Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 14, 2005|Volume 34, Number 7

In the News
X

"Applying to eight of the most highly selective colleges in the United States does not increase your chances of being admitted to any one of them. The best strategy is to apply to a few schools that are perhaps a 'reach' for you given your academic proÞle (but that you'd love to attend if you were admitted!), several that seem 'possible' based on your overall credentials and the school's published class proÞle, and one or two to which you are sure to be admitted. It's important not to treat this last category lightly. You should never apply to any school you would not like to attend. You could be there next year."

-- Margit Dahl, acting dean of undergraduate admissions, offering advice to high school students who are applying to college, "What Makes a Yalie?" Newsweek Education, Sept. 14, 2005.

"Individuals absolutely cannot get it right. Most of us feed our winners and kill our losers. But with investments, if something is going well, we need to think about paring back. If it's going poorly, we need to think about nurturing it. The evidence that people chase winners is overwhelming. It's not all their fault. Mutual funds advertise funds that have done well -- just before they start to lag."

-- David Swensen, chief investment ofÞcer, adjunct professor at the School of Management and lecturer in economics, "Money Master; He Has Made Billions for Yale and Says Mutual Funds Are a Raw Deal for Most Folks," Time Magazine, Oct. 2, 2005.

"You walk in the door, and there's not a stick of furniture -- certainly not furniture large enough to justify the spaces."

-- Robert A.M. Stern, the J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture and dean of the School of Architecture, about the fact that many supersized houses are actually empty nests, "Are McMansions Going Out of Style?" The New York Times, Oct. 2, 2005.

"(William O.) Douglas and (William Howard) Taft both taught here. So did (Abe) Fortas. These were people with a particular connection to [Yale]. ... When Clarence Thomas was at Yale, he obviously didn't pick up any liberal views there."

-- Robert Gordon, the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and Legal History and professor of history, "High Court's Roots in the Elm City Run Deep," New Haven Register, Oct. 2, 2005.

"Asset prices -- stocks, commercial real estate, and even oil -- are, historically, at high levels around the world. ... One oft-heard justiÞcation for high asset prices is that real (inþation-adjusted) long-term interest rates are very low. But investors should be wary of this argument. It may sound plausible, but it is hardly conclusive, and, more importantly, it certainly does not tell us that high prices are sustainable."

-- Robert Shiller, the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics, in his article "Interest Rates and Asset Prices Are Not Related," Taipei Times (Taiwan), Oct. 3, 2005.

"[Supreme Court nominee Harriet] Miers is a 'stealth' candidate, who has not written or spoken much about the key issues that Þll the Supreme Court's current docket. Presidents will turn to such candidates when they have to please many different constituencies in their party and when they face the prospect of a signiÞcant conÞrmation Þght if they choose an ideological stalwart."

-- Jack Balkin, the Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment, "Democrats, Rejoice: Right Says Wrong on Harriet Miers; Conservative Disappointment at Bush's Supreme Court Pick," Village Voice (NY), Oct. 3, 2005.

"Even if faced with horrible maltreatment, those [children] who were more resilient experienced at some point a supportive environment."

-- Dr. John Krystal, the Robert L. McNeil Jr. Professor of Psychiatry, on how children cope with disaster, "Shattered Lives; Victims of Katrina Lost Everything, Especially Their Sense of Security and Well-Being. Can They Bounce Back?" U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 3, 2005.

"However, kids with autism can be very good at sports like swimming, tae kwon do, even things like tennis."

-- Dr. Fred Volkmar, the Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry and professor of pediatrics and psychology, noting that autistic children do not have the social skills or mode of thinking required in team sports, "Campers Catch a Wave," USA Today, Oct. 4, 2005.

"If you can get organic produce, that's best. If you can wash any produce you bring home, that's good. But if you're not going to eat salad unless it's just from the bag into the bowl, you are still better off eating salad."

-- Dr. David Katz, associate clinical professor of epidemiology and public health, about recent warnings that some prepackaged salads are infected with E. coli, "Packaged Salads: Is There Danger?" Good Morning America, Oct. 4, 2005.

"The Koran is often difÞcult to read for Westerners because it is in a non-linear structure. It's a non-chronological, non-historical book. ... The Koran jumps from the children of Israel to the story of Adam and Eve to Jesus to Moses -- not because it's a random text, but because it uses all these stories to reinforce the moral message that surrounds those stories."

-- Sohaib Sultan, associate in the chaplain's ofÞce, "Spreading the Koran; Group Offers Free Copies to Non-Muslims to Counter Negative Publicity," Hartford Courant, Oct. 5, 2005.

"Today the electronic information that deÞnes and explains our lives is spread out over millions of scattered, disconnected, rolling-everywhere beads. Computers [of the future] will thread them all together onto a single necklace, one per human being. Each will be wildly heterogeneous -- our lives encompass all sorts of information -- but it will be one continuous strand. It will start from nothing and keep growing until we die. Institutions, too, have life stories, which will also be captured in these constantly-lengthening strands of cyber-coral and pearl, which will replace today's awkward Internet."

-- David Gelernter, professor of computer science, in his article "Rage Against the Machine," The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 6, 2005.

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

University will work to curb greenhouse gas emissions

From bones to bronze: Building Torosaurus

Yale participating in human genome initiative

Former World Fellows will return to campus for forum

Literary theorist wins Israel's EMET Prize for contributions

'Aesthetics & Politics' in Pakistan to be explored

Experts to address global warming at conference

Treasures from Yale's Collections

Panel to focus on debate over career vs. motherhood

Event honors Jacques Derrida, originator of 'deconstruction'

Chemistry department symposium to celebrate opening of building

Events pay tribute to former University printer Greer Allen

Yale Books in Brief

Edward Kaplan has been designated as an INFORMS fellow