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

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 77 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING

CLOUDY CLOUDY

36 41

CROSS CAMPUS

ANTIDEPRESSANT GEOGRAPHYBASED MARKETING

COMPUTER SCIENCE

ALLEGIANCE ON HOLD

SWIMMING

Department faces high enrollment, struggles to keep up with interest

ALDERMEN TO VOTE ON PLEDGE AT NEXT FULL MEETING

Elis remain undefeated as they look to Princeton, Harvard tri-meet

PAGES 6-7 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

PAGE 3 NEWS

PAGE 5 CITY

PAGE 12 SPORTS

DESTEFANO WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION

BY DIANA LI STAFF REPORTER

The good news. This week is

expected to be warmer than the last, with temperatures averaging in the low 40s and 50s. That said, it’s expected to rain almost all week, so make sure to get your raincoat ready.

The other good news.

Chipotle, the long-awaited Mexican grill famous for its burritos and guacamole, is scheduled to open today on Chapel Street. The popular franchise will run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and fill an untold number of study breaks for hungry Yalies seeking brain food.

Exercising economics. During

ECON 116 “Introductory Macroeconomics,” professor Aleh Tsyvinski energized his class by asking everyone in the lecture hall to stand up and follow along to a Japanese calisthenics YouTube video with him. No word on what’s next — yoga?

According to the Connecticut Education Association, a

strong majority of teachers said they oppose carrying guns in schools and would support banning the sale and possession of military-style weapons for regular citizens.

The survey polled 400 CEA members who represent every district in the state and had a 4.9 percent margin of error.

Beat Harvard. The annual

Yale-Harvard Blood Drive competition has begun and will run until Thursday.

Organized by the American Red Cross at Yale University, the event is encouraging all students to donate blood. All participants will receive free Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and a Red Cross T-shirt, and will be entered in raffles for prizes at various stores.

Commuting increases. The

Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven line saw a record 38.8 million trips in 2012, marking a roughly 1.5 percent increase from last year’s 38.2 million rides, according to Metro-North. The increase came despite the effects of Hurricane Sandy, which forced Metro-North to suspend its service temporarily.

More gun talk. A student

task force at Harvard has released a report examining the university’s gun policy, discussing its history of gunrelated incidents on campus and recommending policy proposals to prevent campus shootings. The report made five general recommendations, such as banning firearms and mandating that universities regularly perform emergency drills.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1914 Coupon books go on sale for carriages that will take Yalies to and from prom on Feb. 2, 1914. The books are worth $5, $10 and $20 and are being sold by the Kirk Carriage Company.

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JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

After spending 20 years in the New Haven’s highest office, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. will not seek re-election this November.

DeStefano, the longest-serving mayor in city history, is expected to announce that he will not run for an 11th term today at 5 p.m. at the Russian Lady on Temple Street, where he has celebrated his reelection before. The mayor’s office could not be reached for official comment.

To date, two other New Haven residents have declared their candidacy: Ward 10 Alderman Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10 and Sundiata Keitazulu, a plumber. In addition, State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield has said he plans on announcing whether he will run by the end of January and has indicated that he is likely to run.

Both Elicker and Holder-Winfield said DeStefano’s announcement will not change their plans or affect the issues on which they hope to focus in the campaign.

“We’re moving forward as if nothing has changed. Obviously the landscape has changed a little bit, but the issues we’ve been talking about this whole time are the same. … We’re moving full speed ahead,” Elicker said. “[DeStefano] and I have been on the same side of some issues and the opposite side of others. I think he’s done some good things and that he has wanted what’s best for the city.”

Elicker added that he was not completely surprised when he began receiving texts and phone calls Monday evening

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. is expected to announce today that he will not run for an 11th term.

University projects $40 million deficit

SEE DESTEFANO PAGE 4

Gun hearing draws thousands

FY 2014 BUDGET PLAN AVOIDS ACROSS-THE-BOARD CUTS

BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER Over four years since the onset of the nationwide economic recession, Yale’s operating budget remains in recovery mode.

Newly appointed Provost Benjamin Polak said Monday that current budget projections indicate the University will face a roughly $40 million gap between expenses and revenues for the upcoming academic year. While Polak said in a Thursday email to faculty and staff that the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 will not require “across-the-board reducSEE DEFECIT PAGE 6

SARA MILLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Neil Heslin, whose son was killed in the December Newtown shooting, testified at a gun-control hearing Monday.

BY MICHELLE HACKMAN STAFF REPORTER HARTFORD — Highlighting deep fissures that divide Connecticut residents over the fate of state gun legislation, more than a thousand people packed into the Capitol Building Monday to attend a legislative hear-

ing addressing gun violence.

The hearing is one of four hosted by the state legislature’s Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Task Force, created in the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults dead. Though the task

force is also holding public hearings on school safety and mental health this week, Monday’s hearing, which centered on gun laws, drew a particularly passionate crowd, with even parents of Sandy Hook victims disagreeing on the path the state should SEE GUN HEARING PAGE 4

City sees two homicides; investigations continue

BY LORENZO LIGATO STAFF REPORTER New Haven registered its first two homicides of the year last week amid an uptick of armed robberies.

Ending more than two months without a murder, the homicides followed a year of decreasing Elm City violent crime: In 2012, homicides dropped 50 percent and overall shootings fell 30 percent from their 2011 highs. While the first of the two murders remains unresolved, the New Haven Police Department concluded

a four-day investigation into one of the two homicides that took place last week on Sunday, arresting two suspects they linked to the second murder.

“A loss for any family is a loss for all of us in this family, and the New Haven Police Department feels that loss,” NHPD Chief Dean Esserman said.

After receiving reports of gunfire at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 295 Blake St., dispatched police officers located Lonni Star, 29, suffering from a gunshot wound, just after 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 23. Star, a New Haven resident, was taken to

Yale-New Hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased.

Investigators soon learned Star had been shot in the area of Level and Lodge streets, a fourminute drive from the location where the victim’s body was found. NHPD spokesman David Hartman said a friend of Star, who was in the passenger seat of a car Star was driving, got behind the wheel and drove to Blake Street, where she later called the NHPD to report the incident.

After an investigation that involved roughly 50 detectives from the NHPD Major Crime

Division and Bureau of Investigation, two teenage males were taken into custody for Star’s murder.

The first arrest took place just few hours after the shooting, around 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 24. Following tips leading to a 17-yearold, police arrested the teen in his house at 41 Lodge St. and charged him with the crime of felony murder.

A second suspect was taken into custody late Sunday afternoon for his involvement in the shooting, Hartman said. The suspect, also a 17-year-old New

Haven resident, was charged with multiple crimes including felony murder, conspiracy to commit felony murder, carrying a dangerous weapon and robbery in the first degree Police have not disclosed the names, residential addresses and photos of either of the two youths arrested for the Dunkin’ Donuts shooting because they are minors, Hartman said.

Wednesday’s homicide was the second in less than 48 hours. Roughly one day before, at around 10:50 a.m.

SEE HOMICIDES PAGE 6

PAGE 2

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

OPINION

.COMMENT “The University cannot so blatantly, so indecently, so ostentatiously be an yaledailynews.com/opinion

Constructive speech rules T

he exchange was simple. Shortly before seminar began, one student noticed another’s laptop stickers, which decried the death penalty. She asked the girl why she held that position, and the girl with the stickers answered succinctly, without acrimony or defensiveness: The death penalty is inhumane, costly, disproportionately applied to minorities, sometimes applied to the innocent. It was a fairly compelling and eloquent justification, and the first student nodded politely, apparently satisfied.

The professor walked in, seminar began, and nothing more was said on the matter.

I was on lunch break during a summer working in downtown New Haven. On the Green, a prolife rally was taking place. Most of the participants were older, dressed somewhat conservatively and predominantly white.

A smaller group of younger people on the other side of the issue (call them what you will based on your politics) was protesting their rally. I walked over to take a closer look just as these factions met head-to-head. Their clash was rife with name-calling, logical fallacies, citation of some of the most patently false statistics I’ve ever heard and a general refusal to meaningfully engage with their opponents’ arguments.

Of course, I realize these anecdotes are by no means perfectly representative. But I don’t think it is a wholly controversial claim to suggest that good-faith, reasonable discussion is more common within our walls than it is without. Just look at established political battles among “grown-ups” today. Even the YPU would put them to shame, partisan as it is. What differentiates these worlds?

This question is intensely important to me because I’m about to leave our sheltered realm, and the future looks bleak.

The default behavior at the average workplace and in social circles associated with your career seems to be (according to recent alumni and common undergraduate perception) to shy away from politics altogether. It would be unprofessional. This is probably less true for those working in the nonprofit realm and obviously untrue for those working in politics, but there are other problems there, such as the “echo chamber” nature of those institutions. I imagine there is relatively little debate about the merits of the death penalty at the ACLU, for instance. Aside from workplaces, there are mainstream political communities, but those exhibit the same tendencies as the New Haven rally.

On the other hand, being part of Yale carries several assumptions. There are implicit expectations, rules of political engagement and discourse. We expect that when dialogue occurs, it will be reasonable, and that strangers

will deliberate in a civil fashion.

We believe that people should respond to arguments, MICHAEL a s s u m i n g malMAGDZIK neither ice nor stupidity, shunMaking ning straw men and Magic the practice of ignoring another’s best points. We are willing to entertain interesting hypotheticals and convoluted thought experiments. Changing one’s opinion (“flip-flopping” in the national parlance) does not warrant vilification but acceptance, such that an individual can traverse the spectrum between Marx and Nozick, Mill and Kant, Keynes and Hayek within a few months without anyone batting an eye.

Of course, these expectations are not always met. Bad argumentation, logical fallacies and poor use of statistics are not in short supply here, either.

But I suspect most students would agree that the norms exist and are strong. With the collective weight of a million small acts and comments that take place everyday, we inculcate an overriding principle of good-faith participation. Few set out with the conscious intent to manipulate the discourse, or with the assumption that their position is infallible. And the reality is that we live on a campus that, broadly speaking, propagates this philosophy.

Granted, there is also a less idealistic explanation for why these norms exist. Perhaps people are at a formative stage of their lives, when their opinions inherently have less conviction behind them. Having never considered many of the big questions, students feel they have no grounds to criticize others’ views when they enter college.

Or maybe there’s an apathy or ignorance towards the hard realities of politics because students don’t pay taxes, deal with insurance or suffer from the countless other ways government intransigence and inefficiency can make American life miserable and discourse acrimonious.

But even if these things are true, I think the expectations we create for ourselves matter, too. The trick is figuring out how to carry those norms with us to broader society, where these principles seem weak or nonexistent. Their gifts are too great for us to reserve for the courtyards and dining halls of Yale. If you have any ideas, we should talk. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

MICHAEL MAGDZIK is a senior in Berkeley College. Contact him at michael.magdzik@yale.edu .

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COPYRIGHT 2013 — VOL. CXXXV, NO. 77

arm of the military industrial complex.”

'NBATRAVILLE' ON 'DEPT OF DEFENSE

GUEST COLUMNIST SAM COHEN

“N

Already in combat

o limitations.”

That was the entirety of the email our Lieutenant sent the female midshipman in Yale’s NROTC unit last week. No limitations — because on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey rescinded the ban on women serving in combat positions.

This moment was long overdue, and not just because the military is now upholding our nation’s abstract principle of equality. Finally, our military acknowledges the reality that women are already serving in combat.

Look at Illinois Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot in Iraq. Shot down by an enemy’s ro c ke t - p ro p e l l e d - g re n a d e , Duckworth became the first female double-amputee of the Iraq war, losing both her legs.

Tell her that she wasn’t in combat.

Particularly in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the frontlines of battle have been murky.

Women couldn’t be assigned to do foot patrols in an Afghan village, but they could be assigned to drive a fuel truck along a dangerous road. I don’t know which of those scenarios is more dangerous, but supply convoys have faced relentless attacks over the last 10 years. Tell those women

fired upon or bombed while driving that they weren’t in combat.

By allowing the military to officially recognize female combat service, this new policy will actually keep female soldiers safer. No longer will they be sent on “attachment” (a clever way to send women into combat without officially sending women into combat) without additional combat training — something they could not receive as women.

The critics of this policy change have a number of halfbaked reasons to oppose it: There will be a relaxation of standards, they claim.

This seems odd, since in the announcement Secretary Panetta clearly said, “If members of our military can meet the qualifications for a job — and let me be clear, I’m not talking about reducing the qualifications for the job — if they can meet the qualifications for the job, then they should have the right to serve, regardless of creed or color or gender or sexual orientation.” All that will change is the presumption that standards do not have to take women into account. Standards won’t have to change but will have to be justified: A tank’s artillery shell weighs 50 lbs., so a cannon loader must be able to lift 50 lbs.

