X
"The story used to be a rising tide raises all boats, and now it just raises all yachts. The benefits of a good economy are much more narrowly focused now on
the top 20%."
-- Edward Tufte, professor emeritus of political
science, computer science and statistics, and
senior critic in graphic design,
"Optimistic Statistics Fail To Impress Many
in U.S.," The Age (Australia), Oct. 31, 2006.
§
"[Countries] with large agricultural sectors containing significant surpluses of labor ... cannot afford to skip past a development phase of unskilled labor-intensive industries and low-tech services [straight to high-tech industries] if they are not to experience diminished growth and a level of income distribution with dire poverty consequences."
-- Gustav Ranis, the Frank Altschul Professor Emeritus of International Economics, in his letter to the editor, "Walk Before You Can Run," The Economist, Oct. 22, 2006.
§
"Long after many of [Sigmund Freud's] specific theories have been rejected, his larger, groundbreaking ideas remain enormously influential. For example, most people today take it for granted that people have unconscious wishes and fears they often express or act on without realizing that they're doing so. This was Freud's idea -- he was the first to systematise the idea of the unconscious in psychology. Or the tremendous importance of sexuality in the way many people understand who they really are -- again, this was Freud's idea."
-- Jed Rubenfeld, the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law, on why he used Freud as a character in his mystery thriller "An Interpretation of Murder," "The Freudian Blip Explained; Law Professor Takes On Psychologist's Contempt for America in Debut Fictional Work," TODAY (Singapore), Oct. 19, 2006.
§
"[Preservatives called parabins, used in small amounts in makeup and lotions] are estrogenic, meaning they will bind to estrogen receptors [on cells], and in test tube studies, they actually stimulate breast cancer cells. ... [Industry experts] say they're just in too small amounts to cause any problems. But over a lifetime, with daily use of these creams, we don't actually know what the cumulative dose really is."
-- Dr. Lisa Donofrio, associate clinical professor of dermatology, "Coming Clean on Personal Care Products," Forbes.com, Sept. 22, 2006.
§
''The [publication of a study in the] New England Journal of Medicine is a de facto Good Housekeeping seal of approval.''
-- Dr. Howard Forman, professor of diagnostic radiology, of epidemiology and public health and professor at the School of Management, "Study Sees Gain on Lung Cancer," The New York Times, Oct. 26, 2006.
§
"Parents need to be more authoritative and clearly let children know that a balanced meal includes a fruit and vegetable serving. The key is to put the foods you want them to eat right in front of them, rather than waiting for them to request the food, or even asking if they would like it."
-- Marlene Schwartz, research scientist in psychology and lecturer in psychology, "Strategies To Fight Youthful Obesity," USA Today, Oct. 22, 2006.
§
"As a small child, I had a preoccupation with death, so it was inevitable that as a professional historian I would study the subject. ... Death is the ultimate inconvenience, something no one escapes. Yet we're hard-wired as human beings not to be able to look at it for very long. We know it's there. Some, like morticians and doctors, have a switch they use to turn it off when they go home."
-- Carlos Eire, the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of Religious Studies and History, "Yale Professor/Cuban Exile To Kick Off S.L. Book Festival," Deseret Morning News, Oct. 22, 2006.
§
"In this case, the boss's problem is that The Boss is the problem. After firing his general managers 20 times, [New York Yankees owner George] Steinbrenner should realize that he has been misfiring. He should be the target, not the shooter."
-- Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management, on the poor postseason performance of the Yankees, baseball's highest-paid team, "Question of the Week," BusinessWeek, Oct. 23, 2006.
§
"The partisanship of recent Congresses is not the fault of one party or the other. (Remember when the Democrats controlled the House?) Rather, it is a natural consequence of tight electoral competition. Past Congresses devised institutional reforms designed to make it easier to do the right thing on issues such as base closing, Social Security reform and deficit reduction. The 110th Congress has a similar opportunity to demonstrate that it is committed to doing the right thing as well -- not through vacuous and unrealistic pronouncements about ending the partisanship, but by enacting real reforms that advance the collective interests of the Congress, the nation and our children's future."
-- E. Scott Adler, visiting associate professor of political science, and John Wilkerson in their article, "The Biggest Problem Facing Congress? Ex-Members Say: Itself," Roll Call, Oct. 26, 2006.
§
"Most Christians believe that while the Bible was inspired by God, it is not free-floating, megaphone pronouncements out of nowhere by God. It was given through the medium of a culturally situated people, with the limitations of their knowledge at the time. And it's our task to ask, 'What does this mean to me today?'"
-- Miroslav Volf, the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology, "Atheist Evangelist; In His Bully Pulpit, Sam Harris Devoutly Believes that Religion Is the Root of All Evil," The Washington Post, Oct. 26, 2006.
§
"On Nov. 4, [1956] Soviet tanks crushed the uprising. Thousands of ordinary Hungarians were killed and some 200,000 ultimately fled the country. Although the Soviets were brutal -- they were not above shooting women standing in bread lines or nurses treating the wounded on the street -- the Hungarians fought back with nothing more than homemade weapons, including, incongruously, liquid soap. (It was discovered that the otherwise ferocious tanks would lose traction on slippery hillsides.)"
-- Leslie Powell, director of outreach and external affairs for the World Fellows Program, writing about the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution in his article, "Hungary's Failed Revolution Made It All Clear," Moscow Times, Oct. 23, 2006.
§
"In my own research using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics -- a survey that has traced a large sample of Americans over time -- I've found that family incomes have become much more unstable since the 1970s; the gap between our income in a good year and our income in a bad year has expanded. Increasingly, it seems, Americans are living on a financial roller coaster. ... And, of course, it's on those downward trips that people lose their houses, their jobs, their retirement savings and other staples of middle-class life."
-- Jacob S. Hacker, professor of political science, in his article, "It's Not the Economy, Stupid," The Washington Post, Oct. 29, 2006.
§
"A decade after Denmark, Norway and Sweden passed their respective [same-sex] partnership laws, heterosexual marriage rates had risen 10.7% in Denmark, 12.7% in Norway and a whopping 28.8% in Sweden. In Denmark over the last few years, marriage rates are the highest they've been since the early 1970s. ... An optimistic reading of the facts might even suggest that the energy and enthusiasm that same-sex couples bring to the institution of marriage may cause unmarried heterosexual couples to take a fresh look at marriage as an option."
-- William N. Eskridge Jr., the John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence, and Darren R. Spedale, in their article, "Gay Marriages," The Wall Street Journal (Europe), Oct. 27, 2006.
T H I S
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
College leaders come to learn from Yale's sustainability goals
Trachtenberg to step down at year's end
Sherwin: Broader research approach needed today
Doctoral students are honored for their 'inspiring teaching'
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Yochai Benkler named inaugural Field Professor
Oswald Schmitz has been named to Oastler chair
Henry Smith appointed to Johnston Professorship
School of Music announces two senior administrative appointments
Yale's World Performance Project will help launch . . .
Like father, like son: Yale tackle named NFF Scholar-Athlete
Students help in the fight against hunger via a silent auction
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEWS
Study finds link between HIV/AIDS and drug-resistant tuberculosis
Researchers implicate a protein in acute lung injury in children . . .
People often use food to cope with weight bias, study finds
Team describes structure of enzyme linked to Alzheimer's disease
In Memoriam: William A. Creasey
Book awards benefit area high school students and their school libraries
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