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"Competition is the best-known catalyst for efficiency, innovation and keeping things simple. ... In a monopoly regime, rule-makers cannot learn from the mistakes of others or the consequences of alternatives."
-- Shyam Sunder, the James L. Frank Professor of Accounting, Economics and Finance, and Stella Fearnley, in their article, "Competition Required
to Reduce Standards Complexities,"
Financial Times (London), May 17, 2007
§
"The federal government seems to have forgotten about West Nile virus, which terrorized New York City and the metropolitan region in 1999, resulting in more than 60 confirmed cases and seven deaths that year and more than 237,000 cases and 900 deaths nationwide since then. Indeed, the Department of Health and Human Services has cut $9.9 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's $35 million annual budget to deal with this deadly virus. Next year, an additional $7 million will be cut, leaving the entire program with only $18.1 million, a reduction of almost 50%. ... West Nile is certainly not the last such virus that will invade the United States given increased globalization, transportation, climate change and bioterrorism. Without sustained federal support for surveillance and control of mosquito-borne diseases in the United States, we will again be vulnerable to introduced threats, accidental or not, and incapable of prompt action that could curb or prevent epidemics."
-- Durland Fish, professor of epidemiology and public health, in his article, "Back to Bite Us," The New York Times, May 27, 2007.
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"We are not looking to take the measure of writing ability, genius or cleverness [when reading a student's college application essay]. We simply want to know something about personal outlook and perspective -- how a student sees things or what a student has learned from his or her experiences."
-- Jeffrey Brenzel, dean of undergraduate admissions, "No Edit," The New York Times Magazine, May 20, 2007.
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"I studied the social development of children so that it could be copied in the creation of a machine. ... I started out trying to determine what we could learn about robotics from children, but it led to trying to determine what we could learn about arrested social development from robots."
-- Brian Scassellati, associate professor of computer science, on a robot he helped create that is used in the study of autistic youngsters, "Engineering an Understanding of Autism," Star-Ledger (NJ), May 20, 2007.
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''Those of us reading not just the grand-slam cases but the quieter ones have heard [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's] voice. Now that the stakes are going up, more people will be listening.''
-- Judith Resnik, the Arthur Liman Professor of Law, "Oral Dissents Give Ginsburg a New Voice," The New York Times, May 31, 2007.
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"Academic libraries today are witnessing a drastic decrease in the number of in-depth reference questions asked at traditional reference desks -- whether in person, by phone, through e-mail messages, or via virtual reference systems. ... The trend toward instant messaging with library users via MSN, Yahoo and Google Talk -- which needn't be associated with a particular physical space at all -- seems one great hope for assuring the continued relevance of general and/or 'drop-in' academic reference. Offering such a service beyond normal business hours could help, too, not just because our students are nocturnal but because our global community of users increasingly works from distant shores."
-- Todd Gilman, librarian for literature in English at Sterling Memorial Library, in his article, "The Four Habits of Highly Effective Librarians," Chronicle of Higher Education, May 23, 2007.
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"In the past, green issues had the image of hippies coming out of the woods in Vermont. Now we have big businesses leading the charge."
-- Daniel Esty, the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, "Turning Green Requires a Lot of Imagination," Financial Times (UK), May 23, 2007.
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"[The Venice Biennale is] a wonderful occasion to see a lot of art and to see it though different vantage points. The art world no longer has a single center, or even two or three. It's truly international now.''
-- Robert Storr, professor of painting and dean of the School of Art, on this year's show, which he curated, "An Artsy Spin on the Grand Tour," The New York Times, May 27, 2007.
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"[B]oth mothers and fathers who have children with sleep problems are substantially more likely to have poor general health. Mothers, interestingly, but not fathers, seem to have a special risk of having significant mental health problems."
-- Dr. Sydney Spiesel, associate clinical professor of pediatrics and clinical professor of nursing, "Study: Kids' Lack of Sleep Hurts Parents, Too," "Day to Day," National Public Radio, May 28, 2007.
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"For composers who come from a tradition of written music, the whole concept of the unconscious [creative mind] is problematic, because in order to do almost anything, we have to be fully alert and agile. That doesn't mean we're not receptive to ideas in an intuitive way. It just may be that what we think of as intuition is actually our brain working much faster than we can track it."
-- Martin Bresnick, the Charles T. Wilson Adjunct Professor of Music, "Painting a Picture of the Creative Mind," San Francisco Chronicle, May 28, 2007.
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"The regulation of student loans should leave the Education Department and go to consumer regulators with the competence and inclination to protect those who will be responsible for paying the loans. ... The Education Department is an agency that sees itself as aiding in the education of Americans, not as a consumer watchdog. People are not brought to the Education Department to protect the consumers of educational services. ... They have historically had a greater interest in the availability of student aid and student loan repayment than in assuring that the students have gotten their money's worth in the first place."
-- Abraham Silberschatz, the Sidney J. Weinberg Professor of Computer Science and chair of the Department of Computer Science, and Mark A. Shiffrin, in their article, "Regulating the Business of Education," Boston Globe, May 30, 2007.
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"At the largest companies the executive compensation story is a real serious one. It's not just how much is being paid. It's also that most company executives have a huge amount of deferred compensation and they have the kind of guarantees that their workers increasingly don't. That they'll get these generous pension benefits when they retire. To me that's not setting a kind of moral standard for the workplace."
-- Jacob Hacker, professor of political science, "Risky Business: Jacob Hacker Talks About How Recent Risk Transfers Imperil America's Famed Middle Class," Employee Benefit Advisor (Washington, D.C.), June 1, 2007.
T H I S
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Yale to increase medical and scientific research programs
with acquisition of the Bayer HealthCare complex
Acquisition to expand Yale's economic impact
Milestones in building Yale's medical and scientific research strength
Study shows stem cells curb Parkinson's disease in primatesChina proves 'a great joy' for Yale 'friends from afar'
COMMENCEMENT 2007
With pomp, Yale celebrates its newest graduates
Baccalaureate Address
Honorary Degrees
Outstanding teachers and students are awarded prizes
Former Yale gallery director has been elected an alumni fellow
NASA administrator is appointed University's first CFO
'Lights, cameras and action!' come to campus
Delegations travel to Brazil and Mexico for alumni-hosted events
Initiative seeks to promote effective use of solar power
Air pollution is shown to harm pregnant woman
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEWS
Sleep apnea is linked to heart disease and diabetes
Research findings on FMRP protein may lead to . . .
Residents' work-hour reductions not harmful to patients, study says
New radio show offers information, support to cancer patients
Scientific symposium will honor renowned faculty member
Students' research on wood frogs is featured in Peabody exhibit
In Memoriam: Naturalist Charles L. Remington
Performances will showcase talents of young playwrights
New Yale website illustrates the history of slavery in Connecticut
Campus Notes
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