gameissue by The Yale Herald

From the staﬀ My dad is a famously wise person, so I believe him when he tells me that there really are two types of people in the world: people who like to drink during the day, and people who don’t. If you fall into the first category, it’s about to be your weekend. The weekend of party bus. The weekend of spiked hot cocoa. The weekend of shot-gunning at 7 a.m. that Four Loko you’ve been saving since freshman year. Gosh, after all that, even the JE dining hall chili at the tailgate probably tastes good. Plus, you won’t need to wear a jacket over your Yale sweatshirt. Bottom line, you’re in luck. And even if day drinking isn’t your thing, we hear that Cambridge has a very luxurious ABP, and a lot of beautiful red brick to ogle. This week, the Herald presents our annual guide to The Game, complete with a timeline by the awesome Zachary Schiller, BR ’15, tailgate rules, roster info, an interview with Yale’s drum major, JE ’13, a jam-packed blacklist, and everything you need to know about concussions. Enjoy! And for lots more info on where to eat, what to wear, how to decode Harvard insults, and how to find housing so you don’t have to camp out in Harvard Yard, check out The Bullblog. Since the news never stops, we also have a whole bunch of our usual goodies for you this week. Aaron Gertler, TD ’15, on the Salovey selection. Alec Joyner, MC ’14, on his very own “halfway house.” Rod Cuestas, PC ’15, on Skyfall, the new James Bond movie that brought in 87 million dollars over

Yale Herald Volume LIV, Number 10 New Haven, Conn. Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012

EDITORIAL STAFF: Editor-in-chief: Emily Rappaport Managing Editors: Emma Schindler, John Stillman Executive Editor: Lucas Iberico Lozada Senior Editors: Sam Bendinelli, Nicolás Medina Mora, Clare Sestanovich Culture Editors: Elliah Heifetz, Andrew Wagner Features Editors: Sophie Grais, Olivia Rosenthal, Maude Tisch Opinion Editor: Micah Rodman Reviews Editor: Colin Groundwater Voices Editor: Eli Mandel Design Editors: Serena Gelb, Lian FumertonLiu, Christine Mi, Zachary Schiller Photo Editor: Julie Reiter BUSINESS STAFF: Publishers: William Coggins, Evan Walker-Wells Director of Advertising: Shreya Ghei Director of Finance: Stephanie Kan Director of Development: Joe Giammittorio ONLINE STAFF: Online Editors: Ariel Doctoroff, Carlos Gomez, Lucas Iberico Lozada, Marcus Moretti Webmaster: Navy Encinias Bullblog Editor-in-chief: John Stillman Bullblog Managing Editor: David Gore Bullblog Associate Editors: Alisha Jarwala, Grace Lindsey, Cindy Ok, Eamon Ronan, Jesse Schreck, Maude Tisch

the weekend but still managed to not be the number one story of the week The Yale Herald is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, incorporated student publication registered with the Yale College Dean’s Office.

involving sex and spies. And after you’re through reading all that, and all the spiked cocoa is gone, it will be Thanksgiving break! The Herald recommends: Homeland, long baths, and sweet potato buttermilk pie. It’s time to Lux some Veritas, y’all. See you at the Phoenix. Touchhhhdoooowwwn, Emily Rappaport Editor-in-chief

If you wish to subscribe to the Herald, please send a check payable to The Yale Herald to the address below. Receive the Herald for one semester for 40 dollars, or for the 20122013 academic year for 65 dollars. Please address correspondence to The Yale Herald P.O. Box 201653 Yale Station New Haven, CT 06520-1653 Email: Emily.Rappaport@yale.edu Web: www.yaleherald.com The Yale Herald is published by Yale College students, and Yale University is not responsible for its contents. All opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of The Yale Herald, Inc. or Yale University. Copyright 2011, The Yale Herald, Inc. Have a nice day.

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

Cover by Lian Fumerton-Liu YH Staff

IN THIS ISSUE

COVER 12 This week, we bring you our annual special issue in honor of The Game, complete with a history of the Yale-Harvard rivalry by Zachary Schiller, BR ‘15, tailgating rules and fashion, a quote from J.D. Salinger, and more.

FEATURES

VOICES 6 7 8

Cody Kahoe, CC ‘15, sits down with Andi Zhou, JE ‘13, the drum major of the Yale Precision Marching Band. Alec Joyner, MC ‘14, on moving away and living alone at a young age.

Ariel Katz, MC ’15, explores grad student life and what it means to be a TF a Yale.

Aaron Gertler, TD ‘15, examines the impact of the recent selection of Peter Salovey for university president.

OPINION: Kohler Bruno, SC ‘16, on his ambivalnce towards the selection of Peter Salovey. Andrew Sobotka, JE ‘15, rallies school spirit.

CULTURE 16

Alyssa Miller, PC ‘16, on athelte-artists at Yale. Also: Tailgating fashion and the history of music at The Game.

REVIEWS 20

Rod Cuestas, PC ’15, on Skyfall the sexy new James Bond movie. Also: Smashed, Silver Linings Playbook, Christina Aguilera, and the Crystal Castles.

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

THANK GOD IT’S THURSDAY

CREDIT/D/FAIL Cr:

Winter lbs

It’s getting cold out and I’m starting to fatten myself up. How am I supposed to brave the cold without both my Canada Goose and my sophomore sixteen? I need that insulation, bro. It’s not because I’ve stopped working out or because I have body image issues, it’s because I need it. I love the love handles—move over, knit scarves, because there are the new hot accessory. Good ways to pack on weight include: eating normal portions in the dining hall, ordering any of the pre-made sandwiches at Gheav, and drinking the sugar-water that Elm City Kettle Corn uses as flavoring. I’ve been doing all three because I’m committed. Some say Ladies Love Cool J, but I say Ladies Love Fat Lumps. I’m really not sure if they do or if they don’t, but there’s only one way to find out.

The Herald’s week in review: what rocked, what sucked, and who took the lead in IM bowling.

—Jack Schlossberg YH Staff

Party buses to Cambridge

I’m sure my friends taking party buses to Cambridge are going to have a blast. After all, it’s the only time when drinking while driving is acceptable. And I sincerely hope all the buses have stripper polls and leather couches—those were only two of the features on my after-prom party bus senior year of high school. They aren’t all fun and games, though. First of all, motion sickness is a real thing. Second of all, functioning bathrooms on buses are not real things. Third of all, as party-bus-riders realize about 30 minutes into the journey, you can’t leave. I’ve never been, and do not plan on going to party where I can’t leave. Also isn’t partying the whole point of The Game? Must we party on our way to a party? If you’re on the bus, then yes you do have to party on your way. Otherwise, you’ll be sobder ona leather couch holding on to a stripper poll for balance. — Jack Schlossberg YH Staff

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

Guys

I’m over guys. I give up! They’re such a-holes. All they care about is sports and partying and eating red meat. Have you ever even had a good conversation with a guy? I haven’t. I’m swearing off guys and I’m serious about it this time! Guys are so annoying about what I wear. Can a girl not wear tights without being stared at? Can’t I let my hair down anymore? Is this such a crime?! Seriously, I’m celibate now because I’m done with guys. Guys don’t care about how I feel or what I think and that’s not okay anymore. I have a lot to offer. I’m a catch, but any guy going fishing these days is going home empty handed. #SorryI’mNotSorry. Bye guys! —Jack Schlossberg YH Staff

BY THE

BOOM/BUST INCOMING: General David Petraeus I know there is a lot of fodder for jokes here(see: the shirtless FBI agent) but in all honesty, the fact that the very competent director of the CIA had to resign just makes me grumpy. Mark my words, one day soon the federal government is just going to be run by a cabal of garden gnomes.

OUTGOING: Election-cycle rape gaﬀes

NUMBERS

TYNG CUP STANDINGS 1. Pierson 2.Trumbull 3. Jonathan Edwards 4. Saybrook 5. Timothy Dwight 6. Davenport 7. Silliman 8. Branford 9. Ezra Stiles 10. Morse 11. Berkeley 12. Calhoun

411.5 402 392 374.5 353.5 353 325.5 311.5 290.5 260 217.5 75.5

Speaking of controversies, anyone remember the names of those congressional candidates who made some really dumb comments and totally blew it? Neither do we! Can we all agree now that football is bad?

—Ariel Doctoroff YH Staff

INDEX: Yale Football 129 Number of Harvard-Yale football games played in history, as of Saturday, Nov. 17.

TOP FIVE Ways to spice up Thanksgiving

92 Number of players on the Yale football team.

4 Number of quarterbacks on the Yale roster at the beginning of the 2012 season.

5 4 3 2 1

Telling your Great Uncle Joe that the thing you are most thankful for is finally losing your virginity. Refusing to sit at the table—this holiday is racist.

0 Number of quarterbacks now.

1 Throwing caution to the wind and hitting on your cute cousin. Dragging everyone to see Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel instead of Skyfall

Number of games Yale has won this season.

100 % chance we want the Yale Bulldogs to win.

