Washington Business and Technology Institute - LAF3 (Literature and Academic Forum)

The Grand Canyon Trip --- Mike Lei* # (12/28/2001)
A family road trip is always fun and a good time to bond. This year, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon sounds like a good destination. Our family last went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon five years ago. We all remembered that as a great trip. We haven't had a family trip like that since then. Four years ago, I went to work in Dallas. My brother John went to work in San Jose two years ago. This time, both of us planned to be home for Christmas week. I reserved the Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn for Dec. 26-27th. We would make this a 3 days, 2 nights trip. Not too long and not too short.
The day we left for the trip is a nice day. It was sunny and not too cold. After eating a big lunch, we started towards Arizona. There were some congestions at the Hoover Dam. The opposite traffic was worse. The backup extended for miles. This is due to the "holiday traffic". We felt sorry for the motorist who were stuck in the long line. We managed to get to the hotel by 8pm. It was already dark. Our dinner consists of Ramen cup noodles and Chinese stew eggs, which we all enjoyed very much after all the big meals we've had during Christmas. We prayed and thanked God for the meal. We talked about God's grace to our family this year.
The next day, we ate breakfast and drove to the entrance of the park. The day was beautiful. It wasn't too windy. It was sunny and warm by winter standards. We decided to go to as many scenic spots as we could. We planned to hike in the afternoon. As I walked to the points that overlook the familiar Grand Canyon, I took in the breathtaking views. The views were the same as the pictures I've seen in magazines and calendars, except now they are like a huge 3-D canvas spread out in front of me. I gazed at the rock formations, the red colors, the flat top, and the way the canyon was carved to give it the chiseled look. No matter how hard I looked, it was not enough to take in all of the details at once. The formations were like hand crafted palaces for some ancient civilization.
The grounds at the view points still have some ice and snow, so we were very careful when walking on the rocks. Even though both my brother and I are adults now, my Dad's fatherly instincts told him to warn us against walking too close to the edge. He made an interesting comment while looking at one icy boulder where we were standing. He said one accidental slip on the icy rock and you can slide all the way to heaven. I thought that was a pretty funny way to look at the situation. Death can mean going to heaven or hell. But I guess it's better to think about heaven in such a case. We saw signs that warned tourists not to hike in certain places. One place where we saw the sign was on a steep place about 20 feet down from the railing. My brother pointed to me that if a person is close enough to be where the sign is, it's probably too late.
I walked to a pavilion with telescopes that looked into the Canyon. There was a bronze inscription on a rock. The inscription is from Psalm 68:4. "Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds-his name is the LORD-and rejoice before him." Whoever put that inscription there must know that such natural beauty can only be the work of God.
The trails were still icy in some places. We choose the Kaibab trails to hike. We gingerly stepped down on the steep icy trail. I'm usually very confident on trails, but the icy ground made me take every step cautiously. One misstep can be hazardous. We found 2 walking sticks. We slowly made our way down the steep trail. The canyon side casts a shadow on the path where the ice did not melt. But where the sun can shine, we walked on muddy, not icy grounds. We only made it to a rocky outlook, where both my brother and I climbed to the top of a ledge that overlooks the Canyon. It was a pretty dizzying sight, so I didn't look down much. A picture is enough. I thought my eyes were closed on the first picture, so I told my brother to take a second picture. I wanted to make sure my risk taking resulted in at least one good picture. Going back up was not as dangerous. Falling on your face or hands is better than falling and rolling over the edge of a cliff. We found others who went down further and who seemed much more tired than us as we hiked up.
