The~wJournal
I
PUB USHER Christina Lung EDITOR-IN-CHIEP
Suzanne Kim MANAGING EDITORS
Kathtrint Bell Kate Schuler BusiNESS MANAGER
Audrey Lnbovich DESIGNER
Horting WOng PRODUCTION MANAGER
Gabriel Snyder PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Brendan Kotrntr CoNTRIBUTING EDITOR
joshua Civin AsSOCIATE PuBUSHER
Min Chen AssOCIATE EDITORS
Benjamin Lump/tin Hillary Margolis REsEARcH DIRECTOR
Karen jacobson CIRCULATION AND SuBSCRIPTION MANAGER
Dan Murphy
"'Best Hair Salon" 1995 -NH Advocate
Kim Brmuii • ]t~hn BMlJ«!• • ]«I Burte~ BrtHI!e Ctlnti • ]IIJ Dixit • Ann Sktftt
New Student Clients
20% off any hair service. Bring a friend and you both receive an additional 5% off. Cannot combine • Expires 12-24-95
916wha
avenue • westville • 387-6799
Members an4 Directqn: Const2Jlce Oement Peter B. Cooper • Brooks Kdly • Patrici2 Pierce Jay Porter • Kathy Reich • Fred Strcbeigh Thomas Suong
FrimJs: Anson M. Beard, Jr. • Edward B. Bennett, Jr. • Edward B. Bennett lli • Blaire Bennett • Paul S. Bennett • Gerald Bruck jonathan M. Cbrlc • Louise F. Cooper • Peter B. Cooper • Andy Coun • Jerry and Rae Coun David Freeman • Geoffiy Fried • Sherwin Goldman • Brooks Kdly • Roger Kirwood Andrew J. Kuzneski, Jr. • Lewis E. Lehrman E. Nobles Lowe • Peter Neill • julie Peters Fail&x C. Randal • Nicholas X. Rizopoulos Arleen and Arthur Sager • Dick and Debbie Sears • Rkhatd Shields • W. Hampron Sides • Thomas Suong E1i:zabeth Tate Ala and Betsy Torello Allen and Sarah Wardell • Danid Yergin
2
THE NBW JouRNAL
~"ljla_u__rual~VO-LUME-28, N-UMBER3DECEMBERI,I995 TheNe'VVJ!__ F EATU R ES _ _ __ __ _ _ __
7 12
Prize Flies A Nobel Prize winner in medicine, Eric Wieschaus, reflects on his Yale grad days, campus politics, and the embryonic wonders offruit flies. BY KAREN j ACOBSO N
I'll See You in Court Schiavone Realty and Development Corporation will use any legal means necessary to retain its vision of the Chapel-College business district. BY MICHELLE C HIHARA
16
Crossing the Une One student's death raises disturbing questions about the myths and realities ofheroin use at Yale. BY GABRIEL SNYDER
22 p.16
The Family Campus New Haven's effort to make its neighborhoods self-sufficient and efficient rests on the foundation ofits elementary schools. BY CAROUNE ADAMS
The Vanguard of the New NAACP 'Wearing two hats, young Roger Vtznn revitalizes the New Haven NAACP chapter and brandishes his straight-talking style over the air waves. BY H ILLARY MARGOLIS
S T AN D A R D. S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 4 p.26
5 6
Letter to the Editor About this Issue Points of Departure
Cover video stills from Warm Yelillw by Hans Soderquist. 1'ltE NEW JOVRNAI. is published five times during the academic year by 'I'M New Journal at Yale, Inc., P.O . Box 3432 Yak Station, New Haven, CT o6sw. Office addtas: 2s2 Park Sttttt. Phone: 'wy 4J:t-19S7¡ AU cooreors copyright I99S by The New Journal at Yale, Inc. All Rigbrs Raerved. Rq>roduaioo either in whole or in part withour written permisaon of the publisher and editor in chid' is prohihiu:d. While thiJ lllapzine is published by Yale CoUege srudcnrs, Yale Univusiry is not responsible for irs contents. Ten thowand copies of each issue are distributed free ro membcn of the Yale and N~ Haven communiry. Subscriptions are availible ro those oursi<k the area_ Rarcs: One year, sx8. Two years, SJl.. TH£ NEW JOOlNAL is printed by Turley Publiacions, P2lmcr, MA; bookkeeping and billing saviccs are provided by Colman Boolckttping of New Haven. THE NEW JOVRNAI. encourages letters to the editor and commcnrs on Yale and New Haven issues. Write to Editorials. :J-431 Yale Sracion, New Haven, CT o6sw. All letters for publicacion must include address and sipature. We raerve the right to edit all letters for publication.
,,
New Haven's only luggage & leather shop.
Affordable Quality Luggage • Business Cases Backpacks • Letter Pads • Agendas Handbags • Gifts • Wallets From Such Name Brands As . ..
Kipling • Tumi • Waterman Filofax • Swiss Army Watches Samsonite • Jack Georges Free Monogram, Giftwrapping, Free DeUvery on Campus, Customer Parking on Broadway (next to TYCO).
15% discount with Yale ID Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 9-5:30, Thursday 9-7:30
260 York St. • New Haven
789-8994
To the Editor: This is in regard to the article "The Tap Night Riots" (TN], October 13, 1995) by Whiffenpoof/Duke's Man Alex Funk. This is written to oppose negative implications and a blatant lie in the article regarding the Master and Dean of Silliman College, Drs. Kelly Brownell and Hugh Flick, both of whom were in the Silliman courtyard until at least 2 a.m. on Tap Night. They were both responsibly refereeing, or baby-sitting, if one prefers, the events in Silliman that night. They were doing their best to prevent any violence or other acts which they viewed as undesirable and unacceptable. Let me make it clear that this is not a defens~ of my own actions with respect to Tap Night or my reputation jn general ("arguably the highest-ranking aqua-general on Yale's campus," "largely responsible for the impressive crowds of nearly 300 gathered inside Silliman"). I , confident of the intelligence of Yale students, shall let this stand as it already does in the mind of the Yale Community. This shall. however, present a negative view of Mr. Funk's journalistic talents. In my opinion, Mr. Funk tried to make a largely subjective article appear objective by choosing certain facts, speculations, and, in one case, lies while not including others according to his biased view. The article claims: "Under the watchful eye of Silliman Master Kelly Brownell, Daniel has distributed flyers and posters inviting Sillimanders to come out and defend their college from singers." These posters and flyers were distributed without prior consultation with Professor Brownell. He was completely ignorant of my making and posting this publicity. He, in no way, direcdy or indirecdy, permitted, promoted, or condoned these posters and flyers. Besides this outright lie, the article made what might be interpreted as negative implications regarding the Master and Dean: "Hugh Flick is confident that no harm can come &om safely played water sports." Dean Flick personally made sure that no
harm came and that the water play was safe. This is an understatement by Mr. Funk of Dean Flick's actions with respect to Tap Night. "A member of Something Extra and Whim 'n Rhythm called Dean Hugh Flick today in hopes that he w ould somehow discourage the pending assault. He has done nothing"of the sort." It is not Dean Flick's responsibility to discourage the so-called assault. Dean Flick took action by distributing his Rules of Safe Water Play and being present to ensure those rules were followed . Had Dean Flick taken a discouraging role as this s inger recommended, the water plans would not have stopped. The only result his discouragement, had it occurred, would have had would have been to weaken h1s command and authority of the students on Tap Night. "Kelly Brownell expresses no public remorse over the mob scene that took place in his college." Without commenting on the subjectivity of the term "mob," this sentence is ridiculously biased. Kelly Brownell publicly expressed no opinion over the activities that took place in the Silliman courtyard on tap night. That is what an obJective article would have said. Instead, the author here implies that Kelly Brownell should have shown public remorse over the event. The article failed to mention that Kelly Brownell also showed no public commendation, paranoia, affection, thirst, pride, extreme mental depression, or anything else over Tap Night. Thus I defend the actions of Master Brownell and Dean Flick on Tap Night in Silliman, who were there to promote the safety of both the singers and Silliman students. Luckily, explicidy due to the efforts of Master Brownell and Dean Flick, the cheerful singers all excited &om Silliman no more hurt than they were upon entrance; they were, perhaps, a bit more wet. -Daniel Lyons (SM '98), founder, promoter, and member of ~.P.L.A.S.H. (Soak and Punish Lousy A capella Singing Hordes).
THE NEW JoURNAL
We're always searching for that perfect metaphor to describe an issue of TN]-that one image that encapsulates a cadre of diverse narratives, profiles, and witticisms. This December, we turn to that favorite of discriminating Thanksgiving diners: the turducken. According to a staffer's Aunt Bonnie's interpretation of the renowned chef Paul Prudhomme's recipe, the creation of a turducken calls for: 1 large turkey (boned) 1 duck (boned) 1 chicken (boned) heaps of 3 different stuffings: sausage, cornbread, and wild rice 1 hammer 1 sewing kit oven, spices, etc. To construct a turducken, first lay open the turkey's body, and fill it with sausage stuffing. Then lay the duck on top and cover it with cornbread stuffing. Next, place the chicken upon the cornbread stuffing and cover it with wild rice stuffing. Finally, sew the whole thing up and leave it to cook for 13 hours. If all goes according to plan, you will be left with a complete turducken, a bird whose name hints at its mixed heritage. Served up, it resembles a bloated, limp turkey. Cut open, it reveals the various layers of bird and stuffing, neatly divided. The metaphor waxes on ridiculous, bizarre, perhaps even a tad bit grotesque-but it's all in the attempt to describe a true labor of love. In the cover story for this issue, Gabriel Snyder peels away layers of scandalous myth and administrative denial to uncover the ripples of heroin use at Yale. Karen Jacobson takes us inside the idiosyncratic mind of a onetime Yale graduate student and recent Nobel Prize winner, while Hillary Margolis culls from an activist radio personality and NAACP leader a vision for the future of Greater New Haven's black community. And Michelle Chihara unravels the tangle of legal controversy surrounding Schiavone Realty and Development Corporation to evaluate tenant-landlord relations in the Chapel Street business district. And if you are not satiated by this scrumptious fare, we welcome you down to TNfs office at 252 Park Street to help us cook up the next installment.
-The Editors
penns colors
,
,4~4-
APIZZA • Eat in or toke out
• Fresh Baked Breads ~IWIP • _.!~:=:e!!::::~
Colzones/Subs/Dinner • Catering For All Occasions
Amato Semordo, Prop. 858 State Street • New Haven
562-2760 DECEMBER I,
1995
5
An Illicit Trim Haircutting is like prostitution. Well okay, it's like that at Yale at least. Not for everyone mind you, but many people at Yale understand what it is to engage in the anonymous endeavor of getting a haircut on demand on some random weekday afternoon. You shove open the front door of some characterless barbershop. (Usually something like Harry's or Moe's or Phil's ... whatever.) Ding dong! That automatic bell at the front door rings, and your initial excitement at the prospect of finally getting business done turns into fear. Geez, you're actually going to have to spend time with a face you've never met before. By now the bell has readied the troops. The man or woman at the back of the shop, currently engaged in idle chatter, comes to attention and yells to the front, "What can I do for you?" Come on now, you think. We both of you know what I walked in for. "Uhhh ... just a haircut." It's impossible not to be sheepish. I mean you barely know this person who is about to get intimate with your forehead. "Sit over here," they say. They've tread this path before and they'll do it again. So you sit in the hydraulic chair. Pump, pump, pump. You are instantly put on equal footing. A snip here. A snip there. The barber/hairdresser always knows what you want. Just a trim...about a half inch off the top and sides. Just enough to tide you over until the next trip home. You have a regular at home and you wouldn't want some fly-by-night cutter to ruin that relationship. Little do you know that you'll soon tire of the hairdresser at home and dump them for monthly appointments in a series of drab New Haven barber shops. You never talk to the person furiously snipping away at your head. You've tried to before, but it never worked out. Neither one of you is really all that interested to get involved. 6
Within 15 minutes you have paid your $15 and you're out the door. That mysterious stranger you shared the last few minutes with wouldn't want you to take up too much of his or her precious time. They have more young men to cut that day. I, at least, usually take the free comb on the way out.
