment Monday, but he will spend more than two years under close supervision. Brian Jones was given six months of community control, which strictly limits his freedom with measures including frequent check-ins with probation officials. Following that, the 23-year-old from Parrish, Fla., will serve another two years of probation. He’s also required to perform 200 hours of community service. Judge Marc Lubet said Jones’s role in the hazing death of Robert Champion was relatively minimal and that Jones did not beat or hit Champion. Champion died last November after being beaten by fellow band members during a hazing ritual aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel after a football game. “This young man’s part in this horrible act … as compared with many others from what I’ve seen is minimal,” Lubet said. “It was an isolated incident in this man’s life for which he’s shown remorse.” Defense attorney Alisia Adamson noted that only two of the 90 witnesses even said he was on the bus. Eleven other band members are awaiting trial on felony hazing charges, while another band member faces a misdemeanor hazing count. Jones had entered a no-contest plea Oct. 9 to the third-degree felony hazing charge after initially pleading not guilty. The maximum penalty for the charge was five years in prison.
Champion’s parents and friends say the drum major was a vocal opponent of hazing, but finally relented last November and got aboard “Bus C,” which was known for hazing. Pam and Robert Champion Sr. both attended Monday’s sentencing. Speaking directly to Jones, Pam Champion challenged the idea that his role had been minor, saying: “You and I know that’s not true. You played a critical role.” She carried a picture of Champion with her to the podium before she spoke. “You won’t be able to put it out if your mind … It will haunt you,” she told Jones. Jones said in a recorded audio statement with investigators that he was on the bus when another hazing victim — Lissette Sanchez — went through the ritual. But Jones told police that he only retrieved his lighter and left to smoke, getting off the bus before Champion got on. The defendant’s mother, Jacqueline Jones, told the court that her son was an honest person and that “he shared with me he had nothing to do with it.” Brian Jones tearfully apologized to the Champion family in court. “No family should have to go through what you’ve gone through,” he said. After the sentencing, Pam Champion said she gave Jones credit for “taking responsibility” in the case. “Initially my reaction was disappointment, but I do understand,” she said. “The mere fact that Brian stepped up and took the initiative, which should be what everyone does … is basically what we’re looking for. The whole thing is people being accountable for what they have done.”
Wednesday and includes a night aboard Air force One as it flies from Las Vegas to Tampa. Romney intends to visit two or three states a day. Already four million ballots have been cast in early voting in more than two dozen states. Obama appears on course to win states and the District of Columbia that account for 237 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. The same is true for Romney in states with 191 electoral votes. The battlegrounds account for the remaining 110 electoral votes: Florida (29), North Carolina (15), Virginia (13), New Hampshire (4), Iowa (6), Colorado (9), Nevada (6), Ohio (18) and Wisconsin (10). On Monday night, Obama said more than once that Romney had been “all over the map” with his positions. And Romney did not necessarily put new distance between the two men; in fact, Romney offered rare praise for the administration’s war efforts in Afghanistan. The former Massachusetts governor said the 2010 surge of 33,000 U.S. troops was a success and asserted that efforts to train Afghan security forces are on track to enable the U.S. and its allies to put the Afghans fully in charge of security by the end of 2014. He
POOL-MICHAEL REYNOLDS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney debated for the third time Monday. said that U.S. forces should complete their withdrawal on that schedule; previously he has criticized the setting of a specific withdrawal date. When it came to Iran, Romney
stressed that war is a last option to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon, softening the hawkish tone that had been a hallmark of his campaign. And Romney barely addressed
the simmering dispute over the administration’s handling of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 13
SPORTS
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS HUNTER PENCE San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence had perhaps the most interesting hit of Game 7 of the NLDS. In the third inning, Pence connected with a bat-breaking pitch, but the broken bat proceeded to catch up with the ball and hit it two extra times for a two-RBI double.
Elis wrap up fall seasons BY SARAH ONORATO CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The Yale men’s and women’s golf teams closed their fall seasons this past weekend with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Difficult final days of play for both teams landed them both in the middle of the pack.
GOLF
MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The Yale men finished fifth at the Ivy Matchplay Tournament.
