Archive: 2003

  1. Schwartz, Lindner appointed associate VPs

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    Robert Schwartz and Janet Lindner will serve as the University’s new associate vice presidents for human resources and administration, respectively, Yale Vice President for Finance and Administration designate John Pepper announced in an e-mail to the University’s faculty and staff Monday.

    Schwartz is currently the vice president of human resources and administration for the biomedical services division of the American Red Cross. Lindner had served as Yale’s interim associate vice president for administration since May. Both will assume their new positions in January, as will Pepper himself.

    “[Schwartz’s] experience covers every aspect of human resources management,” Pepper said. “Janet [Lindner] has just impressed me enormously. She’s a real straight shooter.”

    The new appointments are the latest in a series of changes to the University’s administration over the past two weeks. Yale President Richard Levin announced Dec. 9 that Pepper would be the new vice president for finance and administration. Dean of Yale College Richard Brodhead was named president of Duke University Dec. 12 and will assume the post this July.

    Former Associate Vice President for Administration Peter Vallone had many of the same responsibilities as both new associate vice president positions. Pepper said this fact reflects the amount of work the University sees it needs to do. Both could play a major role in improving Yale’s historically contentious labor relations.

    Pepper said Levin made the final decision on both appointments, but he himself was very involved in the process and recommended both Schwartz and Lindner.

    “I feel great about these two individuals,” Pepper said.

    Schwartz and Lindner could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

    Schwartz will be the University’s chief human resources officer, responsible for labor relations, compensation and benefits, recruitment, and training programs. Pepper said one of Schwartz’ goals will be to improve productivity and job satisfaction, making Yale a “world-class human resources organization.”

    “We want to be even more a model of that,” Pepper said.

    Before his time at the Red Cross, Schwartz had been senior vice president of Teleglobe Communication and senior vice president of human resources for Nabisco in Canada.

    Pepper said Yale held a national search for the position and considered many highly qualified candidates from within the University. But, he said, Schwartz’s idea that the role of human resources is to help both individuals and organizations develop to their best capacity was the biggest reason in favor of his appointment.

    “Rob [Schwartz] is going to be a terrific asset for us,” Pepper said. “I very enthusiastically embraced this [appointment] and recommended this to Levin.”

    Lindner will be responsible for procurement and administrative support services, including parking, graduate housing, receiving and travel.

    Pepper said purchasing is “a huge area,” especially as the University prepares to cut costs.

    Lindner will also work on special projects, Pepper said, in something of the same way Yale Secretary Linda Lorimer takes on special projects for Levin.

    Lindner had previously served as the University’s executive director of administration and chief administrative officer of the city of New Haven.

    Pepper said Lindner is “an enormous talent.” He also praised her instincts and said she knows Yale well.

    Bob Proto, the president of Local 35, which represents service and maintenance workers at the University, said working with Yale is “a two-way street,” with the University allowing the unions’ bargaining units to grow as long as they show efficiency. Proto said he hoped both new associate vice presidents, along with Pepper, would bring a new perspective to the office.

    “I’m anticipating a new direction that could lead to a solid partnership,” Proto said.

    The search for a new associate vice president of facilities is ongoing, Pepper said. Pepper said Acting Associate Vice President of Facilities John Bollier is “doing an excellent job” and is a candidate for the position.

    “I would expect they’ll be further announcements on that sometime in the New Year,” Pepper said.

  2. Student robbed at gunpoint

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    City and University officals said Wednesday the armed robbery and sexual assault of a female Yale student early Sunday morning did not indicate a rise in crime overall, but urged caution for students, especially those living off campus.

    New Haven police were called to an apartment building at 1275 Chapel Street at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, New Haven police spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester said in an e-mail. A female Yale student who lives in the building told police a man forced his way into her apartment early that morning and fondled her.

    Karen Dubois-Walton, the city’s chief administrative officer, said she was informed of the incident by the police Sunday. Dubois-Walton oversees the city’s police department.

    “Our hearts go out to this poor young woman,” Dubois-Walton said. “I think the best thing the city can do is make an arrest.”

