HOW TO GO TO STANFORD FOR ALMOST FREE

Fifty-five years ago I was a senior at McKinley High School in Honolulu and chose to only apply to Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology. Not sure how they were then ranked, but the latest U.S. News and World Report summary has Stanford at #6 and Caltech at #10.   All the others are basically on the East Coast.  Too cold for me then, and even with global warming, still too cold today.


Caltech accepted me, but only on a waiting list for a scholarship.  I would not have been able to attend any college--as I had not bothered to apply to the University of Hawaii--if Stanford had not provided a very attractive financial aid package.  They even gave me a 10 hour per week job in the rare book room.  The books were so rare that no one came, and I was able to get paid for studying.  Clearly, this job was for a freshman, as the second year I was transferred to another department where I could not study, so after a quarter, quit.

While I majored in chemical engineering, I minored in art.  Here, three of my charcoals:

Not sure how much tuition & room/board/fees have increased over the past half a century, but Bloomberg reports the cost of a college degree increased 12-fold, or 1120% over the past third of a century.  One of those numbers is incorrect, but more than a factor of ten is quite a jump, for the consumer price index increase was only about one-fourth that rate.  Food prices only doubled during that period.

So how can you go to Stanford for free?  Well, being really smart helps. First the bad news, from Answers specifically regarding entrance to Stanford:

Many people are surprised when someone who has a seemingly stellar resume is rejected, like a friend of mine who was valedictorian, class president, NHS president, an intern for a corporate attorney, had 1000s of volunteer hours, perfect SAT score, teachers who called her the best student they've ever had, and a double legacy (her father went to Stanford for undergrad and grad, a huge plus for admissions). Nonetheless, she was rejected. 

Unfortunately, in the U.S., there are 36,000 valedictorians and 36,000 class presidents each year.   Only 1750 or so become Stanford freshmen.  Apparently, too, a high fraction of straight A students don't get accepted.  But grades and stratospheric Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are not everything,  Extracurricular activities, sports, arts, unusual talent, etc., can give you the edge.  I remember Texas Jack Curtis, our football coach when I was a freshman, bragging to The Stanford Daily that he scoured the nation and signed everyone who qualified.  Both joined our class.  THE ONE KEY DIFFERENCE MAKER IS:  YOU SHOW POTENTIAL TO BECOME GREAT!!!   And your family's financial condition need not necessarily be a problem.

Many Ivy League schools and Stanford now charge no fees for the truly needy.  In the latest issue of STANFORD, President John Hennessy (left) indicated that student loan debt across the country last year reached $1 trillion.  Stanford, he says, has become a need-blind institution.  Twenty years ago 40% of students received an average of $10,000/year, but this past year, half of undergraduates averaged $36,000 each.  Stanford students whose family income is below $100,000 pay no tuition.  If below $60,000, no tuition and no room/board fees.  Last year 75% of students graduated debt-free.

Seven percent of applicants are admitted. The cost of attendance for the class of 2017 will be around $60,000/year, but the average freshman scholarship was worth $41,415.

Stanford has 20,000 students, with 7,000 being undergraduates.  Eighty-nine countries are represented.  Ninety-one percent live on campus.  There are 1000 faculty members.  There have been 54 Nobel Laureates.  Stanford has won the former Sears Cup (best college athletic program, now called the NACDA Director's Cup) every year since 1994,   And I repeat, the weather is a lot nicer south of San Francisco than those Ivy League campuses.  Plus, who else has a tree for a mascot?

-

PEARL'S ASHES: #12--African Safari

Incredibly, and eerie, but when I awoke this morning, I opened my eyes and saw the following rainbow.  Kuakini Hospital is at the end of the rainbow, and Pearl passed away exactly at the middle of the intersection of the rainbow with the hospital.

But going on to Pearl's Ashes, for reasons that elude my judgement, African Safari tents are at the top of the world's best places to stay.  I stayed at several, and they were okay, but hardly great.  On the other hand, TripAdvisor has the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at #1, which generally agrees with me.  However, Hawaii does not have the thrills of wild animals, insects and assorted stresses when you attempted to walk back to your room.  There were times when staff had to escort us, with guns, back to our tents.  That said, two Fairmont Safari Club properties, Mount Kenya and Mara, were outstanding.  At the former, the Masai honored me over a red carpet as I crossed the equator.  I am in the south, and the north is to the right:

The FMKSC was founded by actor William Holden, with Winston Churchill and Bing Crosby also somewhat associated.  The Mara (welcome to left) was named by Travel and Leisure to be the third best hotel in the whole world.  The Mount Kenya was "only" #74, which is not bad, considering that there must be a million  hotels.   For the record:

#1  Oberoi Vanyavilas (Ranthambhore, India)

#2  Triple Creek Ranch (Darby, Montana)

Never heard of them?  Who's been to Ranthambhore or Darby?  I guessT&L types must like oddball strange places.

