NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014 · VOL. CXXXVI, NO. 103 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
SUNNY CLOUDY
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CROSS CAMPUS Green eggs and ham. Over
break, emu eggs that were part of a Peabody Museum exhibit about dinosaurs started to hatch. The large green eggs, which were about the size of a human hand, had been incubating in the exhibit since early February. The first cracks began March 12. A live stream of the Peabody babies is available online.
Can your professor do this?
Yale psychology professor Gregory Samanez-Larkin has gained some notoriety for defying the odds. While lecturing for Statistics (PSYC 200), Samanez-Larkin presented the class with a problem about the probability that a statistics professor could walk on his hands. To make a lasting impression, he then got up on the desk at the front of the massive Dunham Lab lecture hall and walked back and forth across the table on his hands to wild applause from the audience.
Free trees. New Haven residents may be entitled to a free tree. Residents can submit an online request for a tree, which will be planted on their curb strip or front yard for no charge. The project is part of a partnership between the New Haven Urban Resources Initiative, a nonprofit affiliated with the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and the city’s Parks, Recreation and Trees Department. Unfortunately, dorm rooms are not eligible. “What is a Whiffenpoof?”
was the headline of a recent article from KBTX.com, a news site affiliated with Bryan and College Station, Texas. The piece reported on a visit from the Yale a cappella group. The suited-up seniors had sung at Arbor Oaks at Crestview retirement community. One big feathery family. A diagram created by a team of scientists at Yale displaying the connections between all living bird species has been selected for exhibition by the British Library. The infographic is the “most comprehensive family tree for birds to date,” according to Yale News. The evolutionary history of almost 10,000 species of birds is displayed on the chart. At the British Library, it will make up part of an exhibit titled “Beautiful Science: Picturing Data, Inspiring Insight.” A win for J. Swift. Leo Damrosch’s ’63 book “Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World,” published by Yale University Press, has been awarded in the biography category of the National Book Critics Circle Awards. The winners were announced March 13. THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1955 A report from a hired engineering firm recommends replacing chandeliers in Sterling Memorial Library with ceiling spotlights. Submit tips to Cross Campus
crosscampus@yaledailynews.com
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BASKETBALL YALE IN TOP 8 OF CIT TOURNAMENT
A NEW FRONTIER
SPRING BREAK
Lab renovations herald new direction for Physics department
PHOTOGRAPHERS CAPTURE TRAVEL SCENES
PAGE B1 SPORTS
PAGE 3 SCITECH
PAGE 10 THROUGH THE LENS
Endowments to grow in 2014
Tuition increases again
ENDOWMENT GROWTH PREDICTIONS COMPARISON Predicted endowment growth
Change in predictions from 2013 to 2014
Over
1
2013
2014
7.6%
7.3%
2013
2014
7.3%
7.5%
2013
2014
7.4%
7.7%
year Over
3
years Over
5
years
BY ADRIAN RODRIGUES STAFF REPORTER Endowments nationwide are predicted to grow around 7 percent in fiscal 2014. Several hundred nonprofit institutional investors predicted their portfo-
lios to grow by an average of 7.3 percent in fiscal 2014, down from 7.6 percent in fiscal 2013, according to a Commonfund Investor Outlook survey released March 12. The survey estimates that over five years, university endowments, pension funds and public charities will grow by an average of 7.7 percent.
Students research for People’s Caucus BY ISAAC STANLEY-BECKER STAFF REPORTER Addressing a pack of city residents lingering in the auditorium of the Hooker Middle School after a public hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget, Ward 19 Alder Michael Stratton said the People’s Caucus — a breakaway group of alders he helped organize in Janu-
ary — had a secret weapon in its legislative arsenal: Yalies. “We’ve got about eight Yale kids working on these ideas for us,” Stratton said, as he described a 10-point plan he claimed could save city taxpayers anywhere between $38 and $105 million and avert a proposed SEE CAUCUS PAGE 4
- 0.3
percentage points
0.2
percentage points
0.3
percentage points
BY RISHABH BHANDARI STAFF REPORTER
“The data indicates a level of realistic optimism that’s both refreshing and important,” said Verne Sedlacek, president and CEO of Commonfund, in the report. According to the press release, mar-
For the second consecutive year, the cost of attending Yale will increase by roughly 4 percent. The University announced a $59,800 undergraduate bill for the 2014-’15 academic year on Thursday, up from this year’s $57,500. The cost of room and board will rise from $13,500 to $14,000 and tuition will increase from $44,000 to $45,800. The University’s financial aid budget is expected to dip slightly for the second consecutive year from $119.1 million for the 2013–’14 academic year to $117 million next year. Still, according to a University press release accompanying the announcement, students receiving financial aid will not be affected by the rise in Yale’s cost unless there is a change in their family’s financial circumstances that reduces their need for financial aid. Fifty-two percent of Yale students currently receive financial aid, with the average student on financial aid receiving $41,000 in grants. “Our goals of providing the highest quality education and making it affordable for everyone determine both the term bill and the
SEE INVESTORS PAGE 4
SEE TUITION PAGE 6
Former postdoc files suit BY MATTHEW LLOYD-THOMAS STAFF REPORTER A former postdoctoral researcher at the Yale Medical School has filed a suit against the University, her supervisor and a former postdoctoral fellow over what she alleges was deliberate tampering with her research. Magdalena Koziol, who was a postdoc researcher at the Yale School of Medicine from June 2011 to March 2013, filed the suit in early February. Koziol claims that the University and Koziol’s supervisor acted improperly
upon discovering that another postdoctoral fellow had poisoned the fish Koziol was studying, destroying more than nine months’ worth of research. Koziol’s suit targets the University, former postdoctoral fellow Polloneal Ocbina — who was found guilty by the University of tampering with Koziol’s research — and Koziol’s supervisor, genetics professor Antonio Giraldez, who the suit says created a hostile work environment for Koziol after Ocbina left the University. In the suit, Koziol claims that
Giraldez and Yale breached their contracts with Koziol for postdoctoral work in a range of ways, including “willfully, intentionally and recklessly failing to properly investigate the scientific misconduct, threatening [her] with termination, … intimidating her … denying her any written confirmation of the incident, threatening to destroy her [and] failing to carry out the grievance procedure in a reasonable period of time.” University Spokesman Tom SEE POSTDOC SUIT PAGE 6
SAE reforms pledging process nationally BY WESLEY YIIN STAFF REPORTER Sigma Alpha Epsilon, one of the nation’s largest fraternities, has eliminated the pledging and initiation processes for new members. The national fraternity announced in a press release that it has removed these new-membership programs partly because the organization has received bad publicity associated with “a number of incidents and deaths,” as well as chapters closing due tow hazing related problems. According to Bloomberg, at least 10 deaths have been linked to hazing, alcohol and drug use at SAE events — a sizable portion of the 60 fraternity-related deaths documented since 2005. A new program called “The True Gentleman Experience” will replace SAE’s pledging process. According to the national fraternity, the program will be a period of holistic education during which members will learn more about the fraternity and its principles. The fraternity’s statement acknowledges that the transition from traditional pledging procedures will be a difficult one, but emphasizes its overall positive effects. SEE SAE PAGE 4
ELENA MALLOY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOWGRAPHER
Sigma Alpha Epsilon has eliminated the pledging and initiation processes for new members.