Yale Bulletin and Calendar

January 21, 2000

Volume 28, Number 17

. . . In the News . . .

"Our notion of what is immoral behavior has changed drastically."

-- Law School professor Steven Duke, "In Every Era, Judgments on Bad Behavior," The Boston Globe, Dec. 27, 1999.

"It's the obverse of the old saying, 'Don't make a federal case of it.' The feds think that if it's an important case, then it should be theirs."

-- Law School professor Ruth Wedgwood, "Local-Federal Competition for Trials Not Uncommon," Scripps Howard News Service, Dec. 3, 1999.

"Some people feel medical care could be the third or fourth leading cause of death in the U.S."

-- Professor emeritus of public health and World Health Organization consultant Lowell S. Levin, "Medical Blunders Deadly," New Haven Register, Dec. 5, 1999.

"Mental health treatment may be a helpful adjunct in some cases where the individual is interested or the diagnosis warrants it, but it should not be distorted into being used as a tool of the state."

-- Professor of psychiatry and of law Dr. Howard Zonana, in his article about new laws to hospitalize repeat sexual offenders after they complete their jail sentence, "A Look At ... Releasing Serial Killers: We're Doctors -- Not Judges, Juries or Jailers," The Washington Post, Dec. 5, 1999.

"The rise of the nation-state. The emergence and broadening of individual rights. The triumph of rational, scientific inquiry. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. The possibility of instantaneous worldwide communication (via telegraph, telephone, television and the Internet)."

-- Yale President Richard C. Levin, listing the five things that most affected humanity in the last millennium, "1000 Years That Shaped Our World," The Hartford Courant, Dec. 5, 1999.

"The government's underground nuclear-waste repositories are the only things being built today that are specifically intended to last millenniums."

-- Sterling Professor of the History of Art Vincent Scully, in his article "Tomorrow's Ruins Today," The New York Times, Dec. 5, 1999.

"[M]olecular biology, driven by the genome project, has become an information science in need of a large amount of information processing."

--Molecular biologist/biochemist Mark Gerstein, in his Letter to the Editor, The New York Times, Dec. 9, 1999.

"You have two philosophies. One is that the university should be dedicated to the pure search for knowledge, and that search should be its own motivator and should not be directed by trying to come up with any practical results. The other is that the university should serve society."

--Historian Gaddis Smith, "Connecticut Colleges Undergo Educational Revolution This Century," The Associated Press, Dec. 11, 1999.

"No [judicial] system, including the United States', is as error free, as perfect, as we'd like it to be for children."

-- Child psychiatrist Dr. Albert J. Solnit, "Family Disputes, Global Politics," The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2000.

"Many humans exhibit deep reverence for nature, for old churches and paintings and other artifacts, and for the preservation of all that we have inherited; but even more (usually poorer) folks are engaged in slash-and-burn forestry, polluting the atmosphere, discarding industrial waste and wiping out plant and animal species."

-- Historian Paul Kennedy, in his review of J.M. Roberts' book "Twentieth Century," The New York Times, Jan. 2, 2000.

"Why don't we create regulations for getting the health care system to work better to test women? That shows respect for women and allows them to control their lives."

-- School of Epidemiology and Public Health Dean Dr. Michael Merson, on a new law requiring newborns to be tested for HIV if their mothers refuse testing during pregnancy, "Groups Challenge New HIV Testing Law," The New York Times, Dec. 12, 1999.

"Under Miranda and later cases, a suspect is, in effect, told that if he remains silent, this silence can never be used against him. What incentive does he have to cooperate with the police?"

-- Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar, in his article, "OK, All Together Now: 'You Have the Right to ...,'" Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12, 1999.

"[Lincoln believed that slavery] forced people closer than necessary to one another, with no end of human wheeling and dealing; nobody was free to ignore the bodies next door when some of those bodies were property."

-- English professor David Bromwich, in his article "Lincoln as We Know Him," The New York Times, Nov. 28, 1999.

"There are an awful lot of gaps between what [elderly] people can benefit from and what they're eligible to get."

-- School of Medicine professor Dr. Mary E. Tinetti, "Affordable Health Care High on List," New Haven Register, Dec. 13, 1999.

"In the vast universe of people who might in some way be defined as mentally ill, how can we distinguish between those whose suffering, while it may deserve our compassion and charity, is relatively mild and those who, without our urgent help, are at a total loss to keep themselves safe and sane?"

-- Psychiatrist Sally L. Satel, in her op-ed "Mentally Ill or Just Feeling Sad?" The New York Times, Dec. 15, 1999.

"I think the important thing about a teaching hospital ... is that there's a partnership between old doctors and young doctors. The young doctors know all the technology, the young doctors have the best experience, but the old doctors can sort of rein them in a little bit from time to time."

-- School of Medicine professor Dr. Howard Spiro, "Things To Help Make a Hospital Stay Safer and More Comfortable," "Today" show, Jan. 5, 2000.

"[B]ecause of urban flight, many of the disadvantaged have congregated in the inner city and now face the challenges of poverty."

-- Child Study Center professor Paula Armbruster, "Urban Babies Face More Health Hurdles, Study States," Knight Ridder,
Dec. 16, 1999.

