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

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 62 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING

CLOUDY CLOUDY

49 55

25 YEARS YALE HONORS WORLD AIDS DAY

SCULPTURE

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

DIRT BIKES

Dan Graham discusses two-way mirrors, hedges at School of Art talk

BULLDOGS BREAK RECORDS, TAKE SECOND AT BROWN

Raging road machines stir up controversy with Board of Aldermen

PAGES 6-7 SCI-TECH

PAGE 3 CULTURE

PAGE 12 SPORTS

PAGE 3 NEWS

Blair weighs globalization

Rainbow nation. Just one day after opening registration, the fourth annual IvyQ Conference has already sold more than 250 tickets, selling out its Tier 1 tickets reserved exclusively for Yalies. IvyQ, which will be held at Yale for the first time this year, seeks to bring college students across the country to discuss LGBTQ issues in workshops and lectures.

City schools find AP success

Taking Alaska by storm. After

BY MONICA DISARE STAFF REPORTER

CROSS CAMPUS

a close recount in Alaska’s House District 34, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins ’12 won his re-election campaign by a margin of 32 votes. A native of Sitka, Alaska, KreissTomkins left Yale last spring to campaign to represent his home district in the Alaska State Legislature.

New Haven Public Schools were honored nationally for student achievement on Advanced Placement exams for the first time last week. The school district was named to the National AP District Honor Roll, an award given to 539 school districts across the United States and Canada. New Haven is one of two school districts in Connecticut with more than 30 percent minority students or students on free or reduced lunch to receive the award. This is the third year of the AP District Honor Roll, which recognizes school districts that increase access to AP classes and improve the percentage of students who score a 3 out of 5 or higher on exams. “Making the National AP Honor Roll is a huge honor for New Haven Public Schools and a sign that we are moving in the right direction as a district committed to boosting academic achievement,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Reginald Mayo said. The number of students participating in AP classes in New Haven rose from 510 in 2010–’11 to 617 in 2011–’12. These students took a total of 1,068 AP exams, and received 405 scores of 3 or better. This is a 33 percent increase from last year, when students received

Watch out, President Obama

There’s a new administration in town. Yale’s “Studies in Grand Strategy” class recently launched a simulation White House website that includes a press room and mock presidential cabinet made up of students in the course. But aside from the pictures of Yalies dressed in suits and posing as top political leaders, the website also announces the passage of the “DernbachZhang Ensuring Solvency Act,” which averts the fiscal cliff through bipartisan efforts. Perhaps Obama should check out the site, as it seems a group of Yale seniors have found the solution to the nation’s most pressing economic issue. Report it. Members of the Yale community received an email from Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins yesterday notifying them of an anonymous report of sexual assault against a Yale student. Higgins’ email is the second one reporting sexual assault in five days. The first email, sent Nov. 28, said a Yale student reported being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance at an off-campus location. Rewarding the sciences.

invitations for a supposedly new final club at Harvard, “The Pigeon,” have elicited heated responses from the Harvard community. The invitations included offensive statements, such as “Jews need not apply,” and referenced rohypnol, the date-rape drug also known as “roofies.” Though some said the flyers were meant to be satirical, Dean of Harvard College Evelynn Hammonds called them “hurtful and offensive.”

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1961 The Yale blood drive opens in Dwight Hall and is sponsored by the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.

crosscampus@yaledailynews.com

Climbing team still lacks Yale gym BY JEFFREY DASTIN STAFF REPORTER As the Yale College Council prepares for another round of its $10K Initiative, last year’s winning project — a climbing wall proposed by Charlie Kelly ’14 — is nowhere to be found. Citing high projected costs and liability issues, Associate Dean for Student Organizations and Physical Resources John Meeske advised the YCC’s $10K committee to review how other universities maintain their climbing walls prior to building the structure. With the Connecticut Rock Gym closed for 10 months starting November 2011, the climbing team took a train to Fairfield to practice last semester. The gym has now reopened, but climbers complain about its one-mile distance from campus and mediocre facilities. “Yale needs a rock wall because there’s enough interest in rock climbing as a sport, and currently the route to the rock gym is pretty dangerous,” said Max Andersen ’14, who goes to the off-campus gym every week. “I think Yale has the resources and facilities to have [its own rock wall].” Though Meeske said he is open to the project after questions of cost, maintenance and supervision are addressed, Kelly said no one informed him of the steps necessary to move forward

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was joined by former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo for Monday’s talk.

US admissions rate steady BY AMY WANG STAFF REPORTER

Joey Yagoda ’14, who heads the $10K Initiative this year, said the committee maintains no connection to the climbing wall. Last year was not the first time Yale considered creating a climbing facility. Barbara Chesler, a Yale Athletics senior associate director,

Despite the hype of everdecreasing admissions rates, most American universities’ acceptance rates have actually remained fairly noncompetitive as the college admissions cycle kicks off for the Class of 2017. The vast majority of American public and private universities have only become modestly more selective in the last 10 years, according to a recent study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Though the average national admissions rate has hovered steadily around 60 to 70 percent, experts interviewed said the general public tends to view mistakenly all college admissions as becoming increasingly elite because media discussions focus on a small number of highly selective universities, including Yale, Harvard and Princeton. “The college admissions process itself has a much higher profile than it used to have,” said Lloyd Thacker, executive director of educational nonprofit The Education Conservancy. “Kids are applying to more colleges. The most popular schools are continuing to receive an increasingly disproportionate share of applications.” Thacker said parents and students who value the status and prestige of universities are growing more concerned

SEE CLIMBING PAGE 5

SEE ACCEPTANCE PAGE 5

and the project has since been stalled. Roughly $1,200 of the YCC’s prize money went instead to the third and fourth proposals, cheap alternatives to SMART Boards and squash rackets, said last year’s $10K director Archit Sheth-Shah ’13. The secondplace proposal — the creation of nap areas on campus — received no funds because its sponsor Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins ’12 left Yale to run for public office. The rest of the money remains in the YCC’s budget, ShethShah said.

The route to the rock gym is pretty dangerous. I think Yale has the resources and facilities to have [its own wall]. MAX ANDERSON ’14

SEE AP SCORES PAGE 4

GRAPH PERCENT CHANGE IN ACCEPTANCE RATES 2002–’12 50

13%

2002 acceptance rate

6.82%

2012 acceptance rate

40

30

20

10

70% 63% 70% »

ONLINE y MORE cc.yaledailynews.com

SEE BLAIR PAGE4

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

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Submit tips to Cross Campus

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair came to campus Monday to offer his perspective on international conflicts tied to globalization. University President Richard Levin moderated the conversation, entitled “Global Crises: The Way Forward,” which also featured former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo, now the director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Blair and Zedillo questioned

the sustainability of policies addressing international issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the European debt crisis and international environmental policies. Blair said he thinks connections caused by globalization can be beneficial but also have the potential to fracture societies unable to cope with diversity. “The types of homogenous societies there used to be are being replaced by societies that are very diverse,” he said. “Over

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Not okay. Inflammatory

BY SEBASTIAN MEDINA-TAYAC STAFF REPORTER

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Seven Yale faculty members have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Council, a prestigious honor that recognizes efforts to advance the sciences. The brainy Yalies will be officially honored at the AAAS annual meeting this February.

