Tag Archive: In the News

  1. East Haven mayor in trouble over “taco” comment

    Leave a Comment

    Mayor Joseph Maturo of East Haven came under fire Wednesday for telling a television reporter that he “might have tacos” following questions regarding how he would support the Latino community.

    His comments come after the Tuesday arrest of four town police officers accused of systematic mistreatment of the city’s Latino residents. Federal officials announced that the four officers were charged with multiple counts of excessive force, false arrest, obstruction and conspiracy.

    In an interview with MSNBC, Gov. Dannel Malloy said Maturo’s comments were “repugnant” and “unacceptable.” Others called for Maturo’s resignation.

    Maturo issued a public statement Wednesday, apologizing for his “insensitive and off-collar comment.”

    “Unfortunately, I let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already a serious and unfortunate situation,” he said. “I am dedicated to the principles of tolerance and acceptance of all and will do all that I can to foster those principles in the daily execution of my duties as mayor.”

    Maturo added that his administration has already started the “healing process,” commissioning a new advisory panel to recommend policy changes to the Board of Police Commissioners and appointing community volunteer Jose Velasquez to the panel.

    A Facebook group created Wednesday titled “East Haven Taxpayers Calling for Mayor Maturo to Resign” garnered over 200 likes as of Wednesday afternoon.

    The controversial remarks come at about 1:35 of the video below:

    Watch the original video here.

  2. Malloy backs NY Giants in Super Bowl

    Leave a Comment

    When it comes to this year’s Super Bowl, Gov. Dannel Malloy lives in a house divided.

    In two weeks, the New York Giants will face off against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. On Game Day, Malloy, a native of Stamford who went to Boston College, will be rooting for the Giants, but his wife, a native of Massachusetts, will be pulling for the Patriots, according to CBS New York. Malloy added that Connecticut often splits supporters between the Yankees and Red Sox.

    “You get above New Haven, and more people support the Boston-based teams than, say, below New Haven,” he said.

  3. Prof. Gaddis nominated for big award

    Leave a Comment

    He won a National Humanities Medal in 2005 and has gained fame among Yalies for his lectures on the Cold War, but that’s not it for history professor John Lewis Gaddis.

    Gaddis, who teaches a History Department junior seminar on biography writing, was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award on Saturday for his biography of American statesman George F. Kennan. The book was nearly 30 years in the making, as Kennan gave Gaddis unprecedented access to thousands of pages of his diary and other papers on the condition that the book be published after his death.

    The other contenders for the biography honor are below:

    The National Book Critics Circle gives awards annually to one book in each of six categories: autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. We’re pulling for you, JLG.

  4. Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno dies

    Leave a Comment

    Joe Paterno, the longtime head football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, died in State College, Penn., on Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 85.

    In his 46 years at the helm of the Nittany Lions, Paterno won 409 football games, making him the winningest coach in NCAA Division I football history. But before all that, he could have chosen New Haven instead — according to an obituary published in the New York Times on Sunday, he was offered a job as head coach of Yale’s football team in the 1960s.

    While Paterno was an assistant coach at Penn State, he was offered the opportunity to replace Yale head coach John Pont after the 1964 season. He turned down the offer, and in 1966 became Penn State’s head football coach. Meanwhile, Carm Cozza took the reins of the Old Blue, winning a Yale-record 179 games before retiring 32 seasons later in 1996.

    After an illustrious career, Paterno was fired Nov. 9 for failing to report allegations that Penn State assistant coach Joe Sandusky had sexually abused young boys during his tenure with the Nittany Lions.

  5. Cheshire defendant denied new trial

    Leave a Comment

    Joshua Komisarjevsky, who was found guilty last October of the infamous 2007 Cheshire murders, had his request for retrial denied.

    New Haven Supreme Court Judge Jon Blue said he denied the request because the jury came to its decision fairly and without bias, though Komisarjevsky argued that the presence of the victims’ family at the proceedings influenced the jury.

