News

Keynote Address on the occasion of the XII Annual Unity Dinner - Minority Engineering Program Banquet at UC Davis, May 16, 2003.

by Olivia A. Graeve

Buenas tardes! Good evening! I am very pleased to be here today.

This is the first time I have been asked to do this keynote address job. Thank you Sandra for inviting me. Any complaints may be directed to her.

Today I want to talk to you about some of the heroes in my life.

I have a few heroes. Some of them you will recognize; some of them you won't. Some of them have made an enormous difference in the lives of thousands, if not millions. Some of them have made a difference in the lives of a few. I look up to these people. They are truly my role models and examples.

One of them said, way back in 1968:

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

You all know who said this, correct? For the students - this is a test. Who was it? I would change that quote a little to fit our purposes today and say:

I have a dream that all children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Black children, brown children, white children.

Profound words. And you know, the dream continues, his dream continues, unfortunately we are not quite there yet. You see, he realized, and we realize, that it is not up to one person to effect change. It is truly a whole village; a whole nation; a whole planet.
The question is, who are the people that are going to continue the dream? Why you! of course. The new graduates, the next generation.

And maybe you don't want to hear this, but you do have a responsibility. To become the best that you can be, to become HEROES.

Here's another quote:

It is not enough to teach our young people to be successful ... so they can realize their ambitions, so they can earn good livings, so they can accumulate the material things that this society bestows. Those are worthwhile goals. But it is not enough to progress as individuals while our friends and neighbors are left behind.

You probably don't know who said this. Cesar Chavez - another one of my personal heroes.

And he was right. You are graduating from this campus with a college education, so that you can earn a good living, so that you can realize your ambitions. But that is not enough.

You have a responsibility to become HEROES. For others to emulate; for others to follow.

I would like to tell you a story about my own personal experience with Cesar Chavez.

I did my K-12 education in Mexico and came to the United States in 1990 for college. At that time I was completely ignorant, and I really mean ignorant, about the Mexican-American struggle in the United States. I had NEVER heard of Cesar Chavez. I find this particularly baffling considering that I lived in the frontera all my life. I was born and raised in Tijuana; my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were born and raised in Tijuana.

In Mexico, the Mexican-Americans are considered uneducated, and are heavily criticized for not speaking la gran lengua Española. They are called pochos, they don't quite speak English, they don't quite speak Spanish - they speak Spanglish. I came to this country with that prejudice.

I heard about Cesar Chavez for the first time while attending a graduation ceremony - not mine, another one. And his famous quote was mentioned several times: Si se puede! It can be done.

I was shocked to see that someone was mixing Spanish and English in that way. My goodness, this person was giving a very important speech. You are mixing up the languages. You are not supposed to do that!

I quickly wanted to know who this Cesar Chavez person was. I learned that he was a farm worker! A farm worker who decided to take on the cause of the farm workers in California and beyond. Who decided to make a difference, to become a HERO, and probably not consciously. He simply had had enough. His pueblo, his gente were dying, and he was not going to sit by and let it happen.

My own personal prejudices were changed: I am now a pocha, and proud of it! I am a Mexican and an American, and there is nothing wrong with that. Some of my best friends are pochos.

When I came to the United States I spoke perfect English, with no accent. The reason being that when I was growing up we didn't have Mexican channels coming into our television. The local stations were all in English. I grew up with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fud. I also crossed the border into San Diego all the time: to go shopping, to go to the movies. In fact, three of the five years I was doing my Bachelor's degree I crossed the border every day to go to school.

I learned to speak English and Spanish at the same time. So, I had no accent.

When I discovered Cesar Chavez I decided that I wanted an accent, I am a Mexican-American. So, for a few years I have been working on that, and also trying to mix Spanish and English into my vocabulary. Why not? I'll say it again, I am a Mexican-American, and proud of it!

Also, I have a responsibility, to become a better person than who I am now, to be a role model for the Mexican-American children who want to forget the language of their parents, who don't realize the rich history of the Latino struggle. And you do to: you have a responsibility to become HEROES today.

Si se puede! You can do it Juanito, you can do it Maria, you can do it Jesus.

And talking about prejudice: question, always question your prejudices.

I know of one person that did just that. The third hero of this evening. She was born to a very wealthy family in 1884 in New York City. If there had been an aristocracy in the United States, she would have been part of it. She lived her early years among the white elite upper class. In 1902 she had her society debut at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Maybe some of you already know who I am talking about. Yes?

Some time after that, she started questioning her prejudices. Not all at once, but once she started she was unrelenting.

Eleanor Roosevelt became a woman with exquisite sensitivity to the underprivileged of all creeds, races, and nations.

1939: Eleanor defies segregation laws when she sits between whites and blacks at the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in Birmingham, Alabama.

1958: Eleanor speaks at a civil rights workshop at Highlander Folk School in Tennessee despite threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

I don't know what you think, but I think this is pretty impressive.

So, how does this "becoming a HERO" thing happen? For starters you have to find balance in your life: with community involvement; with mentoring of children - and I can't stress enough the importance of mentoring young people; with activities that make YOU happy, that promote your creative side; with a job that you find exciting and challenging. All of these things don't happen overnight. You have to work at it!

It's basically about becoming a well-rounded person.

But most importantly, to become a HERO, you must never compromise your ethics.

Actually, as engineers getting your ethics compromised could happen very easily.

(Subsequent paragraphs taken from Engineering Ethics by Charles B. Fleddermann)

Why would I say that? After all, at this point in your life, you are already either a good person or a bad person.

