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謝謝。聽完Jaime Bernstein(畢業生演講代表)的演說後,令我更加熱血沸騰。我想在今天離開這裡之前正式提出輸血要求,讓我的血管裡流著一些橘色血液(橘色為雪城大學代表色),可以嗎?(歡呼聲)(掌聲)
恭喜Cantor校長、校董會委員、全體教職員、各位家長、各位來賓;最重要的是-2013年畢業生!(歡呼聲)(掌聲)
現在,我希望各位同學能體會古人的至理名言:「美好的果實值得付出。」用拉丁語說會好一些,但你們明白其中含意。
特別祝賀現場所有母親:母親節快樂!(歡呼聲)(掌聲)這是相當棒的慶祝方式,不是嗎?看著妳的小寶貝獲得了不起的大學位?棒極了。還有給各位畢業生的建議-只是一個小秘訣,來自一位父親的經驗談,但-你們知道,今天父母將十分以你為榮,如果你在大學裡多少學到點東西,就知道這意味著此時是最佳借錢時機(笑聲)。放膽開口吧!
我十分高興能在雪城與各位一起慶祝,有幾個原因。其中之一是,我在《紐約時報》的已故同事William Safire是不折不扣的雪城人。即使在我們的黑白版面上,如Jaime所言,他以流著橘色血液為榮。鑒於今年雪城大學在籃球及長曲棍球比賽中的傲人成績,Bill肯定會受不了。我只是有點嫉妒,別介意。
但另一個原因是雪城大學所做的事。在座各位在Nancy Cantor校長帶領下所做的事,藉由《Scholarship in Action》計畫所做的,確實是十分重要的事,重新肯定了大學是一項公益事業。我保證不用公益事業相關議題煩你們,你們可以把經濟學教科書甩在一旁。但公益事業的概念十分重要,對我們的歷史、我們的特質,對一切事物。從公立學校到國家公園,例如黃石公園、芝麻街、癌症研究。但我憂心這個國家逐漸遠離以公益事業促成團結力量的願景,部分原因在於美國逐漸成為更加兩極化的國家,無論政治或經濟上。
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
Congratulations to Chancellor Cantor, the members of the Board of Trustees, faculty, parents, guests, and most important of all, members of the Class of 2013!
Now, I hope that you students now appreciate that ancient wisdom "the tassel is worth the hassle." It sounds a little better in Latin, but you get the idea. And a special congratulations to all you moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!
It's a pretty awesome way to celebrate, isn't it, to watch your little baby get that great big degree? Pretty awesome.
And to you graduates, just a little tip, this is coming from a dad, but your parents are so, so proud of you today and if you've learned anything at all in University you know that means that this is the optimal moment to ask for a loan. Go for it!
I'm especially happy to be celebrating with you in Syracuse for a couple of reasons. One is that my late colleague, William Safire, of the New York Times, was just a devoted Syracuse man.
Even in our black and white pages, as Jaime would say, he proudly bled orange, and this year what with Syracuse's success in basketball and lacrosse, Bill would be completely insufferable.
I'm just a little bit jealous. Nevermind.
But the other reason is that what SU is doing, what all of you are doing along with Nancy Cantor through Scholarship in Action really is something truly important in terms of reaffirming the University as a public good.
And I promise not to bore you with a discussion of public good, you can put away your economics textbooks, but that idea of a public good is something that is so central to our history, to our identity, everything from public schools to national parks, like Yellowstone, Sesame Street, cancer research, and yet we as a country have, I'm afraid, been inching away a little bit from that vision of the public good as a unifying force.
Partly that is as America has become more polarized as a nation, politically and economically.