Paprika —Ariel Doctoroff YH Staff

% chance Yale Bulldogs actually take it home. Sources: 1, 2) YaleBulldogs.com 3, 4, 5) Yale Daily News —Ariel Doctoroff YH Staff The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

SITTING DOWN WITH ANDI ZHOU by Cody Kahoe (Julie Reiter/YH Staff)

Andi Zhou is a senior in Jonathan Edwards College. Along with playing piano for Yale’s musical improv troupe, Just Add Water, Zhou is this year’s drum leader for the Yale Precision Marching Band (YPMB), which will perform in Cambridge, Mass. this weekend when the Bulldogs finally break their losing streak against the Harvard Crimson. Win or lose, he and the YPMB have been working hard all week to put together a spectacular show that will at least remind Harvard that we know how to make fun of them. The Herald spoke to Zhou about the upcoming show, his musical talents, the history of the YPMB, and the tradition of The Game. YH: How did you get involved with the Yale Precision Marching Band? AZ: Well, in the beginning, I came to Yale just looking for something fun to do with music. I mostly played the piano, but on the side I also played the musical saw, which is an interesting instrument. I suppose some of you might not be familiar with that. YH: True. Can you explain a little about what that is? AZ: I got into the musical saw the summer before my senior year in high school. I saw it on YouTube, basically by chance. It turns out you can play just a normal hand saw that you get from Home Depot just by bowing it with a cello or a violin bow, and as a result, it’s a really cheap thing to get started. So, I watched some tutorials online, went to True Value Hardware, got a saw, and I started playing. Then, after I got to college, I looked around for some place that would take me. And, because the YPMB has an open admissions process, meaning we don’t turn anyone away, they were the only group that would take me with the musical saw! After that, I started writing some music with them, arranging songs. For a couple of years I was the head student arranger. Then I became production manager, in charge of shows, and now I am drum major. YH: What does the role of drum major entail? AZ: Ultimately, you are the top student leader in the band. The YPMB is very student-organized, student-led. I am basically the head of that operation, and I’m also sort of the public face of the marching band. Obviously, you’re very involved creatively, leading rehearsals, conducting the band, making sure everybody sounds good, leading performances on game day, telling the band when to play and when not to play. The drum major is ultimately in

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

charge of what shows we make. We have a huge production team that is critical to the making of each show. But ultimately, the process of making sure all the pieces come together every week—the drum major does have a very big role to play in that. The drum major has to have a vision for the organization as a whole—the character of it, the feel, the atmosphere. YH: Could you talk a little more about the atmosphere of the YPMB? AZ: The really wonderful thing about the band is that it is a bunch of people who get together because they’re doing something that they love to do together, which is to play music and make shows, to create and perform these shows week in and week out. That is our job. That is also our passion. And we’re always looking for ways to enhance that. How do we make the process more fun for everyone, but at the same time, how do we make it so that we are constantly reaching higher, aspiring to more, pushing ourselves in all respects? And that’s something I’ve tried to emphasize as a drum major, really stretching ourselves in many ways. YH: What’s the history of the YPMB? AZ: In 1918, just after the First World War, and there was only one band. Today, we have three bands under that umbrella organization, [Yale Bands]. We have the Yale Concert Band, the Yale Jazz Ensemble, and the YPMB. In those days, everything was just one band. They would play concerts in concert halls and things like that, but at the same time, every week, they would play football games and do field shows, the same group of people. Over time, those roles diverged. For awhile, it was actually the Yale Concert Band, and what they called the Yale Football Band. I think it was around the ’50s or ’60s that finally they started calling it the Yale Precision Marching Band. YH: How did the unique style of the YPMB come about? AZ: This idea of what we do was sort of started in the ’60s. We all know how the ’60s were, with the upheaval and such at Yale. That also touched the band. There was one year when, as the story goes, the official director of bands at the time took a sabbatical, and the guy who was substituting [for him] for that year basically lost control of the marching band. That was the beginning of the student takeover of the organization. All the traditions,

everything, got sort of dismantled and rebuilt, and this band became sort of a parody. It was meant to parody the straight-edged, big, state school bands of the Midwest and the South. The Yale band would just sort of run around, wearing crazy things, forming crazy shapes, and just doing things like that. It originally started out that way, and it became a kind of model for most of the Ivy League schools, which follow this “scatter band” method, as sort of a reaction to those old institutions. YH: What are some of the shows you’ve put on this year? AZ: Well, we kicked off the year with a video game show. We had music from Halo, from Super Mario Brothers, from Pokémon, and we had stuff happening on the field that was sort of evocative of all those things. We had a whole Mario Kart race. We had a big Pokémon battle. This year we actually have a fantastic twirler, and she was one of the Pokémon who fought in this battle. It was her against a former gymnast, so you can imagine that was some spectacle. Our show for Parents’ Weekend was just a big, big dance extravaganza. We brought the Yale Bhangra team on the field with us. We had parents out there dancing, and to top that off, we ended with a big Gangnam Style routine. YH: With that in mind, how does the YPMB go about preparing for The Game? AZ: The scale of the operation is much bigger. Everybody gets very amped up about The Game. We’re working on various aspects of it throughout the entire week. Every night, people are working late, fine-tuning various aspects, working on the script. Maybe some people are helping with the music. Some people are making the props. Every year, we have these giant, giant props. Last year, for instance, we made a 13-foot tall, papier-mâché bulldog, Patronus, that destroyed the Harvard Dementors on the field. It’s certainly a very big operation. Everybody loves doing it. It’s the biggest crowd of the year, and it’s a chance to really showcase ourselves and see what we can throw together. YH: What can we expect from the YPMB at The Game this year? AZ: You can expect heroics [pause], adventure [pause], the surmounting of great adversity [pause], and, of course, grand spectacle—all at the same time. —This interview was condensed by the author.

MY HALFWAY HOUSE by Alec Joyner

t was one of those pale February Sundays that make winter feel like a terminal condition. I was staring out the window of a crowded evening Amtrak, watching Long Island Sound fly soundlessly by and mingle, on occasion, with stretches of leafless trees. This was not a brisk Acela, but one of the old, rough beasts, content to slouch toward New Haven in slothful fits and starts; when Mystic’s clapboard houses arose from the woods, we slowed, and the blips between us and the setting sun homed into focus. Cars glistened in driveways. Fresh paint shimmered on wooden shutters. Kids fooled in the smoke haze of a backyard barbecue. These are homes— beloved homes, I thought. And I began to cry. At that moment, as we sailed slow through Mystic, it hit me that my home, the one home I had ever loved, was gone.

THAT WAS IN 2011. I WAS 18, AND I had had two experiences that most people don’t in their first 18 years: I had lived alone, and I had owned a house. That train was taking me back to school from Boston; I had been helping my parents move our things out of what had been our family’s home. 20 Prospect Ave., in Newton: the address rang with promise, and yet, like the decade during which it was ours, it always seemed

first-ever “family meeting,” and my parents explained that they were “not going to be married anymore.” The house sits, as if stranded, halfway up a steep hill, and that meeting began a gradual sliding away of all its residents, like so many passengers on an upturned sinking ship. My father went first, to a new house nearby, and a new wife; then my brother, to college; then my mother, to a job in Manhattan, though she kept the house to spare me the travel. A couple days a week, she would return, but otherwise, I was left alone with our cats. (Even they darted out the front door any chance they got, but I could sprinkle catnip on the mat and they’d soon be back. With my father and brother, alas, it wasn’t that easy.) So 20 Prospect became “the kitty house,” as my dad’s new daughter came to call it. The cats established the odor (musty with a hint of pee) and dictated the decor (furniture clawed or covered, rugs mussed up, fur everywhere). It became my afternoon ritual to come over and feed them. When necessary, I would also water the plants, and run the dishwasher, and perch the trash just so on the sidewalk incline. In this way I came to stake my own proprietary claim; it may have been the kitty house, but it was fast becoming my house too. And glad I was of it. I found in the

I was 18, and by then I had had two experiences that most people don’t in their ﬁrst 18 years: I had lived alone, and I had owned a house. scarred by the potential it so immediately lost. My early memories of the house include returning from school on Sept. 11, unawares, to find my brother gazing in silence at the godforsaken smokestacks on the sunroom TV. About a year later, we all sat down in that same room for a

house’s emptiness a welcome refuge from the drudgery of school, the failures of my social life, and the emergence, over at my dad’s, of a nucleus I could orbit but never quite enter. I made 20 Prospect the kind of private kingdom most adolescents can only build in their imaginations. I learned

to play the piano on the grand in the living room, and sang as loud as I liked. I taught myself to play the house, too: to flush the toilets with a flick of the wrist so the water wouldn’t run; to close each anomalous old door completely, and without any insensitive slamming; to tell time by the angle of the light that streamed through the huge, west-facing windows over the main stairs. My chores done, I would revel in my autonomy and linger, enjoying the views onto neighbors’ Edenic gardens while filling little Ikea bowls with Special K Red Berries and chocolate chips. Come winter, I would sit on the sunroom sofa with the fatter kitty behind me, plopped atop her favorite radiator. With my head leaned back against the purring pillow of her stomach, I would let my cares dissolve in a cat nap. Eventually, my social life came to include non-failures, and my friends started to see the potential in a parent-less house. The kitty house, on the occasional weekend, swelled with actual people. To me, though, my friends always seemed to be in a different place. On my 18th birthday, I found myself retreating from my own party to a serene, second-story

bedroom. Someone’s rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Growin’ Up” wafted in from the piano below. “I strode all alone through a fallout zone,” the kid sang, and as my childhood floated away on the wings of that line, I realized 20 Prospect Avenue was still the best friend I had. BY OLD SAYBROOK OR SO I HAD STOPPED crying. The Connecticut coast’s domestic cheer had faded with the sun, and my mind had turned back to the chaos and immediacy of college life. As I stepped onto the New Haven platform, though, I recalled standing earlier that day, one last time, alone in the light of the stairwell windows. It struck me that the house was gone precisely because it had served out its only remaining purpose: to see me off to my next stop. Its departure from my life was more accurately my departure from its. Things fall apart, I thought. The cats were doing fine at their new home, my dad’s; surely sometime, somewhere, I would find another true home of my own. I took off down the platform, singing “Ooh, growin’ up” at the prospect. —Graphic by Christine Mi YH Staff The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

