Bentley University News

This has been an eventful summer for all of us who care about the world. In June, we marked the 20^th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In July, we recorded the hottest-ever month in the United States. In August and September, we listened to the two presidential candidates as they squared off on climate change in their respective convention speeches. And later in September, we learned that the drastic melting of the Arctic sea ice had set a new record, with ice covering just 24 percent of the surface of the Arctic Ocean.

Authenticity is very much in the autumn air these days — especially with the presidential debates unfolding in front of tens of millions of people.

At a recent business dinner with a client who is a senior partner at a well-known accounting firm, for example, the topic was, not surprisingly, the presidential election. “They’re both liars,” said the executive of the two candidates. “You just can’t trust politicians today. They’ll say whatever they need to say to get elected.”

The 2012 elections for President and Congress are awash in cash. By early October, President Obama had raised nearly $600 million and was poised to break the record $750 million he set in 2008 for spending by a presidential candidate. GOP challenger former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had raised nearly $400 million. Both candidates also have received significant support from the national political parties and other outside groups. By Election Day, nearly $2 billion will be spent on the presidential race and another $4 billion will be spent on the congressional races.

Obama — Imagining a Second Term

The far left and the far right agree about one thing — four more years of President Barack Obama would be a nightmare. But for many of us, four more years would offer exactly what Obama promised the first time — hope. We hope that if he earns a second term, Obama, not beholden, will do exactly what he planned to do before the inherited economic mess interceded. We hope he will do what Bill Clinton, who squandered his second term in scandal, could never do — and that means achieve “big” things.

Anyone experiencing the current political climate might easily conclude that our system of governing is either severely dysfunctional, even broken.  

On September 11, 2012, Ambassador Chris Stevens was slain in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Stevens spent his life, and gave his life, to bring good will from the United States to the people of the world. We may never know all of the circumstances of Stevens’ death, but we do know this: ongoing protests against the U.S. in other parts of the world mean that we have not yet succeeded in building strong bridges. We don’t understand them, and they don’t understand us. Some even harbor resentment, which we also don’t understand.

This fall, college student debt load has come into focus in the U.S. presidential campaign. Critics have a point. Many young graduates face tremendous debt from college loans. Many in private colleges, especially, rightly question whether the benefits of higher education outweigh the costs.