Last Saturday I attended commencement ceremonies at my alma mater, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a small science and engineering college in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is the first time I have sat through a graduation ceremony at Rose since my own graduation way back in 1982. It was a bit different this time, seeing it from the outside, so to speak. The graduating class of ‘09 was quite a bit bigger than in ’82, and as a result the ceremony quite a bit longer. The commencement speaker was a bit different as well.
I don’t remember the name of the guy who spoke at my college graduation, but I know why he was chosen. He was a Rose grad whose most famous contribution to the engineering profession was the invention of the 2 liter plastic soda bottle. And he spoke about what he knew – how he invented the process for making those bottles. Inspiring.
This year was a little different. The national reputation of Rose-Hulman has grown in the past 27 years, in large part due to ten years of being ranked #1 by US News and World Report in its category (engineering schools that don’t offer PhDs). As a result, the prominence of commencement speakers has also grown, with the governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, Jr., giving this year’s speech.
It started off as exactly the kind of commencement address one would expect, with humorous anecdotes, praise for Rose and its graduates, and calls for citizenship. But a politician with a large audience is sorely tempted, and the governor finished with a 15 minute tirade against the global warming “conspiracy”. Calling climate scientists “theologians” and their belief in global warming “a religion”, he lambasted them as graduates of “PC University” who refused to listen to honest skeptics like himself. Quoting the noted climate authority Michael Crichton (he wrote a novel on the subject, after all), he said “scientific consensus is the last refuge of scoundrels”.
Wow. I guess Governor Daniels thinks that science is too important to be left to the scientists. Fortunately, we have politicians like him to help us make sense of it all (making use, I am sure, of the well-deserved reputation of politicians for the reasoned and determined pursuit of truth regardless of the impact on personal or political gain). I feel cooler already.
Can’t type much of a comment right now. I’m packing a couple U-hauls and moving from the People’s Republic of Illinois to Indiana
Thanks to Bill Schindel for reminding me of the name of the 1982 Rose-Hulman commencement speaker: Nathaniel C. Wyeth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…(inventor)
An interesting fact that completely eluded my uncultured brain back then was the famous pedigree of Mr. Wyeth: he came from the incredibly artistic Wyeth family, including his very popular and talented brother, Andrew Wyeth.
How odd. Most of the engineering and technical people i know are dismayed by the bad science and even worse politics of the global warming crowd. The next very important thing to deal with will be climate control. That is what the wars will be over. So it might be better for you be constructive in comments on the climate. Class of ’79.