June 25
President Sean McMillan's Swan Song
|
|
|
Next Week...
June 25
President Sean McMillan's Swan Song
Activities...
IMPORTANT: Saturday, June 27
Demotion of President Sean, Beach Club
Saturday, August 8
August Moon Festival Fun Party
|
This Week...
THE ANDERSON SCHOOL at UCLA on June 19th at WVRC
TERRY M. WHITE led the Pledge. Of course, ELLIOTT was supposed to, but was late! Is a fine possible? PDG BILL GOODWYN gave the Invocation, which became a statement about our world today. He began by pointing out that those who rule Iran are doing whatever they can to shut down outside communication, but with the great variety of avenues today, we are getting plenty of feedback. We were reminded that some entrepreneurs bought several 707’s, which were not popular because they were so noisy (which I, then in the travel business, didn’t know!) They used these to circle over Iran and thus made cell-phone usage an instant success. Facebook, for instance, has 200 million active users, which is up 89% this year alone. They sign up 250K new users every day! Twitter reports 300K new users every month. U Tube plays 75 million videos daily. Thus nations may shut off airports, ground communications, etc – but the development of these alternatives is changing history. We have been told that medicine has advanced more in the last ten years than in all previously recorded history. He concluded by asking that we pray for the people of Iran, and we can all say AMEN to that.
We had several guests. I was seated next to Renato Romano, who belongs to Beverly Hills – and lives across the street on Hilgard! He is in International Trading with Global Green Partners, and their slogan is “There are no boundaries, only bridges”. Madison Goritsan was introduced as the Special Guest of JOHN HEIDT – and we learn from non-challengable (that’s the same as irrefutable, of course) sources that he has indeed set a new record for Free Lunches! CURT SMITH brought his son-in-law, Dan Allen, who has had the recent heart problems – but he looks good. LEE DUNAYER had his niece, Alex Litvenoff, and she’s a cutie.
The Head Table was introduced, of course with the ‘free’ proviso. MARK BLOCK had no visible comment, but LEE DUNAYER rose to move that President SEAN sing Home On The Range a cappella before his term expires. This was seconded and roundly cheered! So, SEAN, you can choose your time as long as it’s next week! PEGGY BLOOMFIELD escaped, claiming she was waiting for our Speaker of the Day.
Invitations will soon be coming for the Rotary Auxiliary August Moon Festival on Saturday, August 8th. Starting at 6pm, with a Chinese buffet at 7, a program of Chinese music and dancing will follow – Chinese clothing is encouraged. The location is the moon-lit garden of Shirley and Peter More in Westwood. Just so you will know, legend says the full moon is inhabited by a Chinese princess who drank a potion guaranteeing immortality to prevent her husband, an evil king, from being around forever and being mean to his people. Reservations are $40 per person, mailed to Margie Downie by July 30th.
I was pleased to report on our visit last Saturday to Magnolia Elementary School, which is on Venice near downtown. MARCIA BROUS, MARSHA HUNT, and ED JACKSON were with me, and we met 70 volunteers and 250 kids there. As neophytes (that means we didn’t know what we were supposed to do) we were each paired with an experienced volunteer – this after some orientation, of course. My instructor and I were assigned seven kids – five boys and two girls, all of whom were Latino. I then began to read, and each of the kids had a copy of what I was reading. As I came to a word that I wasn’t sure they understood, I paused, and we talked about it. The kids were VERY forthcoming – one of the girls even told about Hiroshima, for instance. All the kids come there because they want to, and they even get a book of their own to take home each time. We also did some crafts, and the time, literally, flew! I haven’t had as much fun in quite awhile, and that’s why I’m shooting at WVRC having a DOZEN readers there! Two of our members couldn’t come this particular time – SCOTT FITCH and ARLENE PETTISE, which makes six, and PAT and ANDY ANDERSON said they wanted to join us next time. So I’m looking for at least four more of you to be with us in Reading To Kids. They meet the 2nd Saturday of each month, and in July that will be the 11th, from 0900 to noon. And to give you some perspective, last Saturday was the ONE HUNDREDTH MONTH IN A ROW they have met at Magnolia! I’m serious when I say this is a great experience – so please let me know if you can step up and join us. It’s our chance to Make a Difference in some kids lives! There is a bonus – on Sunday, August 2nd, Reading to Kids will be at the Hollywood Bowl, for Guys and Dolls. It starts at 7:30, preceded by picnic time, and reservations are only $20.
Despite my attempt to hog the stage the rest of the meeting, MARK BLOCK came forward with our Inspirational Story. Two Italian men get off the bus at the bus stop. They sit down and engage in a very animated conversation. The lady sitting next to them ignores them at first, but they get her attention when she hears one of them say, (AND hereafter, I missed most of what MARK said.) However, the last line was that they weren’t talking about sex, but how to spell Mississippi! There were some muted calls for the return of LOBERG, but …
In any case, we were perhaps rescued, depending upon your predilections, by some – let’s be kind here – European history. On this same 18th of June, but in 1815, the Battle of Waterloo occurred, with the British forces, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, defeating Napoleon’s forces. You can ask, what does a British victory over the French (and SEAN isn’t sure which he dislikes the most – a Brit or Frog) have to do with Ireland? The Iron Duke (Wellington) was a Dubliner and he wasn’t the only Irish presence on the day – Napoleon’s horse Marengo was reared in Co. Wexford, and the Duke of Wellington’s mount was from Co. Cork. Now hear this – the scene of the battle was south of Brussels, in Belgium. The assembled British, German, Belgian, Dutch and Prussians, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, Field Marshall Blucher and the Prince of Orange, were against the French Grande Armee, under Emperor Napoleon. There were 23,000 British troops, with 44,000 allied troops and 160 guns (that means cannon), against 74,000 French troops with 250 guns. Again, let’s be fair here – some of these facts and figures were unknown to most of us beforehand, right?