OPINION BOW WOW WOW by Andrew Sobotka

Why did you choose Yale? This question comes up from time to time, sometimes in tacky (sorry I’m not sorry) admissions videos, but more often in real life. The answers vary. The residential college system. The legendary professors. The alumni network. Wednesday Night Toad’s. It’s a safe bet that no student in the last quarter-century or so has, with a straight face at least, listed the powerhouse Yale athletic program as the reason for attending this university. Generally, our school spirit manifests itself in stranger ways than painted stomachs at football games. We get excited when Meryl Streep, GRD ’74, wins an Oscar. We brag about Yale’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report. We pack stands for athletics events. Oh. Wait a second. That last one isn’t true. Not at all. On the whole, Yale students barely support our athletic programs. Our athletes often perform for an audience of New Haven residents, parents, and—on occasion—a small but dedicated group of students. The end of the first quarter at a Bulldog football game sometimes feels like a boring lecture during shopping period, with students bashfully filing out down the aisles. Our apathy towards Yale sports is completely incongruous with our general attitude towards other performances on campus. Many of us seem to have the attention span to attend a three-hour a capella concert to support our suitemate who’s singing a solo, but if it’s a volleyball game, we don’t bother sticking around for the third set. Presumably, our friendships with athletes are equally important to us as our frienships with a cappella singers. Our lack of school spirit also doesn’t fit with our general attitude towards our university. As a student body, we are enamored with this place. Even when we are shy and tell people we “go to school in Connecticut,” we’re filled with pride at the fact that we attend Yale.

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

There’s no shame in shedding that humility for a few hours a week to unite with your classmates in support of a sports team. We should be proud of our athletics program: two years ago, Yale had seven different teams reign supreme in the Ivy League, and just last year we had two championship squads. Our hockey team has consistently found itself in the top 30 nationally, including an extended stretch at number one in the nation two seasons ago. All our teams play at a high level. We’re no Stanford, but we have nothing to be ashamed of. As a school, we love nothing more than traditions. We run naked through Bass during finals period. We fiercely defend and promote the primacy of our residential colleges—an arbitrary selection of students determined by a random draw. We cried at the cancellation of the beloved Safety Dance. Every year, Saybrook students strip, sometimes at The Game, sometimes just because clothes are overrated. Graduating seniors smash clay pipes with their feet. We do these things mindlessly, as if some part of our brains is just programmed this way. We used to have other traditions here, too. Students used to walk to the Yale Bowl together to watch Yale take on anybody—not just Harvard. Bladderball used to captivate the attention, strength, and creativity of the campus on the day we played Dartmouth. Tailgates were not just for frat bros and other brave souls who chose to rise before 10 a.m. on Saturdays; they used to be the highlight of the social calendar. Yale students used to have school spirit. It’s time to bring back that tradition. It’s time to let the chorus of “Down the Field” echo in the hallowed walls of the Yale Bowl, fill Ingalls Rink, linger in the sunset at Reese Stadium, and rattle the bleachers of Lee Amphitheater. This weekend, let the thousands who will fill Harvard Stadium know that we have not forgotten who we are.

SEARCH PARTY by Kohler Bruno YH Staﬀ

I had been at Yale a grand total of seven days when an email landed in my inbox from Richard Levin. Since the email came in at nine in the morning, I was probably still asleep. I recognized the name Richard Levin, if faintly. I knew he’d been the guy in the beginning of Camp Yale who, during his welcome remarks at Woolsey, had welcomed me and my parents into “the Yale family!” In the email, Levin announced that he would be stepping down at the end of this academic year, and I thought it was pretty cool that the president was leaving. I thought it was cool that he was leaving because I was going to be here at Yale for the transition, and maybe that would be interesting to see. As a new kid on the block, I had some critical distance from the situation, and I wanted to see how the exercise of choosing a new head would play out. Maybe there would be some dramatic episodes during the selection process or after a controversial pick. Ultimately, not really. The Yale Corporation decided to tap Peter Salovey, an insider whom evidently everyone loves, to replace Levin. He seems super qualified and super smart, but I thought they were going to hire Hillary Clinton! Come on! It’s Hillary! Levin, I’ve learned, was a highly successful president, and proved to be a startlingly effective turnaround artist—not that Yale necessarily had to be turned around, but perhaps set back on track. Apparently, the university was not in the best shape before he took over. “Most colleges and universities, even the big, powerful and well-endowed ones like Yale,” wrote the New York Times in 1991, two years before Levin took over, “are being forced by budget problems to concede that they can no longer be all things to all people, their unspoken

goal for decades.” Forget that. Levin restored Yale’s financial stability, greatly improved its facilities, and, according to a Nov. 8 article in the Times, “raised its academic standing.” Given that Peter Salovey plays double bass in a band called the Professors of Bluegrass, I’m inclined to believe that he’s just as awesome as everyone says. But my feelings on the presidential transition have mostly consisted of indifference. To me, the president is this vague administrator perched atop a tall totem pole of officials. I hang out with my FroCo, but I have yet to speak to my college’s master. Sometimes my college dean sits down to dinner with my friends and me, but the president of the university is operating about 10 rungs above my pay grade, and I don’t really foresee us ever interacting. And let me be clear: that’s totally fine with me. There is a whole network of helpful administrators administrating on issues pertinent to my life, and so far, I have found that I have good access to them. I wasn’t disappointed with the decision to go with Salovey. In fact, this is probably the perfect thing for Yale right now—a steady presence at the helm guiding the university as it encounters a host of new issues. All I’d say is that by selecting Salovey, the Yale Corporation essentially said they wanted more of the same. And that’s also totally fine with me. Levin seems to have left things in good shape, and I’m confident Salovey will keep it that way. Even if it had been Hillary, which would have excited me initially, I still don’t think I would have stayed interested in the selection process. The president is just too distant from me, his decisions too far removed. Peter Salovey can do his thing, and I’ll do mine. —Graphic by Christine Mi YH Staff

148 York Street New Haven, CT 06511 203-776-8644 www.zaroka.com Catering for all occasions

Fine Indian Cuisine “Amid elegance, a variety of Indian dishes” - New York Times “A treat for the senses” - Hartford Courant Lunch Mon - Sat: 11:30 am - 3:00 pm Sun: 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm Dinner Sun - Thu: 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm Fri - Sat: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm Every Day Lunch Buffet Sunday special brunch with North and South Indian food

The graduate Behind the scenes with your TFs by Ariel Katz

hen, at the beginning of each term, we once again approach shopping period and all its inevitable stress, we can be grateful for one thing: at least, during those hectic two weeks, we will never be called to stand in front of a classroom and teach. Indeed, the expectation teaching fellows face—that they can effortlessly transform from lost students into confident teachers—seems like somewhat of a nightmare. Yet hundreds of Yalies—not many years older than us—lead this dual life of student and teacher. They grade your papers, lead your sections, make time for their own studies—and, as it turns out, manage to have lives as well. Travis Snow, GRD ’13, a master’s student in Global Affairs, is a TF for “Applied Quantitative Analysis,” a class that teaches the fundamentals of statistics to students interested in social sciences and public policy. Snow took six years off after completing his bachelor’s degree, during which he did health education work in Guatemala, taught preschool, and taught scuba diving. He came back to school partially because he “missed being a student,” he said. But his entry into teaching was somewhat disconcerting. Snow described his first week at Yale to me. “Departments don’t know their needs until late in the game,” he said. During his first week as a student here, Snow shopped classes, just like undergrads.

