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| The Dean's Letter |
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To Communicate, Innovate, and Lead
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| Joe Stone, Dean of Arts and Sciences |
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| Joe Stone asks senior Anna Cavender about her work with the EyeDraw software. |
By now, many are familiar with the remarkable story of Bethany McLean, a young writer for Fortune, who in early 2001 deciphered the accounting manipulations of Enron long before anyone else. She challenged the prevailing wisdom on Wall Street by asking a simple question: “Just how does Enron actually make any money?” When McLean was not appeased by confused answers from Enron, company executives pressured Fortune to get McLean to back off.
How did McLean outsmart both the conventional wisdom on Wall Street and Enron executives, otherwise known as The Smartest Guys in the Room in McLean’s new book? There was no “Deep Throat” insider. Nor is McLean an M.B.A. from Sloan or Wharton. Instead, she is a liberal arts graduate from Williams College in English and mathematics, who had apprenticed as an analyst for Goldman-Sachs before turning to journalism. As she reviewed Enron’s accounting, McLean explains that she had an epiphany, realizing that most of Enron’s profits were bogus manipulations. I’ve been impressed by her account on at least two levels. First, it appears to have taken a liberal arts major in English and math to uncover the Enron story. But, second, when was the last time you heard the words “accounting” and “epiphany” in the same sentence?
By educating students broadly in the liberal arts, the College of Arts and Sciences helps them to be effective communicators, inventive problem solvers, and experienced in reflective and critical thought— in other words, to communicate, innovate, and lead. Rather than training our students merely for the transient jobs of today, we help them develop the skills and intellect to adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the jobs of the future, as well as for a lifetime of personal fulfillment.
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| The EyeDraw research team hopes that their program may someday allow paralyzed children the ability to draw. |
One example in this issue of Cascade is Anna Cavender, a senior in Computer and Information Science. In collaboration with Professor Anthony Hornof and fellow undergraduate Rob Hoselton, Anna developed a computer drawing program that relies only on eye movements, which someday may provide profoundly paralyzed children and adults the ability to draw, design, and manipulate computer operations. As a computer scientist, Anna is already a leader—chosen among the nation’s best as a prime example of success in undergraduate computing— and she communicates her passion for scientific research with ease, eloquence, and good humor. It’s clear from talking to her that she has a vision beyond zeroes and ones; she sees people in her problems, and works to create software from that broader perspective.
Whether they are digging up artifacts in Israel or traveling to the deep sea for genetic research, students in the liberal arts are free to chart their own courses. Though requirements in the curriculum encourage a breadth of discovery, students are guided within that context by their own unique curiosity and personal commitment to a lifetime of learning.
These pages offer some examples of where that path has led our students, faculty, and alumni. I hope you enjoy the issue.
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1245 University of Oregon • Eugene, OR • 97403-1245
(541) 346.3950 • FAX (541) 346.3282 • alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu
Copyright © 2004 University of Oregon
Updated June 1, 2004
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