Officials: Yale Prof Died Of Drug Overdose

In November, openly gay Yale professor Samuel See died in the custody of New Haven police after a being arrested following a scuffle with his estranged husband.  Yesterday the medical examiner's office ruled that See had died from a drug overdose.

See died of acute methamphetamine and amphetamine intoxication with recent myocardial infarction. His death was ruled an accident. See was found unresponsive in a detention cell at 6 a.m. on Nov. 24. Court marshals performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until medics arrived. See, who was alone in his cell, was pronounced dead at 6:15 a.m. See, an assistant professor of English and American studies, was on leave this semester. New Haven police are investigating the circumstances of See's death. New Haven police responded to a domestic dispute at See's home the evening of Nov. 23. Sunder Ganglani, 32, who identified himself as See's husband, was at the home in violation of a protective order, police said.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jeff)

CONNECTICUT: Paper Reveals Escorting Profiles Linked To Late Yale Professor

Last weekend Yale professor Samuel See died in the custody of New Haven, Connecticut police after a scuffle following a dispute with his estranged husband. Both men had orders of protection filed against each other. Today the New Haven Register revealed that profiles linked to See are on four male escorting sites.

The jail cell death last weekend of Yale University professor Samuel See, known as a brilliant writer and rising star in academia, has shaken up the tight-knit college community. Now adding to the mystery of his unexpected death are apparent connections between the online profiles of See and several escort service websites that include a cache of sexually explicit photos. At least four websites advertising male escort services included a phone number connected to See. The website Ryan Cochran Escort Services includes the same phone number listed on an order of protection filed against See in September. A profile photo on the Ryan Cochran Escort Service website matches the profile photograph on a LinkedIn account purporting to be See’s. The website lists Cochran’s home city as New Haven. A Facebook page with pictures resembling See and listed under the name Ryan Cochran includes See’s home address.

One of the escorting profiles (not work safe) contains this description: "I'm a professional, well-educated, sexually limitless escort working out of New Haven. I'm versatile, love cum, party, and prefer to fuck raw. I can get into all kinds of sexual and social situations, so just name your pleasure."  As yet there is no evidence that See himself created the profiles.

See was found dead in his cell on Sunday morning after being treated for a facial cut sustained during his struggle with the arresting officers. New Haven police have launched an internal inquiry. It should go without saying that whether or not See was doing sex work is irrelevant to the issue of his death while in the custody of the police.

Yale Professor Dies In Police Custody After Dispute With Estranged Husband

New Haven police have ordered an internal inquiry into the death of a Yale professor who died in their custody following his arrest after a dispute with his estranged husband.  NBC News reports:

Police said Samuel See, 34, of New Haven. was arrested on Saturday night. On Sunday, he was found unresponsive in his cell and later pronounced deceased. Police went to See's home after receiving a complaint of a domestic dispute at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. According to police, See's husband, Saunder Ganglani, 32, of New Haven, had gone to See's home to retrieve his belongings despite a protective order that was in place. Ganglani told officers that he’d spent about two and a half hours at the house on Saturday before police responded. Officers charged Ganglani with violating the protective order and spoke with See, who told police to remove Ganglani from the home, police said. As officers were speaking with See, they mentioned there is also a protective order filed for See to stay away from Ganglani and See “became enraged," police said. He yelled that it was his house, said he shouldn't be arrested and fought with the officers when they tried handcuffing him.

After the arrest See was transported to a local hospital for treatment for a cut over his eye that occurred during the scuffle with police. After his release from the hospital, New Haven detectives say See was "alert and communicating" during his detainment on Saturday night and that guards administered CPR when he was found unresponsive in his cell at 6am on Sunday. See was an English professor and was on leave from Yale this semester. The college has issued a statement of condolences to his friends, family and students. (Tipped by JMG reader West)

NEW STUDY: Courts And Schools Punish LGBT Teenagers 40% More Frequently

According to a new study published today by Yale researchers, the nation's courts and schools punish LGBT youth 40% more frequently than their heterosexual peers accused of the same misbehaviors. Lesbian teenagers are especially at risk for discriminatory treatment.

The research, described as the first national look at sexual orientation and teen punishment, comes as a spate of high-profile bullying and suicide cases across the country have focused attention on the sometimes hidden cruelties of teen life. The study, from Yale University, adds another layer, finding substantial disparities between gay and straight teens in school expulsions, arrests, convictions and police stops. The harsher approach is not explained by differences in misconduct, the study says. "The most striking difference was for lesbian and bisexual girls, and they were two to three times as likely as girls with similar behavior to be punished," said Kathryn Himmelstein, lead author of the study, published in the journal Pediatrics.

