JULIA TIERNAN/YH On Mon., Apr. 5, Alder Esther Armmand (D-7), chair of the board's Black and Hispanic Caucus focused on local minority businesses in her "Minority State of the City" address at City Hall.

Week in Brief

A team of doctors and mountain climbers came to Yale on Tues., Mar. 31, to train for the Yale-sponsored Everest Extreme Expedition (E3) they will undertake beginning Fri., Apr. 23.

At Yale, team members learned to operate devices such as vital sign monitors and locators, which they will use on the six-week expedition. The machines will transmit data on climber performance, endurance, and general health back to a staff of doctors at Yale.

The team wants to continue the research into high-altitude headaches that it began last year and to test new medical technology that NASA officials want to send with astronauts to the new international space station.

The $500,000 expedition is also being sponsored by NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the Explorers Club of New York, and Millennium Healthcare Solutions Inc.

--Zoe Konavolov

Panel discusses Yale's sweatshop policy

"There is no valid reason why Yale shouldn't be able to pay a living wage to the workers producing the [Yale-logo] caps," UNITE Analyst Steve Weingarten told a group of 10 students at a panel on Yale sweatshop policy on Thurs., Apr. 8. UNITE is an international organization that studies labor conditions in developing countries.

The panel only consisted of Weingarten and Yale law student and activist Daphne Keller, LAW '66, since Yale Licensing Director Helen Kauder cancelled her appearance for personal reasons. Lacking an administration voice, Weingarten and Keller explained why they believe Yale should pull out of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) by Sat., May 1. Yale, along with 16 other universities, joined the monitoring group on Tues., Mar. 16.

"The problem with the FLA is that it has no living wage guarantee, no full disclosure of factory locations, and no reliable system to monitor these conditions," Keller said.

"There's no reason why the University should join a league that has no teeth," Weingarten added. "The apparel companies want to do business with Yale. Yale should use its leverage to complete not just an economic transaction, but also a moral responsibility."

--Liz Oliner

Everest climbing team trains at Yale

A team of doctors and mountain climbers came to Yale on Tues., Mar. 31, to train for the Yale-sponsored Everest Extreme Expedition (E3) they will undertake beginning Fri., Apr. 23.

At Yale, team members learned to operate devices such as vital sign monitors and locators, which they will use on the six-week expedition. The machines will transmit data on climber performance, endurance, and general health back to a staff of doctors at Yale.

The team wants to continue the research into high-altitude headaches that it began last year and to test new medical technology that NASA officials want to send with astronauts to the new international space station.

The $500,000 expedition is also being sponsored by NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the Explorers Club of New York, and Millennium Healthcare Solutions Inc.

--Zoe Konavolov

Mother of Malik Jones files federal lawsuit

Almost two years after her son Malik was killed by East Haven police officer Robert Flodquist, Emma Jones filed a
wrongful death lawsuit against the city's police department at the federal courthouse in Hartford on Mon., Apr. 5.

The suit claims that Flodquist violated Jones' civil rights by employing unreasonable and deadly force against him. It demands damages of an unspecified amount.

Jones and her attorneys hope to prove that her son was a victim of racially motivated motor vehicle stop. The suit also names the city of New Haven as a defendant, alleging that the Elm City knew East Haven police targeted minorities but did nothing.

Hugh Keefe, the attorney defending the East Haven Police Department, said that he has not yet seen the text of the lawsuit, but was skeptical of the allegations against the department. "The East Haven police department has an excellent record," he said. "Not one judge has issued a single dollar to a plaintiff in a wrongful arrest or use of force."

--Kris Siriratsivawong

Students discuss plans for new theater space

JULIA TIERNAN/YH The YCC has convinced Yale to turn this building into a new theater next fall.

If the Yale College Council (YCC) has its way, Yale's performing artists will have plenty to sing and dance about next fall. On Thurs., Apr. 8, YCC President Zach Kaufman, SY '00, and YCC Projects Committee Chairman James Ponsoldt, MC '01, held an open discussion on the new performance space that will fill the old Yale Bookstore annex behind Toad's Place on Broadway. The theater is tentatively slated to open this fall.

Before winter recess, the YCC passed a unanimous resolution to create such a venue. "After break, [Dean of Student Affairs] Betty Trachtenberg gave YCC the thumbs up. We were told that we've got the funding," Ponsoldt said. "We're now in the process of talking to Yale's Broadway developers and an architect about the specifics of the space."

The 12 students at Thursday's discussion said plans for the space should include a lighting system, a "well-tuned piano," a dressing room, moveable seating, and wings that could be added to the main stage.

The students also highlighted some of the problems with the present performace spaces. "The main problem is that there is a real lack of space. There are only a few places to hold performances, like Nick Chapel and the Whitney Humanities Center Gym," Daniel Larlham, SM '00, said.

--Liz Oliner

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