And just a bit more, of true Irish: An Irish priest was visiting the U.S. and was driving down the road and was stopped for speeding just outside of Boston. The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath. The trooper asks: "Have you been drinking?" "Just water," says the priest. The trooper, seeing an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car, asks: "Then why do I smell wine and see an open wine bottle in your car." The priest looks at the bottle and turns to the trooper and says: "Good Lord! He has done it again."
Anyway, lunch intervened. PEGGY BLOOMFIELD then introduced our Speaker, Dr. Alfred E. Osborne Jr, Senior Associate Dean and Professor, Anderson School of Management. Dr. Osborne has all his degrees from Stanford. B.S. in 1968, MBA in Finance and anMA in Economics, both in 1971, and his Doctorate in Business Economics in 1974. At UCLA he oversees a variety of key areas, including development, alumni relations, career and corporate initiatives, career management, marketing, communications and executive education. He is also faculty director of the Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He is currently a director of Kaiser Aluminum and the Heckmann Corporation, and has served many years on the corporate boards of Times Mirror, US Filter Corp, Greyhound Lines, Nordstrom, Inc, and K2 Inc, among others. He has served as an economic fellow at the Brookings Institution, and directed studies at the SEC.
Dr. Osborne began by pointing out that while he wasn’t Irish himself, he did appreciate Irish humor. He then explained why he was wearing an Anderson School cap – he does it to show his colors, and for effect! He also noted that PP JIM COLLINS was a major supporter of The Anderson School, and he was pleased to have JIM in the audience. I’ll sneak in a quick Editorial here, if I may. When the fundraising for Anderson began, John Anderson was one of three men who called on some of the big hitters. They had just been turned down for the Naming Gift of 15 million, and as they walked out, John suddenly said, “You know, I could do that!” and so it was done. Ho hum, only 15 million…
The long term future of The Anderson School is solid, and they are focused on building the capital reserves for the School which was founded in 1935 – next year will be their 75th Anniversary. He pointed out that they are easily one of the fifteen business schools who consider themselves to be in the Top Ten! Their vision is exemplified by their Dean, Judy Olian, who is the 8th Dean of the School. Their intent is to accelerate management thinking, and prepare the next generation of business leaders. They focus on making them innovative, entrepreneurial and ethical, productive and a benefit to society. To do this, their faculty must have the resources they need to impact how leaders think and how markets operate. Anderson always rates highly in the polls, whether it is in finance, marketing, operations, or economics.
They are not as big as the Harvard Business School, which graduates 900 a year, while Anderson produces only 375. They do not have the clout of The Wharton School, which provides so many graduates to Wall Street – but on a per-capita basis, Anderson’s productivity is highest. There are eighty scholars on the faculty. What are some of the specific goals of their plan? They are moving along on a campaign to raise 100 million dollars by their 75th, being more than half-way there. Another priority is reaching their alumni – over 38,000 around the world - and friends. They want all of them to be more involved in the teaching enterprise. If this was a private business, they would be viewed as being under capitalized. Harvard has over two billion, and Stanford has over one billion in endowment, for instance, while even the Marshall School at USC has three times the endowment of 150 million at Anderson. However, 80% of their budget is from fees and services, so they continue to earn their way. The State of California provides only 10 to 15% of the Anderson budget. It now costs about $60,000 a year at Anderson, which includes the $31,000 tuition. And speaking of success, Anderson has the most successful fully-employed program in the country – they are #1! However, as an example of the budget crisis, Dr. Osborne is now paying into his retirement fund for the first time in his 35 years at UCLA. Looking ahead, they have branded themselves the John Wooden facility, since so much of what he advocates has direct reference to our lives in general.
Q&A –What is different about your students today? They now average 28 years of age, and all have returned to school after direct work experience. Many of them want to start their own businesses – and the cost of doing that today is much less than it used to be. You can buy assets today at far less than they once cost. LEAH also asked if any of them were considering going into the Health field. Dr. Osborne replied affirmatively. How much of the program is geared toward Ethics? We have three specific courses on business ethics, which did not exist five years ago, but what we try to do is integrate ethics into every course. There is evil in the world, and the worst thing you can do is to remain silent if you discover wrongdoing. He gave an example – “Hey, don’t cheat, Sean” which was roundly cheered! I asked about the amount of work experience their applicants had, and he replied that of their present class of 375, only 15 had no prior work experience. These few had exceptional scores academically. Dr. Osborne, thank you for a most informative report on what is happening at The Anderson School.
