Re: The Kurt Vonnegut MIT Commencement Speech Hoax

Maybe the Internet is like TV – if people see it there they believe it.

– Bob Weide, screenwriter (Mother Night)

I don't know what the point is except is how gullible people are on the

Internet.

– Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The point... is that simulations have devoured reality... we are looking at

an implosion – reality and meaning are melting into a nebulous mass of

self-reproducing simulation.

– Erica J. Seidel, Simulation versus Reality

Dateline: 08/10/97

Don't bother trying to look up Kurt Vonnegut's email address on the Internet.

He doesn't have one. The reason is the 74-year-old author's longstanding

aversion to all things "cyber" – an aversion doubtless exacerbated by the

events of last week.

In case you've been living in a bomb shelter, here's what happened: on or

the text of a commencement speech [via DejaNews] purportedly given by

Vonnegut at MIT. It was clever, poignant, full of the kind of arch-cynical

humor Vonnegut is famous for. Unfortunately, Vonnegut never gave any such

address. Nor did he write the words attributed to him.

The actual address, which was "a lot longer and maybe not as clever" as the

one supposedly given by Vonnegut (according to an MIT spokesman), had

been delivered on June 5 by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. This

modems before the hoax was discovered and the true source of the text

identified – a newspaper column by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune.

In that column, published June 1, Schmich fantasized about giving a

"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97," the imaginary speech began.

"Wear sunscreen."

It was funny and it was well-written. But it wasn't Vonnegut.

"I thought about it and said I didn't think I gave

any talk like that, but I wished I had."

– Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The incident took everyone concerned by surprise. (For a personal account

by a source close to Vonnegut, see The Vonnegut Web.) Recipients of the

message who thought they'd recognized Vonnegut's unique wit were

embarrassed to find out they'd been duped. Even Vonnegut's wife, Jill

Krementz, fell victim to the hoax, gleefully forwarding the message to family

and friends.

In the aftermath of the hoax, Mary Schmich, who has taken to calling the

Internet a "lawless swamp," received hundreds of phone calls and email

messages, some of them accusing her of plagiarism. She subsequently tried to

track down the originator of the hoax, but could not.

Vonnegut himself, bemused by the incident, says that cyberspace is "spooky,"

populated by people who'll believe anything they're told.

But there are deeper phenomena underlying what happened here than the

lawlessness and gullibility of Internet users. What Marshall McLuhan

television is no less true of the Internet: "the medium is the message." New

technologies are not simply changing the way information is transmitted; they

are changing our perception of reality. Or befuddling it.

film, television, and now the Internet have created a culture of "hyperreality" in

which real life takes a back seat to simulated objects and experiences. This

happens because simulations, unlike real things, can be endlessly and perfectly

replicated. We are "seduced" by the simulation's aura of perfection. It begins

to appear "more real than reality."

I do not communicate the information to you, I

simply transfer it. The information is thus

autonomous – "untouched by human hands."

Think about it. In the digital age, information can be instantaneously

reproduced at the click of a mouse button. When I forward an email message

to you, I cause an exact duplicate of a piece of information I've received to

appear in your mailbox. I do not communicate the information to you, I

simply transfer it. The information is thus autonomous – "untouched by human

hands," as it were – which, by the curious logic of hyperreality, actually

heightens its air of authenticity.

It also negates the concept of accountability, because even though I can pass

the same piece of information on to you and a hundred other people by

clicking "send," I am in no practical sense its "source."

Imagine a chain of unaccountability stretching across a network of millions of

users who are instantaneously transferring information, twenty-four hours a

day. That is the Internet.

Are there solutions? I'm not optimistic, to be perfectly honest, because my

conviction is that the spread of misinformation on the Internet is ultimately an

ethical problem, not a legal or technical one. The traditional recommendation,

"verify the source," won't cut it here, for the simple reason that in scenarios

like the one before us, there are no sources.

Our only recourse is to fall back on the concept of personal responsibility.

Each of us, as information passes through our hands, has the opportunity to

jump out of the chain of unaccountability and check the facts ourselves – in

effect, to become a source and be held accountable.

Unfortunately, like all ethical solutions, this one depends on individuals making

an effort and choosing to do the right thing.