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

During a class he was shopping, Snow got an email from a professor of a different course, asking him to be one of the professor’s teaching fellows for the semester. This email came 20 minutes before the class was scheduled to meet. “There are frantic, last-minute things that happen [in the matching process],” laughed Judith Hackman, director of the Teaching

like they are. Indeed, in 1991 Yale graduate students formed the Graduate Employees and Students Organization, a group whose purpose is to protect the rights of graduate student employees. The need to navigate these different roles can sometimes prove confusing for graduate students. According to Cassio de Oliveira, GRD ’13, a TF for “Russian Culture: the

liminaries of pedagogical training” by using role-play and skits. After the initial, afternoon-long required workshop, the remaining workshops are optional. This semester, the Center is offering 11 courses for students in different departments, but the number of workshops offered is dependent on the availability of fellows to teach the courses. Rando estimates that about half of graduate

“You’re supposed to be grown up, but you’re not fully.” —Cassio de Oliveira, GRD ‘13 Fellow Program (TFP) in the graduate school. She explained the importance of teaching for graduate students: first, including teaching fellows is a valuable way to improve courses for undergraduates; second, it’s an important part of training doctoral students; and third, for humanities students, teaching is a requirement for receiving funding for their studies here at Yale. This means that graduate students occupy a unique position at the university: while they do, it seems, work for the university, they are not recognized as university employees. Hackman said that while graduate students are not employees, they often feel

Modern Age,” juggling the identities of student and teacher can be difficult. “You’re a student still,” Oliviera said. “You’re supposed to be grown up, but you’re not fully.” Like Snow, TFs must learn to teach through hands-on experience. Both Oliveira and Snow noted that TFs receive a fair amount of mentoring from professors and can choose to attend workshops at the Graduate Teaching Center. According to Bill Rando, director of the Graduate Teaching Center, graduate students are offered an orientation called “Teaching at Yale” that covers what it means to be a TF, the expectations of the position, and the “pre-

students are enrolled in these workshops. Oliveira said that he did not learn very many concrete strategies in these classes. One graduate student in the humanities, who wished to remain anonymous, said that participation in the workshops dwindled as the semester went on, and, furthermore, that she did not find them particularly helpful. Since most students come to graduate school with no experience teaching, it comes as no surprise that stepping in front of a classroom for the first time is daunting. Indeed, the anonymous humanities student readily admitted that she was “a nervous wreck” on her first day leading a section. It

seems, though, that the initial discomfort some graduate students feel in front of a classroom may have less to do with their lack of teaching experience than with their

teach what you believe in,” she said. The Graduate Teaching Center is starting to acknowledge graduate students’ desires to have more control over courses. Rando

“Grad students are people as well.” —Travis Snow, GRD ‘13 awkward position in the hierarchy of the university. Oliveira described feeling like he was in “limbo.” This seems to be a common feeling among his peers and becomes especially evident in some of their relationships with their professors, which differ from those they might have had as undergraduates. “It’s a really complicated experience; you’re stuck in between, willy-nilly. You have control and you have no control,” the anonymous humanities student said. “You’re stuck teaching someone else’s material, yet you have to be in charge of grading students’ materials. It’s a bizarre chain of command.” In some ways, she said, it’s more difficult than teaching a course on your own; when you have complete control of a course’s vision, direction, and material, the teaching part comes more naturally. “[It’s] less work to

described the Center’s new Associates in Teaching program, launched in 2009, in which graduate students apply to co-design and co-teach a course with a professor. “There’s a certain energy in these courses that everybody benefits from…it’s a game changer,” Rando said. So far, this opportunity is still relatively limited: only four cotaught courses are being offered this fall, and 16 will be taught in the spring. Still, even if they don’t have control over the material they are teaching, all the TFs interviewed for this article agreed that many professors, especially those in the humanities, leave teaching style up to the TFs. This decision ultimately depends both on the department and the professor. Samuel Knight Professor of History and American Studies George Chauncey, who teaches “U.S. Lesbi-

an and Gay History,” described his process of coordinating discussion sections for his course. “I meet with [TFs] every week for 30-40 minutes after the Tuesday lecture to discuss how they will teach their sections that week,” he said. “I usually let them know what I want students to take away from section meetings, but we have great group discussions about their ideas for section and about teaching strategies more generally, and they often end up doing somewhat different things in each of their sections.” Some of their most important lessons, some graduate students say, come from the exchange and evaluation between student and professor. Oliveira said that he and other students in the Slavic Languages and Literatures department receive a lot of mentoring from their professors. Rando agrees that a lot of teaching preparation comes from faculty members in their departments. Snow said that while his professor communicates regularly and sends course materials the week before section, some professors are “very hands-off.” The level of pressure that TFs feel to conform to professors’ teaching philosophies depends on the class. The anonymous TF called teaching “a tightrope walk, especially if you’re teaching for someone whose politics you don’t agree with.” But she said that students’ readiness to engage with different points of view offsets some of this difficulty.

“My students appreciate being taught different ways of thinking. It disturbs them way less than I would have thought. They’re not looking to find one answer,” she said. The TFs agreed that the most rewarding part of their job is working with students. Oliveira said he is always impressed when students “have really good in-class presentations and engage with each other”; for Snow, working with students who need extra help is rewarding. Oliveira said that it is frustrating not only when students are too quiet in class, but also when one student speaks excessively. “I think [the other undergrads] notice that too,” he said, smiling. When asked what he wished undergraduates knew about graduate students, Snow said with a smile: “Grad students are people as well.” Despite the challenges, some graduate students see the responsibility of being a TF as a valuable and enjoyable aspect of graduate school. The anonymous student called teaching a “tremendous privilege.” She emphasized its difference from her routine studies. “You spend a lot of time reading books alone, and then all of a sudden you’re let loose in the classroom in front of real live people with eyes and noses and thoughts and questions, and you realize that all the solitary work you’ve been doing has a social end,” she said. —Graphic by Julia Kittle-Kamp YH Staff The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

Butting heads With all the excitement of football comes the inevitable risk of head injuries. A concussion occurs when a blow to the head or a rapid deceleration causes the brain to slosh around and knock against the bony surface of the skull. This might not sound like such a huge deal, but in the context of football, the potential for brain injury is particularly high. In a Fox Sports Science experiment this year, experts measured the force of Kassim Osgood, a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, running into a moving crash test dummy in order to simulate a real tackle under game conditions. The researchers found that the takedown involved 1800 pounds of force; they noted that this impact is equivalent to the effect of ten athletic mascots jumping on one person’s chest at once. The problem is particularly troubling for its frequency, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) says—they found that about 300,000 of these injuries occur each year in high school, college, and professional football. Furthermore, the AANS warns, the risk of concussion in football is three to six times higher in players who have had a previous concussion. It gets worse—in a CDC study of nine high school sports, football was discovered to have the highest rates of concussions, with 0.47 per 1000 athlete exposures. The NCAA has responded by changing rules and policies to improve player safety, focusing attention on stopping hits on defenseless players and blows to the head. It also outlawed the horse-collar tackle, a particularly risky move, and banned players from initiating contact and targeting an opponent with the crown of their helmets or targeting a defenseless opponent above the shoulders. Whether these changes will have any effects remains to be seen, but experts agree that the thrill of the game needs to come at a lower price. —Maude Tisch YH Staff

THE RULES Tailgating is NOT permitted in the Harvard Business School parking lot. How am I supposed to meet my weekend networking quota? U-Hauls, RVs, Winnebagos, and trucks are not permitted in any parking facility. Corporate sampling, give-away, and promotional vehicles MUST have prior written permission by Harvard Athletic Marketing to enter any lot. Even the Jack Wills jeep? All parking gates open two hours prior to kickoﬀ for tailgating. Tailgating is limited to two hours before each game. Kay, this is actually useful. No beer kegs or items that promote the rapid consumption of alcohol. Good thing all of DKE will be playing in The Game. No charcoal grills. Maximum propane gas cylinder size will be 20 pounds. What about methane?

“Though brilliantly sunny, SATURDAY MORNING was overcoat weather again, not just topcoat weather as it had been all week and as everyone had hoped it would stay for the big weekend—the weekend of the YALE GAME. Of the twenty-some young men who were waiting at the station for their dates to arrive on the ten-ﬁfty-two, no more than six or seven were out on the cold, open platform. The rest were standing around in hatless, smoky little groups of twos and threes and fours inside the heated waiting room, talking in voices that, almost without exception, sounded collegiately dogmatic, as though each young man, in his strident, conversational turn, was clearing up, once and for all, some highy controversial issue, one that the outside, non-matriculating world had been bungling, provocatively or not, for centuries.” —Opening paragraph of J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey, 1961.

Graphics by Zachary Schiller YH Staﬀ The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

OFFENSE Tailback takes the hand-off, carries the ball until he’s tackled

Fullback the hefty gent who plows over defenders for tailback

Left Guard is massive, shuffles forward and backward

Quarterback handsome, well-spoken, respected; the one who throws Right Guard is gargantuan, bumps belly against others Right Tackle hunkers down, uses his weight and overall size

Left Tackle is large, pushes people around

Center hut-hut-hike! he puts ball thru his legs to QB

Wide Receiver goes long!

Cornerback on the wide receiver like white on rice, one hopes

Wide Receiver he may be crouched now, but just you wait!

