The Week in Brief

Particularly hard hit is LaGuardia in New York, which has borne the brunt of much of the increased demand for air traffic in the past decade, as it has gradually assumed the role of eastern hub for domestic air routes. In response to the increasing congestion on the runways, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Thurs., Nov. 9 that it would hold a lottery in order to eliminate more than 75 flights per day from LaGuardia's currently overcrowded flight load.

The slots have become increasingly valuable as airlines vie for new routes and more departures. The FAA maintains that LaGuardia's flight congestion has already adversely affected other airports' abilities to consistently adhere to a flight schedule.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report, issued last month, LaGuardia failed to raise its marks in flight punctuality. Over the past twelve months, only 43 percent of arriving flights were on time. This is by far the worst record of roughly 200 major airports in the United States.

Currently, an average of 600 planes come through LaGuardia per day. The only commercial airport in the U.S. that boasts a perfect record for promptness is Minot International Airport in North Dakota—but then again, it only has 23 flights per month.

—Nick Zamiska

Levin living large among university presidents

President Richard Levin, GRD '74, joins Rodin as one of seven college presidents who earned more than $500,000 in 1998-1999. As the sixth highest-paid president, Levin garnered $391,250 in salary and $134,437 in benefits.

Others in the top 10 include: Harry C. Payne, the now-retired president of Williams College, L. Jay Oliva, of New York University, George C. Rupp, of Columbia University, and Harold T. Shapiro of Princeton University.

Among the 479 private institutions surveyed, the median package was $185,721. This figure has grown significantly in recent years due to a robust economy. Some believe there is also an increasing tendency to view a college president as the CEO of a major company. In the business sector, valuable CEOs command annual salaries in the millions of dollars.

—Alison Smith

Strobe Talbott to head new center

Davies Mansion will house the new center, which will bring together academics and leaders from Yale and around the world to stimulate new scholarship. The center will participate in "citizens'" diplomacy between parties whose area of conflict is under study either at Yale or by visiting professors at the center. The center's website will be extensive, with an online opinion journal, records of conferences and seminars at the center, and links to other global institutions.

An equally new World Fellows Program promises to enhance the impact of the center by inviting scholars and future leaders from around the world to Yale for a semester of study of global issues. To implement all of these expansions, President Richard Levin, GRD '74, has announced the creation of three new interdisciplinary senior professorships for the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS).

"The development of the new center clearly helps Yale to become more relevant to the policy arena in international studies," Gustav Ranis, the director of YCIAS, said.

—Rachel Sussman

Geology Department looks to hire seven

According to director of undergraduate studies Brian Skinner, the need for so many new appointments comes from an unusual combination of circumstances, including the expected retirement of five faculty members, the exit of Neil Ribe, who accepted a teaching position in France, and the unexpected departure of former Saybrook Master Antonio Lasaga. Lasaga pled guilty to child pornography charges two years ago, and is currently on leave of absence from the department.

According to Department Chair Danny Rye, "one new faculty member [Ruth Blake] is here, and four more have accepted appointments; David Bercovici and Shun Karato, both senior hires in Geophysics, Peter Reiners, a junior hire in geochemistry, and Steve Sherwood, a junior hire in Ocean and Atmospheric dynamics."

Rye has high hopes for the new hires, calling them "part of an ongoing search for world-class scientists and teachers in the earth sciences."

"We certainly hope that [they] will revitalize the department and return it to a high national ranking," Skinner said. "But more importantly, [they] will allow the department to offer a full, diverse, and balanced curriculum of courses." —Anna Arkin-Gallagher

DAVID GEST/YH Jamaican dubpoet and musician Mutabaruka lays down the groove at a Trumbull College Master's Tea.

HEARD

"Formication: the feeling that ants are crawling all over you. Use this word—you will enjoy it." —Jay Gitlin, The Suburbanization of America "There are other hells, including the hell of the fiery cock. That's for people who are cruel to animals or something." —Tita Hyland, The Art of China, India, and Japan "Forgive me if I'm just a little uncomfortable serving my students whiskey." —Shelly Kagan, Normative Ethics

Ivy League Notebook

Princeton

Two giant stainless steel tiger sculptures have been placed at the entrance to Princeton's football stadium to greet students and sports fans. The tigers, which will feature ivy growing from an empty cavity in their torsi, were donated by a 1934 graduate and current investment banker. "Our students can relate to the sculptures," officials explained. Princeton students, like the tigers, have empty cavities in their torsi—where their hearts would be.

Cornell

Cornell is finally preparing to enter the new millennium, implementing ID keycard access to select dorms. The university eventually plans to replace all lock-and-key doors on its campus resident halls with the keycard system in coming years. Cornell administrators hope for better campus security, as lost keycards can be immediately deactivated to prevent people from gaining unauthorized entry with a stolen card. The move has scared away Ithaca's resident criminals—all two of them.

Harvard

Harvard is recognizing its large international population this week—about 3,000 foreign students and 2,000 international scholars. The students praise the university—and the American educational system in general—for its wide variety of academic and extracurricular activities and options, embodied in the fundamental concept of the liberal arts education. But more international students at Harvard actually helps Yale. That way, even more of the world hears when the Bulldogs destroy the Cantabs in The Game.

—Compiled by Nishant Kumar from the Daily Princetonian, Cornell Daily Sun, and the Harvard Gazette.

YALE INDEX
1. Number of pages average Yalie has to write in next three weeks:	25
2. Average time, in minutes, needed to write one page:	45
3. Amount of time, in hours, needed to write 25 pages:	18.75
4. Percent chance that 25 pages of writing will occupy two nights:	100
5. Number of hours, that an average Yalie will sleep those nights:	2
6. Cost, in dollars, of 20-oz. Coke or large coffee at Krauszer's:	1.25
7. Number of said beverages consumed per Yalie per night:	3
8. Amount of money, in dollars, that Krauszer's stands to make in the next three weeks:	39,495
9. Bribes, in dollars, offered to Yale profs by Krauszer's to assign all those papers:	15,000
10. Net profit, in dollars, from paper-writing students:	24,495
11. Cost, in dollars, Krauszer's has paid for a giant inflatable middle finger:	under 24,495
12. Number of weeks Krauszer's has left on its lease:	4
13. Number of weeks left until giant inflatable middle finger appears outside Yale University Properties office:	4

—Compiled by Nathan Littlefield

1, 2) convenient generalization; 3, 8, 10) abacus; 4, 5, 6, 7) too much personal experience; 9) caffeine-induced paranoia; 11) blatant guess; 12) an unjust universe; 13) hand of God

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