- Alec Bemis
Ulmus Americana Elm trees line the sides of the streets of the Elm City, and the buildings and students emerge from what seem like tunnels of elms. The long, slender, perfectly columnular trunks are discerp.able, but which upper branch is progeny to which trunk is often ~eautifully ambiguous. There is nothing quite like the American elm, old Ulmus americana. Nathaniel Hawthorne, that puritanical scrivener, could not get enough of them. "Our trees 'high over-arched with echoing walks between' have the Greater resemblance to the Gothic aisle of a cathedral." Scarce a tree-lined cathedral remains in the old Elm City. But in case you were to doubt Hawthorne's elaborate
similes, flip through late nineteenth and early twentieth century photographs ofYale and New Haven. According to the calculations of a neophyte, there are eight American elm trees on Old Campus. The elms, most of which are between 75 and 95 years old, are generally taller than the other Old Campus trees. They have high, vase-like silhouettes composed of thin branches pointing upward or drooping toward the ground. The deciduous elm leaves are like imperfect footballs, having neatly toothed edges and bilateral asymmetry. Paul Walgren of Walgren, the Care of Trees, in Hamden, has been the godfather of Yale's trees for 45 years. According to Walgren, many of the elms which dominated New Haven have been replaced with oaks and other varieties of trees during the last 20 years. During the 1950s and 1960s Dutch elm disease devastated the Yale and New Haven landscapes. Yale lost eight to ten trees on Old Campus alone. According to Walgren, Dutch elm disease has been the most severe problem for Yale's arboreal resources during the last 45 years. Dutch elm disease is carried by a beetle which chews through the elm tree's bark and deposits a fungus in the vascular tissue of the tree. The fungus blocks water vessels to the upper part of the tree, and the tree starves. From May to late August, Walgren and members of his staff inspect Yale's elms every two weeks for "flags": the brown or yellow leaves symptomatic of the disease. If the disease remains undetected, a 90-year-old tree could fall in less than three years. But Yale, committed to preserving its arboreal heritage, still plants and carefully monitors its young American elms. As one enters Old Campus, one of Yale's tallest elms stands on the right, superimposing a spider-web pattern on the buildings. And over on Cross Campus, the vase-shaped silhouettes are just beginning to touch. Old Yale photographs promise to be even more familiar in the future.
-Hamsa Murthy THE NEW JoURNAL
One of th is year's Nobel Prize winners in medicine relates stories of his Yale grad-school days studying
Prize Flies Karen Jacobson n the spring of 1969, Eric Wieschaus (GRD '74) boarded a bus in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama to visit the East Coast for the first time. He had attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana as an undergraduate, and he was now heading to Harvard and Yale to look at their graduate programs in biology. Wieschaus arrived in New Haven and spent the day talking to professors in Kline Biology Tower on Science Hill. He boarded the bus again to travel to Cambridge, eager to see how Harvard would measure up. But when he arrived, there was no one with whom he could speak. Students protesting the Vietnam War had taken over the administrative building, University Hall. "'The campus was a total mess," remembers Wieschaus. "The biology building was closed down. There was no faculty there. Some of the faculty's children had been arrested in the demonstration." Instead of learning about the possible projects with which he could become involved, Wieschaus spent the day wandering around, watching the protests, and learning about tile politics that shut down many universities, as students struggled with the possibilities of the draft. There were teach-ins that spring, finals were canceled, students went on strike. "'It was great, it was wonderful, it was a really exciting place to be," says Wieschaus. "I had this disciplinary thing, though. I said, 'Harvard would be a great place to be with all of these politics, but if I want to do biology, I should go to New Haven.'" Wieschaus chose to attend Yale, where he began his studies of fruit fly embryos which recently him won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Weischaus' attempt to avoid political activity proved quite futile. While Harvard was returning to relative quiet, the Yale campus burst into unprecedented political activity during the 1969-70 school year. That year the U.S.'s bombing of Cambodia and New Haven's Black Panther Trial fueled the fire of campus politics. Many students felt it was hard to remain concentrated within the ivory towers of the university when the country was fighting a war they so vehemently opposed.
I
DECEMBER I,
1995
Kline Biology Tower, where Nobel Prize winner Eric Wieschaus spmt many ofhis Yale days. Wieschaus himself feared being called to duty at any point. "'By the end of my first year, I wrote to all my professors in the graduate school saying I wanted to be more involved in politics, and that they would not be seeing me around for a while because I was going to go out and work and organize," says Wieschaus. "'I got a letter from one of my professors, Frank Ruddle (Hon. MA '72). He wrote that he understood how I have these feelings about these issues, how this was an important time in my life. He believed that you should always work through the system, though. That -there is greater good in that work." Many, including Wieschaus, found the greater good outside the laboratory, where individuals were fighting against an unjust government and war. He trained to be a medic. Then Nixon introduced the birthday lottery, a political maneuver designed to cut the number of people personally affected by, and therefore actively working ' against, the draft. Whereas before, anyone could be suddenly drafted, now, each birthday was given a number from 1 to 366; those with lower numbers would be drafted first. "My number was 366," says Wieschaus. "It was the last one to be pulled out of
7
the fishbowl, so everyone else would have had to have been drafted before me. So the draft board in Alabama said that it wouldn't do anything else about my application until they got into higher numbers." By this point, Wieschaus was beginning to find it harder to find political activities in which to be involved. The political atmosphere began to cool, and Wieschaus found himself missing biology. He started sneaking back into the lab in the evenings to work on a set of experiments and gradually, over the course of three months, he was back in the lab full time. Finally, his first significant results emerged. Filled with enthusiasm, Wieschaus ran out to relate his good news. "I saw Frank Ruddle in the hall and I was so excited I ran up to him and I said, 'I'm going to tell you about, guess what, I got this great result, oh my.. .' and he said,
Eric Wi~schaus in his Princ~ton laboratory. 8
'You're still here? I thought you were going to be out organizing the anti-draft movement.' I think he was a little disappointed."
S
itting in his office at the peaceful Princeton campus, Wieschaus reminisces about his grad school days. "That was an awesome opening-up time in my life," says Wieschaus. His gray shaggy hair falls into his eyes, as he speaks with animation. His casual blue cotton shirt and jeans reflect t h e laid-hack atmosphere of his lab, which is filled with drawings of fly embryos, bottles of flies in various stages of development, and light microscopes. On October 9, 1995, Wieschaus was told by the Nobel Foundation that he, along with Edward B. Lewis of the California Institute of Technology and Christiane N iisslein-Volhard, director of developmental biology at the Max Planck
Institute in Tubingen, Germany, would be awarded. the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. All decisions for the award are made in complete secrecy. Those who are merely nominated are never notified in advance. So when Wieschaus received the phone call, he was completely surprised. "Of course, it didn't come as a shock to me that the other two people got it," he says smiling. His daughter, Ingrid Schupback (BR '97), felt the same shock when she heard the news. "I was just waking up when I heard my dad's voice on the answering machine," she remembers. "He said, 'Tell Ingrid she should call home because we have something that she would probably want to hear about. It isn't any bad news, but she should definitely call.' It took a long time because all the newspapers were calling, and we don't have call waiting." Ingrid has been surrounded by fruit flies her whole life. Both of her parents are biologists who work with flies-their labs recently moved to the same floor at Princeton. The coffee table in their home has a wooden inlay of big fruit flies in the middle. Growing up, her parents often had to run to the lab at all times of the day and night. A common expression in the house is "Mom/Dad is going off to collect the virgins," because the virgin female flies must be removed from contact with males so that their offspring's heredity can be controlled. Ingrid says, "I don't believe my parents could be married to anyone else. They need to be able to talk to each other about their work. They are always discussing biology." There is no bitterness in her voice as she describes them, though. None of their fascination with biology has been forced onto her. Ingrid, a comparative literature
THE NEW JouRNAL
A common expression in the Wieschaus home is "Mom/Dad is going off to collect the virgins."
major in French and German, wanted to find her own niche, away from biology. She feels that the ethic her father has conveyed to her is to love what she does. ·He believes that working is a large part of what makes you happy. And he is genuinely involved in what he does," she says. "For him, it is a labor of love." ust as the political atmosphere of the early 1970s was extremely different from today's, the world of biology has transformed dramatically since Wieschaus entered the field. As an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Wieschaus had a job in a laboratory washing bottles that held flies. •1 had already decided that the last thing I wanted to do was work on flies," he said. Fascinated by developing frog embryos. He marveled at the process by which cells of different regions of the embryo move to become organs with specialized tasks, such as muscle or brain. In development, a fertilized egg starts as a symmetrical ball of equivalent cells dividing rapidly. At the 16-cell stage, the cells begin to specialize. It was understood that by the time the fly reaches the larval stage, the cells are fated to constitute different parts of the adult body. Scientists were able to move these preprogrammed regions to make a fly with an extra pair of legs or wings. Another fact remarkable to scientists was that embryonic development is the same in all embryos, indicating that there must be some overriding set of rules, some molecules that must be the same in all embryos, regulating that development. However, most of these questions had been raised in the 1920s, during the heyday of the surgical approach to biology which lasted until World War II. By the 1970s, the pervasive feeling was that the
J
DECEMBER I,
1995
classical period of developmental biology had passed. It was unclear how to reach new answers. When Wieschaus arrived at Yale, he was first introduced to fly embryos in Don Polson's lab. As developmental biology slowed in terms of new approaches, genetics was at a critical turning point. Both X-rays and chemicals were being used to make mutations in the genome, but the technique was used to study inheritance rather than development. "I liked genetics," says Wieschaus. "It's an intellectual, very rigorous kind of study that has a very attractive abstract element." But Wieschaus saw no connection between genetics and embryology. Wieschaus says, "In my naive first-year-grad-student mind, I thought two pairs of wings coming off a fly had nothing to do with embryos. I didn't even know that flies had embryos," he says. What flies had to offer this line of research was their combination of both a visible embryonic stage and access to the animal's genetics. After two years, Wieschaus switched to work with a young assistant professor named Walter Garring. Wieschaus left New Haven with Garring when the latter got a job to organize an institute in Basel, Switzerland. He did return to Yale to defend his thesis and receive his Ph.D. " If you were a young experimenter, one of the best things that could happen to you was to get a result that no one believes," says Wieschaus. "If people care enough not to believe it, then it must be important." For Wieschaus, this first finding was that the embryo is already divided into predetermined segments, or stripes, of cells. He found that within a stripe, cells divide into a leg and a wing,
THE NEW JOURNAL would
like to thank Lewis and Joan Platt, and HewlettPackard for their generous contribution to our · magazme.
