School of Interdisciplinary Studies Alumni News

Text of Oren Lund's Commencement Address Spring 2007 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Oren Lund

Bachelor of Arts, American Studies

You Graduate… and Then You Are One.

If I can put my nervousness about talking in front of a big group to the side, I really have a fair amount of graduation experience to work from. I watched my older sister graduate, then my older friends, then my peers, … then my younger sister,… then my much younger brother. Some time in there, I graduated from Culinary School.

It’s not that strange for someone to take as long as I have to graduate…. You call
them doctors usually, but anyway, I have seen some graduations in my day.

And invariably one question pops up. I like the way a friend of mine asked this question. She said, “You take classes, and professors teach you how to become whatever it is you want to be when you grow up, you cross that stage, and then… you are one?

What does this day bestow upon us? What have we learned to be these last 4, 5, or 10 years?

The answer is- our education at The University of Texas at Dallas has earned us the opportunity to become students of our respective professions. Once we walk out these doors today, the real learning begins.

During your time here, you have learned how to speak whatever professional language that you’ll need in your career. For me, I left culinary school knowing the difference between mayonnaise and hollandaise, between a chef’s knife and a serrated knife, I learned what parts of meat get prepared which ways. But after I graduated, the day I stepped into my first real kitchen, my professional education began. I slowly learned how to use those tools to produce great food.

UTD and the faculty here have prepared us.We now have the tools. In a few minutes, we will face the challenge of learning to use these tools to become great ourselves.

Our classes at UTD have given us the vocabulary, they have introduced us to the ideas and theories that we will need to know, they have enabled us to meet some of the great minds in their respective fields. Personally, I have been able to learn from some amazing political and constitutional scholars and professors, I’ve gotten to work in the office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, I have had, and taken, opportunities to do research with and for great people.

UTD and the faculty here have prepared us. We now have the tools.

In a few minutes, we will face the challenge of learning to use these tools to become great ourselves.

So when you go to work tomorrow, next week, next month, or whenever, don’t be discouraged- like my friend who came home beating himself up everyday because, while he had already graduated from med school 6 months earlier, he couldn’t treat patients as quickly or as accurately as a “real doctor” would. He was given the tools to learn how to become a “real” doctor, but mistook that for actually being given the skills and experience of one.

From this day forth, everyday will be a challenge.We, the class of The University of Texas at Dallas, May 2007, now have everything that we will need to learn how to accept this challenge.

You aren’t born a great doctor. While those who tasted “Oren Cacciatore” when I was 8 might disagree, you aren’t born a great chef. You aren’t a political scientist, a molecular biologist, a lawyer, or a chemist as soon as you shake President Daniel’s hand and flip your tassle. But with the professional language, the ideas and theories, the amazing contacts, and the wonderful role models that UTD has given us, we can humbly learn to become those things.

From this day forth, everyday will be a challenge. We, the class of The University of Texas at Dallas, May 2007, now have everything that we will need to learn how to accept this challenge.

Congratulations to everyone here, and may we all enjoy the education that is about to begin. Thank you.

Oren Lund graduated Summa Cum Laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA in American Studies. He came to UT Dallas having graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and working as a chef at both the York Street Café and the Ritz-Carlton. In 2003, he was the Grand Prize Winner of the Great Wines International Food and Wine Competition.

At UT Dallas he has been a permanent resident of the Dean’s Honors List, a member of the Moot Court Team, a winner of the All-American Mediator Award, and an Archer Fellow. In fall of 2006, he completed an internship in the office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Following graduation he will begin law school at The University of Chicago.

Network Intrusion News>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

UT Dallas Combats Network Intrusion

UPDATE: Computer Network Intrusion
Affects Library Patrons; Analysis Complete

RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 19, 2007) — The completed analysis of networked computing resources at The University of Texas at Dallas indicates approximately 35,000 individuals potentially have had sensitive information exposed by a computer network intrusion.

The increase includes approximately 29,000 University of Texas at Dallas library patrons, including those who may hold cards from other libraries who have used the UT Dallas library.  Data potentially exposed in that group consists of names and social security numbers only.

There continues to be no indication that the information has been disclosed, disseminated or used to anyone’s detriment at this time.  

Other individuals whose information is known to be involved include:

• In the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, students and faculty as well as applicants for admission dating back as far back as 1993.
• All staff and faculty of the University who were employed from January 1999 through August 2005.

The information that may have been exposed includes names and Social Security numbers, and in some cases addresses, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers.

Investigation of the incident by law enforcement authorities continues.  The University is in the process of contacting by U.S. mail those individuals whose information could have been exposed. Individuals who are concerned that they might be affected by this intrusion are encouraged to go to www.utdallas.edu/datacompromise to learn how to protect their credit information

Guaranteed Tution Plan Announced>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Guaranteed Tuition Plan is designed to help new students and their families better plan for the cost of a college education, while allowing the university to maintain the quality of its academic programs. 

It will also provide an incentive for students to earn a degree in a timely manner, since additional courses taken beyond 15 credit hours each semester will, in essence, be free.

Under the terms of the plan, undergraduate students enrolling at UT Dallas for the first time for the Fall 2007, Spring 2008 and Summer 2008 semesters will be charged for tuition and mandatory fees fixed at the Fall 2007 rates for all succeeding semesters through the Summer of 2011. 

The cohort of new students who enroll at UT Dallas in the 2008-09 academic year will pay tuition and mandatory fees at a new rate which will also be guaranteed for the following four years.

The charges per semester credit hour for tuition and mandatory fees at UT Dallas will depend on the number of hours for which a student enrolls. 

Other non-mandatory fees including, for example, parking,  and housing fees, will be subject to change.

Students who enrolled at UT Dallas prior to Fall 2007 will be charged a different rate than the newly enrolled students.  That rate remains subject to increase each year. The Guaranteed Tuition program is open to currently enrolled students but, unless a student has more than two full years of instructional work left to complete, the benefit of joining the program would be very limited, if any.

The Comet Connection

Those who begin their college careers at a community college will also be able to take advantage of UT Dallas’ Guaranteed Tuition Plan under a new program called the Comet Connection. 

Students enrolling at participating two-year schools in the 2007-08 academic year can lock in the same Fall 2007 rate for new students for the same four-year period as students who begin at UT Dallas.  

For More Information

Students need to contact UT Dallas’ Comet One-Stop office at 972-883-2270 for more information, or go to www.utdallas.edu/connect for more information.

UT Dallas is one of a handful of public universities in the U.S., and one of only two in the University of Texas System that offer students fixed tuition and mandatory fees.