Are You Excited About the Inauguration?

Well it is my birthday, but I think not for the inauguration. Ir it was policy in the past perhaps, but if not I can see a bunch of problems with the people who are on the other side ( read wingnuts),

A lot of my friends are, myself not so much. You are right a bunch of speeches and all very scripted. Now I do want to hear Obama's speech. Inauguration speeches are always interesting, providing a lot of light into what the President wants to do.

Formal events can be interesting even when the outcome is preordained. (We know that as of noon Tuesday, Obama will be President.) Given Obama's speaking chops and the symbolic importance of inaugural addresses, it hardly seems remarkable that people should be keyed up for it.

I know I am, and I'm deeply pissed off that jury service will probably keep me from seeing it live.

I will not be going to work, but it's not so much from being excited as from following orders. It's a federal holiday in DC, and I will do my civic duty and not add to the traffic congestion.

Oh, come on now! It's not is if it were the first day of deer season. :)

I'd guess the "bunch of other faculty and students" was not a physics department gathering? I can definitely see this happening on the other side of our campus, where the old line from a Firesign Theater skit ("There are no classes in our society." "Or in our school.") sometimes applies. Probably even more likely at a northeastern SLAC.

The problem of seeing the oath and speech strikes me as less of a problem in the current era, given that the entire event will be replayed on CSPAN, and the speech will live forever on YouTube and the Obama transition website. However, I am thinking seriously about having it running in the background on the lecture PC and switching to it if the moment of change happens at a convenient time. After all, I always digress and blow off some time in mid lecture anyway. Why not for this?

Now if I was teaching history, I would make it a teachable moment. Have the students analyze the speech and sort out what they think history will say about that event and that speech. See if they can write the paragraph (one paragraph) that will be in the next history book, using the FDR, Kennedy, and Reagan inaugurations as a model for the number of words they will get to capture the moment.

But cancel class? My afternoon class met on 9/11.

Besides, the idea of canceling a class like mine, where a significant number of African American students are striving to advance via the meritocracy in engineering or physics (much like Obama did) strikes me as exactly the wrong thing to do.

I'd guess the "bunch of other faculty and students" was not a physics department gathering?

No.
The faculty discussing it were not in disciplines where Tuesday's program of events would be directly relevant to their classes, though.

I completely understand people being excited about Obama taking office (you'll be able to hear my sigh of relief in Missouri...), and I'm sure he'll give an excellent speech. But I'm a little surprised that people are fired up enough to want to cancel classes on totally unrelated subjects for it. Especially given how short our terms are-- someone teaching in a Tuesday-Thursday mid-day slot gets a total of twenty class meetings in the entire term.

I'm also a little bothered by this because I doubt very much that anybody canceled class in 2001 or 2005 so interested students could watch George Bush get sworn in. Obama's inauguration is unquestionably more historic than either of Bush's, but this is still a little too close to bringing personal politics into classes where it has no place.

I am excited about the inauguration in the same way I would be excited about a wedding. Where is your sense of ceremony? (And speaking of ceremonial protocol, yes, I'll be drinking champagne during the speechifying, which helps it all go down so much smoother; and yes, I do that at weddings, too. Whereas at funeral ceremonies, depending upon my relationship with the deceased, I smuggle in a flask . . . )

It is a ceremony. It marks an important transition, and at least to me, considering how I feel about the Bush years, a much needed one. Unlike most ceremonies, this marks a national transition. If I watch it live, I feel like I have 'attended', so to speak. I am close enough to go to DC, but not crazy enough to fight the crowds, so home it will be -- in real time.

I will no doubt get teary-eyed when they play the anthems, and teary-eyed when he takes the oath of office. Luckily my boss wants to see it too, so we are all dismissed from the office that day.

To better days! *clinks glass*

Originally, Inauguration Day was supposed to be our first day of classes for the Spring semester. But last week, the powers that be decided the state of emergency surrounding DC was too much and we'd start the semester a day later (and eliminate the reading day before exams to make up for it). So no classes Tuesday, for anyone.

