Archive: Tue Jan 2002

  1. New Haven alderman fights racial profiling post Sept. 11

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    On November 28, Yusuf Shah, New Haven’s Ward 23 alderman, was rushing to fly to his seriously ill mother in Atlanta. Shah arrived at Hartford’s Bradley International Airport at 7:00 a.m. but did not board a plane to Atlanta until nearly five hours later, at 11:50 a.m. During that time, Shah claims he was repeatedly singled out, searched and made to miss his original flight. Shah does not believe his experience to be the typical airport delay but rather a case of racial profiling.

    Since that time, Shah has written letters to several influential political figures, including Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Conn. Senator Joseph Lieberman, to protest the way in which he was treated.

    “These instances of bias will not stop until people begin to speak,” Shah said. “Civil liberty is part of the American fabric. I am not willing to give up any of my civil liberties.”

    Prior to Nov. 28, Shah had purchased an electronic ticket online. Upon arrival at the airport, Shah was informed at the check-in counter that he did not have a ticket reservation. Shah then called to verify his electronic ticket and was told that he did have a reservation.

    When Shah told the US Airways representative he had just confirmed his reservation, he was again told he did not have a reservation. Shah then asked if he could purchase a ticket on the flight and was told he could only do so if he paid in cash.

    “I knew right then and there that I was being [racially] profiled,” Shah said. “I didn’t want to make any trouble.”

    Soon after his intended flight departed, Shah was called to the check-in desk and told there had been a mistake and that he would be put on the 11:50 a.m. flight to Atlanta.

    But at the screening checkpoint, security personnel stopped Shah and asked to see his identification. At the same time, Shah noticed other passengers were not asked for their identification. Shah presented his ticket and identification, but the security personnel insisted on searching him and his carry-on bag. Shah, who is diabetic and carries a syringe for his insulin injection, was told he would not be allowed to bring the syringe on board without a physician’s verification that he was diabetic.

    “It was dehumanizing to have someone tell you not to bring your medication,” Shah said. “They are telling you to die.”

    Shah was eventually allowed to bring his medication aboard. When he finally reached the gate, he said he was again singled out and searched because there was an Arab name on his ticket.

    “The key is to be fair and equitable,” Shah said. “If you’re going to search people three, four, five times, search everybody. Don’t just search everyone and then the ones with Muslim names, search them two or three more times.”

    Shah does not think his case was an isolated incident of racial profiling. His sister, Maryum Shah, was flying out of New York’s La Guardia Airport on the same day and had a nearly identical experience. She also missed her flight due to a problem with her reservation and was also asked to pay for her ticket in cash when she attempted to purchase a ticket. After she missed her original flight, she was told the airline had made a mistake.

    Before she boarded her plane, she was patted down three times. Furthermore, just when the plane was about to leave the gate, security personnel stopped the plane, called out five Muslim names from the passenger lists and searched them in front of everyone. Meanwhile, Yusuf Shah’s uncle, who does not have an Arab name, did not have any problems while boarding his flight that day.

    “We can’t takes chances with anybody after Sept. 11, but profiling is not the way to do it,” Shah said. “A Tim McVeigh and a Terry Nichols can walk onto the plane and not be scrutinized because they are white males and don’t have Muslim names.”

    So far, Shah’s decision to go public with his experience has received the support and approval of his peers.

    “I applaud his decision to make it a public issue and [feel] that it is very important to keep abreast of issues of racial profiling since Sept. 11,” Ward 1 Alderman Ben Healey ’04 said.

    Although he has received a letter of apology from US Airways, Shah wants to bring about physical changes to the status quo.

    “After Sept. 11 we have to clean house,” Shah said. “We not only have terrorism abroad, we have many internal problems that have to be addressed.”

  2. State’s taxpayers can now use Internet to file returns

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    Connecticut taxpayers have a new option to file their incomes taxes — the Internet.

    The state Department of Revenue Services Monday unveiled WebFile, an online service that provides forms and automatically calculates income taxes for many state residents.

    The free Internet service is available to taxpayers throughout the 2001 tax filing season to guide users through the state’s 1040 form and complete calculations for them.

