Sunday at UVM with Jim and Howard

We did get sunburned...
but at least it didn't Ben Stein.

"It was an unusually trying year," Fogel said in an interview after the commencement ceremony. "There were some ups and downs and those downs entailed some sacrifice and pain that will long be with us; but it was also a year of great achievement." No doubt.

Yesterday I watched my son graduate from University of Vermont.We sat outside in plastic chairs on the soggy grass.It was a surprisingly chilly spring day yet, much to our surprise, we got quite sunburned.
Vermont Governor Jim Douglas naturally spoke. “The population grows old…” droned Jim and with his sales pitch, “… we need young people”. After congratulating the students and to some extent himself (noting some of his cleverly named state plans and initiatives, some not yet initiated) he pretty much begged the new grads to stay in Vermont .For some audiences he runs the state down, for other crowds he attempts to build it up.

Next up was former Gov. Howard Dean. He spoke; well, he spoke like Howard Dean. His message quite clearly and not unexpectedly was for the graduates to stay active in politics. (Politics broadly defined as everything from office holding to library committees and zoning boards.) Community. Dean noted the role young voters played in the Obama election and very forcefully said “Don't blow it, stay involved! “ “Find the common areas of agreement and build on them”, he said.
Best of all (beside the weather, allowing for an outdoor ceremony) was the total lack of Ben Stein who for a short time had been scheduled to be featured speaker.
It was with great dread, a month or two back, that we all thought we would have to listen to anti-evolutionist Stein’s unique wisdom.
Luckily it evolved into a fine day, good luck to the graduates.