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T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2014 · VOL. CXXXVI, NO. 73 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING

SUNNY CLOUDY

18 12

CROSS CAMPUS

SERVICE DO STUDENTS GIVE BACK?

SOM

DOGS

Students and faculty react to new School of Management building

NEW CANINE STAFF MEMBER COMES TO MED SCHOOL

PAGES B3 WEEKEND

PAGE 5 NEWS

PAGE 3 NEWS

Capital projects on track

‘White Out for Mandi’ returns.

The fourth annual fundraiser for the Mandi Schwartz Foundation is being held today. The Yale women’s ice hockey team is dedicating its game against Brown to the cause. Admission to Ingalls Rink will be free, and donations will be accepted at the door. Everybody is encouraged to wear their best all white everything.

Something smells like onions. Satirical news site

“The Yale Bubble” remains unpopped. Recent timely headlines include “Seminar Professor Determines Class Roster By Russian Roulette,” “Honeymoon Period of Relationship With Seminar Abruptly Ends With First Assignment” and “Froco Email Treads Thin, Awkward Line Between Formal and Casual.”

The draft begins. Information

sessions for freshman counselors — the first line of defense for the campus — are now taking place across campus.

Pasta and puzzles. Wooster Square Italian restaurant Consiglio’s is hosting a theater dinner party tonight titled the “Midwinter Beach Party.” The affair is advertised as involving an interactive comedy show, a mystery murder, games, prizes, as well as a costume contest for best tropical outfit, begging the question of how much can you stuff in between one three-course Italian meal? Valentines Day every day.

The fifth Annual Valentine Chocolate Festival is not being held on Valentine’s Day but this Saturday in St. Thomas More Chapel. The full-day event will allow attendees to sample nearly two dozen types of treats and vote for their favorites. Last year’s Grand Prize winners included JCakes for its chocolate dipped strawberry cake and Romina Fiorotto for a chocolate and blackberry flan.

BY ADRIAN RODRIGUES STAFF REPORTER As several of Yale’s major capital projects are set to be finished within the next decade, senior administrators remain confident in the proposed timelines for their construc-

BY WESLEY YIIN STAFF REPORTER In past years, the distribution of money to student groups from the Undergraduate Organizations Committee has taken place behind closed doors. But now — in an effort to establish a more transparent process and address a potential budget deficit — the UOC will make funding requests and grants publicly available for the first time. In a Jan. 19 email, the UOC announced to all student organization officers that all future grant requests and funding decisions will be made avail-

SEE RENOVATIONS PAGE 6

SEE EARLY ACTION PAGE 4

able online for student reference. After student leaders apply for funding, their request will appear in a spreadsheet that displays the organization name, application cycle, the amount requested and the amount awarded. UOC Chair Ben Ackerman ’16 said the overwhelming increase in funding applications over the past several years has forced the UOC to make difficult choices. “In making summaries of grant requests and decision public, we have the opportunity to not only increase the transparency and accountability of the allocations pro-

cess, but also provoke a much needed conversation on campus about the declining state of student organization finance,” Ackerman said in an email. John Meeske, associate dean for student organizations and physical resources, said though he was not consulted about this change in policy, it is within the UOC’s prerogative to alter the procedures. He said he is in favor of the increased transparency and believes that the publication of the requests is “worth a try.” However, he added that he was concerned some student organizations may not want their information to be publi-

cized when applying for funding, and it may be difficult for those who view the online document to understand the information with the limited details provided.

We have the opportunity to […] provoke a much needed conversation on campus. BEN ACKERMAN ’16 Chair, Undergraduate Organizations Committee

In addition to publishing all requests and awards, the UOC and the Yale College Council — the UOC’s umbrella organization — have decided to share the burden of making funding decisions. Though the UOC will continue to be the primary funding decision-making body, the YCC will have increased oversight in approving these grants, Ackerman said. In every YCC meeting, council members will be provided access to all grant requests and awards, and they will have the opportunity to investigate funding transacSEE UOC PAGE 6

Hard times ahead CompSci surge strains department for Metro-North BY YUVAL BEN-DAVID AND JENNIFER GERSTEN STAFF REPORTERS

BY MATTHEW NUSSBAUM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The bad news just keeps on coming for Metro-North Railroad.

