The Week in Brief

Portrait of George Bush hung in Commons

Nolan and his classmates commissioned noted portrait artist Robert Sherr to complete the painting in time for the their 50th class reunion. The painting is five feet wide and seven feet tall and hangs 20 feet above the ground. The new portrait was placed on the Wall St. side of Commons on Wed., May 27, two days before the Class of 1948 had its reunion gala.

According to Judy Cole, director of University Relations, Yale did not fund the portrait. "This was an entirely class-driven project," she said.

—William S. Mauldin

Yale alum murdered on Georgetown campus

LIZ OLINER/YH Mirzayan's body was found near the Canal Road entrance to the Key Bridge.

Mirzayan was returning to her Georgetown dorm from a party at the house of Chris Fregiato, BK '00, who lived with a fellow intern of Mirzayan's. On her way home, Mirzayan was accosted and bludgeoned to death on a footpath near campus. Washington police still have no suspects.

Fregiato said his housemate was shaken by the incident. "It hit her pretty hard," he said. "It could have been any one of them."

After graduating from Yale in 1991, Mirzayan went on to graduate studies in cell biology and neurobiology at the University of California at San Francisco, where she recieved her doctorate in June. She was preparing for a career on Capitol Hill with an internship at the National Research Council (NRC).

NRC President Bruce Alberts called Mirzayan a "delightful and energetic" student. "Brilliant, articulate, and with tremendous spark, Christine had all the attributes of a future leader," he said.

—David Altschuler

City NAACP head moves on to state post

Vann made his mark in the Elm City as a political activist who fought tirelessly on civil rights issues. Under Vann's leadership, the Greater New Haven NAACP took an active role in the Malik Jones saga, the Omni Hotel labor dispute, and in discrimination complaints against the Yale police department.

Since his promotion to state president, Vann has focused his energies on "Operation Blind Justice," an initiative to collect statistics on the racial breakdown of drivers pulled over by police.

—Sangeetha Ramaswamy

S.E. Asia scholar facing State Department probe

In a letter to the State Department, Representative Tom Campbell (R-Calif.) alleged that Kiernan took a leave of absence from Yale in January 1997 but continued to receive a salary and to oversee the finances of the program.

"Yale University stands squarely behind Ben Kiernan and his work," Gila Reinstein, a spokesperson for Yale's Office of Public Affairs, said. She added that the University considers "the nature of his work [to be] exceedingly important and believes that he will be exonerated of all charges."

History Director of Undergraduate Studies Robert Johnston also expressed support for Kiernan's work in the program, which documents human rights abuses committed during Pol Pot's regime. While stating that "there is no official department position [on the matter]," Johnston maintained that the department "fully supports the statement the university has put out."

—Sangeetha Ramaswamy

U.S. News gives Yale a share of top ranking

Yale made the climb to first from third last year largely because of an increased graduation rate. Yale topped Harvard and Princeton in undergraduate teaching categories. MIT and Stanford shared the number four spot.

The influential rankings, often determined by a fraction of a point, are the object of both intense national attention and scholarly dismissal. Stanford University President Gerhard Casper leads a group of scholars who object to universities being ranked "like automobiles and toasters."

Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, also minimized the importance of Yale's number one ranking. "It is a great pleasure for me to be associated with a truly excellent school," he explained. "Compared to that, the rankings are of no importance."

—Amanda Poppei and Catherine Reed

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