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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 79 · yaledailynews.com
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YALE-NUS COLLEGE LOOKS FOR 15 FACULTY
NHPD
MAJORS
MEN’S SQUASH
Police officers to use weapons with improved accuracy, firepower
HISTORY OF SCIENCE, MEDICINE REBRANDED
Bulldogs prepare for matches against Princeton, Penn
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B OA R D O F E D U CAT I O N
Debating an elected Board We need to carefully consider the impact that politicizing the school board could have on school change in New Haven.
Professor Kelly Brownell, who teaches the popular course “Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food,” has been
named the next dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Brownell is a leading expert on nutrition and obesity as they relate to public policy and also serves as director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, which he co-founded in 2005. It looks like Duke may be making a habit of hiring Yale faculty: Duke President Richard Brodhead ’68 GRD ’72 was dean of Yale College when he was named president of Duke in 2004. Strong words. A Yale Law School student sent an angry open letter to his classmates yesterday morning explaining, in detail, why he hates all of them. In his letter, the student wrote that Yale’s law students “openly judged” him for his career choices and were frequently offended over the “dumbest sh-t.” In a postscript attached to the end of the note, the student added that he bought a $100 desk chair from Ikea that he is willing to sell for $99.50.
Boosting the sciences.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed to invest $1.5 billion in science, technology, engineering and math programs at the University of Connecticut. The proposed investment will be included in Malloy’s budget, which will be presented to lawmakers next week.
Not quite Hogwarts, but… A new Yale Tumblr called “That’s So Yale” aims to celebrate Yale by posting photos of different parts of the University’s campus. So far, the blog includes pictures of Harkness Tower, Commons, Beinecke Library and Old Campus. The photos certainly bring out the “lux” in “Lux et Veritas.” Give them a standing ovation.
A group of 26 students from Sandy Hook Elementary School will perform “America the Beautiful” during the Super Bowl XLVII pregame show, according to an NFL spokesman. The league will fly the students and their families to New Orleans later this week. THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1914 The Yale Alumni University Fund sets a record for number of individual contributors. Submit tips to Cross Campus
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as Ward 10 Alderman Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10, have come out in favor of a hybrid school board comprised of both elected and appointed officials, arguing that it will increase transparency and accountability.
Renovations of the Kline Chemistry Laboratory are proceeding on schedule with little impact on classes or faculty research. After administrators announced plans for the $50 million renovation of KCL in December 2011, the building was vacated last summer and researchers moved their work to spaces in the adjacent Sterling Chemistry Laboratory. While KCL construction to date has primarily focused on demolition, Associate Provost for Science and Technology Timothy O’Connor said workers are now beginning the project’s reconstruction phase. Renovations are currently on budget and the building is scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2014, O’Connor said. “The renovations are going to have a huge impact on the University,” O’Connor said. “Kline will have new cutting-edge research space for faculty in the Chemistry Department, and having this new space will be critical for recruiting the best faculty in the world.” Starting in 2005, the University began formulating plans for a massive $500 million construction project on Science Hill, which would have included demolition of KCL, to create a new space to house all of Yale’s undergraduate teaching labs. Yale put the project on hold due to financial constraints caused by the onset of the
SEE EDUCATION PAGE 4
SEE KCL PAGE 6
I’m not advocating for a fully elected board, and I think there’s much more of a risk of it being overly politicized with a fully elected board. I’m advocating for a compromise. JUSTIN ELICKER FES ’10 SOM ’10 Alderman, Ward 10
BY MONICA DISARE AND DIANA LI STAFF REPORTERS The announcement that Mayor John DeStefano Jr. will not seek an 11th term in office comes amidst the possibility of change in the Board of Education.
DIANA LI/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
With New Haven’s charter revision commission meeting regularly, the city faces a once-in-a-decade opportunity to amend the makeup of the Board of Education, currently comprised of the mayor and seven members he directly appoints. Leading mayoral candidates, such
TEDxYale 2013 is open for registration, and organizers
have started gearing up for the Feb. 23 event. This year, speakers include New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., celebrity professor Michael Frame and Rhodes scholar and Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Global Youth Issues Ronan Farrow LAW ’09.
BY EMMA GOLDBERG STAFF REPORTER
JOHN DESTEFANO JR. Mayor, New Haven
JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Kline renovations on track
Slifka adapts to financial challenges BY CYNTHIA HUA AND APSARA IYER STAFF REPORTERS After over two years of growth in its programming, the Slifka Center has begun to implement a series of structural changes intended to address the organization’s financial challenges. A decline in the center’s
endowment due to the onset of the economic crisis in 2008 in addition to operational deficits have forced the organization to consolidate its resources and to re-evaluate its spending and fundraising methods, said Associate Rabbi Noah Cheses. The changes have been instituted by a newly reappointed Board of Trustees with greater
experience in financial management, Cheses said. Staff and board members said the new policies, the reorganized board and the departure of four staff members since last spring, including former Executive Director Steven Sitrin, has created a difficult transition period for the staff of the Slifka Center.
“The primary motivation for this change is financial,” Rabbi James Ponet ’68 said. “We’re a pretty well-funded organization but have indeed experienced this period of economic contraction.” The organization’s financial struggles have resulted from its rapid expansion in recent years without adequate fund-
raising systems in place, Cheses said. From 2008 to 2010, contributions and grants to Slifka increased by around $200,000, while its total expenses increased by nearly $300,000 to reach $2,440,244 total in 2010, according to the organization’s tax records. The SEE SLIFKA PAGE 6
Newtown searches for answers to gun violence BY MATTHEW LLOYD-THOMAS STAFF REPORTER In an auditorium where only seven weeks ago, hundreds mourned 26 slain students and teachers, Connecticut residents crowded Wednesday evening to voice their opinions on how to stem the tide of violence across the nation. The public hearing at Newtown High School was held by the Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Task Force, which Gov. Dannel Malloy established in the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Well over a hundred parents, educators, first responders and Newtown residents offered personal anecdotes and policy suggestions to the task force for more than five hours. Although they addressed possible ways to minimize gun violence through school safety and mental health, most of the hearing dealt with the possibility of tighter regulations on guns. While those present spoke on both sides of the gun-control debate, the vast majorSEE NEWTOWN PAGE 4
BRIANNE BOWEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Task Force met for the fourth time Wednesday evening to discuss ways to reduce gun violence.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
.COMMENT “Salovey should focus on the barriers to campus integration that are created yaledailynews.com/opinion
Three great givers T
his past week, The New York Times reported that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would soon give a $350 million gift to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. This hefty sum will round out a record-setting total of $1.1 billion in donations that Bloomberg has given to Hopkins since his graduation in 1964. But this is only a drop in bucket for Bloomberg’s upcoming charity projects. According to the Times, the mayor has pledged to give away his entire $25 billion dollar fortune before he dies. Although the absolute sum of Bloomberg’s Hopkins donations is unprecedented, it calls to mind two other university megadonors, one recent and one from over a century ago. Together these men tell a story of industriousness and civic obligation that we would do well to internalize. The first of these two titans of generosity was our own John William Sterling. Sterling’s death in 1918 left Yale with an unprecedented influx of cash. The $15 million estate he bequeathed to his alma mater would translate into approximately $200 million in today’s dollars. Sterling’s bequest dwarfed all previous gifts and provided the funds for prizes, professorships and some of Yale’s most impressive buildings. Unlike Bloomberg’s selfmade trajectory, Sterling was, without a doubt, a product of the old New England gentry. His father’s grandfather held a captain’s commission in the Revolutionary War and his maternal grandfather served as speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. But the fabulous wealth he accrued over his lifetime was mostly of his own making. Graduating as valedictorian from Columbia Law School, Sterling eventually developed the “reputation for having mastered the business problems of more business interests than any other lawyer in this city,” according to the New York Times article reporting on his bequest. Sterling died a bachelor, without a child to whom he could leave his $20 million estate. In his will, Sterling left a fraction of his total worth to his sisters and closest friend, and a slightly larger sum to a number of hospitals, but the vast majority of Sterling’s money went to Yale. Perhaps his giving would have diminished had Sterling had children, or perhaps like Bloomberg, he would have felt that his fortune ought be given out rather than passed on intact to an heir. Regardless of counterfactuals, at least according to Yale’s then-Secretary Anson Phelps Stokes, Sterling’s entire professional career was aimed at Yale’s
well-being. Indeed after Sterling died, Stokes recalled Sterling telling him, “I am working here YISHAI night SCHWARTZ day with and one great object Dissentary in mind: to make as much money as I honorably can to leave to Yale University,” while insisting that his intent be kept in “the strictest confidence, which I shall ask you to share with no one during my lifetime.” Sterling’s humility, however, has recently been surpassed by another recent university alumnus megadonor: Cornell’s Charles Feeney. In 2011, Cornell joined with Israel’s Technion Institute in winning the opportunity to build a new high-tech engineering school on New York’s Roosevelt Island. It was able to do so largely on the strength of a $350 million gift from Feeney. This donation topped off more than $600 million in donations that Feeney had already given to Cornell anonymously over the previous decades. By all accounts Feeney is a remarkable man. Despite the $600 million in previous gifts, none of the buildings on Cornell’s campus bear Feeney’s name. Reportedly, he owns neither a home nor a car, buys clothes off the rack and has flown coach for years. The public only learned of any of his charitable activities in 1997, when a legal dispute forced him to make many of his records public. At a time when donors expect constant honor and accolades, the desired secrecy of Sterling and Feeney is as beautiful as it is unusual. In a world in which students expect a T-shirt and coffee for simply giving blood, we could do well remember men who tried to avoid even public knowledge of their gifts. And in an age where amassing and consolidating wealth seems to be the eleventh commandment, Bloomberg’s commitment to transferring his staggering fortune to charitable causes is a much-needed breath of fresh air. A Yale diploma will help many of us make a lot of money. And to all of us, Yale has given the opportunity to discover our strengths and consider what matters. We owe a debt, both to the institution that gave us the opportunity and to all of those others that haven’t been so blessed. We would do well to give back.
by our poor physical infrastructure.”
