On the record

"We live in a more cluttered world. We get more mail, we get more magazines, we have the opportunity to buy more things. One hundred years ago, you couldn't have bought 200 pairs of shoes if you wanted to. Now you can get that many in an afternoon."

--Psychologist Jerrold M. Pollak, PhD, in an article about the characteristics of collecting, clutter and hoarding. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 22.

"It's the unofficial expectations that get everybody in trouble. As modern as we think we are, as liberated and enlightened and empowered and all that kind of stuff, when someone gets married, all these old traditions begin lurking beneath the surface. There's this kind of an Ozzie-and-Harriet mentality that the man's going to be the provider. Even if they agree that doesn't have to be the case, there's this gosh-darn undercurrent that keeps swirling around."

--Psychotherapist Michael Freeny in an article about couples' perception of salary differences when the female earns more than the male. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 20.

"Psychology is about making the human connection, understanding and contributing to enriching human nature. And it is about living with our enduring memory of Sept. 11, imprinted by television. The once-vibrant lives of thousands of innocent victims of terrorism are now images held tenderly in millions of memories. Psychology is about thinking, feeling and acting--sometimes to create a bit of hell, and sometimes a bit of heaven on earth."

--APA President Philip G. Zimbardo, PhD, in a column about ways psychology is involved in the acts of and responses to terrorism. San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 30.

"If your task was to make the American child as unhealthy as possible, could you do much better than fast food and soft drinks in the cafeterias?"

--Psychologist Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, discussing recent decisions by principals to open cafeterias to fast-food franchises in an article about the growing problem of childhood obesity in America. Time magazine, Jan. 21.

"It marks progress in our society. People obviously have had enough of politicians making trouble that ordinary people would answer for--and getting away with it."

--Psychologist Mirjana Krizmanic, who studies the reaction of the public to political issues, in an article about the uprising of the Croatian general public against the country's politicians successfully evading responsibility for crimes. Minneapolis-St. Paul StarTribune, Jan. 12.

--K. HEWLETT