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

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 73 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING

SUNNY CLOUDY

26 16

CROSS CAMPUS

MUSIC SCHOOL TOKYO STRING QUARTET RETIRES

STATE ECONOMY

IPADS

WOMEN’S SQUASH

Connecticut loses 1,800 jobs but sees decline in unemployment rate

PROFESSORS USE TECHNOLOGY IN CLASSES

Bulldogs sweep four ranked opponents over the weekend

PAGE 6–7 CULTURE

PAGE 3 CITY

PAGE 5 NEWS

PAGE 12 SPORTS

Moving into Warner House

NELC work environment criticized

Brace yourselves. Hell hath frozen over. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-20s all week, so take this time to stock up on hot chocolate and invest in scarves. You’ll need ’em.

BY NICOLE NAREA AND JULIA ZORTHIAN STAFF REPORTERS

For juniors out there, the Junior Class Council is selling class of 2014 apparel, which includes — thankfully — fleece jackets, striped scarves, hats and tube socks. Yes, tube socks.

the Yale presidency on June 30, has been present at most meetings so far. Polak has been “more or less shadowing” the former provost and meeting one-on-one with University President Richard Levin over the past few days. Taking over as Yale’s second-incommand has presented smaller challenges, too. Polak, a native of England, said he does not look forward to changing his habit for having his writing sound “English English rather than American English” — a predilection he will have to give up because others will now write memos on his behalf. Though Polak’s new office cur-

Two sources close to the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department said they approached administrators about a “hostile work environment” in the department as early as 2010, two years before John Darnell resigned as chair of the department and was suspended from the faculty on Jan. 8. Four sources said Darnell and Colleen Manassa ’01 GRD ’05, a former graduate student and current associate professor who is alleged to have maintained an intimate relationship with Darnell since at least 2000, exhibited psychologically damaging behavior toward students and professors in the department in recent years, such as threatening to revoke funding for individual academic projects. Two individuals with close ties to the department said that when they approached senior University administrators with their concerns beginning in 2010, they were told the University could only launch an investigation if the individuals filed formal complaints before the administration. The sources said they decided not to pursue a formal complaint — which cannot be filed anonymously — because they feared retaliation from Manassa or Darnell, who held administrative leadership positions in the NELC department and its Egyptology subdivision. One source said the complaint system engenders “a common culture of fear among the grad students.” Pamela Schirmeister, associate dean of the Graduate School, confirmed that she met with NELC graduate students who raised concerns over a hostile work environment in the department around 2010. A graduate student who approached Schirmeister said the dean informed the student that the school could launch an investigation against Manassa and Darnell if the students filed a formal complaint but could not take any action otherwise. Graduate School Dean Thomas Pollard said that, to his knowledge, no student has filed a formal complaint against Darnell.

SEE POLAK PAGE 4

SEE DARNELL PAGE 8

Calling all Silicon Valley wannabes. The Yale College

Council has launched its first-ever YCC Tech Month, a 28-day event that will include an inaugural Hackathon, the YCC App Challenge and joint events with Yale BootUp and ITS. Let your inner Mark Zuckerberg out.

Or don’t, if you want to distance yourself from Harvard and its crop of cheaters. Harvard announced yesterday that it has delivered verdicts to all of the roughly 125 students involved in the “Introduction to Congress” cheating scandal that exploded last year. Administrators said they completed their investigation in December and will make an announcement near the beginning of this semester about the results. We the People. The Davenport

College Council is in the process of revising its constitution and is seeking input from Davenport students about the changes. All members of the gnome college are invited to attend a DCC meeting and vote on the proposal.

After returning from a trip to the Middle East, Sen. Richard

Blumenthal LAW ’73 is calling for the U.S. to increase its humanitarian aid to Syria. The Yale Law alumnus said the country has a “historic obligation and opportunity” to contribute to the war-torn country.

