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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 · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · VOL. CXXXV, NO. 31 · yaledailynews.com

INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING

SUNNY CLEAR

61 47

CROSS CAMPUS

ARTS ‘GALLERY + DANCE’ TO DEBUT

TEACHERS

‘TICK, TICK … BOOM!’

CREW

Evaluations show improvement in New Haven education

LARSON SHOW CONSIDERS CAREERS IN MUSIC

Jon Morgan ’13 discusses start to the season

PAGE 3 CULTURE

PAGE 3 CITY

PAGE 5 CULTURE

PAGE 12 SPORTS

Panel talks economics

Frog’s Place? Yalies checking

their email last night may have noticed something different in their inboxes: The sender of the weekly Wednesday night dance party at Toad’s Place was not “thetoad@toadsplace. com” or “toadsplac@aol. com,” as is customary, but instead “frogman9003@aol. com.” It appears that the toad has transformed into a frog, though it remains unclear precisely when this evolution took place.

Marijuana Malloy. Rolling Stone Magazine has named Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy one of the country’s top 10 politicians “on the right side” of the medical marijuana debate. Last year, Malloy approved a bill that decriminalized medical marijuana and reduced penalties for people caught with the drug. Instead of facing a $1,000 fine, cannabis offenders will now pay $250 for their first offense and up to $500 for subsequent violations.

Standing in solidarity.

Several Yalies organized a blackout on Wednesday afternoon in support of the University of Texas at Austin’s decision to consider race in its supplemental admissions program. The blackout comes as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the merits of racebased affirmative action in the landmark case Fisher v. University of Texas. The Court first began hearing oral arguments for the case on Wednesday.

Not a sophomore slump. Ezra

Stiles and Morse Colleges held their traditional sophomore dinners on Wednesday night with invited speakers and special menus, offering Asian cuisine for Morsels and Stilesians. Though attendees of the Stiles celebration wore semi-formal attire, those at the Morse dinner dressed casually.

Food failures. Seven of 39 New Haven eateries were examined after experiencing fire or flood issues have failed their health inspection tests, which were conducted during the last week of September. Food establishments that passed included Jonathan Edwards College, Davenport College and sushi place Miso Japanese Restaurant on Orange St. In other news, Harvard. A Hong Kong couple has sued a U.S.-based college admissions counselor for failing to get their two sons into Harvard University. The couple, who ended up paying $2 million in counseling and tutoring fees, allege that the consultant had promised their sons would receive admission letters.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1897 The University announces Edwin Hotchkiss Tuttle as the winner of the Hugh Chamberlain Greek Prize for best entrance examination in Greek.

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Faculty tackle grading

BY JANE DARBY MENTON STAFF REPORTER

nizer of the panel, said it would provide a nonpartisan, nonpolitical discussion of the issues at stake when Americans head to the polls on Nov. 6.

“One can review the situation and what the options are without necessarily getting heavily into political discourse,” Alan Auerbach, one of the panelists and a professor of economics and law

With the GPA cut-offs for Latin honors at an all-time high, Yale College faculty are beginning to investigate grading trends.

At the first Yale College faculty meeting of the year last Thursday, Yale College Dean Mary Miller announced the creation of an ad hoc committee on grading policy to be chaired by economics professor Ray Fair.

Though the University has kept information about its grade trends private since the 1970s, Miller said faculty have been observing longterm GPA trajectories across the country, and the new committee will examine Yale’s relation to these trends and the function of grades as a “pedagogical tool.” Miller said she would not speculate on the prevalence of grade inflation — a rise in the average grade assigned to comparable levels of academic achievement — at the University before the committee reports its findings, but six professors interviewed said they think grade inflation has contributed to climbing GPAs. “I don’t know any faculty members who think they have lowered their standards,” English professor David Kastan said. “But I also don’t know anyone who doesn’t think there is grade inflation.”

The minimum GPA required for Yale students to graduate with Latin honors — given to no more than 30 percent of the graduat-

SEE ELECTION PAGE 4

SEE GRADING PAGE 6

SARA MILLER/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

On Wednesday, President Levin moderated a panel on economic issues pertinent to the presidential race.

BY ASHTON WACKYM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER During one of the most partisan presidential elections in recent memory, Yale hosted a panel to present objective data and quantitative analysis on some of the biggest economic issues of the election.

Over 200 members of the Yale community gathered in the Yale Law School auditorium Wednes-

day night to listen to a panel of economics professors discuss the financial ramifications of the upcoming election. Moderated by University President Richard Levin, the panel, entitled “The Economy and the Election,” brought together three leading scholars to address the new healthcare reform bill and the budget deficit, among other economic issues.

Benjamin Polak, chair of the economics department and an orga-

Residents, Yalies call for Q House

BY SEBASTIAN MEDINA-TAYAC CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The Board of Aldermen held a public meeting Wednesday evening to discuss reopening and renovating the Q House, Dixwell’s now-shuttered community center.

At a joint committee meeting of the Youth Services Committee and the Human Services Committee, aldermen heard community testimony and

approved a resolution asking the state for funding to reopen Dixwell’s defunct Q House. Until 2003, the Q House supervised children after school before their parents came home from work, which proponents argued kept them away from negative influences of the street.

The joint committee, chaired

by Ward 1 Alderman Sarah Eidelson ’12 and Ward 26 Alderman Sergio Rodriguez, invited testimony from the residents

Alum wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

BY JONATHON CAI AND JANE DARBY MENTON CONTRIBUTING REPORTER AND STAFF REPORTER Brian Kobilka MED ’81 never talked about the Nobel Prize, said Don Regula MED ’82, Kobilka’s classmate at Yale and current Stanford colleague.

“He has never in his life mentioned the Nobel Prize … ever, which means he’s about as humble as you can get,” Regula said.

But that changed on Wednesday, when a 2 a.m. phone call from Sweden informed Kobilka that he and Robert Lefkowitz, his colleague and former mentor, had won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Kobilka and Lefkowitz were awarded the prize for their work on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a large family of proteins that plays a crucial role in communication within the body. Kobilka currently serves

of New Haven’s Dixwell community and their neighbors, Yale students, to offer their perspectives on and experiences with the Q House. Ultimately, the Board hoped that the meeting would result in both securing funding from the state and encouraging the community to raise money to invest in its own future, said Ward 22 Alderman Jeanette Morrison, who spearheaded the effort to fund the Q House again.

Throughout the meeting, those who testified referenced the Wednesday driveby shooting of a 16-month-old infant in Dixwell, which residents said heightened the “dire need” of tackling a growing violent crime problem in an area so near to Yale’s campus. The chamber was filled with mostly New Haven residents waving makeshift signs — although a half dozen Yale students also attended the meeting — and

a majority of these attendees ended up speaking.

“We heard moving testimony from a whole range of people: alumni kids, alumni volunteers, clergy, teenagers and young kids,” said Josef Goodman ’14, the Democratic Town Council co-chair of Ward 22. “Each spoke to the necessity of the institution and the vacuum its closure has left.”

SEE Q HOUSE PAGE 4

Berkeley dining hall access limited

as the chair of the molecular and cellular physiology department at the Stanford University School of Medicine and has made unprecedented progress in understanding the workings of GPCRs — which could be the key to developing better drugs, since nearly half of all medications involve the receptors.

He’s so modest and selfeffacing, which makes him really easy to work with … he’s about the nicest guy in the world.

MARK VON ZASTROW GRD ’87 MED ’87 Kobilka’s main contributions to the field of chemistry SEE KOBILKA PAGE 4

THOMAS ALBERGO/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

To address overcrowding, Berkeley may be closed to transfers every other Monday night.

BY KIRSTEN SCHNACKENBERG STAFF REPORTER Berkeley students tired of an overcrowded dining hall may soon be able to eat in peace every other Monday night.

The Council of Masters and Yale Dining is currently reviewing a policy that would close

Berkeley College’s dining hall for dinner to non-Berkeley students two Mondays each month. The policy, which Berkeley College Master Marvin Chun announced in an email to his students Wednesday night, would also prevent transfers from other colleges from SEE DINING PAGE 6

PAGE 2

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

OPINION

.COMMENT “Don't ever try to joke about anything, anywhere, any time.” yaledailynews.com/opinion

Off the deep end I

turned 22 last Friday. I had seen it coming — birthdays tend to fall on the same day every year — but the first “Happy Birthday” still took me a little by surprise. It appeared on my Facebook on Thursday, a while before midnight, from a friend in a different time zone.

It was followed by other posts: at 12:16 a.m., from a guy in my journalism class; at 1:03 a.m., from a girl who worked on a play with me, back when I worked on plays; at 2:46 a.m., from someone who ate a roasted goat with me in Kenya; all the way to 11:04 p.m., from a friend of a friend who graduated in 2011.

It was nice. I appreciated their words. It takes two seconds to type, “Happy birthday!” on someone’s wall, I’m aware, but still: It was heartwarming. Or maybe not “ heartwarming.” Reassuring — reassuring to know that there are people out there who remember me (even though t h ey p ro b a b ly wo u l d n ’t remember my birthday if Facebook hadn’t told them).

WE’RE LEAVING THE KIDDIE POOL, BUT WE'RE STILL ALL SWIMMING TOGETHER Maybe it’s because I live off campus, or because I don’t sing a cappella or play on a team or spend Wednesday nights at chapter, but sometimes being at Yale feels lonely.

Or maybe not “lonely.” How could I feel lonely? All I have to do is walk outside to find hundreds of people taking classes in the same buildings and buying Majorska from the same liquor stores and leaping over the same puddles on College Street.

Not loneliness, then, but something a little like the feeling I had when I was six and my parents enrolled me in swimming lessons. The club where these lessons took place had two pools: a small one for beginners, where I could touch my toes to the bottom even at the far end, and a larger, deeper one, for more advanced swimmers.

I spent two years at that club, but I always refused to graduate to the deeper pool.

It wasn’t so much that I was afraid of drowning — by then I had learned how to swim — but I was afraid of the depth, of the helplessness that came from

being unable to touch my toes to the bottom without anything — or anyone — to hold on to.

TEO Being at SOARES Yale is like that but Traduções worse. Most of us come here at 18 and turn 19 and 20 and 21 and 22, and, as the years mount, so do the responsibilities.