Good people already know the right thing to do, and bad people aren't going to do the right thing no matter how much ethical training they receive.

The answer to this question lies in the nature of the ethical problems that are often encountered by an engineer.

In some situations, the correct response is very obvious. For example, it is clear that to knowingly equip a car with wheel lugs made from substandard, weak steel that is susceptible to breaking is unethical and wrong. This action could lead to the loss of a wheel while driving and could cause numerous accidents and put many lives at risk. Of course, such a design decision would also be a commercial disaster for the car manufacturer.

However, many times, the ethical problems encountered in engineering practice are very complex and involve conflicting ethical principles. For the engineers and managers of this car, the question becomes the following: Where does an engineering team strike the balance between safety and affordability and, simultaneously, the ability of the company to sell the car and make a profit?

You probably have never heard this, but ethics problems are like engineering design problems.

The essence of engineering practice is the design of products, structures, and processes. The design problem is stated in terms of specifications: A device must be designed that meets criteria for performance, aesthetics, and price.

Within the limits of these specifications, there are many "correct" solutions. There will, of course, be some solutions that are better than others in terms of higher performance or lower cost.

Ethical problem solving shares these attributes with engineering design. Although there will be no unique correct solution to most of the problems you will encounter, there will be a range of solutions that are clearly right, some of which are better than others. There will also be a range of solutions that are clearly wrong.

(End of paragraphs from Engineering Ethics)

Let me give you an example:

You are an engineer working for a high-tech company that makes extensive use of trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent that causes cancer and affects the liver, kidneys, and nervous system. Your company has established a storage site, which is leaking, and you are responsible for designing a fix.

You submitted your design to your supervisor for approval two months ago, but to date have not received any indication that the corrective design solution has been reviewed.

In the meantime the trichloroethylene is continuing to leak into the environment. One month ago when you questioned your supervisor about the status, he said it was still in the approval cycle.

What will you do now?

I think it's fairly clear that there's no one simple answer. There are, however, several things you could do:

1. Not care - obviously the unethical thing to do.
2. Give your supervisor another few weeks to make a decision on the implementation of your design. Maybe even send him a memo telling him that you want an answer in a week? two weeks?
3. Report your supervisor to his boss.
4. Send a memo to the president of the company.
5. Call the EPA and get your company in REAL trouble, knowing full well that you could loss your job. If you were considering this last option, would it be different if you were single as opposed to having a large family to support?

Again, there is no one clear answer here. And you will run into situations like this all the time in your professional life.

The only thing I can say to you is: approach every problem with an engineers mind. Write down the possibilities, make calculated guesses as to what is right and what is wrong, and then make the decision that does not compromise your moral and ethical values. And of course, never ever lie during the course of exercising your profession.

Just recently we had quite a scandal in the scientific community. This guy from Bell Labs had been publishing in the scientific literature prolifically. Some said he was on his way to getting the Nobel Prize in Physics or Chemistry. I forget which one.

About two years ago, other scientists started getting concerned with the reproducibility of his results. Somehow nobody was able to do what he had done. Questions were asked, an investigation was started . . . bottom line, he fabricated most of his data. Obviously lost his job. This event rocked the scientific community down to its very foundations. I can say that most, including myself, were shocked. One of our own, a cheater!

This really shows that you can fool some people, some of the time. But, you cannot fool all people, all of the time.

When I write scientific publications and research proposals, I have to be honest. I know I will not BS my colleagues. Maybe some, but not all. The same will happen to you when you practice engineering. When you write reports, keep in mind, you will not BS the engineering community.

Science and engineering is truly self-correcting. The truth comes out!

OK, enough of this.

Let me tell you about one more hero in my life, and then I'll be done. You haven't heard of this person. This person is a single mom who had five children. Growing up they were dirt poor, and I mean really poor. This single mom had two jobs to support the family.

And, now I want to tell you what happened to the children.

Child #1: Obtained a Bachelor's degree in Structural Engineering from UC San Diego; obtained a Ph. D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Davis. Is now a professor.

Child #2: Obtained two Bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Latin American Studies from UCLA; currently enrolled at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in a Master's program in Public Policy.

Child #3: Obtained a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Chemistry from UC San Diego. Is now a pollution control expert.

Child #4: Obtained an Associate's degree as a Chef. Is currently trying to build a reputation as a Master Chef. She is still very young. I have no doubt she will get there.

Child #5: Obtained a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA; will soon enroll in a Ph. D. program.

This single mom I am talking about, is MY greatest hero. She is my mama! I am proud to bear her name: Olivia. And, by the way, I am Child #1.

My siblings and I do not take credit for what we have done with our lives. It's all because of our mom. She gets all the credit. We are nothing without her.

So you see, si se puede!

Today, we are all lucky to be surrounded by heroes right in this room: the moms of the world, who give everything for their children. I have great respect for all of you. It is because of you that we are here today celebrating the graduation of these students.

Students, you all have a role model in your own house. This should make it easy for you to become the HEROES that this world needs. Again, you have a responsibility to do this. To become a better person than you are now; to find balance in your life; to have the courage to stop injustice; to work for the benefit of the whole community; to QUESTION your prejudices; to NEVER compromise your ethical and moral beliefs.

So let me end today by saying:

I have a dream that all children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, or by the way they speak, but by the content of their character.

Ladies and gentlemen, si se puede!

Thank you.

Posted: 05/20/03