To give a sense of the hysteria, I quote from yesterday's email to everyone working or teaching at one of the satellite campuses (about 30 miles from DC):

VDEM (Virginia Department of Emergency Management) has requested the Prince William Campus be prepared to serve as a State Transfer Point on Inauguration Day, January 20. The purpose of a transfer point is to provide a safe and secure point of transfer for displaced persons for transition in the event of an emergency evacuation. As a precaution, members of the National Guard (80 - 100) and VA Social Services workers will be stationed on the PW Campus on January 20.

In addition, the campus has been designated as a staging site for healthcare worker transportation to D.C. area hospitals;

[. . .]

strongly encouraging all supervisors and managers to allow staff not needed to support these operations, to work from home or utilize flexible work options.

I'm going into the District tonight since we have tickets to see Orpheus in the Underworld. But after that I'm staying away from the madness until everyone calms down.

This is a historic event. No matter when the next minority candidate gets elected, Obama is the First Black President and represents a singular moment in this nation's history. This easily transcends one lecture on a Tuesday for any class, regardless of subject. One can choose to avoid the pageantry and ceremony in DC because of the overload of crowds, but that doesn't mean those overloaded crowds and millions watching on TV aren't justified in wanting to be a small part of this history.

If you don't "get it" then you don't get it, that's fine. I would simply argue that taking life-outside-of-classes is more important for certain events.

@CCPhysicist, I have no idea what the hell anyone was doing having class on 9/11. And, respectfully, I honestly think you lack the perspective of how Obama inspires people, African-American or otherwise, if you believe that your class is really a higher priority for students.

At the high school where I work they are altering the bell schedule to make 7th period last the duration of the inauguration. The other periods are only 5 minutes shorter, and everyone in the school gets/has to watch the ceremony and speeches.

Many other schools in the area are doing the same thing, and I think it is a great idea. It is good that the students get to watch this historic moment - one that is positive and might balance their memories of the events of the previous 8 years.

I'm glad the administration decided to make this change, because I'm a first year teacher and I was going to show the inauguration instead of teaching anyway.

One correction, there will be music as well as speeches. A new piece by John Williams (yes, that John Williams) will be performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and 2 other musicians right after Biden takes his oath and right before Obama takes his oath. I'm fortunate that my semester hasn't started yet, so I don't have this problem. In fact, DePauw is having a viewing at the library for everyone interested. If I had a class to teach, I'd probably have us watch the oaths and music, and wait to watch the speeches at home.

I'm not a US citizen - I don't live in the US. I'm a Caucasian South African Canadian living in Toronto. I'm self employed and will be taking the day off, to watch what I can on TV.

I was thinking of heading to Wash. But the crush of people would be a bit much.

Why the interest? It's not often you get to watch history being made. And despite the overuse of the term 'historic' - it is.

For emotional reasons, not logical ones, I want to listen to the speeches as the words as spoken. I want to see it happen as it happens. As an earlier poster said? If you don't get it? That's okay. But for me? For personal and other reasons... this is a fascinating day.

I watched towers fall from the sky years ago... I need to add better, more uplifting memories to my dreams.

Completely inappropriate to cancel class. As Chad notes above, no one cancelled class for Bush (surely) or likely Clinton. I'd say let the Activities office set up a central viewing location somewhere on campus and students can cut if they want.

The real test for Chad: did he speak up amongst his colleagues to criticize their idea?

The real test for Chad: did he speak up amongst his colleagues to criticize their idea?

No.
What other faculty choose to do with their classes is not my problem. If they want to cancel class, that's their prerogative. I wouldn't cancel my class, but I'm not going to presume to tell them how to run their courses.

Sixteen years ago I sat in front of the TV all day and watched the events surrounding Clinton's first inauguration. It was the first time in all my voting years that my vote had actually counted toward electing the president.

I have been planning for months to take off work on Jan 20, 2009, to watch the ceremony and celebration. I've been anticipating this day for years. One day and one person can't erase all the bad stuff of the past eight years, but it's good to feel hopeful again. And it's great to see so many people hopeful and energized.

I'm not excited about the inauguration itself, but I am excited that we're about to have a president with a brain.

Formal ceremonies for outcomes that are not in question are easily the things people cancel stuff for to see. When a war ends, people don't stop that day - they stop everything for the parade. When students finish their courses, most don't just leave and go away - they have a graduation ceremony that stops everything around it.

There's nothing unusual about it.

Some of us want the experience of being there to witness history as it happens. It's almost as exciting as the election. But for those of us who don't have a ticket to the actual event, watching it live on TV or via CNN.com is as close as we get at that experience.