Which means that on the grand scale, it's probably no solution at all.

Oh, well. So it goes.

The URL of this page is:

===========================================================

ADVICE, LIKE YOUTH,

PROBABLY JUST

WASTED ON THE

YOUNG

June 1, 1997

Inside every adult lurks a graduation

speaker dying to get out, some

world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on

life to young people who'd rather be

Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never

be invited to sow our words of wisdom

among an audience of caps and gowns, but

there's no reason we can't entertain

ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for

Graduates.

I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and

thank you for indulging my attempt.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the

future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term

benefits of sunscreen have been proved by

scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has

no basis more reliable than my own

meandering experience. I will dispense this

advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind. You will not understand

the power and beauty of your youth until

they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years,

you'll look back at photos of yourself and

recall in a way you can't grasp now how

much possibility lay before you and how

fabulous you really looked. You are not as

fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but

know that worrying is as effective as trying

to solve an algebra equation by chewing

bubble gum. The real troubles in your life

are apt to be things that never crossed your

worried mind, the kind that blindside you at

4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's

hearts. Don't put up with people who are

reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're

behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's

only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive.

Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing

this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away

your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you

want to do with your life. The most

interesting people I know didn't know at 22

what they wanted to do with their lives.

Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I

know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your

knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll have children, maybe you

won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe

you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th

wedding anniversary. Whatever you do,

don't congratulate yourself too much, or

berate yourself either. Your choices are half

chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can.

Don't be afraid of it or of what other people

think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll

ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it

but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow

them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will

only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know

when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to

your siblings. They're your best link to your

past and the people most likely to stick with

you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but

with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography

and lifestyle, because the older you get, the

more you need the people who knew you

when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave

before it makes you hard. Live in Northern

California once, but leave before it makes

you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will

rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will

get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize

that when you were young, prices were

reasonable, politicians were noble and

children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll

have a wealthy spouse. But you never know

when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by

the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be

patient with those who supply it. Advice is a

form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of

fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it

off, painting over the ugly parts and

recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

========================================================

Listen. Kurt Vonnegut may use sunscreen. He may have, at some time, attended a graduation ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He,

however, has never addressed M.I.T.'s graduates schilling skin cream. The

assumption that he as done so is the essence of an Internet legend worthy of the

author forever dogged by questions about Venus on the Half-Shell.

This particular advocacy of sunscreen goes back to a June 1, 1997 column

written by Mary Schmich for the Chicago Tribune. Somehow the column was

separated from Schmich and became attributed to Vonnegut. It then was

mercilessly zapped around the Internet by Vonnegut fans as well as by folks

barely familiar with Kilgore Trout.

Vonnegut cyber-fanatics, those regular denizens of alt.books.kurt-vonnegut, are

familiar with the postings of Robert Weide, the screenwriter of the masterful

adaptation of Mother Night. Bob consistently provides the newsgroup with

updates, Vonnegut sightings, and expert commentary. Who better to respond to

Internet users' misdirected enthusiasm for Vonnegut and his alleged passion for

sunscreen?

When Mary Schmich's Chicago Tribune column began to circulate on the Internet, Bob posted

the following Thursday, July 31, 1997:

WYADUCK here...

There is a commencement address that Vonnegut allegedly

delivered to MIT this June, which has been spreading all over the

Web like wildfire. (It even got posted to this Vonnegut Newsgroup.)

I was suspicious from the begining. Kurt usually tells me when he's

going to speak somewhere, and he never mentioned an MIT

address. I also knew he was in Europe for the latter part of June.

More suspiciously, the voice wasn't quite his. It was CLOSE, like a

real good painted forgery of a master, but it was slightly off -- a little

too jokey, a little too cute... a little too "Seinfeld." Several things

seemed based on ideas of his, or variations on things he's said in

past speeches, but the further I read, the more I thought it was a

fake.

So I called him today (7/31) and asked if he spoke at MIT this year.

"No," he said. "You're asking about the 'sunscreen' thing?" He had

already known about it, as his lawyer had called him earlier in the

day. He had no idea where it came from. I asked him if he wanted

me to fax him a copy. He declined. He wasn't interested.