    Department officials say the program will make filing taxes easier and faster, and will save the state money.

    Electronic filing eliminates the processing paper returns, which are received by mail, sorted, checked for accuracy, entered into a computer and then placed in storage.

    It costs between $1 and $3 to process a paper return, said Sarah E. Kaufman, a revenue department spokeswoman.

    Getting more people to file electronically would reduce the need to hire additional staff during the tax season.

    –Associated Press

  3. A cautious start to labor negotiations

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    The six-year contract between Yale University and its unions, which represent over 4,000 employees, expired Sunday with little fanfare. Fortunately, no immediate tension is likely to result, as both sides agreed to honor the basic terms of the old contract until at least March 1.

    The decision to temporarily extend the contracts is a necessary one, but the slow pace at which talks between the parties have progressed in recent months increases the likelihood of serious conflict if a breakdown in negotiations does occur.

    Yale and locals 34 and 35 — the University’s two recognized unions — bided their time this fall by deciding to hire a consultant to help them overcome their long-standing tensions. After spending several months interviewing 120 representatives on both sides, consultant John Stepp released his findings in a report last week that included virtually no substantial new information. The only slightly surprising part of the report was that the severe hatred and inflammatory rhetoric espoused by both sides was perhaps more intense than either side realized.

    Nevertheless, both sides agreed to retain the consultants, and the next step will be a training session on “interest-based bargaining,” led by the consulting firm on Feb. 4-5 –a full three weeks after the initial report was issued.

    Given the outcome of previous bargaining attempts –seven of the past 10 contract negotiations have been followed by strikes –it certainly is not a bad idea for the University and the unions to try something new this time around. Indeed, seeking outside help might be the only way University administrators and union leaders can realistically hope to improve their historically troubled relationship.

    But so far it appears that little was gained from the decision to bring in the consultant, and substantive negotiations still have not started.

    At this point, despite platitudes offered by both sides, a peaceful resolution to a potentially disastrous conflict still seems well in the distance. And with a three-week delay between the consultant’s recommendation and the training session –plus an unknown period before bargaining actually starts — there seems to be a mutual lack of interest in hammering out an agreement quickly.

    In early December, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. classified the evolving Yale-union relationship as something like a “mating ritual.” As with any relationship, especially one as historically tempestuous as this, it is sometimes important to proceed slowly and cautiously before expecting any breakthrough.

    But the longer the University and the unions wait to begin confronting the serious issues and differences of opinion between them, the greater the risk of squandering a unique opportunity to transcend the animosity that has characterized the relationship in the past. That’s one interest it shouldn’t take a consultant to determine both sides have in common.

  4. City plans to transform Fair Haven waterfront

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    Redevelopment of the Fair Haven waterfront has entered the implementation phase.

    Earlier this month, the New Haven Board of Aldermen approved the state’s designation of 42 acres between River Street and the Quinnipiac River as part of a municipal development plan. The classification allows the city to acquire properties via eminent domain, create an implementation plan, and apply for state financial assistance in redeveloping the site, all of which will begin over the next six months.

    “The next step is to talk to the property owners so that the city can begin the design and implementation phases,” said Helen Rosenberg, a New Haven business services officer.

    The redevelopment of the River Street property will transform the blighted region into a blend of light industrial, commercial and residential complexes separated from the Quinnipiac River by a strip of open space. An 8 acre, inactive Hess oil distillation plant and a junk yard belonging to Lloyd Terminals, Inc., currently occupy large sections of the River Street tract. Other occupants include a Meyers distributors’ warehouse that is 80 percent vacant, an inactive Dupont chemical distribution center, and the Regan Metals scrap yard, Rosenberg said.

    “The plan will replace vacant buildings and petroleum tanks with mixed-use facilities,” New Haven’s Economic Development Administrator Henry Fernandez said. “It’s a badly needed change.”

    New Haven applied to the state Office of Policy and Management for the parcel’s municipal development plan designation in October. Rosenberg expects to meet with the Fair Haven property owners over the next six months about acquiring their land, perhaps the most challenging aspect of the redevelopment.