Anyone can watch a re-run on the 11 o'clock news or YouTube, but it's so much more exciting to me to take time out of my work day to watch it while it's happening. My co-workers and I wish we had the day off.

I didn't mind the boring day speeches at the DNC because the event itself was so thrilling to me, so I doubt I'll mind the pomp and circumstance this time. Normally I find inaugurations boring as hell, but this one is different and I can't wait to see it. This is the first time in my life that the guy I voted for actually won, and I'm gonna see him sworn in, damn it! :D

Chad, the fact is that Monday is the celebration of MLK's birthday, followed on Tuesday by the inauguration of the first African-American President. This is a huge double event, with full coverage on CNN and other news networks.

I've spent a good part of yesterday watching Comcast "On Demand" for his 2004 and 2008 DNC speeches and other events and biographies. So yes, to me (and apparently many others according to CNN), this is a big deal and I plan on watching as much of it as possible.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if in my lifetime, years after his Presidency ends, if his birthday ends up being a federal holiday or if he becomes the fifth head on Mt. Rushmore. I mean, this is that important in American history.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if in my lifetime, years after his Presidency ends, if his birthday ends up being a federal holiday or if he becomes the fifth head on Mt. Rushmore. I mean, this is that important in American history.

Let's try to maintain a little perspective, here. Can we at least wait to see if he does a good job as President before we talk about carving his face into the side of a mountain?

I tried to convince my son that the Supreme Court would come out in their robes and chant "Two, four, six, eight, who do we inaugurate? Obama! Obama! Obama!" He didn't buy it, but that would make me want to watch.

But all this talk about this guy saying a prayer and that guy saying a prayer and Yo-yo Ma and so forth has left me less than enthused about the ceremony. The very fact that we have suspenseless transitions of power like this make me proud of the country I'm in, but I don't have to watch it to feel that pride.

It's exciting because starting Tuesday, it's for real. The President of the United States will actually be Barack Obama. I like the wedding analogy: you want to be paying attention the second that the thing happens. Another similar sort of event is the change of the new year at midnight.

This is more important than either wedding or new year because it marks the moment when Obama will actually start to be in charge -- the difference between before and after is more substantive and less psychological.

@ #10 - You don't have a clue, not even a tiny one, about my perspective on how he inspires people, including me. That is, after all, why I am figuring out how to switch to it during class. My observation is that Obama got where he did by doing his best at everything he tried, and that is exactly how my past students have gotten ahead, and how most of the current ones plan to get ahead. You can't TIVO my class. That is why I have 100% attendance the day before Thanksgiving. Their future is their priority.

What were we doing having class on 9/11? The college was open. Same reason we had classes on 9/12. Classes were not canceled and the college closed until early afternoon on 9/11 - after my lecture but before my labs met. It took several hours for the campus administration to figure out what to do (moving from figuring out what had happened to whether our campus was itself physically threatened) and when to do it.

The decision on when to close the campus and cancel classes is not mine. Under our contract, my pay is docked if I cut classes. Classes meet unless the college closes or there is a fire, etc.

PS -
The morning class on 9/11, when all we knew was that a second plane had hit, was actually more difficult to teach than the afternoon class. In the morning I understood that we were at war (and told my class my hunch) but my students didn't quite get it. Many of them were unaware of what had happened. Two hours later (when the situation was clear to everyone) I made the point that, whatever happened, we were learning things they needed to help serve the country.

Chad:

Let's try to maintain a little perspective, here. Can we at least wait to see if he does a good job as President before we talk about carving his face into the side of a mountain?

Would it help if he does a good job as President? Well sure... but he's leading our country at an extraordinary time. He'll have every chance to rise to the occasion.

But I think that just being the first African American elected as President, with all that this means in our society, is worthy of him having a very high honor in US history.

Therefore, I think the only way that he doesn't end up having his face on a coin or a federal holiday named after him is if the wingnuts turn out to be right... and he IS a muslim sleeper terrorist. lol ;-)

I think the excitement is a function more of the past 8 years than of the next four.

To #26/Raj - Truer words were never spoken. A light at the end of a long dark dismal tunnel moment. It might be an oncoming train... but for the moment? It represents the possibility of a sea change.

We shall see