Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 8, 2002

Volume 30, Number 21

"Poetry is very powerful -- you remember it. When was the last time you remembered anything a bureaucrat said?"

-- Neil Grey Professor Emeritus of Rhetoric Richard W. Lewis, "Business Babble; Companies Make Getting Their Message Across More Difficult By Not Using Plain English," New Haven Register, Feb. 24, 2002.

"Light is how we measure ourselves in some way. Light is constant in our universe, and as a lighting designer I have been able to marry art and science, and it's thrilling. I do feel, as a lighting designer, I can change the world by casting it in a different light, reflecting it in a different mirror."

-- Adjunct professor of lighting design at the School of Drama Jennifer Tipton, "Mother Light," The Hartford Courant, Feb. 24, 2002.

"Recent years have seen both a reduction of the stigma associated with seeking care for depression, and also broader changes in the organization of medicine."

-- Assistant professor of psychiatry and epidemiology & public health Dr. Benjamin Druss about the increased number of people seeking treatment for depression, "More Getting Help," Connecticut Post, Feb. 21, 2002.

"Most people think of the slave trade as an unpleasant little side show of how the New World got settled. But during the 18th century, three-fourths of the people who crossed the ocean and settled here were African slaves. . . . The slave trade was the main show."

-- Professor of history Robert Harms, "Professor Details Voyage of Slave Ship," New Haven Register, Feb. 21, 2002.

"It's a strange time. People wonder if the wool is constantly being pulled over their eyes. It makes for a very vulnerable market."

-- Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics Robert J. Shiller, "The Betrayed Investor," Business Week, Feb. 25, 2002.

"Historically, the tabloids' role has been to topple public figures from the pedestals built by PR machines, to humanize stars by showing their flaws and everyday habits, and to suggest that celebrities are a kooky, spoiled class."

-- Associate professor of sociology Joshua Gamson in his article "Elvis is Dead," The American Prospect, March 11, 2002.

"It would be good to have an effective vaccine against Lyme disease, but it is easily treated in most instances."

-- Professor of pediatrics and epidemiology & public health Dr. Eugene D. Shapiro, "Downturn in Demand Dooms Lyme Vaccine," New Haven Register, Feb. 27, 2002.

"More lab space means more scientists means more research dollars. . . . . The impact of research is commensurate to the size of investment. And when you get that many zeroes, the impact is large."

-- Managing director of the Office of Cooperative Research Jonathan Soderstrom, "A Case Study in Growth: Academic Research," The Hartford Courant, Feb. 24, 2002.

"Jim Crow was a word that white and black Southerners used for an elaborate system of white supremacy, a system that was established both through legislation in the courts and through custom. It could mean anything from being unable to vote to being segregated to being lynched."

-- Peter V. & C. Vann Woodward Professor of History and American Studies Glinda Elizabeth Gilmore, "Oral Histories of What Life Was Like for Blacks Behind the Veil of Segregation," "Morning Edition," National Public Radio, Feb. 27, 2002.

"We recruit against coaches who tell kids, 'The Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament. They're not even on ESPN.'"

-- Head coach of men's basketball James Jones, "Inside College Basketball," Sports Illustrated, March 4, 2002.

"There has been a revolution in neuroscience just in the past 10 years. Only now are we beginning to understand how alcohol in the brain is related to alcohol abuse and dependence, and we are just at the tip of the iceberg for developing (definitive) treatments."

-- Albert E. Kent Professor of Psychiatry Dr. John Krystal, "Sobering Research -- Docs Disagree on Drug Treatment for Alcoholism," The Boston Herald, Feb. 24, 2002.

"When leaders or parents try to ferment hate, one of the things they try to do is negate intimacy. They'll say, 'Since these things aren't human, it doesn't matter what you do to them.' It's how you can kill people in the World Trade Center. The idea is to create stories of them as subhuman and therefore there's nothing wrong with hating them."

-- IBM Professor of Psychology & Education Robert J. Sternberg, "Hatred: Surprisingly Common and Unlikely To Go Away," The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Feb. 23, 2002.

"All of a sudden there's something worse than American hegemony out there. That throws a new light on complaints about American unilateralism, and makes it easier for us to act internationally."

-- Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military & Naval History and Political Science John Lewis Gaddis, "A Nation Defines Itself By Its Evil Enemies," The New York Times, Feb. 24, 2002.