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目前,1%最富者擁有的淨資產大於90%社會底層人士。同時,我們目睹美國學術排名從世上第一,降到-根據最近一項研究-降到排名17。
大學或許是我們擁有最重要的公益事業,因此我十分感謝雪城大學身先士卒地致力於這項事業,使高等教育整體民主化。儘管如此,對畢業生來說,目前就業市場十分不景氣,我們明白這一點。我聽過一個故事,也許是杜撰的,關於另一所大學的畢業典禮。幾位仍穿戴著畢業帽和畢業袍的畢業生走出畢業典禮會場,跳上一輛計程車,計程車司機回頭看了他們一眼,看見他們身穿畢業服,開口說,「哦,恭喜。」他們笑容滿面地說,「2013畢業生!」計程車司機也笑容滿面地說,「2003年畢業生!」
在新聞界中,我們稱這種故事為「似乎真實的不需查證的故事」。好,雖然以更廣的角度來看,無論就業市場的挑戰多麼艱鉅,事實上,坦白說,我們十分幸運,能在此時此地享受大學教育這項公益事業。讓我告訴你們一個關於我朋友的故事。
一位名叫Tererai Trent的辛巴威女子,成長於辛巴威農村。她無法上學,因為她是女性,因此她在牧場替家裡牧牛。但Tererai十分聰明,因此她自我學習。她藉由替哥哥寫作業,學會數學和閱讀。事實上,幾年後,他有了麻煩,因為老師無法理解,為何在課堂中表現平庸的哥哥,能不斷交出如此傑出的作業。因此他打了那位哥哥,直到他承認寫出這些傑出作業的是他理應是文盲的妹妹。這或許能成為她的機會,但相反地,大家只是怪罪Tererai。因此Tererai在11歲結婚,11歲時嫁給一位對她暴力相向且嫉妒她才智的男人。但Tererai也是人類韌性的典範。我希望當你發現自己的夢想受阻時會想起她,以及她如何追求自己的目標。
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Today the top 1% have a greater collective net worth than the bottom 90%. And in this period we have seen American schools go from number one in the world to, according to one recent study, number 17. Universities are maybe the most important public good we have, and I really do thank Syracuse University for leading that effort to emphasize that point, and for democratizing tertiary education as a whole.
But granted, look, it's a tough time to graduate given the job market these days, we know that.
There is a story, maybe apocryphal, of a commencement at another University. A couple of graduates still in their cap and gown went out of graduation ceremony, jumped into a taxi and the taxi driver looked back at them and the saw them in their regalia and said oh, congratulations, and they beamed and said, “Class of 2013!”
And the taxi driver beamed back and said, “Class of 2003.”
In journalism we call those kind of stories “too good to check.”
Well, in a larger perspective though, whatever the challenges of this job market, the truth is that, frankly, we're so damn lucky to be in this time and place and enjoying this public good of a University education. Let me tell you about a friend of mine, a Zimbabwean woman named Tererai Trent. She grew up in rural Zimbabwe. She was not allowed to go to school because she was a girl. So she herded the family cattle in the fields. But Tererai was truly brilliant and so she learned on her own, she learned math and reading by doing her brother's homework.
And actually after a few years of this he got in trouble because the teacher didn't understand how her brother, who was mediocre in class, kept turning in this brilliant homework, so he beat the brother until he confessed it was his supposedly illiterate sister who had been doing his homework.
That could have been an opportunity for her, but instead everybody just got mad at Tererai.
So Tererai was married off at the age of 11. Married off at the age of 11 to a man who beat her and was jealous of her intelligence. But Tererai is also a reminder of the human capacity for resilience. And I hope that when you find your own dreams blocked that you will think of her and how she pursued her goals.
