Spring Break
Crowds flock to hear Blair speak
Christene Dino, Contributing Writer, cdino@smu.edu
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: News
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At 10:30 a.m., the doors opened to a flood of people, and 35 minutes later McFarlin was packed. The middle section of the floor seats was reserved for the Hart Global Leaders Students, which are "selected high school students from all over the Metroplex given the opportunity to interact with national and international leaders in government, business, science and the media," as described in the event program.
Soon thereafter, President R. Gerald Turner took the stage and introduced Blair as "the political leader that is the head and face of the Queen's government." Blair stepped to the podium, neatly dressed in a gray suit that matched his polished hair, contrasted by his baby pink tie. He beamed at the crowd.
The audience of 2,300 welcomed Blair with a 20-second standing After the uproar of applause gradually died down, Blair soothed the energized crowd with a joke. "It's quite difficult to find a decent cup of tea here," humored Blair, "…and perhaps that's due to the Boston Tea Party."
Continuing on with his witty tone, Blair compared today's college students to those of his time. "The single biggest thing is the pixel-scaled intensity of change. It's so dramatic, so fundamental. Nowadays, college students are so respectable. Once, my youngest child saw a college photo of me and said, 'Dad, whatever we [your children] do, we're not going to embarrass you as much as you were embarrassed in that picture.'" Once again, the crowd responded in a tumult of laughter.
After calming the once-anxious audience and drawing their attention, Blair proceeded to more serious matters.
"The world is becoming more interdependent. The problems we're facing cannot be faced by one nation alone," stated Blair. "The center of gravity and economy is shifting eastwards. For example, the biggest power in Africa right now is China. China is putting more money in Africa than any other nation.
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