Why the punishment gap exists is less clear. It could be that lesbian, gay and bisexual teens who got in trouble didn't get the same breaks as other teens - say, for youthful age or self-defense, Himmelstein said. Or it could be that girls in particular were punished more often because of discomfort with or bias toward some who don't fit stereotypes of femininity. "It's definitely troubling to see such a disparity," Himmelstein said. "It may very well be not intentional," she said. "I think most people who work with youth want to do the best they can for young people and treat them fairly, but our findings show that's not happening."

The Gay-Straight Alliance responds via press release.

"We hope the study will serve as a wake up call for those whose job it is to protect youth," said Carolyn Laub, Executive Director of Gay-Straight Alliance Network, a national organization empowering LGBT youth to create safer schools. "These alarming statistics underscore the need for alternatives to punitive school disciplinary practices as well as the need for school, police, and court officials to receive comprehensive training about the serious consequences of targeting LGBT youth, whether the perpetrators are student bullies or the adults themselves."

UPDATE: The deep thinkers at Free Republic weigh in.

-"40% more likely that they practice their filthy lifestyle in the open."
-"Different kids tend to be attention whores."
-"I’ll be homeschooling just to keep these freaks away from my normal kids."
-"Any CHILD walking around claiming to be LGBT is going to be a Leftist and come from a Leftist/Progressive home. Leftists are consummate troublemakers and problem children."

Yale Researchers Discover What Circuit Boys Knew Fifteen Years Ago

Researchers at Yale have published a study touting the horse tranquilizer Ketamine as an effective anti-depressant at low doses. The drug's make-happy effect begins almost immediately, unlike regular anti-depressants which can take weeks to work.

Ketamine, a general anesthetic usually administered to children and pets but perhaps best known as a horse tranquilizer, is also highly effective in low doses as an anti-depressant, according a study published Thursday. Researchers at Yale University wrote in the August 20 issue of the journal Science that unlike most anti-depressants on the market which can take weeks to take full effect ketamine can begin to counter depression in hours. "It's like a magic drug -- one dose can work rapidly and last for seven to 10 days," said Ronald Duman, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale and senior author of the study. The researchers noted that ketamine was tested as a rapid treatment for people with suicidal thoughts. Traditional anti-depressants can take several weeks to take effect, they noted.

A similar study at the National Institute of Mental Health found that 70% of patients who did not respond to traditional anti-depressants improved within hours of receiving Ketamine. Let's hope the ridiculous War On Drugs doesn't stifle this breakthrough. But don't rush out to self-medicate either, Ketamine remains a Schedule III drug in the U.S. with a penalty for possession of up to five years in prison.

Yale Drops "Sissy" Shirts

To stoke up student fervor for their annual football game with arch rival Harvard, Yale students voted to sell a t-shirt using a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald: "I think of all Harvard men as sissies." On the back, the students added: "WE AGREE." But after complaints from a campus LGBT group, the shirt has been dropped.

The LGBT Co-op first heard about the T-shirts from a member of the Yale College Council, LGBT Co-op Coordinator Rachel Schiff ’10 said. She followed suit by contacting the dean and master of her college — Silliman — to encourage dialogue among the Co-op, administrators and FCC. Ou said Wednesday that he first heard about the winning T-shirt design when FCC brought the complaints to him. In response, he told the FCC chairs to meet with the concerned students face to face. Shortly after he told FCC to respond to the co-op’s concerns, Ou said, he told Yale College Dean Mary Miller about the issue, and she decided to pull the design. “What purports to be humor by targeting a group through slurs is not acceptable,” Miller said in an e-mail to the News. Still, FCC representatives had concluded they would not make their final decision until they met with the co-op. “Independently of Dean Miller’s decision, our primary concern was that no one was hurt, offended or felt uncomfortable with ourT-shirts,” Levin said. After that discussion, he said, representatives decided to withdraw that design and opt for a different one, featuring a white ‘H’ in the front inside a transluscent white circle, with a white line slashed through it.

Freepers react:

-"F. Scott Fitzgerald called them sissies because had he called them faggots he would have had to have gone to re-education camp."
-"How about a shirt that says “I think queers are filthy and disease ridden”......"
-"These kids need to learn that the queers and weirdos among us wake up in the morning looking to be offended. They know they're perverted, and live life feeling guilty, as they should."

Photo Of The Day

Students at Yale really know how to handle wingnut street preachers, don't they?