NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · VOL. CXXXVIII, NO. 52 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
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CROSS CAMPUS CS50 solidarity. As CS50 students at Yale head into their midterm today, their counterparts at Harvard will do the same. In fact, CS50 got a mention in yesterday’s Boston Globe for being the course with highest enrollment at both Yale and Harvard. According to the Globe, more than 330 students are taking CS50 at Yale, while close to 800 are enrolled at Harvard. Good luck today to Bulldogs and Cantabs alike.
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The road to the nomination.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 secured the support of the Service Employees International Union, a politically influential institution, yesterday. Mary Kay Henry, the SEIU’s president, said the union — which has close to 2 million members — “believe[s] she is going to fight like hell for [their] agenda.”
Why are you my Clarr-ity?
Duane R. Clarridge, senior adviser to Ben Carson ’73, expressed doubts about the 2016 hopeful’s grasp on foreign policy to The New York Times yesterday. “Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East,” Clarridge told the Times. His criticism of the candidate comes at the heels of Carson’s public statements against Syrian refugees. New home, new haven.
Meanwhile, a Syrian refugee family set to immigrate to Indianapolis was turned away last minute after Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana refused to accept refugees. The family was instead redirected to Connecticut — where Gov. Dannel Malloy continues to welcome refugees — and will live in New Haven.
Tiger? I barely know her.
Beau Birdsall ’17, a member of the Yale Glee Club, stole the Princeton Glee Club’s mascot — a stuffed tiger — last Friday. This prank is one in a long history of rivalry between the two choirs. Another Glee Club tradition is the joint concert with Harvard during The Game weekend. This year’s concert is scheduled for Friday night.
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1992 Acting University President Howard Lamar announces that the class of 1996 has the highest number of students on financial aid in 10 years. According to Lamar, 43.1 percent of freshmen are on financial aid.
Follow along for the News’ latest.
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Cornerback Rymiszewski returns following nearparalyzing injury PAGE 12 SPORTS
University policy changes announced Salovey works “toward a better Yale”
Admins support Christakises BY MONICA WANG AND VICTOR WANG STAFF REPORTERS On the same day that University President Peter Salovey announced policy reforms responding to demands from Next Yale, a coalition of students calling for greater attention to racial issues on campus, Salovey and Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway also sent a joint email to Silliman College students affirming their support for Nicholas and Erika Christakis as the master and associate master of the college — a stance that directly opposes one of Next Yale’s demands.
We out here, we’ve been there.
Several Yale alums of color started a photo and video campaign on Facebook to show their support for student protesters in light of recent campus racial controversies. The campaign, titled “You Are Loved” has accrued over 150 likes on Facebook. The alums have also started a Twitter account under the handle “@ We_Aint_Leavin.”
BABY GOT...
AYDIN AKYOL/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
listening to them and that we are now all moving forward in a collaborative way.” In his email, Salovey separated the policy changes into four areas: “Strengthening the Academic Enterprise,” “Expanding Programs, Services and Support for Students,” “Improving Institutional Structures and Practices” and “Representations of Diversity on Campus.” The University will strengthen its academic enterprise through a new University center on race and ethnicity to be launched this year, four new Faculty of Arts and Sciences positions for scholars whose studies focus on underrepresented communities and new spring course offerings in related areas. Additionally, the University will
In the email, which was sent to members of Silliman shortly after the Universitywide email Tuesday afternoon, Salovey and Holloway wrote that they have met with Nicholas Christakis and “fully support” his and Erika Christakis’ commitment to serving the college. Additionally, Salovey and Holloway thanked Silliman students for generating discussions about how to make the college a respectful and inclusive community. The administration’s decision to back the Christakises comes amidst some student activists’ call for the couple to be removed from the Silliman mastership, following backlash generated by an Oct. 30 email from Erika Christakis defending the students’ rights to wear culturally appropriative Halloween costumes. “Dean Holloway and I have spoken with Master Christakis a number of times in the last two weeks,” Salovey told the News. “We know he feels quite badly about the distress
SEE POLICIES PAGE 4
SEE CHRISTAKISES PAGE 4
On Tuesday, University President Peter Salovey announced a series of policy responses to the events of the past few weeks. BY DAVID SHIMER STAFF REPORTER In response to campus conversations on race and diversity over the past few weeks, University President Peter Salovey announced a series of policies on Tuesday that will impact, among other things, course offerings and faculty hiring, the funding of the four cultural centers and the mechanism by which students can report instances of discrimination.
ACADEMIC & CULTURAL LIFE Some of the policies will be implemented immediately, some will be put in place over time and some are still in development. The majority of students of color interviewed — many of whom have been involved in the dem-
onstrations of the past two weeks — said they felt satisfied with the steps and will hold the administration accountable in their implementation and the development of additional steps. Salovey told the News that he hopes these new policies will show students that the University has listened to their input and is taking action. Still, according to a statement from Next Yale — a coalition of Yale students of color and their allies that presented a list of demands to Salovey last week — the changes announced Tuesday do not go far enough. “Many of these initiatives have been under consideration or in the works for some time. I am glad that we are able to act on them in a concerted manner and that they will benefit so many on campus,” Salovey told the News. “I hope students appreciate that we are
Sororities denounce Safe Campus Act BY MONICA WANG STAFF REPORTER The Alpha Phi sorority’s international executive board announced last week that it has withdrawn its endorsement of the Safe Campus Act — a piece of legislation that would bar university authorities from investigating cases of sexual assault unless the victim also reported the incident to the police — making it the first sorority to separate from a coalition of Greek organizations lobbying for the bill on Capitol Hill. Alpha Phi’s opposition to the Safe Campus Act, announced Nov. 12, soon drew support from seven other sororities, none of which have chapters on Yale’s campus. All eight officially declared their stance against the legislation by Friday, Nov. 13, prompting the North American Interfraternity Conference and National Panhellenic Conference, two umbrella organizations for fraternities and sororities across the country, to cease their lobbying efforts that Friday evening. Members of Yale’s chapter of Alpha Phi reaffirmed the board’s decision, emphasizing that victims of sexual assault should have full access to the University’s resources. Representatives of the other three sororities on campus, all of which are also part of the NPC,
were not available for comment. “By essentially paralyzing a university’s ability to respond quickly and effectively in any capacity, victims will be further silenced and ironically discouraged from using university resources to create a ‘Safe Campus’ for themselves,” said Susannah Krapf ’17, a copy staffer for the News and Yale Alpha Phi’s vice president of Watchcare, the sorority’s term for the responsibility of sisters to look after one another’s safety and wellbeing. The Safe Campus Act was introduced by Republican Reps. Matt Salmon, Pete Sessions and Kay Granger in late July as a bill that would check universities’ legal authority in investigating claims of sexual assault. This curtailing of university powers does not apply to other behaviors that could warrant disciplinary responses, such as theft and even other types of physical assault. A coalition that consists of the NIC, NPC as well as three other national fraternities — Kappa Alpha Order, Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu, which has a chapter on Yale’s campus — supported the legislation. In Washington D.C., the coalition hired several lobbyists, including former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, to promote the bill SEE SAFE CAMPUS ACT PAGE 6
SILLIMAN MASTERSHIP
Student Effort to decrease
KAIFENG WU/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Salovey announced a reduction in the student effort expectation for students on financial aid. BY JON VICTOR STAFF REPORTER After years of mounting student pressure to reform Yale’s financial aid policy, University President Peter Salovey announced Tuesday that the student effort expectation will be reduced for current students for the next academic year.
FINANCIAL AID In Salovey’s email, which was sent to members of the Yale community, Salovey
highlighted a report produced last spring by the Yale College Council that included a host of recommendations for financial aid reform, including full elimination of the student effort portion of the financial aid award. The changes will affect the nearly 2,800 students who receive needbased financial aid and are held responsible for a yearly student effort financial aid expectation. The student effort is a combination of students’ summer earnings — called the “student income
contribution” — and income from a term-time job that students are expected to put toward their term bill, which is called the “student selfhelp” amount. This academic year, the expected student effort is $4,475 for freshmen and $6,400 for sophomores, juniors and seniors. The selfhelp amount is currently set at $2,850 for freshmen and $3,350 for upperclassmen, while the student income contribution is $1,625 and $3,050 for freshmen and SEE FINANCIAL AID PAGE 6
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
.COMMENT “If you're then saying we should take no action...you are against yaledailynews.com/opinion
change. ”
GUEST COLUMNIST CHARLES DECKER
G U E ST C O LU M N I ST S H E R RY L E E
A deafening silence I
am one of 30 Black men in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Yale’s lack of racial and gender equity among graduate students and faculty means that important academic perspectives are underrepresented or absent, to the detriment of all who share in our scholarly community. Yale is a leader in higher education and one of the richest universities in the world but chooses not to lead on making academia more equitable with respect to race and gender. During my time here I have been organizing to press Yale to make a different choice. That struggle is central to my experience at Yale. My experience of that struggle is also why I was stunned by a message sent to graduate students by Graduate School Dean Lynn Cooley. “Although we are grateful for the excellent work already being done in so many quarters that affects not just graduate students but our entire community,” Cooley wrote, “I have heard very little from or about the graduate student community in relation to these current issues.” She added that she hopes to ensure “open channels of communication” to facilitate this type of dialogue.
GRADUATE STUDENTS HAVE MADE THEIR DEMANDS LOUD AND CLEAR In fact, graduate students have been speaking on this issue loudly and clearly for years. I myself shared my experience as a graduate student of color on stage at a rally in October 2014. “I can’t wait to hear the administration’s response,” I told a crowd of over 1,000 Yale students, staff and members of the New Haven community. In April 2015, I and 13 other graduate students delivered a list of grievances pertaining to issues of race and gender at Yale. Dozens of us gathered on the provost’s steps to hear our brave colleagues tell their stories. As the News’ article on that action pointed out, “The grievances were also submitted to Graduate School Dean Lynn Cooley and Dean of Strategic Initiatives for Yale College, the Graduate School and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Pamela Schirmeister.” Also in the spring semester, we submitted a petition signed by a majority of graduate students calling for concrete
action on three issues: teaching and funding; mental health; and racial and gender equity. All of the above actions were organized by Graduate Employees and Students Organization. It is curious that Dean Cooley claims to “have heard very little from or about the graduate student community” on race given that GESO has time and again demanded action from the administration in print and in the streets. I am a political scientist, not a statistician, but the probability that she is not aware of our demands is low. GESO has demonstrated majority support for a unionization vote without intimidation on four separate occasions over the past 18 months. I organize for GESO because I believe a graduate teachers union is one part of the solution to institutionalized racism at Yale. A union can ensure a transparent and fair grievance procedure for addressing discrimination when it occurs. A union can bargain for better mental health care, including addressing the particular needs of students of color. A union can fight against insecurity in teaching and funding. These issues disproportionately affect graduate students of color and serve to further marginalize people who already feel at the margins at Yale. A union will not solve all of Yale’s problems on race, but it will be an important part of the solution. Graduate students have made loud and clear demands on racial equity for years, and it is disingenuous for the dean to claim otherwise. It is not that we are silent. It is that the administration has not listened. The administration’s attitude that seeks to silence and intimidate a majority of graduate students is the same that led to the current explosion of activism on campus. I am profoundly grateful to the brave undergraduates of Next Yale for forcing this conversation, and I and my colleagues in GESO are proud to stand in solidarity. This is a historical moment for Yale and higher education more broadly. Yale has a rare opportunity to reverse course and make a different set of choices about what to do with its leadership in higher education. I call on Yale to lead the way in creating a more just and democratic academy. As part of that effort, I call on Yale to finally hear the voice of a majority of graduate students and grant us a unionization vote, without intimidation, now.
