The YDN reported yesterday that international applications to American graduate schools, including Yale, have dropped drasticaly in the past year. Dean Salovey assesses the source of the problem well: Graduate School Dean Peter Salovey said in an e-mail that the decrease in international applications could be caused by visa regulations and the economy, particularly in the case of China. "Sensible reform of current visa restrictions and delays facing international graduate students, as called for by President Levin, would help with this problem," Salovey said in the e-mail. "It may also be the case that economic conditions in China and opportunities there are affecting the applicant pool too, but this is difficult to assess." But don't hold your breath for him and Levin to agree to work with the graduate students who've been organizing a national movement to fix the situation.