Younger not settling to be pleasant

As I clapped furiously, I wanted to stand up and be the only one standing, like Max Fischer at… As I clapped furiously, I wanted to stand up and be the only one standing, like Max Fischer at the beginning of “Rushmore.” The audience was displaying mixed reviews, clapping their hands like Congress during the State of the Union address, only not clearly divided into sections. I was half standing, and looking around to see that no one would follow my lead, I chickened out and sat down.

I was expecting the sort of dry, boring, three-hour-long snooze-fest that has become synonymous with awards ceremonies — everyone getting up on stage and thanking people for telling them how great they are.

My parents and brother even came in from out of town — a five-hour drive in the snow — and took Monday off of work. I warned them not to. “I won’t even get my name announced,” I informed them. “It really isn’t worth it.”

But they came, and so I went.

Julius Younger was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Public Service by Chancellor Mark Nordenberg Monday, at the 218th Founders’ Day Honors Convocation. He worked on both the Manhattan Project and the Polio vaccine, two of the most important scientific achievements of the 20th century.

As I got ready for the same song-and-dance routine, which panders to the conservative audience, Younger ripped my attention back to him with his speech. He talked about the things he had achieved, and said science and reason are what allows humanity to achieve such things.

My ears perked up — this actually sounded interesting. Rationality? This didn’t sound like the typical ode to greatness of institutional education.

He charged us with answering the questions of nuclear waste, genetic engineering, the morality of transplantation and the definition of death. He likened a controversy over the effectiveness of polio research to the current stem-cell research controversy.

I saw the eyes of the men sitting directly behind him get a little wider, and Chancellor Nordenberg seemed to shift a little uneasily in his seat. This was controversial; this was opinionated. This man was saying what he wanted to say, and he didn’t seem to care if the administration present or the family members in the audience didn’t want to hear it.

I started to grin when I realized where he was going with the speech. I looked around the room as if to say, “Are you guys hearing this too? Do you get what he’s saying? Do you get what he’s doing?”

Some people in the audience looked at their watches or pretended not to understand. Others weren’t paying attention to the words he was saying at all. And a few others, like me, were eagerly waiting for him to take that final punch.

“Religion,” he declared, “is based on faith. It lacks evidence. Science, by definition, needs proof. It demands proof, and we should always demand proof in the solutions to these problems that we face.”

This man has accomplished more for the advancement of science and humanity than most people could accomplish in 10 lifetimes. Not only that, he attributes the accomplishments to science, reason and humanity itself.

I admire Younger for not settling to be pleasant, for being honest and open and for being who he is. I applaud him for not being predictable, for not being typical, for taking a stand and encouraging the leaders of this university to think about some of these issues that truly affect our world, and above all, for demanding proof and rationality.

Dan thinks Mark Nordenberg is a great chancellor. E-mail him at DMasny@gmail.com.