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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2000)
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Thursday May 25,2000 Volume 101, Issue 160 EHierald istinguished 2000 graduates and fami lies, faculty, staff and friends: Thank you for your kind invitation to address this gathering. I had a little bit of trouble getting from Concord to Eu gene, but transportation has certainly evolved in my day. Many of you may know me from my Web site, Waldenpond.com, or from my best-selling motivational tapes like “Power for Power’s Sake” and “Inner Peace in 10 Easy Steps.” Before the cyber era, I was better known for my hermetic ways and the occasional op-ed piece in the Christian Science Monitor. The day has come once again when a passel of smart, eager graduates is un leashed on the world at-large. The question is not whether you are ready to join that world, but rather, is it ready for you? My hope is that it is, that the gifts and talents you are endowed with can find a home be yond the ivy-colored walls of the Universi ty You will soon be besieged by kindly, wen-comea men ana women onenng you the opportunity to provide their companies . with high*skilled, low-paid labor. Many of these smooth-talking recruiters will outline various perks and promises involving ben efits like discounted employee parking on the company lot (for drivers of company approved vehicles), ^comprehensive 21 meal-per-week plan and all the rice cakes and candy canes you can eat. They will ply you with unlimited access to strategically placed company water coolers and quadrenni al computer upgrades. They may even offer you the chance to be a bat boy on the company softball team. Too good to be true? That depends on how you look at it. True, there’s never been a better time to work for the American corporation. The re cent sea change in corporate culture and governance stemming from the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle have resulted in significant shifts in workplace values and practices. The nameless, face less corporation is rapidly ceding power to sensitive, caring corporate executives with actual names and faces. These kinder, gen tler souls value mentoring the young em ployees who they fear will one day take their jobs. Used to be they were only inter ested in career advancement, situational truth-telling and unabashed self-interest. I never thought the day would come. But it is now upon us. In fact, I was at one point so discouraged about the state of things in our land that I decided to leave it all behind and live in the woods near Concord for a year without Internet access, a microwave, central heat and air or even MTV. It was tough — I won’t kid you — but I found it a useful ex ercise and even wrote a book about the ex perience. A case of art imitating life, I sup pose. But really, enough about me. Let’s talk about you. A diverse group with many tal ents, I have little doubt that one day mem bers of your class will make significant contributions to the American way of life that we prize so highly. Sitting among you today are future franchise operators of fast food outlets, gifted entrepreneurs with bril liant new ideas for maximizing sources of low-paid child labor and scientists who will one day be able to clone Jean-Claude Van Damme and Tonya Harding. In the same person! I would be remiss not to speak to those who long to take what Robert Frost pre sciently termed “The Road Less Traveled.” There is a place in this incredible bounty for you as well. Your artistic talents will be in great demand in situations as diverse as writing fresh new jin gles for laundry de tergents, creating company-approved cafeteria artwork and choreographing the Corporate Round table’s annual rap production. Aren’t those guys cool? So while you may find me a bit of a Pollyanna, I should take pains to point out the potential downside. If you somehow resist the blandishments of the establishment and decide to follow your heart, you could be in for a bumpy ride. You may find yourself having uncontrol lable bursts of creativity and glee. You may find that relaxation and contentment can be a way of life, not just an infrequent occu pational hazard. You may rediscover your body and learn to listen to what it needs at the expense of stuffing your head at the all you-can-think mind buffet. You may actu ally get a sense of why you’re here and what you’re here to do, like those shaggy haired existentialists at Out of the Fog. A bleak prognosis? Perhaps. But I thought it important to give you a balanced picture of the road that lies ahead. It’s now time for me to catch the coach back to Concord. Thank you again for hav ing me. May your future be bright and lu crative. And don’t forget to visit my Web site. . Whit Sheppard is a columnist for the Oregon k Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily w represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached via e-mail at whitneys@darkwing. uoregon.edu. Whit Sheppard mm* #♦>** ;**»♦* Lmv«> »* * 11 ] <1! ***« J )*H(h !I*IH jfWtd 91M 1 * * if i * 1 j M» gi*f
