WHAT AN UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE FOR  ME TO BE HERE TODAY, SURROUNDED BY SO MANY PEOPLE WHO GOT THEIR DEGREES THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY!

IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE BACK IN THE CITY OF MY BIRTH,  AND TO BE GIVEN THE HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY OF SPEAKING TO THE FORMIDABLE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2003.  WHENEVER I'M BACK HOME, I SEEM TO BE SHORT ON TIME.  THERE IS ALWAYS SO MUCH TO DO: VISIT FAMILY; VISIT FRIENDS; VISIT "DREAMLAND"...  ONE PLACE I WILL *NOT* BE VISITING, HOWEVER, IS THAT STRIP CLUB JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN! [This is a reference to a local scandal that had just taken place]

TUSCALOOSA IS A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE IN 2003 THAN IT WAS IN MY YOUTH.  DUE IN NO SMALL PART TO THE HEROIC EFFORTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, IT HAS BECOME A VERY DIVERSE COMMUNITY.  PEOPLE OF VIRTUALLY EVERY NATIONALITY, RACE, LIFESTYLE AND RELIGION ARE LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER IN TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA IN A WAY THAT WAS ONLY DREAMT OF WHEN I WAS A CHILD. 
        
I'M SURE THAT MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN THAT BRILLIANT E-MAIL IN WHICH THE AUTHOR IMAGINES THE WORLD'S POPULATION, WITH ALL ITS INHERENT ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY, SHRUNK TO A
SMALL VILLAGE OF ONLY 100 PEOPLE.  I REMEMBER BEING MOVED BY IT WHEN I FIRST SAW IT SEVERAL YEARS AGO, AND I THOUGHT THAT A NEWER VERSION PARAPHRASED FROM THE LATE AUTHOR DONELLA
MEADOWS, UPDATED WITH THE LATEST FIGURES, WOULD BE RELEVANT FOR MY REMARKS TODAY.



IN OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE, POPULATION 100, THERE ARE:
  
61 ASIANS
12 EUROPEANS
14 AMERICANS (from North and South America)
13 AFRICANS
1 AUSTRALIAN (Oceania)

THERE ARE:

50 WOMEN
50 MEN

90 PEOPLE ARE STRAIGHT
10 ARE GAY, LESBIAN, OR BISEXUAL

33 ARE CHRISTIAN
67 ARE NON-CHRISTIAN


41 LIVE WITHOUT BASIC SANITATION
16 LIVE WITHOUT CLEAN WATER
13 ARE HUNGRY OR MALNOURISHED


14 CAN’T READ


ONLY 7 ARE EDUCATED AT A SECONDARY LEVEL


ONLY 8 HAVE A COMPUTERONLY 4 HAVE AN INTERNET CONNECTION

1 ADULT HAS HIV/AIDS

IF YOU HAVE A ROOF OVER YOUR HEADAND A BED TO SLEEP IN
YOU ARE RICHER THAN 75% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION

IF YOU HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT YOU’RE ONE OF THE 30 WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD


THESE NUMBERS ARE SOBERING.  IT IS CLEAR AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT ALL OF  US---AMERICAN AND AMERICAN-EDUCATED ALIKE---ARE IN A VERY SMALL MINORITY.  YET THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT THAT WE ARE IN MANY WAYS THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE ON EARTH.  UNFORTUNATELY, AS THE HORRIFIC EVENTS OF THE PAST 2 YEARS HAVE TAUGHT US, WE ARE INCREASINGLY THE MOST DESPISED PEOPLE ON EARTH. 

BEFORE TOO MANY YEARS, YOU WILL BECOME THE LEADERS OF OUR SOCIETY.   HOW YOU CHOOSE TO UTILIZE THAT POWER WILL DIRECTLY DETERMINE THE NATURE OF THE WORLD THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN WILL INHABIT.

I DID A LITTLE RESEARCH, AND FOUND THAT GREAT MINDS THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE REMARKED ON THE NATURE OF POWER ITSELF.  THEY RUN THE GAMUT FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN, WHO SAID “NEARLY ALL MEN CAN STAND ADVERSITY, BUT IF YOU WANT TO TEST A MAN’S CHARACTER, GIVE HIM POWER”   TO JOHN LEHMAN, U.S. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY FROM 1981-1987, WHO SAID  “POWER CORRUPTS. ABSOLUTE POWER IS KIND OF  NEAT.”

IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT POWER CAN BE USED AS A FORCE FOR GOOD, OR AS A FORCE FOR EVIL.  IT IS ALMOST A TRUISM TO SAY THAT ALONG WITH POWER COMES RESPONSIBILITY.  BUT IT IS THE NATURE OF THAT RESPONSIBILITY THAT I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS WITH YOU TODAY. 

THE EARTH IS NOW SO INTERCONNECTED TECHNOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY THAT THE ACTIONS OF JUST A FEW PEOPLE IN A SMALL PLACE CAN HAVE AN ENORMOUS EFFECT ON AN ENTIRE POPULATION A CONTINENT AWAY. AS THIS FACT BECOMES MORE AND MORE OBVIOUS, YOUR PERSONAL 
DAY-TO-DAY DECISIONS WILL MATTER MORE AND MORE.

ALL OF YOU WILL SOON HAVE AN EXPENSIVE AMERICAN DEGREE IN YOUR POCKET.  THE SURVIVAL OF OUR WORLD REQUIRES THAT YOU USE THIS
POWERFUL ADVANTAGE FOR GOOD: TO BE PROACTIVE FOR THE PEACE , HARMONY, AND WELL-BEING NOT JUST OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU, BUT IN PARTICULAR FOR THOSE LEAST LIKE YOU.  MIND YOU, I URGE YOU TO REACH OUT  NOT SO THAT THOSE DIFFERENT FROM YOU  MAY BECOME MORE LIKE YOU:      IN FACT, REACH OUT WITH THE HOPE THAT YOU WILL BECOME MORE LIKE THEM!

USE YOUR PARTICULAR TALENTS AND SKILLS TO ENHANCE INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING ON EVERY LEVEL.  START BY ENHANCING YOURSELF:
USE THAT SUPERIOR BRAIN OF YOURS TO LEARN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.  LEARN TWO OR THREE FOREIGN LANGUAGES!  WHAT BETTER USE OF
YOUR TIME THAN TO IMPROVE THE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF THE WORLD?     --OR STUDY SOMEONE ELSE’S RELIGION.  GO TO THEIR PLACE OF WORSHIP. LOOK FOR WHAT THEIR BELIEFS MIGHT TEACH YOU ABOUT YOUR OWN.  USE YOUR OVERWHELMING GOOD LOOKS AND DEVASTATING CHARM TO CONVINCE YOUR LAWMAKERS AND FELLOW CITIZENS TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT WILL ENHANCE THE LIVES NOT ONLY OF AMERICANS, BUT OF THE WORLD AS A WHOLE. YOU MUST HELP TO INCREASE THE PEACE OF OUR SMALL PLANET!

AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, USE YOUR DEEP AND FAITHFUL HEART TO MAKE COMPASSIONATE CHOICES IN THE FACE OF EVERYTHING FROM TORTUOUS
INTERNATIONAL CATASTROPHE TO PREJUDICE AND INJUSTICE IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY.

WE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU.

TO SUM UP MY FEELINGS ABOUT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO WITH YOUR AMAZING PERSONAL GIFTS, I RETURN ONCE MORE TO AUTHOR DONELLA MEADOWS, WHO SAID:

WORK WITH PASSION.  LOVE WITHOUT NEEDING TO BE LOVED  APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE,  AND DO YOUR BEST FOR A BETTER WORLD.

 
TO CONCLUDE MY SPEECH, AND IN DEFERENCE TO MY OWN FATHER’S WISHES, I AM GOING TO BREAK WITH THE 166 YEAR-OLD TRADITION OF THIS REVERED INSTITUTION .  I ACHIEVED MY SMALL NOTORIETY FIRST AS A FLUTE PLAYER, AND IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE AT THIS POINT TO PLAY SOMETHING
VERY BRIEF FOR YOU.  THIS IS A COMPOSITION I HEARD HERE IN TUSCALOOSA WHEN I WAS A CHILD.  I AM FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT YOU WILL RECOGNIZE IT. 

THANK YOU.

 [At this point, Ransom played the Alabama "Fight Song" that is normally played at UA football games]