NGCSU Commencement, Aug. 12, 2005
Dr. Mark Spraker, commencement speaker

Digest Extra

Good evening. When I was first asked to speak at graduation, I was concerned that my words would not match the importance and solemnity of this occasion. For guidance, I thought back to my own graduations from Middle Tennessee State University and Indiana University, and I realized that I couldn’t remember the speakers at all, much less what they said. This made me feel much better about myself, because I am certain that I will be just as forgettable.

That having been said… Welcome graduates, family and friends, administration, faculty, and honored guests. Congratulations graduates on reaching this important day in your lives. Your achievement should be celebrated and honored. Well done!

Most of you have probably been to at least one previous graduation. More than likely, the speaker there mentioned the two names for this ceremony, graduation and commencement. He or she may have gone on to explain that the term graduation represents the ending of your time at this institution, while commencement refers to the beginning of your new life beyond these hallowed halls of education. While true, I believe that this misses the fundamental meaning of this particular ceremony and this day. Today is an ending and a beginning, but more than that, at least in my opinion, this day represents a challenge.

If you are not going on to some post-graduate program, after today there won’t be any professors, or degree requirements, or student manuals telling you what you have to study, what classes you have to take, or what you have to learn and remember. I see by the smiles on some of your faces that most of you think that’s a good thing. But the challenge of today is that from now on, your education is in your hands. It’s going to be your responsibility to build on the educational foundation that you that you have received from this institution. You probably find foundation to be an odd word to use. The foundation is the first thing that you lay down when you build a building, and yet, you are at the end of your college career. You have completed your college education. You’re about to be college graduates. But let’s be honest, in ten years’ time, you are not likely to remember too many of the specifics about the Battle of Yorktown or other important facts or dates which right now you might be able to talk about. What will be left, I hope, is a life-long interest in learning and the techniques to gain knowledge that you have picked up during your years here at North Georgia. As American psychologist B. F. Skinner said,

     “Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.”

In other words, a higher education isn’t about memorizing facts and figures, it’s about learning how to look things up.

No collegiate education, no matter how thorough, can prepare you for the world of 10 or 20 years from now. Think about twenty years ago, 1985. PC’s were still a novelty. Much less than 1% of the U. S. population had cell phones. The developer of Napster was five years old, and nobody had ever heard of an iPod. Imagine how much life will change in the next twenty years. From this day forward, it will be your responsibility to keep up with the changing world; to educate yourself about the ethical and political issues facing our society. Keeping up with the world isn’t easy. Some would say it’s impossible. It takes constant study, and you will have to determine what sources of information that you will trust. Whenever you hear a claim from a politician or advocate for some cause, investigate it. Demand of yourselves what your professors have previously demanded of you. Don’t believe it blindly. Read multiple sources from all sides of the issue. Study the underlying assumptions and read the fine print. As singer/songwriter Pete Seeger said,

     “Education is when you read the fine print;
     Experience is what you get when you don’t.”

As an example of the type of experience that you can have if you don’t read the fine print or carefully check out claims, I present to you David Norman, the city manager of Aliso Viejo, Ca., a suburb in Orange County, the O. C. Because of actions he took last year, he will go down in history as the man who tried to ban water. That’s right, I said water. Now, he didn’t know he was trying to ban water. He was trying to ban a chemical named Dihydrogen monoxide. We know it as H­­2O.

So, how did this happen. There is a website, still on the web today, called DHMO.org. (Dihydrogen monoxide DHMO) It lists a series of completely true statements about water, but describes them in the most sinister possible way. And remember, nowhere on the website is the chemical formula H2O or the word water printed. It always refers to water as dihydrogen monoxide. As an example of the types of things on the website about water, it says that if you inhale dihydrogen monoxide, it could be fatal. Of course, if you inhale enough water, you drown. My personal favorite is the statement that it is a major constituent of acid rain. There’s a lot of water in rain. Anyway, there are a series of these very truthful statements about water and then a call for dihydrogen monoxide to be banned. After all, it’s seeping into our water supply.

So, this website was found by a paralegal, who worked for Aliso Viejo, Ca. The paralegal took the information from the website, made a report, and provided it to the city council and the city manager. Based on that single report from that single website, the city council scheduled a vote in March, 2004 to ban dihydrogen monoxide and substances made using it. This got a little publicity, as you might imagine, and someone a week before the vote, contacted the city council and said, “But, that’s water….” To quote David Norman, he said, “It’s embarrassing.” I imagine it was. He then went on to say, “We had a paralegal who did bad research.”

Well, I have my suspicions, but I have no idea if the paralegal still works for Aliso Viejo, Ca. And it is true that the paralegal did do very bad research. In fact, if you just type dihydrogen monoxide into a Google search, you get literally hundreds of websites that say this is water, and even that hadn’t been done. But, that doesn’t excuse what Mr. Norman and the city council did. Because, based on a single report from a single source, they were prepared to make policy. They didn’t check with any experts. They didn’t even run a little search on the web. They simply scheduled a vote to ban the substance.

Don’t have this kind of experience! Meet the challenge that today represents. Look at claims skeptically. Don’t accept things at face value and read the fine print. If you don’t you may just vote to ban water someday.

 To the August, 2005 graduates of North Georgia College and State University, I say congratulations. Continue to build on the educational foundation that you have received from this institution. It is vital to your and our nation’s future. As former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said,

     “Upon the education of the people of this country
     the fate of this country depends.”

Good luck and thank you for this opportunity to speak to you.
 

This page last modified on: Friday, 09 September 2005 13:38:10 -0400 by University Relations    

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