If women serve on the front

lines and are captured, they will face extra abuse (including rape) at the hands of their captors, critics cry. But women in the military are fully aware of the risks of their job —if they are willing, they should be allowed to assume them. Furthermore, women have already been prisoners of war, most recently in Iraq. To claim that this policy shift suddenly means women could be captured is at best uninformed, and at worst a flimsy cover for sexism. Furthermore, rape inside the military itself is an endemic problem that the Defense Department is actively combating; surely allowing more women to gain leadership positions will help reduce the scourge of military rape.

Perhaps the best argument for the change in policy is looking at who opposes it. Two of its harshest critics are the Family Research Council and the Center for Military Readiness.

Both the FRC and CMR oppose this policy change because it is “social experimentation that doesn’t belong in the military.”

That sounds awfully familiar: We heard it most recently when President Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Elaine Donnelly, president of CMR and someone with absolutely no military service, warned us then that allowing gay soldiers would destroy military readi-

ness. A recent report from the Palm Center showed that there has been no negative impact from repeal on military readiness, retention or recruitment — nothing. In fact, the report showed only positives. So forgive me (and Secretary Panetta, General Dempsey and the Joint Chiefs of Staff) if I don’t find Mrs. Donnelly’s arguments particularly convincing.

This policy change will be implemented carefully and deliberately — not fully in place until January of 2016, just eight months after Yale NROTC’s first female midshipman commissions. It is another example of the American military’s progress in recognizing modern realities: in 1948, President Truman recognized that racism had no place in the military; in 2010, President Obama recognized that homophobia had no place in the military; and now in 2013, the military establishment itself recognized that sexism has no place in the military.

No limitations.

SAM COHEN is a sophomore in Calhoun College and a midshipman in Yale NROTC. This column expresses his personal views only, and not the views of Yale, Yale NROTC, the Department of Defense or any other entity. Contact him at samson.cohen@yale.edu.

YALE TALKS CHIPOTLE POINT

A

COUNTER-POINT

year has passed since our first letter to Chipotle. Several letters and a few News articles later, we have succeeded. Today, we literally get to taste the fruits of our labor. Opening day is a time for celebration, but it is also the conclusion of our journey. Hollywood teaches us that the endings of great journeys are typically accompanied by moments of reflection. In that spirit, I find myself asking, “What’s changed and what’s about to change?”

In the time following our first article, my gustatory knowledge of New Haven has increased quite a bit. Despite the seemingly scathing nature of the responses to our op-ed, the comments turned out to be very constructive. What was so special about the New Haven dining experience that had everyone in an uproar? I was prompted to go see, and taste, for myself.

I’m near the halfway

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mark of my Yale career, and I spent the summer in New Haven, so I’ve come to develop a deeper understanding of our city and its restaurants. When it’s time to go home for breaks, I often find myself missing the Spanish food at Ibiza, the casual atmosphere at Zinc and the wonderfully smelly cheeses from Caseus. I’ve even developed a liking for Moe’s!

The restaurants in New Haven are charming, and the dining experience is unique; that’s something that I’ve come to appreciate.

But every now and then, I need a serving of unhealthy fast food. The new Chipotle on Chapel will never replace the fine restaurants of New Haven: It will only help to diversify the already vibrant food scene by satisfying the college student’s late-night burrito cravings.

MICHAEL WU is a sophomore in Branford College. Contact him at michael.wu@yale.edu .

L

ast February, my roommate Michael and I penned a letter to Chipotle imploring the company to come to New Haven.

Today, Jan. 29, 342 days after the publication of our letter in the News, Chipotle will open its doors in New Haven.

You’re welcome.

But I’m not as excited for this grand opening as I thought I might be. Part of the reason is, as the 78 online comments from our original column so politely pointed out, New Haven already has many good food options. The burrito cart on the corner of Elm and York is a great alternative to dining hall lunch, and the upscale restaurants along Chapel Street are always spectacular, especially if someone else is paying.

But I think the main reason I’m not purely ecstatic has to do with my relationship with Chipotle. I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which, as you might have guessed, does not have a Chipotle. The closest location was 40 minutes away.

This meant Chipotle was a special treat, something to be delightfully anticipated on trips to visit my grandparents or happily encountered while exploring a new city.

Don't make light of King's dream

There is nothing comic about Spencer Katz’s “Science Hill” strip from Jan. 23 ("Science Hill," Jan. 23), in which he mocks Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

MLK is shown saying, “I had a dream. … I tried to write it down when I woke up, but when I read it back it didn’t make sense.” I am shocked that Katz chose to write it, and that the Yale Daily News chose to publish it.

This does not boil down, in my opinion, to a nitpicky assessment of political correctness; I am not writing this letter to draw a bright and arbitrary line about what kinds of things can and cannot be made into the butt of a joke.

Many commentators these days make a living out of ridiculing public figures, but Katz goes far beyond mere disrespect for an individual. He suggests that the fight for equality is something that might simply slip your mind: that you might wake up in the morning, and realize "justice for all" is a petty concern, after all.

It is a shameful fact of our history that for so many decades so many Americans did just that: They woke up each day, and let the reality of injustice drift out of their consciousness. The civil rights movement was not a passing whim for Martin Luther King Jr. and those courageous enough to stand beside him. It was not something they could forget, because they were cruelly reminded of the need for justice every waking minute of their lives.

I hope Katz and others take time to revisit Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, because “when [they] read it back,” I think they will discover it made more than just “sense.” It made history.

CLARE SESTANOVICH Jan. 23 The writer is a senior in Pierson College.

Because of this, each occasion I have a Chipotle burrito is still special. For example, there is a Chipotle on 42nd Street in New York City across from the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. That holein-the-wall Chipotle is directly on my walk between Port Authority and Grand Central as I commute between Eastern Pennsylvania and Yale for breaks. For the first half of my trip, I carefully consider my order. Once at the restaurant, I waddle with all my bags to the front of the line. I sit, devour and leave, my anticipation always having been satisfied. By then, I’m already looking forward to my next chance to return.

I’m sure the New Haven Chipotle will produce burritos that are virtually identical to every Chipotle burrito I have ever had. But I worry those burritos won’t be quite as delicious if I can have one any time I want.

That said, if you want to find me at 11 a.m. today, I’ll be in line.

GORDON MCCAMBRIDGE is a sophomore in Branford College.

Contact him at gordon.mccambridge@yale.edu .

A new approach to computer science I could not agree more with the News’ View on the need for a new approach to introductory computer science ("For common-sense computer science," Jan. 25).

I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a presentation by David Malan, who teaches Harvard’s introductory computer science class (CS50). I was amazed to realize that, due to its enormous popularity, almost 40 percent of Harvard’s students will have taken CS50 at some point as an undergraduate. The class is no lightweight; it covers a broad range of topics needed to understand computer science and the art of programming. Mr. Malan has graciously made all the course material, including videos of his lectures, freely available at http://cs50.tv as open courseware.

As a Yale computer science major and someone who has spent 30 years in the field, including founding two software companies, I cannot overstate how important it is that Yale provides a similar introduction to computer science. The importance of doing so is not to have a feeder to the computer science major, nor to teach Yalies how to create a website or build mobile apps. Rather, it would be to provide a large percentage of the future leaders of society with an appreciation for the intellectual underpinnings of the technology that defines so much of the world today.

If the classical definition of a liberal arts education is one that teaches the subjects and skills that are needed in order to take an active part in civic life, then a broadbased and accessible introductory computer science class should be viewed as a major commitment to the liberal arts at Yale.

MORDECHAI BEIZER Jan. 28 The writer is a 1978 graduate of Berkeley College.

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

NEWS

“Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.” MICHAEL FELLOWS AMERICAN COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Computer Science Dept overworked, understaffed

We’re very happy to see this growing interest in CS, but we’re facing burnout at this point.

GRAPH NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN ‘INTRO TO COMPUTER SCIENCE’ 200

150

Dot-com boom

100

50

viewed said. Yitzchak Lockerman GRD ’16 said he was unable to conduct his research for large parts of last semester while he was the TA for “Artificial Intelligence.”

Aaron Segal GRD ’17 said he has not been able to grade problem sets as thoroughly as he would like to, adding that he has often spent as much time holding scheduled office hours as responding to students’ emails.

Computer Science Department Chair Holly Rushmeier said

the onset of the 2008 recession has prevented the administration from allocating more faculty and resources to the department, which currently has one junior faculty search that is set to finish within several months. She added that the department is currently unable to offer more courses and must instead focus on sustaining its existing course offerings while dealing with limited resources.

“We don’t really know the answer,” Eisenstat said. “In the

short term we’ll just have to cope.

We will adjust how we use TAs, we will adjust teaching styles. And we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Provost Benjamin Polak said many other departments face similar faculty shortages, adding that the faculty size has remained capped at 700 since the recession.

Three of six students interviewed said the shortage of TAs has worsened their class experience.

David Cruz ’14 said TAs in one

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Due to concerns with academic pressure on rushees, Yale sororities lengthened their recruitment period from three to five days.

Salvesen said extending the recruitment period has enabled the Panhellenic Council to accommodate scheduling conflicts of potential new members easily. In past years, if a potential new member missed an event, the council had difficulty providing time to make up the missed activities due to the short time frame, she said.

But this year, the extra days provided more time for the council to schedule a make-up period for the absent students interested in recruitment.

Members going through recruitment were having trouble meeting academic obligations and other commitments.

AMANDA SALVESEN ’14 President, Yale Panhellenic Council Alyssa Navarro ’14, president of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and Kelly Payne ’14, Kappa’s membership coordinator, said in an email to the News that the extra time between events helped them better consider and identify which girls

would be the best fit for their organization.

“The new schedule allows all the chapters to refresh before going into the next recruitment event,” Navarro and Payne said. “We seek girls who will support one another and who look forward to every moment they can spend with their Kappa sisters.”

Four potential new members who participated in the recruitment process said they think the extended recruitment days made the process smoother.

Julie Lowenstein ’16 said she found the longer recruitment helpful because it provided her with more time to think about which sorority was her top choice.

“It gives you a lot more time to reflect,” she said. “For me, it took a lot of the pressure off.”

Mackenzie Lee ’16 said she thinks Yale’s recruitment process is more relaxed and friendly than at other universities, adding that she did not feel participating in recruitment activities caused her any additional academic stress.

Potential new members were informed of their bids Monday night to conclude this year’s rush process officially.

Contact JACOB WOLF-SOROKIN at jacob.wolf-sorokin@yale.edu .

'12-'13

of his computer science classes had to make the problem sets easy to grade in order to accommodate increased enrollment.

“There’s a real need for extra TFs,” Summer Baxter ’15 said.

“There are a couple of TFs who haven’t passed the SPEAK test and can’t speak English fluently.”

Yale currently has 19 computer science professors.

Contact CLINTON WANG at clinton.wang@yale.edu .

School tiers show mixed improvements

BY MONICA DISARE STAFF REPORTER

Donned in semiformal attire, roughly 180 women participated in the annual sorority recruitment held over the last week.

Though sorority recruitment used to occur during an intensive three-day period, this year sororities stretched recruitment events over a five-day period from Wednesday to Sunday. The change in the schedule, an initiative that the Yale Panhellenic Council first approved last year, resulted from an effort to reduce academic stress and to allow participants to meet their other commitments during the rush period.

“A lot of it stems from the fact that members going through recruitment were having trouble meeting academic obligations and other commitments,” said Amanda Salvesen ’14, president of the Yale Panhellenic Council.

The official recruitment process, which is facilitated by the Yale Panhellenic Council, includes three main events — introductory parties, philanthropy parties and preference parties. The longer recruitment period allowed sorority members and potential new members to take a day off in between each of the events, Salvesen said.

'10-'11

0

Sororities extend rush period

BY JACOB WOLF-SOROKIN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

'08-'09

'06-'07

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The large class sizes have also made courses more difficult to teach. Professors Joan Feigenbaum and Dana Angluin said the larger student body reflects a wide range of abilities and background knowledge, forcing faculty to teach at a slower pace.

Angluin also said she is no longer able to get to know her students by face, and she worries that further growth may compromise the computer science community’s camaraderie and one-on-one interactions.

Meanwhile, graduate students have had to compromise their studies and research to aid the department, students inter-

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BRIAN SCASSELLATI Professor, Computer Science Department '94-'95

When roughly 40 more students enrolled in “Artificial Intelligence” last fall than in fall 2011, Professor Brian Scassellati knew he would have to find teaching assistants fast. But when he asked every graduate student in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science, only one volunteered.

Yale’s recent focus on science recruitment and a growing interest in computer science nationwide have combined to yield skyrocketing enrollment in computer science courses at Yale in the past two years. Although computer science faculty are excited to see more students approach their field, the department is already feeling the strain on its teaching capacity. Record-breaking class sizes have overloaded graduate students and professors, who hope that the administration will allow the department to hire more faculty and fund more graduate students in the near future.