'PHONE' ON 'SALOVEY HOLDS STAFF TOWN HALL'
G U E S T C O L U M N I S T R YA N P R O C T O R
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Lifers for choice
f you tuned into ABC’s evening news last Friday, you would have made an alarming discovery: Subway’s footlong subs are in fact sometimes only 11 inches long. The March for Life, on the other hand, an annual protest of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which drew several hundred thousand protestors to Washington, received no mention. Braving 20-degree weather and falling snow, we were among 25 Yalies who attended the march to protest 40 years of legalized abortion in the United States. In an eddy of protesters, most of them young people, the blue “Choose Life at Yale” banner bobbed down Constitution Avenue, making its way toward the Supreme Court. It was a day of joyful sorrow, as marchers celebrated the beauty of life while lamenting the silent and institutionalized murder of the unborn. Abortion is the issue that Americans avoid. Media outlets often ignore it. Presidential candidates talk around it. And we are blind to the stunning reality — a third of our generation is missing. Since the Supreme Court decided
Roe v. Wade, abortion has claimed the lives of over 55 million unborn children in America. That means over 3,000 children a day have been taken from our midst — children who from the moment of conception are biologically unique human beings, with their own DNA distinct from their mother’s, with the color of their eyes already determined, many of whom have a beating heart when they die. But what we do not see does not disturb us. We do not grieve for the missing third. Instead, we focus on apparently more important political issues like the debt ceiling. Why is no one asking what happened to the millions of absent children? They were not merely lost. They were with us for a time and were actively taken and destroyed. They haven’t been annihilated, disappearing into thin air without a trace. They’ve been taken — violently, forcefully ripped from the womb. At the rally, we joined mothers who had suffered through the procedure — mothers who had watched their children emptied through a tube into a waste bin, as a vacuum several times stronger
than a household cleaner had to remove all “products of conception.” In a later stage of pregnancy, they might have had a procedure involving forceps-facilitated dismemberment. An abortion survivor shared her story about how she survived a concentrated saline injection into the womb. After thrashing for her life for several hours in the womb, she was born as what her mother thought was a stillborn child. But a nurse later discovered her whimpering, still alive. These are not merely potential children. These are people. To deny that unborn children — biologically unique human beings — are not people is to imperil the foundation of our society. If personhood is predicated on secondary characteristics of human beings such as their intelligence, viability or productivity, what is to stop us from eliminating those people who do not satisfy society’s definition of a person? To claim that personhood is anything other than an intrinsic characteristic of a biological human is to threaten the most vulnerable members of society — the physically and men-
tally handicapped, the elderly and the unborn. For if society can grant personhood, it can just as easily take it away. If you think there is even a possibility that the embryo is more than a clump of cells, we should be giving far more attention to abortion and its implications — for society, for the family, for the mother. Our responsibility is to the child and the mother. The choice of the pro-choice movement is no choice at all. To abort one’s child is not an act of empowerment. To be truly pro-choice is to offer a supportive option for a mother in crisis to bring her child into the world, to offer dignified alternatives to abortion like compassionate adoption. We need to provide more material, emotional and spiritual support for women before and after they give birth, so that never again will we call a child unwanted. RYAN PROCTOR is a freshman in Saybrook College. Contact him at ryan. proctor@yale.edu . Dan Gordon and Courtney McEachon contributed writing.
S TA F F I L L U S T R AT O R AU B E R E Y L E S C U R E
Honest citizen and unwanted visitors
YISHAI SCHWARTZ is a senior in Branford College. Contact him at yishai.schwartz@yale.edu .
GUE ST COLUMNIST ARIANA SHAPIRO
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n Sept. 3, 2011, I spent three hours in a jail cell. I was alone in a small steel box, shivering in my rain-soaked sundress, with no sense of time. I was scared, but more strongly I felt sad and worried. I was 17 — two months away from having a political stake in my country. If going to jail didn’t get the message across to my politicians, I wasn’t sure what else I could do. I was one of 1,252 people arrested in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline in late summer 2011, part of the largest display of civil disobedience in the U.S. in 30 years. Every day for over two weeks, a crowd would gather on the sidewalk in front of the White House with signs and banners. We would sit down, hold hands and wait for the police warnings (it’s illegal to stop moving on a sidewalk in a secure area). Most people paid a $100 fine instead of being charged with a minor infraction and were released with no legal consequences. As a minor, my situation was a little different. I was held in a juvenile facility while my dad was arrested, processed and released to come retrieve me. The protest was catalyzed by a call to action from 11 climate jus-
tice movement leaders in Canada and the U.S., including Bill McKibben, James Hansen, Wendell Berry, Gus Speth, Naomi Klein, Tom Goldtooth and Maude Barlow. They were responding to the State Department’s plans to approve a 1,700-mile long pipeline proposed by the energy company TransCanada. The pipeline would bring 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Alberta’s tar sands to refineries in Texas. Since it would cross an international border, the State Department has ultimate power to approve or decline the permit. Proponents of the pipeline hail it for energy security, job creation and economic stimulation. However, I am convinced that a sustainable, equitable, green economy will better achieve these goals than tar sands exploitation and the construction of the pipeline. Fox News hit the nail on the head vis-à-vis the pipeline when the conservative news source published an article last January titled “Six Reasons Keystone XL Was a Bad Deal All Along.” Their first reason was that Keystone XL would not reduce foreign oil dependency, and in fact would increase domestic oil prices.
Additionally, TransCanada overstated the number of jobs to be created. Another issue Fox News raised was that the current Keystone pipeline leaked 12 times in the last year, and the environmental concerns about these leaks are justified. Finally, mining tar sands would exacerbate global warming. Check out the article, or any of hundreds published in the last year, for facts backing up each of these points. In the words of James Hansen, leading climatologist at NASA, the pipeline and the extraction of tar sands in Canada spanning an area the size of England would essentially be “game over” for the climate. President Obama delayed a decision on the pipeline following the protests in summer 2011 and a 12,000-person rally in D.C. that November. But TransCanada is pushing through with its plans undeterred. Over the last several months, the company has been installing piping for the southern segment running through Oklahoma and Texas. They’ve been met with staunch displays of civil disobedience from affected residents and climate justice organizers — from physical block-
ades to hunger strikes. Just this past month, there have been antiKeystone actions in Nebraska, Massachusetts, Missouri, Texas and Maine. Based on Obama’s inaugural address, it seems possible that he’s coming around on the climate issue. He dedicated more sentences to climate change in his speech than he did for any other issue for his upcoming term, saying, “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” Instead of waiting for Obama to act on his words, we must hold him to them. On Feb. 17, Americans and Canadians will once again gather in Washington, D.C., to nonviolently demand that Obama take leadership against climate change and reject Keystone XL. I’ve heard over 10,000 people are already signed up for this non-arrestable action. This is not a game, where losing is okay. We need to act now, and I hope you’ll join us. ARIANA SHAPIRO is a freshman in Branford College. Contact her at ariana.shapiro@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
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NEWS
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Million Americans who self-identify as Hindu. Hinduism is the world’s third-largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. Its estimated 950 million followers account for 14 percent of the world’s population.
Yale-NUS continues faculty hiring BY ALEKSANDRA GJORGIEVSKA STAFF REPORTER Members of Yale-NUS faculty search committees met in Singapore early this month to evaluate candidates for 15 faculty positions at the new Singaporean liberal arts college. Yale-NUS, which hired 38 professors in 2012 and plans to build a faculty of 100 professors by the time the school reaches full enrollment, created four faculty search committees for its second round of faculty recruitment and evaluated roughly 36 candidates in January. Humanities, social sciences, sciences and environmental studies are the areas in which the search committees are looking to hire, said Charles Bailyn, dean of faculty at Yale-NUS.
We need to find people who are excited by creating a new institution with a new curriculum. CHARLES BAILYN Dean of faculty, Yale-NUS Bailyn and search committee members interviewed said the faculty recruitment process for Yale-NUS differs from faculty searches at other institutions, as Yale-NUS professors will be involved in consolidating the Singaporean college’s curricular and extracurricular life in its first years. “There is a factor that we need
to consider that is more important to us than to an established institution,” Bailyn said. “We need to find people who are excited by creating a new institution with a new curriculum, and who are skilled at working with colleagues from other disciplines to do this.” Bailyn said Yale-NUS administrators held two recruitment workshops at which candidates for faculty positions gave presentations and participated in discussions with candidates and search committee members from all four disciplines, rather than having each committee only evaluate candidates in its designated field. Such an approach enabled search committee members to evaluate the candidates’ ability to teach non-experts and collaborate with faculty from outside their area of expertise, he said. Bailyn added that the recruitment process also featured roundtable discussions, during which candidates and search committee members discussed the college’s curriculum as well as extracurricular and residential life issues. He said administrators will try to implement some of the candidates’ ideas about the school. Joseph Altonji, a Yale economics professor who is a member of the social science search committee, said the recruitment process allowed committee members to “really get a sense of what someone would be like as a teacher.” Yale-NUS President Pericles Lewis said the college will begin rolling out offers to candidates once the Yale-NUS Governing Board approves the overall slate of faculty applicants, which he said will take approximately six more
AVA KOFMAN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Yale-NUS, which will welcome its inaugural class this fall, hopes to develop a 100-person faculty by the time the campus reaches full enrollment. weeks. Some members of the YaleNUS faculty advisory committee — a Yale committee whose purpose is to keep faculty in New Haven informed about the progress of the new college, as well as advise University President Richard Levin on how to approach
potential areas of concern — participated in the faculty workshops in Singapore in early January. Advisory committee chair Marvin Chun said in a Sunday email that the faculty recruitment workshops were “intellectually stimulating and highly informative,” and added that he thinks the
Hindu advisor joins Chaplain’s BY CYNTHIA HUA STAFF REPORTER In an effort to help strengthen Hindu programming on campus, Asha Shipman joined the Chaplain’s Office staff on Jan. 16 as the Yale’s first Hindu life advisor. The new 20-hour-per-week part-time position was created to support the increasing popularity of Hindu programs on campus, University Chaplain Sharon Kugler said. Shipman’s primary responsibility will be to advise the Hindu Students Council, which has significantly expanded its presence on campus since its founding in 2005. Shipman said she plans to grow the Hindu programming on campus further by helping the HSC offer a more diverse selection of events. “They haven’t had someone help them consider programs beyond Diwali Pooja and the Gita studies and Holi, those have been their focus,” Shipman said. “We’re going to broaden out based on their interests, sort of an ethnographic adventure.” HSC was previously supported by a Hindu fellow, a 10-hour-per-week position held by a graduate student, Kugler said. Last spring, administrators in the Chaplain’s Office decided they wanted to hire a staff member who could dedicate more time to Hindu programs such as weekly prayer services and community gatherings as they grow in popularity, she added. Attendance at HSC’s annual Diwali ceremony has grown from roughly 50 students to over 400 students and community members over the past five years, Kugler said, adding that the Hindu events have become celebrations for non-Hindu as well as Hindu students.
