NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · VOL. CXXXVIII, NO. 116 · yaledailynews.com
Yale divests $10 million from fossil fuels BY AYLA BESEMER AND FINNEGAN SCHICK STAFF REPORTERS After years of dogged student advocacy, the University’s Investments Office has divested part of Yale’s endowment from the fossil fuel industry. In a Tuesday letter to Yale’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility, Chief Investment
Officer David Swensen reported that after months of talking with Yale’s external investment managers about the potential risks associated with investments in coal and oil, around $10 million of the endowment has been removed from three publicly traded fossil fuel producers. Tuesday’s message follows a letter penned by Swensen in 2014, in which he asked Yale’s invest-
ment managers to consider climate change in their investment choices. Although Swensen did not release the names of the investment managers or companies involved, he said that by June 30 of last year — the end of fiscal year 2015 — Yale’s $25.6 billion endowment had only minor holdings in oil sands and thermal coal, which pollute more than other energy industries. Around
6.8 percent of the Yale endowment was invested in natural resources in fiscal year 2015, a drop from the 8.3 percent average of the previous four years. The announcement comes after five years of sustained student activism, at Yale and across the country, calling for universities to divest completely from fossil fuels. At Yale in particular, students have pointed to the fossil
fuel industry’s pernicious environmental and cultural impact, and the University’s stated commitment to ethical investment. While Swensen’s letter did not specifically mention the role of student voices, according to Fossil Free Yale member Nathan Lobel ’17, Swensen told the ACIR that the decision came at least in part due to student organizing. “The Investments Office
Students push for further climate action BY DAVID SHIMER STAFF REPORTER Roughly 100 students gathered on Cross Campus Tuesday afternoon to protest Yale’s investments in fossil fuels, while still recognizing that the University had taken one step forward toward divestment. Fossil Free Yale and the Association of Native Americans at Yale had long planned to co-host a protest in conjunction with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Tuesday visit to campus for the United Nations Global Colloquium of University Presidents. But the event took on new meaning when, earlier that day, Chief Investment Officer David Swensen announced that the University had dropped $10 million worth of investments related to coal and oil sands. Various students spoke at the protest, with several stating that the campaign to divest is perhaps transitioning toward an updated message: “Divest the rest.” “We were really excited today to get the news that Yale has begun the process of partial divestment,” FFY member Rachel Calnek-Sugin ’19 said. “We see this as a small but sig-
Before the Yale College Council election polls officially open on Thursday, candidates vying to lead the student government faced off on issues ranging from financial aid pol-
dates responded to questions regarding the improvement of resources available to the LGBTQ community and Yale’s mental health system. While the vice-presidential candidates disagreed on how best to incorporate diverse student voices within the YCC, all agreed there is a “credibility gap” between the YCC and students of color on campus. The highlight of the night, the showdown among the five presidential candidates, immediately followed the vicepresidential debate. Some of the issues discussed included Yale’s mental health climate and the accountability of the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct. “The YCC is not a policymaking body, it is an advocating body,” Armstrong said. “This election is really about who has been and who will continue to be the most effective in getting the administration to respond to the student body.” Following last fall’s heated conversations surrounding SEE DEBATE PAGE 6
SEE CS DEPT PAGE 6
Roughly 100 protesters demanded Tuesday that the University take more steps toward divestment. nificant step in our mission. We’re reading the fine print on Swensen’s statement because it has no commitment to divest fully, permanently or on ethical grounds on fossil fuels. So we
icy to athlete representation at a series of debates Tuesday in Linsly-Chittenden Hall before a crowd of close to 100 students. Four vice-presidential candidates — Luis Patiño ’18, Christopher Bowman ’18, Kevin Sullivan ’18 and Zach
The five YCC presidential candidates debated Tuesday night.
SEE B1
CS dept. plans ULA expansion In the days following the approval of a proposal to expand the role of Undergraduate Learning Assistants in the Computer Science Department, professors and students have expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for the decision, though much work still remains to be done to ensure the quality of the incoming ULAs. ULAs, who could initially only be employed in CPSC 100, commonly known as CS50, this past fall, may now work in any undergraduate computer science course. Still, not all computer science classes will have ULAs, since individual professors have the option of whether to hire ULAs for their classes or to continue working with peer tutors and graders. Computer science professors and students interviewed agreed that the expansion is necessary, given the department’s rapidly growing undergraduate interest and small number of graduate students who serve as teaching fellows. But professors noted that the CS50 ULAs had to undergo significant training sessions, and incoming ULAs for other courses may need similarly rigorous preparation. “The more student contact you have, the more training is required. ULAs are trained not just about the rules, but also about how to be effective teachers,” said computer science professor Brian Scassellati, who taught CS50 in the fall. “You need to spend time training if you want good ULAs.” Still, computer science professor Daniel Abadi, who is in charge of training graduate-student teaching fellows, noted that though the specifics for training have not yet been finalized, the training for assistants working in other department courses will probably be “a little bit less intense” than the CS50 ULA training. Abadi added that the department is planning to meet with the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning in the upcoming weeks to finalize a training plan and determine how the application process for ULA positions will work. ULAs were first approved by the faculty in November 2014 to teach in CS50, a course that relies on a strong undergraduate teaching presence. Before the approval, undergraduate students could serve only as peer tutors or graders — either holding office hours or
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
know our work is far from done. But we’re excited to join other universities who have partially divested — divest the rest.” On Tuesday, just after the letter’s release, FFY met
with the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility to update the committee on a divestment proposal the group submitted in January, said Nathan Lobel ’17, an FFY mem-
Wilson ’18 — followed by five presidential candidates — Sarah Armstrong ’18, Peter Huang ’18, Carter Helschien ’18, Diksha Brahmbhatt ’18 and Josh Hochman ’18 — sparred in separate debates on how to better incorporate diverse student representation within YCC and
administrative decisions. Candidates shared their visions on issues including how best to ensure direct and robust access to high-level decision makers within the University, as well as how to improve the campus sexual climate. Vice-presidential candi-
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Polls open Thursday for YCC elections. Meet the candidates.
SEE DIVESTMENT PAGE 4
BY DANIELA BRIGHENTI AND VICTOR WANG STAFF REPORTERS
ber who attended the meeting. According to Lobel, the ACIR told FFY during the meeting that Swensen gave partial SEE PROTEST PAGE 4
YCC candidates debate student inclusion, access BY JOEY YE STAFF REPORTER
believes the risks of climate change, like any risks, should be incorporated in the evaluation of investment opportunities. This is not an easy, straightforward task,” Swensen wrote. “However, initiating and continuing a dialogue with our managers about those risks result in more thoughtful consideration
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
.COMMENT “This is yet another article that reifies a male/female binary and fails yaledailynews.com/opinion
Chasing pavements W
e are always running. We run to class, we run to work and we run to meet our friends. Running always seems to be fashionable at Yale. If your feet aren’t pounding on the pavement, then everyone thinks that you’re crouched over, wheezing and struggling to catch your breath. Our lives are so often characterized by the amount of ink in our planners. We peer over our friend’s Macbook Pro to see how many events are plugged into their Google calendar. We feel inadequate when we have fewer entries on our own calendars, and then we wonder why we feel this way. Why are we judged if we don’t finish the three papers due at the end of the week, write two featurelength articles and show up to all of our club’s events? Many of us work so that we can buy the books that those essays are about. As much as we love running, we all need to tie our shoelaces eventually, lest we fall. But what happens when some of us need to pause more frequently than others? We want to run all the time, but the racetrack is not paved evenly for everyone. Some of us trip over the cracks in our paths as we desperately try to catch up to our classmates who got a head start. Those cracks can be the 10-hour shift you have to work to pay tuition or the time you had to take off for mental health. Why can’t we have smoother pavement? If we stop to cement over the cracks, we’ll find ourselves at the back of the race. Even though there are often structural barriers concerning race, class and sex that prevent some of us from running as far as others, it seems that fixing these structural problems sets us back farther in our personal goals. If we fully want to work toward a broader goal — like faculty diversity — we have to sacrifice our own grades and personal commitments. Many campus activists struggle to balance schoolwork with activism. We’re forced to either keep running on cracked pavements or to quit the race altogether. So many Yalies talk about this “running” in an abstract sense. We lament that we have to be the best at everything all the time, for no good reason at all. We bow our heads and pretend that Yale is the best racetrack in the world, because when we finish the race we’ll get a reward, no matter what. This only makes the situation worse; as James Cersonsky ’10 wrote in the Nation, “At once, Yale buys up and gentrifies local property, forces the hands of its labor unions … pours money into a new foreign policy institute and remains on the lookout for new global investment opportunities.” It’s a vicious cycle; when we convince ourselves that running on
this cracked p a v e ment isn’t too bad, because we’re at Yale, the w o r s e ISIS DAVIS- the race becomes for MARKS everyone. The soluThe dark tion isn’t to dismiss side activism, but to learn how to balance it with other events in our lives. Problems affecting students both at Yale and in the surrounding area are immediate and real. It doesn’t do us any good to pretend the pavement is perfect. Instead of focusing on how much we can do — and how far we can run relative to others — we should learn how to make the run smoother for everyone.
INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON HOW MUCH WE CAN DO – AND HOW FAR WE CAN RUN RELATIVE TO OTHERS – WE SHOULD LEARN HOW TO MAKE THE RUN SMOOTHER FOR EVERYONE
Find your (true) niche M
y Bulldog Days experience was a bit of a whirlwind, as I imagine it is for most people — new faces, a crammed schedule and more free food than I could possibly digest in three days. For most of it, I was floating along in a sort of gleeful haze, and if you asked me to remember specific memories, I would probably come up a bit short. One moment in particular though does stick out to me. I was sitting in the auditorium of the Whitney Humanities Center, watching a Directed Studies panel, when one of the students on stage, in response to a question about her work schedule, joked, “Academics are just, like, this fun thing I do on the side …” Like most of the other students in the audience, I laughed. Yale’s extracurricular scene was then presenting itself to me in all of its excited, bubbly glory; for the entire day I had been carrying around pamphlets, candy, some very premium swag and a hopeful perplexity about who I would become during my freshman year. At this University, I implicitly understood, you were
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friends, is that you can learn much more through interactions with your peers than through class discussions or readings, and I don’t mean for a second to dispute that this kind of socially acquired knowledge is valuable. But there are some people (extroverts) for whom this comes easier than others, and our justified valuation of it can often correspond with an unjustified, artificial devaluation of our academic projects. This becomes toxic very quickly. It can manifest in small, grating ways, as when people turn “not having done the reading” into a form of social capital. Or it can come across in really cruel and not-okay ways — such as when, in response to my not being able to attend an event because of a paper deadline, the leader of my group says, “Okay, so what’s a real reason?” These are real reasons. Each of us has a balance that we need to strike between our extracurricular and academic commitments, and that balance is different for everyone. I have been incredibly challenged and fulfilled by the work I have done here, both inside and outside the class-
ISIS DAVIS-MARKS is a freshman in Jonathan Edwards College. Her column runs on alternate Wednesdays. Contact her at isis.davis-marks@yale.edu .
CULTURE Sara Jones
EDITORIALS & ADS
known more for what you did outside the classroom than what you did in it — whether that is a capella, writing, athletics or student government. I told myself, for a very long time, that I was okay with that. Even as barriers of exclusivity reared their ugly heads and I realized that not every group was as welcoming as it first appeared, I ultimately found spaces I cared about and projects to commit myself to. But as the pressure mounted over the course of the year — especially during spring semester — a pretty basic truth became very apparent to me, in a way that it hadn’t during Bulldog Days. It is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to be an active member of extracurricular life at Yale while simultaneously remaining committed to your classes. And when it comes time to choose — as it frequently does — we are, more often than not, expected to put our classes on the chopping block first. I’m sure that there are many people for whom this model works very well. A common refrain, especially among my
room — and only recently have I started to trust my own instincts over the barrage of mixed messages and demands on my time that come at me from all directions. We should be able to shape our experience of this University as much as it shapes us. Many — not all, but many — student organizations need to be much more cognizant of and upfront about the expectations that they have for their members: What the weekly time commitment is, the relative importance of attending social events, the degree to which individuals are allowed to determine their own models of participation. Students should not have to feel guilty or ostracized for dedicating themselves to work that they care about — in whatever context or field that takes place. I love the groups I’m a part of. I also love my classes and my professors. These statements are not, and never should be, mutually exclusive. HENRY ROBINSON is a freshman in Silliman College. Contact him at henry.robinson@yale.edu .
Instead of shunning people that don’t run a million miles, we should ask how we could smooth the pavement. This can range from making extracurricular activities more accessible to those with cracks in front of them by reducing the time required for them, or being an ally in activism when necessary. “Smoothing the pavement” can be as simple as withholding judgment when your friends didn’t finish all their papers or show up to your club’s events. This cult of running is bad for everyone, but the constant need to excel at everything affects some on campus more than it affects others. The students with crappy running shoes and cracked racetracks just can’t keep up. Am I suggesting that we pull out completely? No. But there are ways that our running mates can pick us up when we fall.
