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

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 59 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS

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The saga continues. Students

in professor A. Douglas Stone’s PHYS 420 course were treated to a familiar surprise yesterday when they walked in to find a series of chalk images related to Nintendo 64 characters drawn on the board. The first panel read “Your princess is in another castle,” a nod to an identical chalk message that appeared in class last August, while the second panel featured a tableau of Koopas titled “Grand Koopanonical Ensemble,” a reference to physics material covered in the course. The third seemed to picture Contour Dude, a character from “Super Mario Brothers.” Science rocks.

Sending a message. Believe in People, New Haven’s famous underground graffiti artist, has struck again, this time commenting on Yale-NUS by painting two orange signs in Yale’s steam tunnels. Both signs read “Under Construction: YaleN.U.S.T.,” though each sign has an additional message: the first says “Going Lower Than Ever Before” while the other says “Freedom of Speech Guaranteed.”

Success on the field. Yale

running back Tyler Varga ’15 has been awarded first team All-New England honors.

Varga ended the season with 935 yards for the Bulldogs.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1961 The Admissions Office announces that it will notify applicants of admission decisions by late April.

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PAGE 3 CULTURE

PAGE 5 CITY

PAGE 6 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

PAGE 12 SPORTS

Alternatives promote ‘arms race’ GRAPH DECLINING ALLOCATION TO U.S. PUBLIC EQUITIES 80

HARVARD PRINCETON YALE

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SEE ARMS RACE PAGE 8

SEE LEVIN PROJECTS PAGE 8

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BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER As University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen’s investment model began to yield unprecedented endowment returns in the

1990s, more and more universities adopted the Yale model by shifting toward investing in alternative assets. Two professors at the School of Management are now arguing that this trend reflects universities’ tendencies to mimic their clos-

2010

2008

2006

2004

2002

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REPORT CONSIDERS THE INFLUENCE OF THE YALE MODEL IN INVESTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION ENDOWMENTS

BY JULIA ZORTHIAN STAFF REPORTER

est competitors, but their report also raises questions over where the “herd” will move next — and who will lead it.

Sharon Oster and William Goetzmann presented a paper, entitled “Competition Among University Endowments,” at a National Bureau of Economic Research con-

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Salovey, Levin share decisions Before Nov. 8, 2012, there was no need for distinction when referring to the only Yale president on campus.

But since the Yale Corporation announced that Provost Peter Salovey will assume University President Richard Levin’s position on June 30, 2013, the Yale community can now look to two leaders — a fact made clear when Salovey sent a Nov. 16 email to students from the email address president.elect@yale.edu. While it is rare to have both an incoming and outgoing Yale president on campus at once, Levin said he will retain most of his responsibilities as president until Salovey officially takes the helm of the University on June 30. One new responsibility Salovey will take on in the coming months will be overseeing personnel decisions, including the appointment of a new provost.

“We’ve been a team for the last four years,” Levin said. “[There are] many major decisions for the University I’ve been consulting the provost on regularly. In that respect, nothing’s different.”

Salovey was appointed Yale’s secondhighest administrator in 2008, and Levin said he has involved Salovey in most major University decisions he has made during his recent tenure.

While there are no searches for deans or other major administrators currently under way, Salovey is in charge of selecting his replacement provost. In addition to his provostial responsibilities, Salovey said he has begun to meet extensively with many

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does. The Yale football player and teenage heartthrob was eliminated from the popular NBC singing show “The Voice” last night, much to the dismay of his thousands of fans and coach Christina Aguilera. But it’s okay. Duron still has more than 60,000 fans on Facebook, 11,000 followers on Twitter and hundreds of marriage proposals.

Undefeated Bulldogs head to the NCAA tournament

1998

Do you sing? Dez Duron ’14

BELTER GRD ’15 PIONEERS TURBINE DATA COLLECTION

1996

Precision Marching Band and the Yale Russian Chorus joined forces yesterday to prank professor John Gaddis during his “Cold War” class. One student dressed as President Ronald Reagan delivered Reagan’s famous speech at Brandenburg Gate, while another dressed as Mikhail Gorbachev gave a grandiose speech in Russian. When a U.S. Air Force pilot impersonator shouted for an air drop, silver packets of Alpha Delta Pizza chips rained down to feed the hungry masses below.

Catholics criticize Knights of Columbus for marriage spending

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Professor Gaddis, tear down this wall! The Pundits, the Yale

VOLLEYBALL

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record-breaking delegation of seven Rhodes scholars will be joined by one more student: Ela Naegele ’13, a German international student who was won an international Rhodes scholarship from Germany. Naegele hopes to study modern British and European history with a focus on international law at Oxford.

KENYA

1990

Suck it, Harvard. Yale’s

KNIGHTS

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CROSS CAMPUS

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SUNNY CLEAR

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MORNING EVENING

YALE CABARET EXPERIMENTING WITH ‘CAT CLUB’

Education funds’ Gov. unveils budget cuts increase unlikely

BY CHRISTOPHER PEAK STAFF REPORTER While activists in Connecticut push for an increase in education funding from the state government, a projected state budget deficit stands to thwart their efforts.

As Gov. Dannel Malloy prepares next year’s budget address to the General Assembly, interest groups across the state, including Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, are asking for an increase to the state’s education budget. The state currently distributes the majority of education funds to local governments through the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, a program that has rarely been fully funded. With a $365 million deficit confirmed earlier this month and $170 million in spending cuts announced by Malloy Wednesday, ECS may remain underfunded through another budget cycle.

“We would like to see an increase, a significant increase, in ECS funding, but we recognize that it will be exceedingly difficult … to close our current budget gap,” Dianne Kaplan deVries, the project director for Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, said in a Wednesday email to the News. “Current fiscal constraints, however, are no excuse for not fixing properly the state’s broken ECS formula and the entire system of how it funds traditional public schools, choice programs, [and]

early childhood programs.”

The ECS grant was created in 1988 to equalize education funding across the state by providing aid to each student, giving more to towns with lower per capita income and less revenue from property taxes. Connecticut has the nation’s largest achievement gap between high-income and low-income students.

Current fiscal constraints … are no excuse for not fixing properly the state’s broken ECS formula.

DIANNE KAPLAN DEVRIES Project director, Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding But the program’s funding has repeatedly been frozen or cut due to financial downturns.

Funding is currently pegged at fiscal year 2009 levels, and barring an increase in the next budget, it will continue at that level through the end of fiscal year 2013. In the last fiscal year, legislators budgeted $1.89 billion for the ECS grant, only 72 percent of the target aid. The funding gap totaled over $700 million.

DeVries said the effects of underfunding include “unconscionable achievement gaps SEE EDUCATION PAGE 4

SAGAR SETRU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Due to a $365 million budget deficit, Gov. Dannel Malloy has announced funding cuts to many state agencies.

BY MICHELLE HACKMAN STAFF REPORTER Facing a mounting budget deficit this fiscal year, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced $170 million in cuts across a wide gamut of state agencies on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Office of Policy and Management Sec-

retary Ben Barnes certified a budget deficit of $365 million for fiscal year 2012. By law, the governor must draft a deficit mitigation plan whenever the state’s projected deficit tops 1 percent of the total $19.1 billion budget. The cuts he proposed fall within the governor’s authority to slash up to 5 percent of any budget line item

without the need to seek legislative approval.

“Many of these cuts are very difficult to make, especially now when so many residents continue to struggle in a tough economy,” Barnes said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “But as painful as SEE DEFICIT PAGE 4

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YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

OPINION

.COMMENT “What if I wore a huge, silly hat while taking my exam at home. OK? yaledailynews.com/opinion

GUEST COLUMNIST JOHN GERLACH

G U E S T C O L U M N I S T E L I Z A B E T H C H RYS TA L

Let's fix a cappella rush I

often find myself at the end of a semester wondering where the time went.

While I think this is somewhat inevitable at Yale, for the third winter in a row I am especially aware that I once again gave an entire month of my fall to the annual a cappella recruitment process, affectionately referred to as “rush.”

Every September, the members of Yale’s 13 underclassman a cappella groups and hundreds of hopeful freshmen undergo this marathon process — one that fits so neatly into the pattern of bloated selection processes on this campus. For those unfamiliar with the details, allow me to explain briefly: it includes two nights where every group performs, two weekends of auditions, two-and-a-half weeks of rush meals and singing desserts — in all, a month of unnecessary drama — conveniently located at the beginning of the year, when no one is busy.

Does this sound like a good idea?

We run the same gauntlet each year, leaving freshmen disoriented in their first semester of college. Upperclassmen end up just as lost, hence me writing this in November. I have yet to meet a person, singer or otherwise, who enjoys rush or thinks it can’t be improved. But we conveniently allow ourselves to forget each year, and suddenly it’s September and we’re right back in it. I think we can do better. I call on the current a cappella community to work with the Singing Group Council — who thus far has done a tremendous job managing one of the most out-of-control Yale traditions — to look seriously at making some changes that will improve the process next year and into the future.

As it stands now, we have to decide what the purpose of rush is. Are we simply recruiting new singers? If so, then there definitely isn’t an excuse for dragging it out as long as we do. If we were really just trying to audition singers, why couldn’t it happen in two days?

The answer to that question lies in the nature of our a cappella groups. In addition to being a long-standing Yale tradition, they’re obviously more to most than just musical ensembles, serving also as a source of friendship and support. We are rightly concerned, then, with making sure that we mesh socially with the people that we tap. If that were the sole reason, then perhaps we could justify a lengthy process.

But that’s not what we tell freshmen. We tell them that

Not OK?" 'ATTILA' on 'MILLER DISCOURAGES TAKE-HOME FINALS'

the beauty of rush is getting to know new people, meeting upperclassmen and making those first freshmen friends.

It’s this fibbing that makes rush so harmful.

As someone who has been on the other side of the table for two years now, I can say that it would be difficult to design a more misleading set of circumstances for “meeting new people.” Rush is a competitive time, where gossip is rampant and our behavior can be calculated and fake.

We behave this way under the false pretense not just that it’s worth it, but that it’s necessary for the continuation of our various groups.

We fail to consider that freshmen, during what is already an extremely difficult and stressful time, are caught in the crossfire. We play favorites with the few best singers, distorting their senses of reality. At the same time, we lead on the many freshmen who are less experienced when we should be giving them ample space to rebound and pursue other paths and opportunities at Yale.

It would be a lot easier if we could just get everyone to play nice. But I think that it’s far more practical to curtail the process. In short, it shouldn’t be such a big deal.

For example, putting multiple singing dessert performances on the same night and holding group-wide rush meals would immediately make the process less timeconsuming. Allowing groups to cut rushees after the first weekend of auditions would help ease the burden on freshmen for whom a cappella is not the best fit. And limiting the number of callbacks a rushee can attend (like Yale’s improv comedy recruitment process) would go a long way to helping them to make decisions earlier, rather than in the stressful hours before Tap Night. By my estimates, that would condense rush to a week and a half.

A lasting solution will require decisions made in another, longer discussion — one that should include all members of the a cappella community. But as it currently exists, I worry the process does more harm than good. If we can agree that it’s not working, I believe we have a duty to fix it.

