Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 20, 2007|Volume 35, Number 26

In the News
X

"Health care providers should understand that the medications they prescribe are often not taken or used as they were intended. Patients unintentionally make the majority of these errors, but the health care system itself is responsible for nearly one third."

-- Dr. Amy L. Friedman, associate professor of surgery, "Medication Errors Common in Transplant Recipients," Reuters Health E-Line, April 4, 2007.

"All of a sudden it is no longer fashionable to be a U.S. public company: It's for suckers who can't access the piles of sophisticated 'global' capital available elsewhere."

-- Jonathan Macey, the Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance and Securities Law, in his article, "What Sarbox Wrought," The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2007.

''A lot of people who promote ownership societies have kind of a glib optimism about human nature.''

-- Robert Shiller, the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics, adjunct professor at the Law School and professor at the School of Management, "Bush's Ownership Agenda Felled by Housing Slump," Morning Call (PA), March 25, 2007.

human is the only animal capable of continuing to develop years after its reproductive and nurturing days are over. We can develop mentally and spiritually, and lo and behold, we can even develop healthy tone in our muscular and skeletal systems. It turns out that we have a lot more influence on how we age than anyone ever thought. Genetics is obviously important. But as we get older, what's much more important is how we use our bodies. We older people have got to become philosophers about ourselves."

-- Dr. Sherwin Nuland, clinical professor of surgery, "Good News: Aging Is a Mind Thing," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 25, 2007.

"Before the rankings systems, [the process of applying to college] was much more regionalized. [Now] you have kids from Texas trying to get into a school in Maine. You have perfectly wonderful students, but they're all trying to get into the same handful of schools."

-- Jeffrey Brenzel, dean of undergraduate admissions, on the annual college rankings in U.S. News and World Report, "Best, Brightest -- Not Admitted; Time To Call Out the Deprogrammers for the Cult of College Rankings," Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2007.

> "Bottle trees are an important element of African-American visual culture. They will always be with us -- like okra, hominy and black-eyed peas."

-- Robert Farris Thompson, the Colonel John Trumbull Professor of the History of Art, about the tradition of hanging bottles on trees in order to catch evil spirits and prevent them from entering a home, "Northport Woman Reawakens Interest in Bottle Trees," Associated Press, April 2, 2007.

"During the past two weeks, [presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton] have introduced separate bills to create a 'Democracy Index' -- a ranking system of states' election administration practices. Just as U.S. News & World Report ranks the performance of colleges and graduate schools, the Democracy Index will rank how well states run their election systems. It will focus on the everyday issues that matter to all voters: How long did you spend in line? How many ballots got discarded? How often did voting machines break down? It should work for the same reason that college rankings have such a dramatic effect on university decision-making: No one wants to be at the bottom of the list."

-- Heather Gerken, professor of law, in her article, "New Style of Election Reform Begins To Emerge," Roll Call (NJ), March 27, 2007.

"Well, I don't want to be flip about this but, ultimately, none of us have very good chances of survival in the very long term. ... The question is how is this going to affect [Elizabeth Edwards'] life. ... There are some patients who although they're never fully cured will still have a relatively good outcome with their disease, reasonably well controlled with a high quality of life and a good long survival, which is exactly what one would hope for this very exceptional woman."

-- Dr. Sydney Spiesel, associate clinical professor of pediatrics and clinical professor of nursing, on the news that the wife of presidential candidate John Edwards has inoperable cancer, "The Treatments and Risks Facing Elizabeth Edwards," "Day to Day," National Public Radio, March 27, 2007.

"You could say that Australia is at a disadvantage because it currently burns a lot of coal but it also in many ways has abundant opportunities, more than many countries, to make [greenhouse gas emissions] reductions. The efficacy of this pretty much diverse continent for the use of alternatives is pretty high -- you get a lot of sunshine, you get a lot of wind. You'll probably have [more] opportunities to reduce from current levels of carbon emissions [than] countries with less favorable climates would have."

-- Richard C. Levin, University president, "Australia in Fortunate Position To Address Climate: Yale Head," Australian Associated Press, March 29, 2007.

"[T]here are many roles to which we are each fitted, and many that are not appropriate for us. 'You aren't eligible for this role' is just bigotry talking and ought to be disregarded. In other cases, role requirements reflect reality. The essence of adulthood is knowing the difference -- and accepting the fact that you are not meant for every part, no matter how much you wish you were. This is a matter of qualifications, not rights. I would have had fun being a Hollywood star, but I don't qualify. Chances are you don't either."

-- David Gelernter, professor of computer science, in his article, "The Role of a Rabbi," New York Sun, March 30, 2007.

"What we're seeing is a surge in immigration policy at the local level. What [U.S. cities, such as New Haven, that are issuing I.D.'s to undocumented immigrants] have in common is that mayors are basically saying, 'Look, this is a major issue for us, and if Congress can't fix it, we will.'"

