(NAME-MCE) A beloved professor delivers the lecture of a lifeti

[KispokoT at aol.com]

This is an amazing, amazing story. A brief video of the lecture  is available 
through the Wall Street Journal.
 
Gina Boltz 
Director, Native Village Publications 
Director, Youth Forum for The International Council of Thirteen  Indigenous 
Grandmothers 
_http://www.nativevillage.org_ (http://www.nativevillage.org)  
Secretary, Link Center Foundation 
_www.linkcenterfoundation.org_ (http://www.linkcenterfoundation.org)  
 
 
 
A beloved professor delivers the lecture of a lifetime
 
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal featured one of the best newspaper columns  
I've ever read. By Jeffrey Zaslow, the column tells the story of the "last  
lecture" of Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor Randy Pausch,  
a 46-year old father of three young kids who is afflicted with terminal  
pancreatic cancer. Online the Journal has posted the column  
Read the column before you watch the video (listed below). Here it is:  
Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science  professor, was 
about to give a lecture Tuesday afternoon, but before he said a  word, he 
received a standing ovation from 400 students and colleagues.  
He motioned to them to sit down. "Make me earn it," he said. 
They had come to see him give what was billed as his "last lecture." This  is 
a common title for talks on college campuses today. Schools such as  Stanford 
and the University of Alabama have mounted "Last Lecture Series," in  which 
top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and  to 
give hypothetical final talks. For the audience, the question to be mulled  is 
this: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last  
chance? 
It can be an intriguing hour, watching healthy professors consider their  
demise and ruminate over subjects dear to them. At the University of Northern  
Iowa, instructor Penny O'Connor recently titled her lecture "Get Over  
Yourself." At Cornell, Ellis Hanson, who teaches a course titled "Desire,"  spoke about 
sex and technology. 
At Carnegie Mellon, however, Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an  
academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and  
expects to live for just a few months. His lecture, using images on a giant  
screen, turned out to be a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons  of 
his life. 
He began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver. But  
after that, he talked about living. If anyone expected him to be morose, he  said, 
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the floor and did  
one-handed pushups. 
Clicking through photos of himself as a boy, he talked about his childhood  
dreams: to win giant stuffed animals at carnivals, to walk in zero gravity, to  
design Disney rides, to write a World Book entry. By adulthood, he had  
achieved each goal. As proof, he had students carry out all the huge stuffed  
animals he'd won in his life, which he gave to audience members. After all, he  
doesn't need them anymore. 
He paid tribute to his techie background. "I've experienced a deathbed  
conversion," he said, smiling. "I just bought a Macintosh." Flashing his  rejection 
letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his career,  repeating: 
"Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we  want 
things." He encouraged us to be patient with others. "Wait long enough,  and people 
will surprise and impress you." After showing photos of his  childhood 
bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the  walls, he said: "If 
your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me,  let 'em do it." 
While displaying photos of his bosses and students over the years, he said  
that helping others fulfill their dreams is even more fun than achieving your  
own. He talked of requiring his students to create videogames without sex and  
violence. "You'd be surprised how many 19-year-old boys run out of ideas when 
 you take those possibilities away," he said, but they all rose to the  
challenge. 
He also saluted his parents, who let him make his childhood bedroom his  
domain, even if his wall etchings hurt the home's resale value. He knew his  mom 
was proud of him when he got his Ph.D, he said, despite how she'd  introduce 
him: "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the kind who helps  people." 
He then spoke about his legacy. Considered one of the nation's foremost  
teachers of videogame and virtual-reality technology, he helped develop  "Alice," 
a Carnegie Mellon software project that allows people to easily  create 3-D 
animations. It had one million downloads in the past year, and  usage is 
expected to soar. 
"Like Moses, I get to see the Promised Land, but I don't get to step foot  in 
it," Dr. Pausch said. "That's OK. I will live on in Alice." 
Many people have given last speeches without realizing it. The day before  he 
was killed, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke prophetically: "Like anybody, I  
would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place." He talked of how he  
had seen the Promised Land, even though "I may not get there with you." 
Dr. Pausch's lecture, in the same way, became a call to his colleagues and  
students to go on without him and do great things. But he was also addressing  
those closer to his heart. 
Near the end of his talk, he had a cake brought out for his wife, whose  
birthday was the day before. As she cried and they embraced on stage, the  
audience sang "Happy Birthday," many wiping away their own tears. 
Dr. Pausch's speech was taped so his children, ages 5, 2 and 1, can watch  it 
when they're older. His last words in his last lecture were simple: "This  
was for my kids." Then those of us in the audience rose for one last standing  
ovation.  
Video: _http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/09/018520.php_ 
(http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/09/018520.php) 
_Michelle Malkin_ 
(http://michellemalkin.com/2007/09/21/a-lesson-before-dying/)  also directs readers to _Professor Pausch's Web page_ 
(http://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/research/faculty_research/pausch.html)  and this _ABC story_ 
(http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3633945&page=1) . The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
fills  in a bit more of the story _here_ 
(http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07262/818671-85.stm#) . Professor Pausch has posted additional  information _here_ 
(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/)  and _here_ 
(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html) . He writes: "I want to close by once  again thanking everyone at 
Carnegie Mellon, our church, and our friends and  family, who have been so 
wonderful to us. We are very grateful, and we are sorry  this story doesn't have 
a happier ending."  
Posted by Scott at 7:50 AM

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