Feb. 20, 2006

Contact: Leah Kolt
Public Affairs Director
(805) 756-1600

Entrepreneur Sidney Harman, U.S. Rep Jane Harman Address Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- “Bring me some poets for managers,” declared the man credited with building the entire high-fidelity audio industry, when he visited campus recently.

“When you combine the arts with science, you get better scientists and more creative artists,” explained Sidney Harman -- for whom Harman Hall in the Performing Arts Center is named -- as he spoke to a group of faculty, students, staff and community members gathered in Harman Hall on Feb. 20.

He was joined by his wife, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, (D-36th District-Venice, CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Along with some good-natured bantering while sharing the stage, the couple provided unique insights on the nexus of governance, arts, business and technology.

Harman believes that the arts can be a source of inspiration in our individual lives. “Whether you read Dostoevsky or play the violin, there is nothing like exposure to the arts to help develop personal systems for dealing with complex issues in life,” he said.

He also believes that poets are “original systems thinkers who can bring order to what is thought to be incoherent,” citing Einstein as a poet and a scientist who was the single greatest influence on modern art, through the originality of his thinking on accepted reality, which in turn influenced artists such as the fauvists.

As she took the stage, Rep. Harmon quipped, “What do you think about poets in Congress?”

She also offered observations on today’s most serious political challenges. “I’m from a district where most of the technology was developed that won the Cold War,” she said.

After the Berlin Wall came down and a peace dividend was declared, the resulting defense cuts weakened not only California’s economy but also the nation’s intelligence and defense systems, she explained. “Despite warnings from several commissions, no one was listening. So we failed to recognize a new threat, terrorism.”

She recounted how the radical Islamic movement started in 1970 when the Shah of Iran was toppled. “The terrorism movement continued with attacks on our cruise ships and aircraft, but we still didn’t catch on,” she said. “So the ‘war on terrorism’ has become the “era of terrorism.’”

As a result, there is a new political battle being waged in Washington and around the country. “Our challenge now is to reshape our legal framework to support both security and civil rights,” she pointed out. “We’ve got to protect the Constitution by making security and civil liberties mutually reinforcing values, not conflicting values. If not, we may win the war but lose our soul.”
-- Leah Kolt

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