The Week in Brief Sept. 21-27

As the campus joins the national dialogue considering possible retaliatory action following the attacks on Tues., Sept. 1, many feel that increased national security measures will come at the expense of citizens' civil rights and civil liberties. Judge William Webster, former director of the CIA and the FBI, spoke out on that subject before the Yale Political Union on Tues., Sept. 25.

MAC CAPLAN/YH

"I venture that just as I will always remember Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, you will always remember Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001—because whether you want or not, your lives have changed forever. I hope that you will be able to shape and guide that change...We are at a seminal point in our history. Terrorists are no longer mosquitoes that can be swatted aside as a minor nuisance. They have become such a threat that the peace- and freedom-loving nations of the world must confront them together...The key to a dangerous future is a steady course—no pendulum swings between anarchy and repression. If we stay committed to the idea of ordered liberty, America will always remain the land of the free and the home of the brave."

Demand soars for Yale-published Taliban book

YUP recently released 10,000 copies of the paperback edition of Rashid's Taliban, and has gone to press with another 50,000 in response to increased demand across the country for the book, according to Brenda King, YUP publicist. Rashid has covered the civil war in Afghanistan for 20 years as correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph, which are published in Pakistan and Afghanistan, respectively.

One thing that has perhaps made Rashid's book so popular is that he has personally interviewed most of the leaders of the Taliban regime since its rise to power in 1994. "Afghanistan has spawned this whole slew of hopelessly academic, obnoxious wonk books," Sebastien Junger, author of The Perfect Storm and Fire, said in a recent interview. "This book is a fabulous piece of journalism, not academic at all."

YUP also recently released 15,000 copies of the paperback edition of Five Days in London and is currently rush-printing 15,000 more. The book—a narrative recounting the German bombing of London during WWII—chronicles the heroism of the English during the Battle of Britain.

Luckacs' book was pushed into the limelight by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who held up the book in a nationally broadcast press conference on Sun., Sept. 16. Giuliani claims to have found inspiration in the book's portrayal of Winston Churchill.

"We are not the first people who have been attacked," Giuliani said during the press conference. "Civilizations have been attacked and democracies have been attacked, and they found the courage to deal with it."

YUP plans to continue reprinting the books until demand subsides. "Whenever books get in the news like this," King said, "there is enormous interest. Demand for these books was almost immediate." 

—Brad Lipton

Credit card scam uncovered

Most come to Yale Graduate School to prepare for a career, but few use it to begin a life in crime. Thomas Wayne Brown, GRD '02, did exactly that.

On Thurs., Sept. 20, Brown pled guilty to mail fraud in U.S. District Court. He faces up to five years in jail. Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on these charges on Tues., Oct. 30.

This adds to Brown's long list of criminal charges. In May 1999, Brown was arrested on charges of mail, wire, and credit card fraud. As a TA in Yale's graduate psychology program, he had been using the social security numbers of students from his class lists to obtain credit cards, on which he made more than $124,000 in purchases.

Even while out on bond, however, Brown continued to use fraudulent credit cards, racking up even more expenses until he was finally arrested again in August 1999 in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. He was sen- tenced to 27 months in federal prison in March 2000.

Then, according to prosecutors, after being released to a halfway house on Fri., Apr. 13, Brown obtained a dummy Texas bank account and used its checks to pay for a room at an upscale hotel in Stonington, Conn. The hotel quickly caught on to the scam and notified authorities. 

—Sam Walker

Younger Kruschev speaks at master's tea

Sergei Khruschev spoke at a Master's Tea on Tues., Sept. 25. He mixed dry humor with somber admonitions on the state of the Russian government and economy. He spoke mainly of the continuing corruption that has eroded the ability of Russia to become a stable nation. The talk was presented as a critical examination of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Khruschev views as someone who "does not know what to do, is weak, [and] does what is easy." Khruschev argued that Russians, as opposed to Americans, "think that the new [president], not themselves, will bring them prosperity."

The situation in Russia is so bleak that Khruschev likened the level of corruption to that in Colombia. He noted that the Russian mafia controls most of the money and consequently much of the power in Russia.

Khruschev also claimed that Russia is the only country in world history to "go from a developed country to a developing one." However, throughout his speech, he mainly emphasized that communism and his father were wrong: "My father was wrong. [The proper approach] was not communism but capitalism."

—Eve Gutman

Around the Globe

Though President Bashar al-Assad has allowed private newspaper printing for the first time in over 50 years, the government also added stringent penalties for violating rigid publication rules. The new guidelines have the effect of limiting, not increasing, freedom of the press. Newspapers may not call for a multi-party system, print information about the army, harm the country's international prestige or economy, or disrupt society unity. Violation carries a large fine and up to three years imprisonment. U nder the rules, publications that call for any form of civil disobedience will be shut down. Martial law has been in force for over 40 years in Syria.

Kenya

Gray hair might be the single most prominent political issue in Kenya currently. President Daniel arap Moi, 77, called on gray-haired leaders such as himself to step aside for a younger generation. Moi has held office since 1978, and the country has lately faced a poor economy and rampant corruption. Among the elderly politicians highlighted by the Moi's repeated comments is Vice President Saitoti, who does not get along with Moi. Kenyan society traditionally has shown great deference to the elderly.

Brazil

Having gray hair in Kenya may not be as good as it used to be, but being blonde in Brazil just got a lot better. Andrea Eloisa da Silva successfully sued her employer for discrimination because of her blonde hair. Her boss repeatedly called her a "loura burra," or dumb blonde, and made derogatory blonde jokes, which are as common in Brazil as they are in the United States. Silva received $1,300 for emotional damages in addition to the acknowledgment that she had been wrongfully terminated. Silva worked in a Usinagem RPM metal factory, located in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

—Compiled by Dan Kahn from Yahoo! News.

Heard

—Howard Bloch,

Nature and Human Nature

"You might say Jean-Jacques Rousseau took off his three-piece suit and became a homeboy." 

—Frank Snowden,

Ideas and Revolution in Europe, 1789-1917

Index

2. Number of freshman tappings on tap night: 104

3. Number of freshman "tappings" on any other weeknight: 19

4. Percentage of those tapped who said yes: 70

5. Percentage of those asked to "tap" on any other night who say yes: 7 

6. Number of tappings at SAE last weekend: 30

7. Number of non-keg "tappings" at SAE last weekend: 3 

8. Number of urine-filled balloons thrown on Tap Night: 0 

9. Number of "urine-filled windbags" involved in Tap Night: 116

10. Percentage of Yalies in an a cappella group: 4 

11. Percentage of a cappella members "in" Yalies: 40 

12. Percentage of a cappella groups regularly making guest appearances "in" other a cappella groups: 100

13. Number of a cappella groups led by a horse: 1 

14. Number of a cappella groups who have "tapped" a horse: unknown

Sources: 1, 2) Graduating seniors; 3) pheremones; 4) Freud called it the "death instinct"; 5, 7) ethanol; 6) Mssrs. Busch, Coors, and King Cobra VIII; 8) fact, blessed fact; 9) music theory and tap punch 10) math; 11) rumor and hearsay; 12) incest, cursed incest; 13) SOBs' Roman overtones; 14) we don't want to know.

—Compiled by Josh Drimmer, Nathan Littlefield, and Brad Lipton

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