When not luxuriating at these epicurean African water holes, we saw enough lions, elephants wildebeests, zebras and giraffes for a couple of lifetimes.  Interestingly enough, I saw two sunbursts:

And Pearl's favorite flower was the sunburst:

The past twenty-four hours were, actually, the most exciting on my trip thus far.  First, yesterday we snuck up on three white rhinoceroses.  Of course, white and black rhinos are all the same brown color, which looks like the dirt roadway, but I was assured that the soil was not why they were so colored.  It is possible that evolution camouflaged them.  If the nervous male charged us, some would not have made it, as our Land Cruisers were a hundred hards away, and there were no trees to climb.

Today, 3November10, we were awakened at 4:30AM for a hot air balloon ride.  My knowledge of these contraptions is to hop into a small basket, not unlike in Around the world in 80 Days.  Not so! Our rectangular basket with four compartments (each capable of holding up to three) began horizontal, we had to crawl in and hang on for the balloon to inflate, springing us vertical, then, with a discombobulative whoosing sound (the butane burner is deafening) and concern, we suddenly are off the ground exactly at sunrise.  Up went up, but not fast enough, as our basket crashed into the top of a tree, but we did barely clear the area.  For future tourists, I hope this was a a rare occurrence.   After that near fiasco, if you blocked out the sporadic burner noise, the ride was serene and spectacular.

There were so many wildebeest that it was impossible to count. We saw several carcasses representing kills during the night.  Our group was split into two balloons, with the other one behind us (left).

After a half an hour ride, we landed and had a feast.  Pearl always wanted to go on a safari, and I never did.  So, for her, I was looking for the exact right animal and moment to drop her ashes.  The next photo could have been it:

Notice how the male lion seems always to be resting.  Now I know why.  Only one lion is king over the entire pride, and he sometimes copulates more than 50 time/day.  When he is challenged, the winner bites of the genitals.  What a life!  While I did photograph lions doing "it" and battling, I never found that ideal scene, so I finally went through the ceremonies during sunset at Masai Mara on my last night of the safari:

-

PEARL'S ASHES: #11--the Heart of Africa

In college, one of the books we read was the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, now a FREE e-book.  There was a made for TV movie in 1994 with Tim Roth and John Malkovich, not a particularly good film, but the only existing effort.  This was an equally depressing novella dealing with colonialism, racism, savagery and civilization down the Congo River.  While my journey through Africa was not quite so dark, I could envision a worst case scenario, and this no doubt gave me caution in thinking about a safari through this continent.

From part 10, you will recall that I had flown into Nairobi, Kenya, then to Tanzania.  The Tauck Tour I was with took us to the Nogorongoro Serena, a hotel that reminded me of the Volcano House on the Big Island.  However, the view here from my room was much more spectacular:

Here is where I spread Pearl's ashes.

Germans in 1892 were the first Europeans to set foot in the Ngorongoro Crater, which is 1000 feet deep and a 100 square miles.  The Masai were caught in a policy dispute between the United Kingdom dominating the Serengeti National Park and Germany having a foothold in this particular conservation area.  Germany controlled Tanzania and the UK occupied Kenya.  This general region is where the wildebeest and zebra migrate.  25,000 large animals--rhinoceros, hippopotamus--live in this caldera.

My personal problem was that on 28October2010 I contracted severe diarrhea at 1:30 AM, went to the bathroom half a dozen times, and was looking to just sleep today.  Unfortunately, this was not possible, as we were moving hotels from the Ngorongoro Serena to the Serengeti Serena.  Worse, this was to be the bumpiest, dustiest and longest day.  So I asked my body to perform a miracle.  My frontal lobe took total control, and I made it through without incident.  As this is the second miracle, I will think about nominating my brain for sainthood, for during Pearl's illness, how many times did I think I was coming down with a cold or flu, but my body kept resisting, and helped me make it through the period, and in the process engineered a loss of 11 pounds.  Of course, I have a weird idea about the concept of miracles.

The Oldupai (this once was spelled and pronounced Olduvai) Gorge stop was both disappointing and exciting.  I had a good chat with Curator Sambeta Ikayo.  The negatives were that the exhibit itself was a pale shadow of what it should and could be.  I can think of a dozen ways to make it much better.  All they need is a rich person to provide the funds.  Read about the story of the Leakeys.  If this gorge was supervised by the British, I suspect their museum mentality would have long ago spruced up the exhibit.  Lucy was found in Ethiopia by Donald Johanson, an American, and three others.

Human life started here twice.  First, the transition from some type of champanzee 5 million years ago, then, around 70,000 BC, Mount Toba in Indonesia erupted, throwing so much ash into the atmosphere that the world got very cold, and only10,000 or so people survived, purportedly in East Africa, and possible the Oldupai Gorge.  Thus, this is where Homo Sapiens re-began and expanded.  A similar theory is that pockets of life made it through, giving us the diversity we have today.