JOHN GERLACH is a junior in Trumbull College and a member of The Baker's Dozen. This column reflects his views and not those of his a capella group. Contact him at john.gerlach@yale.edu .

Y

Will work for food

ou’ll quickly learn that corporate America has more money to spend on feeding you than Yale Dining does. A lot more. As a job seeker (now a freshly minted veteran), I was treated to French cheeses and Italian meats, tropical fruits and fancy artisanal chocolate truffles. And those were just at the info sessions! As what might be mildly termed a food enthusiast, I approached the whole gustatory aspect of the job search with great interest. I came away with some insights as to how to make the most of the edible side of the recruiting process, for those of you about to take the plunge.

Let’s talk more about those ones. You’ll quickly learn that actually eating is a no-no. Yes, even if the dining halls were serving General Tso’s tofu that night and you left still feeling hungry.

Yes, even if you’ve been craving cheese for weeks and there’s an untouched Brie in the corner calling your name. Info sessions are primarily for schmoozing, and it’s a little hard to ask about what’s-her-name’s alma mater or most recent deal if you have a mouthful of goat cheese or prosciutto to deal with. At

the very least, however tempted you might be to stuff your tote bag with some of those luscious figs or crunchy little cookies, it’s probably best to avoid looking greedy. Alas.

But it’s not just you who’s being evaluated at these events.

Don’t miss the chance to size up a company based on its alimentary offerings. I would advise quickly eliminating, for example, any company that did not serve any food at its recruiting events. Do you want to work for a boss who expects you to skip lunch? You most certainly do not. On the other hand, if a company trots out a few trays of mini macaroons or charming cups of butterscotch pudding, consider ranking them a bit higher on your list. This is the kind of place that will not suggest that you grab lunch at McDonald’s on your first business trip.

Then there are a select few students, the job search foodieelite, who learn how to game the system. These are the types who accept invitations to dinners at Miya’s or head over to the Omni for a PowerPoint presentation with absolutely no interest in working for the companies in question. Is this ethically

dubious? Perhaps. Is this something you should learn how to do? Absolutely.

There are three steps to making this work. First, make sure you at least Google the company to learn what industry they’re part of before you go. It will make things awkward for you if you ask a Teach for America representative “how they got into consulting, anyway.” Next, dress the part. Have a handy sheath dress or Oxford dress pants combination that you can pull out at a moment’s notice. When the evening finally arrives, choose your moment wisely. I know you’re hungry, but showing up half an hour before the event begins, with no real job seekers in sight, makes it difficult to stuff that tote bag. You can pull out the Tupperware more easily when a lot of other students are there to give you cover.

When you finally get an offer — which will happen, let me assure you! — make the most of it. Once a company decides they want you, they kick their culinary game into high gear. It’s a kind of high-powered wooing that will make your boyfriend look bad and your roommates wonder why you’re never

in the dining hall anymore. This is the time where you can expect a meal at Barcelona, freshbaked cookies arriving in your P.O. box, and coffee and pastries with recruiters on a neardaily basis. These companies know you’re hungry. They know that your stomach is the route to your heart (Yale men, take note) and to that hand that will sign your contract. Well, enjoy it. You earned it. You resisted temptation at those information sessions and you skipped lunch for your interview.

Let’s face it: The job search is a bit surreal. It’s filled with powerful people you have to pretend to like, beautiful food you can’t eat and industries you don’t quite understand. It’s confusing and stressful and pressure-filled.

But it’s worth remembering that it’s also a feast of possibilities — literally and figuratively. This is the time when you get to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Thanksgiving may be over, but opportunities for feasting still abound.

ELIZABETH CHRYSTAL is a senior in Davenport College. Contact her at elizabeth.chrystal@yale.edu .

GUEST COLUMNIST XIUYI ZHENG

Stop the one-child policy A

s it currently stands, China’s one-child policy is in fact a misnomer. There are numerous exceptions to the rule. Most significantly, rural couples whose first child is a girl may give birth to a second, and parents who are both only children themselves may have two kids. According to one official estimate, only a little more than a third of the Chinese population is still subject to the strict one-child restriction. However, despite its gradual relaxation, China’s family-planning policy remains a subject of bitter derision.

A recent example that exposes its dark side is the case of Feng Jianmei, a 22-year-old woman from Shanxi province who was forced by local officials to go through an abortion when she was already seven months pregnant. When a photograph of Feng lying on a hospital bed with her dead baby went viral on Weibo, China’s Twitter, it sparked a new wave of public outcry over the callous implementation of the one-child policy.

In my family, the most wellknown victim of the policy was my father’s cousin, who lived in a relatively affluent rural area in the southern province of Zhejiang.

After giving birth to a beautiful daughter, she and her husband

decided to have a second child — legal since they lived in the countryside. However, when an ultrasonic scan revealed that the second baby would also be female, her in-laws pressured her into an abortion. To her in-laws’ delight, they got the grandson that they had been praying for on the third try.

Despite horrifying stories like that of Feng Jianmei, today’s implementation of the one-child policy isn’t nearly as stringent as it was years ago. My father recalls the early '90s, when I was born, and recounts hospitals creating separate rooms to house stillborn babies from forced abortions. Such practices were allegedly commonplace.

As much as I despise the inhumane practice of coercive abortion, I once believed that the onechild policy was a necessary evil and should not be abolished. Perhaps influenced by my Chinese public school education, I was convinced that much, if not all, of China’s current social, economic and environmental woes were due to its oversized population.

After all, it makes sense. If China had the population of the United States — a healthy 300 million instead of a massive 1.3 billion — then its citizens would be able to live in comfortable houses instead of cramped apart-

ment complexes. China’s insatiable thirst for energy would be eliminated. Scarce resources such as health care and higher education would become easily accessible.

The problem with such wishful thinking is that it essentially treats the lives of Chinese citizens as though they have negative value. It also ignores the historical and modern-day realities of China’s demographic landscape. Although China’s population increased by a whooping 400 million from 1949 to 1979 (the year the one-child policy was first implemented), the population growth rate during this period was actually comparable with that of other developing countries in the world.

According to World Bank statistics, in the decade between 1970 and 1979, even before the advent of the one-child policy, China’s total fertility rate had already dropped from 5.51 to 2.84 children per female. This was a remarkable achievement, attributable to advancements in education, public health and female empowerment. The one-child policy further lowered the fertility rate to around 1.5, well below the replacement value of 2.1. As a result, China faces a shrinking labor force and a rapidly aging society.

The critical flaws in China’s family-planning policy lie in its format and execution, not in its underlying philosophy of population control. The one-child policy, as currently constructed, should either be abolished altogether or made far more lenient.

With the costs of child-rearing skyrocketing, especially in urban areas, it is unlikely that a new baby boom will occur, as many supporters of the policy suggest.

Meanwhile, make no mistake: loosening the one-child policy does not equal promoting population growth unconditionally. The state must continue to broadcast the benefits of smart family planning, make contraceptives readily available and explore other indirect means of bringing about sustainable population growth, such as providing more social security options to the elderly in rural areas.

There’s nothing wrong with striving for a healthy population model. The simple fact of the matter is that the societal costs associated with China’s onechild policy today have become much too high, and its efficacy much too dubious to justify its continuation.

XIUYI ZHENG is a junior in Davenport College. Contact him at xiuyi.zheng@yale.edu .

G U E ST C O LU M N I ST CA R O L I N E SY D N EY

College, actually

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COPYRIGHT 2012 — VOL. CXXXV, NO. 59

I

woke up in the morning feeling like Alexander of “Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” fame. To be more precise, I woke up at 8:45 for my 9 a.m. class, but astonishingly, I made it to section on time.

Perhaps the flush of this early morning accomplishment lulled me into a false sense of “everything will be okay,” because I promptly proceeded to miss a meeting with a professor and then a lecture in quick succession.

By lunch, I thought I had survived: I made it to my next section!

But then, I went to edit a piece at the Yale Daily News, where my editor and I came to the mutual agreement that it was pretty terrible, behind deadline and generally disappointing.

I trudged back to my dorm.

I collapsed on my bed. I cried. I called my mother. I took a shower.

I woke up the next morning and got to class on time.

The moral of this story is not that I am incapable of doing any-

thing right, nor is it that this day triggered a movie-montage-style bout of getting reorganized and refocused, ready to take on the world.

It was the realization that the underlying source of this minibreakdown was not my anxiety-ridden day, but the feeling of Doing Nothing Well.

This wasn’t about miserably failing at anything in particular.

This was about the knowledge that I should have, could have, would have, under ordinary circumstances, done better.

And it was strange, because, after all, I did more in high school — took more classes, participated in more extracurriculars and community service. Now, I was wracked by a constant feeling of not doing enough — while simultaneously not having enough time or energy to do what was already on my plate. It didn’t add up.

Part of this conundrum is the fault of my expectations, derived from my own desires and the

assurances of those around me: You have so much time. Everything is perfect. It’s Hogwarts.

The worst days in college are like the best days in high school.

In truth, college is not a fantasyland. College is life; it’s reality.

There are good days and bad days and stressful nights and mornings when your alarm doesn’t go off. Looking back, it was silly to think it would be any other way.

But I did.

Over Thanksgiving break, I chatted with my high school friends not only about this phenomenon, but also the pressure to pretend that it doesn’t even exist. There’s an expectation that even as you try to navigate a social life without the friendships into which you’ve invested years of time and emotion, even as you cut ties with the support systems you’ve built, even as you leave your family behind, you will be happy. Happier than you have ever been. Ever. Because these are the best four years of your life and

you will enjoy every minute.

This seems ridiculous, because it is. But in the conversations I had last week, I noticed my friends had a certain amount of shame in admitting that they’re anything less than ecstatic at college.

The bottom line is that college can be difficult and flawed. Feelings of mediocrity and crashand-burn days abound. But I am happy.

Before the break, I cooked and shared a Thanksgiving-themed dinner with a group of 17 friends in the Sillikitchen. Sitting around that table loaded with stuffing, apple pie, mashed potatoes and gourmet mac and cheese, I was so thankful — and truly happy.

Maybe even happier than I’ve ever been.

That doesn’t have to mean everything is perfect, though, and I’m the first to admit it.

CAROLINE SYDNEY is a freshman in Silliman College. Contact her at caroline.sydney@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

NEWS

“We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.” CARL SAGAN AMERICAN ASTROPHYSICIST AND AUTHOR

CORRECTIONS TUESDAY, NOV. 27

The article “Roammeo expands to Boston area” misidentified the Roammeo team. The team members are Zach Kagin ’11, Harriet Owers-Bradley ’11 and Kartik Venkatraman ’13.

‘Cat Club’ highlights Cabaret

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 28

The caption for the article “Urban planning democratized” misidentified the man in the photograph as urban planner James Rojas. In fact, the photograph is of architecture and political science professor Elihu Rubin.

STEM sibs program begins

BY J.R. REED CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Freshmen who are considering majoring in a STEM field now have the option of working with an upperclassman mentor in a new program offered by the Yale College Council’s Science and Engineering Subcommittee.