The men’s team competed in the Ivy League Matchplay Tournament, held this year at TPC Jasna Polana at Princeton. The format was different from the Elis’ other tournaments this fall as each golfer faced off against a single opponent to try to win as many holes as possible; play continues until one opponent is up by more holes than are left in the round. “[In match play], making a big number on one hole is less of a problem than it is in stroke play. Match play naturally leads to more aggressive play,” team captain Bradley
Men’s crew posts solid times MEN’S CREW FROM PAGE 14 also won the event last year. The lightweight 8+ improved on last year’s fifth place finish with a fourth place finish in a time of 14:59.7. Lightweight captain William Ferraro ’13 said he thought the team handled the distractions at the large regatta very well, noting that freshmen raced in every boat. This year marks the first time in the history of college crew that freshmen can race on the varsity squad. The Bulldogs’ heavyweight 8+ finished second out of 32 in the club eight event on Saturday afternoon, passing two boats along the way. Yale finished in 14:58.08 — the team’s best result since it won the race in 2009. Brown bested the Bulldogs in the event by 17 seconds. Philippe Mastroyannis ’13, who rowed stroke in the club 8+ event, said he was “tremendously pleased” with the race, particularly since the team had only practiced the race line-up twice before. “Our coxswain executed the race plan perfectly by making the right calls when needed and steering a perfect course,” he
said. Ed Reeves ’16 rowed in the 8+ club event, and was excited with the results of his first Head of the Charles race. Sunday’s results were not as strong for the heavyweight team: The championship four and eight boats finished 15 out of 19 and 13 out of 18 respectively. Heavyweight captain Jon Morgan ’13 said the championship 8+ put in a strong effort, but ran into some weeds which hindered proper steering. “With a course as difficult as the Charles River, [this obstacle] had dramatic effect on the boat’s overall time,” Morgan said. The Yale boat finished in 15:13.33, and Washington won the event with a time of 14:37.27. The lightweight crew team will race again at the Princeton Chase next weekend, but the Head of the Charles was the last race of the fall season for the heavyweight crew team. The heavyweights will start their spring season on March 23 against Brown. Contact LINDSEY UNIAT at lindsey.uniat@yale.edu .
Despite cheating, Armstrong matters COLUMN FROM PAGE 14 sors, including Nike and Anheuser-Busch, dropped his contracts due to the allegations. And above all, fans around the world have rightfully scorned him as a liar, a fraud and an enabler of doping. His cycling legacy is undoubtedly tarnished forever, as it should be. But here’s why Armstrong’s story is different than any athlete who has come before him: The world is a better place because he doped. Fifteen years ago, after surviving testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain, he began the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which is now known as LiveStrong. The world is a better place because LiveStrong has raised nearly $500 million dollars to educate cancer patients and fund cancer research. It’s a better place because 2.3 million individuals with cancer have received individual counseling using LiveStrong’s resources. It’s a better place because the organization has lobbied relentlessly for cancer research and irrevocably increased cancer awareness with its iconic yellow bracelet and countless charity bike rides. It’s a better place because LiveStrong has given hope to the most hopeless disease facing humanity today. In an ideal world, Armstrong would have never cheated in order to excel. But the cycling world is far from ideal. According to the UCI, during Armstrong’s seven straight championships, 20 of the 21 riders who made the Tour de France podium have been directly linked to performanceenhancing drugs. From 1996 to 2010, 36 of 45 top cyclists were linked to doping. It’s a sport that makes the steroid era in baseball look like a shining gold standard of ethical sporting. In a sport so replete with cheaters, Armstrong would never have been able to compete — let alone win seven straight Tours — if he avoided performance-enhancing drugs. And without those wins and his popularity
that grew with each one, LiveStrong would have never had the incredible success it has enjoyed with Armstrong as its leading advocate and symbolic inspiration. It’s a messy situation. Hotly debated questions and opinions will be heard in the coming weeks. Should we overlook Armstrong’s cheating because everyone else was doing it? Who is the rightful winner of those invalidated Tour titles? Should Armstrong be remembered as a fraud, or as a champion of cancer advocacy? Frankly, though, these questions aren’t important. Armstrong could be a good person in a bad situation, or a bad person who ruined his sport forever. We don’t know, and we never will. And more importantly, it doesn’t matter.
