X
"In [the Founding Fathers'] minds, the person who was ambitious and wanted high office was the one person you should never trust with it. They would have been horrified to see candidates begging for votes."
-- Joanne Freeman, professor of history, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Thomas Jefferson," Time Magazine, July 5, 2004.
§
"For psychologists, dogs may be the new chimpanzees."
-- Paul Bloom, professor of psychology and linguistics, on a recent study of a border collie's ability to learn new words, "He's One Smart Puppy," Newsweek, June 21, 2004.
§
"[Sterling Memorial Library] was never a church, but was just designed to look like one. That's the altar over there at circulation."
-- Emily Horning, librarian for philosophy, religion and anthropology, speaking to visitors during a tour of the facility, "Yale Library Tour Yields Exploration of Arts, Ideas," New Haven Register, June 16, 2004.
§
"I do not contend that our jails are stuffed with people who pleaded to things that they didn't do. I think most people who are prosecuted of serious crimes are guilty of at least what they're charged with and ought to have serious sanctions attached. But the problem is that 'most' isn't the way we do business in a free society that cares about individual rights and individual liberty."
-- John H. Langbein, Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History, "The Prevalence
of Plea Bargains," The Hartford Courant, June 17, 2004.
§
"We see a tremendous amount of precancers and squamous cell carcinoma on the scalps of balding men, and a hat is by far the best sunscreen because men are not likely to put sunscreen on their heads."
-- Dr. Jeffrey S. Dover, associate clinical professor of dermatology, "Why Do Men Get Sunburned? The Problem Lies Between Their Ears," The New York Times, June 21, 2004.
§
"Much has been made of the 21st Century technology used to design today's buildings. Architects' watercolor drawings have given way to high-resolution digital images that can make an imagined building seem real. ... But we've failed to learn the hard-won lessons of the manufacturing industry, where design and assembly are integrated through technology. Our buildings are still built in much the same way as the Egyptians': hand-wrought from crude drawings that serve as a visual shorthand for builders."
-- Phillip G. Bernstein, lecturer at the School of Architecture, in his article "Can Buildings Stay Important? Has Our Quest for Monumental Architecture Gone Beyond Our Ability To Deliver Buildings That Will Actually Endure?" Chicago Tribune, June 22, 2004.
§
"At the end of the day, the dean has to keep looking at the bright side and see all the possibilities and not focus on the particular travails of the day. [Outgoing Law School Dean Anthony Kronman] may be the only dean in America that looks younger than when he first started."
-- Harold Hongju Koh, the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law and dean of the Law School, "Term Limits Force Yale Transition; Koh Ready To Take Helm of Law School
from Kronman," Connecticut Law Tribune,
June 21, 2004.
§
"They read about a tragedy and say, 'Oh, I wouldn't have done that.' But anyone can. The more you have to keep track of, the higher the likelihood you are going to forget something you wouldn't expect to forget."
-- Jeremy R. Gray, assistant professor of psychology, about parents who accidentally leave their children unattended in their cars, "Memory Aids in Car Can Save Kids," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 24, 2004.
§
"[Prolonged solitary confinement] is very serious even though it is not an overt beating. Beating may be far less painful than this kind of isolation. I've seen what isolation can do to people. It can totally destroy them psychologically. That is, of course, the purpose of torture, you want them to break down so they can no longer resist."
-- Payam Akhavan, visiting fellow in the Genocide Studies Program, "U.S. Moves To Classify Abuse Suit Documents; Action Pre-empts Judge's Expected Ruling To Unseal Papers," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
June 24, 2004.
§
"One of the main problems with ovarian cancer is that it's a silent disease, a whispering disease. It doesn't show significant signs until it's at a very advanced stage."
-- Dr. Gil Mor, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, "Path to a Cure; Yale Researchers Work To Find Cure for Women's Reproductive Cancers," Connecticut Post, June 26, 2004.
§
"Tics can stretch along a continuum from simple motor and vocal tics all the way up to a very complex, multi-muscle group involvement. You might have someone lift up their legs, slap their arm against the side of their body, and pick up their other arm to smooth their hair, over and over again. People with Tourette's tell us that the tics are sometimes preceded by premonitory urges or feelings -- like the sense of needing to clear your throat, and to keep clearing your throat. Only it's intense, and it never goes away. We use the term 'self under siege' to describe what it's like."
-- Dr. James F. Leckman, the Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, "The Science Boys," The Hartford Courant, June 30, 2004.
§
"When a woman asks me 'Do I need a hysterectomy?' my standard line is 'I don't know. Do you?' I tell people that the most important thing they need to remember is that this is major surgery."
-- Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology, about women considering hysterectomies for non-life-threatening conditions, "Proceed With Caution; As Hysterectomies Increase, Doctors, Patients Weigh Pros and Cons of Surgery," Connecticut Post, July 3, 2004.
§
"People were propping up manuscripts and putting them on the floor to get better lighting. It was disruptive to other readers."
-- Ellen Cordes, head of public services at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, on why the library no longer allows patrons to bring in cameras, "With the Wave of a Wand, a Copied Page," July 8, 2004.
§
"A story in antiquity tells how Plato dreamt that upon his death, his soul rose up like a swan. The bird was so beautiful that onlookers attempted to shoot it down but succeeded only in dislodging a feather or two. For Platonic philosophy, the moral of this allegory is the belief that subsequent generations have grasped only aspects of Plato's thought without comprehending its totality."