MICHAELs FLOWERS Ud. Extraordinary Flowers & Plants. Creative Designs For
All Occasions. ~~
-~
oiMye .. -~ -&Btantotd
(203) 772-2229 VIsit us at 26 Whitney Avenue New Haven, CT 06510
Our designers work for you.
165 Wooster St., New Haven • 865--4489 (free Parking Steps Away) Excerpts from our guest book: NGreat! Great! Great!N "The food is-in a word-heavenly.• Experience Consiglio's in the 90s. Delicious food, charming, romantic atmosphere and friendly, courteous service. · Open Daily for Lunch & Dinner
,, START NOW Call 789-1169
&pear program without Limit until Gtaduation
KAPLAN Tile-to .... teet ....... - .
9
If you were a young experimenter, one of the best things that could happen to you was to get a result that no one believes.
MCSC
delivers
•••
great prices on software and supplies for your computer and printer. Check the prices in the newspapers and magazines, then consider: After Doric 3.0 (PC & Mac) Canvas (PC & Mac)
$33 $1.49
Finale (PC & Mac)
$230
Japanese/Chinese Lang . Kit (Mac)
suo
Microsoft Office Standard (PC & Mac) $135 Microsoft Office ProfessionaI (PC)
$179
Persuasion (Mac) Photoshop (PC & Mac)
$149
Freehand (Mac) EndHote/ Endlink for Windows Mathematica (Site Licence) Documentation (PC) Documentation (Mac)
$239 $135
$99 Fr. . $35 $55
FREE? How con you beat that! MCSC a lso has other needful things like toner and ink and paper for your printer, mousepads, cables, and moderns. And other things you don't even know you need yet. If you don't have a computer now, why wait we've got /lk:x:., IBM and DEC computer and laptops for show and far sole. We're ready to help you, because what we deliver is ... The Goods (at a good price!).
8:30-&00
Mandar- Fridar
Microcomputer Support Center
10
but no matter where they were moved they did not develop into a leg and a leg. This challenged the belief that the animal is organized in the head to tail direction. Wieschaus faced trouble publishing these results for a great deal of time because of the scientific community's skepticism. Wieschaus did the main work for which he received the Nobel Prize at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, West Germany in the mid- , 1970s. He worked there with NussleinVolhard where they fed poisons to flies , set up inbred families for an appropriate number of generations, and then studied the resulting embryos. Their goal was to determine which of the fruit fly's 20,000 genes are necessary for appropriate development. According to the Nobel Foundation wrote in their press release, "[Working on this project] was a brave decision by two young scientists at the beginning of their scientific careers. Nobody before had done anything simi lar, and the chances of success were very uncertain. For one, the number of genes involved might be very great." Wieschaus marvels at the idea that the microscope with two sets of eye-pieces at which he and Nusslein-Volhard sat opposite each other for over a year in Heidelberg has recently been removed to be preserved for history. In Heidelberg, the two identified novel characteristics in the flies that had died. Different segments of the fly were deleted. The two found and localized 139 genes essential for development. These mutant stocks also became extremely useful for the scientific community in general. It was found in subsequent years that .the basic genes involved in development had already been organized before vertebrates THE NEW JoURNAL
and invertebrates diverged in evolution. Therefore, biologists working with frogs, mice, and humans could use these gene localizations to study development in higher organisms. Wieschaus and Niisslein-Volhard's work is also highly regarded for the novel approach it took; they were the first to systematically identify developmental genes. Since then, the genes have been used to unde rstand congenital malformations in humans, such as the complete loss of the iris in the eye or a condition known as Waardenbury syndrome, in which an individual is deaf, has defects in the facial bones and altered pigmentation of the iris. Ingrid remembers visiting the lab in Heidelberg with her mom when she was a little girl. Wieschaus and N iisslein-
Segment polarity
Volhard were trying to decide on a name for a new mutant. Unlike other animal models such as yeast, which are named for their lineage or function, biologists studying flies sometimes give the mutants trivial descriptive names. For instance, one mutant was named gooseberry, another hedgehog, because that's what they looked like to Wieschaus and N iisslein-Vol hard under a microscope. Ingrid, tired of waiting for the adults to choose a name, began to repeat her bedtime story about a dwarf. Dwarf in German is kruppel. "That's it," said Niisslein-Volhard, and in their highly acclaimed paper in the scientific journal Nature, the mutant is named Kriippel, an embryo that is especially small because of the removal of a number of segments. What is not always recognized by
Gap
Pair-rule
.
: ~e= = : . -
those outside of science is that some silliness and a lot of creativity is involved in the discoveries that explain the mechanisms of the universe. Wieschaus refutes the idea that science is the opposite of the arts, where one creates rather than discovers. While growing up, he was good at two things: academics, including science, and art, His drawings hang throughout his house, and on a more mundane note, he does all of the cooking in his home, usually creating his own dishes. Deciphering the different embryos involves such creativity.
CC
I
had the fortunate experience of going through most of my life really naive and unsophisticated and having things work out," says Wieschaus. He wanders over to a light microscope and deftly sweeps a few embryos into view, to locate an example of an interesting mutant. An invitation hangs behind him, welcoming members of his lab to celebrate the news at his home with his wife and family. It does not take much to get Wieschaus to explain his work, his enthusiasm building, his voice barely able to keep up with the speed of his thoughts as he progresses to the most recent questions his lab is studying. He pauses thoughtfully, and then says through his sheepish grin, "I liked the experiment I did last week as much as the ones I did 20 years ago." 1111
...--..._
. .- -
,_,.,..r~
. . . -:.
'•
: /
~runt
Fly nnbryos as described by Wuschaus and Nii.sslein-Volhard in the scientific jounuzl Natun:. D!cu.mn r, 1995
Kaun jacobson, a junior in jonathan Edwards CoLlege, is ruearch director of
TNJ. II
Schiavone Realty and Development Corporation will use any legal means necessary to retain its vision of the Chapel-College business district.
I'll See You in Court Michelle Chihara n the second floor, above the Union League Caf~ on Chapel Street, downtown New Haven merchants from the College-Chapel area mingle over wine and cheese. Behind them hang photogr~phs and paintings of New Haven. White Christmas lights, twined into a large wreath¡ and two small Christmas trees, reflect in the floor-to-ceiling windows facing onto the street. Kathryn Garre, public relations representative for Schiavone Realty and Development Corporation (SRDC), asks everyone to be seated. "Okay, you're going to start seeing people putting up the decorations soon-we're getting the same crew as last year," she says. ~This is the Holiday Calendar, if you're having an event that's not on here, please let me know as soon as possible, so we can all coordinate." SRDC and its tenants regularly coordinate holiday decorations, as well as maintenance, marketing strategies, and sidewalk sales. But on any given day, Schiavone is just as likely to summon a lawyer regarding a tenant's lease as to call a plumber to ftx a tenant's drain.
0
S
RDC manages most of Chapel Street between College Street and High Street, where the nineteenth century facades, glittering windows, and brick sidewalks create a world all their own. That world owes its existence to the vision of one man, its former landlord, property manager, and developer, Joel Schiavone. An eccentric, impulsive banjo-player, Schiavone (SM '58) organized the New Haven jazz festival for a number of years. He has appeared on the Green in a tutu. He never wears socks. For a while, he owned the New Haven Nighthawks, a hockey team. When the Nighthawks threatened to leave the city, Schiavone camped out on top of a building and pledged to stay there until the team scared up enough support to stay. New Haven lost the team, but not Schiavone. Since the 1970s, Schiavone persevered in his efforts to transform New Haven into an ideal college town, complete with boutiques, cafes, and an entertainment complex. Joel and his wife Craig Schiavone, the current president of SRDC, have decried negative press about the downtown area. Tenants also express concern that the general public sees their district as crime-ridden and financially unstable. The imminent
12
departure of Kinko's does not quell such concerns, though Schiavone himself is quick to downplay them. "We have things closing and opening and moving out all the time," he says. "Chapel Street is prime real estate." A month ago, the area lured Martha's Millinery away from . Branford. The ¡owner, Martha Lear, a Manhattan-trained hat designer, says, "I came to New Haven to get ¡ into an urban area within Connecticut, in a quiet neighborhood." A year ago, jeweler Peter End.orf moved from Chapel and Park to join Schiavone's block, bringing with him creative ideas to lure out-of-town customers into New H aven. At a neighborhood meeting, he introduced a guest, the advertising coordinator of Woman magazine. She proposed an ad campaign for the merchants that would target "29-to-50-year-old upscale professional, suburban, affluent Connecticut women." The suburban dollar represents the ever-elusive golden ring for Schiavone's neighborhood. At the merchants' meeting, Kathryn Garre thrilled over the 26,000 audience members expected to pour into New Haven over Christmas for the Shubert's Cats. But despite the theaters, despite a $2 million dollar tax exemption on the Shubert, and five-year tax delayed phase-in on all renovated buildings, suburban dollars have fallen short of SRDC's hopes. The Shubert remains dark more often than most had hoped. And in 1992, First Constitution Bank threw another obstacle in Schiavone's path. The bank initiated foredosure procedures on virtually all of the College-Chapel area buildings. ew Haven headlines have been heralding Schiavone's "downfalls" and "comebacks" since the 1980s. Meanwhile, Joel Schiavone says, "We still own the properties." He denies that the foreclosure case has meant anything. "First Constitution went bankrupt, so now we're partners with the FDIC. It's the bank's f..ult that we've been having problems." Schiavone never really left. He's been here fighting for his vision all along, and he's left a trail of court records behind him. Tenants, even during the court battles, have continued to pay their checks to SRDC-FHC. FHC stands for First Hamden
N
THE NEW JouRNAL
Corporation, a subsidiary of First Constitution Bank. Technically, banks are barred from investing their own money with their customers'; lenders are prohibited from becoming joint partners in ventures with recipients of their loans. In 1981, Schiavone needed mortgage money to create his downtown vision. First Constitution put up that money and created First Hamden Corporation as a way of getting around the no-joint-venture rule. The SRDC-FHC pannership transformed the neighborhood. Everything was fine until the recession in the early 1990s. First Constitution suddenly became more concerned with the money that Schiavone owed than with the tnoney that Schiavone was helping them make. In 1992, First Constitution demanded, in writing, that tenants in Schiavone's block pay their rent directly to the bank. Schiavone ordered his tenants to continue paying rent exclusively to him. Stuck between squabbling landlords, a number of the tenants wanted a third party to decide the matter for them. The logical choice was a judge; so all parties went to court. Attorney Frank Cochran ftled a suit on behalf of the tenants. Meanwhile, Schiavone applied in federal court for an order appointing SRDC "rent receiver" for the Chapel area buildings. "He tried 'to steal a march on the foreclosure case and on the tenants," says Cochran. Since Schiavone was the property manager and the developer, the court decided in his favor. As rent receiver, Schiavone gets a cut of the rent and continues to manage the properties. By the time the tenants managed to get partially reimbursed for their legal fees, a separate court had already decided where their checks would go. Schiavone retains his receivership as long as the foreclosure case remains open, which it technically is. When the bank folded, the Federal Deposit Insu rance Company stepped in to shoulder First Constitution's debts. Schiavone effectively became the FDIC's partner. Legally, however, the situation isn't that simple. FHC (the subsidiary of First Constitution) is still on the books in the tax assessor's office and on rent checks, and First Constitution is still in the courts. The reopened foreclos~;~re case reads as follows: plain tiff, First Constitution; with mover, FDIC vs. defendants, York and Chapel Associates, Palace Plaza, RKO Palace, Chapel One Associates, DECEMBER. I, 1995
717-3071 FHC, SRDC-FHC, Schiavone Realty and Joel Schiavoneamong others. That 14 parties are now involved in the case gives the distinct impression that corporate entities have been multiplying between legal motions.
