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Light & Verity
April
2003
Unions,
Graduate Students Stage a Strike
The hammer that has
hovered over the campus since September finally fell on March 3,
as thousands of workers went on a five-day strike. But the University
claims the blow wasn't nearly as stinging as union leaders might
have hoped.
"The basic mission
of the University is continuing," said Yale spokesman Tom Conroy
on the second day of the strike. "The management and professional
workforce is working hard to pick up the slack."
This is the eighth
strike Yale has seen since 1968, and for the first time graduate
students and hospital dietary workers joined the clerical, technical,
service, and maintenance employees.
The job action, which
occurred during the week leading up to spring break, attracted national
media attention and drew high-profile figures to town, including
the Rev. Jesse Jackson, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, and Princeton
professor Cornel West. New Haven mayor John DeStefano Jr. and U.S.
representative Rosa DeLauro also marched with the striking workers.
Braving a week of bone-chilling
cold, a torrential downpour, and a snowstorm, workers marched in
front of Yale buildings, holding signs and chanting slogans such
as "We're freezin', we're freezin', we're freezin' for a reason."
"I've been at Yale
for 21 years, and I barely make ends meet," says Linda Sandrey,
an administrative assistant at the School of Art. "I live paycheck
to paycheck."
As is typical with
Yale labor relations, the University and the unions disagree --
this time over the impact of the strike. Union organizers say close
to 4,000 workers participated, while University officials put the
number lower. The unions also claim many discussion sections were
cancelled, but administrators say most were covered either by graduate
students who chose not to strike or by faculty members. All the
dining halls but Commons were closed, so students got rebate checks
to buy food.
Conroy says the major
roadblock to a contract settlement is the unions' insistence on
linking contract talks to the organizing efforts of the graduate
students (GESO) and hospital workers.
If they drop that, he says, "we believe we could reach a settlement
quickly."
But union members say
there are also other sticking points, including pensions and salaries.
"We've countered our proposals, but the University's first offer
was their last. They don't negotiate," says Bill Grego, a photographer
for the School of Architecture.
Talks between Yale
and union negotiators resumed the week after the strike.
Hospital
Sued Over Charity Fund
Connecticut attorney
general Richard Blumenthal '73JD says that Yale-New Haven Hospital
is withholding money donated to care for the poor while sending
bill collectors after patients who might have been eligible for
the so-called free-bed funds, accusations the hospital flatly denies.
"This could certainly
impact on the financial well-being and maybe even the health of
families affected by the hospital's actions," says Blumenthal, who
filed a lawsuit against the hospital in February. He says he could
seek monetary damages for patients he claims were unfairly denied
access to funds and restitution for state agencies that paid bills
the fund should have covered.
"We have complete confidence
that all our activity associated with free-bed funds has been legal,
compliant, and ethical," says hospital spokeswoman Katie Krauss,
adding that the hospital last year provided more than $52 million
in free and undercompensated care to those in need.
In a disagreement that
is growing increasingly heated, Blumenthal charged the hospital
with "distorting the issues" and making "apples-and-oranges comparisons."
He says his investigation was prompted by conversations with a variety
of sources, including patients, donors, and medical professionals
at the hospital.
Y-NHH has in its endowment
$37 million in donations earmarked to provide free care for the
poor. The suit alleges that many potentially eligible patients were
denied access to these funds and then subjected to aggressive debt
collection practices. Krauss counters that the hospital's support
of the indigent goes beyond the free-bed fund. She says the hospital
created the Yale-New Haven Fund, which it supports from its operating
budget. She also points out that that the hospital's May 2001 filing
with the state Office on Health Care Access did not raise any concerns
on the subject. "There was no indication of a problem, that anything
was amiss," she says.
State law says that
the availability of free-bed funds must be clearly posted and that
hospitals must keep detailed records of how the money is used. Blumenthal
says his probe is ongoing and could spread to include other hospitals.
A
Better Test for Admissions?
It probably can't do
anything about the fear and loathing admissions tests generate,
but a new exam developed by Yale researchers could turn out to be
a better predictor of college success than the current SAT. Results
of a study of a revised college admissions test developed by the
Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise
at Yale were "great," according to lead investigator Robert Sternberg.
"The current test measures
memory skills and analytical thinking," says Sternberg, the IBM
Professor of Psychology and Education. "The problem is that it doesn't
test creative and practical skills, which are also important indicators
of college success."
Sternberg says the
new exam applies a psychological understanding of what it takes
to succeed in college. For instance, it asks students to write stories
and cartoon captions. It also gives them real-life scenarios and
asks them to choose the best solutions. "It's quite different,"
says Sternberg. "We're looking at those factors of ability that
traditional tests ignore."
