PAGE 2
YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION
.COMMENT “The rhetoric inflaming emotions of late is not from the mouths of pro-life acyaledailynews.com/opinion
tivists or politicians."
'DZMLSIENCE' ON 'PRICE: AGAINST ANTI-ABORTION EXTREMISM'
When Yale stole Christmas The meaning of thanks P
I
t’s a common Thanksgiving activity to go around the table and say what you’re thankful for. Having just come back from Thanksgiving break, I figured I might as well act on that tradition, and, in a way, clear up a misconception that seems to have arisen regarding Yale and Yalies — namely, that we’re terribly ungrateful. Back at home, everyone had heard of the racially tense atmosphere on campus. They had heard of the march, the protests, the tears and yelling. Everyone had their own opinions on the matter, and everyone had questions to ask. But the one question that stuck with me was something along these lines: “If Yale gives you so much, why do you hate it?” This sentiment seems to be fairly widespread. There was even a change.org petition titled, “Dear Yale, if your students cannot handle rigorous debate and ideas, enroll us instead!”
AFTER ALL, IT’S A COMMON A MISCONCEPTION THAT THOSE FIGHTING FOR CHANGE ARE THE SELFISH ONES, THAT THEY’RE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES I thought about that question, that idea, for a while, and the only thing that came to mind was Scott Stern’s farewell column in the News ["If you love Yale, critique it," Apr. 20, 2015]. In it, he wrote that if you love Yale, you should criticize it. And I think that advice rings truer today than it has before. This notion that the outcries that have recently echoed throughout campus represent some rejection of Yale as a whole, or some wish to get away from Yale, is, as far as I can tell, false. It’s not that we can’t “handle” Yale, or that we don’t wish to be here. Those students who could be seen crying and screaming, those whose behavior so many have been quick to call “disrespectful” or “overly-emotional” aren’t coming from a place of hate or ingratitude. We know precisely what we have and where we are. And we’re thankful for it. We’re thankful that cultural centers even exist, we’re thankful that our peers are on the whole
s u p p o r t ive and we’re thankful that we’re b l e sse d with a tremendous amount of privilege. LEO KIM W e ’ r e s e l f- awa re On us enough to know how fortunate we are to be at Yale, and I don’t think anyone is so blind as to claim that they’re worse-off as a Yalie than so many less-advantaged people in the world. Such a claim would be flat-out ignorant. But it’s precisely because we love Yale that we feel the need to speak up. It’s because Yale is our home, and one that we love so much, that we feel the need to make it a better place. Gratefulness doesn’t entail an inability to pursue improvement. Of course I can be grateful for all that Yale has given me. But that is completely compatible with trying to make Yale an even better place, to make sure that it gives even more to those who come after me. In fact, I think that one’s love for a place should motivate one to improve it. Of course I could sit by and let Yale continue doing what it’s done in the past, and be passively grateful for that. But someone who cares about an institution does not sit by and refuse to push it toward necessary change. Fidelity to the status quo isn’t a sign of gratitude or affection; it’s a sign of laziness and an unwillingness to improve. It’s a sign that we don’t care about Yale, but rather, we only care about what Yale can give us at the moment. After all, it’s a common a misconception that those fighting for change are the selfish ones, that they’re doing it for themselves. In fact, it’s precisely those who are fighting that don’t care about their own day-to-day lives. They know that their day-to-day lives won’t change immediately. They know that it probably won’t be changed by next year, or by the time that they graduate. The ones fighting care about what Yale can be for future generations, and what Yale can do to better itself. Those who challenge the status quo are grateful. And it’s precisely because they’re grateful that they feel the need to change the institution that’s given them so much. They hope that one day, Yalies will have even more to be thankful about.
