T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · VOL. CXXXVI, NO. 42 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
CLOUDY CLOUDY
54 39
CROSS CAMPUS
MISTAKES BRAIN HELPS PREVENT REPEATS
ADMISSIONS
LOCAL ART
VOLLEYBALL
Yale teams up with ivy admissions officers to visit more U.S. cities
EXHIBIT IN PARK TO CENTER ON CITY VIOLENCE
Women’s volleyball continues undefeated streak
PAGE 6-7 SCI-TECH
PAGE 3 NEWS
PAGE 5 CULTURE
PAGE 12 SPORTS
Ward 1 role questioned
Ghosts of Silliman’s Past.
The Silliman Haunted House tradition is “back and with a vengeance” this year according to Silliman student Nicole De Santis ’15. This year’s affair takes place at the “Silliman Private Care Center” for troubled celebrities. “Deranged stars may seem like they’re always in your face, but you might also want to watch your back,” De Santis warned. Cameos will include Britney Spears, Kanye West and Miley Cyrus. Sounds like the makings of a VH1 music video...
BY MATTHEW LLOYD-THOMAS AND HANNAH SCHWARZ STAFF REPORTERS
role of the Ward 1 representative on the 30-member city council currently made up entirely of Democrats. Determined to portray Eidelson as out of touch with the undergraduate student body, Chandler committed to serving only one term on the Board, saying he would not seek re-election once he has graduated. Eidelson, who is running for her second term, said legislative experience
After meeting nearly all the goals in Yale’s 2010–2013 sustainability plan, the University has embarked on a new leg of its initiative to reduce its environmental impact. Announced in a University-wide email from University President Peter Salovey Monday afternoon, the new three-year plan is divided into five parts: sustainability leadership and capacity building, energy and greenhouse gas emissions, natural and built environment, food and well-being and material management. The 18-page document further divides the groups into subcategories, setting out a series of broad goals and specific objectives for each. “The most important thing I see on the horizon is a focus on behavior change,” said senior adviser to the president Martha Highsmith. “The challenge now is to win the hearts and minds of folks.” Highsmith said that Salovey’s background as a social psychologist will be helpful in implementing the plan. Still, its success will largely depend on whether Yale community members alter their use of resources, she said. Salovey, who served as provost during the final stages of the plan’s development last year, has reviewed the entire document. On Wednesday, Salovey plans to endorse the plan in remarks made in the President’s Room on the second floor of Woolsey Hall. “Sustainability calls for new ways of supplying energy, serving food, circulating vehicular and pedestrian traffic, distributing documents and maintaining landscapes,” Salovey said in the introduction to the document, adding that the University has “much of the necessary technology” to reduce its environmental footprint. According to the goals laid out within the five categories, the University plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below 2013 emission levels, reduce potable water use by 5 percent below 2013 water-use levels and reduce both paper and office supply purchases by 10 percent below 2013 levels. The target completion date for these goals is June
SEE DEBATE PAGE 4
SEE SUSTAINABILITY PAGE 4
Casting spells and spelling words. The New Haven Reads
spelling bee took place on Friday, and the “bee” theme was taken very seriously. Participants signed up in “swarms” consisting of groups of six. The AARP Misfits took home the first-place prize from a competition pool of 36. While a number of participants dressed up as bumblebees, others came as witches, monsters and senior citizens. The word of the final round was “Piblokto.” Greenbooking. You have your vegetarians, then you have your vegans, then you have your freegans. The last session of the New Haven Free Skool has been announced — and on the curriculum is a class called Freeganism, scheduled for next Wednesday. This will not be the Free Skool’s first venture into vegan territory, however. Past classes have included an offering called “The Soccer Vegan.” Death by sushi. Not a bad way to die, and here’s your chance: Sushi Mizu is hosting its second annual Sushi Showdown, challenging students to eat 100 pieces of sushi as quickly as they can. The winner of the contest receives more sushi — three months of free sushi, in fact — as well as t-shirts. Last year, three Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers took home the prize. Overachievers overachieving.
Eleven of your peers have received awards from the 2013 Norman Mailer College Writing Awards in creative nonfiction and poetry. Yale students on the awards list include: Molly HensleyClancy ’13, Amelia Urry ’13, Zoe Greenberg ’14, Harrison Monsky ’13, Lucy Fleming ’16, Nikita Lalwani ’13, Andrew Bezek ’13, Ava Kofman ’14, Tao Tao Holmes ’14, Felicity Sheehy ’14 and the News’ Magazine Editor Sarah Maslin ’14. Given this strong showing, Yale’s future chances at a Pulitzer are all but guaranteed.
HENRY EHRENBERG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Sarah Eidelson ’12 and Paul Chandler ’14, the Ward 1 aldermanic candidates, faced off during a debate in SSS yesterday. BY ISAAC STANLEY-BECKER STAFF REPORTER A Democrat or a Republican, a recent Yale graduate or a current senior, a well-trained incumbent or an eager and fresh face in politics. Those are the choices before voters in Ward 1 — and the differences on display at a public debate on Monday between the two candidates squaring off in one week to represent the ward on the New Haven Board of Aldermen.
In a 90-minute dialogue sponsored by the News, Democratic incumbent Sarah Eidelson ’12 and Republican challenger Paul Chandler ’14 described the most pressing issues before the city and sparred over which candidate would best serve its interests in Ward 1. Before an audience of nearly 200 in Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall, the candidates concurred on the priority of public safety, jobs, education and youth issues but diverged over the proper
East Rock sees spate of robberies
Submit tips to Cross Campus
crosscampus@yaledailynews.com
ONLINE y MORE goydn.com/xcampus
Candidates discuss Yale’s involvement in city WITH A WEEK LEFT BEFORE THE ELECTION, MAYORAL AND ALDERMANIC CANDIDATES TALK TOWN-GOWN BY POOJA SALHOTRA STAFF REPORTER
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1992 Yale College Council members debate more efficient post office policies for half an hour, during which sharp words fly and voices are raised. The very close vote on their draft of recommendations is originally miscounted, causing members to demand a new vote. The more neutral topic of the dining plan is also discussed.
Sustainability plan announced
NEW HAVEN POLICE DEPARTMENT
A suspect in the recent East Rock neighborhood robberies was found armed with a hand-made “zip gun,” manufactured at a nearby residence. BY MAREK RAMILO STAFF REPORTER A recent string of robberies in New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood has been connected to a crude weaponsmanufacturing operation based out of a nearby residence. A press release on Oct. 23, from NHPD spokesman David Hartman said that three suspects had been arrested for committing two robberies in the East Rock Park area. Authorities later found
one suspect to be armed with a handmade “zip gun,” an ad hoc weapon — typically engineered by amateur street manufacturers — that can cause serious harm and death. NHPD detectives later discovered that the weapon was one of about a dozen made and sold by another juvenile operating out of his residence on Mountain Ridge Road. “Such crude deadly weapons pose a threat to both the victim and the shooter,” SEE EAST ROCK PAGE 8
With the aldermanic and mayoral elections exactly a week away, candidates are expressing their views on a new era of Yale-New Haven relations. Yale recently inaugurated a new president with fresh ideas on reinvigorating Yale-New Haven relations, and, for the first time in 20 years, the city will be led by a new mayor and a new president. Both mayoral candidates — Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10 and Toni Harp ARC ’78 — agree that current town-gown relations are more positive than in years past, in part because of Mayor John DeStefano Jr’s efforts. But the two candidates have different ideas on how they will build on the mayor’s legacy to further the city’s interactions with the University. The last major shift in city leadership was in 1993, when DeStefano was elected mayor of New Haven and Richard Levin took office as Yale’s 22nd president. Levin and DeStefano piloted a campaign that transformed a once-strained relationship into one characterized by cooperation and collaboration. Under their leadership, interactions between City Hall and Woodbridge Hall increased through initiatives like the New Haven Promise and the Homebuyers Program. Echoing University President
Peter Salovey’s inaugural speech — which emphasized the importance of Yale alumni entrepreneurs opening their businesses in New Haven — Elicker highlighted entrepreneurship as a potential point of interaction between the University and the city. For this to happen, he said, Yale must encourage students to interact with the city as soon as they matriculate.
Yale sets the tone in orientation by presenting the city as a dangerous place and by not encouraging students to explore the city. JUSTIN ELICKER FES ’10 SOM ’10 Candidate, Mayoral race “Yale sets the tone in orientation by presenting the city as a dangerous place and by not encouraging students to explore the city,” he said. While Yale should encourage students to interact with New Haven, the city must also do its part by working to make New Haven a more attractive place to live, he said. He also sugSEE TOWN-GOWN PAGE 8
PAGE 2
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
.COMMENT “What about jam-packed sketch comedy, a cappella, and slam poetry yaledailynews.com/opinion
GOP for Ward 1? A
s Yalies prepare to choose between a Democrat and Republican for Ward 1 Alderman for the first time in 20 years, one fact is clear: Yale Republicans, at least those hoping to be elected, have little in common with the national party. It seems that every campaign statement from Republican Candidate Paul Chandler ’14 includes some declaration that he is not a tea party Republican — and that he is definitely not Ted Cruz. They’re understating the case, though; Chandler’s views appear considerably to the left of even mainstream Republicans. His platform takes for granted the premise that government can play a constructive role. It’s largely focused on expanding the scope of the New Haven government in areas such as education, transportation and promoting small businesses. His calls for increased Spanish-language and early education, new bus routes and a revitalized New Haven Green constitute a vision of government somewhere between that of a solid democrat and a progressive independent. The one arguably conservative pillar of his campaign — getting a handle on the city’s pension obligations — merely puts Chandler in line with the Democratic Party’s pro-business contingent. Given that our Republican candidate espouses a largely non-Republican platform, Chandler may indeed best represent the views of many liberal but somewhat corporatist Yale students. One aspect of his campaign that likely appeals to Yale students is his focus on issues directly affecting Ward 1. He has pushed for better street lighting around campus, a crosswalk between Phelps Gate and the Green and more public transportation between Union Station and Yale. This focus contrasts favorably with the approach of incumbent Sarah Eidelson ’12, whose work on New Haven youth services, while laudable, seems to have crowded out attention that could have been paid to Ward 1 itself. This difference in emphasis between the two candidates is strengthened by Chandler’s status as a current Yale senior. Eidelson, were she to win, would end her second term representing students with whom she had never been on campus. Altogether, both Chandler’s larger New Haven agenda and his program for Ward 1 representation constitute a strong case for his candidacy. Still, before choosing a candidate, it’s worth taking a moment to consider the real significance of Yale’s alderperson. Is our alderperson the primary vehicle for advancing our interests in New Haven? Obvi-
ously not — the relationship between Woodbridge and City Hall is far more central. Yale employs more New HARRY Haven resiLARSON dents than any other Nothing in institution; it owns and Particular has redeveloped immense swaths of New Haven property, and the administration closely cooperates with the city on a variety of issues, from crime to economic development. As a result, Yale undergraduates seeking change are likely to be better served by mobilizing their administration than their alderperson. Given that reality, the significance of the Ward 1 alderperson is, in many ways, symbolic. And what would the symbolism be if the Board of Aldermen’s sole Republican vote came from a Yale student? Such a question may be unfair to Chandler. I, for one, am largely sympathetic to his agenda and the idea that a representative should be primarily focused on his constituency. I’m also not sure if it’s healthy for a city to lack a single voice of partisan dissent in its legislature. But — let’s face it — the next Board’s agenda will be set by either Mayor Justin Elicker or Toni Harp, and not by Eidelson or Chandler. Beyond influencing that agenda at the margins, our alderperson will primarily be important for providing the most immediate expression of how Yale relates to its host city. New Haven might be well served by some of Chandler’s ideas on education or transportation. It may also need to face tradeoffs in the retirement benefits it has promised its workers. But a message of benefit cuts — however necessary — will not be best served coming from the representative of mostly privileged students, living in a city that struggles with poverty. It will not be best served coming from a party, which — rightly or wrongly — is often identified with its defense of incumbent privilege. So before voting next Tuesday, Yale students should take a moment to think not just about which candidate with whom they most agree, or which seems the most focused on their interests. They should also think about the message we want to send to New Haven. It’s that message, far more than one alderperson’s votes, that will determine our place in this city.