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Yale Monday to discuss whether policies addressing international problems are sustainable.

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Yale

Public Universities Private Universities (National Avg) (National Avg)

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

OPINION

.COMMENT “There is no cultural implication. It's purely money.” yaledailynews.com/opinion

Quit the conspiracies Why do intelligent people fall for absurd conspiracy theories? That question has been on my mind for a week or two as I’ve followed the Republican attempt to discredit U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice over her Benghazi statements. But it has only grown more pronounced as I read some of the recent criticism of Yale-NUS. According to yesterday’s News, such outlandish conspiracy theories not only received a hearing, but applause from an auditorium of Yale students. Friday’s talk on Yale-NUS took place in Sheffield-SterlingStrathcona Hall and featured members of Singapore’s opposition and an associate professor from SUNY Albany. The panelists didn’t simply express their principled disagreement with Yale’s decision to partner with the mildly repressive Singaporean regime. They questioned the intentions and integrity of Yale administrators. The panelists accused the Yale administration of attempting to “simply line [its] own pockets.” Singapore’s Reform Party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s attack bordered on the libelous, declaring that “For [President Levin], this is purely a business transaction” and that “what happens to the citizens of my country is not his or Yale’s concern.” This, of course, sounds a lot like some critics’ bizarre attempt to construct a nefarious web linking Yale trustees’ financial interests with the creation of Yale-NUS.

FROM BENGHAZI TO SINGAPORE, GIVE OUR LEADERS CREDIT Let me be clear: it is perfectly reasonable to oppose Yale policies and administrative decisions. It is perfectly reasonable to think the faculty should have more of a role in university governance, or that Yale should never partner with states that are not American-style liberal democracies, or even that that Yale should dial back its increasingly international focus. However, insinuating that the University President and Vice President are money-grubbing characters who operate for selfish financial gain is as disrespectful as it is ridiculous. Richard Levin and Linda Lorimer have devoted decades to supporting and improving the modern university and global scholarship. They have articulated a vision that sees Yale-NUS as a ground-breaking opportunity for bringing a liberal arts education to a part of the world dom-

inated by pre-professionalism. These lifelong public servants deserve better. I supYISHAI pose that in SCHWARTZ our current political cliDissentary mate, this sort of nonsense is par for the course. In the aftermath of the brutal murder of American diplomatic staff in Benghazi, Libya, Susan Rice went on national television with talking points provided by the intelligence community, points now understood to be inaccurate. Rather than concluding that the American intelligence community is fallible, the administration’s staunchest critics have descended into conspiracy theories. Senator John McCain suggested that Rice would be “unfit” for the role of Secretary of State, and he and other Republican senators started calling for Watergate-style investigative committees. The administration, many have suggested, was deliberately lying to the public about the nature of the attack in order to bolster President Obama’s reelection chances. How the logic of this is supposed to work, no one seems to know. Nevertheless, blinded by an almost fanatical hatred and mistrust of the president, a surprising number of people have bought into the nuttiness. In their blinding self-righteousness, elements of the YaleNUS opposition are no better than the radical Republican partisans. Both groups have a neartotal inability to imagine that their political opponents might actually be motivated by good will. It is not enough for Senators McCain and Graham to oppose the president, or even consider him misguided — they must publicly theorize that he is deceitful. Similarly, some YaleNUS opponents can’t fathom that President Levin may have a different set of priorities and values; for them, he must be greedy and feckless. I understand the attraction of these conspiracy theories. The world is simpler when there are clear dichotomies of black and white, good and evil. It is certainly easier to fight and argue when you hate your competition and vilify your intellectual opponents. But buying into outlandish stories coarsens our discourse, hardens our factions and distorts truth. Perhaps the U.S. Senate cannot help itself, but I expect better from Yale students.

'HIGHSTREET2010' ON

'PAY COLLEGE ATHLETES?'

G U E S T C O L U M N I S T V I C T O R I A H A L L - PA L E R M

SparkNotes politics I

would be lying if I told you I didn’t use Facebook — I’m not above the occasional self-indulgent Facebook status, because, you know, sometimes I think I have witty things to say. Another thing I like? Trying to stay politically informed, and being around other informed people to keep me on my toes. So since I like Facebook, and I like politics, it would make sense for me to enjoy overtly political statuses, right? Wrong. That’s not to say that Facebook isn’t a place to say serious things, or share a piece of knowledge. That’s one of social media’s most important purposes, in my mind — I’ve read some fascinating articles because a friend posted the link to it. It is a perfectly valid use of cyberspace to share something you find important. My bone to pick, however, is with those who believe they are enlightening the Internet world by posting their own SparkNotes versions of political events. The night of the second presidential debate, I logged on to Facebook to find a status posted by a high school classmate. “Wait stop,” she wrote. “I disagree with Romney’s policies, but I would

respect him a lot more if he would at least stick with his values. His parents never taught him if you stand for nothing you’ll [sic] for anything because he changes his policies so quickly.” Let’s leave aside the questionable phrasing of those sentences — that’s not the fight I’m picking today. Something about the sort of willful naïveté, the stubborn belligerence of that status rankled me. Sure, cheap digs are easy and sometimes fun to make, but the condescendingly smarmy way she casually dismissed a political candidate's very real arguments — writ large all over the Internet in a selfimportant fashion — made me think that her status wasn’t just annoying, but also indicative of a worrisome trend. Statuses like that lead to other statuses, which lead to other statuses, as more and more Facebook users feel entitled to water down the already watery online debate. And, the more people post, the more their bitter emotions replace the opportunity for dialogue. Take another Facebook status I read, this one from the wake of the election: “This country can no longer be counted on to be

exceptional, as its people no longer strive to be such. Mediocrity is what they voted for.” That’s a pretty strong statement, especially about a president who, for all someone may fundamentally disagree with him, was just elected to represent the entire country, not just the part that voted for him, for the next four years. But she’s right, in a sense, that we can’t be counted on to be exceptional. And it’s not because we spend too much time voting for mediocrity — it’s because we waste too much time indulging ourselves in pointless Internet rants, rather than making an effort to have constructive debate. When our preferred outlet for expressing frustration encourages brevity and shock value more than it does the quality of what’s being said, I worry that we end up with a culture of bellicose and sweeping statements — a culture that makes it nearly impossible for our country to heal and move forward after such a divisive election. If people posted statuses that willfully oversimplified candidates’ stances during the elections, it’s no wonder that people seem

