Around the Ivies

The job search

REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH Students Against Sweatshops (SAS) reconvened on Beineke Plaza on Thurs., Apr. 19 to mark the anniversary of their camp out protest a year ago. Protesters held a 30-minute moment of silence.

Here's a tip: the burglary industry is not as competitive as investment banking. Don't take your resumé. This might be obvious for Yalies, but for a San Francisco man who left a resumé at a bank he robbed, such advice might have kept him out of jail. After a string of bank robberies, Scot Alan Beane was tracked down by an old address on his resumé. According to the Mon., Apr. 16 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, Beane was intoxicated during several of the robberies. "Here's the story—you shouldn't drink and drive," San Francisco police lieutenant Bruce Marovich told the Chronicle. "You shouldn't rob banks and do the same thing. That's what he was doing."

A rusty criminal

That cute pre-frosh won't kiss you? Just stab her. That's what you would do if you were Mathias Rust, who was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail in April 1991 for stabbing a girl who wouldn't kiss him. Rust has recently reemerged in the media spotlight—this time not for assault, but for being convicted on Tues., Apr. 17 of stealing a sweater from a department store. He pulled his most outrageous stunt in 1987, when he piloted an aircraft through Soviet defenses to land in Moscow's Red Square. Though he was just 19 at the time, Rust said he embarked on the flight to "promote world peace." Soviet authorities sentenced him to four years of hard labor, but following an appeal by former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, he was released after just 432 days.

A very sad story

Diamonds are forever, except when embittered by dark chocolate. A man from Perugia, the chocolate capital of Italy, had a special Easter egg made for his girlfriend containing a diamond engagement ring. Unfortunately, he forgot his beloved's preference for milk chocolate, and when the woman realized it was dark, she decided to take it back. Without telling her lover, she exchanged the egg to a shop for a milk chocolate version. When they realized what had happened, the couple hurried back to the shop to see if the special egg had been sold yet. But the egg was gone, and so apparently was their romance; they have since broken up.

—Compiled by Justin Chen and Lise Clavel from Yahoo! News

The Week in Brief

Students burn tax forms in protest

BY AMSALU DABELA

"We want a vote!" students chanted as the Federal Tax Form 1040 burned in a metal wastebasket on Beinecke Plaza on Mon., Apr. 16, the day taxes were due.

Sponsored by Yale Students for D.C. Voting Rights, the press conference and torching aimed to increase awareness of D.C. residents' lack of a voting representative in Congress, a situation students decry as "taxation without representation."

Event Organizer Joshua Foer, SM '04, issued a statement declaring the condition "undemocratic and un-American." He said that the District's argument is that lack of congressional representation violates the 14th amendment.

"Because the Supreme Court has rejected the District's argument, the only way to get a vote is through congressional action or a constitutional amendment," Foer said. "That is going to require the support of Americans across the country." The goal of the protest was to demonstrate solidarity, he added.

The protesters included many students who are D.C. residents and also attracted many passersby, who were encouraged to burn Form 1040. One policeman arrived on the scene as the protest ended after a report of a bonfire on Beinecke Plaza and took down Foer's name and personal information. 

RNA research illuminates evolution

BY ANNA ARKIN-GALLAGHER

Yale's scientists are in the news once again with their recent discovery of an RNA "biochip." According to Ronald Breaker, associate professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, and the primary author of the study printed in April's issue of Nature Biotechnology, these biochips can be "engineered to recognize target compounds with extraordinary specificity."

The scientists involved in this project have been working with RNA switches for over four years but only started developing the biochip last year. "Our interest in RNA switches really stems from theories about how life began about four billion years ago," Breaker said. "Some speculate that RNA switches were an important but long extinct function of RNA before the evolution of DNA and proteins. Our work with RNA switches proves that this theory is plausible."

The biochips themselves are RNA "molecular switches [fused] to a gold-coated surface" that "self-destruct when they come in contact with the target molecule," Breaker said.

Breaker added that due to the high specificity of each of these chips, they could be engineered to recognize "hundreds of different compounds such as toxins, drugs, chemical contaminants, and various biological agents."