That night, we went to the evening program in the park. The slide show is on "How the Grand Canyon Came to be". The slides were presented by a park ranger who has been there for 20 years and who had much knowledge about geology and the Grand Canyon. His talk was interesting and funny. He even showed us a cheesecake he made as an illustration of how the Canyon is like a layered cake. I didn't take notes like a good student. I will try my best to remember what he said. The five ingredients which make the Grand Canyon are 2 types of rocks, the Colorado River, upward thrust of the earth plates, and time. The ranger told the audience that he just wants us to remember 4 words to tell people when they ask us what is the Grand Canyon. "Enormous proportions, magnificent beauty". If we can't remember these 4 words, he offered a simpler version. "Large pretty". According to him, the Grand Canyon is the only canyon on earth and in the solar system which boasts both size and beauty. Even the huge canyon on Mars can't compare to the Grand Canyon because people standing on one side of the canyon can't see the other side because of the long distance. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long. In some places, it is 1 mile deep and 10 miles wide. And it is all inside the state of Arizona.
Our Dad chose to stay in the hotel instead of going to the evening program. I suggested he spends the time reading the Book of Ecclesiastes. When we came back, he showed us his summary of the book: "The accomplishments of man must be because he loves God." I was pretty impressed by his exegesis of the book and the whole night we had a good discussion on spiritual things. This trip is turning out to be mentally, physically, and spiritually refreshing to the whole family.
The last day was more windy. Good thing we hiked the day before. We were glad how good the weather had been. We went to the park in the morning and left after noon. My brother and I want to make it back for the evening youth service at the Living Word Christian Church. Usually family trips include some mishaps. We almost had one when my brother saw the gas gauge almost empty. The next town was still 14 miles away. Fortunately, we found a gas station in between.
I have seen the magnificence of the South Rim Grand Canyon, but most importantly I'm awed again by the beauty of nature created by God and the good times God can bring to a family. Everything seems to work out perfectly on this trip. Even the traffic on the trip back was pretty smooth and could have been much worse, as we saw on the other side. The whole family is very grateful for the wonderful trip, which we all felt were especially blessed by God.
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*About the writer: Mike works at Fujitsu Microelectronics America in Dallas, TX as a product development engineer. He is also active in his church.
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Newsbrief ***** November 1, 2003 ***** # Second Edition
Washington Business and Technology Institute
http://communitylink.reviewjournal.com/lvrj/wbti
Advisory Board: Governor Kenny Guinn, Chairman; U. S. Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, Vice Chairmen; U. S. Representatives Jmaes Gibbons and Shelley Berkley, and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Executive Directors.
U. S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao
Chairperson
Dr. Tony T. Lei
President
Dr. William N. Thompson
Director of Public Administration Institution
Dr. E. Lee Bernick and Dr. G. Keong Leong
Deans of Graduate School of Business and Public Administration
Dr. Sue Fawn Chung
Director of Culture Institution
Justice of the Supreme Court William Maupin, Attorney General Brian Sandoval, and Disrict Judge Stewart Bell; Co - Chair of of the Advisory Board of Clark County District Attorney and Policy Civil Commission (CCDAPCC)
District Attorney David Roger and Sheriff William Young
Co - Chair of CCDAPCC
(702) 255-9058
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Educating executives is a core competency of the Graziadio Schoo of Pepperdine University
By Tiffany Chang

A distiguished group of professors and consultants joined corporate human resource professionals to discuss wide-ranging issues in leadership development at The Graziadio School's second annual Executive Learning Forum in Pepperdine University. The event was created and facilitated by Dr. Robert Fulmer, Virtue Professor of Management at The Graziadio School. It was held at the Malibu Campus of Pepperdine Univesity on March 16-17, 2001.
The Forum has faciliated the "real-world" management practice for the School's MBA programs. One of them is designed for experienced managers, while the other is designed for presidents and key executives (MBA/PKE).
"One of the Graziado School's core is its ability to successfully address the unique challenges of executive learning. This forum is an important part of an effort to extend Pepperdine's reputation and recognition in this arena. It provides an opportunity for world-class thought leaders in knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination, and knowledge utilization to come together in an informal setting to discuss the key challenges of executive learning and leadership development ," said Dr. Robert Fulner.*1
The program of MBA/PKE is made available exclusively to executives in senior management positions and to entrepreneurs. This is an integrative academic program of professional education directed toward substantial gains in executive competence. The Forum may become a creative design as a mentor for lauching the program locally, nationally, and internationally.