“We’re very happy to see this growing interest in CS, but we’re facing burnout at this point,” Scassellati said. “The TAs are overworked, the faculty are overburdened … something’s going to break. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Though there were roughly 30 junior and senior computer science majors in 2010–’11, Computer Science Director of Undergraduate Studies Stanley Eisenstat said over 80 juniors and seniors are majoring in his department this year. Seventy-eight students enrolled in “Introduction to Computer Science” in the 2010–’11 academic year, while 197 students enrolled this academic year.

If the number continues to grow, students may have to compete for space and research opportunities, Scassellati said.

He added that on Monday morning alone, he had to turn away two

senior projects because he already supervises 10 doctoral candidates and 15 undergraduates.

The sizes of the computer science faculty and doctoral student body — the main source of TAs — have remained roughly constant for three decades, though many courses have seen their enrollment double over the past two years to unprecedented levels, and faculty said interest in computer science courses extends beyond majors in the department. Scassellati said students in fields as distant as philosophy and ethics, politics and economics have enrolled in his senior-level courses in recent years. As a result of overwhelming demand, he said he has had to cap enrollment on his “Intelligent Robotics” course for the first time this year, turning away over 60 students for a class of 20.

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BY CLINTON WANG STAFF REPORTER

As part of New Haven Public Schools’ ongoing School Change Initiative, the school district unveiled the latest iteration of school rankings at Monday’s Board of Education meeting.

Schools in New Haven are ranked in one of three tiers based on academic achievement, test score improvements and learning climate. Six schools in the district improved their ranking, and five schools were ranked lower than before. Although the results were mixed, school officials contend that the movement reflects the slow but rising standards of the district and the complexity of school change.

“The multiple variables that we track and the full picture of school performance remind us of the need to be persistent in our school reform efforts, ensuring that every school continues to improve,” Assistant Superintendent of Schools Garth Harries said.

Brennan-Rogers School, an elementary school that followed the federal “turnaround” model, whereby schools can implement certain reform measures in exchange for federal funding, improved from a tier 3 school to a tier 2 school. Beecher School, East Rock Magnet, MauroSheridan, ESUUMS and Hill Regional Career High School also improved in the tiering system while Davis Street School, King-Robinson, Fair Haven, the Sound School and Lincoln-Bassett slipped to lower tiers.

School administrators said the tiering system differs for elementary schools and high schools.

Elementary and middle schools are judged based on three-year student growth, achievement on Connecticut’s state tests and a survey measuring the quality of the school learning environment.

High schools are ranked based on the high school graduation trajectory, the learning environment survey and a college persistence rate, which gauges the percentage

of a school’s students that stay enrolled in colleges. The tiering system helps to decide which schools may become turnaround schools and also allows schools in higher tiers more flexibility to try to improve student performance, Abbe Smith, New Haven Public Schools spokeswoman, said.

The Sound School was the only high school that moved back a tier, falling from tier 1 to tier 2. The Sound School presents an interesting case because while the school has extremely high achievement, the college persistence rate is low. The college persistence rate was a larger part of the calculation than when schools were ranked before, said Harries. This sparked a conversation among board members about the best way to measure achievement.

Board of Education member Alex Johnston said that there is a low percentage of students staying in college when compared to the larger number of students labeled as being on an academic trajectory to pursue higher education. Given this gap of students graduating with college-ready credentials but not completing a college education, Johnston added that the board should keep looking for measurements of the “ultimate success,” which should reach beyond high school. He added that it is important to figure out how to prepare students to stay in college while they are still in high school.

Another concern came from Board of Education member Michael Nast, who wanted to ensure that tier 3 schools, and those that slipped in the tiering system, are not neglected or stigmatized for their poor achievement. Harries assured the board that he meets with schools individually, and most schools are ready to work toward improvement.

New Haven Public Schools posted a 70.5 percent graduation rate in 2012.

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

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.” ELIE WIESEL JEWISH-AMERICAN WRITER AND HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR

DeStefano’s departure opens up campaign field DESTEFANO FROM PAGE 1 about DeStefano’s intention to step down. He said he reviewed the DeStefano campaign’s financial records, which revealed that he had not been actively fundraising since the end of October, and that he had spent more than he had raised by the next filing period of Dec. 31.

Holder-Winfield said that his plan to announce officially whether he will run at the end of this week remains the same, adding that DeStefano leaves behind a “mixed legacy.”

“I think you have to respect 20 years of service. I disagree with the way he’s done things

and particularly in the last few years I’ve been on the record saying that, but I still think you have to respect the fact that he’s been willing to serve for 20 years,” Holder-Winfield said.

“Now the question is, ‘What is the future of New Haven?’ and that’s the question that those of us running have to answer.”

Jorge Perez, current president of the Board of Aldermen, and Carl Goldfield, a former board president, both declined to comment, saying that they could not confirm that DeStefano was stepping down.

Two years ago, DeStefano ran against Jeffrey Kerekes, winning re-election by his narrowest

TIMELINE DESTEFANO’S TENURE

margin, 55–45, to date despite outspending his challenger by a 14–1 margin.

You have to respect the fact that [DeStefano] has been willing to serve for 20 years.

GARY HOLDER-WINFIELD State representative, Connecticut “We’ll find out when the dust settles exactly what this means as far as strategy goes,” said

Ward 7 Alderman Doug Hausladen ’04, who has said he is officially supporting Elicker for mayor. “It’ll be interesting to know it’s not going to be about who can raise three-quarters of a million dollars, but who can get enough people on the ground and getting name recognition out there.”

Over the past two decades, DeStefano has been credited with instituting community policing to lower crime rates, advancing school reform and revitalizing downtown. Elicker said that DeStefano has “seen the city through some pretty tough times,” noting DeStefano’s partnership with Yale Uni-

versity President Richard Levin in improving the relationship between the University and New Haven and increasing the level of the University’s investment in the city, particularly in economic development and real estate.

DeStefano has also overseen an ongoing school change effort, and Hausladen said that programs like New Haven Promise will be a part of DeStefano’s legacy. Hausladen added that DeStefano has overseen a growth in the city’s population and jobs, and that it will be the next mayor’s responsibility to continue that growth.

“John DeStefano [Jr.] leaves

behind a legacy of school construction programs, and now we’re left with buildings that we have to work on improving the insides,” Hausladen said.

Holder-Winfield and Elicker have both said previously that they thought DeStefano is “out of touch” with New Haven residents. Holder-Winfield added that while he believes education reform and bringing crime down will be part of DeStefano’s legacy, that legacy will also include the fact that DeStefano “doesn’t listen to people.”

DeStefano is 57 years old.

Contact DIANA LI at diana.li@yale.edu .

1993 DeStefano beats John Yopp with 80 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary and begins his 20-year career as mayor.

2003 DeStefano wins the election for his sixth term with an all-time high of 88 percent of votes.

1997

1998 1980

1989

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. starts his nine-year service to then-Mayor Ben DiLieto as a budget aide.

DeStefano runs against John Daniels in the 1989 Democratic primary for mayor and loses.

DeStefano runs for his third term against four independent challengers and wins easily with 79 percent of the vote.

Members of the DeStefano administration are accused of misusing $2.3 million of federal funds in his Livable City Initiative.

2006 DeStefano defeats thenStamford Mayor and current Gov. Dannel Malloy in the Democratic primary for Connecticut governor, but loses to Republican Jodi Rell.

2009

2007

The Supreme Court rules against New Haven in Ricci v.

DeStefano, deciding that New Haven discriminated against 20 firefighters in denying them promotions.

2013

2010 New Haven Promise, a program to assist New Haven public school students to pursue college education, is founded.

The Elm City Resident Card, an initiative to distribute identification cards to protect undocumented immigrants, is launched by DeStefano.

2011 Amid the highest crime rate in nearly two decades, DeStefano survives the strongest challenge of his career from Jeffrey Kerekes.

DeStefano intends to step down after 20 years, making him New Haven’s longestserving mayor.

Gun-rights activists outnumber gun-control advocates GUN HEARING FROM PAGE 1 follow.

Veronique Pozner, mother of 6-year-old Noah Pozner, one of the victims at Sandy Hook, said that her son had loved life — that he had “taken large, hungry bites out of every day” — and described the injustice that had befallen her son. As a result of her son’s death, Pozner called for across-theboard tightening of gun restrictions, including widening the ban on semi-automatic weapons, limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines, closing loopholes in the state’s background check system and holding gun permit owners accountable for crimes committed with their weapons.

“He will never get to attend middle school or high school, kiss a girl, attend college, pick a career path, fall in love, marry, have children or travel the world. … Noah, and the 25 other victims whose lives ended tragically that day, were stripped of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she said.

“This is not about the right to bear arms. It is about the right to bear weapons with the capacity for mass destruction.”

But Mark Mattioli, whose 6-year-old son James was also killed at Sandy Hook, said that the legislative task force should focus its attention on enforcing gun laws already on the books rather than creating new ones. He also said he believed the task force should prioritize providing better mental health support and examining violence in the media, adding that he thinks some liberals are using the shooting as a springboard to spread fear on gun issues.

Noah, and the 25 other victims whose lives ended tragically that day, were stripped of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

VERONIQUE POZNER Mother, Sandy Hook shooting victim “The problem is not gun laws, the problem is a lack of civility — we need common decency to prevail,” Mattioli said. “I think we

have more than enough [gun laws] on the books. We should hold people individually accountable for their actions, and we should enforce laws appropriately.”

The issue that divided Sandy Hook parents defined the split in the hearing room: On one side sat gun-control advocates, sporting the green ribbons that have come to memorialize the Sandy Hook shooting. On the other, a larger group of Second Amendment defenders, wearing yellow stickers that read “Another Responsible Gun Owner,” clapped for those who testified against passing additional restrictions and shouted at speakers, including another Sandy Hook shooting victim’s parent, who questioned their right to own assault weapons.

The crowd of approximately 1,300 attendees soon grew so large that those who arrived after 11 a.m. were funneled into two overflow rooms. More than a thousand people — including family members, gun owners, gun-control advocates and industry representatives — had registered to testify, with some participants estimating that testimony would continue

past midnight.

Outside the building, attendees endured frigid temperatures and gusts of snow to pass through metal detectors, an extra safety precaution put in place at the Capitol for the hearing. Men in hunting jackets and NRA caps mingled in line with women, many of whom belonged to the group “One Million Moms for Gun Control.” Just as inside the meeting, gun-rights supporters clearly outnumbered advocates for tighter restrictions standing in line.

Amy Pines, a mother of two from Westport and a volunteer for “One Million Moms for Gun Control,” said that the imbalance was partly due to the snow blanketing Connecticut. School districts across the state had announced early closures, and many mothers rushed from the hearing to pick up their kids.

Many of the gun-rights supporters in line said that they felt owning a firearm was crucial to their personal protection. Michael Tabone, a self-defense instructor who lives in the greater New Haven area, said that if he could not own a gun legally, he would

not be able to protect himself adequately from those who owned guns illegally.

“If you deny me the means of self-defense, you deny me the right to self-defense,” he said. “It’s not a moral superiority to be a victim.”

Mike Leone, another gun owner from Southington standing next to Tabone in line, pointed out that a majority of gun-related deaths are not even committed using semi-automatic weapons, as such weapons are typically “big and menacing-looking” and thus hard to conceal and carry.

Leone’s sentiment was echoed by several legislators who testified, including New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, who may run for the seat DeStefano will vacate this November. Both said that, though the hearing had been convened as a result of the shooting in Newtown, they, along with lawmakers from other urban areas, would take the opportunity to combat regular gun violence on their streets.

Holder-Winfield went on to cite gun-related murder statistics for the state’s three largest cities,

Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford: 88 in 2008, over 100 by 2010.

“That’s a slow, banal, mass killing,” Holder-Winfield said. “It’s not for lack of opportunity that we find ourselves here — it’s for lack of action.”

Several survivors of the July shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., including Yale student Ethan Rodriguez-Torrent ’13, also testified in favor of tighter gun laws, such as measures to limit the number of guns a person can purchase per month. Rodriguez, who escaped the theater without any wounds, declared his desire to give back by becoming a police officer in New Haven upon graduation.

At least two other Yale students were also in attendance of today’s hearing. Nia Holston ’14 and Ashley Ison ’14 came to represent the student group Black Students at Yale. Holston said they had come because the majority of gun violence affects “people of color.”

The task force aims to have legislation ready for a vote by the end of February.

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

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NEWS

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NOTED POLYMATH AND A FOUNDING FATHER OF THE UNITED STATES

Pledge debate reignited, postponed

BY DIANA LI STAFF REPORTER Following heated debate last November on whether or not the Board of Aldermen should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at each full board meeting — and the ultimate decision to table the issue — the board’s Aldermanic Affairs Committee reintroduced the topic at their monthly meeting Monday night.