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The Twinkie shirt
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B
ack in the 9th grade, one of my good friends gifted me a T-shirt. It was a rather cheap-looking brown shirt with a faded picture of a Twinkie on it — and I absolutely loved it. Why did I have so much affection for a Hostess product, much less for a T-shirt advertising one? Yellow on the outside, white on the inside, “Twinkie” was a term my friends used to describe me, a “whitewashed” AsianAmerican. Some might be inclined to label the term offensive, but during my freshman year of high school it was one I desperately tried to embody. I don’t want to delve into the psychology behind this desire right now. There are dozens of reasons why an impressionable high schooler might want to run away from his foreign roots. But regardless of why it happened, it happened, and it resulted in me distancing myself from my Asian friends. I lost what little grasp I had on the Korean language and severed my connection with whatever roots tied me back to Korea, or the continent
of Asia as a whole. The thing is, unlike the other awkward stages of adolescent development in my life — LEO KIM where the worst parts On us now only exist in the depths of Myspace or my mid2000s playlist — this particular phase had lasting repercussions. By the time I had matured enough to realize the value of my cultural heritage, I had effectively disbarred myself from it. But this winter, I visited Korea with some Yale friends. While there, I tried to talk to my grandfather — the man who literally came to the U.S. for years to raise me — and realized that I simply couldn’t. I realized that there had formed an impassable gulf between us since I rejected my Korean identity. I realized that all the knowledge I could have gleaned from him had been lost on the other side of that
divide which grows larger every day. At that moment, I wondered, was it too late? Had my highschool years so displaced me from my own culture that I could no longer bridge this tremendous schism? Had my previous shame at my Korean heritage sentenced me to this rift, dividing me even from the people who raised me? What could I do about this now? It was then that I realized that there was an answer waiting for me back at Yale. When I first got to campus, I didn’t think much of its cultural resources. I had been on the cultural houses tour, so I knew that the Asian American Cultural Center existed. I knew there was a Korean-American student organization and I knew there were Korean language classes from L1 to L5. For the first half of Yale, I abided by my high school M.O. and ignored these opportunities in favor of other alternatives. I took Italian instead of Korean, went to the Afro-American House more than the AACC and
didn’t even bother to go to cultural events for the food. Yet, as I’ve come to realize the value in rediscovery, the value in the full acceptance of who I am both as the son of Koreans and a native of Indiana, I’ve come to see these resources as something to aid me in the process. The diversity of Yale ensures that anyone can reconnect to roots severed in the past if they so choose. It ensures that you have the resources to rebuild bridges burnt — that you can work to cross any divide, but especially those that you yourself have made. The level of resources and diversity at this school is something that may never be around again. Second chances are a rare thing in this life. But it’s even rarer that we get a second chance to reconnect with our roots in a place like Yale. It would be a shame to not take advantage of it. LEO KIM is a junior in Trumbull College. His column usually runs on alternate Tuesdays. Contact him at leo.kim@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 3
NEWS
“Fair and affordable housing is a basic right for all New Yorkers and all Americans.” NYDIA VELAZQUEZ FIRST PUERTO RICAN CONGRESSWOMAN
Mixed-use development resurfaces
CORRECTIONS TUESDAY, APRIL 12
The article “Korean WWII survivor recounts human rights abuses” incorrectly romanized the speaker’s name; in fact, it is Ok-Seon Yi. It also misattributed several of Yi’s statements to a student panelist. The News regrets the error. The article “New grad dorms prepare for construction” incorrectly stated that construction was delayed because the City Plan Commission did not approve Yale’s request at a February meeting; in fact, the construction was not delayed. A graphic misspelled the name of YCC presidential candidate Diksha Brahmbhatt ’18.
YCC suggests lab credit reforms
BY MICHELLE LIU STAFF REPORTER A Dixwell mixed-use development featuring several units of affordable housing resurfaced at a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Tuesday evening. The St. Luke’s Development Corporation, represented by the Yale Law School’s Ludwig Center for Community & Economic Development, presented plans for a lot spanning parts of Whalley Avenue, Sperry Street and Dickerman Street. The development will include 32 total housing units, with 10 units set aside for elderly residents. In addition, the church seeks to build general office space, a health practitioner’s office, a music school and a beauty shop. Jahi Wise LAW ’16, speaking for the church, said the project has been tailored in response to community calls for more commercial space along Whalley Avenue. The development will act as an anchor for the neighborhood and help extend the downtown area up the Whalley Avenue corridor, Wise said. “Our goal, as evidenced by
our name, is to provide highquality affordable housing to the residents of our neighborhood, which is well documented as something that’s in high demand in this community,” Wise said. St. Luke’s Development Corporation sought several variances, including ones to allow 28 dwelling units on a smaller lot than required, a higher building height than permitted and no front yard. The church also sought a special exception to allow 36 parking spaces where 58 are required. Plans for the development have appeared before the board and the City Plan Commission in prior years but have stalled due to financing issues. Chairman of the corporation Samuel Andoh said that, in consultation with the city, the corporation has been able to move development forward by splitting the project into two smaller portions. The corporation intends to finish the property facing Sperry Street and Dickerman Street first, Andoh said, before working on the commercial portion facing Whalley. In February, the city com-
mitted $100,000 toward the housing development through its Livable Cities Initiative — a housing-code enforcement agency and neighborhooddevelopment department. The board eventually referred the requests for variances to the City Plan Commission, which will meet next Wednesday. Requests for variances on two other downtown housing developments, referred from the commission’s meeting last month, were approved unanimously by the board. Located at 19 Elm St. and 418 State St., the developments, backed by local real estate firm MOD Equities, are slated to include 64 total housing units. “It amazes me — the amount of housing we’re able to stick into New Haven,” board member Patricia King said. The board also gave a new hair salon and specialty pasta store the go-ahead to set up shop in East Rock and Wooster Square, respectively. Dan Lyon and Jenna Vollono, the owners of the Hive Hair Studio located at the corner of Whitney Avenue and Trumbull Street, sought a special exception to open a second
branch on 153 Nicoll St. in East Rock. Lyon said the building on Nicoll Street had formerly housed a barbershop several decades ago. Many of Hive’s East Rock customers had expressed interest in a hair salon within their neighborhood, he added. Jamie Freda, a small-business owner backed by Project Storefronts, described her new venture, which she sought to locate at 516 Chapel St., as a “raw vegan bakery market.” Freda is looking to open Project Pasta, which will specialize in gluten-free pasta, along with sauces and olive oils. By locating Project Pasta in Wooster Square, Freda — an Italian-trained chef — would be able to provide the neighborhood with affordable and nutritious food options, she said. “I’m suspicious of glutenfree pasta, but there’s no basis to deny [the request],” board member Charles Decker GRD ’17 said. The Board of Zoning Appeals will next meet May 10. Contact MICHELLE LIU at michelle.liu@yale.edu .
Alders reluctantly approve grant BY NOAH DAPONTE-SMITH STAFF REPORTER
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Sterling Chemistry Labaratory is home to the lab space for many courses. BY JOEY YE STAFF REPORTER Students often disappear for hours at a time to participate in labs. However, for hours worth of work, they receive only half a credit toward their Yale College degree. Last Saturday, the Yale College Council voted by majority to create a consistent set of criteria for lab-credit designation in all departments at Yale. Before the vote, project leader Kate Tanawattanacharoen ’19 outlined student and professor responses to survey questions regarding whether or not the amount of work required in their labs were accurate reflections of the lab’s credit designation. The presentation highlighted issues such as unequal workloads between labs worth the same amount of credits and disproportionately high amounts of writing required absent of a writing credit. Specifically, the council passed recommendations to assess the workload or required time for each lab before determining whether it should be a full or half credit and also to inform professors that the option to change a lab from half to full credit is available. “It’s important to be transparent about having credit allocated where it should be so students can know what they are getting themselves into,” Tanawattanacharoen said. “There are a good portion of labs that are worth one credit and those are generally adequate, but there are also half-credit labs which are as much work as some one-credit labs.” The YCC presentation drew from over 300 respondents to an undergraduate-wide YCC survey, as well as about 15 professors who teach labs. Tanawattanacharoen said the majority of professors interviewed believed their labs were worth the correct amount of credits with only two saying that their labs should be worth a full credit instead of half. According to the presentation’s analysis, full-credit labs or labs which professors thought could be worth one credit required a weekly quiz, weekly lab report and over three hours spent in the lab per week. Still, some departments are already aware of the disparity. Tanawattanacharoen said the Physics Department has made a large effort to make its lab workload match its half-credit designation. The next step in the process is to see what labs already require and determine if there can be a common standard, she said.
She added that the project is long term and will likely not be adopted within the next year, but will be able to serve as recommendations for the appropriate Yale College administrative group or task force. Students interviewed largely agreed with the report’s findings and expressed the sentiment that the lab courses did not have a consistent workload and sometimes merited more than just half a credit. “When I took the generalchemistry lab I was doing more work than I had ever done in any of my other classes at Yale,” Derek Kao ’18 said. “Right now I am taking a physics lab and its much easier because I do not have to spend as much time on it, only about three hours every week.” Kao said he spent over four hours each week working on the general-chemistry lab in addition to lab reports which could be up to 12 pages each week. He added however that the workload was not consistent even within the same department since his organic chemistry lab required less work. Justin Shi ’18, who is taking Physics 206L and who took organic chemistry, agreed, noting that neither of his labs has too many requirements. Labs require less theoretical understanding than other Yale College courses, he said, and a student can do feasibly well in a lab just by following the instructions and without actually understanding why the lab is working. Matthew Johnsen ’18, who took Physics 205, said his lab’s credit was an accurate reflection of the work. He said the lab met for three hours once a week and only two hours were needed outside of class. Still, for higher-level labs the work actually becomes quite substantial, he said, and it’s fair to make some labs full credit and other labs half credit. “Sometimes I feel as if students do not believe their professors really care about how much work they are assigning their students in lab,” Tanawattanacharoen said. “However, there are definitely professors who are waiting to hear the results of this report and are trying to make sure they give the right amount of work in relation to how much credit the lab is worth.” According to the Yale College admissions website on undergraduate research, there are over 800 labs at Yale College and the graduate and professional schools. Contact JOEY YE at joey.ye@yale.edu .
The Board of Alders’ City Services and Environmental Policy Committee met in City Hall Tuesday evening to hear testimony on a grant application that could impact the city’s response to climate change and inclement weather. If New Haven is selected to participate in The Rockefeller Foundation’s “100 Resilient Cities Challenge,” it will receive funding to develop a resiliency plan for the city, complete with a new city government position for a chief resiliency officer. Mendi Blue, New Haven director of development and policy, argued the grant’s case before the alders, saying it would allow the city to become up-to-date with the best resiliency practices used by cities across the world. But there was a catch: The city had already applied for the grant in January — without the board’s advance permission. The alders expressed dissatisfaction with this revelation, with East Shore Alder and committee chair Salvatore DeCola telling Blue she should have requested their permission at the board’s meeting in December, before the January submission date. “We’re not happy with that,” DeCola said. “That’s not the way it should be done. This
is bypassing the whole system of our country.” Westville Alder Adam Marchand GRD ’99 concurred, calling the situation “not ideal.” New Haven, Blue said, has partnered with Stamford to apply for the grant because The Rockefeller Foundation tends to favor cities with large populations, such as New York, New Orleans or San Francisco. She said applying with Stamford would make the joint application more competitive, given New Haven’s small population. “Should we be successful, we’ll appeal to the foundation to link the resiliency efforts in the two cities,” Blue said. “Stamford has a lot of open jobs, and we have a jobs deficit in this city — if we look at the transportation opportunities, we may be able to link them to provide access to jobs in Stamford.” Though The Rockefeller Foundation will pay for a new chief resiliency officer if New Haven wins the grant, the city will be on the hook for funding office space and supplies. But, as East Rock Alder Anna Festa noted, the grant’s wording suggests that New Haven, and not the foundation, will have to pay for the officer’s salary. This is not New Haven’s first pass at The Rockefeller Foundation’s resiliency grant.
Blue told the alders that the city applied for the grant last year, in conjunction with the city of Bridgeport. But difficulties stemming from Bridgeport’s involvement last year, Blue said, caused New Haven to jettison its southwestern neighbor in its current bid. Irrespective of the lateness of Blue’s testimony, the alders expressed skepticism about the grant, citing a lack of details from the city administration. Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Santana said she was concerned the grant’s vague wording might mean New Haven would end up with obligations to pay the salary of the new officer. Marchand said the city did not give them an adequate description of the chief resiliency officer’s duties during Tuesday’s meeting. “I emerged from this meeting not fully assured that we have a full picture of this opportunity,” Marchand said. “So I’m really concerned — I have reservations. And, worst of all, the application’s already been sent, and that is a major problem.” Marchand suggested the committee prepare a letter expressing their discontent to the city administration. After Marchand appealed to his colleagues to approve the application on its merits, it passed the committee unanimously —
though with Marchand’s letter tacked on. The headaches surrounding the Rockefeller grant were not the only source of controversy Tuesday evening. The last item on the committee’s agenda concerned the procurement of $49,000 for the emergency demolition of 55 Redfield St. Legislative liaison Rick Melita told the alders a fire on the property has made the demolition necessary. But, though Frank D’Amore, the deputy director of the local anti-blight agency Livable City Initiative, was scheduled to testify before the alders on the demolition, he failed to show up. DeCola called the lack of attendance “not acceptable” and “not how our government runs.” Festa was equally critical. “If this is so important, and it’s an emergency request, then someone should be present to answer any questions we have,” Festa said before the committee tabled the motion. “But they weren’t.” Now that The Rockefeller Foundation grant application has passed the committee, it will appear before the full Board of Alders for final approval during their upcoming Monday meeting. Contact NOAH DAPONTE-SMITH at noah.daponte-smith@yale.edu .
