Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 17-31, 1999

Volume 27, Number 32

Eleven honored for strengthening
town-gown ties

Eleven people were honored with Elm and Ivy Awards in recognition of their efforts to strengthen the relationship between Yale and the City of New Haven.

A special Elm and Ivy Award was also presented in memory of Suzanne Jovin, the Yale senior who was murdered in December. (See related story)

The ceremony took place on May 6 in the Presidents' Room of Woolsey Hall, with Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and President Richard C. Levin presenting the awards to the honorees.

The Elm and Ivy Awards were established at Yale in 1979 by Fenmore R. Seton '38 and his wife, Phyllis. The Setons created the Elm and Ivy Fund at the New Haven Foundation in order to identify and honor individuals from the city and the University whose work enhances understanding and cooperation between the two. Since the inception of the program, over 160 people have been presented Elm and Ivy Awards.

The names of this year's recipients, and brief descriptions of some of their contributions, follow.

Elm Awards

Jack Crane is a retired Olin Corporation executive who has demonstrated a deep commitment to public education. When the Partnership for Minority Student Achievement federal grant ended five years ago, he secured funding from Yale and Olin for an ongoing science program in New Haven. For four years he has been volunteer program director of the Olin-Yale-New Haven Public Schools Science Fair Program, which includes professional development for teachers, family science nights and mentor programs. Under his leadership, the program has grown from seven New Haven schools to 40, with more than 5,000 people involved.

Donald Scharf has supported Yale athletics in a variety of ways. He helped secure summer jobs for student athletes, answered questions from prospective students, and served on the Board of the Yale National Youth Sports Program, a summer camp for New Haven's young people. He helped bring hundreds of children to the Yale Bowl in fall and summer for "Youth Days at the Bowl."

Linda Townsend Maier has used her role as chair of the Dwight Central Management Team and president of the Greater Dwight Development Corporation to help her neighborhood and foster its partnership with Yale. She has relied on the support of the University as a source of expert assistance, involving both the School of Architecture and the Law School in developing a neighborhood planning process and in organizing the Development Corporation and its many activities.

Ivy Awards

Joe Cinquino, through his printing operation, is one of the Yale managers that contributes to building relationships between the University and New Haven. His services include the printing of invitations, program books, brochures, and other materials for various Yale and
New Haven organizations. He was honored for his consistent willingness to take on printing projects, often under tight deadlines.

Paula Kavathas, professor of genetics and immunobiology at the School of Medicine, has created a program to strengthen science education in New Haven. She began the Science Education Outreach Program, in which 7th-graders at the West Hills Middle School and the Troup Magnet Academy of Sciences learn about genetics, immunobiology, pharmacology and other branches of biology by interacting with practicing scientists. The
program features in-school laboratory sessions run by graduate students from Yale.

William B. Stewart, associate professor of surgery and chief of the section of anatomy and experimental surgery, helped establish an innovative program bringing students from Career High School to anatomy laboratories at the medical school, where they are taught by medical student volunteers. The success of this program has led to the establishment of similar initiatives, such as an advanced biology program, a research program matching students with faculty members at the School of Medicine, and mentoring and summer residential activities.

Undergraduate Ivy Awards

Tameka Moss '00 was chief coordinator of Communiversity Day last year. The one-day event brings together dozens of activities for more than 2,000 children and adults in the community. In 1997-98 she was secretary for the Yale Charities Drive, which raises money for social service organizations in New Haven. She became its president in the fall of 1998.

Jonathan Merson '99 worked in the Health Adventures Program at Yale-New Haven Hospital, which matches Yale College students with Latino youths in New Haven in a mentoring relationship. Last year, as a President's Public Service Fellow at the New Haven Free Public Library, he created new programs and led efforts that reached more than 200 children each week at community centers and homeless shelters using library resources.

Peter Stein '99 worked in the Dixwell neighborhood and participated in many internship programs through Dwight Hall and Yale. He helped launch a community group called "People Who Care" and initiated the production and distribution of a monthly calendar of events to the Dixwell neighborhood. With the input and support of community leaders, he developed a new initiative, the Dixwell Youth Tour, in which high school students from the Dixwell neighborhood will research the history of their community and then design and lead guided walking tours of the neighborhood.

Graduate/Professional School Ivy Awards

Caroline Harada, a second-year medical student, was chair of the Committee Overseeing Volunteer Services (COVS) of the University's health professional schools. In addition to her leadership role, she was an active volunteer in four programs within COVS: Students Teaching AIDS to Students; the Prenatal Care Project, which pairs students with pregnant patients from the Yale-New Haven Hospital Women's Clinic; the domestic violence seminar series; and the Columbus House Clinic.

Weir Harman, a student at the School of Drama, has helped make the University's resources available to the New Haven community. In 1998 he was artistic director of the Dwight-Edgewood Project, linking New Haven middle school students from the Dwight neighborhood with student mentors from the School of Drama. Together the pairs write and produce their own plays. Harman also played a key role in helping New Haven win its "All-America City" designation in the 1998 competition in Mobile, Alabama.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Commencement, 1999 Style
Facility to enhance strength in environmental sciences
Guide again taps Yale as a 'must-see' attraction
'Under My (Green) Thumb': Rolling Stones sideman talks about life as a tree farmer
Summertime at Yale
Endowed Professorships
City-Wide Open Studios celebrates work of Yale and area artists
A Conversation About Welfare and the Media
Eleven honored for strengthening town-gown ties
Special award, Jovin Fund commemorate student's good works
From design to construction, program gives architecture students . . .
Graduate students cited for excellence in teaching
1999 Commencement Information
Beinecke exhibition celebrates the art of collecting books
New line of Yale ties and scarves combine architectural elements with heraldic shields
Studio classes again to highlight annual festival of arts and ideas
Project X Update
Leffell to speak about surgery for skin cancer
Kaplan honored for his work with children
Guide shows motorists where to park downtown