A couple of weeks ago I posted on:
No derisive laughter. No insults. And no comments to the blog itself, although there were a few personal e-mail responses.
There was an innocuous question about how greatness could be defined. Rather than transcribing from a dictionary, let me just quote from some information I recently received:
I want to share some news released today about research that – for the first time – quantifies the tremendous economic impact of Stanford’s entrepreneurial alumni. Some of you may recall participating in a study last year about this topic.
Today we released the results, and they’re impressive: Companies founded by Stanford alumni generate an estimated $2.7 trillion in annual revenues and have created 5.4 million jobs over time.
When I was a freshman at Stanford more than half a century ago, it was not yet a great university. What the leaders of the school did was create Silicon Valley. In 1958 there were plum and cherry orchards. Today, Apple, Google, Oracle, Intel, Yahoo and a lot more.
The Pacific Ocean is our best hope for greatness. Space is over for centuries to come. The sea around us is the next frontier for intelligent development in harmony with the marine environment. You need to start with something, and the Pacific International Ocean Station could well be the the catalyst that could lead to a great university, and subsequently a progressive and thriving State of Hawaii.
As an important aside, the university just hired an athletic director, Ben Jay, from Ohio State University. In a way, I feel sorry for him. The State of Hawaii cannot afford to compete for the Learfield (this was once the Sear's Cup, but Learfield Sports took on sponsorship) Sports Diretor's Cup, given annually to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics with the most success in collegiate athletics. North Carolina (a state school) was the first to win in 1993-4, but every year since, Stanford has prevailed. The difference is money. However, Florida came in #2 last year and Ohio State the year before. All the #2's have been state schools. So Hawaii has a chance, right? Nope. We are too small. Well, maybe there is solution. Like Oregon and Oklahoma State, find a billionaire. This is the solution for University of Hawaii greatness, certainly in athletics, but, more importantly, in academics.
As an important aside, the university just hired an athletic director, Ben Jay, from Ohio State University. In a way, I feel sorry for him. The State of Hawaii cannot afford to compete for the Learfield (this was once the Sear's Cup, but Learfield Sports took on sponsorship) Sports Diretor's Cup, given annually to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics with the most success in collegiate athletics. North Carolina (a state school) was the first to win in 1993-4, but every year since, Stanford has prevailed. The difference is money. However, Florida came in #2 last year and Ohio State the year before. All the #2's have been state schools. So Hawaii has a chance, right? Nope. We are too small. Well, maybe there is solution. Like Oregon and Oklahoma State, find a billionaire. This is the solution for University of Hawaii greatness, certainly in athletics, but, more importantly, in academics.
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