Smartystan

With the publishing house secured, Dr. Strong felt the cool feeling of victory. It wasn’t like he had vanquished an enemy. This was a quiet, calm way of understanding the business of publishing. This Monday morning, he organized an in-person meeting with the Founders. It took him about four hours to gather his notes and what he wanted to present to the board. As the captain of the ship, he knew he had to continue to fulfill his role. In creating a momentous occasion out of something mundane as a business meeting, Dr. Strong knew he could keep the party going. Business meetings seemed fun to the Founders. They weren’t gray, drab motions of mouthing off figures from spreadsheets. All of them became engaged and prompt.

Dr. Frampton entered the room first followed by Winnington and Belinda and finally Go. Dr. Strong put his fingertips together.

“I called this meeting today to initiate a new program. It’s the Smartystan University. I know we’ve been tossing the idea around in the past, but it has become a bit more solidified now,” Dr. Strong announced.

“This sounds good,” Belinda said. “All we have to do is use at least a billion dollars to get started.”

Winnington looked confused. “I’m sorry, what’s happening here?”

Dr. Frampton looked at him. “It’s alright. We’ve been going back and forth about establishing a degree granting, higher education institute of learning.”

Winnington nodded to acknowledge that he understood.

Dr. Strong directed their attention to a hologram. It showed the edifice in three dimensional form. As it spun like a top, it displayed the interior and exterior sections of the campus.

“Now, we will have available physical classes as well as online courses. We will have some of our best engineers and professors teach the various classes and continue the tradition of excellence that this country-state will provide.”

“Vestin, you wanted to ask something….” Dr. Strong recognized.

“More of a statement then a question, really. We have four billion dollars in cash on hand. Where’s the other four billion coming from?” asked the CFO.

“Yes, I was waiting for my money man to ask that very question. We’re also going to be breaking ground on the Smartystan Center. This will be another learning destination as well as a museum and sanctuary for the mind. We’ll be able to cover both operations and ensure that the people of this place are educated and provoked to think.”

Belinda raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Okay, Dr.” As chief technology officer, she already had plans just in case the school would be put into place. All of the time that it would take to bring the dream into reality, satisfied her. The seconds, minutes, and hours that she could devote to teaching courses and still be CEO of UltraMind pushed her thoughts to consider all of the possibilities.

“There is no vote on this. This was years in the making and I know that you all are going to be on board the way that you showed such enthusiasm when I brought––”

Winnington’s hand shot into the air. “I wasn’t around for all of that. Is there some kind of vote that could say different? I mean minds have changed since then and like I said, I wasn’t even thought of as a member of this illustrious board.”

“Of course,” Dr. Strong replied. “I would just like to ask you, then. What do you think about having both places set in motion? What other ideas can you bring to the fore?”

Winnington exhaled and laughed lightly. “I mean…the whole name thing was a big issue but you all settled on that obviously. I like the idea of a university. The center seems promising as well. If I had to say whether we should go forward with the whole idea, I’d vote aye. But, since we’re not casting any ballots, I say…yes!”

Dr. Frampton frowned. “So that we’re completely clear, we’re supposed to be instructors at this place in addition to our day jobs?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Dr. Strong answered. “It’s all voluntary. You can outsource various personnel to cover the jobs as well. I know we all have the capacity to teach our specific roles. It’s no secret that Smartystan was constructed with the combination of intellect and morality in mind. All of us possess those traits. That’s what keeps me motivated.”

“I think if we have the right amount of space for the university and the center and museum, we will be able to understand ourselves the best. I can’t wait for there to be ways to learn about machines that learn,” Belinda added.

Go looked at the ceiling. “No.”

“No, what?” Dr. Strong asked.

“We can do one or the other. We can’t do both.”

“And why not?” Dr. Frampton asked.

“We’ve got enough for the building of the structures. We can pay salaries. But if we’re going to fund these projects, we’re going to need more dollars from our donors. I expect these things to be free to all of those who wish to learn something. It will be free to them but we’re going to have to bump up the minimums for contributions to Delaseer.”

The room seemed to grow a bit colder. For three seconds no one expressed a word. Then….

“I know what we can do. We can earn the money from the donors by securing delicious offers that will aid them. They won’t get tax breaks but they can get rewarded depending on how much they offer to the Institute,” Belinda said.

“What, like tote bags?” Go asked with a bit of snark.

Belinda curled her lip, stuck her tongue firmly in her cheek, and narrowed her eyes. “No, I mean actual prizes like trips and cash for the highest fundraisers. That’s our way of showing gratitude. Also, they’ll be able to enroll and take classes with anyone else and have access before others.”

Go shot Belinda a glance saying, “not bad.”

“So, we can talk about groundbreaking and all of the parameters that go along with these ventures.” The room cleared out just as quickly as they had convened.