how to disable cursor help text in gnome?

[rlharris@broadcaster.org (Russell L. Harris)]

On the Gnome desktop, whenever the cursor pauses for more than a second
ever a menu item or pushbutton, a small window containing descriptive or
help text opens near the cursor.  For example, when the cursor is
pointing at the "Desktop" menu item in the upper panel of the screen,
the text which appears is: "Change desktop appearance and behaviour, get
help, or log out."

Is it possible to turn off this "neat-but-flawed" feature?  

I constantly am leaving the cursor at the bottom of the screen after
switching windows, and then the text window opens on top of the XEmacs
minibuffer, so that I must reach again for the rodent and move it
somewhere upscreen -- which is maddening.

I say that the feature is flawed, because once the text window appears,
it remains on the screen indefinitely, until the rodent is moved.  If
the text window remained on the screen only a second at most, then it
would be tolerable.  Better yet, let the text window be activated at the
command of the user, by a press of a button on the rodent.

RLH