I probably took a thousand photos of animals, and will later show some of them.  But for now, here is the eye of a giraffe.

Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,298 feet  high and the highest point in Africa.  While dormant for a third of a millennium, it is suspected that magma sits at the 18,000 foot level.  Just before I caught the plane, at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, I placed Pearl's ashes next to a flowery green area.  This is day five, and I have yet to see Mount Kilimanjaro, which, a surprise to me, is two miles south of the equator.  Here is another shot of this most symbolic of natural wonders to Pearl, courtesy of Arturo Gonzalez:

The photo in Part 10 was actually taken on the way back to Kenya.  At least I finally saw Mount Kilimanjaro.  Next time a climb to the top.  Sure.  I wonder if a helicopter can get there?  Well, there was a controversial helicopter landing on top of Mount Everest, which is about 10,000 feet higher, so, maybe someday.

-

THE SUPER BOWL AND PHIL

A total audience of 164 million, largest ever in the USA, watched Super Bowl XLVII.  26 students of Sandy Hook, plus, Jennifer Hudson, began the event with an emotional America the Beautiful:

Hudsons mother and nephew were shot to death five years ago.  Alicia Keys provided a different version of our National Anthem:

The song lasted 156 seconds, a record for the Super Bowl.  Beyonce was stunning in the half time show:

My problem was that I could not identify with even one song.  There was a 34 minute power outage, but I sat through the whole thing, not for this distraction, nor the game itself, but the commercials.

Click to see the whole list, or, watch some of the better ones.  My most meaningful included the Budweiser Clydesdale story, although I don't think this will influence my beer purchasing:

An unusual ad came from Dodge Ram, TWO MINUTES of Paul Harvey, who passed away four years ago, talking about farmers.  I guess Chrysler must have paid $15 million or so for this spot.  Taco Bell Viva Mas on really old people having a night out was fun, and they did end the evening with a few tacos.  Watch PSY hawking pistachios.

Oh, the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-31.

I thought I'd end by re-showing Rick McKee's cartoon on Punxsutawney Phil:

Phil also predicted an early Spring.

-

PEARL'S ASHES: #10--Mount Kilimanjaro

Our first trip to Africa was Cairo, and that was a near nightmare.  I specifically went this time to drop Pearl's ashes on Mount Kilimanjaro, for she identified with this mountain, as explained below.

In case you are considering an African safari, particularly to Kenya and Tanzania, here are some thoughts:

1.  Make sure you get your Yellow Fever vaccination.  You don't want to face the sanitation at the airport.  

2.  Visas can be obtained at the airport when you arrive, but sometimes the airline itself might not allow you to board their plane to these countries.  Thus, get your visa before you leave home.

3.  Take all the malaria precautions you can, but the Tauck tour guide indicated that in all the years she has been doing this, none of her clients contracted this ailment.  For the record, I saw one mosquito in a restroom and another that flew into the vehicle.  Also, while the tse-tse fly does indeed cause sleeping sickness, the specie in these two countries doesn't.

My plane landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, which began in 1899 as a train depot.  Henry Morton Stanley, for example, "found", Dr. David Livingston as early as 1881 on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, which wanders through several countries, including Tanzania.  Kenya, of course, is part of President Barack Obama's roots.  There is one line of thinking that Obama's father was assassinated in 1982 for speaking out against the government.  Nairobi is not a same place, as our hotel told us don't walk around town even during the day.

When Pearl woke up she regularly saw Mauna Kea, and thus felt a kinship with Kilimanjaro.  Or, maybe she identified with the 1950 movie, King Solomon's Mine, with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr.  An earlier version was filmed in 1937, a more recent one starred Richard Chamberlain in 1985, and then there was the 2004 Patrick Swayze performance.  

The flight to Mount Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania is about 50 minutes.  I had difficulty taking a photo of the 19,341 feet mountain because of my seat, so the above was taken by Arturo Gonzalez, who was also part of our Tauck African Safari tour.    This is a beer sign at the airport, with a Jacaranda.

This tree is now in full bloom, while the view from my room at the Serena Mountain Village to the left is also of Jacarandas, with a lake in the background.  The fragrance is wonderful. 

You will have noted by now that this was supposed to be my tenth ash ceremony, which has not yet occurred.  However, I have a few days left in Tanzania.

-

PEARL'S ASHES: #8--Haleakala

On 5June 2010 I drove at sunrise to view the sunrise from the top of Haleakala.  Like many of my ash tossing ceremonies, getting there was an experience.

