    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 23, 1991]
    [Pages 418-420]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Presentation of a Point of Light Award to the United
    States Naval Academy/Benjamin Banneker Honors Mathematics and Science
    Society Partnership in Annapolis, Maryland
    April 23, 1991

        Thank you, Admiral Hill. And thank all of you. Thank you very, very
    much. I just can't tell you how pleased I am to be here. Let me salute
    our Secretary of Education from whom you've just heard, Lamar Alexander.
    We've outlined a program of revolution, if you will. We want to start
    from scratch and challenge every school in this country to do better,
    every State to do better. And we have an outstanding former Governor and
    outstanding educator as our Secretary, and we are very blessed. And I'm
    delighted he was here with me today.
        I want to thank Governor Schaefer, too, for pledging to have
    Maryland remain--and I use that word advisedly--remain in the forefront
    of this educational revolution. Under him the State has been innovative,
    and now he's pledged to be out front even further. And we're very
    grateful, Don, and thank you, sir, for that.
        I want to salute the mayor over here, thank him for the weather and
    thank him for greeting us when we arrived over here on the lacrosse
    field, or wherever the hell it was over here. [Laughter]
        And as for J.D. over here--when I saw him up here waving I said,
    we've got an election in '92, I've got to watch this guy. [Laughter] But
    there's a man of commitment. And I'll say a little more about him later
    on. But I'll tell you, I was impressed with what I saw here today, and
    delighted. And also, as one who a thousand years ago wore a naval
    uniform, I wanted to salute the midshipmen of the greatest Navy on the
    seven seas. You don't have to take my word for that. If you want a
    reference, go ask Saddam Hussein--if you can find him.
        And as for General Powell, he went to Yankee--I had a bad day
    opening the Rangers game. [Laughter] Got to throw out the first ball for
    the Rangers game, Milwaukee/Rangers, and I--curve ball, broke a little
    early, went into the ground. That's my side of the story, and I'm
    staying with it. [Laughter] And then a week later, hard, fast, right
    over the center of the plate, Colin Powell up in Yankee Stadium.
    Sergeant Powell will be reporting--[laughter]--to Nome, Alaska.
    [Laughter]

    [[Page 419]]

        But I guess there was a lesson in this, because I saw it all through
    the war--able to throw it right over the plate, call them as he saw
    them, lead this great military to a victory that I think has made every
    American proud. Colin, we're grateful to you.
        And we're running a couple of minutes late. We wouldn't have been,
    but Colin and I and a couple others, Secretary Cheney, we just had lunch
    at the White House with General Norm Schwarzkopf. He hasn't had a good
    meal in a long time. You should have seen the guy eat. So, we're a
    little late. [Laughter] I'll tell you, we can't afford to invite him
    over there anymore. [Laughter]
        But now to the business at hand. Because like Colin and like Lamar
    Alexander, I was in those science labs, seeing some of these midshipmen
    and seeing these students from Banneker Honors Society. I heard about
    these projects--I'm a guy that dropped out after one day in physics at
    Yale. Literally--it's in the record. One day and I couldn't take it
    anymore. But here I was hearing these kids talking about satellite
    dishes or rockets or kind of splitting some kind of ray coming through a
    bunch of things. They were trying to tell me what it was. [Laughter] And
    I got to thinking, we are very grateful and very lucky.
        You know, the other day, as one who is computer-illiterate--and to
    answer Lamar Alexander's challenge that everybody, not just those in
    school but everybody out of school ought to learn a little something,
    too, and then share that--I pledged that I would learn to run a
    computer. I'm the guy that doesn't know how to play ``Super Mario
    Brothers'' yet. But I'm going to try hard. And yet, I saw these young
    kids, way in advance of all of that, not only with their computers but
    with their dedication to science.
        It's an honor to be here to celebrate that kind of spirit that I
    think means a bright future for the Navy. And I'm talking not just about
    the sacrifice of these midshipmen that help, but I'm talking about the
    spirit of these kids. This kind of spirit means a bright future for our
    nation, as Colin Powell said. The men and women of our Armed Forces who
    responded so brilliantly when the world needed them in the Persian Gulf
    are also quietly responding to the call to meet the challenges here at
    home.
        No challenge is more crucial than education. So, 2 years ago, as
    Lamar said, we met with the Nation's Governors, and together we set six
    national education goals for the year 2000. Last week, we announced a
    new national crusade to reinvent, literally, to reinvent the American
    school, with the help, though, of citizens, businesses, educators,
    communities, midshipmen--everyone. Secretary Lamar Alexander has put
    together this dynamic, exciting strategy, and we call it America 2000.
        The midshipmen here and the local community have set the kind of
    example that we would like to see duplicated all around the Nation. You
    understand that everyone in America has a crucial role to play in
    education--producing the kind of informed, enlightened public that gives
    power to democracy and gives us a leg up on the 21st century.
        That's why I am so pleased and proud to present our 437th daily
    Point of Light award to this outstanding educational partnership between
    the Benjamin Banneker Honors Math and Science Society and the United
    States Naval Academy.
        The midshipmen here are famous for their many quiet acts of
    community service. Today we salute this group of midshipmen who, with
    the professors here at Annapolis, have served for the last 3 years as
    tutors and mentors. They've helped kids from local schools begin
    discovering the real promise, the real potential.
        The midshipmen give up those precious few, precious free Saturdays
    to tutor young people in math and science and to take them to lunch in
    that friendly little dining hall, King Hall. You're helping kids learn
    math and science, but just as important, they get to see firsthand your
    discipline, your dignity, your determination--the kind of example that
    they need to succeed.
        The midshipmen here today are only half the story. This program
    would never have been launched without the parents determined to accept
    nothing less than excellence from their children. Let me offer my
    special thanks and congratulations to you parents, to the local schools
    who have been superb in cooperation, and especially to the