HIS CYCLING LEGACY IS UNDOUBTEDLY TARNISHED FOREVER What does matter is that LiveStrong has bettered millions of lives suffering from cancer, and that it will continue to do so through education, advocacy and research funding in years to come. When all is said and done, it’s not about the bike. It’s not about Armstrong. It’s not about the prevalence of performanceenhancing drugs in sports today. Rather, it’s about how LiveStrong’s mission transcends Armstrong, cycling and sport itself. So let’s strip his medals, take away his endorsements, call him a fraud, judge him for being unethical. I’m all for that — he cheated and even coerced others to cheat with him. But let’s also realize that, whether we like it or not, the world is a better place because he did. Contact JACK DOYLE at jack.doyle@yale.edu .
Kushner ’13 said. “It is a fun tournament and allows you to try some shots that one would not normally be able to try.” In the opening round on Saturday, the Bulldogs faced a composite team featuring golfers from several Ivy League schools. Wins from Sam Bernstein ’14, Kushner and Joe Willis ’16 secured the 3-2 win for the Elis. Following the opening-round win, Yale took to the course against Dartmouth. Wins from Bernstein and Willis were not enough to overcome the Dartmouth Big Green, and Yale fell 2-3. The loss sent the Elis into a semifinal against Brown on Sunday in the final round of the tournament. Bernstein and Willis once again notched individual victories, dominating with perfect 3-0 records for the weekend. Aided by two one-up victories, Brown was able to hang on for the 3-2 win, handing the Elis a fourth place finish among the Ivy teams. Willis said that the he has faced a rapid adjustment to college play as a
freshman playing in his first collegiate season. “The rhythm of a college tournament is pretty different from high school, so these first few have helped me adapt to that,” Willis said. “There are fewer tournaments during the season than in high school, so it is critical to try to peak at the right time every couple weeks so that you can play your best when it matters.”
It is a fun tournament and allows you to try some shots that one would not normally be able to try. BRADLEY KUSHNER ’13 Captain, men’s golf Princeton defeated Dartmouth 3-1-1 in the final round to claim the tournament title. The women’s team had similar
troubles on the final day of its fall season. The team placed fifth in a field of eight at the Lehigh Invitational at the Saucon Valley Country Club. “This tournament didn’t go as well as we thought,” Marika Liu ’15 said. “What we did differently, however, was talking about each individual’s best and worst shots or holes and breaking these down [after each round].” Seo Hee Moon ’14 shone for the Bulldogs, posting a score of 153 (+9) to tie for ninth place. Other top finishers for Yale included Liu and Caroline Rouse ’15 who tied for 16th with scores of 157 (+13) and Sun Gyoung Park ’14, who finished just two strokes behind them. Princeton, the only other Ivy League competitor in the tournament, finished on top with a team score of 603. The Bulldogs ended the weekend 19 strokes behind them at 622. Contact SARAH ONORATO at sarah.onorato@yale.edu .
Rivalry builds 40-year bond BY LINDSEY UNIAT STAFF REPORTER With the Harvard-Yale football game only weeks away, Yale students will soon be engulfed in the oldest college football rivalry in the country. Collegiate rivalries can be divisive and have the power to ruin friendships, but for Robert Hetherington ’64 LAW ’67 and Edward Katz, a rivalry created a lifelong bond. The two met in Hackensack, N.J. during the early 1970s where Hetherington was working as a lawyer and Katz as a trust officer. They came to be friends and, upon discovering that they had attended rival schools, decided to travel to New Haven with their wives in 1973 to see Yale play Penn in football. The Elis won 24–21, a single dollar bill changed hands from Katz to Hetherington and a tradition was born. Every year the host couple prepared a tailgate lunch, the four would gather for dinner after the game and single dollar bills continued to pass between losers and winners. “We bet a dollar on each game, but it’s the best dollar you can win,” Hetherington said. Yale enjoyed great success at the beginning of the tradition, and those dollar bills kept flowing into Hetherington’s hands. The Bulldogs won the first five meetings and had no losses and only a single tie in the first nine. But in 1982, the Quakers finally broke the streak with a 27–14 win at home. Hetherington did not take the loss well, and was withdrawn at dinner that evening, said his wife, Rebecca. “Well I’m told that I was very sullen after the first game that Penn won,” he said. “After that I grew a lot more accustomed to it.” Penn has enjoyed considerable success during the past three decades
REBECCA HETHERINGTON
Robert Hetherington ’64 and Edward Katz attend the Yale-Penn game in 2010. of the rivalry and had won seven of the past nine meetings before this year’s contest. Yale’s reversal of fortunes notwithstanding, the tradition carried on, disturbed only by a particularly rainy day in October 1980. “I have to confess there was one year that it rained so badly that we didn’t want to go,” Rebecca Hetherington said. “And so we decided whoever won the Yale-Penn game that year could choose the venue to go to later in the year.” The Bulldogs prevailed, 8–0 in Philadelphia, and the couples reunited later in the year for Yale’s win over Princeton in November. But in 2000, the Katzes retired to Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Hetheringtons expected the tradition to fade sadly away after almost 30 years. Katz, however, insisted on flying back east every year and the four continued their annual gathering,
most recently on Saturday to watch the men of Yale overcome the loss of starting quarterback Eric Williams ’16 and defeat the Quakers 27–13. “I’ve seen a lot of Yale football games going back to the ’50s when my brother was there, and that was one of the best games that I’ve seen,” Hetherington said. “Not necessarily that it was the best quality of football … but [without Williams] you had to think we would never score.” The first autumn after the Hetheringtons’ son, Alex Hetherington ’06, graduated from Yale, he and a high school friend who had attended Penn joined the older couples in the tradition. Though the reunion has not been repeated, Alex, now an associate director at the Yale Investments Office, vows to keep trying, his mother Rebecca said. Contact LINDSEY UNIAT at lindsey.uniat@yale.edu .
Gosztyla stresses balance GOSZTYLA FROM PAGE 14 for a year after leaving Stony Brook, Gosztyla joined Harvard’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2008. Under her tutelage, Harvard athletes set 10 school records. Just as in her stops at UNH and Stony Brook, Gosztyla said she gained valuable coaching experience during her three years in Cambridge, especially in managing a larger and higher-level team. Yet Gosztyla was drawn from Harvard to its biggest rival by to the opportunity to become Yale’s head coach and was named to the position in the summer of 2011. At Yale, Gosztyla was able to both move into a head coaching role and remain within the Ivy League. She noted that she enjoys coaching in the conference because of the purity associated with athletics in a conference that does not allow athletic scholarships. Her athletes also appreciated her affinity for the League. “Because she did coach at Harvard prior to coming here, she is very invested in the Ivy League rivalry,” captain Nihal Kayali ’13 said. “She shares a lot of the passion that we do.” Gosztyla said that the prospect of stability also attracted her to New
Haven. After coaching at three different programs in seven years, she wanted the chance to settle down both professionally and personally. She moved to the city with her husband and they welcomed their first child, a daughter, this past year. In the two years since Gosztyla came to Yale, the women’s cross country team has enjoyed remarkable success. Last year’s squad improved four places at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, finishing in fourth, and this year’s squad figures to compete for a top-three finish at the championship meet on Saturday. The team is also nationally ranked for the first time since 2005, at No. 22, joining No. 7 Cornell as the only two Ivies in the top 30. Runners on the current Yale women’s cross country squad lauded Gosztyla’s ability to balance personalized training and a team focus. Caitlin Hudson ’13 said Gosztyla is adept at customizing training strategies for each athlete while maintaining a team atmosphere during practice. Gosztyla’s focus on balance, however, does not end with balancing the individual and team aspects of running. The coach emphasizes
a belief that in order for her athletes to succeed in workouts and at meets, their academic and social lives must be balanced as well. Gosztyla added that while a critical coach–player boundary exists between her and her athletes, creating a family atmosphere on the team still remains important to her. “I think it’s really key that every day before practice, she takes time to go around and check in with every person and see how they’re feeling, mental and physical,” Elizabeth Marvin ’13 said. “If someone’s had a really hard week school-wise, hasn’t had a lot of sleep, she always takes that into consideration.” Beyond establishing certain balances on the squad, Gosztyla attributes the team’s success to setting attainable goals, striving to meet them and having fun with the sport. “You can tell when she thinks we’re going to perform really well,” Marvin said. “We had a huge breakout meet at [the Wisconsin adidas Invitational on October 12], and she was telling us we’re ready to show that we deserve to be nationally ranked.” Contact ALEX EPPLER at alexander.eppler@yale.edu .