both incapable and unwilling to see any good once the election is over. And, in a broader sense, that’s what has made working across the aisle so much harder. If too many people get bogged down in the chaos of virtually indulging their frustrations, it’s not just that we won’t collectively move forward. We’ll get to a point where we don’t even want to try — whether that’s online or in real life. Social media makes it too easy for people to provide a watered-down version of events, the kind that fits in a tweet or a pithy Facebook status, and call it being informed. That level of “informed” leads to the divided political world in which we find ourselves, a world where the bulk of people know enough to feel justified in being loudly outraged, but not enough to constructively engage with those with whom they disagree. When it’s more fun and easy to be blithely angry than to see the hardship in the nuance of political events, why try? VICTORIA HALL-PALERM is a sophomore in Berkeley College. Contact her at victoria.hall-palerm@yale.edu .

S TA F F I L L U S T R AT O R AU B E R E Y L E S C U R E

The fiscal cliff

YISHAI SCHWARTZ is a senior in Branford College. Contact him at yishai.schwartz@yale.edu.

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esterday was the 20th anniversary of the invention of the text message. It was also the day that my dog died. Her name was Satchmo (my dad likes jazz), and she was really old and it was time. My parents were both patting her as it happened, while she lay on her brown cushion by the kitchen door and our dachshund Fess licked a sore spot on her tail. (That’s Fess after blues pianist Professor Longhair — my dad also really likes blues). Satchmo had a happy life, and she left it surrounded by friends. It was a good way to go. We should all be as lucky. I got the news when I checked my phone in the middle of MATH 120. “Text Message from Mom,” it said, with that little green icon beside it. I swiped the screen as my teacher said something about the divergence of an electric field. The first line was, “Satchmo just died peacefully … ” and I didn’t read any further. I gasped a little

and felt that sad twisty lung feeling. Then I sat through 10 more minutes of lecture and didn’t say anything to anyone. Maybe the lesson of this is that technology is isolating us from each other. I’ve heard that sentiment before, and it seems like it could apply here. I got sad news in an impersonal, technological package. I didn’t get to look a person in the face and show them how I felt in the moment. But the idea that technology is a social crutch has never felt very convincing to me. I understand why my mom wanted to text me the news: She could tell my sister and me at the same time, right after it happened. I don’t feel that the medium undercut the emotion of the moment. Her “love you” was genuine, and I knew it, even if it came in a digital speech bubble. Actually, I think what yesterday taught me is that I shouldn’t check my phone in class. I’m sort of kidding, but not really. Generally, I treat text messages as a

lesser form of communication. I just don’t take them seriously. I dash them off while I’m walking or emailing or brushing my hair. (Or peeing. We’ve all done it.) I read them while I’m mid-conversation with a real, live person. But words are powerful — even just a few words on an iPhone screen. I shouldn’t have read that “Satchmo just died peacefully” while I was supposed to be doing something else. Sure, texts can’t substitute for real human contact. I texted the news out to my support system at Yale, and I got the personal comfort that I needed. I called my family on the phone, and we shared some sadness and also some stories about each of our days. I went to my classes and had a friendly falafel dinner, and I didn’t feel alone. It was a little weird to send texts that said, “My dog died today,” but that’s just how things are done nowadays. And anyway, I don’t think the weirdness is the

fault of texting itself. Words are never good enough for big things. “I’m sorry for your loss,” “I love you,” — they don’t sound like how they feel, no matter how you say them. And yet, despite their shortcomings, words are a crazy kind of powerful. They sting. They caress. They’ve founded countries, joined people in marriage. And text messages are, more and more, an expressive verbal medium for our generation. They don’t have to signal the rise of an anti-social cohort or the downfall of language. Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the invention of the text message, and I think it’s a day to celebrate. Texts let us share our grief, affect our friends and reveal ourselves to others. We shouldn’t check them in class. SALLY HELM is a junior in Berkeley College. Contact her at sally.helm@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

NEWS

“[Larry Alexander] was a dear, dear person. I don’t think he had a mean bone in his body.” MARCIA SWEENEY MARBLEHEAD DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST

Graham talks interpersonal art

CORRECTION MONDAY, DEC. 3

The article “Lacrosse players coach youth” included a photo taken by Peter Karalekas ’15 that was misattributed to Michael Gary.

L A R RY A L EX A N D E R ’ 7 2 1 9 5 0 – 2 0 1 2

Prof remembered for dedication

BY JOHN AROUTIOUNIAN STAFF REPORTER Since the 1970s, Dan Graham’s art and critical writings have provided new ways of looking at the cultural hallmarks of recent generations. On Monday night at the School of Art, Graham spoke to an audience of more than 80 graduate and undergraduate students about his work, recalling experiences of both creating and critiquing art. The lecture focused on his sculptures that employ glass and two-way mirrors to create “impressionistic effects” on spectators, causing them to reflect on their emotions and interpersonal interactions. Graham said his works have been influenced by his upbringing in suburban New Jersey. The strict boundaries between types of properties in the American suburban landscape, for instance, continue to influence Graham to emphasize borders in his art. “Two-Way Mirror Punched Steel Hedge Labyrinth,” a Graham piece located in Minneapolis, Minn., features borders that alternate in material construction between natural hedges and glass to create a maze. “Hedges are important to me,” Graham said, adding that they signify the boundary between “private space and the outside.” Graham noted that the glass in “Two-Way Mirror Punched Steel Hedge Labyrinth” seems opaque from a distance but is transparent once the viewer approaches it. Graham explained that he strives to create “intersubjective” work that emphasizes the idea of social connections playing a key role in shaping thought, rather than “minimal art.” Many of his “pavilions,” which allow the audience to step into an enclosed glass space, are placed in varied settings. “Two-Way Mirror Cylinder Inside Cube,” for instance, is located on a New York City rooftop. Through their

incorporation of reflected surfaces, such structures encourage spectators to “see each other seeing themselves.” The artist also acknowledged the significant impact of urban architecture on his work, while differentiating his style from the corporate, “reptilian” forms of city architecture in the 1970s. “My work usually involves the materials of the city,” he said. “The city is very cinematic. Storefronts take the reflection of a person passing by and project it against the product in the window.”

