Tag Archive: XC

  1. Cross Campus: 4.12.13

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    Making history. Boola boola! Men’s hockey captain Andrew Miller ’13 scored the overtime goal in yesterday’s Frozen Four matchup between Yale and UMass-Lowell. After last night’s win, the Bulldogs are now one game away from their first championship title. The final matchup is Saturday in Pittsburgh.

    Where’s Nate Silver when you need him? Elections for the 2013-’14 YCC Executive Board, which began yesterday morning, will conclude tonight. Yalies looking to cast their ballot before 5 p.m. can find the polls on YaleStation.

    Do the lo-Koh-motion. Law school students can now view the Sterling Professor of international law in a new light. Yesterday evening, the Yale Law School unveiled a portrait of former Dean Harold Koh during a ceremony in Levinson Auditorium. No word as to whether Koh’s former State Department boss, Hillary Clinton LAW ’73, stopped by for the festivities.

    A perfect match. Three years ago, John Oppenheimer ’14 joined a bone marrow registry during the annual Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive. Now, Oppenheimer has just made a life-saving donation of stem cells to a 41-year-old leukemia patient in Europe.

    Big Green, red cups. Over at Dartmouth, a new student initiative called the Dartmouth Social Cups program promises to bring students together. Their method? The students outfitted a popular dining hall with red plastic cups. Diners can opt for the colored glassware, or the traditional and translucent. According to the Dartmouth student paper, students who grab red cups will do so to show their nearby peers that they are “open to sitting with strangers.”

    Spring fakers? James Franco, our favorite (erstwhile) graduate student, shocked and wowed critics with his performance in Harmony Korine’s latest film, “Spring Breakers.” But the academic actor has since endured the ire of Riff Raff, a rapper who claims Franco unfairly used his persona as inspiration for his performance. According to numerous Hollywood insiders, Riff Raff is pursuing the beef by playing a character named “James Franko” on an upcoming episode of “One Life to Live.”

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1868 Attendees at a New York fundraising event “for the benefit of the University Crew” were treated to the theatrical stylings of Harvard’s famed Hasty Pudding Club. Hasty Pudding’s three-act performance “extravaganza” included characters called “Prince Poppyfeet” and “King Cockalorum,” among other fanciful titles.

  2. Cross Campus: 4.12.13

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    But did they remember to smize? Several Calvin Klein models were spotted on Beinecke Plaza yesterday afternoon, casually lounging about in Calvin Klein apparel as the wind swept through their perfectly manicured hair. If the Yale Admissions Office is looking for a new recruiting strategy, this just may be it.

    #swuggin’. A New York Magazine piece published yesterday investigated — in detail — the life of a Yale SWUG. The article was replete with interviews with members of this exclusive class and boiled down SWUG life into a simple, memorable line: “One last chance at youthful rebellion before the soft cushion of college is yanked out.”

    Constant vigilance. In an email sent to the Yale community Tuesday afternoon, Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins warned students of a “voyeurism” incident that took place on Old Campus the morning before. According to the email, someone had filmed an undergraduate student with what appeared to be a cellphone as she was showering. Higgins’ message hits especially close to home, as it’s the first in recent memory regarding an incident on Old Campus.

    Superstar. After guiding the Yale men’s hockey team to its first Frozen Four in 61 years, head coach Keith Allain ’80 was named a finalist in the Spencer Penrose Award, an honor given to the best coach of the Division I men’s hockey season. Allain has boasted an overall record of 136-84-19 in his seven seasons at Yale.

    Gun control. A bipartisan group of senators announced yesterday afternoon that they had reached an agreement on background checks on purchases at gun shows and on the Internet, paving the way for a gun bill to reach the Senate floor. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73 has said that he will propose an amendment that would ban high-capacity magazines once the bill makes it to the Senate.

    Party in style. The Yale College Council is selling Spring Fling gear to help students rage fashionably for Macklemore. Students who buy a piece of apparel will have the chance to win a backstage pass, and the winner will be announced the day before the concert. But if you’re not interested, don’t worry: You can always go thrift $hopping instead.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1994 Tom Beckett is named Yale’s athletics director after serving as Stanford’s associate athletics director. Beckett, who coached former Yale baseball coach John Stuper in the mid-1970s, was chosen from a field of over 100 candidates.

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  3. Cross Campus: 4.10.13

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    Madam President. Yalies excited for the upcoming Yale College Council elections have nominated their own dark horse candidate for YCC president: Jodie Foster ’85. Yes, the Academy Award-winning actress. According to Foster’s alleged Facebook campaign platform, she vows to “make Contact with every Inside Man and Taxi Driver on campus.” As of press time, the Facebook page had 12 “likes.”

    New Haven to Philadelphia. Peter Ammon GRD ’05 SOM ’05 has been named the University of Pennsylvania’s new chief investment officer, replacing Kristin Gilbertson, who announced last October that she would step down from her position. Ammon has worked at the Yale Investments Office since 2005 and will begin overseeing Penn’s endowment — which was valued at $6.8 billion as of June 30 last year — on July 1.

    Okay. An astute Business Inside article published Tuesday aimed to compare Yale and Harvard across six categories: cost, academics, job prospects, campus, student body and student life. Though the article found that Yale edged out Harvard on student life, and that the two schools were roughly equal on academics, it concluded that Harvard had the advantage in cost, job prospects, campus and student body. We call BS. Have you seen Harvard’s student body?

    Speaking of Harvard, the school’s College Events Board and the Harvard College Concert Commission announced that they will retain Tyga — best known for his song “Rack City — as the school’s spring concert headliner despite criticism that the rapper’s lyrics are misogynistic and “wholly inappropriate.” Instead, organizers said they would push back the start time of his performance to accommodate dissatisfied students.

    Being quirky. Three Yale alumni have teamed up on Kickstarter to raise funds for a webseries called “Me & Zooey D.” that would launch on YouTube on May 30. The online television show, which features a girl who moves to Los Angeles to become best friends with indie favorite Zooey Deschanel, was put together by Ari Berkowitz ’12, Hunter Wolk ’12 and Carina Sposato’12, and promises “lots of cupcakes and polkadots” for backers. As of press time, the project had 15 backers pledging $510 in total.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1968 University President Kingman Brewster Jr. affirms Yale’s commitment to “do more” about the problems facing the Elm City’s minority community. Brewster issued a memorandum the previous night announcing plans to establish a New Yale Council on Community Affairs and provide the group with $40,000.

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  4. Cross Campus: 4.9.13

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    Sandals out. That dreary New England winter weather may finally be over. Fingers crossed, but it’s supposed to be in the 60s and 70s all week. Take out those sunglasses!

    Mayoral update. Sundiata Keitazulu, a plumber from Newhallville who announced his candidacy for mayor last November, has become the third New Haven mayoral candidate to sign on for public funding from the city’s Democracy Fund. The fund provides finances for candidates and requires that they abide by strict campaign rules. Candidates Ward 10 Alderman Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10 and state Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield have already decided to participate in the fund, but candidate Henry Fernandez has said that he will not.

    Slamming it down. Over the weekend, Yale’s national-ranked slam poetry team competed in the national championship tournament for the first time in the group’s history, placing in the top 20 among college teams across the country. The five-member team performed in front of over 700 people at Barnard College in New York.

    Lawsuits on lawsuits. The Elm City and Tweed New Haven Regional Airport may join existing litigation against the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent the closure of Tweed’s control tower on June 15, according to The New Haven Register. Tweed is one of six airports in the state that could see its tower closed due to sequestration-related cuts. According to an attorney for Tweed, the airport will first file a complaint with the FAA alleging that the FAA failed to go through due process procedures, such as holding a public hearing, before deciding to take action.

    Rest in peace. Yale alum and prolific publisher Peter Workman ’60 died from cancer on Sunday at the age of 74. Workman was the founder of Workman Publishing, one of the few remaining independent publishing companies in the country, and helped land best-selling trade books such as “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and “The Silver Palate Cookbook.” But Workman’s successes extend beyond books: He is perhaps most well-known for inventing the card game “Brain Quest” for children and the “Page-a-Day” calendars.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1970 The Yale faculty of arts and sciences meet this afternoon to vote on a proposed change to the University’s grading policies, in which courses that students fail would not appear on their permanent transcripts.  After 45 minutes of deliberation with no clear consensus, faculty members decide to postpone the debate.

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  5. Cross Campus: 4.8.13

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    The life of a genius. Chess Grandmaster Robert Hess ’15 will travel to St. Louis, Mo. on May 3 to compete in the U.S. Chess Championships. The chess whizz will spend 10 days facing off against the greatest chess players in the country in a battle for monetary prizes totaling $180,000. Hess previously competed at the U.S. Championships in 2009, where he placed second.

    Apple picking 2.0. In a Sunday email sent to the Yale community, Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins reminded students to keep their laptops closely guarded at all times, warning Yalies of a 20-something-year-old man recently arrested for his connection to two laptop thefts at Blue State Coffee. Higgins’ email followed a similar warning last fall, when the police chief alerted students of an increase in iPhone thefts, a phenomenon dubbed “apple picking.”

    Writer turned speaker. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and editor in chief of The New Yorker David Remnick will give Princeton’s Class Day address on June 3, the school announced last Thursday. Remnick, who graduated from Princeton in 1981, will succeed comedian Steve Carell as the school’s Class Day speaker.

    Keeping secrets. In a Sunday email to the Yale community, Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry reminded students about the University’s hazing regulations and laws in anticipation of this Thursday’s senior society “Tap Night.” According to Gentry, hazing laws prohibit a number of activities, including indecent exposure, mental stress, blindfolding, confinement, assault, ingestion of substances or “physical activity that could endangerer the health or safety of the individual.”

    A technology boost. Tired of having to forfeit intramural games when not enough players show up? Ben Sherman ’13 has the answer: The tech-savvy senior created a new IMs website that hopes to make it easier for college captains to keep track of how many participants have signed up for upcoming games. Sherman said in a Saturday email to IM captains that he hopes the new website will replace the existing one next semester.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1968 The activist group “Black Women of New Haven” announces plans to boycott all white establishments in the Elm City as part of an effort to honor the mission of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who passed away four days earlier. Though the Black Students Alliance and Dwight Hall Committee at Yale both endorse the boycott, three residential college dining halls are unable to open after several employees participating in the boycott fail to report for work.

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    Correction: 4.9.13

    An earlier version of this article mistakenly said Hess placed second at the World Team Chess Tournament in 2009; in fact, he placed second at the U.S. Championships in 2009.

  6. Cross Campus: 4.5.13

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    A friendly reminder. Today is the last day to convert a class from Credit/D/Fail to a letter grade. Don’t forget! The News cares about your grades.

    Spotted. A dancing figure dressed as George Washington complete with powdered wig was spotted at the Yale Law School yesterday afternoon holding a poster that read “Team H.” It remains unclear what the Founding Father was doing in the 21st century.

    The real world. Not sure what to do after graduation? You could take the route of Colin Grussing ’07, a recent Yale alumnus who will appear on “Shark Tank,” a reality television show where budding entrepreneurs pitch their proposals to a panel of investors on air. Grussing is the founder of RootSuit — a website that sells different types of bodysocks — and Nola Sidecars, which sells sidecars for motorcycles and scooters.

    Celeb lifestyle. Looking to hobknob with the entertainment elite of Los Angeles? Do you miss James Franco, formerly GRD ’16? There is still hope. Students in the English major received an email on Thursday about a writing opportunity at a start-up founded by Hollywood hearthrob and former “That ’70s Show” star Ashton Kutcher. Hopefully we’re not being punk’d.

    Real talk. In a Thursday interview on The Today Show, Suzy Lee Weiss, the high school senior who made headlines with her controversial Wall Street Journal piece on college rejections, revealed that she had been denied admission from Princeton, Vanderbilt, UPenn and Yale. Looks like Yale wasn’t interested in someone who didn’t “start a fake charity” or collect “donations for the underprivileged chimpanzees of the Congo.” Tough luck.

    Loud and proud. The Yale College Democrats have signed on to a national statement endorsing same-sex marriage that is being passed around by the leaders of 50 College Democrats and College Republicans organizations across the country. The Columbia University Republicans and College Democrat chapters of Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell and Princeton have also signed the statement.

    Long live the 90s. Still upset that ’N Sync broke up? Crushes & Chaperones, Branford’s annual 90s dance, will be held in Commons tonight. Tickets will not be sold at the door but are available online. RIP Safety Dance.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1911 Five fraternities, including Delta Kappa Epsilon and Zeta Psi, each elect four new members.

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  7. Cross Campus: 4.4.13

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    But actually though. Today is chicken tenders day — at least according to the online menu provided by Yale Dining. Go crazy.

    Sweet serenade. Yalies studying in Bass Café on Tuesday night got a brief dose of Yale cheer when roughly 10 underwear-clad students from the Yale Precision Marching Band marched through the cafe playing “Bulldog,” the Yale fight song, among the hordes of studying students.

    But the story continues. A group of Yalies dove into Wednesday night Toad’s at 12:30 a.m. decked out in Yale hockey jerseys and musical instruments to bring a bit of Yale pride to the popular dance club. The students, which dubbed themselves “Team U” for “Upset Toads,” played Yale’s fight song to a surprised audience as part of a broader effort to celebrate Yale’s first trip to the Frozen Four in over 60 years.