NOAH DAPONTE-SMITH/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The alders present were vocal about their disappointment with the city’s application for a Rockerfeller grant.
PAGE 4
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people?” JAMES INHOFE US SENATOR
University partially divests from fossil fuels DIVESTMENT FROM PAGE 1 of investment opportunities, higher quality and lower risk portfolios for Yale and better environmental outcomes.” Several climate change activists criticized Swensen’s letter for grounding the decision in financial considerations rather than ethical ones. While Swensen’s letter demonstrates a willingness to engage with the issue of climate change, Yale’s endowment remains invested in some industries, such as natural gas, that student activists say are still a threat to the environment. Several hours after the letter was released, members of FFY staged a protest — which had been planned weeks in advance without knowledge of Swensen’s letter — at a colloquium at Sprague Hall with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. FFY member Arabelle Schoenberg ’19, who opened a protest after Ban’s presentation, said that though it was a “huge day for divestment,” the decision to remove $10 million from a few companies was an economic tactic rather than a way to expose the harmful practices of fossil fuel companies. “This is progress, but this is not divestment,” FFY Communications Director Chelsea Watson ’17 wrote in a statement to the News. She said the shift in Yale’s investment strategies is significant, but that FFY remains committed to achieving divestment for ethical reasons. “Fossil Free Yale’s entire proposal on why Yale should divest is centered around the fact that the fossil fuel energy creates grave, ethically unsound social injuries,” FFY member Griffin Walsh ’19 said. “The idea that we should divest strictly on an economic basis is offensive to so many people in that it is saying that Yale cares more about its financial state than it does about the wellbeing of the people around the world affected by climate change.” The letter highlighted two ways in which the University has shifted toward more environmentally conscious investments: taking the $10 million out of the thermal coal and oil sands industries, and avoiding new investments in overtly contaminating energy companies. Yale’s investment strategy combines in-house endowment management with a host of external invest-
ment managers. The announcement that Yale’s external managers are shifting the University’s endowment holdings suggests that these external managers have listened to and showed support for the recommendations Swensen made in 2014. After conversations with the Investments Office, two of Yale’s external investment-management firms sold their coal and oil sands holdings. The founder of one of the firms agreed that climate change and carbon pricing were “unknowable risks,” and that fossil fuel producers with significant carbon footprints were “declining businesses, a profile the firm preferred to avoid.” In addition, since Swensen’s 2014 letter, new investments made by Yale’s investment partners have been in keeping with Yale’s investment approach, and Yale has not made any new investments in greenhouse gasintensive energy companies since then, Swensen said. Beyond considering Yale’s holdings in fossil fuel industries, Swensen said Yale’s investment managers should also consider the implications of climate change when evaluating farmland acquisitions in southern locations or the risks of owning low-lying coastal real estate, which could be vulnerable to rising sea levels. Although FFY criticized Yale’s decision for its apparent lack of ethical motives, Swensen’s 2014 letter explicitly recognized global warming’s “grave threat to human existence.” And a passage in the middle of Swensen’s Tuesday letter suggests ideological considerations as well. He described a recent incident in which Yale had traveled “very far down the path” to hiring a new energy manager, but eventually decided to break ties after what Swensen called a “divergence of views” between Yale and the manager over the risk of climate change and how to account for that risk when investing. “In part as a result of those conversation, the Investments Office decided not to pursue that investment relationship,” he wrote. Yale’s endowment saw a 11.5 percent return in fiscal year 2015. Contact AYLA BESEMER at ayla.besemer@yale.edu and FINNEGAN SCHICK at christopher.schick@yale.edu .
SIDDHI SURANA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
David Swensen announced Tuesday that Yale has divested from $10 million worth of investments in oil sands and thermal coal.
FFY protests at UN leader talk PROTEST FROM PAGE 1 credit for the shift in investment strategy to “input and organizing on the part of students.” FFY member Phoebe Chatfield ’18 said that in response to student demands and Ban’s support of divestment from the fossil fuel industry, she hopes the Univer-
sity will take additional steps to address the “racial and economic injustices of their investments,” including investment in private prisons. Arabelle Schoenberg ’19 said that the timing of Swensen’s announcement did not seem coincidental, given that the rally Tuesday afternoon had been
scheduled for weeks. She said that the University seems to be acting “secretly,” attempting to “sabotage” student-activists who planned the rally and putting FFY organizers into “response mode” in the hopes that the rally’s message would shift last minute. “Yale has heard us, and they
are scared,” Schoenberg told the crowd. She added that regardless of the intent behind the University’s partial divestment, the removal of $10 million from these companies was a victory — though a small one — for the group. Nick Henriquez ’16, who attended the rally but is not part of FFY, said one concern for the protesters is that Swensen did not explicitly say his office partially divested from fossil fuels in response to the efforts of student activists. Nate Bresnick ’18, a member of FFY who attended the rally, told the News that student activists have indeed pushed the University to take a step forward, though there is more work to be done. “We’re beginning a new phase,” Bresnick said. “We got word today that they’re doing a small thing and they said themselves that wouldn’t have happened without student organizing. But they have a long way to go … Students are making demands and progress gets made.” The protest comes at a time of increased advocacy for fossil fuel divestment. On Monday, roughly 50 University of Massachusetts at Amherst students staged a sit-in to demand the university’s full divestment from fossil fuel companies. The sit-in extended into Tuesday before 15 protesters were removed from the administrative building in the late evening following police warnings that they would be arrested if they did not leave, according to a statement released by the UMass Amherst Media Relations Office. Also on Tuesday, police arrested four Harvard students protesting fossil fuel investment at the Boston Federal Reserve, while Divest Harvard supporters conducted a protest outside the building. Shuyu Song contributed reporting.
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The protest was held in conjunction with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to campus.
Contact DAVID SHIMER at david.shimer@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 5
NEWS
“A people’s relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother.” JOHN HENRIK CLARKE PAN-AFRICANIST WRITER AND HISTORIAN
UN Sec.-General discusses leadership
Local gallery seeks artists
BY SHUYU SONG STAFF REPORTER
BY SARA TABIN STAFF REPORTER
United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon spoke Tuesday afternoon to a crowd of over 600 on student leadership, cultural heritage and climate change. Throughout his address, Ban encouraged students to take an active role in shaping various political environments of today, ranging from the threat of terrorism to feminist issues to sustainable development. Ban also spoke to necessity of transparency in appointing his successor, a process that will take place later this year. The talk, which filled Sprague Hall, was the keynote address for the Global Colloquium of University Presidents, a series of events involving six universities relating to the theme of preserving cultural heritage. Ban was briefly interrupted during his talk by a Fossil Free Yale protest intended to challenge the University’s current stance on divestment, though he continued speaking afterwards. “I am inspired to be among some of the most distinguished academicians around the world. So many young students today who are sitting here will surely become leaders of tomorrow, and it is important for this colloquium to discuss about how leaders can provide good opportunities for young people,” Ban said. Ban emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage, saying that its destruction is a loss that can never be remedied. He thanked the University for its support in seeking projects to preserve and promote shared cultural heritage, adding that institutions around the globe have also partnered to strive toward peace and worked diligently on pressing concerns such as women’s rights and the
This spring, artists from around the world will have the opportunity to create in the Elm City through Artspace’s eighth annual Artist-in-Residence program. Local nonprofit gallery Artspace launched its Artistin-Residence program — an initiative designed to bring artists to the Elm City — in 2011 and is currently seeking applicants for its 2016–2017 cycle. One artist out of roughly 50 expected applicants will be selected by a committee comprised of Artspace staff and members of its Curatorial Advisory Board to serve as an artistin-residence from August 2016 to July 2017. The artist chosen will receive free studio space in Artspace’s Orange Street building, complete with Wi-Fi, a kitchen and storage space. In October and November of 2017, the artist will have a solo show in Artspace’s project room. “Whenever you add a new face to an artistic community, it really does lead to growth in creative production for everyone,” Artspace Gallery Director Sarah Fritchey said. Fritchey explained that the gallery is looking for someone who will fully embrace New Haven and its history while contributing to Artspace’s community-minded cul-
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Ban Ki-Moon spoke to over 600 students on Tuesday afternoon. students sat down when security staff approached, and then Ban thanked the students for their active involvement in sustainability and divestment. As people were entering Sprague Hall before the talk, other members of FFY distributed flyers promoting divestment, and a rally of roughly 100 students subsequently took place outside. Janine Comrie ’19, who helped lift the FFY banner, said she was proud that Ban encouraged the University to listen to its students on issues ranging from sustainability to transparency. Another student who held the FFY banner, Ava Tomasula y Garcia ’17, expressed discontent at the administration’s slow response to broader divestment issues. “Salovey addressed issues of divestment during the Q&A today, but the administration still hasn’t made a commitment. There is so much more that has to happen,” Tomasula y Garcia said. Yesterday was the third time Ban has come to speak at Yale.
“[Being an artist-in-residence] was a really good experience for me to be able to focus on my work in a dedicated space,” Burke said. He added that the program provided a unique opportunity to be part of a “dynamic” art gallery. Burke said he occasionally felt isolated working alone in Artspace — he had previously worked in other New Haven locations where other artists worked in neighboring studios. But he added that he enjoyed the Artspace events he was able to interact with as a result of the program. Eben Kling, Artspace’s 2015– 2016 artist-in-residence, said that besides providing him with physical space, working with the gallery has helped him develop a stronger relationship with the artistic community and residents of New Haven. Kling works with mediums ranging from sculpture and animation to large scale installations. “After moving back to the area, this residency has been a great platform to familiarize myself with a community that I hadn’t really been involved in for over 10 years,” Kling said in an email to the News. Applications for the Artistin-Residence program close on May 8. Contact SARA TABIN at sara.tabin@yale.edu .
Contact SHUYU SONG at shuyu.song@yale.edu .
KEVIN BENDESKY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Artspace is a gallery located on 50 Orange Street.
yale institute of sacred music presents
YALE SCHOLA CANTORUM
Bernardo Strozzi: Annunciation (17th century).
DAVID HILL CONDUCTOR
Free; no tickets required ism.yale.edu
Preconcert talk by Michael Dodds at 6:30 Style and Spirituality in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610
Send submissions to opinion@yaledailynews.com
Monteverdi: Vespers (1610)
Friday, April 15 Q 7:30 PM St. Joseph Church 129 Edwards St., New Haven (new venue; free parking)
OPINION.
protection of the environment. He said that the preservation of cultural heritage is central to tackling peace around the world. During a question-andanswer session at the end of the talk, University President Peter Salovey asked Ban about his view on what Yale could do in terms of combating climate change. Educational institutions, not just nongovernmental organizations and civil societies, should take initiatives and actions in environmental and other kinds of activism, he said. He compared the role of the secretary-general as someone who “preaches,” and universities as institutions that “teach” people what to do. “[Young people] have a legitimate right to challenge the community. It is perfectly legitimate for you to say: ‘This is the place where I’ll have to live. Please make this world sustainable,’” Ban said. When Ban addressed sustainability during the second half of his speech, around 20 student protesters, all dressed in orange, stood and held a banner reading, “U.N. supports divestment. Universities when will you?” The
ture. She added that applicants should have an interest in reviewing other artists’ work and contributing to contemporary conversations about art. Artists-in-residence are expected to be employed and living in New Haven while they use the studio space, but Artspace will hire the artist and suggest possible housing options, Fritchey said. Former artists-in-residence, who have hailed from as far as Italy and Mexico, have held a range of Artspace jobs that included installing shows and taking charge of graphic design for the gallery’s new website, which is set to launch in April. New Haven-based artist Colin Burke became Artspace’s first artist-in-residence in 2011 when he was approached by the gallery while working as a volunteer for one of Artspace’s open studio events. Burke’s work involves various types of photography including cyanotypes — prints made on blue paper when exposed to the sun — and pin-hole cameras, created by punching a hole in a container that contains photo paper. He explained that he often leaves the pin-hole cameras in fields for up to a year at a time. The resulting images track the paths of the sun across the sky, creating artwork that Burke said is inspired by his interests in optics and physics.
PAGE 6
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“It should be mandatory that you understand computer science.” WILL.I.AM. AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER
CS dept. looks ahead to undergrad asst. expansion CS DEPT FROM PAGE 1 grading assignments, but never both. Course evaluations for the fall of 2015 showed positive feedback about the new undergraduate teaching system, which offers a more structured support system. CS50 Course Head Jason Hirschhorn said that based on his experience in CS50, he sees a demand for even more quality student teachers to help them with their coursework. “Our department is understaffed and to get the optimal teaching outcomes for the students in our department we need a bigger teaching staff,” Abadi said. “Peer tutors and graders are nice programs but they don’t have the full, 360 view of the student that the ULAs will have.” Scassellati said peer tutors are meant to help individual students, whereas ULAs have to deal with a whole class of 30 to 100 students and answer any of their questions. It is a whole different level of commitment, he said. Students noted that ULAs are often more approachable than regular teaching assistants, who are typically graduate students. “I think this can actually be great for the department because I think there will be less intimidation for some people when talking with an undergrad than a grad,” computer science major Yehia Saleh ’18 said. “Also, the fact that the TAs are in the same stage as other undergrads [means] they can tell the students about their experiences and internships, which is a huge plus.” Other students also praised the structure and seriousness of the ULA system, compared to the peer tutor structure. David McPeek ’17, a CS50 ULA this fall, said he was drawn to the program because it offers more formal training compared to the peer tutoring system. For CS50, students had to undergo more than 40 hours of training sessions before they could take to the classrooms.
