Murder and Pornography Roil the Yale Campus

An Ivy League campus in the grip of exams can be a very scary place. But as Yale students sit down to finals this week, they fear more than a B in biochemistry. On Dec. 4, Suzanne Jovin, a senior, was stabbed to death about two miles from campus. Police have yet to name a suspect, but last week lecturer James Van de Velde, who was advising on Jovin’s thesis and lives just blocks from the crime scene, told the New Haven, Conn., Register that he was grilled by police and asked if he killed her. "They had no relationship other than teacher and student," said his lawyer Ira B. Grudberg. "He denies having anything to do with the murder."

As if that weren't enough, on Wednesday Yale geology professor Antonio Lasaga, charged last month with possessing child pornography, was spotted near the home of a minor related to the case and rearrested. For its part, Yale sent a letter home to parents stating that crime in New Haven has dropped 33 percent since 1990.