N
ew Haven's courthouses hold endless lists of cases involving one or more of Schiavone's corporate incarnations. Even in the federal court records in Hartford, at least eight cases come up under Schiavone's name. One claimant who has consistently won his cases against Schiavone is Bill McNeiece of McNeiece Construction-a longtime business partner and formerly a high-ranking employee of Schiavone's. McNeiece sued SRDC for breach of his contract for work on the Taft, including remodeling The Gap. In the settlement McNeiece was awarded $108,890.80. Even Schiavone's ex-wife, Allyn Schiavone, has sued Schiavone. She foreclosed on property of Schiavone's in the prestigious Thimble Islands off the New England coast. She took his East Crib Rock Island in 1993 as collateral for some $3 million that he owed her. Of course, legal strife doesn't prevent Joel Schiavone from maintaining amicable interactions with the parties with whom he is sparring' in court. According to the owner of the Anchor Bar and Restaurant, Marshall Moore, Schiavone's habit of lunching at his establishment has not been broken since the two became involved in a legal dispute. Moore's Anchor Bar and Restaurant has been a New Haven flXture for 40 years. Schiavone is currently suing him for alleged overdue property taxes. Before Moore paid, he wanted explanations for certain increases in his property tax. Moore's lease includes a provision that he pay a certain percentage of the property taxes assessed to the building. Schiavone has been unwilling, or unable,
13
The mzrner, a popular apartment bui/Jjngfor Yale studmts moving off-campus, is one of the properties managed by the Schiavone Realty and Development Corporation. to account for the amounts in question. "I invited the suit," Moore says. "I'd be willing to pay if he'd be willing to show me the documents." Schiavone has also served eviction notices to Moore, which Moore has avoided obeying, legally. "I feel no animosity towards any of them," Moore says. To date, the tax suit is still pending. Moore's lease on the Anchor, though, will be up fairly shortly. If Schiavone succeeds in his current negotiations to repurchase the College-Chapel area buildings, he may step back in as Moore's landlord. But Moore is not worried that Schiavone might evict him. Moore banks on his reputation as a New Haven staple. He loves reciting Jodie Foster's memories about the city where she went to college. "I remember New Haven," she said in a recent television interview. "I remember Yale, and all the people there, and of course, I'll never forget the Anchor Restaurant.'" asilios Kalogeridis, owner of the Copper Kirchen, has property tax complaints similar to Moore's. The two men watched the residential apartments above their restaurants undergo renovation. Years later, they found themselves paying a share of the increased property taxes, reassessed to account for these improvements. Both feel that they
V
14
should riot finance renovations that don't benefit their own businesses. While Moore paid the first two increased bills, Kalogeridis refused to pay from the beginning. "It's a matter of pride:," he says. Kalogeridis has been in and out of court with Schiavone since 1988 when he first got the increased property tax bill. Eventually, due to the FDIC's involvement, he was able to take Schiavone to the federal courts. "He would have thrown me out," Kalogeridis says. "But I said no. I've been here for 30 years." Eventually, a court decision granted Schiavone $19,000 of the over $40,000 he was demanding in tax money. Kalogeridis won a new lease, as well, but it took him two and a half years in court. Kalogeridis estimates that he has spent at least $20,000 in lawyers fees over the past few years alone. "I'd rather pay for the lawyers," the Copper Kitchen owner says. "I won't let anybody push me around. I work seven days a week. I do it the honest way. Ask him if he can say that." ther tenants jump to defend SRDC. "It's the only clean part of town," Phylis Satin, owner of the Wave Gallery, says. "They're always fixing, cleaning, doing. Joel Schiavone's vision has kept up the College-Chapel area." Lisa Ferretti, owner of Urban Objects,
O
has been in her current location for seven years. "They're unbelievable landlords," she says of the Schiavones. "Problems are taken care of within an hour, or that day at least. If the FDIC were to sell these buildings off individually, the area wouldn't have the consistency of his vision-especially in terms of things like the plants and the lighting at holidays." Ferretti doesn't feel that her rent is too high, but she wouldn't disclose what she pays. "I negotiated my own terms," she says. "I don't know what my neighbors are paying." Ferretti's immediate neighbor is Frances Baker of Sugar Magnolia, one of several tenants who pressed charges of favoritism against Schiavone in 1994. In November of that year, several commercial and residential tenants subject to SRDC's receivership came forward to complain about SRDC's conduct. Charges included favoritism, bad-faith lease negotiations, and racial discrimination. The plaintiffs included Baker, Moore, Kalogeridis, and Gene and Jill Cam, owners of Sakia, the Native American crafts boutique. The court ruled that the claims were worrisome but unsubstantiated. It added that SRDC's actions were justified as part of its duty as rent receiver to "maximize rental income." owever much these landlordtenant disputes preoccupy individual merchants, for Schiavone they pale in comparison to the drawn-out foreclosure case. "The foreclosures are a double-edged sword," says Matthew Nemerson, president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. "By lowering the basis of the investment values, you can lower rents and make downtown more economically viable. But it's cruel and unjust punishment for
H
THE NEW JouRNAL
New Haven headlines have been heralding Schiavone's 11downfalls" and "comebacks" since the 1980s.
those who tried to create their vision. " Viability, though, necessitates that the corridor continues to be treated as an integrated whole--what one tenant sees as a little monopoly and what Nemerson calls •central planning." As long as the district stays intact, Nemerson says the foreclosures need have no effect on New Haven. "It's simply an unfortunate situation for Joel, or for the taxpayer, depending on what happens," he says. The heart of the complications lies in First Constitution's position as both entrepreneur and creditor. The bank started out by acting like a partner, but it cracked down as a creditor when it started having trouble. The first sign of light at the end of the legal tunnel came in August of 1994 when all parties signed a binding mediation agreement. For all its legal jargon, it essentially represents an agreement not to have a winner. A judge-appointed third party will mediate a decision that seems fair to everyone involved. After the final hearing, Schiavone will have the first option to buy the buildings, but he will be able to do so only at the mediator's assessment of a fair price. Even if this case manages to reach its conclusion in the next six months, it will still have been in the courts for three years. And given the system, this case is sure not to be SRDC's last suit. The sheer volume of litigation surrounding the Chapel Street corridor seems to be the price of maintaining the grand vision that launched the project. 1811
ONE HOUR PHOTO PROCESSING
Ar Irs BEST! • Reprints • SameDay Enlargements • Poster Prints
• Passport Photos • Video Transfer • Photo Greeting Cards
• B&W Processing • Slide Processing • Printsfrom Prints or Slides
(20x30) (12x18)
PORTRAITS 8 L SI \
f \
I SS •
\I I I I I
s • (
II I I D I{ I \
HAMDEN
CHEsHIRE
Tommy K's Plaza 2460 Dixwell Ave.
Next to Burger King
248-8177
272-4717
•
PI
I S
947 So. Main St.
WML~~ (9~ 904 WHALLEY AVE., NEW HAVEN 397 .. 1928 We carry Armani, Calvin Klein, Ray Ban, Gargolyle, and many more
PAULA D'ANIELLO-LUPI OONNA TROTTA LICENSED OPTICIANS
• Minutes from Yale in quaint Westville Village • Great Selection • Personalized Service
Best Sushi V1 Place
Enjoy
Mention
Th~ Nro~ journal for
a
disco unt.
:&. .....
HAMA JAPANESE RESTAURANT
HAMA BOAT $4211
CHEF'S SPECIAL OF SUSHI & SASHIMI FOR 2 PEOPLE Enjoy a wonderful variety of fresh Sushi and traditional Japanese dishes.
LIVE MUSIC Michdl~ Co/kg~.
Chihara is a unior in
Dl!CBMBER I , 1995
B~rlul~y
''
Tuesday and Wednesday from 6-9pm!!
1206 Dixwell Av e ., Hamden (across from Chimney Square)
2 81 - 4 S 4 2
Open for Dinner Seven Days a Week Dinner Sundizy-Thursday 5-9:30pm FridJly&Silturday 5-10:00pm Lunch T -F . 11:30-2·
15
.....
¡:;
CT
~
"'0 0
....
VI
c:
J: >-.
.D ~ 0
::::: ~
~
-~
E
,g ¡;:; VI
0
"' >
"'0
'
uring the summer Yale is almost unrecognizable to those who only frequent it &om August to May. The pace is a little slower, and the weather is a lot nicer. The campus almost attains a sense of calm. But during the early hours of one morning this past summer, the usual calm was broken by the blare of ambulance sirens. Paramedics wheeled a suetcher &om a Yale dorm to the ambulance and then sped to Yale-New Haven Hospital. Shortly a&er his arrival at the hospital, Matt, a Yale student, was pronounced dead. Matt had stayed in New Haven over the summer to work for Yale; included in the deal was free on-campus housing. When he died that night in his room, those who knew and worked with him were stunned. David, another Yale student, was working out of the same office. Arriving at work the day a&er Matt died, he remembers, "We showed up at the office and everything was sort of going at its usual &antic pace, but people were clearly shocked about something. People told me, 'A student died last night in his sleep.' Everybody just asked, 'What the fuck?"' David and the rest of the office staff were told that Matt had died &om sleep apnea, a rare condition that arrests breathing during sleep. A few weeks later, David was shocked to hear that heroin was involved.
D
16
The official cause of death recorded on Matt's death certificate is morphine intoxication. The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy and signed Matt's death certificate was unavailable for comment, but Dr. Edward McDonough, deputy chief medical examiner, explains that morphine intoxication indicates that enough morphine was present in the body to cause death. McDonough explains that morphine intoxication generally occurs in two instances. In the first case, morphine is injected or taken orallyusually in a hospital setting. In the second scenario, heroin in the body breaks down into morphine. He notes that in performing autopsies, "We don't measure for heroin because it is broken down into morphine so quickly." Sleep apnea does not appear on Matt's death certificate, but McDonough notes that, in general, sleep apnea is difficult to detect a&er death. "There is nothing at the autopsy that would diagnose sleep apnea because there is no anatomical abnormality. It is up w the individual physician to judge." Jeff, a student now trying to kick his heroin addiction, claims he was doing heroin with Matt the day he died. "We were hanging out. We were both high. Five or six people that I know of were doing the same exact heroin that day. He le& at four that a&ernoon and the
THE NEW JouRNAL
One student's death raises disturbing q uestio ns about the myths and realities of he roin use a t Yale.
next morning I was woken up by a call from his girlfriend. 'Matt's dead."' For Jeff, the death was especially frightening. "It really struck me in a bad way, the fact that I had hung out with him the day before. This is the same exact stuff that I was shooting and everybody else was shooting. Same brand." Even months after he died, the circumstances of Matt's death are by no means clear. Those who used heroin with Matt believe that he did not die of an overdose. They thi~ that the heroin complicated his sleep apnea. In the end, these distinctions are quibbles. Matt's death will remain a nightmare for students at Yale who are still using heroin.