[The Hindu Students Council hasn’t] had someone help them consider programs beyond Diwali Pooja and the Gita studies and Holi. ASHA SHIPMAN Hindu life advisor, Chaplain’s Office
Shipman will a serve a similar role as the Hindu fellow, but will be available for twice as many hours, will have her own office space and serve in a more formal capacity, said Shaunak Bakshi ’15, vice president of HSC. “With Asha’s support, HSC looks
workshop format is appropriate for identifying the types of scholars who will make the Singaporean college “unique and successful.” Lewis said the faculty advisory committee also used its January trip to discuss Yale-NUS’s nondiscrimination policy and academic freedom at the new liberal
Starting in February, New Haven police officers will carry in their cars guns larger and more accurate than the Glock 40 pistol on their hips. Bringing to a close a four-yearlong rearmament process, the New Haven Police Department will soon outfit 30 specially trained officers with the long-awaited Colt M4 rifles, a 5.56 mm carbine which is heavily used by the U.S. Armed Forces. The new assault rifles — which far exceed the department’s current weaponry in accuracy, firepower and velocity — were purchased two years ago but remained unused until now due to a lack of updated regulations and proper equipment, NHPD spokesman David Hartman said.
This isn’t Tel Aviv — you won’t see cops walking a beat with rifles. DAVID HARTMAN Spokesman, NHPD
JACOB GEIGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
to continue its growth as a prominent on-campus community that allows students to maintain and expand their religiosity while at Yale,” Hindu Students Council President Devi Mehrotra ’14 said in an email. Shipman, who received her doctorate in anthropology from the University of Connecticut in 2011, said her background in cultural education within the Hindu community — such as serving on the Society Executive Committee of the Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple and co-founding a Hindu Sunday school for children — will be applicable in creating student programs on campus. Shipman said her primary focus will be on “organizational culture,” meaning that she hopes to ensure that HSC has a cohesive focus and effective structure that will allow for expanded programming. She added
that since arriving on campus, she has helped the HSC president and vice-president select seven additional board members. “One thing we’re expanding is to build more of a cohesive community,” Bakshi said. “People come to events for different reasons — religious, social. We want to plan more events catering to everyone’s interests.” Shipman said that the group has not yet finalized plans for any specific new programs, but will begin to discuss potential events at a “miniretreat” she has planned for board members this weekend. The Hindu Students Council andthe Yale Chaplain’s Office organize Holi in late April and expect 500 to 600 students to attend this year. Contact CYNTHIA HUA at cynthia.hua@yale.edu .
Contact ALEKSANDRA GJORGIEVSKA at aleksandra.gjorgievska@yale.edu .
NHPD to use upgraded rifles BY LORENZO LIGATO STAFF REPORTER
As the newly appointed Hindu life advisor, Asha Shipman will assist the Hindu Students Council in expanding its programming.
arts college. Faculty hired in Yale-NUS’s initial recruitment round hail from schools such as Vassar College and Ohio State University.
Hartman said that this is the first time patrol cops will be allowed to carry assault weapons, which until now have been used only by the Police Department’s Special Weapons And Tactics team. The guns will be kept in the police cars through a locking mechanism and will only be deployed in case of “a threat of extreme violence,” Hartman said. “This isn’t Tel Aviv — you won’t see cops walking a beat with rifles,” he added. “But if these weapons or similar weapons are in the hands of criminals, then these weapons or similar weapons need to be in the hands of police officers, too.” Strict policies and regulations have been drafted to supervise the use of the new assault weapons. Specifically, Hartman said, the NHPD agreed on the precise conditions under which officers can directly pull out a rifle to address, for example, an active shooter situation. “In this case, you don’t have to start with the least amount of force — showing your presence, or a verbal command, for instance — and then work your way up,” Hartman said. With the new regulations in place, the NHPD has ended a long delay surrounding the deployment of police assault rifles. Plans to purchase more powerful firearms for police departments nationwide began over 10 years
ago, in the wake of a 1997 shootout in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles, Calif., Hartman said. An attempt to rob a local Bank of America branch turned into an armed confrontation between two heavily armed robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. Though the gunfight ended with the death of the two robbers, the LAPD patrol officers’ bullets proved ineffective, as the police handguns could not penetrate the robbers’ armor and only the intervention of the SWAT team brought the shootout to a conclusion. “That was the catalyst for police departments to better arm their patrol officers,” Hartman said. Some police departments across the nation have been employing larger rifles for years. Hartman said that in New Haven, former NHPD Chief James Lewis initiated the rifles’ implementation when he took office in August 2008. Lewis determined that the city’s police department was underarmed and called for new patrol rifles to supplement regular handguns, handcuffs, pepper spray, batons and Tasers, Hartman said. The new Colt M4s present more powerful features than the regular Glock 40 handguns used by officers, including an effective range of 600 meters and a more potent firepower capability, according to the firearm manufacturer’s website. Because of the specific characteristics of the assault rifles, patrol officers under Lewis underwent an extensive in-service training program in order to familiarize themselves with the weapon, Hartman said. About two years ago, a total of 60 assault rifles were purchased under then-NHPD Chief Frank Limon, Hartman said. When current NHPD Chief Dean Esserman took the helm of the department in November 2011, he worked to implement a protocol that finally regulates the use of the assault weapons by patrol officers. “You’ve got to finish it. I finished it,” Esserman said at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Public Safety Committee last Tuesday. Before the Colt M4s hit the street of New Haven next month, 30 of the officers who were trained under Lewis will go through another two-day retraining to refresh their memory on the assault rifles and acquaint themselves with the new regulations. Each Colt M4 rifle cost the NHPD approximately $1,000. The model is currently only available to the military and police departments. Contact LORENZO LIGATO at lorenzo.ligato@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” ALBERT EINSTEIN DEVELOPER OF THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Board of Ed makeup hangs in balance EDUCATION FROM PAGE 1 But opponents, citing the recent successes of the city’s school change efforts, fear that elections will undermine the unity of the board and politicize its membership. “A consistent concern I hear throughout the city, particularly from parents, is that the Board of Ed and the New Haven Public Schools don’t actively engage them in conversations about their children’s education,” Elicker said. “They say that a lot of the decision-making is done behind closed doors rather than in a manner that is open to and inclusive of the public.”
HALF-ELECTED, HALFAPPOINTED
By law, the Elm City is required to undergo charter revision once every 10 years, considering any changes residents may wish to see to the structure of city government. A Board of Aldermenappointed charter revision commission, assembled late last year, will take public input before submitting proposals to the full board in May, which will then be voted on by the greater public this November. Some of the changes the commission is likely to consider include changing the number of aldermen and setting term limits for aldermen and the mayor. Officials have also discussed altering the structure of the Board of Education to include elections for all or some of its membership. New Haven Public Schools is the only school district in Connecticut that does not elect its school board members, and 96 percent of school districts nationwide have elected school boards as well. Elicker said that having a hybrid membership would force the board to be more transparent and hold members accountable more easily, as those who did not represent their constituents well would have to face losing reelection. He pointed to previous confusion about how certain stu-
dents gained admission to public schools as evidence of the board’s lack of transparency and emphasized that a hybrid board would help prevent these situations. Despite some of the success of New Haven school reform efforts, Elicker said that not all necessary voices have been included. A board elections process, he added, would increase community discussion about how to best move forward with education reform without politicizing it further.
Because of an appointed school board, New Haven has been able to do things that no other school in the country has. CARLOS ANTONIO TORRE President, New Haven school board “If you look at the current Board of Ed, there’s a lot of politics already going on,” Elicker said. “I’m not advocating for a fully elected board, and I think there’s much more of a risk of it being overly politicized with a fully elected board. I’m advocating for a compromise.” Ward 27 Alderman Angela Russell said she is unsure about her position on potential changes but that she would “probably support [a hybrid board] more than not.” “I’m not just picking on the board, though,” Russell said. “There just needs to be lots of change, and Board [of Ed] revision is the No. 1 thing we can start with. But we really need to dig in deep and have change all the way from the top down.”
PAUSE FOR CONCERN
But while some believe a hybrid board would better serve school reform, others — including some of the key architects of New Haven school change — have doubts. In heralding the early successes
Leading mayoral candidates argue that including elected officials on the Board of Education will foster accountability and transparency. of New Haven’s school reform efforts, DeStefano cited advances such as the 6 percentage point graduation rate increase and a fall in the dropout rate as evidence thatthe city has achieved significant results in public education. DeStefano, though, warned that the school reform initiative that began in 2009 could be derailed by any changes to the Board of Education’s structure. “We need to carefully consider the impact that politicizing the school board could have on School Change in New Haven,” he wrote in a statement to the News. School district representatives are also not convinced that elections are in the best interest of students in New Haven. New Haven’s School Board President
Carlos Antonio Torre agreed that an appointed school board has been working in New Haven. “Because of an appointed school board, New Haven has been able to do things that no other school in the country has,” Torre said referring to the districtwide renovation of all schools and adding that “you don’t get there by having an elected school board.” Garth Harries ’95, the New Haven Public Schools assistant superintendent who oversees much of the school reform effort, said that while he understands the need to work with whatever system is authorized by the charter, he is concerned that an elected board would not be as effective because it will not be focused on
one defined set of goals. Torre said that a hybrid model will create a divide among Board of Education members who are elected and those that are appointed. And while he said the idea that elections would increase community participation in schools may “sound good,” he stressed that interest in education “doesn’t work that way.” Those running for election get excited about a specific issue, he explained, while Board of Education members have to be able to look at the “entire picture.” State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, who will file candidacy papers for the mayoral race Friday, has not fully committed either way. He said a hybrid board would not necessarily be more
YDN
responsive than the current Board of Education or solve the existing issues people have with education reform, adding that he thinks city residents are more frustrated with the Board of Education’s bureaucracy. “I think whenever you’re in a system, whether it’s elected or appointed, if it’s not working, you think the other system is probably better,” Holder-Winfield said. “I think it should be a decision that the people of the city discuss and decide.” Contact MONICA DISARE at monica.disare@yale.edu. Contact DIANA LI at diana.li@yale.edu .
Task force convenes in Newtown High School NEWTOWN FROM PAGE 1 ity did so forcefully in favor of stricter regulations on guns, including universal background checks on gun purchases and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. “Guns allow human feelings to be amplified,” said Andrei Nikitchyuk, whose third-grade son attends Sandy Hook Elementary. “They amplify them in a way that is godlike and irreversible.” Wednesday evening’s hearing was the fourth held by the task force this week: Committees of the task force held hearings covering school safety, gun violence and mental health in Hartford on Friday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The audience on Wednesday evening was the “polar opposite” of Monday’s more pro-
REDDING, CONN. POLICE CHIEF’S GUN PROPOSALS A ban on high-capacity magazines A ban on civilian possession of assault weapons Provide access to mental health records for those who approve firearm permits Give police chiefs greater abilities to deny firearm permit applications Require all firearms to be thoroughly secured Give Connecticut law enforcement “the tools needed to protect residents”
gun-rights-leaning crowd, one Newtown resident said while speaking. As those either intimately or peripherally connected to the 26 dead spoke, opponents of stricter gun control stood out as anomalies, leading one to ask the crowd to “be patient” with him. Some gun advocates — one of whom said it was a “shame” that he had to defend the Second Amendment — expressed impatience with the applause gun-control advocates frequently received.
Guns allow human feelings to be amplified … in a way that is godlike and irreversible. ANDREI NIKITCHYUK Parent, Sandy Hook Elementary student Supporters of tighter gun regulation, most of whom also expressed support for increased access to mental health services, generally proposed similar ideas on what specific regulation would prevent future shootings. Redding, Conn. Police Chief Douglas Fuchs, echoing the ideas of many others, proposed six legal actions related to firearms: banning high-capacity magazines, banning civilian possession of assault weapons, providing those who approve firearm permits with access to gun purchasers’ mental health records, giving police chiefs greater abilities to deny firearm permit applications, requiring all firearms to be thoroughly secured and giving Connecticut law enforcement “the tools needed to protect residents.” Beyond gun control, school security proved to be the most controversial topic at the hearing. Since the shooting at Sandy Hook, many — including some in favor of an assault weapons ban — have suggested putting more armed guards, or “resource officers,” in schools. Still others
have suggested arming teachers, a proposal that fell on unwelcoming ears at Wednesday’s hearing. “Should teachers carry guns?” asked Tom Swetts, a Newtown High School teacher who taught Newtown shooter Adam Lanza. “I would quit tomorrow.” Across the testimonies, regardless of stance on gun control, a single notion permeated the hearing: the overwhelming sense of loss faced by the parents of the dead, Sandy Hook Elementary School and Newtown as a whole. Quoting the Declaration of Independence, Richard Marotto, whose daughter attends first grade at Sandy Hook, told the task force, “Children are entitled to the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness,” but that the children of Sandy Hook had been denied those rights. The hearing on Wednesday evening came only hours after a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on the same issue. Nationally visible participants in the debate over gun legislation, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was nearly killed during a mass shooting in 2011, and Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association testified. “Too many children are dying,” Giffords told the committee, the room silent as she struggled to speak. “Too many children.” In the past week, senators have introduced numerous legislative initiatives in response to the mass shooting in Newtown, including a federal ban on assault weapons and highcapacity magazines, as well as a proposal requiring a background check to purchase ammunition. Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73 and Chris Murphy have taken leading roles in working for the passage of both proposals. Contact MATTHEW LLOYD-THOMAS at matthew.lloyd-thomas@yale.edu .
BRIANNE BOWEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The audience at the task force hearing was largely supportive of increasing gun regulations.
YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 5
NEWS
“The story of humans is the story of ideas that shine light into dark corners.” JILL TARTER AMERICAN ASTRONOMER
History of science, medicine introduces pathways BY DHRUV AGGARWAL STAFF REPORTER Starting this year, the History of Science, History of Medicine major will be offered under a new name — and with a different set of graduation requirements. The major, renamed History of Science, Medicine and Public Health, will require students to choose one of five programs of study called “pathways” and feature a one-term alternative to the previous yearlong senior essay requirement. Frank Snowden, chair of the program, said the changes will help the program advertise the content of the major more accurately. “What we do is best advertised as the history of science, medicine and public health,” he said. “It conveys to students a more accurate idea of what goes on in the courses of the program.” Current sophomores are the first class required to choose a pathway from five options: medicine and public health; global health; science, technology and power; gen-
der and sexuality; and art and media. Snowden said students can also devise their own pathway. Current junior majors can opt to fulfill the requirements for either the old major or the new one. Seniors majoring in History of Science, Medicine and Public Health can now opt for either a term or yearlong senior project, and Snowden said students can present documentaries or put together exhibits instead of writing senior essays. Snowden said the five pathways will allow students to concentrate their academic study and take a coherent set of classes. He added that the pathways will enable advisers to better help students choose courses without removing academic flexibility. Paola Bertucci, director of undergraduate studies for the major, said students will also be required to take at least one course outside their pathways. Bertucci said students generally disliked certain components of the old major, especially the intermediate science requirement. Though the
new major requires science classes, these do not need to be at the intermediate level. “Some loved the science requirement, especially the pre-med students,” she said. “But we also wanted to attract students not interested in sciences.”
We also wanted to attract students not interested in sciences. PAOLA BERTUCCI Director of undergraduate studies, History of Science, Medicine and Public Health Bertucci said the program introduced the pathway on science, technology and power to ensure that the history of science does not get overshadowed by the history of medicine and public health in the major’s course offerings.
The seven History of Science, Medicine and Public Health majors interviewed said they support the introduction of pathways in the reformed major. Rushika Pattni ’15 said she supports pathways because majors already pursue specific academic interests within the major. She said she is relieved that the intermediate science requirements have been removed since she is not a pre-med student, adding that the reform assists the major in attracting history-oriented students rather than just science-oriented ones. Shuaib Raza ’14 said he thinks few students will opt for the term-long senior project, as a full-year project is required to graduate with distinction in the major. History of Science, Medicine and Public Health is comprised of 64 undergraduate majors and eight professors.
CHANGES TO THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, HISTORY OF MEDICINE MAJOR NAME
The major is now called History of Science, Medicine and Public Health. PATHWAYS
Students must choose one of five concentrations in the major: public health; global health; science, technology and power; gender and sexuality; and art and media. SENIOR ESSAY
A new one-term option is now available. DOCUMENTARIES
Students can now submit a documentary as a senior essay. INTERMEDIATE SCIENCE
Intermediate science classes are no longer required for the major.
Contact DHRUV AGGARWAL at dhruv.aggarwal@yale.edu .
Yale report shows nation favors action on climate change BY ASHLEY DALTON CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Americans are paying more attention to climate change, according to a Yale report released earlier this month. The majority of Americans want the United States government to take action against climate change and will consider candidates’ stances on the issue when casting their vote, according to a Jan. 15 report by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. This YPCCC report, called “The Political Benefits to Taking a Pro-Climate Stance in 2013,” shows that 88 percent of Americans overall — including 72 percent of Republicans — believe that the United States should make at least a small-scale effort to reduce global warming. Reflecting a September 2012 survey, these record-breaking numbers are part of a steady upward trend in public support for action on climate change. But perhaps more importantly, this study shows that the stance of independent voters toward global warming is changing, said YPCCC Director Anthony Leiserowitz.
Independents are coming to resemble Democrats more than Republicans when it comes to their views on global warming. ANTHONY LEISEROWITZ Director, Yale Project on Climate Change Communication “Increasingly, independents are coming to resemble Democrats more than Republicans when it comes to their views on
GRAPH ‘HOW BIG OF AN EFFORT SHOULD THE U.S. 120MAKE TO REDUCE GLOBAL WARMING?’ 100 80 60
Small effort Medium effort
40
Large effort
20 0
Total
global warming,” Leiserowitz said. “Not only does that mean that Democrats taking action on climate change are probably not going to suffer significant losses, it also means that for Republicans seeking a way back into national prominence at the presidential level, climate change, like immigration, could be one of those issues by which they reach out and appeal to the middle.”
OPINION. Send submissions to opinion@yaledailynews.com
No effort
Democrats Leiserowitz confirmed that the YPCCC report has been read in the White House, and that individuals in Congress and the media are paying close attention to these findings. Bonnie Hemphill FES ’13, who is involved in YPCCC, attributed the government’s increased attention to climate change to the social movement behind the issue. “Everyday people are say-
Independent ing, ‘I want a stable climate for my kids.’ And the government is responding to it,” said Hemphill. However, the national consensus on the importance of addressing climate change is expected to fragment when the issue is debated on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate. “As politicians start talking about the issue, partisanship becomes increasingly impor-
Republican tant,” said Emily Vraga, a YPCCC report co-author from the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. “Republicans are often reminded — my party doesn’t support this. Meanwhile, Democrats are often reminded — my party does.” The YPCCC report does show that an overwhelming degree of national consensus across party lines exists when it comes to
YALE PROJECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
investing in renewable energy sources in the future. With regard to eliminating fossil fuels or enacting a carbon tax, party divisions become more pronounced. Originally known as the Yale Project on Climate Change, the YPCCC began in 2005. Contact ASHLEY DALTON at ashley.dalton@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“I am very comfortable with the idea that we can override biology with free will.” RICHARD DAWKINS EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR
Facing budget gap, Slifka reorganizes
ALLIE KRAUSE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Faced with financial difficulties, the Slifka Center is currently consolidating its resources and re-evaluating its spending practices. SLIFKA FROM PAGE 1 center must raise over $1 million in “annual current-use funding” to maintain present spending levels, according to a job description for the new executive director — a position currently filled by interim Executive Director David Raphael. Cheses said because of the change in leadership and reduction in staff members, the Center is struggling to operate at previous levels. “Operationally the center is at a much weaker place than it was,
but it’s also giving us a chance to re-examine our communications systems,” Cheses said.
