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:

"We'd all be happier if everyone spent less on luxury goods. We wouldn't have to work such long hours, so we'd have more time to spend with our families. There'd be more money to spend for capital investments that would make society richer in the long run."

--Robert H. Frank, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Economics, Ethics and Public Policy, discussing "Luxury Fever," the topic of his forthcoming book, in The New York Times, Nov. 30.

"To the world of botony, it's a discovery of the same scale as understanding the details of why the dinosaurs became extinct."

--William L. Crepet, professor in Bailey Hortorium, commenting on fossil evidence of the world's oldest flower found in China by University of Florida scientists, quoted in an Associated Presss wire story carried in newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, Nov. 27.

"Downsizings often lead firms into downward spirals [because] your high performers seek out other jobs, and that eventually has an impact on the company's earnings."

--Theresa Welbourne, assistant professor of human resource studies in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, discussing layoffs in the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 22.

"This is an era when strikes don't work very well. Strikes have a chance where unions have bargaining power, and the unions that have a lot of bargaining power nowadays are those with skilled workers who are very difficult to replace."

--Richard Hurd, professor of labor relations, discussing power bargaining in The New York Times, Nov. 22.