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IVY FOOTBALL Dartmouth 21 Columbia 16
IVY FOOTBALL Brown 21 Cornell 14
SPORTS QUICK HITS
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WOMEN’S SOCCER WIN 1–0 AGAINST FAIRFIELD Last night, the women’s soccer team narrowly claimed victory against Fairfield with an overtime goal by Anne Song ’13. The Bulldogs had been outshot 8–4 in the 45 minutes, but after halftime, Yale had 12 shots on goal compared to only one for the Stags.
MEN’S SOCCER JACOBSON ’14 RECOGNIZED After scoring in the 88th minute to put the Bulldogs ahead in their victory against Penn on Saturday, Peter Jacobson ’14 was named to the weekly Ivy League honor roll for his performance. Jacobson also added a goal and assist against Sacred Heart on Sept. 16.
COLLEGE FB Georgia 29 Kentucky 24
“It was great to win the club eight and be the fastest college in the championship four.” WILL PORTER COACH, WOMEN’S CREW YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 · yaledailynews.com
Elis finish strong in Boston
Transcending the bike BY JACK DOYLE CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST If you haven’t seen it in the headlines yet, you soon will: Lance Armstrong, the celebrated American cyclist, has been stripped of his record seven straight Tour de France titles. The ruling became official yesterday after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a mountainous, 164-page report last week with overwhelming evidence that Armstrong used illegal performance-enhancing drugs during his championship years. Sports fans can recite this tale by heart: a star athlete is accused of using performance enhancing drugs, putting his or her many accomplishments into question and crushing the hearts of millions of fans in the process. We’ve seen it time and time again. We’ve seen Marion Jones forfeit the five medals she proudly won for America in the 2004 Sydney Summer Olympics. We’ve seen the asterisk placed next to the 73 home runs Barry Bonds smashed in the 2001 baseball season. We’ve seen the unethical demise of Mark McGwire, Ben Johnson, Manny Ramirez and countless other athletes accused of steroids, human growth hormones or blood boosters. For fans like myself, the legacies of Jones, Bonds and other doping athletes are scarred forever. They are nothing more than cheaters. They are disdainful symbols of how sport loses its purity and integrity. They are villains. They wronged us. So, for Armstrong, we know what happens next in the common script, right? In one respect, yes. On top of their decision to rescind his Tour titles, the International Cycling Union, or UCI, has banned him from cycling for life. Armstrong’s biggest sponSEE COLUMN PAGE 13
BRANDON BLAESSER/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Yale’s two lightweight fours posted the top two collegiate times at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston on Sunday. BY LINDSEY UNIAT STAFF REPORTER Both the heavyweight and lightweight crew teams posted strong results this past weekend at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Mass. One of the lightweight
fours had a particularly stellar finish, clinching the second spot in the race.
MEN’S CREW The 48th annual regatta, the world’s largest two-day rowing
Women’s club eight takes gold
event, brought together over 9,000 athletes to race in 55 events — all head races, or time trials. The 3.2mile course on the winding Charles River is known for being a challenge to navigate. On Sunday, Yale’s two lightweight fours posted the two top
CAROL HSIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
BY SARAH ONORATO CONTRIBUTING REPORTER On a beautiful fall day in Boston, Yale women’s crew posted two strong finishes at the 48th annual Head of the Charles Regatta this past weekend. The club eight earned a first-place finish, while the championship four out-stroked all other collegiate crews, finishing third overall.
WOMEN’S CREW However, the championship eight for the Elis finished 14th overall in a strong field which included international and high-ranking collegiate crews. “It was great to win the club eight and be the fastest college in the championship four,” head coach Will Porter said, adding that the varsity race was disappointing. “We have a lot of work to do to get faster. It is ok because we have time, but it is never fun to put on a Yale uniform and go slow.” The first race for the Bulldogs was held on Saturday and featured the club eight.
