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U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin, D-Detroit, accepts an honorary degree.
HOUGHTON — In a
1962 speech, President John F. Kennedy made a vow:
There would be a man on the moon by the end of the
decade.
With months to spare, and after a massive
mobilization of money, effort and intelligence, it
happened.
Keeping that gargantuan accomplishment in mind,
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin had a question for Michigan
Technological University’s graduates-to-be in his
commencement address Saturday.
“My question to you today is: What would you like
your generation’s moon shot to be?” said Levin,
D-Detroit. “How can you contribute to it, where
are you setting your sights, and where will your
insights and innovations take us?”
The world graduates enter into is a divided one,
Levin said. But the foundation they have in math
and the sciences will serve as a common language
that will better humanity.
“The solutions and technological breakthroughs you
make in the years ahead will help 6 billion people
lead better lives, and indeed, save the world,” he
said.
Levin cited Tech’s research into developing fuel
cells, as well as research into providing
cognitive abilities to robots.
Levin said he hoped the graduates would offer
their communities their talent, work and
enthusiasm. And also that they’ve learned how to
pickle their own egg.
“They just don’t sell them at most bars outside of
Houghton,” he said.
After his address, Levin received an honorary
doctorate in engineering.
“Forgive me for getting a degree without the hard
work you had to put it in and the tuition you had
to pay,” he told the students.
In an interview before the graduation ceremony,
Levin also addressed President Bush’s recent
request for an additional $70 billion towards the
Iraq war for the next fiscal year. The request
echoes one made by Democratic lawmakers.
Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, said he will vote for the money.
“We’ve got to fund our troops,” he said. But Levin
said he would also pursue the Levin-Reed
Amendment, which includes calls for reduced troop
levels in Iraq, changing U.S. troops’ mission to
that of support, and continuing to train the Iraqi
army. The amendment failed in the Senate last
year.
A super-delegate to the Democratic convention,
Levin is remaining neutral in the race between
Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as he
works on getting the state’s delegates seated. The
national party stripped Michigan of its delegates
in retaliation for the state moving its primary to
January.
“If I expressed a preference, my efforts to get
all the delegates seated might be viewed as having
a purpose of helping one of the presidential
candidates or the other,” he said.
Levin, along with three others, crafted a
compromise proposal for a split of the delegates
between Clinton and Obama. Clinton, the only major
Democratic candidate not to withdraw from the
Michigan primary, won handily with 55 percent of
the vote.
Clinton is seeking 73 of Michigan’s 128 delegates,
while Obama wants 64 delegates each. Levin’s plan
would split the difference, giving Clinton a 69-59
margin partially reflecting her primary win.
“You can’t totally ignore it, because 600,000
people came out to vote,” Levin said.
Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer is
reviewing the proposal.
Asked what he hoped Tech’s students would take
away from his commencement address, Levin said he
hopes students can use the lessons they’ve learned
at Michigan Tech to help the world communicate.
“We’re a divided world,” he said. “We’ve got a
need for people to communicate with each other to
bring the world together in a common cause.” |