Professor Fulmer opened the forum by asking participants to share what major insights or learning they had acqires during the past year along with the changes that had impacted their industries since the previous year's forum. For many, technology and the impact of Web-based intelligence had been instrumants of change. Other participants note challenges due to mergers and organizational changes.
The participans of the Forum included: Nancy Adler, McGill University professor and author; John Alexander, president of the Center for Creative Leadership; Doug Anderson, founder and managing partner of the Center for Executive Development; Jay Conger, professor of leadership at The London Business School and the University of Southern California; Linda Doyle, president and CEO of Havard Business School Publishing; Bob Fogel, president of Harvard Business School Interactive; John Humphrey, chairman of the Forum Corporation; Marshall Sashkin, author and George Washington University professor; Edgar Schein, MIT professor, author, and leadership consultant; Steve Stumpf, author, professor, and former dean of professional development at Booz Allen Hamiton. The Graziadio School was represented by its Dean Otis Baskin and eight faculty members.
Questions such as "What are the new partnership that we need to create, and how can these be structured?" and "What would it be like if our work were truly important to the world?" were asked by him for the participants to give responses. These themes, woven throughout the forum, triggered lively exchanges among the panelists. At the conclusion, many were already anticipating the next forum.*2
"Rapidly accelerating change is the critical challenge in virtually every industry today. The complexities of our world demand managers and workers with dramatically increased capavilities. The Grsaziadio School has been developing value-center leaders for mor than a quater century. During that time, it has become the premier provider of quality business talent in California and the western United States." said Dr. Linda Livingstone*3 Dr. Livinstone has been the Dean of this School since June 1, 2002. She received her B.S., M.B.A., and Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Livingstone will bring an international perspective to Pepperdine University. She has helped develop and teach courses in an MBA program in Jinan, China. .
At the time of Dr. Linvingstone's appointment, Dr. Tony Lei wished her endeavor to lead the Graziadio School into this millennium with academic excellence, practicality expertise, and spiritual values. A special program of MBA/PKE designed for presidents and key executives internationally is in ugent need for the cooperation of the Graziadio School and WBTI. "The spirit of both innovation and pioneers has motivated America to be a leading and prosperous country in the world. As an integrative academic program of the professional education directed to substantial gains in executive competence, modern technology, innovative knowledge, and spirit of entrepreneurship; an unique feature of one week workshop in Las Vegas for the cooperated MBA/PKE Program should be designed for the Chinese speaking business executives and owners of the international world mainly from China, Taiwan, and Singapore" says President Dr. Tony Lei of Washington Business and Technology Institute.*4
"Thousands of men and women have chosen The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management because of its distinctive blend of qualities. Many enroll in executive program, having already achieved position of senior leadership, but wanting to recapture that competitive edge and creativ fervor. It is the worldwide network of alumni that validates our extraordinary mission o f preparing good people to 'make big plans' and 'aimhigh in hope and work,'" said Dr. Andrew Benton, President of Pepperdine University.*5
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*1. Valdovinos, Michele. 'Executive Learning Forum Bring Nation's Top Leaders to Pepperdine,' "Graziadio Business" Vol. 4, No. 1, Pepperdine University,( Summer 2001), p. 4..
*2. Ibid., p. 4.
*3. Livingstone, Linda. 'Dean's Message,' "Grazidio Business Connection," Vol.1, No.1, The Grazidio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University, (2003).
*4. Denton, Mark; Walsh, Jessie; and Chang, Tiffany. 'Pepperdine University MBA ranks first in 15 schools of California,' "WBTI Website by Reviewjournal.com," October 31, 2003.
*5. Benton, Andrew. 'Message from Prsident Andrew Benton,' "Graziadio School Information and Facts," The Graziadio Graduate of of Business and Management, Pepperdine University, (Spring 2003).
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