Boston University Stuff
Over fifty (!) years ago, I graduated from Boston University. The vast majority of the Vaughan family had no college experience. However, my great-aunt, Julia, became a school teacher. (I had her as a substitute when I was in the fifth grade. She pretended not to know me and did not give me any special privilege.) My uncle, Elliott, was in the first World War and went to college afterwards, putting himself through by running whatever was the equivalent of a 5 and 10 cent store back then. Unfortunately, Elliott was killed at a young age by an overturned tractor.
After those two folks, college attendance was not something to be wished for until the kids in my age bracket (the "Vaughan Cousins") got the idea that higher education was the key to making a decent wage. Since early in High School, I wanted to attend Boston University. My job at the local YMCA didn't give me enough pay to save for tuition, and nobody in my family had that kind of money. So, I magically joined the Air Force and this allowed me to use the G.I. Bill when I got out. I graduated in 1960. I received a BA degree, and my wife, Elaine, received a PHT degree (Putting Hubby Through.) She and I both worked full time to augment the G.I. Bill. Her help allowed me to finish in three years.
I'm looking at a magazine I received today. It's called Arts and Science. That is the name of the Boston University college that I attended. In my time, it was called the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). Lots of famous people graduated from that college, for instance:
Jan Seidler Ramirez: As the Chief Curator of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, she ensures that thousands of lives don't disappear from history. One of the walls at the museum displays these words of Virgil: "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
John Woodward: A 21-year veteran of the CIA and Defense Department who specialized in intelligence, counterterrorism and technology policy. He is now a professor of the practice of international relations at the Pardee School for Global Studies. John believes that we should concentrate on our biometrics to safeguard our security.
A National identity management bureau would use mug shots and fingerprints and issue identity cards for all citizens. However, half of the U.S. citizens would probably not like this infringement on their privacy.
How about DNA? Right now, many police departments are gathering DNA from felons. Just think, if everyone's fingerprints and DNA was in a database.. would OJ ever get out of jail? .. would Vince Foster's murderer be found?
Laszlo Beres: Born in Hungary, he fled in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution. He arrived in the U.S. at the age of 12. A smart kid, Boston University recognized it, and was generous to him with financial aid. He obtained a BS degree and later a PhD in Chemistry. An expert in his field for 26 years.
Dan Rummel: The chief technology office or SHYP, a San Francisco-based company. Using the SHYP APP, one takes a picture of what one wants to send, chooses the destination and how quickly you want it to get there, and then requests pickup. Supposedly, within 20 minutes, a SHYP courier is at your door, ready to take care of your shipping need. This facility is available right now in only four cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Tomorrow... the world?
Eswar Priyadarshan: Creator of "Tasteful", an APP that he calls "Yelp for the healthy eater." One uses to find local restaurants that serve nutritious and tasty food that adheres to your dietary needs and preferences.
Language Program at Boston University
B.U. is part of a program giving future Army officers a solid grounding in critical languages, as needed by the Department of Defense. The program is called GO (Global Officer) and is part of the ROTC program. Students can learn such languages as Burmese, Hindi, Sudanese, Arabic, Japanese, Turkish, Korean, Hausa, and Wolof. Graduates of the program can also get free online tutoring as needed.
This reminds me of my language training situation with Russian at B.U. I thought that I was a hot-shot linguist when I started. I took advanced German and French and Spoken Russian. I was able to get good grades in all courses; however, I had not taken enough Russian to continue in an advanced Russian grammar class and did not continue. And now, if I have that very rare opportunity to speak Russian, I can't remember if I'm saying "Hello, and how are you?" or "What is your name?"
Once, I thought I would be smart and said "thank you" in Russian to a Russian born clerk at the Social Security cafeteria, and she started spouting Russian at me. I was completely lost. I should have shut up. I'm lucky to be able to speak English at this stage of my life.
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Well, now I'm fired up about Boston University again... I wonder if I can afford to send them a donation?
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