My work represents the borderline between psychedelic usage and borderline schizophrenia. DAN GRAHAM Artist, writer and curator Graham said he grew up with no formal art education after high school and largely taught himself how to create through reading and listening to music. He credited Jean-Paul Sartre with inspiring his early work and discussed his abiding love for rock music. This passion resulted in “Rock My Religion,” the one-hour video art production that explores commonalities between themes in rock music and religion for which Graham gained national fame in the 1980s. While Graham’s numerous sculptures are a cornerstone of his artistic portfolio, he said he has increasingly turned to writing as he has gotten older. In exploring the impact of his personal history on the development of his art, Graham discussed his struggles with mental illness. “My work represents the borderline between psychadelic usage and borderline schizo-

PHILIPP ARNDT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

American artist Dan Graham lectured on his career and sculptures at the School of Art Monday night. phrenia,” he explained. Claudia Cortinez ART ’14 said she had expected to hear mostly about Graham’s sculpture work. Jonathan Peck ART ’14 said that Graham’s lecture lived up to his expectations. “He seems to have an answer for everything,” Peck said. “The lecture was much richer and more philosophic than I

expected, which was great to see given his non-academic background. Graham seems really entrenched in placing himself among other artists.” Graham was born in Urbana, Ill. and lives and works in New York City. Contact JOHN AROUTIOUNIAN at john.aroutiounian@yale.edu.

MARY ALICE ALEXANDER

Larry Alexander ’72 passed away from a blood disorder at age 62. BY AMY WANG STAFF REPORTER Larry Alexander ’72, a Massachusetts state representative who dedicated his political career to improving public service, passed away due to complications relating to a blood disorder in Boston on Nov. 6. He was 62. Alexander graduated from Yale with an honors degree in political science and led a distinguished career in law and politics, serving in Massachusetts state politics for over a decade before returning to Yale as a lecturer in 2008 to lead a college seminar entitled “Ethical Dilemmas of Legislators.” As a representative, he is credited with pushing forward several measures, including one that prohibited politicians from retaining unused campaign funds for personal purposes. His students and those close to him remember him as a passionate teacher who encouraged students to tackle ethical issues with nuanced perspectives.

He was a kind, genuine person — he was brilliant, insightful, caring. MARY ALICE ALEXANDER “What always stood out about Professor Alexander was how much he cared about his students,” Seth Kolker ’15 said in an email. “He brought snacks to every class, made a point to invite every student to lunch to get to know us outside of seminars and never failed to give thoughtful and prompt responses to every question … no matter how silly or minute.” Though Alexander’s professional experience only resided in legal and political fields, Mary Alice, his wife, said he always had a dream to teach. Alexander loved leading debates among his students, she said, especially when the issue revolved around legislative decisions in which he had been involved. Alexander opened each class with an ethical dilemma or

politically controversial issue and asked students to take a position. Mary Alice said his objective with these exercises was to “get people to squirm in their seats” and eventually come to the understanding that there are no definitive blackand-white positions on complex issues. “He loved getting people to think and have a lively debate,” she said. “For him, it was never about getting the right answer out of the students, because there was no single right answer. It was about getting them to think it through.” Eric Stern ’15, a student in Alexander’s fall 2011 class, described Alexander as an exceptional example of what a teacher and legislator should be. Stern added that Alexander always engaged his students and “livened class with with stories from his time in elected office.” Michael Young ’14 said Alexander was “candid and frank” about his political career and wished to help the next generation by showing his students an “honest portrayal” of how to accomplish change through public service. Kolker called it an “extremely sad day” when the students were notified of Alexander’s illness, several weeks before the end of last fall semester, adding that the class sent flowers, cards and chocolate cigars to Alexander’s hospital room. “He was a kind, genuine person — he was brilliant, insightful, caring,” Mary Alice said. “He was very much a modest individual, [with] not a trace of arrogance. Just genuine. He saw the world with the glass halffull, saw the best in people and wanted to bring out the best in people.” As an undergraduate, Alexander studied writing under journalist John Hersey. He was also the deputy opinion editor of the News. Alexander is survived by his wife, his daughter, Beverly, and his son, David, who graduated from Yale in 2008. Contact AMY WANG at amy.wang@yale.edu .

Dirt bikers ruffle Board of Aldermen

CHRIS PEAK/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting saw the discussion of how to best deal with dirt bikers who drive illegally on New Haven’s streets. BY CHRISTOPHER PEAK STAFF REPORTER New Haven is seeking help from the state legislature to crack down on dirt bikers that drive illegally on New Haven’s streets with near impunity. At Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting, Ward 10 Alderman Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10 briefed the full board about recent lobbying of state legislators to increase the consequences for illegal use of dirt bikes and ATVs. Police have tried to issue fines and confiscate bikes, but without the legislature’s approval of higher fines or the ability to keep bikes indefinitely, offenders can currently reclaim their bikes and speed through the streets within a few days, Elicker added. Throughout the city, residents have complained about the noise and safety concerns, aldermen

said. “[The bikers] have free reign over the city,” said Elicker, who is also chair of the Board’s City Services and Environmental Policy Committee. “It sets the tone of a lawless city.” Teenagers and young adults are violating the law by riding their dirt bikes on public land, popping wheelies and speeding through the city’s streets, sidewalks and parks, Elicker said. In the past, police attempted to stop offenders in the act, but a no-chase policy now prevents officers from engaging bikers in high-speed pursuits that may end in an accident. Elicker added that police have focused instead on confiscating the illegally operated vehicles off the road, asking neighbors to report where bikes are stored. Since the riders do not need a license, the lawbreaking is par-

ticularly dangerous, Board President Jorge Perez said. In 2008, a teenager on a dirt bike died after colliding with a van in Newhallville, and in March, a seven-yearold girl was knocked over by a dirt biker on Whalley. “In addition to the noise [the bikes] make, people can be run over,” Perez explained. “It’s a safety and quality of life issue.” Board of Aldermen Majority Leader Alphonse Paolillo said city officials are analyzing laws already on the books to aid the police department, but he added that the state needs to strengthen the laws to allow for full enforcement. State Representative Pat Dillon plans to introduce legislation in next year’s session, which begins in January, to increase monetary fines from their current $250 maximum to make retrieval of confiscated dirt bikes and

ATVs more difficult. Elicker said he hopes to see fines increased to $1,000 or $2,000 — an amount high enough to effectively confiscate the vehicles indefinitely. Gary Holder-Winfield, New Haven’s representative in the state assembly, said that if any legislation is proposed, it will likely have little opposition. “I would suppose that no one is going to show up and say, ‘I want to have my illegal dirt bike,’” he said. Elicker said he suspects support for a harsher law would be unanimous among New Haven’s aldermen. A petition by Stop Illegal Traffic on Our Streets, a coalition of residents opposed to the bikes, currently has more than 400 signatures. Contact CHRISTOPHER PEAK at christopher.peak@yale.edu .

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“I can only go one way. I’ve not got a reverse gear.” TONY BLAIR FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Blair talks world conflict AP scores jump in New Haven

AP SCORES FROM PAGE 1 305 grades of 3 or higher on 1,037 exams. In addition to increasing the percentage of students who received high exam scores, New Haven met the other requirements for the award, which stipulated that participation in AP classes must increase by at least 4 percent in large school districts and that the percentage of minority students taking the exams must not decrease by more than 5 percent. Success was not only limited to the school district, though, as 79 students earned individual awards for their AP achievement. Wen Jiang ’16, who attended Hill Regional Career High School, qualified for the National AP Scholar Award, which requires a score of 4 on at least eight AP tests and an overall average score of 4. Jiang, who is now a freshman at Yale, said he was “pleasantly surprised” to find out that his school district made the AP District Honor Roll. He said his surprise stems from his observation that while there are many dedicated teachers and students in the district, there are also many students in New Haven public schools who do not take AP exams seriously. Increased participation in AP exams may be a product of New Haven’s efforts to create a college-going culture, NHPS spokeswoman Abbe Smith said. There is an AP coordinator in each high school who has been working actively to recruit more students for AP courses, she added. Jiang attributes the success to a “supportive environment” created by teachers, counselors and peers. Jiang said he felt encouraged to take

AP classes and so did many of his peers, adding that teachers would stay after school multiple times a week to help students with their coursework. In addition, Jiang said his high school recently began permitting sophomores to take AP exams and allowed juniors to take more than three AP courses, which he believes led to increased AP enrollment.

Making the National AP Honor Roll is a huge honor for New Haven Public Schools and a sign that we are moving in the right direction. REGINALD MAYO Superintendent, New Haven Public Schools Jiang, however, said he believes New Haven’s AP program would benefit from increased consistency in writing instruction across classes. Each class stressed different writing techniques and styles, he explained, which made it difficult for him to improve his writing skills. “At the end of high school, I wasn’t able to take away one set of writing skills that I was really familiar with, so I felt like I had to start back at square one in writing,” Jiang said. Of the 79 AP Scholar Award winners, 26 were sophomores or juniors and the remaining 53 were seniors. Contact MONICA DISARE at monica.disare@yale.edu .

BY THE NUMBERS NEW HAVEN AP SCORES 539 617 305 405

School districts, including New Haven, named to the National AP District Honor Roll New Haven students in AP classes in 2012 Grades of 3 or higher on 2011 AP exams in New Haven Grades of 3 or higher on 2012 AP exams in New Haven

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo joined Former Prime Minister Tony Blair Monday for a discussion on globalization. BLAIR FROM PAGE 1 half of the conflicts today in the world have a religious dimension to them, and so it is very difficult for different people to interact with each other.” Blair said globalization allows societies to understand better one another through increased Internet connectivity and physical accessibility. But globalization can also result in conflicts stemming from religious intolerance, he said, such as those that have arisen in Burma, Blair said. Half a million citizens have been displaced due to government injustice and escalated violence between the Burmese Buddhist and Muslim militants. Concerning the Arab Spring, Zedillo and Blair both said nations should support democratic elements of the revolutionary regimes to encourage the

governments to evolve into fullfledged democracies. Both leaders were optimistic that newly re-elected President Barack Obama would stabilize the U.S. economy, which would benefit the global economy as well as that of the eurozone.

He did a great job showing how […] we should keep in perspective the policies that are working. NATALIE LANGBURD ’14 “Right now he has a great opportunity, but he has to have a plan — a very comprehensive plan — and he has to swallow a lot of discomfort within the next few

weeks or months,” Zedillo said. “This is the moment of truth to get this country a viable sustainable program to recover its economic vigor.” Zedillo also said he hopes world leaders will address environmental issues, adding that Obama could further commit to reducing pollution associated with climate change and energy dependence. Blair said he aims to mitigate the problems associated with globalization through the Faith Foundation, a non-profit he started in 2008. The foundation sends teams to up to 20 countries working to foster mutual religious understanding by partnering schools with children of different faiths across the globe, he said. The group has also partnered with Yale and other universities to conduct research and involve future leaders in identify-

ing new solutions to these issues, he added. Blair co-taught a seminar on faith and globalization from 2008 until last spring as part of the foundation’s Faith and Globalization Initiative at Yale. Natalie Langburd ’14 said the event offered her new perspectives on the state of international politics and helped her understand the impact of U.S. policies. “He did a great job showing how — despite some policies not playing out as perfectly as planned — we should keep in perspective the policies that are working,” she said. “It’s important that we’re aware of these global issues.” Blair served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007. Contact SEBASTIAN MEDINA-TAYAC at sebastian.medina-tayac@yale.edu .

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

FROM THE FRONT

The height, in feet, of the tallest indoor climbing wall in the country.

120

The wall is located at an athletic center in Carrollton, Texas. Typical indoor climbing walls measure between just 20 and 45 feet.

Climbing team laments lack of Yale wall CLIMBING FROM PAGE 1 said the idea for building a climbing wall was floated in the mid-1990s in connection to Payne Whitney Gym’s renovation but never came to fruition. Chesler said the wall would have to come at the cost of another sport’s practice area if built today. When climbing became an official club sport in 2010, Director of Club Sports Tom Migdalski said the team planned to use the Connecticut Rock Gym off campus. “There was never a promise, or even a mention … that we would be obligated in any way to provide additional facility or funding resources,” Migdalski said in a Monday email, adding that “serious consideration is given to all proposals made to Athletics, and decisions aren’t made lightly” or “denied unless for very sound internal and external reasons.” Though the climbing team has access to the Connecticut Rock Gym, safety remains an issue for climbers as they walk along Farmington Canal to the facility in the evenings, Kelly said. Since the start of the school-year, Yale Chief of Police Ronnell Higgins alerted students at least twice to robberies occurring on the way, along the Canal Line. “I feel uncomfortable taking the walk alone at night — it’s not a safe walk in my opinion,” said Andrew Calder ’13, the team’s co-captain. “We always encourage people to walk in groups or always to have a buddy.” Kelly said a shuttle would only be a partial solution, since other teams have the chance to train in facilities on campus. The Yale climbing team was formed in 2008. Contact JEFFREY DASTIN at jeffrey.dastin@yale.edu .

CAROL HSIN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Yale Climbing Team became an official club sport in 2010. It practices at the Connecticut Rock Gym, but safety to and from the facilities is a concern for some team members.

