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:

"To my knowledge, no other poet has constantly struggled against the insignificance that science has brought to us by using science itself to provide us with a sense of a possible unity pervading the cosmos."

-- James McConkey, the Goldwin Smith Professor of English Literature Emeritus, discussing the work of the late Cornell professor of English A.R. (Archie) Ammons, in the May/June issue of The American Poetry Review.

"Girls are better able to deliver in terms of what modern society requires of people -- paying attention, abiding by rules, being verbally competent and dealing with interpersonal relationships. ... [But] just because girls aren't shooting 7-Eleven clerks doesn't mean they should be ignored. Once you stop oppressing girls, it stands to reason they will thrive up to their potential."

-- James Garbarino, the Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Development in the College of Human Ecology, commenting in "The New Gender Gap: From kindergarten to grad school, boys are becoming the second sex," which looks at biological differences to explain boys' poorer performance in many areas, in Business Week magazine, May 26.