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她所做的是,在一張紙上寫下三個目標。第一個目標是:她要去美國留學。第二個目標是:她要取得學士和碩士學位。第三個目標是:她要取得博士學位。對一位不曾受過正規教育、在辛巴威農村牧牛的已婚女子來說,這些目標簡直荒謬至極。但她拿起那張寫著三個目標的紙,將它放在一個塑膠袋裡,藏進一個舊錫罐中,埋在牧場裡一塊石頭下-她牧牛地點附近的石頭下。然後她開始自我學習,參加函授課程,取得優異成績。幾年後,奧克拉荷馬州立大學接受她的入學申請。然後她挖出那個錫罐,取出那張紙,在第一個目標上打勾。然後她取得學士和碩士學位,返回辛巴威,挖出那個錫罐,取出那張紙,在第二個目標上打勾。最後,僅僅數年後,她取得博士學位,返回辛巴威,回到之前牧牛那個牧場,找到那塊石頭,挖出那個錫罐,取出那張紙,在第三個目標上打勾。現在,她利用她獲得的教育,在村裡設立一所學校,因此她可以-因為她認為自己十分幸運,希望對自己獲得的機會有所回饋。她的學校將於今年秋季開課。好,讓我們給Tererai一個掌聲。她值得這份榮耀!(掌聲)我打電話給她,告訴她我打算在這裡分享她的故事,她十分驕傲。我也會將你們的熱情傳達給她,一位了不起的女子。
我想,像Tererai這樣的人,提醒我們世上一個基本事實,那就是天才隨處可見,機會則否。天才隨處可見,機會則否。我希望你可以利用你獲得的教育,克服這個挑戰、這個事實。
事實上,我們都受益於別人給我們的機會。在座許多人能取得學位,部分原因在於你們有機會獲得經濟援助。現在,未來幾年,當你們付清這些債務後,我希望你們也能有所回饋。
現在,我並不是指你們都該從事濟世救人的工作,你們不需要全都成為德瑞莎修女。但我確實希望你們能在生命中找到某些空間,追求比個人成就更遠大的目標。只要敞開心胸,接受這些機會,你可以造成某些改變。
想想幾週前發生在克里夫蘭的驚人故事:三名年輕女子遭到綁架,囚禁於一間屋子裡長達十年。當Amanda Berry(受害者之一)的手從前門伸出,她開始放聲呼救,街道上有幾名男子。
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What she did was she wrote down three goals on a piece of paper, the first goal was that she would go to the United States to study. The second goal was that she would earn a B.A. and a master’s and the third goal was that she would earn a Ph.D.
These are completely absurd goals for a married girl who has had no formal education and who is a cattle herder in rural Zimbabwe.
But she took that piece of paper with those three goals, put it inside a piece of plastic, put that inside an old tin can and buried it in a field under a rock near where she was herding her cattle.
Then she began to study on her own and took correspondence courses and did brilliantly.
And after some years of this she was accepted to Oklahoma State University.
She then dug up that tin can, took out that piece of paper and checked off goal number one.
She then earned her B.A. and master's. She went back to Zimbabwe, dug up that tin can and pulled out that piece of paper and checked off goal number two.
Finally, just a couple of years ago, she earned her doctorate.
She went back to Zimbabwe, went back to that old field where she used to herd cattle, found the stone, dug up the tin can, pulled out the piece of paper and checked off goal number three. And now she's used her education to set up a school in the village because she feels lucky and wants to give back that opportunity that she had. Her school is going to open this fall.
Well, let's all give Tererai a hand, actually. She deserves it! I called her and told her I was going to tell her story here and she was very proud and I will relay your enthusiasm to her as well. An amazing woman.
And people like Tererai, I think, remind us of a basic truth in the world, which is that talent is universal, but opportunity is not.
Talent is universal and opportunity is not.
And I hope that you can use your education to help chip away at that challenge, that the truth.
The truth is that we have all benefited from opportunities that others extended to us and many of you are receiving degrees in part because you had the chance to receive financial aid. Now, in the coming years as you—as you pay down those debts too—I hope that you will have the chance to pay that forward as well.
Now, I'm not saying that you should all enlist as aid workers. You don't all need to become Mother Theresa. But I do hope that you will find some space in your life, some space for engaging in a cause that is larger than yourselves.
And just keep your mind open for those opportunities where you can make that kind of a difference. Think of the Cleveland story that has riveted us for the last couple of week, the three young women kidnapped and locked up inside a house for ten years. Now, when Amanda Berry's hand snaked through that front door and she began screaming for help, there were a couple of men in the street.