JOHN HARTWELL Member, Connecticut Commuter Rail Council

ONLINE y MORE goydn.com/xcampus

tion. With the renovations to the nave of Sterling Memorial Library and the Hall of Graduate Studies, as well as the construction of the two new residential colleges and the Yale Biology Building all set to be completed between 2014 and 2019, Yale is fac-

Group funding gains transparency

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

crosscampus@yaledailynews.com

Early programs not created equal

ing a period of both transition and excitement, according to senior administrators. Despite a $39 million budget deficit and the potential for future administrative cuts, capital project developments remain on

HENRY EHRENBERG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The New Haven Line is grossly underfunded, and that’s been the case for many years.

Submit tips to Cross Campus

PAGE 12 SPORTS

For top universities, early admissions programs have changed the game. Since the reintroduction of early programs at Harvard and Princeton in 2011, Yale and its highly ranked peers all boast either binding or non-binding early programs that attract thousands of qualified applicants. But college admissions experts interviewed said that each school wields its early programs differently often in pursuit of different goals. David Petersam, president of Virginiabased higher education consulting group AdmissionsConsultants, said early action programs are inherently contentious because they tend to benefit applicants who are better prepared and more knowledgeable about the college process. “But some schools practice more equitable early action programs than others,” he

Despite growing budget deficits, Yale’s capital improvement programs continue apace.

The Secret Garden. The Yale Marsh Botanical Gardens are holding an open house this Saturday, allowing visitors to see how their collections of carnivorous, desert and tropical plants are holding up in the middle of winter.

1980 Students fear the possibility of a real draft, into the army (not the ranks of the freshmen counselors).

Women’s Hockey gears up for annual “White Out” game

BY RISHABH BHANDARI STAFF REPORTER

Branson & friends. The

New Haven museum held a “Downton Abbey”-inspired event on Thursday about immigrant domestic servants from Ireland in the 1800s. “Thousands landed, lived and worked in Connecticut, resulting in drama occasionally reminiscent of scenes from ‘Downton Abbey,’” according to the event description. The comparison between the elite halls of Yale and the sitting rooms of Downton is almost too easily made.

HOCKEY

A recent report by the Regional Plan Association revealed the precarious state of New Haven’s rail line, the busiest commuter rail line in the nation. At current funding levels of $200 million per year, the report projects it will take 20 years until the line is operating at its full potential. The “emergency action plan” calls

for an investment of $3.6 billion through 2020 to renovate and restore the line and avoid the sort of derailments and major outages that occurred over the past year. “From an infrastructure standpoint, the New Haven Line is grossly underfunded, and that’s been the case for many years,” said John Hartwell, a member of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council since 2009. The deterioration of the line, which runs commuter trains from New Haven into New York City and carries all Amtrak trains that travel between New York and Boston, has become glaringly apparent in recent months. A train derailment in May 2013 halted service for days. Then, in September 2013, a major power outage left thousands of commuters without a way to get to work for almost two weeks. The line carries 125,000 passengers a day between MetroSEE METRO-NORTH PAGE 4

David Liu ’17 always wanted to be a filmmaker. After enrolling in Computer Science 201 last term, he had a change of heart. Now a computer science major taking Computer Science 223, “Data Structures and Programming Technigques,” Liu has found that others are also starting to flock to the subject.

For now, at least, that means some in Computer Science 223 may have to sit on the floor. Enrollment in the course has nearly tripled in the last three years, said Stanley Eisenstat, director of undergraduate studies in the Computer Science Department. The 169 students listed on OCS as taking the course are an indicator of heightened student interest in the subject. The department’s other introductory courses,

Computer Science 112 and Computer Science 201, have also seen an enrollment surge. According to Eisenstat, the number of computer science majors has risen sharply in past years — from 15 graduating seniors three years ago, to 25, then 38; there are 49 predicted graduates this year. He said the rise might be due, in part, to recent efforts by the Yale SEE COMPSCI PAGE 6

KATHRYN CRANDALL/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Computer science classes have seen increases in student enrollment, with some having nearly tripled in size.


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