General Wesley Clark speaking on Ukraine at Hiram College Nov. 3

Free is one of the magic words in advertising.  That was what I was taught when studying for a master’s degree in journalism at the Newhouse School of Journalism in Syracuse long ago.

Free is what Hiram College and its Garfield Center are charging for admission to hear retired General Wesley Clark, one of the American military’s most brilliant minds, talk about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Clark is the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, whose superb leadership proved essential to imposing a peaceful solution in the late 1990s when Yugoslavia dissolved into Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia and a brutal war broke out.

Thanks to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation, Europe and NATO are once again confronting a brutal war that left unchecked may expand to the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

General Clark’s talk, “Analyzing the Impact of the Ukrainian War:  NATO, Russia, and the Future of European Security,” will provide important insights.  It will occur at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Kennedy Center on the Hiram College campus.  Seats can be reserved by visiting Hiram College’s events website.

First in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Clark earned three degrees from the University of Oxford in England where he was a Rhodes Scholars.  He has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

The beautiful Hiram College campus is easy to negotiate and Kennedy Center provides a welcoming environment.   Janet and I are making our reservations and encourage others to do the same.  The general serves as CEO of Wesley Clark & Associates and as a commentator on TV.

An American challenge

At the recent ceremonies for Hiram’s Garfield Society, we were pleased to observe the induction of our friends, Jane Preston Rose and Appellate Court Judge John Eklund.

Claude M. Steele, the prestigious speaker, said the 1960s marked a big turning point for the United States and Americans are now struggling to live up to the consequences.

Steele, professor of psychology at Stanford University, said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 committed the country to becoming color blind and the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 eliminated the national origins quota system opening to the door to immigrants from Asia, Latin America and Africa.

The demographic changes brought by the Immigration and Naturalization Act have left America’s long dominant white, Eurocentric population feeling threatened because they may soon no longer constitute the majority, although they will remain by far the largest group.  Add that to the Civil Rights Act, which legally removed the privileged position of whites regarding African Americans.  The upshot is a double whammy for white Americans and some whose fears have become political fodder for many aspirants to political office.

Professor Steele, an African-American and a 1967 graduate of Hiram College, prescribed trust-building between races and nationalities as the way to keep the American democracy from falling apart at the seams.

“I think we are up to it,” he said, but he acknowledged that creating a diverse America that functions as a true democracy will require perseverance and open-mindedness.

Riddle Block watercolor

Architect Alan Ambuske has given a duplicate of his beautiful watercolor of Riddle Block #1 to Eric Hummel, the builder who with the assistance of investors and the city of Ravenna, redeveloped and restored Ravenna’s signature building that is now owned by Portage County.

Eric said he has asked Alan’s assistance in restoring the buildings of the Portage County Historical Society on North Chestnut Street.

"The Portage County Historical Society is the recipient of a $625,000 grant obtained by the Society’s very worthy board," Eric said.

Alan’s original watercolor of Riddle Block #1 was accepted in the Ohio Plein Air Society juried show at the Schumacher Gallery in Columbus.  The show opened Sept. 6 and continues through Dec. 9 The theme for the exhibit is “A Brush with the Past: Painting Ohio’s History.”

Alan, who retired from his successful architecture practice that focused on medical facilities, is enjoying painting and sketching, and has self-published books containing his wonderful sketches and colorings of scenes he and Gail have visited in Europe, North America and Asia.  His plans are to donate the proceeds of the sale of his Riddle Block #1 watercolor to the Portage County Historical Society.

David E. Dix is a retired publisher of the Record-Courier.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: General Wesley Clark speaking on Ukraine at Hiram College Nov. 3