JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2000 ·
VOLUME 21 · NUMBER 1 & 2
T H E L A W R E N C E S U M M E R S M E M O R I A L
A W A R D
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2000 ·
VOLUME 21 · NUMBER 1 & 2
T H E L A W R E N C E S U M M E R S M E M O R I A L
A W A R D
The Halfway, Oregon City Council is seriously debating whether it should change its name for 2000 to Half.com, after an internet company of the same name in Philadelphia. The town and the start-up company are negotiating how the company would compensate the town for this unique arrangement. The company says it will promote the town on its website, and has offered computers for local schools.
("City Weighs Price of Its Good Name," New York Times, January 11, 2000.)
Jim Sorenson's partner, Valerie Muller, thought Gabrielle might be a good middle name for the couple's new daughter. But Sorenson had a better idea: auction off the naming rights to their baby to the highest bidder. "We live in a dot-com corporate America where many little companies are trying to get their advertising out," Sorenson says.
("The Reliable Source, Washington Post, January 14, 2000.)
In a 1991 internal memorandum, then-World Bank economist and current Deputy
Secretary of Treasury Lawrence Summers argued for the transfer of waste and
dirty industries from industrialized to developing countries. "Just between
you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging more migration of the
dirty industries to the LDCs (lesser developed countries)?" Summers wrote.
"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the
lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that. ... I've
always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under
polluted; their air quality is vastly inefficiently low [sic] compared to Los
Angeles or Mexico City." Summers later said the memo was meant to be
ironic.
The January/February 2000 Lawrence Summers Memorial Award goes to Halfway, Oregon, Half.com and Maryland software engineer Jim Sorenson.