    Winchester said the woman described the robber as a black male wearing a mask and carrying a gun.

    The man confronted the student on the third-floor landing of her apartment building and told her to give him money, which the student did, Winchester said. The man then asked the woman for a phone, and she offered to give him her cell phone. Instead, he told her he wanted to use the phone in her apartment.

    Once inside, the woman told police, the man told her to undress. When she refused, the man pushed her up against a wall and fondled her, Winchester said.

    She said the man then asked the student to get money from her roommate’s room. When the woman searched the room and said she could not find any, the man threatened to wake up the roommate.

    The man finally left the room when the woman told him that there were several other people in the apartment, Winchester said.

    Ward 2 Alderwoman Joyce Chen ’01, who represents the district containing the apartment building and lives nearby, said she felt “incredible sympathy” for the woman.

    “For students especially, to be violated that way living off campus, it must be very traumatic,” Chen said.

    Chen called the area of the Dwight neighborhood where the woman lived a “target area,” where criminals focus because they know a large number of students live there.

    “People are looking to rob someone or assault someone, they know students are there,” Chen said. “I can list for you a number of friends of mine who have been robbed there.”

    Dubois-Walton said crime has fallen significantly in the city in recent years, but that students must still be careful about their safety.

    Chen said the Yale police should expand their patrols to include the neighborhood where the woman was assaulted, since so many University students live there. She said University police occasionally drive through the area, but do not patrol there regularly.

    Yale Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg said although it would not have prevented this incident, students should not walk around the city late at night by themselves.

    “I think [Yale community members] have to be aware of their own security,” Trachtenberg said.

    Walton said the investigation into the incident in ongoing and that she plans to be informed about any progress in the case.

  3. Correction

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    This article has been corrected. You may view this article’s correction here.

    The Dec. 10 article “Med school apps rise, follow national trend” incorrectly reported the number of applicants to the Yale School of Medicine. Applications have risen from 2,470 in 1999 to 3,464 in 2003, constituting an increase of approximately 40 percent.

  4. Community reacts to news of Brodhead’s departure

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    Members of the Yale community awoke this morning to find surprising news waiting in their e-mail inboxes: Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, a fixture at the University for nearly 40 years, will leave his alma mater to become the ninth president of Duke University in July 2004.

    In dining halls and offices across campus, students and professors expressed their disappointment that Yale’s beloved dean would be changing from a Blue Dog to a Blue Devil.

    “He’s Mr. Yale,” Jason Fischer ’06 said. “He’s been here for so long, you just get the feeling he really loves Yale.”

    Although Brodhead has served as Yale College Dean for the past 11 years, he has been a member of the Yale community for much longer. He is a Blue-blood through and through — after graduating from Yale College in 1968 and from the Graduate School in 1972, “Dick,” as he is known by colleagues, remained at the University as a professor until his appointment as Yale College Dean in 1993.

    At a press conference at Duke University Friday morning, Brodhead accidentally replaced the word “Duke” with “Yale” in prepared remarks, the Associated Press reported.

    “You know, I’ve been at Yale so long that I equate the word ‘college’ with the word ‘Yale,'” Brodhead said. “But I’ll be fixing that soon.”

    Brodhead led the Committee on Yale College Education in its recent academic review. The committee’s proposed curriculum changes will continue to affect Yale College long after Brodhead leaves for Duke.

    “He has left us in a good position,” Yale College Council President Elliott Mogul ’05 said. “I think the academic review will be his legacy.”

    Mogul, who was Brodhead’s academic advisee his sophomore year and said he has worked with Brodhead in a number of official and academic capacities. He said even his mother is upset by the news.

    “My mom is crying,” Mogul said. “She knows what a great guy he is.”

    History professor John Gaddis, who called Brodhead a “great friend,” said that as he walked around campus this morning, he heard students and faculty members of all levels calling Brodhead just that — a friend.

    “It’s amazing that someone in such a position of authority over so many years would be regarded as a great friend,” Gaddis said.

