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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Spartex who wrote (25080)	1/21/1999 10:15:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 42771

Novell CEO will help guide a New America Jan. 21, 1999 BY CHRIS NOLAN Mercury News Staff Writer THINK tank. Has nothing to do with water. And, for many inside the Washington Beltway, has precious little to do with actual intellectual work. But one of Silicon Valley's better-known CEOs, Novell's Eric Schmidt, is putting his support behind a new undertaking called the New America Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., that aims to redress that sad turn of events. The thinking, that is. Now, it's not unusual for folks from the entrepreneurial track to take an interest in these inside -- very inside -- the Beltway institutions. Cypress Semiconductor Corp. CEO T.J. Rodgers has supported the Cato Institute. Microsoft execs spend time at the Heritage Foundation. And a rag-tag band of cryptographers, software developers and industry pundits have been known to attend conferences at the Progress and Freedom Foundation. As a member of New America's board of directors, Schmidt will get to keep company with journalist Kati Marton, former magazine editor Jim Fallows, former Clinton administration economist Laura D'Andrea Tyson and Foreign Affairs managing editor Fareed Zakaria. Pretty serious company. Schmidt says he's supporting the organization -- he's giving something more precious than money, he's giving time -- because it's an attempt to enrich current political discussions and to maybe do a little good. ''To me, the impeachment is just the latest example of the polarization of American politics,'' he said. ''I am very tired of the two sides arguing.'' New America President Ted Halstead says the foundation is trying to solve that by providing a place for younger political thinkers and writers to work. ''Our national debate is at an all-time low. There's a need to bring along the next generation,'' he said. Both Schmidt and Halstead say New America does not intend to mimic the behavior of other think tanks. Their insurance? No long-term appointments where party hacks can rest during a change in administrations. Fellowships are for one year only. And there will be no selling, er, tailoring, of the organization's beliefs to suit the political agendas of the biggest donors. ''The goal actually is to take the high-tech model, the venture capital model and apply it, not just to political writers but to activists and organizers,'' said Halstead. It's no coincidence that he talks like that. Silicon Valley is important to New America for a number of reasons. Like money and ideas. ''We're very interested in building greater inroads into that community,'' said Halstead. ''It's an interesting crowd out there.'' Schmidt isn't their only connection. Mansoor Zakaria, founder and CEO of 2Bridge Software, a San Francisco software start-up, is Fareed Zakaria's brother. www7.mercurycenter.com