YALE DAILY NEWS PUBLISHING CO., INC. 202 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 432-2400
EDITOR IN CHIEF Julia Zorthian MANAGING EDITORS Anya Grenier Jane Darby Menton ONLINE EDITOR Cynthia Hua OPINION Emma Goldberg Geng Ngarmboonanant NEWS Sophie Gould Amy Wang CITY Monica Disare Michelle Hackman FEATURES Lorenzo Ligato CULTURE Aleksandra Gjorgievska
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Daniel Weiner SPORTS Charles Condro Alexander Eppler ARTS & LIVING Jackson McHenry Elaina Plott Yanan Wang YTV Madison Alworth Raleigh Cavero Kevin Kucharski MAGAZINE Sarah Maslin Joy Shan COPY Adrian Chiem Ian Gonzalez Elizabeth Malchione Douglas Plume
PRODUCTION & DESIGN Emma Hammarlund Leon Jiang Jason Kim Jennifer Lu Daniel Roza Mohan Yin PHOTOGRAPHY Kathryn Crandall Henry Ehrenberg Brianna Loo Sara Miller
PUBLISHER Julie Leong DIR. FINANCE Joyce Xi DIR. OPERATIONS Yumehiko Hoshijima ONL. BUSINESS MANAGER Gonzalo Gallardo
COMM. MANAGER Abdullah Hanif MARKETING MANAGER Yuanling Yuan ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE MANAGERS Vivian Wang Shannon Zhang
ILLUSTRATIONS Annelisa Leinbach DIRECTORS OF TECHNOLOGY Vincent Hu Soham Sankaran ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR Clinton Wang
THIS ISSUE COPY ASSISTANTS: Adam Mahler, Isabel Sperry PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Renee Bollier, Jennifer Cheung, Jacob Geiger, Carter Levin EDITORIALS & ADS
The News’ View represents the opinion of the majority of the members of the Yale Daily News Managing Board of 2015. Other content on this page with bylines represents the opinions of those authors and not necessarily those of the Managing Board. Opinions set forth in ads do not necessarily reflect the views of the Managing Board. We reserve the right to refuse any ad for any reason and to delete or change any copy we consider objectionable, false or in poor taste. We do not verify the contents of any ad. The Yale Daily News Publishing Co., Inc. and its officers, employees and agents disclaim any responsibility for all liabilities, injuries or damages arising from any ad. The Yale Daily News Publishing Co. ISSN 0890-2240
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
SUBMISSIONS
All letters submitted for publication must include the author’s name, phone number and description of Yale University affiliation. Please limit letters to 250 words and guest columns to 750. The Yale Daily News reserves the right to edit letters and columns before publication. E-mail is the preferred method of submission. Direct all letters, columns, artwork and inquiries to: Emma Goldberg and Geng Ngarmboonanant Opinion Editors Yale Daily News opinion@yaledailynews.com
COPYRIGHT 2013 — VOL. CXXXVI, NO. 42
'ALONNINOS' ON 'BEYOND THE HALLOWEEN SHOW'
G U E S T C O L U M N I S T I F E A N Y I AWA C H I E
We're interested in Africa, too T
wo weeks ago, Yale hosted the most inspiring event I have been to in a long time. And I almost didn’t hear about it. “Rethink Africa” was part of the World Fellows Forum. It began with a panel featuring fascinating speakers like a Nigerian actor from HBO’s "The Wire," the co-founder of a liberal publishing house in Nigeria’s capital, a Sierra Leonean-American DJ and the co-founders of OkayAfrica, a progressive African music blog (how often do you hear phrases like that?). After the panel, everyone mingled over delicious food, drank cocktails at the open bar and danced as the DJ spun contemporary African beats that no one, including the older, serious-looking Fellows, could resist. I had heard about “Rethink Africa” just a few hours before, from a friend who mentioned an artsy event about Africa happening at the Yale University Art Gallery. We were both surprised at the venue — we hadn’t expected the Yale community to consider an event on Africa worthy of a space as hip as the YUAG. When we arrived at the YUAG, the hosts asked whether we’d been invited. We were taken aback, but we attended the event despite our discomfort. And we were right to. The panelists spoke about “upending assumptions about the African continent,” a goal that I work toward in my involvement on campus. I am hosting an exhibit this week based on a project I started this summer: photography showcasing nontraditional images of Nigeria. As I listened to the panelists, I heard my goals echoed in stories about their work. I became aware of more possibilities than I had imagined for engaging with, documenting and representing African culture. I had planned to leave “Rethink Africa” at 5:30 p.m. I ended up getting home at 9 p.m. "Rethink Africa” was the day after President Peter Salovey’s inauguration. During Salovey’s inaugural address, when he declared that Yale should focus on Africa, I immediately pulled out my phone and tweeted about it. That moment was huge for me. I am Nigerian-American, and coming to Yale marked a time in my life when I became truly interested in my Nigerian heritage. During my freshman year, I was shocked but excited to find a course in Igbo, my parents’ mother tongue and one of Nigeria’s three most widely spoken languages. I took the class, enjoyed it and left for the summer looking forward to continuing my study of Igbo in the
HARRY LARSON is a senior in Jonathan Edwards College. His columns run on alternate Tuesdays. Contact him at harry.larson@yale.edu .
Editorial: (203) 432-2418 editor@yaledailynews.com Business: (203) 432-2424 business@yaledailynews.com
performances?”
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
fall. Over the summer, I received an email asking me whether I planned to take a course in Igbo my sophomore year. I responded that I did. The next thing I heard was that the Igbo class had been cancelled. I didn’t receive any explanation. I applied to take Igbo through the Directed Independent Language Study program. DILS rejected my application each time, citing the Selection Committee’s challenge of “limited funding.” After the inauguration, I shared my excitement about Salovey’s speech with some friends. I was disapointed when they responded by pointing out how random his reference to Africa had seemed. His statement seemed disingenuous, they suggested, perhaps just a political move. What my friends didn’t understand was that even if Salovey’s stance on Africa was just rhetoric, the fact that he had voiced it at all was huge.
His speech was so meaningful for students like me, students who want to explore their relationship with Africa among the richness of Yale’s academic resources and express that relationship through the artistic outlets that Yale offers. Students interested in Africa can now hold Yale accountable to its professed dedication to the continent. It’s the difference between simply accepting that I can’t learn Igbo anymore and pushing administrators to fund African language programs. I’m still buzzing from “Rethink Africa,” but it left me with uncomfortable questions: Why was the event invite-only? Salovey wants to increase Yale’s engagement with Africa, but who is he hoping to help engage with the continent: an exclusive sample of international faculty or the undergraduate body, the core of Yale College? President Salovey and the Yale administration need to rethink
the way they’re rethinking Yale and Africa. There are students here who want to do exactly what Salovey proposed — do research on Africa, explore Africa through the arts, immerse themselves in African culture through travel. Next month, the Yale African Students Association will host Africa Week, an annual celebration of the continent’s various cultures. Yale should increase its support for this type of undergraduate programming, which places discussions of Africa in unconventional contexts that free us to think about the continent in fresh ways. I challenge Yale to recognize the achievements and needs of those engaging with Africa within Yale College. And for Pete’s sake, the next time you throw an amazing African party at the YUAG, invite me. IFEANYI AWACHIE is a senior in Timothy Dwight College. Contact her at ifeanyi.awachie@yale.edu .
GUEST COLUMNIST YIFU DONG
Honor without a code “I
f cheating is not allowed, the test is not fair!” On June 8, 2013, the last day of the college entrance examination in China, thousands of angry parents besieged the Zhongxiang No. 3 High School in Hubei Province and harassed test monitors who tried to crack down on cheating in the most important annual test in China. For these parents and children, cheating had little to do with honor: it was simply crucial for survival. In my high school — one of the best in China — I saw that some students cheated for fun rather than survival. Many saw cheating as an adventure: they took prolonged trips to the bathroom during exams to look up the answers on their cell phones, or whispered to their classmates while taking tests. These acts were not considered shameful; instead, cheaters were glorified by tales of their successes. Cheating is a worldwide phenomenon, even in schools like Yale and Harvard. The Harvard Crimson recently surveyed members of their class of 2017 and came up with appalling numbers: 10 percent of respondents admitted to cheating on an exam before college, 17 percent said they had cheated on a take-
home assignment or paper and 42 percent confessed to having done so on a homework assignment or problem set. It may be hard for some to believe that a considerable percentage of students selected by one of the greatest institutions has cheated in school. But for me, it doesn’t seem that surprising. I learned through my observations in China how cheating can be just like underage drinking and promiscuity: it’s wrong, but it’s exciting — some enjoy the process, and others depend on it for survival. Harvard is considering implementing an honor code, hoping to encourage a cultural shift away from cheating. But since some cheaters seek not only good grades but also adventure and glory, they cannot be deterred by an honor code alone. When students cheat for the thrill of it, honor does not matter — they want to do something dishonorable, to rebel against the system. An honor code instructing them in why cheating is immoral would only reinforce the thrill of rebellion. Dean Mary Miller recently said Yale is not considering implementing an honor code. “Students have agreed by matriculation to abide by the
rules,” she told the News. Dean Miller’s explanation is spot-on. All of the principles in an honor code should already be covered by the University’s undergraduate regulations; it is superfluous for an institution that effectively enforces the rules. Aside from being superfluous, honor codes can do damage in failing to prepare students for the real world. It is dangerous if an honor code becomes the only thing that prevents students from cheating. “Because I have signed the honor code, I cannot cheat on exams” may be a sound thought process to deter cheating in college, but after graduation when there is no honor code, what will hold an individual back from cheating on his taxes? The idea of an honor code more or less reflects the concept of collectivism: one should behave ethically as a measure of respect to others, one’s classmates or peers. This idea works within a small community like a university campus. But it does not guarantee that students will behave when they graduate, because it does not convey a real sense of the wrongs of cheating. When a student cheats, he does damage not only to his peers but also to himself and to the system
at large. A student should not avoid cheating solely because that is the code of conduct in his community — he should simply realize that it is inherently wrong. If an honor code is superficial and superfluous, then what is an effective way to prevent cheating? First of all, tests should not be battlegrounds for survival. The Chinese college entrance examination is an extreme example of survival testing — that exam can be the sole determining factor of a person’s life and future opportunities. If tests become too significant in the overall evaluation of a student’s performance, cheating will become almost inevitable. Students should realize that testing is a means, not an end. The goal of taking an exam is to learn, not to get a good grade, so only an honest result is meaningful. Academic honesty not only ensures fairness, but also encourages meaningful learning. No matter how one feels about a test, being honest is always the right choice. Students don’t need a college honor code to know that’s true. YIFU DONG is a freshman in Branford College. Contact him at yifu.dong@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 3
NEWS
“Our elections are free, it’s in the results where we eventually pay.” BILL STERN AMERICAN ACTOR
CORRECTIONS MONDAY, OCT. 28
The article, “Program aims to close Connecticut’s achievement gap” misstated that the pilot program currently exists in “New Haven, Windham and Naugatuck, among other districts.” It should have said that the program exists in West Haven, Norwalk, Naugatuck, Bristol, and Waterbury.
Yale joins peers on the road JOINT TRAVEL DESTINATIONS FOR YALE AND PEER SCHOOLS IN 2013
Fair aims to recruit students BY LAVINIA BORZI STAFF REPORTER After several years without a Yale Graduate Programs Admissions Fair, the University revived the fair Monday at the Yale Law School. The fair presented eight of Yale’s graduate and professional schools: the School of Drama, the School of Medicine, the School of Management, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Law School, the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the Yale Divinity School and the Nursing School. Undergraduates were free to visit the different booths and ask various admissions representatives questions about applications and student life at the schools. Admissions officers from the participating schools said that they took part in the fair to expand recruitment within Yale College, to demonstrate the accessibility of the admissions offices and to encourage students to consider paths that they had not previously envisioned. Still, the fair, which lasted from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., was lightly attended — at times, there were as few as 10 students mingling with the admissions officers. “Some of us recruit heavily on the road, but we have incredible students in our own backyard who may also not be familiar with our programs,” said Danielle Curtis, director of enrollment management at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She added that students do not have “easy access” to admissions officers for Yale’s graduate programs. Though some schools organize additional events on campus, the fair is a “good first point of contact” between students and graduate programs, Curtis said. Likewise, Melissa Pucci, who serves as admissions director at the Nursing School and spearheaded the event’s organization, said that the fair helps open lines of communication between students and the lesser-known schools. The fair is particularly important for schools like the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Nursing School, Curtis said. Students may be misinformed about the areas of study and career paths associated with these schools, and the fair gives the schools the opportunity to present their programs in detail. But Bruce del Monico, admissions director at the SOM, said he also wants to recruit more students from Yale College as the SOM class size expands over the years. “Yale students are strong students but not just that — they also share the values of the Uni-
versity, which are also the same values the School of Management upholds,” Del Monico said. The SOM Associate Dean Anjani Jain said in a Monday email that although Yale College is already the largest “feeder” to the MBA program, the SOM is always eager to attract a larger pool of applicants from Yale. Divinity School admissions director Sean McAvoy said that there is a trend of continuation from the Religious Studies major to the Divinity School, because these students are already exposed to and aware of a lot of the school’s resources. But Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Jennifer Herdt said in a Monday email that Yale College students regularly go on to the Divinity School from a series of different majors.