    Stressed from the power outage? The Freshman Class Council will be holding the University’s inaugural “Day of Relaxation” today in what it hopes will become an annual event dedicated to tackling stress and promoting mental health awareness. Throughout the day, the FCC will hold seminars, activities and workshops — including massages for members of the class of 2016, coloring activities and a yoga workout — across campus.

    Competing for glory. Yale’s all-cello rock group “Low Strung” is in the final running for ZipCar’s “Students With Drive” competition and could win $15,000 in addition to $10,000 for Yale’s scholarship fund. The group is currently in third place with 390 votes, trailing behind the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s “Camp Kesem,” which garnered 829 votes as of press time. Voting will end on Monday.

    #InternetProblems. The website for The Daily Princetonian, the student-run newspaper at Princeton, was still down Wednesday night after the mother of a Princeton student published a viral and controversial column last Friday encouraging Princeton women to find their husbands before they graduate from the elite university. The column made waves on the Internet and inadvertantly brought down the Princetonian’s website. In the interim, the Princetonian has been posting new content to a temporary WordPress site.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1978 New Haven Alderman Walter Brooks announces the creation of a minority program that will aim to improve the living situation of black and Hispanic Elm City residents. Brooks argued in his “State of the Black and Hispanic Community” that the current city administration was not doing enough to help minority communities.

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  8. Cross Campus: 4.3.13

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    Speak out. More than 1,200 people have signed an online petition launched Monday night urging faculty members to oppose a proposal that would transition Yale from a letter-grade to a 100-point grading system. The petition argued that the proposal would make Yale’s academic environment more stressful and competitive. Faculty members will vote on the initiative this Thursday at the Yale College faculty meeting.

    A new crop of leaders. Yale released its roster of this year’s World Fellows on Tuesday, selecting 16 international mid-career professionals to come to campus for four months for scholarship and leadership training. The selected fellows cover a spectrum of industries and include diplomats, social entrepreneurs, politicians and nonprofit leaders. The 16 fellows were selected out of more than 2,500 candidates and will arrive on campus in the fall.

    Uh oh. After widespread student outcry and an online petition with nearly 2,000 signatures urged Harvard to rescind its invitation to Tyga — the rapper best known for “Rack City” — to perform at Yardfest, the school’s spring concert, the Harvard Office of Student Life has requested that concert organizers reconsider their choice of headliner in light of concerns that Tyga’s lyrics “promote sexism and rape culture.” But the office said it will not force organizers to withdraw their invitation.

    Get cultured. The International Festival of Arts and Ideas announced this year’s lineup for the summer festival at a Monday reception. The annual event, which will be held from June 15-29 this year, will include a new adaption of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company. The festival will also highlight locally-based groups, including the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, A Broken Umbrella Theatre and the Yale Choral Artists.

    Lights, camera, action. Yale has been named the fourth best film school in the country, behind New York University, the University of Southern California and UC Los Angeles. The data, which was compiled by the website Ranker, is based on semantic data that links film credits from Ranker’s “Best Movies of All Time” list to the alumni of various educational institutions.

    Hail to the chief. President Barack Obama is expected to travel to Hartford next week to advocate gun control, marking the second time he has visited the state since Newtown.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1929 The debate team prepares to send three men to Puerto Rico, marking the first time the team sends competitors out of the country. The delegates will leave by ship the next day.

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  9. Cross Campus: 4.2.13

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    The joke’s on you. Yalies across campus exercised their pranking muscles yesterday in celebration of April Fools’ Day. Some pranksters strung red and yellow banners reading “Going out of business” and “Everything 75% off” from Sterling Memorial Library, while Branford Master Elizabeth Bradley MPH ’95 GRD ’96 told her students in a Monday email that she would retire at the end of the year and merge Branford with JE to form either “Branward” or “Jonathan Bran.” Of course, Bradley assured students that God Quad will continue to exist.

    The News jokes too. Did you read Cross Campus yesterday? Confused? Don’t worry. Like much of Yale, the News celebrates April Fools’ too.

    Unrest in Cambridge? As if things at Harvard weren’t already stressful enough, students can now add one more thing to their list. An online petition calling on Harvard to rescind rapper Tyga’s appearance at Yardfest has already garnered more than 1,700 signatures. The petition accuses Tyga, known for his song “Rack City,” of lyrics that “promote sexism and rape culture.”

    He doesn’t bite. In a striking display of cheeky ingenuity, a New Haven police officer successfully frightened two wanted men out of a house on Friday by imitating a barking police dog, according to The New Haven Register. Following a car chase, the two criminals were spotted inside a mostly abandoned house. After the officers threatened to release the canines, which were not actually present, one officer decided to imitate a barking dog instead. It worked, and the suspects surrendered.

    “To (All) the Colleges that Rejected Me.” In a scathing column published Friday in The Wall Street Journal, a high school senior sarcastically discussed college rejections by attacking applicants that she wrote could only be admitted after starting fake charities that “provid[e] veterinary services for homeless people’s pets,” taking internships with “precocious-sounding title[s]” and having more diversity than a “saltine cracker.” The piece has garnered national attention and nearly 600 comments as of press time.

    Moving up. President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate Brian Deese LAW ’09 to Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Deese is currently the deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the National Economic Council.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1992 The Yale Admissions Office admits a record number of women and minorities for the Class of 1996, the first class expected to have a 50-50 male-to-female ratio.

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  10. Cross Campus: 4.1.13

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    Public service announcement. Today is chicken tenders day. Still full from Easter dinner? Too bad.

    Academic overhaul. The Yale College Ad-Hoc Committee on Grading held an emergency meeting on Saturday with members of the Yale faculty to discuss proposed changes to the University’s grading system. After prolonged debate, the faculty voted in favor of transitioning from a letter-grade system to a 100-point scale with a rubric for grade distribution. But current juniors can breathe a sigh of relief: The policy will not go into effect until the 2014-’15 academic year.

    Mrs. Clinton goes to New Haven. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 has been named a new senior fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs for the 2013-’14 academic year, Jackson officials confirmed to the News yesterday. Since leaving her Cabinet post, Clinton has been considering different teaching offers and recently signed on to lead two seminars at Yale — one on the Arab Spring and another on the worldwide empowerment of women.

    And he canceled. If you were excited to go thrift shopping this Spring Fling, you might want to think again. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ agent confirmed to the News on Sunday that the hip-hop duo will not be performing at Spring Fling this year, citing scheduling concerns. Macklemore had previously canceled scheduled concerts at Columbia and Williams earlier this month, allegedly to appear on MTV. As of press time, the Yale College Council could not be reached for comment.

    STEM no more. After the Admissions Office announced that it has reached its target goal for STEM recruitment — with 40 percent of the freshman class pursuing a STEM major — it has decided to scale back its science recruitment efforts, cancel YES-Weekend and reduce the budget for science research grants. The announcement puts an end to a six-year initiative that aimed to boost Yale’s reputation in the science and engineering industry.

    Juice Haven? The Elm City will welcome its first juice joint this summer, when a new Jamba Juice franchise opens on Chapel Street right next to Chipotle, Jamba Juice representatives confirmed on Friday. The popular drink shop is scheduled to open in early August, so Yale students returning for the fall semester will be able to enjoy fruity smoothies and juices while riding out the summer heat. Refreshing.

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 2013 Spring is finally here. Also, the News celebrates April Fools’ Day.

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  11. Cross Campus: 3.29.13

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    “We are the 79 percent.” Wielding a slogan reminiscent of the Occupy movement, an anonymous dissident sent an email to the Yale community yesterday afternoon in a call to arms for a “loud, non-violent protest” against proposed changes to the University’s grading policies. Faculty members will vote on whether to change Yale’s grading system to a 100-point scale with specific grade distributions on April 4.

    A dramatic achievement. Drama professor Ming Cho Lee, who chaired the Design Department at the School of Drama for 43 years, has been named the recipient of a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. Lee, 82, arrived at the Drama School at 1969 and has been previously awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest national award given in the arts. He will accept his award on June 9 at the 2013 Tony Awards.

    Cheaters gon’ cheat. The Harvard Quiz Bowl team was stripped of its last four national championship titles after evidence arose that a former team member had illicitly accessed tournament questions prior to competitions. The student apologized in a statement to the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, citing mental health issues as a factor, but later denied the allegations in an interview with The Harvard Crimson.

    Student entrepreneurship. Marketing software firm HubSpot has announced that it will acquire PrepWork, a startup company founded by Daniel Wolchonok SOM ’13 that helps users build strong business relationships through “smart” interpersonal data. PrepWork also sends clients emails with relevant blogs and social network profiles to prepare them for upcoming meetings.

    No grade inflation. Connecticut received a “C+” on transparency in a recent report by the ConnPIRG Education Fund, which ranked 48 states based on online transparency and access to government spending. Though Connecticut slipped from a B grade to a C+ in the annual report, ConnPIRG’s director said the falling score does not mean the state is becoming less transparent, but instead that other states are “improving faster.”

    THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1917 The Undergraduate Committee of the Athletic Association votes to cancel all athletics in the event that the U.S. government decides to enter World War I. This puts a number of athletic events, including a scheduled crew race against Penn, in limbo during Easter break.

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