Author Archives: Nathaniel Zelinsky

This past Saturday night, I had a few beers. I am 21, so the state of Connecticut said it was legal. Many of my underage peers also drank this weekend, technically in violation of the law. Across the nation, students and college administrators know this situation makes little sense. In fact, it’s almost trite to »

All my friends seem to have a theme. They build their Yale careers around sexy topics like public health, economic development or the environment. One friend has wanted to be a pediatric oncologist since age 7; another fell in love with paleontology after a middle school class trip. When they search for summer internships or »

You have to give Mayor John DeStefano credit for consistency. Without fail, he sticks to three basic principles of economic success: Tax, spend and tax again. This past week, a parade of poor decisions emanated from City Hall. In his State of the City Address last Tuesday, DeStefano crooned that New Haven’s Grand List — »

Last week, Yale got a new major: Ethnicity, Race and Migration. It was already a possible double major, but students now can take ER&M as their sole course of study. This development should raise eyebrows for several reasons, some of which the department may be able to address. One: ER&M could continue the troubling trend »

In part, Patrick Witt ’12 holds the power to clear his own name. So too, the woman who filed an informal complaint of sexual assault against him can help clarify some controversial issues while maintaining her privacy. She and Witt should illuminate some of these issues as only they can. Currently, the Rhodes Trust refuses »

You might call it the Great Signature Trek. It’s that time of year when a Yale student searches for offices in buildings he never knew existed looking for a faculty adviser he can barely recognize. After a brief stab at awkward conversation, the student runs out with the adviser’s signature in hand, not to return »

Yale students received their first Martin Luther King Jr. Day off a decade ago. Since then, we have seen 10 years of Sunday night parties and Monday morning hangovers. Some have participated in the Dwight Hall Day of Service; many have honored civil rights with typical weekend flair. After the first couple of years of »

A friend of mine runs track. For the past year, she was on the disabled list with injured knees. Every morning at 6:00 a.m., she worked out in a pool to rehabilitate, though her doctors and coaches predicted her efforts would be futile. She beat their diagnoses and recently returned to racing. When we saw »

Four days ago, our nation reflected on the many things for which we were thankful. My list this year included the standard litany (friends, family) and a few additions I would like to share with you. Here goes: I was thankful for the Marshall Committee’s report that suggested banning Sex Week. It put me back »

Yale’s commitment to free speech is officially on life support. This past Thursday, President Levin published the Marshall Committee Report on campus sexual climate. Among other things, the committee recommends banning Sex Week from using classrooms — in effect barring its activities this spring. The committee also claims to uphold “Yale’s enduring commitment to free »

Occasionally, a columnist writes in these pages to refresh the campus’s political compass. He attempts to use the News to tack the ship of debate from reasoned discussion to hyperbole. This journalistic broadside goes down with a whimpering bang. It looks like Yale has a new rhetorical helmsman — I might soon be out of »

Apparently, the student body thinks “demeaning costumes and parties” are “cool.” Thankfully, the Intercultural Affairs Council (IAC) distributed fliers this past Halloween weekend advising the Yale community that such getups and get-togethers are not, in fact, cool. On behalf of tonight’s partygoers, thank you — we now know it is a poor idea to follow »