Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 18-25, 1999Volume 28, Number 9



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Best-selling author takes part in Law School panel discussion

Nicholas Lemann, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the award-winning book "The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America" will take part in a Law School panel discussion on the subject of merit-based college admission policies on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

The discussion, which will take place 4-6 p.m. in Rm. 120 at the Law School, will focus on the subject of Lemann's newest book, "The Big Test: The Secret History of The American Meritocracy." Lemann will defend his argument in the book that standardized testing such as the S.A.T., which was developed to broaden access to college and graduate school and replace a system of privilege, has actually created a new elite more concerned with preserving its status than with America's well-being. The book has generated national publicity, including coverage in Newsweek.

Lincoln Caplan, a Knight senior journalist at the Law School, will moderate the discussion, which is free and open to the public. The panelists will be law professor Harlon Dalton and Richard Shaw, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid.

Copies of "The Big Test" will be available at the discussion by Book Haven.


Panelists to debate genetically engineered food crops

The benefits and risks of genetically engineered food crops will be examined in a panel discussion on Wednesday, Oct. 20, sponsored by the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS).

The panelists will be Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in Washington, D.C., and Robert Fraley of the Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. They will address the topic "Genetically Engineered Food Crops: Boon or Bane" at noon in the lower-level conference room of ISPS, corner of Prospect and Trumbull streets. This event is open to members of the Yale community. Their discussion will be repeated at 7:30 p.m. at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, 80 Wall St. A reception will follow. The public is welcome to attend the free evening discussion.

Mellon is director of a UCS that promotes a transition to a sustainable agriculture and critically evaluates the role of biotechnology in pursuit of that goal. Trained as a scientist and lawyer, she is a visiting professor at the Vermont Law School. Her publications include "Now or Never: Serious New Plans to Save a Natural Pest Control" and "The Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops." She also coedits "The Gene Exchange," a newsletter that provides a public voice on genetic engineering in agriculture.

As co-president of the Monsanto Ag Sector, Fraley oversees the company's integrated crop and seed agribusiness operations in more than 130 countries worldwide. He played a key role in the discovery, development and commercialization of Roundup Ready™ crops. His early research at Monsanto resulted in the development of the first practical system for introducing foreign genes into crop plants. This year, he received the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton. His other honors include Progressive Farming Magazine's Man of the Year award.


Novelist/critic to present Tanner Lectures

Novelist and critic Marina Warner will deliver the 1999 Tanner Lectures on the theme "Spirit Visions" on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 20 and 21.

Both talks will take place at 4 p.m. in the Whitney Humanities Center auditorium, 53 Wall St. The first talk, "The Inner Eye: Figuring the Invisible," will be followed by a reception. The second talk is titled "Ectoplasm: Materializing the Impalpable."

There will be a roundtable discussion about the two lectures on Friday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m. Participants will be Warner; Terry Castle, professor of English at Stanford University; and Esther da Costa Meyer, assistant professor of art and archaeology at Princeton University.

The lectures and the roundtable discussion are free and open to the public.

In her critical works, Warner examines subjects as diverse as fairy tales, popular culture, cinema, the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc. She is perhaps best known for her book "Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary," which examines the religious and social significance of Mary in different historical periods. Her other nonfiction works are "From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers," "Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism" and "No Go the Bogeyman: Scaring, Lulling and Making Mock."

Also a a novelist, Warner won the Re-gional Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Macmillan Silver Pen Award for "The Lost Father." Her other novels include "In a Dark Wood," "The Skating Party" and "Indigo, or Mapping the Waters."


Authors will discuss new book on Central Asia

Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac will discuss their new book, "Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia," at a tea on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m. in the Davenport College master's house, 271 Park St. The event is free and open to the public.

"Tournament of Shadows" traces the struggle for mastery of Central Asia from the 1820s to the present. The authors examined numerous declassified Russian and American documents, among other materials, while doing research for the book.

Meyer, an associate fellow of Davenport College, was London bureau chief for the Washington Post and from 1979 to 1998 wrote on foreign affairs as a member of the editorial board of The New York Times. While a reporter for The Post, he interviewed Fidel Castro, covered the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and reported from Russia and the Middle East. His other books include "The Plundered Past," and "The Cuban Invasion."

Brysac is a former lead dancer in the companies of Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and José Limon. As a producer, director and writer of prime-time documentaries for CBS Reports, she received several Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award. Subsequently she was program manager for CUNY TV. She is author of the forthcoming "Resisting Hitler: Mildred Harnack-Fish and the Red Orchestra."


Former diplomat to discuss his recent book

James Robert Huntley, a retired staff member of the U.S. Foreign Service and former president of the Atlantic Council of the United States, will discuss his 1998 book "Pax Democratia: A Strategy for the 21st Century" on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 4:30 p.m. His talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Rm. 103 of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. The event is sponsored by International Security Studies.

Huntley served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and was in the Foreign Service of the United States 1951-60, working in Germany, Washington and Brussels on the development of NATO, the European Union and the civic reconstruction of Germany. He was the founder of the Atlantic Institute in Paris and cofounder of the Mid-Atlantic Clubs, the Standing Conference of Atlantic Organisations and the Committees for a Community of Democracies.

Huntley has served as a consultant and adviser on international affairs to IBM, Exxon, the Battelle Memorial Institute and others. His other books include "America and Europe: the Next Ten Years" and "The NATO Story."


Director of Taipei's Council of Culture will present talk

Yingtai Lung, director of the Council of Culture for the city of Taipei, Republic of China, will present a talk titled "A Tale of Two 'Cities' -- Cultural Differences Cross the Taiwan Strait" on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. in Rm. 203 of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. The event, sponsored by the department of East Asian studies, is free and open to the public.

Lung, who earned advanced degrees in English and American studies in the United States, is also a writer. Her books of essays ­ all written in the Chinese language ­ include "The Wild Fire," "Ah, Those Europeans!", "Letter to Home," "The Right to Be Beautiful," "Cheers, Thomas Mann," "Misgivings" and "Solitude." In addition she is the author of a book of literary criticism titled "Lung Yingtai on Fiction," a volume of short stories called "Take It Easy, My Children" and a fictional work titled "I've Lost My Heart in Heidelberg." She is currently working on a cultural history of Taiwan/China covering the period 1949 to 1999.

Lung taught at the Universität Heidelberg in Germany and has been a writer in residence at Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan.


Child care regulation will be the focus of Bush Center lecture

William Gormley, professor of government and public policy at Georgetown University, will speak on the topic "Child Care Regulatory Enforcement" on Friday, Oct. 22, as part of the Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy lecture series. His talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held at noon in Rm. 119 of the Hall of Graduate Studies, 320 York St.

Gormley's recent work has focused on the enforcement of child care regulations in the United States and abroad. He is the principal investigator of a study examining differential reimbursement as a child care improvement strategy. " He is the author of several books, including "Everybody's Children: Child Care as a Public Problem" and "Politics and Public Policy," as well as numerous articles.

For further information, call 432-9935.


Noted Civil War scholar to give Bosworth Lecture

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Mark Neely will deliver the 2nd annual Frank K. Bosworth Jr. Lecture on Monday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. in the lecture hall of the Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High St.

An authority on the Civil War, Neely will talk on the topic "'The Little Engine': Lincoln's Ambition and the Civil War." The free lecture is open to the public.

Neely, who earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale, is the McCabe Greer Professor of Civil War History at Pennsylvania State University. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his book "The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties." He has also authored, among other books and articles, "The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia," "The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America" and, most recently, "Southern Rights: Political Prisoners and the Myth of Confederate Constitutionalism." He is working on the forthcoming "The Civil War and the Two-Party System."

For more information, contact the department of history at 432-1363.


New York Times editorial page editor will be guest at tea

Howell Raines, editorial page editor of The New York Times, will be the guest at a tea on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 4:30 p.m. in the Calhoun College master's house, 434 College St. The event is free and open to the public.

Raines won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for a personal reflection titled "Grady's Gift," which appeared in The New York Times Magazine. He became editorial page editor of The New York Times in 1993. Previously he served as the newspaper's magazine editor since 1988 and was bureau chief in London.

At the New York Times, which he first joined in 1978, he has also worked as deputy Washington editor, national political correspondent, White House correspondent and Atlanta bureau chief.

Raines is the author of "Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis," a novel titled "Whiskey Man" and an oral history of the civil rights movement titled "My Soul is Rested." He was a contributor to the 1976 book "Campaign Money."


New York City artist to talk about design

"What Design is and What Design is Not" is the title of a lecture being given on Tuesday, Oct. 26, by artist and alumnus Ivan Chermayeff at 6 p.m. in the Yale University Art Gallery lecture hall, 1111 Chapel St. His talk, sponsored by the School of Art, is free and open to the public.

Chermayeff's work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. His design firm, Chermayeff & Geismar Inc., located in New York City, concentrates on identity, graphic, exhibition, environmental and interactive design. Among the firm's clients are PBS, Mobil Oil, PaineWebber, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York Stock Exchange, the National Gallery of Art, and many more.

Chermayeff, a native of London who earned his B.F.A. from the School of Art in 1955, is a designer, painter and illustrator. He has created hundreds of book and record covers, civic and cultural posters, transportation-related graphics, corporate logos, and more since the 1960s. Named to the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, his work has received numerous awards from the Society of Illustrators, the Type Directors Club, and American Institute of Architects, among others. He and his partner, Thomas Geismer, were jointly given the Yale Arts Award Medal for their accomplishments in the arts.

Chermayeff is a past president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and former vice president of the Yale Arts Association. He has also served as a member of the Yale Committee on Art and Architecture. He was a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York for 20 years.


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

University Library begins major expansion of its Orbis database

'Communications mogul John Malone offers advice to students: 'Be willing to take risks'

Nursing School venture will help elderly residents to stay healthy

Shalala stresses importance of keeping Medicare healthy

Pataki applauds virtues of 'compassionate conservatism'

Serving society must be a central goal for universities, says Rodin

Edelman recalls mentors at Yale and elsewhere in new book

Student seeks to raise awareness about scoliosis through book

City and Yale managers learn new leadership skills in joint program

'Mesmerizing' drama about marital infidelity opens at the Rep

Drama School stages German play that has been likened to 'Hamlet'

Scientists' test screens for a newly discovered tick-borne disease

The 'amazing' human eye is the focus of the 'VISION' exhibit

Yale center testing drug to prevent cancer-causing infection

New test offered at Yale identifies women at risk for cervical cancer

Enhancements to Orbis-on-the-Web make it faster, more detailed

Exhibit traces the history and evolution of Yale library catalogs

Health students will describe their research overseas

Divinity School fellowships honor individuals' work for social justice

Campaign aims to reduce bike thefts

Engineering program honors John Malone and Robert Grober

Meeting to focus on libraries' future renovations

Union meetings for United Way

. . . In the News . . .

Campus Notes


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