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.