Jacksonville Jaguars defensive assistant Tom Williams has been selected as Yale?s 33rd head football coach, the News has learned.

Williams, 39, will become the first African-American head coach in history of Yale?s football program. The Athletics Department has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday to introduce him as the successor to Jack Siedlecki, who resigned in November after 12 seasons.

Williams has never before been a head coach, but he has extensive experience in college football. Before spending the past two years with the Jaguars, Williams was an assistant for 11 years at Hawaii, Washington, Stanford and San Jose State.

Although there were slightly fewer people non-fatally shot in New Haven in 2008 than in 2007, the number of homicides in the city increased by 69 percent, according to figures released by the New Haven Police Department.

DENVER ? Michael Bennet LAW '93, the superintendent of Denver Public Schools, was named Saturday to the United States Senate seat being vacated by Ken Salazar, currently up for confirmation as Secretary of the Interior.

A third candidate for the Yale football coaching vacancy has decided to stay put and not pursue the position.

Steve Addazio, the offensive line coach at the University of Florida, was promoted to offensive coordinator on Saturday, taking him out of the running for the Yale post. Addazio followed University of Massachusetts coach Don Brown and Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore, who withdrew their names from consideration earlier this month.

Mory?s will not reopen immediately after winter break and may shut its doors for good, said Christopher Getman ?64, the newly appointed president of Mory?s Board of Governors.

Yale has agreed to pay $7.6 million for allegedly making false claims on federal research grants, the U.S. Attorney?s Office in New Haven said Tuesday, concluding a two-year investigation of Yale?s grant administration.

James Steinberg LAW '78 was nominated to serve as one of two lieutenants to Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton LAW '73, the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama announced Tuesday.

DENVER ? Michael Bennet LAW '93, the superintendent of Denver Public Schools, will be named to fill the United States Senate seat being vacated by Ken Salazar, currently up for confirmation as Secretary of the Interior, newspapers here reported on Friday.

Penelope Laurans, an associate dean of Yale College and special assistant to the president, has been appointed acting master of Jonathan Edwards College while the college's master-designate, Richard Lalli MUS '86, recovers from a brain hemorrhage.

It turns out that not everyone wants to be the next Jack Siedlecki.

The two coaches said to be the University?s top choices to take the helm of the Yale football program have withdrawn their names from consideration for the post, and a spokesman for the Yale Athletics Department said Thursday that a new coach will not be announced until next week at the earliest.

Yale?s endowment lost roughly a quarter of its value since the start of summer, and several capital projects ? possibly including the two new residential colleges ? will be delayed as a result, University President Richard Levin announced Tuesday.

Yale will not implement a formal hiring freeze or reduce financial aid even as its endowment has plunged in value to approximately $17 billion today from $22.9 billion on June 30, Levin said. But in a letter to the community and an interview with the News, the president called for budget cuts and postponements of many high-profile construction projects, including the new School of Management campus.

?In recent years, we have been in the fortunate position of being able to pursue many new ideas and exciting initiatives,? Levin said in the letter. ?Now we will have to make harder choices.?

Richard Levin, who assumed office in 1993, has served as Yale?s president in a period of remarkable economic prosperity. Now, as he outlined Tuesday in a 2,000-word letter to faculty and staff, he and his colleagues face the challenge of balancing ambitious new initiatives with the reality that Yale?s endowment is today worth three-quarters of what it was on June 30. Levin, who is also the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics, spoke by phone to the News on Tuesday about the state of Yale?s finances.

New Haven received its first major snowfall of the year on Friday, leaving students scrambling to adjust their travel arrangements before the exam period ends and residential colleges close for winter break.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning until 3 p.m. Saturday and projected that six to 10 inches of snow will accumulate in the New Haven area in the meantime. Mayor John DeStefano Jr. ordered a parking ban until noon on Saturday, and scores of flights departing from airports frequented by Yale students were canceled as a result of the storm.

A Seoul court ordered that Shin Jeong-ah, of ?Shin-gate? notoriety, receive 150 million won ($113,000) in damages from a local paper that published a nude photograph of Shin, according to The Korea Times.