On Nov. 14, roughly 185 freshmen who are prospective STEM majors and 125 juniors and seniors majoring in STEM subjects gathered in the Calhoun College dining hall for the STEM Sibs Mentoring Program’s ice cream social kickoff event. SES chair Josh Ackerman ’14 and 12 committee members created the program to provide freshmen with a fellow student they could approach for advice relating to classes, internships or research opportunities within the majors.

Our ultimate goal is to foster a STEM community at Yale by bringing together students who have similar interests.

JOSH ACKERMAN ’14 Chair, Science and Engineering Subcommittee “We knew that a mentorship program could be very valuable for freshmen students majoring in science and engineering disciplines,” Ackerman said. “Our ultimate goal is to foster a STEM community at Yale by bringing together students who have similar interests — we want them to have the opportunity to meet with their STEM Sibs over meals, for froyo or for coffee.”

Ackerman said the group hopes to replicate the “big sib, little sib” model used in residential colleges to connect new freshmen with upperclassmen. SES members sent

emails on Oct. 30 to all freshmen who expressed interest in STEM majors on their college applications and to all upperclassmen STEM majors asking students whether they would be interested in participating in the mentorship program. Most STEM pairs share the same major, and they range from one freshman paired with one upperclassman to five freshmen paired with one upperclassman, Ackerman added.

SES has organized a study break at the end of the fall semester, and the group plans to hold a Bluebooking party and a midterm study break in the spring, Ackerman said.

He added that SES hopes to schedule dinners with faculty members within specific STEM majors.

With its new program, SES hopes to foster a community among STEM majors on campus, Ackerman said.

“We hope that, as the program grows, we can also bring sophomores into the STEM Sibs model and make this initiative undergraduate-wide.”

Shalila de Bourmont ’16, a prospective molecular, cellular and developmental biology major, said she was hesitant to join the program because the University provides many other sources of support for new freshmen. But as classes became more difficult throughout her first semester, she wanted someone to consult for a student perspective, she said. Besides giving advice about classes within a major, de Bourmont added, she hoped her mentor could also help with problem sets.

Sarah Strong ’16, who is interested in mathematics and physics, said her mentor has already provided her with advice about finding research opportunities, which she thinks are not immediately accessible to freshmen.

The SES subcommittee meets every Saturday at noon in Jonathan Edwards College.

Contact J.R. REED at jonathan.t.reed@yale.edu .

NICK THIGPEN

Timothy Hassler and Paul Lieber DRA ’13 perform as two kittens in “Cat Club” at the Yale Cabaret.

BY ANYA GRENIER STAFF REPORTER The current show at the Yale Cabaret follows two kittens cooking, playing and performing original music on their own hit TV show.

“Cat Club,” which opens tonight and runs through Saturday, features Timothy Brown DRA ’13 — whose stage name is Timothy Hassler — and Paul Lieber DRA ’13 as the two cats, who use the show to examine what is most important in life, Lieber said. The show, which did not have anything resembling an actual script until this week, highlights how the extracurricular Cabaret provides School of Drama students with an outlet for creating theater in a radically different way than they do in the classroom, he added.

The show was developed through a process of improvisation and now resembles a “highly structured outline,” Lieber said.

“We wouldn’t in a million years be allowed to do a show like this [at the School of Drama],” Lieber said.

Lieber explained that the school has a set of rules for how students must produce their curricular shows that would never allow for this sort of experimental approach. The school’s production cycle resembles that of most commercial, regional theaters in the United States, which often feature unionized actors and

designers and operate on a fourto six-week schedule, with one show in rehearsal and another in development, said Ethan Heard DRA ’13, the Cabaret’s current artistic director.

Dustin Wills DRA ’14 said that in mimicking this structure, the School of Drama is preparing students for the theater world they will enter upon graduation. It would be a disservice, he added, for the school to grant students the freedom the Cabaret allows.

We wouldn’t in a million years be allowed to do a show like this [at the School of Drama].

PAUL LIEBER DRA ’13 Actor, “Cat Club” “At the Cabaret, if you want to work on [a show] for seven months, you have the luxury of doing that,” Wills said. “In the real world, it takes a long time before you can start making those demands.”

Still, some students question whether the “assembly line model” production process adopted by the school and regional theaters is the most conducive to artistic ingenuity. Heard said that many recent graduates are hoping to “change

the paradigm” of theater production by starting their own companies to develop shows on a longer timeline.

The freedom provided by the Cabaret also allows students to work outside of their chosen departments. Lieber, who studies projection design at the school, developed and will act in “Cat Club.” Acting student Sheria Irving DRA ’13 said this openness to experimentation makes the Cabaret “a wonderland” for students.

“I can do whatever I want to do and I can be as big and as bold and as terrible and as artsy as I want to be,” Irving said.

Solomon Weisbard DRA ’13 said the Cabaret allows students to take risks without worrying too much about success. If an unusual show at the Cabaret — which earns money through ticket sales and dining room revenue — falls flat, the theater will not go bankrupt, he explained.

And each year, the team that manages the Cabaret begins with an even balance sheet even if the previous year’s team had failed to cover its production costs due to a reserve of additional funds.

Lieber said that the Cabaret also has a safety net in having a loyal audience that expects new and challenging shows each week.

Jack Tamburri DRA ’13 said the traditional training students receive at the School of Drama is necessary and will provide students with a “drilled and polished

technique” that will remain with them whatever “wacky thing” they may choose to do later. He added that the Cabaret completes the training drama students receive, calling the theater’s success a healthy reaction against the School of Drama’s “essential aesthetic conservatism.” Wills said that by providing this release, the Cabaret helps attract potential students to the school.

Lieber said that while the School of Drama trains students to work in their given professions, the Cabaret gives them a place to use those tools to explore their artistic passions.

Such passion fuels the latenight rehearsals that are typical at the Cabaret, since the students who work on the shows can only meet after their curricular rehearsals end — rehearsals usually take place between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. Irving said students take a unique level of ownership over their entirely optional Cabaret projects.

“There’s a special energy that explodes late at night,” Heard said. “People give the rest of themselves that they’ve been conserving all day — it all kind of spills out.”

The Yale Cabaret was founded in 1968.

Contact ANYA GRENIER at anna.grenier@yale.edu .

Workshops tackle sex issues

BY CYNTHIA HUA STAFF REPORTER

JOSH ACKERMAN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The STEM Sibs Mentoring Program held an ice cream social, its first event of the year, in the Calhoun Dining Hall.

Ten students gathered in Linsly-Chittenden Hall on Wednesday night to participate in a workshop on Yale’s sexual culture hosted by the Sexual Literacy Forum.

SeLF — which students formed last spring to foster ongoing dialogue about sexuality on campus — is holding five teaser workshops to allow students to preview student-facilitated discussion groups that will be held weekly in the spring. Roughly 60 to 70 students have signed up for the sample workshops, which are entitled “Why Don’t We Talk About Sex?” and focus on public versus private aspects of sexuality. Workshop organizers said they hope the program will supplement Yale’s existing sexual awareness resources by creating a long-term forum open to a variety of topics on sexuality.

“We’re intending [the sample workshops] to be an example of what we do in the ongoing discussion groups, which is opening up discussions about sexuality that might not occur … in everyday life and creating a safe space to talk,”

said Hannah Slater ’13, co-director of the SeLF. The workshops’ curriculum is loosely based on a model used by FemSex, a group of student organizations at several other universities that hold discussions on only female sexuality, said SeLF co-director Paulina Haduong ’13.

SeLF workshops consist mainly of student discussion led by a student facilitator with small activities designed to spark conversation, Slater said. Facilitators use guiding questions during the conversation to address topics such as what information people choose to share about their sex lives, she added.

Facilitators aim to make the discussion environment safe and comfortable for all participants, said facilitator Zachary Kafoglis ’13, adding that having student rather than adult leaders emphasizes peer-to-peer interaction instead of “a didactic approach.”

Slater said the organization’s focus on ongoing discussion complements one-time workshops organized by the Communication and Consent Educators, Community Health Educators or Sex Week. Rather than dispensing new information, she said,

SeLF builds on existing programs and allows students to reflect on knowledge gained through onetime events held by other groups.

[We open up] discussions about sexuality that might not occur … in everyday life and [create] a safe space to talk.

HANNAH SLATER ’13 Co-director, SeLF Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Melanie Boyd ’90 said she has spoken with the student organizers of SeLF and is “impressed by the care and energy they are putting into developing these discussion groups.”

“I’m hopeful that the SeLF groups [offer] a valuable opportunity for sustained education, selfreflection and open discussion,” Boyd said.

José-Alberto Navarro ’13, copresident of the Sexual Literacy Coalition, the umbrella group for

sex-related groups on campus including SeLF, said SeLF’s discussions contribute to the diversity of forums available for students who want to talk about sexuality. The organization will address a broader range of topics, such as porn, masturbation, body image and pleasure, than administrators or other student groups currently do, Kafoglis said.

Giuliana Berry ’14, a CHE who attended the session Wednesday night, said she thinks the program is unique because students can hear each other’s personal experiences instead of discussing sexual issues in general terms.

“Once you start getting concrete examples, you get a much broader idea of how people perceive things and what’s happening,” she said.

Stefan Palios ’14 said he believes students will become increasingly comfortable speaking about their sex lives as the program expands and more students participate.

The next sample workshop will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall at 9:30 p.m. Thursday night.

Contact CYNTHIA HUA at cynthia.hua@yale.edu .

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“Today you are you! That is truer than true!

There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” DR. SEUSS FROM HIS BOOK “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”

New Haven faces deficit GRAPH GOVERNOR’S ALLOTMENT REDUCTIONS

Education sharing reform sought EDUCATION FROM PAGE 1

21,329,129 Department of Developmental Services

33,492,762

32,253,433

State Comptroller Fringe Benefits

Department of Social Services

14,422,487

Board of Regents for Higher Education

50,633,612

18,313,270

Other

170,444,693

Department of Children & Families

Grand Total Reductions OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

DEFICIT FROM PAGE 1 they are, cuts are necessary to keep this year’s budget in balance. State government needs to live within its means.”

Malloy’s proposed cuts will affect programs ranging from mental health services to funding for magnet schools and food stamps. The Departments of Children and Families and Residential Services for the Disabled will also face cuts.

Malloy has said repeatedly that he will not raise taxes in this round of budget negotiations.

Pressed on that point during a meeting with the legislature’s taxing and spending committees by Republican State Senator Rob Kane, Barnes said that Malloy has already increased taxes by $1.5 billion and is not inclined to do so again. To illustrate his point, Barnes invoked Dr. Seuss.

“I have no intention, I will not, I shall not, I do not wish to.

DESIGN We’re the best-looking desk at the YDN.

We see you. design@yaledailynews.

I feel like I’m in ‘Green Eggs and Ham.’ We do not like new taxes, Sam I Am,” Barnes said.

But Kane said Malloy could have lessened the cuts to social welfare agencies if he had been willing to deflate the state’s administrative budget, which in part pays government employee salaries. In particular, he pointed to an $18 million cut to the Department of Children and Families, which he said could have been substituted by slashing part of the $30 million administrative budget.