Five members of the Aldermanic Affairs Committee discussed whether it would be a violation of religious freedom to require the board to recite the pledge. The group decided to leave to withdraw without prejudice, meaning that the full Board of Aldermen will vote on the proposal at their next meeting.

Currently, full board meetings open with “divine guidance,” in which a member of the board offers a prayer or reading.

The committee members agreed at Monday’s meeting that board members can choose to lead others in the Pledge of Allegiance when it is their turn to offer “divine guidance,” and that requiring the pledge was unnecessary and potentially restrictive in terms of religious freedom.

“I think that for folks to be required to have to stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance is moving a little too far,” said Ward 8 Alderman Michael Smart.

The proposal to require a recitation of the pledge was originally proposed by former Alderman Nancy Ahern, who asked that the pledge occur before divine guidance.

How are they looked at for opting out of it if it’s something that’s supposed to be standard procedure?

SERGIO RODRIGUEZ Alderman, Ward 26 Ahern said she got the idea from Richter Elser ’81, who is the Republican town chair of New Haven. At November’s meeting, she said that she did not propose the idea when she was alderman because it had not occurred to her.

“My problem would be for those people who want to opt out of doing it,” Ward 26 Alderman Sergio Rodriguez said.

“How are they looked at for opt-

ing out of it if it’s something that’s supposed to be standard procedure?”

Ward 27 Alderman Angela Russell said that she believed divine guidance was originally instituted as a compromise to address these types of situations: It enabled board members to have flexibility with what they said at the beginning of the meeting.

Russell added that if people “were so big on separation of church and state,” that they would continue to allow board members to choose their form of expression through divine guidance.

Ward 12 Alderman Mark Stopa agreed with allowing people to recite the pledge, and said that it should be left as an option.

“I support saying the pledge: It’s something you do at baseball games and football games, and here we’re acting as a legislative branch of government, and if someone wants to do it, then they should be allowed to do it,” Stopa said. “It’ll probably take less than a minute to say.”

At last November’s meeting, five people testified in favor of the item.

Contact DIANA LI at diana.li@yale.edu .

JENNIFER CHEUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The Aldermanic Affairs Committee discussed whether they would recite the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings.

English Dept offers creative writing workshops

BY COLLEEN FLYNN STAFF REPORTER Two members of the English Department are bringing creative writing workshops to the broader Yale community with a new program that facilitates independent writing groups across campus.

Emily Barton and John Crowley, two creative writing lecturers, teamed up to launch the Yale Community Self-Led Fiction Workshops, which are designed to encourage writers to form

groups where they can share their work and recieve feedback. Barton and Crowley held their first meeting on Monday night to provide attendees with advice about ways to form and structure the workshop groups — though the workshops themselves will be led entirely by their participants without the guidance of a faculty member.

Barton, who created the program, said she conceived of the idea for the workshops as a response to the high demand

for the creative writing courses offered by the English Department, since each class can only accommodate roughly 12 undergraduate students despite interest from others in the Yale community.

“They are all serious writers interested in taking these classes,” she said. “But we are an undergraduate department and our duty is to the undergraduates, so it would be unfair to admit an auditor from the outside.”

Barton said the program aims

to teach members of the campus community ways to run their own creative writing workshop and introduce them to other writers with whom they may not otherwise come into contact. After Monday’s meeting, the members must take the initiative to form their own workshops, she said, adding that she encourages the writers to contact members of the creative writing faculty at Yale to invite them to one of the group’s workshops.

At the meeting — which was

attended by a mix of nearly 30 undergrads, graduate students, faculty and other community members — Barton and Crowley also gave attendees a proposed syllabus and reading list.

It’s difficult because the process [of getting into a creative writing course] can be cyclical.

NIMAL EAMES-SCOTT ’14

VIVIENNE ZHANG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Creative writing lecturers John Crowley, center, and Emily Barton push the Yale community to seek creative writing opportunities out of the classroom.

English professors often receive 90 applications for 12 spots in creative writing courses, Barton said, adding that she often receives a few inquiries each semester from faculty spouses, law students, graduate students and others outside of Yale College. Crowley said he wishes he could accommodate more students in his classes but thinks maintaining small classes is essential to creating an environment in which all students can have their writing critiqued effectively.

Anne Fadiman, an English professor who teaches creative nonfiction classes, said she thinks self-led workshops would be a good supplement to the University’s existing resources for aspiring writers, such as the opportunity to write for undergraduate publications. Fadiman, who teaches “Writing About Oneself” during the spring, said she received

125 applications for 12 spots for her class this semester. She usually receives a few inquiries from graduate students, she added.

Christina Baik DIV ’13 said she applied to Barton’s class this fall, and though she was not admitted because she is not a member of Yale College, Barton contacted her to invite her to participate in the self-led workshops this semester.

“I went to Swarthmore, and with my coursework there I ended up not being able to take a lot of creative writing courses and I regret that,” Baik said.

Nimal Eames-Scott ’14 said he thinks the program “expands what a workshop can be in the context of an undergraduate education.” With the limited number of seats in creative writing courses, he added, getting a spot can be competitive and disheartening for those who are not admitted.

“It’s difficult because the process [of getting into a creative writing course] can be cyclical,” Eames-Scott said. “If you don’t get in a workshop one year and have the chance to work on your writing, it’s hard to get in the next year.”

Helen Wang ’14 said that she sees the self-led workshops as a great way to bring together people who would not otherwise meet in fiction workshops.

The English Department is offering 13 creative writing courses this semester.

Contact COLLEEN FLYNN at colleen.flynn@yale.edu .

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“There’s nothing to do here / some just whine and complain / in bed in the hospital .” COLD WAR KIDS’ “HOSPITAL BEDS’

Scientists hunt for dark matter

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT Higher antidepressant use in South, study finds

BY PAYAL MARATHE STAFF REPORTER For pharmacists in the business of moodaltering drugs, a recent study conducted through the Yale School of Management might prompt a move to Tennessee.

The study examined the geographic distribution of the use of antidepressant, antipsychotic and stimulant medications, and identified a large cluster centered on Tennessee where the use of these drug classes is 40 percent higher than the United States average. While the research has yet to untangle the “complex causal web of what’s happening” in the region to determine why those residents are more drug-dependent, assistant professor of organizational behavior Marissa King said she is interested in looking at the effect government regulation has on the prescription of these drugs. The study, which first appeared online Jan. 7, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Health & Place.

King and co-author Connor Essick GRD ’12 compared their data on the prescription of these drug classes to data on the prevalence of conditions that would warrant elevated use, such as depression and ADHD. They found that “use of these medications doesn’t match patterns of underlying disease prevalence,” Essick said.

Rather, King and Essick said they believe the spike in prescriptions is more likely due to factors related to pharmaceutical marketing.

King explained that some states enforce regulations on pharmaceutical marketing, while the states in this cluster do not. To quantify what impact advertising restrictions would have on prescription drug use, she plans on comparing data from states inside the cluster to data from states with stricter regulations, she said.

“We’ve identified a puzzle that people don’t have a clear answer to, but we’re looking at marketing efforts and prescribing behaviors, and we think marketing might be one of the primary influences affecting this

phenomenon,” King said.

The role of pharmaceutical marketing has implications for the field of business as well as public health, Essick said. From the business perspective, these findings have introduced new questions about the “diffusion of a new drug on the market” and about “how physicians decide to prescribe a drug,” he said. Companies hoping to sell a new drug may now take into account the effect marketing regulations have on the number of drugs prescribed. The public health realm is now interested in how pharmaceutical marketing might affect the decisions people make about taking prescription drugs, he added.

“The outcome here isn’t necessarily negative — it’s not saying that pharmaceutical marketing is a bad thing,” Essick said. “It’s just saying that pharmaceutical marketing has an influence, otherwise companies wouldn’t invest the kind of money they do in marketing.”

An even more important result of this research, according to Essick, is that it reinforces the idea that nonmedical factors affect people’s health and their access to health resources. In addition to the role of marketing efforts, public perception of an individual seeking treatment might also affect the prescription of psychotropic drugs, King said.

Her next goal is to examine more closely why this spike in prescription drug use exists in the Tennessee region. However, King said identifying a single cause will prove challenging given the numerous factors that go into an individual’s decision to take antidepressants, antipsychotics or stimulants.

Essick said obtaining accurate data presents another obstacle, since pharmaceutical companies are not always completely transparent with the data they disclose to the public. Even data that is disclosed is often “difficult to use in a research perspective because it’s too specific, it’s not tangible and it’s not terribly clean,” he said.

Still, Harvard associate professor of psychology Simon Caine said this research is

Physicists observe quantum computing

BY JOSH MANDELL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER This month, Yale physicists announced a major breakthrough in monitoring quantum information, a form of data that could one day be used by a powerful new kind of supercomputer.

In a Jan. 11 paper published in the journal Science, the study’s authors presented their observations of the state of a quantum bit — or qubit, the basic unit of quantum information — contained on a microscopic, superconducting aluminum circuit that was cooled to nearly absolute zero to minimize data interference, said lead authors Michael Hatridge and Shyam Shankar, postdoctorate scholars in the Yale Applied Physics Department.

The study showed the degree to which observing a quantum system alters the information it contains, and proposes ways these errors can be corrected.

The physicists designed and monitored qubits, which are the foundation of a fundamentally different method of computing information. All computers that exist today use a normal binary system, in which each bit of information is the result of a transistor turning on and off, producing either a zero or a one. Quantum computing takes advantage of the uncertainty of quantum mechanics, caused by shrinking the computer’s hardware to extremely small sizes. Quantum uncertainty allows a qubit to register as a zero and a one at the same time. This superposition of data would allow quantum computers to handle far more information than today’s computers.

Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University, has written that when completing certain tasks, quantum computers would be “an advance over current supercomputers as great as that of the electronic computer over the abacus.”

The Yale team will use their findings to design better qubits and quantum limited amplifiers that would make the information more easily detectable while preserving its integrity.

“When you try to measure a quantum state, there is a fundamental limit on what quantum mechanics allows you to do. Usually you don’t reach that limit, but amplifiers allow you to reach that limit and measure a quantum system as well as you can,” Shankar said.

MIT mechanical engineering professor Seth Lloyd praised the Yale paper for answering longstanding questions

in the field of quantum physics.

“This paper, and several other recent papers on quantum objects, are setting the record straight, and do so in an elegant and impressive fashion,” he said.

The study’s findings have provided the Yale researchers with a deeper understanding of the physics behind a quantum computer, but Hatridge said they still “don’t know the best way to put it to together.”

Quantum computing research at Yale receives funding from the United States military because of its great potential for breaking codes and searching databases. A common form of internet encryption today is based on the difficulty of factoring large numbers, and scientists have already built quantum computers that can do this much faster than a binary computer.

There is a fundamental limit on what quantum mechanics allows you to do.

SHYAM SHANKAR Postdoctorate scholar, Yale Applied Physics Department Though scientists are progressing towards the development of practical quantum computers, Hatridge said there is still much more work to be done. In the future, the Yale Quantronics Lab hopes to monitor several qubits at once, an achievement that could enable quantum computing on a much larger scale.

“We don’t know what all the possibilities are,” Shankar said. Though the United States military supports the Yale Quantronics lab, national security goals are not the sole motivating factor behind the researchers’ study of quantum computing.

“From our lab’s point of view, we are doing it because we don’t know what [quantum computing] can do,” Shankar said. “We are slowly building it up to see how far it can go.”

Funding for the study also came from the National Science Foundation, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, the Agence National de Recherche and the College de France.

BY ANISHA SUTERWALA STAFF REPORTER

relevant to the general public. People should know how their local prescription trends compare to trends in other parts of the country, if only to realize that they have options outside of their states, he said. Elucidating the process of drug prescription is an important step in revealing the range of medical options available to patients seeking treatment, and no patient should have to make a decision without exploring the variety of options, he added.

While the use of each of the drug classes of antidepressants, antipsychotics and stimulants varies slightly, King and Essick’s study found that these drugs are prescribed at the lowest levels in the western part of the country.

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

KAREN TIAN

A group of Yale faculty and students is currently racing to be the first to detect dark matter.

Scientists began the cooling process of the Large Underground Xenon experiment’s ultrasensitive dark matter detector on Jan. 24. Run in a facility nearly a mile below the Black Hills of South Dakota, the LUX experiment is a collaboration among 16 institutions, including Yale. The cooling of the LUX’s particle detector — the largest to date — is a major step in the experiment’s goal of detecting dark matter. The dark matter detector, a titanium cylinder approximately the size of a phone booth, is housed in a stainless steel water tank that holds 70,000 gallons of deionized water.