Tight End stays here and blocks, or goes out for a pass

EMMA LEDBETTER/YH

Defensive End best athlete on the field

Free Safety roams field and swarms pass when it’s in the air

Cornerback speedy and sly, he guards the receiver to stop passes

Defensive End clogs the corner of the line to tackle the tailback

Defensive Tackle tries to burrow through the line to tackle runner Linebacker a tackling machine, he’s ready to rumble

Defensive Tackle a human clog to halt any runs, sack QB

Linebacker surveys the field, finds the ball, pursues Linebacker helps his friend, flexes Strong Safety keeps an eye on the tailback, ready to pummel ‘im

DEFENSE Copy by John Stillman YH Staff

harvard roster #

Player

Position

21 Reynaldo Kirton

Michael Hirsch

63 Jim Deng

83 Matt Lunati

Jacob Dombrowski

64 David Leopard

83 Kevin Murt

Chris Splinter

22 Chris Evans

Jonathan Mason

23 Rich Zajeski

Danny Frate

65 Matt Perry

83 David Trompke

Jimmy Meyer

24 Donovan Celerin

Kyle Juszczyk

66 Michael Mancinelli

84 Mitch Ross

Scott Peters

67 Andrew Strange

84 Doug Webb

Scott Horsch

24 Treavor Scales

Andrew Ezekoye

25 Scott Miller

Matt Martindale

68 Paul Kaczor

85 Joshua Girardini

Ricky Zorn

26 Andrew Larson

Alexander Norman

69 Jack Holuba

86 Casey Johnson

Brian Owusu

26 Colton Lynch

David Gawlas

70 Chris Valenti

87 Cameron Brate

Norman Hayes

28 Sean Ahern

Grant Sickle

71 Will Whitman

88 Nnamdi Obukwelu

Andrew Berg

28 Andrew Casten

Ben Braunecker

72 Eric Baars

89 Jameson McShea

Tanner Wrisley

29 Dan Melow

Eric Medes

72 Sam Batiste

90 Luke Zelon

10 Seitu Smith II

29 Paul Stanton, Jr.

Connor Sheehan

73 Matthew McCarthy

91 Obum Obukwelu

11 Michael Pruneau

30 Jaron Wilson

Jacob Lindsey

73 Nick Scheidler

92 Reid McCann

12 Cory Briggs

31 Jordan Becerra

Joshua Boyd

74 Parker Sebastian

93 Blaine Burgess

14 Conner Hempel

31 John Kohlhauff

Connor Loftus

76 Chase Sippel

94 Andrew Flesher

16 Nick Burrello

32 Andrew Fischer

Brian Reilly

76 Keenan Venuti

94 Dan Moody

35 Bobby Schneider

Dayne Davis

77 Anthony Fabiano

95 Adam Riegel

36 D.J. Monroe

Jack Dittmer

78 Cole Toner

96 Ben Rasmussen

37 David Mothander

Jordan Weatherby

79 John Collins

97 Taylor Austin

98 David Bicknell

P/K

17 Ryan Jones 18 Malcolm Mason Rodriguez

19 Colton Chapple

38 Tyler Caveness

Anthony Russ

79 James Duberg

20 Ryan Simpson

39 Ben Falloon

Zak Aossey

80 James Klein

98 Ryan Delisle

21 Damani Wilson

40 Nick Allain

Matt Koran

80 Bryce Walker

99 Zack Hodges

41 Asante Gibson

Austin Scheufele

81 Tyler Hamblin

John Lyon

82 Denzel Paige

Graphic by Zachary Schiller YH Staff

yale roster #

Player

Position

23 Moyer, Wes

41 Kilgore III, Roger

65 Hartwig, Luke

90 Jefferson, Jordan

Conway, EJ

24 Keys, Kahlil

42 Vaughan, William

66 Moore, Willy

91 Buck, Kolu

Randall, Deon

25 Falbo, Ryan

43 Williams, Scott

67 Chism, William

93 Ault, Aaron

Little, Sebastian

26 Rubino, Matthew

44 Leffler, Brian

69 Shoemaker, Stephen

94 Dooley, Chris

McHale, Will

27 Lewis, Avery

45 Davis, Allen

70 Carbery, Ben

95 Reece, Mikhail

Stottlemyer, Kurt

28 Cargill, Mordecai

46 Thomson, Blake

71 White, Kyle

96 McHugh, Pat

Furman, Henry

29 Wallace, Grant

47 Taubler, Kerr

72 Ross, Dustin

97 Daffin, Nick

Williams, Eric

30 Varga, Tyler

48 Toms, Parker

K/P

76 Dunion, John

98 Frank, Davis

Sandquist, Cameron

31 Napolitano, Max

49 Hunt, L.J.

77 Meador, Braden

99 Drake, Dylan

12 LaTiesta, Nick

32 Thomas, Elijah

50 Longinotti, Luke

78 Killion, Ben

12 Morales, Anthony

33 Brady, Chris

51 Murray, Patrick

79 Gavin, Wes

13 Russell, Derek

34 Powers, John

53 Schmittgens, Jeff

80 Harris, Allen

14 Scott, Logan

35 Bernardez, Michael

54 Kreitzberg, Carl

81 Runk, John

15 Archuleta, Max

36 Harshbarger, Tate

55 Manu, Tyler

82 Stanney, Ryan

15 Perkins, Russell

37 Johnson, Everett

57 Collins, Roy

83 Morris, Chris

16 Panico, Phillippe

K/P

36 Cazzetta, Kyle

K/P

58 Anderson, Michael

84 Liguori, Jackson

17 Champion, Cole

38 Reuland, Austin

60 Oppenheimer, John

85 Wittenauer, Kyle

18 Hawk, Keith

39 Bechert, Jack

61 Thomas, Luke

86 Conklin, Adam

20 Okano, Nick

39 Undercuffler, Thomas

62 Ross, Derek

87 Leunen, Michael

21 Bibb, Collin

40 Palin, Beau

63 Talerico, James

88 Buric, Stephen

22 Cook, Charles

41 Carter, Austin

64 Van Valkerburg, Adam

89 Yarrington, Brandis

Graphic by Christine Mi YH Staff

CULTURE Varsity arts by Alyssa Miller

verybody here is very good at something—or a lot of things,” Jack Meyer, JE ’14, told me. Meyer himself is a case in point: he plays goalie on the varsity lacrosse team and is a classically trained singer. Of course, most Yalies engage in an eclectic mix of activities, interests, and skills. That is, after all, the reason a lot of us came here in the first place. But even after months on campus, I am still reminding myself not to be surprised when the upperclassman who led my health and sexuality workshop is also that fabulous singer from the Woolsey Hall jam—and plays club soccer, and writes for the Herald, and is taking five credits in mechanical engineering. Two of Yale’s biggest extracurricular spheres are athletics and the arts; active participation in either takes up a large part of every day here. But there are some students among us who have found a way to do both: ambitious crossover athletes and artists who juggle widely disparate lifestyles on top of rigorous academic schedules. “Sometimes it’s really hard. A lot of things are sacrificed,” Jennifer Matichuk, SM ’13, a varsity hockey player and theater set designer, said. Matichuk was recruited to Yale to play hockey, but soon found herself involved in the theater community. In her sophomore year, she even served as a member of the Dramat Board. “My strength was good for building things,” Matichuk said, “and I thought, ‘Hey maybe this could be something I’m good at.’” Matichuk, whose team practices for over 20 hours a week, is constantly caught in a balancing act between two divergent passions. But for her, at the end of the day, one takes precedence over the other: “Hockey always comes first,” she said. “Always. I make sure [for] every show I work on that my producer and director understand that my hockey team is my number one priority.” Not all athlete-artists have such an easy time picking one activity to prioritize. “It’s just like learning how to portion your time really, really well,” Charles Stone, PC ’14, said. Stone is a member of an a cappella group, the Baker’s Dozen, as well as the club water polo team. “My day feels like it’s all ‘go.’ [I’m] either doing work, in rehearsal, or in practice,” he said. Since Yale does not have a varsity water polo team, Stone pointed out, the club team takes itself very seriously. “[It’s] arguably the most intense club sport while we are in season,” he said. The team practices five times a week and plays games on the weekends. Stone is not alone in finding it difficult to find a balance between a cappella and athletic pursuits. Ian Graves, JE ’13, rowed varsity crew his freshman and sophomore years, until he decided to drop the sport and dedicate his time to his a cappella group, Mixed Company. “I had been able to balance the two until then,” Graves said, “but it was a struggle, and going forward I didn’t want to miss out on any more.”