-- William Desmond, lecturer in the Department of Classics, in his review of Eva Brann's book "The Music of the Republic," "Platonic Ideals; A Teacher Reads Plato's Dialogues," The Weekly Standard, June 28, 2004.
§
"When people enroll in a study, they are told that this is going to benefit science. For trials results to then be shelved is a real betrayal of people who have trusted researchers with their lives."
-- Dr. Cary Gross, assistant professor of internal medicine, about the suppression of some industry-sponsored studies, "Putting Trials on the Record," Time Magazine,
July 5, 2004.
§
"If a prosecutor decides to go for the most severe possible charge and aggravating sentencing factors, the sentence is usually long. Some 95 percent of federal convictions are obtained by guilty pleas, almost all of them based on plea bargains that prosecutors dictate. The terms of those plea bargains largely decide the defendant's sentence. The information judges see at sentencing is, for the most part, the information prosecutors want them to have."
-- Kate Stith, the Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law, "Sense and Sentencing," The New York Times, June 29, 2004.
§
"If [18th-century biographer and diarist James Boswell] had simply been able to be an outright rake and been happy about it, I suspect things would have been much easier for him. ... You have to applaud his sheer enthusiasm for life. He wants to try everything and that includes getting as drunk as possible and sleeping with as many women as possible. But then he gets fed up being a rebel and is frightened. He was quite religious and was frightened that he would go to hell."
-- James Caudle, associate editor of the Boswell Editions, "James Boswell: The Reluctant Rake Who Battled the Lure of Respectability," The Scotsman, July 3, 2004.
§
"The rest of the world is just surging ahead. Latin America is barely even walking. If a second wave of [economic] reforms don't happen, Latin America is going to stagnate even more."
-- Florencio Lopez de Silanes, professor at the School of Management, "Latin America Lags Behind," Newsweek, July 5, 2004.
§
"[Benjamin Franklin is] an endlessly fascinating character. What's extraordinary is that so many first-rate historians and writers have tackled Franklin. And you'll notice that no two of his biographies are in any way alike."
-- Ellen Cohn, editor of "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin," "America's Patriot-Printer; Yale Researchers Have Been Studying Ben Franklin's Papers for 50 Years," New Haven Register, July 4, 2004.
§
"Laws designed to protect human rights are not self-enforcing. Nor can those who might benefit from skirting them be trusted to enforce them alone. The Bush administration claimed that in the war on terror it must be allowed to remain above the law. The Supreme Court has rightly brought the White House back to earth."
-- Oona A. Hathaway, associate professor of law, on the ruling striking down the contention that only the executive branch could decide whether "enemy combatants" should have access to U.S. courts, in her article "Prisoners' Rights; The Court Puts the White House in Its Place," Newsday (New York), June 29, 2004.
§
"[Service on a board of directors] begins to be difficult when you have real duties to perform, have to pay attention to unpleasant risks and financial figures, and spend more time on committees. The job becomes harder still when it is clear that you could be sued for lack of 'good faith' without knowing precisely what that means and, worse yet, held up to ridicule by politicians, unions or the media."
-- Ira Millstein, the Eugene F. Williams Jr. Visiting Professor in Competitive Enterprise and Strategy at the School of Management, "Tough Corporate Reforms Are Still
Being Dodged," Financial Times (London),
July 6, 2004.
§
"The initial reaction to the Enron and WorldCom scandals may have been an overreaction. There was a reaction that corporate America was rotten to the core. You found some big apples that were rotten (but) what we found out was that corporate America is basically on the level."
-- David De Rosa, adjunct professor at the School of Management, "Indictment of Enron's Lay Caps Two-Year Purge that Restored Confidence: Experts," Agence France Presse, July 9, 2004.
T H I S
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Gift from alumnus helps fund new home for F&ES
Team learns how bacteria evades body's defenses
Grants will advance research on important health issuesPreventing HIV infection in India's at-risk populations
Understanding the causes of autism in infants
Treating patients with MS and spinal cord injuries
Brain power
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSJohn Hartwig is Irénée duPont Professor of Chemistry
Shelly Kagan named Clark Professor of Philosophy
Jay Winter designated as the Stille Professor of History
Keith Wrightson is the Townsend Jr. Professor of History
Wimbledon winner, future Olympians to compete in Pilot Pen tournament
IN FOCUS: Yale Health Plan
Works by Cuban artists on view in 'Intersections/Intersecciones' exhibit
Bouchet Award recognizes scientist's effort to promote diversity
F&ES hosts delegation from China
Deserts, rainforests equally productive during drought, says study
EPA certificate of recognition awarded to Yale power plant
IN MEMORIAM: Edmund Slocum Crelin Jr.: newborn anatomy expert
CANCER CENTER APPOINTMENTSDr. Ira Mellman, new scientific director, will enhance partnership
Dr. Edward Chu will oversee the medical oncology section
Researchers receive grants for studies on women's health issues
New 'advocates' for theater are named to council
Genetics professor wins award to study prostate cancer . . .
Nursing professor Kathleen Knafl to chair group . . .
Art Gallery's new development director to head . . .
Yale Books in Brief
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home