KEN YANAGISAWA/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
2015 course evaluations from CS50 showed positive feedback for the ULA system. “The reason why I think this would work is because being a ULA requires a level of commitment and seriousness that attracts a lot of people. I really identified with the role and it became my main extracurricular activity,” McPeek said. “I feel
a deep sense of responsibility as a ULA, whereas the peer tutor role is more of a student job.” The Computer Science Department is aware that the policies could also be a future template for use in other departments.
During the computer science town hall hosted last week to discuss the current state of the department, Scassellati noted that the department was the “cutting edge” of the Yale campus in terms of involving undergraduate students in teaching roles.
“With CS50, we are the prototype and test case for how this is going to work in the future,” Scassellati said. “It is worth us putting time and energy because it could get replicated across the University whatever we end up doing.”
CS50 ULAs are trained in the spring semester in preparation for the fall term. Contact DANIELA BRIGHENTI at daniela.brighenti@yale.edu and VICTOR WANG at v.wang@yale.edu .
YCC candidates debate diversity, sexual climate YCC DEBATE FROM PAGE 1
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Candidates discussed making the YCC and Yale administration more accessible to students.
campus diversity and inclusion, all of the presidential candidates said they agreed that the YCC’s role was to support student leaders and ensure that their voices are heard. Huang said the most efficient approach would be to have the YCC work with minority and activist student groups on campus and help the leaders of those organizations meet directly with University officials. Similarly, Brahmbhatt said rather than have the YCC act as an intermediary between students and administrators, undergraduate leaders should be able to meet and converse with these officials directly. Similar to past years, this year’s presidential hopefuls also criticized the current relationship between the student body and the Yale Corporation. While the presidential candidates all agreed that the student body should be more involved with the University’s decision-making process, participants touted competing ideas on how best to reach this goal. Hochman said an undergraduate representative should be made a part of the Yale Corporation, adding that while such a change would not be possible to implement immediately, advocating for it now would be the only way to ensure it for the future. In contrast, Armstrong argued that adding a student representative to the Corporation would not be feasible, as it would require changing the body’s constitution as well as adding members from the University’s graduate and professional schools. “One of YCC’s primary responsibilities is agenda-setting because we are a policyadvocacy organization, not an implementation organization,” Hochman said. “The president needs to decide what the YCC’s priorities are and one concern I’ve had is that the YCC hasn’t had the same priorities as the student body.” Unlike last year, discussions of faculty diversity and campus inclusion were also at the fore-
front of this year’s debate. But some key topics from last year’s election — namely sexual misconduct and mental health — arose again. Brahmbhatt advocated for an online platform utilizing social media in order to provide better access to Yale’s sexual assault resources and facilitate the process of filing a formal complaint. On the topic of mental health and counseling, Helschien said that Yale’s mental health staff are not representative of the demographics of many of the students who seek their services. He added that the YCC should work with the cultural centers to ensure these problems are addressed. Nick Zevallos ’19, who attended the debate, said he was most impressed by Hochman’s statements during the debate, adding that he thought Hochman was able to propose specific policy proposals that tackled what students cared most about. Clay Dupuy ’18 said he thought some of the most important issues taken on during the debate were racial relations on campus, as well as financial aid and sexual assault. All of the presidential candidates, except for Helschien, have the elimination of the student income contribution on their platforms. “I thought Hochman was the best candidate because he was the guy who not only really understood the major issues, but also what the YCC could do,” Fish Stark ’17 said. “I think it’s rare to see someone who can get the pulse on campus and work within the channels that the YCC has.” Lauren Sapienza ’18 is running uncontested for events director and Zach Murn ’17 is also running unopposed for finance director. Both summarized their platforms after the presidential debate. The debate was moderated by YCC Vice President Maddie Bauer ’17 and Yale Daily News Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Addenbrooke ’17. Contact JOEY YE at shuaijiang.ye@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 7
NEWS
“I heard that Jesus had a pet dinosaur. Evolution must be a myth then.” JOHN BACON AMERICAN AUTHOR
Evolutionary biologist argues that humanity was not inevitable BY CAMERON HILL STAFF REPORTER In a full lecture hall in Kline Geology Laboratory Tuesday night, Jonathan Losos, Harvard professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, discussed the evolution of the human race and whether or not it was predestined. His lecture was the second in the John H. Ostrom Lecture Series, an annual series specialized this year to mark the 150th anniversary of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Director of the Peabody David Skelly called Losos, a noted evolutionary biologist specializing in the Anolis lizard, “one of the leading lights in the world of evolutionary ecology.” Losos’ lecture began with the trailer from last year’s Disney-Pixar movie “The Good Dinosaur,” which was about the friendship between a human boy and a dinosaur. Losos posited the question of what Earth would be like had the dinosaurs not gone extinct. In “The Good Dinosaur,” humans evolve alongside living dinosaurs, but in his lecture, Losos disagreed with that possibility. Losos asserted, to nearly 100 attendees, that humans would not exist as they do today if dinosaurs still walked the earth. “What if a mega-asteroid hadn’t hit Earth?” Losos asked. “To me, that answer is obvious: The dinosaurs would still be here, they’d still be ruling the world and we would still be in the underbrush scurrying around like little rats.” He described several leading theories on convergence and divergence in the evolution of species in an attempt to understand what might have happened if dinosaurs had been allowed to further evolve. From the argument popularized by paleontologists Dale Russell and Simon Conway-Morris that humanoid-like “dinosauroids” would evolve as optimal evolutionary solutions, to
scholar Stephen Jay Gould’s theory that “replaying the tape of life” — or, beginning evolution again from a point in history and seeing whether the outcome would be the same — Losos discussed whether the evolution of humanity was inevitable. “I think if we really could rewind the tape, if you start with exactly the same conditions, experience exactly the same circumstances, often the outcome is the same,” Losos summarized. “However, species with different backgrounds and histories will evolve differently in response to similar selective pressures. The more different the starting points, the more likely the outcome will be different.” Losos then called the idea, perpetuated by Hollywood, that life on other planets might resemble ours “ridiculous.” He also discussed the convergence of species — an evolutionary phenomenon whereby species that are not closely related separately evolve similar traits in similar environments — naming, among other species, mice in deserts across continents that all perform similar activities. Losos also made reference to animals in Australia, including the kangaroo and duck-billed platypus, whose traits did not occur in animals that perform similar functions on other continents. New Zealand is another ecosystem ripe for evolutionary research. As New Zealand’s only native mammals are three species of bat and several marine mammals, the island’s birds have evolved to fill traditional mammalian roles. Losos noted the semiterrestrial New Zealand short-tailed bat, which evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond called “the bat family’s attempt to make a mouse.” Citing New Zealand as evidence, Losos said that in alternative worlds life does not look similar to humanity’s perceived standard.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
On Tuesday, the Peabody Museum hosted acclaimed evolutionary biologist Jonathan Losos who argued that the evolution of humanity was not predestined. “I think it shows a lack of imagination, or perhaps a bit of arrogance, to think that we are the optimal solution of any sort of life that might evolve,” Losos said. Peabody Director of Student Programs David Heiser said the talk was a success. Heiser noted
that many open talks in the Ostrom series attract an audience mainly of city residents, but that this lecture attracted graduate students, faculty and Peabody staff. Peabody docent Richard Yanowitz said the lecture was one of the better speeches he has
attended, and said Losos revealed to him “a complex topic of which [he] was previously unaware.” Attendee Paul Nugent was similarly impressed by the talk. “Of course the important theme of all this is that evolution is still happening. It’s not something that happened millions of
years ago,” Nugent said. Ostrom was a paleontologist and curator at Yale, who helped curate the vertebrate paleontology collection, until his death in 2005. Contact CAMERON HILL at cameron.hill@yale.edu .
PAGE 8
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
SPORTS
“Maybe they hate me because I’m too good.” CRISTIANO RONALDO PORTUGUESE FOOTBALL STAR
Yale topped in midweek contest BASEBALL FROM PAGE 12 three batters in his sole inning of work. “Today obviously didn’t go our way,” Fuller said. “But we’re very excited heading into the weekend against Harvard.” The Bulldogs host their rival in the Red Rolfe division for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. Yale’s conference record currently matches Princeton for best in the Ivy League, but within their own division the Elis hold a significant upper hand heading into the weekend. The Bulldogs sit two games ahead of Dartmouth, three games ahead of Brown and four games ahead of Harvard. “We’re looking forward to having a good three days of practice,” Moates said. “We couldn’t be more pumped to take on the Crimson this weekend.” Yale’s four-game home weekend begins on Saturday at 1 p.m. Contact EMMY REINWALD at emily.reinwald@yale.edu .
Dreams worth pursuing BRONSDON FROM PAGE 12
JACOB MITCHELL/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Despite an 0–2 day at the plate, Harrison White ’17 still ranks second on the Bulldogs with 15 RBI.
level, both Lyon and Mason have thrived at Yale, following academic and athletic dreams. Lyon, a fourth-generation Yalie, has already promised to complete his degree at some point in the near future. Mason, however improbable it is that he leaves this year, has made the same pledge. Moreover, both of these student-athletes have helped Mother Yale just as much as she has helped them. Mason was critical in the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Tournament berth in over half a century as well as their first victory ever in the Big Dance. Lyon helped Yale hockey
recover from the loss of national champion goalie Jeff Malcolm ’13 and solidify its position as a national powerhouse. The NCAA loves parroting the statement that most of its student-athletes go pro “in something other than sports.” Nowhere is that more true than at Yale. But for Mason and Lyon, going pro in sports should be celebrated, not criticized, and Yale fans should be supportive of their decisions to not neglect Yale, but rather embody it. GRANT BRONSDON is a senior in Ezra Stiles College and former Sports Editor for the News. Contact him at grant.bronsdon@yale.edu .
Quinn’s leadership paying dividends for Yale MEN’S LACROSSE FROM PAGE 12 ily recruited out of high school. According to the stalwart defenseman, not a single one of the Division I schools that he looked at was interested in bringing him aboard after his junior year at Chaminade High School in New York, a program which has now produced four of the Bulldogs’ last 11 captains. “My parents suggested a postgraduate year, going to a boarding school and more or less repeating my senior year of high school,” Quinn said. “Once I brought it up to [Yale head coach Andy Shay], he said he’d be interested in offering me a spot if I went. I guess my journey is a little unorthodox.” After a year at the Hotchkiss School, Quinn arrived at Yale poised to make an immediate impact, playing in all 17 games his freshman year and starting 13 of them as the Bulldogs reached
the NCAA quarterfinals. Quinn has played in all but one game throughout his four years, while tallying 50 starts over that time. He has scooped up 124 ground balls and caused 62 turnovers in his 56 total contests with the Elis. When asked to reflect upon his growth during his illustrious career at Yale, Quinn is quick to credit the Yale coaches for his improvement. “My growth is a reflection of the coaching staff,” Quinn said. “I was a different player my freshman year. [Defensive Coordinator Andrew] Baxter has been an incredible coach at the defensive end. I can’t imagine wanting to play for a coach more than Coach Baxter. He makes the defensive unit feel like a family and invites us all over to his house at the beginning of every season.” Baxter did not hesitate to return the praise, complimenting Quinn’s attention to detail and
ability to lead by example, saying his captain carries himself with “a perfect blend of confidence and humility.” Throughout Quinn’s time at Yale, the Bulldogs have posted a 42–15 record, winning the Ivy League Tournament and reaching the NCAA Tournament on two separate occasions. However, Quinn said the relationships formed in his four seasons with the team matter more than any win or loss, whether it be upsetting No. 5 Maryland in February or falling in devastating fashion to Syracuse in the national tournament three years ago. “We’ve won some awesome games and had some tough ones, but the bonds with my teammates and the culture of the team are special,” Quinn said. “It’s the offthe-field stuff that sticks out.” Quinn admires his teammates, believing there are far better play-
ers on this year’s team than him. Nevertheless, Quinn’s talents were recently recognized by the Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse, which drafted him with the eighth overall pick in the January draft. Despite his achievements on the field, Quinn believes his character off it is far more important. “When I think about this team and this season, I just want to be the best teammate possible,” Quinn said. “More broadly into my life, whatever path I take, I want to be the best colleague and the guy people can lean on. My goal is to be a better person and a better leader.” When Quinn’s playing days at Yale are over, he will play in the MLL, and at the end of the summer, he will begin work at Barclays. Contact MATTHEW MISTER at matthew.mister@yale.edu .
COURTESY OF YALE ATHLETICS
Led by the senior leadership of Quinn, right, Yale’s defense ranks third in goals allowed per game this season in Division I men’s lacrosse.
YALE MEN’S LACROSSE BREAKING DOWN THE BULLDOGS’ 10–0 START WINNING PERCENTAGE
GOALS SCORED AND ALLOWED PER GAME Defense
100%
2015
Offense
8.13
18th in nation
8th in nation
13.30
6.60
2016
+ 3.25
11.38
9th in nation
Only team in Division I men’s lacrosse
Scoring margin
+ 6.70
7th in nation
3rd in nation
2nd in nation
Ranking
IN THE POLLS Coaches
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Media
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9 JACOB MIDDLEKAUFF/PRODUCTION & DESIGN STAFF
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
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BULLETIN BOARD
TODAY’S FORECAST
TOMORROW
Sunny, with a high near 54. Wind chill values between 30 and 40 early. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
FRIDAY
High of 58, low of 33.
