Dont judge by looks

[johnnyboy 0]

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge. She frowned. "We want to see the President," the man said softly.

"He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped.

"We'll wait," the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the President, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

"Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him. He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The President, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my
husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The President wasn't touched, he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly. "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."
The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard."
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded.

The President's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.

jumpers ARE better all around people than whuffos

[wildblue 4]

Snopes

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[ACMESkydiver 0]

That's really cool.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Quote

Snopes

Yeah, but still a cool story.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[johnnyboy 0]

Yes, there is a lot of controversy about the accuracy of this story, but it is a cool story. Harvard says its false, while the dean of admissions of Stanford law says its all accurate.
Harvard doesnt deny that the meeting took place, however, they say they were nice in helping the Stanfords find a location for their school.
The young Stanford died at 16 from a virus, which could be labeled as accidental. And in those days, you could attend college at 14, 17, 25, whatever. VERY true.
So there isnt much dispute, the only reason they question the authenticity is to protect the image of Harvard.
Talk to the heads at Stanford, and they will agree with most of it

jumpers ARE better all around people than whuffos

[wildblue 4]

Uhh.. no they won't! If they do, they're pretty fucking stupid!

http://www.stanford.edu/home/stanford/history/begin.html

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[johnnyboy 0]

That may be the case
Afterall, they did deny me admission, THAT shows stupidity

jumpers ARE better all around people than whuffos

[kallend 1,633]

I like this part from the Snopes page:

"The "rudely-spurned university endowment" theme of the Stanford story has played out at least once in real life. In July 1998, William Lindsay of Las Vegas contacted an unnamed Scottish institution of higher learning by telephone, saying he was minded to give some money to a university in Scotland. Taking him for a crank, he was rudely dismissed by the person he spoke to. His next call to Glasgow University met with a warmer reception, and in March 2000 that school received a check for £1.2 million, enough to endow a professorship in Lindsay's name."

The head of Glasgow University at that time was my Ph.D. advisor of some 30 years ago, Sir Graeme Davies.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[wildblue 4]

You didn't work this story into your application for admission, did you? That might explain the denial

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Regardless of whether or not this story is true, people have been judged by their looks since the beginning of time and there is no reason to think that this trend will ever change.

If you're one of the good looking types, you may not realize this but life is easier for you. People are friendlier to you, you are given opportunities others can only dream about and people tend to forgive your mistakes more easily. But if you are like the rest of us ugly ducklings, you know that people are less likely to offer time and opportunities to you, other people are less likely to be friendly towards you and god forbid if you ever make a mistake. You are much more likely to be hung out to dry. I see it every day and I live it every day.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[happythoughts 0]

Quote

You didn't work this story into your application for admission, did you? That might explain the denial

Why? He was applying to law school. A certain flexibility with the truth is understood as part of the job description.

[johnnyboy 0]

Quote

You didn't work this story into your application for admission, did you? That might explain the denial

Actually, I worked this story into my appeal when I got denied. It didnt work I probably should have sent it to Harvard with my application as well, that would have made them But who cares, they denied me too They all dont know what they are missing......bastards

jumpers ARE better all around people than whuffos

[johnnyboy 0]