    Gaddis praised Brodhead for his intelligent, “wise” and “tactful” interactions with faculty members. But Gaddis said the surprise is not that Brodhead has accepted the appointment at Duke, but that, given Brodhead’s esteemed reputation, he did not take such an appointment much sooner.

    Students mentioned Brodhead’s much-lauded oratory skills. Since becoming Dean of Yale College, Brodhead has welcomed freshman every year with a speech in Woolsey Hall.

    Carolyn Kriss ’06 said she will always remember Brodhead’s speech to the class of 2006, in which he encouraged the entire class to interrupt his speech with unified shouts of “Oh-Six!” at specified times.

    “All the speeches will be so boring [now]!” Kriss said.

    Those who know Brodhead personally talked about his ability to relate to students and to meld into everyday campus life.

    Lori Flores ’05, who was Brodhead’s academic advisee her freshman and sophomore years, said he was never intimidating and always accommodating.

    “My first meeting with him was just so comfortable,” she said. “He makes everyone feel like their goals and their contributions are just as important as what he does everyday. Oh my gosh, I’m really going to miss him.”

  5. Brodhead named president of Duke

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    Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead ’68 GRD ’71 was named the ninth president of Duke University this morning.

    After 11 years as dean and nearly 40 years at Yale — Brodhead came to the University as an undergraduate and never left — Brodhead will succeed current Duke President Nan Keohane on July 1, 2004. The Duke Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment in a meeting Sunday.

    “I was at Yale for 40 years, and 40 wonderful years they were. But a person can leave Yale and survive and I expect to thrive,” Brodhead said in an interview today after a press conference in Durham, N.C. “[Duke is] a place with unusually vigorous inter-school and interdisciplinary exchanges, and I also found it a very friendly place.”

    Yale President Richard Levin said in an e-mail to the Yale community that he has mixed emotions about Brodhead’s departure.

    “Dick Brodhead is one of the finest educators of his generation and one of the greatest deans in Yale’s 300-year history,” Levin said. “It is difficult to imagine Yale without him. Duke’s students, faculty, and alumni will find him an inspiration.”

    Members of a search committee for a new college dean will be announced in January, Levin said.

    Administrators and professors said they expect Brodhead’s replacement will likely come from within the Yale faculty.

    “Anyone [Levin] appoints will certainly have had major institutional experience here,” Associate Yale College Dean Penelope Laurans said. “I would think that it would need to be somebody who is here [at Yale] and who has been here. That’s the tradition of leadership at Yale. I think any and all faculty members will be looked at.”

    Brodhead’s chief role at Yale the last two years has been to chair the 41-member student and faculty Committee on Yale College Education, which last spring released the University’s first comprehensive undergraduate curricular review in more than 30 years.

    Brodhead said he will spend his last six months as dean tending to the committee’s proposals.

    “I intend to perform my current job next term, but I will begin coming down here [to Duke] a day or two each week,” Brodhead said. “I’m not president here until July and I still would like to play a role in keeping the [Yale] review committee recommendations on their way to enactment.”

    Yale Provost Susan Hockfield said even though Brodhead — who she said played a “crucial role” in the review — is leaving, the review’s proposals will continue to be implemented.

    “The map is there for us to follow,” Hockfield said. “Dean Brodhead’s extraordinary service over the very many years and in his many roles defies description.”

    Brodhead’s departure comes amid other major administrative changes at Yale. Within the past year, a new provost, graduate school dean and vice president of finance and administration have all assumed posts at the University.

    Former Yale Provost Alison Richard, who left Yale last year to become vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said Brodhead’s new appointment is an honor for him but a significant loss for Yale.

    “If Dick [Brodhead] is to leave Yale, then my only regret is that he’s not headed here [to Cambridge], because he is one of the most exceptional people I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to work with,” Richard said in a statement. “Duke’s good fortune is immense, and I am certain that Dick and Duke will flourish together.”

    Yale Corporation Senior Fellow Roland Betts ’68, who is personal friends with Brodhead, said he is “broken-hearted.”

    “Not only do I think that Dean Brodhead is one of the great influences in higher education today, but he and I were classmates at Yale,” Betts said.