There are tests to be taken and papers to be written and jobs to be gotten. The deep pool begins to feel more like an ocean. It’s as though someone had given you a pair of floaties and pushed you off a boat somewhere between Hawaii and the Marshall Islands. You know you’re going to make it — the floaties will keep you above water, and the South Equatorial Current will eventually land you in Papua New Guinea — but the journey will probably be rough. And out in the Pacific, rocked and churned by twenty-foot waves, with only sea slugs and sperm whales for company, there’s a good chance you’ll begin to feel something that’s a lot like loneliness.

The irony is that we’re all, every single one of us, floundering in the Pacific. It’s not like we’ll drown — our floaties are FroCos and masters and deans and emails reminding us to write our senior essays. We will, in all likelihood, graduate. But the certainty that we’ll make it through doesn’t assuage the questions we ask ourselves along the way: Does my professor think I’m dumb?

What would my parents say if they saw me right now? Will I hear back from Bridgewater?

From the girl I met last night at Box? We all have these tiny nagging anxieties lodged somewhere deep inside us, nibbling away at our stomachs. It’s a part of college that we all share privately but never talk about publicly, and it can consume us so it becomes easy to forget that, really, we’re not alone at all.

It doesn’t have to be that way. All it takes is a hello on the street, an occasional email to an estranged friend or maybe this: Next time you check Facebook, see if any of your friends are celebrating a birthday.

Wish them a happy one.

TEO SOARES is a senior in Silliman College. Contact him at teo.soares@yale.edu .

'LDFFLY' ON

'IDENTITY TALK'

G U E ST C O LU M N I ST H I L A RY O ’ C O N N E L L

Creating safe spaces I

recently mentioned to a freshman that, when I came to Yale, I identified as straight.

He laughed out loud. It was an entertaining moment — but not because I was joking.

I wasn’t joking. I, like many other Yalies, came to Yale “in the closet” about my queerness, though in my case it only took three weeks at Yale to leave the proverbial closet. For the first time, I found myself in an environment where I felt safe and respected with regard to my sexuality. Two years later, as the current Coordinator of the LGBTQ Co-op, the idea that I ever struggled with my identity seems like a joke to people who meet me.

Many of us are privileged enough to experience Yale as a safe space for our expressions of identity, be it our sexuality, gender or any other identity. What I did not realize as a first-year is this: Some are not so lucky.

Despite our alleged commitment to equal opportunity and open dialogue, we have failed to create an environment in which all individuals and identities are equally valued. And what’s worse is that we don’t talk about our

failings — many of us on campus don’t even notice them.

When Yale’s healthcare policy excludes medically necessary gender-related surgeries; when we welcome back ROTC in violation of our own Equal Opportunity Statement; when we invite speakers to campus (Rick Santorum, Anthony Esolen and Harvey Mansfield, among others) who deny the existence of real same-sex love and reinforce heteronormative notions of gender; when our healthcare providers are insufficiently trained in LGBTQ issues to provide us with adequate counsel; when members of our community deny the existence of rape culture — we cannot in good conscience say that we have created a safe space which values equally the wellbeing of all members of our community.

The Yale Presidential Search committee’s recent “Presidential Search Statement” declares that “at its core, Yale is more than an academic environment; Yale is a living and learning community…”. Today, on National Coming Out Day, we are invited to take a step back and ask our-

selves whether we are working as hard as we can to make our communities, Yale and beyond, safe spaces where everyone may live and learn to the fullest of their potential. We are asked, in short, to become better allies to one another.

THERE IS NO END TO CRITICAL DIALOGUE Allyship is neither unilateral nor confined to the concerns of straight people for their lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer compatriots. Nor is allyship passive, or confined to acceptance of our friends’ identities. Allyship is active participation in the creation of safe spaces. I urge us, the student body, faculty and staff and other members of the Yale community, to come out as allies to one another, and to commit ourselves to advocating for safe spaces, whether as small as our dorm rooms or as large as our

campus.

When will we know if we have succeeded? The reality is that there is no end to critical dialogue — safety is not static. Our success lies not in stasis, but in the capacity for and commitment to dynamism.

We cannot continue to promote tolerance and acceptance as the end goals of activism.

LGBTQ people should already expect to be treated like worthwhile human beings when we arrive on this campus. To expect an institution to “accept” our identities and penalize only overt acts of violence, harassment and discrimination towards LGBTQ individuals (or any other group) is to expect a bare minimum of decency. Our allyship must go beyond that. As scholars, we do not set an end goal to our education: We value education as a process, and commit ourselves to learning as a lifelong endeavor.

The creation of safe space, too, is a process. It must begin, but cannot end, with tolerance.

HILARY O’CONNELL is a junior in Timothy Dwight College. Contact her at hilary.oconnell@yale.edu.

Hillary for president I

was an unlikely supporter of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election. She was neither the voice of change nor the inspirational candidate. Instead, she was the manifestation of the establishment. I was way further to the political left than Hillary, and there was a slightly more liberal alternative in the race.

Why didn’t I initially support then-Senator Barack Obama?

Because I thought Hillary would get things done. It was not hard to foresee protracted partisan challenges and political gridlock ahead, and I believed the prediction that Obama would be unable or unwilling to handle the bloodsport of modern politics.

Now I’m four years older and four years wiser. I’m proud to say that I’m still supporting Hillary for president. Only this time, it’s not President of the United States; I want Hillary to be the next president of Yale.

First of all, there is a long and rich history of politicians leading universities. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the president of Columbia University for five years; Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels just accepted the presidency of Purdue University. And who could forget that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was the president of the University of Louisiana system at age 28 (doesn’t that make you feel inadequate?).

Whether Obama wins re-

election or not, Hillary has indicated that she will not remain Secretary of State after January 2013. When the 2016 elecSCOTT tion arrives, will be STERN Hillary nearly 70 years old — perhaps a A Stern little too old to Perspective run for president in our shallow YouTube political climate. In other words, she’s not going to have anything else to do. So why not come run Yale?

Hillary is a legitimate candidate, not just an amusing fantasy. She was mentioned by former University of Connecticut and George Washington University President George Trachtenberg in the New Haven Register as a “world class candidate … of the caliber and the standing of the kinds of candidates Yale will seek to attract.” She has also been mentioned as a candidate repeatedly on the Huffington Post and many political blogs.

More importantly, Hillary is the best candidate for the job.

She’s a Yalie — it was here at the law school where she met Bill.

It is often forgotten that Hillary was an influential figure in her own right even before becoming First Lady. She wrote widely cited

articles and was twice named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America before Bill became a player on the national stage.

GIVE HILLARY ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL CHANCE AT YALE As First Lady, Hillary undertook an unprecedented political role, advocating vociferously (and unsuccessfully) for healthcare reform, and fighting for children’s rights. Later, she was elected to the United States Senate, where she became known as a bridge-builder and problemsolver. After mounting her trailblazing campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2008, she now serves as a surprisingly popular and down-to-earth secretary of state. Her vision and organizational skills are legendary.

Yale should snag her before anyone else does. A brilliant mind with Yale connections and the savvy to run a complex institution, Hillary could make an outstanding president. She would bring a unique perspective to help tackle many of the issues Yale is bound to face in the near

future: the costs of undergraduate education, the availability of online courses, the status of Yale-NUS, the standing of athletics and Greek life on campus, the role of government in higher education.

Perhaps just as significant, Hillary would represent Yale’s willingness to move forward into a changing world. Unlike peer institutions Harvard and Princeton, Yale has never had a president who lacked a Y-chromosome (some may point to Hanna Gray, who served for just over a year in the late 1970s, but she was only acting president).

After a federal investigation into the handling of claims of sexual harassment filed by Yale students, and the deservedly wellpublicized incidents of sexist comments by DKE, Yale needs to show the world how willing it is to fight sexism, as well as its insidious cousin — stereotypical gender roles. Hillary might be just the president to lead that battle.

The search for Yale’s next president should not be a politicized decision (unlike so many other aspects of Hillary’s life). It should be a choice that inspires us. Yale should choose a bold leader, a new voice for change: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

SCOTT STERN is a sophomore in Branford College. Contact him at scott.stern@yale.edu .

G U E S T C O L U M N I S T CA LV I N B O H N

Let's fling with Macklemore

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COPYRIGHT 2012 — VOL. CXXXV, NO. 31

M

acklemore was made for Yale.

I was introduced in high school to the man that Ben Haggerty becomes on stage when I saw him open for a more popular Northwest rap group. Haggerty simply called himself Macklemore. He stole the show, then did it again at Webster Hall in New York City when he had a concert of his own.

For those who have not yet experienced the magic, the experience presented by Macklemore and his co-star/producer extraordinaire Ryan Lewis goes like this: The show starts with Lewis on stage playing a rhythm from his endless repertoire. Macklemore then sneaks his way on to the stage, either through the crowd or inauspiciously from the wings.

The music starts. The infectious energy of the dancing is equaled

by Lewis’ pumping beats and Macklemore’s mix of lyrics — some from the heart, some more playful.

I was drawn in by the party and

stayed for the message. He managed to avoid the Eminem ethos of anger at the world, instead offering solutions.

This brings me to the reason I want Macklemore for Spring Fling. After back-to-back years of decidedly “eh” performers — acts that had their personal auras overshadowed by the excitement of the day — it’s time to bring in a pair who will make us regret forgetting them.

Consider their story: The Seattle-based duo toiled in relative obscurity until “The VS. EP” came out. With the success of their hit, “Otherside,” a sobering reflection on addiction, the two began to get some national press.

Now they’ve officially hit it big. Their album, “The Heist,” was released Tuesday at midnight and sits at No. 1 on iTunes in the U.S. as of Wednesday night, not to mention a few European charts.

"The Heist" features two songs that many Yalies are probably already familiar with: the infectious “Thrift Shop,” which has been inescapable in suites around

campus since the video came out, and the far more serious “Same Love.”

“Same Love” is a powerful ode to marriage equality, featuring the lyric “no freedom until we’re equal / and damn right I support it.” Considering the notorious homophobia of the hip-hop and rap communities, Macklemore’s declaration is bold. With Frank Ocean’s summer announcement that his first love was a man, Macklemore joins the first wave of support for the LGBTQ community from this genre.

MUSIC MEANS MORE FOR MACKLEMORE Chronicling the stories of several men dealing with the realities of being gay in modern society, the music video for the song has garnered more than 3,000,000 views on YouTube in less than two weeks.

