This WEEKEND

WEEKEND // FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012

ALL THE NEWS IN FITS OF PRINT Two business models converge toward the web.

Is a Golden Age upon us?

BY DIANA LI AND CHRISTOPHER PEAK

MISCONDUCT

B5

TEDX

B6

RELIGION

B9

YALE’S SEXUAL ASSAULT RESOURCES

SPEAKERS REVEAL ALL

GOD AND CLASS AT YALE

Caroline Tan explains the sometimes confusing system of sexual misconduct response at Yale.

WEEKEND interviews TEDxYale speakers, ranging from a space archeologist to a standup comedian.

Akbar Ahmed investigates whether or not there can be a separation of church and classroom.

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

A tale of two // BY AUSTIN BERNHARDT

I live in an old apartment building on the corner of Elm and Howe called the Elmhurst.

This means several things. The first is that my radiators are very noisy. Sometimes in the night, it sounds like they’re trying to communicate with me through a long-lost language of whinings and clangings. The second is that things don’t work a lot of the time, in what I like to think is a charming, old-building kind of way. Plaster chips, faucets leak and nothing is close to new.

The third — and the one I’d like to talk to you about right now — is that within a one block radius there are not ONE but TWO establishments that serve pizza: Alpha Delta and Brick Oven.

Most people are more familiar with Alpha Delta, I think, largely because of their famous sandwich, the Wenzel. I’ve never really cared for it, to be honest, but I can see the appeal.

Since I live literally next door, I tend to order their garlic bread with cheese on cold nights. I take it up to my room and squirt on Sriracha sauce and watch a movie or something.

But here’s the thing: while I enjoy garlic bread and the occasional sandwich from Alpha Delta, I much prefer the pizza from Brick Oven, which sits just across Howe Street behind a parking lot near-filled to capacity with lumber (presumably for the oven). This routinely presents a problem, since in order to return safely home with my pizza, I inevitably have to pass

by Alpha Delta, unless I want to cross Elm Street for the short stretch between Brick Oven and the Elmhurst, which would be unnecessarily evasive even for me.

The other night, as I was returning from Brick Oven with pizza stuffed into a paper bag (it was clearly pizza — no doubt about it), I encountered one of the men who works at Alpha Delta outside smoking a cigarette. He was facing me as I crossed Howe, and as I passed by his place of employ whilst checking a very important message on my phone so as not to make eye contact, he remained an obstruction on the sidewalk for what must have been about half a second longer than was comfortable but felt to me more like two or three seconds longer than was comfortable. Then again, maybe even that half a second was my own invention.

Either way, I felt guiltier than usual.

Never before has one of my

BOWERS

ASCHER

BERNHARDT

WEEKEND VIEWS

ONCE IN A BLUE NEWT // BY JORDAN ASCHER

“You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.”

Jimmy Stewart, with that inimitable twinkle in his eye, spoke those words in 1946’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

When Jimmy Stewart offered America the moon, women swooned, children smiled, and everyone dreamed of a world full of romance and promise. But when Newt Gingrich made a remarkably similar offer last week — promising that by the end of his second term, America would have a permanent moon base and possibly a 51st state on that selfsame satellite — those same Americans, withered by a terminal case of cynicism, guffawed.

Say what you will about Speaker Gingrich. Go ahead: there are a lot of things to say about him, and most of them are pretty mean. But don’t say that he doesn’t have some pretty awesome moon-related ideas. It seems to me there are two groups of people to whom a base on the moon sounds appealing. First, NASA employees. Second, eight-year old boys. And for once, the interests of Speaker Gingrich and myself align: the Speaker, you see, was pandering to the former in an effort to win the Florida Republican primary, and I was once one of the latter.

Based on this rare confluence of ideas, and in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation, here is a list of o t h e r things about which S p ea ke r Gingrich and I can agree: Hover cars.

What better way to heal the American auto industry? I’m sure no initiative could better revive the economies of cities like Detroit, Flint and Dearborn.

And I imagine that a n y

simple everyday choices as a consumer felt so weighty; every time I order pizza from Brick Oven, I feel a little like Daisy Buchanan from “The Great Gatsby”: “I loved you too!”

Theoretically, it’s my right as a citizen in a capitalist democracy to pick and choose which products I eat and from where.

So what if I want pizza from one and sandwiches from the other? Supply! Demand! Let the best deal win! But the space encompassing my apartment, Alpha Delta and Brick Oven isn’t a capitalist democracy. It’s a single block. Before coming to Yale, I had never lived in a city, so this phenomenon wasn’t an issue, but it matters to me what the guys at Alpha Delta think of me, even if, in reality, they don’t think of me at all. (Given the amount of business they bring in on an average night, they probably don’t.)

If I’m honest with myself, this thought started out as an act of repentance, an absurdly self-indulgent apology. But the fact that I put so much stock in my imaginary relationships with these local businesses isn’t just evidence of my neuroses, though it is surely that as well. It’s not that I can’t make a choice between the two establishments, shuttling back and forth between the two like an indecisive lover. The fact of the matter is that not choosing has become increasingly significant as my attachment to this otherwise insignificant lot has grown. The realization I’m having, I think, is the acceptance of the Daisy Buchanan phenomenon. When I leave here in a few months, the notion of missing one or the other of these pizza places will be nonsensical. I’ll either miss neither of them or, more likely, both of them, completely.

politician who proposed such a bold measure would certainly win the Michigan primary. Also — wow! Hover cars! Mom, can I get one? Can I? Can I? Can I? Mommmm, I want to have one. Mom, it’s like Star Wars! C’mon, Mom. Come onnnn.

Submarines with lasers. The submarine industry (which exists, right?), and the laser industry (which also exists, right?) would both instantly be in Newt’s pocket if he promised a laser-equipped submarine to every American man, woman, child. Just think of the jobs created, or something. Also — Mom! The President said I could have one! He said I could!! Jimmy from down the street has one! Yes I would jump off a bridge if Jimmy did it. Mommm, they’re so awesome! It would be all: FIRE LASER TORPEDOS, MR. MATE. Navigator, set a course for the toy store!!

Unlimited ice cream. The dairy farms of the northern states are hurting, and Gingrich has an excellent chance to win the votes of gruff farmers across the nation, if only he would promise unlimited ice cream at any hour of the day for all Americans. Also — ice cream! Mrs. Jenkins, can we stop for ice cream after soccer practice? Please?!? I want cookie dough! What? Don’t be stupid, Billy.

Rocky road is for idiots. Hey, everyone, Billy’s an idiot! He likes rocky road!

Hey, Mrs. Jenkins, please?

Pleeeeeeaaaaaase?!

The President said sooooo!!!

Christmas every day. Speaker Gingrich would surely solidify his

support among evangelicals if he promised Christmas every day. Jewish people and liberals who insist on saying “Happy Holidays” would finally be silenced. The War on Christmas would be won — for Jesus. Also — Christmas! Mom, I want an X-Box. I also want a tree house. Mom I want a tree house! I want one! Jimmy has one and he says everyone who doesn’t have one is stupid! Mom, please! Mommmmm! I want an X-Box!!!!

Leave me alone, Mom, you’re not the boss of me. Finally, Newt should promise to make sure Mom knows she’s not the boss of me and she should leave me alone and I hate her and she’s the meanest person on Earth. I hate you Mom!!! I don’t want a time out!!! I don’t want to take a nap!!! I hate broccoli!!!! I don’t want to have a play date with Tommy — he’s weird and no one likes him!!! I DON’T WANT TO GO TO BED!!!! I WANT TO STAY UP AND WATCH TV!!!! MOMMMM!!!!!!!

That’s all I have for Mr. Gingrich.

Although he might consider promising a base on Mars, just to cover his bases.

Contact JORDAN ASCHER at jordan.ascher@yale.edu .

Contact AUSTIN BERNHARDT at austin.bernhardt@yale.edu .

YOU WANT THE MOON? JUST SAY THE WORD AND I’LL THROW A LASSO AROUND IT AND PULL IT DOWN.

// KAREN TIAN

Facebook Timeline meet Jack Coolguy // BY RYAN BOWERS

Facebook Timeline is happening. The Big Zuck (Mark Zuckerberg, for those who aren’t as close with him as I am) recently announced that everyone’s profile is getting switched to Timeline soon, whether they like it or not. Marky Z and the Funky Bunch have been beating around the bush for a while at this point, and we’ve all been watching our friends switch over, one by one, for the past couple of months.

Now, maybe this isn’t a big deal to you. After all, Facebook has been shoving strange new versions of itself on us since the “Social Network” era. Maybe you’ve stopped fighting it and gotten used to Timeline already. If so: kudos to you. Change is the coal that fuels the engine of tomorrow.

If you’re like me, however, you could not care less about the engine of tomorrow. You want

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your Facebook left the way it is (or, possibly, the way it was two years ago). Call me a Luddite, but I want nothing to do with Timeline. Facebook tells people too much about my current life already. I don’t need it to tell people about my life in, say, 2006. I had hair down to my shoulders.

Do you hear that, five people who have read this far into the News?

My shoulders. And it wasn’t straight down, either. I had a big, curly, red mane. No one needs to see that.

At this point, you might be saying to yourself, “Couldn’t Ryan just delete any old pictures of him he doesn’t want people to see, and shouldn’t he have done that anyway, since people can just delve far enough into his pictures to see them as it is?” to which I simply reply, “No.” Facebook is not supposed to be something I

SIPS FOR SMILES

Claire’s Corner Copia // All Day Sip CUPID’S COCOA. Help Operation Smile.

have to edit and turn in. It is simply supposed to be a social media site where my past mistakes can fade into the background like so many Myspace surveys and exgirlfriends.

Yet, the hard truth is that no matter how much I complain (Come on, MZ Hammer, you can still stop this!) my Facebook will soon feature a big banner picture and two confusing, parallel walls full of my embarrassing past.

In light of this, I would like to address the end of this article to those close to me who I will lose when the switch is made.

Dear Everyone, I’m not going to lie; it’s going to hurt when you refuse to be associated with me anymore. That being said, I totally get it.

To my friends from high school, I apologize. If it were up to me, you’d never have to

ON TELEVISION CONFERENCE WHC // All Day

Well, since we don’t have time to watch TV.

be reminded of that one time I dressed in drag because I thought it would be suuuuuuper funny to ask Derek Otten to Homecoming for Katie Fuller. I wouldn’t remind you of that other time when I let my sister straighten my hair. I definitely would leave out a lot of those annoying dressing room pictures from the school plays. Does anyone want to relive the day when I wore that spandex Spiderman costume? Of course not.

To my friends from Yale, I apologize doubly. You had no reason to believe when you met me that someday you would be subjected to all of the weird, documented choices I made from ages 14 to 18. You probably believed that the fairly normal individual you were meeting had always been that way. Well, you were wrong. You were so very wrong,

FURNITURE STUDY TOUR

Yale University Art Gallery // 12:00 p.m.

and now you have to see just how wrong you were.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: I’m going to lay low for a while. In about six months, a friend request will pop up on your Timeline 2.0 (which will, inevitably, exist) from a man named Jack Coolguy. Jack Coolguy is me, but you must reveal this fact to no one. Accept the friend request. It’ll be a clean, new profile, I promise. Jack Coolguy won’t have any embarrassing pictures, because Jack Coolguy will have no past. We can quickly reform our friendships and move on as if this whole Timeline thing never happened. I’m sorry for the secrecy, but it’s the only way.

See you sometime this summer!

Contact RYAN BOWERS at ryan.bowers@yale.edu .

“A GOOD NEWSPAPER, I SUPPOSE, IS A NATION TALKING TO ITSELF.” ARTHUR MILLER

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

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WEEKEND COVER

NEWS HAVEN // BY DIANA LI AND CHRISTOPHER PEAK

pon arriving at the New Haven Register’s 13-acre property and walking into their building

by Long Wharf, we saw just what we had expected: rows and rows of reporters’ desks piled with papers and people busily chatting on phones and typing on their computers.

But in the very same building is a pressroom responsible for printing over 30 publications, including two other dailies in addition to the Register. After producing papers for over three decades, the pressroom is shutting down and the Register is laying off 105 workers, who will all be gone by March 5.

Although New Haven Register Publisher Tom Wiley declined to comment on the private company’s current finances, pressroom employees we interviewed said that the layoffs are a result of the Register scrambling to cut costs and to increase efficiency.

The Jackson family, which acquired the Register at the beginning of the 20th century, eventually sold the paper for financial reasons. Every owner after would be a corporate one. Reached at her home in Montecito, California, Patrica Hope Jackson, the widow of Lionel Jackson Sr., said selling the newspaper “was the most advantageous thing to do because, as you well know, nobody reads the paper anymore. All of the family wouldn’t agree. Fortunately my late husband had the authority. If he hadn’t, none of the Jacksons would have a penny today.”

The Register is currently the largest newspaper owned by the Journal Register Co., a conglomerate of daily and weekly papers that reaches over 21 million readers in ten states each month. According to Wiley, January’s Register has a readership of 384,300. One million unique users visited the site over the month.

In Feb. 2009, the Journal Register Co. filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Its stocks had been trading at half a penny per share. Memorandums from the bankruptcy court refer to $695 million of debt. “[The Debtors] attribute the losses to an industry-wide decline in readership, circulation and revenue, caused by increased competition from other forms of media (such as the Internet), the global recession, and weak advertising demand,” court documents say.

Within half a year, the Journal Register Co. emerged from bankruptcy by becoming a private company.

“Nobody’s making a big fuss.