    Betts said he dismissed the possibility that Brodhead would return to Yale to succeed Levin, calling it “wishful thinking.”

    “[Brodhead] doesn’t do things lightly,” Betts said. “If he’s taking on the presidency of Duke, you can be assured that he’ll put his heart and soul into it.”

    Yale historian and history professor emeritus Gaddis Smith, a former Yale Corporation member, said it is “extraordinary” that other major universities such as Duke are tapping Yale administrators for their top posts.

    “You have had in recent years four high Yale officers who became presidents of very major universities,” Smith said. “No other university has been a resource for recruitment for other major presidencies the way Yale has.”

    After serving on the Yale faculty for 22 years, former Yale Provost Judith Rodin was appointed president of the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. Another former provost, Hannah Gray, left Yale in the 1970s to assume the presidency at the University of Chicago.

    “In the 19th century, Yale was considered the mother of college presidents,” said Smith, who is writing a book that chronicles the University’s role in the 20th century. “That kind of faded in the 20th Century until relatively recently.”

    Duke Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Nicholas said in a statement that Brodhead is “the ideal person” to lead Duke because of his commitment to teaching, his administrative and fundraising skills and his eloquence.

    “Duke’s trustees are confident that the qualities that have led Dick Brodhead to be so revered in New Haven will also serve him well as our next president,” Nicholas said.

    Laurans said Brodhead’s appointment is a coup for Duke. She asked about Brodhead, “after the Bulldogs, can he really root for the Blue Devils?”

    “They’re a very lucky school because Dick is a complete package: distinguished scholar, superb teacher, inspirational leader, beloved figure,” Laurans said. “He will go down as one of the great deans of Yale College.”

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  6. Betts is named senior fellow of Corporation

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    Yale Corporation member Roland Betts ’68 will succeed John Pepper ’60 as senior fellow of the Corporation when Pepper resigns from the Corporation to become the University’s new vice president of finance, Yale President Richard Levin said Monday.

    After serving as a Corporation fellow for five years, Betts will replace Pepper as senior fellow of the University’s highest decision-making body. In their meeting last weekend, Corporation members also discussed the expansion of Yale’s homebuyer program and considered reports on campus buildings and grounds.

    Betts, chairman and chief executive officer of Chelsea Piers, L.P., will now be the person to whom the President is most accountable, Levin said. Corporation members made a “consensus decision” in choosing their new leader, Levin said.

    Betts said he is honored by his appointment.

    “I’m proud and flattered, and I’m looking forward to taking this on in an aggressive way,” Betts said.

    University Secretary Linda Lorimer said Betts will be an admirable leader.

    “Roland epitomizes Yale’s tradition of leadership,” Lorimer said. “His is a career that has included community service and business accomplishments.”

    Betts said he sees his new position as both an opportunity and a responsibility, especially considering the present economic climate. The current “lean” state of the economy means Corporation members will have to be more conscientious in managing and advancing Yale projects, he said.

    “[As a member of the Corporation], you always feel the obligation of being a steward of a precious resource, that precious resource being Yale,” Betts said. “With this obligation, there are also more opportunities to continue to make Yale a great place.”

    Betts said having an active Corporation is important to Yale’s progress. As senior fellow, Betts said his involvement in Yale activities will increase. He said he is excited about playing a role in the implementation of academic review proposals, the renovation of residential colleges, the revamping of Science Hill, and other Yale projects.

    “My time commitment to Yale will increase dramatically,” Betts said. “I will spend more time in New Haven. I will spend more time with alumni matters.”

    Levin said he is confident Betts will be a natural leader for the committee.

    “I enjoy our relationship, and I’m delighted to have him in this position,” Levin said. “He’s tremendously warm and high spirited, and yet he has a solid and strong common sense.”

    Betts said he is still adjusting to his new title.

    “It’s all pretty new,” Betts said. “It’s got to settle in a little bit. I’ll now spend my time identifying priorities and making sure there’s a consensus between my views and President Levin’s.”