Say it right F
ire is catching in the Ivy League. This past week, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown seethed with protests and demonstrations against racial discrimination. At Yale, what began as a backlash against a heavyhanded Halloween email from Associate Master of Silliman College Erika Christakis has escalated into a campuswide movement agitating for policies to dismantle Yale’s institutional racism and calling all undergraduates to do the same. This new movement is determined to be heard — and to be heard now. As thrilled as I am to see solidarity of such great magnitude among people of color at my college, I cannot help but feel unsettled by certain demonstrations by activists at Yale thus far. The altercation in Silliman courtyard, the harassment of minority attendees at a Buckley conference, the fact that several of my friends have been called “race traitors” — all of these have contributed to my feeling of unease about this movement. The genuine outpouring of love displayed by the March of Resilience last week moved me deeply, but I was disturbed to hear about the hateful, abusive anti-racist protest recently staged at Dartmouth “in solidarity with Missouri and Yale.”
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ize people of color. But both sides should be considering not just the legitimacy of an argument’s content, but also how that argument is expressed. Arguments will be perceived as invalid or unfair if they are delivered in bad form. This applies to both discourse and activism and should influence the way we decide to engage in them. The outrage of both sides of the free speech vs. racism dispute at Yale can be understood through this principle. Christakis’ email was delivered badly in that it responded inappropriately to a completely nonconfrontational administrative reminder about student conduct. It also disingenuously passed off an individual’s opinion as an invitation for intellectual discourse; there are far more thoughtful and inclusive ways to initiate a conversation about free speech than an email sent only to Silliman College. The protestors’ message, too, has been badly delivered in a series of disproportionate and disrespectful reactions, not least of which include verbally abusing administrators and calling the “race loyalty” of their peers into question. All of these constitute substantial flaws in the way that either side has engaged with the serious issue of racism at Yale. It is little wonder that neither side has been able to take the
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other seriously, since each perceives the other as having committed the crime of disrespect. The public can’t take us seriously either. The media, happy as ever to criticize “privileged” college students, has largely taken its tone from the free-speech camp and belittled the activists. Of course it is unfair and insulting to call the protestors “babies,” but what are we to expect when we ignore the rules of appropriate engagement and direct openly contemptuous behavior toward our opponents? There is a way we can powerfully and effectively convey our intolerance toward things we find offensive at Yale, but we do both our arguments and ourselves an extreme disservice when we deliver our views poorly. Indeed, Yale has failed its students if it has failed both to demonstrate proper conduct for discourse and to educate on how political demands should be made. Especially at a campus where activism is thriving, the Yale community should be mindful of how to convey its conversations and complaints going forward. Our fight is serious. We must treat our methods just as seriously. SHERRY LEE is a sophomore in Ezra Stiles College. Contact her at chia.lee@yale.edu .
Reposting for change
CHARLES DECKER is a thirdyear graduate student in the Department of Political Science. He will graduate in 2017. Contact him at charles.decker@yale.edu .
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SPORTS James Badas Greg Cameron
There can be no doubt that other schools are looking to the protestors at Yale, who have been so visible as of late, and others are to some extent following their lead. My desire to see this new movement grow and create productive change is mitigated by my fear that the rage that fueled its birth might obscure its message, as it has already. Although I want to contribute my voice to this new effort, I worry that the entire movement has already been characterized as nothing but pointless, unreasonable fury. In the midst of this turmoil, I turned to words that my parents always told me growing up whenever I was embroiled in some argument: “No matter how right you are, your point is meaningless if you deliver it badly.” I am aware that these words may come off to some as tone policing, and to others as a deliberate method to silence. However, they are neither; they simply express a reality that many are unaware of. Both sides of the original Christakis controversy are of course “objectively correct”: it is important to consider the degree to which we should categorize and impugn certain performative acts as “culturally appropriative;” and it is important to expose Yale’s racist faults and criticize those who marginal-
GUEST COLUMNIST AMELIA NIERENBERG
CATHERINE BUI/CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR
“S EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Addenbrooke
'IAN ALEXANDER EFFENDI' ON 'DAVIS-MARKS: ALL TALK, NO TEETH'
hould I post this?” a student near me at breakfast asked his friend. “Overheard: remember when Overheard was funny?” Aside from confirming my firm belief that no worthwhile thoughts arise before noon, his sarcasm highlighted a seismic change happening within Yale’s social-media sphere. Overheard at Yale, once our largest Facebook recycling bin for all the mishegas said on campus, has become a civic commons for dialogue. The evolution of Overheard is just one of the changing fault lines in Yale’s social-media climate. We repost articles from exterior media outlets, from the News' opinion pages or from letter-like and essay-length statuses. The French flag flies over many of our profile pictures, just as a rainbow did this summer. A deluge of copypaste #InSolidarityWithMizzou statuses flooded our newsfeeds. These reposted statuses and colored photos say to Facebook users “You don’t get to have access to your social-media news today. Today is not about your Facebook friends — today is about this event. Right now, this is what is relevant.” Such postings and comment wars emphasize a new and basic truth: Facebook is our generation’s most powerful weapon in our collective communication arsenal. Yet many see this weapon as little more than vanity activism:
using issues to forage for likes. As the rapper T.I. says, “United we stand / Because we created a hashtag for Sandra Bland.” Unfortunately, T.I.’s words do describe a fraction of Yale. In an earlier moment of campus controversy, a friend succinctly condemned a vanity activist among us by quipping, “Yeah, of course she’s alright — she got 400 likes.” Luckily for us, vanity activism categorizes only a sliver of Yale’s online community. More frequently, people post out of a vague awareness of injustice, without actually fighting for equality. Here, complaints about copypaste activism bubble to the surface. Simply recycling written language seems passive: “Post an article, change your profile picture and — that’s it! That’s all you have to do. You’ve paid your socialcivic dues — you’re now on the Side of Right.” Most concerned-but-uninvolved Facebook users are, in fact, not social-media activists, but social-media sympathizers. These sympathizers, unlike vanity activists, post in good faith and from the best intentions. They know there are great, problem-filled chasms in our world, but they don’t do much to fix them, content to be lifted by the rising tide. There is some truth to the apathy criticism, just as there is some truth to the vanity criticism.
But let me clue you into an amazing little secret about socialmedia activism: It doesn’t matter to the success of the movement whether or not someone is a likevulture, a lemming-poster or a megaphone-activist. Why? Because social-media visibility serves a critical function: critical mass. A copy-pasting friend countered claims of apathy — correctly, I think — with the following addendum: “I lay aside my unease about copy-paste activism with the hope and intuition that voices in numbers wield power and the knowledge that this simple, clear message is a lot more important.” Herein lies the crux of the matter. Social-media sympathizers are useful because they disseminate a message to others who are equally concerned but also uninvolved. With these postings, online voices join an offline chorus to affirm that “we out here, we been here, we ain’t leaving, we are loved” — we the inept-but-concerned allies, we the abstractly-interested-ininequality intellectuals, we the photoshopped-profile-picture reposters. Social-media activism at its most effective gets people out from behind their screens and onto the streets for moments of face-to-face community dialogue. Regardless of the motive, this bandwagon-jumping enthusiasm fuels the momentum sparked by
vocal community members who have a more direct personal stake in the issues at hand. Look no further than President Salovey’s “Toward a Better Yale” email sent out Tuesday afternoon. Activists in our community used social media as an organizing strategy, their movementminded hands and voices wielding the real megaphones. In part, this change comes from the energy of the social-media activists that managed to engage national media attention, whether or not the reporting was accurate. Gears are now turning in the great, creaky University apparatus called “The Administration,” gears that will push Yale forward. And with the turning of these gears come a more diverse faculty, better-funded cultural centers, better mental health services etc. The decisionmakers of Yale have heard and are listening, partially because of our social-media response to racism. Public frustration has finally agitated the people who need agitating. With the help of Facebook’s “What’s on your mind?” prompt, we are now in motion. Another Yale is possible offline, and it’s in no small part due to the work of this online Yale. AMELIA NIERENBERG is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College. Contact her at amelia.nierenberg@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
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NEWS
“If you really want to kill morale, have layoffs every two months for the next two years.” TOM PETERS AMERICAN WRITER ON BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
CORRECTIONS
NHEC pushes Yale for more reform
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
A previous version of the article “Govt. bond concerns YaleNUS students” incorrectly stated the cost of tuition for the next academic year at Yale-NUS.
Campus movements express solidarity BY VICTOR WANG AND JOEY YE STAFF REPORTERS From Yale to the University of Missouri to Claremont McKenna College, minority students and their allies are standing in solidarity to combat institutional campus racism with the help of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media. Over the past two weeks, debates about several racial controversies at Yale have quickly been swept into a larger national discussion about racial tension and related issues, such as administrative inaction, on college campuses. Amidst student protests and marches, social media has become a key tool in connecting individual movements and allowing student activists to support and show solidarity with each other. Students on more than 20 college campuses have voiced their support for the movements on Yale’s campus, which have in turn sparked other student demonstrations across the country. For example, students at Columbia University held a rally to show support for Yale and Mizzou on Nov. 12, and over 1,000 students at Ithaca College participated in a campus “die-in” to hold university administrators nationwide accountable for their silence on racial issues. “With this issue, once you see you aren’t alone, you can speak up, and social media has definitely played a part in getting student voices heard,” said Maya Earls, a student at the Columbia University School of Journalism. “In the past you had to read newspapers and it’s kind of limited in how people feel.” Earls said she felt that the initial events at Yale served as catalysts for other colleges having open discussions about race. She said there is a popular belief that college campuses are inclusive and open, making people assume they are safe spaces where students will not encounter racism. The events at Yale and Mizzou encouraged students to speak about their own experiences because racism does happen, Earls said. Over the past few weeks, a number of posts have circulated on social media regarding various movements to address campus racism. This fall, a series of racist incidents at Mizzou sparked a campuswide movement calling for the resignation of the university’s president, Tim Wolfe. Jonathan Butler, a graduate student at the university, began a hunger strike on Nov. 2, stating that he would continue until Wolfe resigned. Similarly, 32 members of the school’s football team said they would not participate in any football games until the president stepped down. Wolfe
resigned on Nov. 9. In response to the strike, hashtags such as #StandwithMizzou and #ConcernedStudent1950 — referring to the first year black students were admitted to the university — have all been making rounds on the Internet, positioning the university in the national spotlight. Besides fostering solidarity among student activists nationwide, though, social media has also shown its ugly side, as cruel commenters take advantage of the anonymity possible on many platforms.
National social media has been the worst. People hide behind anonymity to express hatred of all kinds.
BY REBECCA KARABUS STAFF REPORTER University President Peter Salovey’s response to Next Yale’s demands does not go far enough, according to the New Haven Educators’ Collective — a group of 10 New Haven Public School teachers who receive support from parents and students in advocating for social justice reform in Elm City schools. Next Yale, a coalition of Yale students advocating against institutional racism, presented Salovey with a list of demands last Thursday evening, requesting increased cultural house funding and the removal of Nicholas and Erika Christakis from their positions as master and associate master of Silliman College. Though Salovey responded to many of these demands in emails to the Yale community and members of Silliman College on Tuesday, he did not acquiesce to all of them. Metropolitan Business Academy teacher Nataliya Braginsky, who is a core NHEC member and co-author of the NHEC’s statement of solidarity with the racial justice campaigners at Yale, said if the University is not meeting all of Next Yale’s demands, it is not sufficiently combating racial injustice.
“Until all of the demands of Next Yale are met, the work is not done,” Braginsky said. “Even after all demands are met, the work is still not done.” In a statement the NHEC released last Wednesday, in solidarity with the Black Student Alliance at Yale, the group acknowledged Yale students’ personal accounts of on-campus racism and urged Yale’s administration to “take steps immediately” to address the problems. Braginsky said the NHEC shares Next Yale’s concern about the underrepresentation of educators of color, adding that NHPS also suffers from a lack of proportional representation of ethnic minority teachers and faculty members. While around 42 percent of NHPS students are Black, only 13 percent of teachers are Black, Braginsky said, citing 2013 statistics. Similarly, she said, less than 7 percent of NHPS teachers in 2013 were Latino, though Latinos made up 41 percent of the student body that year. “In NHPS, the staff and teachers don’t reflect students,” Braginsky said. NHEC member Monica Bunton, who teaches secondgraders, said the lack of male teachers of color in NHPS is particularly problematic because male students do not
have enough role models who look like them. Bunton said she chose to voice her support of Yale’s movement for racial justice because systemic racism is perpetuated when educational institutions do not address it.