We’re hoping to really open the lines and allow students to contact admissions officers freely. MELISSA PUCCI Admissions director, School of Nursing Pucci said that the biggest challenge in recruiting Yale College students, especially for schools that do not have corresponding majors like the Divinity School or the School of Drama, is that undergraduates do not reach out to the admissions offices on their own. “When you’re an undergraduate, you’re not sure who to approach first,” Pucci said. “We’re hoping to really open the lines and allow students to contact admissions officers freely.” All eight students interviewed at the fair said that they thought the fair was a useful event because they would not have contacted admissions officers independently. “I probably should have already talked to some people in admissions, but I knew I was not actually going to do it,” Zachary Schloss ’15 said. Pucci said that the committee reached out to Undergraduate Career Services and to the residential college deans to advertise the fair along with publishing an ad in the News on Monday. But Pedro Rolón ’14 said that because the fair is such a good opportunity for undergraduates, more publicity efforts should be made in future years. Thirty percent of the class of 2010 was attending a graduate or professional school one year after graduation, compared to 60 percent of the class of 1975. Contact LAVINIA BORZI at lavinia.borzi@yale.edu .
KATHRYN CRANDALL/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
For the first time in a number of years, Yale’s graduate schools organized an on-campus fair for interested undergraduate students.
3 2
4
5
6
1
10
13 14 15
9
7 8
11
1 2 3 4 5
12
Indianapolis, IN, April 20, 2013 Champaign, IL, April 21, 2013 Chicago, IL, April 22, 2013 Grand Rapids, MI, April 23, 2013 Detroit, MI, April 24, 2013 BY RISHABH BHANDARI STAFF REPORTER
Despite being competitors on the field and in college rankings, Yale and other selective universities on the East Coast are teaming up to reach out to a wider range of high school students across the country. For roughly five years, the Yale Admissions Office has partnered with its counterparts at Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to hold joint-travel information sessions for high school students from coast to coast — a partnership that will expand from three trips each spring to four. Additionally, next fall, Yale will join a pre-existing partnership between Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia for another set of joint trips, focusing on areas of the country that have traditionally been underrepresented in these schools’ recent application cycles. “We’re strategic in which states we’ll travel to each year,” said Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan, adding that each spring, the Admissions Office plans the travel schedule for the upcoming year, after analyzing the number of applications Yale received from various regions of the country in the last admissions cycle. Quinlan said that Yale admissions officers are more likely to host information sessions in regions that have sent disproportionately fewer applicants to Yale than population and achievement markers would anticipate. At the joint-travel information sessions run by Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia, admissions officers emphasized not the differences between the universities but their similarities in terms of affordability and accessibility, said Gregory Roberts, dean of undergraduate admissions at the University of Virginia. Roberts said the three schools — which Yale will soon join — look to target pockets of the country with high populations of prospective firstgeneration college students or students with high need for university financial aid,
6 7 8 9 10
Cleveland, OH, April 25 Birmingham, AL, July 8 2013 Jackson, MS, July 9, 2013 Little Rock, AR, July 10, 2013 Nashville, TN, July 11, 2013
adding that Yale’s involvement arose from a discussion between Quinlan and William Fitzsimmons, the dean of undergraduate admissions at Harvard. Despite the rivalry typically shared by Yale and its peer institutions in the realm of admissions, Roberts, Quinlan and outside college admissions experts interviewed all said that group travel has become an increasingly popular trend among colleges, as it benefits both the students and schools. “Traveling with your competitors allows you to learn trade secrets and talk shop,” said David Petersam, president of Virginiabased higher education consulting group AdmissionsConsultants. Petersam added that each school benefits from sharing each other’s insights and strategies to better reach out to potential applicants, citing MIT’s innovative use of social media as one strategy that Yale and Brown admissions officers may have picked up on after traveling with their MIT counterparts. Joint-travel information sessions allow students to receive relevant information in a more streamlined and centralized manner, said Richard Avitabile, a former admissions officer at New York University and a private college counselor at Steinbrecher and Partners. Sam Faucher ’16, a student from Idaho, said single-college information sessions were often inconvenient. “Even when schools like Yale did come to Idaho, it didn’t make sense for some of my friends to attend,” Faucher said. “Some of these kids lived on farms that were a couple of hours away from town. Why would they come to town for just one college’s information session?” According to survey responses, Quinlan said, students who attend the joint sessions and students who attend Yale-only information sessions usually express similar levels of satisfaction. Petersam said the joint-travel information sessions do not increase competitiveness amongst the schools, as such
11 12 13 14 15
Anchorage, AK, July 13, 2013 Juneau, AK, July 14, 2013 LA, CA, July 15, 2013 Riverside, CA, July 16, 2013 San Diego, CA July 17, 2013
competition is inevitable and the “brand recognition” of these schools is already high. “You really can’t hide your competitors from the kids. Yale wouldn’t be able to hide Stanford or Harvard from high-scoring applicants just by refusing to travel with them,” Petersam said. Quinlan said that Yale’s partner schools share Yale’s desire to reach out to highachieving students who do not apply to selective institutions, adding that it is important that the schools also practice need-blind admissions and maintain robust financial aid programs. While the expansion of group travel over the coming year will lead to cutbacks in the Yale Admissions Office’s stand-alone travel, Quinlan said, he does not expect the Yale-only model to end anytime soon, as it is still the best way for Yale to reach regions that are already well-represented in the student body. “Group travel is most effective in spreading the word to underrepresented communities, but it’d be counterproductive for Yale to visit an elite high school that continually produces a lot of Ivy League students with a rival school,” said William Morse ’64 GRD ’74 — a former admissions officer at Yale — adding that the growth of joint-travel information sessions over the last decade is a sign of selective universities taking more nuanced approaches to admissions. While Yale reaches out to top students at schools such as Andover and Exeter to persuade them to choose the University over its peer institutions, Morse said that in other cases, Yale needs to reach out to top students in more diverse communities to convince them to even consider applying to selective universities in the first place. Yale will begin its partnership with Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia in fall 2014. Contact RISHABH BHANDARI at rishabh.bhandari@yale.edu .
City clerk contest heats up BY BASSEL HABBAB CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Two contenders remain contenders in a heated race for New Haven’s city clerk position, which is to be decided in the Nov. 5 general election. Following Ward 8 Alderman Michael Smart’s victory over Sergio Rodriguez in the Democratic primary, he will face incumbent city clerk Ron Smith, who is running as an Independent. The city clerk is responsible for a number of tasks, including processing public documents, maintaining records, codifying legislation and overseeing ballot preparation and distribution. The position is a part-time job paying over $46,000 per year. Incumbent Ron Smith has held the position of city clerk for close to 10 years. In July, New Haven’s Democratic Town Committee voted to endorse Smart over Rodriguez and Smith, in a 30–12–4 vote. Despite the office’s nonlegislative function, the race for city clerk is a fiercely contested one. Rodriguez, the alderman for Ward 26, withdrew from the race after losing to Smart in the Democratic primary. Rodriguez said he subsequently endorsed the Democratic ticket of Toni Harp ARC ’78 and Michael Smart. In July, Harp and Smart successfully petitioned to appear near each other on the Democratic primary ballot. As the winners of the Democratic primary, they will appear side-byside on the November ballot, according to
Registrar of Voters Sharon Ferrucci. Meanwhile, Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10 and Ron Smith endorsed one other on Oct. 20. Elicker said he endorsed Smith because he believes Smith is closely connected to the community. It is important for any city clerk to be connected to the community, Elicker said, adding that this is crucial because the clerk is responsible for absentee balloting. “Customer service is very important in that office,” Elicker said. Despite seven calls placed to the city clerk’s office over a three-day period and seven calls placed to his personal phone over a five-day period, Smith could not be reached for comment. In the same fiveday period, seven calls were placed to Michael Smart with no response. Deputy clerk Sally Brown, who is a fulltime employee of City Hall, said that she is the person responsible for running the office on a day-to-day basis. Brown served as the city clerk from 1986 to 1995, and has served as the deputy clerk since then. “The city clerk does oversee the office,” Brown said. “If there are issues here, I talk to them about it. Any decision I make, I run by them.” Aside from the two New Haven registrars of voters, city clerk is the only elected position in the Elm City that is not an alderperson or the mayor. Members of the Board of Alderman set the city clerk’s salary in the annual budget, said City Hall spokeswoman Anna Mariotti. According to Brown, who was elected
city clerk in 1986, “there used to be a whole underticket. You used to elect the mayor, treasurer, city clerk, tax collector, eight or nine other positions.” Brown said that candidates running for elected positions would often form a ticket with other candidates running for different positions. This collaboration made the ticket stronger as a whole, she added. As time went on, the city charter was revised and many of the “underticket” positions were phased out; the only one that remained was city clerk. When asked how many hours per week the city clerk spends in the office, Brown said she was not sure. Before her election to the position of deputy clerk in 1986, she said, the city clerk “never really came into the office.” Over the years, Brown said, the city clerk office has undergone significant cuts in personnel. Although 14 people were part of the office in 1986, only five people are currently employed, according to Brown. “Over the years, we went through attrition, retirement, budget cuts, that kind of thing. Everybody in the city has had to cut back,” Brown said. She added that new technology has helped the office carry out its functions despite the decrease in employees. City clerk elections are held every two years. Contact BASSEL HABBAB at bassel.habbab@yale.edu .
PAGE 4
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“Those who cannot understand how to put their thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of debate.” FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE GERMAN PHILOSOPHER
Eidelson, Chandler spar for Ward 1
HENRY EHRENBERG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The issues that came up during the aldermanic candidates’ debate included ther differing levels of experience and their respective abilities to connect with Yale students. DEBATE FROM PAGE 1 trumps a candidate’s status as a student. “It takes more than casual interactions in a classroom to make students feel comfortable and motivated to be connected to the rest of the city and to get engaged in the legislative process,” Eidelson said. Chandler contrasted his outreach efforts during the past two months of the campaign — holding suite meet-and-greets, weekly lunches and conversations with campus groups — to what he described as Eidelson’s absence from campus. He said the first question students ask him in conversation is: “Where is Sarah?”
“If I had to pick, I’d say getting students involved [is more important than a legislative agenda] just because 30 Yale students could do more than I could do as one student,” he said. Eidelson parried criticisms of absenteeism by pointing to her engagement with students over the process of charter reform — proposed revisions to the city’s governing document that will be put to referendum on Election Day — and her weekly office hours in Blue State. In answer to a question about his party affiliation, Chandler distanced himself from GOP ideology at the national level, but said being the sole Republican on the Board would force dialogue and also pro-
vide him with weekly meetings with the mayor, which he said is a privilege of the body’s minority leader. He would also gain access to committees of his choice, he said. As chair of the Board’s youth services committee, Eidelson has trumpeted her work enhancing opportunities for the city’s youth as the crowning achievement of her first term. Aside from critiquing her alleged lack of focus on the city’s budget, Chandler did not challenge Eidelson’s legislative achievements but questioned her independence from a union-backed “supermajority” on the Board, referring to the slate of aldermanic candidates who won election in 2011 with the backing
of Yale’s Unite Here unions, Locals 34 and 35. Eidelson said the way she votes on the Board is unaffected by her employment with Local 34 as a graphic designer. Chandler rehashed the line of attack toward the end of the debate when Matt Breuer ’14 asked Chandler to describe the nature of his disagreement with the local unions. “I am not against unions,” Chandler said. “What I am against is … Locals 34 and 35 using their collective ability to get people into office.” The candidates also diverged on the relative importance of shortterm livability improvements within the ward. Chandler prom-
ised immediate upgrades to quality of life for Yale students in the form of better bike lanes and easier access to the New Haven Green, while Eidelson said her vision is more long-term, dependent on a process of coalition building with other members of the Board. As one means of redressing the city’s dire financial straits, Eidelson said the University should give larger voluntary contributions to the city, particularly in light of the large number of nonprofit and therefore tax-exempt University properties. Chandler disagreed, saying the city should develop independent sources of revenue by luring business into New Haven. Ten students interviewed fol-
lowing the debate were equally divided over a winner. Ameze Belo-Osagie ’16 said Chandler’s performance overcame her own Democratic leanings. “I thought the Republican candidate actually provided a really strong challenge to Eidelson in a way that might even induce me to vote for him,” she said. In contrast, Adrian Lo ’15 said he thought Eidelson had a “much more solid grasp about what the job means.” Eidelson and Chandler face off at the polls on Nov. 5. Contact ISAAC STANLEY-BECKER at isaac.stanley-becker@yale.edu .
Yale plans sustainability efforts for next three years SUSTAINABILITY FROM PAGE 1
Send submissions to opinion@yaledailynews.com
OPINION.
