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:

"Moths will never forgive Thomas Edison."

--Cole Gilbert, professor of entomology, explaining in the May issue of Outside Magazine that moths flutter around light bulbs because they mistake them for the moon, which they use for navigation.

"Scientists feel like [biotech] is the solution. There's a question of whether it'll blow up in their face, but that's the way we can reduce pesticides realistically."

--Terence Robinson, technician at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, discussing scientists' efforts to produce a disease-resistant apple, in Newsweek, April 27.

"Going abroad is effective as long as you can go the further step and make sure the people holding the documents aren't formally under your thumb."

--Kevin Clermont, professor of law, commenting on tobacco companies' tactic of placing documents in overseas companies to avoid disclosure, in The Wall Street Journal, April 23.

"It was just devastating. ...We are just a figment of other people's imaginations."

--James Turner, professor of Africana studies, describing the impact and falsity of images of African-Americans in movies, in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 26.

"There's a fair amount of alarm now among the scientific community."

--Robert Howarth, the Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology, on water pollution from reactive nitrogen, on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," April 22.

"If you are under court order to turn over documents or hang on to them and you destroy documents, that's obstruction of justice and you can go to jail for that. ... I don't think lawyers like to let the world know this, but the rule is you can advise a client to do anything that is barely legal to do."

--Charles Wolfram, professor of law, commenting on tobacco companies' efforts to destroy or suppress internal documents, in The Wall Street Journal, April 22.

"This reliance on higher prices as a way to discourage youth smoking has widespread support, yet out study indicates that higher prices don't work to deter youth smoking."

--Alan Mathios, associate professor of policy analysis and management, discussing his study with Don Kenkel on how raising taxes on cigarettes does not affect youth smoking, in a Reuters wire story, April 8.

"It was shocking to me to see the number of people who reported this who were married, working and living in families with children. ...Having health insurance is an additional buffer for those families. Universal health insurance would help the problem of hunger because families would no longer have to choose between paying medical bills or buying food."

--Katherine Alaimo, doctoral student in nutritional sciences, discussing a study she co-authored with Professor Christine Olson that found that 10 million Americans report they don't have enough to eat, in The Washington Post, April 1.