Where’s Mayor [John] DeStefano in all of this? Why aren’t we trying to keep the newspaper printed in New Haven?” asked Imogene Mongillo, who has worked in the Register’s pressroom for 27 years. “You’re the first person to come ask how any of us feel about this. Do you want to know how it feels? It sucks.”

The Register’s human resources manager, Robert Lee, declined to comment.

While Mark Brackenbury, the Register’s managing editor, was initially reluctant to have us show up unannounced to the printing area, we were eventually allowed to look around the pressroom. Mongillo was the first person we interviewed; the first four workers we tried to talk to spoke no English (though they did excitedly talk at us in Spanish and animatedly pose for pictures).

“Morale has still been good and there’s a great sense of community here. People are coming to work here until the very end,” Mongillo said. “I’m still kind of in disbelief, though. I just can’t imagine not being here. I’ve done this for so long.”

Robert Suraci, a pressroom supervisor, especially lamented

U

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the difficulty of affording health care. He can choose to keep his current health plan after March, but he’ll have to pay anywhere from $1,200 to $1,500; if not, he’ll have to shop around for other options.

Like Mongillo, he had difficulty envisioning what he would do after March.

“I haven’t had a break since I was 15: I’ve worked since then. Yeah, I can use a rest, but it’s not reality,” he said. “The longer I wait, the harder it will be to find a decent job with health benefits. We’re getting shipped out in five weeks.”

Like Yalies applying to jobs and internships, Suraci now must learn to write a resume. He turns 61 in March, the same month his 41-year career at the Register will come to an end.

“How do you even write a resume?” he asked. (We wished we could tell him.) “Maybe Yale will hire me. Do I want to be a janitor?

Not really, but if they’ll give that to me, I’ll probably do it.”

The newsroom and the pressroom, despite being in the same building, are two different worlds whose workers rarely interact with each other.

“From what we understand, the layoffs won’t affect the way we do our jobs at all,” said Brackenbury, the managing editor. “It matters because we value that 105 people are losing their jobs, but it won’t make a practical difference in what we do.”

But there are other initiatives coming soon that the newsroom will feel too, as the layoffs are just one wave of change the Register is experiencing. The Register is also planning to sell their entire property and relocate to an “open newsroom” in downtown New Haven.

Modeled on the Torrington Register Citizen’s current office, this newsroom will be open to the public, enabling people to see their reporters and editors at work.

According to Brackenbury, the Register’s newsroom will have a cafe, public work stations with computers, and a library with the Register’s archives. People will be able to come in, talk to reporters and editors, and observe their work.

“The change goes beyond just physical space, and is more about our philosophy,” Brackenbury added.

The Register is changing according to the philosophy of “digital first, print last.” CEO John Paton of Digital First Media, which manages the Journal Register Company, which owns the New Haven Register, has encouraged newspapers to stay on top of trends and keep up with the move to online news.

However, according to Tom Wiley, who is also the executive vice president of Digital First Media, most of the Register’s revenue still comes from its print circulation. “’Digital first’ does not mean ‘no print,’ it means ‘print last,’ which reflects the way our audience consumes our news. [Print] is still a very important part of our business,” Wiley said in an email to the News.

One of the Register’s aims is also to increase community involvement. It now has two new community engagement editors who are responsible for increasing the interaction between the Register and its readership.

“We’ve opened ourselves up: we stream our four o’clock afternoon meeting online for the public to see. The idea is that we’re accessible,” said Ed Stannard, one of the community engagement editors. “If people want to get in touch with us, at least people can see how our process works. It pulls back the curtain.”

The Register also hosts a live online chat room at 10:30 a.m. every morning, where the public can participate in discussions among a variety of Connecticut newspaper editors. Additionally,

the news budget is posted on their website, and readers can see which reporters are working on which news stories in case they have suggestions or questions.

But the Register doesn’t want community involvement to stop at tips and suggestions — it wants to publicize readers’ work as well.

According to Stannard, the Register is willing to link to the blogs of writers who are passionate about something, anything at all.

“We’re consciously doing more linking to other sites and sources, because with the rise of the Internet, we’re not the only news source here,” Brackenbury added. “We’ll probably even link to this article you’re writing.”

Other projects of the Register include the Register Matchmaker, a blind date service in honor of Valentine’s Day. And for Black History Month, the Register has put up a timeline on the website to which anyone can contribute.

The webpage asks readers to “please help us build this out with people, places, or events that have inspired you. We welcome your additions and the opportunity for all of us to learn from you.”

“Maybe [someone] once met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or went to a speech of his, and they can put it up there,” Stannard said.

Ultimately, Stannard said that the goal of the open newsroom, the blogs, and the interactive online features is to get citizens more involved, and this involvement is part of the Register’s vision of a viable economic model. These initiatives are the most recent in a line of actions inspired by the constant drive to improve the business’ profit model.

“This company went into bankruptcy. Paton took it out of bankruptcy, reversed that, and made our company profitable,” Stannard said.

Brackenbury and Stannard disagree on whether print newspapers could eventually disappear. Brackenbury argued that print will survive, but only for a smaller audience and only if newspapers continue to innovate. Stannard, however, said he could imagine a world without print newspapers. Still, both of them cautioned against thinking of newspapers through the printonline binary.

“Take a look at history: people said TV was going to kill radio, radio was going to kill newspapers, talkies were going to kill movies,” Stannard said. “But those are still here.

All we need is a viable economic model.” ***** Digital First Media Co. is putting their stories online faster, they’re incorporating multimedia into each article, and they’re getting readers to interact with their content.

“They’re doing everything we did, a few years after we started,” said Paul Bass ’82 founder and editor of the New Haven Independent, an online weekday newspaper that covers the Elm City.

Bearded and wearing a yarmulke, Bass is editing a story about change — the new police chief is refashioning his department and trying to revitalize its connection to the community. Bass is at the middle desk in his cramped office, which they share with La Voz Hispana, New Haven’s Spanish language news source. In front of him, staff writer Thomas MacMillan has a police radio on his desk; behind him, managing editor Melissa Bailey ’04 watches a video online. A black mug on his Bass’s desk reads, “Teamwork: Together we achieve.”

SEE A TALE OF TWO PAGE 8

// DIANA LI

The New Haven Register will soon be printed in Hartford.

AKKADIAN ROYAL LETTERS IN LATER TRADITION” (CA.700-100 BC) WORKSHOP IN ANCIENT SOCIETIES 51 College St // 12:00p.m.

Akkadian can be your sixth language.

THE STUFF OF LIFE IN ISLAMICATE EURASIA: TOWARDS A HISTORY OF PREMODERN FOLK ONTOLOGIES Luce Hall // 12:00p.m.

The stuff of life? Could they be more vague?

THE RENAISSANCE REIMAGINED: EARLY MODERN ITALY THROUGH THE LENS OF ITALIAN CINEMA WLH // 2:00p.m.

ASA NISI MASA ASA NISI MASA

“A NEWSPAPER IS LUMBER MADE MALLEABLE. IT IS INK MADE INTO WORDS AND PICTURES. IT IS CONCEIVED, BORN, GROWS UP AND DIES OF OLD AGE IN A DAY.” JIM BISHOP

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND ARTS

LADIES TALK GHOSH // BY NATASHA THONDAVADI

I’ve always been the kind of girl who can transition from Lucretius to Cosmo within the same hour. So when, tired from a day of seminar, I’m confronted with the opportunity to go to a “talk” and take advantage of one of our university’s numerous extracurricular intellectual offerings, my brain automatically places high stakes on the event.

Which is why I was disappointed

book club. A minute after I sat down in my uncomfortable backless stool (the venue was far too hip for the comforting inelegance of the folding chair), it dawned on me that the purported talk was not a lecture after all.

“So, who’s read the book?” Schenker candidly asked, catching on pretty quickly to the source of my confusion.

Five middle-aged women raised their hands. The few other students

I THINK THAT THIS IS INDICATIVE OF A GENERAL TREND AT YALE TOWARD OVERLY AND FALSELY ADVERTISING EVENTS IN ORDER TO PRESENT A MORE CONSTANTLY ENGAGED CULTURE.

at the talk quickly cleared out, as the bag-check security guard at the front later told me when I was leaving, heartily congratulating me on “lasting the longest.” Once this initial question was on the table, no one seemed quite sure of how to proceed. After a pause that seemed far too long and far too awkward, Schenker asked if anyone who had read the book could offer an opinion, really any opinion. Another five dreadfully slow minutes.

And so it went on. Like adults reentering the seminar room for the first time in years, the conversation slowly picked up speed, but only vaguely. Not having read the book, I was utterly confused, and since unlike an actual seminar I didn’t have a grand theme

to hide behind, I relegated myself to silence, watching the minutes on my iPhone clock tick by. As the book club winded down to a close, I felt jipped.

After my two-hour afternoon seminar, I wanted to be asleep or exercising or reading, anything other than reenacting a satire of my classes.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the discussion was informative and interesting for its intended audience — the handful of adults who had read the book. But neither I, nor the other students, understood what we were signing up for, nor did the online description allude to its true nature. In some ways it might be more helpful for people to talk to, not at, each other about these topics, but only if the people involved in the conversation are adequately prepared.

I think that this is indicative of a

general trend at Yale towards overly and falsely advertising events in order to present a more constantly engaged culture. But while it might be exciting to log onto any number of websites and see the ten film screenings, five talks and seven panel discussions that are going on every single day, these events might be more popular with actual, currently attending students if we could be guaranteed that they would be substantive and meet the expectations created by their marketing.

That is, the next time a YCBA talk claims to provide Indian cultural insight, I want to know that I will gain more of this knowledge than by watching a Bollywood movie in my bed.

Contact NATASHA THONDAVADI at natasha.thondavadi@yale.edu .

// SAGAR SETRU

Book talk at the YCBA.

when the promising “Book Talk: Contemporary Indian Literature” held at the Yale Center for British Art on Wednesday turned out to be not at all what I expected. Conducted in a room within the YCBA’s third-floor exhibition gallery, the talk seemed to promise some allusion to art by mere fact of its location. Sure enough, as audience members distractedly (or perhaps nervously) gazed at Johann Zoffany’s portraits of turbaned, austere men, Associate Dean Mark Schenker, the event’s leader, offered explanation amidst the general air of confusion. He explained that the talk was the second of two in a series devoted to discussing Indian literature and that this was incredibly relevant in the context of the Indian portraits or any time “when a culture is on display through the eyes of another culture.”

But despite this noble purpose, the talk failed to legitimize itself throughout the course of the next 45 minutes.

It didn’t really tie “The Hungry Tide,” the book under examination, to the art or seek to explain the cultural exigence behind the paintings, nor did it discuss the problem Schenker raised beyond the simple asking of the question. What I assumed would be a lecture on the novel — written by Amitav Ghosh, an Indian author who is visiting Yale this semester — turned out to be just another meeting of the

The Book of Life // BY AVA KOFMAN

For a talk about “The Future of the Book,” the Historical Library within the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library — part Victorian study, part evil-Swiss-scientist chalet — with high wooden ceilings, dark velvet curtains and a balcony of dusty books, acts as a room of speaking corpses. In the evening of Monday, Jan. 30, John Collins ’91, founder and artistic director of Elevator Repair Service Theater Ensemble, talked to Yale English and theater studies professor Marc Robinson DRA ’92 about Collins’ extensive experience with “Staging the Imaginative Act of Reading.”

Named tongue-in-cheekly after a career placement questionnaire that suggested the menial job to Collins, Elevator Repair Service Theater Ensemble is one of New York’s most acclaimed experimental theater companies.

Collins may have produced his senior project in a “forgotten storage room [that felt] 110 degrees all the time beneath the dining hall” in Pierson’s basement pre-renovation, but since then he’s gone on to win numerous awards (including the TCG Peter Ziesler Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a US Artists

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Foundation Fellowship) and was named best theater director by the Village Voice.

Even at Yale, Collins was already drawn to working in unusual spaces with nontheatrical and unconventional texts that were cleared of the playwright’s presuppositions for the stage.

The ensemble researches the complexities of a subject matter, incorporating the problems of the creative process along the way, to rehearse and produce an original piece of theater. This means that part of the joy of live theater, Collins says, comes from accepting that the play is never done. Even when his show is in production, Collins sits in the audience during virtually every performance.

Which is sometimes very long.

The ERS’s “Gatz” put every word of Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” onstage in a marathon six-and-a-half-hour reading.

“Gatz” opened at the Public Theater in 2010, selling out last season to rave reviews. “Gatz” is part of a narrative performance trilogy that also includes “The Sun Also Rises” and “The Sound and The Fury.”

Although “Gatz” was the only show in the trilogy that did not

change a word of the original text, all of ERS’s shows involve a considerable amount of theatrical interpretation to build “around the world of text and beautiful language.” The authors, in addition to their ubiquity on high school reading lists, all had historical elements and connections in common apart from the fact they were selected by ERS. “I didn’t just want to become the theater company that does out-loud readings verbatim,” Collins said. As such, he views pieces of theater as parallel structures that “exist in concert with the book but don’t purport to give a version of it.” Throughout the discussion, Collins reiterated the importance of choice and creative freedom when staging literature, while at the same time, doing something to the texts that isn’t destructive.

The best examples, of course, are ERS’s own productions, which are a testament to the way works open up many possibilities for directorial choices.

The set of “Gatz” — a drab ’80s office space — has nothing to do with the novel, but one experiences the work much like one would reading it at home or at

SHAPING SPACE IN MODERN PAINTING

Yale University Art Gallery // 3:00 p.m.

Victoria Rogers ’12 gives a talk about art.

work or on a train. After all, most readers of “The Great Gatsby” live a far cry from East Egg. It’s in this context of the reading space, Collins explains, that you “begin to see [the book] where it isn’t.”