Breaker added that "these biosensor components could be integrated into an advanced biochip that would provide an efficient and miniaturized format for the analysis of innumerable targets of interest."

Nevertheless, Breaker maintains that there is much more research to be done on this project. "We need to carry out some research and development to produce robust biochips that find widespread application," he said. 

Luis Palau to preach at Yale

BY ZANDER DRYER

Evangelist Luis Palau has preached on every continent except Antarctica. Faithful audiences in Jakarta, Kiev, Buenos Aires, San Antonio, and Zurich have packed stadiums to hear his sermons.

But on Tue., Apr. 24, Palau will speak in a much smaller venue: Battell Chapel.

Palau, perhaps Billy Graham's only rival for the title of world's best-known evangelist, began preaching in Argentina nearly 50 years ago. Although Palau is most famous for his work abroad, particularly in Latin America, since the early 1980s he has increasingly focused on the United States. Its intimate style and Hispanic background have given him an immense appeal among multiethnic audiences.

The Chaplain's Office was instrumental in bringing Palau to Yale. The office funded Palau's visit and is working with other groups on campus, including Yale Students for Christ, the Yale Christian Fellowship, and the International Church at Yale, to make Palau welcome.

Many are excited for Tuesday's event. In keeping with Palau's theme of "Great Music, Good News!" Christian singing groups Living Water and the Yale Gospel Choir will perform at the rally. The Chaplain's Office invites all students to attend and "bring their friends who need to hear the good news of Jesus." 

Somber message amid celebrations

BY KATIE ALDRICH

This weekend is not all cake and celebrations. At least one event will bring pained memories for some and a battle cry for others. Judy Shepard, mother of the slain Matthew Shepard, will speak at the Yale University Art Gallery this Sat., Apr. 21.

On Wed., Oct. 12, 1998, Matthew Shepard was brutally attacked because he was gay; he later died from his injuries. Shepard's death was widely cited as evidence of the need for federal hate crimes legislation. Additionally, the brutal attack drew attention to the continuing problem of homophobia nationwide. Since her son's death, Judy Shepard has traveled around the country to promote awareness of hate crimes. The Shepards also created the Matthew Shepard Foundation in memory of their son.

Judy Shepard is currently the director of the foundation, which has put her in contact with various organizations, from human rights activists to television stations. NBC and the Matthew Shepard Foundation are currently working on a made for television movie about Matthew's life and death.

Nearly 20 groups are responsible for bringing Shepard to campus, including the Hate Crimes Awareness Comittee and the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies. The foundation hopes to aid in general awareness of hate crimes across the country, as well as work toward favorable legislation. 

Heard

"Harvard is a sick, sick place. You guys are lucky you go to Yale." 

—Andrew Port,

The Holocaust and its Historians

"You could rub meat all over a baby's head and that dog still would not bite anybody." 

—Jen McCormick,

Formation of Modern American Culture

Index

1. Pages of reading I have to do next week: 2,000 

2. Hours of sleep I've gotten since Sun., Apr. 15: 16

3. Number of Herald parties occuring this weekend: 1

4. Hours it will take me to sleep off this week and the Herald party: 24 5. Number of Spring Flings occuring this weekend: 1

6. Rank of Ben Harper in my top 1,000 choices for a Spring Fling band: 1,000

7. Number of beers I'll need to drink to deal with listening to Ben Harper: 10 

8. Hours it will take me to sleep off those and subsequent beers: 18

9. Number of Tangs occuring this weekend: 1

10. Number of Herald sports editors cornering the JE Tang team: 1 

11. Number of Herald sports editors getting cornered at Tang: 1

12. Number of beers I'll have had by the time I'm watching this happen: 12

—Compiled by Nathan Littlefield

1,2) the Herald; 3) horny EIC; 4,8) lack of a liver; 5) YCC reps; 6,7) inconvenient presence of musical taste; 9, 11) horny [[Delta]][[Kappa]][[Epsilon]] members 10) long Russian winters 12) attempting to justify [[Delta]][[Kappa]][[Epsilon]]'s purchase of every keg in New Haven

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