2016. The plan also includes specific dining-related goals, such as increasing the use of plant-based foods in Yale Dining by 15 percent over 2013 levels. Yale will also ensure that at least 37 percent of the food used by Dining is at least one of the following: local, ecosensitive, humane or fair trade. In addition to the new University-wide plan, each of Yale’s schools will receive a customized sustainability plan jointly created by Yale sustainability professionals and members of each school. Some schools have already received their plan, and the School of Medicine’s Laboratory Sustainability Plan was released Monday. The creation of the tailored plans, part of the Universitywide Sustainability Leadership & Capacity Building goals, came from the need to “offer more localized context” to the University-wide plan, said Assistant Director of the Office of Sustainability Melissa Goodall. The
Divinity School plan focuses on food sustainability, while the SOM plan emphasizes energy and waste management, she added. “A huge difference between the last plan and this one is the balance between operational change and behavior change,” Goodall said. “The first plan lived largely in facilities — the accountability was behind the scenes. Now that we have come this far, meeting the goals in this plan will require that staff, students and faculty make thoughtful choices.” Although Highsmith emphasized altering behavior as one of the primary focuses of sustainability efforts at Yale, students, who invariably make up a large proportion of the University’s energy consumption, remained largely unaware of the administration’s efforts to improve sustainability. Of 32 students interviewed on Monday evening, only five had read the plan. The lack of student awareness stands in contrast to major efforts on the behalf of the Office of Sustainability, where 26 students work in the Sustainability Service
Corps and 32 work as research assistants. Richita Gupta ’16, one of the few students who had looked through the document, said she was pleased with Yale’s efforts to try to become more environmentally friendly. The initiative’s announcement comes less than two weeks after the appointment of Virginia Chapman to lead the Office of Sustainability, which has been without a director since Julie Newman left to lead sustainability efforts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in midAugust. Although Chapman will not officially step into her new capacity until Nov. 18, Highsmith said she will play a critical role in implementing the plan. Chapman could not be reached Monday. The Yale Office of Sustainability was established in 2005. Contact MATTHEW LLOYD-THOMAS and HANNAH SCHWARZ matthew.lloyd-thomas@yale.edu and hannah.schwarz@yale.edu .
GOALS FOR SUSTAINABILITY TO BE COMPLETED JUNE 2013
Potable water use
5%
Paper purchases
10%
recycled or Waste that is reused, composted
50%
eco-sensitive, Food served that is local, humane or fair
37%
Preparation of plant-based foods
15%
Cleaning chemical usage
30%
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 5
NEWS
“There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress … than I had any conception of before I became president.” JAMES K. POLK FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Former senator decries partisanship BY AKASH SALAM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh lamented the polarized nature of the American government in a Monday talk in Linsly-Chittenden Hall. During the event, which was sponsored by the William F. Buckley Jr. Program, Bayh — a Democrat who served as governor from 1989–97 and senator from 1999–2011 — spoke to approximately 30 audience members about how economic, political and social factors can lead to a polarized government in which politicians care more about winning elections than taking action for the betterment of society.
People always came to the United States for opportunity. Currently, they only see a Washington gridlocked. EVAN BAYH Former governor and senator, Indiana “Obviously, Congress is not regarded highly,” Bayh said. “People always came to the United States for opportunity. Currently, they only see a Washington gridlocked with practical and political challenges.” Bayh pointed out that it takes extreme situations — such as the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the financial crisis of 2008 — to spur Democrats and Republicans into cooperation in order to take comprehensive action. Bayh added that he believes the standard of living in America has not improved for the last 10 years, as economic concerns are at an alltime high. Unemployment has only gone down because people have quit looking for jobs, he said, and college, healthcare and insurance costs have all risen while real wages have stayed stagnant. Additionally, Bayh said that members of Congress are so polarized that the federal government has trouble passing measures to improve these sorts of economic problems. “There are not enough purple states. No one votes in primaries,
Startup creates app to track diabetes BY JR REED STAFF REPORTER The New Haven-based biotech startup Applivate launched its first product this past week: ShugaTrak. The smartphone application is designed to help parents with diabetic children monitor their kids’ blood glucose levels. Applivate founder and CEO John Fitzpatrick, a former researcher in the Yale School of Medicine’s neurobiology department, first presented the concept for the application at New Haven’s inaugural Startup Weekend competition in 2011.
ALEXANDRA SCHMELING/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The William F. Buckley Jr. Program sponsored a talk with Evan Bayh, who spoke on the current state of politics in the United States. except the most ideological,” Bayh said. “And big money comes in to support or oppose the candidates in those primaries.” Bayh added that in the presidential election of 2012, four states determined the outcome of the election. Political candidates are now camping out in only four or five states to win an election, he said, whereas the other states only serve as stopgaps to raise campaign funds. Additionally, Bayh said that low voter turnouts have changed the way that senators look at primaries — they must appeal to the most conservative or most liberal voters in order to have a chance at winning, and then feel obligated to stick to these extreme policies in the general election. Because of globalization, Bayh said, American political struggles are further exacerbated, as America constantly needs to look over its shoulders to keep up with the emergence of new competitors around the world who can potentially take over market shares. But while Bayh outlined a litany of issues within the federal government, he said he remains hopeful for the future of the country. “In spite of all these challenges, I’ve got two 17-year-old boys, and there’s no other place in the world I
would have them grow up,” he said. “There is freedom in your mind, the freedom to choose the fruits of your labors, the freedom to choose your government officials — it’s a democracy, and it’s up to all of us. I am optimistic.” During the talk, when a student asked about the 2008 vice-president candidacy, Bayh said he was “a coin flip” away from being then-nominee President Barack Obama’s running mate. However, he said, it ultimately came down to the fact that his state was led by a Republican governor. Students interviewed said they found Bayh’s presentation engaging and relevant — especially given the current state of politics. Zach Young ’17 said he found the talk interesting because Bayh is a figure who has crossed party lines to concentrate purely on political issues themselves. “I do find his arguments convincing,” Alex Garland ’17 said. “I think the self-selection and increase in partisanship has had bad ramifications for the country.” Bayh first held public office as Secretary of State of Indiana in 1986. Contact AKASH SALAM at akash.salam@yale.edu .
New Haven continues to be aptly described as Connecticut’s ‘City of Innovation.’ KELLY MURPHY Economic Development Administrator, New Haven Isamu Haya, another competition participant, asked to partner with Fitzpatrick, and the two then worked on the design for the remainder of the weekend – a collaboration that won them first place overall. Fitzpatrick and Haya spent the next two years building a business model around the app and refining their product to incorporate user concerns. The app helps send a child’s diabetes blood glucose measurements to parents through text messages and emails. Fitzpatrick said the idea originated with his wife, who has Type 1 diabetes. After watching his wife manage her condition using an insulin pump and glucose meter to conduct blood sugar readings, Fitzpatrick saw an opportunity to produce a technology to harness the massive amounts of data these two devices collected. “Seeing all the data that is being collected and also then considering recent developments with web and mobile technology, I thought there had to be a way to use the data those two are collecting to help people manage their diabetes,” Fitzpatrick said. “So, I went into Startup Weekend with this idea and came out with a business partner.” Using the application, a child suffer-
ing from diabetes can take a blood glucose reading using a Bluetooth-equipped adapter, according to Fitzpatrick. This adapter then sends the reading to ShugaTrak’s online database, which then delivers text messages or emails to the child’s parents or other designated individuals. Fitzpatrick said that he receives his wife’s readings right after she takes them so that he can know whether or not her blood sugar is at a reasonable level. “That’s really important, because we have two young kids, and, if her blood sugar gets too low, she can pass out,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s imperative that we keep in touch in this way.” He has initially targeted the product for the parents of children with diabetes so that when the children are away, parents can rest assured their kids are taking their blood sugar readings. Fitzpatrick underscored the city of New Haven’s help in spurring the application’s launch. In fact, the city government organized a press conference last week to announce ShugaTrak’s premiere, where Mayor John Destefano Jr. and the Economic Development Administrator Kelly Murphy both delivered remarks about the startup and New Haven’s innovation economy at large. “New Haven continues to be aptly described as Connecticut’s ‘City of Innovation,’ with the success of the New Haven Innovation Ecosystem, known as The Grid, and fast-growing entrepreneurial companies,” Murphy said at the press conference. Applivate and ShugaTrak also greatly benefited from the resources of CTNEXT, Connecticut’s entrepreneur support network and mentorship program, and Connecticut Innovations, an organization that invests in promising startups. After speaking with hundreds of people in the diabetes community thus far, Fitzpatrick said he and his company have received great feedback surrounding the application. He added that ShugaTrak is the first of many products Applivate plans to design to transform diabetes management using data. Applivate was named Most Promising New Internet/New Media Company at the 2012 Connecticut Innovation Summit. Contact JR REED at jonathan.t.reed@yale.edu .
Public installation to explore urban violence BY ERIC XIAO STAFF REPORTER New Haven community members ranging from elementary school students to professional artists will reflect on violence through art starting next month. “Through the Trees,” an interactive public art installation curated by New Haven-based artists Nick Pfaff and Hannah Plotke, will open in late November in ‘The Lot,’ a small park and exhibition space at the intersection of Chapel St. and Church St. The installation, which will feature artwork related to the theme of violence in New Haven, will include works donated by local artists, and visitors will also have a chance to create art on site. The donated pieces will be hung from the branches
of eight “reconstructed” trees — trees that curators have assembled by combining sections from different tree species, such as cedar and mountain laurel. The project will provide a platform for the New Haven community to reflect on the issue of violence within the city, Plotke said. “We are interested in why this topic has not been approached from an artistic perspective in New Haven,” Plotke said. “There is a lot of gang violence and trafficking of guns here. It is a big part of the culture for younger people.” Many students in New Haven know victims of urban violence or have witnessed it themselves, said Helen Kauder, the executive director of Artspace — the New Haven studio, exhibition space and gallery that owns ‘The Lot.’
Plotke explained that in urban settings, it is difficult for individuals to grieve for loved ones who are deceased because there is not enough space for them to express their emotions publically. Many people choose actions such as writing on the side of a building to reflect on the loss of a loved one, she said, adding that the installation will provide a space for community members to pay their respects without invading private property. “Through the Trees” will feature artwork from all age groups. Plotke said one adult artist is making garlands of origami cranes while the students in a creative writing class at a local school are working on pieces they hope to physically assemble into one object for the exhibit.
Johanna Bresnick, the Visual Arts department chair at the Educational Center for the Arts, said she pushed her students to explore themes such as loss and loneliness in their contributions to the installation, noting that she thinks the students’ artwork should be applicable to all audiences, not only those who have experienced or witnessed violence in the community. “We ask them to make artwork that is not overly didactic and not so subject-driven that it ends up explicating really obvious themes about violence,” Bresnick said. Plotke said she thinks the most important part of the project will be the art that community members will create on site. Public art projects such as “Through the Trees” target “the accidental
audience” — the people who happen to come across an installation and decide to spend a few minutes exploring it, Kauder said. She said ‘The Lot’ is particularly suited to hosting an installation that promotes community engagement given that four local bus lines stop near the park. Pfaff and Plotke curated an exhibition at the Connecticut State Legislative Building in June as a response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. They asked schools across Connecticut to reflect on questions pertaining to community safety and contribute artwork to the exhibition. Pfaff and Plotke found that students from schools in areas with high levels of violence submitted barely any art. Plotke said she thinks
that in many schools, students and teachers were not discussing the topic of violence in the community because they were discouraged or even prohibited from talking about it. She added that in general, isolated tragedies such as the Newtown shooting tend to receive more attention than the consistently high levels of violence in cities, which further contributes to the lack of discussion. “Larger than the problem itself is the problem of how little it is talked about,” Plotke said. “I think many students have been waiting for an opportunity like this.” ‘The Lot’ hosted its first official art installation in 1999. Contact ERIC XIAO at eric.xiao@yale.edu .
PAGE 6
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 7
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” THEODORE ROOSEVELT FORMER PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Brain region helps us learn from our mistakes BY ELEANOR RUNDE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
To err may be human — but a new Yale study has revealed the brain region that prevents us from making the same mistake twice. The researchers showed that the medial frontal cortex — a region of the brain directly behind the forehead — spiked in activity after both rats and humans in the study made a mistake. The report is the first to identify the brain region responsible for more cautious behavior after errors and may lead to new treatments for diseases including obesity, OCD and schizophrenia. In the study, rats and humans received feedback on their performance on a time-estimation task in which humans estimated 1.4 seconds and rats received a reward for releasing a lever before a 600-millisecond window. The study found that after making an error, both humans and rats adjusted their behavior by slowing down their responses, said study author and University of Iowa professor of neurology Nandakumar Narayanan. Researchers found that in both humans and rats, higher rates of low-frequency brain waves in the medial frontal cortex — measured by EEG in humans and microelectrode arrays in rats — predicted greater post-error slowing. The researchers also chemically knocked out the medial frontal cortex of rats to investigate whether eliminating the function of the region would prevent the animals from learning from their mistakes. Once the medial frontal cortex was no longer active, the rats stopped adjusting their behavior based on prior errors. “The findings were highly novel, showing that syn-
chronization between different frontal cortical regions is necessary for adjusting behavior after mistakes,” said Brown University professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences Michael Frank. Since error processing is such a fundamental computation, dysfunction in the medial frontal cortex manifests in a range of disorders, said study author and Yale professor of neurobiology Mark Laubach. The brains of the chronically obese commonly feature weakened connectivity in the neurons in the medial frontal cortex, Laubach said. Without proper error monitoring from the medial frontal cortex, obese individuals may continue to eat excessively despite the harmful effects of their actions. Activity in the region is too low for individuals with schizophrenia, Laubach said, leading to repetitive behaviors, even if these behaviors have negative consequences. By contrast, the region is too active for those with OCD. “Hyperactivity, in this case, is a deficiency,” said study author and psychology professor at the University of New Mexico James Cavanagh. “The hyperactive error signal is not being utilized to assist behavior [in OCD patients]. They have an alarm bell ringing but they’re not able to utilize that signal.” Since the study demonstrated such strong similarities between the error systems in rats and humans, researchers can now use rats to develop drug therapies for humans, Cavanagh said. The study appeared in the journal Nature Neuroscience and was published online on Oct. 20. Contact ELEANOR RUNDE at eleanor.runde@yale.edu .