Yale admitted 13.4 percent of its early action applicants for the class of 2013, a sharp drop from last year?s 18.1 percent early admission rate, the University said Monday. The admissions office also sent rejection letters to more than twice as many early applicants as they did last year, denying 38.3 percent of applicants while deferring 47.6 percent to the regular decision round.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrapped up his first semester at Yale on Thursday with a major address that laid out significant expansion plans for his foundation.

In the wake of this weekend?s meeting of the Yale Corporation, Woodbridge Hall says it is preparing to release an update about Yale?s financial health. A message could be sent to the University community as early as Tuesday.

David Evans ?92, a professor in geology and geophysics, is now a tenured full professor, while Christine Jacobs-Wagner, in the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department, has become a tenured associate professor.

Joan Channick DRA ?89, the managing director of New Haven?s Long Wharf Theatre, will join the School of Drama as an associate dean, the University announced Thursday.

The Republic of Peru has quietly filed a lawsuit against Yale, officially turning a nearly century-long dispute over the rightful ownership of Inca artifacts into a legal battle.

Last December Annette Soules? husband, a construction worker, fell on the site of Yale?s Art & Architecture building during its renovation. He broke several bones and has been unable to work since. Despite having only his workers? compensation and her part-time salary to support three children, including a 12-year-old autistic son, Soules said her family was managing.

America?s economy just entered a recession, but Yale?s School of Management is still getting its new campus.

The master-designate of Jonathan Edwards College, Richard Lalli MUS ?86, sustained a brain hemorrhage on Sunday, and his condition is unknown.

Fenno Heath ?50 MUS ?52, director of the Yale Glee Club from 1953-1992, passed away Friday evening at the age of 81. His family did not wish to release the cause of death.

After six months of deliberations, the search committee for the next dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is on the verge of making its final recommendations to University President Richard Levin, the News has learned.

Harvard University froze faculty salaries and most searches in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as part of its plan to cut spending by $105 million to $125 million, top deans said in an e-mail message Monday.

For around an hour late Tuesday afternoon, members of the School of Management community gathered in the General Motors room at 55 Hillhouse Ave. to see their new home.

In the two months since the last meeting of the Yale Corporation, a new dean has stepped up in Yale College, a young dean has stepped out at the School of Management, and designers have worked furiously on plans for the new residential colleges.

Freshman counselors for the class of 2013 will absorb the duties of ethnic counselors ? a position which will cease to exist beginning fall 2009 ? Yale College Dean Mary Miller announced at a meeting of residential college deans Tuesday morning.

For Campus Customs, a small move meant a big change. Though the new space is only three storefronts from its old location, Campus Customs owner Barry Cobden said the increased square footage of the new location enables him to centralize production and retail facilities. The new space, which staged a soft opening the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, has been met with positive reviews from many customers, and Cobden said he is confident in his business despite the slumping sales reported by others.

Regenia Phillips is preparing herself for a culture shock.

Though Yale students overwhelmingly supported President-elect Barack Obama?s candidacy, for those hoping to watch him take the oath of office, luck is more important than loyalty.

It is a four-millimeter checkbox stationed next to a simple question ? ?Have you ever been convicted of a crime?? ? that some city officials say prevents released prisoners from successfully reintegrating into society.

While the flu season may be winding down, research into infectious diseases at the University is taking a step forward.

A research team, led by Gerald Shulman, professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Physiology at the Yale School of Medicine, has found a group of lipids that could be used to fight obesity.

Ten students brought complaints of alleged sexual misconduct to the Yale College Sexual Harassment Grievance Board during the 2007-?08 school year, the board announced Tuesday.

On Saturday, Rachel Bayefsky-Anand ?09 was awarded a Rhodes scholarship for two years of study at Oxford University, making her the second Yale student to win the scholarship this year. Bayefsky-Anand, a Toronto native, was one of 11 Canadian students to receive the Rhodes, which is widely considered the world?s most prestigious postgraduate academic scholarship.

