--- F R E N D Z of martian --- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 > Forwarded-by: Nev Dull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> What a great name... > Forwarded-by: Gene <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Forwarded-by: Frederick Clegg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Cisco/Stanford News > by David Bunnell > > In a move that guarantees his company will never run short of > qualified technology workers, Cisco Systems (CSCO) CEO John > Chambers will soon announce the acquisition of Stanford University > for $100 billion in Cisco stock. > > This stunning deal, which will change the face of American academia > for decades to come, was made possible when Stanford recently > promoted John Hennessy, the dean of its School of Engineering, to > the position of president. > > No stranger to the sometimes-blurry relationship between > universities and high-tech companies, Hennessy in 1981 initiated > the RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) technology project at > the university, and then during a sabbatical in 1984-85 he > co-founded a company called MIPS Computer System that produced > microprocessors based on this same technology. > > MIPS was later sold to another Stanford spinout, Sun Microsystems > (SUNW), which made Hennessy very wealthy. > > Don't panic. While the Cisco deal has yet to be made public, I > have learned that Hennessy has already sought to reassure nervous > Stanford faculty members that the university will maintain its high > academic standards. According to one of my sources, he has also > reassured the faculty that no one will lose his or her job as a > result of being merged into the world's biggest "Internet plumbing > company." > > "Cisco has never laid off anyone," Hennessy says, "and since all > our professors will get Cisco stock options, I expect the vast > majority will want to stay here for many years to come. In fact, > Stanford will have more millionaires on its staff than all the > other universities put together. I expect to be flooded with > applications from old-economy universities like Harvard and Yale." > > Barbara Beck, Cisco's senior vice president of human resources, > backed up Hennessy's statements with the observation that, while > Cisco has never employed such a large group of professors, she is > "totally, like totally confident that the cultures of the two > organizations are totally compatible." > > Chambers, who recently visited the campus, admitted that the price > of $100 billion was a bit on the high side but observed that it was > in stock that he called "grossly overvalued Cisco dollars." > > UpsideToday has learned that Chambers plans to offer free tuition > to computer science and engineering students who agree to work for > life at Cisco following graduation. Plans are also under way to > extend this program to MBA students. > > "We need people in our marketing and accounting departments as well > as technologists," Chambers says. > > The company has no plans to change the curriculum. "We'll still > have art and music and, of course, football," adds Hennessy, who > will become Cisco's vice president of universities. > > On the playing field. On a lighter note, there is discussion under > way to change the name of the school to "Cisco Stanford University" > and rename the sports teams from the "Cardinals" to the "Routers." > Stanford football director Tyrone Willingham says that the new name > is "very appropriate, because we pass the ball more than any other > college team." > > Industry analysts who I've talked to believe that the acquisition > is a natural fit and will enhance Cisco's stock value even more. > David Readerman of Thomas Weisel Partners was particularly > enthusiastic. "What you get out of this is a smarter Cisco and a > better-connected Stanford," he says. > > Assuming this deal goes through and works out, other companies will > be lining up to acquire universities. A Microsoft (MSFT) > acquisition of the University of Washington would be a natural, as > would an Apple (APPL) acquisition of University of California at > Berkeley. > > It's a whole new era for education, that's for sure. > > Editor's disclaimer: David Bunnell likes to write but doesn't have > the time to actually do any real reporting, so he simply makes up > his articles and then forces the staff to run them. Nothing in the > above piece is true, except in his mind. > > David Bunnell is editor and CEO of UPSIDE. > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.1 Int. for non-commercial use <http://www.pgpinternational.com> iQA/AwUBOVpwu5/fHXYJkzo2EQIs8gCfc2P+17yu19pVxfKkT/g8QL4ExmAAoLRG 2QyuEavgtv2uN2AcVlG14Rey =6s2r -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Sent to you via the frendz list at marsbard.com The archive is at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