Inflammation linked to aging BY SARAH ECKINGER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A new Yale-led study may help scientists slow down aging and prevent the onset of chronic disease. Although there has long been evidence demonstrating connections between inflammation and declining health in the elderly, the specific link between the two has remained unclear. Yale professor of comparative medicine Vishwa Deep Dixit and researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center showed that knocking out the Nlrp3 molecule in mice prevented the loss of cell function induced by inflammation. This sensor is the missing link in showing how the effects of aging spread through inflammation. This discovery also holds promise for slowing down the process of aging by reducing the immune response, which may lead to a lower risk of age-related disease, said study author Donald K. Ingram, a professor of neuroscience at the Pennington Biomedical Center. “[This] will help us understand potentially what goes wrong as we age, and maybe altering some of those pathways will help us understand how to better treat immune processes in someone who is over 65,” said Yale professor of laboratory medicine Stephanie Eisenbarth, who was not involved in the study. Researchers tested their hypothesis that Nlrp3 — a molecule known to play a role in the inflammatory pathway — mediates inflammation and disease onset in mice. The knockout reduced inflammation and prevented decline in cognition,
bone density and immune response. The results demonstrate that the Nlrp3 molecule is a key component that controls age-related inflammation, Ingram said. “The implications are if we can find ways of controlling this internal sterile inflammatory pathway through some pharmacologic means, it might affect our [aging] philosophy,” Ingram said. The results show the molecule has a profound impact on a range of age-related disorders, said Yale professor of immunobiology and rheumatology Martin Kriegel. Clifford Rosen, another lead researcher on the study and a physician at the Maine Medicine Center, found the results “both novel and provocative,” and hopes to have opportunities to pursue this research in larger animals and eventually humans. Though the results are promising, it will take further research to determine the full effects of disrupting the Nlrp3 molecule, said Laura McCabe, a physiology professor at Michigan State and a researcher on the study. Disrupting the pathway may lead to unintended side effects since the Nlrp3 molecule effects all inflammatory responses and not just those related to age. Researchers will take this next step before moving on to possible pharmaceutical applications. This study was published as the cover article in the October issue of Cell Metabolism. Contact SARAH ECKINGER at sarah.eckinger@yale.edu .
Kahan reacts to controversy
Immunity key in bee sting response BY STEPHANIE ROGERS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A study from the Yale School of Medicine has demonstrated that a common venom found in bee stings triggers an immune response that keeps future allergic reactions to the toxin under control. The Yale research team tested to see if longstanding antibody and immune response to bee venom could be conferred through repeated exposure to the venom. In the study, mice were injected with an allergic component of this venom, the enzyme PLA2, which triggered an allergic response and the first steps of acquired immunity to the venom. After repeated exposure to PLA2, the mice were found to be protected against severe allergic reactions. Since PLA2 is found in almost all venoms, the research suggests it may be possible to develop vaccinations against a wide range of allergic reactions, said senior author and Yale professor of immunobiology Ruslan Medzhitov.
We found proof for a concept that allergy is a protective reaction, just like pain. RUSLAN MEDZHITOV Professor, Yale School of Medicine “People have been wondering for a long time why allergy even exists,” Medzhitov said. “Why didn’t we evolve to lose this component of immunity if all it does is make us miserable? We found proof for a concept that allergy is a protective reaction, just like pain – it is unpleasant, but it is meant to be unpleasant to protect us from the greater harm.”
BY NICOLE NG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER On Oct. 15, Yale professor of law and psychology Dan Kahan wrote in a blog post that he found a small positive correlation between liberals and science comprehension. But to caution readers from jumping to hasty conclusions, Kahan also wrote that he found a tiny positive correlation between identifying with the Tea Party and understanding scientific concepts. Kahan said he intended to demonstrate that both liberals and conservatives are prone to decision-making on ideological, rather than scientific grounds. But Kahan said that a faulty interpretation of his data spurred articles on his findings in publications ranging from Politico to the Washington Times, becoming an exact example of what Kahan researches: the misinterpretation of empirical evidence due to ideological or cultural stakes. Kahan is head of the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale, a consortium of researchers affiliated with various universities that studies how group identities shape individuals’ perceptions of societal risks and policy-related facts, such as climate change and gun control. In an interview with the News, Kahan spoke about his research and the challenges that cultural cognition and science misinterpretation pose for society.
When PLA2 enters the body, it triggers the activation of mast cells, leading to the release of histamines and other inflammatory measures. The inflammation, itching, tearing, vomiting, sneezing and runny nose that take place during allergic reactions can be aggravating, but help expel the toxin from the body. The venom also causes an immune response through activating the antibody IgE. Repeated exposure to the venom maintains the IgE antibody and low-level allergic response in the future. The classical view of allergies is that the response was a physiological mistake by the body, and this finding adds to a body of recent evidence shifting this opinion, said lead author and member of the Department of Immunobiology Noah Palm GRD ’11. The fact that PLA2 is shared among so many venoms shows how the body may have a limited number of mechanisms to deal with venom from a range of animals, he added. The finding suggests new directions for understanding the connection between the immune system and allergies, said Rachel Rosenstein GRD ’12 MED ’13, lead author and associate faculty member of the Yale Medical School. She added that individual differences in how people respond to stings may depend on genetic and environmental influences on the immune system. “Our research was done in mice, and confirming in humans would be difficult, but this gives support to the concept of venom immunotherapy and the concept that increased exposure to allergens can be protective,” she said. About 2 million people in the United States are allergic to bee stings, causing 100 deaths a year. Contact STEPHANIE ROGERS at stephanie.rogers@yale.edu .
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
Q
What have you found in your research that explains the phenomenon of group identity influencing policy beliefs?
A
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
We did tests and found that people who are more science literate and better able to make sense out of scientific data tended to be more polarized along cultural lines on issues like climate change or guns or nuclear power, not less. That’s not what you would expect if the problem were that people had a deficit in rationality — in that case, the people who are the most science comprehending among those different groups would be converging on their views consistent with the best evidence. On something like climate change, when positions are really viewed as kind of badges of membership and loyalty to groups, the stake that people have in forming the group-consistent belief is probably going to be a lot bigger than the one they have in forming the belief that’s consistent with the best available evidence. Now that climate change has this kind of significance as a marker of whether you belong to a group and can be trusted within it, the consequences of making a mistake relative
to what your group believes — that’s really consequential. You could end up being shunned or denied [opportunities] within the group.
The truth is nobody is stupid, but everyone is in jeopardy because of the kinds of conditions that dull our critical sensibilities.
Q
How would you explain the media’s misinterpretation of your findings on scientific comprehension and political leaning?
A
We’ve done studies that show that people will in fact construe in an ideologically biased way evidence of whether people are processing information in an open-minded fashion about certain issues, like climate change. If I show that people who believe in climate change do better, then people who are republicans [or] conservatives will say there are problems with the test. So they’re fitting their evidence of open-mindedness to the ideological disposition. It turns out people who scored the highest in terms of open-mindedness did [so] the most because they had the skills of critical reflection that allowed them to manipulate what they’d seen.
Q
How did you react to the media interpreting your finding as an indicator of intelligence levels between the political left and right?
A
Every time we do a study, our evidence of how that happens gets misunderstood because of [an] ideological or political stake that somebody has in the conflict. Mainly I just felt sick to my stomach, because I think that it was an instance of the problem, but it also magnifies it. When people are sitting around saying the other side believes what it does because [they are] stupid, they’re just making the cost to those people of engaging evidence that challenges their beliefs higher, because the consequence of changing their mind would be to admit that you and everyone you trust is stupid. Why would anybody want to do that, especially when the truth is nobody is stupid, but everyone is in jeopardy because of the kinds of conditions that dull our critical sensibilities. If we could recognize that [we have this] in common, we could fix it.
Q
What are some ways that we can decrease cognitive bias in scientific interpretation?
A
We can show with lab models that when people are trying to assess information about something like the HPV vaccine, they’ll be very sensitive to both what they perceive the cultural values of the communicator to be, but even more so to just the existence of cues that point towards conflict among different groups. When people are used to the information about the problem being presented to them in a way that seems to focus on one solution that’s kind of antagonistic to what they value — either out of distance avoidance or maybe distrust of people who only seem to think of one solution — they’re more inclined to shut down. When you show them there’s more going on, that some of the things they value are actually part of the solution … then we can show that they are actually engaging the information in a more open-minded and reflective way.
Places like museums are also really a tremendous resource, because when people are curious, these kind of biases don’t happen.
Q A
Where is your research heading from here?
Places like museums are also really a tremendous resource, because when people are curious, these kinds of biases don’t happen. The person who is curious wants to know something and that person has an appetite to be surprised by something he or she didn’t know. That’s the opposite of what we’re finding in people, which is a kind of motivated resistance to having what they believe confounded. How can we leverage curiosity? So I’m interested in looking at how people reason and engage with scientific information outside of politics. I’m pretty sure that some of the research I would be doing in the next few years would be like that. Contact NICOLE NG at nicole.ng@yale.edu .
PAGE 6
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 7
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” THEODORE ROOSEVELT FORMER PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Brain region helps us learn from our mistakes BY ELEANOR RUNDE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
To err may be human — but a new Yale study has revealed the brain region that prevents us from making the same mistake twice. The researchers showed that the medial frontal cortex — a region of the brain directly behind the forehead — spiked in activity after both rats and humans in the study made a mistake. The report is the first to identify the brain region responsible for more cautious behavior after errors and may lead to new treatments for diseases including obesity, OCD and schizophrenia. In the study, rats and humans received feedback on their performance on a time-estimation task in which humans estimated 1.4 seconds and rats received a reward for releasing a lever before a 600-millisecond window. The study found that after making an error, both humans and rats adjusted their behavior by slowing down their responses, said study author and University of Iowa professor of neurology Nandakumar Narayanan. Researchers found that in both humans and rats, higher rates of low-frequency brain waves in the medial frontal cortex — measured by EEG in humans and microelectrode arrays in rats — predicted greater post-error slowing. The researchers also chemically knocked out the medial frontal cortex of rats to investigate whether eliminating the function of the region would prevent the animals from learning from their mistakes. Once the medial frontal cortex was no longer active, the rats stopped adjusting their behavior based on prior errors. “The findings were highly novel, showing that syn-
chronization between different frontal cortical regions is necessary for adjusting behavior after mistakes,” said Brown University professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences Michael Frank. Since error processing is such a fundamental computation, dysfunction in the medial frontal cortex manifests in a range of disorders, said study author and Yale professor of neurobiology Mark Laubach. The brains of the chronically obese commonly feature weakened connectivity in the neurons in the medial frontal cortex, Laubach said. Without proper error monitoring from the medial frontal cortex, obese individuals may continue to eat excessively despite the harmful effects of their actions. Activity in the region is too low for individuals with schizophrenia, Laubach said, leading to repetitive behaviors, even if these behaviors have negative consequences. By contrast, the region is too active for those with OCD. “Hyperactivity, in this case, is a deficiency,” said study author and psychology professor at the University of New Mexico James Cavanagh. “The hyperactive error signal is not being utilized to assist behavior [in OCD patients]. They have an alarm bell ringing but they’re not able to utilize that signal.” Since the study demonstrated such strong similarities between the error systems in rats and humans, researchers can now use rats to develop drug therapies for humans, Cavanagh said. The study appeared in the journal Nature Neuroscience and was published online on Oct. 20. Contact ELEANOR RUNDE at eleanor.runde@yale.edu .
Inflammation linked to aging BY SARAH ECKINGER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A new Yale-led study may help scientists slow down aging and prevent the onset of chronic disease. Although there has long been evidence demonstrating connections between inflammation and declining health in the elderly, the specific link between the two has remained unclear. Yale professor of comparative medicine Vishwa Deep Dixit and researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center showed that knocking out the Nlrp3 molecule in mice prevented the loss of cell function induced by inflammation. This sensor is the missing link in showing how the effects of aging spread through inflammation. This discovery also holds promise for slowing down the process of aging by reducing the immune response, which may lead to a lower risk of age-related disease, said study author Donald K. Ingram, a professor of neuroscience at the Pennington Biomedical Center. “[This] will help us understand potentially what goes wrong as we age, and maybe altering some of those pathways will help us understand how to better treat immune processes in someone who is over 65,” said Yale professor of laboratory medicine Stephanie Eisenbarth, who was not involved in the study. Researchers tested their hypothesis that Nlrp3 — a molecule known to play a role in the inflammatory pathway — mediates inflammation and disease onset in mice. The knockout reduced inflammation and prevented decline in cognition,
bone density and immune response. The results demonstrate that the Nlrp3 molecule is a key component that controls age-related inflammation, Ingram said. “The implications are if we can find ways of controlling this internal sterile inflammatory pathway through some pharmacologic means, it might affect our [aging] philosophy,” Ingram said. The results show the molecule has a profound impact on a range of age-related disorders, said Yale professor of immunobiology and rheumatology Martin Kriegel. Clifford Rosen, another lead researcher on the study and a physician at the Maine Medicine Center, found the results “both novel and provocative,” and hopes to have opportunities to pursue this research in larger animals and eventually humans. Though the results are promising, it will take further research to determine the full effects of disrupting the Nlrp3 molecule, said Laura McCabe, a physiology professor at Michigan State and a researcher on the study. Disrupting the pathway may lead to unintended side effects since the Nlrp3 molecule effects all inflammatory responses and not just those related to age. Researchers will take this next step before moving on to possible pharmaceutical applications. This study was published as the cover article in the October issue of Cell Metabolism. Contact SARAH ECKINGER at sarah.eckinger@yale.edu .