National admissions rate holds despite Ivy League dip ACCEPTANCE FROM PAGE 1 with getting the most “educational return” for their financial investment, especially in the current state of the economy. Students are more likely to send in a greater number of applications to schools known for their selectivity, he said, because “more and more kids are thinking about the cost-benefit return.” Yale’s acceptance rate hit an alltime low of 6.82 percent this year, compared to a roughly 14 percent acceptance rate a decade ago. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel declined to comment on how the differing national trends reflect attitudes toward higher education. Chuck Hughes, president of college admissions consulting service Road to College, said he believes that the increasing selectivity of schools is not due to media attention, but rather the nation’s eco-

nomic situation — with an economy that has not yet recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, students put more emphasis on job placement, which many think can be enhanced by attending a selective university. Certain families will only pay for a child’s college education if the child is accepted at an “elite” university — a trend that causes the number of applications at only top tier universities to rise, he said. “It’s really interesting — families put a premium on a certain tier of education now,” he said. “It’s a small number [of schools for which] families are willing to pay whatever that cost is for school. Those families are very conscious of value.” Thacker said other factors, such as media rankings and increased marketing from colleges, have also driven up application counts and lowered the acceptance rates of elite institutions. Hughes added that a rise in international appli-

cants has contributed to the lowered rates as well. He said he does not think the pool of students applying to college from within the United States has increased, but rather the acceptance rate of more selective institutions has gone down partially due to the growth of international applicants. Many people have a misperception that applying to any college in the United States is as competitive as applying to the schools of the Ivy League, said David Hawkins, NACAC director of public policy and research, in an interview with Inside Higher Ed. The study also reported several other findings, such as a longterm decline in the importance that colleges place on high school class rank and in-person interviews. Contact AMY WANG at amy.wang@yale.edu .

GRAPH YALE ACCEPTANCE RATES 2002–2012 15

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“Give a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS.” NELSON MANDELA FORMER PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA

WORLD AIDS DAY 2012

SAHELI SADANAND

Remembrance and research

Yale memorial project expands BY HANNAH SCHWARZ STAFF REPORTER Last week, Cross Campus looked different. Red and white balloons, intertwined and attached to the railing leading up to Sterling Memorial Library, floated next to “World AIDS Day Celebration” signs. For most students, those decorations evoked pictures of an epidemic that has swept across numerous African nations, traveled from needle to needle amidst the city streets of Russia and created an American urban crisis in the ’90s. Few students probably thought of their fellow Yalies. But in 2010, during a brainstorming session with n+1 magazine, Chris Glazek ’07 did.

One of the goals of [YAMP] is to figure out how many people did die and what eras. CHRIS GLAZEK ‘07 Creator of YAMP While an undergraduate at Yale, Glazek worked on a “history in memories” project related to the Holocaust. He planned to address the AIDS epidemic, “an event in the American psyche that hadn’t been processed by the collective or by individual institutions,” in a similar fashion. He decided to commemorate Yalies who had died from the disease by creating the Yale AIDS Memorial Project. As the first major YAMP initiative, Glazek compiled eight profiles of Yale AIDS victims in a journal featuring two introductory essays — one by Glazek and the other by professor George Chauncey ’77 GRD ’89, who teaches “U.S. Lesbian and Gay History.” The journal, of which 100,000 print copies were published, helped garner $50,000 in funding from the Michael Palm Foundation, an organization created by Michael Palm ’73. Glazek said the journal aimed to draw attention and secure funding for

YAMP, which Glazek hoped would expand to tell the stories of more Yalies who had died from the disease. Though Glazek said YAMP tried to “get some diversity in terms of era,” most names were provided by YAMP’s Board of Advisers — such as Chauncey and current professor Mark Schoofs ’85, recipient of a 2000 Pulitzer Prize for a series on AIDS in Africa. After the first eight profiles, YAMP opened itself to the public and asked people to submit names of Yale students and professors who had died of HIV/AIDS-related diseases, and an “influx” of names came in, said Serena Fu, secretary of YAMP. “One of the goals of [YAMP] is to figure out how many people did die and what eras they were concentrated in,” Glazek said, adding that the highest concentration of infection was likely in the graduating classes of the late 1970s. The names of the original eight were easier to come by because they were relatively prominent people, Fu said, though she added that YAMP currently has compiled over 100 names. The project will only end when there are no more names left to be catalogued — when there are no longer any Yalies dying from HIV/AIDS. The organization’s goal is to set up a prototype for other institutions to commemorate their own AIDS victims, Glazek said. By basing the project in one location — Yale — and using it as an entryway to the larger epidemic, the impact of the disease becomes more understandable, said Richard Espinosa ’10, who became president of YAMP in May. “When something’s that huge, it’s hard to connect to, especially for our generation, who came to age after the most massive waves of death in the U.S.,” he said. “[The epidemic] has drifted from popular consciousness. There’s a feeling of ‘overness,’ but in the past 15 years, the U.S. transmission rate has stayed steady at 50,000 people per year. We want people speaking out about the current epidemic.” Currently, YAMP is creating a website to display each of the profiles. Espinosa said YAMP is aim-

AIDS Project New Haven receives grant

HENRY EHRENBERG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

AIDS Project New Haven works to provide food, therapeutic treatments and financial assistance to citizens from the greater New Haven area who suffer from HIV/AIDS. BY ERIC XIAO STAFF REPORTER KAREN TIAN

Chris Glazek ’07 established YAMP to commemorate students who died from AIDS. ing for a non-public launch of the website — which will feature 25 profiles — in February. It will be made available to IvyQ and the GALA reunion at Yale. The website, yaleaidsmemorialproject. org, will be made public in March. Gregg Gonsalves, a member of the board of advisers, said YAMP’s online medium will make replicating the project inexpensive,

allowing it to reach more people. Gonsalves said he hopes this particular medium of communication — a semi-story-telling memoir — will make people remember just how close the epidemic was and is to Yale, in a way that essays, articles and statistics cannot. “In academic institutions, we learn a lot by reading and second-

ary sources. But there’s no substitute for direct experience,” Gonsalves said. “All of the profiled ones are long dead. They taught and learned in the same classrooms we take classes in. They graduated from the same colleges that we’re in.” Contact HANNAH SCHWARZ at hannah.schwarz@yale.edu .

Med School researcher proposes HIV solution BY MAREK RAMILO STAFF REPORTER Dr. Richard Sutton from the Yale School of Medicine has spent much of his career searching for a cure to HIV, a virus that affects roughly 1.2 million Americans today. Dr. Sutton’s lab is currently trying to develop a viable solution to HIV by exploiting the virus’ method of cell entry: binding to CCR5 receptors on cells. Sutton’s focus on HIV replication has influenced his approach to studying the disease, which he discussed with the News Monday afternoon.

Q

Can you give us some background on how you’ve tried to find a solution to HIV?

A

Without [CCR5], HIV is dead. We’ve known now, for many years, that individuals who have a mutation in CCR5 don’t express CCR5 on their T cells and they’re relatively resistant to HIV infection. Why this is, we don’t know, but we know these people are normal, so if we can somehow reduce CCR5 levels or interfere with CCR5 function, we can make cells resistant to HIV.

