Brian Diefenbach
Copy Editor

“I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.” -Conan O’Brien on his final “Tonight Show” on [...]

“Oh no, I don’t think that any decision’s been made because I would know, and I don’t know.”  — University of Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis on if a decision had been made on his future at Notre Dame University.   Hey Charlie, just because you don’t know if a decision has been [...]

“Oh no, I don’t think that any decision’s been made because I would know, and I don’t know.” — University of Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis on if a decision had been made on his future at Notre Dame University. Hey Charlie, just because you don’t know if a decision has been made, [...]

Do you remember life before Facebook? Life before you could share your thoughts and pictures with the rest of the world? The social media revolution, while good for keeping up on what your favorite celebrity is having for lunch or for stalking an ex‑girlfriend, is also having a profound affect on important issues in our [...]

“Now, I don’t want a lawsuit. I don’t want compensation. I don’t want revenge. I don’t want Dave to go down (oh, grow up, people). I just want Dave to hire some qualified female writers and then treat them with respect.” — Nell Scovell in an article, written for vanityFair.com, about her experience writing for [...]

“The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.” — Dick Cheney, former vice president, saying that President Barack Obama has failed to set clear goals in Afghanistan   You can’t ask for a better back seat driver than Dick Cheney. After all, he rode shotgun on one of the roughest [...]

“This album defies hip-hop’s current atmosphere of youthful cockiness and aging complacency: instead, it’s driven by the sometimes celebratory, sometimes traumatized sense of stubborn survival and perseverance, a veteran mindset that can no longer picture success without having to defend it.” —Pitchfork Media album review of “Only Built for Cuban Linx Part 2”   Three [...]

“This definitely is a safe vaccine for people to get.” -Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, seeking to dispel fears about the H1N1 swine flu vaccine I’m not getting vaccinated for H1N1. It’s more than just a fear of needles and shots that continues to plague me at age 18, though, I’m not going [...]

“He’s a fundamentally good man who has used bad judgment and is going to pay a very, very severe penalty.” — Benjamin Brafman, Plaxico Burress’ defense attorney. First off, congratulations to Plaxico on making my fantasy prison team. This is another fantastic example for young athletes of what not to do. An amazing talent and [...]

“I will not be muzzled. I will speak up loudly against this risky plan.” —Joe Wilson, South Carolina Representative who called out “You lie!” during President Barack Obama’s speech on healthcare reform last week. Only in America. Well, America and Great Britain, where shouting and slander are common occurrences on the floors of both nations [...]

“Is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats’ proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by-dare I say it-death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans.” – Former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin said in Facebook post. Regardless that [...]

“I learned three important things in college – to use a library, to memorize quickly and visually, to drop asleep at any time given a horizontal surface and fifteen minutes.” – Agnes DeMille, Dance to the Piper, 1952 Of these three things, being able to fall asleep anywhere, any time, may be the most important. [...]

I count myself in nothing else so happy, As in a soul remembering my good friends. —William Shakespeare I’m graduating on Saturday. I have no idea where the past four years have gone, but I know that I will never forget the memories or the friends I made at Western Michigan University. I chose WMU [...]

With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie. —Woody Harrelson, after attacking a photographer  he mistook for a zombie in a New York airport. Woody, Woody, Woody. In a time of Lindsay Lohans, Paris Hiltons and Hannah Montanas, how could we ignore this? [...]

The suspicions that genetic maize damages nature and animals are so widespread that a ban is absolutely necessary. — German environmentalist association BUND chairman Hubert Weiger said, in response to Germany banning a genetically modified maize crop. Germany has followed suit and taken France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg’s position against GMOs, and hopefully more [...]

The work never ends, but college does … —Tom Petty, singer and songwriter It does and it doesn’t. I thought college ended for me at one point, but I was mistaken. As a non-traditional college student who has walked in and out of the buildings of Western Michigan University for the past seven years, I [...]

You will find me on the registered sex offender list, next to people who have raped children, molested kids. —Philip Alpert, a 19-year-old from Orlando, Fla., who was charged with a felony for “sexting:” e-mailing a naked photo of his underage girlfriend to her family and friends last year. There are few polite words that [...]

It should’ve been down years ago. —Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, after the council passed a resolution on Monday to tear down the Michigan Central Depot. In July, it looked like the city of Detroit finally had it right when it agreed to tear down  a majority of Tiger Stadium. Now, the council has [...]

It seemed like something I would enjoy doing. I figured it was something to do. —Actor Kal Penn, on becoming an associate director for the Obama administration’s Office of Public Liaison During the campaign, Kal Penn came to WMU’s campus to talk about why students should vote for Barack Obama. At the time, it looked [...]

Former “Bachelorette” Trista Sutter and husband Ryan are proud parents to a baby girl, People reported. According to the mag, Blakesley Grace was born on Friday, weighing in at 6 lbs., 2 oz and is 19 inches long. —On omg.yahoo.com So let’s see. Of the top 12 oddest celebrity baby names we have: 1. Pilot [...]

As they say during the presidential caucuses, ‘As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.’ — Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights, after the Iowa Supreme Court overturned on Friday a ban on same-sex marriage. Last Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court granted full civil rights to the citizens [...]

You can still reserve rooms on the moon through Hotels.com or book flights to Mars through Expedia.com for $99. But hurry. The offers end Wednesday. —Saeed Ahmed, CNN I was actually pretty psyched; I mean, I know I’m probably not the first Western Michigan University student to take a trip to outer space (either real [...]

It has been our own slow Katrina that has rolled through Michigan. It’s been death by 500,000 jobs. — Gov. Jennifer Granholm speaking on NPR March 31 about Michigan’s economy. We’re all aware of the dire state Michigan’s economy is in with an 11.8 percent unemployment rating, but comparing it to Hurricane Katrina is a [...]

Most often, things I have learned have been from trial and error, I knew no way to protect myself than to arm myself. —Rapper T.I. speaking about the circumstances that led up to his arrest. When will we get a chance to reexamine our incarceration system in a transformational manner? Of course there are people [...]

He doesn’t actually use Twitter, but the energy of it is all him. — Chris Romero, on being the ghostwriter for 50 Cent’s Twitter account. The rapper is one of the most-followed celebrities on the site. The tweet has hit the fan. It’s not really shocking that 50 Cent employs a ghostwriter to operate his [...]

Western Herald copy editor, Brian Diefenbach’s “Quotes & Comments” (March 9) on Michael Maroko tries to show his argument: “If it’s not going to be equal, then get out of the marriage business,” is ludicrous, as you say. To show this, you tell the reader to replace the word “marriage” with “stripping,” and you believe [...]

He’ll be remembered in Detroit as not only a great player and a great person, but as a great broadcaster, too. —Hall of Fame Tiger outfielder Al Kaline on the passing of former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer George Kell. The sports world lost a great member of its family on Tuesday. George Kell [...]

I found the front page article of March 25, about banning the R-word ignorant and ironic. The first thing I noticed was that the “offensive” R-word was described as a derogatory synonym for the less offensive “dumb,” and that apparently, while the mentally-impaired get special treatment, we’ll instead turn our offensiveness to the speech-impared.  Or [...]