It bills itself as both a friend to and critic of the National Park Service. Kiernan launched the NPCA's National Parks Business Plan Initiative in 1998. The Initiative sends MBA student interns from 10 major business schools to selected national parks, where they identify the true costs of running the park, quantify available funding, and try to close the gaps between the two. Everyone kept telling me that the park service pays you in sunsets. Don't tell the feds, but I was overpaid.
Most people do.
Our favorite item this issue came from Araby Leary, MBA '76, who reported that her classmate Chris Baumgart, whose day job is with Panasonic, moonlights as the spokesperson for the Hollywood sign, the 50-foot tall symbol that has advertised Tinseltown for most of the past 77 years. Baumgart, who is chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, the organization responsible for maintenance and preservation of the official Los Angeles cultural and historical monument, represents the sign in all its dealings with the world press.