"Quote.....Endquote"

"My American MBAs couldn’t come up with good ideas for selling tofu because they couldn’t imagine anyone actually eats the stuff. What’s the answer? Spend time with consumers of a particular product." Thomas Gruca, associate professor of marketing, stressing the importance of empathy in marketing (MBA Jungle, Feb. 2001).

"This is probably like the Renaissance, when they were discovering all the different aspects of the human body. We’re discovering all the aspects of molecular biology." Richard Smith, professor of otolaryngology, reaping the benefits of human genome research to speed his research on congenital deafness (Detroit News, Feb. 11).

"I think the Microsoft/Corel union is a dangerous one in its own right." Herbert Hovenkamp, professor of law, applauding the Justice Department’s investigation of Microsoft Corp.’s $135-million investment in rival Corel Corp. (Yahoo! News, Feb. 15).

"Some jokingly refer to our program as having transformed from ruralism to pluralism." Eugene Madison, professor of mathematics, reveling in his department’s success at enrolling minority students (Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 16).

"It’s a project that has obvious humor in it, but it’s also a serious work of art. Not only is he questioning the value of art, but how we as a society deal with things that have value on multiple levels." Kathleen Edwards, Museum of Art curator, unpacking the meaning of UI graduate student John Freyer’s performance-art project consisting of selling off his personal belongings over the Internet (Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 16).

"That word is the one we always said to my mother when she made something really weird for dinner and we didn’t want to tell her. ‘Interesting’ is one of those notoriously weaselly words." John Durham Peters, associate professor of communication studies, ascribing canniness to George W. Bush’s persistent use of the word ‘interesting’ in place of more specific terms (Chicago Tribune Magazine, Feb. 18).

"Anyone who cares about privacy ought to be concerned about the advance of technology." James Tomkovicz, professor of law, expressing concern that today’s high-tech crime detection devices may lead to invasive law enforcement tactics (Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 20).

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