    But city officials said they will not allow property owners to stand in their way now that the zone has municipal development plan status.

    “We have the authority, and we have the money,” Fernandez said.

    The board also approved $10 million of municipal bonds for the project in early January, Fernandez said.

    The project is estimated to cost $20 million in all, Rosenberg said. In addition to the bonding, New Haven will apply to the state for $8 million in redevelopment funding. Contributions from private developers should cover the rest of the project’s cost.

    Rosenberg said she already has spoken with all but one or two of the parcel’s current property owners within the past year and expects most to agree to sell their land to the city or upgrade their sites according to a redevelopment plan.

    “We hope to work with these property owners and not have to push things,” Rosenberg said.

    The Lloyd Terminals and Regan Metals’ junk yards provide the main hurdles because few sites are zoned for scrap yards.

    “The bigger issue is going to be trying to accommodate the relocation of the scrap yards,” Rosenberg said.

  5. Wood scores twice in overtime win

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    After being beaten 3-0 by Boston College on Jan. 19, the women’s ice hockey team found a way to get its revenge.

    Sara Wood’s ’02 goal with just 39 seconds remaining in overtime led the Bulldogs (6-10-1, 2-5-0 ECAC-N) to a 3-2 victory over the Eagles (4-12-3) Saturday. The team was then defeated by No. 3 Northeastern (18-2-0) on Sunday by the score of 4-0.

    Wood gathered a rebound in the slot of Kaitlin Porcaro’s ’03 shot from the point, putting it over the shoulder of Eagles goalie Lisa Davis for the game winner.

    “We found the energy we needed to win,” said forward Deanna McDevitt ’03, who scored the Bulldog’s first goal against BC.

    The Elis began the game well, scoring two goals early. At 8:58 of the first period, McDevitt stole a breakout pass and walked in alone, shooting from several feet out. The puck ricocheted in off the inside post to get the Bulldogs out to a 1-0 lead.

    With 24 seconds remaining in the period, Wood scored the first of her two goals during a Yale power play, sliding the puck under Davis after Nicole Symington ’05 redirected an Erin Duggan ’05 shot.

    “[Wood and McDevitt scored] probably the best goals of the whole weekend,” goaltender Nicolette Franck ’04 said.

    After the team went 2-0, however, the Eagles came back, scoring consecutive goals. The teams remained tied for the rest of regulation.

    In overtime, “it was all Yale,” according to Marchetti, with Wood eventually tallying the game winner, her 10th goal of the season.

    As has been the trend this season, the already outnumbered Elis were playing with a bench further shortened by injuries. Kirsten Wick ’05 and Erica Hockinson ’03 were both out of the lineup, forcing the team to play the weekend with only four defensemen.

    “Once again we faced a team that had a full bench and we had to go with 12 skaters,” Marchetti said. “[Goalie] Katie Hirte ’02 made some great stops for us.”

    Hirte, who splits time with Franck, finished with 24 saves.

    Sunday, the Elis faced a tougher challenge when they skated against Northeastern. The Huskies, ranked No. 3 in the nation, were able to skate four full lines, whereas the Elis did not even have three. McDevitt noted that the players on the team will have to continue to work on their conditioning in practice so they can withstand the added ice time during the games.

    Despite the limited numbers, however, the team’s overall defense has been improving with time.

    “The team as a whole is talking a lot more on the ice, playing smart positions, using the points, taking risks and harder shots, and altogether reducing the opponent’s screened shots, odd-man rushes and back-door plays,” Franck said.

    Wood added that the team needs to continue to improve in that respect, however.

    “As long as we recommit ourselves to our defensive zone coverage I think we’ll be fine, and we’ll be able to handle the rest of our schedule pretty well.”

    Michelle Lorion scored 17:33 into the first period for the first of four Husky goals.

    Lindsay Ball then tallied twice in the second period for NU, extending their lead to 3-0. That score remained until the final minute, when Kim Greene got the puck past Franck.

    Franck finished the game with 36 saves.

