<p>The products of SV’s mature companies are running afoul of ethical and societal privacy issues. Google maps engineers taking private data from routers, privacy issues surrounding Facebook, Apple’s relationship to its near and far neighbors in California with regard to tax evasion to mention just a few in recent headlines. It does not seem Stanford is impacting its industrial partners as one would expect with such a strong symbiotic relationship. It is likely difficult to temper the entrepreneurial spirit of for profit corporations to avoid the conflicts emerging. </p>
<p>In the Finance world, witness JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and MFGlobal. JPM and GS enjoyed top status until recently. If there was a UNNWR ranking for banks they’d be number 1 and 2 in the US. it would appear their entrepreneurial spirit, untempered by ethical and societal concerns, involving the T and M aspects of STEM contributed to a very rapid fall from grace through proprietary trading with grandma’s money.</p>
<p>I am not suggesting Stanford is responsible for what Apple or Google does, but close partnerships and inviting a corporate culture onto a university requires very careful efforts to balance it and avoid recognized pitfalls. Mid 40% of STEM declared majors is high compared to Harvard and Yale. Whether the humanity areas are strong enough, not to win a high ranking on USNWR, but to balance the drive for monetary success in a university setting that has embraced entrepreneurialism with corporate partners is the focus of concern in the articles cited.</p>