Yale Bulletin & Calendar
Campus Notes

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Campus Notes

The FAIRMODEL economic modeling site on the Internet, developed by Yale econmist Ray C. Fair, now offers a multicountry econometric model that approximates how the economies of the United States and 32 other countries behave and interact. Users can explore, for example, how government policy changes in one country affect the economies of other countries without ever downloading the information to their personal computers; the number crunching is done on the Internet. The data, both historical and forecasted, can be examined on line or downloaded. FAIRMODEL is located at http://fairmodel.econ.yale.edu. The site is free to all users.

Recent Arbitron radio ratings indicate that WYBC 94.3 FM has the third largest listenership in the New Haven market area, and the largest audience in the category of 25- to 49-year-old women. WYBC, the student-community radio station at Yale, reaches over 41,000 listeners every week, according to estimates by Arbitron, which bases its ratings on listener sampling. The only stations topping WYBC among the 34 that reach New Haven are WPLR, which plays album-oriented rock, and WWYZ, a country music station broadcasting from Waterbury. WYBC's format is listed as "adult urban contemporary-entertainment," and it is affiliated with ABC- SMN. The station broadcasts at 1,700 watts. According to Wayne Schmidt, director of operations, WYBC's "primary mission is to foster better communications between the Yale and New Haven communities, while serving as a training tool for individuals interested in radio." The station is managed by Yale undergraduates, with the assistance of a small core staff, and operated by Yale students and community members. Its general manager is Mike Corwin '99.

Creighton E. Gilbert, professor of the history of art, will present a talk and receive an honorary degree on Feb. 20 at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Professor Gilbert, an internationally recognized authority in the field of Renaissance art, will speak on "Michelangelo's Sistine Paintings as a Carrier of Cultural Traditions." His talk is sponsored by the Allen R. Hite Art Institute. Following the lecture, he will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. Prior to coming to Yale in 1981, Professor Gilbert taught at the University of Louisville 1948-56.

Pianist Boris Berman, an adjunct professor at the School of Music, will perform a benefit concert at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23, at Congregation Bikur Cholim Sheveth Achim, 112 Marvel Rd., New Haven. His performance is part of a program honoring synagogue president Donald Dimenstein with Bikur Cholim's Distinguished Service Award. A pianist who has appeared in over 30 countries on six continents, Professor Berman will perform selections from Beethoven, Debussy, Brahms and Handel on a Steinway D grand piano that is being brought in especially for this concert. Tickets for the benefit are $25 and may be ordered by calling the synagogue office at 203-387-4699 Sunday-Thursday mornings.

Three professors -- Beatrice S. Bartlett, an expert on China; Paul Bracken, an authority on international business and security issues; and Paul Kennedy, an expert on military strategy, diplomacy and international relations -- will give talks and lead discussions as part of "The New Rise of Asia," a Redpath Seminar being sponsored by the Yale Club of Boston April 4-6 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The program will focus on Asia's past relations with the rest of the world in an effort to understand the growing role of Asia in world affairs and international business. For information about the program, call 432- 1952.

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.S. Merwin has been named judge of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition -- thereby becoming the first winner of the prize to serve as judge. Mr. Merwin's first book, "A Mask for Janus," was selected in 1952 to receive the annual Younger Poets Series prize, which honors an American writer under the age of 40 who has not previously published a volume of poetry. Mr. Merwin also received Yale's Bollingen Prize in Poetry in 1979.

Two Yale employees recently received 1997 public relations awards from the Public Relations Society of America Southern Connecticut Chapter for their efforts on behalf of the University. Ilene Lefland, public affairs manager for the Comprehensive Cancer Center, received first place for a public relations campaign in the nonprofit category. The award was for "The Seeds of Prevention"(r), a statewide cancer education and prevention program developed by the Cancer Center for elementary school students. Cynthia Atwood, science information officer in the Office of Public Affairs, received first place in proactive news media relations for coverage of the June hatch of the 17-year cicadas. The University's cicada preserve and Yale entomologist Charles Remington were featured in The New York Times, in national wire stories and on five national television news programs. Ms. Atwood also received second place in the same category for generating international news coverage about Yale chemist Robert Crabtree's discovery of an inexpensive means of disposing of Freon and other chlorofluorocarbons that are damaging the ozone layer.

The New Haven Free Public Library will celebrate the 110th anniversary of the opening of its first reading room with an open house, to be held on Friday, Feb. 21, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the library, 133 Elm St. The event, which is sponsored by Yale University, will include a Business Breakfast cosponsored by The Chamber of Commerce, a bilingual story hour, Internet demonstrations, Flamenco guitarist Val Ramos, a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, a program of international music, a screening of the movie "The Amistad," a "Hawaiian Holiday," programs on 18th-century entertainment and the history of opera, and more. The open house will also kick off the library's 1997 "Centennial Plus" campaign. The six-month campaign is designed to raise awareness of the vital services that the library provides. "We want the public to know more about the library's role in connecting the community with the world of information as we approach the 21st century," says Michael Morand, assistant University secretary for education and human development and president of the library's board. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. will host the Centennial Plus cake-cutting ceremony at noon that day. For further information, call 203-393-1774 or 203-946-8125.

"Geologic History of the Connecticut River Basin" will be the topic of the next talk sponsored by the Connecticut Academy of the Arts and Sciences, a scholarly society affiliated with Yale. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be presented by Peter Patton, professor of earth and environmental sciences at Wesleyan University. It will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, at Wesleyan in Middletown, Connecticut. For more information, call 432-3113, ext. 2.

Yale undergraduates Jeremy Schneider and Ted Gesing will sign copies of their book "Javascript for the World Wide Web" 2-3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Yale Co-Op, 77 Broadway. The book uses illustrations, rather than lengthy explanations, to teach readers how to use Javascript, a tool that can bring interactivity to the World Wide Web. Mr. Schneider is a senior in Timothy Dwight College and editor of the Yale Daily News. Mr. Gesing is a senior in Morse College, a freelance writer and creator of the font Plecnik.

Biology professor Gunter Wagner has been appointed as chair of the new department of ecology and evolutionary biology. This fall the Yale Corporation approved the creation of the new department, which is designed to complement and augment the programs offered by the departments of biology and of molecular biophysics and biochemistry.

Daniel Updegrove, director of information technology services, was among the four individuals recently named to the board of directors of CAUSE, an association promoting the creative use of information technology in higher education. Mr. Updegrove has been an active member of CAUSE since 1978. He has chaired the 1994 annual conference, co-chaired two regional conferences, presented 10 conferences and contributed four articles to CAUSE/EFFECT, the organization's quarterly magazine.

Yale economist Barry Nalebuff and Harvard economist Adam Brandenburger will put their institutions' traditional rivalry aside to discuss "co-opetition," the business game theory that questions the "luxury" of competition, at the 1997 International Strategic Leadership Conference, to be held April 27-30 in Washington, D.C. Mr. Nalebuff is professor of economics and management at the School of Management, and Mr. Brandenburger is professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School. Their talk is titled "Co-opetition: Competitive and Cooperative Business Strategies for the Digital Economy." For more information about the conference, which is sponsored by the Strategic Leadership Forum, call 800-873- 5995, ext. 261.

Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor of History, will talk about his most recent book, "Mary Through the Centuries," which is based on his 1996 DeVane Lectures, on Feb. 20 as part of the noontime book discussion series "Books Sandwiched In." Sponsored by the Friends of the New Haven Free Public Library, the series is held on Thursdays 12:10-12:50 p.m. at United Church on the Green, corner of Temple and Elm streets. The program is free and open to the public. Participants are invited to bring a lunch; coffee, tea and cookies are available in the basement of the church 11:20 a.m.-12:10 p.m. Cancellations due to snow will be announced on WELI.

The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Center for Molecular and Structural Biology recently received The American Institute of Architects' 1997 Honor Award for Architecture. The red-brick building, which is located at 266 Whitney Ave., was designed by Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood Architects Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts. Completed in 1993, the four-story, red-brick structure is linked at one end with the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory and at the other end with the Josiah Willard Gibbs Research Laboratories "This large building with a technically complex program is harmonious in its overall composition, inventive in its details and efficient in its operation. It is strong and subtle -- a work that is complex but not overwrought," the jury of architects commented. "The dignified structure on Yale's Science Hill reflects the rhythm of the internal organization and develops a quiet identity all its own." The jury also noted that, by both its location and design, the building focuses on existing and anticipated movement patterns, and redirects and channels them by means of dramatic staircases, sheltered passages and bridged connections to adjacent buildings.

University Chaplain Frederick J. Streets presented the E.T. Earl sermons at the E.T. Earl Lectures and Pastoral Conference sponsored by the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, January 28-30. His topic was, "When Faith and Public Values Collide: The Challenge of Living Faithfully in Contemporary Society." The conference was held in conjunction with the inauguration of William McKinney as the sixth president of the Pacific School of Religion. Dr. McKinney is former dean of Hartford Seminary.


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