Macklemore forges on with-

out corporate influence — he doesn’t belong to a record label.

He remains one of few musicians who actually hasn’t sold out. I challenge you to find somebody more worthy of Yale’s money.

He educates without crusading (see: Lupe Fiasco), addressing the terrible toll he has seen drugs take on his friends and community. He supports equality, and he even talks about the absurdity of a world in which a kid can be killed over a pair of Air Jordan shoes.

The duo have a show at Toad’s Place, but it’s the Sunday after “The Game.” I’m coming back to New Haven to see it, but I doubt there are many like me, and the rest of you deserve an opportunity to let this man make you dance.

Macklemore will give us a concert worth remembering and will offer more than just debauchery (see: T-Pain and the Ying-Yang Twins). Let’s get him.

CALVIN BOHN is a junior in Timothy Dwight College. Contact him at calvin.bohn@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

NEWS

“Winter is coming.”

Teacher evals improve

BY MONICA DISARE STAFF REPORTER School reform initiatives in the Elm City may be paying off, as the results of New Haven’s 2012 teacher evaluations showed marked improvement in faculty performance.

New Haven’s teacher evaluation system, which places teachers into one of five categories ranging from “needs improvement” to “exemplary,” saw an uptick in “exemplary” teachers from 8 to 13 percent. Overall, 90 percent of teachers scored in the top three rankings — “exemplary,” “strong” and “effective” — and 28 teachers at the “needs improvement” level have left the district over the past year.

Despite growing approval of the program among principals and faculty, only 50 percent of teachers are reportedly satisfied with the system, an attitude school officials said they are working to improve.

“We know that there’s more work to do,” said Garth Harries, assistant superintendent for the New Haven public school system. “But [these results] reflect good progress and the integrity of a system that we created to improve instruction for kids.”

The increase in “exemplary” teachers may be due to more frequent evaluations, said Michele Sherban-Kline, the director of teacher evaluation and development for public schools. Top teachers often want regular feedback, she explained; under the old system, teachers were not necessarily evaluated every year.

Those who earn “exemplary” teaching rankings will also be eligible for “rewards,” Harries said.

While the specifics of kind of benefits or rewards will be available for top teachers have not been made public, Harries added that the $53.4 million grant New Haven was awarded from the Department of Education last month will go toward the policy.

The bulk of the teachers ranked either “strong” (53 percent) or “effective” (24 percent). Of the 58 teachers flagged with low-ranking evaluations at the beginning of the year, 20 improved upon their performance and 28 left the district. Despite the loss of public school faculty members, 17 of whom were tenured, school officials said they do not expect the departures will incite any conflict with the teachers union.

“One of the hallmarks here

in New Haven is the collaboration with the union,” Harries said. “The union has been very involved in each individual teacher’s case, and in each case, the union and the school district came to a consensus decision.”

Although 28 teachers left the disrtict, school officials are still optimistic about the results of the teacher evaluation.

“It’s a work in progress, but we’re encouraged by the results,” Abee Smith, the spokesperson for the New Haven public school system, said.

Though the improved teacher performance rankings indicate a strengthening public education system in the Elm City, school administrators said the evaluations system has room to be further developed. Although teacher satisfaction wth the system rose from 42 percent to 50 percent this year and principal satisfaction rose from 68 to 72 percent, 25 percent of teachers still reported feeling dissatisfied with the way evaluations are handled. Harries said one way public school adminstrators are working to improve the evaluations sytem is by providing better feedback to teachers on how they can improve their teaching.

We know that there’s more work to do.

GARTH HARRIES Assistant superintendent, New Haven Public Schools

Administrators said it is still too early to draw concrete conclusions about the effectiveness of the evaluation system, though educational reform initiatives in New Haven seem to be strengthening schools: In the past two years, New Haven’s test score growth has outpaced the state as a whole by 200 percent, Harries said. Additionally, the city’s high school graduation rate has grown two percentage points, and the number of students on track to graduate has risen by nine percent, he added.

The teacher evaluation system rated 1,457 teachers, 90 principals and assistant principals and 24 central office administrators this year.

Contact MONICA DISARE at monica.disare@yale.edu .

NED STARK, GAME OF THRONES

Dance, art merge in ‘Gallery +’

KAMARIA GREENFIELD/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

“Gallery + Dance” will showcase dancers in the context of the iconic Louis Kahn building of the Yale University Art Gallery.

BY MARGARET NEIL CONTRIBUTING REPORTER On an average museum visit, there is a strict boundary between your body and the art — stand too close and a watchful guard will appear at your side to scold you. But tonight, a group of Yale dancers will break that boundary.

“Gallery + Dance” — the latest installation of the “Gallery +” series — will be performed by 10 undergraduate and graduate Yale dancers, all with professional or pre-professional training, in the Louis Kahn building of the Yale University Art Gallery. Between two dancing segments, organizers Elena Light ’13 and the gallery’s Education Fellow Elizabeth Manekin will discuss the driving concepts behind the event. Light said she hopes Gallery + Dance will alert students to how deeply dance and visual art are connected.

“A lot of people don’t realize that art and dance go together at all,” Light said.

“So many people who do it do it for the physical activity, because it is fun and beautiful. But there is a whole other aspect to dance.”

The dancing will take shape through “structured improvisation” — certain movements are premeditated and rehearsed, while others are decided by the individual dancers on the spot, Light said.

Both kinds of dance relate directly to the art, in opposite ways: The structured part is conceptual, and it operates under a the-

matic and art historical knowledge of the works; the improvisational part is more of an impulsive response to the aesthetics of the pieces. The spectators are encouraged to walk among the dancers, getting as close to them as one could approach a piece of art on the wall.

Light said she is also excited by the “recent explosion in the art world of dance being performed in museum spaces,” pointing to recent exhibitions in the performing arts spaces of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Tate Modern in London as examples of increased institutional attention to the importance of dance in the canon of art history.

“The presentation of dance in museum galleries is utterly of the moment — one of the most philosophically important and perplexing developments in contemporary art today,” said Emily Coates ’06 GRD ’11, Yale Dance Theater program director and theater studies professor, in an email. “I’m delighted to see dancers working on questions related to the interaction between visual art and choreography here at Yale.”

And while much of the dance currently being performed or exhibited in museum spaces has no correlation to either the art collection or the museum’s architecture, Light said she wanted to be sure that this performance was site-specific. The dancing will respond directly to four works of art displayed in the lobby of the the Gal-

lery — two Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings, “Pan North XI” by Al Held and “Three Bowls” by Ursula von Rydingsvard — as well as Louis Kahn’s iconic modernist style. Manekin said that Kahn used fairly cold industrial materials to emphasize humans’ role in making a space come alive. In this sense, Manekin explained, this gallery is a very fitting space for a dance exhibition.

“What about our bodies?” Light said.

“We are people looking at works of visual art, and when I approach a work of art it’s not like suddenly my body is not there and it’s just my mind.”

Light said she sees this collaboration as different from other dance events at Yale, such as Yaledancers performances, which tend to be less conceptual and more about the thrill of seeing bodies in motion on a stage.

Manekin explained that the Gallery + series began three years ago under her guidance and provides an opportunity for students of different disciplines and backgrounds to interact with the Gallery.

She added that while she loves art history majors, she hopes that the series will encourage other students to use the Gallery as an educational resource. Gallery + has previously collaborated with radio, music, theater and comedy groups.

Gallery + Dance will begin at 5:30 p.m. tonight in the Gallery’s lobby.

Contact MARGARET NEIL at margaret.neil@yale.edu .

City, University prepare for rough winter

BY LAVINIA BORZI CONTRIBUTING REPORTER While national weather forecasts have predicted a particularly freezing and snowy winter, city and University officials are confident they can handle the rough weather.

Yale and New Haven administrators are prepared to deploy all measures necessary to combat the extraordinarily cold and dry winter that meteorologists have forecasted. New Haven Chief Administrative Officer Robert Smuts ’01 said that lessons learned from 2011’s Hurricane Irene and October storm have made him confident that everything will go smoothly in the event of another emergency.

“In 2011 we put together a really excellent emergency evacuation plan, and we’re still ready for anything that comes our way,” Smuts said.

While last year saw a warmerthan-usual winter, meteorologists across the nation have predicted that large snowstorms will pound the Northeast next January and February. In January 2011, New Haven saw what Mayor John DeStefano Jr. called a “snow emergency” at the time, with all but the most essential city and University services reduced in the wake of heavy snowfall.

City Hall spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton ’04 said that the primary lesson that the city administration took from unpleasant weather in 2011 was the importance of coordination and communication with city agencies and New Haven residents. While Smuts said winters in New Haven can sometimes be as harsh as they are in places like Buffalo, N.Y., he said City Hall does not have the equipment

or the budget of cities more accustomed to fighting snow. The Elm City will still be able to tackle the snowstorms, he said, emphasizing that the city’s experiences with 2011 weather proved that New Haven is “one of the best communities in the state in responding” to weather emergencies.

“We’re not going to go overboard [with the city’s response], but we’re also going to be more willing to call in for help when we need it,” he said.

Smuts put particular emphasis on the city’s improved systems of communication with residents, which keep them updated on everything from what to expect from a storm to whether their cars need to be towed.

He said this communication got better with new technology, but also due to the administration’s new policy of being “more aggressive” about responding to New Haven residents.

We’re not going to go overboard, but we’re … willing to call in for help when we need it.

ROBERT SMUTS ’01 Chief administrative officer, New Haven Yale Director of Emergency Management Maria Bouffard said that Yale is also prepared to keep Yale students safe in any weather scenario.

“If something comes up that was different [from] past years we are perfectly prepared to care for that,” Bouffard said. “Our number one priority is that the Yale community is

safe.”

Bouffard added that the Yale Emergency Operations team works very closely with the city of New Haven, but that any emergency related toYale campus — weather or not — is the team’s responsibility.

The Yale Facilities team takes care of everything from keeping the dining halls functioning to making sure the walkways are clear when there is heavy snow, Bouffard said.

Yale Police Department Assistant Chief Steven Woznyk said that the YPD works with the Yale Emergency Operations team and the city of New Haven to monitor weather emergencies. The YPD has set plans to manage winter weather emergencies and is prepared with a set of four-wheel drive vehicles, Woznyk wrote in a Wednesday email to the News.