“It’s a huge scientific goal to be able to detect dark matter,” said Yale professor and LUX co-spokesman Dan McKinsey. “If we succeed, it would be revolutionary.”

Although dark matter particles have never been directly detected, dark matter is commonly accepted to comprise most of the universe’s mass. Theories suggest galaxies rotate much slower than expected for their given mass, suggesting the presence of undetected matter that slows the speed of rotation, said Masahiro Morii, a physics professor at Harvard and former collaborator on the LUX experiment. McKinsey said the LUX experiment aims to test these theories by looking for evidence of existence of dark matter particles, also known as WIMPs. These WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, are detected through their collisions with nuclei of atoms — in this case, xenon atoms.

The LUX detector contains xenon and photomultiplier tubes that alert researchers to the presence of light. If a WIMP bumps into a xenon atom, the collision will produce two flashes of light. The first is at the point of impact, and the second is caused by electrons

Postdischarge period poses perils

BY CLINTON WANG STAFF REPORTER After receiving hospital treatment, many elderly patients have to return for acute care only a few weeks following their release, risking more severe medical problems and adding unnecessary stress to the national health care system.

A Yale study published in the Jan. 23 Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, found that seniors who are hospitalized for one disease are often readmitted soon after for another, suggesting that the hospitalization experience may leave patients vulnerable to other illnesses shortly after discharge. By improving the hospital environment and focusing on a patient’s general health beyond the acute disease for which the patient was admitted, hospitals may be able to reduce readmission rates, which are currently at around 20 percent for Medicare beneficiaries, said lead author Kumar Dharmarajan, a visiting scholar at the Yale School of Medicine.

“Many of these rehospitalizations are preventable and are exposing older patients to infections and medical errors,” Dharmarajan said.

“We need to think more holistically about the patients and the things that they are at risk for.”

Senior author Harlan Krumholz,

Yale professor of medicine and public health, said the disruptive hospital setting may render patients more vulnerable to developing other health problems, a condition he called “posthospital syndrome.”

Hospitals need to pay attention to how much sleep patients get, as nurses disrupt their sleep to check vital signs and conduct tests. Nurses also need to ensure patients are properly nourished, and should be “judicious” in their use of medication that may impair brain function, he added.

We need to think more holistically about the patients and the things that they are at risk for.

KUMAR DHARMARAJAN Visiting scholar, Yale School of Medicine

receive in medical schools, adding that doctors need to think more broadly about the patient as being at a “generalized health risk.”

In an effort to curb readmissions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began penalizing hospitals last October for high readmission rates within 30 days of discharge following heart failure, heart attacks or pneumonia, three common acute-care conditions.

But another Yale study in the Jan. 23 JAMA issue added that there are around two-thirds as many emergency room visits after discharge as there are readmissions, though these visits are unaccounted for by CMS’s current penalty.

Lead author Anita Vashi, a Medical School postdoctoral fellow, and senior author Cary Gross, associate professor of internal medicine, said that primary care providers and hospitals also need to improve communication with each other and with the patient so that patients can continue to be monitored for health problems in the weeks following discharge.

“If you’re a patient who’s been discharged from the hospital and feel unwell for any reason, even if it’s unrelated to the initial illness, talk to your doctor,” Dharmarajan said.

Although preventable rehospitalizations have been a constant burden on the health care system,

Krumholz said the phenomenon has only recently come under scrutiny by researchers and policymakers due to rising health care costs and attempts to bridge the silos of outpatient care and hospital care.

“Hospitals were rewarded for high readmissions rates. There was no incentive to look at this aspect of health care,” Krumholz added.

“We’re also starting to believe this is an area in health care where we can do better.”

Hospital readmissions cost the government more than $17 billion annually.

Contact CLINTON WANG at clinton.wang@yale.edu .

MAP RATES OF REHOSPITALIZATION WITHIN 30 DAYS OF HOSPITAL DISCHARGE

Hospital treatment and followup sessions in the post-discharge period tend to focus exclusively on treating the initial diagnosis and preventing its recurrence, leaving patients vulnerable to other health problems. Dharmarajan attributed this phenomenon to the specialized training that physicians currently

20.2% to 23.3% 19.2% to 20.1% 17.6% to 19.1% 13.3% to 17.4%

Contact JOSH MANDELL at joshua.mandell@yale.edu .

THAO DO

MATT KAPUST

Yale postdoctoral associate Scott Hertel inspects the LUX dark matter detector in its protective water tank. released during the collision. A comparison of the two flashes will determine whether or not the particle is dark matter.

It’s a huge scientific goal to be able to detect dark matter.

DAN MCKINSEY Co-spokesman, LUX Accurate identification of dark matter requires that the detector be shielded from radiation from rocks, the sun and the earth. This radiation releases neutrons that would interfere with the experiment, resulting in false positive identification of a mov-

ing particle as dark matter.

“At worst case, a cosmic ray can split a nucleus and release a neutron that would behave like dark matter,” McKinsey said. Running the experiment in an underground water tank shields the detector from the bulk of radiation and interference.

The experiment is currently in its calibration stage to ensure both that the detector is highly sensitive and that the electronics and operating systems function with minimal interference. Ethan Bernard, a physics research assistant who joined the experiment in 2010, said that this calibration will ensure that the system “picks up signals we want it to pick up and ignores signals we want it to ignore.” The team began collecting

data earlier this month and expected to run the experiment for at least a year.

Although the LUX experiment is among the most technologically sensitive of those currently under way, no one can say if the actual detection of dark matter will occur. McKinsey said these collisions are very rare, occurring perhaps once per month or even year.

“It’s an experiment,” Morii said.

“You can get lucky, or you can go home empty-handed. You just have to keep experimenting.”

The LUX experiment is currently in competition with other efforts under way to detect dark matter in Canada, Italy and China.

Contact ANISHA SUTERWALA at anisha.suterwala@yale.edu .

Fly swarms investigated

BY EMMA GOLDBERG STAFF REPORTER Researchers have found a mechanism to analyze fly swarms, which may provide valuable insight into the structure of animal collectives from bird flocks to human crowds.

Two researchers — one from Yale and the other from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — joined forces and used their backgrounds in engineering to evaluate the structure of fly swarms. With high-speed cameras, they recorded swarms and analyzed the behavior of individual flies as well as the collective motion of the group.

The researchers said they hope their findings, which were published Jan. 15 in the journal Scientific Reports, will lead to greater understanding of other species’ forms of collective motion.

“There’s been a lot of work done on qualitative observations about insect swarms,” said Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science professor Nicholas Ouellette. “What’s been missing is the empirical quantitative research on the swarms.”

Ouellette and Douglas H. Kelley, an engineering postdoctoral associate at MIT, decided to analyze the structure of swarms because they noticed a dearth of information in the field of entomology, the study of insects.

Previous research on the subject had focused only on qualitative descriptions of swarms — such as their size — and had not asked detailed questions about individual flies’ behavior within the group.

Ouellette and Kelley used synchronized high-speed cameras to record the fly swarm, and then used a custom computer code to analyze each frame of the film. By studying individual frames, they were able to track the motion of each fly in the swarm. The tools they employed to film the flies are typically used for measuring fluid flows, but they discovered that because their software was designed to understand the motion of small particles, it could be used for insects just as easily as for liquid.

“We had done work with 3-D high-speed tracking, and we realized we had all the experi-

SIMON JOHNSTON/CREATIVE COMMONS

Research on fly swarms may provide insight into the collective motion of other animal species. mental tools we needed to track the swarms,” Kelley said.

When analyzing the swarms, they discovered that individual insects tend to fly faster horizontally. Ouellette said they discovered that swarms are highly structured, and comprised of many small groups of flies. The flies tend to move toward the center of the swarm, giving the appearance that there is a force holding them together.

Initially, Ouellette and Kelley encountered challenges in creating sufficiently clear recordings of the swarms. Kelley said the researchers learned that the flies preferred to swarm at dusk, so they had to backlight the film with red lights in order to view the flies clearly.

James Puckett, a mechanical engineering postdoctoral associate at Yale who recently joined Ouellette and Kelley’s project, said research on flies can lead to scientific insights on a wide

variety of species.

“From whales to bacteria, many species move collectively,” Puckett said. “Other forms of collective animal behavior can benefit from our study of interactions between individuals.”

Sometimes the public does not always understand the value of insect research.

REBECCA DELVENTHAL GRD ’15 Entomology researcher Entomology researcher Rebecca Delventhal GRD ’15 said the public does not always place sufficient emphasis on the value of studies in her field.

“I think sometimes the public does not always understand the

value of insect research,” Delventhal said in an email to the News. “Insects are incredibly useful as models for biological phenomena that are more difficult to study in more complex organisms.”

Ouellette, Kelley and Puckett plan to continue their research on swarms, hoping to understand what rules guide each individual fly’s behavior in a swarm. Puckett said they have improved the technology used in the research. While they previously used three cameras that would often run out of memory, they now use four and stream the recordings directly to the computer — allowing them to record the swarm continuously from beginning to end.

The research on swarms was funded by the Army Research Office and began in July 2011.

Contact EMMA GOLDBERG at emma.goldberg@yale.edu .

PAGE 6

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“There’s nothing to do here / some just whine and complain / in bed in the hospital .” COLD WAR KIDS’ “HOSPITAL BEDS’

Scientists hunt for dark matter

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT Higher antidepressant use in South, study finds

BY PAYAL MARATHE STAFF REPORTER For pharmacists in the business of moodaltering drugs, a recent study conducted through the Yale School of Management might prompt a move to Tennessee.

The study examined the geographic distribution of the use of antidepressant, antipsychotic and stimulant medications, and identified a large cluster centered on Tennessee where the use of these drug classes is 40 percent higher than the United States average. While the research has yet to untangle the “complex causal web of what’s happening” in the region to determine why those residents are more drug-dependent, assistant professor of organizational behavior Marissa King said she is interested in looking at the effect government regulation has on the prescription of these drugs. The study, which first appeared online Jan. 7, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Health & Place.

King and co-author Connor Essick GRD ’12 compared their data on the prescription of these drug classes to data on the prevalence of conditions that would warrant elevated use, such as depression and ADHD. They found that “use of these medications doesn’t match patterns of underlying disease prevalence,” Essick said.

Rather, King and Essick said they believe the spike in prescriptions is more likely due to factors related to pharmaceutical marketing.

King explained that some states enforce regulations on pharmaceutical marketing, while the states in this cluster do not. To quantify what impact advertising restrictions would have on prescription drug use, she plans on comparing data from states inside the cluster to data from states with stricter regulations, she said.

“We’ve identified a puzzle that people don’t have a clear answer to, but we’re looking at marketing efforts and prescribing behaviors, and we think marketing might be one of the primary influences affecting this

phenomenon,” King said.

The role of pharmaceutical marketing has implications for the field of business as well as public health, Essick said. From the business perspective, these findings have introduced new questions about the “diffusion of a new drug on the market” and about “how physicians decide to prescribe a drug,” he said. Companies hoping to sell a new drug may now take into account the effect marketing regulations have on the number of drugs prescribed. The public health realm is now interested in how pharmaceutical marketing might affect the decisions people make about taking prescription drugs, he added.

“The outcome here isn’t necessarily negative — it’s not saying that pharmaceutical marketing is a bad thing,” Essick said. “It’s just saying that pharmaceutical marketing has an influence, otherwise companies wouldn’t invest the kind of money they do in marketing.”

An even more important result of this research, according to Essick, is that it reinforces the idea that nonmedical factors affect people’s health and their access to health resources. In addition to the role of marketing efforts, public perception of an individual seeking treatment might also affect the prescription of psychotropic drugs, King said.

Her next goal is to examine more closely why this spike in prescription drug use exists in the Tennessee region. However, King said identifying a single cause will prove challenging given the numerous factors that go into an individual’s decision to take antidepressants, antipsychotics or stimulants.

Essick said obtaining accurate data presents another obstacle, since pharmaceutical companies are not always completely transparent with the data they disclose to the public. Even data that is disclosed is often “difficult to use in a research perspective because it’s too specific, it’s not tangible and it’s not terribly clean,” he said.

Still, Harvard associate professor of psychology Simon Caine said this research is

Physicists observe quantum computing

BY JOSH MANDELL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER This month, Yale physicists announced a major breakthrough in monitoring quantum information, a form of data that could one day be used by a powerful new kind of supercomputer.

In a Jan. 11 paper published in the journal Science, the study’s authors presented their observations of the state of a quantum bit — or qubit, the basic unit of quantum information — contained on a microscopic, superconducting aluminum circuit that was cooled to nearly absolute zero to minimize data interference, said lead authors Michael Hatridge and Shyam Shankar, postdoctorate scholars in the Yale Applied Physics Department.

The study showed the degree to which observing a quantum system alters the information it contains, and proposes ways these errors can be corrected.

