Quotes, bon mots, and noteworthy utterances from the campus and beyond
09 April 2009
"There's a rhododendron for every situation."
Elaine Sedlack, head gardener for the UC Botanical Garden's Asian section. Sedlack is also president of the Bay Area chapter of the American Rhododendron Association.
San Francisco Chronicle, April 5
"I don't know how to put this — it sounds kind of banal when I say it — but learning depends on the quality of teaching."
Professor of Education W. Norton Grubb, observing that K-12 learning improves when teachers move away from drill and repetition ('information transfer') and toward "balanced instruction" or "teaching for meaning."
Los Angeles Times, April 6
"To collaborate well is to know when not to do it."
Morten Hansen, professor in the School of Information, noting that the near-universal managerial emphasis on workplace collaboration yields success only when the time an experienced team spends seeking input from peers doesn't reduce the time it spends developing its own ideas.
Harvard Business Review, April
"The divided roles and divided allegiances of prosecutors create constant pressures to step over the line."
Professor of Law David Alan Sklansky, on the tensions inherent in the prosecutorial role, which requires them to act as dispassionate officers of the court even as they pursue criminal convictions. Sklansky was asked to comment on "prosecutorial misconduct" in the federal corruption trial of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
New York Times, April 4
"We're seeing [these scandals] over and over again…. The industrialization of our food system has a cost."
Associate Professor of Environmental and Labor Policy Dara O'Rourke, commenting on the recall of products containing pistachios processed by a California plant.
CBS News, March 31
"Fixing the U.S. banking system and saving Eastern Europe are critical for preventing the Great Recession from turning into a Great Depression. But they are issues about which the G20 can do nothing."
Professor of Economics and Political Science Barry Eichengreen, predicting limited success for last week's G20 summit in London.
Daily Telegraph (U.K.), April 1
"Government spending is as good as anybody else's."
Professor of Economics J. Bradford DeLong, noting that spending "boosts employment and reduces unemployment."
International Business Times, April 7
"Believe me, this plan will work. Happy April 1."
Professor of Public Policy Robert Reich, urging a tax credit for Wall Street executives in proportion to their personal responsibility for the financial collapse. The tax breaks "will cause them to spend more, and thereby stimulate the economy."
Marketplace, April 1