Woznyk added that the YPD had full coverage of emergency operations in previous years, including Hurricane Irene and that the department undertakes after-action reviews after each “extreme weather experience.”

“Police and security take great pride in — and do an outstanding job — planning for and responding to any weather conditions,” Woznyk said.

Smuts and Bouffard agree that the response of residents to emergency provisions has always been very good, although Bouffard said that Yale students have always been very responsive to requests to stay indoors and not “go out in the middle of the hurricane.”

New Haven recieves an annual 6.2 inches of snow per year.

Contact LAVINIA BORZI at lavinia.borzi@yale.edu .

YDN

SARAH ECKINGER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

HOLLY RIPPON-BUTLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Top right, inclement weather leads to fallen trees and blocked roads; top left, a snowball is formed after a snowstorm; bottom, a man walks through thick snowfall.

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT Economists survey election ELECTION FROM PAGE 1 at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview Monday.

The three panelists — Michael Graetz, a tax law professor at Columbia University, Amanda Kowalski, an economics professor at Yale, and Auerbach — each presented for roughly 30 minutes on their topics of expertise and answered questions from Levin and audience memebers during the panel discussion.

While Auerbach outlined the policies and proposals of Mass.

Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama in his presentation, the candidates’ platforms were not the focus of the panel. Instead, the discussion kept returning to a central issue: the budget deficit.

“We know that one of the issues today is a question of a very harsh fiscal deficit in the United States,” Levin said.

Auerbach presented a chart that anticipates the deficit will grow to 700 percent of GDP by 2062, and Graetz talked about the extra trillion dollars that unfavorable interest rates will incur on the deficit every year.

In the end, Kowalski tied all the concepts together by discussing the effects of healthcare reform on the deficit.

She compared the Massachusetts healthcare model to national healthcare reform, explaining that reforming the healthcare system in Massachusetts costs the state about $800 million annually, while a national overhaul of the healthcare system would cost closer to $1.8 billion per state annually.

Something has to give, and what has to give is uncertain.

MICHAEL GRAETZ Columbia University tax law professor Once the panelists finished their individual presentations, audience members asked questions about economic tradeoffs in balancing the budget.

One attendee asked the panelists to discuss whether Romney’s plan to cut taxes could

decrease the deficit. Before they could respond, Levin intervened and asked the professors discuss tax cuts rather than Romney’s specific proposals.

In response to the question, Graetz said it is difficult to determine how tax cuts could lessen a budget deficit.

“Something has to give, and what has to give is uncertain,” Graetz said.

Four students interviewed said the panel provided a fair perspective on the economic issues at play in the election.

Samson Mesele LAW ’14 said the panelists seemed to analyze the subjects they discussed with the intent of explaining issues to audience members. “[Graetz] clarified that the largest tax expenditure is the expenditure for employer-provided health insurance coverage, which a lot of people don’t realize,” Mesele said.

This panel is the first of two lectures. The second, scheduled for Nov. 1, will focus on the macroeconomy, the recession and recovery.

Contact ASHTON WACKYM at ashton.wackym@yale.edu .

Residents praise center Q HOUSE FROM PAGE 1 A majority of the speakers said they were long-time Dixwell residents and had benefitted from the former community center in a way their children have not.

Every single attendee who testified said that giving local children a safe place to interact with one another and learn from adults was a crucial first step in decreasing crime in Dixwell, as they said the Q House had succeeded in doing since its opening in 1929.

Prominent community members — like Hillhouse High School principal Kermit Carolina, former mayoral candidate Clifton Graves Jr. and Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church pastor Frederick Streets — spoke about their own experiences growing up with the Q House and the youth violence they have seen increase in their communities since it shut its doors.

Toward the end of the meeting, a group of elementary school students filed into seats facing committee members and delivered original testimonials toward the end of the meeting.

One nine-year-old girl told the committee that she would like a place for youth to go after school so they could socialize and exercise rather than “just watch television,” and so kids would stop “selling things they shouldn’t be selling.”

Then, an elderly woman who could not walk to the podium due to a physical disability said from her seat that the Q House is to

Dixwell “what the Taj Mahal is to India,” adding that the Q House could be a place for profound intergenerational exchange. Both these testimonials received a standing ovation from attendees.

Some Yale students in attendance said they have been involved in different ways to revive the Q House. Goodman, along with other Yale students living in Silliman, Ezra Stiles, Morse and Timothy Dwight colleges, is a resident of Ward 22 and has been working with Morrison on issues facing youth and unemployment in Dixwell since her term began.

New Haven Action President Drew Morrison ’14 and Jacob Anbinder ’14 also testified at the meeting, presenting to the committee a map they developed that showed the high concentration of violent crime in certain areas in Dixwell since the closing of the Q House.

The city has already received $40,000 in state funding, Morrison said, which will be used to conduct a feasibility study of what will be a complex renovation. It is likely that the city will tear down the deteriorating building and rebuild it from scratch with brand new facilities, she added.

New Haven saw 34 homicides in 2011, the highest rate the city has experienced in two decades.

TIMELINE “Q” HOUSE RESTORATION EFFORTS 2003 “Q” House, open since 1929, closes doors after over 70 years 2009 The Board of Aldermen unanimously approves federal funds to purchase Q House NOVEMBER 2011 Dixwell and Newhallville-based aldermen elected on platform that included Q House restoration JULY 2012 Ward 22 Alderman Jeneatte Morrison drafts resolution asking state for Q House funding SEPTEMBER 2012 $40,000 of funding approved by state for study on feasibility of rehabilitation OCT. 10, 2012 Board of Aldermen holds public hearing on resolution asking for additional funds.

Contact SEBASTIAN MEDINA-TAYAC at sebastian.medina-tayac@yale.edu .

r e c y c l e y o u r y d n d a i l y

7.8

National unemployment rate in September

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report last week that announced the unemployment rate fell below 8 percent for the first time since President Barack Obama took office.

A key talking point of challenger Mitt Romney has been a sustained attack on Obama’s economic record.

Chemist pushes frontiers of field KOBILKA FROM PAGE 1 include isolating the gene sequence for the beta-adrenergic receptor (BAR), a specific GPCR that he would later use as the foundation for his future research. He also obtained the first 3-D image of a BAR interlocked with its signaling molecule, an accomplishment that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences called a “molecular masterpiece, the result of decades of research.”

“I’ve been in touch with other former lab members and everybody has been extremely pleased,” said Mark von Zastrow GRD ’87 MED ’87, who did his postdoctoral research in Kobilka’s lab. “We’re all delighted for Brian and we think he’s an absolutely deserving recipient.”

Kobilka could not be reached for comment.

Three former postdoctoral fellows who worked in his lab said Kobilka was an inspiring and accessible mentor who treated them as colleagues rather than just students. All three said they still stay in frequent touch with Kobilka.

Dan Bernstein, a close friend of Kobilka’s and fellow Stanford faculty member, said that in the early days of his Nobel-Prizewinning work, no one thought Kobilka could succeed in obtaining a crystal structure of a bound GPCR receptor, a breakthrough that would enable further research. Rather than involving postdoctoral fellows in time-consuming research that could jeopardize their careers, Bernstein said, Kobilka waited to incorporate his postdoctoral fellows until his research proved to be more promising.

“He kind of combines this intense, driven character with being somebody who doesn’t seem that way because he’s so modest and self-effacing, which makes him really easy to work with cause he’s about the nicest guy in the world,” von Zastrow said.

Two of Kobilka’s former postdoctoral fellows recalled his fondness for practical jokes and a “great sense of humor” that lie behind his more reserved exterior.

Friends and colleagues said that beyond his work as a scientist, Kobilka values his family. He met his wife, Tong Sun Thian, in biology class while they were both studying at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Dr. Brian Kobilka MED ’81, along with Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, won the Nobel Prize on Wednesday for work on G protein-coupled receptors.

Thian, a practicing physician, also spends several days a week doing research in Kobilka’s lab. They have two grown children, Jason and Megan.

Outside of the lab, colleagues say Kobilka enjoys the outdoors, especially long-distance biking. Von Zastrow said that when Kobilka turned 50, he decided to run his first marathon, “just as a challenge for himself.”

Kobilka was named a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011.

Contact JONATHON CAI at jonathon.cai@yale.edu.

Contact JANE DARBY MENTON at jane.menton@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

NEWS

Colleges exclusively on the Common App

155

Of the 488 schools that use the Common App, about a third of them allow applicants to submit everything necessary for application (from supplements to payments) through the Common App system.

‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ a beacon of hope

BY JESSICA HALLAM CONTRIBUTING REPORTER In the season of suits and job interviews, the latest show at the Calhoun Cabaret has a response to students’ career woes: To hell with practicality.

This is the takeaway from Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical “Tick, Tick … Boom!”, which he wrote before bursting onto Broadway with “Rent.”

Set in New York City circa the early 1990s, “Tick, Tick …

Boom!”, which opens tonight, explores Larson’s life as a struggling artist. The lead character Johnny, who represents Larson, faces an internal struggle with which many Yale students can identify — he hears a ticking clock and realizes that he must choose between the “impractical” path of music composition and a higher paying career. Jack O’Reilly ’13, who plays Johnny,

said that “Tick, Tick… Boom!” forces characters to come to terms with what life will bring based on these decisions, and portrays the societal pressure 20 and 30-somethings face as they pursue stable careers, even when they must surrender their passions to do so.

Laurel German ’15, the show’s producer, said she struggled with the idea of pursuing a career in theater, ultimately deciding to let go of that dream.

“It is an issue that is very close to home. I went through all the same questions from a different angle,” she said.

Director Gabrielle Hoyt-Disick ’15 said this production of “Tick, Tick … Boom!” comes at a time when art programs around the country are constantly under the threat of budget cuts. Art education has become a lower priority in light of the national emphasis on science and tech-

nology over the last decade, Hoyt-Disick explained, adding that society needs to be reminded of the importance of the arts.

“This play is just so much about what art can do,” Disick said.

As a window into Larson’s artistic development, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” gives hope to those who have never given up their childhood dreams of life onstage, said Kyle Picha ’14, who plays Johnny’s friend Michael.

Though the musical portrays Johnny as a struggling artist and is not wildly successful itself, the audience is aware of Larson’s later success with “Rent,” Picha added.

“In the musical, he fails to do what he wants to do, but he sets himself up to start anew,” Picha said. “It’s a story of falling and getting back up. Had he stopped, we wouldn’t have ‘Rent.’”