In order to cover the remainder of the budget shortfall, Malloy will submit a further deficit mitigation package to the legislature next week with approximately $200 million more in proposed cuts. The legislature will need to approve these cuts for them to take effect. But Kane said he fears the State Senate Democrats will resort to further tax increases rather than cutting an additional $200 million

from the state’s budget.

“We’re staring down a billion dollar deficit in 2014, so government can’t continue to outspend its income — you and I don’t do that,” Kane said. “We have a great opportunity to reduce the size of government, but they have not shown a propensity to be able to cut.”

I feel like I’m in “Green Eggs and Ham.” We do not like new taxes, Sam I Am. BEN BARNES Secretary, Connecticut Office of Policy and Management Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney declined to speculate on the nature of legislative action before the governor releases his deficit mitigation plan.

The cuts come at a time when the state’s economy is already on shaky ground. Connecticut’s unemployment rate rose to 9 percent in October, over a full percentage point higher than the national average. Barnes has repeatedly attributed the budget deficit to the lagging economic recovery.

During the legislature’s session starting in January, lawmakers will begin negotiations on another two-year budget, which must close the projected $1 billion deficit in 2014.

“We should all remember that as difficult as some of these reductions are to make now, there are more, even tougher choices ahead,” Barnes said at the press conference.

The state of Connecticut negotiates its budget on a biannual basis.

Contact MICHELLE HACKMAN at michelle.hackman@yale.edu .

based on wealth and race,” low graduation rates, high youth unemployment, a weak economy lacking “a highly educated and competitive workforce” and increased costs for remediation programs in higher education.

Constitutional requirements may soon force legislators to increase education funding. In 2010, the state Supreme Court ruled that students were not only entitled to receive a free public education but also a “suitable” one that prepares them for higher education and employment.

A trial is scheduled for 2014 to determine whether Connecticut’s schools are meeting these requirements.

In August 2011, the 12-member Education Cost Sharing Task Force was established to recommend changes to the distribution of ECS grant funds to satisfy constitutional requirements.

The panel set out to re-evaluate the aid formula, which has been inhibited by outdated statistics and by aid caps and minimums added over the last two decades.

When Malloy first took office, he said fixing the formula was one of his top priorities.

“It’s broken, and we all know it,” he said in his first budget address. “We need to fix this formula once and for all, and we will.”

Although yesterday’s meeting of the Education Cost Sharing Task Force was canceled, the panel will likely reconvene in January to finalize its recommendations. Lawmakers on the task force could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In their interim report from January 2012, the panel recommended an increase in funding to the ECS grant. In absence of full funding, the panel is considering phased increases.

DeVries said she hopes the committee’s recommendations will include a study that can update 2005 figures on the costs necessary for students to meet the state’s academic benchmarks.

The Connecticut Conference

of Municipalities (CCM) also supports an increase in education funding to remove the burden from local governments. A report released by CCM earlier this month stated that 51.4 percent of education costs will be paid by local government, while only 42.9 percent is paid by the state government. According to the U.S. Census, Connecticut relies on property taxes to fund public schools more heavily than any other state. In 1977, the state Supreme Court ruled the state education finance system was funded too heavily by local property taxes.

We need to fix [the ECS] formula once and for all, and we will.

DANNEL MALLOY Governor, Connecticut Thirty-five percent of New Haven’s most recent budget was dedicated to education costs. The state ECS grant provided $153 million towards the total $174 million budgeted for schools.

In order to qualify for the ECS grant, towns cannot cut education funding in the next fiscal year, unless their enrollment has fallen. But even then, a town can only reduce its budget if its schools meet state performance benchmarks.

Kevin Maloney, CCM’s public relations director, said the already underfunded ECS grant program needs increases, not cuts.

Plans to close the budget gap have not been completed yet, said John Noonan, the director of education and workforce programs section at the state’s Office of Policy and Management. He said cuts to programs are a decision for the governor to make.

The budget passed earlier this year increased education funding by nearly $100 million.

Contact CHRISTOPHER PEAK at christopher.peak@yale.edu .

r e c y c l e y o u r y d n d a i l y

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

NEWS

“I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.” MAHATMA GANDHI LEADER, INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT

Knights of Columbus challenged on marriage

BY MONICA DISARE STAFF REPORTER New Haven is at the center of a religiously charged battle over political spending that aims to block marriage equality.

A petition delivered to the Knights of Columbus world headquarters in downtown New Haven last week called for the Catholic service organization to stop spending money to oppose same-sex marriage and instead channel the funds into charitable causes. The petition was circulated by the Catholics United Education Fund, a nonprofit Catholic advocacy group that decided to start the petition after learning that the Knights of Columbus spent more than $6 million opposing same-sex marriage since 2005, including more than $600,000 in the 2012 election. “[The Knights of Columbus is] driving a wedge between our gay brothers and sisters,” said Chris Pumpelly, communications director for Catholics United.

“We don’t think it’s appropriate to spend millions of dollars [opposing gay rights] when there

are people who are hurting.”

The Knights of Columbus responded with a statement that said their first priority is charity, adding that they have donated more than $1.4 billion to charitable causes in the past 10 years.

[It’s not] appropriate to spend millions of dollars [opposing gay rights] when there are people who are hurting.

olics United is concerned that actions like these will drive people away from the church.

The church’s position on LGBT issues has led to struggles for students at Yale.

“I have seen people who like a lot of the aspects of the church but are driven away by these specific issues,” said Lulu Ortiz ’15, an active member of the St. Thomas More community.

Ortiz explained that to dedicated Catholics, taking a stance on these issues is difficult because it requires a re-evaluation their of faith. Most religious people she has observed in her genera-

tion still crave the spirituality of the church, but they would like to see it change its position on social issues, she added.

Polls have shown that Catholics tend to be likelier to support marriage equality than the average American, Pumpelly said. The petition itself began because members of the Knights of Columbus approached Catholics United with concerns about the former organization’s antigay marriage spending, he added.

The petition has now grown to include about 7,500 signatures.

“I would sign it too,” Ortiz said.

“I would try to spend money on

something that is more close to my heart.”

The Knights of Columbus countered the petition with a statement that criticized “dissident Catholic groups” that disagree with church teachings on the issue of gay marriage for their lack of support of Catholic social teaching and “moral issues.”

But Pumpelly said that the Catholic Church is at a crossroads of sorts, he said, and needs to determine what sort of organization it wishes to be. He said he believes the church should focus on spreading peace and hope as opposed to engaging “right-wing

political issues.”

It may be time for the church to grow by discussing these issues, Ortiz said. Questioning the church does not make someone a “bad Catholic,” she said, but actually leads to a discourse that makes the church better and has led to important changes in the past like the church’s view on evolution or the role of women.

The Knights of Columbus headquarters is located at 1 Columbus Plaza in New Haven.

Contact MONICA DISARE at monica.disare@yale.edu .

CHRIS PUMPELLY Communications director, Catholics United While acknowledging that the majority of Knights of Columbus funds do go to charitable causes, Catholics United said that it believes the money spent fighting same-sex marriage should instead be channeled to those in need. In addition to criticizing the Knights of Columbus’ funding a controversial cause, Cath-

BY THE NUMBERS KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE $6 million+

Amount the Knights of Columbus has spent since 2005 opposing same-sex marriage

$600,000+ 7,500

Amount the Knights of Columbus spent opposing same-sex marriage in the 2012 election cycle Number of people who have signed the petition

HYUNG MEE LIM/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Catholic organization Knights of Columbus is facing pressure to stop spending money to oppose same-sex marriage.

Spanish theater builds community

BY MARGARET NEIL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER “El Monte Calvo,” a Spanish play opening this weekend, is bringing together Yale and New Haven audiences through common appreciation of the language.

The play is the second event of the new 2012 Latin American Theater Series, a collaboration between The Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at the MacMillan Center and the Yale Department of Spanish and Portuguese that is funded by a Title VI grant from the United States Department of Education. Directed by Spanish professor Bárbara Safille, “El Monte Calvo” will be performed entirely in Spanish by three Spanish professors.

Putting on Latin American Theater at Yale is to me about catering to an underserved population.

MARIANA ARJONA-SOBERÓN ’13 Producer and assistant director, “El Monte Calvo”

HENRY EHRENBERG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“El Monte Calvo,” which opens this weekend, will be performed entirely in Spanish by three of Yale’s faculty members.

Although the cast and director are faculty members, the crew is comprised entirely of students, and the production team hopes that more students will become involved as the series continues, Mariana Arjona-Soberón ’13, the show’s producer and assistant director, said in an email. In the past, Safille has led theater workshops for students that culminate in the production of a play, as with last semester’s “La Hija Del Capitán.”

“The experience was completely different from any other play I’ve been in, and I definitely wish there were more opportunities to explore theater in Spanish at Yale,” Alexander Caron ’14, who was involved in Safille’s workshop last semester, said in an email.

The Latin American Theater Series attempts to deepen the oncampus presence of theater performed in Spanish, CLAIS project manager Jean Silk said, adding that the series will continue as long as

the Title VI grant remains in effect.

Theater in Spanish helps students develop their proficiency in the language and expands the scope of Yale’s theater scene beyond the traditional Western canon, she added. Silk, Safille and ArjonaSoberón all said they hope the series will reach beyond Yale’s borders to the greater New Haven and Connecticut communities.

“There is quite a large Spanish-speaking population, both at Yale and in New Haven,” ArjonaSoberón said. “Putting on Latin American Theater at Yale is to me about catering to an underserved population in the area and also really taking advantage of the diversity of people that we have here.”

Yale plays a central role in providing the New Haven community with access to the arts due to the faculty’s wealth of expertise, said Silk, who had already worked with Hispanic theater initiatives in New Haven through the León Sister Project, which seeks to educate New Haven locals about Nicaraguan culture.

Written by Colombian playwright Jairo Anibal Niño, the play revolves around two bums, who are veterans of the Korean War. As they wait in a train station for their army colonel to rescue them, they discuss the war, hunger and elephants. Once the colonel does come, the train station transforms into a military base.

Arjona-Soberón said the play addresses topics that are often difficult to speak about, but are relevant to the life of any war veteran, such as mental illness, privilege, education and hunger.

“The characters in the play are Colombian veterans of the Korean War, but the themes perfectly target any veteran,” Safille said in an email.

Safille added that she was motivated to produce the play by her concern for the thousands of veterans who have been coming home and will confront similar issues as they readjust to civilian life.

“El Monte Calvo” will be performed Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. in the Jonathan Edwards College Theater.

Contact MARGARET NEIL at margaret.neil@yale.edu .

PAGE 6

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

NEWS

“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow.” ANAÏS NIN FRENCH-BORN AUTHOR

State offers mortgage clinics

BY TIANYI PAN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Homeowners faced with potential foreclosures headed to Waterbury Wednesday hoping to retain their homes, but solutions may be hard to find.