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好,我想當時他們很容易這麼想:哦,那是個瘋女人,也許捲入某些家庭糾紛。我想大多數人會繼續前進,而非讓自己捲入他人的麻煩。我想我們都會對闖入別人的私有財產感到不太自在,像是踏上前廊,詢問發生了什麼事。當然,那兩名男子正是這麼做的。他們也義不容辭地採取行動,踢開前門,放她出來。這改變了一切。
對大多數人來說,機會的到來不會如此充滿戲劇性,但你也可能面臨他人的需要和請求。你很可能產生相同的不確定感,不知道怎麼做才正確。你或許忙碌不堪,你或許亟需時間和金錢,你無法幫助每個人。但我學到的一點是,改變他人的命運是可能的,或許僅利用你的空閒時間,或許如克里夫蘭那些救援者的事蹟般充滿戲劇性。也許藉由教導一個孩子,也許藉由課後輔導,或幫助一個孩子選擇適合的大學,也許藉由替一位女孩支付教科書費用,讓她能就讀類似Tererai在辛巴威開辦的學校。但重點是,若有機會,我希望你利用你獲得的教育,幫助他人的需求,踏上那些門廊,打破那些門。我也希望你為了自己的緣故,因為這或許聽起來有點陳腔濫調,但我認為這確實是通往自我實現的道路。
現在,想想我們希望人生中擁有什麼?其中一個要素是快樂。有時我們會想:哦,如果能中威力球樂透彩就好了。你們知道,我們老是這麼想:我們將坐在加勒比海沙灘上啜飲鳳梨雞尾酒。我想我聽見Cantor校長說:開支票給雪城大學(笑聲)。我說的對嗎?但-事實上,金錢和快樂的關係並非如此密切,部分原因在於,一方面來說,財富的力量十分強大,但也可能導致孤立。
明尼蘇達大學所做的一項研究中,研究對象被安置在一個螢幕保護畫面前,電腦螢幕顯示四處飄散的鈔票。實驗組眼前是鈔票的畫面,對照組的螢幕保護畫面是游泳的魚。眼前顯示鈔票畫面的人傾向於選擇單獨工作、單獨進行娛樂活動,當其他人進入房間時,會坐在遠離那個人的位置。
類似情況發生在一位名叫Jack Whittaker的傢伙身上,不知你們是否覺得這個名字有點耳熟。2002年,他中了3億1500萬美元的威力球樂透頭獎,這是當時史上一人獨得的最高獎金。
他是一家公司的老闆,大約50多歲。他說他唯一的願望是用這筆錢讓妻子開心、讓女兒開心、讓孫女開心;他的孫女可說是他生命中的陽光。他慷慨捐助他的教會,成立了一個基金會,似乎是個腳踏實地的人。但大約半年後,一切似乎都開始走樣。他開始光顧脫衣舞俱樂部、開始酗酒,最後與妻子離婚、與她對簿公堂,並涉及其他數百起訴訟。他的女兒過世,死因尚未查明,也許是吸毒過量。接著,最沉重的打擊是,他心愛的孫女也因吸毒過量死亡;當時她17歲。此時,Jack Whittaker淚流滿面地告訴記者,他只希望自己有機會時,能撕毀那張樂透彩券。
現在,我想其中的教訓是:審慎面對我們期望的事物。當然,我不打算重申金錢買不到快樂;同樣地,貧窮也買不到快樂。但我認為,其中的關連比我們有時認為的更加複雜。事實上,有個相當棒的證據顯示,有個更可靠的方式能提高快樂程度,那就是與其他人共同致力於某項比個人成就更遠大的目標-不妨將它想成利他主義中的自私成分。
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Now, I think it would have been very easy for them at that point to think oh, there is some crazy woman, maybe involved in some domestic dispute. I think plenty of people would have moved on rather than get involved in somebody else's mess. And I think all of us would have felt a little uncomfortable about trespassing on somebody's private property to go up on that front porch and ask what was going wrong.
And those two men, of course, did just that, and then they also took it upon themselves to break down that front door to let her out. And everything changed.
For most of us, the chance to intervene is not going to be that dramatic. But you too are going to encounter needs and pleas and you'll frankly have the same sense of uncertainty about what the right thing to do will be. You'll be busy. You're going to have plenty of demands on your time and on your wallet. And you can't help everybody.