Everyone who wants to do a hundred things before moving on into the afterlife, or not, must catch the sunrise at Haleakala.  I left the Maui Seaside at 4AM, for the drive was supposed to take an hour and a half, with sunrise at 5:44.  Well, it was really dark, and the road with a hundred hairpin turns (okay, only 33 switchbacks through 12 climate zones).  As I made it to the entrance gate to pay the $10 fee, I found out this was FREE Saturday, but noticed that the sunrise was not 5:44, but 5:37.  I did not realize that nearly two miles high, the sunrise is earlier.  The only car delaying progress was mine, for there was a long caravan behind me, and I wanted to make it up there alive.  I just made it to take the first photo to the left above.

There was a mob of people awaiting the event, all in various stages of frostbite, for the winds were in the 30 to 40 MPH range and temperature around 42 degrees F.  At 40 degrees and 40 MPH, the effective temperature is 11 degrees F, and freezing is 32 degrees.  If you ever go, wear something for Helsinki in January.  Finally, sunrise at Haleakala above.

My intent was to spread a small amount of Pearl's ashes as the Sun appeared, which was a challenge with all the people around, the wind, my wanting to take a photo at that moment and having only two hands.  This, though, I managed.

Officially, Haleakala is the crater, which sits at the top of East Maui Volcano, which is not extinct, as indications are that there might have been an eruption as recently as the late 18th century.  The island of Manhattan can fit inside the crater.  As the photo on the left shows, the summit is at 10,023 feet.

A particular attraction of this national park is the silversword, which can only be found on this mountain at elevations exceeding 7,000 feet.  It almost went extinct in the 1920's, and is still threatened by feral goats...and me.  I walked up to take the photo above, with a forest ranger screaming at me to get back on to the concrete pathway.  I never did see any sign.  On the left is a swarm of them.  The drive up was scary.  The trip down was spectacular, as you are above the clouds.  The only distractions, and most dangerous, were dozens of bicyclists (a tourist attraction) riding down the same road.  Eventually, you drive through the clouds, then, suddenly, you are below.

At this time of the year Jacarandas (above) are blossoming.  This could well be Pearl's favorite flower.  However, after she passed away, I selected the Gold Tree, because this, too was among her favorites.  It was a toss up!  There is a pleasant smell and the ground is purple from the fallen flowers.  Speaking of fragrances, you can also visit a lavender farm on the slopes of this volcano.

Next, #10:  Mount Kilimanjaro.

-

THE DOW AT 14,000

A week ago I indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average would return to the 14,000's.  This happened  today.  The all time high occurred on 11October2007, but slipped to 6507 on9March2009.  The market has, thus, jumped by a factor of 2.15 from this trough to today.  It was around this period four years ago that I decided to initiate my Blog Stock Challenge.  

My challenge, however, did not pick the best possible stocks.  In the spirit of saving Planet Earth and Humanity, I selected those companies having some influence over the future of sustainable resources:

  Microsoft (software for renewable energy)     20.25     27.92

  GE (they invented the modern wind turbine)  16.67     22.52

  Lockheed Martin (doing OTEC R&D)             77.13     87

  Boeing (hydrogen  jetlliner)                           44.17     74.77

  Ultra Basic Materials (a materials company)  13.37     39.66

  Ford (methanol cars)                                     1.90     13.05

The value of each company has, of course, increased, but when you crank in the shares purchased, my real ratio of increase today is at 2.68, better than the average expected increase.  This is all the more remarkable because Barack Obama had been elected President, and it was clear that we would abandon the Middle East Wars.  Defense companies were almost certain to be hurt, so it was insane to invest in firms like Lockheed Martin and Boeing.  But I did anyway.  I guess the military industrial complex turned out to be more formidable than I speculated.  Great for my stock value, but bad for world peace.

Almost a year before all the above, during the heat of the campaign for the presidency, my first Huffington Post article was entitled:

  Well, Barack, We have a Problem...

Barack Obama had not yet prevailed over Hillary Clinton, and my original HuffPo was a message for world peace.  I posted several other "peace" articles, with the latest being two years later on

  The 10% Simple Solution to Peace.

I almost wanted my stock worth of these "war" companies to drop.  Alas, I made money on continued war.

The whole point of this discussion is TO INVEST WHEN THE MARKET IS DOWN.  Take Ultra Basic Materials (UYM, an ETF, exchange traded fund), for example.  I bought just after the crash:

So UYM can still go up.  Ford, has been my sensation.

I expect a correction of 1000 to 2000 points sometime this year as the world economy is dangerously metastable.    Will we again see anything below 10,000?  I know people who are predicting true doomsday, purchasing an arsenal and maximizing their survival capabilities.  On the other hand, this nipping at 14,000 is pure irrational exuberance, I don't think this mini-crash will be all that bad, but pick your trigger:  Israel bombing Iran, Peak Oil, crash of the European economy, crisis in China...

-