Sam's online data stream

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It's like a map of the least convenient places ever. Anyplace I want to go is booked into the INDEFINITE future. As in, under no foreseeable time period can I reserve something, unless it is during school time on a Tuesday at 9am. Ugh.

Attleboro
Boston
Braintree
Brockton
Chicopee
Danvers
Easthampton
Fall River
Greenfield
Haverhill
Lawrence
Leominster
Lowell
Martha's Vineyard
Milford
Nantucket
Natick
New Bedford
North Adams
Pittsfield
Plymouth
Revere
Roslindale
South Yarmouth
Southbridge
Springfield
Taunton
Watertown
Wilmington
Worcester
Framingham AAA
Plymouth AAA
Worcester AAA

-------- Original Message --------

To all Yale students:

On the evening of October 13, 2010, a group of Delta Kappa Epsilon (“DKE”) fraternity pledges shouted offensive words across the Yale campus.  They were captured on video on the Old Campus, in a blindfolded rant of sexual aggression.

Last week, President Levin and I denounced their words and called on the fraternity to chart a different course for its future (http://www.dailybulletin.yale.edu/article.aspx?id=7915 ).  Today I met with the national executive director of DKE, Mr. Douglas Lanpher, and I have asked him to keep the organization on probation indefinitely, as that new course and program take shape, not only this year, but beyond. Although DKE is not a registered Yale undergraduate organization, I have acted on behalf of the Yale community in urging Mr. Lanpher to take this action.

Where do we go next?  How do we move forward to repair the damage inflicted on our community? How do we prevent sexual violence on campus?  Last week, Dean Marichal Gentry requested that the Executive Committee of Yale College investigate the full course of events that evening, in order that questions of hazing, threat, and intimidation all be evaluated.  That process, unlike the 24 hour news cycle, is not instantaneous.  But while that process unfolds what do we learn from this event?

To start with, the Yale College Dean’s Office, the Inter-cultural Affairs Council, and the Yale College Council will host a panel on Tuesday evening, 8-9:30 p.m., in Sudler Hall, titled Deconstructing the “DKE Incident”: How, Why, and What Next? Among the faculty who will speak are Professors Richard Bribiescas and Inderpal Grewal, chairs of Anthropology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. We hope that you will attend, and we hope that you will bring your questions and comments to the panel.

Second, I write to bring to your attention the events that the Women’s Center has scheduled as part of Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Week. Because one in three teens will experience some kind of abuse from an intimate partner, this educational program is particularly important for undergraduate men and women.  A list of the scheduled events themselves follows at the end of this email.  

Third, as a community we need to look more deeply into the culture of initiations of new members of undergraduate organizations of all kinds.  To that end, I’ve asked Judith Krauss, Master of Silliman College and Chair of the Faculty Committee on Athletics, to chair a committee that will look into such practices across organizations, from musical groups to athletic teams, and including those that are not registered organizations. This committee will be comprised of students, faculty, coaches, and staff, and will conduct its work in the spring term this year.  

Fourth, I will also appoint a short-term task force to evaluate the many recommendations I have received in the past ten days regarding sexual violence on campus.  I will ask this group to explore training practices, along with the feasibility of reaching those students whose behavior and words may abet sexual violence, among peer educators and Yale Health Services educators.

Finally, on a related matter:  the Report from the Sexual Misconduct Committee, appointed by the Provost and chaired by Professor Michael Della Rocca report, is now available to the Yale community at http://provost.yale.edu/news-announcements/report-sexual-misconduct-committee.  The report endorses a new, consistent, and more transparent process for dealing with sexual misconduct across the University.   I applaud the changes proposed, and I believe they will benefit our entire community.  I urge you to read the report, as well as the Yale Daily News’s article about it published last week.

The outcry and calls to action over the past ten days attest to the core values of the Yale community: dignity, personal and community responsibility, and trust. We must use this incident to educate, to listen and learn, and to grow in respect for one another.

Yours truly,
Mary Miller

This Week at the Women’s Center:  Intimate Partner Violence
Monday, October 25
All Day | Purple Ribbon Day
Look for Women’s Center volunteers outside dining halls with purple ribbons (to raise awareness of intimate partner violence), along with intimate partner violence statistics and warning signs of abusive relationships. Students will be able to take a pledge to support survivors of intimate partner violence and promote healthy relationships.

8 p.m. in the Women’s Center | Pop Culture and Intimate Partner Violence
A discussion about portrayals of intimate partner violence in popular culture. We’ll use the controversial depiction of an abusive relationship in the music video of Eminem’s new song “Love the Way You Lie,” featuring Rihanna, as a starting point for our discussion. We’ll also look at issues of representation in a provocative series of PSAs and consider how they reflect common stereotypes about intimate partner violence.

Tuesday, October 26
7 p.m. in the Women’s Center | Healthy Relationships 101
This workshop will focus on creating healthy relationships built on communication and mutual respect. Workshop topics will include rights and responsibilities within relationships, warning signs of an abusive relationship, and how factors influencing healthy relationships vary across different communities. We’ll also discuss what students can do to help a friend struggling with an abusive relationship.

Thursday, October 28
8 p.m. in the Af-Am House | Break the Silence
A show featuring students from performance groups to benefit the Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven

Also coming up in November

  Sunday, November 14
1-3 p.m. in Sudler Hall | From Consent to Desire: Sexual Violence and Sexual Culture at Yale
This peer-facilitated workshop will focus on one link between consensual sex and rape: "compliant sex," unwanted but consensual sexual activity.  One recent study of college students found that, over a 2-week period, 50% of women and 26% of men in intimate relationships said yes to sexual activity they did not want.  In this workshop, students will discuss with their peers why and how such unwanted sex is so common on college campuses, and develop collective strategies for refusing unwanted sex.  This workshop will also allow students to explore options for sex at Yale based on communication, mutual desire, and respect.  

