"It's exciting to be alive," said the 79-year-old Glenn, who marveled at the fact that he's lived through nearly one-third of the country's entire history. "(But) all is not completely bright in the picture for the future."

Wearing a patriotic ensemble of blue suit, white shirt and red necktie, Glenn rose to the occasion of being the first speaker in the 2000-01 edition of the Distinguished Speakers Series, appearing before a crowd of more than 4,000 in Alumni Arena on Oct. 11.

A down-to-earth Glenn joked with the audience about his perceived lofty status, explaining that his wife, Annie, "keeps things on an even keel."

"I don't get up every morning and say...I'm a hero," he said at a press conference earlier in the evening. "We just try to get up every day and do what we think is right."

Launching into a capsule overview of his 1998 space voyage aboard the space shuttle Discovery, Glenn shared tales of the nine-day mission, complete with video taken by "lipstick cameras"—roughly the size of one's thumb-from inside, and outside, the craft.

"Space flight is a great personal experience, (but) you go up there to do basic research," he said, noting that the seven-member crew was assigned 83 research projects, including aging studies done on Glenn that he said he hopes will inspire further research and provide a meaningful database of information to help combat the effects of aging.

"I hope we learn enough that maybe we can cut out some of the frailties of old age right here on earth," he said, noting the flight research included studies on osteoporosis, the immune system, drug and nutrient absorption, and sleep patterns.

Glenn—seen in the video "high-fiving" his crew members once in orbit—narrated the finer, and funnier, points of the footage. Crew members, including Glenn, were filmed conducting research, exercising, eating, shampooing their hair and crawling into sleep compartments—reminiscent of a body locker at the morgue—complete with tethered sleeping bag and sliding door, as nights (and days) last roughly 45 minutes due to the rotational speed.

While much of the space discussion focused on his recent trip, Glenn entertained listeners with what it was first like being launched into space aboard Friendship 7.

"I don't mean to make light of it-because it's not something you make light of, your life is on the line—but you train so much for that," he said of the mission, which lasted nearly five hours. "You're not excited to the point (where) your pulse goes way up.

"Two seconds after launch I was reading instruments," he explained, adding there's another answer to the questions that he sometimes favors: "How do you think you'd feel on top of 2 million parts built by the lowest bidder on the government contract?"

All kidding aside, Glenn—an American icon, to be sure—pledged his allegiance to the United States throughout the evening, urging others to join him in his crusade to make a difference.

"It really hurts me when people are so cynical and apathetic about anything to do with government and politics," he said. "To me, this country is nothing short of amazing."

Glenn—a former contender for the 1984 presidential nomination—contrasted the current political situation with a more traditional view of public service.

"When I was growing up as a kid, it was a time period when there was a far different attitude toward public service and running for office," he said.

"To me, politics is the personnel department for the Constitution," Glenn said, calling the Constitution "the greatest document on governance ever put forward in human history."

"We're tending back to the days of King George—oligarchy—that's what it means to not participate," he said, noting that of the roughly 47 percent of the country's voting population, a mere 23 percent will end up electing the next president.

Glenn also stressed the need for improved education.

"By high school, our kids rank almost last out of ... 26 nations," he said, citing results of a recent study. "That does not bode well for the future."

Referring to "Before It's Too Late," a report he authored while in the Senate, Glenn said that one-quarter of teachers of math and science never majored in those subjects, and that one-third of teachers leave their jobs within the first three years.

"We're literally putting our nation at risk if we don't rise to this particular challenge," he said, adding that the nation's jobs will be lost to educationally superior nations—something that's already happening—if we don't address the problem.

In a country where liberty of opportunity-"the likes of which no other nation in this world has ever had"-abounds, Glenn challenged the audience to embrace "a brand new time in the worldŠboth frightening and exhilarating."