T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 · VOL. CXXXIV, NO. 100 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
SUNNY SUNNY
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CROSS CAMPUS Finally. On Sunday night,
in front of an audience of millions, the immortal Meryl Streep DRA ’75 took home the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” This is Streep’s first Oscar win in nearly 30 years — her last win came for her role in the 1982 film “Sophie’s Choice.” She also won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the 1979 film “Kramer vs. Kramer.” “When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, ‘Oh no! Oh, come on! Why her? Again?’” Streep said in her victory speech. “But, whatever.”
W. SQUASH BULLDOGS FINISH SECOND IN NATION
SMALL BUSINESS
CARTOONING
W. TENNIS
Operation Fuel supports local businesses with energy-efficiency grant
RECORD PANEL EXAMINES YALE’S ROLE IN THE ART
No. 25 Elis’ win streak ends with hiccup at unranked Syracuse
PAGE B1 SPORTS
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PAGE 5 CULTURE
PAGE B4 SPORTS
Juniors get gender-neutral BY MADELINE MCMAHON STAFF REPORTER Administrators approved gender-neutral housing for juniors on Sunday based on an evaluation of the experiences of seniors in mixed-gender housing over the last two years. After the University allowed seniors to live in mixed-gender suites in 2010, the option to live
with the members of the opposite gender will be extended to the classes of 2013 and 2014 next fall, and mixed-gender suites will be incorporated into the upcoming housing draw. A Yale College Council proposal to expand the gender-neutral housing policy to juniors was rejected last spring, but administrators said they have now reviewed enough sur-
vey data from seniors in co-ed suites to declare the initiative a success. “We wanted to have enough evidence,” University President Richard Levin said. “We doubled the number of cases [from last year], so we were able to get a better sense of any problems that might arise.” This year, 29 seniors are living in mixed-gender suites.
Joseph Yagoda ’14, chair of the YCC gender-neutral housing committee, said next year’s YCC will likely attempt to extend the privilege to underclassmen, but Levin said he would need more evidence of the policy’s success before supporting such an expansion. In addition to comments from seniors living with the opposite gender, the YCC’s
Giamatti makes homecoming
How’s her poker face? At a Public Interest Auction at the Law School Friday night, one lucky bidder won a poker night for five with tiger mom Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld for the bargain price of $1,500.
behind Michele’s Fund, a fundraising effort dedicating to endowing a scholarship in honor of Michele Dufault ’11, have launched a website — www.michelesfund.com — organizing their efforts.
A new year. After several days of auditions, 14 junior men learned Sunday night that they’d been selected to become members of the 2012’13 Whiffenpoofs. Next year’s roster includes four members of the Duke’s Men and three members of the Spizzwinks(?). Need medical advice? The School of Medicine has launched a new blog, Ask Yale Medicine, through which the school’s faculty can answer questions sent in by readers. So far, the blog has responded to inquiries on winter sports injuries and sun exposure. A New York Times article
Streaking. After going 4–5 to start its season, Yale’s own Starcraft team competing in the Collegiate Starleague has gone 9–0 since January. The streak, which included victories over Penn and North Carolina, has earned Yale’s team a 13–5 record, a no. 42 ranking (of 250 schools) and a spot in the upcoming playoffs. Attention writers. Today is the last day to submit to the Wallace Prize. Submissions of creative nonfiction and fiction are due to 202 York St. by 4 p.m. Winners will receive cash prizes and may see their pieces printed in the Yale Daily News Magazine. THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1980 Leaders of Yale’s unions say a strike is coming in 1981, the fifth since 1967. Submit tips to Cross Campus
crosscampus@yaledailynews.com
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SEE HOUSING PAGE 4
New task force sees first arrest BY JAMES LU STAFF REPORTER
Remembering. The students
published on Saturday featured Yale prefrosh Rudi-Ann Miller, and her experiences as one of only 40 black students out of 3,295 students in total at Stuyvesant High School in New York City.
proposal included results from surveys of the student body. Of the 445 juniors and 443 sophomores who responded to the YCC survey, 92.7 percent said they either supported or were indifferent to the adoption of gender-neutral housing for juniors, and 67.1 percent said they would consider living
JOYCE XI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SON OF FORMER UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT RETURNS TO YALE Pierson College and the Film Studies Program hosted actor Paul Giamatti ’89 DRA ’94 in a Friday Master’s Tea. Following Giamatti’s wishes, attendance at the talk was capped, with only five spots allotted via lottery to students outside of Pierson and the Film Studies Program.
History Dept. revamps major BY ANTONIA WOODFORD STAFF REPORTER After experiencing a decline in the number of undergraduate majors in recent years, the History Department is changing the program to increase its appeal to students. In response to students’ concerns about their ability to form a cohesive course of study in the major, the department will, beginning next semester, feature “thematic pathways” on its website that list history courses in areas ranging from environmental history to international affairs, said Steven Pincus, director of undergraduate studies for the department. Professors are also designing a yearlong survey course to introduce freshman and sophomores to historical methodologies and the discipline as a
whole, and they intend to continue expanding seminar opportunities for underclassmen.
[The current program] can be a disadvantage if students feel that they’ve done a bit of this and a bit of that. KEITH WRIGHTSON History professor “We’re all trying to energize students to get involved in history, and we’re thinking big about how to make this an approachSEE HISTORY PAGE 6
The New Haven Police Department’s new shooting task force made its first arrest Friday. Less than two weeks after NHPD Chief Dean Esserman created the unit with the help of the State’s Attorney’s Office, the task force arrested Gary Williams for the non-fatal December shootings of Anthony Moore and Jermell Gibson at Poplar and Chatham streets. The arrest came after the NHPD received a tip in January from a Wallingford police detective, according to a NHPD press release. Before the creation of the shooting unit, the NHPD’s Major Crimes Unit would have investigated the tip, NHPD spokesman David Hartman said. Progress on the case would likely have been slowed, since the MCU’s workload includes homicides and other pressing criminal investigations, he said. The shootings unit allows the department to devote increased resources to unsolved, non-fatal shooting cases, he said. “I am very grateful to our partners in the Chief State’s Attorney’s office, the State’s Attorney’s office, the state police, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Probation, the Hamden Police Department and the West Haven Police Department, who have come together SEE TASK FORCE PAGE 4
Faculty complaints reach Corporation BY TAPLEY STEPHENSON STAFF REPORTER Two issues that have recently sparked controversy among faculty reached this weekend’s meeting of the Yale Corporation, the University’s highest governing body. University President Richard Levin told the News that the Corporation discussed shared services, Yale-NUS, the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute and Yale’s development of the areas around Yale Health and Science Park. Two of these issues — shared services, a University push to centralize administrative work, and the jointly run liberal arts college Yale will open with the National University of Singapore in fall 2013 — have raised concern among some professors who feel that administrators made decisions without adequately consulting faculty. At the meeting, Levin said administrators were careful to explain the controversy surrounding these issues to the Corporation.
“We certainly apprise the Corporation about the concerns in the faculty and talk about how we might best approach those,” Levin said, though he declined to comment on how the Corporation responded to discussions of controversy regarding shared services and Yale-NUS. Shared services came under fire from about 20 professors at the Feb. 2 faculty meeting. The group of professors criticized the initiative as unilaterally implemented by the administration without considering the needs of individual departments. At the Corporation meeting, Vice President for Finance and Business Operation Shauna King gave a presentation on changes Yale has made to shared services, reviewing how the initiative has succeeded and “where there is work to be accomplished,” Levin said. He added that the Corporation discussed ongoing efforts to improve the faculty experience with shared services. The administration was criticized again SEE CORPORATION PAGE 6