D
avid, a friend of both Matt and Jeff, does not use heroin; he was upset and angry when he learned the cause of death. "When I heard that he had been shooting heroin, I was really pissed because, to me, it was such the logical conclusion to this whole series of things that had been going on." David has witnessed a loose-knit scene growing among undergraduates. "It started to be this whole, not clique of people, but these sort of multiple cliques. In all my life up until last year, I was offered heroin once. Since last fall, I've been offered heroin two dozen times. It's ridiculous." Last fall, Jeff and his friends began making regular trips to New York City. "I used to go to the city once every two weeks. We had it down pat, the perfect little plan," Jeff says. "We would leave at a certain time. Get to New York. Park at a specific parking lot that was close to the spot. Hop out of the car. Go to the spot. Buy the drugs. Then, walk around the city for a little bit. Go to a cafe or something. Go do it in the bathroom with straws. Sit down, have some tea, chat, fed fabulous. Walk around a little more, maybe go shopping." Almost immediately, David began to notice addictive behavior among his friends. "The negative effects of it really became very apparent, very quickly," David says. "Right away, people started talking in addictive ways, saying classic addictive things like, 'Oh, you know, I'm not really doing it that much, but, you know, let's get
Dttnmu r, 1995
some,' or 'Oh, I did it three times this week, and I don't want to do it anymore, so I don't think I will.' Then you find out a couple of days later, they've done it again. Totally ridiculous shit. Totally ridiculous." The summer before Jeff began using heroin, he had been warned by a friend never to try it. Jeff was riding in a car with two friends who were snorting cocaine. One of his friends was high on heroin and nearly passed out. Jeff asked him what heroin was like, and he answered, "I don't want to talk about it; I'm trying to quit." Jeff then mentioned that he wanted to try it some time. His friend sharply warned him, "Don't ever try it. It's just not wotth it. It's like there's this little devil perched in the back of your head, and he will not go away, not for the rest of your life. Once you do it, once you become addicted to it, for the rest of your life, he will be there with you. No other drug is like that. " Now that Jeff is trying to quit heroin himself, he echoes the warning his friend gave him. "It makes me nervous how many people are trying it here."
I
n the midst of the rise in heroin use last spring, David Lipsky, a writer for Rolling Stan~, visited Yale, one of the last schools at which he stopped while researching his article, "The Hard Core Curriculum." The feature addressed rising drug use in colleges across the country, and one of the main schools featured in the article was Yale. "I spent five months going to different schools," Lipsky explains in an interview with Th~ N~ journal. "I didn't find students at Yale out of key. The same stuff kept coming up," he notes. According to Lipsky, Yale stood out from other schools in that the center of the Yale heroin subculture was said to be D Parry, a group that supposedly throws regular heroin parries that attract 40 to 60 users each time. Many doubt that this group exists. David explains that , though there is substantial heroin use at Yale, "It was certainly never as many as was stated in the Rolling Stone article, and there were certainly never parries organized around doing it." One of the students interviewed for the article remembers that several of those contacted by Rolling Stone had personal problems
17
y HAIRCUTTING Full Line of Haircutting
In all my life up until last year, I was offered heroin once. Since last fall, I've been offered heroin two dozen times.
77 Broadway INSIDE YALE COOP
495-7400
Standard Food Market 852 State Street New Haven. 00511 Ph. Tf7-4000
cr
Ma.inly F ruits IlL Vqetables, Dell Meats, Kielbasa Br ooklyn Bakery Br ead
Hours: Mon-Fri 6am-7pm, Sat 6am-5pm, Sun 6am-lpm
TN] thanks: Caroline Adams Alec Bemis Dennis Chang Michelle Chihara Harnsa Murthy Mark Neuman Alma Robledo Hans Soderquist
IS
with Lipsky. "My friend basically decidedand he said this before the interview-that he was going to fuck with this guy, simply because he didn't like the way that the guy had gotten in touch with him. He thought it was sleazy how he had been contacted. He wanted to see if the guy was willing to bite the bait and suck up this propaganda." During the interview, the friend casually mentioned D Party, and no one else intervie'Yed contradicted him. When the atticle was published, this student's account ¡ of D Party served as the article's introduction. Despite the personal problems that some students had with Lipsky, almost everyone interviewed was excited¡ to be in the atticle in RoUing Stone. "Hell, it was fun to be in the RoUing Stone thing, and part of the reason it was fun was because it was part of living out this hip role, whatever that is," said the student who was interviewed. After RoUing Stone published the article in October, it was quickly dismissed in a front page Yak Daily N~s piece entitled, "Students Dupe Rolling Stone Reporter." The Daily News reported, "Undergraduates fabricated the stories behind [the) Rolling Stone magazine expose depicting an active heroin subculture at Yale." D Party was a hoax. While a heroin subculture at Yale may not revolve around large patties, it is active inasmuch as small groups of people get together to use heroin. David estimates that the total number of heroin users at Yale could be as many as 30 or 40, but he adds that they never get together in large groups. Commenting on the increased use last fall, David says, "It was a very secretive thing. It was done in small, small groups." Cunently, David still knows of a number of users. "I could easily think right off the top of my head of 15 or 20 people."
Zoey, a Yale student recovering from her addiction,~explains,
"Heroin users at Yale tend to be very isolated and just experiment or dabble. There isn't a network." While Yale is far from a campus of dope fiends , heroin has found a place in some social circles.
T
he increase of heroin use at Yale follows a rise in the use of drugs among college students nationally. In the annual University of Michigan report ' Monitoring the Future, the numbers show a sustained drop in the use of drugs across the board from 1979 to 1991. Since then, the numbers have risen sharply. Lipsky cites a statistic that nearly half of all college students have now tried at least one drug. Though most heroin users at Yale would probably scorn the whole "modern rock" culture, many of them point to the rise of the Seattle scene as the source of heroin's new-found status. Zoey notes, "Starting with Kurt Cobain, the media has exploited the waify, black-eyed heroin look. There's a cettain amount of trendiness to it." "[My friends) had visions of themselves, on some level, as hip urbanites," David says. "I don't disrespect them for this view of themselves, you know, this is growing up." Ironically, the generation saturated with "Just Say No" rhetoric is the same one that is just saying yes more and more often. The "Just Say No" campaign of the Reagan years drew a bright line for children, classifying all drugs as harmful. When kids began to experiment with drugs, they found that the reality of drugs didn't fit with the "Just Say No" campaign's warnings. Jeff explains, "So when you do go ahead and smoke pot and then you go ahead and try acid, yqu start to get this feeling that, oh Jesus, everything they told me about 'Just Say No' is a bunch
THE NEW JouRNAL
of bullcrap." David imagines the line that most students at Yale draw falls just short of heroin. "If there's a line anywhere in people's minds at Yale when they're drug using, it's with heroin," David says. "Heroin is the bad
boy." But as Jeff explains, the people who cease to believe the warnings they heard in grade school move on to other drugs thinking they will be the same. "If you finally do end up trying something like heroin with that same mindset, you're in for a big surprise because heroin is the one that will get you in the end because it's highly, highly addictive. You know, if you do it three days in a row, you're going¡ to be addicted to it because you're going to get sick when you stop. That base level of painfree existence is taken away and replaced by something unnatural you have to purchase and give yourself every day. You get literally ill, and it's very painful." While the image associated with heroin might initially draw new users, the intense physical sensation sustains them. Zoey explains," "How it feels is the key thing to the user. Heroin is like the world's electric blanket being turned on in your stomach. It gives you this curious, queasy, tender feeling. " Jeff describes the feeling as "when you ride down the first hill on a roller coaster, that feeling in your stomach. It's like that sustained for hours. It's so much, it's incredible. It's too much. You know that when you feel that fucking good, there's something wrong." Jeff recalls some people who did not like the experience: "I know a couple of people who've tried it and didn't like it because it does make you vomit." David explains that he never took up any of his friend's offers: "It seems to me to be disgusting-puking
DECEMBER. I, 1995
and not eating. The whole concept seems to me to not be very fun at all." After a user is addicted, the extended effects disappear, leaving only the initial rush. Jeff explains, "When you're addicted to it, you're just normal. There is nothing different about you and anybody else, except that I knew that twice a day I felt really good, and the rest of the day I felt normal." A large reason an addict continues using is to avoid the sickness of withdrawal. "When you quit, you get depressed. It feels like a bad case of the flu, and you can't sleep well," says Zoey. When she first used heroin, Zoey loved the experience of it. Now, for her, it has become more routine. "What is sad is that after a while it turns into d aily maintenance, and it loses its wonder. I miss the innocence of how I entered into it," she says. " Heroin becomes routine and it becomes ugly." For Zoey and Jeff, the drug serves more to create motivation than to provide a good time. Zoey stresses the little ways the drug helps her. "In many ways I am not a confident person. Heroin helps me in everyday ways like helping me to remember to say 'thanks' to the clerk when he gives me my change back." Jeff misses that extra help in his life. "Now that I'm not doing heroin, irs a nightmare. My grades are not as good as they were; they're going down. I really try, but I just don't have the motivation right
now. Not that I want to start doing it again, but I'm assuming that eventually I'll get over this. But, I don't know."