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

Graves recalled his time on tour with Mixed Company his freshman year, while he was still rowing for the varsity crew team: “When I was still a lightweight, [I was] in Rome with Mixed Company,” he said. “I was eating olives and sunflower seeds, practically nothing all day, and Mixed Co couldn’t understand that. And at night while everyone was lounging around, I was doing cross-fit workouts by myself.” Graves’s experience in Rome speaks to a larger problem these athlete-artists face. For these students, it’s not just a matter of the large time and energy commitments required to participate in such involved activities—the challenge of navigating the social dynamics between the two worlds is another factor crossover athletes/artists must consider. “[The different activities] definitely have very different dynamics,” Matichuk said. Indeed, the world of the arts and the world of athletics don’t always overlap. “There was definitely a disconnect between the two,” said Graves, who also noted that members of Mixed Company never go see athletic events, while athletes rarely make it to weekend theater outings. “Being a senior now and meeting people through [senior] society, I think it’s really a shame that people don’t have more crossover,” he said. With the immense time commitment that many of Yale’s extracurriculars entail, maybe it’s no surprise that many find it difficult to explore circles outside of their own. “People get singularly focused and caged in,” Graves said. Mixed Company’s Caroline Rouse, PC ’15, who also plays varsity golf, jokes that her crowded rehearsal and

practice schedules keep her from seeing her roommates. “During rush and golf season, [they] thought I disappeared,” she said. But the divide is not just between her and her friends from outside her two activities. “[The different social groups] fill different purposes in my life,” she said. Despite the inherent challenges that come with participating in two of Yale’s dominant but sometimes atodds extracurricular scenes, there seems to be one common tie among this ambitious breed of artist-athletes: they chose to come to Yale precisely because they can do both here. Meyer considered conservatory training for classical voice study, but ultimately couldn’t commit to music over sport. “I knew if I came here I could sing and play lacrosse, and do both at a high level,” he said. Meyer was drawn to Yale’s strong music department that would allow him to continue voice and theory study, while also playing varsity lacrosse. At the end of another day, once again sweat-stained and vocally exhausted, with muscles aching, Meyer felt assured. “It’s all worth it,” he said. “Definitely worth it. That’s why I came here.” —Graphic by Julia Kittle-Kamp YH Staff

Music at The Game For most students, the Harvard-Yale game is about donning a “Harvard Sucks” sweatshirt to tailgate, and maybe even cheer on the football team. However, there’s more to The Game than football. “When you think of the HarvardYale game, you always think of tailgating first, but there are lots of musical traditions as well,” Glee Club member Rachel Protacio, PC ’15, said. In fact, competitive (and collaborative) performing arts events jointly put on by Yale and Harvard have been a tradition for over a century, and as Yale’s football skills grow more suspect by the year, it’s nice to fall back on the strength of our performing arts programs. Jeffrey Douma, associate professor of conducting and director of the Yale Glee Club, states that the Yale and Harvard Glee Clubs have had a joint annual concert during The Game since 1901. Douma explained that the only years the concert did not take place were once in the 1940s during the height of World War II and again in 1963, when the concert was to have taken place on the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Performances with other Ivy League schools are a longstanding Glee Club tradition: this year will be the 100th anniversary of “triangular” joint concerts between Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Yale performed with Princeton last weekend before the Princeton-Yale football game. For the Harvard-Yale game, it would seem that pranks are as much a part of the tradition as the concert itself. “We either prank Harvard while they are sing-

ing their football medley or while we are singing ours,” Protacio said. The Glee Club even has prank chairs, responsible for organizing and orchestrating the events. Last year, they paraded banners directed at the allmale Harvard Glee Club with slogans such as “Feminism: The Radical Notion that Women are People.” Of course, joint concerts are not just limited to Glee Club. Yale a capella groups, too, have a tradition of collaboration with Harvard groups—for example, the Whiffenpoofs perform every year with the Harvard Krocodiloes, Harvard’s oldest a capella group. And though the Yale Precision Marching Band (YPMB) prefers pranks to collaborative shows, they host a yearly joint party with the Harvard University Band before The Game. The real excitement, however, comes from being able to share the fruit of months of practice with students from both schools. As Kebra Sedam, SM ’13, one of the YPMB managers, said, “We look forward to The Game not only because of the rivalry but because we get to perform in front of the biggest audience of the year and make our school proud.” Douma adds the Glee Club perspective: “Between groups, there is always a healthy mixture of rivalry, fun, and mutual appreciation for good music.” It almost sounds better than football. —Alisha Jarwala YH Staff —Graphic by Serena Gelb YH Staff

Tailgating in fashion With the 129th game of the legendary HarvardYale rivalry fast approaching, Yale students are getting ready to make their game day experiences as memorable as possible. Especially considering that Yale will be the visiting team this year, students are looking to be loud and proud, proclaiming their enthusiasm as effectively as they can. What better way to do this than to dress to impress at the tailgate? Or rather, dress to astound, amuse, and—often—confuse. For many Yalies, anything goes when it comes to outfits for football games and tailgates, with student fashion often having less to do with showcasing Yale pride than with wearing the most outrageous clothing possible. At the Yale-Princeton tailgate this past weekend, spirited students sported everything from Hawaiian shirts to faux fur coats. One bold freshman even dressed as a swamp monster by covering his entire body in artificial seaweed. However, tailgating outfits are so diverse that it can be hard to gauge what qualifies as a good outfit. So what exactly constitutes the “ideal” tailgating outfit? “The goal is to wear anything that looks absurd and ridiculous—just have fun with it,” James Tjarksen, PC ’15, member of the men’s lacrosse team, said. And have fun with it he did: at the Yale-Princeton tailgate, Tjarksen arrived garbed in a Canadian Fishing bucket hat, Green Bay Packers pajama bottoms and a Twinkies brand shirt fresh off the Goodwill racks. “You just know when you find the right outfit,” Tjarksen said. Students plan to be just as inventive, if not more so, at the Harvard-Yale tailgate. Although their ideas aren’t set in stone, many students al-

ready have a general idea of their game day attire. Peter Ambiel, PC ’15, member of the men’s soccer team as well as the Sigma Nu fraternity, plans to raid thrift stores for this Saturday’s game. “I will definitely be going to Salvation Army to look for clothes with pizzazz,” Ambiel said. “It’s a little too cold for jorts, so I might wear overalls with a loud Hawaiian shirt and a track jacket.” Ambiel is not the only one planning to swing over to the thrift shop. For athlete Simon Keenan, MC ’15, the thrift store is a must. “I’ll definitely wear something from a thrift shop, but something with school spirit too,” Keenan said. “Maybe a colorful shirt or a fluorescent hat.” But if he could wear the ideal tailgating outfit, his choice is clear: “A ghillie suit for sure.” A ghillie suit is a type of camouflage that hunters wear when hoping to blend in with the natural habitat of their prey. For Keenan, however, blending in is the last thing on his mind; when it comes to outfits, he said, “Anything that will make you stand out works fine.” According to the students interviewed, it tends to be the male students, more than female ones, wearing the outrageous outfits. “It’s funny to see guys making a bigger effort with their clothes than girls, for once,” frequent tailgate attendee Juliann Jeffrey, CC ’14, says. For Jeffrey, dressing for a tailgate is as simple as jeans and a sweatshirt. “I would rather be comfortable than wear something ridiculous,” she said. Along the same lines, Kristen Forster, SY ’13, member of the women’s soccer team, opts for something with spirit and insulation. “I try to be supportive and wear a comfy Yale sweat-

er or top with a pair of jeans,” Forster explained. “It was nice that all of the Princeton fans were dressed in orange [this past weekend] because you could see their support. I try to do the same thing.” As a senior, Forster has seen her fair share of tailgating. The most outrageous outfit she has seen to date? “I saw a guy dressed as an ice cream cone once,” she said. “That was pretty weird.” —Georgiana Wagemann —Graphic by Serena Gelb YH Staff

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

Selecting Salovey Abrupt end to search process sparks conversation by Aaron Gertler YH Staﬀ

he day before Yale announced that Peter Salovey would be the university’s next president, he gave a guest lecture in my introductory psychology class. The topic was love, a theory that he has studied extensively. What makes us fall in love? One of the foremost factors, Salovey explained, is familiarity. The more often we see someone, the more attractive they become, and the more we come to like them. Salovey delivers his love lecture to 350 students each year, in both the spring and fall terms; he has appeared in the popular Yale Symphony Orchestra Halloween show; and he co-teaches a seminar, “Great Big Ideas”—all of which make him a familiar presence, arguably more so than, say, Richard Levin. The second factor Salovey discussed was proximity, which is also relevant here. He’s been at Yale for 30 years, during which he has served as chair of the psychology department, dean of both the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and of Yale College, and finally, as provost. His selection as president of the university is the next in a long line of position he has held. Dr. Marc Brackett, deputy director of Yale’s Health, Emotion and Behavior Laboratory, of which Salovey is the director, called the selection “the trajectory we expected for Peter.” The third factor and final factor Salovey

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

discussed in his lecture was similarity; Salovey is an appealing candidate to at least some of the many students who expressed their desire for a president with a focus on academics. Brandon Levin, DC ’14, student counselor to the Presidential Search Committee (PSC), says that during his open office

ogy, seems to fit this bill. “Salovey is the natural choice,” Jordan Konell, PC ’15, said. SOON AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF Levin’s retirement, dissent began to spread. This round of organized backlash against the PSC, which consists mostly of corporate fig-

ian search process were effectively stymied by the Salovey announcement. Though Levin doesn’t step down until this year’s end, the PSC took less than 10 weeks to pick a new president—which, given the position, is a short search process by nearly any standard. In email to the Herald, SUN member

“Many students were adamant about the importance of Yale’s president coming from ‘the academy’—in other words, a scholar, as opposed to someone with only administrative experience.” — Brandon Levin, DC ’14 hours, he heard a diverse range of opinions, but one concern stood out to him. “Many students,” Levin said, “were adamant about the importance of Yale’s president coming from ‘the academy’—in other words, a scholar, as opposed to someone with only administrative experience.” Students wanted someone from a background they understood, to carry on the traditions of which they are now a part. Salovey, with academic interests ranging from HIV/AIDS prevention to social psychol-

ures and has no clear path for student input— struck like a meteor. Two student groups arose as visible critics of the search process: Students Unite Now (SUN) and recently-formed Y Syndicate. Both showed up in impressive numbers to the PSC’s October Open Forum event. Both groups are characterized by a desire for a transparent process, and for the administration’s recognition of student power. The efforts of these students and others to advocate for a more transparent and egalitar-

Sarah Cox, ES ’15, cited the search’s brevity as the first main complaint. “By ending the search so quickly, the Committee made public discussion even more impossible. Had we known the selection would be announced in early November we probably would have planned our actions differently,” Cox said. “I also am deeply skeptical of any committee’s ability to seriously and carefully consider so many candidates in such a short period, regardless of how hard they worked.”

