Heard on the street

'I wouldn?t want to shake President Clinton?s hand, [but] I would accept him as a patient.'
?Practitioner Edward Lahniers, Cincinnati, on Clinton?s sexual behavior (Cincinnati Post, Sept. 16).

'Can you think of another person in the world who would validate your worth as a human being more than the president of the United States? How can you keep that secret?'
?Psychology professor Les Parrott, Seattle Pacific University, on Monica Lewinsky?s decision to tell her friends about her affair with Clinton, despite promises to keep it quiet (Associated Press, Sept. 16).

'Our brains may respond to computers as if they were people surrogates, but our hearts and minds do not.'
?Philip Zimbardo, Stanford University, on technology?s replacement of traditional human interactions?such as banking or buying gas (USA Today, Sept. 3).

'Secretly, I started to fear a nuclear war only for the effects it would have on the pharmacies.'
?Practitioner Lauren Slater, Boston, in her new book, 'Prozac Diary' (Random House, 1998), about the triumphs and pit-falls of taking the popular antidepressant.

Heard in the Monitor

'The managed-care company is actually controlling and directing the way treatment is being provided because if you know you will get terminated, the incentive is to abide by the policies and procedures of the managed-care company.'
?APA?s Russ Newman on a lawsuit against a managed-care company and the need to set a legal precedent, page 20.

'Improved parenting can lead to better child outcomes, but only if other needs in a family?s life are also addressed, or if parenting improves more markedly.'
?Psychologists Martha Zaslow and Carolyn Eldred in their report, which concludes that good parenting isn?t enough for some at-risk children, page 30.

'With the competition for grants and the drive to publish, it?s easy for young researchers to forget about the rest of their lives, their families, friends and communities?to become centered in themselves instead of self-centered. I try to help them become more well-rounded in all parts of their lives, so they have more strength to proceed as academics.'
?Nirbhay N. Singh, a student mentor with a Taoist approach, page 34.