From: Paul Brown Sunday - September 3, 2006 12:18 PM To: spg@goodwingoodwin.com BC: pbbrown4348@verizon.net Subject: new direction for WVU
TO: Stephen Goodwin Board of Governors
FROM: Paul Brown WVU
Dear Dr. Goodwin:
One question the Board of Governors tackles whenever recruiting a new president for WVU is the direction in which he or she should lead us. David Hardesty was chosen with specific changes in mind, and he has brought them about successfully. Some fast-moving developments are engaging the concern of informed people worldwide: the global population explosion, climate change, the sixth mass extinction of species, and humankind’s inadequate responses to these problems. It will take courageous, insightful leadership to meet these challenges, particularly in a state dominated by coal power. In the next two or three decades nations will have to abandon the use of carbon fuels for energy. This won't happen because we’ll run out of the needed raw materials, but because of rapidly accelerating environmental damage, skyrocketing demand, and increased costs of production. Nuclear energy can’t be part of a workable solution, but all the needed technology for affordable, renewable energy exists today. The world can wait until we're forced by global crises to abandon carbon combustion, by which time climate change and mass extinctions may have become runaway processes beyond our power to reverse. Alternatively, we can make a coordinated transition away from fossil fuels now, at slightly greater cost than we could have twelve years ago, but at much lower cost than twelve years hence. This transformation will be impossible for states that remain in denial and waste limited resources on band aids such as coal liquefaction, CO2 sequestration, oil shale, tar sands, Arctic drilling, and biomass. Some states are rapidly changing over to renewable energy, exploring a hydrogen energy economy, and strengthening local economies through recycling, remanufacturing, and local production of the necessities of life. By being ahead of the curve, they will do well. Such implementation requires careful planning with regard to research, education, business, and jobs. In West Virginia, the coal and power industries and their work forces need to become part of the solution instead of remaining the problem. If they do, all parties – including the coal industry and miners – will benefit. WVU should be a key factor in this process, as should our federal and state legislators and the governor. There’s another consideration I have to mention. The three schools I attended for my education – MIT, the University of Chicago, and Cornell – differ considerably in character but they’ve averaged 60 Nobel Prizes, compared to zero at WVU. Their average endowment is $4.9 billion, compared to $0.4 billion at WVU. They became leaders through a bootstrap process upon which I believe WVU can now embark. We started too late on molecular biology, microcomputers, and nanotechnology, but we can seize this new opportunity and achieve greatness. I'd appreciate the opportunity to discuss this vision at a Board of Governors meeting. I think I can convince you in an hour that the state of West Virginia, its industries, and its institutions of higher learning must move quickly in this new direction.
Sincerely,
Paul Brown Physiology Department West Virginia University Health Sciences Center Morgantown, WV 26506 (304) 293 - 1512
Paul Brown Physiology Department West Virginia University Health Sciences Center Morgantown, WV 26506 (304) 293 - 1512