“We remember September 11th not out of a desire to relive the sadness and anger of that time but to commemorate the good we saw in its aftermath — the acts of heroism, the compassion, the expressions of worldwide solidarity.”
— UT President William Powers Jr. on his blog Tower Talk on Friday.
“We witnessed heroic rescue efforts on 9/11, and I ask all Texans to pause in a spirit of remembrance for those who gave their lives on that day. I also ask Texans to recognize the first responders putting themselves in harm’s way right now to protect the lives and property of residents during one of the most devastating wildfire seasons in our state’s history.”
— Gov. Rick Perry in a statement released Sunday.
“Lastly, terrorists want you to worry. This is their No. 1 objective. Since they cannot defeat the West militarily, they carry out horrific attacks against random civilian targets which aim is to instill fear in the hearts of each and every one of us. … [W]e should always remember that the best counterterrorism strategy is not to let them gain the upper hand in this mind game.”
— Ami Pedahzur, UT government and Middle Eastern Studies professor, on whether America is safer since 9/11, according to a Sept. 2 University press release.
“What we found was immediately after Sept. 11, the entire group of people changed in the way they were talking. They became less self-focused and exhibited more of a sense of community. They started using words like ‘we’ at very high rates.”
— UT psychology professor James Pennebaker, commenting Sunday to KXAN News on his research of language use among American bloggers in the week after 9/11.
“On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it is tempting to want to linger on the part about ‘being right,’ but it’s more important to focus on why ‘it didn’t matter’ because we are still right, and it still doesn’t matter. Understanding this is necessary to shape a realistic political program for the next decade — as bad as the past 10 years have been, the next 10 are likely to be worse, and we need to speak bluntly about these political/economic/social realities in the United States.”
— Journalism professor Robert Jensen, in an article published Sunday on Jadaliyya.com, a website produced by the Arab Studies Institute.
“[After 9/11], there was a feeling of community I had never experienced and have not experienced since.”
— Robert Hutchings, dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, at the “Conversation 9/11: A Decade After, Looking Forward” panel held on campus Friday.
“Regarding 9/11, the government has won more than it has lost over all.”
— UT law professor Bobby Chesney at the panel.
