Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 23, 2001

Volume 29, Number 23

"Images, symbols, whether religious or not, always attract violence when there is conflict. Religion intensifies it, because religious symbols are more densely packed with meaning."

-- T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History & Religious Studies Carlos Eire, "Taliban Zeal for Smashing Images Has Many Precedents," AP Worldstream, March 9, 2001.

"When we prescribe medications, it's really important that it is a real partnership. I try to give people choices where I can. I never just write prescriptions without really having people engage in a decision with me."

-- Professor of nursing Ann Williams, "What Doctor Ordered; Patients Who Ignore a Physician's Advice Risk Getting Even Sicker," Daily News (New York), Feb. 26, 2001.

"Simply having a gun is by far the safest thing for victims to do. In up to 98 percent of the cases simply brandishing the gun is sufficient to cause the criminal to break off the attack."

-- Research affiliate at the Law School John R. Lott Jr. in his article "What Can Be Done to Stop Hate Crimes?" The San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 23, 2001.

"There are symptoms of decadence one can neither ignore nor pretend to rescue. Commend the value of sympathy and you are caught by its presumptive look-alike, empathy."

-- Professor of English David Bromwich in his review of Geoffrey Hill's volume of poetry "Speech! Speech!", "Muse of Brimstone," The New York Times, March 11, 2001.

"Economists, including Alan Greenspan, attribute much of America's 1990's boom to increased productivity stemming, in large part, from scientific research. Two simple discoveries -- the transistor and the fiber optic cable -- are at the root of it. Anyone skeptical of this should turn off the computer for a day and see how much work gets done."

-- Sterling Professor of the Sciences D. Allan Bromley in his op-ed article "Science and Surpluses," The New York Times, March 9, 2001.

"We use these [counterfeit] paintings to help students develop connoisseurship, to build their skills in identifying what is authentic and what is not."

-- Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Painting at the Art Gallery Helen Cooper, "It's a Fake!" The Christian Science Monitor, March 9, 2001.

"We have a lot of theories about how earthquakes happen. None yet explain the data very well."

-- Professor of geology & geophysics Jeffrey Park, "Seismologists on Shaky Ground; The Fault Lies Not With Scientists, But With Our Inability to Predict Quakes," USA Today, March 5, 2001.

"The more involved father tends to feel differently about his own life. A lot of men . . . on the fast track know a lot about competitive relationships, but they don't know much about intimate relationships. Children are experts in intimacy."

-- Clinical professor at the School of Nursing and Department of Psychiatry Kyle Pruett, "Reinventing Fatherhood," The Ottawa Citizen, March 3, 2001.

"The brain can tell the difference between speech and noise. Different parts of the brain light up."

-- Research staff member at Haskins Laboratories Douglas H. Whalen, "Something to Talk About; Researchers Study Production and Perception of Speech," New Haven Register, March 1, 2001.

"I'm interested in two things: first, to carry out and publish new, innovative research at a frontier -- like the Olmec, or Maya vase painting, or Mayan hieroglyphs -- and, second, to write a clear, up-to-date, non-boring introduction to something in which the educated public might be interested."

-- C. J. MacCurdy Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Michael D. Coe, "Tour Guide for Foreign Fields," The Times Higher Education Supplement, March 2, 2001.

"We are the only country in the West that doesn't have a holiday on Election Day. It's an amazing fact we don't have one."

-- Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science Bruce Ackerman, from his DeVane Lecture, "$80,000 'Share' Proposed; Cash Would Promote Citizenship: Professor," Connecticut Post, March 1, 2001.

"I do not see any signs of deterioration [in investors' love for technology]. The thing that has changed is the public perception of Greenspan. At first, it was very skeptical, now the public believes he is an oracle."

-- Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics Robert J. Shiller, "Greenspan Prepares to Quit at 75," Sunday Business, March 4, 2001.

"I think that cities have mixed motives for reporting hate crimes. On the one hand, they want to keep track of this problem. But on the other hand, they don't want to stand out as a city that has this problem."

-- Director of the Institute for Social and Policy Studies Donald Green, "Hate Crimes Since the Federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act Was Passed in 1990; The FBI has Collected Data on Crimes Based on Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Ethnicity and Later, Disability. But Its Efforts Have Been Hampered by Critics That Will Not Submit the Data," The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), March 5, 2001.

"Unix programmers and their culture were an intimate part of Internet development and growth, and their influence is still seen in its 'open' structure, its encouragement of freedom bordering on anarchy and disdain for traditional copyright protection."

-- Associate librarian for public services Fred R. Shapiro with lexicographer Frank Abate in their article "So Who Really Invented 'Internet' and 'Information Superhighway'?" wsj.com, March 7, 2001.

"It seems very clear in the U.S., [seasonal affective disorder] is a latitude-related phenomenon. The more north you go, the more there is."

-- Associate professor of psychiatry Dr. Dan A. Oren, "Local Doctor Studies Winter Depression," Connecticut Post, March 4, 2001.

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

New Divinity Dean named

Galleries reopen in dramatically transformed space

University's longstanding focus on humanities

Transformation brought about by Yale women

Fleury charts future of Yale Engineering

Study demonstrates role of enzyme in cocaine addiction

Foreign minister, law professor to debate the Taliban

Maynard Mack, world-renowned scholar of Shakespeare, dies

Richard Ruggles, noted economic statistician, dies

Yaledancers to perform spring concert at the Palace theater

The eyes will be the focus of two events hosted by Unite for Sight

Gemini Duo to present concert benefiting St. Thomas More

Conference looks at state's water conflicts

Memorial service is planned for Claude Palisca