Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 24, 2004|Volume 33, Number 4

In the News
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"Is there constitutional substance to the 'war on terror'? ... The classic war is between sovereign states. The conflicts with Afghanistan and Iraq were wars; the struggle against al-Qaeda is not. And in contrast to classical wars, the war on terrorism will never end. So if we choose to call this a war, we will never return to a legal world in which individual rights are respected as a matter of course."

-- Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, in his article, "States of Emergency," The American Prospect, Sept. 2004.

"There is zero evidence showing that wisdom is a bad thing."

-- Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the School of Management, about some companies' mandatory retirement policies for board members, "Who's the Boss? Shareholder Activists Want More Say in How American Companies Are Run," CFO.com, Sept. 1, 2004.

"Most of our foods are in the carbohydrate class. If you cut carbs, you have to cut those foods, restrict choice, cut calories, and guess what? When you cut calories, you'll lose weight."

-- Dr. David Katz, associate clinical professor of epidemiology and public health and of medicine, on the real reason why people lost weight on low-carb diets, "How Can You Lose? The Stella Family and Low-Carb Diets," CBS News, "48 Hours Investigates," Sept. 3, 2004.

"It's possible to overcome the stereotypes [about aging], but they often operate without people's awareness. Look at all the talk about plastic surgery, Botox -- the message is, 'Don't get old.'"

-- Becca Levy, assistant professor of epidemiology and public health and of psychology, "As Boomers Become Seniors, Ageism Becomes Hot Topic," The Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2004.

"The sitters in a few famous portraits -- for example, Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' and Hals's 'Laughing Cavalier' (laughing? I don't think so) -- have been miscast in our time as enigmatic smilers, mysterious smilers and urbane smilers, the faintness of whose smiles is held to conceal something deep or, in Mona Lisa's case, possibly even lurid. In Old Master painting, these are exceptions. Most artists tackled open-mouthed smiling rarely, and with mixed success."

-- Angus Trumble, curator of paintings and sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art and author of "A Brief History of the Smile," in his article, "Mouths Wide Open," New Statesman, Sept. 6, 2004.

"The founders' [electoral college] system also encouraged the continued disfranchisement of women. In a direct national election system, any state that gave women the vote would automatically have doubled its national clout. Under the electoral college, however, a state had no such incentive to increase the franchise; as with slaves, what mattered was how many women lived in a state, not how many were empowered. Even today, a state with low voter turnout gets precisely the same number of electoral votes as if it had a high turnout. By contrast, a well-designed direct election system could spur states to get out the vote."

-- Akhil Reed Amar, the Southmayd Professor of Law, in his article, "The Electoral College Votes Against Equality," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 8, 2004.

"People are often surprised to find out that certain parts of the brain are shown to be active -- they 'light up' -- in a brain scanner when subjects think about religion, sex or race. This surprise reveals the tacit assumption that the brain is involved in some aspects of mental life but not others. Even experts, when describing such results, slip into dualistic language: 'I think about sex and this activates such-as-so part of my brain' -- as if there are two separate things going on, first the thought and then the brain activity."

-- Paul Bloom, professor of psychology and of linguistics, in his article, "The Duel Between Body and Soul," The New York Times, Sept. 10, 2004.

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

Grant to support research on role of viruses in cancer

Series honors graduation of Yale's first Chinese student 150 years ago

Program marks 35th anniversary of Afro-American Cultural Center

Study: Recreational gambling can be good for seniors' health

Yale launches $1 million United Way drive

Symposium to explore past and future of suburbanization

Event honors late historian of American South

New bioscience company at Science Park offering . . .

Exhibit showcases work of long-ignored landscape artist

Mayhew lauded for his studies of party politics

Congress' only Holocaust survivor to discuss . . .

Noted playwright to speak about his life, Jewish religion

Prize-winning poet Adrienne Rich will read from her work

Older marathon runners are making greater strides . . .

Cultivating a culture of trust was topic of inaugural conference

Dwight Hall interns devote the summer to causes in New Haven

Reimbursements now available through direct deposit

IN MEMORIAM