Sent the following self-righteous message to a former professor of mine at MIT who is involved in the process of choosing MIT's next president. Heady stuff, considering that I'm an alum who hasn't given MIT a dime in the last two years!

You, too, can submit your opinions at:
http://web.mit.edu/president/search/comments.html

"Kirk Kolenbrander, good to see you playing a vital role in something like this at MIT! I still fondly glance at my Solymar & Walsh 3.15 book from time to time, and I would like to again extend my personal gratitude for the vitality that you brought to my undergraduate classroom at MIT.

Here's hoping you and the Committee can identify a suitably "Lincolnesque" individual to become MIT's 16th president.

I'm going to mention two things that I personally feel strongly about when it comes to MIT's vision:

1. I would love to see a president who has a strong bent toward the philosophical side of technology--science/technology ethics and the implications of technology on our society. It would be great to see MIT become even more active in topics such as intellectual property/patent/copyright issues, the role of science in guiding public policy decisions in state and national government, openness in education, and related issues in other sociological institutions. I feel that, once you get past the obvious nuts and bolts of research and development, the most important issues regarding technology are the philosophical ones, which will increasingly "stem" from information-oriented conflicts as time goes by (a little biotech joke there). I believe that this transformation is occurring more quickly than almost anyone can appreciate, and MIT can play a strong role to help guide it.

2. On a more practical front, I feel that MIT could do a lot more to prepare their undergraduates for careers in the business world. Certainly, there are opportunities in this area for undergraduates, but I feel that the "typical" undergraduate does not get sufficient exposure to practical business issues, particularly in contrast to other schools. I'm not saying that MIT needs to embrace a Northeastern-like model, but I do feel that more integration with the business community via internship and co-op programs would be a very positive development for the student body. I'm dimly aware of evolutional changes in programs such as VI-A, and of the emergence of the UPOP program, and I am very supportive. Academia and business are two starkly different destinations for your students, and I think MIT should be a leader in preparing students for either path.

My two cents,
John Lum
jwlum@alum.mit.edu"
- posted by John @ 4:30 PM