High of 57, low of 39.
DOONESBURY BY GARRY TRUDEAU
ON CAMPUS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13 11:00 PM Blood Drive. From 11 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. the Yale University Police SWAT Team in cooperation with the Yale Navy ROTC Undergraduate Association will be hosting a blood drive at YPD headquarters, in the rear of the building. Yale Police Department (101 Ashmun St.), Parking Lot. 6:00 PM Battles of Nepali Nationalism: A tale of Kathmandu’s constitution, Tarai’s resistance and Indian diplomacy. Prashant Jha is an associate editor with the Hindustan Times in New Delhi, and author of the critically acclaimed book, “Battles of the New Republic — A Contemporary History of Nepal.” Jha covers both domestic politics and India’s regional policy and has spoken widely on Nepali political transformation. Luce Hall (34 Hillhouse Ave.), Rm. 202.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14 12:00 PM Yale Forest Forum Lunch Talk: “America’s Great National Forests, Wildernesses and Grasslands.” Pomona College professor Char Miller is a senior fellow of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, and a fellow of the Forest History Society. Miller has been a contributing writer for the Texas Observer, an associate editor for Environmental History and the Journal of Forestry, and is also on the editorial board of the Pacific Historical Review. Marsh Hall (360 Prospect St.), Rotunda.
FRESHMAN PARKING LOT BY HILLIGER CARTOON
FRIDAY, APRIL 15 2:00 PM Free “Five-minute Check Up from the Neck Up.” Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven and Yale Cancer Center will offer free head and neck screenings. More than 50,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with head and neck cancer, which can attack the nose, sinuses, mouth, ears, throat, larynx, thyroid, saliva glands and lymph nodes in the neck. Yale-New Haven Hospital (20 York St.), East Pavilion Special Events Area.
Interested in drawing cartoons or illustrations for the Yale Daily News? To reach us: E-mail editor@yaledailynews.com Advertisements 2-2424 (before 5 p.m.) 2-2400 (after 5 p.m.) Mailing address Yale Daily News P.O. Box 209007 New Haven, CT 06520
Questions or comments about the fairness or accuracy of stories should be directed to Editor in Chief Stephanie Addenbrooke at (203) 432-2418. Bulletin Board is a free service provided to groups of the Yale community for events. Listings should be submitted online at yaledailynews.com/events/ submit. The Yale Daily News reserves the right to edit listings.
CONTACT ASHLYN OAKES AT ashlyn.oakes@yale.edu
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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
CLASSIFIEDS
CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis ACROSS 1 Like many knockknock jokes 6 Fit together, as some Russian dolls 10 Commando ploy 14 Square measures 15 Pledge 16 Magazine with annual Style Awards 17 Impressionist who was frequently a guest of Johnny Carson 19 Ink stain 20 Quite a while 21 Org. with Wizards and Magic 22 Hard-to-hit pitch 23 __ tai 24 Greek gatherings? 27 Cleared (out) 29 Clearasil shelfmate 30 Be in session 31 Less-filling brews 32 Phoenix-toAlbuquerque dir. 33 Movie backdrops 34 Statute that protects source confidentiality in journalism 38 Column on a decision maker’s list 41 Govt. stipend 42 Gem weight 46 Copy 47 Health club 48 Golfer’s booking 50 Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly 53 “Holy cow!” 54 On edge 55 Jackie’s second 56 Founded: Abbr. 57 City near Tahoe 58 Menu listing literally represented by this puzzle’s circles 61 “Dancing With the Stars” co-host Andrews 62 Tan shade 63 Teapot part
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35 Road trip guessing game 36 Morales of “NYPD Blue” 37 Air Force heroes 38 Musical with nightclub scenes 39 1968 to now, in pro tennis 40 Fastidious sort 43 Drummer’s joke punctuation 44 Hobbyist
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45 Sees after 47 Muddy digs 48 Ripped to shreds 49 Author Blyton 51 Me.-to-Fla. route 52 Core group 56 Channel with numerous sister channels 58 Patch, perhaps 59 Diamonds, slangily 60 “Woe __”: 1996 grammar book
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
ARTS & CULTURE Concert celebrates School of Music professor Aldo Parisot
BY IVONA IACOB STAFF REPORTER Led by world-renowned Brazilian cellist Aldo Parisot, the Grammy-nominated musical group “Yale Cellos” will perform their annual concert at Sprague Hall Wednesday evening. Formed in 1983, Yale Cellos is an ensemble comprised of students enrolled in Parisot’s cello course as part of the School of Music’s graduate curriculum. Every year, the class brings together a small group of talented students hoping to learn from Parisot, said Vincent Oneppo MUS ’73, who assists Parisot. Wednesday’s show will feature performances of “The Entertainer,” Shostakovich’s first cello concerto, Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor and Bach’s “Air,” Sarabande from Suite No. 6 in D Major and Chaconne in D minor. The show will also include the world premiere of a three-movement piece written by School of Music faculty composer Martin Bresnick, “Parisot,” which was commissioned especially for the show. In addition,
the concert will feature projections of the cellist’s own paintings. “Aldo Parisot has a genius for building excitement around these concerts,” Oneppo said. “The most attractive aspect of the concerts is, of course, the extraordinary richness and beauty of the ensemble’s sound. Add to this the virtuosity of featured soloists, the display of hundreds of Parisot’s dazzling paintings on the big screen and new music commissioned for the group, all presided over by a charismatic and legendary artist, and you’ve got quite a show.” The show serves as a sort of musical portrait of Parisot, Bresnick said, mentioning both the eponymous work and the cellist’s paintings. In order to prepare, the Yale Cellos’ group of 13 students spend two and a half hours playing together every week, Parisot noted. During these weekly rehearsals, he explained, all 13 cellos perform in an ensemble, adding that this arrangement is particularly unusual for cello performances.
“What makes [Yale Cellos] more interesting is the fact that it is part of their education to play in an ensemble. It is very rare to see 13 cellos taking a course together,” Parisot said. Oneppo added that he thinks the group’s uniqueness is further augmented by its ability to attract talented cellists from around the world, who come to the School of Music to study with Parisot and play in the group. Further, Oneppo said, Yale Cellos remains unique among student ensembles in its number of commercial recordings. “There is no other ensemble on campus quite like the Yale Cellos,” Oneppo noted. “The Yale Cellos is the only student ensemble that has a number of commercial recordings to its credit, and that has enhanced Yale’s musical reputation throughout the world.” The concert will take place in the Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall on Wednesday, April 13. Contact IVONA IACOB at ivona.iacob@yale.edu .
COURTESY OF VINCENT ONEPPO
The Yale Cellos, led by Brazillian cellist Aldo Parisot, will perform in Sprague Hall on Wednesday.
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 11
“When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice— my voice.” MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH SOVIET AND RUSSIAN CELLIST AND CONDUCTOR
Antiquities as tools of war BY MAYA SWEEDLER STAFF REPORTER Last May, Stefan Simon, director of the University’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, spoke to WNPR about the destruction of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra at the hands of the Islamic State. Calling the destruction “a war on identity,” Simon said the extremist group’s actions can be seen as a cultural cleansing — something modern researchers do not yet fully understand. During a Tuesday afternoon talk for the U.N. Global Colloquium of University Presidents, Jason Lyall, director of Yale’s Political Violence FieldLab, echoed that thought. One of the earlier talks in the three-day colloquium, Lyall’s presentation discussed the role of antiquities in modern conflicts, highlighting how the destruction and looting of artifacts can become a strategy of war. Before an audience of approximately 40 people, Lyall said that reframing these practices within the context of political unrest is necessary to understanding the way in which they function as tactical acts that serve a wider purpose in regional conflicts. Focusing on Syria and Afghanistan, Lyall demonstrated how recontextualizing the destruction allows a political scientist to approach an issue that had previously been confined to archaeologists and sociologists. “I attended the talk because I’m interested in learning more about the intersection of insurgency strategies and cultural assets,” Hillary Lutkus ’18 said. “It was intriguing to hear Professor Lyall’s unique analysis of cultural and historical preservation through the lens of political science.” Lyall made note of the numerous reasons a group might con-
sciously choose to destroy or loot ancient sites, ranging from inflicting psychological shock to promoting state-building to selling antiquities on the black market for revenue. The destruction of a site, he explained, is not the end goal of violence; it is the means. Any groups — state, nonstate, rebel or terrorist — can engage in different levels of destruction according to their respective strategies. However, after running wordfrequency analysis on advocacy groups’ and journalists’ descriptions of attacks on the Islamic State’s actions, Lyall found the three most common descriptors — “wanton,” “senseless” and “barbaric” — all denied the intentionality of the destruction. “It’s the framing of irrational actors trying to impose their own system of beliefs,” Lyall said of the media coverage. “There’s no strategy necessarily behind it.” Martijn Vlaskamp, a postdoctoral researcher who is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow at Yale, said he saw parallels between Lyall’s analysis and his own areas of interest. Vlaskamp specializes in the role of natural resources in armed conflicts. “The looting of natural resources, like antiquities, influences conflict dynamics,” Vlaskamp said. “One political solution is simply destroying them, but countries can also impose sanctions.” To illustrate the variety of variables that can influence why, when and where groups choose to destroy or loot antiquities, Lyall contrasted the treatment of ancient artifacts in Afghanistan and Syria. For example, after destroying the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001, the Taliban actually made efforts to preserve the country’s cultural heritage, Lyall said, noting
MAYA SWEEDLER/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The Yale University Art Gallery houses countless relics of cultural heritage. that the greatest threat to Afghan antiquities is the state. With just two actors involved in the conflict and minimal looting, the Afghanistan example stands in stark contrast to Syria. Showing a map of the country’s ancient sites that have come under attack during the Syrian civil war, Lyall graphed the percentage of damage caused by Kurds, terrorist groups, IS and the current government of
Bashar al-Assad. The Islamic State — whose black-market antiquity sales generate millions of dollars of revenue, according to declassified documents from the Deir ez-Zor province — does the most looting in Syria, though media outlets often exaggerate the amount of damage caused by the group. In one particularly prominent example of journalistic hyper-
bole, Lyall said, the Islamic State’s “destruction” of Palmyra actually left 80 percent of the ancient city intact. He noted that the group, rather than having fully destroyed the city, repurposed it, using the site as a stage for public events, such as executions. Still, Lyall said, there are two main differences between modern cultural destruction and previous practices.
“One is social media and its impact,” Lyall noted. “ISIS is great on Twitter, and they can get videos up immediately. Two is the level of destructiveness we can now yield. In the past, it was possible to destroy these sites but that’s nothing compared to what Assad can do now.” Contact MAYA SWEEDLER at maya.sweedler@yale.edu .
UNESCO director-general talks cultural preservation BY NATALINA LOPEZ STAFF REPORTER On Monday evening, Irina Bokova, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, spoke to a large crowd gathered at the Yale School of Management for the U.N. Global Colloquium of University Presidents. Bokova, a native Bulgarian, assumed her responsibilities with UNESCO in 2009, becoming the first woman to lead the organization, and was tasked with responding to significant threats to global cultural heritage. Since her reelection in 2013, Bokova has dealt with various international threats to cultural patrimony, including the destruction inflicted on the ancient city of Palmyra by Islamic State militants and the conservation efforts following its retaking from the extremist group earlier this year. Recently, Bokova launched UNESCO’s global “#unite4heritage” movement, building on ideas about heritage and its value to humanity, as well as the importance of educating youth about history as a tool for looking ahead. “Culture is a force for resilience, giving people strength and confidence to look toward the future,” Bokova said. During her talk, Bokova emphasized the importance of cultural heritage sites not merely in terms of their historical or aesthetic value, but also with regards to their social meanings for particular communities. Bokova discussed several examples of the use of cultural heritage conservation as a tool to bolster communities’ spirits, such as the rebuilding of historic mausoleums in Timbuktu, which had been threatened by desertification. Further, Bokova said, working to conserve a community’s monuments is a crucial step in preserving its history, a gesture with important consequences for the fight against extremist ideologies. “Extremists destroy heritage because
they are afraid of history, because history delegitimizes them,” Bokova noted. “They do not choose between people and culture. They attack both, and we need to protect both.” Gustavo Araoz, president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, praised Bokova’s speech and work, noting that her emphasis on cultural heritage was unprecedented among her predecessors. While Araoz said that outdated approaches and legislation in the field are still challenges to contemporary heritage conservation efforts around the globe, he added that Bokova’s work remains important in building new models for such activities. Katherine Slick, former president of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Alumni Foundation, highlighted the timely coincidence of the colloquium falling on the 50th anniversary of the United States’ National Historic Preservation Act, noting that the event 50 years ago marked American preservationists’ initial forays into the development of international techniques of conservation. “This is a nice reversal of that, [and] bringing people from around the world to here,” Slick said. During her lecture, Bokova underlined the importance of talking about heritage with young people and teaching them that all cultures permeate and influence one another. Araoz further emphasized his faith in youth, noting in particular their commitment to “making the world a better place.” “The strong message is precisely this notion that we are different, but we are one humanity,” Bokova said. “Behind any culture, there will be and there can be outstanding objects and sites of universal culture.” Contact NATALINA LOPEZ at natalina.lopez@yale.edu .
OTIS BAKER/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Irina Bukora, director-general of UNESCO, spoke at the School of Management on Monday.
