The New York Times: "It's flat wrong"-H. Allen Orr, professor of biology, dismissing the latest attempt to supplant Darwinian evolution as the widely accepted mechanism behind the variety and complexity of life on Earth.

Proponents of the "intelligent design theory" argue that some sort of guiding force-divine or not-has shaped the outcome of every living thing from worms to humans. "The fact that that system is irreducibly complex doesn't mean you can't get there by Darwinian evolution," Orr told the Times.

The London Independent: "We're not sure of all the environmental consequences, but with both the impact and with the volcanic activity, we do know that Earth was not a happy place"-Robert Poreda, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, discussing a study he co-authored that suggests an asteroid or comet estimated at four to eight miles wide slammed into Earth 250 million years ago.

The seismic and volcanic aftermath could have triggered the massive extinction of species believed to have occurred at roughly the same time, the authors concluded.

"The poor little critters didn't have a chance," Poreda was quoted in The New York Times in a story on the same study. "The synergistic effects would have been devastating to life."

Most scientists believe that a similar blast wiped out dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

USA Today: "Medical research encompasses everything from trying to investigate whether listening to classical music can decrease nausea associated with chemotherapy all the way up to gene therapy itself"-Cynthia McGuire Dunn '81, '85M (MD), director of the Clinical Research Institute at the Medical Center, explaining some of the issues involved in medical studies.

Time: "I think children are more anxious. Clinicians, pediatricians, psychologists-we're all seeing more of it"-Thomas McInerny, professor of pediatrics, commenting on a study published last winter by the American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that indicates children ages 9 to 17 show a higher level of anxiety compared to children 50 years ago.

Science News: "I suspect that there are quite a few gene variants that confer a susceptibility to autism"-Patricia Rodier, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, discussing her recent work on the possible genetic sources of the childhood developmental disorder. Rodier's study indicates that a variant of a gene known to contribute to brain development may be the culprit.

Chronicle of Higher Education: "The lecture model is like a gas station. You fill students up and send them on their way. That's not how to learn organic chemistry"-Jack Kampmeier, professor of chemistry, describing how a student-to-student teaching program pioneered at Rochester and a consortium of other national universities benefits students.

Since launching the peer-led workshop program through a grant from the National Science Foundation in the mid-1990s, Kampmeier has seen the percentage of students in his organic chemistry class who received a C- or better rise from 67 percent to about 79 percent. At times, the figure is as high as 82 percent.

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