But one thing I have learned is that it is possible to change other people's life trajectories almost in your spare time, almost as dramatically as those rescuers did in Cleveland. Maybe it's through mentoring a kid, maybe it's through after school tutoring or helping a kid figure out college options. Or maybe it's through paying a girl's textbook fee so she can attend a school like Tererai's in Zimbabwe.
But the point is that every now and then I hope you'll use your education to go toward those pleas for help and climb on those porches and break down those doors. And I'm hoping that for your own sake too because, and this is going to sound trite, but I think it really is a road to personal fulfillment.
Now, think about what we want in life.
A major component is happiness. And we sometimes think oh, if we can just win that Powerball lottery, you know, boy, we'll be set forever. We'll be sitting on a beach in the Caribbean, sipping pina coladas.
But that connection between money and happiness is actually somewhat tenuous, and that's partly because wealth is on the one hand empowering, but it can also be isolating. In one University of Minnesota study, research subjects were primed by being exposed to a screen saver that showed dollar bills floating around on the computer screen. And those people who were exposed to that screen as opposed to one of fish swimming on a screen saver, those exposed to the money were more likely to choose to work alone, to choose solitary recreational pursuits and when somebody else came in the room to sit farther apart from that person.
Something similar happened to a fellow named Jack Whittaker, who I don't know if the name rings a bell, but back in 2002 he won a $315 million Powerball lottery jackpot. At that time it was the biggest jackpot payout ever to a single individual. He was a business owner in his 50s and he said that his only aim was to use that money to make his wife happy, his daughter happy, and his granddaughter happy.
His granddaughter especially was the light of his life. He gave generously to his church, he set up a foundation, he seemed very well grounded. Then after about six months everything just seemed to go wrong. He began to patronize strip clubs. He began to drink too heavily. He ended up divorcing his wife and getting involved in litigation with her and involved in several hundred other lawsuits. His daughter died, cause of death was not fully established, possibly a drug overdose. And then the hardest blow of all, his beloved granddaughter died of a drug overdose as well.
And at that point she was just 17 years old.
And at that point Jack Whittaker told reporters in tears that he just wished he had torn up that lottery ticket when he had the chance. Now, I guess the lesson is to be careful what we wish for.
I certainly wouldn't want to argue that money can't buy happiness, and it's equally true that poverty can't buy happiness either. But I think the connections are more complicated than we sometimes assume, and in fact, there is pretty good evidence emerging about a more dependable way to raise one's happiness level. And that is to engage with others collectively in a cause that is larger than yourself.
Think of it as the selfishness of altruism.
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麻薩諸塞州一項研究發現,這種慷慨付出、這種社會參與與長壽的相關性更勝於低膽固醇水平,因此其中亦存在實質意義。因此,如果你擔心心臟問題,那麼,除了服用司他汀類藥物(降膽固醇藥物),也不妨考慮取出支票簿、擔任志工、踏上那些門廊。當你看見從門中伸出的手,協助打破那扇門。
以較廣的意義來說,我認為每個人在某種程度上都能成為一項公益。是的,各位伙伴,以某種意義來說,你可以成為類似黃石公園、芝麻街或雪城大學的公益事業。一個服務大眾、造福大眾的公益事業。
讓我和大家分享一個關於我朋友的故事:一位年輕的美國女子,年紀比在座研究生大不了多少。我遇見她時,她在達佛(位於非洲蘇丹共和國)工作。她目睹不容於人類世界的殘酷暴行,但她表現出難以置信的堅強。她不曾顯露恐懼、她不曾顯露軟弱。然後,她返回美國度聖誕假期。當她在祖母的後院時,突然徹底崩潰;她無法控制地哭泣。你們知道是怎麼回事嗎?她祖母在後院放了一個餵鳥器,我朋友坐在那裡,想起她在達佛目睹的一切,特別想到某個家庭,其中一雙姐妹被民兵擄走,成為性奴。她們的父親前去軍營,跪地懇求,懇求民兵指揮官:「放了我女兒。」指揮官將所有人召集到他面前,包括那兩位女孩,然後當她們的面將她們的父親斬首。