The Connecticut Department of Banking organized its fourth free mortgage assistance event yesterday at the Waterbury con-

ference center. The event brought together representatives from major banks — including Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo — housing counselors and homeowners from across the state to discuss solutions to prevent foreclosure.

“We’ve created a forum where people can sit down with a single point of contact,” said Howard Pitkin, commissioner of the Con-

necticut Department of Banking.

“We hope that the highest number of people possible can reach an agreement with their banks and keep their homes [through this event].”

Options available to homeowners include interest rate reduction, modification of general terms and principal reduction. It is important that people sit down with their mortgage

holders, “one-on-one, faceto-face,” and try to work out the solutions, Pitkin said.

While Pitkin said Bridgeport has been hit hardest by foreclosure, New Haven has also witnessed high foreclosure filings since 2008.

Though foreclosure rates are holding steady or dropping nationwide, Karah Johnson, project coordinator at New

GRAPH CONNECTICUT FORECLOSURES BY COUNTY

high foreclosure rate

1500 1200 900

low foreclosure rate

600 300 0

Fairfield

Hartford

Litchfield

Middlesex

New London

New Haven

Tolland

Windham

Haven ROOF, a nonprofit organization committed to foreclosure prevention, said that foreclosures have actually increased in New Haven from the first to third quarter this year.

The root of the problem, Pitkin and Johnson agreed, lies in the high Connecticut unemployment rate, which has hovered at 9 percent, over a point more than the national average of 7.9 percent.

As a result of such high unemployment, Pitkin said, people at the mortgage assistance event may feel obliged to give up their homes.

“People reach the decision that they have to find alternative housing. And that is not an easy decision,” Pitkin said.

For homeowners to avoid losing their homes, housing experts like Johnson suggest that anyone who might be at risk of foreclosure should meet with housing counselors, many of whom provide advice and help to underwater homeowners for free.

Foreclosure prevention may be a very confusing process, and homeowners need the help of counselors to see the big picture, Johnson said.

“These [events] are great resources,” she said, “but only if individuals go in with all the information that’s needed from them.”

In fact, according to Johnson, 85 percent of homeowners who went to a housing counselor have come to some sort of resolution and were able to keep their homes.

Pitkin agrees that the more prepared homeowners are, the more likely they will see a good outcome at the event. Some homeowners start the mortgage renegotiation process at events

like the one held Wednesday, he said, and follow up with later meetings with their banks.

But Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund Executive Director Carla Weil said she believes that the event, while effective at raising awareness among homeowners as to where they may seek assistance, may be less helpful in reaching solutions.

We hope that the highest number of people possible can reach an agreement with their banks and keep their homes [through this event].

HOWARD PITKIN Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Banking “There’s not a lot of resolution that happens at the event,” Weil said. “But these events have been getting more effective and betterorganized.”

Even if homeowners missed Wednesday’s mortgage assistance event, Pitkin said, the Connecticut Department of Banking has regular office hours committed to helping homeowners with foreclosure prevention and financial issues in general.

According to California-based realty company RealtyTrac, one in every 700 housing units received a foreclosure notice in October 2012.

Contact TIANYI PAN at tianyi.pan@yale.edu .

Religious leader Student technology harnesses turbine data mulls education

BY APSARA IYER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

BY PAYAL MARATHE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, challenged conservatism when he traveled to the Vatican in 2007 to launch an initiative for dialogue between religious leaders, according to Bawa Jain.

Jain, secretary-general of the World Council of Religious Leaders, cited Abdullah’s meeting as an example of religious diplomacy during a lecture yesterday afternoon before an audience of nearly 40 Yale undergraduates and Divinity School students. At the event, organized by the Yale International Relations Association, Jain presented his strategy to improve religious diplomacy and invited students to discuss the consequences of religion in politics and society. Jain said he thinks better educating young religious leaders as well as the general public is the key to fostering constructive religious dialogues.

“What we seek in our plans for religious diplomacy is getting [religious] leaders to come together and work on social issues,” Jain said.

Religious figures have a strong political influence that transcends national boundaries, he said, adding that they are often more popular than politicians — when the pope makes an announcement, for example, Catholics around the globe listen. Jain said he works closely with the U.N. secretarygeneral, and he gears his plans toward making religion relevant to young people’s lives as part of a larger effort focusing on education.

He said he hopes to bring young religious leaders to universities such as Harvard and Yale to train them in management, government, social media and social issues.

“Religious leaders function as CEOs, taking care of investments and looking over huge societies, so imagine how much more efficient they would be if they were given formal training in management,” Jain said.

“They have enormous influence on government leaders, so

imagine how much more efficient they would be if they were given political background.”

If the leaders are properly educated, they can act as powerful advocates for issues concerning society and the environment, he said. In addition, he said, religion must keep up with technological developments in social media to convey its core messages. Jain offered suggestions for the way dialogue should proceed between religious leaders, saying that leaders should discuss social issues instead of theology, and that cross-religious cooperation should be the overarching goal.

Jain also outlined plans to extend religious education to school curricula. Students should learn basic information about major religions, such as when holidays occur, he said, to develop a stronger mutual understanding.

“How can we relate to each other if we don’t know what is sacred to each other?” Jain asked.

But three students interviewed expressed skepticism about implementing religious teachings in the American public school system, since some people consider discussing religious ideas around children contrary to the nature of secular education.

Still, audience members said they agreed with Jain’s idea that education is “where it all starts.” Rudi-Ann Miller ’16, who is originally from Jamaica, said Jamaican students at her school are tested each year on four major religions and one smaller religion so they learn to understand different groups of people.

“In Jamaica, this sort of education was a really big part of our primary schooling and I think we did benefit,” Rudi-Ann Miller ’16 said.

In addition to working with the World Council of Religious Leaders, Jain travels around the world to speak on religious diplomacy and his commitment to peace.

Contact PAYAL MARATHE at payal.marathe@yale.edu .

As the blades of the wind turbine, perched at the top of Kenya’s Mount Ekialo Kiona, began to turn, Joseph Belter GRD ’15 watched hours of lab work whir to life.

Belter discussed the creation of his “Bit-Harvesters” system at a talk Wednesday afternoon held at the Center for Engineering, Innovation and Design. Earlier this year, he designed the electronic system that collects current and voltage data from wind turbines and sends it via text message to local turbine users. The data allows locals to monitor their energy use. This information is also used by Access:Energy, a company which designs the turbines, to determine product efficiency and make improvements if necessary.

Belter’s Bit-Harvesters design grew out of a collaboration with Harrison Leaf GRD ’12, cofounder of Access:Energy, for a project in their mechanical engineering course “Appropriate Technology in the Developing World.” The course’s focus on the

use and transport of electricity in the developing world led them to discuss Access:Energy, a group that helps local Kenyan artisans manufacture electricity-generating wind turbines from found metal and parts. The two collaborated with Access:Energy to install three Bit-Harvesters in Kenya this summer.

“The course offered an environment where these two students with very different backgrounds and training were able to come together to create a longlasting relationship that would extend outside the classroom,” said Joseph Zinter, CEID assistant director and one of the course’s instructors.

Belter’s system allows users to sift through a large volume of real-time data — since installing the application in June, Access:Energy has received constant data updates from the turbines every three seconds.

The data showed Access:Energy that on average the turbines produced approximately 60 percent of their expected power. Since evaluating the data, Access:Energy has adjusted the blade size and length

of the turbine tails.

Using the data, the group can better determine where to build future turbines that will yield the most power given the local wind conditions. The information has also helped facilitate turbine maintenance and repair.

“If we get a call that a turbine has stopped working, we can immediately go into the data and see if the current and voltage stopped suddenly or whether a new part is needed,” Belter said.

“It saves the time of traveling out to the site, finding out the problem, returning to the workshop for the exact part or tool, and then going back.”

Beyond helping Access:Energy increase the efficiency of its six turbines, the data also allowed users to get a sense of the amount of energy they used.

Belter recalled setting up the monitor for a turbine on Kenya’s Rusinga Island. After the box displaying the data was placed in a local’s house, Belter said he followed the man around as he turned on various appliances and saw their energy usage.

“Just by having him see the amount of energy he was using in

real time, it gave him a little more perspective on how he should allocate the power that he has,” Belter said.

The CEID has been increasingly focused on developing technologies for assisting in worldwide community development, said CEID Director Eric Dufresne.

These sorts of projects allow students to go beyond a purely theoretical perspective and consider the human aspect while designing, he added.

Alex Carillo ’16 said Belter’s talk made him recognize engineering’s capacity to provide a social impact.

“A lot of my interest in engineering was in building really cool things, but increasingly at Yale I’m beginning to understand that you can build things that solve problems,” Carillo said.

“This talk showed me you could build things that are fun to implement but also maximize utility.”

The three Bit-Harvesters were named after the planeteers from Captain Planet — Linka, Wheeler and Kwame.

Contact APSARA IYER at apsara.iyer@yale.edu .

HENRY EHRENBERG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Joseph Belter GRD ’15 developed a new technology this summer that facilitates access to wind turbine data.

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

BULLETIN BOARD

TODAY’S FORECAST Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. West wind 5 to 9 mph.

Low of 29.

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

High of 41, low of 32.

High of 45, low of 39.

NUTTIN’ TO LOSE BY DEANDRA TAN

ON CAMPUS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 5:00 PM Nikos Kakavoulis on Entrepreneurship and Daily Secret The Yale Hellenic Society and the Yale Entrepreneurial Society are sponsoring a talk and dinner with Nikos Kakavoulis, Greek entrepreneur and self-proclaimed “multitasking aficionado.”

Mr. Kakavoulis, a veteran in online startups, will talk about his venture capital-backed company Daily Secret, the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship in Greece and the U.S., and the greatest ride of his life: fundraising. Some of Mr. Kakavoulis’ past projects have included DailySecret, SocialCaddy and Sweetlifer.

William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St.), Room 207.

THAT MONKEY TUNE BY MICHAEL KANDALAFT

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30 3:30 PM “Singapore Today — Opposition Perspectives” Panelists include Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party and Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretarygeneral of the Reform Party of Singapore. Sponsored by the Yale International Relations Association and the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale. Open to the general public. SSS (1 Prospect St.), Room 114.

4:00 PM “Documenting the Voices of Vanishing Worlds” Mark Turin will talk about the challenges faced by small-scale societies whose oral speech forms are increasingly at risk of disappearing without record. Free and open to the general public.

Kline Biology Tower (219 Prospect St.), Study Room South.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 6:30 PM Film Cultures Colloquium and Screening Series Features two Italian films: the 1945 “Rome, Open City,” directed

by Roberto Rossellini, and the 1948 “Bicycle Thieves,” directed by Vittorio De Sica. Supported by the Barbakow Fund for Innovative Film Programs at Yale. Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St.), Auditorium.

DOONESBURY BY GARRY TRUDEAU

y SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS ONLINE yaledailynews.com/events/submit WATSON BY JIM HOROWITZ

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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

CLASSIFIEDS

CROSSWORDEdited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis ACROSS 1 Early sunscreen ingredient 5 “Let’s get goin’!”