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YALE SOFTBALL PLAYING FOR CHRIS On Wednesday, the Yale and Quinnipiac softball teams will play a doubleheader in honor of Chris Labbadia, who passed away in January. Labbadia was the brother of Yale shortstop Brittany Labbadia ’16 and son of Quinnipiac assistant coach Lynn Labbadia.
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“When I think about this team and this season, I just want to be the best teammate possible.”
STU MCNAY ’05 OLYMPICS ON HORIZON Following in the footsteps of Yale sailing alumni Thomas Barrows ’10 and Joe Morris ’12, who each recently qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, is McNay and his partner Dave Hughes. The duo qualified on Wednesday to be on the U.S. sailing team.
MICHAEL QUINN ’16 CAPTAIN, MEN’S LACROSSE
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
Under-recruited Quinn leads undefeated Yale MEN’S LACROSSE
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Since arriving at Yale, Quinn has only missed one game in four years, and he has started in 50 of the Bulldogs’ 57 contests over that time. BY MATTHEW MISTER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The No. 1/2 Yale men’s lacrosse team is off to its best start since 1990, undefeated through 10 games and outscoring teams by a margin of 6.7 goals per contest. At the center of this historic campaign has been captain and defenseman Michael Quinn ’16, a humble leader who was initially overlooked by nearly every Division I program, including Yale. Yet since stepping onto campus, Quinn has been a steady force on Yale’s defense. And last May, after leading the Bulldogs with 19 caused turnovers en route to being named first-team All-New England
and a third-team All-American, Quinn’s teammates voted him captain for both his play on the field and intangibles off it. “[Quinn’s] talent speaks for itself, but what differentiates him from others is his ability to keep us mentally focused on the task at hand and to not look past each opportunity that lies ahead,” midfielder Mike Bonacci ’16 said. “He is a hard-working and driven individual who has worked to be in the great spot that he is today. We attribute a lot of our success this year to his leadership.” That team’s success culminated in the No. 1 ranking in both the media and coaches polls on March 28, a feat never before achieved in Yale pro-
gram history. Key to that has been Quinn’s ability to regularly lock down the opposing team’s best scorer, leading a Yale defense that ranks third in the nation in goals allowed. But the captain’s rise to prominence has been a long journey, one that started nearly two decades ago. Quinn started playing lacrosse in kindergarten after his older brother took up the sport. Even though his father had never played the game, Tony Quinn learned alongside his two sons. Tony Quinn, now the father of one of the nation’s top defensemen, says he used to be his son’s “test dummy,” a claim Michael Quinn firmly denies.
“He was a trooper for going out there and helping me improve,” the Yale captain said. “We used to throw and catch together, but I never tested out any checks on him. There were some points in high school when I probably wish I would have though.” Tony Quinn grew to love the sport and became his son’s biggest fan, attending each one of his collegiate games. After a 19–3 Yale pummeling of Sacred Heart last Tuesday, Tony Quinn characterized his son as a dreamer, a quality that was tested during Michael Quinn’s journey to Division I lacrosse. Quinn was not heavSEE MEN’S LACROSSE PAGE 8
GRANT BRONSDON
The pros of going pro This spring, Yale athletes have soared to heights rarely seen ‘round these parts. The men’s lacrosse team currently stands at the top of the heap, the only undefeated team in Division I men’s lacrosse. On the diamond, the Bulldogs are coming off a four-game weekend sweep that featured a pair of walk-off wins. And on the water, Yale crew continues to dominate, with an undefeated weekend across the heavyweight, lightweight and women’s boats. Yet despite all this team success, two of the most noteworthy events in Yale athletics have come from individual players. Last month, men’s basketball point guard Makai Mason ’18 announced his intention to declare for the NBA Draft despite two remaining years of eligibility. And just last week, star goaltender Alex Lyon ’17 signed a three-year pact with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, choosing to forego his senior year. It bears mentioning that Mason is taking advantage of a new rule that allows college basketball players to declare for the draft, participate in certain workouts and ultimately return without losing eligibility. For example, Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari said that literally every member of his team will declare for the draft. Mason is a virtual lock to return, as it would take a team — or two — falling head over heels in love with the dynamic guard in order to convince him to leave for good.
Still, these Eli players’ decisions have been met with mixed emotions. Some fans are disappointed, and understandably so: Lyon is a three-year starter, a first-team All-American and the backbone of the top defense in the country for two consecutive seasons. Even with Patrick Spano ’17 ready to take over in goal, the loss of Lyon figures to damage the Bulldogs’ hopes for 2016–17. Mason, meanwhile, will run the show for a Yale team losing four of its opening day starters, including three All-Ivy players. Losing him, as unlikely as it may be, would make a young team even younger. But it is unequivocally good that these two are testing the waters and considering — or, in Lyon’s case, committing to — playing in the pros. For starters, Yale students are told time and time again to follow their dreams. If we want to take time off, whether before we get to campus or during the middle of our Yale experience, we are often encouraged. I know that as a freshman counselor, I have endorsed this idea to many a person. Why is taking time off to follow athletic dreams any different? Why are people working on startups encouraged for taking a risk, but star athletes are told to stay in school? This is completely different from a one-and-done situation: Rather than using college as a stepping stone to the next SEE BRONSDON PAGE 8
Sacred Heart halts Yale’s five-game win streak BY EMMY REINWALD CONTRIBUTING REPORTER After sweeping four critical Ivy games last weekend, which included two thrilling walk-offs in extra innings, the Yale baseball team entered Tuesday afternoon boasting a season-high five-game win streak. However, the Bulldogs (11–19–1, 6–2 Ivy) fell 7–0 to in-state foe Sacred Heart (14–13, 6–1 Northeast) in a contest marked by quiet Yale bats and a four-run Pioneer sixth-inning outburst.
BASEBALL “Obviously today wasn’t our best overall effort, but there were some good takeaways,” said captain and right-handed pitcher Chris Moates ’16, who was in the lineup as a designated hitter. “Tyler [Duncan ’18] pitched great, and [third baseman] Richard [Slenker ’17] and [center fielder] Tim [DeGraw ’19] both had strong games.” Slenker and DeGraw led the Bulldogs with two hits apiece in the game, with DeGraw also reaching on a walk. The duo was responsible for four of Yale’s five hits as Sacred Heart’s lefthanded pitcher James Taubl tossed five scoreless innings for the Pioneers
to get the win. The Bulldogs had an opportunity to strike first with two outs in the top of the second inning. A DeGraw single was followed by a double from first baseman Griffin Dey ’19, sending catcher Andrew Herrera ’17 to the dish with two runners in scoring position. Taubl induced Herrera into grounding out to third, keeping Yale off the scoreboard in its best chance of the game. The Bulldogs managed to put a runner in scoring position just three times after the second frame. “We were just a little flat and didn’t play as well as we should,” Slenker said. Righty Benny Wanger ’19 made his fourth start on the mound for the Bulldogs, going a season-long 5.1 innings en route to his best outing of the year. After retiring nine of the first 12 Sacred Heart batters he faced, Wanger ran into some trouble in the fourth. The Pioneers opened the frame with a double and run-scoring triple, followed by an RBI groundout to quickly snatch a 2–0 advantage. Sacred Heart opened the bottom of the sixth with another double, compounded by a walk, error and single in quick succession, pushing two more runs across. Head coach John Stuper pulled
Wanger after the freshman retired the next batter on a sacrifice bunt. Wanger’s final line included six runs, four earned, on eight hits allowed, in addition to four strikeouts. Stuper turned to Sam Boies ’19, a lefty out of the pen, for his team-high 14th outing of the season. The freshman, whose ERA now sits at 5.54, allowed two inherited runners to score before finishing the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Sacred Heart led off a frame with a double for the third time, followed by an RBI single that forced Boies to turn the ball over to the right-handed Duncan with Yale trailing 7–0. Duncan completed two scoreless innings, allowing just one batter to reach base in his 13th relief appearance of the season. Sacred Heart, meanwhile, utilized four relief pitchers who all found success, allowing a combined two hits over the game’s final four innings. However, Yale did load the bases in the top of the ninth, before catcher Tom Fuller ’19 stepped up for his first at-bat of the game, and just his fourth of the season. The freshman struck out swinging against right-handed pitcher Mike Lembo, who wound up punching out
STAT OF THE DAY 0.736
SEE BASEBALL PAGE 8
COURTESY OF YALE ATHLETICS
Richard Slenker ’17 added two hits on Tuesday, upping his season batting average to 0.314, secondbest on the team.
THE WINNING PERCENTAGE OF THE NO. 1/2 YALE MEN’S LACROSSE TEAM DURING THE FOUR-YEAR CAREER OF CAPTAIN AND DEFENSEMAN MICHAEL QUINN ’16. The Bulldogs are 42–15 over the past four seasons, including an unblemished 10–0 start this season.
YCC ELECTIONS
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
PRESIDENT The president of the Yale College Council is responsible for developing a vision for YCC and leading all of its operations. As president of the student body he or she is primary liaison between students and Yale’s administration. The president regularly meets with the University President, Dean of Yale College, and other University offials. In addition, the president represents Yale’s undergraduates to persons or groups outside of the University when necessary.
ARMSTRONG A LINK TO THE ADMINISTRATION
BY JON VICTOR STAFF REPORTER Sarah Armstrong ’18, the current Sophomore Class Council president, does not want to be the voice of the students. “The students are already voicing what they want,” the Yale College Council presidential candidate said. “I want to be the link between the students and the administration. I don’t want the YCC to speak for people who are already speaking really well
for themselves.” Instead, Armstrong said she aims to bring leaders of various student groups into conversations with administrators and YCC representatives on issues that matter to them. That way, she said, students can voice their opinions more directly and more accurately, without having to go through any administrative body. Armstrong counts financial aid, cultural inclusion and the campus sexual climate among her top priorities, but much of her
platform is also based on improving efficiency within the YCC and avoiding bureaucratic systems that prevent reforms from coming to fruition. Armstrong said she wants to streamline how the YCC operates by publishing policy recommendations as a singlepage “sales pitch” with a list of highlights, rather than in lengthy reports, the format the YCC currently uses. Her involvement with the SEE ARMSTRONG PAGE B4
BRAHMBHATT FOCUSING ON CONNECTIONS
BY VICTOR WANG STAFF REPORTER If elected president of the Yale College Council, Diksha Brahmbhatt ’18 will look to channel the “power of face-to-face collaborations” and facilitate partnerships both within and beyond the council. “We need someone who deeply cares not about the title, but about connecting the community and being a face that is approachable,” Brahmbhatt said.
“There is a power in everyday connections and that is what I do on a daily basis. I try to connect people with each other.” Connecting people is a big part of what Brahmbhatt does on campus, she said. As Berkeley College’s YCC representative, Brahmbhatt has spent this year developing ways for students to engage with the New Haven community beyond community service activities. She is also a FOOT leader and part of the Civic Leadership Initiative, which aims to
empower Yalies to make change in their community. She is also a Berkeley College Master’s Aide. As YCC president, Brahmbhatt would work to connect the YCC taskforces with other organizations at Yale and in New Haven. She said YCC projects can sometimes become “insular” and get placed on the back burner when students are busy. Instead, YCC taskforces should actively build relationships and partnerships SEE BRAHMBHATT PAGE B4
HELSCHIEN REACHING STUDENTS WITH HUMOR
BY FINNEGAN SCHICK STAFF REPORTER In his own words, Carter Helschien ’18 is running for Yale College Council president, “all kidding aside.” Helschien, who has spent the past two years with the YCC as a representative from Morse College and was a member of the Freshman Class Council, is running a campaign he hopes will engage more students with a student
government that he said is out of touch with its constituents. Despite his unorthodox campaign slogans that claim he is “the only candidate running for Yale College Council president” and repeated promise to “make things less bad,” Helschien said he is completely serious about the issues facing students. “The YCC only works well when you have the power of the students behind it,” he said. “[The YCC] is not working
with student groups as well as it can be.” Helschien said his humorous campaign promotions, which include a petition to expand Toad’s, a flip book with photos of Helschien paired with satirical quotations and a joking YouTube video, are tools to get more students engaged with the YCC process. Helschien said he thinks many students view the YCC as a slow-movSEE HELSCHIEN PAGE B4
HOCHMAN FOCUSED ON SOCIAL EQUALITY
BY AYLA BESEMER STAFF REPORTER For Joshua Hochman ’18, a combination of realism and idealism forms the basis of a YCC presidential campaign that emphasizes social issues on Yale’s campus. Hochman, who currently serves on the YCC’s Executive Board as academics director, is running on a platform of “equity and accountability,” promoting social equality
in areas such as racial equity, sexual climate and financial aid. His platform — measuring 32 pages — is divided by “what Yale should do, and what the YCC can do,” creating a set of ideas he called both visionary and realistic. Hochman further emphasized that the platform is a result of conversations he has already conducted with students and group leaders, ranging from the president of the Student Athlete Council to members of Next Yale.
“A lot of candidates in this race are saying ‘I don’t want to give you a big platform because you are my platform,’” Hochman said. “What I am saying is that my platform is your platform. I don’t want to start listening to people once I become president; those conversations have started already.” Hochman said he wants to expand financial support of the cultural centers and demSEE HOCHMAN PAGE B4
HUANG PUTTING STUDENTS FIRST
BY DAVID SHIMER STAFF REPORTER
ALL PHOTOS BY ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
As president of the Yale College Council, Peter Huang ’18 would work to address major campus issues: faculty diversity, the student income contribution and sexual climate. But Huang said that unlike other candidates’ platforms, his has a common thread: It is ambitious but focused. “I prioritize in my platform and still might not be able to get to everything,” Huang said.