So there it is, straight from the horse's mouth (brought to you by

the other end). If you doubt what I've said here, call MIT's Speaker's

Bureau, and ask if KV spoke there this year.

Cheers, WYADUCK

The next day details surfaced to advance the episode. Bob posted the following Friday, August 1, 1997:

WYADUCK here...

Yesterday I confirmed for the Vonnegut Newsgroup that the MIT

address attributed to Kurt, and spread all over the Web, was a

hoax. It was not written nor delivered by Kurt at MIT or anywhere.

Copies of this thing were E-mailed to me from all corners -- even

received one from Scotland.

Well, it seems as though my response spread through the Internet

almost as thoroughly as the speech itself. Today (8/1), my

E-mailbox was full of letters from strangers, responding to my post.

In any event, I can now clear up part of this mystery:

There is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune named Mary

Schmich. The words were hers, in her column from the June 1

issue of the Trib. She never passed it off as Vonnegut's, nor was

his name ever evoked in the column. In fact, her column contained

a prologue, missing on the Internet version, which I will reprint

here...

ADVICE, LIKE YOUTH, PROBABLY JUST

WASTED ON THE YOUNG

"Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying

to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to

pontificate on life to young people who'd rather be

Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited

to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of

caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't

entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for

Graduates.

"I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you

for indulging my attempt.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 97...."

The missing piece of this puzzle is: Who is "Culprit Zero?" That is,

who originally placed it on the Internet, crediting it to Kurt? Mary

Schmich, whom I spoke with today (a very nice woman, by the

way), was horrified at the idea that anyone would think the deed

was hers, or that she was trying to "rip Kurt off." She told me she

had read Cat's Cradle back in college, but that was about it. She's

never heard him speak and couldn't consciously duplicate his style

if she wanted to. She even tracked Kurt down on the phone today

to explain what had happened and confirm her lack of culpability.

Kurt was, of course, good natured about it. (Frankly, my fear is that

this will be the new "Venus on the Halfshell" and that Kurt will be

hounded over the next few years by people asking him about his

MIT address.)

One last point: Mary said that when her article originally appeared

in the Tribune, she certainly received a favorable reaction and some

nice phone calls, but that was all. Suddenly, the same words are

credited to a well-known author, and it's being quoted and E-mailed

all over the world within hours. Talk about the power of name

recognition. Also, another lesson in individual responsibility, or lack

thereof, in the computer age.

I believe Mary is now working on a column about all this for the

weekend Tribune.

Cheers, WYADUCK

What about real

Vonnegut

commencement

addresses?

Rice, 1998

Southampton,

1981

Syracuse, 1994

But you cry, "My thirst for knowledge is insatiable. I must know more of

this tempestuous cyber-rage!"

Chicago Tribune column by Mary Schmich, August 3, 1997

WHO CAN TELL IN

CYBERSPACE?

August 3, 1997

I am Kurt Vonnegut.

Oh, Kurt Vonnegut may appear to be a

brilliant, revered male novelist. I may

appear to be a mediocre and virtually

unknown female newspaper columnist. We

may appear to have nothing in common but

unruly hair.

But out in the lawless swamp of

cyberspace, Mr. Vonnegut and I are one.

Out there, where any snake can

masquerade as king, both of us are the

author of a graduation speech that began

with the immortal words, "Wear sunscreen."

I was alerted to my bond with Mr.

Vonnegut Friday morning by several callers

and e-mail correspondents who reported

that the sunscreen speech was rocketing

through the cyberswamp, from L.A. to

New York to Scotland, in a vast e-mail

chain letter.

Friends had e-mailed it to friends, who

e-mailed it to more friends, all of whom

were told it was the commencement

address given to the graduating class at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The

speaker was allegedly Kurt Vonnegut.

Imagine Mr. Vonnegut's surprise. He was

not, and never has been, MIT's

commencement speaker.

Imagine my surprise. I recall composing that

little speech one Friday afternoon while high

on coffee and M&M's. It appeared in this

space on June 1. It included such deep

thoughts as "Sing," "Floss," and "Don't mess

too much with your hair." It was not art.

But out in the cyberswamp, truth is

whatever you say it is, and my simple

thoughts on floss and sunscreen were being

passed around as Kurt Vonnegut's eternal

wisdom.

