March 15, 2002

Volume 30, Number 22

Two-Week Issue

ISPS Bioethics Seminar to explore biotechnology

Award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster David Suzuki will discuss "Biotechnology: Panacea or Hype?" as part of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) Bioethics Seminar on Wednesday, March 20.

He will first speak at a seminar at noon in the lower level conference room of ISPS, 77 Prospect St., then present a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. at the Joseph Slifka Center, 80 Wall St. Lunch will be provided at the noon meeting for those who contact Carol Pollard in advance at (203) 432-6188 or carol.pollard@yale.edu.

A geneticist, Suzuki is professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia's Sustainable Development Research Institute. He is also chair of the David Suzuki Foundation, an environmental science and education organization. Well known as the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's popular science television series "The Nature of Things" and of the long-running radio series "Quirks and Quarks," Suzuki has received widespread acclaim for his 30 years of broadcasting work in which he explains the complexities of science in an easily understood way.

From 1969 to 1972 Suzuki was the recipient of the prestigious E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship Award for the "outstanding Canadian research scientist under the age of 35." His other awards include a UNESCO prize for science, a United Nations Environment Program medal, the Order of Canada and 15 honorary doctorates from universities in Canada, the United States and Australia.

Nobel Prize-winning economist to lecture at Law School

Nobel Prize-winning economist George Akerlof will present the 2001-2002 Arthur Allen Leff Fellowship Lecture at the Law School on Monday, March 25.

Titled "Economics and Identity," the talk will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Rm. 127 of the Sterling Law Buildings, 127 Wall St. A reception will follow in the Alumni Reading Room. The event is freee and open to the public.

Akerlof was named the 2001 co-winner of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences for authoring a landmark study on the role of asymmetric information in the market for "lemon" used cars. His research broke with established economic theory in illustrating how markets malfunction when buyers and sellers operate under different information. The work has had far-reaching implications in such areas as health insurance, financial markets and employment contracts.

The Goldman Professor of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley, Akerlof has previously been recognized for his research that borrows from sociology, psychology, anthropology and other fields to determine economic influences and outcomes. His areas of expertise include macroeconomics, poverty, family problems, crime, discrimination, monetary policy and German unification.

Akerlof earned his bachelor's degree at Yale in 1962. He is a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and a research associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He served as senior staff economist with the Council of Economic Advisers 1973-1974 and was visiting research economist in the special studies section of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors 1977-1978. His awards include Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Sources and markets of green energy is subject of IEM talk

Kyle Datta, vice president of Booz-Allen Hamilton, and Dan Reicher, former assistant secretary of energy, will discuss the potential sources and markets for green energy at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) on Tuesday, March 26.

Their talk, "The Promise and Pitfalls of Renewable Energy," will be held at 4 p.m. in Bowers Auditorium in Sage Hall, 205 Prospect St. A reception in the Sage Hall lounge will follow.

Datta is vice president of Booz-Allen's energy and chemicals practice, with more than a decade of experience supporting energy industry clients in strategy and operations in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America. He is a leading expert in near-term performance improvement for energy industry clients.

Reicher was recently named executive vice president at Northern Power Systems, a company that designs, builds and installs wind, photovoltaic, natural gas and hybrid fossil/renewable power systems. As assistant secretary of energy 1997-2001, Reicher led a $1.2 billion-a-year program to advance energy efficiency, renewable energy and distributed generation in all sectors of the U.S. economy and around the world.

The event is part of the lecture series "The Business of Sustainable Energy," sponsored by the Industrial Environmental Management Program at F&ES and supported by the Joel Omura Kurihara Fund. For more information, call (203) 432-6953 or send e-mail to iem@yale.edu.

Anthropologist to speak at two campus events

Mary Catherine Bateson, the Clarence J. Robinson Professor in Anthropology and English at George Mason University and visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will speak at two campus events on Tuesday, March 26.

She will first be the guest of a tea at 4 p.m. at the Saybrook College master's house, 90 High St. She will then speak at an Anthropology Society event at 6:30 p.m. in Rm. 120 of William L. Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St. Both events are free and open to the public.

