Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 2, 2001

Volume 29, Number 21

Two-Week Issue

"The [Napster] fans and their enablers went far to blur the distinction between capacity and right -- as if the very ability to appropriate a thing, without asking the previous owner, itself conferred a new right of ownership."

-- Bird White Housum Professor of English David Bromwich in his editorial "The Napster Specter," The Washington Post, Feb. 24, 2001.

"We know from lots of other studies on first impressions that despite the admonition that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover . . . nonetheless we cannot seem to help ourselves. It appears that as a species, we're fairly hard-wired to make those quick impressions because our survival may depend on it . . . and it appears that hair is not a trivial part of that."

-- Professor of women's & gender studies Marianne LaFrance, "Hairstyle is Basis for First Impression: Study," The Edmonton Sun, Feb. 25, 2001.

"We [at the Yale School of Management] pay attention to entrepreneurism and technology but they are secondary. The pace of change is so great that if you try to teach at the cusp of a wave, you'll find society will have moved on by the time you have your course set up."

-- Dean of the School of Management Jeffrey E. Garten, "Inside Track Business Education: Dean Fosters a Love of Learning," Financial Times (London), Feb. 26, 2001.

"The cork nucleus, enclosed in rubber, is wound with 121 yards of blue-gray wool yarn, 45 yards of white wool yarn and 150 yards of fine cotton yarn. Core and winding are enclosed by rubber cement and a two-piece cowhide cover hand-stitched together with just 216 raised red cotton stitches."

-- Sterling Professor Emeritus of Physics Robert K. Adair describing the ingredients of a baseball, "Dave Kindred Commentary," The Sporting News, Feb. 26, 2001.

"Generally, the reading public in mainland China does not have access to [Nobel Prize-winner Gao Xingjian's] recent novels, except through the Internet. Those who have heard of him only know him through his contributions in the 1980s before he left mainland China -- mostly literary criticism and experimental theater. He isn't what you might call a dissident writer. He didn't want freedom to criticize his government."

-- Professor of East Asian languages & literatures Charles Laughlin, "Hard Climb to Freedom's Peak," washingtonpost.com, Feb. 22, 2001.

"In order to restore political accountability to the pardon power, we should establish an expectation that, aside from truly exceptional cases, no pardons should be granted at the end of a president's term, nor surely at the dead end."

-- John M. Olin Professor of Law & Economics George L. Priest and Law School student Minor Myers III in their article "The Deeper Scandal of the Clinton Pardons," The Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 26, 2001.

"You get a whole lot of kids with different problems lumped together and treated as if they have one thing. It's not politically correct to complain about it."

-- IBM Professor of Psychology and Education Robert J. Sternberg about special education classes, "Special Needs Raise Pressure on Schools," Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21, 2001.

"A lot of what African-American history is about is staking this claim that African-American history is American history. In the same way, African-American music is American music."

-- Divinity School student Matt Curry, "Prayer and All That Jazz; Sunday Services to Honor Black History Month With Music," New Haven Register, Feb. 23, 2001.

"The few sentences in the Bible that might say parents are allowed to strike a child are really minimal compared to the overwhelming message of the importance of forgiveness and understanding."

-- Director of the Child Study Center Donald J. Cohen, "Spanking a Child is 'Lazy Way Out,'" New Haven Register, Feb. 26, 2001.

"In the end, a low threshold for passing out diagnoses and medications [for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] does grave harm to the children who are truly afflicted. If one-third of Johnny's class lines up at the nurse's office twice a day, teachers understandably throw up their hands at the disruption of the school day. If a diagnosis is too common, the public rightly questions whether the disorder even exists."

-- Lecturer in psychiatry Sally Satel in her article "The Attention Deficit Dilemma," Bridge News, Feb. 28, 2001.

"If [theologians are] going to ask questions, you may come up with some wrong answers, but you may come up with new insights."

-- Stark Professor of Christian Ethics Margaret Farley, "Reward for Faithful Service; Dulles, New Cardinal, Explores the Role of the Theologian Within the Church," The New York Times, Feb. 17, 2001.

"I'd always hoped to be a novelist, from the time I was a little kid. It was a tug I've always felt."

-- William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Stephen Carter, "Yale Prof Gets Huge Book Deal; Novel, Movie Rights Net Carter a $5M Surprise," New Haven Register, Feb. 23, 2001.

"This process of capping when costs are rising causes endemic shortages. It's a bad, bad disease."

-- Williams Bros. Prof of Management Studies Paul W. MacAvoy, "Why the Energy Crunch Needs Tough Love," Business Week, Feb. 19, 2001.

"The whole economy is slowing, and that should eventually communicate to services."

-- Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics Robert J. Shiller, "Jobs: How Long Can Services Pick Up the Slack?" Business Week, Feb. 19, 2001.

"We think [superflares] are triggered by giant planets orbiting close to a star."

-- Research affiliate in astronomy Eric Rubenstein, "Crisis, What Crisis? You Can Stop Panicking . . . the Sun Won't be Zapping Us All to a Cinder," New Scientist, Feb. 17, 2001.

"This is [the Republicans'] best chance now to show the world what conservatism can deliver."

-- Peletiah Perit Professor of Political & Social Sciences Stephen Skowronek about the party's support of a tax cut, "Tax Fight; Where George Bush Leads, Who Will Follow?" The New York Times, Feb. 25, 2001.

"The buzz word in medicine from 2001 to 2050 will be APS. I know I'm right about this."

-- Associate clinical professor of internal medicine Dr. Thomas Greco about the newly recognized anti-phospholipid syndrome, "Healing Against the Flow; Doctor Persists in 10-Year Crusade," The Hartford Courant, Feb. 25, 2001.

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

Economist will develop better way to measure economic activity in U.S.

Yale SOM to establish database for study of world's financial history

F&ES to create industrial ecology program in Asia

Greene and Brisman awarded DeVane Medals

Professor Lane explains the economics of happiness

Scientist Thomas Steitz honored with Sterling Professorship

Goldman-Rakic is Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology

Joan Steitz cited as outstanding woman scientist

Student actors 'take flight' in comic version of 'The Birds'

Exhibition examines photographers' contrasting images of Saarinen designs

'Faces of Hope' offers portraits of people living with HIV

Model urges students to take pride in their bodies

'Cities and Buildings' pays tribute to urban works . . .

Forum to explore fate of U.S. 'melting pot'

Discovery boosts understanding of hereditary blindness

Grants will support Yale researcher's study on how to quell the 'voices' . . .

Women under 60 more likely to die after heart attack, says study

Renowned nuclear physicist to discuss 'Science, Technology and Politics'

'A Taste of Inequality' explores issues still on feminist frontline

Love songs will be dramatized in workshops

New fund will support activities for teachers of religious studies

New ways of funding environmental enterprises to be examined

Film series focus on the banned and Brazilian

Innovation is focus of this year's Spring Teaching Forum

Annual Pride Week celebration will feature talks, comedy night and film

Campus Notes