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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2022 · VOL. CXLV, NO. 4 · yaledailynews.com · @yaledailynews
Local 33 calls for union-neutrality
LATINX SPECIAL ISSUE
1000 rally in support of graduate workers BY MEGAN VAZ AND KHUAN-YU HALL STAFF REPORTERS Graduate student workers are renewing calls for Yale to remain neutral in their unionization efforts. Over a thousand people withstood pouring rain at a Thursday rally to support graduate students in their longtime fight for a contract with better working conditions and pay, as well as recognition as University employees. Speakers celebrated the importance of unions at Yale and the work of Local 33, Yale’s unrecognized graduate student union. “University leaders should not use their positions of power to interfere in our efforts to form a union,” Chris Camp GRD ’27 said. “I came to graduate school — like many of you — to research and teach what I love … I want to be able to focus on these responsibilities, not on my dental care, paying SEE LOCAL 33 PAGE 5
Even when met with heavy rain, the ralliers endured, chanting, "Neutrality, rain or shine !" / Abraham Payne, Contributing Photographer
Dining halls face staff shortages Possible service changes announced, to staff surprise BY WILLIAM PORAYOUW STAFF REPORTER On Friday, Yale Hospitality announced in an email to students that staffing challenges made it likely that dining hall services would soon be altered. Those potential service changes were not announced, however, to the staff in question. The email, sent by Associate Vice President of Yale Hospitality Rafi Taherian, told students that there were significant staffing challenges nationwide — which have affected the Yale Hospitality team. Due to the staff shortage, Taherian warned that there may be shifts in the team’s service models in the next few weeks, which would come as a “last resort.”
“Our team has done its best to provide uninterrupted service across multiple dining locations, made possible by working lengthier shifts and sacrificing their work-life balance,” Taherian wrote in the email. “While talent recruitment is ongoing to fill vacant positions, we are at the point where we have to make some difficult decisions.” Christelle Ramos, senior manager of marketing and communications at Yale Hospitality, described the potential changes in dining service in an email to the News. According to Ramos, changes may range from leveraging to-go containers or unexpected delays in service. She also told the News that some decisions may be specific to certain dining halls, which will be communicated to affected students. The Ivy, a late-night servery in the basement of the Schwarzman Center that was launched last spring, remains closed due to staff shortages. “This unique staffing shortage is not news to our team members, hospitality workers in general, and throughout the nation,” Ramos wrote. The News spoke to eight dining hall workers across multiple dining halls. All
eight dining hall workers said they were not told by their direct managers or by Yale Hospitality administrators about the possible service changes. Many were not aware of the current staffing shortage at all. All workers were granted anonymity for fear of professional retaliation or termination for speaking to reporters. Dining hall workers react One anonymous dining hall worker told the News that unlike students, he was never informed by the Yale Hospitality team about the current staffing shortage. The worker said he only found out about the University-wide issue after being contacted for this story. Many of his fellow co-workers in their dining hall had recently been working longer shifts, the worker said, but he assumed that it was a problem restricted to that specific residential college. “I know there’s [workers] who aren’t as happy [as before] that they have been having to make sacrifices in their daily life because it’s been busy in the dining halls,” he said.
SEE PAGE B1
Blue State shutters three cafes Only Orange St. location remains BY KHUAN-YU HALL STAFF REPORTER Three of New Haven’s four Blue State Coffee locations closed their doors for good this Friday at 5 p.m. The three closed locations have been bought by Commons Grounds Cafe, another small Connecticut chain. The storefronts, located at Wall Street, York Street and near the Medical School, have operated in New Haven since 2009. Blue State’s fourth New Haven location, on Orange Street, will remain in business. The closure came as a surprise to both regulars and employees, who are now out of work for the time being. Blue State Coffee Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Greenspan told the News that she felt confident Commons Grounds would consider rehiring the outgoing Blue State baristas and managers. Greenspan described her time running the chain’s expansion to six locations SEE BLUE STATE PAGE 5
Senators YPD arrests Kline Bio. Tower vandals push for free laundry SEE HOSPITALITY PAGE 5
BY SOPHIE SONNENFELD STAFF REPORTER
A year after the vandalism took place,The Yale Police Department discloses the details of the investigation / Tim Tai, Photography Editor
CROSS CAMPUS
INSIDE THE NEWS
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY, 1993.
YALIES CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY
The official Yale flag is reported missing following a rally for Independent Presidential candidate John Anderson. If the flag is not found by Oct. 22nd, the campaign will be charged $300.
PAGE 9 NEWS
A sweatshirt helped Yale Police detectives track down a group of young white teens who coated the walls of the Kline Biology Tower with racist and antisemitic graffiti in two incidents last fall. This week, YPD officials confirmed to the News that they arrested and charged five people — two juveniles and three adults — in connection to the vandalism last year. The YPD had not previously announced any arrests made in this case. YPD arrested the teens in November 2021, just one month after the second of two incidents during which the group snuck into the building and spray-painted graffiti inside. After collecting footage of the perpetrators committing the second vandalism attack, detectives publicly released photographs asking for assistance from the public to identify the vandals. The tower has been closed for renovations and reconstruction since a 2019 electrical fire scarred the building’s basement with smoke and water damage. Those renovations are expected to be done by the summer of 2023. With construction ongoing, the five individuals snuck into the site, spray painting the hate-based graffiti in two incidents in the fall of 2021: the first,
$1.50 to use the washer, then another $1.50 for the dryer. It might not sound like much, but members of the Yale College Council argue that laundry costs can add up quickly over a year and pose a financial strain. Over the last year, the body has doubled down on a longstanding push to make laundry free for all students. “Paying $1.50 for every load of washing and drying adds up quickly, posing a real financial strain on the students of this institution,” Davenport College senator Amanda Buster ’25 wrote in an email to the News. “This price is calculated based on the current market, which Yale argues is currently far more expensive, but the truth of the matter is that Yale students should not have to pay for laundry in the first place.” A survey conducted by the YCC in the spring revealed general student frustration with pricing as well as the ongoing maintenance issues that plague many
SEE VANDALISM PAGE 5
SEE LAUNDRY PAGE 4
PAGE 3 OPINION PAGE 8 NEWS PAGE 13 BULLETIN PAGE 14 SPORTS PAGE B1 SPISSUE
BY JANALIE COBB STAFF REPORTER
PLASTIC Yale's research labs are contending with environmental impact of plastic use, balancing necessity with efficiency. PAGE 7 SCITECH DRAMAT Students opened the fall season with "The Government Inspector," a satirical comedy originally written in Russian PAGE 6 ARTS