Even after all the demands [of Next Yale] are met, the work is still not done. NATALIYA BRAGINSKY Core Member, New Haven Educators’ Coalition “What these systems tend to lead to, in my experience, is a lack of cultural competency in regards to curriculum, classroom environments and interactions with students and their families,” Bunton said in an email to the News. In addition to calls for more faculty of color, Braginsky said the NHEC believes training on cultural competency is “critical” for students, teachers and school administrators. Braginsky said she teaches a high school course on identity and justice that explores how different groups experience
oppression because of their race, gender and other components of their identity. “Because of this class, I think our students are more open-minded and critically conscious,” Braginsky said. Braginsky added that cultural sensitivity training — one of the demands included in Next Yale’s letter to Salovey — would also benefit all New Haven teachers and, in turn, enhance the learning experience of students. NHPS s p o k e s wo m a n Latrice Hampton said she was unaware of the NHEC’s letter in solidarity with BSAY. She said NHPS had not released an official position on Next Yale’s list of demands as of Tuesday evening. Braginsky said the country and its schools have a long history of racism and so positive change, though long overdue, requires a multifaceted approach. “NHEC believes there is an interconnectedness to the issues of economic, racial and social justice,” Braginsky said. “Whether they’re happening as micro-aggressions or structural racism, on the streets of New Haven or on Yale’s campus, they’re interconnected.” Contact REBECCA KARABUS at rebecca.karabus@yale.edu .
JONATHAN HOLLOWAY Dean, Yale College “National social media has been the worst,” Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway said. “People hide behind anonymity to express hatred of all kinds. Social media should be ashamed of itself.” Holloway said there are merits to social media with locally sourced, accurate information, but that most of the rumors turn inaccurate as they spread further from campus. After a race teach-in held at Battell Chapel on Nov. 11, student activists at Yale were able to speak with Ayanna Poole, a student at Mizzou and founder of the Concerned Student 1950 organization. Her voice ringing around the chapel, Poole gave updates on the latest activism at Mizzou and affirmed solidarity between the different movements. Poole said this is a fight for all universities. Members of the Harvard Black Men’s Forum released a statement last week gathering behind students of color at both Yale and Mizzou. “To Our Family at the University of Missouri and Yale University: Your ability to remain strong in the face of adversity, stand true to your beliefs and fight for your right to safely exist at your schools in the face of campuswide and national adversity is more than admirable,” the statement reads. “Your peers at Harvard College want you to know you are not alone in the constant struggle to make your voices heard.” In 1950, nine black students enrolled at Mizzou — the school’s first black cohort. Contact VICTOR WANG at v.wang@yale.edu and JOEY YE at shuaijiang.ye@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS
The New Haven Educators’ Collective said NHPS, like Yale, has too few educators of color.
Wave of layoffs hit New Haven Register BY JIAHUI HU STAFF REPORTER At least a dozen employees of the New Haven Register received notice last week that they will lose their jobs before the end of this year due to the uncertain future of Digital First Media, the paper’s national owners. At least nine employees from the sports department and several other desks were relieved from their posts last week, said a person familiar with the situation who wished to remain anonymous due to instructions not to speak to the press. The person added that management targeted specific departments and cut members with the least seniority at the newspaper. The layoffs are the latest in DFM’s efforts to cut employees, which
have been going on since early this summer after a failed $400 million sale to private equity firm Apollo Global Management in May 2015. This is the second round of layoffs to hit the Register since February 2014. “They were talented, midcareer people with real dedication to the craft,” said Jerry Dunklee, a professor of journalism at Southern Connecticut State University whose former students have been laid off in the Register’s latest round of cuts. “It’s sad. These people have families to support and none of this was connected to their skills.” Apollo — a company specializing in buying and restructuring financially insolvent companies — would have bought all of DFM’s 75 papers, including the Register. Since the summer,
DFM has been making cuts as it awaits for opportunities to sell its papers, said Rick Edmonds, media industry analyst for The Poynter Institute, a information source about media. Industry analyst Ken Doctor reported in a NiemenLab article that DFM had eliminated at least 150 jobs across many of the 75 papers as of July 2015. Five months later, it started making cuts from the Register. Representatives from DFM did not respond to requests for comment. When a newspaper falls under non-family ownership, Edmonds said, its parent company typically aims to invest in the paper for a few years before selling it. Since DFM’s failed sale to Apollo, the company has sold 11 of its Texas papers to media group Gannett Company. Prof-
itable outcomes from the sold papers could persuade Gannett or other firms to make similar investments, Edmonds said. DFM emerged several years ago when the Journal Register chain of newspapers — which includes the Register — combined with MediaNews, another media company. In the years following the merger, DFM aimed to create a stronger online and mobile presence for the papers it oversaw, Edmonds said. In 2012, DFM management began Project Thunderdome, which aimed to integrate and redesign the digital look of all the company’s papers. But the project collapsed in early 2014. “DFM was attempting to get all of the newspapers to be stronger in terms of digital news and it was sort of implied that they would be less inclined to
invest in print,” Edmonds said. “That is what they hope to do. But to my observation as well as some others, they tried that strategy for two or three years and it did not work.” Edmonds added that the cuts at the Register fit into a larger, yearslong industry trend of layoffs that had yet to hit the newspaper hard until this month. Papers across the country have been downsizing due to the falling prices of advertisements, Edmonds said. Though DFM is still turning a yearly profit of $125 million — a much higher profit than most media companies earn — management continues to push that number, Doctor reported. Corporate media companies today are prioritizing profit margins over all else, Dunklee said. “The recent cuts at the Reg-
ister point out, once again, the lack of interest in local journalism on the part of big corporate owners,” Dunklee said. “They live elsewhere and seem to care only about what it costs, not its value to the community. Most of them know little about the importance of journalism. They see it as simply platform to sell ads.” The number of reporters at the Register has dwindled from over 150 to less than 50 over the last 20 years, he added. Only two staff members were let go in the Register’s last layoffs in February 2014. Both had worked with the Register for over two decades. The New Haven Register was founded in 1812. Contact JIAHUI HU at jiahui.hu@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“Policies are many, principles are few, policies will change, principles never do.” JOHN MAXWELL AMERICAN AUTHOR
University-wide email announces policy change POLICIES FROM PAGE 1 establish a five-year series of conferences on issues of race, gender, inequality and inclusion, as well as a new administrative position — dean for diversity in the FAS and special advisor to the provost and president — to oversee the implementation of the recently announced $50 million faculty diversity initiative. Salovey said the goal of the race and ethnicity center will be to foster more collaboration among faculty and students. “Faculty who wish to be involved with the center’s work, and especially those whose fields are relevant, will be involved in designing it,” he told the News. “One comparable center would be the Whitney Humanities Center. Centers generally bring together faculty and students across a number of different, but related, departments, programs and fields of study.” The University will also double the budgets for its four cultural centers, offer improvements in financial aid — including a reduction in the student effort expectation, provide multicultural training to all of Mental Health & Counseling and have professional counselors from Yale Health work with the cultural centers to schedule specified hours. “For the AACC, the budget increase, acknowledging our staffing needs, stated commitment to continue to address our facilities issues and the addition of a mental health fellow to provide counseling hours to our students is a significant upgrade,” Saveena Dhall, director of the Asian American Cultural Center, said. “Although we will be engaged in working out the details and assessing what is quickly implementable, what we can put into place next semester and what are the areas that need continued attention, it is clear that the University is making a com-
mitment to truly invest in the experiences of all students.” Many of these measures respond to Next Yale’s demands, which included an increase of $2 million to the annual budget of each cultural center. Dhall did not specify the current operating budget for the AACC, but said because the increase in funding does not go into effect until the beginning of next academic year, she will spend the next six months planning for it. Tobias Holden ’17, a student of color who has been present at many of the discussions and demonstrations of the past two weeks, said that while the increase in funding for the cultural centers falls short of Next Yale’s demand, it is a step in the right direction. But Karleh Wilson ’16, a member of Next Yale who has met with Salovey on two occasions, said she is not satisfied because the increase in funding will not go into effect next semester. The University will also seek to improve its institutional structures and practices by training its top administrators, faculty and others to recognize and combat racism and discrimination. Salovey told the News that his office is currently searching for the individuals or organizations that can most effectively provide such training. The University will also make funds available for programs concerning diversity and inclusion, such as those offered at freshman orientation. Additionally, the administration will “immediately” work with students to communicate available pathways to better report instances of discrimination on campus. In the spring, University Secretary and Vice President for Student Life Kimberly GoffCrews will take the lead in developing stronger mechanisms for the reporting, tracking and addressing of discriminatory actions. The policies also aim to strengthen representations of
diversity on campus. Because decisions about the potential renaming of Calhoun College and the naming of the two new residential colleges fall under the jurisdiction of the Yale Corporation, Salovey’s email said the Corporation’s senior fellow, Margaret Marshall LAW ’76, would organize meetings between the body’s members and the Yale community. In a preliminary statement provided to the News, Next Yale said the policies represent progress but fail to address the majority of the needs of students of color. “Next Yale is cautiously optimistic about President Salovey’s announcement of the upcoming institutional changes. We still need time to process the message and communicate as a group to determine a substantial collective response,” the statement reads. “But this movement is by no means over. The letter only addresses a small fraction of our needs as students of color. For example, despite the budget increase, the cultural centers remain under-resourced for the functions they serve. The proposed academic changes make no mention or room for tenured faculty in ethnic studies, who are of paramount importance as we work to implement these commitments and sustain the progress we have made.” Sebastian Medina-Tayac ‘16 — a staff reporter for the News, an organizer with Next Yale and the president of the Association of Native Americans at Yale — said he believes the policies are a good start and that he appreciates the work the administration put in to making these changes happen. Austin Johnson ’16, a student of color who has been involved with recent cultural center events, said the policies are steps in the right direction and that he is proud to be a part of an institution where administrators respond to the genuine needs of its students.
Still, many students interviewed stressed that there is more work to be done, noting that some of Next Yale’s demands were not met. For example, in Tuesday’s policy announcement, the University did not put in place an ethnic studies distributional requirement for undergraduates, raise the Ethnicity, Race and Migration Program to departmental status or increase the budgets of each cultural center by the requested $2 million.
It is clear that the University is making a commitment to truly invest in the experiences of all students. SAVEENA DHALL Director, Asian American Cultural Center But Wilson said that just because certain demands were not met on Tuesday does not mean they will not be met in the future, as Next Yale continues to work with Salovey and Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway. She added that though she is excited about the new faculty positions and courses, she remains unsatisfied, as many of the announced policies will take too much time to implement. Wilson said two important pieces were missing from the email: an acknowledgement that recent events at Yale are part of a national movement against institutional racism, and a promise to consult with students about the distribution of the new faculty who will be hired through the diversification initiative. Wilson said while powerful figures at Yale, such as Corporation members, the provost and alumni donors, are prevent-
ing the implementation of some of Next Yale’s demands, Salovey is on the movement’s side. “[Salovey] understands he has a responsibility to fix things and is on our side, but the problem is he doesn’t have as much power as students think he does. He needs the support of other people who have more power — the people who pull the strings he can’t pull,” she said. “Salovey is not our antagonist — he is our ally. More than our ally: a member of this movement. I know it’s hard to conceptualize someone we’ve attacked and felt attacked by as a member of our movement, but he is. That is something everyone needs to know — all people at Yale in general.” Akinyi Ochieng ’15, a former peer liaison for the Af-Am House, said she was extremely pleased with the policies. However, she said her one disappointment was the exclusion of a distributional requirement in ethnic studies. Although she understands the difficulties behind making such a change in a short period of time, she said Salovey could have mentioned the potential requirement in his email to foster public discussion. Holden said it is understandable that the University is not adopting the distributional requirement right now because related departments do not have the resources to provide so many students with quality educational experiences. Holden said it would be unrealistic to expect the administration to meet all student demands in such a limited amount of time, adding that he views the action steps as compromises for the time being in an ongoing effort to establish a more tolerant campus community. He also said students will continue to hold the University accountable to its proposed changes and future policy developments. In explaining why such a requirement was not installed,
Salovey told the News that changes in distributional requirements are decided upon by the Yale College faculty and would likely require a lengthy period of study. “The requirements of the Yale College curriculum are set by the Yale College faculty itself. I would suspect that changes to the curriculum would take serious study over a good bit of time, as they did the last time the curriculum was changed,” he said. Salovey also said giving programs such as ER&M departmental status is a long process with multiple levels of approval. He added that departmental status might not always be advantageous for an interdisciplinary field, citing programs in Cognitive Science and American Studies as examples. In developing these policies, Salovey said various portions of the Yale community contributed opinions and expertise. He said he met with the University Cabinet and held conference calls with the Corporation, as well as alumni leaders. Salovey also said he and members of his office reached out to the deans of several professional schools, students across the University, residential college masters and cultural center directors. Salovey’s email said these are the first steps Yale will take to create a more inclusive and diverse community, and that he hopes the policies will help guide universities across the country in addressing similar issues of inequality. “In a time when universities and communities around the country are coming together to address long-standing inequalities, I believe that Yale can and should lead the way. Many of you have proposed ideas for constructive steps forward, and my hope is that our collective endeavors can become a model for others to emulate,” the email read. Contact DAVID SHIMER at david.shimer@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 5
NEWS
“If biking is your passion, set aside time to enjoy a good ride.” PATRICK DEMPSEY AMERICAN ACTOR
Cyclists call for new bike lanes BY CAITLYN WHERRY CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Elm City Cycling drew attention to Mayor Toni Harp’s unfulfilled election promise to construct separate bike lanes on New Haven streets last Saturday. Harp originally stated her intention to install cycletracks — bike lanes separated from roads and parking lanes — by the end of her first term as mayor in her 2014 State of the City address. With Harp’s first two-year term soon drawing to a close, Elm City Cycling is putting pressure on her to act now. Plans for two cycletracks were originally set last year to be constructed in the Elm City, one over Tomlinson Bridge, one on Edgewood Avenue and one on Long Wharf Drive, according to Elm City Cycling Education Committee Chair Melinda Tuhus. However, almost six months after the cycletracks were scheduled to be built, construction has not yet started. The proposal for the cycletracks aims to protect and grow New Haven’s population of cyclists, which is the second-largest in New England. The city has no recent plans for the Edgewood and Tomlinson Bridge cycletracks listed on the New Haven Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking website. According to Doug Hausladen ’04, director of the department, delays in cycletrack completion are largely due to construction on the Q Bridge and laws banning twoway bike lanes. The cycletracks are now slated for construction in 2016. To overcome these challenges, the Harp administration worked with Gov. Dan-
nel Malloy and the Legislative Commissioners’ Office to pass the Bicycle Safety Bill, which allows buffered and two-way bike lanes, and create the Urban Connectivity Program to help New Haven and other Connecticut cities receive funding for the redesign of transportation infrastructure, Hausladen said. He added that New Haven has now received state approval and $1.2 million of funding for the transportation project. “We are poised to bring real bike lanes — safe and separate — to as many major streets as possible and build safe street crossings and intersections to protect pedestrians as well,” Harp said in her State of the City address last year. In the same speech, Harp addressed the importance of access to safe transportation, calling it a civil rights issue. She said the addition of more efficient transportation would bolster job growth and provide opportunity for the people of New Haven. Elm City Cycling members said that providing infrastructure for cyclists falls under the umbrella of improving transportation. Tuhus said Elm City Cycling members feel like they are on the “same page as the mayor,” but also that the city should make cycletracks a higher priority. “Now, having just won the election for a second term as mayor and just two months away from the end of her first term, Elm City Cycling would like to remind Mayor Harp of that promise and encourage her to devote whatever resources are needed to bring it to fruition,” Elm City Cycling board member Bill Kurtz said. Tuhus said she hopes providing resources for cycling,
such as a bicycle renting service, will encourage people who are interested in cycling but concerned for their safety to start biking. She cited a study conducted by bicycling advocacy group PeopleforBikes, which states that the addition of protected bike lanes is linked to, on average, a 75 percent increase in cyclists within one year of construction. “In every city where they put in separated bike lanes, that’s what really kick-starts a movement towards cycling,” Tuhus said. “The more people that are riding, the safer it is for everyone.”
We are poised to bring real bike lanes — safe and separate — to as many major streets as possible. MAYOR TONI HARP According to Kurtz, lowincome cyclists — those making under $30,000 a year — are twice as likely as their high-income counterparts to be injured while biking on the road. He said because bike commuting is most popular in the lowest income quartile, providing safer bike lanes is good for public health and the local economy. He also cited a 2014 study released by Environmental Health Perspectives, which states that every dollar a city spends on bicycle infrastructure returns between $6 and $24 in benefits. Contact CAITLYN WHERRY at caitlyn.wherry@yale.edu .
Auction combats homelessness BY MICHELLE LIU STAFF REPORTER Before Yale School of Medicine students start the bidding in their 23rd annual Hunger and Homelessness Auction this Thursday, they are first working to spread knowledge about their cause. Along with the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project, the auction’s education committee hosted a panel on homelessness Tuesday evening, drawing a crowd of roughly 30 medical students and undergraduates. The panel featured three speakers: New York City community activist Kendall Jackman, executive director of New Haven-based homelessness service organization Liberty Community Services John Bradley ’81 and Wellington Mackey ’19, who has experienced homelessness firsthand and started a program to fight food insecurity in the Bronx. The panel served as a “robust educational component” to the upcoming auction fundraiser, which will be held Thursday at ES Harkness Hall, auction co-chair Tejas Sathe MED ’18 said. The auction has a silent and a live component, with items donated by community members. The silent auction has migrated online this year after students created a website where participants can view and bid on items, Sathe said. “The entire Yale School of Medicine community comes together to do everything for their neighbors,” he said. The annual auction will bring together medical school students and faculty to raise funds for six different local nonprofit organizations this year, including Continuum of Care, an organization fighting homelessness in New Haven, and Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, a refugee resettlement program run by the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, auction grant committee co-
MICHELLE LIU/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The Yale School of Medicine’s Hunger and Homelessness Auction Committee hosted a panel on homelessness Tuesday evening. chair Dan Barson MED ’22 said. This year, auction organizers aim to raise $25,000. Last year’s auction raised $26,890. The panel allowed medical students to “more accurately understand the impact of what we raise,” Sathe said. Panelists stressed Tuesday that the homeless population often consists of working poor and families. They also compared the solutions and systematic barriers the homeless encounter in New York and New Haven. Bradley noted that New Haven is one of the few cities in the state that allocates funds to homeless shelters in its budget. He commended Gov. Dannel Malloy’s announcement last August that Connecticut has ended chronic homelessness among veterans. Bradley added that the state could now focus more resources on the general homeless population. “Keep your eyes open,” Bradley said. “As medical students and practitioners, you’re going to come across a diverse number of people. Your job [is to be] a public advocate.” Jackman told attendees that homelessness stems from wages too low to cover workers’ high costs of living. To combat homelessness, students should work to dispel stigma surrounding the
homeless population, she added. Mackey addressed the medical students directly, telling them that they should consider doing pro bono work for the homeless. “I’ve seen firsthand where people have to decide between getting medical services and retaining a bed in a shelter,” Mackey said. “It’s a terrible decision nobody should have to make.” In addition to the panel, the auction committee has set up a temporary exhibition inside the student lounge. The exhibition, which features facts related to food insecurity and homelessness in the Elm City, uses recycled materials as a visual aid, said auction education committee member Sarah Abdallah ’14 MED ’19. For one display, Abdallah collected a number of food cartons she found in the trash and weighed the amount of leftover food in each to demonstrate food waste. Items up for bidding include a day with two corgis named Molly and Finley and a “beagle therapy” session, according to the website. As of Tuesday evening, the highest bid for the beagle therapy session was $31, while the corgis had netted $75. Contact MICHELLE LIU at michelle.liu@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT Christakises retain mastership CHRISTAKISES FROM PAGE 1 experienced by the Silliman community, but I know he in good faith wants to work closely with that very same community to make it a wonderful place to live.” The subject line of the joint email read “Moving Forward Together,” and its content praised the Christakises as exceptional teachers and scholars with a “longstanding and deep dedication to undergraduates.” The email also reiterated Nicholas Christakis’ call for the Silliman community to exhibit “a spirit of generosity and a willingness to assume the best in others” — a request Christakis first made in an open letter to the Silliman community last Friday.
The administration has expressed its confidence in our ability to provide a good education to undergraduates. NICHOLAS CHRISTAKIS Master, Silliman College Holloway told the News that many faculty, alumni and students have urged him and Salovey over the past weeks to support the Christakises. He said there was never a doubt, from his standpoint, that the administration would send a statement in support of the Silliman master and associate master. Christakis told the News that he is glad the administration has expressed its confidence in him and his wife after the tumultuous events of the past several weeks — many of which were sparked by the Oct. 30 email, though students have since emphasized that the demonstrations are not solely about her message. “I think my wife has been subjected to an extraordinary and shameful vilification for the last two and a half weeks, overlooking the subtlety in her email and the confidence it actually had in Yalies, and I’m glad to see that, despite this response, the administration has expressed its confidence in our ability to provide a good education to undergraduates,” he said. He added that he looks forward to working with Silliman students to create a stimulating and welcoming community of which they can all be proud.
But some Silliman students remain steadfast in their resolve to replace the current college master and associate master. At around 1:30 a.m. last Friday morning, students began to circulate a petition calling for the removal of Nicholas and Erika Christakis from their respective positions. The petition came hours after Next Yale submitted a list of demands — including the removal of the Christakises — to Salovey last Thursday night. Silliman students interviewed expressed mixed feelings about the administration’s support for the Christakises “I have heard from friends that because the Christakises will remain as master and associate master of Silliman, the chance of them transferring to another college is high,” Michael Fitzgerald ’19 said. “I personally love that [the Christakises] are staying.” He added that the Christakises’ Friday open letter laid out how the couple will approach improving their relationship with the college, and he said he believes the steps will be effective. Two Silliman students interviewed said they want the Christakises to remain in the college, but called on them to be more visible and accessible. A letter delivered to Salovey yesterday before the Silliman email was sent urges him to maintain the current mastership of the college. This particular petition has garnered around 700 signatures from students, alumni, faculty, staff, alumni and others. Others, however, felt that Nicholas Christakis failed to do his job as master. They said an email apology Nicholas and Erika Christakis sent on Nov. 6 acknowledging that they had caused students pain came too late. “There should have been more discussion on the master’s part to acknowledge the degree to which he might have hurt certain students,” a Silliman sophomore said. He added that he supports the Christakises’ removal and has signed the petition that calls for it. In a separate email also sent Tuesday, Nicholas Christakis invited Silliman students to a follow-up meeting this weekend that will focus on substantive steps in moving the college forward. Contact MONICA WANG at monica.wang@yale.edu and VICTOR WANG at v.wang@yale.edu .