Kahan reacts to controversy
Immunity key in bee sting response BY STEPHANIE ROGERS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A study from the Yale School of Medicine has demonstrated that a common venom found in bee stings triggers an immune response that keeps future allergic reactions to the toxin under control. The Yale research team tested to see if longstanding antibody and immune response to bee venom could be conferred through repeated exposure to the venom. In the study, mice were injected with an allergic component of this venom, the enzyme PLA2, which triggered an allergic response and the first steps of acquired immunity to the venom. After repeated exposure to PLA2, the mice were found to be protected against severe allergic reactions. Since PLA2 is found in almost all venoms, the research suggests it may be possible to develop vaccinations against a wide range of allergic reactions, said senior author and Yale professor of immunobiology Ruslan Medzhitov.
We found proof for a concept that allergy is a protective reaction, just like pain. RUSLAN MEDZHITOV Professor, Yale School of Medicine “People have been wondering for a long time why allergy even exists,” Medzhitov said. “Why didn’t we evolve to lose this component of immunity if all it does is make us miserable? We found proof for a concept that allergy is a protective reaction, just like pain – it is unpleasant, but it is meant to be unpleasant to protect us from the greater harm.”
BY NICOLE NG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER On Oct. 15, Yale professor of law and psychology Dan Kahan wrote in a blog post that he found a small positive correlation between liberals and science comprehension. But to caution readers from jumping to hasty conclusions, Kahan also wrote that he found a tiny positive correlation between identifying with the Tea Party and understanding scientific concepts. Kahan said he intended to demonstrate that both liberals and conservatives are prone to decision-making on ideological, rather than scientific grounds. But Kahan said that a faulty interpretation of his data spurred articles on his findings in publications ranging from Politico to the Washington Times, becoming an exact example of what Kahan researches: the misinterpretation of empirical evidence due to ideological or cultural stakes. Kahan is head of the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale, a consortium of researchers affiliated with various universities that studies how group identities shape individuals’ perceptions of societal risks and policy-related facts, such as climate change and gun control. In an interview with the News, Kahan spoke about his research and the challenges that cultural cognition and science misinterpretation pose for society.
When PLA2 enters the body, it triggers the activation of mast cells, leading to the release of histamines and other inflammatory measures. The inflammation, itching, tearing, vomiting, sneezing and runny nose that take place during allergic reactions can be aggravating, but help expel the toxin from the body. The venom also causes an immune response through activating the antibody IgE. Repeated exposure to the venom maintains the IgE antibody and low-level allergic response in the future. The classical view of allergies is that the response was a physiological mistake by the body, and this finding adds to a body of recent evidence shifting this opinion, said lead author and member of the Department of Immunobiology Noah Palm GRD ’11. The fact that PLA2 is shared among so many venoms shows how the body may have a limited number of mechanisms to deal with venom from a range of animals, he added. The finding suggests new directions for understanding the connection between the immune system and allergies, said Rachel Rosenstein GRD ’12 MED ’13, lead author and associate faculty member of the Yale Medical School. She added that individual differences in how people respond to stings may depend on genetic and environmental influences on the immune system. “Our research was done in mice, and confirming in humans would be difficult, but this gives support to the concept of venom immunotherapy and the concept that increased exposure to allergens can be protective,” she said. About 2 million people in the United States are allergic to bee stings, causing 100 deaths a year. Contact STEPHANIE ROGERS at stephanie.rogers@yale.edu .
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
Q
What have you found in your research that explains the phenomenon of group identity influencing policy beliefs?
A
ANNELISA LEINBACH/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
We did tests and found that people who are more science literate and better able to make sense out of scientific data tended to be more polarized along cultural lines on issues like climate change or guns or nuclear power, not less. That’s not what you would expect if the problem were that people had a deficit in rationality — in that case, the people who are the most science comprehending among those different groups would be converging on their views consistent with the best evidence. On something like climate change, when positions are really viewed as kind of badges of membership and loyalty to groups, the stake that people have in forming the group-consistent belief is probably going to be a lot bigger than the one they have in forming the belief that’s consistent with the best available evidence. Now that climate change has this kind of significance as a marker of whether you belong to a group and can be trusted within it, the consequences of making a mistake relative
to what your group believes — that’s really consequential. You could end up being shunned or denied [opportunities] within the group.
The truth is nobody is stupid, but everyone is in jeopardy because of the kinds of conditions that dull our critical sensibilities.
Q
How would you explain the media’s misinterpretation of your findings on scientific comprehension and political leaning?
A
We’ve done studies that show that people will in fact construe in an ideologically biased way evidence of whether people are processing information in an open-minded fashion about certain issues, like climate change. If I show that people who believe in climate change do better, then people who are republicans [or] conservatives will say there are problems with the test. So they’re fitting their evidence of open-mindedness to the ideological disposition. It turns out people who scored the highest in terms of open-mindedness did [so] the most because they had the skills of critical reflection that allowed them to manipulate what they’d seen.
Q
How did you react to the media interpreting your finding as an indicator of intelligence levels between the political left and right?
A
Every time we do a study, our evidence of how that happens gets misunderstood because of [an] ideological or political stake that somebody has in the conflict. Mainly I just felt sick to my stomach, because I think that it was an instance of the problem, but it also magnifies it. When people are sitting around saying the other side believes what it does because [they are] stupid, they’re just making the cost to those people of engaging evidence that challenges their beliefs higher, because the consequence of changing their mind would be to admit that you and everyone you trust is stupid. Why would anybody want to do that, especially when the truth is nobody is stupid, but everyone is in jeopardy because of the kinds of conditions that dull our critical sensibilities. If we could recognize that [we have this] in common, we could fix it.
Q
What are some ways that we can decrease cognitive bias in scientific interpretation?
A
We can show with lab models that when people are trying to assess information about something like the HPV vaccine, they’ll be very sensitive to both what they perceive the cultural values of the communicator to be, but even more so to just the existence of cues that point towards conflict among different groups. When people are used to the information about the problem being presented to them in a way that seems to focus on one solution that’s kind of antagonistic to what they value — either out of distance avoidance or maybe distrust of people who only seem to think of one solution — they’re more inclined to shut down. When you show them there’s more going on, that some of the things they value are actually part of the solution … then we can show that they are actually engaging the information in a more open-minded and reflective way.
Places like museums are also really a tremendous resource, because when people are curious, these kind of biases don’t happen.
Q A
Where is your research heading from here?
Places like museums are also really a tremendous resource, because when people are curious, these kinds of biases don’t happen. The person who is curious wants to know something and that person has an appetite to be surprised by something he or she didn’t know. That’s the opposite of what we’re finding in people, which is a kind of motivated resistance to having what they believe confounded. How can we leverage curiosity? So I’m interested in looking at how people reason and engage with scientific information outside of politics. I’m pretty sure that some of the research I would be doing in the next few years would be like that. Contact NICOLE NG at nicole.ng@yale.edu .
PAGE 8
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
19
The number of cities ranked more dangerous than New Haven for 2012 Hartford and Bridgeport also appeared in Business Insider’s “The 25 Most Dangerous Cities in America” report.
Candidates plan for a new era TOWN-GOWN FROM PAGE 1 gested that the Grove — a New Haven community of innovators and entrepreneurs — should collaborate with Yale’s Entrepreneurial Institute to create a network of innovators. Yale has invested in New Haven by establishing Yale University Properties in 1996, which helped revitalize Broadway and Chapel Street retail in downtown. Harp said Yale could simultaneously enrich its own community and New Haven by investing in New Haven’s transportation systems. Harp said that people affiliated with the University would like to see a second garage at Union Station and more direct flights from Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport, something that she said she would work to fund. Both candidates also said they want to see more interactions between Yale and New Haven in the domain of education. Harp said that Salovey’s work on emotional intelligence is critical and that his curriculum could be implemented in New Haven public schools to serve as a model for the nation. Elicker also pointed to education, saying that the first thing he would ask Yale to invest in, if elected, is early childhood education. “A lot of the data is showing that early education has an incredible impact on kids and their future, so investing more in our kids, particularly the neediest, will likely give us positive results,” he said. In addition to the mayoral race, the results of the Ward 1 Aldermanic race could influence Yale-New Haven rela-
KATHRYN CRANDALL/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
With the recent inauguration of a new Yale president and the impending election of a New Haven mayor, relations between the University and the city stand at promising crossroads. tions. Sarah Eidelson ’12 is running against Paul Chandler ’14 to represent Ward 1, which consists primarily of Yalies. In Monday night’s debate between Eidelson and Chandler, the two candidates said they will ensure Yale students’ voices are heard in government
and that the issues most pertinent to Yalies will be addressed by the city. “I decided to run to represent you,” Eidelson said to a room full of Yale undergraduates. “We have an integral role to play in shaping New Haven, and I hope you will join me in build-
East Rock sees assaults EAST ROCK FROM PAGE 1 Hartman said in the release. “There is a possibility the weapon could explode or misfire. Anyone in possession of such a weapon is at great risk.” The suspects were found on East St., which runs up downtown New Haven to the edge of the East Rock neighborhood. These three youths are believed to be responsible for both East Rock robberies, according to Hartman’s press release. One of these suspects was in possession of a zip gun, allowing police to obtain a search and seizure warrant that led to the arrest of the suspected manufacturer. One day before Hartman’s press release, two East Rock robberies were also reported by Ronnell Higgins, chief of the Yale Police Department, in a statement to all Yale faculty, staff and students. The first took place on Sept. 27 at 3:15 p.m., while the second happened on Oct. 19 at 1:30 p.m. In both cases, a Yale Law School student was targeted as he was jogging alone around Orange St. and
recycleyourydndaily
ing a New Haven where we want to live.” She said that in her two years as an alderman, she has never found a policy initiative that pitted Yale students’ interests against New Haven’s interests. In his responses, Chandler also talked about making New
English Dr. One victim had cash and a cell phone stolen, while the other was robbed of his iPod. The YPD reported that both victims were chased and assaulted by a group of at least four teenage males on bikes. It is unclear whether the two robberies described in Higgins’ email are separate from the robberies described in Hartman’s press release. “While this is outside the boundaries of campus, it is a reminder that crime can occur anywhere, at any hour,” Higgins said in the statement. “I am hoping that information about these incidents will heighten your awareness and allow you to take actions to lessen your likelihood of becoming a crime victim.” Higgins included safety tips on how to avoid being targeted in similar circumstances, suggesting that students avoid walking or jogging alone, particularly in an isolated area. Hartman closed his press release by urging the public to report any news regarding the manufacture, possession or use of the zip guns to YPD detectives.
Four New Haven residents interviewed in East Rock Park on Sunday said that they had not heard about any particular incidents of crime either in the park itself or in the general neighborhood. Brian Gerena, a 35-year-old East Rock resident, said that the neighborhood is typically secure, especially compared to other areas in downtown New Haven. Gerena said local block watches and community policing make him feel safe in his neighborhood, but acknowledged that home invasions and similar crimes still happen occasionally. “In the areas like [East Rock], it’s really nice and peaceful. But I also know it’s a target for crime, because [criminals] figure it’s a lot quieter and they can probably get away with it,” Gerena said. East Rock Park regulations explicitly prohibit weapons in the park, which is normally closed from sunset to sunrise every day. Contact MAREK RAMILO at marek.ramilo@yale.edu .
P&D P&D P&D P&D P&D P&D P&D P&D P&D P&D
recycleyourydndaily
recycleyourydndaily
recycleyourydndaily
Haven a more attractive place to live. “The Yale bubble should not be the first words you hear as a freshman at your first froco meeting,” he said. “People need to come to New Haven for New Haven, not in spite of New Haven.”
Yesterday’s debate was the only public debate between the Ward 1 candidates. The mayoral candidates are scheduled to engage in a final debate on Sunday. Contact POOJA SALHOTRA at pooja.salhotra@yale.edu .
PRODUCTION & DESIGN
design@yaledailynews.com
recycleyourydndaily
recycleyourydndaily
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 9
BULLETIN BOARD
TODAY’S FORECAST
TOMORROW
Areas of frost before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 50. North wind 5 to 8 mph.
