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JULY 1, 2011
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JEAN GILLETTE Small Talk
The livin’ is easy in the summertime Oh yeah. It’s officially summertime. The calendar says so and the weather is making a solid effort to get with the program here on the coast. As I look across these 50 states, I do see a growing need for man to finally figure out a way to control the weather. We’ve been mucking around with it since the dark ages. With technology being where it is, I really think somebody ought to get on it and fast. Half the country is under water and here we sit with the marine layer clamped over what would otherwise be perfect days. I, myself, am working on inventing a really small but powerful vacuum that will suck up our marine layer and deliver it to El Cajon, San Marcos and other points east. I haven’t got all the physics ironed out yet, but it will somehow spit their endless sunshine out back here for us coastal dwellers. Does anyone have any friends at Dyson? Meanwhile, school is out and I did open my door to a big whiff of ocean air today. I swear, one or two lungs full takes five years off of me.And while I have a few more hours a day to spare, I have not reached my Nirvana of being able to stay home and putter around. Just because we have several more hours of light should not mean that I have to get more done. I subscribe to the “Porgy and Bess” take on this season. The livin’ should be easy. And on that note, I simply have to suggest a few books for summer reading. I discovered “Sisters of the Sari,” by Brenda L. Baker when it was sent to The Coast News for a review. It places a strong, kind American CEO in Chennai, India. It is a wonderful story about how her life intertwines with women of every social strata. An older, but lovely, book I was given is “The Inner Voice,” by and about soprano Renee Fleming. It TURN TO SMALL TALK ON B11
Cunningham is SDSU dean of business admin By Patty McCormac
RANCHO SANTA FE — Rancho Santa Fe resident Dr. Michael Cunningham was recently named dean of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University. As the 19th largest business school in the nation, third in California and 35th largest in the world, Cunningham said he knows he has his work cut out for him during these lean times. But the fact that the country is in the middle of a recession does not seem to slow him down at all. “I think it is wonderful. I think there is a lot of opportunity in adversity,” he said. Cunningham is filled with energy and optimism about his new job and couldn’t wait to get started. In fact, he said he has been working for two months in preparation, focusing on strategy, structure and systems. He said he expected his first day to be ceremonial and symbolic. “I want to celebrate our faculty, students and alumni and business community,” he said. “We need to make sure our students are great communicators, critical thinkers and team players, as well as having the basic blocking and tackling skills of a traditional business education,” he said. Cunningham is no stranger to academia. He earned his master’s in graphic
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communications, management and technology in 1996, and his Ph.D. in administration, leadership and technology in 2005 from New York University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and business management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1982. He has
taught at both Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and New York University. He has been teaching management/entrepreneurship courses at SDSU since 2005. “What we do is offer a wonderful education to our students. It is a real, practical education. We have the
largest alumni network in San Diego from the business school.” He said there are 60,000 alumni and 80 percent are still in Southern California. “That is key. It will give them (students) skills and the knowledge to help them get the job they need,” he said. Some business school graduates have gone on to great careers such as Linda Lang, CEO of Jack in the Box; Mark Snell, CFO of Sempra Energy; and Scott Sulka, a serial entrepreneur in the biotech industry, he said. “It’s my second career,” Cunningham said. “I decided to take a position with higher education to make an impact on my life. I wanted to create many opportunities for as many students as I can and give back. I’ll be able to do that in a very meaningful way.” What he hopes to accomplish during that time is to make the business school one of the top in the country. One way he plans to do this, even with the precarious financial situation in California, is to come up with creative ways to increase revenue. “The state basically limits the amount of students we can take in from the state. So we will go after out-of-state and out-of-country students,” he said. This will not affect instate students adversely, he said. “The out-of-state stu-
dents are not taking the places of the in-state students, but the out-of-state students pay double tuition and do not receive aid from the state of California,” he said. “This will allow us to attract diversity of experience and ethnic and geographic diversity that will dove tail into one of our main missions — to supply a well rounded, top quality student to the work force,” he said. He said a big part of his job also is just getting the word out on what a jewel the college of business is. “There is the saying: ‘Untold. Unsold,’” he said. “I need to tell the story of how good our students are. They have the eye of the tiger, fire in the belly and they really want to make a difference in the world.” He said he thinks that people look at the CSU system as a big homogeneous system and that they are all alike and that the UC system is much better. Cunningham said he hopes to change that perception. “They don’t realize that it was the number one small college in the state and the top 20 selected university in the nation. Last year, there were 66,000 applicants and less than 5,000 got accepted,” he said. Cunningham knows of which he teaches having built TURN TO DEAN ON B11
Former all-star player puts ‘paradise’ property on market By Tony Cagala
RANCHO SANTA FE — Prospective buyers and industry experts toured the home of former professional baseball player and San Diego native Brett Boone. The home, in Rancho Santa Fe’s The Bridges community, has been placed on the market by Barry Estates,
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The Tuscan farmhouseinspired 12,521-square-feet home with seven bedrooms, and nine baths offers views of the Bridges Golf Course, orchards and the scenic Rancho Santa Fe Mountains. Listed at $14 million, the home also features a resortstyle pool and spa with custom rock slide and grotto, wine cellar, tennis court and more. “It’s really a children’s home,” said Catherine Barry, co-founder of Barry Estates, Inc. “It’s a children’s paradise. They have their own project room, they have a theater, they have a gym where they can work out with their father,” she added. The home is so unique because it offers every potential amenity, Jason Barry said. “It’s very rare to be able to find an estate at almost any price that will fulfill the needs of a family complete-
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ly…and the reality is this home fills those needs.” The house is new, having been built in 2010, and that’s what makes this property so rare, Jason explained. “It’s rare to have something that offers what this offers and new — that’s what makes this extremely rare.” “What are the desires of
the people today? They want the central wonderful oversized great room/kitchen combination with the nice flow — the indoor, outdoor appeal. This has that.” The home is so thoughtfully designed, Jason said. The real estate market is still a little tough, he said. Properties like these can go in
months or take a year. “What really comes into play is how unique of a property; how desirable it really is…It goes back to, once again, we’re in one of the most desirable areas in the whole country. So if someone really wants to be in the best TURN TO ALL-STAR ON B11