Just over 70 high-achieving upperclassmen ? 61 seniors and 12 juniors ? were inducted into the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa on Monday. The inducted seniors represent the top 5 percent of their class, while the juniors represent the top 1 percent of their class. Students are generally elected to the Yale chapter based on the percentage of their grades that are A or higher, according the Yale Phi Beta Kappa Web site.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

On a Wednesday night last March, in the annex of Commons that was the temporary Jonathan Edwards College dining hall for the year, Richard Lalli MUS ?86 was introduced to the JE community as the college?s new master. Someone handed Professor Lalli a scarf in JE?s colors.

On Friday, the Oldest College Daily held its fall semester staff inductions. It is with great pride that we announce the newest inductees to the Yale Daily News.

Hipsters: Chances are you know one. In fact, here at Yale, chances are you know many.

It?s the most wonderful time of the year. In the next few weeks, families will travel long distances, give each other gifts they bought in the airport and remember why they moved across the country in the first place.

Most college students hope to see improvements at their school accomplished within their four years, but student government representatives have even shorter time frames to get things done. The short terms for student representatives at Yale is one reason little has so far come of the proposed Bulldog Bucks and Campus Cash programs. The principal roadblock came last spring when Yale?s Office of the General Counsel decided the timing was not appropriate to start a new student accounting system, because the Connecticut Attorney General had been investigating various Connecticut universities for fraudulent deals involving credit card companies, student debt and similar payment setups.

Watching the deterioration of financial markets and the broader global economy has been dismaying, to say the least.

Cross Campus misstated the name of a fraternity: It is Sigma Phi Epsilon, not Sigma Epsilon.

The Sports story "NBC Sports chief talks Yale, Olympics" misstated the title of the Wide World of Sports program.

The brief "History Professor Schwartz wins $75,000" misstated that the Cundill Prize awards $75,000 to an American author. The prize is not limited to American authors.

It was a challenging weekend for the men?s and women?s swimming teams, but the Elis got through it just fine.

Coming off a decisive 4-1 victory over Brown last weekend, the women?s hockey team is geared up to play five matches over winter break. Yale (5-6, 3-4 ECAC) will play the first of its five games on Dec. 30 against Providence (10-6-2) at Ingalls Rink.

The women?s squash team made its opponents sweat this weekend when it came within a single match of victory in its first Ivy faceoff of the season.

After a victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the women?s volleyball team?s run has come to an end at the hands of the defending champions.

This weekend the Yale track team challenged local colleges in their season opener. The unscored meet, held at home in Coxe Cage, featured events against Southern Connecticut State University, Trinity, the University of New Haven, Marist, Manhattan College and Quinnipiac.

Swords clashed this weekend outside of Boston as the Yale?s (4-0) men?s and women?s fencing teams took on four opponents each. The men swept MIT (3-8 men/7-6 women), Boston College (4-3 men/1-6 women), Brandeis (6-5 men/ 11-2 women) and St. John?s (7-3 men/6-4), and the women defeated all but St. John?s.

This past weekend, the men?s hockey team found out the hard way that there are no guaranteed victories in the ECAC.

STONY BROOK, N.Y. ? Any time there are more fouls in a basketball game than minutes, there are going to be problems. In a game in which the two teams tallied a mind-boggling 55 fouls in just 40 minutes of play, the Bulldogs dropped a tough last-minute loss, 73-68, to Stony Brook, an opponent they should have handily defeated. ?We got out-performed tonight,? head coach Chris Gobrecht said in a press release. ?We got outworked. Tonight was a wake-up call for our team.?

The men?s basketball team went on the road and once again experienced how difficult it is to win away from home in college basketball. In the Bulldogs? fifth road game of the young season, the team (2-5, 0-0 Ivy) lost its fourth away contest Saturday afternoon at Wagner (5-2), 83-74.

For the No. 3 men?s squash team, three seems to be a lucky number. In their season opener last Saturday against Penn, Yale triumphed over the Quakers, 8-1, with six of the nine matches decided in straight sets, 3-0.

Whatever your holiday preference, scene helps you create your own celebratory scene. We?ve selected our favorite people, events and things from the past semester ? but it?s up to you to make them all get along. 1. Grab your scissors. 2. Cut out the pictures. 3. Glue them into the manger. 4. Avoid constitutional lawsuits.