Bateson is president of the Institute for Intercultural Studies in New York City. She is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles, including "Full Circles, Overlapping Lives: Culture and Generation in Transition"; "Peripheral Visions: Learning Along the Way"; "Composing A Life"; and "With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson" (Bateson is the daughter of anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson).

For more information, send e-mail to jennifer.staple@yale.edu or visit www.geocities.com/yaleanthro/index.html.

Civil rights lawyer is next F&ES Distinguished Lecturer

Randolph Scott-McLaughlin, a professor at Pace University School of Law, will present the seventh lecture in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) Distinguished Lecture Series, "The Restoration Agenda: Environmental Justice," on Wednesday, March 27.

Scott-McLaughlin will discuss the "Role of Civil Rights Law to Promote Social Justice" 11:30 a.m.-12:50 p.m. in Bowers Auditorium of Sage Hall, 205 Prospect St. Those who attend are invited to bring a brown bag lunch.

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1978, Scott-McLaughlin joined the staff of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City. One of his first major lawsuits was against the Chattanooga branch of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He represented five African-American women who had been shot by Klan members as they walked home from work. The women were awarded $535,000 in damages and the court issued an injunction against further Klan violence.

As a law professor at Pace University, Scott-McLaughlin teaches civil procedure, labor law, civil rights law and civil rights litigation. He was honored as Outstanding Professor of the Year in 1992.

Members of the Yale and New Haven communities are welcome to attend. For more information, call Gordon Geballe at (203) 432-5122 or C. Murphy-Dunning at (203) 432-6570.

David Gergen to present Castle Lectures series

David Gergen, public service professor of public leadership at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, will deliver this year's Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics and Economics.

Titled "The Leader's Journey: Some Thoughts for the Next Generation," the series will reflect on leadership in today's world of increased global integration and conflict. The first lecture will be presented on Thursday, March 28, with the second and third lectures to follow on April 4 and 11. All lectures will be held 4-5:30 p.m. in Rm. 119 of William L. Harkness Hall, located at the corner of Wall and College streets, with a reception to follow in Rm. 115. The series is free and open to the public.

Gergen has served as an adviser to four U.S. presidents. He was director of communications for President Reagan and held positions in the administrations of Presidents Nixon and Ford. He also served for 18 months in the Clinton administration, first as counselor to the president and then as special adviser to the president and the secretary of state.

Gergen currently serves as editor-at-large at U.S. News and World Report and is a regular analyst on "ABC Nightline." He was the moderator of "World@Large," a 10-part PBS discussion program. He also authored the best-selling "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership: Nixon to Clinton."

A 1963 graduate of Yale, Gergen was elected alumni fellow in 1996 and currently sits on the Yale Corporation. He also serves as chair of the National Selection Committee for the Ford Foundation's program on innovations in American government.

The Castle Lectures are sponsored by the Program on Politics, Ethics and Economics. The series was endowed by John K. Castle to honor is ancestor, the Reverend James Pierpont, one of the University's original founders. The lectures are intended to promote an awareness of and sensitivity to ethical issues facing individuals in our modern society. The Castle Lectures are co-sponsored by Yale University Press, which publishes the series as a book.

For information, call (203) 436-3699 or send e-mail to nancy.brune@ yale.edu.

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

Soros Fellowships for New Americans

American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards

Poll reveals how 'deliberative' discussion can shift public opinion

Men's basketball team concludes record-setting season

Nobel Prize-winning economist James Tobin dies at 84

In Focus: Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology

Silviculturalist Oliver named to Pinchot chair

Berkeley and Yale Divinity Schools renew their affiliation

Erikson and Timmons awarded DeVane Medals

Alumnus describes how engineers 'cook up' new products

Haller and Henrich reappointed as college masters

Levin visits with alumni across the nation and beyond

Exhibit documents volunteers' role in Spanish Civil War

Event explores role of faith, gender in fighting AIDS in Africa

Team develops rules for identifying unseen problems in elderly

Researcher's index assesses mortality risk for elderly patients

Drama School actors gang up for 'Serious Money'

Students' new adaptation of 'The Trial' takes to the stage

Work of architect on view in 'Zaha Hadid Laboratory'

Conference will examine the changing notions of beauty

Panel looks at ethical issues nurses face

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes