Thomas H. Parker, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, was quoted in a Feb. 16 Boston Globe article remarking on the recording-breaking amount of applications to the school. Amherst's 1 percent jump was keeping his staff busy, he told the newspaper. “You hire somebody new to read all these applications in the spring, and then in the fall they can’t sit there and twiddle their thumbs, so they go out and recruit like the rest of us,’’ Parker said. “Naturally that generates even more applications. It’s a crazy irony.’’