Poor man. He didn't deserve to have his

reputation sullied in this way.

So I called a Los Angeles book reviewer,

with whom I'd never spoken, hoping he

could help me find Mr. Vonnegut.

"You mean that thing about sunscreen?" he

said when I explained the situation. "I got

that. It was brilliant. He didn't write that?"

He didn't know how to find Mr. Vonnegut.

I tried MIT.

"You wrote that?" said Lisa Damtoft in the

news office. She said MIT had received

many calls and e-mails on this year's

"sunscreen" commencement speech. But not

everyone was sure: Who had been the

speaker?

The speaker on June 6 was Kofi Annan,

secretary general of the United Nations,

who did not, as Mr. Vonnegut and I did in

our speech, urge his graduates to "dance,

even if you have nowhere to do it but your

living room." He didn't mention sunscreen.

As I continued my quest for Mr.

Vonnegut--his publisher had taken the

afternoon off, his agent didn't

answer--reports of his "sunscreen" speech

kept pouring in.

A friend called from Michigan. He'd read

my column several weeks ago. Friday

morning he received it again--in an e-mail

from his boss. This time it was not an

ordinary column by an ordinary columnist.

Now it was literature by Kurt Vonnegut.

Fortunately, not everyone who read the

speech believed it was Mr. Vonnegut's.

"The voice wasn't quite his," sniffed one

doubting contributor to a Vonnegut chat

group on the Internet. "It was slightly off--a

little too jokey, a little too cute . . . a little

too `Seinfeld.' "

Hoping to find the source of this prank, I

traced one e-mail backward from its last

recipient, Hank De Zutter, a professor at

Malcolm X College in Chicago. He

received it from a relative in New York,

who received it from a film producer in

New York, who received it from a TV

producer in Denver, who received it from

his sister, who received it. . . .

I realized the pursuit of culprit zero would

be endless. I gave up.

I did, however, finally track down Mr.

Vonnegut. He picked up his own phone.

He'd heard about the sunscreen speech

from his lawyer, from friends, from a

women's magazine that wanted to reprint it

until he denied he wrote it.

"It was very witty, but it wasn't my

wittiness," he generously said.

Reams could be written on the lessons in

this episode. Space confines me to two.

One: I should put Kurt Vonnegut's name on

my column. It would be like sticking a

Calvin Klein label on a pair of Kmart jeans.

Two: Cyberspace, in Mr. Vonnegut's word,

is "spooky."

 ==================================================================

Subject:

Pearl of Wisdom

Date:

05 Aug 1997 00:00:00 GMT

From:

info@advestsearch.com (BB)

Reply-To:

pearl@advestsearch.com

Organization:

ASI

Newsgroups:

alt.business.career-opportunities.executives, alt.business.franchise, alt.business.hospitality,

misc.jobs.offered

This is a speech given by Kurt Vonnegut at the June, 1997 MIT graduation.

I thought you might enjoy it.

Voila:

'Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen:

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,

whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own

meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not

understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But

trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall

in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how

fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as

effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed

your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 pm on some idle

Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people

who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes

you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with

yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in

doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.

The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to

do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know

still don't know.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when

they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe

you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky

chicken on your 75th anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate

yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half

chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of

what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever

own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the

people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should

hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle,

because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when

you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in

Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will

philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize

that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble,

and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund.

Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one

might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look

85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, buy be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the

past from the disposal,wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and

recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

end........'

--

ASI, Recruitment, Representation, Ventures. Since 1984

Our site: http://www.advestsearch.com

All inquiries treated confidentially. No fees to employment applicants.

Tel 310-471-5340....fax 310-471-8450... email: info@advestsearch.com

 ============================================================

KOFI A. ANNAN

COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

CAMBRIDGE, MASS., JUNE 6, 1997

Thank you, Dr. Gray, for your most gracious welcome. I am honored and pleased to have been asked to speak to you on this

grand occasion and in these familiar surroundings. The Boston area boasts of several excellent institutions of higher learning.

But there is only one MIT.

Mr. President, Trustees, ladies and gentlemen: Let us congratulate the best, the brightest, the most dedicated, the most

thoughtful, and the most likely to succeed MIT class ever--the class of 1997!