A Kodak moment. The New Haven School District announced yesterday that the Elm City’s high school graduation rate has increased to 70.5 percent this year. The dropout rate has also decreased by 4.2 percent, bringing the current rate down to 21 percent. Still in the red. Connecticut

is still $64.4 million in the red despite legislators’ attempts last year to eliminate the state budget deficit. The deficit is due in part to decreased tax revenues, which dropped $33.9 million since last month, according to the state’s Office of Policy and Management.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1977 Donald Ogilvie ’65 is appointed associate dean for operations and finance at the School of Management. Submit tips to Cross Campus

crosscampus@yaledailynews.com

ONLINE y MORE cc.yaledailynews.com

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Provost Benjamin Polak has begun settling into his new office in Warner House on 1 Hillhouse Ave. BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER For the past week, Benjamin Polak, who was named provost last Monday, has been running back and forth between his new office on 1 Hillhouse Ave. and his old “nook” in the economics building up the street. Complete with a fireplace, a crimson oriental rug, a large, shiny conference table and several paintings in ornate gold frames, Polak’s new office in Warner House was missing one crucial component when he stepped in last week: a computer. Though the new PC and its two monitors arrived on Friday, Polak said he has not yet had a

chance to make the place his own. “I’m feeling agoraphobic,” said Polak, sitting down on a blue upholstered chair after testing out the matching chaise and finding it too uncomfortable. “I’ve never had an office that’s half as big as this, and it’s going to take me a while to feel comfortable in it.” Polak, who served as chair of the Economics Department until last week, said his new position has made him feel like a college freshman because he has been introduced to so many people and aspects of the University with which he was previously unfamiliar. But the University cannot wait for him to learn the ropes, he added, so Peter Salovey, his predecessor who will assume

E D U CAT I O N

State may get new charter schools BY ISAAC STANLEY-BECKER STAFF REPORTER Charter schools may soon be on the rise in New Haven and statewide. Twenty-four groups across the state interested in opening new charter schools sent letters of intent to the Connecticut Board of Education in advance of the Board’s formal request for proposals scheduled for later this month. Of the 24 letters, four concern plans for schools in New Haven. Though charter school enrollment in Connecticut has increased steadily since the first charter schools opened in 1997, less than 2 percent of all public school students in the state are currently enrolled in charter schools. The number of students on waitlists has consistently outstripped enrollment increases, a pattern illustrated by figures released from New Haven’s enrollment lottery. Last year, 528 families vied for 80 kindergarten spots at Amistad Academy, while Elm City College Prep saw 307 students competing for 57 spots. Both

are charter schools that accept only New Haven residents. Leaders of the four New Haven charter initiatives emphasized the flexibility and increased parental choice afforded by charter schools. But before the proposals can become reality, they must first be approved by the state Board of Education, a hurdle complicated by uncertain funding and resistance from teachers unions.

BEATING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

The four charter schools proposed for New Haven spawn a range of grades and focuses, but all seek to provide new options for parents who Eldren D. Morrison, the pastor at Varick Memorial A.ME. Zion Church, said currently lack quality school choices for their children. Morrison’s brainchild, the Booker T. Washington Academy, will serve pre-K to fourth-grade students primarily in the Dixwell neighborhood, which Morrison described as the “crime quarSEE CHARTER PAGE 4

Graduation rates jump GRAPH NEW HAVEN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES 100%

2011

90%

2012

80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Wilbur Cross

Co-op High School

BY MONICA DISARE STAFF REPORTER On Tuesday, New Haven Public Schools announced one of its most tangible signs of improvement since its School Change initiative began about three years ago.

Riverside Academy

Sound School

Hill Regional Career

The high school graduation rate in the Elm City’s school district increased six percentage points to 70.5 percent in 2012 while the dropout rate decreased by 4.2 percentage points to 21 percent. This is the most substantial rise in graduation rates in New

Hyde School

Overall NHPS

Haven Public Schools since the city’s School Change initiative — which seeks to promote a college-going culture— was launched in 2009. These numbers bring the district closer to two of the initiative’s goals: to SEE GRADUATION PAGE 8


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