Q

Have there been any specific developments using this approach?

A

Yes. In 2007, medication was approved, called maraviroc, that specifically targets CCR5 and

it disrupts its function. It does work, but we never use it because it came out at about the same time that integrase inhibitors — other small molecule inhibitors of HIV — were approved. For maraviroc, we had to do a pre-test to see if the patient had circulating virus, which it would be active against. That cost $2,000, and a lot of physicians wouldn’t use maraviroc, so everyone started using integrase inhibitors. It never really gained market share. I don’t know if anyone will ever use maraviroc, to be honest, but it does work.

targeting CXCR4 instead an QIsoption?

A

The problem with targeting CXCR4 is you cannot do it in progenitor cells — bone marrow stem cells — because if you do that, then there are all sorts of problems. If you want to target CXCR4, then you have to do it in mature T cells. That’s been done, it seems to work and there are mouse models to show that you can knock out CXCR4 this way using zinc-finger nucleases and then HIV cannot replicate.

A

BY LINDSEY UNIAT AND DAN WEINER STAFF REPORTERS

reference as similar?

A

No. HIV belongs to the class of the retroviruses, and the retroviruses have been around for a hundred years that we knew about. But [HIV] is a relatively unique class of virus.

do you have to see, speQWhat cifically, for you to be convinced that you have a successful solution?

A

Well, there are various steps. First, you do stuff with cells in culture. You can do these humanized mouse experiments where you put human cells into these immunodeficient mice, which you challenge with HIV and you see what levels of HIV replication you get. Then you can also move to nonhuman primates like Rhesus

marily offers financial assistance to clients who cannot afford all the treatments they require, but also offers support groups, mental health services and even alternative therapies such as acupuncture. “HIV today is a very manageable disease if you are compliant with your medical care,” Cole said. APNH emphasizes working very closely with clients, he added. Each of the 200 case management clients meets with an assigned medical case manager as often as two or three times a week. These managers, who Cole referred to as “the backbone” of APNH’s services, ensure that clients receive emergency financial assistance, transportation, food, housing and any other psycho-social support they require. Another service APNH offers is Caring Cuisine, a food service that prepares and delivers meals directly to the residences of clients whose health limits their ability to cook their own food. Unlike the majority of APNH’s services, Caring Cuisine is not financially need-

based, but rather based on a client’s health condition. APNH is primarily composed of 15 regular volunteers who mostly work for Caring Cuisine, serve as front desk receptionists or help out at special events. The organization also has a pool of approximately 30 volunteers to help whenever they are needed. Volunteer Coordinator and Yale French professor Chris Semk said most of the volunteers are students. Many who choose to volunteer do so because they have lost loved ones who passed away from AIDS, he added. “I have friends who are positive — I have seen what they have struggled with and I see the work that needs to be done in terms of advocacy and care,” Semk said. Even in the midst of offering comprehensive services, APNH staff and volunteers stressed the importance of providing community and comfort. APNH’s support groups, psychotherapeutic services and even a Tuesday afternoon movie club help

to make clients feel like they belong to a community. “We are very intentionally a homey environment, a non-clinical environment,” Cole said. He added that this friendly mentality is a key aspect of the organization’s mission to be “nonjudgmental” in its services. When he first began working at APNH in 2008, several clients, staff members and board members had expressed concern regarding the potential stigma associated with placing a sign on the organization’s building. It took a year and a half for APNH to get a sign on its building, Cole said. Volunteer Receptionist Kendra O’Connor said one of her important responsibilities is to make sure clients “don’t need to feel embarrassed for whatever reason they are coming in for.” AIDS Project New Haven is Connecticut’s oldest AIDS service organization. Contact ERIC XIAO at eric.xiao@yale.edu .

Students, faculty observe World AIDS Day

are some other ways to get there a virus that has been QWhat QIscomparable rid of CCR5? to HIV that we can There are RNA enzymes which will cleave CCR5, but that doesn’t work very well. There are ways to essentially knock out the gene completely. There are some very specialized proteins called zinc-finger nucleases. These are fusion proteins that target very specific regions of DNA in the genome and also cut the DNA, so it makes the double-stranded cut in the DNA. Once the double-stranded cut is made into the genomic DNA, the cell has two choices: it can either die or it can repair it. If [the cell] repairs [the cut], it often makes errors in the repair. When it makes errors, that destroys CCR5. There are phase one clinical trials that are doing this exact approach for destroying CCR5 and the other coreceptor, CXCR4.

Although state funding for HIV prevention has decreased over the past year, AIDS Project New Haven received a state grant in June for its prevention and outreach work. Located on Chapel St., AIDS Project New Haven is an AIDS service organization that provides food, therapeutic treatments and financial assistance to roughly 300 residents of the greater New Haven area suffering from HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses. Executive Director Christopher Cole said APHN received a $382,000 grant for both 2013 and 2014 from Connecticut’s Department of Public Health to expand the organization’s prevention outreach programs within the community, primarily those that involve administering HIV tests, linking clients to direct medical care and providing comprehensive counseling to both HIV-positive individuals and at-risk HIV-negative individuals.

Since its founding in 1983, APNH has undergone drastic changes in its services as well as its organizational structure. APNH, like other HIV/AIDS-related organizations across the country, was mainly started by volunteers. “It was a group of concerned and affected individuals who came together to support those in the community who were dying,” Cole said. In the early years of the organization, volunteer and worker positions did not require as much prior professional training as they do now. Today, positions such as medical case manager — which did not exist when APNH first began — do require specialized training. “We have come from a volunteer-based, crisis-based organization to being much more strategic, professional, clinical and accountable in our care,” Cole said. Short of hiring actual physicians to work at the organization, APNH does everything in its power to connect clients to the treatment they need, he added. APNH pri-

KAREN TIAN

HIV cells and the virus they cause affect roughly 1.2 million Americans a day. macaques and do similar gene therapy-type experiments. And then to humans. close would you say we are QHow to finding a viable solution for the eradication of HIV?

A

We do have a viable solution, it’s just hard to institute, even in the United States, which is essentially to prevent the virus from infecting new cells. We do

have pretty good genes that will do that, or eliminate CCR5 from the cell surface. It is, in some cases, a matter of doing the clinical trials so that it actually works. You can’t just do things on the basis of n=1. I think the solutions are at hand. In terms of a prophylactic vaccine as a solution, which is obviously the preferred solution … not in our lifetime, unfortunately. Contact MAREK RAMILO at marek.ramilo@yale.edu .

