Overheard on Campus

“They slice facts, hearsay and argument and repackage them as analysis or insight—sort of what investment banks used to do with mortgages.”

Philip Bennett, managing editor of The Washington Post, on bloggers and talk-show commentators. In a speech about the presidential race
Oct. 1, 2008, The Octagon

“I think we should be embarrassed. We’ve done a good impression of many developing countries in not regulating and supervising our financial system properly.”

Adam Honig, assistant professor of economics and an expert on financial crises in developing countries. In an interview for “Who Knows,” Amherst’s online ask-the-expert series

“Relationships can be based on necessity, but not friendships.”

Gov. David Freudenthal ’73, a Wyoming Democrat, on the close friendship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Giving the annual DeMott Lecture to first-year students
Aug. 25, 2008, Johnson Chapel

“Yes, I wore the hat. Not to mention the gray and green, itchy, unflattering, soul-smothering uniform.”

Abby Murray ’11, writing about her summer as a National Park Ranger for “Campus Buzz,” a blog about life at Amherst

“Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Talking Blues, Sex Pistols or the Dead Milkmen. Ooh—or The Cult’s Electric.”

Whitey Hagadorn, assistant professor of geology, on some favorite cassette tapes from the collection he keeps in his office. In an interview for “Office Space,” an online-only Amherst magazine feature

“I don’t think we can draw a line around our own species and say, ‘These are the beings who matter.’”

Peter Singer, a Bioethics Professor of at Princeton. Speaking with Michael Sandel, a Government Professor at Harvard, at a colloquium on the ethical use of biotechnology
Oct. 17, 2008, Cole Assembly Room
Tags:  quotes  verbatim  quotations