Yale juniors to traverse the globe--for free

By William S. Mauldin

KAREN ROSENBERG/YH

Each of the 92 fellowship applicants was required to submit a detailed proposal and a budget for his or her trip. A 10-member panel then interviewed the applicants. "They want to know that you're doing something valid--not just a vacation," Frederick Tang, DC '99, said. Tang admitted that the interview was "really harrowing." Sarah Bray, BR '99, concurred, "It was a pretty hellish interview," she said.

The 33 juniors who received summer fellowships will cover six of the seven continents. Rivka Spivak's, MC '99, Bates fellowship will send her to France, Germany, and Switzerland to research international cryptographic export laws. Spivak explained that some nations' export laws prevent the free flow of encoded information. Although all of the industrialized nations know each other's encryption algorithms, some are unwilling to let others communicate using their codes. According to Spivak, Germany is "much more lenient" with its cryptographic export laws than the U.S. or France. "It's a silly game that is restriciting international commerce," she said. Spivak added that she has worked with codes in her computer science classes and has saved material on disks "that would be illegal to carry [overseas] on a plane."

Alexander Zemek, DC '99, is off to Kenya on his Hilgendorf fellowship to study distance running. Zemek, who will be the captain of next year's cross-country team, will examine the reasons why, since the 1960s, Kenyan distance runners have acquired the reputation as being the best in the world. He will begin his research in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi. Zemek suspects that the Kenyan government may have backed distance running when Kenya gained its independence from Britain in 1963. In addition to his research in Nairobi, Zemek will spend several weeks at Iten, the training camp where most Kenyan runners receive instruction.

Other Yalies plan to stay in the Americas. Bray will travel on a Bates fellowship to Iquitos, Peru, where she will interview "commercial sex workers." An anthropology major, Bray will use her $2,400 grant to learn about the workers' knowledge of and exposure to HIV. She also hopes to educate the prostitutes on effective means of preventing contraction of the virus.

Loren Stewart, BR '99, will use his Bates fellowship for travel to Mérida, the capital of Mexico's Yucatán state, where he will live with a Mexican family. Stewart plans to investigate the efforts of the National Action Party (PAN) to gain victories over Mexico's ruling party (PRI) in local elections. During his eight weeks in Mérida, Stewart will examine recent newspapers, meet with PAN officials, and talk to area citizens who have been intimidated into voting for PRI candidates. Stewart will incorporate the knowledge he gains in his senior essay, but he also believes that his findings will be useful for future research projects. "I don't think [the situation in the Yucatán] will be resolved in a year," he said.

Nora Flynn, DC '99, will research the civics education curriculum in New South Wales, Australia for six weeks. In Sydney, she will observe high school classes, and in Melbourne, she will conduct research on the new curriculum. Flynn wants to learn how Australia standardized its history curriculum throughout the nation. Flynn is a history and teacher preparation major; she hopes to teach social studies to high school students. Tang received the Baer fellowship and a Yale College East Asian Traveling Fellowship. He will spend eight weeks in Japan studying "traditional Japanese architecture and its relation to modernism." He plans to conduct architectural research, and visit Shinto traditional temples and "vernacular housing [spanning] across different periods." An architerctural design major, Tang hopes to use his research and drawings in his senior design project.

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