9 Put __ act 13 Tater 14 Hard to believe 15 Wine quality 16 Campground sound #1 19 Devilish toon 20 Maine-et-Loire mate 21 In-crowds 23 Campground sound #2 27 Curt refusal 29 Hot time in Maine-et-Loire 30 Renaissance painter __ Angelico 31 Like a spot in “Macbeth” 33 Pac-12 team 35 “Pretty Woman” co-songwriter 37 Some comedy sketches 42 Nov. voting time 44 Streaker in a shower 45 Remote power sources 48 City near Yorba Linda 50 Track contests 51 Campground sound #3 55 “Honor Thy Father” author 56 Sargasso Sea spawner 57 Forest’s 2006 Oscar-winning role 60 Campground sound #4 64 “__ baby!”

65 Swimmer with pups 66 POTUS backup 67 Hightail it 68 Pays (for) 69 West Point team DOWN 1 Subtle “Over here ...”

2 Polynesian capital 3 WWII German missile nickname

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11/29/12

By James Sajdak

4 Log shaper 5 Mount Everest?

6 Capital on the island of Luzon 7 Texter’s “Holy cow!”

8 Mario Brothers console 9 16 oz.

10 Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown song covered on “Glee” 11 Desires from 12 “Iliad” wise man 17 Blood typing, e.g.

18 Wrestling pair 22 Calypso offshoot 24 Years in old Rome 25 Chit 26 Crunch source 27 Promise before a parson 28 Hawk’s cause 32 British travel feature, in the past?

34 Clean and then some 36 Philip __: 16thcentury Italian saint

Want to place a classified ad?

Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

38 __-Tass 39 Pass target 40 Fair-hiring abbr.

41 Many AARP mems.

43 Rep. counterpart 45 Play a part, or play part 46 Genesis mountain 47 Heel-click follower

SUDOKU ROUGH

11/29/12

49 Dating stumbling block, perhaps 52 Jai alai basket 53 Pollux or Arcturus, to an astronomer 54 Brings down 58 Judge 59 Cosby/Culp TV series 61 www access 62 Revivalist’s prefix 63 Actress Gardner

6 2 5 8 4 3 9 3 7 6 9 4 8 5 8 3 9 7 4 7 4 2 5 5 8 9

PAGE 8

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT Levin keeps control

Contact JULIA ZORTHIAN at julia.zorthian@yale.edu .

PHILOSOPHER

Yale model reconsidered ARMS RACE FROM PAGE 1

LEVIN PLANS FROM PAGE 1 constituencies on and off campus in order to hear “people’s hopes and aspirations for Yale’s future.”

Depending on when the next provost can step into the position, he or she may take office before Salovey assumes the presidency, Salovey said.

“Technically, [I become president] June 30, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to wait until then,” Salovey said on Nov. 16.

Once the new provost is in place, Salovey will meet with Yale’s constituencies “more or less full time.” He added on Nov. 16 that he does not know how long the process of selecting a new provost will take.

In the meantime, Salovey is starting to meet donors to prepare to participate in fundraising efforts, Levin said, adding that Salovey will be meeting with many donors before he officially takes the reins of the University.

Yale historian Gaddis Smith ’54 GRD ’61 said he does not expect Salovey to be vocal about any major decisions before he steps into the office, adding that he thinks his and Levin’s positive relationship will continue this year.

“I don’t think that incoming presidents are likely to be outspoken with an incumbent president still in office,” Smith said.

“It isn’t quite as ruthless as it can be in the White House.”

Penelope Laurans, master of Jonathan Edwards College and special assistant to the president, said Levin and Salovey will use their relationship as close colleagues to make a smooth transition in leadership.

Levin announced he would step down as president on Aug. 30.

“Our incomes are like our shoes: If too small, they gall and pinch us, but if too large, they cause us to stumble and to trip.” JOHN LOCKE BRITISH

JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Provost Peter Salovey (top) will assume University President Richard Levin’s position on June 30, 2013.

ference in September about how the recession affected higher education. The authors said their findings have received a positive response, and several economists and finance experts interviewed said the report’s explanation for the shift to alternative, illiquid assets and away from public equities is logically sound, though they added that it remains to be seen whether the shift will be beneficial for universities in the years ahead.

The Investments Office has increased its allocation toward alternative asset classes — such as private equity, real estate and hedge funds — over the past two decades to almost 90 percent of Yale’s target investment portfolio today. In the same period, Yale’s endowment has grown from $2.8 billion to $19.3 billion under Swensen’s leadership, delivering an average return of 10.6 percent over the past 10 fiscal years.

But experts said universities with smaller endowments that have shifted toward alternative assets and away from public equities have not seen as much success.

“Professor Swensen’s insight worked beautifully when endowment managers were able to find inefficient markets,” said Charlton Reynders, a financial advisor with Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, referring to the process through which investment managers identify and exploit situations where assets are under- or overvalued. “When everybody started investing in the same opportunities, however, markets very suddenly became more efficient as more dollars chased the very same opportunities.”

Swensen declined to comment for this article, but other finance experts interviewed agreed that the alternative asset category has become overcrowded and that

universities are unlikely to see the high returns that were initially possible. Hedge funds, in particular, have done poorly since the financial downturn.

Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist of New Yorkbased investment bank Brown Brothers Harriman, said alternative assets are theoretically a good investment option for schools with large endowments because they can afford to have the best managers and to trade liquidity for better returns later on. But experts agreed that many of the schools that jumped on the bandwagon of alternative strategies did not have access to the best managers and did not have large enough endowments to withstand the risks of the Yale model and thus found themselves without enough liquidity during the recession.

Oster and Goetzmann’s report sheds light on how these universities got in over their heads.

“There is certainly a powerful ‘herd mentality’ in institutional money management,” said Clemons. “In the same way that Yale wants to beat Harvard on the football field, they want to beat them on the endowment field too.”

The report arranges universities into groups based on the caliber of prospective students and provides evidence to support the hypothesis that universities keep the closest watch on the schools that are competing for the same students. Oster and Goetzmann’s data show that when one school makes an investment decision — such as the decision to switch to another school’s investment model — its peers tend to follow suit for fear of losing their position in the hierarchy. Because of the competition between universities, the report observed that universities lose out even when their endowments remain stable if another university’s endow-

ment spikes in value.

“If the real value of Harvard’s endowment doubles in the next 10 years, and Yale’s remains flat, Yale will no longer be able to compete for the same quality of students that it attracted earlier,” the report explains, characterizing the data as suggestive of an endowment “arms race.”

But experts said it is too soon to know whether the shift toward alternative assets will be seen as a mistake in the future.

After getting hit hard in the recession, Harvard has reconsidered its reliance on alternative strategies and has taken steps in the past three years to make its investments less illiquid, said William Jarvis ’77, managing director of the Wilton, Conn. investment firm the Commonfund Institute.

“With perfect hindsight we and most other investors would have started this year in a more liquid position and with less exposure to some of the alternative asset categories that were hardest hit during FY 2009,” said Jane Mendillo, president and chief executive officer of the Harvard Management Company, in a 2009 report.

Still, Swensen made it clear in a 2009 interview with the News that Yale is staying the course, when he said the financial crisis had not altered his investment strategy at all.

Experts agreed that endowment managers nationwide are struggling. Reynders said the best managers will always be able to find obscure opportunities, even in the crowded sector of alternative assets, though he said most institutions should be investing elsewhere.

The University posted a 4.7 percent return on its investments in the most recent fiscal year.

Contact SOPHIE GOULD at sophie.gould@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 9

NATION

“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” RALPH WALDO EMERSON LEADER OF THE MID-19TH CENTURY TRANSCENDENTALIST MOVEMENT

Campuses still pot free

Obama prepares to avoid cliff

BY DAVID ESPO ASSOCIATED PRESS

ELAINE THOMPSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

University of Washington students walk on the campus between classes in Seattle. While marijuana use is about to become legal in Washington and Colorado, that won’t mean it will be welcome at the states’ colleges and universities.

BY NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS ASSOCIATED PRESS SPOKANE, Wash. — Young voters helped pass laws legalizing marijuana in Washington and Colorado, but many still won’t be able to light up.

Most universities have codes of conduct banning marijuana use, and they get millions of dollars in funding from the federal government, which still considers pot illegal.

With the money comes a requirement for a drug-free campus, and the threat of expulsion for students using pot in the dorms.

“Everything we’ve seen is that nothing changes for us,” said Darin Watkins, a spokesman for Washington State University in Pullman.

So despite college cultures that include pot-smoking demonstrations each year on April 20, students who want to use marijuana will have to do so off campus.

“The first thing you think of when you think of legalized marijuana is college students smoking it,” said Anna Marum, a Washington State senior from Kelso, Wash. “It’s ironic that all 21-year-olds in Washington can smoke marijuana except for college students.”

Voters in November made Wash-

ington and Colorado the first states to allow adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, and exit polling showed both measures had significant support from younger people.

Taxes could bring the states, which can set up licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores, tens or hundreds of millions of dollars a year, financial analysts say.

It’s ironic that all 21-yearolds in Washington can smoke marijuana except for college students.

ANNA MARUM Senior, Washington State University But the laws are fraught with complications, especially at places like college campuses. At Washington State, students who violate the code face a variety of punishments, up to expulsion, Watkins said. The same is true at the University of Colorado Boulder, where the student code of conduct prohibits possessing, cultivating

or consuming illegal drugs.

“If you possess marijuana and are over 21, you still may face discipline under the student code of conduct,” University of Colorado police spokesman Ryan Huff said.

Gary Gasseling, deputy chief of the Eastern Washington University police department, said that while they await guidance from the state Liquor Control Board, which is creating rules to govern pot, one thing is clear.

“The drug-free environment is going to remain in place,” he said.

Even if conduct codes did not exist, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, another key reason that campuses will remain cannabis-free.

The Drug Free Schools and Communities Act requires that any university receiving federal funds adopt a program to prevent use of illicit drugs by students and employees, much in the same way other federal funding for law enforcement and transportation comes with clauses stipulating that recipients maintain drug-free workplaces.

Washington State, for instance, receives millions in federal research funds each year, which prohibits them from allowing substances illegal under federal law on campus.

WASHINGTON — The White House and a key congressional Democrat hinted at fresh concessions on taxes and cuts to Medicare and other government benefit programs Wednesday as bargaining with Republicans lurched ahead to avoid the year-end “fiscal cliff” that threatens to send the economy into a tailspin.

Increasing numbers of rank-andfile Republicans also said they were ready to give ground, a boost for House Speaker John Boehner and other party leaders who say they will agree to higher tax revenues as part of a deal if it also curbs benefit programs as a way to rein in federal deficits.

“I’ll go anywhere and I’ll do whatever it takes to get this done,” President Barack Obama said as he sought to build pressure on Republicans to accept his terms — a swift renewal of expiring tax cuts for all but the highest income earners. “It’s too important for Washington to screw this up,” he declared.

For all the talk, there was no sign

of tangible progress on an issue that marks a first test for divided government since elections that assured Obama a second term in the White House while renewing Republican control in the House.

