Congratulations to class of 2004 of Columbia University and Yeshiva University upon your graduation. I just spent the last three days at the graduation ceremonies for these two schools because among the graduates was my wife-to-be, Shira Frankel.

I would like to reflect on some things about the commencement ceremonies.
1. To see a sea of blue gowns on Wednesday was an unbelievable sight. It took over 40 minutes for all the graduates, both undergraduates and graduates, to enter the center of campus to be seated.

2. YU president Richard Joel tells the graduates that they are the lights of the new generation. It was quite an interesting speech, but I hope that it wasn't merely words.

3. The typical beach ball playing at the YU graduation continued this year. However, unlike years past where Rabbi Lamm would get up and tell the students they were being inappropriate, President Joel let it continue and also was seen kicking the beach ball back to the students a couple of times. The times, they are a changin.

4. President Bollinger of Columbia spoke about the evils of breaching the first ammendment. He had some harsh words about the Patriot Act as well. I wonder one thing. Whether or not the Patriot Act is unconstitutional, we are still living in a world three years removed from an event which slipped the minds of many in the intelligence community. The goal is to protect the country from another attack. While I can't vouch for whether the Patriot Act will do that, I am still waiting for an alternative that works. Furthermore, to compare the Patriot Act to the Alien and Sedition Act of the early 1800s is a bit unfair.