America 1982-Chapter 604 - 134: The Rise of Stanford_2

Back in the day, Ohio University spent tens of millions under this department’s funding just to research how to create a four-wheeled military truck, a study that made every university president across America involuntarily go out and check how many wheels the trucks on the road had, wondering what the necessity was for such a research.

After the exorbitant truck affair was leaked, righteous members of Congress stood up to demand a thorough investigation into the scandal. The result was that the appointed investigator suddenly developed severe depression and committed suicide, and the congressman who led the formation of the investigation committee resigned amid scandal. The Department of Defense, to Ohio University, said, continue to research a four-wheeled truck for me—I want to see it.

Which university doesn’t worship the Pentagon like a god? Now, this lavish wealth was given to Stanford University, and regardless of whether there’s an exaggerated demand for gigabit network transmission, it’s just right to install it according to gigabit standards. There’s no need to consider the price of various hardware devices; just haul them back as if it were Black Friday.

In addition to equipment, hundreds of scientists and engineers flocked to Stanford University to engage in research under the leadership of Winton Sev. When these researchers needed interns or assistants, the obvious choice was to select students from nearby Stanford.

When comparing funding figures, the matter becomes even more direct. The National Science Foundation’s single-year total budget for all American universities last year was 1.2 billion US dollars, meaning dozens or hundreds of universities had to devise various research topics to attract attention, trying to get as much as possible from the 1.2 billion science funding pot.

Whereas the funding support provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to Stanford University when it established the Information Processing Technology Center that year was 42.75 million US dollars. This meant that even if the military squandered half of it on ridiculously priced coffee cups, seats, and desks, they still had to annually dole out more than 20 million in cash for Stanford University to squander.

This is also why every time the Massachusetts Institute of Technology remembered it missed a chance to cozy up with the military over failing to send one more gaming console, it would be so upset it almost cried itself awake.

"Hi! Tommy! You finally decided to come back from Los Angeles!" As they entered the supercomputer center internet project lobby, the ten or so people who were buried between monitors, busy working and chatting, looked up at the sound of footsteps, and when they saw who it was, they started greeting Tommy familiarly.

"I was just watching your show about feeding laxatives to pigeons! You truly are a talent from Stanford, man. After Stanford educated you for four years, this is how you pay it back, by shitting on its image with a pigeon shitstorm on tourists!"

"I think Tommy is a bit better than Jason, that bastard went on the show swearing up and down about donating to Stanford, so his girlfriend could get a degree here! I hate sons of bitches who don’t keep their word!"

"That’s right, I called admissions more than twenty times a day and still haven’t heard any news about his hot girlfriend enrolling!"

Sophia curiously looked around the lobby at these men and women seated in front of monitors; some, like Tommy and Quinn, were dressed very casually, while a few were wearing military outfits without ranks, evidently civilians. These people were in their thirties at the oldest, while the youngest looked like they could still be in high school.

"Has the internet cult preacher finally decided to come back?" A voice came from behind Sophia. She turned around and saw a middle-aged man, standing stern-faced at the door of an office and addressing Tommy.

The man was tall and wore a three-piece British-styled suit that set him apart distinctly from everyone else in the lobby. Each strand of his beard was meticulously groomed, and he even sported a pocket square in his suit’s breast pocket that matched his tie, looking like an English gentleman who had been abruptly transplanted from London to California.

Tommy greeted with a smile, "Good morning, Professor Sev."

The man was none other than the famous Winton Sev, a pure-bred Anglo-Saxon who, when studying at Stanford, was a member of the VSA Phoenix Society.

"Not very good, particularly after learning that you’ve had your wish granted and Congress passed the telecommunications law amendments," Sev said to Tommy, then turned to Quinn, "I need a hot coffee."

Quinn immediately hurried toward the refreshment room, and after Professor Sev finished giving his instructions, he turned and went back into his office.

Tommy followed him into the office, taking in the layout, and said,

"Professor, I haven’t had the chance to share the good news with you yet. I wanted to surprise you in person. I mean, how did you know?"

"MCI Corporation held a board meeting for you, and as MCI’s Vice President and your professor, I attended. They congratulated me for teaching such a good student. Your insistence on the definition of internet information and the clause exempting it from FCC discriminatory regulation has caused MCI’s stock price and paid services to surge. They’re even preparing to donate ten million to Stanford as thanks for nurturing talent like you," Professor Sev said, settling back in front of his computer.

Tommy nodded as if it were expected, "The free and open environment for transmitting internet information is something that should make everyone happy."

"Being exempt from FCC discriminatory regulation means spam email vendors can unscrupulously send massive amounts of junk mail through MCI-Mail to people’s inboxes. This includes election canvassing ads, charity fundraising ads, Wall Street junk stock recommendations, even discount offers. MCI earns lofty service fees from the spam mail vendors, while the vendors rake in hefty advertising revenues from large chain supermarkets, brokerage firms, various organizations. Indeed, everyone is happy about this—except for the people receiving the spam mail," Sev sighed.