Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Someone check to see what CJ Spiller is driving.

A story in today's News and Observer (by way of the New York Times) details the close relationship between Clemson and BMW.


At Clemson's urging, BMW, in large part, created the curriculum for an automotive graduate engineering school. The company also drew up profiles of its ideal students; it gave Clemson, a state-supported university, a list of professors to interview, and even had approval rights over the school's architectural look.

The cross-promotional potential of this setup reminds of a Simpsons episode.

Skinner: Look around, Lisa. That grant money could do a lot of
good.
Chalmers: Don't you think those youngsters deserve a regulation
tetherball?
[the scene switches to Milhouse and Nelson playing
tetherball, only the ball is really a cinderblock, and
what it's tethered to is less of a pole and more of a
thin, crooked piece of metal. Nelson hits the 'ball',
which swings around and hits Milhouse in the face,
breaking his glasses]
Skinner: We can buy real periodic tables instead of these
promotional ones from Oscar Meyer.
Krabappel: Who can tell me the atomic weight of bolognium?
Martin: Ooh ... delicious?
Krabappel: Correct. I would also accept snacktacular.