Picha said that he is comfortable pursuing a career in music, even though he recognizes that he may spend his first few years out of college working at a low paying job. Picha said his character Michael “sells out,” trading in his actor’s garb for a three-piece suit and a place in the “faceless New York corporate enterprise” — a choice Michael later regrets.

“Tick, Tick … Boom!” is, of course, grounded in more than moral lessons and social commentary. Hoyt-Disick said it is ultimately a “rock concert,” and, like rock musicians, the characters run around and slide across the floor and jump atop props on the stage.

The first production of “Tick, Tick … Boom!” opened in 2001.

Contact JESSICA HALLAM at jessica.hallam@yale.edu .

Common App revamped

BY AMY WANG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER High school seniors applying to college next fall will face a redesigned Common Application — but some of the proposed changes have already been criticized by college admissions experts.

The updates, which were announced Oct. 5, aim to improve user experience and include a simplified online interface, a streamlined fee-waiver application system and the removal of the option to upload a résumé. Applicants will also encounter strict enforcement of the 500-word limit for the required personal essay and will no longer be able to choose the “topic of your choice” prompt. Previously, the 500-word limit was only suggested and students could choose an option to write on any subject as one of six essay prompts. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel said in an email to the News that the changes will not significantly impact Yale’s admissions process, but the two changes to the personal essay requirement have generated mixed responses from college admissions experts.

“If it’s not broken, you don’t need to fix it,” said Jon Reider, a college guidance counselor at University High School in San Francisco. “The changes to the questions and the length are bound to create stress, and the application process is [already] rife with stress. Most of the people making these decisions have never been a college counselor for five minutes.”

Though Brenzel said he disagrees with the removal of the “topic of your choice” prompt, he said he supports the enforcement of the word limit.

Reider said he believes the required word limit will benefit only upper-middle class students who can afford private counselors to help them trim down their essays, while lower-income students will suffer without professional guidance.

Though the intent of the word limit is to level the applicant playing field,

its consequences will be “exactly the opposite,” he said.

But David Petersam, president of higher education consulting group AdmissionsConsultants, said he thinks the word limit is a “fantastic idea” because of its emphasis on brevity, adding that colleges want to admit students who are able to follow instructions and be concise. In addition, Petersam said the limit will make the application process more “standardized.”

When admissions officers only have four or five choices each year, they’re going to be bored out of their minds.

CHUCK HUGHES President, Road to College Instead of the the “topic of your choice” essay prompt, the Common Application will offer four to five prompts that will likely change each year. Reider said that over 60 percent of applicants have typically chosen the open-ended option over the other five in the past.

The removal of the choice prompt

will limit students’ ability to promote their individual talents, said Chuck Hughes, president of college admissions consulting service Road to College.

“Some students need the freedom to write about what they want because their stories might warrant it,” he said. “Also, when admissions officers only have four or five choices each year, they’re going to be bored out of their minds reading the same essays. No one wants to read another essay about somebody’s grandmother.”

Petersam said he understands why elimination of the choice prompt may put some students at a disadvantage, but he thinks universities will admit qualified students regardless of their essay topics.

Still, Reider said he hopes the negative feedback from college counselors will make Common Application officials change their minds about the prompt’s removal before the new system launches.

The redesigned Common Application — which will for the first time be an entirely online system, removing the paper application option for students — is scheduled to launch on Aug. 1, 2013.

Contact AMY WANG at xiaotian.wang@yale.edu .

COMPARISON COMMON APPLICATION Current Common App

New Common App

Offers five essay topics and “topic of your choice” option

Offers four to five essay topics, to change each year

”Suggestion” of 250-500 words for personal essay

Strict 250-500 word restrictions for personal essay

Fee waiver requests must be submitted for individual schools

Fee waiver requests only need to be submitted once

Application may be submitted online or on paper

Online-only application; simplified interface with on-screen help

Offers option to upload additional information (resume)

Will not allow students to upload a resume

KYLE PICHA/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Characters in ”Tick, Tick … Boom!” are forced to consider the impracticality of careers in the music industry.

Students consider intersection dangers

BY J.R. REED CONTRIBUTING REPORTER During a round-table discussion last Tuesday night, five students from Timothy Dwight college joined New Haven Ward 7 Alderman Doug Hausladen ’04 in considering ways to limit potential dangers at the intersection of Temple and Wall Streets.

Students gathered in the Timothy Dwight Common Room between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to voice their concerns to Alderman Hausladen and four community members, including the University’s traffic subcommittee Chair Kirsten Bechtel and committee member Abigail Roth ’90. Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins also was present for the first 20 minutes, echoing concerns students expressed regarding the lack of traffic regulation around Timothy Dwight and Silliman Colleges. Meeting attendees worked to outline a set of proposals by the discussion’s end designed to alleviate some traffic risks, including added roadside reflectors and crosswalk space.

Without a stop sign or pedestrian walkway, the Temple and Wall intersection has been subject to criticism from both students and New Haven residents who allege the roadway is unsafe to cross. Students at the meeting said they are often forced to walk dangerously close to cars on the street’s edge when crossing the street. Though some locals have called for a pedestrian walkway sign next to the intersection’s crosswalk, Hausladen said New Haven law does not permit such road signs along one-way streets.

“What’s most frustrating is that cars can’t see me,” said Christina Kim ’16, who is physically handicapped and uses a wheelchair. “I’ve had a few close calls, where cars have just sped by me.”

Timothy Dwight Master Jeffrey Brenzel contacted Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins questioning the intersection’s safety, and Higgins articulated the concerns to members of Yale’s traffic subcommittee last month. Committee members then contacted the Board of Alderman to brainstorm solutions for alleviating difficulties pedestrians face when crossing the intersection.

Hausladen proposed three solutions to the group Wednesday evening. The first proposal entailed placing miniature reflective cones called bollards along lines between lanes.

“In other cities, you often see a solid white line dividing up the two lanes of the one-way street with temporary bollards placed on the solid white lines,” Hausladen said. “These bollards represent no danger to drivers because they can be run over but they are effective in delineating the two lanes.”

Hausladen also proposed creating a stamped crosswalk, which would entail heating asphalt, pouring it onto the crosswalk to make it look like brick and then painting the crosswalk red. He explained the stamp would be reflective and signal to drivers approaching the intersection to slow down. The downside to this plan is that stamped crosswalks typically cost about $15,000 per intersection, Hausladen said.

As a third, longer-term solution, Hausladen proposed adding curb extensions into the adjacent roadway and into the sidewalks at the intersection.

After Hausladen presented possible solutions, the group outlined a strategy incorporating parts of the Alderman’s suggestions. Their plan includes placing bollards in the intersection, painting a cross-hatch pattern on the street to denote the intersection and painting all the crosswalks a particular color.

“I think we came up with a lot of low-budget action items that will really make a difference for Timothy Dwight students,” Ben Ackerman ’16 said.

Students at the meeting decided to circulate a petition to include with the draft of the group’s proposed solutions.

Hausladen said the package will be submitted to the city’s Department of Transportation, adding that he hopes to receive feedback on the proposal within the next year.

In addition to his role as Alderman, Hausladen serves as the co-coordinator of the New Haven Safe Streets Coalition — a local organization advocating for improved street traffic policy.

Contact JONATHAN REED at jonathan.t.reed@yale.edu@yale.edu .

PAGE 6

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT Crowds prompt dining change DINING FROM PAGE 1 dining in Berkeley before 6:30 p.m. on the other two Mondays.

Students interviewed expressed frustration with the proposed change, though Berkeley students said they would appreciate lower traffic during popular meal times.

Director of Residential Dining Cathy Van Dyke SOM ’86 said the new policy aims to alleviate overcrowding in the dining hall and to decrease the workload for dining staff.

“Berkeley carries far more than its own weight in the dining hall, and workers are flat-out exhausted,” she said. “It is difficult for them to continue operating at the pace they are currently, and we are trying to protect our staff.”

Berkeley would be the first college to have a dining hall closed completely to transfer students at a time other than Sunday evening family night, when all residential college dining halls are open only to their students. The only other restrictions currently in place are in Ezra Stiles College and Morse College dining halls, where transfers are prohibited before 6:30 p.m.

In his email to Berkeley students, Chun said an earlier proposal, which would have closed the dining hall to transfers for lunch and dinner on both Mondays and Thursdays, was rejected because it posed “an excessively severe inconvenience to students.” He added that administrators chose to restrict dining hall admittance on Mondays because the college holds Berkeley Fellows’ dinners — informal dinners with Berkeley Fellows that take place in the Berkeley Swiss Room — on the Mondays he plans to close the dining hall to transfer students.

The restrictions need to be approved by the Council of Masters and Yale Dining officials before they come into effect, Chun said in an email to the News.

Van Dyke said she is concerned that restricting dining hall hours would cause students to “decide to wait until the restricted hours were over and then all come at once.” She added that she thinks this would be the “absolute worst” situation that could result.

A majority of students interviewed from other residential colleges said they do not support the new limitations. Reeree Li ’16 said the new rule would inconvenience many freshmen who

choose to dine at Berkeley due to its proximity to Old Campus.

She added that she does not find Berkeley’s dining hall to be more crowded than those of other residential colleges.

“When we are sick or overworked, a lot of the Stiles freshmen go to Berkeley, because Stiles is so much further,” she said. “I also haven’t noticed any particular overcrowding that has prevented me from finding seats.”

I am often frustrated coming into my residential college dining hall before 6 p.m. and finding that there is not food left, no plates, forks, or cups and no place to sit.

MAX ROLISON `15 But Rachel Tobin ’15 said she supports the new policy because she thinks she would be “overwhelmed and annoyed” if she were a Berkeley student often faced with a busy dining hall.

Teresa Bailey ’14 said that instead of closing the dining hall to transfers altogether, Berkeley could set aside a few tables in the dining hall only for Berkeley students — alerting students “to the overcrowding problem without completely excluding nonBerkeley students.”

Several Berkeley students interviewed said they agree that overcrowding is a problem and that they support the new policy, despite the inconvenience it poses to students from other colleges.

Max Rolison ’15 said Berkeley’s popularity had led to a drop in food quality and availability.

“As a Berkeleyite, I am often frustrated coming into my residential college dining hall before 6 p.m. and finding that there is not food left, no plates, forks or cups and no place to sit,” he said.