Operationally the center is at a much weaker place than it was. NOAH CHESES Associate rabbi, Slifka Center In the past year, four full-time
employees — Rabbi Jordi Gerson, Development Director Colin Weil ’88, Director of Operations Jim Hess and Sitrin — have left the organization, and part-time rabbinical intern Sarit Horwitz and Israel Fellow Amir Sagron were hired as replacements. David Slifka ’01, president of the board, declined to comment on the reason for Sitrin’s departure. “We’ve been a little bit undersupported,” Cheses said. “The two positions [last spring] we lost were senior positions, and they were replaced with a rabbinical intern
and an Israel fellow.” Ten new members with backgrounds in financial and organizational management were selected to join the center’s 15-member Board of Trustees last spring, Cheses said, adding that the organization’s executive power has since been transferred to the board from the day-to-day staff. Ponet said he previously had administrative, fundraising and budgetplanning responsibilities in addition to his rabbinical duties, but now focuses primarily on religious life because of the new board.
Raphael said the new board has also instituted procedural changes that include a new system for tracking expenditure and revenue, as well as an improved data filing system. The board has also been re-evaluating its fundraising strategies and the way finances are communicated to supporters, Raphael said. The board is reassessing its personnel code — the rights and responsibilities of its employees — to ensure staff members are clear on policies such as allotted number of vacation days, Raphael said.
The revised code will ensure more equal rights among staff of varying positions, Cheses said. All staff and board members interviewed declined to provide reasons for the personnel code changes. Slifka’s annual operating budget is roughly $2.5 million, and its endowment is valued at approximately $20 million. Contact CYNTHIA HUA at cynthia.hua@yale.edu. Contact APSARA IYER at apsara.iyer@yale.edu .
Classes largely unaffected by Kline construction KCL FROM PAGE 1 economic recession in 2008 and instead decided to prioritize renovation of KCL. Professor of chemistry Charles Schmuttenmaer has previously conducted research in KCL and said that the lab was in clear need of renovation. He cited specific problems such as broken temperature controls and an outdated air-handling system. “The humidity levels were atrocious, and the pipes dripped water into my lab. It was unbelievable,” Schmuttenmaer said. “I’m glad the renovations seem to be on an aggressive, fast schedule.” While classes at SCL have been minimally impacted by the renovation, O’Connor said there have been several reports of minor disruptions. Thomas Stilwell ’16 said that though he saw workers demolishing KCL, the construction never impacted his CHEM 114 class in SCL. “There have been some blips along the way, incidents of fire alarms sounded,” O’Connor said. “But whenever you’re doing renovation, problems are bound to come up.” He added that by the time renovations began, there were very few researchers still using lab spaces at KCL. President Levin said in February 2012 that the original $500 million plan for construction
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on Science Hill, first announced prior to the recession, would have included the creation of an Undergraduate Science Center with new classrooms, research spaces, a dining hall and a gym. Though the Science Center would have offered great value to the Yale community, faculty understand the University’s budget constraints, Schmuttenmaer said. “It would have been wonderful to have a hub up here, but the reality is that when the recession started, the endowment took a big hit, and we had to readjust our view,” Schmuttenmaer said. This summer, the University plans to begin renovations on SCL, expanding spaces for teaching and research. Some of the research laboratories at SCL were renovated in summer 2012, and Schmuttenmaer said the improvements are noticeable. O’Connor said he hopes that construction at KCL will meet the need for new research resources, and SCL renovations will offer the University expanded spaces for teaching. “Research and teaching are the two tenets at the core of the University’s mission,” O’Connor said. SCL was first constructed in 1923. Contact EMMA GOLDBERG at emma.goldberg@yale.edu .
JOYCE XI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Kline Chemistry Lab, which is currently being renovated, is scheduled to reopen in spring of 2014.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
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BULLETIN BOARD
TODAY’S FORECAST
TOMORROW
Chance of showers, mainly before 9am. Partly sunny in the afternoon.
SATURDAY
High of 37, low of 20.
High of 33, low of 22.
NUTTIN’ TO LOSE BY DEANDRA TAN
ON CAMPUS 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
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 5:00 PM “Change and Continuity in Post-Rose Revolution Georgia” Lincoln Mitchell, Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of international affairs at Columbia University, will explore Georgia’s recent political history and the direction the new government is likely to take. He is an expert on U.S.-Georgia relations, political development in the former Soviet Union and the role of democracy promotion in American foreign policy. William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St.), Room 117.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 10:00 PM Cantata Profana — “Eight Songs for a Mad King” Cantata Profana is a new ensemble made up of players and singers from the School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music. Formed at Yale in 2013, the ensemble is committed to exploring the repertoire of vocal and instrumental chamber music through innovative, exciting programming. Their inaugural concert centers on “Eight Songs for a Mad King,” a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for baritone vocalist and ensemble. This wildly dramatic piece is a profound exploration of a monarch reduced to madness, based on the historically well-documented ravings of King George III. Dwight Hall (67 High St.), Chapel.
DOONESBURY BY GARRY TRUDEAU
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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
CLASSIFIEDS
CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis ACROSS 1 Treehouse feature 7 Matured, as cheese 11 Some condensation 14 For one 15 One who’s all action 16 Eggs in a clinic 17 Illusionist’s effect 19 Bushranger Kelly 20 Novelist Wiesel 21 “Days of Thunder” org. 23 Duck 26 Diplomat’s forte 28 Feeds without needing seconds 30 Arrive 31 Major bore 33 Pull (for) 35 Kicked oneself for 36 BBQ heat rating 37 County fair competition 41 Flooring wood 43 Busy time for a cuckoo clock 44 Italian soccer star Maldini 47 Many towns have one 51 “Voulez-__”: 1979 ABBA album 52 Big name in foil 53 Make a fine impression 54 Outer limit 55 Discipline involving slow, steady movement 57 Toppled, as a poplar 59 Goose egg 60 1967 #1 hit for The Buckinghams, which can describe 17-, 31-, 37- or 47-Across 65 Traditional London pie-andmash ingredient 66 New newts 67 Stereo knob 68 Funny, and a bit twisted 69 One way to run 70 Nine-ball feature DOWN 1 Slurp (with “up”)
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1/31/13
By Paul Hunsberger
2 “Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?” singer 3 “Makes no __” 4 Lawyer, at times 5 Renewable energy subj. 6 Equips afresh 7 Nelson, e.g.: Abbr. 8 Hit the road, musically 9 “__ mouse!” 10 In one’s Sunday best 11 Make a bank deposit? 12 Top of the world 13 Lump 18 He played James 22 Half-__: coffee order 23 2002 Olympics host, briefly 24 “As if!” 25 How shysters practice 27 Small crown 29 Onetime Beatles bassist Sutcliffe 32 Led __: “Stairway to Heaven” group, to fans 34 One who turns a place upside down 38 Foldable sleeper
Want to place a classified ad?
Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved
SUDOKU A LITTLE ROUGH
9 6 3
6 5
5 8 (c)2013 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
39 Blasted 40 Purple hue 41 Org. with an oftquoted journal 42 More racy, as humor 45 Tote 46 Sugary suffix 48 “Oh, __ won’t!” 49 Tunnel effect 50 Five-finger discounts, so to speak
1/31/13
56 Audiophile’s setup 58 Witch costume stick-on 59 Wet behind the ears 61 “Spring forward” letters 62 One of four in a grand slam 63 Wildspitze, for one 64 “__ willikers!”
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Giffords pleads for gun control BY ALAN FRAM ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Severely wounded and still recovering, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords begged lawmakers at an emotional hearing Wednesday to act quickly to curb firearms because “Americans are counting on you.” Not everyone agreed, underscoring the national political divide over gun control. Giffords’ 80-word plea was the day’s most riveting moment, delivered in a hushed, halting voice two years after the Arizona Democrat suffered head wounds in a Tucson shooting spree that killed six people. The session also came two months after 20 firstgraders and six women were slain by a gunman who invaded Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. At the same hearing, a top official of the National Rifle Association rejected Democratic proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and said requiring background checks for all gun purchases would be ineffective because the Obama administration isn’t doing enough to enforce the law as it is. Even if stronger background checks did identify a criminal, “as long as you let him go, you’re not keeping him from getting a gun and you’re not preventing him from getting to the next crime scene,” said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president. He said poor enforcement is “a national disgrace.” Giffords, who retired from Congress last year, focused during her brief appearance on the carnage from armed assailants. “Too many children are dying,” she said at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now.” Guiding her in and remaining to testify was Mark Kelly, the retired astronaut who is Giffords’ husband. The couple, who both owns guns, has formed a political action committee called Americans for Responsible Solutions that backs lawmakers who support gun restrictions. “We’re simply two reasonable Americans who realize we have a problem with gun violence and we need Congress to act,” Kelly said.
SUSAN WALSH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., two years ago, speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence. Wednesday’s session played out in a hearing room packed to capacity. While both sides appealed to their followers beforehand to arrive early and fill the room, most in the public audience of around 150 appeared to be gun-control sympathizers, including relatives of the shootings at Virginia Tech. “There should be gun control,” said Neeta Datt of Burtonsville, Md., who with Christa Burton of Silver Spring, Md., was first on line for public seats. Both are members of Organizing for Action, the Obama political organization that is now pushing his legislative agenda. The hearing kicked off a year in which President Barack Obama and members of Congress are promising to make gun restrictions a top priority. Obama has already proposed requiring background checks for all gun sales and reviving both an assault weapons ban and a 10-round limit
on the size of ammunition magazines, and several Democrats have introduced bills addressing those and other limitations. After the hearing, Giffords and Kelly met privately with Obama at the White House.