The physicists designed and monitored qubits, which are the foundation of a fundamentally different method of computing information. All computers that exist today use a normal binary system, in which each bit of information is the result of a transistor turning on and off, producing either a zero or a one. Quantum computing takes advantage of the uncertainty of quantum mechanics, caused by shrinking the computer’s hardware to extremely small sizes. Quantum uncertainty allows a qubit to register as a zero and a one at the same time. This superposition of data would allow quantum computers to handle far more information than today’s computers.

Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University, has written that when completing certain tasks, quantum computers would be “an advance over current supercomputers as great as that of the electronic computer over the abacus.”

The Yale team will use their findings to design better qubits and quantum limited amplifiers that would make the information more easily detectable while preserving its integrity.

“When you try to measure a quantum state, there is a fundamental limit on what quantum mechanics allows you to do. Usually you don’t reach that limit, but amplifiers allow you to reach that limit and measure a quantum system as well as you can,” Shankar said.

MIT mechanical engineering professor Seth Lloyd praised the Yale paper for answering longstanding questions

in the field of quantum physics.

“This paper, and several other recent papers on quantum objects, are setting the record straight, and do so in an elegant and impressive fashion,” he said.

The study’s findings have provided the Yale researchers with a deeper understanding of the physics behind a quantum computer, but Hatridge said they still “don’t know the best way to put it to together.”

Quantum computing research at Yale receives funding from the United States military because of its great potential for breaking codes and searching databases. A common form of internet encryption today is based on the difficulty of factoring large numbers, and scientists have already built quantum computers that can do this much faster than a binary computer.

There is a fundamental limit on what quantum mechanics allows you to do.

SHYAM SHANKAR Postdoctorate scholar, Yale Applied Physics Department Though scientists are progressing towards the development of practical quantum computers, Hatridge said there is still much more work to be done. In the future, the Yale Quantronics Lab hopes to monitor several qubits at once, an achievement that could enable quantum computing on a much larger scale.

“We don’t know what all the possibilities are,” Shankar said. Though the United States military supports the Yale Quantronics lab, national security goals are not the sole motivating factor behind the researchers’ study of quantum computing.

“From our lab’s point of view, we are doing it because we don’t know what [quantum computing] can do,” Shankar said. “We are slowly building it up to see how far it can go.”

Funding for the study also came from the National Science Foundation, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, the Agence National de Recherche and the College de France.

BY ANISHA SUTERWALA STAFF REPORTER

relevant to the general public. People should know how their local prescription trends compare to trends in other parts of the country, if only to realize that they have options outside of their states, he said. Elucidating the process of drug prescription is an important step in revealing the range of medical options available to patients seeking treatment, and no patient should have to make a decision without exploring the variety of options, he added.

While the use of each of the drug classes of antidepressants, antipsychotics and stimulants varies slightly, King and Essick’s study found that these drugs are prescribed at the lowest levels in the western part of the country.

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

KAREN TIAN

A group of Yale faculty and students is currently racing to be the first to detect dark matter.

Scientists began the cooling process of the Large Underground Xenon experiment’s ultrasensitive dark matter detector on Jan. 24. Run in a facility nearly a mile below the Black Hills of South Dakota, the LUX experiment is a collaboration among 16 institutions, including Yale. The cooling of the LUX’s particle detector — the largest to date — is a major step in the experiment’s goal of detecting dark matter. The dark matter detector, a titanium cylinder approximately the size of a phone booth, is housed in a stainless steel water tank that holds 70,000 gallons of deionized water.

“It’s a huge scientific goal to be able to detect dark matter,” said Yale professor and LUX co-spokesman Dan McKinsey. “If we succeed, it would be revolutionary.”

Although dark matter particles have never been directly detected, dark matter is commonly accepted to comprise most of the universe’s mass. Theories suggest galaxies rotate much slower than expected for their given mass, suggesting the presence of undetected matter that slows the speed of rotation, said Masahiro Morii, a physics professor at Harvard and former collaborator on the LUX experiment. McKinsey said the LUX experiment aims to test these theories by looking for evidence of existence of dark matter particles, also known as WIMPs. These WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, are detected through their collisions with nuclei of atoms — in this case, xenon atoms.

The LUX detector contains xenon and photomultiplier tubes that alert researchers to the presence of light. If a WIMP bumps into a xenon atom, the collision will produce two flashes of light. The first is at the point of impact, and the second is caused by electrons

Postdischarge period poses perils

BY CLINTON WANG STAFF REPORTER After receiving hospital treatment, many elderly patients have to return for acute care only a few weeks following their release, risking more severe medical problems and adding unnecessary stress to the national health care system.

A Yale study published in the Jan. 23 Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, found that seniors who are hospitalized for one disease are often readmitted soon after for another, suggesting that the hospitalization experience may leave patients vulnerable to other illnesses shortly after discharge. By improving the hospital environment and focusing on a patient’s general health beyond the acute disease for which the patient was admitted, hospitals may be able to reduce readmission rates, which are currently at around 20 percent for Medicare beneficiaries, said lead author Kumar Dharmarajan, a visiting scholar at the Yale School of Medicine.

“Many of these rehospitalizations are preventable and are exposing older patients to infections and medical errors,” Dharmarajan said.

“We need to think more holistically about the patients and the things that they are at risk for.”

Senior author Harlan Krumholz,

Yale professor of medicine and public health, said the disruptive hospital setting may render patients more vulnerable to developing other health problems, a condition he called “posthospital syndrome.”

Hospitals need to pay attention to how much sleep patients get, as nurses disrupt their sleep to check vital signs and conduct tests. Nurses also need to ensure patients are properly nourished, and should be “judicious” in their use of medication that may impair brain function, he added.

We need to think more holistically about the patients and the things that they are at risk for.

KUMAR DHARMARAJAN Visiting scholar, Yale School of Medicine

receive in medical schools, adding that doctors need to think more broadly about the patient as being at a “generalized health risk.”

In an effort to curb readmissions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began penalizing hospitals last October for high readmission rates within 30 days of discharge following heart failure, heart attacks or pneumonia, three common acute-care conditions.

But another Yale study in the Jan. 23 JAMA issue added that there are around two-thirds as many emergency room visits after discharge as there are readmissions, though these visits are unaccounted for by CMS’s current penalty.

Lead author Anita Vashi, a Medical School postdoctoral fellow, and senior author Cary Gross, associate professor of internal medicine, said that primary care providers and hospitals also need to improve communication with each other and with the patient so that patients can continue to be monitored for health problems in the weeks following discharge.

“If you’re a patient who’s been discharged from the hospital and feel unwell for any reason, even if it’s unrelated to the initial illness, talk to your doctor,” Dharmarajan said.

Although preventable rehospitalizations have been a constant burden on the health care system,

Krumholz said the phenomenon has only recently come under scrutiny by researchers and policymakers due to rising health care costs and attempts to bridge the silos of outpatient care and hospital care.

“Hospitals were rewarded for high readmissions rates. There was no incentive to look at this aspect of health care,” Krumholz added.

“We’re also starting to believe this is an area in health care where we can do better.”

Hospital readmissions cost the government more than $17 billion annually.

Contact CLINTON WANG at clinton.wang@yale.edu .

MAP RATES OF REHOSPITALIZATION WITHIN 30 DAYS OF HOSPITAL DISCHARGE

Hospital treatment and followup sessions in the post-discharge period tend to focus exclusively on treating the initial diagnosis and preventing its recurrence, leaving patients vulnerable to other health problems. Dharmarajan attributed this phenomenon to the specialized training that physicians currently

20.2% to 23.3% 19.2% to 20.1% 17.6% to 19.1% 13.3% to 17.4%

Contact JOSH MANDELL at joshua.mandell@yale.edu .

THAO DO

MATT KAPUST

Yale postdoctoral associate Scott Hertel inspects the LUX dark matter detector in its protective water tank. released during the collision. A comparison of the two flashes will determine whether or not the particle is dark matter.

It’s a huge scientific goal to be able to detect dark matter.

DAN MCKINSEY Co-spokesman, LUX Accurate identification of dark matter requires that the detector be shielded from radiation from rocks, the sun and the earth. This radiation releases neutrons that would interfere with the experiment, resulting in false positive identification of a mov-

ing particle as dark matter.

“At worst case, a cosmic ray can split a nucleus and release a neutron that would behave like dark matter,” McKinsey said. Running the experiment in an underground water tank shields the detector from the bulk of radiation and interference.

The experiment is currently in its calibration stage to ensure both that the detector is highly sensitive and that the electronics and operating systems function with minimal interference. Ethan Bernard, a physics research assistant who joined the experiment in 2010, said that this calibration will ensure that the system “picks up signals we want it to pick up and ignores signals we want it to ignore.” The team began collecting

data earlier this month and expected to run the experiment for at least a year.

Although the LUX experiment is among the most technologically sensitive of those currently under way, no one can say if the actual detection of dark matter will occur. McKinsey said these collisions are very rare, occurring perhaps once per month or even year.

“It’s an experiment,” Morii said.

“You can get lucky, or you can go home empty-handed. You just have to keep experimenting.”

The LUX experiment is currently in competition with other efforts under way to detect dark matter in Canada, Italy and China.

Contact ANISHA SUTERWALA at anisha.suterwala@yale.edu .

Fly swarms investigated

BY EMMA GOLDBERG STAFF REPORTER Researchers have found a mechanism to analyze fly swarms, which may provide valuable insight into the structure of animal collectives from bird flocks to human crowds.

Two researchers — one from Yale and the other from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — joined forces and used their backgrounds in engineering to evaluate the structure of fly swarms. With high-speed cameras, they recorded swarms and analyzed the behavior of individual flies as well as the collective motion of the group.

The researchers said they hope their findings, which were published Jan. 15 in the journal Scientific Reports, will lead to greater understanding of other species’ forms of collective motion.

“There’s been a lot of work done on qualitative observations about insect swarms,” said Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science professor Nicholas Ouellette. “What’s been missing is the empirical quantitative research on the swarms.”

Ouellette and Douglas H. Kelley, an engineering postdoctoral associate at MIT, decided to analyze the structure of swarms because they noticed a dearth of information in the field of entomology, the study of insects.

Previous research on the subject had focused only on qualitative descriptions of swarms — such as their size — and had not asked detailed questions about individual flies’ behavior within the group.

Ouellette and Kelley used synchronized high-speed cameras to record the fly swarm, and then used a custom computer code to analyze each frame of the film. By studying individual frames, they were able to track the motion of each fly in the swarm. The tools they employed to film the flies are typically used for measuring fluid flows, but they discovered that because their software was designed to understand the motion of small particles, it could be used for insects just as easily as for liquid.

“We had done work with 3-D high-speed tracking, and we realized we had all the experi-

SIMON JOHNSTON/CREATIVE COMMONS

Research on fly swarms may provide insight into the collective motion of other animal species. mental tools we needed to track the swarms,” Kelley said.

When analyzing the swarms, they discovered that individual insects tend to fly faster horizontally. Ouellette said they discovered that swarms are highly structured, and comprised of many small groups of flies. The flies tend to move toward the center of the swarm, giving the appearance that there is a force holding them together.

Initially, Ouellette and Kelley encountered challenges in creating sufficiently clear recordings of the swarms. Kelley said the researchers learned that the flies preferred to swarm at dusk, so they had to backlight the film with red lights in order to view the flies clearly.

James Puckett, a mechanical engineering postdoctoral associate at Yale who recently joined Ouellette and Kelley’s project, said research on flies can lead to scientific insights on a wide

variety of species.

“From whales to bacteria, many species move collectively,” Puckett said. “Other forms of collective animal behavior can benefit from our study of interactions between individuals.”

Sometimes the public does not always understand the value of insect research.

REBECCA DELVENTHAL GRD ’15 Entomology researcher Entomology researcher Rebecca Delventhal GRD ’15 said the public does not always place sufficient emphasis on the value of studies in her field.

“I think sometimes the public does not always understand the

value of insect research,” Delventhal said in an email to the News. “Insects are incredibly useful as models for biological phenomena that are more difficult to study in more complex organisms.”

Ouellette, Kelley and Puckett plan to continue their research on swarms, hoping to understand what rules guide each individual fly’s behavior in a swarm. Puckett said they have improved the technology used in the research. While they previously used three cameras that would often run out of memory, they now use four and stream the recordings directly to the computer — allowing them to record the swarm continuously from beginning to end.

The research on swarms was funded by the Army Research Office and began in July 2011.

Contact EMMA GOLDBERG at emma.goldberg@yale.edu .

PAGE 8

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it.” GEORGE W. BUSH 43RD U.S. PRESIDENT

Yale to draw on reserve funds to balance budget DEFECIT FROM PAGE 1 tions,” he added that the University will likely have to draw on reserve funds and consider other one-time measures to close the deficit.