In honor of the 25th annual World AIDS Day on Saturday, Dec. 1, student groups and faculty from across Yale College and the graduate schools raised awareness about the disease and reached out to New Haven residents suffering from AIDS. Throughout the week leading up to World AIDS Day, groups across campus came together to discuss AIDS. Health professionals gathered at the Yale School of Medicine last Thursday to discuss research and progress of advocacy over the past few decades. On World AIDS Day, student organizations ventured into the city to raise awareness of the disease. AIDS Walk leader Connie Zhao ‘14 said the organization has about 20 members and spends much of the year fundraising and organizing the actual walk, which takes place every April. Five volunteers from the undergraduate student group spent Saturday morning at the Wooster Square farmers’ mar-

ket handing out red ribbons and bags containing condoms, HIV/ AIDS information pamphlets and World AIDS Day hats to commemorate the annual event. “At the beginning of this year, AIDS Walk decided that we wanted to encourage Yale students to raise awareness in the New Haven community, in addition to the Yale community,” Zhao said. “We hoped that by going to the farmer’s market rather than having a speaker event for Yale students, we would be able to reach more members of the community.” Later in the day, the AIDS Walk volunteers distributed more bags and served refreshments at a presentation at Liberty Community Services. Yale School of Medicine professor Frederick Altice spoke about the history of HIV/AIDS at Liberty. Every Saturday, the Yale AIDS Support Coalition travels to the Leeway AIDS/HIV clinic in New Haven to socialize with the patients and help out at the center. While YASC did not organize a special event for World AIDS Day,

YASC cofounder Monica Tung ’13 said YASC may plan special initiatives in upcoming years. “In the past, Yale students have gone and played musical instruments or danced for the residents, and they have really enjoyed that,” she said.

We hear time and again that we will see the end of AIDS soon and that the next generation will be AIDS-free. JEREMY SCHWARTZ, MD Instructor, School of Medicine While students have volunteered at Leeway in small groups for years, Tung said she started the student group this fall to coordinate the trips to the center and organize the volunteers for other initiatives. Tung said that on average five or six undergrads

and graduate students make the trip to Leeway, which is located approximately two miles away. Two days before World AIDS Day, a group of approximately 70 health professional students and faculty attended a special discussion panel hosted by the Yale Global Health Seminar and the Yale Tropical Medicine Course. The event was the first collaboration between these two global health elective courses, open to students from the School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, the School of Nursing and the Physician Associate Program. Three School of Medicine professors specializing in infectious and microbial diseases and AIDS lectured briefly and then opened the discussion to questions from the audience. Medical instructor Jeremy Schwartz, who organizes the Tropical Medicine Course, said the first presenter, Gerald Friedland, spoke about the impact of four important International AIDS Conferences, which have been held since 1985. The 2012 International AIDS

Conference, held this summer in Washington, D.C., marked the first time the conference was held in the United States since 1990, when its organizers protested the 1987 ban preventing people with HIV/AIDS from entering the country. The Obama administration lifted the travel ban in 2010. “One theme that came out of the session was that we hear time and again that we will see the end of AIDS soon and that the next generation with be AIDS-free,” Schwartz said. “But the speakers pointed out that we are not there yet. Dr. Friedland said it’s the beginning of the end of AIDS. We have treatments and strategies that are effective, but fully mobilizing those is still years away.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that in the United States, 50,000 individuals are infected with HIV every year. Contact LINDSEY UNIAT at lindsey.uniat@yale.edu . Contact DAN WEINER AT daniel.weiner@yale.edu .

Still needed: AIDS vaccine For the last 24 years, the world has observed World AIDS Day on Dec. 1st, a day to raise awareness about AIDS and reflect on the progress made and future initiatives in fighting the disease. This year there is a lot to be proud of. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released a report ahead of World AIDS Day that included some striking results – infection rates have dropped by more than 50 percent in 25 low-and middle-income countries and, in comparison to 2001, there were 700,000 fewer new infections. Importantly, dramatic infection rate reduction has been seen in the worstaffected region of the world, sub-Saharan Africa. The report suggests that, incredibly, one of the ambitious Millenium Development Goals may in fact be achieved by 2015 – the successful combatting of AIDS. The progress in fighting AIDS has been achieved through a multi-pronged strategy that involves significant investment in and distribution of antiretroviral treatment, promotion of testing — particularly amongst the oft-stigmatized populations that disproportionately suffer from AIDS — and promotion in non-drug based preventative measures and education. Fairly simple things — for example, circumcision — have been found to dramatically reduce the AIDS transmission rate. The UNAIDS report was extremely promising, but the Holy Grail in the fight against AIDS remains the discovery of an effective vaccine. No disease can be eradicated or thoroughly limited without a broad vaccination campaign. All vaccines (that are currently on the market) lead to the generation of neutralizing antibodies, secreted proteins that can bind specific parts of the pathogen, thereby targeting the pathogen for destruction and preventing them from infecting cells should we be exposed to the pathogen in the future. However, HIV replicates and mutates incredibly fast — it is estimated that it mutates as much in one day as the flu virus does in a year — and this is why it has been such a problematic vaccine target. HIV-infected individuals can harbor many genetically different HIV strains, so unless a vaccine can elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies — antibodies that can effectively stymy many distinct HIV strains — it will not be useful in preventing infection for everyone. Identifying neutralizing antibodies is not easy; the work involves repeatedly screening many patients in order to evaluate not only the antibody repertoire but also the virus variants the patients have. This past October, a study was published in Nature Medicine that defined a new, susceptible HIV variant in two patients. The two patients had antibodies that recognize a spot on the virus shell, a hitherto unknown vulnerability generated by a single shift in one sugar-like molecule that was inaccessible to antibodies in the initial virus infection but emerged in a virus variant several months later. By identifying broadly neutralizing antibodies that currently exist in patients, researchers ultimately hope to generate vaccines that can induce production of these antibodies, limiting the ability of HIV to take hold in exposed individuals. There are no guarantees; past vaccine trials have ended in disappointment and the high-profile Merck vaccine trial that ended a few years ago is even believed to have made some immunized individuals more susceptible to HIV infection. However, the identification of a broadly neutralizing antibody and its virus binding site is a significant development because it sheds light on how the virus can be thwarted as it evolves, providing a therapeutic target as well as a protective target. There is a lot to be hopeful about in the ongoing fight against AIDS, but there is still work to be done. Since AIDS is a chronic disease, antiretroviral treatments will continue to be important for many millions of people. Even if we did have an effective vaccine against HIV, we might still not achieve disease eradication for some time — polio, a disease that could have been eradicated years ago, still lingers in certain pockets of the world due to distrust of and infrastructure limits to vaccination campaigns. However, a successful vaccine would have an immediate impact in reducing transmission of AIDS and hopefully making it a thing of the past within the next century. Contact SAHELI SADANAND at saheli.sadanand@yale.edu .