    Betts was elected an alumni fellow in 1999. He is founder of Silver Screen Management, Inc., and is a director of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, where he is involved in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site.

    The Corporation also discussed the extension of the homebuyer program to West Rock and Fair Haven neighborhoods, Levin said. The homebuyer program provides $25,000 over 10 years to Yale employees for home purchases, a press release said.

    “There was a lot of interest from residents in Fair Haven and West Rock,” Levin said.

    Discussions centering around the construction of a new Yale police station and engineering center, the newly built Anlyan Center for clinical research at the Medical School, and next year’s renovation of Beinecke Plaza were also on last weekend’s agenda, Levin said.

  7. Chief state’s attorney should enter Jovin case

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    Five years have passed since Suzanne Jovin ’99, a political science and international studies double major, was murdered shortly before 10 p.m. on Dec. 4, 1998, near the intersection of East Rock and Edgehill Roads, almost two miles from Old Campus and less than 30 minutes after she dropped off some keys at the Phelps Gate police substation.

    Within days, the local media reported that the police regarded James Van de Velde ’82 as the leading or “prime” suspect. Van de Velde, a lecturer in political science, was one of her instructors that semester and had advised her senior essay on Osama bin Laden as a threat to U.S. national security. Five years of investigation have produced no evidence linking Van de Velde to the murder.

    As the investigation enters its sixth year, it remains stymied largely because of mistakes and lapses in the first hours, days and weeks.

    For example, Henry Lee, the world-renowned forensic scientist who at the time was commissioner of public safety and head of the state’s forensic lab, called the New Haven police that evening and offered his assistance. His offer was rejected. The police later refused to cooperate with him when he tried to reconstruct the crime.

    Several witnesses heard a man and a woman arguing in the area shortly before the attack and several others heard Jovin’s screams as she was being attacked. Not all of them were interviewed immediately. Some potential witnesses living in the area were never interviewed.

    A full-sized tan or light brown van was seen parked immediately adjacent to where she was attacked, in a place where vehicles are seldom, if ever, parked. The police did not seek the assistance of the public in finding the van for more than two years. They still have not found it.

    A plastic soda bottle with Jovin’s fingerprints on it was found at the scene. The police did not immediately track down where and when she obtained the soda — especially important since one of the last people to see her on Old Campus has said she did not have a soda bottle when he spoke with her.

    And the police never solved the initial mystery in the case: Why, after walking from her apartment on Park Street through Old Campus to the Phelps Gate substation, did she go out to College Street and walk northward toward Elm Street, rather than retracing her steps back through Old Campus? Where was she going?

    Where did she go after she got to the corner of College and Elm? Where did she encounter the murderer?

    In May 1998, a cold case unit was created in the office of the Chief State’s Attorney. The purpose of the unit is “to focus special investigative efforts on crimes that have gone ‘cold,’ that is, unsolved for a prolonged period of time.” More than three years ago, Lee said the Jovin murder was a “cold” case. The fact that a New Haven detective continues to investigate it does not alter the fact that it is a “cold” case.

    When asked last year why the cold case unit was not involved in the investigation, Chief State’s Attorney Christopher Morano said his predecessor, John Bailey, and the New Haven State’s Attorney, Michael Dearington, had discussed the matter and had decided not to call in the unit. “That was the decision then, and I don’t see any reason why that decision should be changed now.” He went on to say, “It’s just a very difficult case no matter who investigates. He [Dearington] and his office are the appropriate people to be looking into the matter.”

    When asked recently, Dearington said he would not ask for the assistance of the unit because he continues to have confidence in the people working on the case.

    No one would deny that it is a very difficult case. And given the mistakes and oversights in the first hours and days of the investigation, it is by no means certain that, five years later, the unit could solve the case. Nevertheless, the fact remains that it is the chief state’s attorney who is ultimately responsible for the investigation of all criminal matters in the state and that one of the resources available to him is the cold case unit.

    It is not surprising, of course, that local law enforcement authorities continue to refuse to ask for the assistance of the unit. But does anyone really believe that, in a state that has a cold case unit as well as an array of state-level investigative and forensic agencies, the best possible way to solve a case that has remained unsolved for five years is to leave it in the hands of a single New Haven detective?