“The good news is that, relative to where we were at the beginning of the endowment collapse, things look completely different,” Polak said. “The bad news is that we haven’t closed the hole yet. We’re not in balance; we don’t have the resources to move forward with everything we want to do.”

The 2013-’14 academic year will mark the second year in a row since the financial crisis that Yale will not have to implement University-wide budget cuts, but Polak told the News that “we still need to be finding ways to save money here and there” to address the remnants of the $350 million deficit that emerged after Yale’s endowment lost $6.5 billion in fiscal year 2009.

In order to balance the budget for the 2013-’14 academic year, Yale will rely in part on the use of reserve funds, said Vice President of Finance and Business Operations Shauna King in a Monday email to the News. She said the University’s use of these “rainy day” accounts cannot be a permanent solution as the accounts in question can be depleted.

Polak said the University’s long-term goal is to have enough money to fund new initiatives in addition to eliminating the budget deficit.

“There are all kinds of exciting things we want to invest in,” Polak said. “Being at ‘minus 40 [million]’ is not where we want to be — we want to be at ‘plus something’ so we can move forward.”

Polak said he intends to maintain the policies that former Provost Peter Salovey, who will assume the Yale presidency on June 30, put in place to promote transparency in the

budget planning process, including the use of faculty leadership on the University Budget Committee. He also said he believes many choices involving the budget should be made at the level of departments rather than the Provost’s Office, because decisions about whom to hire and which initiatives to fund should be made “by the people that are most informed.”

GRAPH BUDGET DEFICIT PROJECTIONS A YEAR PRIOR $350 MILLION

The good news is that, relative to where we were at the beginning of the endowment collapse, things look completely different.

BENJAMIN POLAK Provost, Yale University The past four years have been difficult for many departments, Polak said, as faculty hiring has largely stalled due to financial constraints. Polak said the University capped the size of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at around 700 after the recession. Only a limited number of searches for new faculty have been authorized over the past few years, he said, and those searches have filled existing positions rather than allow for the creation of new ones.

He said restructuring the budget to bring hiring levels back to normal remains a challenging and long-term process.

The Yale Corporation will review the budget plan at its April meeting, and King said the finalized version will be approved in May. Contact SOPHIE GOULD at sophie.gould@yale.edu .

$150 MILLION

$68 MILLION $67 MILLION $40 MILLION

2009-’10

2010-’11

City robberies increase HOMICIDES FROM PAGE 1 on Tuesday, Jan. 22, NHPD officers responded to a report of gunfire inside Orchard Market, a convenience store located at 838 Orchard St., Hartman said.

When the officers arrived at the scene, they found the store’s clerk, Abdul L. Rawas, 55, suffering from gunshot wounds to his back and arm. Rawas was taken by ambulance to YaleNew Haven Hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after-

wards.

While Star’s murder saw a relatively swift resolution, the investigation into Rawas’ death is still ongoing and no suspects have been identified. Detectives are currently reviewing the surveillance footage from the store’s cameras, Hartman said.

Both homicides seem to have originated from robbery attempts gone awry, Hartman said. New Haven has seen a noticeable uptick in the number of armed robberies in recent

weeks, according to police records. Between Jan. 1–19, there have been a total of 52 reported robberies — almost double the number of robberies from the same period last year.

Yet, because of the uneven distribution of homicides and robberies over any span of time, it is not possible to establish a pattern within one single month, said Mark Abraham ’04, executive director of DataHaven, a nonprofit organization that compiles public statistics for the New

Haven Greater Area.

“It’s hard to pick out trends from small numbers,” Abraham said. “And it’s even harder to detect what drives the change: whether it’s driven by economics or simply more people reporting robberies.”

At this time last year, the city had recorded no murders, en route to a three-year low of 17 homicides.

Contact LORENZO LIGATO at lorenzo.ligato@yale.edu .

Join the blog queen. Blog blog blog. caroline.tan@yale.edu

2011-’12

2012-’13

2013-’14

Fill this space here.

JOIN@YALEDAILYNEWS.COM

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 9

BULLETIN BOARD

TODAY’S FORECAST

TOMORROW

Areas of patchy fog early. Mostly cloudy.

High of 41, low of 37.

High of 53, low of 45.

THURSDAY High of 46, low of 27.

SCIENCE HILL BY SPENCER KATZ

ON CAMPUS TUESDAY, JANUARY 29 6:30 PM “Decoding the American Health Care System” Yale’s Public Health Coalition will be hosting a panel on the American health care system and what changes pre-med students, medical students and others interested in health professions can expect under the Affordable Care Act. The event will feature Nathan Moore, recent author of “The Health Care Handbook.” Other panelists include Dr. McLean, governor of the American College of Physicians; Dr. Olson, National Physicians Alliance chairman; and Victoria Veltri, the state of Connecticut’s healthcare advocate.

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Howard Forman, director of Yale’s M.D./M.B.A. program. Linsly-Chittenden Hall (63 High St.) Room 102.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 7:15 PM Bad Boys and New Waves: The Cinema of Susumu Hani The films “Children in the Classroom” and “Children Who Draw” will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles. Screenings will be followed by a round-table discussion with director Susumu Hani. Co-sponsored by the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale and the Japan Foundation. Free and open to the general public.

Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St.), Auditorium.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 4:30 PM “Central Plains” Movie Screening with AIDS Activist Wan Yanhai The documentary “Central Plains” is the story of how a blood plasma donation scheme led to the infection of thousands of Chinese people with HIV and hepatitis C. Come learn how the government, business corporations, public health officials and activists such as Wan Yanhai were involved in this scandal.

Wan Yanhai, who will lead a discussion after the screening, is the director of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, the largest AIDS NGO in China. He has also organized a national compensation campaign for victims of HIV infection caused by blood transfusion or blood products. The documentary will be screened in English. William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St.), Room 207.

THAT MONKEY TUNE BY MICHAEL KANDALAFT

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YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

NATION Scouts reconsider no-gays policy

BY DAVID CRARY ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — The Boy Scouts of America may soon give sponsors of troops the authority to decide whether to accept gays as scouts and leaders — a potentially dramatic retreat from an exclusionary nationwide policy that has provoked relentless protests.

Under the change now being discussed, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue — either maintaining an exclusion of gays, as is now required of all units, or opening up their membership.

Gay-rights activists were elated at the prospect of change, sensing another milestone to go along with recent advances for same-sex marriage and the end of the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

However, Southern Baptist leaders — who consider homosexuality a sin — were furious about the possible change and said its approval might encourage Southern Baptist churches to support other boys’ organizations instead of the BSA. Monday’s announcement of the possible change comes after years of protests over the nogays policy — including petition campaigns that have prompted some corporations to suspend donations to the Boy Scouts.

Under the proposed change, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith, “the Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents.”

Smith said the change could be announced as early as next week, after BSA’s national board concludes a regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 6. The meeting will be closed to the public.

The BSA, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010, has long excluded both gays and atheists. Smith said a change in the policy toward atheists was not being considered, and that the BSA continued to view “Duty to God” as one of its basic principles.

Protests over the no-gays policy gained momentum in 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the BSA’s right to exclude gays. Scout units lost sponsorships by public schools and other entities that adhered to nondiscrimination policies, and several local Scout councils made public their displeasure with the policy.

More recently, pressure surfaced on the Scouts’ own national executive board. Two high-powered members — Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson — indicated they would try to work from within to change the membership policy, which stood in contrast to their own companies’ nondiscrimination policies.

Amid petition campaigns, shipping giant UPS Inc. and drug manufacturer Merck announced that they were halting donations

from their charitable foundations to the Boy Scouts as long as the no-gays policy was in force.

Also, local Scout officials drew widespread criticism in recent months for ousting Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian mom, as a den leader of her son’s Cub Scout pack in Ohio and for refusing to approve an Eagle Scout application by Ryan Andresen, a California teen who came out as gay last fall.

Tyrrell said she’s thrilled for parents and their children who’ve been excluded from scouting and “for those who are in Scouts and hiding who they are.”

“For me it’s not just about the Boy Scouts of America, it’s about equality,” she told The Associated Press. “This is a step toward equality in all aspects.”

Many of the protest campaigns, including one seeking Tyrrell’s reinstatement, had been waged with help from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

“The Boy Scouts of America have heard from scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that discriminating against gay scouts and scout leaders is wrong,” said Herndon Graddick, GLAAD’s president. “Scouting is a valuable institution, and this change will only strengthen its core principles of fairness and respect.”

It’s not just about the Boy Scouts of America, it’s about equality.

JENNIFER TYRRELL Lesbian mother The Scouts had reaffirmed the no-gays policy as recently as last year, and appeared to have strong backing from conservative religious denominations — notably the Mormons, Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists — which sponsor large numbers of Scout units. Under the proposed change, they could continue excluding gays.

Prior to Monday’s announcement, the BSA conferred with some leaders of these religious groups, including the Rev. Frank Page, who leads the Southern Baptist Executive Committee.

According Roger S. Oldham, a spokesman for the executive committee, Page then wrote to the Scouts “expressing his tremendous dismay at the decision.”

“They had been working for months on this proposal and just days before they informed us,” Oldham said in a telephone interview. “We would anticipate that there would be a very significant backlash to this.”

If the Scouts proceed with the change, Oldham said, SBC leaders were likely to issue a statement “expressing disappointment and encouraging our churches to support alternative boys organizations.”

T Dow Jones 13,881.93, -0.10% S NASDAQ 3,154.30, +0.15% S Oil $96.67, +0.24%

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Senators push immigration

BY ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Side by side, leading Democratic and Republican senators pledged Monday to propel far-reaching immigration legislation through the Senate by summer providing a possible path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people now in the U.S. illegally.

The senators acknowledged pitfalls that have doomed such efforts in the past, but they suggested that November’s elections — with Hispanics voting heavily for President Barack Obama and other Democrats — could make this time different.

Passage of the emotionally charged legislation by the Democratic-controlled Senate is far from assured, and a taller hurdle could come later in the House, which is dominated by conservative Republicans who’ve shown little interest in immigration overhaul. Obama will lay out his own proposals Tuesday, most of which mirror the Senate plans.

Besides the citizenship provision, including new qualifications, the Senate measure would increase border security, allow more temporary workers to stay and crack down on employers who would hire illegal immigrants. The plans are still short on detail, and all the senators conceded that months of tedious and politically treacherous negotiations lie ahead.

But with a re-elected Obama pledging his commitment, the lawmakers argued

SCOTT APPLEWHITE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

From left: Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., join a bipartisan group of leading senators that are working together on sweeping immigration reform legislation. that six years after the last sustained congressional effort at an immigration overhaul came up short in the Senate, chances for approval this year are much better.

“Other bipartisan groups of senators have stood in the same spot before, trumpeting similar proposals,” said Sen.

Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “But we believe this will be the year Congress finally gets it done. The politics on this issue have been turned upside down,” Schumer said, arguing that polls show more support than ever for immigration changes and political risk in opposing it.

YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 11

SPORTS

“I want to consistently play well and win titles. I’m only at the beginning.”

CRISTIANO RONALDO, PORTUGUESE SOCCER PLAYER

Men’s tennis opens season with sweep MEN’S TENNIS FROM PAGE 12 with an 8–2 win. Daniel Faierman ’15 paired with Jason Brown ’16 and rounded out the doubles streak with an 8–4 win at the No. 3 spot.

“We had excellent preparation heading into our opener,” Faierman said. “I felt completely confident in our team’s ability. I think this is one of the fittest teams we have had in a long time.”

The next day, the Elis had a quick turn-around in a doubleheader against Fairfield and Sacred Heart. Against Fairfield, the Bulldogs started out with five wins on the doubles side, with the No. 19 nationally ranked pair of team captain Daniel Hoffman ’13 and Powers winning 8–2 in the No. 1 spot.

The decision ended 9–0 in favor of Yale.

In the second match of the day Yale dominated Sacred Heart 6–1.

The one loss for the Bulldogs came

at the No. 6 spot, where Chase dropped the match 6–2, 7–6 against Sacred Heart’s Matt Dean.

Chase went on to redeem himself at the No. 1 doubles position with teammate Huang, where they won 8–4. Zach Krumholz ’15 won 6–2, 6–2 at the No. 3 singles position.

“Our team played exceptionally well this weekend,” Krumholz said.

“Our toughest opponents coming up will be the other Ivy League teams. That’s what we train for all year, and they will definitely be the toughest opponents that we face.”

Yale will resume competition in two weeks time when they go on the road to Tennessee to compete against the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Middle Tennessee State University.

Contact ADLON ADAMS at adlon.adams@yale.edu .

SHARON YIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Bulldogs hosted Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Sacred Heart at home, and dropped only one match out of 23 the entire weekend.

