THE CASE FOR SOCIAL DISTANCE. Princeton economist Gene Grossman likes the camaraderie of the gym, with limits.

The gym can play a relatively unique role in campus social life. It is one of the few places where students, faculty and staff mix, and on entirely equal footing! Now I will admit that Stephens is not my favorite place to be asked whether the required readings are fair game for the exam (they were, after all, required) or whether the growing trade between Burkina Faso and Belarus would make a good topic for a dissertation chapter. Still, there is nothing like seeing the pained expression of a professor in the act of lifting to make a him seem more human to his students and vice versa.

He'd also like a better gym. Recruitment committees: please note.