“The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.” ALBERT SCHWEITZER GERMAN AND FRENCH THEOLOGIAN
Aid policy change announced FINANCIAL AID FROM PAGE 1 upperclassmen, respectively. The student effort for upperclassmen has risen 26.7 percent since the 2009–10 academic year — from $5,050 to $6,400 — prompting protests and town-hall meetings with administrators last year over questions of fairness and feasibility for low-income students. Though Salovey announced an upcoming reduction, he did not specify its magnitude or whether the decrease would come from the student income contribution or the student self-help expectation. “Financial aid policies for low-income students in Yale College, the subject of a spring 2015 report by the Yale College Council, will also see improvements beginning in the next academic year,” Salovey’s email stated. “Details will soon be announced, and will include a reduction in the student effort expectation for current students.” Director of Financial Aid Caesar Storlazzi and Deputy Provost Lloyd Suttle declined to comment on the announcement, though Suttle noted that more details will be released at a later date. Though many of the initiatives announced in Salovey’s email were issued in response to the campus climate and student demands over the past few weeks, YCC President Joe English ’17 said a group of students has been meeting with Student Financial Services and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for the past year to discuss financial aid reforms for the class of 2020. He said he initially expected the financial aid office to announce the changes at the end of November or beginning of December, which is just before admissions decisions for early applicants are released. However, English also noted that recent campus events galvanized the administration to swifter action. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan said a group of administrators had been working this fall to examine possible changes to Yale’s financial aid policies and student expectation levels.
“We look forward to releasing more information shortly and continuing the conversation with Yale students,” Quinlan said. Tyler Blackmon ’16, a columnist for the News who co-authored the YCC report and led the YCC task force on financial aid last year, said it will not matter for most students where the reduction comes from — either from the student income or self-help contributions — since most view the student effort as one combined cost. While Blackmon cautioned against celebrating the changes before specific details are released, he said Salovey’s announcement is a victory for student activism on campus since it shows that the administration is listening to students. He added that issues of financial aid are closely related to recent student protests, which have primarily concerned racial discrimination on campus, since both have to do with administrative consideration of student input. “We’ve been working on this issue for three years now, waiting for today,” Blackmon said. “Students have been fighting for a long time to have their voices heard. It’s part of a much larger conversation about student power and letting students have a voice in how things are run.” Collin Taylor ’17, another co-author of the YCC report, praised the University’s efforts but noted that more changes must be implemented in order to make Yale’s financial aid policies as equitable as possible for all students. He cited the need for transparency in financial aid policy and Yale’s obligation to make sure all students can have the same college experience regardless of their abilities to pay. Late Tuesday evening, roughly 40 students gathered in Bass Library for an event titled “Building the First-Generation Low-Income Student Movement at Yale,” which had been scheduled before Salovey’s announcement. Students interviewed afterward were generally pleased with the promised reduction, but they also commented on the confusing and hazy nature of the announcement.
“Honestly, it was too vague and didn’t provide enough specifics as to what was going to be done with regards to the student self-help,” Ryan Mera Evans ’17 said. “It was also couched in language that is provided by the financial aid office and is already confusing to me.” Abdul Zachariah ’17 and Dianne Kaiyoorawongs ’17 also said the language in Salovey’s email was not clear, and they did not immediately understand the exact implications of his message. Students have complained in the past that the language used in financial aid communications — such as self-help, student income and student effort — is opaque and inaccessible. In response to these criticisms, the financial aid office has implemented several changes this year, including an updated website and a revised financial aid award letter for this year’s admitted students that will make its policies easier to understand, according to English. Mera Evans said he was confused as to why the reduction was announced in the Tuesday email, which he interpreted as a response to the demands of Next Yale, a coalition of students that marched on Salovey’s house last week demanding specific measures the University should take to combat racial discrimination on campus. He pointed out that a reduction in the student effort was not one of the demands Next Yale made. Kaiyoorawongs, like others, said that while she welcomes a reduction in the student effort, she wants the financial burden to be eliminated altogether, noting that it creates a class divide on campus that also intersects with race. “Eliminating or significantly reducing the student effort could be the thing that most effectively changes my college experience for the better,” she said. For the 2014–15 academic year, Yale provided $116 million in need-based financial aid. Contact JON VICTOR at jon.victor@yale.edu .
STUDENT EFFORT CHANGE OVER TIME $6,000
Self-Help Level Money to be earned during the academic year
$4,000
?
$2,000
2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
+
Student Income Contribution Money to be earned over the summer
=
Student Effort The sum of the Student Income Contribution and Self-Help Level SAMUEL WANG/PRODUCTION & DESIGN EDITOR
Alpha Phi speaks against Safe Campus Act SAFE CAMPUS ACT FROM PAGE 1 on behalf of the group. By the time the bill was dropped, the coalition had already spent more than $200,000 in lobbying for the bill. “We believe our sisters who are survivors should have choices in how, when and to whom they go to for support or to report the crime,” read a statement that the Alpha Phi International Executive Board and Executive Office staff issued to all Alpha Phi chapters nationwide. “They should have their own voice and the support and encouragement they need to move forward includ-
ing reporting as they choose to.” The statement also emphasized that universities should be held accountable for student safety, and that administrators’ abilities to report and respond to crimes such as sexual assault should be enhanced, not diminished. Representatives from Yale’s chapter of Sigma Nu did not return requests for comment. Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Melanie Boyd, who oversees Yale’s Communication and Consent Educators — a group of students who work to foster a positive sexual climate on campus — also could not be reached for comment.
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Alpha Phi’s withdrawal of support is not the first expression of opposition to the bill. On Oct. 29, 220 organizations from across the country that work with victims of sexual assault penned a letter to Congress opposing the legislation. The letter highlighted that the Safe Campus Act, if passed, would impose barriers to effective investigations of sexual assault on college campuses. In addition, Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill, both of whom were members of sororities during their time in college, have been vocal in their opposition to the bill. At Yale, of the 56 reports
of sexual misconduct that were brought to the University’s attention between Jan. 1 and June 30 this year, 20 were addressed by the Yale Police Department and 36 by University mechanisms such as the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct or the Title IX Coordinators, according to the Semi-Annual Report of Complaints of Sexual Misconduct published Aug. 4. Yale Alpha Phi President and staff reporter for the News Skyler Inman ’17 explained that if the Safe Campus Act is put in place, individuals who are sexually assaulted will be able to use resources within the university
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“Universities should remain responsible for maintaining safe campuses,” Inman said. “While there is certainly a major problem that needs to be addressed in regards to sexual assault on college campuses — as evidenced by the [Association of American Universities] Sexual Climate Survey — we should be reinforcing, not diminishing, universities’ ability to address the issue.” Alpha Phi, which was chosen as the fourth sorority to join Greek life on campus this spring, welcomed its first class at Yale on Sept. 12. Contact MONICA WANG at monica.wang@yale.edu .
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framework only if they first go through “a potentially lengthy and emotionally draining criminal investigation.” Inman added that Alpha Phi’s unique principle of Watchcare has played an important role in the sorority’s concern about the bill and ultimate decision to oppose it. Inman added that Krapf, as vice president of Watchcare, works closely with her in handling risk management, looking after the mental health of Alpha Phi sisters and running different systems of support. Krapf is in charge of upholding Alpha Phi’s Watchcare philosophy at Yale, Inman said.
Michel Bouvard
photograph by patrick j. lynch
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 7
AROUND THE IVIES
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ELIE WIESEL POLITICAL ACTIVIST
THE DARTMOUTH
No violence at protest, despite rumors BY RACHEL FAVORS Thursday’s Blackout demonstration, organized by Dartmouth’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has sparked controversy after allegations of physical assault were made by users of social media outlets, like the anonymous messaging app Yik Yak, and later in an editorial in The Dartmouth Review, which on Monday gained traction from some national media outlets. The Review editorial said demonstrators pushed and shoved students in the library. One female student, the editorial alleges, was pinned against a wall by demonstrators while shouting “Filthy white b----!” in her face. None of the police officers who monitored the demonstration on Thursday night witnessed
any acts of violence, Hanover Police Lieutenant Brad Sargent said. As of o n d a y, DARTMOUTH M o n ly o n e incident of violence in the library has been reported, and this was by a third party, Sargent said. No complaints of physical violence have been made, according to a press release by Dartmouth College. The college described the events as a “peaceful meeting” that transitioned to a “political protest.” Several students have filed bias incident reports with the college, with some describing feelings of intimidation and disrespect by other students, Judicial Affairs Director Leigh Remy
said. Other reports expressed concern from demonstrators, claiming they are being falsely accused of being violent. Some reports claim that demonstrators are being named on Yik Yak and other social media sites, and that this creates a potentially unsafe situation for those people, Remy said. Several students interviewed by The Dartmouth reported witnessing chants including expletives, such as “F--k your white privilege” and “F--k your comfort.” Several students also said they witnessed a group of women crying on First Floor Berry in response to the demonstration. Two students reported that demonstrators entered their private study rooms and blocked the doorway, while others said that demonstrators singled out some students by name and circled around others’ desks while
chanting. No students reported witnessing or experiencing any sort of physical violence, though some expressed that they felt uncomfortable or intimidated by the protest. NAACP President Jonathan Diakanwa said there were incidents of close verbal confrontations between individuals, and that although these students could have been uncomfortable or scared, there was no physical violence of any kind. NAACP Vice President Tsion Abera also said that there is no truth to the allegations of violence. “These allegations of physical assault are lies to make white students look like the victims and students of color to look like the perpetrators,” Abera said. “The protest was meant to shut down the library. Whatever discomfort that many white stu-
dents felt in that library is a fraction of the discomfort that many Natives, blacks, Latina and LGBTQ people feel frequently.” Abera denied that there were any physical assaults perpetrated by the demonstrators, but some protesters did use profanity in their chants, she said. The NAACP organized the Blackout to demonstrate solidarity with the black students at the University of Missouri and Yale University, and also in response to the vandalism of a Collis Student Center Atrium #BlackLivesMatter exhibit representing the unarmed black individuals who lost their lives to police brutality this year. Demonstrators marched from Novack Café to the lawn in front of Dartmouth Hall. At that point the official demonstration concluded, but many demonstrators continued, marching back
into First Floor Berry up through Fourth Floor Berry, then back to Novack and Collis. On First Floor Berry, many demonstrators spoke about their struggles at Dartmouth as students of color and challenged and yelled at students who were sitting on the other side of the library to stand up and support the movement. Many of the demonstrators then approached the sitting students and chanted “F--k your white privilege” and “F--k your white asses,” demonstrator Dan Korff-Korn said. “It was important to point out that the students sitting there in the library at the computers represented this greater degree of ignorance, apathy and privilege that you see at Dartmouth, but the way it was done by personally attacking people was counterproductive,” Korff-Korn said.
T H E H A R VA R D C R I M S O N
BGLTQ hosting for Harvard-Yale BY KRISTINA LORCH Members of Harvard College Queer Students and Allies are working with counterparts from Yale to provide BGLTQfriendly housing for this upcoming Harvard-Yale weekend, during which Harvard students will travel en masse to New Haven for the annual rivalry football game against Yale. More than 30 Harvard students have signed up through QSA to
be hosted by Yale students this year, according to Josh Stallings, one of QSA’s co-social HARVARD chairs. This is not the first time LGBTQ groups at Harvard and Yale have worked together to coordinate housing; Stallings said QSA’s board regards the program as a tradition.
“We’ve had this mutual host program for as long as we can remember and, as far as we know, it was existing for multiple years previously,” Stallings said. Stallings created a Google form in which students seeking a place to stay for the weekend were able to indicate their gender identities and preferences for hosts. Yale students then disseminated a housing form to potential hosts through their umbrella student organization focused on BGLTQ
Studies in Evolutionary Medicine EEB 460/960 EMD 695 Admission by application only. Spring and fall semesters 2016 Summer research projects Distinguished visitors Faculty: Steve Stearns, EEB; TBD, EPH (Spring) Paul Turner, EEB; TBD, EPH (Fall) Students present and discuss papers from the current research literature, design a research proposal in the spring, do research over the summer, and write a research paper in the fall. This course for second semester juniors and graduate students is particularly appropriate for those considering careers in medical research or practice. In previous years students have done research in Oxford, London, Ghana, Paris, Stockholm, Zurich, Brazil, Melbourne, the Caribbean, and Yale.
