Johns Hopkins Gazette: October 28, 1996 Form

The 1996 MSE
Symposium: Defining
Generation X

Bloomberg Stresses Ability
To Communicate

Leslie Rice
Homewood
News and Information

At Wednesday's Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium, financial media mogul and Hopkins alumnus and board of trustees chairman Michael Bloomberg talked about "The Future of Technology," advising the mostly student audience on how to stay competitive in a cutthroat business world after they graduate.

"Learning all the technological bytes and bits is nowhere near as important as acquiring the ability to think and to communicate ideas," he said. "In college, it is easier to test students on how well they can regurgitate facts; it is less easy to test logical thinking. And unfortunately, if as a student you're only practicing against fast balls, you're not going to be prepared for all the sliders and curve balls that will inevitably be thrown at you after college."

This year's symposium, which ended with Bloomberg's appearance, was one of the best-attended in years.

This series "has been one long roller coaster ride," said co-chairman Jeff Shalom, who, along with fellow co-chair David Capece, has been working on this symposium since this time last year. "Some of the ups and downs have made us queasy, but mostly we've found ourselves smiling."


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