COLUMBUS — Flamingos, penguins and Vice President Joe Biden took to the stage at Thursday’s Ohio Newspaper Association convention.
Secret Service agents kept an eagle eye on noted zookeeper and animal specialist Jack Hanna’s animals, a later feature in the convention, as Biden spoke at the Hilton Columbus/Polaris about the United States’ presence on the global scale and how it can be enhanced through education.
“We have the finest research universities in the world,” Biden said. “We completely dominate in terms of great universities.”
Biden referenced students’ willingness to demand the most from their educations, a tactic that makes the nation not unique but greater, he said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not nearly enough that we have an education system that’s getting better and that we are alternately working with, but that the notion from the outset is universal,” Biden said. “Orthodoxy is not part of the deal.”
Biden told audience members about being approached while he was abroad and asked what the U.S. can do to guarantee its security in the world.
“My answer was: Be the best educated nation in the world,” Biden said. “Everything else flows from that.”
Bill Albrecht, president of the Media Network of Central Ohio, said education needs to be more accessible to students so they have a place in the modern-day workforce.
“I don’t think anybody has the solution,” Albrecht said. “You used to learn those skills through business and jobs that 20 years ago you could learn through routine. You can’t do that now. You need those computer and critical thinking skills.”
Biden also addressed jobs, information access and the country’s reliance on exporting and importing goods.
“I’m here to tell you, whether we’re re-elected or not, you’re going to hear the word ‘insourcing’ as much as you heard the word ‘outsourcing’ the last 15 years,” Biden said.
Biden’s appearance was a deviation from the original Ohio Newspaper Association convention schedule, which planned on hosting Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
“I thought (Biden’s presentation) was a very good speech,” Ohio Newspaper Association President Richard Morris said. “From what I heard, (the attendees) didn’t think he was as partisan as he was going to be. There was no arrogant air or pretense about him. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Representatives from Ohio University’s chapters of College Democrats and College Republicans could not be reached for comment.
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