Tuesday, November 16
5:30 p.m. in the Women’s Center | Intimate Partner Violence in New Haven
This workshop for students involved in community-based work will explore how intimate partner violence impacts a range of local social justice issues—including immigrant rights, healthcare, housing, labor rights, and education. Tracey Parks of the Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven will discuss her agency’s important work and share tools and resources that students can use to support youth and adult community members experiencing intimate partner violence. Dinner will be served.

Crashed Amtrak quick ticket machine at NHV

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Ten minutes before the Morse-Ezra Stiles college screw was set to end early Saturday morning, more than a dozen New Haven police officers and liquor agents raided the downtown nightclub where the event took place.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/oct/02/five-arrested-raid-morse-stiles-screw/

Five students were arrested, Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry said in an e-mail to the Yale College community Saturday morning. According to interviews with about a dozen eye witnesses, one student was Tasered. Gentry said one student was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital but has since been released.

Armed with what witnesses said were assault rifles and wearing what appeared to be SWAT gear, the officers stormed into the Crown Street club Elevate at 12:50 a.m., yelling at students to hit the ground, shut up and get out their IDs. By the end of the night, dozens of Morse and Stiles students turned to their residential college deans and masters for answers, asking whether police brutality had occurred.

"This is a serious situation and we do not yet know all the facts," Gentry said. "I have asked Assistant Chief Ronnell Higgins of the Yale Police to assist us in gathering information."

Interviewed at the scene early Saturday morning, New Haven Assistant Chief of Operations Ariel Melendez said the police conducting the raid in no way acted inappropriately and that the operation had been announced ahead of time as part of “Operation Nightlife” — the New Haven Police Department’s recent initiative to curb violence in the downtown entertainment district. Melendez said an “enhanced” police detail of about a dozen officers conducted the raid, and the NHPD arrested about a dozen people across the city Friday night and early Saturday morning as part of the operation.

“We announced we were coming out last weekend, and this weekend,” he said.

The raid comes nearly two weeks after gun violence erupted on Crown Street, leaving two men injured and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. pledging to crack down on downtown clubs and nightlife venues.

Melendez said the NHPD decided to raid Elevate on Friday evening at about the same time the Crown Street command post received an anonymous tip that a Yale College party was going to be held at the establishment and that were would likely be underage drinking.

Although the tip came in sometime between 9:30 and 10 p.m., the New Haven Police did not raid the club until nearly three hours later, Melendez said, because it first wanted to investigate two other establishments outside the center city.

“We just decided to go there and come back to [Elevate],” he said.

When the NHPD arrived at the club, Melendez said officers could see that students were getting in without showing proper identification. Gentry said that of the five students that were arrested, one was for illegal possession of alcohol by a minor; two for interfering with police officers; one for assault on police officers and related charges; and one for disorderly conduct.

As police swarmed around the dance floor early Saturday, students stumbled to get down, the lights flickered on and the music dimmed.

Students who tried to text or photograph the scene were told they would be handcuffed and arrested if they did not desist, witnesses said.
(ed. Note: In New Haven the police officers have historically been very hostile about being photographed or videotaped. Yuck)

By 2 a.m., as the officers were handcuffing uncooperative students and putting others in what witnesses said police called “time out.”

Within the hour, eyewitnesses said, a sophomore was Tasered, jumped on and beaten in the middle of the dance floor by at least four New Haven police officers — as more than a hundred students looked on — because the student was "uncooperative during the raid."

The raid took approximately an hour to complete, he said, adding that the Liquor Control Commission will handle any liquor-related offenses. It was not until nearly 3 a.m. when police cars, lights flashing, departed Crown Street and the area outside Elevate darkened.

In the hours following the raid, students made their way back to campus in fits and starts. Some were detained because they could not locate their IDs; others, because they had left their personal belongings inside the club and were not allowed to retrieve them until the raid had ended.

About two hours after the raid, Morse College Dean Joel Silverman sent an e-mail to address the onslaught of concern he had been receiving from students.

“We have received many upsetting reports about a police raid which took place downtown, early this morning, at the nightclub in which the Morse/Stiles dance was being held,” Silverman said.

He requested that students come forward if they saw “anything improper or inappropriate occur” during the raid, and he said he will be discussing the evening’s events with Higgins and Gentry.

Ezra Stiles Master Stephen Pitti sent a similar e-mail at about 3 a.m. Saturday, asking students to contact him and Dean Camille Lizarribar with information about the raid.

Friday night marked the second weekend the "Operation Nightlife" unit had been deployed, Melendez said, explaining that the unit includes not just officers, but bicycles, motorcycles, an emergency response team, a mobile command unit and police dogs. He added that this weekend is the last time it will be. Going forward, the city will instead have a “sustainable” unit, he said, which is an enhanced unit the department will deploy less frequently and without prior notice.

As the Elevate raid went on Saturday, less than a block away, a fight broke out between two women at the intersection of College and Crown streets. Though students reported hearing shots fired in the vicinity, said no shots were fired and that those responsible for the scuffle were arrested.

Last weekend, when “Operation Nightlife” officially started, police arrested two men in connection with the Sept. 19 Crown Street shooting. Police also arrested five for disorderly conduct, broke up two fights and confiscated two fake IDs downtown, they said.

Egidio DiBenedetto and Colin Ross contributed reporting.