“Berkeley has the same dining budget as all of the other colleges, but it receives a lot more traffic than the other dining halls, so quality has dropped noticeably.”

Restricted hours in the Morse and Ezra Stiles dining halls began in September 2011.

Contact KIRSTEN SCHNACKENBERG at kirsten.schnackenberg@yale.edu .

CROSS CAMPUS THE BLOG. THE BUZZ AROUND YALE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

cc.yaledailynews.com

“You should know that we don’t do this a lot, so this is, like, a really huge deal. We want to invite you to have lunch with us every day for the rest of the week.” REGINA GEORGE “MEAN GIRLS”

Professors consider inflation GRAPH VARIABILITY IN GRADING, US COLLEGES 1920-2006 3.5

All schools Private schools Public schools

3.3 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.3

GRAPH COMPILED BY STUART ROJSTACZER

2.1 1920

1940

GRADING FROM PAGE 1 ing class — has steadily increased over the past decade. Members of the class of 2012 needed a 3.80 GPA to graduate cum laude, a 3.89 to graduate magna cum laude and a 3.95 to graduate summa cum laude, compared to 3.72, 3.82 and 3.91, respectively, for the class of 2006.

Stuart Rojstaczer, a former professor at Duke University who has researched grade inflation, said GPAs at colleges nationwide have been on the rise since the 1980s.

Based on Yale’s honors cutoff levels and historical grade breakdowns, Rojstaczer estimated that the average GPA in the University is probably around an A-, a one-point increase from the B- average he estimates Yale had 50 years ago.

Though Rojstaczer attributes this estimated increase to a number of factors, including heightened student expectations and a “modest” growth in the caliber of students, he said grade inflation is key to understanding the trend.

David Bromwich ’73 GRD ’77, an English professor, said grade inflation is not the only explanation for rising GPAs, as students in advanced courses within their majors or preferred areas of study often work harder and produce “first-rate work.”

Still, Bromwich did not discount the influence of grade inflation, adding that many

1960 students are unsatisfied with grades other than A’s, which he said can put pressure on professors to give students better grades.

We’re not doing you any favor if we don’t continue to push you and really hope you become the best you can be.

SHELLY KAGAN Philosophy professor Philosophy professor Shelly Kagan, who inferred from student evaluations that he might be a harsher grader than some of his colleagues, said he has never felt pressured by his colleagues or the administration to become any more lenient. At least a quarter of the 40 students who evaluated Kagan’s “Introduction to Ethics” course last fall recommended future students take the course Credit/D/Fail.

“People at Yale are so smart, so talented — we’re not doing you any favor if we don’t continue to push you and really hope you become the best you can be,” Kagan said.

“To do that, we need to really have a full range of grades.”

1980

2000

Rojstaczer, the former Duke professor who has studied grade inflation, said he thinks following grading models implemented at universities like Princeton is the best method of minimizing grade inflation. Since 2004, no more than Thirty-five percent of students may achieve grades of A+, A or A- in undergraduate courses at Princeton, according to the university’s website.

But Kastan said Princeton’s method is not perfect. While the policy may allow for sharper distinctions between “good” and “excellent” work, it might prevent students from earning the grades they deserve because professors are only able to award a certain number of top grades, Kastan said.

Miller said members of the ad hoc committee are currently combing through research pertaining to national grading trends and the psychology of grades.

“All these things prompt a conversation, but they don’t give much indication which direction this conversation will take,” Miller said.

The ad hoc committee on grading policy plans to present its findings at the February Yale College faculty meeting.

Contact JANE DARBY MENTON at jane.menton@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

BULLETIN BOARD

TODAY’S FORECAST

FRIDAY

Sunny with a high near 60 and a low of 42. West wind around 11 mph.

SATURDAY

High of 59, low of 33.

High of 57, low of 44.

NUTTIN’ TO LOSE BY DEANDRA TAN

ON CAMPUS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 4:30 PM “Trick or Treat: Negotiating in the Real World.”

Timothy Dwight College and the Yale Leadership Institute are co-sponsoring a talk with Julien Steimer, the French deputy chief of staff and French Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Free to the general public. Timothy Dwight College (345 Temple St.), Master’s House.

5:45 PM Swing Dance Lessons: Intro To Swing I. Learn the basics of lindy hop and six count swing – we’ll start with the swing out, learn some snazzy turns, then learn how to put everything together to have an awesome dance on the social floor. No partners required. Close-toed shoes recommended. Graduate Professional Student Center At Yale (204 York St.).

WATSON BYJIM HOROWITZ

8:00 PM American Night: The Ballad Of Juan Jose. As Juan José feverishly studies for his citizenship exam, his obsession to pass takes him on a fantastical odyssey through U.S. history guided by a handful of unsung citizens who made courageous choices in some of the country’s toughest times. American Night: The Ballad of Juan Joséis a provocative, irreverent and hilarious mix of past and present, stereotype and truth. University Theatre (222 York St.).

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12 7:00 PM “OKA!” Come watch a showing of “OKA!” as a part of “Films at the Whitney.” Writer and director Lavinia Currier will introduce the film and hold a Q&A afterwards. Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St.), Aud. 8:00 PM “An Evening of Balinese Performance.” The Institute of Sacred Music is hosting a performance of various arts by Nyoman Sedana and family. Marquand Chapel (409 Prospect St.).

THAT MONKEY TUNE BY MICHAEL KANDALAFT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 7:00 PM “The Searchers.” Come watch a showing of “The Searchers,” a 1956 film directed by John Ford. Part of “Films at the Whitney.” Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St.), Aud.

y SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS ONLINE yaledailynews.com/events/submit DR. WHISKERS BY MICHAEL MCHUGH

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Bulletin Board is a free service provided to groups of the Yale community for events. Listings should be submitted online at yaledailynews.com/events/ submit. The Yale Daily News reserves the right to edit listings.

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15 Yellow ride 16 Come again?

17 Pound 20 Ocean flatfish 21 Half a dance 22 Beginnings 23 Church title: Abbr.

24 Ship destroyer in Sinbad’s fifth voyage 25 Pound 34 Dilemma for Jonah 35 Eggs 36 Coastal raptor 37 Astrological Ram 38 Econ. yardstick 39 ZZ Top and Cream 40 Campus military org.

41 Hat with a tassel 42 __ City, Oklahoma 43 Pound 47 Homer’s neighbor 48 Chaired, say 49 Degenerate 53 Rte. provider 54 Astrological edge 58 Pound 61 Capital on the Aar 62 Holiday __ 63 Church centerpiece 64 Place 65 One may have a sitter 66 Small world?

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6 Common choir music book size 7 Chemistry Nobelist Otto 8 CEO’s degree 9 Ride proudly 10 Haws’ partner 11 Top 12 Cooking fat 13 Overthrows, maybe 18 Coffee, tea or milk option 19 Fuss 23 Whiskey orders 24 Invitation initials 25 Group in a hive 26 Severe pang 27 Eastern yogurt condiment 28 Smart guys?

29 “Great” Muppet daredevil 30 “Vive __!”

31 Camera-totelescope adapter 32 Methuselah’s father 33 Posed again

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38 Opposite of hawed 39 Adorned in a prankish way 41 Lets go 44 Let go, as a prisoner 45 Show off 46 Fray, e.g.

49 Abates 50 Worry 51 Camper’s cooker

10/11/12

52 Europe’s highest active volcano 53 Promgoer’s concern 54 Basic organic unit 55 Golden rule word 56 Healing sign 57 Flammable pile 59 Trendy 60 Joplin piece

9 5 3 2 1 4 9 8 7 2 9 7 4 1 9

3

7 2 4 8 3 1 9 3 8

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

NATION

T Dow Jones 13,344.97, -128.56 S

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Ryan prepares for debate

BY PHILIP ELLIOTT ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — To prepare for his biggest test yet on the national stage, untested debater Paul Ryan has been hauling two thick briefing books around the country and intently studying up on Vice President Joe Biden, who has been sparring over public policy since the Wisconsin congressman was learning how to talk.

Ryan, the 42-year-old Republican vice presidential nominee, has suggested his youth will be an asset in connecting with voters at the sole vice presidential debate Thursday in Kentucky against the 69-year-old former senator. But risks abound for the GOP rising star, who hasn’t participated in a campaign debate since his first run for office 14 years ago.

The main goal for Ryan’s innercircle: get him comfortable answering questions in broad terms that connect with voters and avoid the wonky, in-the-weeds answers more appropriate for a budget hearing than a living room.

Ryan’s team wants to keep him talking about positive changes a Romney-Ryan administration would mean for the country, not a fullthroated defense of the campaign’s sometimes nebulous math.

As the House Republicans’ top budget writer, aides say Ryan is confident he can handle questions about federal spending and taxes. He is a bit more nervous on international affairs — and for good reason. Ryan was thrust into the national spotlight a few months ago when he joined the Republican ticket but has limited exposure in that arena.

Biden is a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a skilled debater, both within the administration and against its critics, and someone whose opinion President Barack Obama seeks out on major decisions.

Ryan also is bracing for Biden to try to help Obama overcome a rough

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GOP criticizes State Dept for Libya attack

BY MATTHEW LEE AND LARRY MARGASAK ASSOCIATED PRESS

MARY ALTAFFER/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan speaks during a campaign event at Oakland University, Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 in Rochester, Mich. patch by staking out an aggressive tone.

“I really think that because they had such a bad debate that Joe is just going to come flying at us,” Ryan said this week.

His biggest worry: looking unprepared the way his mentor and former boss, Jack Kemp, did in the 1996 debate against Vice President Al Gore.

Ryan has spent hours huddling with advisers to polish his delivery and has been cramming with aides to sharpen his grasp of foreign policy and national security issues. As they prepared in Virginia’s mountains about 150 miles from Washington, Ryan focused on trying to shoe-

horn knowledge gained from seven terms in the House into two-minute answers. He has watched video of Biden’s 2008 vice presidential debate and recent campaign appearances. He knows Biden’s cadences and verbal ticks, including the signature “ladies and gentlemen” and punchy “folks” to get the audience’s attention.

Ryan also has spent time working on trying to keep Biden from cutting him off, talking over him or throwing a wrench into his rehearsed answers.

During practice debates, his standin for Biden, former Solicitor General Ted Olson, has been aggressive in trying to throw Ryan off his game.

Above all else, aides tell Ryan to avoid specific numbers.