    “Under these circumstances, I just don’t think it’s fair to say that the jury was influenced by outside pressures or anything like that,” Blue said. “Under these circumstances, I believe the trial was perfectly fair and a new trial should not be granted.”

    Komisarjevsky will be formally sentenced next week.

    [via AP.]

  6. Soundbites: Joe Miller LAW ’95 edition

    Leave a Comment

    Joe Miller LAW ’95 came achingly close to claiming a seat in the U.S. Senate back in the 2010 elections, but fell to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s historic write-in campaign. Last night, he swung by the Yale Political Union to explain why he doesn’t want the federal government involved in public education. Below are a few notable quotables from Miller’s showing at last night’s debate:

    “Government intervention in education is unconstitutional…the words ‘education’ and ‘school’ do not appear in the constitution.”

    “No Child Left Behind is a one size fits all [regime]…it really doesn’t let states try this thing.”

    “We are increasingly poor as a country.”

    “The government is not the caretaker of our children.”

    “The history of public education under the federal government has been failure…I’m in favor of immediately removing the federal government from education.”

    “They want more control, they want more influence over our children.”

    “Education trains us to think logically and rationally, but you have to be able to think morally, and that is something lacking in the current education system.”

  7. Wikipedia to Shut Down! For Good Reasons!

    Leave a Comment

    If you were planning to get a head start on that research paper tomorrow, think again. I’m afraid I have some startling news: Wikipedia is going to shut down on Wednesday. …I know.

    After you have recovered from the initial shock of that statement, you may ask why Wikipedia would do such a thing. The answer is that they are boycotting the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). SOPA is a bill that has been criticized by civil rights groups, Nancy Pelosi, Justin Bieber, Ron Paul, and numerous others. On January 14, President Obama announced that the White House would not support SOPA; subsequently, the vote regarding it was canceled. And tomorrow, in what could truly be the most noticed move of all, Wikipedia will be down, replaced instead by a page advising people to call Congress and complain about SOPA.

    At this point, you are no doubt asking, “So? Who cares about an anti-piracy bill? What is all the commotion about? And don’t we want to prevent online piracy, while at the same time protecting intellectual property?” Absolutely. But SOPA isn’t the way to do it.

    SOPA is a nightmare for supporters of free speech. It states that a website is guilty of facilitating theft (and therefore liable to face serious penalties) if it “enables or facilitates” potential infringement. This overbroad definition would seem to cover pretty much any website on the Internet. Certainly, Google could be included. SOPA would also allow copyright holders to direct financial institutions (such as Visa or Mastercard) to cut off access to a particular website simply through an allegation of infringement — or aiding infringement, under the vague definition. And the government would have the power to black-list websites.

    Many websites (including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and Twitter) have pointed out that SOPA could also lead to censorship online, because it mandates that Internet intermediaries (such as Facebook) censor countless websites. SOPA could also result in the closure of numerous anonymous platforms for whistle-blowing, such as ones that expose human rights violations. Finally, SOPA’s regulations and vague definitions will certainly stifle creativity for online startups.

    SOPA is a disgrace (as is PIPA), because it is based on the fallacy that piracy can be stopped if we call everything piracy. It assumes that, by limiting free speech, we can stop the theft of free speech. And it tries to curb piracy by creating harsher punishments for vaguer crimes. No inadvertent pirate should ever be made to walk the plank.

    Internet piracy is real and dangerous. However, SOPA is even more dangerous. So tomorrow, go to Wikipedia, shed a tear that it is temporarily unavailable, and then follow its instructions — call Congress to tell them that SOPA is bad news.

  8. YLS professor weighs in on recess appointments

    Leave a Comment

    At least one Yale Law professor is upset over President Barack Obama’s recess appointments, though perhaps for reasons different than congressional Republicans.

    Sterling Professor Bruce Ackerman LAW ’67, an expert on constitutional law, took to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday to discuss the president’s controversial decision to make several high-profile appointments during the recess of the United States Senate, effectively bypassing the traditional congressional approval process.

    Such a decision normally requires constitutional backing from the Justice Department, Ackerman argued, but Obama made the decision based on an unpublished constitutional defense written by White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmier. Ackerman said he did not necessarily think Obama’s decision to go ahead with the appointments was unconstitutional — he just wants to understand exactly what logic was governing Obama’s thinking, and accordingly is demanding that Ruemmier publish her opinion.

    “It is hardly enough for him to inform the Senate that Ms. Ruemmler has given the go-ahead,” Ackerman wrote. “At the very least, he should provide his counsel’s legal opinion explaining why he has the constitutional authority to second-guess the Senate on whether it is in recess.”

    Ackerman’s piece has racked up over 80 comments on the Journal’s website.

  9. Yale expected to name Reno head coach

    Leave a Comment

    Yale will officially announce its 34th head football coach tomorrow at a 4 p.m. press conference.

    A source with knowledge of the search process said that Harvard assistant coach Tony Reno is expected to fill the vacancy left by Tom Williams. Reno served under former Yale head coach Jack Siedlecki from 2002 to 2008, spending the first five seasons as the defensive backs coach. In 2007, Reno was promoted to assistant head coach.

    In 2006, Reno helped to guide the Bulldogs to a share of the Ivy League Championship, their first since 1999, as well as Yale’s last win over Harvard. In 2007 and 2008, Yale’s passing defense ranked third in the nation in both seasons.

    While Reno lacks head coaching experience at Division I programs, his popularity among former players may have helped to strengthen his candidacy.

    Reno coached 15 All-Ivy players during his tenure at Yale.

  10. Yale about to name head football coach, sources say

    Leave a Comment

    For the second time this week, Yale could be close to naming its next head football coach.

    A source involved with the search process said that the University could make the decision as soon as tonight, with Harvard assistant coach Tony Reno and Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini as the favorites to fill the vacancy. Another confirmed that the official announcement will likely to take place on Friday.

    Earlier in the week, UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown withdrew his name from consideration after reportedly being offered the job. With Brown no longer available, the search committee turned to Reno and Cecchini, who were interviewed earlier this month. Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly was also interviewed.

    Cecchini oversaw a high-octane Lehigh offense that ranked third in the Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, averaging 469.6 yards per game. He also directed Harvard’s offense from 2003 through 2006 and his 2004 squad posted a perfect 10–0 record, winning the Ancient Eight and leading the league in every major offensive statistics.

    Reno, however, may be on the inside track for the vacant spot. He spent six seasons at Yale and became the assistant head coach in 2007 after working with the secondary for five seasons. In 2007 and 2008, Yale’s passing defense ranked third in the nation. For the last three seasons, Reno has been the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator for Harvard. This past season, the Crimson ranked first in the Ivy League in terms of pass defense efficiency.

  11. Zedillo GRD ’81 claims immunity in lawsuit

    Leave a Comment

    Former Mexican president and current Yale professor Ernesto Zedillo GRD ’81 claimed in court documents filed Friday that his status as a former head of state gives him immunity from a lawsuit filed in Connecticut District Court over the 1997 massacre of 45 Mexican villagers.

    “The plaintiffs’ lawsuit against President Zedillo amounts to no more than a misguided effort to impugn the reputation of someone widely regarded by international leaders and scholars as the architect of historic reforms that led Mexico into a new dawn of electoral freedom, respect for human rights, and a flourishing economy,” the motion said.

    Zedillo’s lawyers told the Associated Press they have no knowledge of the U.S. ever denying a former national leader’s claim for immunity from a lawsuit involving official acts. Stanford Law professor Jenny Martinez ’93, who specializes in international courts and tribunals, said in September 2011 that Zedillo might successfully claim immunity because the laws applying to former heads of state are complex.

    State Department officials will issue an opinion on whether they believe Zedillo has immunity from the lawsuit, according to the Associated Press. The plaintiffs will likely follow by filing documents opposing Zedillo’s motion to dismiss the case.

    Zedillo was president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. At Yale, he directs the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.