Orientation meeting: 5-6 pm Dec. 4th 2015, WLH 007 Application deadline: January 10, 2016, midnight. Application information: http://eeb.yale.edu/eeb-460b-application
and allied activism, the LGBTQ Student Cooperative. Stallings added that the purpose of the program is “to make sure that all students, BGLTQ students included … are safe and happy during Harvard-Yale weekend.” Stallings noted that, while the hosting program “may seem like something very institutionalized … it doesn’t require that much effort.” Coordinating the program is “a
relatively easy thing to do because people are interested in doing it [and] because people will sign up,” Stallings said. Alex Borsa, a senior at Yale and former president of Yale’s LGBTQ Co-Op, lauded the BGLTQ hosting program. Borsa said the program allows LGBTQ students to know “if they are going to a foreign place for a weekend, that they can be hosted by people who understand their identity.”
Borsa added that although this hosting program does not necessarily encapsulate all the hosting that occurs within the BGLTQ community, “it’s great for Yale to show the same hospitality” Harvard shows when The Game is hosted in Cambridge. “Harvard-Yale is a special time for symmetrical groups from both communities to meet,” Borsa said, adding that the program provides an opportunity to “foster an intercollegiate community.”
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
SPORTS Inspiration at cornerback RYMISZEWSKI FROM PAGE 12 activity for almost nine months, he said. In order to bounce back and get into the physical condition he needed to be in for college football, Rymiszewski endured a long and exhaustive offseason training schedule. Rymiszewski learned his workout regime from Tyler Varga ’15, who starred at running back for Yale in the 2014–15 season before joining the Indianapolis Colts this season. Rymiszewski said he completed Varga’s workouts in the offseason, and once he rejoined his teammates in the summer, he added an extra workout either at night or early in the morning to recover the strength he had lost during his nine-month hiatus. “I was just trying to do whatever I could not just to be a force but a very influential one in the following season on the team,” Rymiszewski said. But in addition to being physically able to compete, Rymiszewski also had to mentally prepare himself for returning to the field that left half his body numb. Although Rymiszewski admitted he was initially nervous to open this season, the first hit he took brought him “back to the old days.” “You can’t play scared in this game,” Rymiszewski said. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native added that at first, doctors were hesitant to let him play again considering the near-catastrophic consequences Rymiszewski faced. To return to a sport as dangerous as football — which has been at the center of media attention for its negative long-term effects on athletes, especially those who have suffered concussions — was never a sure thing. According to Rymiszewski’s doctors, what saved him was the fact that his spinal column is thicker than the average person’s, which typically ranges from six to nine millimeters. Rymiszewski’s, at 15 millimeters, saved the then-
19-year-old from potential lifelong paralysis. “He could have gone one of two ways — like [head coach Tony Reno] said, he could’ve cried in his soup or he could’ve gone to work,” captain and safety Cole Champion ’16 said. “He went to work and then some. He had a really, really great summer where he went to work every single day and came back in the best shape he’s ever been in.” Rymiszewski highlighted the support he received from both teammates and coaches during his recovery. From the very first moment that he was laid out unconscious on the grass of the Bowl, waiting to be taken to the hospital, Rymiszewski said that his teammates “never once left [his] side and have been 110 percent behind [his] back.” Rymiszewski added that his teammates have treated him like any other member of the team and have not been overprotective or cautious because of the severity of his past injury. Reno, who in a Nov. 3 press conference recognized the plethora of injuries the Yale football team has endured this season especially, stressed how important the players’ attitude and willingness to bounce back has been to the development of the team. With that mindset, Rymiszewski is looking forward to being able to play in the 132nd edition of the Harvard-Yale football game this Saturday. “It was tough having to stand on the sidelines especially with all the hype last year and with [ESPN] College GameDay,” Rymiszewski said. “I’m really excited to play at home in front of the home fans.” Rymiszewski leads the Elis this season with three interceptions — no other player has more than one. Contact DANIELA BRIGHENTI at daniela.brighenti@yale.edu .
“The more injuries you get, the smarter you get.” MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV RUSSIAN-AMERICAN DANCER
Harris proves he can do it all OFF TO THE RACES YALE’S TOP 2015 RUSHES DALE HARRIS ’17 71-YARD TD @ PRINCETON MORGAN ROBERTS ’16 26-YARD TD @ MAINE DESHAWN SALTER ’18 22-YARD RUSH @ LEHIGH
DESHAWN SALTER ’18 29-YARD RUSH @ LEHIGH
DESHAWN SALTER ’18 42-YARD TD @ LEHIGH
1 0 2 0 30 4 0 5 0 4 0 30 2 0 1 0 MIRANDA ESCOBAR/PRODUCTION & DESIGN ASSISTANT
HARRIS FROM PAGE 12 “Do I have to tell him the plays sometimes? Yeah, absolutely,” Roberts said. “It doesn’t throw me off too much to tell him the plays or tell him what side to go on every now and then.” Roberts himself may have Harris to thank for the signal caller’s own increased performance in the latter part of the season. Reno noted that in the face of injuries to running backs, wide receivers and offensive linemen this season, the improved run game has opened up holes for the rest of the offense — a statement that Roberts backed up over the past two weeks, notching his best two completion percentages since the first week of the season. Running backs coach Derrick Lett added that Harris’ experience on defense specif-
ically has also allowed Harris to help his quarterback with an advanced understanding of blocking schemes. “Dale playing defense really helped in pass protection,” Lett said. “His ability to see the blitzes unfold … and having strong, heavy hands in blitz pickup from doing all the tackling and block destruction drills on the defensive side of the ball also paid dividends.” While Harris is still growing accustomed to Yale’s offensive schemes, his experience at running back goes back to his high school days. As a senior at St. Paul’s School in Brooklandville, Maryland, Harris ran for a whopping 1,700 yards and 28 touchdowns en route to becoming a Baltimore allmetro player. Harris described the difficulty of being a star twoway player in high school, explaining that some schools recruited him solely as a
defensive back, some as a running back, and some expressed interest in his potential at both positions. For Reno, though, Harris’ versatility was an asset during the recruiting process. “When you recruit, you recruit for positions, but you also recruit guys you think can play multiple positions,” Reno said. “A guy like Dale Harris, we recruited because he was an exceptional running back in high school.” Harris was always a running back in the coaches’ minds during his Yale career, Reno said, but he needed to play cornerback immediately because of a shortage in that position and a wealth of talent — mainly in the form of nowNFL running back Tyler Varga ’15 — in the backfield. While it remains unclear whether Harris will continue to focus on his offensive game as a senior with the expected
No. 3 coed team places second
return of injured running backs Candler Rich ’17 and Deshawn Salter ’18, Reno and his team are focused on Saturday’s matchup with the Crimson, not next season. Should Harris explode and lead the Bulldogs to their first win over Harvard in nearly a decade, his midseason switch will be considered the turning point of a Yale season that was otherwise headed for yet another season-ending disappointment. For now, though, Harris is simply enjoying the wild turn of events that led him to this unexpected role. “It feels great, it’s been a long time since I’ve carried the ball but it’s starting to come back to me,” Harris said. “I forgot how exciting it was to score a touchdown. But overall, I’m learning a lot and having fun.” Contact JONATHAN MARX at jonathan.marx@yale.edu .
Unity through disdain CUGNON FROM PAGE 12
up these big regattas, but we do a good job of keeping the same mentality, being very chill the whole time, not too stressed. We don’t like to change that much each weekend because we like to do our best every weekend.” With the sailing teams now in their offseason, Yale will turn its attention to physical conditioning as well as tactical preparation for the team racing events that will characterize the spring season.
days disregarding our differences and emphasizing the one thing that unites us: We are all Yale. With all this in mind, I’m more excited for this game than I’ve been for any Yale sporting event to date. I realize there’s zero championship implication for the Elis in this matchup, and I know we haven’t exactly dominated the Cantabs over the past few years, but just humor me and envision the possibility of a win here. Imagine grimaces of disappointment and sadness on the faces of smug Harvard alums while they silently drive their German cars back to whatever hedge funds or banks they work for. However, sports rivalries aren’t only about bonding through defeat, or coming together with fellow fans to support our team in a victory. It’s unifying in disdain for a common enemy. While the cursing, shouting and inappropriate chanting that will undoubtedly make this weekend a memorable one aren’t exactly “decorous” by Ivy League standards, they mark one of a few wondrous occasions where Yale and Harvard students stop acting like such unbearable stiffs and start acting a little silly. The Game gives us a chance to embrace a rivalry, revel in each of our opponents’ mistakes and enjoy a little bit of good, clean hate. While I might have friends at Harvard, friends who are perfectly upstanding individuals, until this week is over I have about as much love for them as the Rebel Alliance did for Darth Vader. Though I’m thrilled at the prospect of watching Yale grab its first win over Harvard since the Bush administration, I’m even more excited to join my fellow Yalies in the annual cathartic release that such a win — or even a loss — brings. As a Washington Redskins fan living in rural Virginia, I’ve always been able to enjoy banding together to for a little good-natured ribbing of Dallas Cowboys fans, but things are even more passionate when school pride enters the discussion. For one week a year, our entire school bleeds blue and white, and that’s something I find incredibly meaningful. So, I’ll advise everyone to enjoy this week and to treat it like I do. Celebrate your team and, as much as possible, your school. Remember that we’re all on the same side. But most of all, never forget that regardless of the outcome on Saturday, Harvard still sucks.
Contact AYLA BESEMER at ayla.besemer@yale.edu .
MARC CUGNON is a junior in Calhoun College. Contact him at marc.cugnon@yale.edu .
COURTESY OF AYLA BESEMER
The ACCs capped the fall seasons for both the coed and women’s sailing teams. SAILING FROM PAGE 12 earning a pair of second-place finishes within the first three races en route to finishing in sixth. Meanwhile, Knapp skippered the B division to a ninth-place finish, sailing with both Claire Huebner ’18 and Woods, the sole Yale freshman to compete at the ACCs. “We had a really good season,” Doris said. “We got to showcase the depth of our team even if we didn’t do super well at some of the events. We showed how good our younger people are, which is really important.”
Woods emphasized the roles of coach Zachary Leonard and assistant coach Bill Healy in the team’s continued progress throughout the fall. In only her freshman season, Woods has already taken note of the coaches’ ability to address flaws on the water and provide guidance moving ahead toward the spring season. Beyond the coaching staff, Woods commented on the supportive nature of her teammates as the Bulldogs look to replicate the three national championships won last spring. “It’s a really good learning envi-
ronment,” Woods said. “We do all we can to improve with the main goal of getting to nationals, and doing well in nationals.” Consistently ranked among the top teams in the nation, Yale’s sailing program has high expectations for the spring but also understands the importance of keeping emotions in check. Doris spoke to the team’s mentality as one that focuses on a calm and consistent demeanor. “The way we run our team is different,” Doris said. “We treat every regatta the same. A lot of teams hype
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 9
BULLETIN BOARD
TODAY’S FORECAST
TOMORROW
Patchy drizzle after noon. Patchy frost before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny.
High of 59, low of 47.
A WITCH NAMED KOKO BY CHARLES BRUBAKER
ON CAMPUS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 4:00 PM A Conversation with Guillermo Castilleja, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Guillermo Castilleja FES ’83 GRD ’91 leads and oversees strategy for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Environmental Conservation Program, which seeks to protect critical ecosystems and balance longterm conservation with sustainable use. The program includes an interlinked trio of market-based approaches to conservation as well as the Andes-Amazon, Marine Conservation and Wild Salmon Ecosystems initiatives. Kroon Hall (195 Prospect St.), Burke Aud. 4:30 PM Department Lecture Series: Stephen Best, “My Beautiful Elimination.” Stephen Best is associate professor of English at University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of “The Fugitive’s Properties: Law and the Poetics of Profession” (2004), and is currently at work on a project on slavery and the limits of historicist critique, entitled “Unfit for History.” LinslyChittenden Hall (63 High St.), Rm. 211.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19 4:00 PM Lessons Learned in Program Management, Technology and Innovation at Healthcare.gov. A rescue of the healthcare.gov website began in November 2013, and in January 2014, the Federal government hired Accenture Federal Services as the prime development contractor. This talk will address the steps that Accenture and the Federal government together took to deliver successfully, so millions of Americans could ultimately enroll and get access to health care, many for the first time. Arthur K Watson Hall (51 Prospect St.), Rm. 200. 4:00 PM New Play: “Best Lesbian Erotica 1995.” “Best Lesbian Erotica 1995” combines fantasy and nightmare, dallying in erotica’s blissful ribaldries until colliding with one of the darkest hours in U.S. history. By turns funny and moving, the play ultimately asks, “How do we carry on after losing our innocence?” Iseman Theater (1156 Chapel St.).