In “Gatz,” ERS preserves the original text and the conditions for reading while also calling attention to the book as an object along with the performative act of narration. The narration of the lonely office worker, who in some ways becomes Nick Carraway’s character at the play’s end, is continually subject to disruptive moments that play with the idea of reading onstage: someone flips on the lights. Enters the room.

And at the end, “Nick” puts the book down, reciting the last pages by heart. The book becomes a “radiant thing” onstage that is passed around and shared — charged with a theatrical energy no other script could have.

“Having something read to you is different than reading,” Collins pointed out. The musical quality of all three authors, and how particularly with Fitzgerald “every word feels absolutely necessary,” suggests the way in which “narrative attribution [becomes] tied up in the poetry

THE SWORD AND THE SCREEN WHC // 7:00 p.m.

Almost as good as the Anime society’s showings.

of language.”

Specifically, the way “The Great Gatsby” treats memory, which Collins described as an elusive and “elegiac form,” resonates deeply with the real-time unfolding of the text onstage. As such, “Gatz” yields interesting moments for rupture in the production’s rhythm, lighting and sound design. Even in a staged performance, Collins characterizes the texts he works with as constantly overflowing with life. And though he’s seen the play hundreds of times, Collins remarked that he constantly finds new insights both about his own adaptation and Fitzgerald’s work.

“The language of these writers,” Collins said, “is kind of

amazing and magical to hear as though people are saying it again right now.”

“What role should theater play in a physician’s life?” a faculty member from the Medical School audience asked.

Collins responded that theater helps you get outside of yourself and be more present. And in the more pragmatic and perhaps more morbid walls of the Medical School, the celebration of a book giving life is a comforting thought.

Contact AVA KOFMAN at ava.kofman@yale.edu .

I DIDN’T JUST WANT TO BECOME THE THEATER COMPANY THAT DOES OUT-LOUD READINGS VERBATIM.

“GOOD GOODS”

Yale Repertory Theatre // 8:00 p.m.

This should be “good.”

“AMERICA IS A COUNTRY OF INVENTORS, AND THE GREATEST OF INVENTORS ARE THE NEWSPAPER MEN.” ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE B5

WEEKEND HELP

WEEKEND’s Guide to Sexual Misconduct Resources at Yale // BY CAROLINE TAN

With the establishment of the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct last July and the creation of the Communication and Consent Educators program last fall, Yale has created many new programs designed to address issues of sexual misconduct. But we know this can be confusing, so we put together a quick guide to help you navigate the system and understand what resources are available. Feel free to cut this out and put it on your fridge.

And stay safe.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT RESPONSE & EDUCATION CENTER (SHARE) HTTP://SHARECENTER.YALE. EDU/ (203) 432-2000 SHARE offers advisory services — such as mental health counseling, follow-up consultations and advice on filing both formal and informal complaints — for students facing issues of sexual misconduct. All calls made to SHARE are confidential, and callers have the option of anonymity. SHARE is directed

by Carole Goldberg, and responders are Yale University mental health professionals.

UNIVERSITY-WIDE COMMITTEE ON SEXUAL MISCONDUCT HTTP://PROVOST.YALE.EDU/ UWC Chaired by Michael Della Rocca, the UWC is a committee under the Provost’s Office that was created last July to address allegations of sexual misconduct among Yale undergraduates, graduates, faculty and staff members. The UWC hears both formal and informal complaints, the details of which are kept strictly confidential (meaning that nothing will be shared without your explicit permission), and consists of a group of 10 core members and 19 at-large members.

YALE POLICE DEPARTMENT HTTP://PUBLICSAFETY.YALE. EDU/ (203) 432-4400 The Yale Police Department is directed by Chief Ronnell Higgins and staffed by officers trained in crimes of sexual violence. Students looking to pursue criminal charges can speak with the YPD or the SHARE Center, who can help set up initial meetings with investigators and open up communication with the YPD. Students can file disciplinary and criminal charges simultaneously. Students wishing to speak with the YPD will not necessarily need to press criminal charges, but can instead communicate with officers in an “exploratory fashion.”

WALDEN PEER COUNSELING

TITLE IX COORDINATORS

HTTP://WALDEN.SITES. YALE.EDU/

HTTP://PROVOST.YALE.EDU/ TITLE-IX/COORDINATORS

HOTLINE: (203) 432-TALK

Deputy Provost Stephanie Spangler oversees the University’s Title IX coordinators and is responsible for ensuring that Yale complies with Title IX regulations. Each School — including the College, graduate and professional schools — as well as the University’s Office for Equal Opportunity Programs is assigned a Title IX coordinator, who works to resolve complaints and address issues of sexual misconduct and gender-based discrimination in their school. Title IX coordinators monitor incidents of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination, ensure the University responds effective to complaints and occasionally conducts their own investigations for specific situations. In addition, a Title IX coordinator can file a complaint with the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct on behalf of a student.

Walden is a peer counseling service run by Yale undergraduates, who provide visitors with support and serve as an outlet for students to express their feelings. Students seeking advice from their peers can call Walden’s anonymous and confidential hotline from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night, or visit the group’s daily walk-in hours from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the basement of Welch, Entryway B, room A-05. Carole Goldberg, director of SHARE, serves as Walden’s adviser.

COMMUNICATIONS AND CONSENT EDUCATORS (CCES) HTTP://YALECOLLEGE.YALE. EDU/CONTENT/COMMUNICATION-AND-CONSENT-EDUCATORS-CCE The CCEs program, which consists of 40 undergraduates and focuses on sexual misconduct prevention, is run by Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Melanie Boyd with the help of Student Affairs Fellows Benjamin Flores and Hannah Peck.

CCEs hope to foster campus dialogue on a wide range of issues, including the importance of communication in relationships, “hook up culture,” dating at Yale and ways to express sexual consent. In January, CCEs led the freshman workshops that taught freshmen the importance of communication and mutual understanding.

F R I D AY F E B RUA RY 3

MACBETH 1969

The Long Wharf Theatre // 8:00 p.m.

Not as good as King Lear 1980.

ASSISTANT DEAN OF STUDENT AFFAIRS MELANIE BOYD Melanie Boyd directs the Communications and Consent Educators program, a group launched last semester that works to promote sexual misconduct prevention awareness on campus. In addition, she organized the leadership training sessions for leaders of registered undergraduate organizations and freshman workshops that took place early January. Boyd works in the Dean’s Office to promote a positive sexual campus environment and address gender issues at Yale.

GENERAL RESOURCES: HTTP:// SMR.YALE.EDU/

SEX WEEK KICK OFF EXTRAVAGANZA: SEX GEEK CHIC! Sudler Hall // 9:00 p.m.

Sex Week is finally here, bawdy storytelling and all.

JAMESTOWN AND PLUME GIANT 9:30PM 378 Crown St // 9:30 p.m.

We’ll be there.

“AN AMERICAN OF THE PRESENT DAY READING HIS SUNDAY NEWSPAPER IN A STATE OF LAZY COLLAPSE IS ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT SYMBOLS OF THE TRIUMPH OF QUANTITY OVER QUALITY THAT THE WORLD HAS YET SEEN.” IRVING BABBITT

PAGE B6

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE B7

WEEKEND TALKS

Aaron Hakim ’13: Project leader, Yale’s International Genetically Engineered Machines Team

TEDxYALExWEEKEND T

his weekend, TED talks have come to Yale. TED, a non-profit organization that began in California with the motto “Ideas Worth Spreading,” solicits world leaders and thinkers to give roughly 20-minute talks on a topic of their choice. At TEDxYale, Yale students, alumni and faculty will give talks on topics ranging from space archeology to magic and beyond. WEEKEND caught up with an assortment of these speakers this week as they prepared and practiced their speeches.

Yael Zinkow ’12: Comedian

// BY RAISA BRUNER

A. I started doing stand-up at the end of my sophomore year at The Cucumber (The Yale Record’s open mic night). Since then I’ve done many open-mics, both at Yale and in L.A. This past summer. I also got the chance to open for the last two Fall Show headliners which were both great experiences.

Q. What do you think is the appeal of stand-up as a comedic form?

A. For the performer, I have no idea. In a way it’s the worst possible type of performance.

It’s just you on stage, and you know right away whether or not you’re doing a good job. I must be a masochist or something. For the audience, however, I think the appeal is that it’s intimate, like a conversation with a friend (ideally).

Q. What do you make of the Yale comedy scene?

Q. Can you explain what you’ll be talking about and how you became an expert in that field?

A. I’m talking about music and memory in Alzheimers patients.

Basically, I have been working in an a research lab for four years now. My freshman year here, as part of my senior project for Paul Bloom’s Intro Psych class, I did a book report on a book called “This is Your Brain on Music.” It talks about what the brain does when you’re listening to music. One page of it is devoted to this discussion of how patients with Alzheimers disease seem to have some ability to process music and then remember music in a way that they can’t do with other things. So I had the idea, what if we can use music in the way that we use it with children or that we use it to remember other things like the ABCs to teach patients with Alzheimers disease things that they wouldn’t be able to learn otherwise. It’s the idea of a musical mnemonic as a therapeutic aid for patients with

//DAVID YU

Wazhma Sadat ’14: Founder of Kamyab Afghanistan

Q. Why should students care about what you have to say?

A. Figuring out how to condense 10 hours of research and material into five minutes. We’ve done 10 or 12 studies at this point, and it’s not something that you can present in 5 minutes.

A. Obviously Alzheimers disease is something that we don’t personally have to worry about for ourselves, but I’m sure many people have been effected by Alzheimers; it’s a horrible disease that affects millions of people across the country and is growing at a rapid rate and it’s something that we don’t have a cure for.

Music is not a cure for Alzheimers disease, but we’re pretty confident that we can use music to improve the lives of patients.

It’s something that is relevant to us all because we all like music on some level and have experience with these musical mnemonics — learning the ABC or the 50 states song — on some level.

It can interest us all on that level and also because Alzheimers disease is so important.

Q. Your favorite line from your talk?

A. That’s a surprise.

Q. Do you have a favorite TED talk?

A. I want to talk about my personal experiences and things the media doesn’t talk about at all, like the value of average Afghans in the peace-building process.

Q. What relevance do you think your topic has to the average Yalie’s life?

A. I think Yalies care about global issues and many that I have talked to seem to care a lot about the situation in Afghanistan. It wouldn’t be fair to leave my friends with the information the media provides us with, which is indeed often a clear misrepresentation of the realities on the ground.

Q. Does Yale have enough of an international perspective?

A. I don’t think anyone can have enough of an international perspective. I definitely respect what Yale has to offer in terms of an international viewpoint, but, like any other institution, it has room to grow and chance and develop.

Q. What kind of challenges have you faced at Yale as an international student from the Muslim world?

A. I used to call them challenges, but not anymore. A lot of people know about Afghanistan and my situation but a lot of people don’t, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing anymore, and I am definitely open to answering questions. It’s what I have to do if people don’t portray the situation as it is.

Q. What are Yalies going to take away from your talk?

A. That’s going to be a surprise! I think that, if I were to attend a TEDxYale talk, I’d want the speaker to, even if they’re not shocking us or talking about something they’ve discovered, be very sincere. I want them to share something. I’m trying really hard to do that for this talk, share my personal experiences that I would not otherwise share with other people, and be very honest about Afghanistan Contact AKBAR AHMED at akbar.ahmed@yale.edu .

TEDXYALE 2012

SSS 114 // 9:00 a.m.

Go see someone you could speak with in a dining hall speak on stage.

Q. So, space archaeology. Is that the academic way of saying “Ancient Aliens” scientist?

A. You’d think that based on the emails I get. It means using space-based satellite imagery to map ancient landscapes, sites and features. It’s a new field — really only been around for about 25 years.

Q. What is the coolest archaeological site you’ve ever found via satellite?

Q. In three words, your talk?

A. (Long pause) Music is incredible.

Contact RAISA BRUNER at raisa.bruner@yale.edu .

Q. What has been the hardest part

A. That’s a tough one. Getting to map the ancient site of Tanis (you can see the entire settlement from space!) was awesome, as well as finding possible pyramids.

I love survey work, so confirming what I found on the ground is always rewarding.

Q. Do you still get to dig stuff up?

SENIOR YEARBOOK PORTRAITS Your College // 10:00 a.m.

Getchur hair cut shorty.

identify for 10 years. Of course, sites in Egypt look different than sites in Central America, China, or elsewhere. We adapt the technology and analytical techniques depending on the landscape and civilization in question.

Q. Were there actually weapons of mass destruction?

Q. How much time, on average, do you spend in front of a computer every day?

Q. How can you tell the difference between a mound with an ancient civilization hidden underneath and a very large anthill from space?

A. So, everything on the planet has a distinct signature across the light spectrum — types of trees, grass, geological features, etc.

Ancient sites have quite a distinct signature in Egypt, which is something I’ve been working to

BAWDY STORYTELLING WORKSHOP WLH 203 // 1:00 p.m.

Bawdy it’s SEX WEEK yall.

of the improv and sketch groups are hilarious, and on any given weekend you can see at least two or three shows that will crack you up. The stand-up scene is relatively new, and I hope it continues to grow in coming years. I’m very grateful to The Record for starting their open mic, The Cucumber, because I never would have tried my hand at stand-up if not for that.

Q. Do Yalies laugh enough?

A. YES! Obviously at times people take themselves (or their a cappella groups) too seriously, but I find that on the whole Yale is a very laid-back place where people are always willing to make fun of themselves (or the institution).