T
he desire to defy Yale norms serves as another source of attraction to heroin. Jeff explains, "The thing about heroin that attracted me to it so much was the whole idea of contradiction. I always loved to do the opposite of what people would think I would do. The Yalie who's a junkie at the same time. Can I do both well?" For a while, Jeff tried. "I feel like I've experienced Yale in a parallel universe. It is so bizarre keeping these weird secrets &om everybody at Yale because you feel weird having to run home right after a class so that you can shoot up and make it through the rest of your day. You run back to your room. You pull out your spoon, your needle, your cotton, and lighter and shoot up and then run back out the door. It becomes part of your daily routine, and you're a Yale student." Jeff found his Yale identity useful in keeping him out of legal trouble. He tells of a time when he and some friends were speeding back from New York. "We had just finished smoking a blum. We had about ' $200 worth of cocaine and heroin in the glove compartment, and this cop pulls us over." The cop an nounced that she was going to search the car for drugs. Jeff asked
19
her, "Why? That's fine by me, but it just makes me curious why you would want to search us for drugs. We were just visiting some friends at Columbia University and we're on our way back to Yale." The cop then asked them for their licenses, and Jeff responded, "I don't have mine, but I have my Yale ID, see?" She gave them no more than a speeding ticket. Though a large part of heroin users at Yale buy their heroin in New York, heroin is readily available in New Haven. Jeff had heard that some dealers marked their spots by hanging tennis shoes. When he couldn't go to New York, he began exploring New Haven. "I started walking around the neighborhood by the Med School and then, all of a sudden, I looked up and there's tennis shoes hanging down from the wires. It's really right there." Zoey notes that the quality of heroin in New Haven is lower and the price is higher, "but it's more convenient than going co New York." ven though it makes che task of admissions office recruiters more difficult, Yale acknowledges the urban crimes to which Yale students fall prey. But, the university is less likely co admit that Yale students are sometimes guilty of such crimes as buying and possessing drugs. To a certain extent, the federal government has given Yale an incentive to play down drug-related
E
that heroin use isn't terribly prevalent." In a ~ of drug use or possession, the Executive Committee would take disciplinary action. In the meantime, Trachtenberg says that Yale already addresses drugs in its educational programs. "Our substance abuse counselors at Health Services deal with both legal and illegal substances," but she adds, "We deal more with alcohol because it is much more activitie~ on-campus. When Congress prevalent and much more acceptable." ammended the Drug-Free Schools and ¡ David agrees that alcohol is the larger Communities Act in 1989, it mandated that problem and characterizes heroin and other all schools who receive federal money, drugs as "a drop in the bucket compared to including Yale, would be held financially the number of problems related to alcohol responsible for enforcing drug laws. Schools on this campus." found co tolerate drug use on-campus would Even though David criticizes Yale for not dealing with heroin constructively, he face losing their federal funding. So, a emphasizes that the school should not school has an incentive to downplay the amount of drug use on its campus. Critics, conduct a witch hunt for heroin. "I certainly don't want to see Yale admit that there's a including Lipsky, argue that the federal tremendous amount of drug use and then regulations hamper efforts by schools to enact policies that focus on educating crack down on all the drug use," David says. "People that have heroin problems should, students who choose to use drugs to use first of all, not be vilified by their friends them safely. Proponents of these harm and deans." reduction strategies point to successful "safer Trachtenberg agrees that disciplinary sex" programs as models. action would not be the most effective route Lipsky points out, "The government to helping people and instead favors hasn't withheld any funds yet, but colleges preventive action. "If we approach this are waiting for a test case. The common line through the educational approach, we is that the problem here is no worse than at any other school." Dean of Student AfFairs would be much more successful because otherwise people will just hide," she says. Betty Trachtenberg disagrees, "The DrugJeff and Zoey are already hiding. Both Free Schools Ace talks quite a lot about education. I don't read it as absolutist. We were concerned with protecting their identities and feared reprisals from their have broadened our education programs co include all substances." However, deans and masters. Jeff and Zoey refer co a story of a woman who was confronted by Trachtenberg is also quick to point out that her dean last year after the woman's friends drugs do not constitute a major problem at had told the dean that she had a problem Yale. "I'm not going to say there's no use of with drugs and had been dealing heroin. As drugs among Yale students, but certainly no more than at other schools. I hear the Jeff and Zoey understand it, the woman was threatened with criminal charges of drug rumors that you hear, and I hear rumors
THE NEW JouRNAL
----- -
Heroin helps me in everyday ways like helping me to remember to say "thanks" to the clerk when he gives me my change back. dealing if she did not enter a rehab program. She did not go to rehab, and eventually she left Yale. While one may contest the circumstances of the case, the story has sent a chilling message to heroin users at Yale. David feels that Yale must do more to establish itself as trustworthy to those who have substance abuse problems. "I think that there are a lot of people at Yale that feel like Yale is their enemy, feel like their dean is their enemy, and feel like anything institutional or administration-related, in terms of their drug use, is their enemy. That's a shame because, in fact, addiction is a medical problem and that's the way it should be treated. There are times when somebody is in trouble and the way that you deal with it is not by continuing to cover up, it's by providing the help and the support and the friendship that somebody needs when they're in trouble." When Rolling Stone published its account of heroin use at Yale, the Yale community focused on the inaccuracies of the report. In her reaction to the article, University Secretary Linda Lorimer (LAW '77) told' the Daily News, "I would find any truth in it to be very alarming." The truth is that one Yale srudent has died, and on his death certificate the cause of death is morphine intoxication. Heroin abuse may not be worse at Yale than it is at other schools, and heroin may not be that widespread on campus. However, the number ofYalies who are trying it is at least serious, if not frightening. 1111
Matt, David, ]4[, and Zoey art pmldonyms.
~ -- -~
-~--
Yale University Art Gallery's
MUSEUM SHOP 1111 Chapel St. • New Haven, CT • 432-0601 Tuesday-Saturday lOAM-4:45PM Sunday 2PM-4:45PM
Present vour YIJU ID & receive a 10% dUcount on anv purchau over $10
The Museum Shop offers a diverse selection ofart books for adults & children, Art Gallery publications, classical & contemporary jewelry, scarv~, neckties, tee shirts, unusual objects, games, posters, cards . ..
WHilNEY--m<JMBOLL
JARfER·S"M.IST IS ONOER NEW OWNERS~IP!!!
WOMEN'S CUTS
15.00
'" . . . IS
WAU(-INS waCOME
~ERE
TO SERVE YOO!!!
MONOAY-SATOROAY 'lOS
7fd7-154-3 100 WHITNEY A\'ENOE
MEN'S CUTS
12.00
APPOINTMENTS APPRKIATEP
~~JS£~ Slnce1934
America's largest and Foremost Tobacconists
Tobaccos Blended to Suit Your Individual Taste Expert Pipe Repairing Done on Premises
'•
The Widest Selection of World Class Cigars in the USA Gabriel Snyder, a sophomore in Berkeley Colkge, is production manager o[fNJ. DECEMBER I, 1995
268 College Street, New Haven, Tel. 624-3250 2.1
New Hoven's effort to make its neighborhoods self-sufficient and efficient rests on the foundation of its elementary schools.
The Family Cam~as Caroline Adams ' ' W :exler is a COZI School. Kids & Parents Together" boasts a colorful patchwork sign in front of the Wexler Elementary School in New Haven's Dixwell neighborhood. A bear caJls out "Wexler Bear Says Kids First" in equally eye-catching colors on another poster. Focusing attention on young children and incorporating parents into a school's daily routines are concepts which form the cornerstone of a new program known as the Family Campus Initiative. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Superintendent Reginald Mayo, and Yale President Richard Levin announced, in July 1994, the initiative to convert New Haven's neighborhoods into networks of safety and support centered on public elementary schools. They intend each school to work together with other service organizations as a campus to offer educational opportunities and support for the entire community. The program currendy exists in two of New Haven's neighborhoods and will eventually extend throughout the whole city. The Family Campus requires a collaborative effort, consisting of a coalition of local foundations, Southern Connecticut State University, Yale University, various state agencies, neighborhood organizations, and parents. The acronym for the basis of the Family Campus Initiative, COZI, is constructed from the first syllables of the names of its creators, Dr. James Comer (Hon. MA '75), a Morey professor of psychology and director of the Child Study Center at Yale, and Dr. Edward Zigler (Hon. MA '67), a Sterling professor of psychology and director of the Bush Center for Child Development and Social Policy at Yale. In a concept that he introduced in 1968, Comer advocates the consolidation of resources in the school as well as parent involvement in order to improve schools and the quality of education. Zigler's "School of the 21st Century" idea argues that the more children are supported in schools, the better they will perform. The COZI concept, already functioning in schools nationwide, provides the foundation for the Family Campus Initiative. Whereas COZI aims to improve schools specifically, the Family Campus Initiative extends to all parts of the community, uniting parents and resource providers in its effort to improve the entire community through the schools. Lynn Conte, who was hired in July as the project's director, is rarely in her office. Instead she spends most of her time in the community, meeting with parents and residents, keeping them involved and informed. "It sounds great on paper, but that's not
22
everything," she admits. Katherine Brennan in the West Rock neighborhood and Isadore Wexler in Dixwell are the two schools where this pilot program is taking place. A steering committee as well as advisory groups in the two neighborhoods have been formed. Representatives from each neighborhood meet monthly with Conte in order to discuss the individual needs of each community. Although meetings rarely produce tangible signs of progress, Conte, as well as the principals of both schools, seem positive and enthusiastic about their effect. Belinda Carberry, the principal of the Isadore Wexler school, reports that, as a result of discussions held at a retreat in June for , teachers and administrators, teachers decided to telephone the parents of their students before the school year began. To encourage further involvement, they also held a "Back-to-School" picnic for faculty, students, and their parents on August 31. Fortunately, Dixwell already possesses many funds from a grant of $4.5 million earmarked for the renovation of Elm Haven, a nearby housing project. In addition to these financial resources, Wexler School's location on Dixwell Avenue puts it in a prime spot near a church, the Dixwell Q House community center, a small supermarket, and a branch of the New Haven Public Library. However, Dixwell needs the Family Campus Initiative to organize and to direct its funds and resources efficiendy.
T
he Family Resource Center, a product of Zigler's "School of the 21st Century" concept, opened in Wexler School in July 1994. In addition to providing services for parents, the center runs its own programs. In one of these, the "Buddy Program," fifth graders chosen for good behavior read stories and solve puzzles with preschoolers. The program is intended to give the fifth graders a sense of responsibility while providing preschoolers with good role models. In adult education services, many parents recendy completed a series of nutrition classes in collaboration with University of Connecticut Extension Services. During the summer, the Center hosted Certified Nurse's Aide training; out of the 21 who completed the six-week course, ten are now employed in that field. GED classes are important for many parents, too, offering the chance to earn a high school equivalency diploma and to secure bener jobs. The resource center's current project focuses on establishing a day care center in Wexler for children from birth to age four. Such an institution would give parents more free time to further their
THÂŁ NEW JoURNAL
-•
The Family Campus Initiative plans to turn the currently vacant Clarence Rogers building into a resource center. education, to pursue careers, or to involve themselves in the school. The goal is also to create a healthy, stimulating atmosphere of education for children as early as possible, in accordance with Zigler's vision. Wexler has also adopted Comer's idea of involving parents in the school's daily operations. Several Wexler parents, for example, have been trained to teach conflict resolution at their "Pride Center" for children who have been suspended from school. In this way, suspension becomes a productive experience instead of an excuse to miss school. Parent volunteers also patrol the school grounds to maintain order and respect, conduct after-school dismissal, work in the cafeteria, and act as substitute teachers or secretaries when necessary. "There have never been so many parents in the school, feeling good about it and their relationship to it," Carberry explains. An obvious conflict arises here. As parents move on to higher education and more demanding jobs, they no longer have time to spend in the school. "We are losing families," says Ruby Allison, an administrator at the Wexler resource center. For Allison, however, it is a worthwhile trade-off. The Family Campus Initiative administrators want this to be a bottom-up program, gradually turned over into the hands of the communities themselves, making them self-sufficient as well as efficient.
T
he West Rock community is markedly different from Dixwell. While the latter is relatively accessible and has abundant resources, West Rock, the city's poorest and most isolated neighborhood, consists of six secluded public housing complexes. A single road connects the community to the rest of the city. Public transpottation is so limited that without a car, which few people own, there is no way to get around after dark. West Rock also lacks necessities such as a supermarket and a library.
DECEMBER I , 1995
The high backyard fences of wealthier Harnden residents create a barrier between West Rock and its rich neighbor. Years ago, the residents of Hamden wanted to erect a wall between the two communities, but the division was deemed illegal. Their solution lay in the private backyard fences which produce the same effect. West Rock's remoteness and lack of resources prompted its inclusion as one of the two pilot communities involved in the Family Campus Initiative. The Katherine Brennan School is the West Rock elementary school targeted as a Family Campus Initiative pilot. During the past six months, the Family Campus steering commitee has provided funds for physical improvements such as new floors, better lighting, new roofing, and carpeting. Dietria Wells, the principal, reports that "round tables have replaced the old, long ones; round tables are more conducive to social behavior." They have trimmed the bushes and have removed the dumpsters in front of the building. Although these changes are mostly cosmetic, the committee hopes that improved physical conditions will create a more positive atmosphere in the school. Unlike Wexler, the Katherine Brennan School on Wilmott Avenue has no resource center, one of the Initiative's basic units. The Clarence Rogers building, which once served as an annex, housing kindergarten through second grade, has stood vacant across the street from Katherine Brennan for many years. The words "Terror Dome" are spray-painted across one side of the building. The Family Campus Initiative has already hired an architect to transform this building from a terror dome into something resembling a resource center. The plan also includes getting nearby organizations such as the West Rock Neighborhood Corporation, the Head Start Program, the Housing Authority, and the community-based police substations to cooperate with the school. Conte reports that the police
Your Eyeweor Alternative Comprehensive Eye Exams Contact lenses • Fashion Eyewear
Participants in the after-schoolprogram at the Dixwell Q House.
furopean fo o d
Lunch Buffet !1:30am-2:30pm • Full Service Catering • Gourmet Foods Prepared Daily • Specialty Breads, Cakes, and Pastries • Gift Baskets
516 Chapel St. New Haven
782-6767
department, for example, is excited to connect the sub-stations with the schools.' "The level of committment is higher than we could have imagined ," she says. "Unfortunately the pace can sometimes be frustrating." Planning is currently u nderway fo r individual police officers to patrol the surrounding area and to become involved in after-school activities such as sports and tutoring. In this way, they hope to build safer campuses and instill respect in the children. While the goals of the Family Campus Initiative sound effective, some people are skeptical about its plausibility. Sean Garris, the director of the Dixwell Q House, says, "Too many terms, social service jargon, are floating around; there is no dictionary." He does not believe that there is any real desire to change. "The population is for the most part apathetic," he explains. "They don't see any of the money behind the lip service, and that's why they don't vote." After finding funding, a major problem will be mobilizing existing resource providers. One of Conte's missions is to ensure not only that necessary resources are available, but also that they are n ot duplicated. Garris doubts whether this will work. "Agencies will fee l threaten ed , because it will all boil down to jobs," he predicts. "Who will keep them and wh o will lose them?"
THE NEW JouRNAL
)
Confidence about the program remains high because of the novel partnership of the city, the school board, and Yale.
To assuage agencies' fears of being forced to cut jobs, Family Campus planners emphasize a gradual process of organizing and consolidating resources in which there are no deadlines and no time limits. Alma Ayel a, the city's human resource adm inistrator who represents the city's involvement at Family Campus Initiative meetings, calls for "the on-going process of engaging in conversation with residents and providers." Aye la social service acknowledges the Initiative's responsibility to com municate with the instit utions it affects. "We must pull the agencies onto our side by keeping them informed," she says. Be tsy Jenki ns, a socia l services coordinator at the West Rock Neighborhood Corporation, does not feel threatened by t he initiative. Fam ily Cam p us strives to e nsure greater selfsufficiency for public housing residents by building human capital through education and job experience. But Jenkins remains
confident that the need for her services will not disappear. "Whatever happens, people will keep coming to us since we represent the people in the commmunity and offer the counselling, food, and energy programs that it needs," she says. The initiative sets no rigid parameters fo r the Family Campus. Each neighborhood must formulate a plan to allocate resources and funds tailored to the part icular needs and strengt hs of their community. Funds totaling $150,000 have alread y bee n committed by local foun d ations. The steering commi t tee decided to consult local funders before seeking national resources, but according to Michael Morand (SY '87, DIY '93) in the University's Office of the Secretary, "Yale is willing to seek federal money if necessary." In fact, the com mittee has already applied for funds from several federal grant sources, but a number of them have been rejected. Ci t ies across the nation are experimenting with the idea of the Family
Campus. In San Diego, for example, a similar program called New Beginnings tries to use schools as centers of service integration. In New Jersey, One Stop Shopping Schools, which aim to provide a multitude of social services in public schools, were introduced. These programs all try to reduce stress so that families can r un more smoothly. As Barbara Ste rn (SOM '87) of the Bush Center says, "How convenient would it be if the doctor's office was in my kids' school?" New Haven and the Family Campus Initiative are at the forefront o f thi s national movemen t. Confidence in the program remains high because of the novel partnership of three powerful players in New Haven: the city, the school board, and Yale. As an institut ion of knowledge and experience, Yale is t rying to foc us its energies where they are most needed, Morand explains. He anticipates that Yale will be more active in Dixwell, while Southern Connecticut State University will be involved with West Rock. These dynamics make sense because of the institutions' respective proximities. As Ayela describes, the Family Campus Initiative is a "conversation" among all the elements of a neighborhood. Although on the surface meetings deal with bureaucratic details, in the best circumstances, they also provide a means of communication. The initiative negotiates the boundaries berween school and family to address the pressing problems of New Haven urban life. 111]
Carolin~
Adams is a
sophomor~
in
Pi~rson
Co/kg~.
The IsaJore Wexler schooL DECEMBER I,
1995
25
The Vanguard of the New NAACP Hillary Margolis
M
e-recorded voice bounces off the walls in a booth at the WELl Radio Towers Park in Hamden, announcing the eginning of the Saturday talk show hosted by "New aven's own Weekend Warrior," Roger Vann. Dressed in a t-shirt celebrating Black History Month, sneakers, and baseball cap, Vann looks more like a college student than a warrior. Yet when his cue sounds, Vann takes control of the microphone and launches into two hours of the kind of heated discussion that has given him the reputation of a fighter among radio talk-show hosts. Today's topic-parental responsibility-calls for an interview with Melinda Toohous, a spokeswoman for an anti-substance abuse organization called New Haven Fighting Back. Toohous is fired up about beer companies' use of Halloween symbols in their advertising, which she says target a child audience rather than an adult one. Vann takes on the topic with a casual air, mingling jokes with his more serious commentary. Assailed by a short fit of coughing during the interview, Vann quips, "I need to take a drink here--but not beer, of course." For all its informality, Vann's weekly radio show has become an important forum for debate in New Haven, particularly within the city's minority communities. It involves its listeners in a search for answers to the most difficult questions facing urban New Haven. After his interview with Toohous, Vann tackles the issues of legal penalties for dealing crack cocaine, prejudice, and the need for government-funded activities for teenagers. "It is always good to spark debate within your own community
and not just assume that we all have the same views," says Danielle Holley (SY '96), a coordinator of the Yale Black Political Forum, and an occasional listener of the "Roger Vann Show." Holley praises Vann for his unabashed manner, regardless of the controversy he may incite. Others share her enthusiasm. "WELl has not had a lot of programs that dealt with the minority community" before Vann's arrival, says Theodore Brooks, Reverend of the Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church. "Vann brought enlightenment to the station." Of course, there is no shortage of flamboyant radio personalities. Proselytizing over the air waves has become a great American pastime. Vann, however, is not your typical radio show host. The man using Dave Matthews' "Ants Marching" and War's "Low Rider" as lead-in music to his on-air segments is also the newly elected president of the Greater New Haven branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). n his role as NAACP president, Vann appears in a dress shirt and tie. With his stocky build and rounded cheeks, he resembles a young man dressed up to impress his father. Gone are the baseball cap and tennis shoes, as well as the banter of the radio show. His voice drops its playful tone in favor of an attitude that is all business. "I envision my mission with the local NAACP as a microcosm of what the national organization¡. trying to
I
' ¡'
THE NEW JouRNAL
accomplish," Vann explains. "I am trying to revitalize the organization and attract younger people." Vann exudes confidence, but the challenges he will face in this endeavor far &om trifling. The extreme erosion of New Haven's job base in the past 20 years has left much of the city's AfricanAmerican community in disarray. The NAACP has struggled to maintain a strong footing as its shifting leadership tries to meet the demands of an increasingly divided community. Five years have passed since William Finnegan's widelyacclaimed N~ Yorktr piece exposed the grim life of an AfricanAmerican teenager in New Haven. The wreckage of New Haven's working-class communities that has accompanied economic decline is common knowledge. There are fewer and fewer residents, in fact, who can remember what it was like before. Reverend Brooks, who has lived in New Haven for the past 44 years, recalls a time when New Haven's African-American community was limited to the Dixwell Avenue area, socially as well as residentially. "During the fifties and sixties, Dixwell Avenue was the epitome of black culture," says Brooks. He speaks of the constant stream of cars on Dixwell Avenue every Saturday afternoon, cruising at speeds that allowed their passengers to sec and be seen. A$ the African-American community's population grew from 10,000 in 1950 to an estimated 50,000 in 1990, its members 8ooded over the boundaries of the Oixwell area to which it had once been confined. Simultaneously. a gap between socio-economic classes . d within the community. Often characterized as
are
DECEMBEil I, 1995
New Havm NAACP chapter president Roger Wlnn searches for anstHTS to New Havm's urban problems on his WELl radio show. monolithic, New Haven's African-American community today is in fact divided between an established middle class and a growing lower class. The lack of jobs and other resources prevents a viable solution to this problem. "Even for those with an education, there are only surface jobs available," says Courtland Seymour Wilson, president of the Greater New Haven NAACP in the 60s and 70s and current executive director of the Hill Development Corporation. Mustafa Abdul-Salaam, executive director of the New Haven Family Alliance, says "(African-Americans in New Haven] have no access to and control of resources, which are the nexus of any community." Making use of the resources that do exist is also increasingly difficult. Organizations like the NAACP, which have traditionally provided leadership within the African-American community, are finding it difficult to represent the competing interests of the middle class versus the lower class, or the new generation versus the old. Wilson explains the problem in simple mathematical terms. "How can 1,800 people [NAACP membership in New Haven] represent a community of 35,000 or 40,000?" he asks, as if insulted
27
Hamden Plaza 2100 Dixwell Ave. Hamden 230-0039 • open 7 days • natural fiber clothing • Crabtree & Evelyn • jewelry • toiletries • pottery • and •ta~"N
presents for children of all
& GIIJS.ti.p~ ,._oJytf-0~ ~~
1
401
GOURMBTSHOPPB '----, Full line of Imported Food Imported Cheeses • Fresh Mozzarella Herbed Vinegars • Special Dressings Fresh Pastas • Party Trays • Fruit Baskets Homemade Cooked Foods & Sausages (with no preservatives, no additives)
~•v
by the very idea. "No organization can do that. [The New Haven NAACP] represents those who want to participate." In the face of such hardsh ips, New Haven's NAACP leadership in the community has sometimes faltered. Elnora Potter, treasurer of the Greater New Haven NAACP, says that for brief periods during the 1940s, as well as the 1960s and 1970s, the chapter lay dormant, overcome by divisiveness. Wilson denies this adamantly, but he acknowledges that the p roblems faced by the organization have changed during the 78 years he has lived in New Haven. Describing the explosion in drug use and violence that has taken place largely in the last ten years, Wilson says "I think the NAACP can help, but not with [these kinds of] problems. There are new problems in America that I don't think any organization can handle." The dramatic leadership shake-up that occurred with the election of 28-year-old Vann last year was part of an effon of the New Haven NAACP to revitalize its chapter, shed its out-dated dogma, and
find a voice more relevant to today's community. "Leadership of the organization had been too stable," says Vann. "There were deeply ingrained attitudes. There was a need on all levels for a turnover in leadership and an infusion of . .. , a new vtston. Chuck Allen, legislative assistant to the Mayor and a member of both the current and previous executive boards of the New Haven NAACP, was instrumental in. deciding that the branch needed a turnover in leadership. "When you are in an organizatio.n for a while, you tend to overlook its weaknesses," says Allen, in reference to the leadership of five-term branch president Hayward Hooks and his executive board. "[Va nn ] was young, outside the old regime of the NAACP. He could see its potential and its shoncomings," Allen says. While Vann's youth made him an appealing challenger to Hooks, it was internal disagreements among chapter members that allowed him to win the election. Many local NAACP members
771 Orange Street • New Haven Open 7 days, half day Sunday
776-1614
• BOX
RsToPIIIm.