THURSDAY
High of 56, low of 42.
High of 61, low of 53.
SCIENCE HILL BY SPENCER KATZ
ON CAMPUS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29 9:00 a.m. Talk with David De Ferranti. President and Co-Founder of Results for Development David De Ferranti will be lecturing in the Strategic Thinking in Global Health course. Open to the Yale community. Linsly-Chittenden Hall (63 High St.), Rm. 211. 8:30 p.m. Open Drawing. Let your creative juices flow with the Yale School of Art. Materials and models will be provided at this workshop. Yale School of Art (1156 Chapel St.), Rm. G-01.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30 5:00 p.m. “Communicating Science to the Public.” Robert Bazell, Yale adjunct professor and former NBC chief science and health correspondent, will host a talk about the importance of scientific conversation with the public. There will be an information session about becoming a speaker in the Science in the News lecture series. Free to the general public. Bass Center for Molecular and Structural Biology (266 Whitney Ave.), Rm. 305.
THE INKWELL BY SYLVAN ZHENG
6:00 p.m. “Power of the Presidency: Lithuania’s Seat as President of the Council of the European Union.“ The Yale International Relations Association Global Perspectives Society is hosting a panel with the ambassadors to the United States from Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine. Professor David Cameron will moderate the discussion, which spans the European Union and the Eastern Partnership. William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St.), Sudler.
THAT MONKEY TUNE BY MICHAEL KANDALAFT
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 4:00 p.m. “The Most Unequal Country in the World: Inequality and Methods of Redress in Post-Apartheid South Africa.“ Come for a conversation with Jeremy Seekings, political studies and sociology professor from the University of Cape Town. Venue subject to change. Open to the general public. William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St.), Rm. 207.
y SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS ONLINE yaledailynews.com/events/submit DOONESBURY BY GARRY TRUDEAU
To reach us: E-mail editor@yaledailynews.com Advertisements 2-2424 (before 5 p.m.) 2-2400 (after 5 p.m.) Mailing address Yale Daily News P.O. Box 209007 New Haven, CT 06520
Questions or comments about the fairness or accuracy of stories should be directed to Editor in Chief Julia Zorthian at (203) 4322418. Bulletin Board is a free service provided to groups of the Yale community for events. Listings should be submitted online at yaledailynews.com/events/ submit. The Yale Daily News reserves the right to edit listings.
To visit us in person 202 York St. New Haven, Conn. (Opposite JE) FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 29, 2013
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
CLASSIFIEDS
CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis ACROSS 1 Tom, Ma or Pa, in “The Grapes of Wrath” 5 Ballpark judges 9 Greek i’s 14 Doing nothing 15 Put a stop to 16 Russian currency 17 Food Network’s “Throwdown!” host 19 Actor’s platform 20 Remove pencil marks 21 Vinyl flooring piece 23 Skin care brand 24 ’60s song about an insect who “hid / Inside a doggie from Madrid” 27 Palsy-walsy 31 Mongrel 32 Villainous Norse god in the 2012 film “The Avengers” 33 Musical pause 37 Guffaw 41 1996 R. Kelly hit 44 Baffling question 45 Sesame Street giggler 46 Increase, as prices 47 Singer Sumac 49 Deceives 51 Difference between money coming in and money being spent 57 Grand Ole __ 58 Beverage nut 59 Newton with laws 64 Squirrel away 66 Contagious dog malady 68 Take place 69 SOS responder 70 Fast horse 71 Bridge predecessor 72 Stadium that hosted a 1965 Beatles concert 73 Muscle firmness DOWN 1 Be in sync (with) 2 Febreze target 3 “Fantastic Four” actress Jessica 4 Society newbies
Want to place a classified ad? CALL (203) 432-2424 OR E-MAIL BUSINESS@ YALEDAILYNEWS.COM
10/29/13
By David Steinberg
5 Frequency between 300 and 3,000 MHz 6 Island nation near Sicily 7 __ Jane 8 Touchscreentouching tools 9 Org. that’s the target of April glowers 10 Not close enough 11 Game for young batters 12 Aquarium buildup 13 “I’m outta here!” 18 Polite rural assent 22 PC bailout key 25 Pile that aptly rhymes with fire 26 Hawaiian dance 27 Film excerpt 28 Vagabond 29 26-Down instruments 30 Hannah Montana portrayer 34 Eden outcast 35 Poivre companion 36 Duncan of the NBA’s Spurs 38 Usually fuzzy tabloid pics
CLASSICAL MUSIC 24 Hours a Day. 98.3 FM, and on the web at WMNR. org. “Pledges accepted: 1-800345-1812” Tuesday is Opera night!
Monday’s Puzzle Solved
SUDOKU EASY
2 1 5
(c)2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
39 Market surfeit 40 Doc’s shot provider 42 Culinary maven Rombauer 43 Denver’s st. 48 Inquire of 50 Victor’s cry 51 “Never in a million years!” 52 Pleistocene, e.g. 53 “Baywatch” actress Bingham
10/29/13
54 Magician’s opening 55 Word with drive or memory 56 Cavalry weapon 60 “Save me a __!” 61 Bushy do 62 Arkin of “Argo” 63 Sugar bowl unit 65 2000 Richard Gere role 67 Red-and-white supermarket logo
9 4 8
7 1
2 8 6 1 5 6 7 4 9 8 5 7 6
8 5 6 5 1 8 7 6 9 1 6
PAGE 10
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
WORLD
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C. S. LEWIS NOVELIST AND LAY THEOLOGIAN
Europe mulls sanctions over spying
Syrian Christians fear for future
DUSAN VRANIC/ASSOCIATED PRESS
An Armenian altar boy climbs on the altar after a service in an Armenian Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria. MICHAEL SOHN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY DUSAN STOJANOVIC DUSAN STOJANOVIC
German magazine Der Spiegel reported that Washington tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone at the U.S. embassy in Berlin.
BY FRANK JORDANS AND CIARAN GILES ASSOCIATED PRESS BERLIN — The United States could lose access to an important law enforcement tool used to track terrorist money flows, German officials said Monday, as Europe weighed a response to allegations that the Americans spied on their closest European allies. In Washington, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein called for a “total review” of all U.S. intelligence programs in response to the allegations — activity the California Democrat said she wasn’t told about. Feinstein said that while her committee was informed of the National Security Agency’s collection of phone records under a secret court order, it “was not satisfactorily informed” that “certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade” — includ-
ing eavesdropping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own cellphone. She said President Barack Obama was also not told that Merkel’s communications were being collected since 2002. “With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies — including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany — let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed,” Feinstein said in a statement Monday. “Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers,” Feinstein said. “The president should be required to approve any collection of this sort.” Spain became the latest U.S. ally to demand answers after a Spanish newspaper reported that the NSA monitored
DAMASCUS, Syria — Sami Amir is used to the deep echoing rumble of the Syrian army artillery pounding rebel positions on the outskirts of Damascus. It’s the thump of mortars launched from an Islamist-controlled neighborhood that scares him to death. The mortars have repeatedly hit in his mainly Christian district of Damascus, al-Qassaa, reportedly killing at least 32 people and injuring dozens of others the past two weeks. “You don’t know when and you don’t know where they hit,” says Amir, a 55-year-old Christian merchant. “Life here is often too difficult.” Rebel shelling into the capital has increasingly hit several majority-Christian districts, particularly al-Qassaa, with its wide avenues, middle class apartment blocks, leafy parks, popular restaurants and shopping streets busy with pedestrians. The shelling and recent rebel assaults on predominantly Christian towns have
more than 60 million phone calls in that country during one month alone. The report Monday in the daily El Mundo came on the heels of allegations of massive NSA spying in France and Germany. With European leaders dissatisfied with the U.S. response so far, officials have been casting about for a way to pressure Washington to provide details of past surveillance and assurances that the practice will be curbed. The challenge is to send a strong message to Washington against wholesale spying on European citizens and institutions without further damage to the overall trans-Atlantic relationship. As possible leverage, German authorities cited last week’s non-binding resolution by the European Parliament to suspend a post-9/11 agreement allowing the Americans access to bank transfer data to track the flow of terrorist money.
fueled fears among Syria’s religious minorities about the growing role of Islamic extremists and foreign fighters among the rebels fighting against President Bashar Assad’s rule. Christians believe they are being targeted — in part because of the anti-Christian sentiment among extremists and in part as punishment for what is seen as their support for Assad. Though some Christians oppose Assad’s brutal crackdown on the opposition and the community has tried to stay on the sidelines in the civil war, the rebellion’s increasingly outspoken Islamist rhetoric and the prominent role of Islamic extremist fighters have pushed them toward support of the government. Christians make up about 10 percent of Syria’s 23 million people. “When you bring a Christian and make him choose between Assad and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the answer is clear,” said Hilal Khashan, a political scientist professor at the American University of Beirut, referring to the al-Qaida branch fighting alongside the rebels. “It doesn’t need much thinking.”
Fall 2013
!"#
FRANKE PROGRAM IN SCIENCE AND THE HUMANITIES
Whitney Humanities Center / 53 Wall Street / New Haven, CT
biology, individuality and the humanities Tuesday, October 29 4:00 s !UDITORIUM
Information in Living Systems Maxwell Bennett Thursday, October 31 4:00 s 2OOM
Order in Living Systems Paul Griffiths and Gunter Wagner 4HE &RANKE 0ROGRAM IN 3CIENCE AND THE (UMANITIES IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROSITY OF 2ICHARD AND "ARBARA &RANKE
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 11
SPORTS
“The only reason I don’t like playing in the World Series is I can’t watch myself play.” REGGIE JACKSON HALL OF FAME OUTFIELDER
Swim team pushes for new pool POOL FROM PAGE 12 According to Wise, building a championship culture is manageable with current facilities. The Bulldogs have much more practice space compared to club and high school organizations and are given precedent over recreational use of the pool, Wise added. At the high school and club level, Wise said that there are often eight or more swimmers to a lane, whereas Yale typically has three swimmers per lane. “Our facility is fine,” Wise said. “Would a new one be nice? Sure. Everyone wants something brand new and shiny.” Since discussion began decades ago, multiple plans for facilities have taken shape from renovation to an entirely new facility. After project proponents ruled renovation impossible, however, the Bulldogs’ only remaining option was to fundraise for an entirely new facility. Changes in technology, and not just the demand for more space, are a driving force behind the swim team’s push for a new pool. Currently only Harvard, Princeton and Brown have pools that qualify them to host Ivy League championships, Ivy coaches are pushing to remove Harvard’s eligibility to host Ivies due to outdated tech-
nology. Swimmers said that there are clear advantages to a new facility, particularly more space for Yale’s many aquatic athletic programs. Swimming, diving and water polo for both men and women have to split pool time, and the pool is also used for daily recreational swimming hours. “I think the most important thing is that it would allow more training time for all teams,” said Yale Swimming & Diving Association board member Melanie Ginter ’78. “A lot of students and faculty like to get their laps in and it would allow for more time for everyone in the water.” New pool or not, the Bulldogs have been working to get back to their winning tradition. In Yale’s illustrious swimming history, the Bulldogs have won four NCAA titles, while no other Ivy has won a national team title. In the past three years, Yale has gone from 2–8 in dual meets in 2010-2011 to 8–2 last season. The Bulldogs had their first scrimmage of the 2013–2014 season this past weekend at Georgetown and will next scrimmage Southern Connecticut State University at home on Nov. 8. Contact ASHTON WACKYM at ashton.wackym@yale.edu .
YDN
The Robert J. H. Kiphuth Exhibition Pool has six lanes instead of the eight necessary to host an official NCAA event.
Elis 8–0 in ancient eight
Men’s tennis sweeps over break MEN’S TENNIS FROM PAGE 12
VOLLEYBALL FROM PAGE 12 Brown and Yale prevailed 25–21. Johnson led the team with 11 kills in the match. Midzik and Rogers were right behind Johnson, with nine and eight kills, respectively. Polan recorded a match-high 31 assists and libero Maddie Rudnick ’15 delivered 20 digs for the Bulldogs. The Elis will now head to Hanover, NH this weekend to take on Dartmouth before traveling to Cambridge, MA to face off against the Crimson. A revitalized Harvard team sits second in the conference just ahead of the Big Green, who are tied with Cornell and Columbia for fifth. “Playing [Harvard and Dartmouth] is going to be a challenge,” Rogers said. “I think we’re all very pumped up. Harvard is Harvard, but Dartmouth really gave us a run for our money last time, so I think both matches should be really fun.” The Elis will take on Dartmouth 7 p.m. on Friday. Contact DIONIS JAHJAGA at dionis.jahjaga@yale.edu .