    “Yesterday’s loss to NU was probably one of the most hurtful losses of the season from my perspective, not because I or the team played poorly, but because we played well,” she said.

    Marchetti agreed that the game was closer than the score indicated.

    In the third period, The Bulldogs scored what they felt was a legitimate goal, but it was overturned when the officials ruled that the net came loose.

    “The fact that the goal was disallowed was so frustrating,” said forward Wallis Finger ’04, who was involved in the play. “I think that if that goal had been allowed, that would have been a great turning point in the game, but it was just bad luck that the call did not go in our direction.”

    Wood said that inconsistent play hurt Yale Sunday.

    “We played well at times, but at other times we weren’t organized and didn’t stick to our game plan,” she said.

    This weekend, the team will be home Friday to play Middlebury in a non-league game at 4:00 p.m. at Ingalls Rink before traveling to Princeton Sunday for a rematch with the Tigers. Earlier this season, the Elis fell 4-0 at home.

    “If, when we play Princeton, we play as hard as we did against Northeastern, it will be a great game,” Finger said.

  6. W. squash rolls through four ranked opponents

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    After playing three matches in two days, the women’s squash team faced No. 8 Dartmouth Sunday in what promised to be their toughest match of an exhausting weekend.

    The Bulldogs, hosting a multitude of both men’s and women’s teams at the Brady Squash Center, had already defeated No. 9 Williams, 6-3, and No. 11 Bates, 9-0, Friday. Saturday, the Yale women dominated No. 5 Cornell, 8-1.

    Despite Cornell’s high ranking, coaches and players said that it was the Dartmouth match that Yale (5-1, 3-0 Ivy) had spent the week preparing for.

    “We had been building up for Dartmouth over the weekend,” captain Miriam Fishman ’02 said. “People went into [the match] a little harder.”

    Although the Bulldogs routed the Big Green (5-2, 1-1) on the score sheet by the large margin of 8-1, Yale players said fatigue made the match very difficult.

    “Everybody didn’t have their A-games,” Yale head coach Mark Talbott said.

    Though the lone Eli to lose a match was No. 3 player Sarah Coleman ’05, who fell to Dartmouth freshman Kelly Sennatt 3-1, players had to resort to what Fishman called “scrappier squash” in order to get the win.

    “We had a long weekend,” said Francis Ho ’05, who played in the No. 1 position for the Bulldogs. Despite hamstring tightness, Ho easily defeated Dartmouth’s Sarah West, the 16th-ranked player in the nation, 3-0. For her own part, Ho has risen to the ninth spot in the individual rankings.

    Devon Dalzell ’04, Lauren Doline ’05, Gina Wilkinson ’03, Katharine Sands ’02, Lindsay Schroll ’05, Abigail McDonough ’04 and Abigail Epstein ’05 rounded out the Bulldog’s scoring nine.

    Talbott said that he did not expect the Williams match to be as competitive as it turned out.

    “They played really well,” he said of the Ephs.

    In the Cornell match, Ho fell 3-0 to the No. 2 player in the nation, Olga Puigemont Sola.

    “I knew it was going to be tough,” Ho said. “I’d say that right now I’m not quite [at her level] yet, but hopefully I will be.”

    Next weekend, the Bulldogs will travel to Princeton for the Constable Invitational, where they will participate in an individual tournament. Talbott said Ho will compete in the first bracket with the top 16 players in the nation.

    “There will be a lot of tough players, but it will be good to gain some experience and see where I am with those girls,” Ho said.

    In addition, the tournament will provide an opportunity for Yale players to get comfortable on Princeton’s concrete courts, which Talbott said may give the No. 3 Tigers a slight advantage when they host the Bulldogs Feb. 2.

    “Princeton’s our biggest match,” he said. “We have a shot from [players] one to 10 — everybody has to focus.”

  7. MLK Day forces Yale to reflect

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    Yale commemorated the work and life of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, even as University President Richard Levin acknowledged that Yale’s past included “shameful” episodes related to slavery and race relations.

