Intel Ends Sponsorship of Talent Search

[Periwinkle]

Or they wanted to make it public that Intel was dropping them.

Or (more likely, in my opinion) the society hasn’t been able to find a sponsor through discreet channels.

[RenaissanceMom]

^ or they haven’t found a replacement after searching for one. Maybe in addition to searching for a corporate sponsor, they should reach out to billionaires, like Gates or Jobs’ widow. I went to grad school as a Mellon fellow. Many grad school merit scholarships were funded by a wealthy individual, like Mellon & Rhodes.

[scout59]

It doesn’t matter. Have you never been in a large corporate setting trying to cost-cut? I have, and $6MM in this warm and fuzzy program here, $6MM in that warm and fuzzy program there, and pretty soon you’ve got lots of found money.

Ain’t THAT the truth? I’ve been through many of these cost-cutting initiatives, and you’d be surprised how even the largest companies can become the craziest (and most miserly) when it comes to trimming the budget. No more coffee at staff meetings! No more paper clips supplied by the company! And I’m talking about a Fortune 50 company here ranked higher in the Fortune list than Intel.

Madness. Who knows why they act the way they do.

[skyoverme]

@jhs

I would just like to remind people that there is absolutely no information other than GMTplus7’s speculation

My impression… Here, he’s just making it up.

So to summarize, you point out other people’s speculation and then you go on to claim people are making things up based on your impressions and speculation.

I think you just divided by zero.
LOL.

[skyoverme]

So why are we dumbing down instead of smartening up?

Good question.
But it has been the trend in this country for a while and well exhibited in forums like these.

It is probably related to some notion about fairness - unfair that some students are hugely talented.
Odd thing is it mainly applies to academics - people are still okay that the most talented person is the quarterback or the starting pitcher.

[Pizzagirl]

I’m the one who said the comment and I don’t particularly value the quarterback. If you are trying to suggest I think sports > academics, you are barking up the wrong tree.

[GMTplus7]

There’s nothing other than speculation to suggest it’s driven by wanting to “hurt” Asian kids

Hey, let’s get it straight here.** I NEVER concluded that Intel deliberately wants to “hurt” Asian kids.** I merely pointed out that the optically embarassing lack of black & hispanic kids among the Finalists does not jibe w Intel’s $300 million initiative to repair the PR damage (thanks to JJ) of not having blacks & hispanics in their workforce. The fact that they are willing to spend a third of a billion dollars on this is de facto affirmation that racial demographics is of critical concern to them. No one casually commits a third of a billion dollars. While Intel can just give hiring preference to different groups, awarding Finalist slots to kids based on their race, pretty much kills the point of the science competition. Easier to just drop it.

@Hunt 's opening post remarked

It seems a very odd decision for them to make.

For a company of Intel’s godzilla-sized revenue stream, $6 million is a drop in the bucket, so it’s not about the money. Was Hunt’s comment not the cue to offer a probable reasons? You’ve got a more plausible reason? Then do please share it. You’re as free as I am to speculate. But to say you know the real reason but can’t disclose it-- I call BS.

Yes, and the US military is hiding aliens in Roswell.

[GMTplus7]

Here’s a link to the Slashdot reference made by @Periwinkle. See the readers’ comments:

http://m.slashdot.org/story/299269
Seems I’m far from the only one who drew the same conclusion. Other readers also concluded that due to the JJ shakedown, no other Silicon Valley company is going to touch the STS sponsorship.

[GMTplus7]

B I N G O …
from The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/why-did-intel-quit-the-science-fair/410017/

But there could be another reason for the drop in sponsorship: diversity. Intel’s CEO, Brian Krzanich, announced in January that Intel would be investing $300 million in “hiring and retention programs, growing the tech pipeline, increasing investments in diverse entrepreneurs, and supporting women in gaming.” One (highly partisan) site speculated that the money previously allocated for the science fair will now be going to Intel’s Diversity in Technologyinitiative. But another read is that the winners at STS simply aren’t diverse enough to fit with Intel’s new direction.

[JHS]

Wow, @GMTplus7 : Great job of quoting, out of context, one-half paragraph from a 15-paragraph article that devotes most of those paragraphs to a completely different hypothesis. What’s more, you cut off your paragraph quote before the sentence that explains what the author meant by “diversity” here: “Over the last year, eight schools from the greater New York City area have dominated the winners list at the STS.” The article goes on to explain that the alternative competition Intel is supporting is “likely . . . more diverse in geographic origin if not in gender.”

I don’t mind that you believe this is somehow motivated by Jesse Jackson and his (basically invisible) “shakedown,” and another example of Asian kids getting the shaft. It’s even possible that you are right, and I’m sure you aren’t alone in that belief. I do mind, however, that you persistently lack intellectual honesty in promoting that belief.