WILLIAM FREEDBERG/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Libero Maddie Rudnick ’15 recorded a match-high 20 digs at Brown on Saturday.
tive third-round opponents. Krumholz withstood the toughest test, coming back from one set down to beat Quinnipiac’s Eric Ambrosio 3–6, 6–4, 1–0. The impressive third-round performance by the Elis meant that two of the four quarterfinal matchups were all-Yale affairs. In the first of these intra-squad matches, Lu took down defending champion Brown 4–6, 6–2, 1–0, while in the other all-Yale clash Chase overcame Svenning 6–3, 6–3. Krumholz and Hagermoser also won their quarterfinal matchups to set the stage for an all-Yale semifinal in the singles bracket. The Bulldogs’ singles success translated well to doubles competition, with the Elis going five-for-five on the opening day. On Saturday, with Yale doubles teams in each of the four quarterfinal matchups, the freshman pairing of Lu and Photiades as well as the team of Martin Svenning ’16 and Krumholz advanced to the semifinals. Lu and Photiades knocked off teammates Brown and Ratch-
ford 8–6, while Krumholz and Svenning advanced by besting Jacob Spreyer and Chris Toner of the University of Connecticut, 8–4. With Yale well represented in both the singles and doubles semifinals, the Bulldogs looked to claim finals berths in both the singles and doubles draws. While Lu and Photiades did their part by beating Ryan Carr and Wayne Harrell of the University of Connecticut 8–5, Svenning and Krumholz came up just short in their bout with Fairfield’s Cameron Amyot and Ian Tesmond, losing 8–7. But Krumholz would not be denied twice, as he turned in a solid performance in his singles semifinal to beat Chase 6–4, 6–4 and advance to the final. In the second singles semifinal, freshmen Hagermoser and Lu staged the most riveting match of the tournament, with Lu squeaking by his teammate, 5–6, 6–5, 1–0. With Lu beating Krumholz in the singles final and Lu and Photiades taking home the doubles crown, the men’s tennis team ends the fall season on
the highest note possible. Both Dorato and Krumholz said that they were satisfied with the team’s performance throughout the fall, particularly the sweep at the Connecticut State Championships. “I’m happy with the way our team competed this weekend,” Krumholz said in a message to the News. “It was a nice ending of the season. We will all try to get in the best shape possible during the offseason so that we will be ready for the spring.” Team Captain Kyle Dawson ’14 echoed his teammate’s sentiments. “I think this was a great way to end the fall and believe it will springboard us into a successful spring,” he said. “I have been extremely happy with how hard the team has worked and believe that we are on the right path to success.” The next time the Bulldogs take the court will be Jan. 18, 2014 in Blacksburg, Va., where they will take on Davidson and Virginia Tech in a doubleheader. Contact NIKOLAS LASKARIS at nikolas.laskaris@yale.edu .
Harrison paces Bulldog runners CROSS COUNTRY FROM PAGE 12 distance of the upcoming Ivy Championships, not the shorter 3k CCSU Mini-Meet. “Training for the longer distances (5k and 6k) has been great training for the 3k. It makes the 3k seem short and [gave us] confidence that [we could] push hard the whole race,” Barry said. The CCSU Mini-Meet showcased the depth of the Bulldogs’ team and let the Elis lengthen their legs on a relatively simple course before the championship meets including the Ivy Heptagonal Championships and NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. If the Bulldogs qualify through their performance at regionals, they will also run in the NCAA Championships. Last year, the women finished fifth at the Ivy Heptagonal meet and seventh at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. At these meets, the Bulldogs will face many of the same teams against whom they have contended throughout this season. The men also had a solid race Friday as three of their top runners placed in the overall top 20. The Bulldogs finished close behind Providence and CCSU, who are ranked
fourth and eighth in the Northeast Region, respectively. The Elis pulled far ahead of other regional contenders Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, UMass Lowell and UConn. Tom Harrison ’15 led the Elis on the 5k course, securing 13th place in 15:23.25, followed by Dan Grosvenor ’17 in 15:27.70 and Alec Borsook ’15 in 15:28.39.
This race was mostly about figuring out who we’d be taking to [Ivy] Heps this Saturday. ALEC BORSOOK ‘15 Men’s cross-country team “This race was mostly about figuring out who we’d be taking to [Ivy] Heps this Saturday,” Borsook said in an email. “Since we can only take 12 guys, we were looking for a few runners to step up and finalize our roster for this week.” With nine runners already set to run in the Ivy Championships, this race was essentially a competition among the Yale runners to determine the last
three positions at Princeton, according to Grosvenor. In preparation for the championship meets concluding its scheduled season, the men’s squad has been gearing toward increasing its speed on the long distance 8k course, Grosvenor and Borsook said. “Our workouts [these past few weeks] have been a lot higher in volume, especially compared to high school,” Grosvenor said. The CCSU Mini-Meet was the fifth collegiate race for the freshman Bulldog, who added that he has definitely adjusted to the increased amplitude of practice and competition. Despite the fact that the Elis have appeared to be in the middle of the Ivy League pack this season, the squad has set higher standards for itself. “We’ve got our sights on Dartmouth and Harvard … especially Harvard … [Their runners have] been pretty consistent all season” Grosvenor said. Both Bulldog squads are set to compete in the Ivy Heptagonal Championships this coming weekend, Nov. 2. Contact RHYDIAN GLASS at rhydian.glass@yale.edu .
ANNA SOPHIA HARLING/CONTRIBUTINGPHOTOGRAPHER
The men’s cross-country team finished third at the Central Connecticut State University Mini Meet on Friday.
IF YOU MISSED IT SCORES
MLB Red Sox 3 Cardinals 1
NFL Seahawks 14 Rams 9
SPORTS QUICK HITS
DARIUS MANORA ’17 FOOTBALL The linebacker was named to the Ivy League honor roll after making ten total tackles—five solo—against the Penn Quakers on Saturday. Manora ranks seventh on the team with 29 total tackles this year and has recorded a tackle in each of the past five games.
NHL Penguins 3 Hurricanes 1
y
NHL Stars 4 Sabres 3
NHL Canadiens 2 Rangers 0
FOR MORE SPORTS CONTENT, VISIT OUR WEB SITE yaledailynews.com/sports
PAULA HAGIOPIAN ’16 WOMEN’S SOCCER The sophomore striker from West Hartford, Conn., was named to the Ivy League honor roll this week for her effort on Saturday against Penn. Hagopian notched Yale’s only goal of the weekend to help the Bulldogs to a 1–1 draw against the Quakers on the road.
“Would a new [pool] be nice? Sure. Everyone wants something brand new and shiny.”
TIM WISE MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING HEAD COACH
YALE DAILY NEWS · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
Volleyball victorious again VOLLEYBALL
BY DIONIS JAHJAGA STAFF REPORTER The Yale volleyball team kept busy over fall break by doing the only thing it seems to know how to do: win. In a rare single-match weekend, the Elis (14–3, 8–0 Ivy) overcame a slow start to sweep the Bears (8–11, 4–4) in three sets, extending their winning streak to eight games. After they fell behind by seven early in the first set, the Elis fired off an 11–4 run to even things up. With the set tied at 15, two kills by outside hitter Mollie Rogers ’15 and a service ace from setter Kelly Johnson ’16 forced a Brown timeout. From there the Elis rallied to take the set 25–21. Captain Kendall Polan ’14 pointed to playing in a different gym as part of the reason why the Elis were unable to get going right away. “They came out really strong in the first set,” Polan said. “Things weren’t really clicking for us yet. Luckily, we were able to get out of it and win.” In the second set, Yale regained its firepower, scoring almost twice as many kills (17) as in the first set (nine). The team was led by Polan, who recorded 14 assists in the set, and Johnson, who had six kills. The Elis pulled away early, establishing a double-digit lead as they went on to take the set 25–14. “We were making mistakes [early in the match],” Rogers said. “We were trying to come together and just let our defense do the work. When we started doing that is when we started to turn it around.” In the final set, a focused Brown team kept the contest close, never falling behind by more than six. The Elis were eventually able to take the set behind a collective team effort. Polan dished out 10 assists, but the rest of the offensive load was divided evenly behind Rogers, Johnson, and middle blocker Maya Midzik ’16, who each recorded three kills. The diversified offense proved too much for SEE VOLLEYBALL PAGE 11
YDN
The Robert J. H. Kiphuth Exhibition Pool was built in 1932 and can seat 2,187 spectators. BY ASHTON WACKYM STAFF REPORTER
WILLIAM FREEDBERG/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Setter and captain Kendall Polan ’14 led the Bulldogs with 31 assists against Brown this weekend.
Men’s tennis kings of Connecticut BY NIKOLAS LASKARIS STAFF REPORTER Looking to close out the fall schedule on a high note, the men’s tennis team turned in a sterling performance at the Connecticut State Championships to take home both the singles and doubles titles.
MEN’S TENNIS Tyler Lu ’17 defeated teammate Zachary Krumholz ’15 in the singles final, 6–4, 6–4, and Lu and Photos Photiades ’17 teamed up to beat Fairfield College’s Cameron Amyot and Ian Tesmond in the doubles final, 8–5. The joint victories ensured that, for the third consecutive year, both the singles and doubles titles in the Nutmeg State went to the Bulldogs. Lu’s double victory closed a surprisingly successful season for the freshman class. Lu’s two titles at the Connecticut State Championships are his second and third titles this fall, with the other coming in singles at the Ivy Plus Invitational. Fellow freshman Alex Hagermoser ’17 closed the fall with an impressive 14–5 record. “I’ve been very pleased with the way all the players have taken respon-
Fundraising not going swimmingly
sibility for stepping up to fill the shoes of the graduated seniors,” head coach Alex Dorato said. “Their work ethic has been unparalleled, and the improvement in the matches reflects that.” Match play commenced Friday, Oct. 25 with Yale welcoming teams from Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Hartford, Sacred Heart and the University of Connecticut to the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. The Elis wasted no time in making their mark, cruising to 13 wins in just 14 matches. Notably, James Ratchford ’17 recorded the first singles win of his collegiate career, downing Ryan Wennberg of Sacred Heart, 6–4, 6–3. Jason Brown ’16 began his title defense at the Connecticut State Championships with a closely contested, 6–5, 3–6, 1–0 victory over Chris Toner of the University of Connecticut. Only Tommy Ratchford ’14 lost in the singles bracket, falling to Fairfield’s Ofir Solomon, 6–2, 6–2. The Bulldogs continued to dominate on Saturday, as six Yale tennis players advanced to the singles quarterfinals. Lu, Brown, Svenning, Krumholz, Hagermoser and Patrick Chase ’14 all defeated their respecSEE MEN’S TENNIS PAGE 11
STAT OF THE DAY 104
Thirty years after the men’s swimming and diving team won its last Ivy League Championship, the Bulldogs are still swimming in the same pool. Though swimming pool technology and demand for pool access have progressed, Yale is still treading water around the question of new swimming facilities. Swimmer Danny Clarke ’14 said that the current infrastructure of Payne-Whitney Gymnasium makes merely renovating the Robert J. H. Kiphuth Exhibition Pool where Yale swims impossible. Kiphuth Exhibition Pool was built in 1932. Under current NCAA and Ivy League standards, the Bulldogs cannot host an Ivy League conference event or an official NCAA
event. Current NCAA and Ivy League guidelines require a minimum of an eight-lane pool, but the Kiphuth Exhibition Pool has just six lanes. While a new facility would bring more opportunities to the athletic program, men’s swimming and diving head coach Tim Wise said that success starts with what the team already has. “We are trying to build a championship-style culture within the team that we have and Yale makes that very, very difficult,” Wise said. “The numbers are lower than [competing schools] and so in order to establish that it takes a number of years.” The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are allotted eight recruitment slots, each. SEE POOL PAGE 11
Mini-Meet concludes regular season BY RHYDIAN GLASS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The Yale men’s and women’s cross-country teams traveled to nearby New Britain on Friday to compete in Central Connecticut State University’s Mini-Meet. Each squad faced 15 other schools, and after a strong day of competition, the women placed sixth overall and the men finished in third.
CROSS COUNTRY The women’s squad ran six runners, primarily middle-distance track runners familiar with the three-kilometer course length. The Bulldogs beat out eight regional contenders, including Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, Central Connecticut, Rhode Island, Wagner, St. Francis, Fairfield and Hartford. Sarah Barry ’14 led the Bulldog pack with a solid fifth place finish in 10 minutes, 18 seconds, despite this being only her second race of the season. Emily Waligurski ’17 finished close behind Barry for 10th place in 10:22, and Shannon McDonnell ’16 secured third for Yale and 14th overall in 10:25. “Our team expectations were to place well in the meet and get in another fast, competitive effort before [Ivy Heptagonals] next weekend,” Barry said in an email. Barry noted that the squad’s Mini-Meet strategy was to push to the front of the field and maintain that position throughout the entire race. According to Barry, the women’s squad has been gearing its recent training toward the 6k SEE CROSS COUNTRY PAGE 11
ANNA SOPHIA HARLING/CONTRIBUTINGPHOTOGRAPHER
The women’s cross-country team finished sixth out of 15 teams in its race last Friday.
RECEIVING YARDS BY WIDE RECEIVER GRANT WALLACE ’15 FOR THE FOOTBALL TEAM LAST SATURDAY. Wallace was named to the Ivy League honor roll after he caught eight passes and scored a touchdown on Saturday, but the Elis lost to Penn 28–17 at Franklin Field.