"Robots require four orders of magnitude more care than the littlest kitten. Even the most robust industrial robots require constant maintenance . . . ."

-- Lecturer in mechanical engineering Natalie Jeremijenko, "Do Androids Dream of First Amendment Rights?" Salon.com, Feb. 25, 2002.

"[Youngsters with Asperger's syndrome are] a lot to handle -- no question. They are complex kids. They have trouble dealing with frustration and change, and can be very challenging."

-- Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry Dr. Fred R. Volkmar about the challenges of dealing with youngsters with an autism-like condition, "School May Avoid Oversight by State," Hartford Courant, Feb. 26, 2002.

"My sense is that the universities and colleges that practice early admission have focused mainly on the advantages that practice brings them. [They] haven't listened sufficiently to parents, students, counselors and principals about the adverse effects."

-- President Richard C. Levin, "Early Admission to College is Popular, But Sparks Debate Over Who Benefits, Student or School," The Associated Press, Feb. 26, 2002.

"Sadly, there are almost no credible, objective business voices today -- a dangerous void for business and for a society that is so reliant on free and open markets. But the appropriate former CEOs could play this role. They don't need to defend the interests of a company or industry. They have left the campaign-financing game, and they don't need or want anything from Washington."

-- Dean of the Yale School of Management Jeffrey E. Garten in his article "Let Retiring CEOs Help Clean Up Corporate America," Business Week, March 4, 2002.

"Often students use flags as part of their work. Even elementary schools use 'Flags of the World' kits and sticker books that include the flag of North Korea, and Iran and Iraq as well. It is simple acknowledgment of the country's existence. Don't we want our students to be aware of the world?"

-- Director of the Programs in International Educational Resources at the Center for International and Area Studies Caryn Stedman about the controversy over whether to keep the North Korean flag in a school's display, "School Board to Decide Flag Issue," Hartford Courant, Feb. 26, 2002.

"Between the 1930s and the 1970s, Sweden sterilized some 60,000 people, most of them women."

-- Stanley Woodward Professor of History Daniel Kevles about past efforts to keep those deemed "unfit" from breeding, "Brave New World of Genetics Explored at Academy of Sciences Meeting," The San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 25, 2002.

"In the 18th century they were obsessed with inheritances. Nine times out of 10, it was the women who inherited the silver. The men inherited all the good stuff like land and livestock."

-- Associate curator of American decorative arts at the Art Gallery David L. Barquist, "An American Heritage Cast in Silver; Long Overshadowed By Paul Revere, Jewish Artisan Myer Myers May At Last Be Coming Into His Own," Los Angeles Times, Feb. 24, 2002.

"[People with panic disorders] have a habitually low tolerance of risk. As a group, (they) almost always overestimate the likelihood that a negative thing will happen. There is a feeling that something horrible is really about to happen."

-- Associate research scientist in psychiatry Dr. John Saksa, "Seeking Relief From the Demon of Terror: Science is Shedding Light on Reasons Why We Fear -- a Trait That Can Save Our Lives But Can Also Turn Into a Devouring Obsession of Personal Terror and Panic," Edmonton Journal, Feb. 22, 2002.

"I don't like these mass reading bees. It is rather like the idea that we are all going to pop out and eat Chicken McNuggets or something else horrid at once."

-- Sterling Professor of the Humanities Harold Bloom about a plan to have all New York City's schools, libraries and bookstores focus on one book, "Want A Fight? Pick One Book For All New Yorkers," The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2002.

"If you think of the number of times [basketball star Michael Jordan has] landed on his knee from altitude -- he obviously achieves high altitudes -- it's cumulative wear and tear."

-- Clinical instructor in orthopedics Dr. Robert Stanton, "When 'Air' Descended, Knees Paid the Price," washingtonpost.com, Feb. 27, 2002.

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

Alumna is new director of Yale Center for British Art

Writer Salman Rushdie ponders the effect of fear . . .

Former U.N. official calls for international effort . . .

Professor Kazdin will head Yale Child Study Center

Funding renewed for program to attract students to sciences

In Focus: Project Assert

Psychologist examines the making of 'memories'

D.C. mayor heralds dawning of the 'century of the city'

International meeting will assess status of women in physics

Women's Health Research wins grant for community outreach

Commemorating the Birth of a Nation

Benjamin Clark Jr., former manager in Yale's Dining Halls, dies in Texas

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes