[Leftcoast]

I'm going to play the contrarian here.  This debate is so last century and so inward looking.  All of this talk about sport fan inconvenience and rotten travel schedules is beside the point and sounds more than a little parochial. 

Far from fighting this, most Chancellors and Presidents are probably actively cheering anything that increases ties with Asia and builds brand value for their schools.  The Pac 12 schools are after all PACIFIC RIM universities and raising the profile of the Pac 12 among the elite (and college bound) of Asia becomes symbiotic with the university's goal of gaining influence in the Asian Pacific region with its rising powerhouse economies.  I imagine Stanford, the University of South Central, UCLA, UW, UofO, UofA and Berkeley are all on board with this.  I'm not sure if this fits as well with the state schools and newcomers but I wouldn't be surprised if they are equally on board.

When I enrolled in Stanford China was basically a closed economy (at least closed to the West with a big W).  Southeast Asia still lay under the haze of Vietnam and mutual suspicion reigned.  Fast forward a few years  and I, along with many of my classmates, have spent more time in places such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Suzhou and Singapore than we could ever have imagined in our wildest dreams.  After over 50+ business trips in the last 15 years I'm more at home in some of these places than I am in Mexico or Canada.  (!!!)

That's just in my lifetime.  In the lifetime of kids enrolling in Stanford today, China is quite likely to become the number one industrial AND consumer economy.  Most of these kids already would prefer to learn Mandarin to French or German and are looking at a working life where knowing your way around the East could be essential to any internationally minded person. 

Why WOULDN'T the Pac 12 Universities do anything they can to increase ties and brand value within the East?    If it costs Stanford one lost football week once in every six seasons to try this out then the cost is cheap compared to the possible gain.    (I realize that this may be inconvenient for sports fans but set aside the wrecked viewing schedule and notice this is one of those times where university ambitions and the money trail all point the same way and, well, you can see why the powers that be could really, really want this.)

[Leftcoast]

I'm going to play the contrarian here.  This debate is so last century and so inward looking.  All of this talk about sport fan inconvenience and rotten travel schedules is beside the point and sounds more than a little parochial. 

Far from fighting this, most Chancellors and Presidents are probably actively cheering anything that increases ties with Asia and builds brand value for their schools.  The Pac 12 schools are after all PACIFIC RIM universities and raising the profile of the Pac 12 among the elite (and college bound) of Asia becomes symbiotic with the university's goal of gaining influence in the Asian Pacific region with its rising powerhouse economies.  I imagine Stanford, the University of South Central, UCLA, UW, UofO, UofA and Berkeley are all on board with this.  I'm not sure if this fits as well with the state schools and newcomers but I wouldn't be surprised if they are equally on board.

When I enrolled in Stanford China was basically a closed economy (at least closed to the West with a big W).  Southeast Asia still lay under the haze of Vietnam and mutual suspicion reigned.  Fast forward a few years  and I, along with many of my classmates, have spent more time in places such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Suzhou and Singapore than we could ever have imagined in our wildest dreams.  After over 50+ business trips in the last 15 years I'm more at home in some of these places than I am in Mexico or Canada.  (!!!)

That's just in my lifetime.  In the lifetime of kids enrolling in Stanford today, China is quite likely to become the number one industrial AND consumer economy.  Most of these kids already would prefer to learn Mandarin to French or German and are looking at a working life where knowing your way around the East could be essential to any internationally minded person. 

Why WOULDN'T the Pac 12 Universities do anything they can to increase ties and brand value within the East?    If it costs Stanford one lost football week once in every six seasons to try this out then the cost is cheap compared to the possible gain.    (I realize that this may be inconvenient for sports fans but set aside the wrecked viewing schedule and notice this is one of those times where university ambitions and the money trail all point the same way and, well, you can see why the powers that be could really, really want this.)