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To visit us in person 202 York St. New Haven, Conn. (Opposite JE) FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 18, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
CLASSIFIEDS
CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis ACROSS 1 Home of the Nobel Peace Center 5 Loafed 10 Wharf 14 Scandinavian royal name 15 Black, in Bordeaux 16 Johnson of “Laugh-In” 17 Lose it 20 Takes advantage of a cloudless night 21 Grating sounds 22 “Oui, oui,” across the Pyrenees 23 1-Across locale: Abbr. 24 Lose it 30 Kentucky college or its city 31 Cod cousin 32 __ gratia artis: MGM motto 34 Spot in the control tower 35 Lose it 37 Twosomes 38 Brillo competitor 39 Alert 40 Packers quarterback Rodgers 41 Lose it 45 NASA affirmative 46 Big name in speakers 47 Prophetess 50 Works like a demon 55 Lose it 57 Lowly worker 58 True-crime author Dominick 59 Wine barrel sources 60 Applies gently 61 Hilarious types 62 Bout enders, briefly DOWN 1 Sounds of amazement 2 Blind part 3 Basalt source 4 Exceed, as one’s authority 5 One way to pay
11/18/15
By Gary J. Whitehead
6 Humdinger 7 Poem piece 8 Coastal raptors 9 Opus __: “The Da Vinci Code” sect 10 Persian Gulf native 11 “Exodus” novelist 12 Resting upon 13 Hankerings 18 Stomach discomfort 19 Orwellian worker 23 Footwear company named for a goddess 24 Serf of ancient Sparta 25 __ whiskey 26 Music from monks 27 “The Pit and the Pendulum” monogram 28 World’s smallest island nation 29 Clean and brush, as a horse 30 Air gun pellets 33 Form 1040EZ info 35 Rubberneck
Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved
SUDOKU THIS WEEK’S WEATHER
4 6
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
36 60 minuti 37 Lacks the courage to 39 Virginia of the Bloomsbury Group 40 On the briny 42 Synthetic fabrics 43 Not answering roll call 44 Satisfies the munchies 47 Calif. law force
11/18/15
48 Lower intestinal parts 49 “We’re not serving liquor,” briefly 50 Spitting sound 51 “That isn’t good!” 52 Minn. neighbor 53 Northern Nevada city 54 Meeting of Cong. 56 New Deal pres.
2 5 8 3 8 7 2 8 1 7 4 2 6 8 3 5 9 8 6 5 1 9 4 1 3 8
FRIDAY High of 55, low of 35.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
ARTS & CULTURE
School of Art honors Robert Reed BY TÉA BEER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER This past Thursday, School of Art Dean Robert Storr announced the establishment of the Robert Reed ’60 ART ’62 Scholarship Fund and the naming of a Green Hall classroom in the late professor’s honor. Storr shared the news during the closing reception of Reed’s retrospective, “Non-Stop Paintings,” which has been on display in the School of Art’s Green Hall gallery since Nov. 12. The eponymous fund will support graduate students in the School of Art, said Jonathan Rohner, the School’s manager of finance and administration. The classroom, G-01, will bear a plaque designed by graphic design students in the School of Art’s master’s program, visibly dedicating the space — in which Reed taught “Basic Drawing” for much of his nearly 50-year tenure at the School — to his memory. Lisa Kereszi ART ’00, the School of Art’s director of undergraduate studies, said she thinks the establishment of the scholarship fund and the dedication of G-01 to Reed are particularly important considering the ongoing campus dialogue
around racial issues. “The School of Art [is] a place on campus where we try to both respect one another and our differences, while expressing all sorts of difficult things and issues freely and without censure,” Kereszi noted. “[Reed’s] place in history, including Yale history, is now cemented, quite literally, in place.” Samuel Messer ART ’81, associate dean of the School of Art, said the initiative to found a scholarship fund began last December. He explained that a former student, who wishes to remain anonymous, approached Storr after hearing of Reed’s declining health, to suggest creating a fund in Reed’s name. The student made an initial donation that allowed the scholarship to be established prior to Reed’s passing in late December. Messer added that he thought it was especially moving to establish a scholarship in Reed’s honor, given that Reed came to Yale with most of his tuition paid by the state of Virginia because, according to Messer, the state did not want to integrate a black man into its university system. “Storr told Reed three days before he passed away that this was happening,” Messer said. “Besides the
scholarship, [Storr] told Reed that he would make an exhibition and catalogue [of Reed’s works], and name G-01 after him.” Messer described the influence Reed had on students in his “Basic Drawing” class during his decades teaching in G-01.
[Reed’s] place in history, including Yale history, is now cemented, quite literally, in place. LISA KERESZI ART ’00 Director of Undergraduate Studies, Art Gabriela Bucay ’17, a student who took both “Basic Drawing” and “Introduction to Painting” with Reed, said that the professor frequently shared his conviction that he thought “Basic Drawing” should be made an undergraduate requirement. Reflective of this sentiment, Messer noted that many of Reed’s students were not studio art majors, and have gone on to work in other
fields, becoming “lawyers, doctors and scientists” who nevertheless share a particular set of values Reed imparted to all of his students, such as the importance of “hard-core looking” and critical thinking. “The way he ran his class influenced people not only to teach them how to draw but to realize that the making of artwork involved as much critical thinking as any other class here at Yale,” Messer said. Bucay said she views the decision to establish a scholarship fund and dedicate a classroom to Reed as a fitting tribute to a professor who placed such heavy emphasis on work ethic. “There’s a legacy [Reed] left which I think he would have preferred to be channeled toward a way of approaching the work,” Bucay explained. “So rather than make a monument or a memorial, it seems fitting, with his work ethic, to name a space of work and learning after him and to dedicate it in his honor, to keep alive the spirit he brought to the work and the space and continue his legacy that way.” Contact TÉA BEER at tea.beer@yale.edu .
ALEX SCHMELING/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
On Thursday, School of Art Dean Robert Storr announced the establishment of a “Robert Reed” scholarship fund and the naming of Room G-01 in Green Hall in honor of the late professor, whose retrospective closed last week.
Guyanese poet reads new pieces BY JAKE LEFFEW CONTRIBUTING REPORTER About 40 creative writing and English enthusiasts gathered Tuesday evening for a reading in Linsly-Chittenden Hall with poet, novelist and playwright Fred D’Aguiar. Jovially throwing his book on the table, D’Aguiar opened his talk by reminiscing on his childhood in Guyana, when he and his cousins would throw dominos. The writer, whose works of poetry and fiction have been
translated into a dozen languages, came to Yale to read from and discuss his latest collection of poems, “The Rose of Toulouse.” D’Aguiar’s works have garnered literary awards including the Guyana Poetry Prize, the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. In between readings, D’Aguiar discussed his writing process. “I write poems that are not so much remembered but imagined,” D’Aguiar explained. “Memory supplies you … you
take it like a gene and splice it.” The writer — who was born in London but moved soon after to Guyana, where he lived 12 years — crafts poems that touch on a wide variety of themes, with particular emphasis on his childhood and historical events in Guyana. During the event, D’Aguiar read poems that reflected on his experiences as a young boy growing up in Guyana, which included memories of his cousin flying a kite on Good Friday, coming home by bus to see his grandfather in Georgetown,
playing games around the train tracks and conversations in the “coconut tent.” In addition to more personal subjects, several of the works D’Aguiar read highlighted specific historical events. One example is the 1978 poisonings in Jonestown, a remote commune founded in northwestern Guyana by American cult leader Jim Jones, and broader themes such as the transatlantic slave trade and child soldiers being drafted into guerilla armies. In an interview with the News, the author discussed writing his-
torically based works of fiction as a process of putting himself in the shoes of an individual whose experience differs greatly from his own. D’Aguiar added that he hopes to use language to engage audiences, harnessing poetry’s ability to garner an emotional response to make his work memorable. “I want something to happen with the work so that you remember it somehow,” D’Aguiar said. Cecilia Crews ’19, who attended the event, said that lis-
tening to D’Aguiar read his poems allowed her to find “deeper meaning” in his work. “Listening to him read his own work made his poetry come alive,” Crews said. “It helps me, and I think everyone here, appreciate his work more.” The event was sponsored by the English Department and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s Collection of American Literature. Contact JAKE LEFFEW at jake.leffew@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
PAGE 11
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” PABLO PICASSO SPANISH PAINTER, SCULPTOR AND PRINTMAKER
Holocaust memorial documentary debuts BY VEENA MCCOOLE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Over 300 members of the Yale and New Haven communities gathered at the Criterion Cinemas on Sunday for the premiere of “People Forget: New Haven Remembers.” Commissioned and sponsored by the local nonprofit Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory, founded by Doris Zelinsky ’71, who was the documentary’s executive producer, “People Forget” traces the experiences of four New Haven residents who survived the Holocaust and commemorates the building of
the city’s Holocaust Memorial, which was completed in 1977. Nathaniel Zelinsky ’13 LAW ’18, Doris’ son, highlighted the importance of preserving these survivors’ firsthand narratives, which he said allows future generations clearer insight into historical tragedies. “[The film] captures that story [of the building of the Holocaust Memorial] and the memories of four survivors who resettled here in New Haven on what it was like to live through the war,” Doris Zelinsky said. She explained that last year she approached Elena Lefkowitz ’03, a New York-based short-
film maker, to shoot the film. The project of documenting New Haven’s Holocaust survivors, however, went back nearly a decade, starting when David Ottenstein ’82, an Elm Citybased photographer, produced a black-and-white image series of the city’s Holocaust survivors and those involved in the creation of the Holocaust Memorial. His portraits were featured in the documentary. In 2007, Zelinsky’s nonprofit organized a traveling Holocaust exhibition, entitled “Memory and Legacy,” which included material on the lives of the four survivors whose stories are high-
lighted in “People Forget.” “To me, [the documentary’s] importance is in becoming part of a historical record as both a teaching tool and a resource down the road,” Ottenstein said. Zelinsky described the New Haven Holocaust Memorial as “the fifth star” of the documentary film, alongside the four survivors. The first of its kind to be erected on public land in the United States, the memorial was refurbished in 2007 by Eric Epstein ARC ’77, a New Havenbased architect who also serves as one of the directors of “Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory.” Lefkowitz said she thinks the
memorial is a reminder of both the dangers of governmentsanctioned hate and the strength of the human spirit. “I think Yale students and New Haven residents alike should know that [the memorial is] there, and what it represents not just to the survivors who built it, but to all peaceloving, life-respecting citizens,” Lefkowitz explained, adding that she passed the memorial on several occasions during her time at Yale without knowing what it was. Jay Gitlin ’71 MUS ’74 GRD ’02, a lecturer in the History Department who attended the
event, commended the robust turnout of New Haven residents. In particular, Gitlin noted the attendance of Mayor Toni Harp, who delivered what he described as an “eloquent” speech at the screening. “[The memorial is] a story of the dynamic, positive relationship that exists between this university and the city,” Nathaniel Zelinsky said. The New Haven Holocaust Memorial was opened in 1977 and has since been maintained by private funds. Contact VEENA MCCOOLE at veena.mccoole@yale.edu .
