Yale Bulletin and Calendar

June 23, 2000

Volume 28, Number 34

In the News

"The whole legal landscape of this case is a mess. It doesn't get any better when you look at the evidence and the facts. The evidence was never clear. There's no reason to believe it will be clearer today."

-- Lecturer at the Child Study Center Dave N. Rosen about the juvenile court hearings in the murder case involving Kennedy relative Michael Skakel, "Issues Make 'Mess' of Skakel Case," USA Today, June 22, 2000.

"We are living in an age of divided government, where the president and Congress are at war, where the Democrats and the Republicans are at war, and the court is filling the vacuum. This is a court that has very little respect for Congress and a lot of confidence in itself."

-- Southmayd Professor of Law Akhil Amar, about the key Supreme Court decisions that strike down certain Congressional acts, "Court's Term in Review; New Era of Supremacy?" The Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 2000.

"A lot of things matter more [than IQ] -- how hard you work to achieve your goals, motivation and practical smarts. . . . You see plenty of Phi Beta Kappas who wear the key and that's the last big thing they ever achieved."

-- IBM Professor of Psychology & Education Robert J. Sternberg, "Mom's IQ, not Family Size, Key to Kids' Smarts," USA Today, June 12, 2000.

"I think it's very ironic that the Internet is generally very present-oriented and most of the people that use it are not that focused on history. But because such a wealth of material is being made available, the Internet is actually becoming a very powerful tool for tracking down history."

-- Associate Law School librarian Fred R. Shapiro, "Everything New is Old, Scholar's Searches Find," USA Today, June 14, 2000.

"The ability to provide for your offspring is a very important part of your identity as a father. Just as once there was a sort of biological satisfaction when we brought home an elk or caribou that the family would eat through the winter. It's the same thing today when a man brings home a pay raise."

-- Clinical professor of psychiatry Dr. Kyle D. Pruett, "Fathers More Likely Than Non Dads to be Affluent, Attend Church, Even Have Longer Lives," The Detroit News, June 15, 2000.

"Much has been made of Korea being the 'Forgotten War,' but in many respects it is the war that won't go away."

-- Larned Professor of History Gaddis Smith, "Korean War's Legacy Abides in Troops, Policy," New Haven Register, June 25, 2000.

"One of these days this country is going to go to universal preschool education."

-- Sterling Professor of Psychology Edward F. Zigler, "Program Expands Preschool in Cities, but Thousands Still Need Service," Associated Press, June 12, 2000.

"[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is] not just a disorder of kids who can't pay attention or sit still. It's more complex than most people think."

-- Assistant clinical professor of psychiatry Dr. Thomas E. Brown, "Gains in Diagnosing Hyperactivity," The New York Times, June 20, 2000.

"What you've seen over the last four decades is a gradual widening of that net to reach the Ten Commandments posted on the board, to reach prayer at graduations led by an adult and now to reach prayer at football games, a policy ironically that President Clinton, in an interview a few years ago, said he thought was perfectly fine."

-- William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Stephen L. Carter, about the Supreme Court decision that school-sponsored prayer at sporting events is unconstitutional, "Supreme Court's Decision That School-Sponsored Prayer, Even at Sporting Events, is Unconstitutional," National Public Radio, June 20, 2000.

"It is an awesome accomplishment, one which will have a profound impact on human biology and medicine for next century."

-- Chair of the department of genetics Dr. Richard P. Lifton, about the announcement that scientists have completed a "draft" of the human genome, "A Map of Us," The Hartford Courant, June 27, 2000.

"It's almost like looking at a jigsaw puzzle with 3 billion pieces with many of them missing."

-- Chair of the department of molecular, cellular & developmental biology Michael Snyder, about the "draft" of the human genome, "Completion of Human Genetic Map Hailed," New Haven Register, June 27, 2000.

"The long-held belief has been that bone marrow is supposed to produce blood cells and liver is supposed to produce liver cells. The goal is now to harness the potential of this exciting find."

-- Assistant professor of laboratory medicine Dr. Diane S. Krause, about her discovery, with colleagues, that new liver cells are produced from stem cells in bone marrow, "Saving Your Liver's Bacon," The Guardian (London), June 29, 2000.

"I don't know how we've gotten to the point where we walk into a supermarket, or we walk into a drugstore and we see literally hundreds of products on the shelves. We see claims that have very little scientific basis. We see products that are being sold that have real risk. I mean, we're turning back the standards that we have developed in this country where if you walked into those stores, you could trust what was on the label."

-- Dean of the School of Medicine Dr. David Kessler, "Dangers of Dietary Supplements, Should They Be Regulated by Government," ABC News: Nightline, July 6, 2000.

"The Supreme Court's refusal to permit organized student-led prayers before public high school football games reinforces the necessary boundaries between church and state. Every citizen must be able to attend public events free of feeling imposed upon by any expression of religion or its practice."

-- University Chaplain the Reverend Frederick J. Streets from his letter to the editor, "Prayer Ruling: Helpful or Hurtful?" The New York Times, June 21, 2000.

"The laws benefit older workers who are already employed. But those same protections make employers wary of newly hiring older workers."

-- Postdoctoral associate at the Law School John R. Lott, about age-discrimination laws and the unemployment rate for older, educated white males, "Jobless White Males," Forbes, July 3, 2000.

"There is no evidence they do any good and there is reason to suspect they could contribute to a problem by helping to create antibiotic-resistant bacteria."

-- Professor of pediatrics Dr. Myron Genel, about soaps advertised as killers of bacteria, "Soaps That Fight Germs 'May Help to Create Superbugs,'" The Express, June 16, 2000.

"Pluralism in American society, which also included religion, wasn't necessarily important in causing the American Revolution. The American Revolution, in my view at least, was really a quite political event, not narrowly so, but a very constitutional kind of event. It ultimately came to have important ramifications for the nature of a highly diverse society because, in shaping the Constitution, in shaping the Bill of Rights, both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights have recognized in very important ways the extraordinary diversity of American society."

-- William Robertson Coe Professor of American Studies & History Jon Butler, "Author and Historian Jon Butler Discusses the Revolution Occurring in America Before 1776," National Public Radio, July 4, 2000.

"What strikes me is this tremendous focus on the short term. They've got quite an excited tone about all this breaking news, but the news isn't usually that important."

-- Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics, Robert J. Shiller, about CNBC News, "Economist Says CNBC Helps Create 'Speculative Bubble,'" National Post, June 17, 2000.

"We are being misled by some of the illustrators and producers of museum displays."

-- Professor Emeritus of Geology & Geophysics John H. Ostrom, about museum exhibits depicting dinosaurs in action, "Attack of the Killer Exhibits," The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2000.

"Women are twice as likely to develop a depressive disorder and between two and five times as likely to develop an anxiety disorder as men are. It occurred to me that one area to look at to explain the higher rate of mood and anxiety disorders was the reproductive function."

-- Associate professor of psychiatry Dr. Kimberly A. Yonkers, about her research on women with PMS and other mood disorders, "Moody Blues; Postpartum Depression, Severe PMS Targets of Yale Research Studies," Connecticut Post, July 2, 2000.

"I see hordes of women in their early 60s who have never had a problem with sex and suddenly have lost interest. Often it is the result of low testosterone."

-- Professor of psychiatry Dr. Philip M. Sarrel, "When Sex Pales, Women May Need More Than Viagra," U.S. News & World Report, June 26, 2000.

"You walk into a hamburger joint and your 5-year-old suddenly points at the fryer machine and cries, 'That's a Sigma Model 3000!' What do you say?"

-- Professor of psychiatry Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, about Asperger's Syndrome, a recently diagnosed form of autism, "The Little Professor Syndrome," The New York Times Magazine, June 19, 2000.

"We seldom look at the psychological price people pay of succeeding against the odds."

-- Professor Emeritus of Psychology Edmund W. Gordon, about individuals who have overcome challenging personal or family situations to succeed in school, "The Pomp of Graduation After Overcoming Difficult Circumstances," The New York Times, June 14, 2000.

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

New Michelin Guide spotlights Yale

Fleury to be new dean of engineering

Discovery may yield new therapies for liver disease

'The Mysteries Within' details noted surgeon's fascination with the body

Students devote their summer to public service in New Haven

Emeritus Faculty

Venus Williams will return to defend Pilot Pen crown

Study reveals why most schizophrenics are heavy smokers

E. Turan Onat, 75, specialist in engineering materials, dies

New center to host talks on U.S. parks

Course to explore formation of spirituality in children

Winning Smiles: A Photo Essay

Campus Notes

In the News