Sternberg says the
new test, which augments rather than replaces the SAT, could also
help close the test-score gap among ethnic groups. The SAT has long
been criticized for having a cultural bias that favors white and
Asian students over African American and Hispanic students. At a
time when affirmative action is under fire, Sternberg says the new
test could provide an alternative route to boosting minority admissions.
In the first phase
of the study, known as the Rainbow Project, the new test was given
to 1,007 high school and college students. Since the results were
promising, it now moves on to phases two and three, in which larger
numbers of students will be tested to determine whether the test
is commercially viable. Sternberg says if the trials go well, the
new test could be in widespread use in five to seven years.
Pfizer
to Open Test Site in New Haven
Attracted in part by
the proximity to Yale's medical center, Pfizer, the world's largest
pharmaceutical company, is planning to build a 50-bed inpatient
clinical trial center in New Haven. The $35-million drug-testing
center, which is scheduled to open in 2005, will be used for clinical
trials involving human volunteers, who will be given experimental
medicines under close observation. These government-mandated tests
must be performed before a drug can reach the market.
Pfizer spokesman Stephen
Lederer says New Haven was chosen for a number of reasons, including
Yale's reputation in medical-imaging technology. This is an invaluable
tool, he says, because it tells researchers whether a drug is working,
how much of it is in the patient's system, and how quickly the body
gets rid of it. "We feel extremely lucky, because we have a world
leader in imaging technology and a prospective collaborator on our
doorstep," says Lederer.
The extent to which
Yale researchers will work with Pfizer is still being worked out.
"From our point of view, we will offer to Yale the opportunity to
collaborate in clinical trials, and the assumption is they will
want to," Lederer says.
The test drugs are
aimed at treating Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, osteoporosis,
diabetes, cancer, and infectious diseases, among others. Pfizer's
best known prescriptions include the anti-impotence drug Viagra,
the anti-depressant Zoloft, and the cholesterol-lowering medication
Lipitor.
The center will be
built on a contaminated site adjacent to Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Pfizer bought the land from the state for $1 and will pay to have
it cleaned up.
Students
Seek Co-Ed Suites
You could call it the
college equivalent of the illegal sublet -- everyone knows it goes
on, but technically it's not allowed.
In Yale's case, the
rule that is being flouted is the clause in the undergraduate regulations
that bars students of the opposite sex from living together in campus
housing. Still, its mere existence rankles some students.
Claiming the rule discriminates
against homosexuals, a new student group called the Alliance for
Sensible College Housing at Yale is seeking to have it repealed.
"The current policy is heteronormative," charges group founder Andrew
Allison '04, meaning that it presumes heterosexuality and discounts
the existence of homosexuals on campus. "It acknowledges only one
kind of relationship and completely ignores all others."
Alliance member Cyd
Cipolla '04 is a lesbian who lives in a suite with other women.
"My roommates are accepting of me and I'm accepting of them," she
says. "We don't need a locked door between us to prevent some kind
of awkwardness. Why not afford the same trust to heterosexual students?"
Currently, students
who want to live with friends of the opposite sex must move off
campus, which is a shame, Allison says, because it deprives them
of the enrichment of the residential college experience.
Allison, who is also
president of the Yale College Council, submitted a resolution to
the Council in the fall calling for the ban on opposite-sex cohabitation
to be lifted. The council approved the motion on a near-unanimous
vote. Now the group is trying to gather student support through
a petition drive.
But dean of student
affairs Betty Trachtenberg is not convinced. "There are several
well-founded reasons why I don't advocate cohabitation," says Trachtenberg.
She says she consulted colleagues at schools that allow cohabitation
and is troubled by reports of sexual harassment and assault and
the complexities that arise when student change their minds. She
says that Yale has no plans to allow cohabitation "in the foreseeable
future."
Campus
Dems Gear Up for 2004
When former House Speaker
Thomas "Tip" O'Neill said all politics is local, he wasn't talking
about Yale's role in the 2004 presidential race. But he could have
been. Three Yale graduates are among the candidates vying for the
Democratic nomination, and the nominee will almost certainly run
against president George W. Bush
'68.
"The way I see it,
it's going to be a battle of the Yalies no matter what," says Alicia
Washington '05, president of Yale College Democrats. U.S. senators
Joseph Lieberman '64, '67JD, and John Kerry '66, of Connecticut
and Massachusetts, respectively, and Howard Dean '71, the former
governor of Vermont, are all seeking the Democratic nomination for
president. (If Kerry and Bush each win their party's nomination,
it would be the country's first Skull and Bones presidential faceoff.)
"At this point I consider
them the front-runners, so that makes it very exciting to us," Washington
says. Which is why she and other Yale College Democrats are already
marshalling their forces for a tough race. "Since the candidates
are starting now, we think we should fall in line and get started,
too," Washington says.
The group plans to
focus on one issue each month, explaining the Democratic Party's
stand and outlining each of the prospective Democratic nominee's
views. Plans are also under way to hold panel discussions with students
and faculty and to invite the candidates to campus. Washington says
Kerry has already expressed interest, and she is also getting e-mails
from students wanting to hook up with campaigns in the fall.
Meanwhile, the Yale
College Republicans are revving their engines, with plans to offer
a speaker series featuring influential party leaders. "Our hope
is to present the true face of the usually misconstrued Republican
message and ideals," says president Victoria Yen '03.
Walter
Camp Gets a Stamp
It's been more than
75 years since his death, but legendary Yale athlete Walter Camp,
Class of 1880, is still raking in honors and accolades. A U.S. postage
stamp saluting the "the father of American football" was unveiled
in February in a ceremony at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale. Camp
is one of four football pioneers pictured in a group of commemorative
stamps titled "Early Football Heroes." The other three College Football
Hall of Famers are Ernie Nevers, Red Grange, and Bronko Nagurski.
"It's a source of pride
for Yale and a great tribute to a wonderful American who did so
much for college football," says Yale athletics director Thomas
Beckett.
A native of New Britain,
Camp played football at Yale from 1877 to 1882. He went on to coach
the team for five years and helped establish the National Collegiate
Athletic Association.
But Camp is probably
best known for shaping the rules -- from the huddle to the forward
pass -- that transformed rugby into the game Americans so ardently
enjoy. "Literally everything that happens in a football game today
was initiated or influenced by Walter Camp," Beckett says.
The campaign to honor
Camp was started more than 15 years ago by several New Haven residents,
including Bill O'Brien, a past president of the Walter Camp Foundation.
Their efforts finally came to fruition when Branford native John
Walsh, vice chair of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors,
got involved.
The "Early Football
Heroes" stamp pane will be issued in August.
Bulldog!
Bulldog! Cha Cha Cha!
by James McElroy '95
Ballroom dance competitors,
even at the college level, really do wear those outrageous and sometimes
extremely revealing costumes featured in the Baz Luhrman movie Strictly
Ballroom. If you happened to wander through the Woolsey Hall
rotunda on March 1, you might have seen for yourself.
The Yale Ballroom Dance
Team was hosting its 11th Annual Regional Ballroom Dance Competition
that day in Commons. Tables and chairs had been pushed aside to
create a dance floor, and music for all manner of dance -- waltzes,
rumbas, cha chas, fox trots, tangos -- wafted over the proceedings
at two-minute intervals. College teams from throughout the Northeast
-- including ballroom-dance powerhouses Harvard and MIT -- competed
for prizes in 28 competitions that covered five levels of dancing
expertise and 16 styles of dance.
Yale has fielded --
if that's the right word -- a ballroom dance team for 11 years.
And the program -- a club sport registered with the athletics department
-- has enjoyed a fair amount of success. Team members pay dues that
cover the cost of a professional coach, regular lessons, and two
trips to competitions away from Yale. They are expected to practice
at least four to six hours a week, but many practice three hours
a day, six days a week.
Most of the current
team's 60 dancers are categorized as newcomers or bronze-level dancers,
which means this is their first year dancing competitively. As team
captain Mariah Fike '03 puts it, "This is a rebuilding year for
us."
Still, the team boasts
a number of high-level dancers. Fike and her partner, Alexander
Nguyen '03JD, have reached the silver level in their second year
dancing together, and Lily Kolman '04 and her partner, Vladimir
Nossov, are at the gold level and may soon graduate to the open
category -- the highest level of competitive ballroom, in which
dancers can dance whatever steps they like. (In the other four competitive
categories -- newcomer, bronze, silver, and gold -- competitors
may only dance steps in accord with that category's "syllabus.")
As for those revealing
costumes, Fike and Kolmon say they are more practical than one might
suppose. Many of the Latin dances -- rumba, cha cha, samba, and
paso doble -- require quick, specific movements of the knees, hips,
back, and even the tummy of female competitors. And when they perform
these moves, Fike and Kolman want to make sure the judges can see
them.
"If they can't see
it," says Fike, "they assume that you're not doing it."
On March 1, the Yale
team must have been doing it right. They took first prize in the
overall team event, and many Yale couples won prizes in individual
events. But most important, in the midst of a cold, wet New England
winter, everyone got to dance all day.  |
