A look at noteworthy addresses in the...

A look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland. Daniel Kemmis, mayor of Missoula, Mont., spoke Thursday at Claremont McKenna College. From Kemmis’ remarks: On A Renewed Sense of Hope “I bring a great deal of skepticism to the national government. I have a great deal of doubt about the national government’s ability to function effectively as a democracy. As I watched the hopefulness that seemed to spread across the country ( after the November elections ) it did seem to me that with the election of this new generation of leaders that there was a sudden and substantial rise in hope.

The sense that we were beginning something new, that we were launching into a new era, was felt across generations. It was felt very much by my generation. . . .

People of your age, ( college ) students, were also sharing in that sense of hope and the sense of a turn in a new direction. Even my 12-year-old son felt included in the election. There was a . . . message of inclusion, a message that, as John Kennedy had put it in 1961, a new generation of Americans had taken the helm.

On Maintaining Hope “What was most troubling to me about the movie (“J.F.K.”) was that it seemed to take the attitude that we had elected a President who had given us hope. Then, because of the machinations of a few evil men, that hope had been destroyed and that if only those men had not been so evil, all would have been well.

That attitude is a profound escape from reality, which many of us are deeply engaged in. There is a . . . very substantial danger that going to this new presidency with much the same attitude, we are simply setting ourselves up for a loss of hope or a dashing of hope.

So it gets back to the question of . . . how can we this time avoid what happened last time?

I want to emphasize that I’m here to ask the question, more than answer it. I’m convinced that if the question has any importance at all, your generation has to have at least as much of the answer as my generation does.”

Looking Ahead Thursday: Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will speak on “What You Need to Know About the United Nations and Foreign Policy Today.” Hotel Inter-Continental, noon. Sponsored by Town Hall of California, (213) 628-8141.

Announcements concerning prominent speakers in Los Angeles should be sent to Speaking Up, c/o Times researcher Nona Yates, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053