P LUSiillill • • • • • • •
Hassle Free Shipping Packing Gift Wrapping Mailing Copying Fax Service Mail Boxes
• Pagers
• Greeting Cards
• Business Cards • • • • •
Rubber Stamps Courier Service Resumes Bulk Mailings Notary Public
Ted & Gert Berube, owners 60-C Skiff Street Hamden
287-1560 THE Nsw joURNAL
Having young Roger Vann as president makes New Haven an anomaly. The NAACP would probably be beHer nationally if we took on more like him. perceived this most recent regional conflict as an indication of the broader struggle surrounding the NAACP's role in today's Mrican-American communities, a debate over whether the NAACP can affect problems such as the ones Wi lson highlights. Vann entered the scene at a time when the NAACP was struggling to j ustify its very existence. "There are questions of whether the NAACP is still relevant for playing a leadership role in the African-American community," AbdulSalaam says. "Across the board, the nature of organizations for communities can no longer function from the top down." Holley attributes public questioning of t he NAACP to t he fact that the organization now spans several generations. "The role of the NAACP anywhere is in flux. It is considered outdated for most people. It is very sixties, very much a part of the civil rights movement. It is not associated with progressive thought," says Holley. Many students, she says, consider the NAACP part of the past and associate it with their parents' generation rather than their own. Vann acknowledges that when he began as president of the New Haven NAACP branch, some members were clinging to the organization's past while others desired an agenda suited to the future. He sees the generation gap as a temporary problem, however, and not one that need seriously compromise the effectiveness of the organization. "The NAACP can absolutdy be effective today," says Vann. "If people think [it can't] why is it that when they get in trouble they give us a call to be their advocate?" The more serious problem for Van n is the organ ization's lack of connection with the grass-roots public. The NAACP, says the new president, m ust
DEcEMBER I,
1995
reestablish ties with local grass-roots groups and let community members believe that the organization is in their hands rather than under the control of an amorphous national bureaucracy. Personally, Vann is well on his way to establishing such ties. Whether he can pull the NAACP along behind him is another question. n Vann's office, littered with scraps of paper and lined with recordings of radio shows, one realizes why he might have been perceived as nothing more than a recent college graduate with his head stuck in a cloud of idealism, why people would doubt his ability to bridge all of the gaps New Haven faces. Yet Vann's history reads like a resume of attempts at promoting community interaction. Since his youth in Hamden, Vann has taken only a temporary leave of absence from the New Haven area to attend Brown University. As president of the Brown's Organization of United Mrican Peoples and a leader in a 1985 Third World Student Protest against apartheid, Vann was instrumental in student activism for civil rights. Reflecting on his college crusades, Vann describes them as a training ground where he used his newfound freedom to find his political and social niche. Post-graduation, Vann returned to the New Haven area during what he calls a period of "re-grouping" prior to attending graduate school. Vann, however, soon became sidetracked by work at the radio station and with local organizations. He initiated support systems for Mrican-Americans, including the Simba program orchestrated th rough t h e Oixwell Community Q H ouse. Sean Garris of the Q House describes the program as an aid for African-
I
American males experiencing the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Vann worked to instill a sense of pride in Mrican-American youth by incorporating his background in African-American culture and history into the program's activities. "(Vann] gave [the teens] a different insight into their responsibilities as individuals and .their roles in the future. He was even able to get the support of the parents of the youth involved," says Garris, clearly impressed by Vann's achievement of the latter task. In a less concrete manner, though perhaps a more enduring one, Vann has already demonstrated a commitment to increasing community involvement through his radio show on WELl. "Being on air, I have exposure to a more diverse, wider audience. The goal is to promote productive dialogue among community members," says Vann. "We need to figure out, why are we so divided on the issues?" Mike Morand (SY '87, DN '93), a former New Haven alderman who is now assistant secretary of Yale University, agrees that radio, as one of the most accessible news media, provides a crucial link between Vann and the public. Vann's familiarity with the New Haven area allowed him to slide easily from being a general member to a position on the Greater New Haven NAACP executive board. His sense of the city has proven even more crucial since his election as president. " I don't need to go out and learn an entirely new community, and that helps me be more effective as a community leader," Vann says. Knowledge of his surroundings ' was not enough to win an election, however. From the beginning, Vann sensed he would have to prove that his awareness could lead to productive change for the
29
This whole thing about New Haven being a war zone is overblown. It's a city, folks. Get over it.
city. In this vein, Vann based his election platform on a set of proposals called Agenda 2000, a nine-part plan for improvements within the African-American community. Central issues addressed by the plan included violence in the community, revival of youth programs, improved voter registration and education, desegregation of education, and the creation of a more positive representation of the NAACP through improved public relations. Since his election, Vann has brought some of his goals to fruition. Potter says Vann has followed up on various programs that had fallen by the wayside during the past several years. She points to the reestablishment of the NAACP Youth Council, which each NAACP branch must create once its under-20-year-old members account for a certain percentage of its total membership. Vann says the council introduces community youth to civil rights and allows them to have a semiautonomous organization. New Haven's version of the council already displays movements towards activis~, with recent officer elections and current plans to host an NAACP Youth Summit in December. The Youth Council demonstrates Vann's determination to establish connections with the younger segment of New Haven's population, as do his efforts to create NAACP branches at local universities. Holley says Vann's willingness to participate in Yale students' conversations about beginning their own chapter provides a strong role model for student activism. She believes a Yale branch of the NAACP could fill a void in the Black Student Alliance at Yale, which provides forums for local activism and debate of national issues, but lacks opportunities for national activism.
30
Yale students are not the only people inspired by Vann's leadership. The rapid rise in membership, particularly younger membership, makes a strong case for Vann's appeal to the community. In June of 1994, the branch's membership numbered approximately I ,600, and most meetings netted between ten and 15 members. Six months after Vann's term began, membership had increased by approximately 250. At the first meeting led by Vann, 60 faces lined the pews of St. Luke's Parish Hall on Whalley Avenue. "(Vann] has pumped things up again," says Morand, praising the youthful president for bringing new life to the chapter. In addition to taking steps to bridge New Haven's generation gap, Vann has begun to attack the . more omin,ous economic divisions. In the effort to involve more lower-class African-Americans, Vann used the NAACP as a vehicle for encouragi ng voter education and registration. Prior to the recent elections, the NAACP staged church-based efforts to accomplish this task. Vann enlisted several local church ministers, who devoted parts of their Sunday services to supporting voter participation. Church bulletins contained voter registration cards, and registered congregates were encouraged to bring the cards to unregistered friends or family members. Though Vann does not know the exact percentage of African-American voters who participated in November's elections, he feels confident that the NAACP contributed to the all-time high for voter registration in Connecticut. Encouraged by this success, Vann plans to expand his cause by approaching public housing projects and local schools in the future, as well as bringing the program to more churches.
Vann claims that the NAACP is a more represenccfrive group than many imagine, with several white and Hispanic members and African-Americans who range from those living in multi-million dollar suburban homes to those struggling to pay the ten-dollar membership fee. Whether or not the organization is already as diverse as Vann says, under his leadership it has made strides to encourage interaction between aU segments of New Haven's communities. Public speaking engagements by Vann himself are the vanguard in this effort. In one recent speech, Vann spoke to a group of white students at a middle school in Milford and tried to educate them about the African-American community. "Some people would say, speaking at a school, 'That's not big,' but we have to win people over one by one," says Vann. "If we can reach out to young people and mold their . , vtews ... Certainly, Vann has no lack of vision. Bringing the vision to reality, however, is a task that is far from complete. Even if people do not doubt Vann's abilities, they are dubious about the impact a single leader can have. Wilson says that the NAACP, as an organization, can only be effective in a limited segment of public affairs and must concentrate on issues within its scope to provide proof of its accomplishments. "If [the NAACP] gets outside issues of quality of life, jobs, housing, then I don't know if it can survive. If they get into aU the social problems of America, they don't have the resources," says Wilson. AbdulSalaam even goes so far as to describe the NAACP itself as an obstacle to the broad social change sought by Roger Vann. "There is a national agenda that the local organizations tend to follow," says Abdul-
THE NEW jOURNAL
bookhaven A General Bookstore with an Academic Slant Salaam. "It is not enough for an individual to want change." Undou btedly, Vann succeeds at drawing in a new and younger population and re-energizing t he long-standing members of the organization. "Having young Roger Vann as [chapter] president makes New Haven an anomaly. The NAACP would probably be better nationally if we took on more like him," says Holley. But even if it manages to get its own house in order, New Haven's NAACP faces other obstacles to success which are much more difficult for it to vanquish: the racism and elitism that many people see as the roadblocks to true civil rights. . "We are regressing," says Potter of American society's efforts to combat such issues. "The country has not come to terms with the basic problems: racism, inadequate housing, lack of jobs, unequal education," she says. In light of the fact that so little has changed, it is difficult to share Vann's optimism. He insists that New Haven's potential is great, and that the city has not sunk as low as some would believe. "This whole thing about New Haven being a war zone is overblown," Vann responds to a jaded caller on his radio show. He continues in the jargon that cements his appeal to a younger audience. "Having to crawl across the street to dodge bulletscome on, New Haven is a safe place. It's a city, folks. Get over it." In a city wrought with ambivalence and pessimism, Vann's conviction resonates lo ud and clear through the air waves. g
Hi/Lzry Margolis, a junior in Mom is associlzt~ ~diUJr ofTNJ. DECEMBER I, 1995
Co/kg~.
Rtzndom Hous~, $25.00
Knopf, $23.00
290 York Street, N ew H aven, CT (203) 787- 2848
,.. BAGEL CONNICTION. 1MMIPT WJNeAIIOUND.. The Bagel Connection 61 Grove St. New Haven 782-1441
Super Bagel
Sandwich
!Travel Mug :
~~FREE j . I I I
6--sa--e,srs.;t:-Expi.. 1/31/96
$129
E>cpnol/31/96
~~ FREE e.cp.... 1/31/96
Gleaming cases of croissants, cakes, tarts, cookies
961 State Street New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 789-8589
.,
Lunch seroed daily Tuesday through Friday. Light brunch on Sunday. hours: Tuesday-Saturday,
8am-6pm Sunday, 8am-3pm 31
I ~
Spectrum Mon 9pm-2all, T11s 9pm-1 am, Wed & Thur 9pm-2am
Moa S-7p•, T•e·Th•r S-9pm, Frl S-8p11, Sat 7-lp•
World Roots Sat 6·9am, Sun llam-Spll
Friday 8p•·2a•
Sports Graveyard Tues & S11 1-2a11
Yale's Radio Station