Q. Where do comedians go to cry?

A. They watch the movie Glitter starring Mariah Carey.

Q. You proposed your first research project to a professor after eighth grade. How did you come to know so

Contact AKBAR AHMED at akbar.ahmed@yale.edu .

Matthew Claudel ’13: Writer, illustrator and designer

A. Early until late. Including my iPhone. It’s not bad really, I love what I do, but I’d rather be digging.

Q. Why and how did you decide to apply for TEDxYale and for this speaking competition?

A. I found out about it pretty late actually, maybe four days before the competition. But I’ve really loved TED for a long time. I remember the first talk I ever saw was Elizabeth Gilbert. She was talking about the brain. It was freshman year in college. When I came to Yale I discovered TED all at the same time.

A. I’m going to be speaking about creativity and the creative process.

It’s something that I think about a lot, especially since I’ve decided to do architecture … The gist of what I’m going to say is that creativity is fun — like scissors and glue — but in fact, the idea of creativity and the thought that if you’re in a creative field and you’re expected to be creative can be sort of paralyzing because you’re terrified that maybe one day you won’t be able to be creative. At this point, what I do at school and what I care about doing with my life has become one and the same, so I think about it in terms of school but also in terms of the projects that I engage in.

Q. Are you nervous?

A. Yes. Q. What are you most looking forward to during this conference?

A. With fava beans and a bottle of Chianti.

A. The snacks, maybe? Because I’m going first, having given mine and being able to enjoy watching the others will be really great. I think it’s really nice that they’ve decided to limit the number of people that can go, and charge for tickets. It’s an all

“CALL IT VANITY, CALL IT ARROGANT PRESUMPTION, CALL IT WHAT YOU WISH, BUT I WOULD GROPE FOR THE NEAREST OPEN GRAVE IF I HAD NO NEWSPAPER TO WORK FOR…” BOB CONSIDINE

Q.Genetic engineering has thrilling potential to benefit the human race, but many worry we might go too far in our drive to improve ourselves. Do you think we’re too worried about the potential dangers? Not worried enough?

A. There are tons of ethical implications that come along with the field of synthetic biology. It’s good to see that certain discussions are happening in popular discourse, like the Obama speech where he actually referenced the IGEM competition. I also think the people doing the really controversial experiments — people like Craig Venter — have done well so far. When they’ve

Q. Who are some scientists whose work you think everyone should study, or whose writings everyone should read?

A. Farren Isaacs, our advisor, is an incredibly smart guy. He came out with two papers in the last five years that are definitely revolutionary and will change the way we engineer organisms. We can use nature as a template to create organisms more suited to practical human use; there are bacteria that produce an antioxidant called lycopene, and [Isaacs] had them making five times as much within three days. People should also know about George Church, Craig Venter, Jay Keasling, Chris Boyd — all of these people are doing amazing things.

Contact AARON GERTLER at aaron.gertler@yale.edu .

// BY DEVIKA MITTAL

Q. Did Egyptians really eat their children?

Contact MILA HURSEY at mila.hursey@yale.edu .

A. Mostly, I read a ton. I spent three weeks just scouring over literature relevant to the field; every time I didn’t understand something in an article I’d read another article to figure it out. I was super-motivated by some kids who were a couple years older than me and had worked in labs — I wanted to do something similar in terms of a fully immersive lab experience.

planned to do something big, like creating the first synthetic cell a few years ago, they spent a year speaking to people in government, in the industry, from various religious groups, talking to philosophers — just the widest range of people they could, to make sure what they were doing was ok.

Marina Filiba ’15: International director of the “I Am” Challenge

// BY RAISA BRUNER

Q. What was your thought process in putting together the topic for your talk?

A. That’s the point! We try to go back as often as possible to excavate and survey. Hopefully we’ll be back this summer. Everything depends on funding. Getting to dig is the most rewarding part of my job.

A. Yes. My socks, following a dig season.

A. I think Yale has a great comedy scene. All

A. Unfortunately, the talk is only five minutes … Basically, it’s about synthetic biology and more specifically the project myself and a few other undergrads did last year for the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition. Our project involves preventing ice crystals from forming using proteins that are made by a beetle that lives in negative-30-degree weather in Siberia. With antifreeze proteins, we can preserve organs at cold temperatures for longer without having damaging ice crystal formation. For companies that use moderately active fish antifreeze proteins, like Unilever or Breyers, you get ice cream full of ice crystals; ours are hyperactive, and we figured out how to mass-produce them, which should lead to better ice cream. Other applications are preventing frost damage on crops and potentially improving the taste of frozen foods.

A. I believe it’s Dennis Dutton who gave a talk about the evolution of art. He does the animated whiteboard pictures … it’s very, very cool. But then every TED talk is so cool.

// BY MILA HURSEY

Q. What is it important for Yalies to know about the situation in Afghanistan that they don’t know?

F E B RUA RY 4

of preparing for the conference and the talk you’re going to present?

Sarah Parcak ’01: Space archaeologist

// BY AKBAR AHMED

S AT U R D AY

Alzheimers, looking at music as a memory enhancer.

much about science and scientific procedures at that age?

Q. For readers who don’t have tickets to your 15-minute talk, could you describe it in 15 seconds?

// BY AKBAR AHMED Q. When did you start doing stand-up and what’s your trajectory been like since?

Nicholas Simmons-Stern ’12: Cognitive researcher

// BY AARON GERTLER

day event; if it were free admission, it might be a little less formal and people would wander in and out, but I think people will invest and want to make it a day.

Q. What is the “I Am” Challenge, and how did the founders of the “I Am” Challenge come up with the idea of using — T-shirts?

Q. What sets TEDxYale apart from other speakers and conferences at Yale?

A. Back when the “I Am” Challenge was born, four years ago now, Ben and Dan — the founders — were 15 years old. Young themselves, they realized that the youth is full of excuses; we would like to volunteer but we simply don’t find the time. Exams, extracurriculars and even friends and family make it easy to put off whatever doesn’t fit. Thus, the “I Am” Challenge was born, where volunteers wear the same 10 shirts stating “I Am (insert name)” for one whole year. This doesn’t give you any room for excuses; it a simple way of being active, 24/7, making something as simple as wearing a T-shirt meaningful.

A. What I’m most interested in is the fact that they have student speakers. There’s not really an open forum for students to talk about things that they care about, besides the Mellon Forum. Everyone here has things they care about that would be worth sharing with people, but we don’t normally have a platform to do that.

Q. What sets your talk apart from the others?

A. I show a lot of pictures.

Q. In three words, how would you describe your talk?

Q. How did you get the idea for your talk?

A. Creativity is terrifying.

A. I was already part of the “I Am” Challenge when I came to Yale, and knew that I wanted to bring the challenge to the Yale community. After finding my place on campus during the first semester, I hoped to find a good platform on which to present the idea behind the opportunity, before launching it at Yale. That’s precisely when TEDxYale happened, allowing me to present something I’m so passionate about in my talk.

Q. Do you have a favorite TED talk?

What is it?

A. There are these guys who make puppets that are really cool and lifelike. There’s also a biochemist that is changing the world [using genetically engineered bacteria to create] architecture. What’s cool about that is that those are three things you’d never put together — unlikely suspects — biochemistry, architecture and changing the world.

MACBETH

WHC // 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

“Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe topful!”

YCBA // 2:00 p.m.

You can have some more.

A. The “I Am” Challenge understands that there are situations when wearing the T-shirts is not just not possible, like having a formal dress code for work.

However, outside of this, we encourage Challengers to take on the full responsibility of wearing the T-shirts on all occasions. That’s the whole point of the challenge; being confident enough in yourself to go out on a date as such! It’s the perfect icebreaker, and no one ever forgets your name! So how about wearing pretty skirts instead?

Q. How does it feel being the only freshman chosen to give a talk for TED? A. It’s a great honour. Being a great fan of TED myself, I was thrilled when I heard that TED was coming to Yale! To think that I was given a slot to speak among such talented speakers is very humbling.

I’m so excited to spread the Challenge message, and make the most of it.

Q. How are you going to coerce Yalies into taking the challenge? Cookies?

A. The Challenge is not for everyone; I’m very aware of that. Even though I would love to see all Yalies — one can always dream right? — adopt it, l’m not about to start brainwashing people into doing it. It takes person with a strong belief in their own selves and their identity to decide to take this Challenge: to give up those pretty dresses and shirts. I hope though that, with time, more students will want to take the step by themselves.

Q. Can you wear pretty dresses for

Contact RAISA BRUNER at raisa.bruner@yale.edu .

DICKENS’ LONDON

dates, or is it only “I Am Maru” T-shirts every day of the entire year?

“MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL” YCBA // 2:00 p.m.

Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones in the 1975 comedy classic.

MOVING BODIES: A KINESTHETIC APPROACH TO ART YUAG // 3:00 p.m.

Come see the light with Elena Light ’13

Contact DEVIKA MITTAL at devika.mittal@yale.edu .

“FAR MORE THOUGHT AND CARE GO INTO THE COMPOSITION OF ANY PROMINENT AD IN A NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE THAN GO INTO THE WRITING OF THEIR FEATURES AND EDITORIALS.” MARSHALL MCLUHAN

PAGE B6

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE B7

WEEKEND TALKS

Aaron Hakim ’13: Project leader, Yale’s International Genetically Engineered Machines Team

TEDxYALExWEEKEND T

his weekend, TED talks have come to Yale. TED, a non-profit organization that began in California with the motto “Ideas Worth Spreading,” solicits world leaders and thinkers to give roughly 20-minute talks on a topic of their choice. At TEDxYale, Yale students, alumni and faculty will give talks on topics ranging from space archeology to magic and beyond. WEEKEND caught up with an assortment of these speakers this week as they prepared and practiced their speeches.

Yael Zinkow ’12: Comedian

// BY RAISA BRUNER

A. I started doing stand-up at the end of my sophomore year at The Cucumber (The Yale Record’s open mic night). Since then I’ve done many open-mics, both at Yale and in L.A. This past summer. I also got the chance to open for the last two Fall Show headliners which were both great experiences.

Q. What do you think is the appeal of stand-up as a comedic form?

A. For the performer, I have no idea. In a way it’s the worst possible type of performance.

It’s just you on stage, and you know right away whether or not you’re doing a good job. I must be a masochist or something. For the audience, however, I think the appeal is that it’s intimate, like a conversation with a friend (ideally).

Q. What do you make of the Yale comedy scene?

Q. Can you explain what you’ll be talking about and how you became an expert in that field?

A. I’m talking about music and memory in Alzheimers patients.

Basically, I have been working in an a research lab for four years now. My freshman year here, as part of my senior project for Paul Bloom’s Intro Psych class, I did a book report on a book called “This is Your Brain on Music.” It talks about what the brain does when you’re listening to music. One page of it is devoted to this discussion of how patients with Alzheimers disease seem to have some ability to process music and then remember music in a way that they can’t do with other things. So I had the idea, what if we can use music in the way that we use it with children or that we use it to remember other things like the ABCs to teach patients with Alzheimers disease things that they wouldn’t be able to learn otherwise. It’s the idea of a musical mnemonic as a therapeutic aid for patients with

//DAVID YU

Wazhma Sadat ’14: Founder of Kamyab Afghanistan

Q. Why should students care about what you have to say?

A. Figuring out how to condense 10 hours of research and material into five minutes. We’ve done 10 or 12 studies at this point, and it’s not something that you can present in 5 minutes.

A. Obviously Alzheimers disease is something that we don’t personally have to worry about for ourselves, but I’m sure many people have been effected by Alzheimers; it’s a horrible disease that affects millions of people across the country and is growing at a rapid rate and it’s something that we don’t have a cure for.

Music is not a cure for Alzheimers disease, but we’re pretty confident that we can use music to improve the lives of patients.

It’s something that is relevant to us all because we all like music on some level and have experience with these musical mnemonics — learning the ABC or the 50 states song — on some level.

It can interest us all on that level and also because Alzheimers disease is so important.

Q. Your favorite line from your talk?

A. That’s a surprise.

Q. Do you have a favorite TED talk?

A. I want to talk about my personal experiences and things the media doesn’t talk about at all, like the value of average Afghans in the peace-building process.

Q. What relevance do you think your topic has to the average Yalie’s life?

A. I think Yalies care about global issues and many that I have talked to seem to care a lot about the situation in Afghanistan. It wouldn’t be fair to leave my friends with the information the media provides us with, which is indeed often a clear misrepresentation of the realities on the ground.

Q. Does Yale have enough of an international perspective?

A. I don’t think anyone can have enough of an international perspective. I definitely respect what Yale has to offer in terms of an international viewpoint, but, like any other institution, it has room to grow and chance and develop.

Q. What kind of challenges have you faced at Yale as an international student from the Muslim world?

A. I used to call them challenges, but not anymore. A lot of people know about Afghanistan and my situation but a lot of people don’t, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing anymore, and I am definitely open to answering questions. It’s what I have to do if people don’t portray the situation as it is.

Q. What are Yalies going to take away from your talk?

A. That’s going to be a surprise! I think that, if I were to attend a TEDxYale talk, I’d want the speaker to, even if they’re not shocking us or talking about something they’ve discovered, be very sincere. I want them to share something. I’m trying really hard to do that for this talk, share my personal experiences that I would not otherwise share with other people, and be very honest about Afghanistan Contact AKBAR AHMED at akbar.ahmed@yale.edu .

TEDXYALE 2012

SSS 114 // 9:00 a.m.

Go see someone you could speak with in a dining hall speak on stage.

