Quotes, statements, bon mots, and noteworthy utterances from the campus and beyond
11 December 2008
"The competitiveness payoff will be with us for years to come."
Clair Brown, professor of economics and director of the Center for Work, Technology, and Society in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), arguing that using Barack Obama's economic stimulus package to increase basic research at U.S. universities would help create domestic jobs.
Business Week, Nov. 25
"It's remarkable that the campus and UC have managed to maintain their quality while being starved to death."
Professor of Law Daniel Farber, commenting on the issues raised by the Dec. 2 panel discussion on the financial challenges facing the University of California.
Daily Californian, Dec. 3
"When they left, we could behave like adults."
Shahla Piff of San Bruno, interviewed for an article about Berkeley research showing that marriages often grow stronger once children leave home. Piff and her husband's two grown sons moved out six years ago.
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 4
"Taking a course from a professor with whom you disagree is a healthy intellectual challenge."
Berkeley City Council member Laurie Capitelli, objecting to measures that would, among other things, oblige UC Berkeley's School of Law to offer students same-semester alternatives to non-elective courses taught by Professor of Law John Yoo. The measures were to be brought before the council on Dec. 8.
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 5
"The reason teasing is viewed as inherently damaging is that it is too often confused with bullying. But bullying is something different; it's aggression, pure and simple. Bullies steal, punch, kick, harass and humiliate. . . . By contrast, teasing is a mode of play, no doubt with a sharp edge, in which we provoke to negotiate life's ambiguities and conflicts. And it is essential to making us fully human."
Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology, writing that schools that try to outlaw teasing are missing the point.
New York Times, Dec. 5
"I had the rushing title in the back of my head, so I knew I had to have a big day."
Bears tailback Jahvid Best, after setting a Cal record with 311 yards rushing and four touchdowns in the Bears' 48-7 trouncing of the Washington Huskies. The previous record of 283 was set by Jerry Drew in 1954.
San Jose Mercury News, Dec. 6
"It's a matter of social equity, and it is also one of the best ways to stimulate the economy."
Robert Reich, professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy and a former U.S. labor secretary, on efforts to persuade Congress to take steps to expand eligibility for unemployment benefits; currently, only 37 percent of the unemployed qualify.
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 9