"I don't think we will ever be rid of cancer. It is basic biology that seems to be built in as we age. What I do think will happen is that we will manage it as a chronic disease."

-- Yale Cancer Center director Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr., "Unfinished Mission," The Hartford Courant, Dec. 19, 1999.

"Religious beliefs and their implied values are being made a mockery of through various forms of political campaigning."

-- University chaplain the Reverend Frederick J. Streets, in his letter to the editor, The New York Times, Dec. 21, 1999.

"Girls [raised by stay-at-home dads] have a more robust interest in math and science, and boys are more interested in relationships and nurturing competence in themselves and other people."

-- Child Study Center professor Dr. Kyle Pruett, "Beyond Mr. Mom," The Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 22, 1999.

"The introduction of a foreign insect-borne virus [West Nile virus] never before seen in the Western Hemisphere is a public-health threat unprecedented in modern times."

-- Epidemiologist Durland Fish, "Nile Bug Could Be Threat in Spring," Connecticut Post, Dec. 15, 1999.

"The harsh fact is that one cannot prove that [Marco Polo] was in China ... All one can do is take his manuscript at face value, and challenge the opposition to prove that he was not there."

--Historian Jonathan Spence, in his review of John Larner's book "Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World," The New York Times, Dec. 12, 1999.

"Many Native American communities were reading and writing in their own languages ... Some missionaries encouraged that, while others had a hard time imagining how you could be a Christian if you weren't reading the King James Bible in English."

--Beinecke Library curator George Miles, "Alphabetical Orders," The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 17, 1999.

"Politicians are going to demagogue this to death. You'll see television ads with people saying, 'If I am elected, I will ensure no Vermont same-sex marriage is recognized in our state.'"

--Law School professor Jack Balkin, "Marriage of Any Sort Ain't Easy," The Hartford Courant, Dec. 24, 1999.

"The really good channels on the Web just far outperform nearly any kind of television way of conveying information -- except moving information."

-- Political scientist and graphic designer Edward Tufte, "Toronto TV Station Adopts Web-Page Format," The New York Times, Dec. 27, 1999.

"There are three New Havens, not two. There's the well-off, the poor, and the poor who live in public housing."

-- Law School professor Robert Solomon, "Addressing Problems at Housing Authority," The New York Times, Dec. 26, 1999.

"What we're trying to do is attack cancer on as many fronts as we can."

-- Oncologist Dr. Lee Schacter, "A New Generation of Cancer Vaccines," The New York Times, Dec. 26, 1999.

"In magazines or on television, [writer James Dickey's] burly, weathered good looks were prominent as he picked at his guitar or boasted of his prowess with bow and arrow. Long years of work in advertising had given him a knack for self-promotion."

--Yale Review editor J.D. McClatchy, in his review of "Crux: The Letters of James Dickey" and "The James Dickey Reader," The New York Times, Dec. 19, 1999.

"We need to look at how different disease conditions are experienced in minorities and how to deliver care in a culturally sensitive way."

--School of Nursing professor Courtney Lyder, "An Ounce of Sensitivity Is Worth a Pound of Cure When It Comes to Addressing the Needs of Minority Elderly," New Haven Register, Dec. 20, 1999.

"I can't tell you what's the most important determinant of long-term health. It may be a reduction in calories; it may be a reduction in fat."

-- School of Medicine Dean Dr. David Kessler, "Food Labels: By Some Measure, Well-Read Success; Obesity Rate Rises Despite Popularity of Low-Fat Labels," The Washington Post and elsewhere, Jan. 3, 2000.

"There are many reasons to believe that political stability won't be of the highest order [in Croatia] in the next few months."

-- Historian Ivo Banac, "Croatia's Ruling Party Is Expected To Lose Vote Amid Lost Confidence," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 3, 2000.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Paul Rand Center to honor celebrated graphic designer

U.S. embargo causing health crisis in Cuba, says physician

University extends Homebuyer Program

Exhibit features new works by Jasper Johns

Dean announces plans to retire

Yale's early preparation for Y2K resulted in smooth transition

Memorial service is scheduled for C. Vann Woodward

Paul Sigler, a pioneer in the field of structural biology, dies

Paul Rand's widow donates artist's personal papers to Yale

Peabody Museum's 'Martian Perspectives' exhibit offers 3-D views of the 'Red Planet'

Yale Opera to perform romantic classic 'La bohème'

British Art Center joining global celebration of legacy of artist and critic John Ruskin

The light of Elie Lascaux shines in JE exhibit of his works

Science Park firm to distribute byproducts of Yale research

Religious values integral to politics, says Ralph Reed says

Art by and about Asian women featured in gallery's display

Center showcases 20th-century art

Performance artist Karen Finley will present her newest work,'Shut Up and Love Me,' at the Rep

Chinese artist's paintings capture 'The Allure of Tibet'

Noted journalist to talk about government as Poynter Fellow

Leading architects to teach and talk at Yale this spring

Library exhibit features work of noted German woodcut artist, illustrator

Memorial concert features award-winning duo

Yale Scoreboard

Lamb to lead Bulldogs field hockey team 'to the next level'

Employees invited to basketball games

Kennedy to discuss 'Global Century' series

Victoria Nolan is honored for her guidance in the arts

Daniel Rosner honored for research on aerosols

. . . In the News . . .