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“I was nearly overwhelmed by nature’s activities and the lack of knowledge in the field. I started thinking we could start observing, not just for a few months or during a flood, but monitor long-term changes and the impact of man.” Atsuaki Nakato, research scientist with the Institute of Hydraulic Research, recounting his inspiration for the planned Mississippi Riverside Environmental Research Station to be built near Fairport (Des Moines Register, Aug. 20).

“There’s never a cushion that’s big enough. We’re always looking for donors, and we always need new blood.” Mitch Overton, donor recruitment coordinator at the DeGowin Blood Center, urging donations in light of a nationwide shortage of blood (Iowa City Press-Citizen, Aug. 23).

“When I got out of school and started working, geriatrics was not always thought of as the most esteemed place to work. That’s because society did not value the elderly.” Paula Forest, assistant professor of nursing, putting a new attitude toward older people into practice with the opening of the College of Nursing’s new Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing (Des Moines Register, Aug. 24).

“We fill our lives with busy work and buying things to desperately avoid coming to grips with the burning questions of life.” Benjamin Hunicutt, professor of health, leisure, and sport studies, decrying our culture’s obsession with work (The Chicago Tribune, Aug. 26).

“First night in Iowa City? It’s going to get better.” John Cochran, Burge dining hall worker, serving up solace along with grilled cheese to new and homesick students (Iowa City Press-Citizen, Aug. 27).

“The experience of art in a traditional art museum may be pleasurable, but it has the intellectual value of looking at a room full of diamonds. They are dazzling and beautiful, but unless you are thinking about the process involved in their formation and why they sparkle like that, the experience is intellectually empty.” Howard Collinson, Museum of Art director, reaching for a new and more engaging style for the museum (Des Moines Register, Aug. 29).