Social Impact Blog

The DVR is a fantastic invention. I’ll admit that I have three DVRs in my house and they have transformed how and when my family watches TV. Imagine my alarm when I read this article in the New York Times that says DVRs are ridiculous energy hogs – a typical home consumes more energy for its DVR set-up than for its refrigerator. Really? Why have manufacturers and service providers hit the pause button on innovation in this area?

By Michael Sadowski, Vice President, SustainAbility

“…it has always been our intention to be more than a corporation that makes mortgage loans; we wanted to be a force in making positive differences in people’s lives. Our goal was – and still is – to demonstrate that there is a unique role for the private sector in public service."
--Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial Corporation
February 4, 2003 speech to The Joint Center for
Housing Studies of Harvard University

I’m going to Atlanta in two weeks to moderate a panel at the National Charter School Conference on Practices to Increase College Success and it’s got me thinking about college access and success.   Having come from the K-12 world where we thought more about preparation than access, I was shocked to read the recent New York Times article “Top Colleges, Largely for the Elite” particularly when my own alma mater, the University of Michigan was highlighted for admitting more entering freshmen in 2003 from families earning more than $200,000 than from the bottom half of the income distribution.  This statistic was particularly troubling for me personally as a first-generation college graduate.  I am very fortunate to have finished my undergraduate degree (even with a 5^th year) with very generous financial aid support and as a result, very modest student loans that were paid off a couple of years ago.