The second complaint: secrecy. The PSC, in declaring Salovey’s ascendance, told students that over 150 candidates had been considered but never disclosed their identities. “While I recognize that Salovey will likely be an awesome president, it’s frustrating to not really know what the other options were,” Carl Chen, MC ’13, said. And could all 150-plus names really have been considered fully, especially when some were suggested so late in the game? The third complaint—policy—reflected an anxiety that Salovey’s relationship with Levin would dominate his priorities as president. Controversial issues of the Levin era include the inception of Yale-NUS, the construction of two new residential colleges, and debates over where Yale’s academic focus should lie, especially regarding STEM focus and pre-professional programs. In an email to the Herald, Jim Sleeper, DC ’69, who lectures in the political science department, referred to Salovey as “Levin’s vice-president,” adding that “he hasn’t really been able to step out on his own.” This concern over the maintenance of the status quo also relates to the fourth complaint: diversity. Henry Davidge, SM ’14, though a fan of Salovey, was surprised to see yet another white man selected. Cox had sharper words for Yale, as expressed in a Nov. 8 email to the Y Syndicate panlist: “Should’ve been a woman, should’ve been a person of color…but it was never going to be any of those things anyway, because of who it is that runs this place.” Y Syndicate member Adrian Lo, SY ’15, questioned the diversity of the search committee: “I would have appreciated…more focus-group discussions between the search committee and selected campus groups (minority students and students of color, LGBT groups, etc).” He also pointed out the absence of direct representation of students or staff. (Princeton, by contrast, appointed four faculty members, two undergrads, a graduate student, and a staffer to the search committee seeking to replace University President Shirley Tilghman.) These complaints, taken all at once, form an imposing wall of opposition—but taken in context, the picture is more complex. Brevity and secrecy are two factors connected to the same problem: students felt locked out of the process. Charles Goodyear, YC ’80, Yale Corporation Trustee and PSC member, explained in an email to the Herald why the Committee had to move quickly: “We knew that there were several other presidential searches going on simultaneous to ours (Princeton, Dartmouth, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of California at Berkeley), where the pool of qualified candidates was likely to be quite small and to overlap.” Had Salovey been hired as the president of Princeton in December (however unlikely it seems now), the PSC would have lost a desirable candidate. Goodyear and his fellow members flew cross-country over the course of more than a month to interview every candidate (including the many nominated by students, faculty and alumni). The speed of the search was, in the PSC’s eyes at least, born out of necessity, a hurried reaction to Levin’s unexpected retirement. But if the Corporation had at least informed students when they had narrowed down the pool of potential replacements, it would have given them a bet-

ter chance of reacting to the decision and expressing their misgivings before time ran out. As for secrecy, the balance between transparency and procedure is difficult. We may be curious about our other choices, but exposing applicants to the universities or corporations they sought to abandon would

the best interests of every group involved. Although the list of nominees and internal meeting notes was kept secret, much of everything else pertaining to the search was made public, searchable at presidentialsearch.yale.edu: a list of requirements for the next president, concerns brought by student

“I also am deeply skeptical of any committee’s ability to seriously and carefully consider so many candidates in such a short period.” —Sarah Cox, ES ’15 have left them vulnerable to all kinds of repercussions. Lo acknowledged his “appreciation/understanding of the need for confidentiality in the process”; if we want to attract the best candidates to interview, anonymity is probably required. On the other hand, Lo argued, this anonymity makes the Committee’s diversity a matter of great importance; even if we can’t know who else was considered, having students around ensures that the deliberation process will represent

groups, and a history of the PSC’s messages to Yale. Student survey results went out to all Yale College students; multiple grad-student groups made their own concerns public; four Committee members were present at a public hearing. None of this can replace direct representation, but for what it’s worth, some of those students who met with the Committee said they felt as if their opinions mattered. A YCC representative who wished to remain anonymous “spoke to one of the

appointed professors privately, who said that they were most certainly going to read the reports solicited by the YCC and Brandon Levin. I think they were really receptive to what was said—so long as it was articulated thoughtfully and wasn’t completely absurd.” And students’ complaints hardly seem absurd. One of the opposition’s principal targets, the voting process, seem ripe for improvement: Chen noted that a process can’t be called democratic “if only Corporation Fellows get to vote.” If the committee were to reveal the final candidates’ names, perhaps a majority of the faculty—or even the student body—could be called upon to approve them. Yet despite the lack of transparency of the search process, Salovey seems committed to hearing student input: “It’s easy to think you know what the place needs,” he said, “but maybe because I’ve been here 30 years, it’s really important not to make that assumption and to hear with fresh ears, and to see with fresh eyes.” Certainly, there is a group of students at this school who feel that the University should capitalize on this moment of transition to enact changes they see as critical to the institution’s integrity. If Salovey is in fact ready to listen, we can anticipate a spirited dialogue in the months and years to come. —Graphic by Christine Mi YH Staff The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

REVIEWS Craig at his best by Rod Cuestas ife and death live on separate sides of the same coin. You’re either alive and kicking or resting in peace. But what happens when you’re somewhere in between—“when life clings to you like a disease?” That’s the question presented in Skyfall, the latest installment of the Bond series. Early in the film, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is shown plunging hundreds of feet into a river near Istanbul. The fall symbolizes Bond’s failure to nab his villain, but also foreshadows the arc of the movie itself. From the beginning, Skyfall delves into serious themes about the nature of identity, the role of espionage in a modern world, and the notion of moral infallibility. The movie captivates with its astounding special effects, but also with the idea that the greatest threat comes from within. We are invited—indeed, enticed—to ponder what happens when self-assurance becomes doubt, security becomes threat, and trust becomes liability. Skyfall is Craig’s third portrayal of Bond, but it’s director Sam Mendes’s first crack at the franchise. Perhaps it took time to find the right combination, but the pairing of Craig and Mendes does more justice to the series than Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace combined. Some critics are already calling Skyfall the best Bond film in history. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it’s certainly a contender. The movie packs a big punch as far as excitement goes, surpassing all films since The Dark Knight Rises. Audiences seeking red-meat action scenes won’t leave disappointed. The cinematography also impresses. Special effects, development, directing—the movie warrants top scores across the board. That said, Skyfall does struggle in its plot. The story itself centers around one simple premise: Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6, finds itself under siege. The government openly questions the organization’s relevance, the headquarters are in jeopardy, and an old enemy threatens to bring everything down from within. So where does Bond come in? Precisely where one would expect—as the last resort for MI6. It’s a predictable story, of course, but one with enough twists that it doesn’t get boring. Any weakness in Skyfall’s plot is made up for through the stellar acting of Craig, who this time brings a realness and depth to Bond that he lacked in his first two attempts. In both Casino and Quantum, Craig played his roles with abandon; he kicked ass while refusing to admit his own vulnerabilities. Neither attempt seemed genuine. This incarnation, however, is the most authentic yet, Mendes breaks down the barriers between character and audience by providing a glimpse into Bond’s rarely mentioned backstory. For a new generation of audiences unfamiliar with Bond, the