But, graduates, you know better than anyone that you did not do it alone. Accordingly, please join me in a big round of

applause for those who have stood by you throughout the years and who are with you today, in person or in spirit, your loving

parents and dear friends. Let's give them a hand.

Now you are free. Free of the pressure of exams. Free to begin the next stage of your life. And free to pay back your student

loans. I wish you well.

I once sat where you sit today. Sharing these joyous moments with you today in Killian Court takes me back more than a

quarter century to my own studies at MIT. As a Sloan Fellow, I learned management skills that I draw on still today in

refashioning the United Nations for the new century that is upon us. But I learned an even more important lesson.

At the outset, there was competition--rather intense competition--among my cohorts. Each was equally determined to shine

and to demonstrate his leadership abilities. I say 'his', because there were no women among us; I am certainly glad that has

changed.

Walking along the Charles River one day, in the middle of my first term, I reflected on my predicament. How could I survive,

let alone thrive, in this group of over-achievers? And the answer came to me most emphatically: NOT by playing it according

to their rules. 'Follow your own inner compass,' I said to myself, 'listen to your own drummer.' To live is to choose. But to

choose well, you must know who you are, what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there. My

anxieties slowly began to dissolve.

What I took away from MIT, as a result, was not only the analytical tools but also the intellectual confidence to help me locate

my bearings in new situations, to view any challenge as a potential opportunity for renewal and growth, and to be comfortable

in seeking the help of colleagues, but not fearing, in the end, to do things my way.

When the world thinks of MIT alumni and alumnae who have gone on to assume positions of visibility in their respective fields,

as so many have, it correctly imagines Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and economics, or business tycoons, or engineers

improving our daily lives in countless ways. But a Secretary General of the United Nations? That's hardly the first answer

anyone would blurt out on a TV quiz show!

And yet, it is not as much of a stretch as it may seem at first. For the ethos of science and engineering shares deep and

profound similarities with the twentieth century project of international organization. Science and international organization alike

are constructs of reason, engaged in a permanent struggle against the forces of unreason. Science and international

organization alike are experimental; both learn by trial and error and strive to be self-correcting. Lastly, science and

international organization alike speak a universal language and seek universal truths. Allow me to expand briefly on each of

these features of the project of international organization.

I begin with the struggle between reason and unreason. When the history of the twentieth century is written, this struggle will

figure very prominently in it. On the plane of international affairs, the outbursts of unreason in this century surpass in horror and

human tragedy any the world has seen in the entire modern era. From Flanders' fields to the Holocaust and the aggressions

that produced World War II; from the killing fields of Cambodia and Rwanda to ethnic cleansing in Bosnia; from the

twenty-five million refugees who roam the world today to untold millions, many of them children, who die the slow death of

starvation or are maimed for life by land-mines--our century, even this generation, has much to answer for.

But we have also managed to build up the international edifice of reason. By deliberate institutional means, we have better

positioned humankind to cope with pressing global problems.

Measures to enhance peace and security rank among these accomplishments. As the twentieth century draws to a close, we

can take pride in numerous advances in, for example, the area of arms control and disarmament. Perhaps the bedrock is the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, in force for nearly three decades now. Negotiated through the United Nations and

monitored by one of its Agencies, the N.P.T. has more adherents than any arms control treaty in history.

In September 1996, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which has

since been signed by more than 140 countries, including all five nuclear-weapons States.

In April of this year, we witnessed the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It helps to ensure that these vile

weapons never again will be the scourge of any battlefield, the silent but certain doom of any civilian population.

Finally, states that are party to the Biological Weapons Convention are seeking ways to reinforce its authority through a

verification mechanism.

Much remains to be done, especially in reducing the vast and rapidly growing flow of conventional weapons; ridding the world

of the viciousness of land-mines, whose primary targets are the innocents of any conflict; strengthening the methods of

preventive diplomacy; and inventing the next generation of peacekeeping operations. But only a decade ago the achievements

I have enumerated seemed unimaginable. Now they are real.

Similar accomplishments are transforming other aspects of international life. Few are more noble than safeguarding and

enhancing human rights. Few yield more practical benefits than deepening and expanding multilateral rules for international

economic relations. Few are more rewarding than helping the world's children to achieve healthy and productive lives. Few are

more critical than preserving the human environment even as we achieve greater economic opportunity for all.