“Every other candidate does not expect to cover everything they propose.” Indeed, Othmane Fourtassi ’19 — a member of Huang’s campaign team — said Huang offers practical solutions and is “a doer who does not overpromise.” Huang said one of his main, most pragmatic ideas is to build a website that maps out what each University administrator does. Doing so will enable students with specific issues to directly communicate with rel-
evant officials, he explained. Another major goal is to directly engage with student groups on campus, and Huang added that he is uniquely qualified to lead such an effort. “I want student government to work directly with student groups instead of getting survey feedback and doing listening campaigns; I want to go one step beyond that,” he said. “I have been active in the Asian American Cultural Center SEE HUANG PAGE B4
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
VICE PRESIDENT The Vice President is responsible for recruitment, elections, project assignment to representatives, and committee and team oversight. The Vice President also leads the Management Board, the Council of Representatives, and meets with key University officials. Additionally, he or she serves as the liaison between the YCC and University Standing Committees as well as the primary manager of the Academics, Student Life, and University Service Directors.
v
BOWMAN
PATIÑO
A YCC FOR ALL
BY QI XU STAFF REPORTER After serving as a representative for Saybrook on the Yale College Council, the treasurer for the Freshman Class Council and a member of two University committees including the Yale College Standing Committee on University Expansion, Christopher Bowman ’18 said his connections to student government and unique background knowledge on the new residential colleges set him apart from the other three candidates running for YCC vice president. Bowman said his priority is to raise the standard of the YCC by improving its accessibility, transparency and communication with students. Bowman said he hopes to review reinstatement policies, create a task force to review existing reporting mechanisms for sexual misconduct and tackle the issue of eliminating the student income contribution. Academically, Bowman said he will push for a later registration deadline for converting classes from Credit/D/Fail to a letter grade. “Through serving on the steering committee for the new residential colleges, I’ve been able to see firsthand the issues that are facing Yale as it prepares for an influx of additional students,” Bowman said. “As vice president, I would have the unique background knowledge to create policies that would
ensure the continued success of Yale College despite the huge changes that are on the way.” Bowman told the News that the current YCC has a done good job in terms of student advocacy but has lost touch with students, as many Yalies are unaware of the YCC’s work. The problem boils down to communication and outreach, he said. As a result, his goal is to bring back the YCC’s high standard, Bowman said. Bowman outlined three main ways to achieve this goal. First, he said he will ensure YCC representatives from different colleges attend their respective college council meetings. Second, to boost greater communication between the YCC and the student body, Bowman said he will send out monthly emails to keep students updated about the YCC’s progress, and publish a report on its projects at the end of each semester. Third, Bowman said he will push for a new position on the YCC’s executive board dedicated exclusively to connecting with students: the director of student outreach. Bowman said that the YCC’s student life director and vice president are currently the two primary contacts for outreach, but the former oversees many projects and the latter is responsible for a significant amount of advocacy, leaving the representatives unable to focus on connecting with every student.
SULLIVAN
FOR ONE YALE
During his term on the YCC last fall, Bowman spearheaded several projects, including one on seminar accessibility for sophomores, which culminated in a 29-page report now available on the YCC’s website. Bowman said he would continue addressing this issue if elected vice president. Sydney Wade ’18, who has worked with Bowman on the YCC, said Bowman makes a perfect candidate because he will hold the YCC accountable for every student. Wade added that unlike other candidates who voiced similar goals, Bowman is not putting on a show just for the campaign but is voicing what he believes all the time. Wade said when Bowman served as a treasurer for the FCC, he regularly updated the team on how much it has and how to boost its budget. “[Bowman] knows how to get stuff done. He knows how to put his heart and soul into pushing for policy reforms,” Wade said. Matt Guido ’19, who served on the YCC’s task force on new residential colleges and has worked with Bowman in the past, said a vice president should be vocal during council meetings and Bowman would be the best fit. Guido recalled that during meetings, Bowman always engaged with others’ ideas and asked pointed questions.
WILSON
A NEW APPROACH TO YCC
BY JIAHUI HU STAFF REPORTER If elected vice president of the Yale College Council, Kevin Sullivan ’18 would help lead an organization he considers both great and terrible. Sullivan, who previously served as vice president of the Sophomore Class Council and Morse College representative, said he understands the shortcomings of the YCC: its top-down hierarchy and general failure to listen to students. While on SoCo, Sullivan said executive leadership of YCC declined to support the budget for the Sophomore Brunch, a new yearly tradition introduced by him and Sarah Armstrong ’18, a YCC presidential candidate. He added that as a Morse College representative, he struggled to propose ideas he solicited from his fellow Yalies to executive leadership, which set the agendas for all meetings. “The YCC shouldn’t think of itself as a student government,” Sullivan said. “We should think
of it as a student council and advocacy group that supports Yalies and the individuals who need it. Though I think that it is incomplete and flawed, I really think it can do much good.” During the past year, Sullivan served as the director of the YCC’s dining task force. In this position, he analyzed student responses to questions about dining services on the YCC’s fall survey. He then presented recommendations — such as less expensive options for oncampus meal plans, extended lunch hours and late-night meal-plan options — to the administration. The experience showed Sullivan that reforms to University policy require persistent pressure from students. If elected vice president, Sullivan said he understands that he must support momentum on student projects that began this past year, such as the implementation of gender neutral housing, reforms to student mental health services and the elimination of the student income
A YCC OUTSIDER
contribution. Sullivan, a New Haven native and history major, said YCC’s potential to help implement these projects motivated him to run for vice president. “We shouldn’t have a bunch of ideas that we think might go over well,” Sullivan said. “I think there really does need to be a genuine way that [YCC] relates to the student body. Every Yale student has an opinion and everyone has a say. At the end of the day, we are an advocacy body.” Victoria Loo ’18, who is in Morse College with Sullivan, said she will vote for him because of his experience with the YCC. “He’s done an incredible amount of work for both YCC as a Morse Representative and for SoCo,” Loo said. “He knows how the system works and how to best push for reform, which I think is one of YCC’s biggest challenges.” Contact JIAHUI HU at jiahui.hu@yale.edu . RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Trumbull STUDENT GOVERNMENT None
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Calhoun
ON CAMPUS Air Force ROTC - Flight Commander, President of Arnold Air Society, Equipment Captain at Yale Alpine Ski Team
STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Calhoun Representative
Contact QI XU at qi.xu@yale.edu . ON CAMPUS Yale College Democrats, Yale Economic Review, Payne Whitney Gym lifeguard, Calhoun buttery worker
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Saybrook
TOP PRIORITY Empowering the student voice and enhancing the Yale experience through setting up institutionalized mechanisms for reporting and resolution
STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Saybrook Representative ON CAMPUS Yale College Standing Committee on University Expansion, Provost’s Committee on Online Education, Spizzwinks(?) TOP PRIORITY Increasing YCC’s communication and outreach, and creating a new position on YCC’s executive board, the Director of Student Outreach
TOP PRIORITY Financial aid (student contribution & work study), STEM reforms, transparency with administration
BY MONICA WANG STAFF REPORTER Luis Patiño III ’18 is the third in his family to be baptized with the name, and he is proud of the heritage that it represents. The Yale College Council Vice Presidential candidate said he hopes to use his family’s history as motivation to serve his fellow Yale students. Patiño’s grandfather — the original Luis Patiño — began shining shoes at the age of seven and was later drafted into World War II; Patiño’s father was raised in an impoverished neighborhood in El Paso, Texas. On his campaign website, Patiño notes that the “III” numeral in his name reminds him of the work and struggle of the generations that preceded him, and empowers him to raise his voice on behalf of the entire Yale community. Patiño told the News that because the vice president’s term is limited, his priority is to put in place formal mechanisms for the YCC to listen to student
voices. This would allow the YCC to be truly representative of the student body in the long run, he said. “The two main things that I think the YCC should do is to empower the student voice and enhance the Yale experience,” Patiño said. “I hope to set up institutionalized ways for the student body to bring their concerns to the YCC and develop a resolution process so that we can be more responsive to campus issues in real time.” He pointed to his proposal for a “One Yale” project — in which the YCC would help set up selfgoverning structures for the cultural centers and Greek life organizations, as well as establish clear mechanisms for voicing concerns in both communities — as an example of how to institutionalize the reporting and resolution processes. This way, Patiño said, the YCC would be able to collect real-time student feedback more efficiently and design long-term projects based on student concerns.
BY DANIELA BRIGHTENTI STAFF REPORTER
“What sets me apart [from other candidates] is that for me, the idea of a low-income, minority student isn’t a nebulous concept. I am on 95 percent financial aid, I come from an immigrant family and I am able to empathize,” Patiño said. “I really believe that empathy is an important quality in a representative of the student body and also the first step to solving these problems.” Supporters interviewed expressed their firm belief in Patiño’s candidacy. Fish Stark ’17, a friend of Patiño who has worked with him in various campaigns and other capacities, said Patiño brings “passion and commitment to whatever he does.” He is someone who will volunteer to do the hard work, Stark added. “He’s a workhorse, not a showhorse, and that’s something we can use a lot more on the YCC,” Stark said.
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Morse STUDENT GOVERNMENT SoCo Vice-President, YCC Morse Representative, YCC Director of Dining Task Force ON CAMPUS Morse College Master’s Aide, Set Design for the Dramat and the Yale Drama Coalition TOP PRIORITY Continuing the momentum and push for the completion of student projects that began this year
Contact MONICA WANG at monica.wang@yale.edu .
FINANCE DIREC TOR
BY SHUYU SONG STAFF REPORTER Zach Murn ’17, who served as the treasurer of the Freshman College Council and was a member of the Sophomore College Council, is running for the YCC finance director on a platform of increased transparency. Finance director, as a member of the YCC executive board, is responsible for allocating the annual budget and securing funds. Traditionally, about two-thirds to three-fourths of the YCC budget goes to planning for Spring Fling. This year, Murn is running for the position uncontested. He is also the only rising senior seeking a board position. “I thought that there haven’t been any seniors who have been on YCC for a while, so I thought it
could be interesting to have a senior who could do this position,” Murn said. “Next year I’ll have much more time than a lot of juniors who would be applying for jobs and going to interviews.” Murn added that there is no rule banning rising seniors from running for positions, though some assume that only rising juniors may run. Murn runs mainly on the platform of pivoting the budget more toward career services and increasing transparency. Murn said that he would be willing to take some of the budget toward YCC’s own events and put it toward career events for students earlier in the school year. Friends and colleagues attested to Murn’s personal quality and work ethic. “Highly intelligent,” “organized” and “on top of his game” were some of the words frequently used to describe him.
SAPIENZA EXPERIENCE AND ENTHUSIASM
STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Ezra Stiles Representative
Leah Motzkin ’16, a former YCC presidential candidate who came to know Murn during her own campaign, said that it is extremely important for a finance director to always be attentive and keep track of the records. Adam Zucker ’17 also spoke to Murn’s accountability, adding that Murn’s past role as the treasurer of FCC gave him sufficient experience in financial matters. Michael Park ’17 said that Murn once reached out to the Yale College administration to extend opening hours of the Ezra Stiles dining hall during finals period, an anecdote he felt qualified Murn for the position. “It is rare for someone to follow through with something you said in passing, and I think Murn has that admirable quality in him,” Park said. Contact SHUYU SONG at shuyu.song@yale.edu .
Contact DANIELA BRIGHENTI at daniela.brightenti@yale.edu .
The YCC events director is responsible for producing YCC events, spearheading YCC’s involvement in co-sponsored event and managing the council’s internal social events . The events director chairs the events committee and oversees the Spring Fling Committee.
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Ezra Stiles
INCREASING TRANSPARENCY
Those close to Wilson said his personality and work ethic will make him a good leader. “Zach is an incredibly diligent person and has a strong sense of follow-through,” Wilson’s campaign manager Sweyn Venderbush ’18 said. “Whether it’s waking up at 5 a.m. for ROTC twice a week or managing his class work and extracurriculars, he never drops an assignment.” Matthew Chisholm ’18, who has been roommates with Wilson since their freshman year, said even before deciding to run for vice president, Wilson had always cared about listening to other students’ experiences. That quality will make his platform one catered towards the students’ needs, Chisholm said. “It’s been very local in the sense that me and my campaign manager are doing a lot of the things, and I built my own platforms, own website,” Wilson said. “I have asked for input from other people, ‘Hey, what is something you’d like to see change?’ and absorbing that and developing policies, that’s where my platform came from.”
EVENTS DIREC TOR
The YCC Finance Director oversees budget allocation, securing funds, fundraising efforts, forming partnerships to provide student discounts, and seeking sponsorships. The Finance Director also manages the Business Team and chairs the Council of Represenatives’ Special Funding Committee.
