Soundbites

Here is a sampling of quotations from Cornell University faculty, students and staff that have appeared recently in the national and international news media:

"It would be a nearly meaningless question to ask a 6-year-old whether he prefers one economic system to another economic system, one culture to another culture. These questions are hard enough for adults to answer."

--Lee E. Teitelbaum, dean of Cornell Law School, commenting on a federal appeals court ruling that suggests immigration officials should ask Elian Gonzalez, 6, whether he wants to return to Cuba or remain in Miami, in The New York Times, April 22.

"This is a [research and development] program masquerading as an operational military program. It's like building a tank, but you never run it except in a parking lot."

--Kurt Gottfried, professor emeritus of physics and chair of the Union of Concerned Scientists, discussing the Pentagon's planned National Missile Defense (NMD) system to knock out enemy missiles from rogue nations, quoted by the online news service Space.com, April 11. A panel of scientists and engineers convened by the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report saying the plan is "fundamentally flawed," because it could be easily thwarted.

"With college selection, as with all courtships, there is more than one Mr. Right. But once students tap their feelings, weigh the options and listen to advisers, they can make a decision and not look back. The honeymoon may last at least four years."

--Glenn C. Altschuler, dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions and the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies, advising students on how to choose a college, in a column in The New York Times' Education Life, April 9.

"The more varied the roles that girls see women in, the better it is for girls. The critical thing for me is that they don't all look just like Barbie. Until such time as we can make professional women unglamorous, or low-upkeep, where their power doesn't depend on their hairdo or their high heels, then I think we are sending mixed messages."

--Joan Jacobs Brumberg, professor of human development and a Weiss Presidential Fellow, commenting in an article about a new line of career-oriented Barbie dolls, in The New York Times, April 1.

"Extra work comes at a price, however. Workers reported increased family conflict and depression, less job satisfaction and decreased commitment to employers."

--Samuel Bacharach, the McKelvey-Grant Professor of Organizational Behavior and director of the Institute for Workplace Studies in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, in his study, "Overtime and the American Worker," cited in an article on Americans working longer hours in the March 26 Chicago Daily Herald.

"I think it is beautiful work. They've worked out a way to convert a racemic monomer using a racemic catalyst into a racemic, isotactic polymer. By controlling the relative orientation of the methyl groups, a superior substance is formed."

--Geoffrey Coates, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, commenting on research from Michigan State University into developing "green" biodegradable plastics from renewable resources, in the Feb. 28 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.