The Week in Brief

City moves on plan to spruce up lower Chapel

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH Lower Chapel will get a facelift in a move to complement Ninth Square improvements.

The city plans to work with merchants and building owners to refurbish the stretch by installing new street signs, improving lighting, and replacing roll-down security gates with new mesh gates that are less conducive to graffiti.

"The decision to engage in urban renewal of this area was made over the past few years. Because this block is the link between the downtown city and the Yale quarter, we hope that our efforts will better unite the areas," Tony Bialecki, New Haven's economic development officer, explained. "We wish to replace or renovate the abandoned buildings on this street so that new, commercial enterprises can move into the street level and the upper levels can be used for housing."

--Melissa DePetris

Corporate sponsors to debut at this year's Fling

Beginning last year, the YCC contacted between 70 and 80 businesses which were potential sponsors, including local corporations and national organizations that have an interest in the New Haven area.

"Corporate sponsorship of events is mutually beneficial," YCC treasurer Zachary Kaufman, SY '00, said. "It has allowed us to add thousands of dollars to the Spring Fling budget and redirect our money to expand other aspects of the occasion, while permitting the businesses to develop their interests in New Haven and interact with the Yale community."

Prior to this year, finances for Spring Fling festivities came from YCC fundraising, contributions from the Administration the event's co-sponsor, the Yale Student Environmental Coalition.

--Melissa DePetris

Dukakis talks about life as an educator at Tea

As governor, Dukakis successfully relieved the state from one of its worst financial and economic crises in history. His success led to his election as governor for an unprecedented three terms.

Dukakis is currently teaching at the University of California at Los Angeles. He explained that he decided to become an educator due to his "deep belief in the importance of public service." He added,"[Community involvent] is one of the things we need a lot of in this country."

A self-proclaimed liberal, Dukakis conveyed his dismay over the fact that many talented young people opt not to go into public service, or even to follow politics. "It concerns me that only 27 percent of college freshmen polled said that being politically informed was important," he said. "It scares me since the United States is supposed to be the model for the world."

--Lauren Patrick

Yale's research income to hit $35 million

Zerit, a drug used to treat AIDS patients, has recently become the leading reverse transcriptse inhibitor on the market. A new Lyme disease vaccine is waiting for FDA approval and, according to Daren, should significantly increase Yale's income from technology transfer.

The OCR also maintains an interest in benefiting the greater New Haven community. Daren said that OCR is also "working very hard with the state, city, and with Yale to improve efficiency of Science Park."

--Anika Singh

Panhellenic holds first Women's Wellness Week

The week's events featured three talks by accomplished women. On Mon., Mar. 30, best selling author Maggie Scarf spoke on "Women of the '90s: How do we see the world, how does the world see us?" In addition, a panel of women professors discussed "The New Yale Academia, since 1969," and Kristin Siebrecht of the Yale Eating Disorders Clinic gave a talk on "Media and Body Messages."

"We thought it would be interesting to do. We wanted to create a forum for discussion," Panhellenic President Kavi Menon, CC '00, said of the week's events. According to Menon, the Council plans to turn Women's Wellness Week into an annual event. "It's a good beginning. We had a pretty good turnout," she said.

--Jackie Eisler

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