WASHINGTON — Four weeks before the election, Republicans used a politically charged House hearing to confront State Department officials about security at the U.S. Consulate in Libya and assail the Obama administration’s early response to the killing of the ambassador and three other Americans there.

GOP lawmakers refused to accept the department’s explanation Wednesday that protection judged adequate for the threat was overwhelmed by an unprecedented assault in Benghazi on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

They also rejected Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy’s explanation that officials were relying on the best intelligence available in characterizing the attack afterward as stemming from a protest over an anti-Islam Internet video rather than a deliberate, planned act of terrorism.

A top State official acknowledged she had declined to approve more U.S. security as violence in Benghazi spiked, saying the department wanted to train Libyans to protect the consulate.

“I made the best decisions I could with the information I had,” said Charlene R. Lamb, a deputy assistant secretary for diplomatic security.

Regardless of allegations of blame, there is no dispute over the tragic result. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans — including two former Navy SEALs — were killed in what administration officials now describe as an act of terrorism.

In statements immediately after the attack, neither President Barack Obama nor Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton mentioned terrorism.

And both gave credence to the notion that the attack was related to protests about the privately made anti-Islam

video.

“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” Clinton said on the night of the attack. “The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.

Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”

I made the best decisions I could with the information I had.

CHARLENE R. LAMB deputy assistant secretary for diplomatic security Five days later, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said her best information at the time was that the attack stemmed from a protest that became violent.

President Barack Obama, asked on ABC about the changing accounts of what instigated the attack, said the information was evolving.

“As information came in, information was put out, the information may not have always been right the first time,” he said. “These are people I know, and if there is something to be fixed, it will get fixed.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday that in hindsight “there is no question that the security was not enough to prevent that tragedy from happening. There were four Americans killed.”

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee tried to blame Republicans for cutting more than $300 million in diplomatic security funds worldwide.

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 9

WORLD

“Veni, vidi, vici” This famous statement attributed to Julius Caesar was written after conquering the city of Zela, which is located in modern-day Turkey.

Turkey intercepts Syrian plane as tensions mount

BY SUZAN FRASER ASSOCIATED PRESS ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish jets on Wednesday forced a Syrian passenger plane to land at Ankara airport on suspicion that it might be carrying weapons or other military equipment, amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Syria that have sparked fears of a wider regional conflict.

The Syrian Air jetliner was traveling from Moscow when it was intercepted by F16 jets as it entered Turkish airspace and was escorted to the capital’s Esenboga Airport, the state-run TRT television reported.

Hours later, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Airbus A320 with 37 passengers and crew would be allowed to leave, but its cargo had been confiscated.

“There are elements ... that are not legitimate in civilian flights,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Davutoglu as saying. He did not provide details but said authorities continued to examine the cargo.

Davutoglu earlier told Turkey’s TGRT television that the

plane was intercepted on suspicion it was carrying illicit cargo to Damascus.

“If equipment is being carried under the guise of civilian flights or if they are not being declared, then of course we’ll inspect it,” he said.

“We are determined to stop the flow of weapons to a regime that carries out such ruthless massacres,” Davutoglu added. “We cannot accept that our air space be used for such aims.”

Hurriyet newspaper’s website, citing unidentified intelligence officials, said communications equipment, wireless sets and jammers were found on board.

NTV television reported that authorities found “missile parts.”

Syrian Information Minister Omran Zuabi declined comment.

Davutoglu said Turkish authorities had also declared Syria’s airspace to be unsafe and were stopping Turkish aircraft from flying over the civil war-torn country.

The move comes as tensions between Turkey and Syria are running high. The countries, which were once close allies,

have been exchanging artillery fire across the volatile border for days.

Earlier Wednesday, Turkey’s military chief vowed to respond with more force to any further shelling from Syria, keeping up the pressure on its southern neighbor a day after NATO said it stood ready to defend Turkey.

Gen. Necdet Ozel was inspecting troops who have been put on alert along the 565-mile (910-kilometer) border after shelling from Syria killed five Turkish civilians in a border town last week. Turkey has reinforced the border with artillery and also deployed more fighter jets to an air base close to the border region.

“We responded and if (the shelling) continues, we will respond with more force,” the private Dogan news agency quoted Ozel as saying during a visit to the town of Akcakale.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that Washington has sent troops to the Jordan-Syria border to help build a headquarters in Jordan and bolster that country’s military capa-

BURHAN OZBILICI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Syrian passenger plane was forced by Turkish jets to land at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey. bilities in the event that violence escalates along its border with Syria.

The revelation raises the possibility of an escalation in the U.S.

military involvement in the conflict, even as Washington pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria.

In Syria’s largest city, Aleppo,

regime troops and rebel fighters exchanged fire for several hours in and around the historic 13th-century Umayyad Mosque, said local activist Mohammed Saeed.

PAGE 10

YALE DAILY NEWS 路 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 路 yaledailynews.com

YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 11

SPORTS

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS ALEX KARRAS The three-time All-Pro NFL lineman passed away yesterday at the age of 77. He spent his entire NFL career with the Detroit Lions, but later in life, he was well-known for his acting roles in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles” and popular 1980s sitcom “Webster.”

Crew captain awaits season MORGAN FROM PAGE 12 these guys before we leave … And I think it’ll make the team a more cohesive unit as opposed to all the guys and then the freshmen. I think that divide is no longer present. you think this freshmen integraQDo tion adds pressure on the freshmen?

COLUMN FROM PAGE 12

trying to get some of these balls in the back of the net.”

This weekend’s game at Cornell will be the Elis’ third straight game on the road against an Ivy opponent. Alers characterized the scheduling as tough before acknowledging the necessity of winning Ivy League games on the road despite the difficult scheduling.

Thalman also noted that the scheduling was challenging, but added that it rotates every year. In fact, the Bulldogs started last year’s Ivy season with three straight games at home. The captain instead emphasized the opportunity that the game holds.

“It’s a really promising weekend here,” Thalman said. “We’re looking forward to getting out on the field again and proving that we’re much better than the record that shows.”

The game will kickoff at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

during the biggest game of the year at the time — the second of the new wild card playoff games introduced by MLB this year.

Some think adding the onegame playoffs enhances competitiveness and makes the regular season more important; others, like now-retired Braves star Chipper Jones, predicted the chaos that would ensue. On Sept. 21, the Atlanta JournalConstitution quoted him as saying: “Anything can happen in one game — a blown call by an umpire, a bad day at the office.

At least in a two-of-three-game series you have some sort of leeway.” Chipper was a little more omniscient than the MLB’s Twitter feed.

The moral of the story is that something like this was bound to happen. I call it the “MurphyFrondorf Law,” and I record it as follows: “The probability of something ridiculous happening during a monumental game, or during a crucial part of a game with otherwise lesser importance, is increased more than tenfold from the probability of the event normally occurring.

Hence, the infield fly rule popping up during an elimination playoff game.”

It is important to distinguish the law from the general mantra in sports that “anything can happen.” This law does not describe miraculous comebacks, horrific meltdowns, breakout stardom or anything related to the skill of the players on the field or court or course. I want to make it very clear for future hypothesis testing that this law only describes the probability of events where the players on the field have no control over the outcome. Plus, it’s a law and not a theory, which means you can’t disprove it anyway — take that, high school chemistry students.

I also want to reject challenges that the Murphy-Frondorf Law only exists because of observation bias — one might say that we only notice and remember the crazy things that happen because they happen during big games. But stuff like the infield fly rule never comes up. Baseball Info Solutions reported that only six infield flies were not caught over the past three seasons, and none of them were near as long as the one called on Friday. There are 2,430 games in an MLB season, and assuming 70 at-bats per game (a couple less than four atbats per player), there have been more than 500,000 MLB at-bats over the past three years. Arriving at our rough probability of a dropped infield fly: 0.000012.

Indubitably, the probability was multiplied 10 times over for Friday’s wild card game.

For even more exposition, here are other Murphy-Frondorf Law situations, in no particular order: 1) The NFL replacement refs just had to face the challenge of judging the result of that Hail Mary pass at the end of the fateful Seattle-Green Bay matchup a few weeks ago.

2) Former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and his bullpen coach just couldn’t figure out how to communicate via bullpen phone during Game 5 of the 2011 World Series, a standard conversation and use of technology that occurs almost every game, which of course led to the gamewinning double being hit off the pitcher who wasn’t supposed to be in the game.

3) Dustin Johnson lost the chance to compete in a playoff for the 2010 PGA Championship on the 18th hole of the final round when he grounded his a club in a patch of spectator-trampled dirt that was obscurely defined as a bunker for that tournament only.

And that’s just the last two years. There you have it. Indisputable facts. So when the World Series is decided by a Game 7, ninth inning, two-out, uncaught third strike, don’t say the Murphy-Frondorf Law didn’t tell you so.

Contact ALEX EPPLER at alexander.eppler@yale.edu .

Contact EVAN FRONDORF at evan.frondorf@yale.edu .

A

I don’t think so. The guys who are new at the sport won’t be on the top boats and they’ll still get the development and coaching they need. The guys who are good enough will be able to really advance with the rest of the team.

They can reach their full potential earlier now.

has been the most memorable QWhat high point of your career as a rower at Yale?

A

I would say last year’s Brown race was a very exciting race for a number of reasons. I was on the varsity boat which was fantastic and Brown was the first race after the long winter training period … We swept Brown completely: the varsity won, the JV won, the freshmen won. We completely beat them. And they’re historically and currently one of the fastest teams in the country without doubt. So that was a big boost to our season. What made it extra intense were the weather conditions. The weather that day was absolutely terrible … The waves were huge, it was freezing cold. It was one of the most unpleasant days rowing but the fact we won made it extra sweet.

Q

What has been the lowest point of your time at Yale?

A

We changed coaches after my freshman year. We got arguably the best coach in American history, Steve Gladstone, so that’s fantastic. But the period of uncertainty around the first coach leaving was the most difficult point of my four-year career, but the final out-

LINDSEY UNIAT/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

This year, freshmen on the heavyweight crew team are eligible to row in the varsity squad. come of that was so great. So that’s a very good ending but the period of uncertainty was probably the biggest upheaval the team’s gone through. No one knew what was happening, who were we going to get.

Q

How do you think the program has changed in your four years here? Any significant changes?