MURN
At 5 a.m. a few days per week, Zach Wilson ’18 might be found trekking across campus, clad in his army uniform. The ROTC flight commander and doubleSTEM major has labeled himself the “outsider candidate” in his race against three other students for Yale College Council vice president. Wilson decided to run for vice president primarily because of the racial discussions that arose on campus last semester. He said after having long discussions with other Yale students and attending various rallies and town hall meetings, he was inspired to bring forth the kind of change Yale students seek. Although Wilson has no previous experience on YCC or his residential college council, he said that he will be “the candidate for the people” and will use his experiences outside of YCC to push for change. “I know I’m going to face a lot of doubt in a sense from coming from the outside and not being in the loop of YCC,” Wilson said. “I’ve never been to a YCC meeting. But I know my platform, I know what I want to do and that
is what I plan on doing.” As an astrophysics and applied math double-major, Wilson’s platform focuses in part on underlying issues in the STEM fields, such as grade transparency, midterm and end of term course evaluation reforms and an “investigation” into the quality of instructors in STEM departments. Wilson said he singled out the STEM fields in his written platform because of his experience in those disciplines, but that the suggested reforms are something he would like to see expand to all Yale departments. Other points in Wilson’s platform include increasing transparency between students and the administration, as well as financial aid reforms: Wilson proposes reducing and eliminating the student income contribution and reforming workstudy hours, both of which would be a continuation of current YCC agendas. Though Wilson has no previous experience in the YCC, he cited his experience as student council president in high school, as well as leadership in ROTC and other student organizations, as qualifications for the position.
BY RACHEL TREISMAN STAFF REPORTER
ON CAMPUS Fundraising coordinator for City Atlas: New Haven, member of the Title IX Student Advisory Board, ESCC treasurer TOP PRIORITY Making the YCC budget process more transparent
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Pierson STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Deputy Events Director ON CAMPUS Research Assistant at YaleNew Haven Hospital TOP PRIORITY Enriching campus community and creating new traditions ALL PHOTOS BY ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Lauren Sapienza ’18 said she hopes to foster community and create new traditions while serving as Yale College Council events director. Running uncontested, Sapienza has already begun planning programming for next year. “Yale is an incredible place, and one of the most incredible things we have here is each other,” Sapienza said. “As events director, I think I’ll have the opportunity to facilitate bonding and allow our campus and our friend groups to expand in different ways that I think can really enrich campus culture.” Sapienza has served on the YCC, and on the Events Com-
mittee specifically, since her freshman year. She is currently the deputy events director, and she has worked under current Events Director Amour Alexandre ’17 — from whom Sapienza said she learned the value of resilience and creativity — to plan events such as the Yale/ Harvard party in Commons. Alexandre said she chose Sapienza as her deputy for her “attention to detail” and “resolve to give back to Yalies.” Sapienza’s leadership will further cement YCC Events’ legacy as more than just a partyplanning group, but as a group that can impact students outside of the classroom, Alexandre added. Sapienza said she is considering bringing events to campus such as TableTalk
— a program already at several universities that facilitates conversation between different groups on campus. In order to further emphasize dance groups and entrepreneurial culture at Yale, Sapienza said she also hopes to bring a “So You Think Yale Can Dance” competition and a Shark Tank-themed event to campus. “TableTalk would give students from various groups an opportunity to interact with one another, which has become so uncommon given our busy, heavily ‘Gcaled’ lives,” Events Committee member Tyler Bleuel ’19 said. “Events director is a huge role, and I know Lauren will do an amazing job.” Sapienza added that she
hopes to take advantage of the resources available to the YCC, such as the ability to bring in judges and real-world prizes for competitions, as well as more Chick-fil-A study breaks. Close friend Mollie Johnson ’18 said that Sapienza’s dedication to the YCC and her ability to come up with and execute creative ideas will serve her well as events director. “Lauren is the best person for the job, and I have no doubts about her competency or passion to put on amazing events for Yale,” Alexandre said. “Every events director has a certain ‘flavor,’ and I can’t wait to see hers next year.” Contact RACHEL TREISMAN at rachel.treisman@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
ARMSTRONG ARMSTRONG FROM PAGE B1 Sophomore Class Council — which operates outside of the YCC’s main executive structure — has given her an outsider’s perspective on how to improve these processes, she said. Armstrong’s work organizing the first-ever Sophomore Brunch this year has convinced her that going directly to the University administration with brief, clear proposals is most effective. When the YCC presented her with a timeline for the project that she considered unsatisfactory, Armstrong circumvented the body to deliver her one-page plan and was granted funding
for the new tradition. Armstrong, who suffers from dyslexia, said her experience has informed her advocacy for groups whose problems have traditionally slipped under the radar, like students with intellectual disabilities and those whose parents do not speak English — a factor that can complicate the financial aid process. In addition to being Sophomore Class Council president, Armstrong is an Association of Yale Alumni delegate for the class of 2018 and a campus leader for Unite Against Sexual Assault Yale. She has also done extensive work with Dwight Hall, which she says would motivate her to be a
more service-minded YCC president than Yale has seen in the past. Bennett Byerley ’19, who serves as community service chair for the Freshman Class Council — a post that Armstrong herself created — said Armstrong’s passion for community service would help her make it a more prominent part of the YCC’s work. “[Armstrong] is the one that represented Dwight Hall most in her platform and allowed service to be integrated with the mission of student government,” Byerley said. He added that Armstrong’s targeted advocacy for students whose voices have gone
unheard makes her a strong candidate, and highlighted her commitment to reforming financial aid and improving the sexual climate on campus as strengths of her platform. Madeleine Colbert ’18, a friend of Armstrong’s and a volunteer on her campaign, said Armstrong’s commitment to ensuring that students can directly voice their concerns to administrators would make her a particularly effective YCC president. If elected, Armstrong would be the second female YCC president in the past 16 years, she said.
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Trumbull STUDENT GOVERNMENT Sophomore Class Council President ON CAMPUS Unite Against Sexual Assault Yale, Dwight Hall, Association of Yale Alumni TOP PRIORITY Supporting student advocates by connecting them with administrators
Contact JON VICTOR at jon.victor@yale.edu .
BRAHMBHATT
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Berkeley STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Berkeley Representative
BRAHMBHATT FROM PAGE B1 with groups that have similar missions, she said. Brahmbhatt said she also envisions YCC utilizing its unique position and connection with University administrators to empower the voices of other student leaders. She said YCC leaders often engage in face-to-face meetings with administrators, but few other organizations have the same access. “The YCC president and vice president are important, but they shouldn’t be the only faces for students on campus,” she said, adding that as president she would bring student lead-
ON CAMPUS FOOT, Civic leadership Initiative TOP PRIORITY Active partnerships and connecting students
ers of other organizations to joint meetings with administrators in order to facilitate discussions. Brahmbhatt said she would also work with peer liaisons to increase the presence of the cultural centers in residential colleges. “The residential college needs to be a comfortable, inclusive living space,” she said. Brahmbhatt’s friends and professors praised her dedication and passion, and highlighted the ways in which she has enriched the Yale community. “One of Diksha’s best traits is that she genuinely listens to what others have
to say and doesn’t come to conclusions until she has every piece of information,” Shreni Shah ’18, Brahmbhatt’s teammate in the dance group MonstRAASity, said. “This was very evident last semester as she did her best to step back and hear each story, and made it her first priority to listen and to ensure the emotional and mental well-being of her friends and peers.” Elizabeth Karron ’18, who is also in Berkeley, said Brahmbhatt is committed to building a campus environment in which everyone feels welcome. For example, Karron said, Brahmbhatt helped run a book club
within Berkeley as a way to bring together students from different class years to bond over stories and food. Anthropology and International Affairs professor Marcia Inhorn described Brahmbhatt as a “bright spark” and a “natural leader.” “Diksha would do her best to make the YCC the crucial ‘hub’ for all the other student groups on campus, thereby helping to link them to the Yale administration,” Inhorn said. “In short, I think the world of Diksha. If I could vote, I would vote for her to be president.” Contact VICTOR WANG at v.wang@yale.edu .
HELSCHIEN HELSCHIEN FROM PAGE B1 ing organization that is out of touch with many student groups. “How can we mobilize these voters who typically don’t vote?” Helschien asked. “People have said to me ‘Carter, these are hilarious videos. These are fun campaign ideas.’ There’s been a failure of imagination on the YCC.” His more serious platform contains a proposal to reform financial aid by eliminating the student income contribution, to expand undergraduate mental health resources and to boost funding for both STEM and the cultural centers.
In particular, Helschien said the YCC should be a better advocate for student groups like the Yale Climate and Energy Institute, which the University defunded this spring to the outrage of the students and faculty involved with the project. Helschien said as YCC president he would give more power to student groups while advocating on their behalf. “I actually want to minimize the role that the YCC plays in advocacy work,” Helschien said. “Student groups are doing such great work — we should give them guidance.” Helschien’s friends and coworkers described him as
an excellent listener whose humor helps him engage with more students. Sarah DiMagno ’18, who serves as Helschien’s co-president on the Yale American Civil Liberties Union, said Helschien has an interest in law and social justice coupled with a good sense of humor. Former chairman of the Yale Politic Jacek Oleszczuk ’17 said Helschien would make a “fun YCC president” who would also address the issues vital to students. After working with Helschien at the Politic, where Helschien served as treasurer, Oleszczuk described his colleague as diligent and someone who thinks outside the box. Like Helschien, Oleszc-
zuk stressed the importance of student groups in creating substantial change at Yale. The protests on campus last semester demonstrated that progress can be accomplished without the YCC, Oleszczuk said. “I think he is a great counterpoint to the seriousness with which a lot of people conduct themselves at Yale,” DiMagno said. “His ideas and strategies are a pushback against Yalies taking themselves too seriously. He approaches situations with levity and with humor, which I think is a great trait.”
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Morse STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Morse Representative ON CAMPUS Yale Politic, Yale American Civil Liberties Union TOP PRIORITY Engaging student groups
Contact FINNEGAN SCHICK at christopher.schick@yale.edu .
HOCHMAN HOCHMAN FROM PAGE B1
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Berkeley STUDENT GOVERNMENT Academics Director on the YCC Executive Board ON CAMPUS Tour guide, former Membership Coordinator for Yale College Democrats TOP PRIORITY Equity and accountability
onstrate a commitment to further developing ethnic studies, an area he has already worked on as YCC academics director. Sexual climate, he continued, should be improved by ensuring that resources are reaching students as efficiently as possible, and that confidentiality is preserved. In terms of financial aid, he said that though a long-term goal would call for the elimination of the student income contribution, initial steps include eliminating course-drop fees and setting up criteria for emergency funds in the residential colleges. Even so, Hochman said that he is “extremely cognizant” of the fact that he is running on a platform of issues that he has not personally experienced due to his being a “white man on campus.” Despite his appar-
HUANG HUANG FROM PAGE B1 and believe I am well-connected with many student groups. And I think this is important because the point of student government is to work with students.” But Huang said his top priority is to address issues of diversity and inclusion on campus by fighting for faculty diversity and improving ethnic studies programming, among other initiatives. In terms of experience, Huang is a typical student-government insider: He has served on the Freshman Class Council, as a YCC associate and is currently one of Silliman College’s two YCC representatives. Throughout, Huang said he has consistently engaged with students and fought for them. Sasha Rae-Grant ’18, who works on
art and design and is advising Huang’s campaign, said supporting Huang was an easy decision because of his longstanding commitment to the student body. “I have known Peter since day one, and since then he has genuinely been working to make Yale better for everyone,” Rae-Grant said. “I support all of his initiatives, especially regarding the student income contribution … Increased transparency is important to me, as is improved faculty diversity since we’re losing a lot of professors of color, female professors and LGBTQ professors.” Regarding the student income contribution, Huang said he will work with the Office of Development to organize a fundraising campaign to eliminate the fee. He has not yet reached out to the Office of Development to discuss
ent position of privilege, Hochman emphasized that he has actively listened to concerned students and incorporated these conversations into his platform. This year on the YCC, Hochman worked on a dozen projects, including changing the Credit/D/Fail-conversion deadline from two weeks to four, a project during which he successfully advocated to Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway and began productive conversations with administrators. He also worked with the Sophomore Class Council to develop sophomore seminars for next year. “[Hochman] is the type of leader and personality on the YCC that makes for a very good president, but at the same time a very unexpected leader,” said Larry Fulton ’19, who serves on the YCC with Hochman as Jonathan Edwards’ Freshman
Class Council representative. “His commitment to the YCC has been unyielding for his entire time since he has been at Yale … He is the type of leader who you want to work with, who you want to mentor you and guide you through successful projects in order to make the entire organization work as it is supposed to.” Dasia Moore ’18 spoke also to Hochman’s character, referring to him as a “welcomer” who actively works to make fellow students feel comfortable and included. She emphasized that Hochman’s strength lies in his ability to listen, and added that he is adept at making students feel heard as they share personal experiences on the road to schoolwide policy reforms. Contact AYLA BESEMER at ayla.besemer@yale.edu .
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE Silliman
the feasibility of such an idea, but he explained that he believes doing so would be unproductive as a presidential candidate. “We will also approach the Provost’s Office,” Huang said. “The University is saying we don’t have funds to reallocate to the SIC. Even if that is true, I want to figure out why … If you add all [the people of highest-need pay] up, it is still below the amount of interest the endowment earns per year.” Beyond student government, Huang is a board member of the Dwight Hall Socially Responsible Investment Fund, an intercultural liaison for the Asian American Student Alliance and a member of the Asian American Studies Task Force. Contact DAVID SHIMER at david.shimer@yale.edu .
STUDENT GOVERNMENT YCC Silliman Representative, YCC Events Committee Project Manager ON CAMPUS Dwight Hall Socially Responsible Investment, Asian American Students Alliance TOP PRIORITY Supporting racial, ethnic and identity diversity on campus
ALL PHOTOS BY ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER