REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH On Mon. Apr. 2, Yale Students gathered on the corner of Chapel and Elm streets along with the Easter Bunny to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Around the Globe

True, Pikachú can toast his enemies with one carefully aimed thundershock. But he can't travel to Saudi Arabia, according to a recent directive by the commerce industry of that country, which banned all Pokémon games and accessories.

The edict blasted the internationally popular Japanese phenomenon, which has sparked trading cards, video games, a feature film, and various accessories. The Saudis claim that Pokémon subverts Islamic teachings by promoting Darwin's theory of evolution and displaying Christian, Jewish, and Shintoist symbols. The edict also condemned the collecting and exchange of Pokémon trading cards as a form of gambling.

Not-so-naughty nurses

Brazil's Regional Nursing Council recently won a battle in court against Playboy over a "Naughty Nurse" cover, which the council has claimed is a false representation of their profession. Playboy was ordered by the Brazilian court to cancel its plans to run a photograph of model Ariane Latuf on the cover of its April issue wearing "little more than a surgical mask and a shocking pink nurse's cap."

Playboy is appealing the ruling on the grounds that it violates freedom of the press.

Where's a rickshaw when I need one?

The future doesn't look bright for America's rickshaw drivers. Based on last year's U.S. Census, which categorized Americans into approximately 33,000 occupations, some more out-of-date jobs, like rickshaw driving and whaling, may be eliminated from the Census Bureau's consideration, barring vast and unexpected changes in American immigration trends.

In fact, classification of certain typically Asian jobs appears to be proceeding "with no apparent rhyme or reason," according to a Reuters report. For instance, although "tea taster" is recognized by the Census Bureau as an official vocation, tea growers, tea processors, and tea ceremony teachers are out of luck.

—Compiled by Justin Chen from Yahoo! News and Reuters

The Week in Brief

Dave' emphasizes Christianity on campus

Do you agree with Dave? That is the question many people on campus were asking this week. The "I agree with Dave" campaign, similar to projects on many other campuses, kicked off at Yale on Mon., Apr. 2 and culminates in a noontime rally on Fri., Apr. 6. The campaign was organized by David Farrell, MC '03, and sponsored by Athletes in Action, Living Water, MASA Bible Study, Yale Christian Fellowship, Yale Gospel Choir, and Yale Students for Christ.

Farrell described the week as "an opportunity for Christians on campus to share the gospel of Christ and his love for us as God's children." Yalies involved in the campaign wore buttons and t-shirts that read "I agree with Dave" in order to spark conversation about Christ. In addition, investigative Bible studies took place every evening and will continue until Easter. The climax of the week will be the Friday rally to spread the message of Christ's love. Farrell feels that "there is tremendous potential on campus for Christianity and Christians to prosper and live a Christian life. This is just an opportunity for Christians to do that." —Rebecca Rosenthal

Klasky named Public Affairs director

University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, announced on Fri., Mar. 30 that Helaine S. Klasky had been appointed director of the Office of Public Affairs (OPA). The appointment ends a four-month long search after Larry Haas, the previous director, announced his resignation in December.

Klasky comes from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she served as deputy assistant secretary for Public Affairs. Previously, Klasky held posts at the White House and the State Department. She began her career working for Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and former Senator Dennis Deconcini (D-AZ).

"I spent a great deal of time in Washington managing public relations crises," Klasky, who will begin work on Mon., May 7, said.

Prominent among Levin's goals is to increase the international visibility of the University. Klasky's knowledge in this area proved decisive in the decision to hire her. "Helaine's expeince in the international arena will be a tremendous asset," University Secretary Linda Lorimer, LAW '77, said.

The OPA coordinates all media and public relations for the University. Klasky will be responsible for designing a communications plan that complements major programs.

Klasky follows a series of OPA directors who have each left after only a few years, but she insisted she would be here for the long term. "My husband and I are looking forward to being part of the Yale and New Haven community," she said. "I'm excited and honored about this opportunity." —Luke Habberstad

Conference spotlights mental illness

"Neuroscience 2001," the eighth annual neurobiology symposium, took place on Sat., Mar. 31, at the Yale School of Medicine and presented new brain and psychiatric health research to the public.

Conference organizer John Krystal, a professor of psychiatry at the Medical School, said the symposium focused on the neurobiology of recovery, with over 200 patients and family members in attendance. "The speakers talked about understanding brain science at the basic level, which changes the way you think about mental illness," Krystal said.

Treatment of mental illness has received relatively less research support in the past, and the symposium aimed to make the issue of mental health more prominent. Department of psychiatry researchers, the Connecticut Medical Health Center, and the National Alliance of Mental Illness collaborate each year to introduce new research and treatments for patients.

"All of the constituent collaborators believe it is very important to have an educated public," Krystal said. "It is important to educate the families of people with mental illnesses because they support the family member and are activists on their behalf."

Krystal added that the conference presented breakthrough research, including Psychiatry and Pharmacology Professor Ronald Duman's discovery that the brain makes new cells throughout a person's life. "The clinical research is inherently a collaboration between the researchers, the patients, and their families," Krystal said. —Amsalu Dabela

Nursing home workers return to work

Nursing home workers from the Jewish Home for the Aged returned to the job on Thurs., Mar. 22 after staging a walkout two days earlier. The strike was part of a statewide walkout at 40 nursing homes by more than 4,000 members of the New England Health Care Employees Union (NEHCEU), to protest low wages and understaffing.

The union seeks to increase the state's funding for Medicaid in order to raise the pay of nursing home staff and allow facilities to hire more workers. Union members claim that because of understaffing, workers are required to care for too many patients at a time. "Today's nursing home residents are older and frailer than those 20 years ago," NEHCEU Spokesman Deborah Chernoff said. "They require more care with nearly every activity of normal living."

According to the Associated Press, 24 homes allowed workers back Wed., Mar. 21, a day after the walkout. Two others, including the Jewish Home, let workers return a few days later.

Contract talks between many nursing homes, including the Jewish Home, are forthcoming. "We have a negotiation scheduled later this week," Jewish Home Administrator and President Michael N. Rosenblut said. Chernoff said that these talks were not a result of the walkout, but that sometimes the union has to "set deadlines" to expedite results.

The union plans on giving the contractual negotiations time to reach a settlement, Chernoff said, but added that "until we actually have a contract, the potential for another job action exists." —Matthew Ferraro

Heard

"And why sexual reproduction anyway? It's a pain in the butt." 

—Richard Bribiescas,

Physiology of Life History and Human Adaptability

"This is my favorite stage direction in the play: `Enter Pericles, wet.'"

—Lawrence Manley,

Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances

"I don't have a great storehouse of female masturbation jokes."

—Laura Frost,

English 129

Index

1. The Herald's record against the Daily in the annual Herald-Daily basketball game: (9-5)

2. Points by which the Herald won this year's game: 3

3. Minutes that the Herald's managing board played against the Daily's: 1

 4. Percent chance that one or more members of the Herald's managing board will score this weekend: 100

5. Percent chance that one or more members of the Daily's managing board will score this weekend: 0

6. Percent chance that the Herald managing board believes its version

of scoring is superior to the Daily managing board's: 100

7. Points scored by game MVP Ewan MacDougall, BR '03: 15

8. Percent chance MacDougall has of scoring this weekend: >50

—Compiled by Nathan Littlefield

1) Natural order of the universe; 2) the Daily's pregame trip to the Bill Lambeer School of Basketball Ethics; 3) sun dial; 4, 6) superior genetic material; 5) consequences of inbreeding; 7) pick-up ball on the rough courts of Collegiate; 8) beer

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