“It’s time for the president and Democrats to get serious about the spending problem that our country has,” Boehner said at a news conference in the Capitol. He, like Obama, expressed optimism that a deal could be reached.

At the same time, he publicly disagreed with one GOP lawmaker, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who said he was ready to go along with Obama’s plan to renew most but not all of the expiring income tax cuts. “It’ll hurt the economy” to raise rates for anyone, said Boehner.

Separately, at a closed-door meeting with the rank and file, the speaker told fellow Republicans they are on solid political ground in refusing to let tax rates rise. He circulated polling data showing the public favors closing loopholes to raise revenue far more than it supports raising rates on incomes over $250,000.

JACQUELYN MARTIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, left, walks with Chevron CEO John Watson, as business leaders leave the West Wing of the White House after meeting with President Barack Obama.

PAGE 10

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

WORLD

“Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.” ROBERT FROST FROM HIS POEM “FIRE AND ICE”

Palestinians lobby the UN

BY KARIN LAUB AND DALIA NAMMARI ASSOCIATED PRESS RAMALLAH, West Bank — The expected U.N. vote Thursday to recognize a state of Palestine will be far more than symbolic — it could give the Palestinians leverage in future border talks with Israel and open the way for possible war crimes charges against the Jewish state.

The Palestinians want the 193-member General Assembly to accept “Palestine,” on the lands Israel occupied in 1967, as a nonmember observer state. They anticipate broad support.

For Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the U.N. bid is a lastditch attempt to stay relevant as a leader after years of failed peace talks with Israel, at a time when his Islamic militant Hamas rivals are gaining ground.

The U.S. and Israel have tried to block the quest for U.N. recognition of Palestine, saying it’s an attempt to bypass Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that broke down four years ago.

The U.S. deputy secretary of state, William Burns, met with Abbas in New York on Wednesday, asking Abbas again to drop the idea and promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat. Abbas told Burns it was too late.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said U.N. recognition of an independent Palestine won’t help to reach a lasting two-state peace agreement and stressed that the “path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York.”

Israel, meanwhile, appeared to back away from threats of drastic measures if the Palestinians get U.N. approval, with officials suggesting the government would take steps only if the Palestinians use their new status to act against Israel.

The Palestinians say they need

Arctic Sea ice larger than US melted this year

BY MICHAEL CASEY ASSOCIATED PRESS

FRANK FRANKLIN II/ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at U.N. headquarters on Wednesday.

U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967, to be able to resume negotiations with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s predecessors accepted the 1967 lines as a basis for border talks, with modifications to be negotiated, including land swaps that would enable Israel to annex some of the largest Jewish settlements. Those talks did not produce a deal, and the sides remained apart on other key issues.

Netanyahu rejects the 1967 lines as starting point while pressing ahead with settlement construction, leaving Abbas little incentive to resume negotiations. Israel goes to elections in January, and polls indicate Netanyahu has a strong chance of winning.

Israel argues that Abbas is trying to dictate the outcome of border talks by going to the U.N., though the recognition request presented to the world body calls for a quick resumption of negotiations on all core issues of the conflict, including borders.

It’s not clear if negotiations could resume even if Obama, freed from the constraints of his re-election campaign, can turn his attention to the Mideast conflict.

Abbas aides have given conflicting accounts of whether Abbas, once armed with global backing for the 1967 borders, will return to negotiations without an Israeli settlement freeze. About half a million Israelis have settled on war-won land.

A construction stop is unlikely, even more so after hawks in Netanyahu’s Likud Party scored major gains in primaries this week.

DOHA, Qatar — An area of Arctic sea ice bigger than the United States melted this year, according the U.N. weather agency, which said the dramatic decline illustrates that climate change is happening “before our eyes.”

In a report released at U.N. climate talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, the World Meteorological Organization said the Arctic ice melt was one of a myriad of extreme and record-breaking weather events to hit the planet in 2012. Droughts devastated nearly two-thirds of the United States as well western Russia and southern Europe. Floods swamped west Africa and heat waves left much of the Northern Hemisphere sweltering.

But it was the ice melt that seemed to dominate the annual climate report, with the U.N. concluding ice cover had reached “a new record low” in the area around the North Pole and that the loss from March to September was a staggering 4.57 million square miles — an area bigger than the United States.

“The alarming rate of its melt this year highlighted the far-reaching changes taking place on Earth’s oceans and biosphere,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. “Climate change is taking place before our eyes and will continue to do so as a result of the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which have risen constantly and again reached new records.”

The dire climate news — following on the heels of a report Tuesday that found melting permafrost could significantly amplify global warming — comes as delegates from nearly 200 countries struggled for a third day to lay the groundwork for a deal that would cut emissions in an attempt to ensure that temperatures don’t rise more than 3.6 degrees F over what they were in preindustrial times. Temperatures have already risen about 1.4 degrees F, according to the latest report by the IPCC.

Discord between rich and poor countries on who should do what has kept the two-decade-old U.N. talks from delivering on that goal, and global emissions are still going up.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, urged delegates to heed the science and quickly take action.

Climate change is taking place before our eyes.

MICHEL JARRAUD Secretary-general, World Meteorological Organization “When I had the privilege in 2007 of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, in my speech I asked the rhetorical question, ‘Will those responsible for decisions in the field of climate change at the global level listen to the voice of science and knowledge, which is now loud and clear?’” he said.

“I am not sure our voice is louder today but it is certainly clearer on the basis of the new knowledge.”

Delegates in Doha are bickering over money from rich countries to help poorer ones adapt to and combat the impacts of climate change, and whether developed countries will sign onto an extension of a legally binding emissions pact, the Kyoto Protocol, that would run until 2020.

A pact that once incorporated all industrialized countries except the United States would now include only the European Union, Australia and several smaller countries which together account for less than 15 percent of global emissions. And the United States is refusing to offer any bolder commitments to cut its emissions beyond a non-binding pledge to reduce emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 11

SPORTS

“You just try to play tough and focus point for point. Sounds so boring, but it’s the right thing to do out there.”

RAFAEL NADAL, TENNIS PLAYER

Elis prep for tournament VOLLEYBALL FROM PAGE 12 ment in the last nine seasons after earning the Ivy League’s automatic bid. The Elis won their firstround matches against Albany and Ohio University in 2004 and 2008, respectively, before losing in the second round, and fell to USC, the seventh seed overall, in last year’s tournament.

Their opponent this year, Bowling Green (21–10, 13–3 MAC), won the Mid-American Conference championship and earned its automatic NCAA berth with a 3–2 victory over Northern Illinois on Nov. 18. This year will be the Falcons’ first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1991, when the team fell to Wisconsin 3–0 in the contest’s opening round. Wessels said she thinks that Yale’s experience in last year’s NCAA tournament gives the Bulldogs an advantage.

“I think just having the experience of playing in front of big crowds really helps,” she said. “And for the girls on our team that haven’t had that experience, they won’t be as distracted as they might be.”

This year’s postseason appearance marks the end of a serious turnaround for Bowling Green.

From 2009–2011, the Falcons went just 13–35 in MAC play, including an abysmal 2–14 performance in 2010.

A large and talented junior class has fueled Bowling Green’s recent resurgence. The Falcons’ roster consists of seven juniors, six of whom have appeared in over 100 sets this season, and no freshmen. A junior leads the team in every significant statistical category, including kills, assists, blocks, digs and service aces.

Head coach Erin Appleman said that the Falcons are a tough firstround matchup.

“Bowling Green is a very good team from what little we’ve seen of them,” Appleman said. “They’re athletic, strong, physical and they

COLUMN FROM PAGE 12

PHILIPP ARNDT/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Outside hitter Mollie Rogers ’15 was named first team All-Ivy for the second straight year. have a lot of experience.”

Leading the Falcons is junior left side hitter Paige Penrod, who finished third in the Mid-American Conference in kills per set with 3.85.

Penrod is capable of monster performances and has posted over 25 kills twice this season. Against Indiana on Sept. 1, Penrod hit 26 kills on a .296 hitting percentage to lead the Falcons to a 3–1 win. To go along with a powerful arm, Penrod is a talented server. The Circleville, Ohio native finished second in the conference with .32 service aces per set this season.

As usual, Yale will look to setters

Kendall Polan ’14 and Kelly Johnson ’16 to lead the way offensively. Polan, who was named Ivy League Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, finished in the top 10 in the Ivy League in both assists and digs while Johnson, the conference’s Rookie of the Year, finished eighth in kills and ninth in assists.

Together, the two will try to continue the form that helped make Yale one of the top offensive teams in the nation this season. The Bulldogs ended the year ranked second in the country in kills per set and third in assists per set with 14.9 and 13.9, respectively.

But Bowling Green will pose a challenge to Yale’s hitters. The Falcons, led by middle blocker Kaitlyn Skinner’s 1.19 blocks per set, were the third-best defensive team at the net in the MAC this season.

If Yale manages to take down Bowling Green, they will move on to play the winner of another firstround matchup between No. 1 Penn State and Binghamton in the second round. That match would be played on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Contact KEVIN KUCHARSKI at kevin.kucharski@yale.edu .

Bobcats too strong for Elis W. BASKEBALL FROM PAGE 12 “When playing in very passionate games like tonight’s, we need to set our emotions aside, stop getting down and just push through,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez, Halejian and Amanda Tyson ’14 led the scoring for the Elis with 11 points apiece. Halejian has been the leading scorer for the team so far this season with an average of 14.2 points per game.

The Bulldogs were unable to stop the strong Bobcat offense, led by a 16-point performance from Felicia Barron. Quinnipiac boasted four players in double-digit scoring and ran a fast-paced offense.

“They had a fast pace but that’s what we want to do, need to be able to do,” Messimer said. “That shouldn’t have been a negative for us at all.”

Going into the game, the Elis had beaten the Bobcats in the previous three contests held at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The win for Quinnipiac leaves the team undefeated after four games this season.

“We have to just put this game behind us because there is a quick turnaround,” Vasquez said. “It’s what we have to do a lot of the time in Ivy play and it’s what we have to do now.”

The Bulldogs will travel to take on Army Saturday in search of their first road win of the season.

Contact SARAH ONORATO at sarah.onorato@yale.edu .

ANNELISA LEINBACH/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Bobcats bested the Elis in steals with 11 takeaways in the half compared to only four for Yale.

Men’s hockey develops confidence M. HOCKEY FROM PAGE 12 direct result of their focus. But the Bulldogs also attribute their wins against nationally ranked opponents to the team’s philosophy both on and off the ice of always thinking only about the game ahead of them.

“We try to approach the game the same way and play our style of fastpaced, physical play,” said leading point-getter Kenny Agostino ’14, who had the game winner against Denver last Friday.

Five players said that the in-your-

Video games unhinged

face, aggressive, speedy and hightempo style the Elis try to implement every game has won them some of their most important victories. Laganiere said that some of the teams they have played, including No. 2 Denver and No. 18 Colorado College, try to slow the game down and play more strategically. By keeping the pace up, the Bulldogs try to force the opposition to play Yale-style hockey.

This fast play also helps the Bulldogs gain momentum throughout the game. For example, despite Saint Lawrence dominating puck possession in the first period, the Bulldogs

kept playing the body and outskating the Saints, eventually putting them in a position to win.