Symposium highlights ceramics in modern art
BY IVONA IACOB STAFF REPORTER Last Thursday and Friday, the Yale University Art Gallery hosted a symposium that considered the role of ceramics in modern and contemporary art. Entitled “Ceramic Presence: Conversations on Making, Looking and the Museum,” the event brought together a group of artists, scholars, collectors and museum professionals to discuss the role of ceramics in late-20thcentury art, highlighting the medium as an emerging mode of artistic expression in the 1950s and ’60s. In addition, the symposium sought to highlight
artistic dialogue during these decades, as well as the role of museums and publications in crafting art historical narratives. Accompanied by an exhibition on display in the YUAG through January 2016, “The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art: Selections from the Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection,” the symposium included a variety of lectures, gallery sessions and conversations with individuals such as John Mason, a ceramic artist who has several pieces in “The Ceramic Presence,” and Linda Leonard Schlenger, the collector who lent many of the works on display in the exhibition. YUAG Director Jock Reynolds suggested
that ceramics have a long history, but have often been viewed as “decorative” rather than “fine” art, a notion both the symposium and the exhibition hoped to question.
Ceramics were one of the first things made by human hands. JOCK REYNOLDS Director, Yale University Art Gallery “Ceramics were one of the first things made by human hands,” Reynolds said. “Almost every culture has ceramic pieces.” Schlenger, who founded Friends of Contemporary Ceramics — an organization that brings together collectors, gallery owners and curators from around the world to promote ceramic art — delivered the symposium’s keynote address alongside Reynolds,
artist Jim Melchert and Sequoia Miller GRD ’18, who co-curated the “Ceramic Presence” exhibition. Schlenger noted that she has been fond of ceramic art for a long time, and described buying her first ceramic piece in 1988 as “love at first sight.” She stressed in particular the importance of viewing ceramic artists as equally as important as their counterparts working with in other media. “Artists working with clay are equally as important as artists working with other materials,” Schlenger said. Miller explained that he and Reynolds decided to emphasize “the voices of artists” in the symposium, noting that, with the support of Friends of Contemporary Ceramics, the YUAG was able to invite many of the living ceramic artists whose work is featured in the “Ceramic Presence” exhibition, as well as a generation of younger ceramic artists. He noted that such attendance fostered a “dynamic and
engaging dialogue on the role of [ceramics] in the wider field of modern and contemporary art.” Puneeta Mittal, a ceramic artist who attended the symposium, advocated for an expanded conception of the “fine arts” that would include ceramics alongside more “traditional” media, such as painting and sculpture. Mittal added that she thinks it is important to consider various media in dialogue with one another, and that a synthetic understanding of the arts is the key to being able to appreciate beauty in any form of expression. Sarah Sukin ’18, a student in Computing and the Arts, noted
that ceramics is often seen more as a decorative art, and that it is important to shed light on the medium because it is often omitted from more conventional conceptions of the “fine arts,” and therefore overlooked. “Ceramics was a closeted art but it is now more open,” Mittal added. “It is equally important to other forms of art, as you have to find the right material to be able to say what you want to say. Clay is timeless.” The Yale University Art Gallery is located at 1111 Chapel St. Contact IVONA IACOB at ivona.iacob@yale.edu .
CRISTIANA MANOLE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
A YUAG symposium held last Thursday and Friday focused on the role of ceramics in modern art.
IF YOU MISSED IT SCORES
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SPORTS QUICK HITS
CARL KREITZBERG ’16 HITTING THE BOOKS In a survey completed by members of the Yale football team, the senior defensive tackle was selected as the most intelligent player on the Elis. Kreitzberg, a history major, has 11 tackles in nine games this season, including half a sack.
NCAAM Kentucky 74 Duke 63
y
KELLY JOHNSON ’16 CURTAIN CALL After the final weekend of Ivy League contests in her career, Johnson was recognized on the Ivy League Honor Roll for her efforts in Yale’s sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth. The three-time All-Ivy first team recipient contributed 23 kills and 18 digs in the wins.
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“You can’t play scared in this game.” SPENCER RYMISZEWSKI ’17 FOOTBALL
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
Rymiszewski ’17 defies the odds
Harris ’17 sparks Yale offense FOOTBALL
BY DANIELA BRIGHENTI STAFF REPORTER In the Yale football team’s past two contests, defensive back Spencer Rymiszewski ’17 has demonstrated the athletic ability and physical style that have made him a force in Yale’s secondary all season long, picking off a pass in each victory. The junior’s noteworthy play makes it hard to believe that just over a year ago, Rymiszewski lay face down on the field of the Yale Bowl, unable to move the entire right half of his body.
FOOTBALL
ROBBIE SHORT/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
With natural speed and a cornerback’s knowledge of defensive schemes, running back Dale Harris ’17 has helped revitalize Yale’s offense. BY JONATHAN MARX STAFF REPORTER The Yale football roster lists eight players at the running back position, five of whom have received multiple carries for the Bulldogs this season. To find a solution to the running game’s revolving door of injuries and ineffectiveness, however, head coach Tony Reno and his staff looked to an unexpected source. As a cornerback, Dale Harris ’17 appeared in all 10 games in 2014 and recorded 20 total tackles in this season’s first four
games before missing time due to injury. When he returned two weeks ago, he was thrust into a new role: running back, a position at which he had not taken snaps since his high school days. Harris, perhaps the fastest Eli to stand in the backfield this season, excelled immediately. He carried the ball 12 times for 71 yards and a touchdown against Brown and added another 177 yards, including a 71-yard highlight-reel score, at Princeton. After a pair of Ivy losses to Penn and Columbia in the middle of the season, Harris’ breakout
performances correlated with two wins in which Yale put up a combined eight scores and 882 yards. “Coach [Reno] simply approached me and asked if I’d be willing to play a new position,” Harris said. “Initially, I had the mentality that’d I’d do anything to help the team.” After two games, Harris leads the team with 5.9 yards per carry. That mark, which would lead the Ivy League if Harris had reached the minimum number of carries to be eligible, would be a remarkable figure for any player.
According to quarterback Morgan Roberts ’16, the addition to the backfield of Harris, whose 40-yard dash time on his high-school recruit profile is 4.40 seconds, has added explosiveness and intensity to Yale’s offensive formula. While picking up the playbook in such a short time has been a challenge for Harris, Roberts’ leadership has helped the junior running back understand his assignments in high-pressured game situations. SEE HARRIS PAGE 8
In the second quarter of a league matchup against Penn last October, Rymiszewski took a blow to the back of the head while diving to help linebacker Darius Manora ’17 tackle a Quaker player. Unable to move after the hit, Rymiszewski was carried off the field and later diagnosed with a spinal cord concussion. Due to the severity of his injury, Rymiszewski — who had started all 16 games of his college career up until that point — was forced to miss the remaining four games in the Bulldogs’ season. With his 2014 campaign over, his playing status was no longer the concern — instead, it was the potential long-term ramifications of the horrific injury. Despite being told that only 5 percent of those who suffer spinal cord concussions are able to fully recover from the injury, Rymiszewski was determined from the start that he would return to represent Yale on the field. Now,
after months of hard work, continued medical treatment and intense workouts, the defensive back has not only started in all nine games this season but has also proven to be an essential asset for the Yale football roster. “I really wanted to come back and contribute to the defense, to the team, in any way possible,” Rymiszewski said. “Being told I wasn’t able to play ever again just motivated me a little bit extra.” After his injury, Rymiszewski, who remained at Yale during the initial stages of his recovery, could not perform physical SEE RYMISZEWSKI PAGE 8
ROBBIE SHORT/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Rymiszewski leads the Elis with three interceptions, including this pick-six against Brown.
Bulldogs excel at Atlantic Coast Championships
MARC CUGNON
BY AYLA BESEMER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Why I love The Game As a sports fan, I consider the week leading up to Harvard and Yale’s annual football clash to be my Christmas. At great cost to my GPA, these five days are both a holiday and a celebration for me. And much like Christmas, this week — and more importantly, this weekend — features a few staple attractions that really mark the season. Overly enthusiastic freshmen sport enough Yale apparel to make me never want to see the color blue again, fans chant holiday favorites like “Harvard Sucks” and “Huck Farvard,” and “supporters” on both sides get into the spirit of the contest by pretending like they’ve watched more than two football games since coming to college. I also think it’s worth touching on another aspect of why I love The Game: I get to be a part of a truly tortured fan base. Like the Detroit Lions, who just beat the Packers at Lambeau Field for the first time in over 20 years, Yale has put together a little losing streak of its own against the Crimson. With Yale having dropped every contest
since our last win in 2006, I imagine we’ll feel a bit like the Lions did this past weekend when we finally break through and pull out a victory. I say “we” as though I’m actually contributing to the team’s effort because, as all tortured fans know, there’s a certain bond formed in misery. Just ask a fan of any Cleveland team. In the midst of the most socially and culturally tumultuous month I’ve seen since I arrived on this campus in 2013, I think that The Game does us a lot of good. Football, especially when Harvard is concerned, reminds us that we’re all on the same side here in New Haven. While Yale students have different upbringings, values and interests, I would venture that there are few among us who wouldn’t want our campus community to be a positive and inclusive one. The Game, for whatever football is worth, gives Yale students the opportunity to stand together and spend a couple of SEE CUGNON PAGE 8
STAT OF THE DAY 6
The sailing season came to a close this weekend at the Atlantic Coast Championships, which pitted the Yale coed and women’s sailing teams against the best 17 schools on the East Coast to mark the end of a successful competitive season.
SAILING The No. 3 coed team sailed to a second-place finish at Old Dominion University in Virginia, where light winds on Sunday meant a mentally grueling series of races in which Yale finished two places higher than last year. At St. Mary’s College in Maryland, the No. 3 women’s team pushed through physically and tactically demanding conditions, besting last year’s eighth-place result by coming in sixth. The finishes indicated reasons to be optimistic for the spring season, when both teams compete for nationals. “ACCs puts in context where you are in terms of the other top teams,” crew Kira Woods ’19 said. Three of this year’s four skippers sailed the ACCs in 2014 and demonstrated the value of an extra year of experience in exceeding last year’s team results. At the coed regatta, skip-
YALE DAILY NEWS
The No. 3 coed and women’s sailing teams each improved upon last year’s results at the ACCs. per Ian Barrows ’17 and crew Natalya Doris ’17 finished second in the A Division to lead the Bulldogs. Skipper Mitchell Kiss ’17 was accompanied by crew and team captain Charlotte Belling ’16 for two races, then completed the final eight races of the competition with Clara Robertson ’17. The duo placed fourth in the B division. The pair of results culminated in an overall secondplace finish, a mere five points behind the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. “Overall, it was a really good regatta — we know what we need to work on now,” Doris said. “Starts we realized we
needed to do a better job with, we can be a little more aggressive and keeping our heads in the game even when the winds are marginally light and there are on-land postponements.” The women’s regatta faced challenging conditions on Saturday, with winds upward of 15 knots forcing sailors to focus more on physical exertion than tactics in what Woods described as “survival mode.” Despite the physically demanding conditions, the Elis were able to consistently finish among the top teams, racking up 14 top-five finishes in 36 races across the two divisions. “I got better at seeing the
overall picture and being consistent — not necessarily focusing on winning the individual race, but looking at the regatta overall,” said skipper KB Knapp ’18 of her improvement over the course of the fall season. Skipper Casey Klingler ’18, who sailed in the A division, also attributed the team’s improved performance to further practice in high-level regattas and continued attention to minimizing costly mistakes. Klingler, alongside crew Emily Johnson ’16, started off the weekend in strong fashion, SEE SAILING PAGE 8
THE NUMBER OF RUNNING BACKS WHO HAVE RECEIVED CARRIES FOR THE YALE FOOTBALL TEAM IN 2015. Running back Dale Harris ’17, who before two weeks ago played only as a cornerback, leads all Eli backs with 5.9 yards per carry.