United, but Different Origins

A common flaw of company mergers is the failure to recognize the contributions from the past - the positive heritages the different companies have brought to the new corporation. Yes, the new must have its own identity to which all stakeholders can unite, but this should not come at the expense of recognizing what had been accomplished previously. Boeing, for example, following the acquisition of parts of Rockwell and merger with McDonnell Douglas had new organizations called Boeing North American, Douglas Aircraft, and Phantom Works. Each recognized the contribution of a component that had been merged into the new Boeing. Even employees associated with the Seattle jet maker were proud to have the connection with the series of incredible DC series of airliners. The corporation though did not tolerate such diversity long, and the Douglas name quickly disappeared, followed by North American, and almost Phantom Works.

Now the Proud Bird with the Golden Tail is Flying the Friendly Skies. A new United is coming into existence. There appears to be a recognition that both airlines have heritages to be recalled. United is planning to paint a Boeing 757 in a retro-United paint scheme. I hope they will paint one in a Continental scheme, too.

You have the opportunity to help decide which retro-United paint scheme the airline will use. Go to http://bit.ly/fxDndT and vote. I favor the DC-4 scheme even though the Mainliner scheme is what I most closely associate with the airline. Vote and let your voice be heard.

Kudos, too, American and US Airways, both of which have retro-painted airliners. Among transportation companies, though, no company has acknowledged its heritages as has Union Pacific, which has a small fleet of locomotives in heritage paint schemes.

The Green President

If you wonder whether the Obama Administration has a green agenda, the answer was obvious at the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea. Headlines spoke of how other countries view the Administration's economic policies as out of line. Take a look below the headlines. The trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea remains stalled. The reason is South Korea refuses to relax its emission and mileage standards so U.S. automakers can more easily adapt their cars for the Korean market. Yes, the U.S. asked the Koreans to lower their environmental standards. One could argue the President is willing to compromise on his principles, to account for what the American people conveyed at the polls earlier this month. Without solid economic growth, electoral support for "change" is unlikely, so he had to compromise to be able to sell more American-made cars in Korea. Does anyone believe in the short-term South Korea is going to be a major market for American-made cars and save American jobs? More realistically by keeping the barriers to trade higher than would be the case with a trade agreement, the Administration is hoping to keep more Korean cars from selling in the U.S. and save UAW jobs. Even this is flawed logic because the way around the barriers is to produce the cars in the U.S. at sites likely not to support the UAW.

The Administration's actions appear simply to be political payback for the support from the UAW. Yes, the Obama Administration has a green agenda - keep the green dollars flowing into the political campaign war chests.


References:

Richardson, Alex. "Factbox: Outcome of the Seoul G20 Summit | Reuters." Business; Financial News, Breaking US; International News | Reuters.com. Ed. John Chalmers. Reuters, 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AB1G920101112.

Griswold, Daniel. "President Obama Represents UAW Rather Than U.S. in Korea Trade Talks | Mad About Trade." Mad About Trade | Observations on Trade, Globalization and Immigration. N.p., 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. http://madabouttrade.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/president-obama-represents-uaw-rather-than-u-s-in-korea-trade-talks/.

College Football Tradition Lost

As a Kansan and a sports fan, I rarely looked forward to KU playing Nebraska in football. Each year since November 17, 1906, the Jayhawks and the Cornhuskers have played on the gridiron. In the one hundred five continuous years the teams have played, KU won only eighteen games. To Nebraska's dismay, KU did not lose all the other games; the teams tied in 1920, 1923, and 1937. Of course, the ties are offset by three added losses (1901, 1902, and 1903) before the series began its record of the longest unbroken series of annual football games between two teams. Despite the blood flowing on the field being predominately KU Blue, I recognize the game is a football tradition.

When asked if he was sentimental at all about this being the last game in the series, Bo Pelini simply said "I don't care… we're moving on." Where is the sense of tradition? Where is the recognition of our heritage? Where is the acknowledgment that as bad as Nebraska's season could be, they always knew they had a chance against Kansas? Where is the thanks to KU for being football's doormat of the Big XII (Big 8, Big 7, and Big 6)? College sports are too much of a business now. We are losing much as we idolize money.

I am not now, and never have been a fan of Notre Dame football. A team I want to win on Saturday is always the one playing against the Fighting Irish, even if it is the despised USC Trojans. Nonetheless, I respect Notre Dame in continuing to play Navy even though there were years (not recently) in which the game would be even less competitive than Nebraska playing KU. The series continues though, because of tradition and to honor a commitment made decades ago. Kudos.

As the conferences realign and jockey for financial gain, our traditions can be preserved or restored. I accept it is likely KU and Nebraska will never again play football against each other, but can't we at least have the Apple Cup be the last game of the regular season for the Washington Huskies?

References:

Associated Press. "Martinez Is OK, and Huskers' Defense Dominates." Sporting News Today 14 Nov. 2010: 17.

"Kansas vs Nebraska 1869-2009." College Football Information. Stassen.com, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/opp-opp.pl?start=1869&end=2009&team1=Kansas&team2=Nebraska.