While the attitude and approach the Elis have taken to every game have brought them success this season, captain Andrew Miller ’13 said the Bulldogs have taken steps to develop their game-by-game attitude as a team.

With some time off last weekend, Miller said the Bulldogs were able to work on systems but also take time to develop their team mentality. While it is common for the team to eat or catch a movie together, the ropes course

offered something more for the team.

“It was refreshing,” Laganiere said.

“It was a trust thing.”

As a result of the success the Elis have had so far this season, they have developed some confidence. Forward Jesse Root ’14 said that beating a good team, whether they are ranked or not, gives the team confidence..

“We have shown ourselves that we can compete with the best teams in the country,” Miller said.

Contact ASHTON WACKYM at ashton.wackym@yale.edu .

bly blow the coverage and give up the touchdown.

By the fourth quarter, the score was somehow 45–37 in favor of the Vikings. Mark was driving with a minute left, and Rodgers quickly spiraled a touchdown pass to make it 45–43 with the clock ticking below 20 seconds. Time for a two-point conversion try.

At this point, Tom and I were tired of all the scoring. We didn’t want to go to overtime. Time to make things interesting — why not draw penalties until Mark simply gave up?

As Rodgers would line up in the shotgun or under center for the two-point try, my friend and I would take control of two linemen and move across the line of scrimmage, positioning ourselves right next to an unsuspecting Aaron Rodgers. The offsides flag would be thrown as soon the ball was snapped, but it didn’t matter, because we would immediately discount double-check Rodgers into the turf. Because “Madden 11” makes you accept or decline a penalty, Mark always had two choices: accept the penalty and try again, or decline and kick off. It had to be an offsides penalty after the snap — if we accidentally bumped into a Packer on our way across the line of scrimmage, we’d draw encroachment and Mark’s only choice would be to try again.

THE VIRTUAL CINCINNATI FANS COULDN’T WAIT FOR THIS … MATCHUP Our goal? To make Mark give up out of frustration and either kick off or go for the PAT. Either way, he’d still be behind to the mighty Vikings. This went on for nearly 30 minutes — Mark must have tried for the end zone more than 40 times. You know how things like this can end up happening: a combination of egos, a slightly insane need to see our goal to fruition and an absurd desire to win a meaningless game of Madden.

Over and over again Rodgers was sent careening into the grass, and over and over again, the unperturbed pixelated officials sent us back to the line of scrimmage. Favre was content to stand on the sideline and send some special cellphone pics while the defense took care of the hard work of mercilessly sacking Rodgers into the ground. For everyone, it was more hilarious than frustrating — Mark tried pitching the ball, going out of the Wildcat, and faking the PAT to reach the end zone. (Because if Mark converted, he could just decline the offsides penalty and still get two points.) But nothing could stop Tom and me. After around 30 minutes, Mark gave up and kicked the ball off. We won, 45–43.

Are we terrible people? Yes. Was it totally unsportsmanlike? Yes. Was it hilarious? Yes. Is hearing my Madden story about as interesting as listening to someone talk about their fantasy football team? Yes. But did we win? Yes. That’s all that matters.

Our little Madden moment got me thinking though — wouldn’t it be hilarious if a coach actually tried this in real life? And why haven’t they, just to see how far they can take it?

Imagine Rex Ryan losing his mind as Bill Belichick instructs his defense to go offsides over and over to stop the two-point conversion. Imagine the boos from both home and away fans. Imagine the confusion and the rage, just moments from boiling over. And what if worked? I can totally see some nongutsy coach like Marvin Lewis or Pat Shurmur eventually giving up, giving the rationale of “avoiding injury” or “we thought we’d have a better chance going for the onside kick anyway.”

Of course, it almost certainly wouldn’t work. There would be a huge media fallout afterward, the injury risk to both sides would be significant, and officials would somehow put a stop to it. And the NFL would probably fine the bejeezus out of the offending head coach. Plus, I’m pretty sure a team could eventually convert anyway. The real world isn’t like “Madden” where Aaron Rodgers obliviously stands inert in a state (farm) of ignorance waiting for the snap, completely unaware that he’s about to be blitzed out of his mind. I have complete confidence that the 2010 Packers would have been able to put together a play taking advantage of the fact that two defensive linemen are mindlessly running around looking around for the offsides sack. And if a team converts, this story comes to an end. At that point, it’s probably better to just defend the play normally.

But as I said in a column earlier this year about blitzing the quarterback on a kneeldown play, it sure would be nice to see something crazy happen every so often in the NFL, a league with too many punts, too many safe plays and too little calculated risk.

Oh well. Watching virtual Aaron Rodgers get wrecked 40 straight times was worth it anyway.

Contact EVAN FRONDORF at evan.frondorf@yale.edu .

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TYLER VARGA ’15 ELI NAMED ALL-NEW ENGLAND Yesterday, the sophomore running back added first-team All-New England honors to his 2012 first-team All-Ivy selection. Varga led the Football Bowl Subdivision in all-purpose yards and was first in the Ivy League in average rushing yards this season.

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY ELIS CLIMB INTO NAT’L RANKINGS Two wins against ranked opponents in Colorado last weekend propelled the Bulldogs to the No. 13 spot in the USA Today rankings and No. 15 in the USCHO.com poll. Yale last found itself in the national rankings last January, before slipping late in the season.

SOCCER Man Utd 1 West Ham 0

“I think just having the experience of playing in front of big crowds really helps.”

HALEY WESSELS ’13 CAPTAIN, VOLLEYBALL YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

Yale heads to NCAAs

EVAN FRONDORF

Nostalgic Madden absurdism

BY EVAN FRONDORF STAFF COLUMNIST Thanksgiving Eve — the perfect time to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen since last spring. We decided to party like it was 2010 and reach into the nostalgia bin for “Madden NFL 11” to relive our glory days.

Three of us going at it like it was senior year summer.

Kevin Rudolf’s “Let It Rock” blared in the menus (“Because when I arrive, I-I’ll bring the fire/ Make you come alive, I can take you higher”) as we set up a matchup featuring me and my friend Tom as the Minnesota Vikings taking on Mark playing solo as the Green Bay Packers. Of course, all the settings had to be just right. It had to be a 1:00 p.m. game with overcast weather in Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium — you know, because the Metrodome roof collapsed again or something.

On to the game. This was a classic QB battle — new guy Aaron Rodgers versus a fading Brett Favre desperately bouncing between NFL teams and Wrangler commercials. The virtual Cincinnati fans couldn’t wait for this out-of-conference neutral-site matchup.

Neither could we, as we cracked open another round of Diet Mountain Dew and reached for a bag of pretzels.

I’ll be honest — I don’t really understand the intricacies of football defenses. Cover 2, Cover 3, zone, whatever — it’s all the same.

But I’m certainly not going to bother to think about it during a pickup (video) game. So most of the time Tom and I hit that helpful little “GameFlow” button that just picked a defensive play for us. As you might imagine, this meant a high-scoring offensive battle.

Nearly every play was for the end zone — and given four downs, one of us would inevitaSEE COLUMN PAGE 11

PHILIPP ARNDT/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The volleyball team beat Dartmouth, 3–0, on Nov. 10 to complete the second-ever perfect 14–0 season in the history of Ivy League volleyball.

BY KEVIN KUCHARSKI STAFF REPORTER It’s tournament time.

After completing just the second-ever 14–0 season in Ivy League volleyball history and clinching a third-straight conference championship, the volleyball team will take

on Bowling Green in the first round of the NCAA tournament tomorrow night at Penn State.

VOLLEYBALL The Bulldogs have not played a match since their season finale on Nov. 10, when they beat Dartmouth

Winning when it counts

BY ASHTON WACKYM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

3–0. After going home for a portion of Thanksgiving break, the Elis have been practicing since Sunday in preparation for their postseason opener. Team captain Haley Wessels ’13 said that the team is excited to continue making a name for Yale volleyball.

“We definitely want to represent

BY SARAH ONORATO CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Seeking its second win of the season, the Yale women’s basketball team was upset at home 89–62 against cross-town rival Quinnipiac.

MEN’S HOCKEY

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After a slow start to the season, with a tie and loss to No. 11 Dartmouth, the Elis (5–2–1, 2–2 ECAC) went on to defeat No. 19 Harvard 5–1, previously No. 13 Saint Lawrence 4–2, No. 18 Colorado College 6–5 in overtime and No. 2 Denver 2–1 in overtime. Scoring and winning when it counts has been a coordinated team effort from the Bulldogs that depends heavily on focus.

“It’s just plain focus,” leading goal-scorer Antoine Laganiere ’13 said. “When you’re not focused, a lot of the systems break down, and that’s when you allow the opposition chances to score.”

Three other players interviewed said that their success is a

After last week’s highly contested games in Chicago against teams from two top conferences — DePaul and Northwestern — the Elis were still unable to notch a win against the undefeated Bobcats.

“It’s really cliche to say that [Quinnipiac] wanted it more, but it’s true — they did,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said.

The Bulldogs (1–5, 0–0 Ivy) struggled in the first half, trailing by as many as 18 points at the 5:01 mark. The Bobcats (4–0) bested the Elis in steals with 11 takeaways in the half compared to only four for Yale. Quinnipiac scored 19 points off of 19 Yale turnovers in the first half alone.

Yale finished the game with a total of 27 turnovers forced by

SEE M. HOCKEY PAGE 11

After a slow start, the Bulldogs went on to defeat No. 19 Harvard, previously No. 13 Saint Lawrence, No. 18 Colorado College and No. 2 Denver.

STAT OF THE DAY 410

SEE VOLLEYBALL PAGE 11

Yale loses to crosstown rival

Of the five nationally ranked teams the Bulldogs have played this season, they have won four of six contests, helping them earn a national ranking of 15 in the most recent U.S. College Hockey Online polls.

HENRY EHRENBERG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

the program as a whole,” Wessels said. “We haven’t won a match in the NCAA tournament since 2008, so just being able to accomplish that would be a really great goal for us.”

Yale (18–5, 14–0 Ivy) will be competing in its fourth NCAA tourna-

15 Quinnipiac steals. Turnovers have been a problem for the Bulldogs this season, and the team has averaged 20.4 per game.

“We just need to work a lot harder,” captain Allie Messimer ’13 said. “We need to focus on squaring up, seeing our teammates and making the right pass.”

The Bobcats also dominated on the offensive boards all night, pulling down 17 rebounds on their end of the court. Quinnipiac out-rebounded the Elis 48–31.

Yale was only able to shoot 36.7 percent from the field, and most of the team’s scoring came from behind the arc. The Bulldogs were 42.9 percent in 3-point shooting, led by Megan Vasquez ’13, Sarah Halejian ’15 and Janna Graf ’14, who each netted two 3-pointers.

The Elis struggled getting to the free-throw line as well, despite six early fouls by Quinnipiac. The Bulldogs, who have shot 73 percent from the line so far this season, only made 69.2 percent against the Bobcats.

SEE W. BASKETBALL PAGE 11

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