movie will provide a satisfying explanation about the man behind the suit. This Bond is more than just a killing machine with impeccable style—he’s a man with a backstory who we’re not afraid to root for. Skyfall’s great acting carries though to Judi Dench, who reprises her role as MI6’s fearless matriarch, “M.” Dench brings a deep sense of gravity: when her kingdom is threatened, she pulls out all the guns (in some scenes literally). Bond and M aside, one character that could use improvements is that of Bond’s co-star Ms. Monneypenny. Played by Naomie Harris. Ms. Monneypenny is gorgeous, talented, and ruthless. On paper, she’s a grade-A femme fatale sidekick. But nearly every time she and Bond are on screen together, there is a noticeable lack of rapport between the two. Cleverly crafted double-entendres meant to come across as seductive instead appear forced and awkward. In one of the cheesier scenes, Ms. Moneypenny shaves off Bond’s beard, only to later drop the line “we’ve had a few close shaves.” Direction, production, and other acting aside, Skyfall’s undeniable high point is Javier Bardem’s remarkable performance as the villain Silva. A man gone crazy, Silva is devoid of empathy, yet remains rational enough to mastermind a plot against MI6. The depth of Silva’s character raises deep questions about human nature: is the most infallible among us truly infallible? As is the case with Bond, big ego may lead to big results, but it also poses a huge risk when things go wrong. Silva makes it a point to show Bond that the two are not that different. He does this so convincingly, in fact, that Bond at one point questions his own motives and confidence—his largest asset, his self-assurance, becomes his biggest liability. Silva’s character should represent the complete antithesis of Bond, yet audiences will struggle to see the differences between the two. Many of the themes addressed in Skyfall are variations of those raised in 2008’s Dark Knight, including the nature of human macabre, insanity, and respectability. How far will someone go for revenge? Silva pushes this notion to its extremes. He is the Joker devoid of irrationality. Whereas Gotham’s villain observes no rules, Silva follows every rule, then twists it to his advantage. He’s playing with fire hoping to get burned, and his lack of fear is what’s truly terrifying. Yes, Skyfall is an action film. But more than that, it’s a commentary on the social norms we take for granted—as a society, we have come to assume that hard work will be rewarded, that self-assurance will yield results. Mendes takes that notion and flips it on its head.

(Courtesy youtube/SonyPictures)

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

Movie:SilverLiningsPlaybook Movie: Smashed On the quest to remake ourselves, a positive attitude alone is never enough. Such is the hard truth that Silver Linings Playbook, the latest feature by director David O. Russell (Three Kings), feeds its viewers. Bradley Cooper plays bipolar ex-substitute teacher Pat Solitano who, after a court-mandated stint in a mental institution for a violent outburst, moves back in with his parents and sets upon the task of building himself back up and rekindling his relationship with his estranged wife. Joining him on the path of self-improvement is Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, who starred in this year’s The Hunger Games), a mercurial young widow working through depression. The film’s acting is fantastic across the board. Cooper has demonstrated a steady increase in the quality and depth of his roles since escaping the pit of being typecast as a smug comedic asshole after appearing in 2009’s The Hangover. Playbook marks Cooper’s transition to films that better highlight his dramatic range. We know he’s handsome and funny; here we also see him frustrated and volatile. Lawrence, who is now only 22, excels at poignant line delivery, sultry movement, and the art of the cold stare. She shines in every scene she’s in, and, judging by her mature performance in this film, has a bright career ahead of her. At its core, the film shows the arduous struggle of living with mental illness, and seeing the world differently from everyone else, in a serious and shocking manner. The mood of the film itself is bipolar at times; one scene can be hilarious as Cooper and Lawrence trade quirky quips without social inhibition, and the next can be a nail-biting portrayal of how Pat’s disorder slowly destroys his home life. Put together, the film does an excellent job of agonizing and satisfying the audience in one fell swoop. —Jackson Blum YH Staff

Smashed, directed by James Ponsoldt, MC ’01, is arguably the best and most relatable film out right now for college students, both alcoholics and non-alcoholics alike. It’s a bold claim. Yes, I’m saying that Smashed, a story about a first grade teacher (Kate) recovering from both alcoholism and her destructive relationship with her vaguely-unemployed alcoholic husband, is of supreme relevance to Yalies. That’s because Smashed, in the end, is a story about love, and the lonely desire for progress and self-improvement. Kate, played by the brilliant Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and her husband Charlie, who both initially deny the label of “alcoholic,” live a fun, romantic (albeit disordered and dangerous) life together. They share an invincible aura of goodness (Kate naively offers to give rides to drunk strangers; Charlie agrees to sober up for a visit to see Kate’s mother) that throws a halo over their objectively irresponsible lifestyle. It’s not difficult to see that they love each other with a passion separate from their drunkenness. Ponsoldt beautifully captures a heart-wrenchingly tender scene of love when a sober Kate and a sober Charlie linger briefly in a playground from Kate’s childhood. Their marriage, however, is threatened when Kate decides to seek help through Alcoholics Anonymous. In Smashed, we see that opposing agendas and goals can break even the strongest bonds between individuals. It’s true; there are a few unwieldy weaknesses in the film. The dialogue is awkward and the shaky handheld digital cinematography persists nauseatingly even after Kate gets sober. But I urge you to look past these flaws, because Smashed is—forgive the pun—absolutely smashing. While skillfully avoiding the hackneyed road-to-recovery Hollywood plot scheme, Ponsoldt presents us with a profound meditation on love that is bound to leave you crying. —April Koh YH Staff

Music: Crystal Castles At the end of “Kerosene,” an early highlight on Crystal Castles’ (III), a robotic yet tender voice sings, “I’ll protect you from all the things I’ve seen.” Such moments of genuine beauty appear throughout Crystal Castles’ new album—the first of theirs that I would venture to call beautiful. It is also the duo’s most cohesive work yet, feeling more fully realized than their previous albums which, while consistently intriguing to listen to, could feel like mere patchworks of good ideas. This cohesion undoubtedly stems from the clear and singular tone Crystal Castles adopt from the haunting opener “Plague” to the gorgeous closer “Child I Will Hurt You.” In early statements about the album and its influences, vocalist and lyricist Alice Glass spoke of losing faith in humanity and a world of victims, injustice, and corruption. This bleak outlook is pervasive in (III), but is more subtle than one might expect out of a group prone to an almost gratuitous discordance. Even “Insulin,” the (III) ’s most dissonant track, shows a newfound restraint that supports the songs around instead of calling a disproportionate amount of attention to itself, a noticeable flaw in some tracks from previous albums. Processing on Glass’s voice remains heavy, but instead of further stripping away the humanity in her voice and losing it in the mechanic synths, her voice gains a ghostlike quality, letting Glass narrate the pain but never from a vantage point where she can intervene. (III) ’s greatest strength lies in its cohesive storytelling. While Ethan Kath’s distinct demonic Gameboy/Timbaland-gone-wrong style of production remains strong, it is Glass’s lyrical and vocal contributions that keeps it fresh. Through this potent combination, Crystal Castles’ meditation on the ugliness of the world manages to not only salvage beauty but create some splendor of its own. —Kevin Su

Music: Christina Aguilera After her last solo record Bionic turned out to be a critical and commercial disaster, Christina Aguilera’s latest release, Lotus, disappoints stylistically but is an improvement nonetheless. Between Bionic and Lotus, Aguilera claims to have experienced a “rebirth” of sorts, resulting from her divorce and her role as judge on NBC’s The Voice. Unfortunately, there are so few new elements on the rest of Lotus that her rebirth is ultimately stifled. The dance-poppy, electronic production of Bionic is still present this time around, making tracks like “Army of Me” and “Red Hot Kinda Love” merely fun and unsubstantial fluff. Hypersexual lyrics are also dispersed throughout Lotus, leaving unsuspecting and innocent pop fans perturbed with lines like “Hit the right spot/Make my eyes roll back” in “Let There Be Love.” Unsurprisingly, two of the album’s strongest moments are the backto-back ballads, “Sing for Me” and “Blank Page.” Echoing some of Aguilera’s greatest hits (“Beautiful,” “Hurt,” “I Turn to You”), Aguilera’s unbelievable vocalizations are always a treat to hear, despite the songs’ lyrical and thematic unoriginality. The standout track, “Just a Fool,” an unlikely duet with country star and fellow judge on The Voice, Blake Shelton, is clearly superior to “Make the World Move,” the other collaboration on the album with another co-judge, Cee Lo Green. The lush harmonies, powerhouse belting, and melancholy melody on “Fool” make the other tracks seem simplistic. As the last song on the album, the power-ballad proves that Aguilera sounds best when she keeps it simple and prioritizes her vocal ability. As evidenced by her most successful (and aptly titled) album, Xtina should focus not on reinvention but rather on going Back to Basics. —Wesley Yiin YH Staff

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)

BULLBLOG BLACKLIST Now that the election, the presidential search, snow, and Halloween costumes are all firmly off the table.

Please, no, PLEASE, do not put those photos on Facebook.

Holiday season? More like happy lamp season.

SOMEParty SOM

bus groups

Smalltalk anxiety

It’s not ironic because it’s HarvardYale. That actually makes it worse.

Laundry

Do I have to carry all the dirty laundry I was going to bring home to Cambridge first?

Stop being so right.

Genuinely oﬀensive Game T-shirts

People who chose not to go to The Game because “tickets are overpriced, it’s going to be cold and no fun, and we’re deﬁnitely going to lose”

The fact that the sun sets at 4:33 p.m.

Finding people to stay with for The Game

Who at Harvard do I dislike the least?

FellFe

The idea of working over Thanksgiving break

“Uncle Alan’s stuﬃng”

Also, the knowledge that I won’t work over Thanksgiving break.

Why is our stuffing green, dog? At least Yale Dining served it with a side of Uncle Alan’s ass sweat.

The Yale Herald (Nov. 15, 2012)