Too many children are dying. … We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS Former U.S. representative, Arizona At the Capitol, senators’ remarks during the hearing illustrated the gulf between the two parties. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined others in lauding Giffords but expressed little interest in curb-
Economy shrank in late 2012 BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy shrank unexpectedly late last year, a reminder of the biggest threat it faces in 2013: sharp government spending cuts and prolonged political budget fights. A plunge in defense spending helped push the economy into negative territory for the first time since mid-2009. The contraction in the October-December quarter came in at an annual rate of 0.1 percent, according to a government estimate released Wednesday. The likelihood of another recession appears remote. The economy is forecast to grow around 2 percent this year as strength in areas like housing and auto sales could partly offset government cutbacks. Investors appear unfazed, too: The stock market has surged more than 6 percent this year and is nearing an all-time high. But economists warn that further spending cuts would weaken a still-precarious recovery. “One way or the other, government is going to be a constraint on growth,” said James Marple, senior economist at TD Bank. Deep spending cuts in defense and domestic programs are set to kick in March 1. Most of the federal government could shut down March 27 if Congress doesn’t extend a temporary measure authorizing funding. And the nation’s borrowing limit must be raised by May 18 or the government could default on its debts. A sputtering economy could weaken President Barack Obama’s hand in dealing with Congress and complicate his efforts to push forward on other
domestic priorities, such as immigration reform and gun control. The Commerce Department said the economy shrank last quarter mainly because companies restocked at a slower rate and the government slashed defense spending. Exports also fell. Economists say some of those factors could prove temporary. Still, the slowdown from the 3.1 percent annual growth rate in the July-September quarter was unexpectedly sharp.
One way or the other, government is going to be a constraint on growth. JAMES MARPLE Senior economist, TD Bank For all of 2012, the economy expanded 2.2 percent, better than 2011’s growth of 1.8 percent. The Federal Reserve referred to the fourth-quarter slowdown Wednesday in a statement after a policy meeting. The U.S. economy appears to have “paused in recent months,” the Fed said, mainly because of temporary factors. The central bank said growth would likely resume this year. But it reaffirmed its commitment to stimulating the economy by keeping borrowing costs low for the foreseeable future. Looming government cutbacks may already have hindered the economy: Concern over the year-end fiscal cliff could be one reason businesses slowed their restocking. And defense spending may have fallen as agencies prepared for automatic spending cuts. Congress managed to avert the fiscal cliff but only postponed
the start of automatic spending cuts until March 1. The drag from the government comes as private-sector growth is picking up. Consumers and businesses spent more in the October-December quarter compared with the July-September quarter. Consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of the economy, added 1.5 percentage points to growth last quarter. Business investment and home construction contributed, too. But government spending cuts and slower company restocking, which can fluctuate sharply, subtracted a combined 2.6 percentage points from GDP. And a drop in exports subtracted an additional quarter-point. Defense spending plummeted more than 22 percent, the steepest drop in more than 40 years. Nearly all those cuts were in services, such as weapons maintenance and personnel support. The Defense Department said spending fell in part because of the drawdown in forces from Iraq and Afghanistan. The deal Congress reached with the White House to avoid the fiscal cliff delayed spending cuts of about $85 billion. Yet those cuts appear likely to take place eventually. Congressional Republicans see them as a way to force Democrats to make budget concessions. At the same time, Americans are coming to grips with an increase in Social Security taxes that is leaving them with less take-home pay. The lower pay could cut roughly a half-point off growth this year, economists say. The automatic spending cuts, if they take place, could subtract an additional 0.3 percentage point, Marple estimates.
ing firearms. “Unfortunately in Washington, emotion I think often leads to bad policies,” said Cruz, a freshman elected with strong teaparty backing. He said gun control efforts too often “restrain the liberties of law-abiding citizens,” not criminals. Republicans blamed the nation’s gun troubles on a list of maladies including a lack of civility, violent video games and insufficient attention to people with mental problems. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the panel, said that while he welcomed the renewed focus on guns, “The deaths in Newtown should not be used to put forward any gun control proposal that’s been floating around for years.” Democrats countered that a need to improve gun restrictions was obvious. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said omitting gun limits from the debate “is
like not including cigarettes when discussing lung cancer.” Republicans and the NRA are not the only hurdles Democrats face in trying to push gun legislation through Congress this year. It is also unclear what several Democratic senators facing reelection in GOP-leaning states in 2014 will do, such as including Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the committee’s chairman, said he hoped his panel would write gun control legislation next month, though he did not specify what it might contain. In his opening remarks, he voiced support for requiring broader background checks that would help keep criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining firearms, and he has also introduced legislation that would make it a federal crime for someone to purchase a gun for a person who would not be legally
allowed to have one. Reflecting the emotion that the gun issue taps into nationwide, Wednesday’s three-and-a-halfhour hearing featured numerous clashes between senators and some of the witnesses who testified. “You are a large man,” Gayle Trotter, a senior fellow with the conservative Independent Women’s Forum, told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., as he questioned her about gun curbs he favors. “You are not a young mother who has a young child” she might have to defend, she said. At other points, Democrats on the panel contested LaPierre’s argument that criminals would simply ignore expanded requirements for background checks. Such checks are currently required for gun purchases from licensed dealers, but not some firearms bought in conjunction with gun shows or online.
GOP sees automatic cuts as leverage BY ANDREW TAYLOR ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — There’s a growing sense of resignation that the country’s political leaders will be unable or unwilling to find a way around looming automatic spending cuts despite fresh signs the cuts would threaten the recovering economy. On one side are conservative Republicans, outnumbered and frustrated, who see the painfully large cuts as leverage in their battle to force Democrats into concessions on the budget. On the other side are President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies, who are pressing to replace some of the cuts with new tax revenues. The predictable deadlock — and looming cuts of $85 billion this budget year alone — has the potential to slam the economy, produce sweeping furloughs and layoffs at federal agencies and threatens hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs. The cuts would shrink the Pentagon budget by 7 percent and force most domestic agencies to absorb a 5 percent cut concentrated in the last half of the budget year. Just last year, GOP leaders were among the loudest voices warning of dire consequences for the military and the economy if more than $100 billion in cuts across the board went into effect. Now, even as defense hawks fume, Republicans see the strategy as their best chance of wringing cuts from costly government benefit programs like Medicare that Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress have been reluctant to touch. The move is fraught with risk. Some $43 billion would be cut from the Pentagon budget between March and October if battling Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on an alternative. Equal cuts would hit domestic programs, although the health care programs that are major drivers of future deficits are largely exempt. “Talk about letting the sequester kick in, as though that were an acceptable thing, belies where Republicans were on this issue
not that long ago,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday. “This is sort of political brinksmanship of the kind that results in one primary victim, and that’s American taxpayers — the American middle class.” The automatic cuts, known as a “sequester” in Washington-speak, are the penalty for the failures of the 2011 deficit “supercommittee” and subsequent rounds of budget talks to produce an agreement. Along with the threatened expiration of Bush-era tax cuts, the spending cuts were a major element of the so-called fiscal cliff crisis that gripped the country at the new year. While most of the tax cuts — except for upper-bracket income — were made permanent, negotiators could only agree on a twomonth reprieve to the sequester after finding $24 billion in replacement money that reduced this year’s round of cuts from $109 billion to $85 billion. Eight more years of cuts, totaling almost $1 trillion, still remain.
Defense spending is … taking 50 percent of the cuts, which means it’s going to be hitting the Republicans a lot harder than the Democrats. LOREN THOMPSON Defense analyst, Lexington Institute think tank The austerity, economists say, would slow down the economy. Under a formula by the Congressional Budget Office, a $43 billion cut in defense spending could cost 300,000 jobs this year. “In terms of the political dynamic here, defense spending is only 20 percent of the federal budget, but it’s taking 50 percent of the cuts, which means it’s going to be hitting the Republicans a lot harder than the Democrats,” said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute think tank.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
WORLD Israel bombs Syrian target BY BEN HUBBARD ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIRUT — Israel’s air force launched a rare airstrike on a military site inside Syria, the Syrian government and U.S. officials said Wednesday, adding a potentially flammable new element to regional tensions already heightened by Syria’s civil war. The strike appeared to be the latest salvo in Israel’s long-running effort to disrupt the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s quest to build an arsenal capable of defending against Israel’s air force and spreading destruction inside the Jewish state. U.S. officials said the target was a convoy of trucks that Israel believed contained anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the operation. Regional officials said the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would be “gamechanging,” enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. Regional security officials said the strike, which occurred overnight Tuesday, targeted a site near the Lebanese border, while a Syrian army statement said it destroyed a military research center northwest of the capital, Damascus. They appeared to be referring to the same incident. The Israeli military and a Hezbollah spokesman both declined to comment, and Syria denied the existence of any such weapons shipment. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. The strike follows decades of enmity between Israel and allies Syria and Hezbollah, which consider the Jewish state their mortal enemy. The situation has been further complicated by the civil war raging in Syria between the forces of President Bashar Assad and rebel brigades seeking his ouster. The war has sapped Assad’s power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms. Many in Israel worry that as Assad loses power, he could strike back by transferring chemical or advanced weapons to Hezbollah, which is neighboring Lebanon’s most powerful military force and is committed to Israel’s destruction. Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive 34-day war in 2006 that left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead. While the border has been
largely quiet since, the struggle has taken other forms. Hezbollah has accused Israel of assassinating a top commander, and Israel blamed Hezbollah and Iran for a July 2012 attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. In October, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made reconnaissance drone over Israel, using the incident to brag about its expanding capabilities. Israeli officials believe that despite their best efforts, Hezbollah’s arsenal has markedly improved since 2006, now boasting tens of thousands of rockets and missiles and the ability to strike almost anywhere inside Israel. Israel suspects that Damascus obtained a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007 that destroyed an unfinished Syrian nuclear reactor.