Coxswain Margaret Ayers ’13, Juliet Caragianis ’15, Martha Cosgrove ’16, Madeline Dinse ’15, Amina Edwards ’15, Kara Freeman ’15, Natalie Lapides ’15, Tierney Larson ’15 and Brit Sharon ’16 started in the race. The Bulldogs finished with a time of 16:49.64, enough to beat the second-place Holy Cross crew by a wide thirteen-second gap. The championship four, finishing behind Rowing Canada and Vesper Boat Club, cruised across the finish line at 18:57.11. The time was good enough for a third-place finish and earned the Bulldogs the top collegiate spot in the heat. The Yale boat was comprised of coxswain Christine Devlin ’15, Colleen Maher ’16, Elizabeth Vincent ’15, Kristina Wagner ’15 and Abbie Young ’16. “The club eight and the champ four had excellent races,” captain Eliza Hastings ’13 said. “We are all proud of their accomplishments this weekend and hope to keep the momentum moving forward.” The championship eight for the Elis finished in a disappointing 14th spot, 9th col-
STAT OF THE DAY 68
legiate, and marked a significant drop off since Yale’s fourth-place collegiate finish in the race last season. U.S. Rowing won the race handily in a time of 16:13.49. The U.S. boat included Olympic medalist Taylor Ritzel ’10. University of Virginia, last year’s NCAA champions, was the top collegiate finisher in the championship eights, finishing third overall. The 14th place finish comes after Yale’s varsity eight posted a victory at the Head of the Housatonic to open its fall season. “The fall is always a good opportunity to learn the strengths and weaknesses of a team,” Hastings said. “After these three races this October we will have a better understanding of where we stand as a team and what we need to work on in order to become faster for the spring.” The team will have one more chance to compete this fall when the team wraps up its season at Princeton next weekend. Contact SARAH ONORATO at sarah.onorato@yale.edu .
SEE MEN’S CREW PAGE 13
Gosztyla leads women’s XC BY ALEX EPPLER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
The women’s club eight finished first for the Elis at the Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend, while the championship eight took 14th.
collegiate times in the lightweight four event, finishing in second and third place with times of 16:56.9 and 17:39.6. Yale’s top boat finished less than two seconds behind the New York Athletic Club boat, which
When Amy Gosztyla was growing up, the three elementary schools in her town competed annually against each other in a one-mile cross country meet. Though she does not remember why she entered the races in the first place, Gosztyla does recall her results: She finished third in the race in fifth grade and first in sixth grade. Now at the helm of the first nationally-ranked Yale women’s cross country team in seven years, Gosztyla said she recognized running as a natural talent and natural source of enjoyment early on. That initial recognition helped spark a lifelong devotion to a sport in which she has achieved success both as a runner and as a coach. “I think it is a very positive group of people that are involved with the sport,” Gosztyla said. “That ability to be able to push yourself really hard and also be able to have that team component … really was ultimately what was most rewarding for me.” Gosztyla spent her college career at the University of New Hampshire, where she won the America East Student-Athlete of the Year in 2002. Although she said that she went through the program during a time of frequent coaching transitions — she had four coaches over four years — Gosztyla still felt as though she could succeed with the program in flux. She added that this expe-
rience positively contributed to her future as a coach. “Through having a number of different coaches in college, I got to learn how different people do things,” she said. After graduation, Gosztyla coached at UNH for a year as a graduate student before accepting a job at Stony Brook University as an assistant to cross country coach Andy Ronan. During her three years at Stony Brook she helped guide the team to two second-place America East finishes. Gosztyla identified Ronan as the person who most influenced her coaching style.
That ability to be able to push yourself really hard ... was ultimately what was most rewarding for me. AMY GOSZTYLA Head coach, women’s cross country “Having him as a mentor was immensely helpful in terms of being able to individualize kids’ training, but also keep the team in mind, and also in terms of building a program,” she said. The lessons Gosztyla learned at UNH and Stony Brook translated into more success when Gosztyla began coaching in the Ivy League. After returning to coach at UNH SEE GOSZTYLA PAGE 13
SECONDS NEEDED FOR LOGAN SCOTT ’16 TO DRIVE DOWN THE FIELD FOR A YALE TOUCHDOWN AGAINST PENN. Scott earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for the 11 play, 59 yard drive at the end of the first half that put Yale up 10–7.