Professor of Classics Hanna Roisman's [see related story] book The Odyssey Re-formed was featured in a New Republic roundup of recent scholarship on the mythic Greek hero. Essayist Peter Green says the problems the book (written with Frederick Ahl) raises about Odysseus "compel our serious attention." In a Newsday article, "Where Homer Met Hollywood," Roisman is quoted comparing Star Wars character Luke Skywalker to Achilles and Yoda to Chiron. "Achilles is trained by the centaur, Chiron, who is part horse, part man," she said. "In both cases we have the main training and education of a hero done by someone who is out of the human sphere."
Bedrock Principles
And speaking of Homer--Simpson, that is--Richard "Pete" Moss (history)
was quoted about the long-running cartoon series in an Albany Times
Union [article reprint] story that compared The Simpsons to The Flintstones.
Moss said the show's most significant running theme is its parody of
consumption as the route to happiness. "Both Bart and Homer are rendered almost
muscleless by the prospect of food or drink or candy or a new car, and when
they get what they want it almost always ends badly," Moss told reporter Rob
Owen.
Feeding Information
The Boston Globe and The Halifax (N.S.) Daily News
[article reprint] spent time at the bird feeder this winter with Associate Professor of
Biology Herb Wilson. Wilson is the author of a study of the impact of feeders
on birds. "[T]here's been an explosion of backyard bird feeding," Wilson told
the Globe's Paul Bush. "It struck me that for many birds in the East,
it's unlikely they'd ever go through their lives without experiencing a bird
feeder." The Halifax paper noted that Wilson's research has found that birds
will extend their range if feeders are available. But both papers assured their
readers that they shouldn't worry too much about keeping an abundance of food
on hand, even in harsh conditions--the birds don't depend on it. "Birds are too
smart to rely on a single food source," Wilson said in the Daily News.
Figure It Out
Don't try to tell Associate Professor of Economics David Findlay that
the balanced budget amendment floating around Washington these days makes
sense. In an "Eye on Washington" column for the Maine Sunday Telegram [article reprint],
Findlay wrote: "[I]f a balanced budget amendment were in place, policy makers
would have to initiate some combination of spending cuts and tax increases to
make up for the budget shortfall. In short, a balanced budget amendment would
make recessions deeper and, more generally, act to destabilize the economy. It
is for this simple reason that economists oppose any rule that requires a
balanced budget."