Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 3, 2000

Volume 28, Number 23

Actress to play famous female artists in "Artful Lives"

Actress Robin Lane will be featured in "Artful Lives: Living Portraits of Women Artists" at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 5, in the McNeil Lecture Hall of the Yale University Art Gallery, corner of Chapel and York streets.

Lane, noted for her dramatic depictions of outstanding American women, will portray the artists Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo. The audience will be led through O'Keeffe's long and illustrious career and Kahlo's short and stormy life, and will witness the obstacles these women artists overcame and the triumphs they achieved.

Lane's one-woman shows include "Ladies First," in which she portrays six of America's First Ladies, and "Queen of Back Bay," a portrayal of Isabella Stewart Gardner, founder of Boston's famed museum.

The performance, which is free and open to the public, is part of the celebration of Women in the Arts Month. For recorded general and program information, call (203) 432-0600 or visit www.yale.edu/artgallery.

Member of International Court of Justice to present talk

Rosalyn Higgins, a member of the International Court of Justice, will discuss "Respecting State Sovereignty and Running a Modern Courtroom" at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, in Rm. 127 of the Sterling Law Buildings, 127 Wall St.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Higgins, a 1962 J.S.D. graduate of the Law School, was the first woman to be elected to serve on the International Court of Justice. She was elected to her post on July 12, 1995, and was re-elected on Feb. 2 of this year.

Previously, Higgins practiced public international law and petroleum law as Queen's Counsel and as Bencher of the Inner Temple in the English courts, and before various international tribunals. She served as counsel on a number of cases before the International Court of Justice, including Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom. As Britain's counsel, Higgins won a court decision refusing Libya relief from United Nations sanctions aimed at securing the surrender of two Libyans wanted for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Higgins has served on the United Nation's Committee on Human Rights, International Law Advisory Board and American Society of International Law, among others. She has received many honors, including the Yale Law School Medal of Merit. Her many books include "United Nations Peacekeeping" and "Problems and Process," both of which received the Certificate of Merit of the American Society of International Law.

Forestry School talk to feature soil microbiologist

Jim Harris, a reader in environmental sciences at the University of East London, will present the next lecture in the series "The Restoration Agenda: Blueprint 2000."

Harris' talk, titled "Worms, Symbiogenesis, and Pedosomes: Keys to Restoration," will take place on Wednesday, March 22, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Bowers Auditorium at Sage Hall, 205 Prospect St. Participants are welcome to bring a brown-bag lunch for the discussion following the talk. For information, call (203) 432-3335.

An often neglected aspect of ecological restoration is what is going on beneath our feet, says Harris, noting that soil provides support for roots, water and nutrients, as well as a reservoir of symbionts essential to efficient ecosystem functioning. Soil also provides a habitat for members of the decomposer community, from earthworms to bacteria, he says. In his talk, Harris will illustrate why soils and their microbial communities are important, how degradative processes affect them and what can be done to put things right.

Originally trained as a plant physiologist and biochemist, Harris studied the effects of topsoil storage on microbial communities in opencast mining areas. His work later extended to encompass aspects of land degradation and restoration.

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

Yale to construct $176 million building for medical research and education

Hockey player is humanitarian outside the rink

Scientist invents device for at-home testing of glaucoma

Professor brings presidential expertise to PBS series

Test reveals voters' unconscious presidential preferences

Executive decries 'disturbing trends' in the media

Writer describes her passion for her craft at master's tea

Study shows tongue's temperature affects taste

Alumna extols virtues of studying math

Seminar seeks to spark interest on Latino health issues

Yale surgeon is using a new, less-invasive treatment for easing carpal tunnel syndrome

Veteran sports writers help Yale journalists hone their craft

Law School colloquium to explore welfare 'reform'

Researchers discover role of 'duet' in cell function

Musical Break

Neuroscientist is honored by Danish university

Dr. Sherwin Nuland will discuss early myths about the body at book signing

A very moving work of art

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