erhaps no time of the year is quite so distinctive as Christmastime. From shopping malls to neighborhoods, decorations pop up everywhere as communities embrace this special holiday. An entire genre of music becomes relevant once again, and children’s faces take on a rosy glow. My favorite Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a Frank Capra film from 1946. It follows the journey of George Bailey, a well-meaning community leader who finds himself down on his luck. As he is about to attempt suicide, an angel appears and shows him what the world would be like had he never been born. I don’t want to spoil too much for those who haven’t seen it, but the movie’s message of community and helping others epitomizes the best of Christmas. When I think of Christmas, I think of the scene at the end where everyone gathers in support of Mr. Bailey. The entire town joins together in song and pitches in some money to save him from a debtor’s prison. It is a very heartwarming moment. However, this year’s Christmas reminds me of a very different scene in the movie: the one where the bartender yells at the clearly inebriated protagonist, “Mr. Bailey, why do you drink so much?” For Yale students,
EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Addenbrooke
SPORTS James Badas Greg Cameron
MANAGING EDITORS Tyler Foggatt Emma Platoff
ONLINE SPORTS Ashley Wu
ONLINE EDITOR Erica Pandey OPINION Larry Milstein Aaron Sibarium NEWS Rachel Siegel Vivian Wang CITY Sarah Bruley Amaka Uchegbu SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Stephanie Rogers
WEEKEND Irene Connelly Caroline Wray Emily Xiao YTV Raleigh Capozzalo Peter Chung Rebecca Faust MAGAZINE Abigail Bessler Elizabeth Miles COPY Martin Lim Chris Rudeen Grace Shi
PRODUCTION & DESIGN Mert Dilek Ellie Handler Emily Hsee Tresa Joseph Amanda Mei Samuel Wang PHOTOGRAPHY Tasnim Elboute Julia Henry Elinor Hills Irene Jiang Kaifeng Wu ILLUSTRATIONS Ashlyn Oakes WEB DEVELOPMENT Tony Jiang Alicia Vargas-Morawetz
PUBLISHER Joanna Jin
MEDIA MANAGER Tevin Mickens
DIR. FINANCE Eva Landsberg
OUTREACH MANAGER Julie Slama
DIR. ADVERTISING Steven Hee DIR. OF COMMUNICATIONS Misael Cabrera ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE MANAGERS Illana Kaufman Daniel Smith
CULTURE Sara Jones
THIS ISSUE COPY STAFF: Leni Kagan, Katie Martin PRODUCTION & DESIGN ASSISTANTS: Amanda Hu, Ellie Pritchett, Amy Zheng EDITORIALS & ADS
The News’ View represents the opinion of the majority of the members of the Yale Daily News Managing Board of 2017. Other content on this page with bylines represents the opinions of those authors and not necessarily those of the Managing Board. Opinions set forth in ads do not necessarily reflect the views of the Managing Board. We reserve the right to refuse any ad for any reason and to delete or change any copy we consider objectionable, false or in poor taste. We do not verify the contents of any ad. The Yale Daily News Publishing Co., Inc. and its officers, employees and agents disclaim any responsibility for all liabilities, injuries or damages arising from any ad. The Yale Daily News Publishing Co. ISSN 0890-2240
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
SUBMISSIONS
All letters submitted for publication must include the author’s name, phone number and description of Yale University affiliation. Please limit letters to 250 words and guest columns to 750. The Yale Daily News reserves the right to edit letters and columns before publication. E-mail is the preferred method of submission. Direct all letters, columns, artwork and inquiries to: Larry Milstein and Aaron Sibarium Opinion Editors Yale Daily News opinion@yaledailynews.com
COPYRIGHT 2015 — VOL. CXXXVIII, NO. 57
Christmas at all. The canary in the coal mine that finals would threaten Christmas came last year when the provisional academic calendar had exams running until Dec. 23 — keeping some students on campus until Christmas Eve. That schedule met vehement student opposition, culminating in a YCC proposal to start and end classes one week earlier. The proposal received more support than any in YCC history, with ninety-two percent of students in favor of starting school earlier. If student opinion at the time was a Christmas tree, preserving the status quo would have been the equivalent of dousing it in gasoline and lighting it on fire. Moving classes up one week would have started classes only one calendar day earlier than they started the pre-
for a full reading period and also a joyous Christmas. At present, the start of the academic term is based on Labor Day. Classes begin the Wednesday before, and all other key dates are arranged accordingly. Although for most years this framework makes sense, when Labor Day pushes the end of exams to Dec. 22, the calendar should be adjusted. After all, it does not make any sense to prioritize a Monday off from work over Christmas. For those years in which a conflict arises, classes should start one week earlier. Under this model, the earliest that classes would ever begin would be Aug. 18, only two days earlier than two years ago. Not even a militant atheist wants to pay twice as much to get home and fight the holiday travel. The current framework for setting the calendar does not take into account the cultural and economic priorities of students. Hopefully, the calendar can be remedied in the long term. For future Christmases, instead of studying for exams, we can enjoy the company of family in our homes. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful life? MICHAEL HERBERT is a senior in Saybrook College. His column runs on alternate Wednesdays. Contact him at michael.herbert@yale.edu .
GUEST COLUMNIST AMELIA NIERENBERG
Home away from home I
YALE DAILY NEWS PUBLISHING CO., INC. 202 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 432-2400
Scoop of Herbert
vious year. Alternatively, the former proposal would have dragged exams on six days longer. Fortunately, some measure of relief was provided when the administration agreed to shorten reading period by a day to send the last students home on Dec. 23. But the situation is still very regrettable. I know of many students, including myself, who picked their schedule based on the date of a class’s final. However, some students did not have that luxury; for example, foreign languages, which all students are required to take at some point, are holding their exams on the 22nd. Further, I know of some courses, such as "Conservation Biology," that moved their final exam to the last day of classes and out of the finals period so that students would not be stuck on campus for so long. By interfering with Christmas, a holiday cherished by thousands of Yale students and billions of people worldwide, the current schedule undermines Yale’s academic mission. People aren’t picking courses based on their passions; they are picking them based on Christmas. YCC’s fight last year was noble. But it is time now to ensure that future students do not face the same bad choices, and put in place a framework that ensures
KATHERINE XIU/CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR
LEO KIM is a junior in Trumbull College. His column runs on alternate Wednesdays. Contact him at leo.kim@yale.edu .
