HUD slashes city homeless program funds.

PAT MCGARVEY/YH OUT IN THE COLD: HUD has cut funding for the Davenport House homlessness program.

New Haven's homeless effort is beginning to feel the impact from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) recent devastating blow. Last month, due to increased competition for homeless grants, HUD discontinued almost $3 million in funding for various city programs.

One affected program, the Yale Psychiatric Institute (YPI), uses HUD funding to provide medical and vocational services to mentally ill homeless people. Abby Adis, director of adult services for YPI, said, "The loss of HUD monies will dramatically impact our services and destabilize our whole work program." Funding for YPI's homeless services will probably run out by June.

Davenport House, a two-year transitional living program for the homeless, was also hit hard. Allison Cunningham, director of Columbus House Shelter, which oversees the operation of Davenport House, said, "The point of Davenport House is to be a step on the way to permanent housing." The program may be forced to shut down in November.

Cunningham said a possible explanation for the cuts is that "competition for funding was much stiffer than HUD anticipated" and had nothing to do with the actual quality of the targeted programs. Beth Goldstein, BK '01, treasurer of Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project, said, "The places whose funding were cut are legitimate programs that have been working well for a long time."

--Abbi Phillips

Hockfield shells out for continuing students.

While stipend levels for continuing students increased over the past couple of years, they have not kept up with the increases in the standard allocation set for the incoming class, except for stipends for continuing students in psychology and the natural sciences, which have kept up with those of incoming students.

Hockfield noted in her letter to students and faculty that "a shared stipend level fosters a sense of community." Few students would disagree with this assessment. "It is always a better idea to have greater financial parity among graduate students," Salim Yaqub, GRD '99, said.

Since financial concerns often influence graduate students' choice of a graduate school, the increase in the standard stipend should make Yale appear more competitive. "I hope students make their decision to come to Yale based on intellectual concerns and not on financial concerns," Hockfield said. Students receiving or set to receive higher stipends than the standard stipend will continue to receive the higher rate.

--Sumit De

MIT prof explores joy of frog eye studies.

With his unique insights and analogies, Lettvin hoped to infect Yalies with his enthusiasm for biological studies. "It was very sexy research," Lettvin said. "It began to taste like, `who needs the brain?' I'm not trying to overdo it. But it's interesting."

--Zoe Konovalov

Green Party protests stadium construction.

The Connecticut Green Party's "Stop the Stadium" campaign, protesting the planned New England Patriots stadium in Hartford, has gained momentum.

Local branches of the Reform and Libertarian parties, as well as National Green Party 1996 presidential candidate Ralph Nader, recently voiced support for the campaign. The Green Party opposes the $375 million stadium because "it amounts to
corporate welfare, and its economic promises are little more than a pipe dream," according to Connecticut Green Party Chair Tom Sevigny.

Governor John Rowland forcefully pushed the deal through the State Senate by threatening to revoke local funding for districts who did not vote to pass the deal. Sevigny said, "A $375 million investment in a real urban agenda would yield a much greater return for all of Connecticut's citizens instead of the current plan to make a rich man even richer."

--Julia Paolitto

Math prof wins major award and acclaim.

Mathematics and computer science Professor Laszlo Lovasz recently received the prestigious Wolf Foundation of Israel Prize for his work in the field of discrete mathematics. Mathematics Chair Peter Jones describes the prize as equivalent to the Nobel Prize in prestige.

"I feel it is important that the prize recognizes my field, combinatorics and the mathematical theory of computers, and the work of all my colleagues," Lovasz said. "I hope the prize signals the maturity of this field." Israeli President Ezer Weizman will award the prize in Jerusalem in May.

--Sue Tuddenham

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