Here is a sampling of quotations from Cornell University faculty, students and staff that have appeared recently in the national and international news media:
"When our dopamine system is active, we are more positive, excited, and eager to go after goals and rewards, whether it's food, sex, money, education, or professional achievement. We have strong evidence that feelings of elation [that occur] because you are moving toward achieving an important goal are biochemically based, though they can be modified by experience."
-- Richard Depue, professor of human development, in an article about the effects of neurotransmitters, in the September/October issue of Psychology Today.
"I wouldn't take any of these [diet drugs, referring to Redux and fen/phen]. Most of these drugs produce about a 10 percent weight loss, which is almost the same as a placebo."
-- David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology, in the Washington Post, Sept. 16.
"The special and lasting nature of the horror remains. The anguish of thousands of thalidomide children and their parents must not be felt again. To me, the existence of a single child malformed because of thalidomide outweighs any illnesses that thalidomide might alleviate."
-- Roald Hoffmann, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, discussing approval of the drug thalidomide for leprosy patients by the Food and Drug Administration in an op-ed in the New York Times, Sept. 25.
"It's like hanging up a 'men's only' sign on the occupation. The playing field has changed. What was a big, funny joke 20 years ago is now illegal."
-- Francine Moccio, director of the Institute for Women and Work, commenting on the lawsuit by a female pilot against Continental Airlines over pornographic pictures left in cockpits, in the Boston Globe, Sept. 27.
"There are no federal laws monitoring these products. While I wouldn't trust them to filter out dangerous contaminants, they can remove tastes and odors."
-- Ann Lemley, professor and chair of the Department of Textiles and Apparel, reporting on the effectiveness of commercial water filters in the October issue of Men's Health magazine.
"The hardbody ideal is very exacting, very difficult for a lot of women. It doesn't incorporate the reality of our bodies. Many of us will never have certain kinds of physiques, no matter how hard we work at it.... The body is requiring more upkeep than ever before. It's costly, it's time-consuming."
-- Joan Jacobs Brumberg, professor of human development, discussing today's ideal body image for women in an Associated Press news story that appeared in the Washington Post, Sept. 30.
"I think as technology develops, it affords the hotel industry the opportunity to do things in a more businesslike fashion. Some hotels have taken out minibars because of the difficulty controlling and managing them. This change in technology makes that more efficient and cost-effective, and hopefully solves the problem."
-- Stephen Mutkoski, the V. Banfi Professor of Hotel Admininstration, discussing the new trend of automated minibars in hotels, in the Washington Post, Sept. 20.