我朋友想起這件事時,目光落在那個餵鳥器上,此時她徹底崩潰。因為她突然意識到自己多麼幸運,生長於人民普遍將安全視為理所當然的國家,即使處於經濟衰退時期,我們依然不虞匱乏,擁有足夠的食物、衣物和住所,甚至仍有餘力幫助野鳥過冬。她意識到伴隨這份幸運而來的責任。
同樣地,我們現在身處此地的事實,確實意味著我們已中了人生的樂透。當你中了人生的樂透,我認為問題變成:該如何履行隨之而來的責任?因此我們都誕生於正確的時間、地點這個事實,其中的含義是:我們有責任回饋這份幸運。
我的建議是,尋找一些與你產生共鳴的議題、你所關心的事物,然後著手參與,即使僅利用你的空閒時間。這或許聽起來有點矯情,但我想你將發現,這也是利己之事。世上因自私獲得的快樂多不勝數,但也許最自私正是利他主義。毋庸置疑的事實是,我們幫助他人的所有努力,都將成為人生紀錄的功績,但或許也是幫助自己的絕佳紀錄。
因此,恭喜各位在母親節畢業的畢業生。邁開腳步,讓世界有所改變。流著橘色血液的你們,不妨更進一步,讓心中充滿熱血,橘色的熱血。邁開腳步,如同雪城大學般,成為一項公益事業!
恭喜!
(歡呼聲)(掌聲)
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Now, one study in Massachusetts found that this kind of generosity, this kind of social engagement correlated more strongly with longevity than low cholesterol levels. So there's a real physical dimension of this as well. So if you're worried about your heart, then, well, take your statins, but also maybe think about reaching for the checkbook, volunteering, climb onto those porches when you see those outstretched hands, and help break down doors.
Now, in a larger sense I think that all of us can in some measure become a public good. Yup, little old you, in some sense can become like Yellowstone, like Sesame Street or like SU, a public good serving the public providing a broad public benefit.
Let me leave you with a story of a friend of mine, a young American woman who not much older than those of you who are graduate students here. I met her when she was working in Darfur, she saw cruelties that no human being should ever have to see. But she was unbelievably strong. She never showed fear, she never showed weakness. And then she was back in the U.S. over Christmas vacation, she was in her grandmother's backyard and she totally lost it.
She was just weeping uncontrollably.
And you know what it was?
Her grandmother had set up a bird feeder in the backyard. And my friend was sitting there reflecting on all that she had seen in Darfur, thinking particularly about a family, about two sisters who had been seized by the militia and turned into sex slaves, and their father had gone and begged on his knees, begged the militia commander to “let my daughters go.” And the commander had then called everybody in front of him, including the two girls, and then had beheaded their father in front of them.
And my friend was thinking about this and then her eyes fell on that bird feeder. That's when she lost it, because she had suddenly thought how incredibly lucky she was to be—to have grown up in a country where we largely take security for granted. And where even in an economic downturn we can pretty much count on having enough food and clothing and housing to get by, and even have a little left over to help wild birds get through the winter.
She thought about the responsibilities that come with that good fortune. In the same way, the fact that we are all here right now, truly means we have won the lottery of life. And when you have won the lottery of life, I think the question becomes how do you discharge the responsibility that comes with it?
So the fact that we were all born in the right place at the right time, the implication is that we have some responsibility to pay it forward.
My advice is to find some issue that resonates with you, that you care about, and then work to get engaged in it. If only in your spare time. It may sound sanctimonious and earnest, but I think you will see it's also self-interested. There are plenty of selfish pleasures in the world, but maybe the most selfish of all is altruism. The blunt truth is that all our efforts to help other people have a pretty mixed record of success. But they have this almost perfect record of helping ourselves.
So congratulations, graduates on this Mother's Day.
Go out and change the world just a little bit. And as you bleed orange go one step further and become bleeding hearts, orange bleeding hearts, and go and be like Syracuse University itself, a public good! Congratulations!