Poly want a cracker?
Mordechai
brilliant merger acquisition of my alma mater, Polytechnic University.
As in any private equity buyout or corporate takeover, the spoils
belong to the victor.
Unfortunatley, after reading the Final Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) in its current state, I don't see any substantiation of any
tangible benefits to Polytechnic University for its real estate and
other assets other than the potential ability to borrow money from
NYU. I don't see the 10 years of protection for the Poly assets
mentioned by President Sexton on the NYU website today. See the
article at:
http://www.nyunews.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=a1ceec8c-04fd-4332-b354-3469ab852648
I also don't see any back door for Polytechnic University if the
merger does not work in these 10 years.
Just as corporate takeovers in the past resulted in acquiring the
target'assets, and loss of identity, I believe Polytech will suffer a
similar fate if the merger goes through without protections in the
final merger agreement.
NYU's School of Engineering was assimilated by Polytechnic Institute
of Brooklyn (PIB) when NYU previuosly had no use for it in 1973, and
the result became Polytechnic Institute of New York (PINY), which was
further diluted and modernized to become Polytechnic University of New
York(PUNY). Were now Polytechnic University (PU). I guess that's why
the deal stinks.
The "Old Poly" lost its focus a long time ago, once it forgot its
roots and diversified from its tradition of a sound engineering
education for commuter students. As a result, it also lost its
identity, and the support of many Alumni who could no longer relate to
it.
As a BSEE class of 1972 and MSEE of the class of 1973 from the
historic Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn at its commuter's concrete
city campus, I applaud the the huge donations from Donald Othmer's
estate, the exceptionally loyal and generous support of Joseph Jacobs
over many years, and the significant contributions of so many other
generous supporters who must be regretting the threatened loss off
their alma mater's identity.
This proposed merger is about education, but it's also about business
and revenue for NYU at the expense of Polytechnic University. I would
like to see this merger as a solution for salvation and survival with
equity for Polytechnic's assets and its alumni.
We need an open forum of the Alumni and concerned students to make
sure the final merger agreement protects Poly's assets for at least 10
years with protection in case the merger turns sour.
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Gregory
your comments to be quite interesting vis a vis whether or not Poly
is really getting the most bang for the buck and are they really
getting a good deal in the merger (takeover) by NYU who wants their
engineering school back after being without for 30 odd years. I also
thought that the remarks on one transit strike, plague etc and Poly is
dead were a little bit insulting to my intelligence and amount to
scare tactics to scare the board of directors to more readily accept
the merger it would seem. Is this MOU available on the web to view or
download or ???? Just curious. Greg
On Oct 10, 8:19 am, Mordechai <mordec...@optonline.net> wrote:
> I would like to compliment President Sexton and the NYU Board for a
> brilliant merger acquisition of my alma mater, Polytechnic University.
> As in any private equity buyout or corporate takeover, the spoils
> belong to the victor.
>
> Unfortunatley, after reading the Final Memorandum of Understanding
> (MOU) in its current state, I don't see any substantiation of any
> tangible benefits to Polytechnic University for its real estate and
> other assets other than the potential ability to borrow money from
> NYU. I don't see the 10 years of protection for the Poly assets
> mentioned by President Sexton on the NYU website today. See the
> article at:http://www.nyunews.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mordechai Schlam
If you want a copy of the MOU, send an e-mail request to Polytechnic Alumni
at polytec...@gmail.com and specifically request a copy of the MOU.
Best regards,
Mark H. Schlam, BSEE '72, MSEE '73
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