Q. So, space archaeology. Is that the academic way of saying “Ancient Aliens” scientist?

A. You’d think that based on the emails I get. It means using space-based satellite imagery to map ancient landscapes, sites and features. It’s a new field — really only been around for about 25 years.

Q. What is the coolest archaeological site you’ve ever found via satellite?

Q. In three words, your talk?

A. (Long pause) Music is incredible.

Contact RAISA BRUNER at raisa.bruner@yale.edu .

Q. What has been the hardest part

A. That’s a tough one. Getting to map the ancient site of Tanis (you can see the entire settlement from space!) was awesome, as well as finding possible pyramids.

I love survey work, so confirming what I found on the ground is always rewarding.

Q. Do you still get to dig stuff up?

SENIOR YEARBOOK PORTRAITS Your College // 10:00 a.m.

Getchur hair cut shorty.

identify for 10 years. Of course, sites in Egypt look different than sites in Central America, China, or elsewhere. We adapt the technology and analytical techniques depending on the landscape and civilization in question.

Q. Were there actually weapons of mass destruction?

Q. How much time, on average, do you spend in front of a computer every day?

Q. How can you tell the difference between a mound with an ancient civilization hidden underneath and a very large anthill from space?

A. So, everything on the planet has a distinct signature across the light spectrum — types of trees, grass, geological features, etc.

Ancient sites have quite a distinct signature in Egypt, which is something I’ve been working to

BAWDY STORYTELLING WORKSHOP WLH 203 // 1:00 p.m.

Bawdy it’s SEX WEEK yall.

of the improv and sketch groups are hilarious, and on any given weekend you can see at least two or three shows that will crack you up. The stand-up scene is relatively new, and I hope it continues to grow in coming years. I’m very grateful to The Record for starting their open mic, The Cucumber, because I never would have tried my hand at stand-up if not for that.

Q. Do Yalies laugh enough?

A. YES! Obviously at times people take themselves (or their a cappella groups) too seriously, but I find that on the whole Yale is a very laid-back place where people are always willing to make fun of themselves (or the institution).

Q. Where do comedians go to cry?

A. They watch the movie Glitter starring Mariah Carey.

Q. You proposed your first research project to a professor after eighth grade. How did you come to know so

Contact AKBAR AHMED at akbar.ahmed@yale.edu .

Matthew Claudel ’13: Writer, illustrator and designer

A. Early until late. Including my iPhone. It’s not bad really, I love what I do, but I’d rather be digging.

Q. Why and how did you decide to apply for TEDxYale and for this speaking competition?

A. I found out about it pretty late actually, maybe four days before the competition. But I’ve really loved TED for a long time. I remember the first talk I ever saw was Elizabeth Gilbert. She was talking about the brain. It was freshman year in college. When I came to Yale I discovered TED all at the same time.

A. I’m going to be speaking about creativity and the creative process.

It’s something that I think about a lot, especially since I’ve decided to do architecture … The gist of what I’m going to say is that creativity is fun — like scissors and glue — but in fact, the idea of creativity and the thought that if you’re in a creative field and you’re expected to be creative can be sort of paralyzing because you’re terrified that maybe one day you won’t be able to be creative. At this point, what I do at school and what I care about doing with my life has become one and the same, so I think about it in terms of school but also in terms of the projects that I engage in.

Q. Are you nervous?

A. Yes. Q. What are you most looking forward to during this conference?

A. With fava beans and a bottle of Chianti.

A. The snacks, maybe? Because I’m going first, having given mine and being able to enjoy watching the others will be really great. I think it’s really nice that they’ve decided to limit the number of people that can go, and charge for tickets. It’s an all

“CALL IT VANITY, CALL IT ARROGANT PRESUMPTION, CALL IT WHAT YOU WISH, BUT I WOULD GROPE FOR THE NEAREST OPEN GRAVE IF I HAD NO NEWSPAPER TO WORK FOR…” BOB CONSIDINE

Q.Genetic engineering has thrilling potential to benefit the human race, but many worry we might go too far in our drive to improve ourselves. Do you think we’re too worried about the potential dangers? Not worried enough?

A. There are tons of ethical implications that come along with the field of synthetic biology. It’s good to see that certain discussions are happening in popular discourse, like the Obama speech where he actually referenced the IGEM competition. I also think the people doing the really controversial experiments — people like Craig Venter — have done well so far. When they’ve

Q. Who are some scientists whose work you think everyone should study, or whose writings everyone should read?

A. Farren Isaacs, our advisor, is an incredibly smart guy. He came out with two papers in the last five years that are definitely revolutionary and will change the way we engineer organisms. We can use nature as a template to create organisms more suited to practical human use; there are bacteria that produce an antioxidant called lycopene, and [Isaacs] had them making five times as much within three days. People should also know about George Church, Craig Venter, Jay Keasling, Chris Boyd — all of these people are doing amazing things.

Contact AARON GERTLER at aaron.gertler@yale.edu .

// BY DEVIKA MITTAL

Q. Did Egyptians really eat their children?

Contact MILA HURSEY at mila.hursey@yale.edu .

A. Mostly, I read a ton. I spent three weeks just scouring over literature relevant to the field; every time I didn’t understand something in an article I’d read another article to figure it out. I was super-motivated by some kids who were a couple years older than me and had worked in labs — I wanted to do something similar in terms of a fully immersive lab experience.

planned to do something big, like creating the first synthetic cell a few years ago, they spent a year speaking to people in government, in the industry, from various religious groups, talking to philosophers — just the widest range of people they could, to make sure what they were doing was ok.

Marina Filiba ’15: International director of the “I Am” Challenge

// BY RAISA BRUNER

Q. What was your thought process in putting together the topic for your talk?

A. That’s the point! We try to go back as often as possible to excavate and survey. Hopefully we’ll be back this summer. Everything depends on funding. Getting to dig is the most rewarding part of my job.

A. Yes. My socks, following a dig season.

A. I think Yale has a great comedy scene. All

A. Unfortunately, the talk is only five minutes … Basically, it’s about synthetic biology and more specifically the project myself and a few other undergrads did last year for the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition. Our project involves preventing ice crystals from forming using proteins that are made by a beetle that lives in negative-30-degree weather in Siberia. With antifreeze proteins, we can preserve organs at cold temperatures for longer without having damaging ice crystal formation. For companies that use moderately active fish antifreeze proteins, like Unilever or Breyers, you get ice cream full of ice crystals; ours are hyperactive, and we figured out how to mass-produce them, which should lead to better ice cream. Other applications are preventing frost damage on crops and potentially improving the taste of frozen foods.

A. I believe it’s Dennis Dutton who gave a talk about the evolution of art. He does the animated whiteboard pictures … it’s very, very cool. But then every TED talk is so cool.

// BY MILA HURSEY

Q. What is it important for Yalies to know about the situation in Afghanistan that they don’t know?

F E B RUA RY 4

of preparing for the conference and the talk you’re going to present?

Sarah Parcak ’01: Space archaeologist

// BY AKBAR AHMED

S AT U R D AY

Alzheimers, looking at music as a memory enhancer.

much about science and scientific procedures at that age?

Q. For readers who don’t have tickets to your 15-minute talk, could you describe it in 15 seconds?

// BY AKBAR AHMED Q. When did you start doing stand-up and what’s your trajectory been like since?

Nicholas Simmons-Stern ’12: Cognitive researcher

// BY AARON GERTLER

day event; if it were free admission, it might be a little less formal and people would wander in and out, but I think people will invest and want to make it a day.

Q. What is the “I Am” Challenge, and how did the founders of the “I Am” Challenge come up with the idea of using — T-shirts?

Q. What sets TEDxYale apart from other speakers and conferences at Yale?

A. Back when the “I Am” Challenge was born, four years ago now, Ben and Dan — the founders — were 15 years old. Young themselves, they realized that the youth is full of excuses; we would like to volunteer but we simply don’t find the time. Exams, extracurriculars and even friends and family make it easy to put off whatever doesn’t fit. Thus, the “I Am” Challenge was born, where volunteers wear the same 10 shirts stating “I Am (insert name)” for one whole year. This doesn’t give you any room for excuses; it a simple way of being active, 24/7, making something as simple as wearing a T-shirt meaningful.

A. What I’m most interested in is the fact that they have student speakers. There’s not really an open forum for students to talk about things that they care about, besides the Mellon Forum. Everyone here has things they care about that would be worth sharing with people, but we don’t normally have a platform to do that.

Q. What sets your talk apart from the others?

A. I show a lot of pictures.

Q. In three words, how would you describe your talk?

Q. How did you get the idea for your talk?

A. Creativity is terrifying.

A. I was already part of the “I Am” Challenge when I came to Yale, and knew that I wanted to bring the challenge to the Yale community. After finding my place on campus during the first semester, I hoped to find a good platform on which to present the idea behind the opportunity, before launching it at Yale. That’s precisely when TEDxYale happened, allowing me to present something I’m so passionate about in my talk.

Q. Do you have a favorite TED talk?

What is it?

A. There are these guys who make puppets that are really cool and lifelike. There’s also a biochemist that is changing the world [using genetically engineered bacteria to create] architecture. What’s cool about that is that those are three things you’d never put together — unlikely suspects — biochemistry, architecture and changing the world.

MACBETH

WHC // 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

“Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe topful!”

YCBA // 2:00 p.m.

You can have some more.

A. The “I Am” Challenge understands that there are situations when wearing the T-shirts is not just not possible, like having a formal dress code for work.

However, outside of this, we encourage Challengers to take on the full responsibility of wearing the T-shirts on all occasions. That’s the whole point of the challenge; being confident enough in yourself to go out on a date as such! It’s the perfect icebreaker, and no one ever forgets your name! So how about wearing pretty skirts instead?

Q. How does it feel being the only freshman chosen to give a talk for TED? A. It’s a great honour. Being a great fan of TED myself, I was thrilled when I heard that TED was coming to Yale! To think that I was given a slot to speak among such talented speakers is very humbling.

I’m so excited to spread the Challenge message, and make the most of it.

Q. How are you going to coerce Yalies into taking the challenge? Cookies?

A. The Challenge is not for everyone; I’m very aware of that. Even though I would love to see all Yalies — one can always dream right? — adopt it, l’m not about to start brainwashing people into doing it. It takes person with a strong belief in their own selves and their identity to decide to take this Challenge: to give up those pretty dresses and shirts. I hope though that, with time, more students will want to take the step by themselves.

Q. Can you wear pretty dresses for

Contact RAISA BRUNER at raisa.bruner@yale.edu .

DICKENS’ LONDON

dates, or is it only “I Am Maru” T-shirts every day of the entire year?

“MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL” YCBA // 2:00 p.m.

Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones in the 1975 comedy classic.

MOVING BODIES: A KINESTHETIC APPROACH TO ART YUAG // 3:00 p.m.

Come see the light with Elena Light ’13

Contact DEVIKA MITTAL at devika.mittal@yale.edu .

“FAR MORE THOUGHT AND CARE GO INTO THE COMPOSITION OF ANY PROMINENT AD IN A NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE THAN GO INTO THE WRITING OF THEIR FEATURES AND EDITORIALS.” MARSHALL MCLUHAN

PAGE B8

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND COVER

A TALE OF TWO NEWSPAPERS // BY DIANA LI AND CHRISTOPHER PEAK

NEWS HAVEN FROM PAGE 3 “[New Haven’s] neighborhoods. Its government. Its people — from the knuckleheads to the dreamers and schemers, and everyone in between.” With more than 30 years of experience covering New Haven, Bass’s project is innovating the way local news is reported.

When it comes to local journalism, “you can’t be a disinterested party,” Bass says. “News affects you, too.” Each month, 120,000 unique visitors check the Independent’s website for the latest news in New Haven, a city of 130,000 residents.

Bass sees his readers as collaborators in the journalistic process. Covering a U.S. senatorial debate, a woman emailed him a number of typos contained in an article Bass had hastily published from a coffee shop. Or, when a 13-yearold Krystal Hammett was murdered on Dickerman Street just off Whalley Avenue, a reader sent him video footage of an anti-violence rally. Bass put it near the top of the story.

Readers also engage with the reporting by participating in dialogue on the lively comment boards. Heavy moderation allows a productive dialogue, but it also puts the paper at risk of lawsuits if inappropriate or inaccurate remarks aren’t caught. In Bass’s mind, the conversation gained is worth the risk.

The Independent is funded by the Online Journalism Project, a nonprofit dedicated to creating hyper-local online news sources. The organization, run by Bass, declares that it is “picking up the pieces of a mission abandoned by media corporations that bought up local newspapers and radio stations, merged newsrooms, created monopolies, eviscerated editorial budgets, and abandoned the in-depth, knowledgeable, passionate, grassroots news reporting vital to the health of a democracy.”

Bass believes in the importance of his newspaper’s stories.

Citing recent examples, he says they “led the charge” on school reform when no one else was talking about the issue and first pointed to racial harassment in East Haven that later led to an FBI investigation.

According to the Online Jour-

nalism Project’s tax returns, the organization is making money too. When it first reported in 2006, the group made $105,731 and spent $62,586. A year later, Bass was compensated with a salary of $36,000. By 2010, the group made $662,532 and held assets valued at $822,852.

Expenses totaled only $459,762, 6.4 percent of which was spent on fundraising. Bass paid himself a salary of $60,000.

98.3 percent of the Online Journalism Project’s revenue came from donations, including sponsors Gateway Community College, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Service Employees International Union. The Independent’s reliance on sponsorship creates the potential for conflicts of interest in the stories they choose to report. “They’re more advocates,” Stannard, of the Register, added. “They don’t try to be as objective as we are when it comes to things like community involvement.”

The Register isn’t immune to these conflicts, either.

