Week in Brief

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH The Men of JE suprised Daveport by stealing its prized gnome over Thanksgiving break.

Nursing professor to be Silliman's new Master

"Sillimanders all," Krauss said, "this is an awesome responsibility. I have talked with your Master and I know that this is the best college at Yale. This will be an extraordinary and unexpected chapter in my life."

Krauss' previous interactions with undergraduates comes from her service on the faculty committee on athletics. At the School of Nursing, she specializes in issues relating to mental health. She met Master Brownell when he served on the tenure committee for the School of Nursing.

"She seems fine but it's going to be a tough act to follow," Jesse Ferris, SM '00, said. "Master Brownell was just a great Master all around." Krauss will begin her term in the next academic year.

—Zoë Konovalov

Gingrich advocates hate crimes legislation

PATRICK MCGAVEY/YH Candance Gingrich spoke out on hate crime.

Since coming out five years ago, Gingrich has worked towards the goal of educating the public about homosexual rights and has encouraged homosexuals and bisexuals to be open and honest about their sexuality. In her speech, she emphasized the necessity of broader legislation for hate crimes. "Attacks motivated by hatred undermine all Americans. They violate the freedoms of speech, expression, and assembly," Gingrich said. "Hate crimes are a form of domestic terrorism and act as atomic bombs to the fabric of our nation." Gingrich's opening speech ended with a standing ovation and was closely followed by a heated debate. In general, the YPU was equally divided on the issue; much of the Coalition of the Right opposed Gingrich's stance, arguing that federal hate crime legislation is not only unnecessary but unconstitutional. Patrick Gaughen, CC '03, stated in his opening rebuttal: "[The HCPA] sets a bad precedent for federal intrusion into local and state authority." —Averill Harrington

Pulitzer writer still looking for perfect story

Kidder, who has been visiting Yale all week, spoke on Wed., Dec. 1, about his life and career as a nonfiction writer—his works include House, Among Schoolchildren, The Soul of A New Machine, and Old Friends. But his writing career began in the fiction and poetry classes that Professor Robert Fitzgerald—who inspired Kidder to become a writer—taught at Harvard University. "I took his class over and over again. I wanted to show him that I could write well. I think you could say that I've been courting his approval throughout my life."

Kidder, after fighting in Vietnam and then attending the Iowa Writers' Conference, turned to nonfiction writing. "I became intrigued by new journalism, by writing about nonfictional subject matter in a style that relies on story telling," he said. He wrote articles for The Atlantic Monthly and cultivated his writing voice. He then broke into the nonfiction book-writing world when The Soul of A New Machine was well-reviewed. He has continued to write nonfiction since then.

Still, he said, "My idea of writing something classical will never really die." Nevertheless he added, "My main aim is to make believable what is true. That, to me, is the aim of good nonfiction."

—Liz Oliner

Seattle protests spark rally at Yale

Chiraag Bains, MC '03, a speaker at the rally, defined the activists' goal as "protesting the WTO, which undermines health and safety regulations in the name of free trade."

While students were protesting, Yale Law School Professor Daniel Esty was scheduled to speak at the summit. He focused on the concerns raised when the WTO, in 1997, ordered the United States to relax the Clean Air Act so that foreign gasoline producers could more easily enter the U.S. market.

David Corson-Knowles, TC '03, co-organizer of a WTO Yale Teach-in, said he seeks to raise awareness of the WTO because its secrecy has kept the potential danger of WTO out of the public eye. "The WTO is trying to extend its authority from national markets to state and local markets, which will further threaten democracy," he said.

—Andrew Cowdery

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