    [[Page 420]]

    man on my left over here who made this outstanding program happen--Mr.
    Joseph D. Speller--J.D. We need millions more like you, J.D.--people
    concerned about the condition of their communities and moved not just to
    complain about it but to do something about it.
        I'm proud to recognize this program during the Points of Light
    National Celebration, here on National Youth Service Day--a day when we
    shine the spotlight of national attention and praise on young people who
    make a difference in their communities through direct and consequential
    acts of service.
        These midshipmen in this program and in all of the Navy's community
    efforts--Academy's community efforts--are learning the true satisfaction
    that comes from serving others. They'll tell you they get far more from
    their relationship with these kids than they give.
        Midshipman Lionel Hines, for instance, who's suffering through being
    a plebe here, says, ``Helping these kids makes you feel like you're not
    so much of a nobody.'' Lionel, I'll be rooting for you and your
    classmates when you climb that big lard-covered pole next month.
        Before I go--and I really don't want to go back to work--I want to
    share a story that really embodies the spirit of our Points of Light
    celebration. Midshipman Paul Schimpf has been tutoring fourth-graders at
    school in Annapolis. Their teacher, Mrs. Young, wrote the commandant to
    describe Paul's impact on her children. The students rarely miss
    Tuesdays when ``their Mid'' comes to class. They dress better. And she
    writes, ``A funny thing has happened. After a major discussion of
    President Bush's Thousand Points of Light goal and Midshipman Schimps'
    example, my students now give up their Monday morning break to become
    `reading buddies' to one of the kindergarten classes in their own
    school. The Points of Light theory,'' she says, ``has become
    contagious.'' Well, if the spirit of community service really is
    contagious, I hope an epidemic breaks out all over America.
        To all of the midshipmen who've served their community and their
    country--to the parents and local leaders who've turned their concern
    for education into direct action--for all that you've been doing to help
    these promising youngsters, please accept the heartfelt thanks of this
    President and the entire Nation. I salute you as our 437th Point of
    Light.
        Thank you. Congratulations to each and every one of you. And may God
    bless the United States Navy. Thank you all very, very much.
        Now it is my pleasure to present Mr. Joseph D. Speller, representing
    the Honors Society, and Midshipman Alex Campbell, representing the
    Academy. Where is he? Here we go. The letter is designating their
    organizations as our 437th daily Point of Light.
        J.D., congratulations and thank you for what you're doing. And,
    Alex, congratulations to you. Good luck.

                        Note: The President spoke at 3:12 p.m. in Bancroft
                            Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy. In his remarks,
                            he referred to Virgil L. Hill, Jr.,
                            Superintendent of the Academy; Secretary of
                            Education Lamar Alexander; Gov. William Donald
                            Schaefer of Maryland; Alfred Hopkins, mayor of
                            Annapolis; Joseph D. Speller, parent/sponsor of
                            the U.S. Naval Academy/Benjamin Banneker Honors
                            Mathematics and Science Society; President
                            Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Gen. Colin L. Powell,
                            Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary
                            of Defense Dick Cheney; Gen. H. Norman
                            Schwarzkopf, commander of the U.S. forces in the
                            Persian Gulf; and midshipmen Lionel Hines, Paul
                            Schimpf, and Scott A. Campbell.