This proves that Israel is the instigator, beneficiary and sometimes executor of the terrorist acts targeting Syria and its people. SYRIAN MILITARY STATEMENT Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria’s “deadly weapons,” saying the country is “increasingly coming apart.” The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new “Iron Dome” rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move “routine.” Syria, however, cast the strike in a different light, linked to the country’s civil war, which it blames on terrorists carrying out an international conspiracy. A Syrian military statement read aloud on state TV Wednesday said low-flying Israeli jets crossed into Syria over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and bombed a military research center in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus. The strike destroyed the center and damaged a nearby building, killing two workers and wounding five others, the statement said. The military denied the existence of any convoy bound for Lebanon, saying the center was responsible for “raising the level of resistance and self-defense” of Syria’s military. “This proves that Israel is the instigator, beneficiary and sometimes executor of the terrorist acts targeting Syria and its people,” the statement said.
“Sadly, it’s much easier to create a desert than a forest.” JAMES LOVELOCK SCIENTIST, ENVIRONMENTALIST AND FUTUROLOGIST
Week of unrest weakens Morsi
KHALIL HAMRA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Egyptian riot police march during clashes with protesters, not seen, near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Wednesday. BY HAMZA HENDAWI AND MAGGIE MICHAEL ASSOCIATED PRESS CAIRO — Egypt’s Islamist president has been significantly weakened by a week of violent protests across much of the country, with his popularity eroding, the powerful military implicitly criticizing him and some of his ultraconservative Islamist backers distancing themselves from him. In his seven months since becoming Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi has weathered a series of crises. But the liberal opposition is now betting the backlash against him is so severe that he and his Muslim Brotherhood will be forced to change their ways, breaking what critics say is their monopolizing of power. Critics claim that Morsi’s woes are mostly self-inflicted, calling him overconfident and out of sync with the public.
Now the relatively high death toll — around 60 — the spread of protests and the use of excessive force by the police are feeding a wave of anger at the Egyptian leader and the Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he hails and which is the foundation of his administration. Morsi did not help matters when he addressed the nation Sunday night in a brief but angry address in which he at times screamed and wagged his finger. In that speech, he slapped a 30-day state of emergency and curfew on three Suez Canal provinces hit the hardest by the violence and vowed to take even harsher measures if peace is not restored. In response, the three cities defied the president in a rare open rebellion that handed him an embarrassing loss of face. Thousands in the cities of Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez took to the streets on Monday and Tuesday just as the 9 p.m.
curfew went into force. Underlining their contempt for him, they played soccer games, stores stayed open and there were even firework displays — all while troops deployed in Port Said and Suez stood by and watched. Morsi was forced to back down somewhat and authorized the local governors to ease the measures. All three quickly did on Wednesday, reducing the hours of curfew from nine hours to as short as three. The main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, demands Morsi create a national unity government and rewrite controversial parts of the constitution that the Brotherhood and other Islamists rammed through to approval last month. A broader government, they insist, is the only way to ease the violence and start dealing with Egypt’s mounting woes — particularly, an economy many fear is collapsing.
French capture last major Malian town BY KRISTA LARSON ASSOCIATED PRESS SEVARE, Mali — French forces met no resistance Wednesday in Kidal, the Islamists’ last major town, as the twoweek-old mission scored another success in its effort to dislodge the al-Qaida-linked militants from northern Mali. The capture of Kidal came just days after French and Malian forces retook two other provincial capitals — Gao and Timbuktu — that also had been under harsh Islamic rule for nearly 10 months. “Nobody questions France’s rapid deployment but the ability to hold on to the cities and territory is an immense challenge. It is not clear how they will be able to sustain the recent gains,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House. “The Islamist extremists have not been defeated; they have melted into the heat haze of the desert.” Many fear the Islamists now will attempt to hide among civilian populations in small outlying villages, only to return and attack the weaker African forces once the French are gone.
The Islamists are believed to have an elaborate system of caves and other desert hideouts that they have constructed over the last year as momentum for a West African regional military intervention stalled.
The Islamist extremists have not been defeated; they have melted into the heat haze of the desert. ALEX VINES Head, Africa program at Chatham House The Islamist fighters fired on French forces when they arrived in Gao, though the militants had deserted Timbuktu by the time forces arrived there on Monday, damaging the airport’s runway in acts of vengeance as they fled. Haminy Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regional assembly, said French forces also met no resistance when they arrived late Tuesday in Kidal. “The French arrived at 9:30 p.m. aboard four planes, which landed one after
another. Afterwards they took the airport and then entered the town, and there was no combat,” said Maiga, who had been in touch with people in the town by satellite phone as all the normal phone networks were down. “The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead,” he added. In Paris, French army Col. Thierry Burkhard confirmed that the airport was taken overnight and described the operation in Kidal itself as “ongoing.” France’s defense minister said bad weather was hampering the troops’ progress out of the airport. Maiga said fighters from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad — a secular Tuareg group that once battled alongside the Islamists for control of the north — had left Kidal as of Wednesday. Azawad is what the Tuaregs call their homeland in northern Mali. France, the former colonial ruler, began sending in troops, helicopters and warplanes on Jan. 11 to turn the tide after the armed Islamists began encroaching on the south, toward the capital. French and Malian troops seized Gao during the weekend, welcomed by joyous crowds.
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PAGE 11
SPORTS
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS BRITTNEY GRINER Baylor center Brittney Griner put up 40 points in the No. 1 Bears win over Texas Tech and became the Big 12 career scoring leader with 2,837 points. Last season, Griner’s 31 points led the Bears to a 109– 59 victory over the Elis in Waco on Nov. 22.
Seriff-Cullick dives into new sport BY DIONIS JAHJAGA CONTRIBUTING REPORTER For Aaron Seriff-Cullick ’13, it was a chance encounter his freshman year that led him to the men’s swimming and diving team.
SWIMMING AND DIVING “We were in section the very first day doing introductions,” Seriff-Cullick said. “And one girl, then-captain Rachel Rosenberg ’12, said, ‘I’m on the diving team.’” That was enough to pique his interest. Seriff-Cullick had been a gymnast all his life, but when he was accepted to Yale, he was faced with a harsh reality: Yale did not offer men’s gymnastics. “They wouldn’t let me work out with the women’s gymnastics team, so I looked into doing gymnastics at local gyms,” Seriff-Cullick said. “When I couldn’t make it work out, I started looking at similar sports.”
Everyone on the team can see the difference Aaron’s commitment has made this year. CHRIS BERGERE Head coach, diving Divers contort their bodies athletically midair in many of the same ways gymnasts do and in many respects, diving is more similar to gymnastics than it is to swimming, according to SeriffCullick. “Although our sports couldn’t be more different to watch and train, we are lumped into the same competition from the inception of the NCAA,” said head diving coach Chris Bergere. Seriff-Cullick, then a shy freshman, said he was not anxious to jump at the opportunity right away. He waited on the fence for about a month before finally showing up at diving practice. It was an uphill battle from there. Seriff-Cullick had to work hard to correct the habits he had learned as a gymnast. Things he worked hard to commit to muscle memory now had to be unlearned. It was the last thing a freshman
needed on his mind. Over time, however, the experience grew on him. Seriff-Cullick said he was considering transferring out of Yale during his freshman year, but the diving team kept him here. Then, when previous diving head coach Ryan Moenke resigned in 2010, Seriff-Cullick was faced with a similar decision about his future on the team. “I thought this might be a good opportunity to leave [the team],” he said. “But my friendships with people on the team kept me there. I hadn’t built up such an affinity to the sport, but I loved the people.” Seriff-Cullick said his relationships with the rest of the divers helped him improve over his years on the team. Now, along with seniors Paige Meneses ’13 and Megan Harada ’13, he sets an example for the younger divers on the team, Bergere said. Seriff-Cullick’s dedication to the team this year has not gone unnoticed by his coach, who saw that Seriff-Cullick was more goal-oriented this year. “Everyone on the team can see the difference Aaron’s commitment has made this year,” Bergere said. “I really feel Aaron has made remarkable progress this season. I couldn’t be more proud of his work ethic and attitude. His diving is really showing all the work he has put forth.” The divers, who Seriff-Cullick describes as “the kooky cousins at the family reunion,” have been an oft-underrated part of the successes of both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. Both teams are undefeated this season, in no small part thanks to the divers. Bulldog divers took two of the top three spots in both the 3-meter and 1-meter events at this weekend’s combined meets against Fordham and Rider. No matter how hard he trains, Seriff-Cullick admitted that he knows his chances are slim against a lot of his competition, who have been diving since childhood. But for him, it’s not all about the results. “It’s not the winning that’s important,” he said. “It’s draining to compete when you know that you probably won’t win, but I have to remind myself that I’m not here to win — I’m here to dive. I love diving.” Seriff-Cullick and the rest of the men’s team will compete next this weekend at Princeton. ZOE GORMAN/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Contact DIONIS JAHJAGA at dionis.jahjaga@yale.edu .
Aaron Seriff-Cullick ’13 was a gymnast before coming to Yale, but he found a niche for himself on the men’s diving team.
Commodores overpower Elis
Heavy lies the crown COLUMN FROM PAGE 12
MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Elizabeth Epstein ’13, Hanna Yu ’15 and Anne Sullivan ’14 all defeated the Rebels, with Epstein prevailing 7–6, 6–7, 6–2. WOMEN’S TENNIS FROM PAGE 12 Commodores. No. 3 Epstein and Seideman, who have been rock solid this season, lost their match 8–1, while Hamilton and Sullivan also fell in the No. 1 spot. Hamilton turned this loss around by ousting Marie Casares 6–2, 4–6, 6–3 in the No. 1 spot in the singles. Despite the comeback, No. 2 Epstein and No. 3 Seideman lost their respective matches in straight sets to give the Commodores a 3–1 lead. Vanderbilt sealed the victory after Yu fell 6–1, 3–6, 6–3 to Georgina Sellyn at No. 4.
Epstein said the Bulldogs were somewhat unlucky not to pull through after losing a couple close matches that didn’t go their way. Sullivan acknowledged the team’s disappointment at not making it through to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships next month but said she thinks they can take a lot from the experience. “Although we are upset we didn’t upset Vanderbilt to advance, our team really came together this weekend,” she said. “We fought hard, endured through injuries and pulled out some great matches.”
