Don't Forget Health!

President Gora, trustees, other members of the platform party, fellow faculty members and staff, family members and friends of the graduates, and most especially members of the graduating class, I thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I would like to begin by congratulating the graduates and all who helped them get to this day-- job well done! This is a special day and one in which you should all take great pride and enjoy.

I stand before you today both a bit nervous and excited. Actually, I must admit, I have had dreams of being in an arena like this with a large crowd looking on; however, my dream did not include a commencement speech, but rather it was much more like the movie Hoosiers where I was making a game winning shot at the buzzer. It is, however, an honor and privilege to address you today. For those of us who work in academia we have many opportunities to give presentations during our professional lives, but few of us get to give a commencement address. With this honor comes the pressure to deliver a meaningful message. Knowing that, I have asked a number of other faculty members, including my wife Bonnie, for some advice on what to say. To sum up their responses in just a few statements people said--- talk about something you know something about, challenge the graduates, and above all else keep it short!

With those thoughts in mind, I want to talk with you today about health, not because it is pretty much the only thing I know, but it is one of the things that you, your family, your community, and our country will need if we are going to prosper in the future. I am sure that many of you have given much thought to your future, yet I would probably guess that few of you have been thinking about your health. I urge you not to forget health! Here is why. Good health is important! It not only impacts how we carry out our daily tasks; it also impacts our personal happiness, our ability to earn a living, our ability to care for ourselves and family, the enjoyment of our leisure time, the way we spend money, and much more. In summary, good health is not an end in itself, but rather the purpose of good health is to enjoy a life of quality.

Even though there is great importance attached to good health, most of us do little each day to achieve or maintain good health. We just assume we will have it. In fact, most of us don't think about our health until we lose it. Many people plan for a secure financial future, but few think and work toward a secure healthy future. Yet a secure financial future and a secure healthy future have a lot in common-- both require some action now and attention throughout life if they are to be reached.

Here are five examples of where our "forgetting about health" has left us--

One - We are unfit. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, more than 60 percent of U.S. adults do not engage in the recommended amount of physical activity; approximately 25 percent of U.S. adults are not active at all.

Two - Many of us are too short for our weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that an estimated 66 percent of U.S. adults and 17 percent of children and adolescents are either overweight or obese.

Three - We have too much disease. For example, in the last 10 years, the number of Americans diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes has more than doubled to 14.7 million and the government estimates that another 5 million have it and don't know it.

Four - We have too many uninsured. Approximately, 46 million Americans are without health insurance. Even with so many uninsured, the U.S. spends more on healthcare per capita than all other industrialized countries, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens.

And five - Healthcare is expensive. As former New York Yankee Yogi Berra has stated, "A nickel isn't worth a dime today." The U.S. now spends about $2 trillion on healthcare per year. Most of us have a hard time comprehending how much money that is, but if each dollar spent equaled a second of time, it would amount to more than 63,000 years!

Instead of planning for better health, we have left our health to chance. Class of 2006 this is where you come in. You are now in special company. In the U.S., only about 22 percent of adults age 25 and older hold either an associate or bachelor's degree, while another 9 percent hold a graduate degree. Reaching this day and earning your degree is a special accomplishment, but it comes with a responsibility. As George Bernard Shaw has stated, "we are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but the responsibility for our future." You have a responsibility to improve your health and the health of others. I now offer you five points you need to consider and act upon if we want better health.

Point number 1:  Continue to educate yourself about health. Though your formal education may be over, you can never stop learning. Become a good health consumer. Learn what preventive care you and your family should have. An ounce of prevention has always been better than a pound of cure, yet the U.S. spends only 5 percent of its $2 trillion healthcare bill on prevention. Learn more about your health insurance and how to use it, and understand that healthcare is not free just because you have health insurance. In short, learn more but remember the words of British philosopher and sociologistHerbert Spencer who said "the great aim of education is not knowledge but action." Which brings me to...

Point number 2:  Make time to improve and maintain your own health. More important than what a doctor can do for your health, is what you can do for yourself. I know Mark Twain said "the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd durther not." I am not suggesting that you become a health nut. In fact, I agree with the late comedian Redd Foxx when he said "health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing." However, what I am saying is that we need to behave in a healthier manner. We have known for sometime that better control of behavioral risk factors alone-- such as lack of exercise, poor diet, use of tobacco and drugs, and alcohol abuse-- could prevent about half of all disabilities and premature deaths. If you don't know where to start, start with exercise. It has a clustering effect and will lead to many more healthy behaviors. As Edward Stanley, a 19th Century British statesman noted, "those of us who do not think we have time for exercise, will sooner or later have to find time for illness."

Point number 3: Find satisfying work. Too many people enter the workforce with the single objective of making as much money as possible. It is true that you will need to earn a living to support yourself and your family, but at what price? When seeking out a place of employment, remember being fulfilled by your work and being happy at work are just as important as making money. As health professional Jordan Braverman has stated, "good health is the true wealth of life."

Point number 4: Work to protect the environment. We have been too quick to harm the environment for our own immediate gratification in terms of financial gain or personal satisfaction. Many natural resources are finite and we must become better stewards of them. We have come to expect as much clean water as we like when we turn on the tap, as much gasoline as we please when we pull up to the pump, and as much space in the garbage truck as we can cram into the weekly trash pick-up. We need to re-think our environmental behaviors.  As the old saying goes, "Once the last tree is cut, and the last river is poisoned, you will find you can't eat your money."  And finally,

Point number 5: If your social conscience is sleeping, awaken it. You are not in this world alone. Just because you are comfortable doesn't mean your neighbor is. Give of your time and resources to make life better for those who have to struggle. Too many people in the U.S. live in poverty, are homeless, hungry, and have to decide whether to spend their money on food or medicine. Adopt an important issue and become vocal about it. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said "our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Well there you have them-- five points to better health for all. Profound probably not, but practical I hope... And finally, live well, enjoy life and make it better for those with whom you live, work, and associate. Wherever the future takes you, I wish you well. Again, thanks for letting me share this special day with you. Good health to all. Thank you.