-- Michael Wishnie, clinical professor of law, "Looking the Other Way on Immigrants," Washington Post, April 10, 2007.

"I look upon my participation in the birth of a child as a privileged event. But when there's a stillborn, there's a privilege that goes above that -- you're dealing with a baby that never got to breathe. People are at a loss for words when a baby dies. Poetry, the use of metaphor and rhythms and allusions, fills that void of words. ... You wonder why your doctor would write a poem for you ... Elie Wiesel said that, 'Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.' For my own career, it was the best thing I could have done ... being able to bring this type of feelings to my patients."

-- Dr. Michael R. Berman, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology, "Melting Stress Away; Painting, Poetry, Carving Duck Decoys Among Ways People Find To Unwind," Hartford Courant, April 1, 2007.

is well reported that Jesus went around preaching that the Kingdom of God is at hand and so the question becomes, what did he mean by that? He spoke of how there is going to be a big judgment soon, a very other-worldly breaking-in, a supernatural divine intervention, and John the Baptist talks the same way, even more so. ... Every 20 years there is a wave of this expectation [that the Apocalypse is imminent]. Nowadays we have the added possibility that we might just blow the place up, but there is nothing really new."

-- John Collins, the Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation, "Apocalypse Now; Many Biblical Scholars Believe Jesus Fully Intended To Bring About the End of the World," Ottawa Citizen (Canada), April 2, 2007.

"The pleasantness of [a store's fitting room] gets transferred and puts the customers in a good mood. Anything that gets them to spend more time in the fitting room -- comfort, a place to sit down, plenty of garment hooks, another chair for friends --helps drive the sale."

-- Ravi Dhar, the George Rogers Clark Professor of Management and Marketing, and director of the Center for Customer Insights at the School of Management, on the trend among retail stores to provide more luxurious fitting rooms, "Give Customers Some Space," Stores Magazine, April 2007.

"One of my attractions to photography was that I felt it was much closer to writing and literature than any other visual art."

-- Tod Papageorge, the Walker Evans Professor of Photography, "Senior Moment; Yale Photo Guru Tod Papageorge Has Taught His Share of Art Stars. Is It His Turn Now?" New York Magazine, April 9, 2007.

"[When Christians are actively faithful,] God blesses us, and we succeed in work; God delivers us so that we aren't weighted down by our failures but can achieve lasting happiness; God directs us so we can work in morally responsible and morally excellent ways; and God gives meaning to our work in that God gathers all our efforts on behalf of ourselves and our communities and works through them to create, redeem and consummate the world. Our faith will make a positive difference."

-- Miroslav Volf, the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology, "United States: Society Needs More Christianity, Not Less, Yale Theologian Tells Adventist Group," Adventist News Network, April 3, 2007.

"[T]he way we think about [stopping global warming] is old-fashioned. We're still trying to limit, regulate, control and inspect. That won't make innovation happen. We need to become much more market-friendly, put in place a few simple rules and let people come up with hundreds of solutions. We're not even 10% of the way down such a path."

-- Daniel Esty, the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, and director of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, "In Search of a Better Kyoto," Washington Post, April 9, 2007.

"The founding affirmation of checks and balances [in the U.S. Constitution] still makes sense. It's easy to start wars, but tough to end them. The best time for democratic oversight is before the fighting begins. The American people have the constitutional right to demand that the president gain the consent of Congress to start major wars. And if the president's arguments are based on false premises, Congress has the power to end a conflict it would never have authorized in the first place."

-- Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, in his article, "We Don't Want a Warrior-King," The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2007.

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

Peabody paying tribute to its famed murals

Gift will launch major new series at Yale Press

State hails Yale's hands-on archaeology project at historic house

Annual Community Service Day to be held April 28

Psychology professor Marvin Chun is appointed new master of . . .

New undergraduate organization hosts talks by female leaders

Findings shed light on behavior of fundamental particles called neutrinos

Research by chemist Mark Johnson's lab clearly reveals . . .

Event will explore the ways in which progressives support . . .

Health issues faced by China's migrants is focus of symposium

International conference will examine contemporary Taiwan and its legacy

Conference to explore future of South Africa in the next decade

Exhibit traces centuries-long quest to understand cancer

Symposium honors birthday of infectious disease expert Dr. I. George Miller

Yale researchers urge education to halt high rate of . . .

For their 'final exam,' Yale students will stage dances in New York City

Abstract works by Nancy Rubens are on display at Slifka Center

Yale's Asthma Care Team will offer free community screenings . . .

UC-Berkeley student is named the new Yale Younger Poet

In Memoriam: José Juan Arrom

Yale Police adds 10 new officers to its force

Insurance reform advocate and alumnus is honored with fellowship

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes