Myriads of Problems Beset Yale University

As if it was not beset with enough problems on its football team, Yale University itself is going through turbulent times lately.

With the unplanned departure of its former president, prolonged publicity of New Haven crime and university-wide financial restructuring, Yalies have a lot to think about these days.

In October, the biggest news on campus was about President Richard Levin's inauguration, but Levin hasn't kept the campus buzzing since. While some faculty and administrators are watching Levin's every move to figure out where his priorities lie, most students do not seem to care what their president is doing.

Levin is making an effort to be popular with students: he has played pick-up basketball games with them and had them over to his house for Halloween.

But Levin's task is clear, and it does not lie with the students: he must balance Yale's books. The university has a $14.7 million yearly deficit and many proposals of different ways to reduce expenditures have been brought forward.

The most controversial proposal--brought forward two years ago--called for Yale to cut the number of its faculty by 10 percent. While administrators said faculty will be retired early, students protested that such a cut could damage Yale's academic departments.

Instead, the university has implemented across-the-board faculty cuts of five to seven percent. Since the faculty cuts alone cannot eliminate the deficit, Levin will have to make tough decisions in the months to come.

Like this one: Many students are protesting that the university chooses to spends its money in unproductive ways. Yale's decision to revamp a New Haven street last year has students complaining this year that the university cares more about the community than its students.

Squabbles

Financial squabbles aside, one issue troubling some students is about how Chicanos are treated on campus. The Dean of the College said he would eliminate the position of Dean of Chicano Students this fall, but some 527 students signed a petition calling for Yale to maintain the position. The students won, but they say questions remain.

The other notable campus controversy is the business practices of a Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation. Vernon Loucks, who had sat on the corporation board longer than anyone else, came under fire for the ethics of his company, Baxtor International. Baxtor had to pay a large federal fine last spring and students called for his resignation.

He resigned this September, citing other reasons.

Students are also worried about the tuition. Last spring, Yale became the first college in America to break the $25,000-a-year barrier. Tuition, room and board now set a Yale family back $25,110, and there have been media reports that such high costs could drive away potential applicants. Admissions are themselves a campus issue. The Yale Daily Herald reported last month that fewer high school seniors have applied over the last four years, a greater percentage have been admitted and a lower percentage have matriculated.

Some have blamed negative publicity nationwide for the decrease in applicants, but Harvard Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid William Fitzsimmons told the Herald that "in the long run, Yale will continue to be one of the highest institutions in the U.S."

Once they are in college, though, Yale students seem to have experiences similar to Harvard students'. Mid-terms and pre-meds are rampant on campus, Yale students say.

One first-year said she went to a medicine orientation meeting expecting to be told what courses to take, and instead witnessed 400 people taking notes on such issues as how many times they could take the MCAT's and which medical schools are worthy of their consideration.

But history, English and economics are more popular majors than biology, and the campus has a distinctly more artistic feeling than Harvard, Yale students say. Only eight percent of Yale grads go to medical school, while some 67 percent enter the work force right away.

Hard Time of Year

Yale students are hitting one of the hardest times of the year. Many have papers to write that are due before Thanksgiving, and they all have exams before winter break.

While in school, Yale students say they work and party hard. First-year Sarah Morton reports that "if you look for a social life, you can find it." Morton added that Yale has its share of "closet nerds," people she said pretend not to study, but cram all they can.

Many of Yale's twelve residential colleges sponsor annual parties, and the "Screw Your Roommate Dance" is not just a Harvard phenomenon. The Pierson "Inferno" and the Silliman "Safety Dance" are still in the backs of the minds of many Yale students.

Or they may not be. Beer is easy to come by at Yale, despite a college crackdown last year, students say. Many bars and shops do not check students' ages, Yalies report, and it easy to be served at a number of establishments.

Parties and alcohol notwithstanding, Yalies say that one part of their social life is lacking. "Sex kills--so come to Yale and live forever!" and "Coed Involuntary Abstinence" T-shirts are all over the New Haven campus.