The Week in Brief

"The surest way to ensure the presidential candidates address the issues is for the American public to demand that they do so," James Baker III explained to a crowded Luce Hall audience on Wed., Sept. 29. Baker, who served as Secretary of State under George Bush, DC '48, as well as Secretary of the Treasury and White House Chief of Staff under Ronald Reagan, spoke of the future challenges for American foreign policy.

According to Baker, six major obstacles face U.S. foreign policy now and in the future. He spoke about maintaining U.S. military might, settling regional disputes, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the question of Russia's and China's roles in the world, and the role of more open global trade and investment. Baker also briefly touched upon other issues facing U.S. policy, such as the environment and global health.

—Alyssa B. Greenwald

Berkeley college holds rededication ceremony

JOHN YI/YH President Levin, GRD '74, took part in the Berkeley festivities.

The Berkeley construction workers passed the baton on to University administrators on Wed., Sept. 29. Berkeley Master Harry Stout, President Richard Levin, GRD '74, and members of Berkeley College rededicated the college in a grand ceremony.

The festivities began with a speech from Stout, who announced, "The dream has come true." This dream was made possible by Robert M. Bass, BK '71, and his wife, Anne T. Bass, who pledged a $20 million grant in 1996. Another major contributor to the renovatioaan fund was Joseph G. Fogg III, BK '68, whose grant helped refurbish the dining hall.

The other speakers included Levin, Bass, Executive Fellow Charles Hill, and Richard Albert, BK '00. Their speeches focused on the issue of preservation versus renovation, addressing the controversy fueled when plans for a balcony in the dining hall became public last year. "Yale did it right; preservation is essential, but it should not be dictatorial," Hill said. Levin also praised the plan for "finding the right balance between preservation and meeting student needs."

"We are the envy of all 12 colleges—this year, anyway," Stout stated. The ceremony ended when Anne Bass cut the blue ribbon, thus officially rededicating the the newly renovated college.

—Ayon Nandi

Health director warns of meningitis dangers

Director of Yale University Health Services (YUHS) Paul Genecin alerted undergraduates on Fri., Sept. 24 to the potential dangers associated with meningococcal meningitis, a disease that can result in permanent brain damage, learning disabilities, kidney failure, and death. Genecin hoped to reassure concerned students and their parents in an e-mail addressed to students.

According to the website of the American College Health Association, "oral contact with shared items such as drinking glasses or through intimate contact such as kissing could put a person at risk for acquiring [meningitis]." Dormitory living makes college students particularly susceptible; those students living in close quarters should be wary of its initial symptoms, which include severe headaches, high fever, neck stiffness, and rash.

"The disease is very sporadic and rare," Genecin said in an interview. "But people who experience the symptoms of the disease should definitely seek medical attention immediately."

YUHS suggests eating a well-balanced diet, getting plenty of sleep, and avoiding too much stress to boost the immune system's resistance to the bacteria. A vaccine, which costs about $65, is also available at YUHS.

—Andrew Heller

`Men of JE' rescue the Branford Cactus

Perhaps the most exciting Tap Night moment was the triumphant return of the Branford Cactus by the joke singing group, `Men of JE.' The `Men' had stolen the cactus back from Saybrook two days earlier, in a daring escapade in which `Man' Laura Feiveson, JE '02, posed as a Yale Daily News reporter writing about college mascots.

When the gullible Saybrook students brought the cactus down from their room, a `Man' lurking nearby, Sid D'Souza, JE '00, asked if he could have his photo taken holding it. Then he seized the cactus and ran. "We fled, whooping, and disappeared into the JE tunnels," `Man' Anna Kaye, JE '01, said. The Men returned the Cactus to Branford on Tap Night—but not before scrawling "Men of JE" on it in huge letters. "We were everything Men should be," Kaye said. "Gallant and chivalrous. It really got my testosterone going."

—Zoë Konovalov

Mosquito-borne illness may spread further

The mosquito-borne illness sweeping throughout the New York area is not encephalitis, health officials confirmed to the New York Times [9/27/99]. Instead, it may be a rare disease that was never spotted before in the Western hemisphere, called West Nile virus.

The number of confirmed cases of the disease has increased to 37, and a fourth person died of the disease on Mon., Sept. 27. Humans contract the disease from mosquitoes that have bitten infected birds. Birdwatchers and conservationists have begun to report cases of dead birds—523 so far—including a bird from Westport, Conn., that tested positive for the virus.

Although the symptoms of the illness are usually mild—including fever and headaches—the elderly, young, and those with weakened immune systems risk neurological disorders and even death.

—Zoë Konovalov

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH Singing groups scrambled to see who could tap the freshmen first on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

IVY LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Brown, that last bastion of conservatism, is at it again. Recently, Providence, R.I. developers moved an aging building from its place on Brown's campus to a new location in order to provide more low-income housing.

Unfortunately, this move sparked controversy because it called for the removal of two trees that were in the vicinity. A visiting Fulbright scholar, Ian Douglas, discovered the "hacked trees" and immediately organized a protest to stop the further decimation of Brown's campus. Students sang "Kumbaya" and were served granola.

Harvard

The Cantabs are having some problems with the residential college scene. Citing a lack of involvement in House activities, administrators are lowering the size of "blocking groups"—groups of freshmen who choose to be assigned to the same House—from 16 to eight. The move is an adjustment of the 1995 decision to follow Yale's lead and establish a residential college system based on a random assignment of students.

House leaders say that large blocking groups tend to isolate themselves and refrain from participating in college life. However, they have yet to address Harvard's more pressing social problem: overcrowded libraries on Saturday nights.

Princeton

Hell just became a little more accessible, thanks to Princeton comparative literature Professor Robert Hollander. He will open an interactive website called Princeton Dante Project to the general public this week.

Hollander is using the website to help students in his freshman seminar study The Divine Comedy. He said, "It is one of the most innovative teaching tools available today."

The text is flanked by links to commentary, philological notes, artwork and readings of the Italian text, and selected English verses. Hollander did not comment on rumors that he had changed the ending of The Inferno to put Yale's Bulldog and Harvard's Cantab in the innermost circle of Hell.

—Compiled by Najah Farley and Zoë Konovalov from the Brown Daily Herald, the Harvard Crimson, and the Daily Princetonian.

YALE INDEX
1. Date of next Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)	Oct.2, 1999
2. Cost of taking the LSAT, in dollars	88
3. Maximum score on the LSAT	180
4. Average Yale LSAT score	164
5. LSAT testing time, in minutes	170
6. Approximate number of questions on the LSAT	101
7. Approximate number of correct answers required for a 180	100
8. Number of answer choices per LSAT question	5
9. Probability of correctly guessing the answer to one question	0.2
10. Probability of correctly guessing the answer to 100 questions	1.27x10-70
11. Number of LSATs needed to get a 180 by guessing	7.89x1069
12. Cost of randomly guessing your way to a 180, in dollars	6.94x1071
13. Market value of Yale Endowment, Fiscal Year 1998	6,600,000,000
14. Number of times Yale can afford to take the LSAT	75,000,000
15. Net worth of Bill Gates on Wed., Sept. 29, in dollars	101,071,000,000
16. Number of times Bill Gates can afford to take the LSAT	1,148,534,091
17. Number of years needed to take 1,148,534,091 LSATs	371,482
18. Age of Yale College, in years	299

—Compiled by Cornelius Kaestner and Daniel Serviansky

Sources: 1, 2, 3) Law School Admissions Council; 4) Undergraduate Career Services; 5, 7, 8, 15) MIT Professor Philip Greenspan; 6) Kaplan Educational Centers, Inc.; 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17) Math; 13)Yale Corporation; 18) TV.

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