Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 24, 2006|Volume 34, Number 23

In the News
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"I've received e-mails such as, 'Please, I'm in an office pool but I don't know anything about basketball -- can you help me and just send me some picks so I won't look like an idiot?' ... After all, there are 9.22 quintillion -- that's 9.22 billion billion -- possible outcomes to the [NCAA] tournament."

-- Edward Kaplan, the William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences, "Scholars Help Bettors in March Madness Pools," Times-Picayune (LA), March 13, 2006.

"In the past decade, the neo-Confederate fringe of Civil War enthusiasm (with tentative support from some academic historians) has contended that thousands of African Americans, slave and free, willingly joined the Confederate war effort as soldiers and fought for their 'homeland.' ... [Support for this belief] is driven largely by the desire of current white supremacists to re-legitimize the Confederacy while tacitly rejecting the victories of the modern civil rights movement."

-- David W. Blight, the Class of 1954 Professor of American History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, in his review of Bruce Levine's book "Confederate Emancipation," "Desperate Measures; Were Slaves Really So Loyal to Their Masters that They Went to War to Defend the Confederacy?" Washington Post, March 5, 2006.

"The Navy was able to avoid the asbestos liabilities that crushed private suppliers because sovereign immunity limits the victims' power to sue the federal government. This doctrine left the private defendants alone to bear the vast liabilities -- including those caused by the government -- forcing many of them into bankruptcy, where victims typically receive only a few cents on the dollar value of their claims. ... Alas, this is not the first time the federal government has shirked fiscal responsibility for serious injuries and deaths for which it bore some blame."

-- Peter H. Schuck, the Simeon E. Baldwin Professor of Law, and Anthony J. Sebok, in their article "The Asbestos Mess," The Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2006.

"Unfortunately, being unhappy with your body image and trying to limit what you eat is normative in our culture. Eating disorders are glamorized in the media. The problem with this is that it contributes to the perception that eating disorders are not serious illnesses, and that people get eating disorders to look like models."

-- Marlene Schwartz, research scientist in psychology and lecturer in psychology, "Eating Disorders More Widespread in U.S. Than You Might Think," NaplesNews.com (FL), March 7, 2006.

''Basically when you smell a fragrance you are smelling a collection of chemicals. The nature of the smell may be totally unrelated to the danger.''

-- John Wargo, professor of environmental risk analysis and policy, noting that air-freshening products can contain toxic chemicals, "Parents' Guide to Greener Classrooms," The New York Times, March 12, 2006.

"Initially, he wanted to work with mice and humans. That was impossible. There's a lot of regulatory issues."

-- Duc Nguyen, associate research scientist in genetics, on working with a 15-year-old New Haven student on a project on cancer for the citywide public school science fair, "Science Fair Gives Kids a Chance To Tackle Some Big Questions," New Haven Register, March 15, 2006.

"There clearly is a distinct population that never smoked and gets lung cancer. Forty years ago we put blinders on and we stopped thinking about other factors. So now we think, 'How did that person who never smoked get lung cancer?'"

-- Dr. Frank Detterbeck, professor of thoracic surgery, "Nonsmokers Still At Risk To Develop Lung Cancer," New Haven Register, March 8, 2006.

"Whether they like it or not, Latin American politicians of every persuasion know that almost no agenda attacking poverty, unemployment and inequality can be advanced without faster economic growth. ... As long as the checks and balances inherent to democracy and free markets are not suppressed, responsibility forces politicians to recognize that problems and their solutions are more complex than they had previously admitted and that good wishes are not all that's needed for a government to serve its people well."

-- Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Center for the Study of Globalization and professor in the field of international economics and international relations, in his article "Latin Blues," Forbes, March 27, 2006.

"I am looking at how to develop a campus committed to greenhouse gas reduction and how new buildings [at Yale] can contribute to that. ... There is a growing momentum in universities towards sustainable design."

-- Julie Newman, director of the Office of Sustainability, "Intelligence: Sustainability -- Leave It to Us, George," RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Journal, March 14, 2006.

"Up to 15% of all lung cancers occur in non-smokers. There are reasonable explanations for this. We are breathing in air-borne pollutants all the time, many of which can damage the cells in our lungs. It only takes one mutation of the right kind to initiate a cancer. Having lungs, breathing and air pollution place us all at some degree of risk for lung cancer."

-- Dr. David L. Katz, associate professor adjunct in public health practice, in his article "Lifestyle Does Lessen Death Risks," New Haven Register, March 13, 2006.

"If people feel licensed to eat a chocolate bar because some health benefit is accruing, they could overeat ... and that might outweigh any health benefit from the chocolate itself."

-- Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, chair of the Department of Psychology, and professor of epidemiology and public health, on CocoaVia chocolates, which reportedly contain more "heart healthy" ingredients than regular candies, "Chocolate, With Benefits?" Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2006.

"I think a lot could be done [in Hawaii's island of Oahu] on the agricultural front. Taking it from the old plantation ways to the what's next, which is a question mark. ... The traffic, I don't really have answers for. But with all the building going on ... A little mass transit wouldn't hurt here."

-- Marian Chertow, assistant professor of industrial environmental management, on a Yale team studying how the Big Island can better use its resources, "Experts Studying How Big Island Can Improve Use of Resources," Associated Press, March 13, 2006.

"Women have larger social networks, and they support us, but when something adverse happens to the individuals in the network, [its members are affected]. It's the cost of caring."

-- Carolyn Mazure, professor of psychiatry and of psychology and director of women's health research, "Hello, His and Her Healthcare," U.S. News & World Report, March 6, 2006.

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

Shauna King named vice president for finance and administration

Project will aid Ethiopia's HIV/AIDS patients

Team finds gene that can prevent kidney stones

Budding scientists

Range of global health issues will be explored . . .

Researchers identify the function of protein in nerve cell growth

Event will examine redevelopment of the waterfront in three cities

'Mabou Mines Dollhouse' is an untraditional rendition of classic play

Project to enhance collection related to colonial India

Former Yale Daily News editor to pursue journalism work in Asia . . .

Civil rights in American law to be addressed in talk

Castle Lectures will explore the costs and advantages . . .

In Memoriam: George F. Mahl

Dwight Hall hosts an online and silent auction to raise funds . . .

PIER seminar aims to link ancient and modern history of Iran

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes

Correction