    Despite these comments, the overall tone of Levin’s remarks and the day’s events were positive as students, faculty and community members discussed the way Yale and individuals here are working to realize King’s goals.

    “It’s not just his memory we’re celebrating, but his activism,” student coordinator Lindsey Greene ’04 said. “He demonstrated the power to make a change.”

    Levin congratulated the students who worked to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day an academic holiday and remembered himself as a 16-year-old weeping after hearing King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

    “I wept because Dr. King’s vision was so self-evidently right and just, and because our nation had so far to go to make his dream a reality,” Levin said.

    But Levin also talked about the August report linking Yale founders and developers to slavery. He said that rather than renaming buildings, Yale needs to “deepen [its] understanding of the history of slavery and its pervasiveness in our society.

    “We need also to find ways to honor as local and national heroes those who participated in the struggle against slavery, as well as those who advanced the cause of free blacks,” Levin said.

    Ward 7 Alderwoman Dolores Colon continued Levin’s discussion of Yale’s obligation to the New Haven community, especially to schools. She said a problem in New Haven is that jobs in biotechnology are going to people from out of town or to Yale graduates who stay in the city afterward, not to New Haven natives.

    The day’s activities began before these speeches with a morning ceremony at Battell Chapel. Greene explained the theme of the day: leadership and the pursuit of justice.

    Cynthia Johnson, co-pastor of the Black Church of Yale, said King’s dream poses a challenge to people today and cited child poverty as one of the biggest current social problems.

    “Our billionaires are becoming millionaires,” Johnson said. “But the poor were poor the last decade — and will be poor next year.”

    She closed with a challenge to the audience to actively follow King’s lead.

    “Yes, there’s global injustice, but what is it that I am doing to make a difference?” Johnson asked.

    Camille McDonald, a member of a vocal trio that performed, said the morning service was inspirational.

    “They challenged everyone to bring dreams into reality and made me really think about what I want in my life,” McDonald said.

    The second installment of yesterday’s program included speeches in Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall by Levin, Colon and John Johnson ’03.

    The final program of the day was a talent showcase, including such groups as Shades, Steppin’ Out, Konjo and Unity.

    Yale College Council President Vidhya Prabhakaran ’03 said the programs witnessed a larger turnout than last year.

    “Attendance has doubled,” Prabhakaran said.

    Hoang-Tuoc Le ’03, who was handing out candles for the candlelight ceremony at the end of the program, said she looked forward to the talent program.

    “Lots of groups are coming together to perform from diverse backgrounds,” said Le, a coordinator of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day events.

    University Chaplain Jerry Streets also spoke last night, and his message was again one of duty. In reference to the song, “We Shall Overcome,” sung by Shades last night, he told the audience that they have an obligation to continue King’s legacy.

    “Your generation has the capacity to truly overcome someday,” Streets said.

    Johnson, co-director of the Afro-American Cultural Center, closed the second ceremony with remarks about the meaning of the holiday.

    “It is a day on, not a day off,” Johnson said. “This day is about unfinished business and work yet to be done.”

    [ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”20089″ ]

  8. Unions, University unite on MLK Day

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    Ward 7 Alderwoman Dolores Colon ’91 shared a stage with Yale President Richard Levin Monday as she spoke of traditionally elitist attitudes toward workers.

    Colon spoke as a representative of Local 34, which represents Yale’s clerical and technical workers. Her remarks came as part of a student–organized ceremony to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

    “You have the president of the University [and] all high level well educated people that look down at custodians and secretaries,” Colon said. “That was one of the points I wanted to make.”

    Yet as she condemned the relationship between Yale’s leaders and its workers, Colon’s very presence on the same stage as Levin represented a significant change in the role the unions have played in public events, symbolizing the first steps toward improving the long-acrimonious relationship between the University and its unions.

    While Monday’s ceremony was planned by a student-organized committee rather than the administration, it continued a developing tradition of increased union inclusion at major University public events.

    At October’s Tercentennial Convocation, Associate Vice President for New Haven and State Affairs Michael Morand spoke of the important role Yale’s workers play in the community. That weekend’s Tercentennial Gala celebration at the Yale Bowl featured many union members onstage with Levin, holding candles as they sang “America the Beautiful.”

    Just weeks earlier, in a move considered emblematic of greater changes in University-labor relations, Levin and Local 35 President Bob Proto embraced in front of audience members at a memorial ceremony for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

    The recent inclusion of a union presence in public University events comes as union and University leaders talk about mending fences in preparation for contract negotiations this winter.

    “I think there has been a concerted effort to show that Yale is comprised of students, faculty, administrators and staff, and so whenever you can demonstrate that all these people are an integral part of the University community, the better,” Yale spokeswoman Helaine Klasky said. “I think [it is] a way of demonstrating to the community that what President Levin has been saying, he means.”

    Levin, whose speech Monday addressed the University’s commitment to civil rights, relations with the city, and the recent push to improve labor relations, said his remarks reflected Yale’s continuing effort to work with its unions.

    “From my point of view, I’m trying to reach out and work more cooperatively with our unions and their leaders, and so I certainly welcomed these efforts to include the voices of our workers in public ceremonies at Yale,” Levin said.

    Though Levin described the event’s theme as “universal in nature” and naturally conducive to union involvement, he added that the inclusion of union representation on stage with him would have been unusual in previous administrations.

    “I’m trying to establish the credibility and sincerity of my commitment to making things better here,” Levin added.

    Colon filled in for Local 34 Vice President Alexis Flint, who could not attend. She acknowledged that she would likely not have shared a stage with Levin in the past and said that she thought Levin’s mention of labor relations in his speech reflected a sincere commitment to change Yale’s tone.

    Still, Colon expressed reservations concerning whether the institutional practice of the University would reflect Levin’s commitment.

    “I think he’s genuinely interested in fostering a new era of labor relations at Yale,” Colon said. “The problem is: how far will the Yale Corporation do that? That’s the real power. He can point the direction, but the Corporation has to follow.”

  9. King’s dream and the nightmare of the PC police

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    In my first semester as an undergraduate, I noticed that something has gone awry in this country’s race relations. A friend was trying to point me towards a person in the cafeteria. The person was sitting next to someone else who had a similar outfit on. The student he indicated was black, and the student’s neighbor was white.

    My friend, in trying to distinguish between the two, hesitated for a moment and then proceeded to single out a minor differentiating factor: “the one with the Adidas sneaker.” His fear of committing an ethnic faux pas was so great that he did not dare mention the word “black.”

    It was surely only a matter of time until the sentiments agitating American society as a whole filtered through its upper echelons and influenced the country’s policy making. The suspension of classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the undeniable sign that for the Yale community such a day has arrived. What a pity.

    This holiday seems unjustified on all logical grounds. If the university is to suspend classes on this day, then why not on all other federally recognized holidays? One might say that no other date has the universal appeal of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which honors a man who not only fought for black Americans but continued the long tradition of struggle for fundamental human values.

    Agreed.

    Yet such reasoning opens the door to the commemoration of a number of other national and ethnic leaders whose battles strike the same universal chord. Would the American establishment and academy respond sympathetically to demands by Latin Americans seeking to lionize Che Guevara, by Indians memorializing Gandhi, by Palestinians defending Arafat, or even by South Africans honoring Nelson Mandela?

    Hardly.

    Why?

    Because the only ethnicity against which this nation turned its claws with all the might of institutionalized discrimination was its black population, and those years of repression have created a similar reservoir of a very pernicious sentiment: guilt.

    Guilt might be appropriate in the context of religious ceremonies or psychoanalytical inquiries, but it is not a proper catalyst for public discourse. The visceral reactions that the sentiment provokes are woefully inappropriate for the shaping of public policy.

    Fortunately, guilt has resulted in the retreat of white supremacists and the subsequent advance of the black cause. Yet unfortunately and tragically, this black movement’s new leadership has not sought the integration of the black minority into the hitherto WASP-ruled order. Instead, it has attempted to carve its own niche and create a separate identity.

    This can be seen even in the way black activists have chosen to name the population they represent: “African-Americans.”