The Independent is registered as a public charity under the category of community improvement; the Register is a private company that receives support from businesses through advertisements.

Since the launch of the New Haven Independent, the Online Journalism Project helped start three other newspapers across the state: the Branford Eagle, the Valley Independent Sentinel, and the Connecticut Health Investigative Team. Bass said there are no plans for further expansion.

“We need to figure out how to be stable long-term,” he said.

Eugene Driscoll, Editor of the Valley Independent Sentinel, was hired by Bass to run another online hyper-local news site.

The news site is named after the Evening Sentinel, a print newspaper bought by another paper and subsequently shut down.

“Journalists… look down upon local reporting. It’s considered slumming — something they have to trudge through while they dream of landing that Pulitzer at the New York Times.” said Driscoll. “If 19,000 other news outlets aren’t chasing the same story, it must not be news. I disagree.”

Driscoll, who has previously worked for five differ-

S AT U R D AY F E B RUA RY 4

ent newspaper conglomerates, said a corporate culture prevented any innovation in trying to adapt to changes the Internet was bringing. While it gave him a 401k, new iMacs and chairs with “proper lumbar support,” Driscoll says they also “[ran] the newspaper industry into the ground and then spit on its grave.” The purpose of reporting changed from following a story to pleasing your supervisor.

Driscoll said Digital First Media, owner of the New Haven Register, is finally bringing a long-needed change to print journalism.

“I want Digital First to be wildly successful because I do not want any more reporters to lose their jobs,” Driscoll said.

“I want Digital First to succeed because journalism needs to survive.”

Bass said the Register is going through a “painful” transition from being one of the country’s “worthless, worthless media companies to being at the forefront of trying to reinvent forprofit daily journalism in a meaningful way.”

Bass still stressed differences in coverage between the Register and the Independent, but he said he enjoys the revival of the city’s journalism. When he started working as a journalist in New Haven over three decades ago, there were two daily newspapers, an alternative weekly, and six radio news stations. By 2005, there was one daily newspaper with only onethird of its former staff, a gutted weekly, and no radio newsrooms.

The Register sees itself as occupying a somewhat different niche than the Independent, and said that the two have a more collaborative relationship.

“Our missions are different: they cover New Haven, while we’re covering Greater New Haven and the surrounding community,” Brackenbury said. “But we’ve been trying to do more partnering with them.” ***** For the laid-off workers like Suraci, the Register’s profit model and the changes it has inspired are not always in line with the needs of some community members. At the end of the day, the Register is still a business.

FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, FOR YALE: HOW SEX EDUCATION FIGHTS SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Yale Law School, Room 127 // 3:00 p.m.

Show us the lux.

“WE’VE CREATED THE NEW INVESTIGATIVE EDITOR POSITION. WE’RE JUST DIGGING DEEPER INTO STORIES, DOING INDEPTH INVESTIGATIVE PROJECTS.” “The Register has been bought three to four times, and the last people who bought us are investors,” Suraci said. “For them, it’s just a question of profit.”

Jim Sleeper ’69, a lecturer in Yale’s Political Science department, explained the effects of the unique pressure that the profit motive puts on newspapers owned by larger companies.

“Print newspapers like the Register that are owned by chains tend to put journalism’s community-service role below the pressure to maximize returns to the chains’ anonymous shareholders nationwide.”

Sleeper said that this encourages a false trade off between news that sells and news that benefits the community.

Andrew Houlding worked as an investigative reporter for the New Haven Courier-Journal in 1969. (The paper was later merged with the Register.) “We were all starving reporters. It was an exciting time in the 60s and 70s in New Haven,” Houlding said.

In 1975, he broke a story about a widespread illegal wiretapping operation conducted by the New Haven Police Department. Police tapped gamblers, drug dealers, members of the Black Panthers, an apartment where Panthers’ children were cared for, white supremacists and even the mayor himself. The story prompted resignations, extended trials and changed perceptions of New Haven’s legal institutions.

WHAT YOU REALLY REALLY WANT: HOW TO PURSUE SEXUALITY IN THE REAL WORLD WLH 119 // 6:00 p.m.

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The story took over a year to source as Houlding persuaded police officers involved in the conspiracy to come forward. “The amount of time that I made to do those stories was astronomical compared to the amount of time people have these days to do most stuff,” Houlding said.

Houlding said that the publisher made extra copies of the newspaper during the week the five-part series ran. It turns out there just might be a market for community journalism.

The Register claims that it is actually becoming more involved with the community through its initiatives. Additionally, the Register sees indepth reporting as actually a part of its shifting philosophy.

“We’ve created the new investigative editor position.

We’re just digging deeper into stories, doing in-depth investigative projects,” Brackenbury said. “We want to take a more in-depth approach to issues and really look inside of them.”

In 1978, Houlding left journalism. During his time at the New Haven Advocate, he hired a reporter still a student at Yale: the young Paul Bass.

Today, Houlding works as a lawyer in Hartford. He reads the New York Times and the Hartford Courant every day, skims the Register and reads the Independent. “I hope [the Register] gets better,” he said. “It couldn’t get much worse than it was.”

Given its changing leadership and new philosophy, the Register now has the oppor-

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Haikus are fun/ and so is sex time. / Bananas.

tunity to help recreate an environment conducive to newspapers’ success, much like the one Houlding and others experienced decades ago. Though the long-term effects and eventual legacy of the Register’s innovations may not be clear for years to come, it now has the chance to clearly define its own niche and unique role as the remaining print daily in New Haven aside from the News.

While the Register seems to be adopting some of the Independent’s goals of representing and interacting with the community, its status as a private business inevitably influences exactly how it will do that. The Independent seems to have carved out its own niche as the non-profit community advocate, and now the Register must decide what its own role will be.

As the two major news sources for New Haven, the Independent and the Register embody the two journalism models going forward.

“It is a golden age in New Haven for journalism. Old media is finding new ways to do the job,” Bass said. “It’s a great time to be a reporter.”

Bass hesitated. “At least until the money runs out.”

Contact CHRISTOPHER PEAK OR DIANA LI at christopher.peak@yale.edu or diana.li@yale.edu .

// DIANA LI

The pressroom at the New Haven Register.

“I WANT TO BE AN ADVOCATE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T HAVE TIME TO READ THE NEWSPAPER … OR THE MONEY TO MAKE A POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.” RICHARD J. CODEY

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE B9

WEEKEND FAITH Sometimes, making a critical comment in class can entail thinking twice.

Last week, IvyGate revealed that a teaching fellow in Professor Alexander Nemerov’s popular art history course was fired after sending a series of increasingly aggressive emails to fellow TFs and, eventually, Edward Barnaby, the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She argued that her colleagues were treating Catholic-inspired art in irreverent ways, behaving unprofessionally and, at the height of her anger, colluding in a Yale-Freemason conspiracy.

Yup, that happened.

Margherita Viggiano GRD ’13 may now go down in Yale history as the grad student who objected to discussion about the Virgin Mary’s “boobs” and told a dean that he should “see how [God] reacts” to him, curtly wishing him good luck directly afterwards. But what her case shows is that the best way to maneuver the intersection of religion and academia has yet to be clearly defined at Yale.

In the face of uncertainty and the overarching goal of boosting insightful learning while keeping personal offense to a minimum, professors in three undergraduate programs spoke with WEEKEND about the tactics they use to discuss subject matter that has both religious significance and academic importance.

inner frame of reference” she and classical European artists shared.

But being territorial about art could defeat what Jane Levin believes is the whole purpose of the humanities: to broaden one’s perspective and look at the world from a viewpoint beyond our own personal experiences.

“We’re never going to be archaic Greeks, but Homer gives us the opportunity to enter their world,” she added.

In Rogers’ experience, students approaching Milton from religious backgrounds often do so because they feel an intimacy with the Christian poet. Dealing with his work in a context where not everyone shares such a foundation can be a challenge for them.

“They don’t always feel comfortable with the move into critical language instead of immediately affective religious language,” he said. Rogers added, however, that he does not believe a religious perspective on the work is necessarily detrimental, speaking of an instance in which he guided a deeply religious student writing his senior essay on Milton’s “Paradise Regained.”

“He knew the dilemmas that Milton’s character, the Son of God, was facing, very intimately, because he was convinced up to the age of 15 that he was chosen to be a prophet — he too felt chosen,” Rogers said.

Still, Jane Levin said that she

“I always make the point that the selections we read from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are different to other books we’re teaching,” said Jane Levin, who chairs, and teaches literature in, the Directed Studies program for freshmen. “These books are part of a living religion for some students.”

asks students to put religious interpretations aside in her classes so that they may focus on religious texts as literary pieces in the Western canon.

“We’re just trying to look at how these figures are described, how the story is constructed, what this work says,” she explained.

Indeed, Levin added, one student who came from a Christian background once indicated to her that she felt trepidation about looking at religious texts in a non-religious way, due to her prior familiarity with the books as sacred examples of God’s word.

Levin stressed that the diversity of Yale’s undergraduate body means that a variety of different perspectives come into play in seminar settings.

“My sense has been that students are very sensitive to the fact that other students may look at these works in different ways,” Levin said.

Kathryn Lofton, a professor in the Religious Studies department, said the classroom must be established as a common space where different individual points of view can interact.

“I try to design a classroom that is a careful public [space] where we study together,” wrote Lofton in an email. “These are classrooms and not confessionals; these are seminar rooms and not diaries. If you’re in the room, you should be ready to participate in a discussion that is not just a monologue.”

According to Rogers, a key element in classroom discussion is underscoring the fact that idiosyncratic religious and life experiences abound, and that not all students are going to “buy into” each other’s viewpoints.

Still, he argued, “believers need to accept that there’s a generally critical, mostly secular language that’s used in class discussions, and nonbelievers have to accept the fact that people have different belief systems.”

THE PRICE OF TOO MUCH POLITICAL CORECTNESS

But more is at stake in the faculty’s treatment of religion than incorporating students from both religious and secular backgrounds. The ultimate outcome of this pseudo-battle is a decision about the kind of academic vision Yale, and other educational institutions around the country, want to promote.

Lofton said that she uses her first class session to announce her intent, giving students a taste of her approach to her subject matter, which includes topics as diverse as Oprah and early Protestant fundamentalism.

“I talk about how I think that education should confront everything that you are,” she added. “I would be wary of the person that is so afraid to confront something outside of themselves that they cannot participate in discussions that might include tough thinking about important issues.”

Such stubbornness is common in certain academic fields that inspire strong devotion among scholars of a certain faith, as Rogers’ tales about the Miltonists evince.

“I’m not alone in avoiding confrontations with certain people [in the field], just because the confrontations themselves are so predictable,” Rogers said, adding that institutionalized perspectives on the poet can clash with new ideas.

// BY AKBAR AHMED

SETTING MATERIAL APART — THEN APPLYING A UNIVERSAL OBJECTIVITY

Professors said they recognize the capacity of some material to raise the hackles of certain demographics, and attempt to pre-empt any kind of controversy through an emphasis on mutual respect and critical distance.

Professor John Rogers, the director of undergraduate studies in English, teaches classes on John Milton, the iconic seventeenthcentury poet who penned “Paradise Lost” and was known for his staunch Protestantism. Being a working academic in the field, he said, he is no stranger to the way Milton’s religious undertones can lead to his being a polarizing figure.

“The study of Milton is very different from the study of Shakespeare,” Rogers said. He added that it is not uncommon in the Miltonist field for critics who share Milton’s belief system to “take umbrage” if non-religious scholars make claims about the poet’s religious views.

This exclusionary stance also pertains to undergraduate course selection. Rogers said that he’s heard of some “very smart students” avoiding Milton classes, assuming that they will only be interesting or relevant to those sharing Milton’s Protestant beliefs.

Such a sense of ownership and the feeling that a certain belief system is a prerequisite to understanding works was one of the issues that arose in Viggiano’s situation, in which she argued that her fellow TFs lacked an understanding of Catholicism, “the

S AT U R D AY F E B RUA RY 4

PEG-ASS-US: A FAIRY-TALE WITH A (VERY) HAPPY ENDING Nick Chapel // 8:00 p.m.

There’s gonna be mad nudity, people. WEEKEND editor Nikita Lalwani ’13 might make a surprise appearance.

What does that mean?

Here again one can draw a parallel to the Viggiano incident. In her email to Dean Barnaby, Viggiano said that “people can be dismissed for saying [things] against other people’s faiths.” She took issue with the idea of referring to Mary as a symbol in a work of art. To her, as she said in the email correspondence IvyGate published, “The Mother of God ‘is’ the Mother of God, as YHWH ‘is’ YHWH, and Allah ‘is’ Allah.”

How to expand beyond similar beliefs in an academic conversation is a question professors must grapple with as they try to make students think on their own and develop insightful ways to look at products of religious traditions.

“People have read these works in religious contexts with interpretations guided by religion,” said Levin. “We can’t ever fully escape who we are, our historical moment and individual perspectives […] but we can entertain the possibility, and it is my sense that people are willing to do that.”

Accomplishing such distance is a goal that Rogers said he wants to achieve in order to build on his students’ literary and analytical skills. “It’s not our business when we’re reading a 17th century poem to have a meaningful conversation about the role of God.” The direction subsequent conversations do take among a range of people, some of whom have strong beliefs, is not necessarily kosher. But professors seem willing to venture into new terrain if they think their students will gain from it — Lofton said, “I think education will always be somewhat upsetting if it’s doing any kind of meaningful work.”

Here’s hoping it isn’t upsetting enough to cause another scholar to leave the classroom.

YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE READING AND RELEASE PARTY 367 Elm St., Apt. 403 // 8:30 p.m.

Come and celebrate the release of the Lit’s 2011 Fall Issue!

Contact AKBAR AHMED at akbar.ahmed@yale.edu .

THE PURPLE CRAYON PRESENTS: THE 40S SHOW Sig Ep (Backroom) // 9:00 p.m.

Only the purple Crayon could make the 40s colorful.

“IT IS NOT TO BE DISPUTED, THAT THE PUBLISHER OF A NEWSPAPER IN THIS COUNTRY, WITHOUT A VERY EXHAUSTIVE ADVERTISING SUPPORT, WOULD RECEIVE LESS REWARD FOR HIS LABOR THAN THE HUMBLEST MECHANIC.” ALEXANDER HAMILTON

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND COLUMNS

A Dominican abroad A s so m e o n e wh o grew up in the Dominican Republic listening to The Four Seasons, hearing about my father’s alleged adventures at the Woodstock Festival and rooting for Ross and Rachel, I consider myself incorrigibly Americanized. I usually think in English. I look up to Tina Fey. Billy Collins wrote my favorite poem.

My high school classmates don’t understand my love for LCD Soundsystem. My parents embargoed my recent attempt to buy a pair of “skinny” jeans (but these jeans are just normal jeans when you are skinny all along!).

Despite my proclivity for Americana, I am no rebel intending to stab the back of my motherland.

The fact remains that I’m an island boy, the byproduct of a pseudo-conservative upbringing and misplaced inner defiance — I applied to college abroad in part to escape the comfortable realities of my Caribbean lifestyle. Once at Yale, I thought to myself: “I’m ready for this,” whatever “this” entailed. But then some cultural red flags began to pop up. Wait, is saying the N-word that big of a deal? What do you mean I’m rude? No, the DR is not in Africa — my actual answer to an actual question.

I quickly discovered that real Americans are nothing like Holden Caulfield or the cast of “Family Matters.” Neither bleak nor overly optimistic, the attitudinal gamut of the gringos knows no limits. After a couple of months of being in New Haven, the idiosyncratic underpinnings of our student community proved quite unambiguous. On the other hand, it was also readily obvious from the countless combinations of student subcultures and personal dynamics in such a small campus that American society as a whole is a reservoir of complexity filled with masses of intellectuals, hard workers, kindred spirits and disguised crackpots.

Dominican society, quite contrarily, shines by its simplicity. The people that grew up with me, the friends that I hold dear, and the chums of my chums all form part of this tiny circle within the overall community. Inside this circle, interactions are mostly based on appear-

JORDI GASSO INTERMISSION ances, social strata and last names. If your corrupt father works in government then you consider yourself the last Coca-Cola in the desert. Personality and the thickness of your wallet constitute a disgusting but widely accepted form of merit. If you can somehow add intellect and talent to the equation, va-va-voom!

You’re fucking Big Man on Santo Domingo (locally known as BMOSD, “jevito” or “maldito baboso”).

This is what I imply by a “comfortable reality,” one which I acknowledge as part of my life. You can correctly surmise that not all Dominicans are superficial drones, just as I can tell you that many Yalies drive me up the wall with their absurd self-importance (and to them I say, see you in purgatory! Bring pita chips and Boggle). I could list several similarities between the Yale life and my hot little hometown. But that’s the thing.

Despite the many extrapolations I’ve made these past three years, Yale is not a microcosm of the United States. Santo Domingo, in many ways, has become a small-scale representation of our entire country, the megalomaniac megalopolis in a nation riddled with disparities.

Halfway done with my gap year in the island, I still maintain the lowest of profiles. Not because I want to avoid lectures on the “selfish and irresponsible” concept of sabbaticals or to shun my friends, but when I decided to take time off, I truly meant it. I have nothing against my own provenance; it just so happens that my time at Yale accounts for my sharper views on my own self and the ills back home.

I am never really consciously aware of the hows and the whys behind this faint transformation.

Instead, these changes in my character are never more noticeable than when I watch “Jeopardy!” with my family now, never more alienating than when hanging out with pals at the latest Dominican club du jour.

THE MORNING AFTER The morning after a hook-up can be awkward, uncomfortable, sneaky, sleepy, and even mindblowing. We all must contend with morning etiquette after spending the night with someone, and there are four main categories of how such a morning can transpire. 1) Wake up at 7 a.m., or a similarly hellish hour of the morning, and sneak out.

2) Wake up at 7 a.m., or a similarly hellish hour of the morning, and hook up. 3) Stay in bed too long, sleeping or trying to have a conversation. 4) Leave because your partner — and owner of the bed — very blatantly, sometimes politely, kicks you out.

The first two possibilities involve early morning wakeups, often prompted by urination needs, shame, a farting bedfellow, raging hangovers, or raging hormones. If you feel the urge to peace at 7 a.m., all you have to do is leave quietly, which is hard when your clothes are scattered everywhere, or when you’re little spoon and facing the wall (requiring you to literally climb over a body). The walk of shame is also a struggle, especially when you can’t find your shoes (I have a friend who ran home barefoot), or all you have is last night’s strumpet clothes and you pass an unusual number of families on the way back (there is nothing worse than wearing heels on a Saturday morning and making eye contact with a small child). Themed events make this shameful trek particularly rough.

The morning after Safety Dance, I like to set a lawn chair up on Cross Campus and watch flurries of disheveled, neon people hurry back to their rooms. The morning after Halloween is fun, too; it’s the only morning that sad-looking sexy nurses, cops and pirates outnumber New Haven’s homeless. (Freshman move-in can be brutal, too: I’ve been

advised by an anonymous alum that you might also want to avoid hooking up with a freshman the night before move-in day, unless you’re comfortable with large, eager families seeing you leave an Old Campus room with mascara on your cheeks and oversized athletic garb.)

Things are a bit easier if you wake up at 7 a.m. and are ready for round two. You may get “footsy,” as someone once described it to me, which is when you signal you want a repeat performance by foot cuddling or general leg interactions. I have conducted an informal survey, and all participants agree that morning sex is phenomenal and the ideal post-hookup morning scenario. (I personally maintain that the best morning scenario is Surprise Breakfast; that is, when you find a sandwich you bought the night before but didn’t have time to eat).

The absolute worst is overstaying your welcome, or being trapped in a bed with an Overstayer, someone who sleeps awkwardly late or struggles with social cues. You must be delicate and crafty with Overstayers. You can even use props. One morning, my friend, who doesn’t sleep well with others, was desperate for the guy in her bed to leave, so she offered to make him a frozen waffle — signaling: breakfast time!

She opened all her curtains so the light hit him right in the face, and then handed him the waffle,

which he ate and left. I have a guy friend who, when he wants a girl to leave, gets out of bed, goes into his common room, and turns on SportsCenter. I wholeheartedly approve of this method: it’s polite and let’s the girl sleep until she realizes on her own she should leave.

Yet there is also a time and a place for being obvious. You should have complete jurisdiction over your room, so it’s entirely reasonable to request that a strange body get out of your bed, particularly when the body is not respecting you or your space. I once had to kick a boy out into Hurricane Irene because he was making obnoxious sexual

said she wanted to leave, and he had insisted she stay. When she managed to finally sneak out from under him without waking him, she couldn’t find her shirt. Unfortunately, he was on top of the shirt. So she crawled back into bed to grab it, but he adjusted in his sleep, pinning her back in bed, and she spent the early morning trapped under his leg, suffocating and staring at the ceiling.

Yet the right guy — or really any guy who’s nice-ish, vaguely attractive, and respectful — most girls (myself included) would much rather cuddle in bed, maybe even get footsy, than stealthily exit or throw someone

MORNINGS CAN — AND SHOULD — BE DELIGHTFUL, AND SOMETIMES IT’S FUN TO JUST EMBRACE THE AWKWARDNESS. requests. While I felt bad when I heard branches falling from the severe winds, I was thrilled to be in my snuggy and eating Doritos in my bed, alone, which I believe is a fundamental human right.

When it comes to sex, communication is crucial, before and after.

It’s important for guys to respect the choices girls make after — and during — hooking up, and to listen. The same principle applies to respecting someone’s decision to leave. A close friend once had a guy fall asleep on her in an 80 degree room and start snoring violently, after she had already

out into a hurricane. Mornings can — and should — be delightful, and sometimes it’s fun to just embrace the awkwardness.

Maybe even get brunch together.

Have a bed conversation. Make him set up the bookcase you’ve been meaning to put together since September. Just remember to look at your face in the mirror before you leave, so you can wipe off last night’s make up and look less like a crack whore.

Contact MARIA YAGODA at maria.yagoda@yale.edu .

// CREATIVE COMMONS

The morning after can be tricky to navigate.

Contact JORDI GASSO at jmgj11@gmail.com .

Too good to be blackout Q. In an environment where everyone is joking about being a depressed alcoholic, how do I know if I actually am one?

Q. Being wasted isn’t fun anymore. What’s the deal?

A. Poor drunk souls. I’m going to answer your questions in concert, because I think they have a lot to do with each other.

Drinking is a given on most American college campuses — and most parents usually find time for an awkward conversation with their college-bound kids about alcohol use between all those meningitis vaccines and late summer trips to Target.

Do you remember what they told you? Something about not caving to peer pressure, probably. Definitely some half-remembered anecdote about barfing in a roommate’s bed, or on an object of affection, or (God forbid) in the object of affection’s bed. Youth-

S U N D AY F E B RUA RY 5

MARIA YAGODA MARIA DOES YALE

LAUREN ROSENTHAL THE TLC TIP ful drunkenness is practically a rite of passage, and though they might warn you off drinking, they secretly expect it. You gave a pity laugh and started plotting to snag your older sibling’s ID to pass off as your own.

O college! O halcyon days!

If you decide to drink, freshman year is a pretty blotto time.

It’s because you have no standards and no concept of your tolerance, so you’ll drink any quantity of anything if it’s in your presence. Popov, Natural Light, Jell-O shots: it’s all fair game, and it all tastes bad and looks worse coming up. And it always comes up.

While drunk, you’ll say whatever and do whatever and eat

whatever, and no one will tell you to stop unless you hurt yourself or someone else. It’s all a big [I’m blowing a raspberry here. You blow one too]. The vocabulary of college safety campaigns has taken a serious turn in the past 30 or 40 years for a reason. For college administrators at Yale and other largely permissive schools, it’s because alcohol poisoning and falls and car accidents have taken lives, and they’re trying to prevent injury or death.

Even if you don’t end up in Yale-New Haven after a particularly belligerent Saturday night, you’ll eventually find less joy in the persistent cycle of cheap booze and cheaper thrills. You won’t shake off your hangovers quite so easily as time wears on — or you’ll have more of them than you ever used to as the owner of a virginal, 18-year-old liver. If you have to ask if you seriously

ENTHUSIASTIC CONSENT: A NEWER MODEL FOR BETTER — AND SAFER — SEX WLH 301 (Common Room) // 11:30 a.m.

How glorious!

have a drinking problem, you very well may. Think about seeing a counselor at Walden or Yale Health, or if you’re scared to get Yale involved, you can go to one of the many Alcoholics Anonymous meetings that happen in and around the Yale campus.

If you’re pretty sure you don’t have a drinking problem — just worried about how much you’re drinking, or sick of feeling like you have to pound back shots of something that comes in a plastic handle before you can leave your room on the weekends — try to dial it down. Give yourself days, or weeks, off. It might be a little strange at first if your friends see no issue with the unspoken mandate to be slizzard all the time, but it’s worth it. (I’m secretly pissed at Ke$ha for reinforcing this pressure; also, for never washing her hair.)

I know that Freshman Me didn’t anticipate Senior Me — an old person who would rather put on a bulky sweater and have a calm, nice, Belgian beer in a well-circulated bar playing Feist than “go out.” But I also know that Freshman Me wanted to

CAPE NO. 7

WHC // 1:00 p.m.

Taiwanese romance comedy musicdrama film.

learn Latin, claimed her favorite drink was Black Velvet whiskey straight-up, and was bummed when she didn’t get into the Exit Players.

She was a moron.

Q. My 21st birthday is coming up. What should I do?

A. Once a week, I buy an $8 bottle of Pinot Grigio at Zachary’s or Gag’s liquor stores. I prefer Gag’s, because the clerks always engage me in polite chit-chat and don’t judge me for bumping up my order to a liter-and-a-half. (I see the way you look at me, Zach’s guy, when I come in wearing pajamas after I’ve obviously been crying, and I don’t appreciate it.)

This week, the Gag’s guy looked at my friend’s ID and shook his head.

“1990, you’re alright. But now 1991 is the year we’ve gotta be looking out for, and I’ve already had a few of them,” he said. “Tell me, why do they feel like they gotta drink right when they turn 21?”

Good question, Gagman.

From a too-young age, I knew that I wanted to spend my 21st in a gay bar surrounded by sexually

THE GENDERLESS ORGASM: A CLIMACTIC ACHIEVEMENT OF 100% SAFE, TANTRIC SEX Af-Am House // 2:30 p.m.

Thirsty? Look it up.

non-threatening men and fun dance music. When I ended up in Pittsburgh this past summer, on the eve of my birthday, I might have given up that dream.

Far from it: I dragged a few coworkers to a fine establishment called “SPIN” and got a free shot of something chocolate from the bartender when he realized my Washington State ID wasn’t fake — just foreign-looking. They played footage of a Beyonce concert on a huge screen behind the bar. Someone in my cohort almost blacked out, and it wasn’t me! It was majestic.

You really don’t have to go get a drink or buy a bottle of something weirdly fancy if you don’t feel like it. I was less into the booze than I was the experience, and it made all the difference. Go somewhere fun — genuinely fun — and don’t feel pressure to get wasted. Get a nice drink. Bring people you like.

Dance furiously or not at all, but no matter what you do, tip your bartender.

Contact LAUREN ROSENTHAL at lauren.rosenthal@yale.edu .

“IT’S AMAZING THAT THE AMOUNT OF NEWS THAT HAPPENS IN THE WORLD EVERY DAY ALWAYS JUST EXACTLY FITS THE NEWSPAPER.” JERRY SEINFELD

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

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WEEKEND REVIEWS

THE SCOTTISH PLAY COMES TO AMERICA // BY ANYA GRENIER

The Yale Drama Coalition’s new production of “Macbeth,” directed by Sam Lasman ’12, reimagines the Scottish play in “a timeless landscape of American mythmaking,” according to the Coalition’s website. And while the transitions between different scenes and time periods are disorienting at times, when taken together they manage to carve out a unique time and a setting for the play. While clearly American, Lasman taps into something otherworldly, so that the production feels simultaneously foreign and familiar. Shakespeare’s language blends effortlessly into this new backdrop, with his most famous lines sounding natural even when delivered with a slight Southern drawl.

Much of the production’s power is in the attention it gives the small things. Every visual and auditory detail of the production is planned and executed so as to give each scene its maximum impact. One is left with a barrage of vivid sensory impressions, from the brilliant smear of blood across Lady Macbeth’s cheek to the deafening chirping of crickets as Macbeth sees the dagger on the wall.

The intimacy of the Whitney Theater heightens the visual

pense to it. Other scenes between minor characters become unexpectedly affecting with the addition of wonderfully human details, such as a young boy playing with a sword in the background of a scene, or two tired soldiers passing back and forth a bottle of Jack Daniels.

The use of sound throughout the production adds another dimension to almost every line.

The show opens on a dark stage with a haunting, a cappella rendition of “Dreadful Wind and Rain,” sung over a background of thunder and gunfire. It immerses the audience in the show’s atmosphere long before a word has been spoken, or the actors can even be seen. Later on, the Weird Sisters turn the familiar “Double, double toil and trouble” scene into something startling and primitive, beating together simple props, with which they build their own unnerving music, punctuated by visceral shrieks and stamping feet.

The show’s constant, layered use of sounds makes its silences all the more effective. In some of the show’s most powerful moments, Macbeth (played

by Jamie Biondi ’12) delivers his quiet, restrained “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”

WHILE CLEARLY AMERICAN, LASMAN TAPS INTO SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY, SO THAT THE PRODUCTION FEELS SIMULTANEOUSLY FOREIGN AND FAMILIAR.

intensity of the experience. One can almost see the stage lights reflected in Lady Macbeth’s glittering eyes, and the individual drops of blood falling from Macbeth’s hand as he walks across the stage.

This minute attention to detail carries over to the acting. The extremely versatile cast of eight also manages to make even easily overlooked scenes emotionally wrenching. The disturbing domestic scene preceding the murder of Lady Macduff and her child has a horror movie-like sus-

speech to an utterly silent stage; in another, he and Lady Macbeth sit facing one another on opposite sides of a table in a painfully protracted silence.

Biondi and Katherine Pitt ’12 deliver richly textured performances as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Their powerful chemistry makes the production into as compelling a portrait of a marriage in flux as it is a story of murder and political intrigue.

The changing physical dynamic between the two lends an emotional dimension to their rela-

tionship and its ultimate collapse. Lady Macbeth begins in a position of power during the couple’s first passionate embraces.

But as the play ends, when she is already bordering on insanity, she desperately flings herself into Macbeth’s arms as though a child seeking protection.

As played by Bonnie Antosh ’13, Olivia Scicolone ’14 and Pitt, the Weird Sisters are one of the particular highlights of the production. Their voices weave in and out of the action, with their eerie renditions of Southern ballads that will be familiar to anyone who’s been to a T.U.I.B. concert.

Bonnie Antosh ’13 especially delivers a chilling performance as a blind, diminutive witch, who stumbles and gropes her way through her scenes with a bloody blindfold placed over her eyes.

Antosh’s performance is remarkable for the breathtaking speed with which she transforms from a helpless, crooning victim into something inhuman, and genuinely frightening.

For all of its horror and suspense, Macbeth is carefully broken up by comic scenes. Most notably Tom Sanchez ’12, in his role as the drunken Porter, uses sheer physical expressiveness to make hilarious a scene the humor

of which countless English teachers have tried and failed to explain to generations of high-schoolers.

“Macbeth” is Shakespeare’s shortest play, and the production remained consistently gripping despite its lack of intermission,

‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ listens for sounds and silences // BY SIJIA SONG

The Calhoun cabaret theater is small and bare, and on this particular occasion the set is surprisingly prosaic: a bed, a sofa, a cabinet and a few chairs are the only furnishings used throughout the two-and-a-half-hour show. But even if the performance took place in a bare concrete cell, it would make little difference, because this is Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and it is dominated by sound — and by silence.

Maggie (Lucy Cabrera ’14), the eponymous Cat, can’t stop talking.

In the privacy of the room she shares with her husband Brick (Nathaniel Dolquist ’14), Maggie sneers at her sister-in-law Mae (Becca Edelman ‘14), speculates on the fatal illness of Brick’s wealthy father Big

S U N D AY F E B RUA RY 5

Daddy (Charles Gillespie DIV ’12), and tries to cajole the cold and indifferent Brick into renewed intimacy with her. Cabrera sports a languid drawl that is both honey and poison, and which shifts easily between arch sarcasm, snide superiority and coquettish pleading. The first act is almost entirely dominated by Maggie talking, and it’s only when she stops that the viewer notices the gaping silence she has been trying to fill.

Director Kate Heaney ’14 says this focus on sound is intentional. “I was really interested in how we could work with the space to create a landscape that the audience was a part of.” As a result, croquet players cheer from behind the audience and children sing “Happy birthday” from behind the

side door. The confrontation in which Brick finally reveals to Big Daddy that he has cancer is juxtaposed with the distant, ironic gaiety of Big Daddy’s birthday celebration coming from outside the theatre. In this production of “Cat,” the play is not confined to the stage. Instead, it takes place all around, transforming the entire theatre into the setting and the viewer into a fly on the wall, peering into the private lives of the Pollitts.

Indeed, there is something disturbingly voyeuristic about the position the audience is placed in while viewing “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” The play takes the Pollitts, seemingly the epitome of the happy and affluent Southern family, and slices through to the mess that lies beneath. As if that were

“NO PUEDO VIVIR SIN TI (CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT YOU)” WHC // 3:30 p.m.

Directed by Leon Dai. Don’t miss opening remarks by Aaron Gerow, professor of Film Studies and East Asian Languages & Literatures.

IMMIGRANT SEX LIVES, PRACTICES, AND EROTIC IMAGINATIONS WLH 208 // 4:00 p.m.

Immigrants have sex too?

only dragging a little bit towards the end, before picking up again for its action packed, and ultimately unsettling conclusion.

// JACOB GEIGER

Macbeth directed by Sam Lasman ’12.

Contact ANYA GRENIER at anna.grenier@yale.edu .

not enough, separate moments of visceral revelation occur for each character, when the public masks of civility and affection come off in private. The disclosure of their true selves — petty, loveless, grasping and vulgar — leaves them mentally naked to the audience in a way that is far too close for comfort.

Cabrera and Edelman’s performances as Maggie and Mae are particularly effective. The feuding sisters-in-law spend the entire play claiming superiority over each other.

Mae depicts Maggie as snide and “catty”, while Maggie expresses disdain at Mae’s blatant attempts at using her children to win Big Daddy’s favor. However, at the end of the play, it is Maggie who lies that she is pregnant in order to secure the inheritance for her husband, and Mae who turns

to mocking and sneering in the vilest manner as her own machinations begin to unravel. For all their claims of superiority, they are exactly the same, and equally revolting.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” should have been boring, given its subject matter: a family gathering, an argument in a bedroom and an after-dinner shouting match. Instead, it is riveting. The silences are tense, the confrontations are dramatic and the characters are refreshingly contemptible. It’s easy to leave the theater with a measure of pity for their dysfunctional lives, and thankfulness for one’s own.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is running at the Calhoun Cabaret from Thursday, Feb. 2 to Saturday, Feb. 4.

Contact SIJIA SONG at sijia.song@yale.edu .

INDEED, THERE IS SOMETHING DISTURBINGLY VOYEURISTIC ABOUT THE POSITION THE AUDIENCE IS PLACED IN WHILE VIEWING ‘CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.’

WRITING SEX: A PANEL ON SEXPOSITIVE WRITING LC 101 // 6:00 p.m.

The central text will be James Joyce’s love letters.

“OUR GREAT AMERICAN WRITERS WERE ALL NEWSPAPER PEOPLE.” JOHN GOULD

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND BACKSTAGE

// ZOE GORMAN

SEX WEEK 2012 ORGANIZERS educational, courageous, sexy

// BY EWELINA RUDNICKA

A

mong the eight leaders of Sex Week at Yale, it is safe to say that one can find most, if not all types of students of our campus. With different sex education backgrounds and sexual lifestyles they (probably) represent the sexually abstinent and the other end of the spectrum, wherever that is. WEEKEND interviewed Anna North ’13, Connie Cho ’13, Courtney Peters ’12 and Paul Holmes ’13 — half of the board — about the culmination of this year’s preparations for Sex Week, which kicks off today.

Courtney: We certainly had our gut wrenching moments when something we so strongly believed in was being seen in an unfavorable light and misrepresented. For me personally, it was a low point when the administration thought we could be potentially harmful.

It’s not what we are about and we believe Sex Week is needed.

Anna: I think that at the same time, we had a clear goal of making Sex Week happen and the confidence that organizing it is important gave us additional motivation.

Q: What is the importance of having Sex Week on the Yale campus?

Paul: We have to ask ourselves how many of us growing up had someone they could ask anything.

I think the answer of most of us makes it clear that there is a need for Sex Week on campus.

Courtney: It is a matter of free speech and the need for sex education. From conversations with peers, it is abundantly clear that parents are too embarrassed to talk about sex with their children. To avoid painfully awkward conversations they do not bring it up enough.

Sometimes I fear that the administration wants to be politically correct and does not always want to provide a forum for conversations about sex. It is the responsibility to our peers to provide this kind of space for dialogue.

Q: Was there a speaker you reconsidered bringing to campus because of the current atmosphere regarding Title IX issues? How did you tailor the event to the needs of the Yale community?

Connie: There was a clear issue about the discussion of pornography at Sex Week. It became very apparent that no one was ready for a substantial discussion regarding pornography. While some people are personally comfortable with it, it is still not widely discussed on campus. The Marshall Committee Report pointed out that the presence of a pornography star during Sex Week was enough to cancel the event. Pornography is an important subject when it comes to talking about college students’ sexuality. So this time when approaching the topic, we made it explicitly clear that we are discussing the ethics of pornography We were clear about that in our publicity materials and while recruiting speakers. We decided we have to cover it in a basic manner because the public at large is not ready for a more in-depth discussion.

Anna: Another thing that we decided to put into our program this year are events that are more LGBTrelevant rather than only having them be LGBT-friendly. People are pretty fed up with the idea that they can be only “friendly.” They want information and something more beyond the assurance there will be no hate speech. We also made that clear to our speakers, which was

hardly a problem considering how many of them work with LGBT communities. We also made our speakers aware that in the audience there are people who never engaged in any sexual activity and people of different levels of experience. We want to make sure that you can go to any of our events feeling safe and not leave the room feeling that anything you’re doing is wrong.

“

Q: What do you guys think about True Love Week at Yale? Was there any dialogue between both groups?

their opinions was also part of the grassroots research we did to know what the Yale community expects from Sex Week.

Courtney: I feel that sometimes we are perceived almost as poisonous, bringing something toxic to the Petri dish of the Yale community.

Our critics perceive us as either prosex, in any sense of the word or that we are anti-abstinence and that we cannot relate to it. To be honest some people would be shocked to hear about our personal lives.

Paul: Clearly sex and true love are not mutually exclusive, and anybody who looks at both phrases knows that.

Q: What events are you excited about excited about?

WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES HOW MANY OF US GROWING UP HAD SOMEONE THEY COULD ASK ANYTHING.

Q: One of the accusations is that you don’t make everybody feel comfortable in the discussion space you create. Did you address these issues in this year’s program?

Paul: We just had to really refocus our message. I think it is important for us to create a space for opinions and when someone of dif-

“

Q: Was there a point when you thought that Sex Week would not happen?

ferent religious or political views disagrees with us, we feel Sex Week has achieved its goal by being more about the conversation itself. Getting people to talk about WHY they disagree is crucial.

Connie: This year we have specifically carved out this space for events addressing the needs of the critics who felt they didn’t have space within Sex Week for themselves. We have partnerships and study breaks organized with many religious groups and institutions on campus like St. Thomas More, the Slifka Center and the Muslim students’ organization, to name a few.

Courtney: We found out about it at the time when the new board was being formed. We did not want to be reactionary and have an impulsive, knee-jerk reaction. We thought that a constructive discussion would be best for the Yale community.

Connie: From the beginning, we wanted to have a real conversation on what bothers them. Listening to

Courtney: Kick off Extravaganza!

Connie: Probably about our keynote speaker, Ann Olivarius ’77, who herself was a plaintiff in a Title IX case and the first woman to win a Rhodes scholarship.

Contact EWELINA RUDNICKA at ewelina.rudnicka@yale.edu .