The Week in Brief

Nearly a year after the double murder of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop, one of their alleged killers has decided to pursue an insanity defense while his younger accomplice has entered a deal in which he will plead guilty to a lesser charge.

The Zantops were found stabbed to death in their home on Sat., Jan. 27. Forensic evidence linked 16-year-old James Parker and 17-year-old Robert Tulloch to the crime. The teens fled their homes in Chelsea, Vt. shortly after the murder but were apprehended at an Indiana truck stop on Tues., Feb. 20.

As the prosecutors prepared their case, the motive for the murders remained a mystery. Some investigators privately speculated that the murders were the result of a horribly botched robbery, but such theories have never officially been made public.

Then, on Fri., Nov. 30, the case saw its first major development in months. Richard Guerriero, one of the public defenders representing Tulloch, filed a motion in Grafton, N.H. County Court revealing that "Tulloch will rely on the defense of insanity at trial." The motion said that "in the course of representing Robert Tulloch... [his attorneys] have become increasingly concerned that Robert suffers from a serious mental illness."

On Mon., Dec. 3, prosecutors announced a deal under which Parker will plead guilty to one count of accomplice in a second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Susanne Zantop, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Parker will not face charges in the murder of Half Zantop.

"Jimmy has made the decision to accept responsibility for his actions, and is hopeful that his plea will enable his family and that of the Zantops to begin the healing process," Cathy Green, one of his lawyers, said. "He is now 17, and will pay a very heavy price for his role in this tragedy."

Legal analysts speculate that prosecutors struck the deal with Parker to break his friendship with Tulloch, thus getting him to reveal exactly what happened last January—a question that still haunts the Dartmouth campus and the boys' hometown of Chelsea.

— Zander Dryer

Micro-lending comes to New Haven

New Haven's first micro-lender, the Elmseed Enterprise Fund, dispersed its first loans to B.J. Hartman and Matte Matthews, both New Haven residents, over Thanksgiving break. Matthews is using his loan to start a computer services business, and Hartman is using his to sell hats and gloves on the New Haven Green.

Four undergraduates founded Elmseed last year after winning the Yale Entrepreneurial Society's Y50K competition in the social entrepreneurship category. Inspired by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Project Enterprise, a micro-credit group in New York, Elmseed gives out low-interest "micro-loans" to enterprising New Haven residents who do not have easy access to bank loans.

Starting at $1,500, the loans do not require the credit checks and collateral payments regular loans do. The program thus allows low-income or unemployed residents to get business ideas off the ground and generate a steady income.

"It's very difficult for small entrepreneurs to get loans, especially if their credit isn't great," Gabriel Kuris, BR '03, the group's Center Manager, explained. "Normally, banks don't give out loans under $20,000."

Clients join the organization in groups of five or six. The loans are staggered, so if a single member defaults on his loan, no one in the group can get another loan. "The group either succeeds together or fails together," Kitty Harvey, DC '03, Elmseed's director of marketing and outreach, said. "So the members of the group are encouraged to help each other out."

"Being in a group keeps us all focused," Tim Washington, an Elmseed client, said. "It helps because it keeps us involved with what everyone else is doing, making sure that everything's going all right."

Years ago, Washington won a lottery ticket for $2,000, which he used to buy his first hot dog cart. He has since expanded to nine carts and hopes to use his loan to replace his fleet of hot dog stands with a larger trailer.

The group participates in four training sessions before loans are given out. The sessions cover everything from writing and reviewing a loan application to basic bookkeeping skills.

"I've been in business for a long time, and I never liked things like bookkeeping, so the training was really great for me," Washington said.

Currently, Elmseed is applying for non-profit status. Its second group of clients is now in training. When a third group finishes training, all three groups will meet weekly at Elmseed's center to discuss their progress.

"We hope to raise $100,000 in donations by the end of the year," Kuris said. "By the time the founding members graduate, we hope to have created a New Haven institution that can exist on its own."

— Suzy Khimm

In Memoriam

A renowned scholar of French literature and critical theory, Schor was also one of the foremost feminists of her generation.

She was the one of those special professors who united an uncompromisingly brilliant intellect with a warm heart. She was a teacher who loved learning from her students as much as she did imparting knowledge to them.

"She was a great professor, a dedicated mentor...I feel like one needs a writer of Proustian caliber to do creative justice to such an extraordinary person," Jeffrey Boyd, GRD '04, who was beginning to write his dissertation with her, said.

Schor came to Yale in 1999 as the Benjamin F. Barge Professor of French after holding prestigious professorships at Brown, Duke, and Harvard. That same year, Schor married R. Howard Bloch, the Augustus R. Street Professor of French.

Matthew Underwood, a student in French National Identity, a seminar Schor taught last year, recalls, "Professor Schor was everything that an instructor should be. The depth of her knowledge and understanding was staggering, but in a way that inspired her students when it could have so easily overwhelmed us. With patience, respect, and never a grain of condescension, she took our thoughts and contributions as seriously as her own. Learning was a truly collaborative process in her class, and her graceful leadership made you feel like a meaningful partner in the project. I will always consider myself privileged to have been there."

Who can know what work Naomi Schor left unfinished? At the time of her death she was in the process of writing a book on the subject of universalism. She had also organized "Man and Beast," a now-canceled symposium that was to be held this weekend at the Whitney Humanities Center.

Her influence spans generations and continents. Naomi Schor will be greatly missed. She is survived by Bloch, her mother, Resia Schor, and her sister, Mira Schor.

Heard

—Stanley E. Flink, Ethics and the Media

"So I told him, no I don't have my `tongue in chick.'"

—John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War

Index

3. Number of girls that faked orgasms: 26

4. Number of photos of Rob Lowe hanging on my wall: 5

5. Number of times I have met Rob Lowe: 0

6. Number of people I've told that I used to date Rob Lowe: 25

7. Number of times my friend has insisted Rob and I just hooked up twice: 25

8. Number of people who believed this: 21

9. Percent chance that any girl would have to fake an orgasm with Rob: 0

10. Percent chance that Rob Lowe would want to screw a freshman girl: 90

11. Percent chance that Rob Lowe would want to screw two freshman girls and videotape it: 100

Sources: 1, 2) Pure speculation; 3) YDN sex columnist Natalie Krinsky said it: "women return the punt less [sic] than half the times they play" [should be `fewer'—Ed.]; 4) Counting; 5) The sad truth; 6) Hey, take a chance on a dream; 7) Thanks, Anna Arkin-Gallagher; 8) Do you know that gullible is not in the dictionary?; 9), 10) Call it a hunch; 11) E! True Hollywood Story: The Brat Pack. —Compiled by Alexis Swerdloff

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