    In my opinion, few descriptions are more ludicrous than this one. For what do black Americans have in common with Africans? They don’t share the same culture, the same education, the same political institutions, or the same language, let alone the same income level.

    As an outside spectator, it is obvious to me that black Americans have much more to do with white Americans than with black Africans, despite the color of their skin.

    This is a good sign, a sign of an integration which is long overdue. Yet it still bewilders me that white obstructionism has been replaced by a racialization perpetrated by black leaders themselves. This racialization is made possible by non-blacks’ deep-seated fear that any opposition to the proposals offered by the other side amounts to racism.

    It is thus ironic that Martin Luther King Jr., the man whose dream depicted black and white children playing together on the same field, is now used to symbolize a system in which color continues to determine social interactions. The only difference is that it now operates in the opposite direction.

    In the end, I am disheartened to see the that the cardinal principle against which civil libertarians rose up — that of an institutional framework purportedly “separate but equal” — is now precisely what their self-proclaimed heirs seem to advocate.

    Gustavo Ioschpe GRD ’02 is a student in the master’s program in international and development economics.

  10. A tale of two sisters: Applying to college early

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    Rebecca and Sarah Zeidel are not identical twins, but looking at their grades and scores, it would be hard to tell them apart.

    Both girls attend Phillips Exeter Academy, where their rooms are one floor apart and their phone numbers differ by only the last digit.

    The Zeidel sisters both nearly applied to Yale early decision this fall.

    At the last minute, however, Rebecca decided that she would instead turn in her application to Harvard through its nonbinding early action program.

    The Zeidel family offers a small-scale example of the national debate over early action versus early decision.

    When Yale President Richard Levin said in December that he would like to eliminate early-decision programs, he offered as one possible solution a return to the nonbinding early action program Yale had had until 1995. But he recently conceded that changing to a nonbinding early policy would not solve all the problems of the early-application process.

    “My feeling is that if there were many schools doing early action instead of early decision, that would be an improvement, but it wouldn’t really address some of the important issues,” Levin said.

    Rebecca Zeidel said there were other reasons besides Harvard’s nonbinding application process that led her to apply to Harvard instead of Yale this fall, but she agreed that a nonbinding policy is desirable from her perspective.

    “Early action allows you a lot more leeway in terms of your choices,” Rebecca said. “Even though I believe a lot of people who get in early action end up [going to the school], you don’t have that binding commitment hanging over [you].”

    Looking at her two daughters’ experiences, Susan Freedman ’75 said she also believes early action has some advantages over early decision.

    “[Rebecca] applied early action to Harvard and was accepted, and of course that gives her the option of applying elsewhere,” Freedman said. “It gives her another six months of growth and development to make that decision.”

    Nonetheless, Freedman said she thinks it would be ideal if all early application programs were abolished.

    “I think [early application] increases stress because you’re asking kids to make a decision in their junior year,” Freedman said. “If all of the Ivies got together and made a decision to just not do it, I think that would take a huge pressure off all parties.”

    Sarah said that she had initially wanted to apply at the later regular-decision deadline because she thought it was important to have those extra months to decide.

    “At first I didn’t want to apply early because I’ll be a different person in April and I [didn’t] want to make a binding commitment,” Sarah said.

    But Sarah’s college counselor suggested that she consider early application in order to reduce stress.

    “[She said], ‘If you can find a place you really want to be, why fill out eight applications if you really only want to go to one school?'” Sarah said. Following her counselor’s advice, Sarah went on numerous colleges visits, conducted extensive research, and decided to cast her lot with Yale.

    While Sarah and Rebecca, as members of the same family, come from the same financial background, one of the chief arguments against early decision is that it puts less affluent students at a disadvantage by denying them the opportunity to compare financial aid packages.

    Pema McGuinness, a classmate of the Zeidel sisters at Exeter, decided to apply early action to Harvard rather than through a binding early-decision program at another college, citing her desire to compare aid packages and scholarships from various schools.

    “I definitely wouldn’t have applied anywhere early decision because — I’m interested in a merit scholarship that’s offered at Duke,” McGuinness said. “Not being able to compare aid packages is a big downside to early decision as compared to early action.”

    Rebecca Zeidel said competition between her and Sarah had never been an issue in their family.

    “To be honest, I was more sure that Sarah was going to get in than I was going to get in,” Rebecca said. “I just thought it would be so crazy if they didn’t accept my sister.”

    Luckily, any latent competitive tendencies the girls may hold were not awakened by a difference in admissions outcomes.

    Within hours of one another on the afternoon of Dec. 14, Rebecca and Sarah learned they had been accepted to their respective schools. Rebecca got the good news in the form of an e-mail from Harvard; Sarah discovered her acceptance via Yale’s online notification site.

    “I was really glad we had both found out at the same time,” Rebecca said.

    Although Sarah and Rebecca were excited and relieved that they were both admitted, Sarah admitted that one of the hardest things about applying early was the dynamic among her classmates when school resumed after winter break.

    “I go to Exeter, and it’s really hard because there are a lot of my friends who applied early to Yale, and even in general, most people who applied early were deferred or even rejected,” Sarah said. “Certainly, I’m really excited that I’m in, but it’s really hard for the other people in my English class. They know and I know, and coming back from the new year, it was a little awkward.”

    Freedman, Sarah and Rebecca’s mother, said that feelings of inferiority can arise not only after a student is deferred or rejected but even before the admissions offices ever send out their decisions.

    “The kids who don’t apply early in some sense feel like they must be second-rate,” Freedman said, “and that’s not psychologically good for them either. [It] doesn’t mean that they’re at all second-rate because they couldn’t make a decision — it means they’re normal 17-year-olds.”

  11. Growing budget deficit forces education cutbacks

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    Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland said at a press conference Monday that the state’s budget deficit is still growing, despite an agreement reached with state legislators in November that reduced the shortfall by nearly $200 million.

    Rowland said the deficit now stands near $350 million. In November, state Comptroller Nancy Wyman estimated the deficit at $285 million.

    “Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news,” Rowland said, “but these are the realities we are facing.”

    Last year, the state actually posted a budget surplus, but Rowland announced yesterday that under his new plan the state will no longer spend any of the extra money. To make ends meet, the governor said he will also have to cut more education and mental health spending — a solution that has worried local politicians since Rowland proposed it in November.

    After yesterday’s press conference, Rowland spokesman Dean Pagani said he was certain that cities like New Haven will still receive the funding to which they are accustomed.

    “It shouldn’t affect [cities and towns] in any way,” he said. “It will definitely affect the state budget, but it will not affect the money from the state to cities and towns.”

    Pagani explained that the state will still fulfill its obligations to municipalities but will do so by borrowing rather than spending out of operating revenues.

    “Most mayors and first selectmen don’t care how the state gets the money,” he said. “They just care that they get it.”

    Rowland’s plan will cut state school construction spending by $50 million, but Pagani said that New Haven, which is in the middle of a 10-year, billion-dollar school construction effort, should still receive the money it needs.

    “There has been a certain amount that was going to be taken out of surplus to pay for school construction,” he said. “Now that will have to be borrowed.”

    He added that borrowing would “cost more in the long run” because the state will have to pay interest to creditors.

    Rowland’s plan will also cut $14 million from mental-health programs, $16 million from transportation and $10 million from higher education.

    Rowland also said yesterday that he is no longer averse to raising the state’s cigarette tax from 50 cents to one dollar, a proposal New Haven state Sen. Martin Looney began advertising last year before Connecticut’s deficit woes emerged. But the governor said he did not want the money spent on anti-smoking programs.

    The governor rejected a proposal by the state’s new Transportation Strategy Board that would have paid for highway construction projects by installing tollbooths on Connecticut’s busiest highways.

    Rowland’s budget announcement comes just three weeks after his administration cut $28 million from the $13 billion budget and three months after the agreement reached in November.

    Pagani said the latest round of cuts would not greatly affect any state programs.

    “In all these cases, the budget is already increasing,” he said.

    –The Associated Press contributed to this article.