Editorial: (203) 432-2418 editor@yaledailynews.com Business: (203) 432-2424 business@yaledailynews.com
MICHAEL HERBERT
of course, the answer is the ridiculous academic calendar! It forces many students to remain on campus until Dec. 23 and, especially for international students, threatens their ability to celebrate
nevitably, Thanksgiving with the family is a holiday of questions. What’s your major? What are you ever going to do with that? Where’s your boyfriend? Is he Jewish? (He’s not? Is it serious?) Will you raise your kids Jewish? (Make sure you raise your kids Jewish. Don’t not raise your kids Jewish.) Once the questions for which I do not yet have answers for abate, we get to more basic ones: How many people are in your suite? When are you cutting your hair? And, finally, when are you going back up to school? “I’m going home Saturday night.” My dad grimaced a little with hurt. I’m going home. My flippant little answer gave voice to his permanently-empty-nest truth: home, for me, has unexpectedly become Yale. When I return to New York, I bring an overnight bag, and worry about my probably parched plant back in New Haven. My “home” is no longer my childhood home: it’s now a different place, my first home as an adult. To my parents, calling Yale “home” carried the weight of my adulthood: I am probably not going to live with you, parents, ever again. This sense of my house as an Airbnb is due, in part, to Yale’s residential college system. Residential colleges quickly become our new homes: where we do our
laundry, go bra-less in the dining hall and sometimes go to bed without brushing our teeth. Although some may feel differently once they arrive, the admissions brochure allure of Yale comes from its homey atmosphere — residential college family, residential college parents, residential college laundry machines. Yet this HomeAway-From-Home model also ruptures emotional ligaments of childhood, prodding us — Yale’s undergraduate hermit crabs — into different, bigger shells: the shells of adulthood. In part, this is intentional. College is supposed to flex the muscles of independence, to plant the seeds of the forty-year-olds we will one day be. So what are those seeds? Yale is in the business of producing global leaders. With more than ten percent of the student body coming from abroad, and many more of us intending to disperse across the country and the globe, we are preparing for lives far from our childhood bedrooms. To continue the agricultural metaphor: Yale grows tumbleweeds. This eventual cosmopolitanism is, as the late Harvard political philosopher Samuel Huntington wrote in his essay, “Dead Souls,” common for elites — particularly at an elite institution such as Yale. In a nutshell, Huntington wrote
that American elites have more internationalist concerns than their counterparts in the general public. For example and by generalization, elites generally believe social security lies in “supporting international trade and migration" and "encouraging minority identities and cultures at home.” By contrast, the general public believes social security lies with fueling “existing patterns of language, culture, association, religion and national identity." Elites hold allegiance to multi-national corporations, view international law as paramount to national law and prioritize transnational ideologies. This is very different than those who move back home after graduation — or never leave home at all. In other words, Yale produces a fleet of well-educated turtles: alumni who carry their homes and histories on their backs wherever they go. We’re not only physically moving away from our homes, but also divorcing ourselves from the ideologies tethering us to our roots and folks in our community. Huntington does not praise this Dead Souls identity, and neither should we. Our distance from the American public — distance manifesting socially, economically, politically, morally, religiously — undermines our democracy and, by extension, civil society in general. If we, the
decision-makers, have different values from our home communities — the majority — then the eye atop of our proverbial pyramid wobbles dangerously. This detached Yale adulthood exposes a fatal flaw in our elite education: disconnect. Herein lies the crisis of the Ivory Tower — once we’ve climbed up, it’s nearly impossible to scamper back down. As a 2012 Washington University in St. Louis survey found, most Americans live within a twentyfive-mile radius of their mothers. By contrast, adults with a college degree more often resettle elsewhere after graduation — with a Yale degree, that radius expands further. Leaving home — it’s naturally part of becoming an adult. Replacing home, losing home — that’s not, but it is for us. At Thanksgiving tables, we as Yale students should not feel (as too many of us have felt) distant and foreign from the faces and opinions surrounding us. Yale’s permanent repotting of its undergraduates creates turtles, hermit crabs, tumbleweeds. Pick your poison, but the metaphor holds: Yalies move out, up, up, and away — for good, although maybe not for better. AMELIA JANE NIERENBERG is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College. Contact her at amelia.nierenberg@yale.edu .