Seideman said that the team has come together since the weekend and identified what they want to work on in practice. “We’re taking a lot of positives from our performance and win against Ole Miss,” Seideman added. Next up for the Bulldogs is the Florida International, which will be held at home in the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center on Friday. Contact JASMINE HORSEY at jasmine.horsey@yale.edu .
Ivy rivals coming home MEN’S SQUASH FROM PAGE 12 month. The only loss the Bulldogs have suffered was against Trinity 7–2 in Hartford last Wednesday. The matches this weekend will open up conference play for the Bulldogs at home. Last year against Princeton, the Elis lost 8–1, but finished the away trip with a win over the Quakers 8–1. A win against the Tigers this year would extend the Bulldog’s home record to 5–0 and their conference record to 3–0. Two upperclassmen said the team has been waiting to pounce on Princeton for a long time and has been training extremely hard in the interim.
“The team has been sticking to our master plan devised by team captain Hywel Robinson ’13,” Sam Fenwick ’16 said. “Early-morning lifts and agility make us mentally and physically stronger — we’d all rather die on court than come off defeated. … We have all worked hard enough since the beginning of the season that physicality is not an issue.” Princeton and Yale have combined to win the past six Ivy League titles and shared the title back in 2006 in a threeway split with Harvard. As a result, the winner of this regular season match has also been the Ivy League champion seven years in a row. The team with
home advantage has won three of the last four years. “The attitude for this match is pure excitement. This is why we are here, this is why we play,” Fenwick said. “Everyone wants to give back to the coaches and seniors for their dedication. We want it all and this would be a huge step towards that.” The matches will take place this weekend at noon at the Brady Squash Center in New Haven, with Princeton challenging the Elis on Saturday and the Quakers coming after on Sunday. Contact ADLON ADAMS at adlon.adams@yale.edu .
icons, politicians and even football commissioners. Only two out of the 14 questions the commissioner answered related to promoting a safer game. One submission was a genuine question relating to the balance between player safety and the integrity of the game. The other was a rather condescending paragraph by Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who has done great work in the past supporting LGBTQ rights in the football community, but in this case merely wanted to troll Goodell with a question asking about the “dichotomy between making the game safer versus giving the fans the hard hits and satiated bloodlust they so clearly desire.” Goodell’s answers were not particularly enlightening (his dialogue was ripped from the propaganda ads the league is currently running about the evolution of football), but he also didn’t have much of a choice. The most powerful man in the NFL truly is between a rock and a hard place. Critics and some player-pundits like Kluwe clamor for stricter rules, fewer games and even the elimination of youth football. Yet Kluwe actually falls in the minority of NFL players. A bizarrely honest NFL.com report on Goodell’s 61 percent disapproval rating among players found that his unpopularity stems, in part, from “increased fines for defenseless hits.” Granted, inconsistent penalties have opened Goodell to allegations of abusing his power and not actually acting in the interest of safety. But arguing over inconsistencies is merely a way for players to hide their disapproval of tougher tackling rules, harsher penalties and “tamer” football. At Super Bowl Media Day earlier this week, Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed said that Junior Seau “signed up for” the potential for injury in the NFL, referring to the former linebacker who had brain damage and committed suicide last year. What is Goodell to do? There are two extremes. If he makes no effort to improve safety, the game of football will continue to be pelted with reports of traumatic concussions, murder-suicides and debilitating injuries. If Goodell turns the NFL into flag football, players will be incensed and fans will turn away. I’d hate to be in Goodell’s position — hated by players and fans for “ruining football” and hated by critics for, to paraphrase, “profiting off family-friendly
bloodsport.” It’s not hard to see how the tug-of-war has resulted in bumbling inaction that fuels the ire of both sides. But perhaps his weak AMA answers — and that didactic NFL commercial — actually have a point. As he noted on Monday, there were 17 deaths from football in 1905. President Teddy Roosevelt called together the presidents from Yale, Harvard and Princeton to make the game safer. The changes made football what it is today: They
GOODELL CAN’T WIN EITHER WAY — HIS PLAYERS HATE FINES AND HIS CRITICS HATE INJURIES eliminated gang tackling, instituted the first and ten and a neutral zone, and added the forward pass. Could we imagine football any other way? Games have evolved with our changing moral sensibilities, and fans and players have adapted. It will evolve — and must evolve — again. I understand Goodell’s indecision, especially when he’s been pushed back by the exact players he must protect. But he should take his own historical anecdote as evidence that, despite the negative press, football can evolve without being gutted. In fact, adaptation may be the only to save it. I promise it won’t look like the Pro Bowl. While Obama’s hypothetical son dominated the headlines, his next two sentences might be just the talking point Goodell needs: “And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence. In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won’t have to examine our consciences quite as much.” Hopefully Goodell soon feels the same way — a little nostalgic, a little hesitant, but confident about the necessary course of action. Contact EVAN FRONDORF at evan.frondorf@yale.edu .
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SPORTS QUICK HITS
RICHARD CASS LAW ’71 IVIES REPRESENT AT SUPER BOWL Cass, the Ravens team president, also attended Princeton as an undergraduate and is the only Ivy grad participating in the Super Bowl. Former Harvard center Matt Birk starts for the Ravens, while 49ers quarterback coach Geep Chryst played linebacker for Princeton.
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NBA Indiana 98 Detroit 79
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ASHLEY O’CONNOR ’14 ELI SETS PR, WINS ECAC AWARD The junior was named this week’s recipient of the ECAC Coaches’ Choice Award for her performance in Yale’s defeat against Penn last Sunday. O’Connor finished second among the Bulldogs and fifth overall on the balance beam with a personal-best score of 9.625.
“We’d all rather die on court than come off defeated.” SAM FENWICK ’16 MEN’S SQUASH
YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
Elis fall in ITA Kick-Off finals
EVAN FRONDORF
Goodell stuck in catch-22 This should have been a pleasant week for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. With the Super Bowl approaching on Sunday, the raging debate over football safety should have taken a backseat while the public soaked in the storylines: a coaching battle between two brothers, Ray Lewis’ final game and the athleticism of Colin Kaepernick. But a PR crisis can hit at any time. Last Sunday, Franklin Foer and Chris Hughes of The New Republic published a frank interview with President Obama that, much to Goodell’s chagrin, touched on violence in football.
FOOTBALL IS GETTING SAFER; FANS WILL HAVE TO ADJUST The damning quote: “I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.” Here we go again. The pistons and cogs of the 24-hour news cycle spun into action. Sensing the need for damage control, Goodell hopped on Reddit on Monday and did an “AMA” (“Ask Me Anything”) session where Reddit users can post unedited questions and receive responses from cultural SEE COLUMN PAGE 11
MARIA ZEPEDA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Despite the win over Ole Miss, the Bulldogs fell to Vanderbilt and failed to advance through the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. BY JASMINE HORSEY STAFF REPORTER Despite a stunning 4–2 win over No. 19 Ole Miss, the No. 28 Bulldogs fell to No. 25 Vanderbilt and failed to advance through the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Jan. 27 and 28.
WOMEN’S TENNIS Fighting for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Champion-
ships, the team got off to a strong start Sunday against the Rebels, with Madeleine Hamilton ’16 and partner Anne Sullivan ’14 taking an 8–4 win for the Bulldogs at No. 1 doubles. Although the Bulldogs conceded the No. 2 doubles point, captain Elizabeth Epstein ’13 and Blair Seideman ’14 followed in close suit with a hardfought 8–6 win at No. 3. With the opening of the singles matches, the Rebels valiantly tried to recover their deficit and ended up
dealing losses to both Hamilton and Seideman. After this setback, Bulldogs Epstein, Hanna Yu ’15 and Sullivan all took down their singles opponents, with Epstein prevailing 7–6, 6–7, 6–2 after a particularly close fight in the second spot. The string of wins was enough to take Yale into the final round of the tournament. Team members said that defeating Old Miss has significantly impacted the beginning of their spring season, as the team is walking away from the
tournament with a lot of confidence. “To beat University of Mississippi on their home courts is a great way to start the season,” Epstein said. “We are a tough team, and it definitely showed this weekend.” Meanwhile, Vanderbilt triumphed over No. 27 Illinois to make it to the final round. While the Elis count doubles as their special strength, they quickly ran into trouble with the SEE WOMEN’S TENNIS PAGE 11
Bulldogs host national champions BY ADLON ADAMS STAFF REPORTER Undefeated in the Ivy League, the Yale men’s squash team (8–1, Ivy 2–0) has been preparing to take on the reigning national champions this weekend along with another tough conference opponent.
MEN’S SQUASH
JENNIFER CHEUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The Princeton Tigers are visiting New Haven this Saturday to take on the Bulldogs in a fight for the Ivy League title.
STAT‘DOG TOP OF THE ASHLEY DAY 10 O’CONNOR ’14
The nationally ranked No. 1 Princeton Tigers will descend on New Haven this Saturday to take on the No. 4 Bulldogs in a fight for Ivy League pride and a head start on the conference title. The Tigers, with a perfect record, will look to maintain their No. 1 spot, and the Bulldogs will play to keep their winning record at home. The Elis will also face another Ivy rival, No. 12 Penn, on Sunday. “We are very excited to play Princeton,” Eric Caine ’14 said. “We’ve been waiting a year for this opportunity and want to make the most of it. Last year we lost to them at their courts, and are now looking to reverse the result this time around at home.” Yale has had a consistently strong lineup so far this season, with its only close match a 5–4 victory over Williams at the beginning of the SEE MEN’S SQUASH PAGE 11
WAS PRESENTED TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT THE WEEKLY TEXT TEXT ECAC TEXT COACHES’ TEXT TEXT CHOICE FIRSTNAME AWARD AFTER LASTNAME A STUNNING ’## PERFORMANCE TEXT TEXT TEXTAGAINST TEXT TEXT PENN TEXT TEXT WEEKEND. LAST TEXT TEXT SHE TEXTSCORED TEXT. Text 9.625 textON textTHE textBALANCE text text text BEAM.