A

I think the culture of the team has changed decisively. I can only speak from my perspective but my freshman year the team was divided in the sense that many members of the team saw themselves as individuals. I think the culture of the team now is — everyone still wants to be on the varsity boat and do well — but I think everyone recognizes that we’re all working for a common goal together. Whichever boat wins is a vic-

tory for everyone, regardless of whether you were actually on the boat or not. are the team’s goals for this QWhat season?

A

We want to win Head of Charles in the fall and win every race in the spring. Simple as that. The two races … that stand out most in our minds [are] the National Championships, which will be in California this year … and the Yale-Harvard boat race. They’re the two we put the biggest premium on when we reflect on the season.

any advice you wanted to QIfgivethereto awasfreshman athlete, irrespective of the sport, what would it be?

Yale and the aspect of my life that I’ve drawn the most satisfaction in my time at Yale. If they approach their sport with the same engagement, I’m sure they’ll get that as well. But having said that, one can be a fully engaged member of the team and in the classroom. I think it’s complementary. If you work hard on the team, you’ll have the discipline to work hard in the classroom. You can’t take a lot of classes because of practice time and that’s hard, that can be disappointing, but still there are so many fantastic opportunities at Yale so you can’t really feel limited. I think being an athlete at Yale teaches you incredible discipline and you can apply that in the classroom if you want.

Contact RISHABH BHANDARI at rishabh.bhandari@yale.edu .

A

I would say that my time on a sport is the thing that defined my time at

Bulldogs seek Ivy win

BRIANNE BOWEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The men’s soccer team will face the top-ranked Cornell offense this weekend. Cornell has not yet lost a game this season.

MEN’S SOCCER FROM PAGE 12 team,” he said. “We can knock off one of the better teams in the Ivy League tier away and get a win that I feel that most teams won’t be able to grab from them up in Ithaca.”

According to Thalman, part of the Eli game-plan will be to play with a calm style that focuses on moving the ball well. He added that the Bulldogs will have to remain composed in the face of a Big Red attack that challenges opposing defenses aggressively.

Defender Nick Alers ’14 echoed Thalman’s description of the Cornell offense.

“They’re a good team with a very unique style of play,” Alers said. “They play very direct, so it’s tough to prepare for them sometimes because they play differently than a lot of the other teams we face.”

Alers explained that the direct style of play means that Cornell looks to quickly move up the field and attack

Big game, ridiculous situation

upon receiving the ball.

Judging by their offensive production this year, Cornell has been successful in executing this strategy. The team has scored at least three goals in each of their past six contests, and have won six of their 11 games by two goals or more. Alers said that at least part of this success has been due to Cornell’s strong group of players who are able to execute their playing style.

Alers said that a lack of focus by the Elis contributed to Cornell’s two goals in last year’s game and he hopes that the team will remain concentrated on Cornell’s attacking style this time around.

“I think just making sure that we work together as a defense and that one person’s always covering for the next is going to be key,” Alers said.

While that may be the key to the game on defense, the Bulldogs will try to jump-start a stagnant offense on the other half of the field. Yale has been held scoreless in its first two Ivy League

games and has scored only two goals in its last five games overall.

Thalman said that the team’s inability to score goals has been especially frustrating given that the Bulldogs have consistently been able to generate legitimate scoring chances.

It’s tough to prepare for them sometimes because they play differently than a lot of the other teams we face.

NICK ALERS ’14 Men’s soccer “Over the course of practice that we’ve had this week, the intensity and the energy has really picked up,” he said. “I think that will translate into our mentality within the 18-yard box [and]

IF YOU MISSED IT SCORES

MLB San Francisco 8 Cincinnati 3

MLB St. Louis 8 Washington 0

SPORTS QUICK HITS

MEN’S BASKETBALL TWO GAMES ON NATIONAL TV The men’s basketball team will make two national television appearances this season. Their game at home against Florida on Jan. 6 will air on NBC Sports Network, and a matchup with Harvard will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Feb. 23.

MLB F/12 N.Y.Yankees 3 Baltimore 2

y

MLB Oakland 4 Detroit 3

SHANGHAI OPEN Sam Querrey 2 6 6 Kei Nishikori 6 1 4

FOR MORE SPORTS CONTENT, VISIT OUR WEB SITE yaledailynews.com/sports

DEZ DURON ’13 INTERVIEWED FOR ESPN.COM Dez Duron ’13, former quarterback for the Bulldogs’ junior varsity football team and current contestant on “The Voice,” was interviewed by Lynn Hoppes for an article that appeared on ESPN’s website on Tuesday. The interview focused on his move from football to singing.

“Over the course of practice that we’ve had this week, the intensity and the energy has really picked up.”

BOBBY THALMAN ’13 CAPTAIN, MEN’S SOCCER YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 · yaledailynews.com

Morgan talks crew team changes

EVAN FRONDORF

The MurphyFrondorf Law “We don’t understand the infield fly rule, either.”

That little joke, likely the doing of some PR person trying futilely to humanize the bio section on the MLB’s Twitter account, was perhaps a little too accurate on Friday night, when obscure infield fly rule was invoked controversially at a crucial moment of a wild card, winner-takes-all playoff game between the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. Likely aware of the firestorm on Twitter (and the literal shower of trash raining down on Turner Field), some poor social media intern flew to the account and removed the now-mocking joke in the bio.

Then Bud Selig probably personally fired that PR guy or gal who put that quip up in the first place for not being omniscient.

But, seriously, the infield fly rule? During a playoff game? I’ve probably watched thousands of innings of baseball in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen the infield fly rule make a difference in the outcome of a game. I knew it was in the rulebook somewhere, but I couldn’t give you a solid explanation if you asked.

In fact, you may be wondering what it is right now. And even after reading up this weekend, I’m not going to try to explain, so let the MLB rulebook itself take it away: “An INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.”

Basically, once an infield fly is called, the batter is declared out whether or not the ball is caught. It’s technically designed to prevent infielders from purposely dropping pop ups to turn easy double plays in force-out situations.

Well, in Atlanta on Friday night, the Cardinal fielders couldn’t come down with a shallow fly to left field. The Braves were down by three and the dropped fly ball would have ordinarily loaded the bases with only one out. Instead, the infield fly rule meant that they had runners on second and third with two outs, a big difference in the most crucial inning of the game.

And the Braves certainly didn’t think the ball was in the infield, nor did they believe it could have been caught with ordinary effort — hence the trash on the field that led to a nearly 20 minute delay.

Of course, this all happened SEE COLUMN PAGE 11

CAROL HSIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jon Morgan ’13 won the 2006 South Africa Junior National Championships in the four and pair before coming to Yale.

BY RISHABH BHANDARI CONTRIBUTING REPORTER This weekend the News sat down with heavyweight crew captain Jon Morgan ’13 at the off-campus heavyweight crew house, where Morgan lives, to discuss his rowing career, changes to the crew team this season and his experience as an athlete at Yale. Morgan is a history major in Calhoun College and hails from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Africa isn’t a traditional rowQSouth ing powerhouse in the same way that Germany, the United States or Australia is. So can you tell the News when you picked up rowing?

A

I picked it up in high school. I came from a very traditional school [St. John’s College] that was founded over a

hundred years ago by Anglicans. When the British occupied the country, they established rowing as one of the main sports in schools such as St John’s College. But South Africa is definitely on the rise as a rowing country. You might have seen this already but our lightweight fours at the last Olympics in London won gold … we definitely punch above our weight.

Did anyone in your family row before Qyou?

A

No one in my family rowed except my older brother who also picked it up in high school … He actually rowed at Yale too. Class of 2009. Lived in this house too, did the whole thing, so I’m really following him with all this.

brother rowed for Yale? Did QSothatyour make rowing for Yale a goal for you?

A

Absolutely, yeah. He’s four years ahead of me in school and so I was just at the beginning of my high school career when he got recruited as a freshman here. And that certainly set up in my mind the next step in my rowing and academic career. I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

QSo how has fall training been so far?

A

It’s been good! There’s been a couple of changes this year. So the freshman division in men’s rowing has always been separated from the rest of the team. That division has always been there since the birth of the sport

… But this year, for the first time, that’s changed … This means that freshmen are eligible to row in the top boats … So that’s really interesting because it means we have both last year’s freshman class and a brand new freshman class eligible to row with us. So we have two years that are essentially new to the varsity program which has really changed the dynamic a lot. are your thoughts on freshmen QWhat having to be integrated into the varsity team now?

A

I don’t think we lose anything at all and I think we gain a whole lot. As I said, there are some really talented guys and it is exciting for the seniors, all the guys on the team, to be able to row with SEE MORGAN PAGE 11

Elis take on No. 16 Cornell

BY ALEX EPPLER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Coming off a hard-fought 1–0 loss at Dartmouth last weekend, the men’s soccer team will travel to Ithaca on Saturday to face No. 16 Cornell.

MEN’S SOCCER The Bulldogs (3–5–3, 0–1–1 Ivy) suffered their worst Ivy League loss last year against the Big Red (11–0–0, 2–0–0 Ivy), falling 2–0 at home. Cornell’s squad appears primed to present a similar challenge this year, entering Saturday’s game without a single defeat this season and with one of the nation’s topranked offenses.

The Big Red come into this weekend’s matchup with the second highest goals-per-game average in the nation, at 2.9 goals per game. Cornell striker Dainel Haber is leading the country with 3.3 points per game as well.

Captain Bobby Thalman ’13 was not intimidated by Cornell’s offensive prowess and successes this season.

“I think for this upcoming game against Cornell and the situation that we’re in, I see it really as a great opportunity for our SEE MEN’S SOCCER PAGE 11

STAT OF THE DAY 110

HENRY EHRENBERG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Facing their third consecutive Ivy competitor this weekend, the Bulldogs look for their first Ivy League win.

NUMBER TEXT TEXT OFTEXT GOALS TEXT ALLOWED TEXT TEXT

BY TEXT MEN’STEXT SOCCER TEXTCAPTAIN FIRSTNAME BOBBY LASTNAME THALMAN ’##’13 TEXT IN THE TEXT FIRST TEXT TEXTGAMES TWO TEXT TEXT OF IVY TEXT LEAGUE TEXT TEXT PLAY.TEXT The combination TEXT. Text text of Thalman text text text and back-up text text Blake text text Brown text’15 text has text text text only yielded textnine text goals text text in the textteam’s text text firsttext 11 games. text text text text text text text.