PRs fall at BU

Elis take on ranked foes FENCING FROM PAGE 12

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The Bulldogs notched two top-five finishes at the Terrier Invitational: one in the 500meter and another in the pole vault.

TRACK AND FIELD FROM PAGE 12 for a scintillating environment. Hillas said that it was exciting to see so many track fans in attendance, many of whom stood during Rupp’s run.

The Elis did not get lost in the excitement. The men’s team posted a day that featured times that broke personal records and approached Yale all-time marks.

One of the most notable Eli performances came in the mile. John McGowan ’15 placed 13th with a time of 4:04.70, only a quarter of a second off of the school record. Barely outdone, Hillas finished right behind his teammate in 14th, himself less than a second off of the school record.

Pole vaulter Paul Chandler ’14 continued his stirring winter campaign, again besting his personal record with a height of 4.70 meters. Chandler finished tied for fourth in the event. Last week, the junior tied a personal best with a vault of 4.65.

“It’s not just the one meet, but all the work you put in before that,” Chandler said.

Hillas said that the team achieved one of its goals in an unscored meet, which is to try to improve on personal bests.

Not to be outdone, the women’s team

ders ’14 said in an email to the News.

“Moreover, everyone managed to maintain high energy throughout an exhausting day, performing well even at the end.”

The final round of fencing for the men resulted in their only other loss, this time to No. 1 Ohio State. Though the Buckeyes are ranked first in the country, the Bulldogs managed to hold their own and fell with a final score of 16–11.

“I think that we’re working towards peaking later on in the season, which is something that is really constructive and something that I think everyone on the team is involved in,” Mappin-Kasirer said. “Hopefully, we’ll keep growing and growing up until the bigger tournaments.”

Mappin-Kasirer went 3–0 against the Buckeyes, leading the epee squad to a 5–4 victory against a talented rival.

The women also faced tough competition throughout the invitational.

The first-round contest with the No. 2 Notre Dame women resulted in a 25–2 loss for the Elis. This was followed by an 18–9 defeat against No. 7 Northwestern.

Following the two losses, the Bulldogs regrouped and topped Wayne State with a 20–7 win. The epee squad went 9–0, while sabre went 7–2.

“We were motivated and aggressive after two rounds of facing tough competitors,” women’s captain and foilist Robyn Shaffer ’13 said. “The preparation against much tougher teams definitely set us up for a win over Wayne State.”

Although it seemed that the team had found some momentum, they fell once again in a close matchup with NYU. The final score was 14–13, bringing back memories of last year’s loss to the Violets by the same margin.

“Once again, it was frustratingly close,” Shaffer said. “We lost a few bouts 4–5, in multiple weapons. It just goes to show how important each individual point or bout is.”

The women concluded the tournament with a 20–7 loss to No. 4 Ohio State.

Both sabreur Madeline Oliver ’13 and foilist Lauren Miller ’15 went 10–5 over the course of the invitational.

“We’re largely a team of walk-ons, and so putting up five to 10 bouts against top 10 schools is the result of a great deal of commitment and effort from everyone on the team,” said Shaffer.

The Bulldogs will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Feb. 2 to face Vassar.

The Ivy League Championship will take place at Harvard the week after, from Feb. 9–10.

Contact GIOVANNI BACARELLA at giovanni.bacarella@yale.edu .

also achieved multiple top-five finishes in a weekend against top competition.

Women’s team captain Allison Rue ’13 said that the meet featured a wide range of competitiveness, from standout athletes to more pedestrian competitors. Rue added that this variety, as well as the seeding of events, provided all of the athletes on the Eli squad with appropriate competitors.

“Some of [Yale’s athletes], even though it was a huge meet, placed really well,” Rue said.

The Eli women’s two top-five finishes certainly fit that description. In the 500-meter dash, Shannon McDonnell ’16 clocked a time of 1:14.58 en route to a fifth-place finish in the event. McDonnell won her heat in the event, and the next fastest Ivy runner finished more than three seconds behind her.

The Bulldogs’ pole vault success did not just come from Chandler. Emily Urciuoli ’14 recorded a fourth-place finish on Friday with a result of 3.50 meters.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams will continue their seasons on Friday and Saturday at home at Coxe Cage in the Giegengack Invitational.

Contact ALEX EPPLER at alexander.eppler@yale.edu .

JENNIFER CHEUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The Elis’ 3–2 record at the NYU Invitational matched the team’s previous three performances in the tournament.

Bulldogs see largest margin win since December MEN’S SWIMMING FROM PAGE 12 athletes are accustomed to swimming multiple events in high school, the rules allow competitors to swim only three individual events.

“Swimming is monotonous,” Lovett said.

“This breaks up the monotony.”

The team produced an all-around effort, with contributions from Kevin Stang ’16 and Danny McDermott ’14, who finished first and second in the 400-yard IM, respectively. Rob Harder ’15 won both the 100-yard (51.11) and 200-yard (1:49.73) backstroke events.

In addition to dominating the swimming events, the Bulldogs had strong performances in the two diving events. Tyler Pramer ’14 finished first in the 3-meter diving event and second in the 1-meter event.

The strong performance was in no small part due to the team’s coaching. Lovett noted that having faith in the coaching staff is of the utmost importance at this point in the season.

“Tim is doing great with the team,” he said. “He’s really stepped up his game as a

coach. He’s learned a lot from us as we have from him.”

The team will now look forward to the annual Princeton (5–0, 4–0 Ivy) and Harvard (6–0, 4–0 Ivy) meet coming up this weekend. The Bulldogs were undefeated last year (5–0) before dropping a meet to each of the two deep Ivy teams. The team finds itself in a similar position this year: undefeated, staring down two powerhouses. The difference this season lies in the new makeup of the team.

“We’re still trying to win, but the team dynamics are much different,” Lovett said.

“It’s the name of the game in college. You lose seniors and get freshmen. But our focus stays the same.”

In exchange for losing several veteran swimmers, the Bulldogs have gained depth and youth in the nine freshmen that have made the team their home this season.

The Bulldogs will head to Princeton, N.J., to face Princeton and Harvard this Saturday.

Contact DIONIS JAHJAGA at dionis.jahjaga@yale.edu .

BRIANNE BOWEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The margins of victory against Fordham and Rider were the largest since the 213–87 win against UMass Amherst in December.

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SPORTS QUICK HITS

EVA FABIAN ’16 SWIMS TO SECOND AT WORLD CUP Fabian traveled to Santos, Brazil this past weekend for the first of eight legs in the FINA Open Water World Cup. She placed second in the 10k race out of a field of 37 that included several Olympians while another American, Emily Brunneman finished first.

NBA Brooklyn 97 Orlando 77

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SOCCER Oldham 3 Liverpool 2

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SARAH HALEJIAN ’15 ELI NAMED IVY PLAYER OF THE WEEK Halejian’s first career double-double against Brown on Friday earned Halejian the first Ivy League Player of the Week award of her career. Halejian scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Elis’ 59–47 victory. She shares the award with Cornell’s Allyson DiMagno.

“We … wanted to come out and start the season on a positive note and get three wins.”

JOHN HUANG ’13 MEN’S TENNIS YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com

Bulldogs dominate tri-meet

BY DIONIS JAHJAGA CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

SWIMMING

After a weekend to refocus, the Yale men’s swimming team (7–0, 4–0 Ivy) headed to Piscataway, N.J., on Saturday for a trimeet against Fordham and Rider.

Coming off their closest win of the season against Dartmouth (154.5–145.5), the Elis came out on top against both schools, beating Fordham 201–97 and Rider 203–93.

The margins of victory against Fordham and Rider were the largest since the 213–87 victory against UMass Amherst on Dec. 1.

Head coach Tim Wise made the decision to change the lineup so that some of the Bulldogs competed in different events than they normally do. Undeterred, the team produced top-three finishes in every event, including 10 first-place finishes and sweeps of the top three spots in the 200yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle events.

Mike Lazris ’15, who normally swims backstroke and butterfly, came in second in the 100-yard freestyle, in between freestyle specialists Andrew Heymann ’15 and Victor Zhang ’16.

Alwin Firmansyah ’15 followed suit and finished first in the 100yard freestyle, an event he swam for the first time on Saturday.

“Coach played around with the lineup,” Firmansyah said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Captain Jared Lovett ’13 said that although most incoming SEE SWIMMING PAGE 11

Undefeated weekend for the Elis

BY ADLON ADAMS STAFF REPORTER The Yale men’s tennis team swept the competition in its first weekend of official match play at home, defeating three teams in two days.

MEN’S TENNIS

EMILIE FOYER/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

The Bulldogs (3-0, Ivy 0-0) hosted three local rivals in their start of the season at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center this weekend: Quinnipiac (1-1, 0-0 Northeast), Fairfield (2-1, 1-0 MAAC) and Sacred Heart (1-2, 1-0 Northeast). Yale only dropped one match out of 23 the entire weekend. For the second consecutive season, Yale went undefeated in its first weekend of official play.

“We really wanted to come out and start the season out on a positive note and get three wins,” John Huang ’13 said. “We all knew these teams were not at the same level as us.

We wanted to make a statement and have three convincing wins, which we were able to pull off.”

In Saturday’s season opener, Yale took out Quinnipiac 7–0 without dropping a single set. The Bulldogs set a solid foundation in singles, with Marc Powers ’13 and Patrick Chase ’14 both winning 6-0 at the No. 1 and No. 6 spots, respectively.

The doubles round went just as well for the Bulldogs. Powers and Chase teamed up and won at the first spot 8–3. Zach Dean ’13 and Matt Saiontz ’15 followed at the No. 2 spot

Rob Harder ’15 won both the 100-yard (51.11) and 200-yard (1:49.73) backstroke events on Saturday.

Yale repeats results at NYU

BY GIOVANNI BACARELLA STAFF REPORTER

SEE MEN’S TENNIS PAGE 11

Bulldogs build on bests at BU

It was déjà vu all over again for the Yale fencing teams on Sunday at the annual NYU Invitational.

FENCING The men’s team posted an overall win record of 3–2. The Elis outdueled UNC, Northwestern and host NYU but fell at the hands of Notre Dame and Ohio State. Each of the past three years, the team has produced an identical overall record at the tournament, with its losses even coming against the exact same teams. The women’s team finished 1–4, their sole win coming from their matchup with Wayne State. Each of the past two years, the Yale women defeated the Warriors, but fell to the same four opponents.

The day’s competition began when the Eli men went up against Notre Dame in their first round. Although the Bulldogs fell to the No. 3 Fighting Irish, the teams were separated by a single bout with a final score of 14–13.

“I think they weren’t expecting us to come so strong,” epeeist Benjamin Mappin-Kasirer ’14 said. “What was most important to me in that bout wasn’t so much the result, but the moment when we realized that we could win, even if that was after the last bout.”

Mappin-Kasirer added that the sabre squad performed superbly, outscoring their counterparts on Notre Dame. Foilist Peter Cohen ’14 finished 3–0 in his first-round bouts as well.

After the first loss, the men’s team quickly rebounded with three decisive wins against UNC, Wayne State and NYU. The final scores were 16–11, 19–8 and 19–8, respectively. Sabreur Hugh O’Cinneide ’15 went undefeated in his three bouts against NYU. “The team demonstrated incredible resolve in retaining their composure despite initial setbacks,” men’s captain Cornelius SaunSEE FENCING PAGE 11

MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Yale athletes competed in the mile alongside American track star Galen Rupp, who finished second in the 10,000-meter at the 2012 London Olympics.

BY ALEX EPPLER STAFF REPORTER

JENNIFER CHEUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The Elis put up a 3–2 record at NYU this weekend and came within a single bout of toppling No. 3 Notre Dame.

STAT OF THE DAY 1:33.32

The men’s and women’s track and field teams had plenty of reasons to be nervous at this weekend’s meet at Boston University. Not only was the contest their first major invitational of the season, but the squads also shared the track with one of the most notable American track athletes today — Galen Rupp, who finished second in the 10,000-meter at the London Olympics, competed in the mile.

TRACK AND FIELD

The Bulldogs, however, showed few signs of nerves at the Terrier Invitational on Friday and Saturday. While the meet was unscored, Elis placed well in several events at the weekend’s premier track and field showcase in the Northeast.

“It was pretty awe-inspiring,” men’s team captain Tim Hillas ’13 said of competing in the same meet as Rupp. “I think we did fantastic.”

Rupp’s presence, coupled with what Hillas described as some of the best competition in the Northeast, made SEE TRACK AND FIELD PAGE 11

Time members of the men’s swimming team Mike Lazris ’15, Andrew Heymann ’15, Alwin Firmansyah ’15 and Pat Killian ’14 recorded in the 200-yard medley relay at the tri-meet against Fordham and Rider. The Bulldogs defeated the teams by 201–97 and 203–93, respectively.