    When Melvin Wearing, then-New Haven chief of police, was asked last year whether the cold case unit should be called in, he said the investigation was not stalled and that they were “on the right track.” He went on to say, “If we can’t solve the case in the next year, if someone else wants to look at it, that’s fine.”

    Wearing is now retired, a year has gone by, and the police haven’t solved the case. Yale and the city of New Haven should insist that the chief State’s attorney do what should have been done two or three years ago — create a multi-level state-local task force that includes the cold case unit to pursue the investigation.

    David Cameron is the director of undergraduate studies in the Political Science Department. He is a member of the East Rock community policing management team and the Civilian Review Board.

  8. Former police officer asks for more medical benefits

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    For students who have grown used to union rallies and pickets, most of the issues dividing the Yale Police Department union and the university have been heard before: pensions, wages, job security. But then, there is the question of what is to be done with Eric Stolzman.

    Stolzman, 51, a former campus police officer whose heart problems forced him to retire nine years ago, has been an issue during the last two tempestuous contract negotiations. Members of the Yale Police Benevolent Association (YPBA), the Yale Police Department’s union, argue that Stolzman should receive additional medical benefits, a move university negotiators have resisted.

    “We do have a proposal that would help him,” YPBA chief steward Christopher Morganti said. “Yale dismissed it.”

    Stolzman said he suffered chest pains while chasing a burglary suspect on April 19, 1994, and had to undergo an emergency angioplasty at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He has had three more angioplasties since then. As he lay on the stretcher during the April 1994 incident, another officer took away Stolzman’s gun for safety concerns. He would never see it again.

    Stolzman was found unfit for police work because of his heart condition and forced to retire a few months later.

    University Deputy Secretary Martha Highsmith said she was aware of Stolzman’s situation but declined to say whether the university would be willing to consider upgrading his health benefits to match those of the current contract.

    “If [YPBA representatives] want to discuss that at the negotiating table, that would be the appropriate place for a university response,” Highsmith said.

    Stolzman and his supporters say he should receive the long-term disability package of the current contract, which Morganti said would entitle him to increased medical and pension benefits. Under the previous contract in place when he retired, Stolzman said he will receive about $300 a month, or seven percent of his salary at the time he was injured, when he reaches the age of 65. Stolzman said he currently receives a percentage of his former salary and relies on his wife for health care. He said he is worried about his health care when he reaches retirement age.

    “I really need this,” he said. “By 2017, I could really be in trouble.”

    During the last contract dispute, which ended in 1998, the YPBA pushed for Stolzman to receive the benefits negotiated under the new contract. However, after tense negotiating sessions that lasted more than two years and required several meetings with New Haven Mayor John Destefano Jr., the police dropped the issue in order to ease tensions between the two sides, Morganti said.

    On Nov. 21, Stolzman spoke at a YPBA rally on Beinecke Plaza protesting the university’s position in the current contract dispute. University officials and police have been renewing their contract on a monthly basis since it expired 17 months ago. Stolzman said things have improved since his time with the department, but that the university’s relationship with its police force is still strained.

    “There is no respect here,” Stolzman said. “[Yale has] had trouble keeping people because they don’t treat you as a municipality does.”

    Yale Police Chief James Perrotti said Stolzman had been treated fairly in his time with the department and that the issue should be discussed at negotiations.

    Morganti said the proposal to upgrade Stolzman’s contract is still active.

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  9. Med school apps rise, follow national trend

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    This article has been corrected. You may view this article’s correction here.

    As applications to medical school are on the rise nationally, the Yale School of Medicine has witnessed an increase in the number of its applicants for the fifth straight year.

    With 34,064 prospective candidates, applications are up 4.2 percent from last year. But while the number of women applicants to medical schools around the country outnumbered their male applicants for the first time, the Yale School of Medicine did not follow the national trend, receiving 48 percent of its applications from women.

    Across the nation, 17,672 women applied to medical schools, marking a seven percent increase from last year. Yale’s increase in applications is slightly above the national increase of 3.4 percent for the 2003-2004 school year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC. The organization claims the national increase is driven by a rise in female applicants and that the increase will continue for the 2004-2005 school year.

    But Richard Silverman, director of Yale School of Medicine admissions, said the small increase in applications is not a significant change.

    “Whether applications go up or down a few percentage points is not likely to make a difference in any substantive way,” Silverman said. “What’s important is the depth and quality of the applicant pool, which is pretty spectacular, which is what’s really exciting about the year.”

    Silverman said the more interesting statistic is that School of Medicine applications have risen 40 percent in the last four years, in contrast with national statistics of decline in recent years. Silverman attributed the increase largely to the medical school’s adoption of the American Medical College Application Service, or AMCAS, the national application service for all medical schools.

    “From 1999 to the present, the applications to the medical school are up 40.2 percent,” said Silverman. “We went from 24,070 in 1999, up quickly after that, and the current number for 2004 is 34,064. That change — runs counter to the national trends.”

    While the number of medical school applications processed through Undergraduate Career Services, or UCS, has remained constant at 200 or 225, more Yale alumni and female undergraduates applied to medical schools nationally than ever before, said Edward Miller, Director of the Health Professions Advisory Program at UCS.

    Silverman said this change began several years ago when women first began applying to medical school.

    “Anybody — could plot the numbers of male and female applicants, and would see that the two lines were going to cross this year,” Silverman said. “There are a few more women than men, but it’s not a dramatic change. They’ve been close for many years — The real changes occurred some years ago, when suddenly the applications from women were starting go up. Right now it’s more of the same.”

    Silverman said according to national trends, women’s applications will very possibly continue to rise in coming years.

    “Are the linear projections going to continue so that a few years from now we won’t have any men applying?” Silverman said. “The answer is of course no, but when it’s going to level off, if it’s going to level off, is hard to say.”

    Since 2001, women have composed a majority of students entering Yale School of Medicine, despite the fact that more men have applied. Silverman also said a significant proportion of Yale School of Medicine students did not attend medical school immediately after college.

    “More than half of our students in the current student body did not come to the medical school straight from college,” Silverman said. “It’s tricky to characterize the student body these days because it’s so diverse. But it’s definitely getting a little older and a little more female.”

  10. Ivy League early apps drop by 14 percent

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    After years of steady growth, early applications to Ivy League schools have dropped almost 14 percent this fall.

    The change in numbers was by no means uniform across the Ancient Eight — Yale saw a large increase, Harvard and Princeton large losses, and other schools had only slight changes. The shifts followed changes in early application policies at Yale and Harvard instituted this fall.

    While Yale’s applications increased by 55 percent, Harvard and Princeton universities had large losses, at about 47 and 24 percent, respectively. Brown University, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania had modest gains, while Columbia University had a slight loss. Cornell University will not release its numbers until next week.

    Yale Dean of Admissions Richard Shaw said he thinks Ivy numbers are lower than in the past because early admissions changes at several schools encouraged students who applied early to send fewer applications.

    “[The Ivies] probably have many fewer multiple applications,” he said. “I think it makes everything more manageable.”

    Yale’s rise in applications has been attributed to its elimination of Early Decision, which bound students who applied early to matriculate if admitted. Under Single-Choice Early Action, the new system put in place for the Class of 2008, prospective students may only apply early to Yale, but are not required to attend upon admission. Yale had 2,611 early applications last year and 4,046 this year, Shaw said.

    Harvard also switched to Single-Choice Early Action this year from an Early Action program under which students were not restricted from applying to multiple schools. Harvard received 7,615 early applications last year and less than 4,000 this year.

    Princeton witnessed the biggest change among Early Decision schools. Its early applications dropped from 2,413 to 1,820. Columbia also saw a slight decrease, dropping to 2,018 applications from 1,942 last year.

    Three other schools with Early Decision policies saw minor gains this fall. Penn’s early applications went up from 2,466 to 2,509, Dartmouth’s from 1,817 to 1,905 and Brown’s from 1,817 to 1,905.

    Cornell will not release its Early Decision numbers until next week, Cornell associate provost for admissions and enrollment Doris Davis said.

    High school counselors differed as to whether the shifts in application numbers were due to policy changes.

    Dan Murphy, director of college counseling at the Urban School of San Francisco, said none of his fellow college counselors knew exactly what prompted fewer students to apply early.

    “None of us can figure out what any of this has to do with anything,” he said.

    Murphy said at his school about 25 students, out of a senior class of around 60, normally apply early. This fall, though, only 18 did.

    But Dave Velasquez, director of admissions and college counseling at the Brentwood School in Los Angeles, said he found that Single-Choice Early Action programs are more helpful for students than binding programs.

    “I’m sure that obviously affected some kids,” he said. “It’s really nice to have a number of schools on your plate in April. Now they’re only applying to one place, and hopefully it’s their first choice. It’s not surprising that numbers are down.”

    Sharon Merrow Cuseo, dean of seniors at Harvard-Westlake School, said more Harvard-Westlake students applied early this year than in the past, but fewer sent out multiple early applications.

    “I think a big reason for that [change] is the fact that they are switching to Early Action as opposed to Early Decision, so people who aren’t quite ready to commit but want to get in on the Early Action plan [apply early],” she said.

  11. Snow fails to freeze Bulldogs

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    Though last Friday’s blizzard halted SAT testing in the area from Hall High School in West Hartford to Hopkins School in New Haven, the whiteout conditions tested but did not break the Yale men’s swimming team’s resolve at the Nutmeg Invitational this weekend.

    Over the three-day invitational held at the Kiphuth Exhibition Pool, the Bulldogs won four individual events and topped the 400-yard freestyle relay.

    Captain Alex Nash ’04 took two individual wins, while Matt Bowman ’04 and Kent Garber ’07 won the 200-yard and 1650-yard freestyle races, respectively.

    Nash finished first in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, with times of 51.28 and 1:51.79, respectively. He also showed his all-around talent in other strokes, finishing third in both the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.95 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:38.88. In addition, he aided the 200-yard medley relay team — together with Bowman, Tom Hardy ’06 and Matthew Thunell ’07 — which finished second with a time of 1:37.05.

    When asked about his impressive individual performances, the captain humbly admitted that while it felt good to win, he would like to see the team train harder and swim faster over and after winter break.

    “[The Nutmeg Invitational] marked the halfway mark of the season,” Nash said. “But we still need to work very hard if we are going to do well against Ivy League schools next semester. I think we have shown that we can swim fast, and it is up to us [now] to beat teams which we couldn’t beat before.”

    In other races, Bowman won the 200-yard freestyle for the Bulldogs, posting a time of 1:56.24. Rookie Andrew Foss ’07 came in third in the same race, only .07 of a second behind Bowman’s winning time. Bowman also came in second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.26. In addition, he led the victorious 400-yard freestyle relay team that consisted of Foss, Kieran Locke ’06 and Tom Hardy ’06. The relay team posted a winning time of 3:11.25.

    Meanwhile, in other races, Cameron Hendrick ’06 came in third in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:14.37, while Tom Lopez ’05 finished third in the 200-yard fly with a time of 1:59.92.

    After some impressive swims at the Maine meet less than two weeks ago, Yale’s rookies are still showing promise. Kent Garber ’07 and Mark Fisher ’07 finished first and second in the 1650-yard freestyle with times of 16:07.85 and 16:31.21, respectively.

    Geof Zann ’07, who came first in the 200-yard freestyle against Maine, switched strokes but still swam well to earn a third place finish in the 200-yard backstroke behind Nash, with a time of 1:56.24. Like all the other rookies on the team, Zann is keen on spending the first New Year holiday with the squad during their annual training trip to be held in Puerto Rico this year.

    The Bulldogs will commence their training camp on Dec. 29 and will swim against Army on Jan. 3.

    “I am so excited about [the Puerto Rico trip],” Zann said, “I am looking forward to having a good time there, but we also need to work very hard.”