“Students took lessons that they learned in the classes taught here at UT … and applied them to the real-world situation of the conditions of their own education and asked the University to commit to real monitoring agencies under the Worker Rights Consortium. Instead of being praised for their convictions, the administration has sought to vilify them for ‘trespassing.’”
— UT assistant professor Snehal Shingavi, in his open letter to UT administrators, on the arrest of 19 protesters Wednesday in the lobby of the Main Building, according to his blog.

“As one of the college’s most accomplished sons, Walter Cronkite epitomized the traditional values of journalism — accuracy, courage, independence and integrity — that we seek to imbue in our students.”
— College of Communication Dean Roderick Hart on the dedication of the Walter Cronkite Plaza on Thursday, according to a press release. Cronkite, who was a UT student in the 1930s, died in 2009.

“If lawmakers choose to go the other direction and preserve the waste, fraud and abuse that exists in today’s Texas budget while raising taxes and fees to close the gaps, then we shouldn’t be surprised when we become the next big satirical target.”
— Talmadge Heflin, director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, on Gov. Rick Perry’s new proposal for a more conservative budget, according to his column in The Houston Chronicle.

“Does Red McCombs have the right to throw his money into Blackwater, make a profit and then put his money into the University? Of course he does. At least, President Powers seems to think so.”
— Thomas Palaima, classics and Middle Eastern studies professor, on the appointment of billionaire and major UT donor Red McCombs as director of Academi, according to The Daily Texan. Academi was previously known as Blackwater USA, a controversial private security contractor.

“The Republican primary is over. Mitt Romney will be our nominee, and I will strongly support him in every way that I can. But I think endorsements, frankly, are kinda overrated, so I don’t think its going to affect the outcome of the election.”
— Sen. John Cornyn on his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, according to The Houston Chronicle.

“It’s our job to make sure agencies are doing their jobs effectively with what they’ve been tasked to do. … Don’t expect that we’re going to put a poison pill in the sunset bill to end the lottery.”
— State Rep. Dennis Bonnen on whether the Sunset Advisory Committee, of which he is the chair, will eliminate the lottery system, according to The Dallas Morning News.