And so, as this century draws to a close, we are justified in concluding that international organization has helped tilt the balance

toward the domain within which the power of reason prevails.

A second attribute that the project of international organization shares with science is the experimental method. Indeed,

international organization is an experiment. It is an experiment in human cooperation on a planetary scale. Those of us who

serve in international organizations must never forget the fact that they are not an end in themselves. They are a means to

empower both governments and people to realize goals through collaboration that would otherwise elude them. International

organizations, therefore, must be closely attuned to their environment, quickly correct their mistakes, build cumulatively on their

achievements, and constantly generate new modalities as previous ways of doing things become outdated.

I am very pleased, therefore, to report to you today that we at the United Nations are amidst the most thoroughgoing

institutional reforms ever attempted there. I would go a step further and express my conviction that when our reform plans are

announced next month, they will compare favorably with any such reforms yet undertaken by any public sector, anywhere.

We seek a United Nations that will view change as a friend, not change for its own sake but change that permits us to do more

good by doing it better. We seek a United Nations that is leaner, more focused, more flexible, and more responsive to

changing global needs. We seek a United Nations that is organized around its core competencies vis-a-vis other international

organizations and an ever-more robust global civil society. We seek a United Nations that serves more effectively not only its

Member States but also the people of the world whose hopes we embody.

In short, we at the United Nations are working hard to firm up the grounds on which the project of international organization

rests. And we are doing so by recognizing its experimental nature and embracing the imperative of inventiveness that it implies.

A third similarity between the ethos of science and the project of international organization is this: we do what we do in the

realm of international organization because we strive, in our own fashion, to give expression to universal truths. What might

these be in so contested an arena as international affairs? I believe that they include the truths of human dignity and fundamental

equality, whereby a child born in the smallest village of the poorest land is valued as much as one born on Beacon Hill. I

believe they include a yearning for peace, the awareness that we are but stewards of this extraordinary only one earth, the

understanding that even though the world is divided by many particularisms we are united as a human community.

This noble cause requires your help. All of you in the Class of 1997, wherever you go from here and whatever you do in the

future, will participate in a world that is becoming increasingly globalized. You will interact, directly or indirectly, with others

just like you across the far reaches of the world. They will represent colleagues, competitors, customers. As you enter this new

world, I call upon you to remember this: as powerful and as progressive a bond that market rationality constitutes, it is not a

sufficient basis for human solidarity. It must be coupled with an ethic of caring for those whom the market disadvantages, an

ethic of responsibility for the collective goods that the market under produces, an ethic of tolerance for those whom the market

pits as your adversary.

The United Nations has no peer in this regard. It is the unparalleled nerve center of the global village, exploring and negotiating

emerging issues, setting priorities, and creating norms of conduct. Since the 1970s, the United Nations has been at the

forefront of instituting concern with the human environment, world population, world hunger, the extension of fundamental

human rights to encompass the status of women and of children, as well as sustainable development in its many facets. We

have done so through a series of global conferences that have brought together governments and non-governmental

organizations from every corner of the world.

By means of this novel form of multilateral diplomacy, the universal truths of which I spoke slowly but steadily are making

themselves heard. Slowly but steadily they are stretching the "we" in "we the peoples of the United Nations," as the opening

words of our Charter put it--not at the expense of you or me, of this or that country, but in fulfillment of that which we share in

common.

Moreover, most of you here today are citizens of this great and bountiful United States of America. For you I have a special

plea. Your country, the world's most powerful, even now is debating its future role in the new world community, and the place

of the United Nations within that overall foreign policy vision.

I call upon you to work tirelessly to anchor the United States firmly to the course of internationalism, to its historic mission as

an agent of progressive change and to a world order that reflects your country's commitment to the rule of law, equal

opportunity, and the irreducible rights of all individuals. The need is pressing; the moment is now. Let us continue the

productive partnership between the United States and the United Nations and go forward together with a positive, can-do

attitude to win the peace and prosperity that beckons.

Thank you, Mr. President, honored guests--and most of all, my fellow alumni and alumnae. Yes, I can call you that now.

Good luck!

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News Release, MIT News Office

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