High School faces sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind act. Page 5 THE HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR MENLO PARK, ATHERTON, PORTOLA VALLEY AND WOODSIDE Win streak continues for Wildcats. Page 8 OCTOBER 20, 2004 VOL. 40 NO. 7 | www.AlmanacNews.com NEWS THIS may move into Linfield/Middlefield/Willow WEEK area of Menlo Park. Page 7 COVER STORY At 45 m standing Iraq cou tourist c — are s Heritage working tute of t go and t Antiquitie the dete which is thing fro to vibrat planes t from ancient ruins to tourist destinations Startup foundation seeks “I’M BULLISH ON IRAQ.” memories of children everywhere. for a nice trip to Jordan,” says Mr. Jeff Morgan of Menlo Park may be While antiquities in Iraq have suf- Morgan with a chuckle. “We made to save and restore one of the few people in the world fered devastation from looting, war, them work for 10 days straight to who can credibly make that state- and the current fighting, Mr. Morgan develop site-management plans for ment. and his foundation are planning for the top five sites. And we did it all in cradles of civilization on Mr. Morgan is executive director of a time when Iraq becomes stable Arabic.” a start-up foundation that aspires to again. Out of the confer- nothing less than saving sites around “We believe tourism will be the No. ence came five master the world where civilizations began. 1 industry in Iraq — after oil,” says conservation plan out- five continents, including As in Iraq, many of these ruins are Mr. Morgan in his office in an old lines for the five most rapidly being lost to neglect, war, Palo Alto Victorian. endangered sites out of vandalism, looting, erosion, pollu- Efforts to protect and restore the 16 sites that might in China, India, Russia, tion, and new creeping cities. world heritage sites in Iraq kicked qualify as world her- The Global Heritage Fund (GHF), into high gear in June. GHF and the itage sites for the Unit- founded in March 2001, has already World Bank co-sponsored a confer- ed Nations. Now the made its mark in saving ancient ruins ence for Iraqi archaeologists in the Iraqi State Board of Vietnam, Guatemala, in developing countries, and con- famous tourist attraction of Petra, Antiquities and Min- verting the surrounding communi- the ancient city carved out of rose- istry of Culture have a ties from Third World backwaters colored cliffs in neighboring Jordan. solid framework to Libya, Peru — and Iraq into thriving tourist destinations. Thirty specialists in all aspects of continue planning for Starting this year, GHF is taking on antiquities from all over Iraq spent the management and the biggest challenge of all. Iraq hosts 10 days in a hands-on workshop, preservation of some By Marion Softky, Almanac Staff Writer hundreds of the most ancient and learning what needs to be done to of the earliest cities in important archaeological sites in the preserve and restore their endan- human history — world. The names Nineveh, Babylon, gered sites. when conditions per- Samarra and Ur are burned into the “They thought they were coming mit. 12 ■ The Almanac ■ October 20, 2004 This process can move for- allows you to have concrete ward as soon as Iraq calms results in one place. I like that.” COVER STORY down, Mr. Morgan says.“People With some 200 major sites in don’t want war,”he says.“All the developing countries, the Jeff and Valerie Morgan — quite a couple people I met from Iraq are very process for selecting sites is crit- positive about the prospects for ical, says Mr. Morgan. He looks By Marion Softky troianni. having a country. They’re happy for a great team, timing for Almanac Staff Writer “[Agnes Varda] was a very strong-headed they’re free, but very scared for tourism, and a good location.“If woman who changed her mind all the time,”she their children.” it’s in the middle of a desert, no y nature and nurture, Jeff Morgan is a prod- says. “It was a great experience.” one will live there, and no one Buct of Silicon Valley. Later, Ms. Morgan volunteered to help local Silicon Valley style will come,”he says. His father, James C. Morgan, built Applied filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman with “The Fragile “We’re really saving the cradles “We use the Picasso test,” he Materials into a world leader in semiconductor promise of Choice: Abortion in the U.S. Today.” of civilization,”says Mr. Morgan continues. “If you can only save equipment manufacturing; he is still chairman “That was very inspiring,”she says. passionately. “Every site is a six Picassos, which ones do you of the board. Among many honors, he won the Mr. Morgan, after earning a master’s degree UNESCO World Heritage Site keep? Out of 15 forts in Russia, National Medal of Technology in 1996, and now in management from the Stanford Graduate — the top sites in the world.” which one do you save?” serves as vice chairman of President Bush’s School of Business in 1998, found himself Mr. Morgan brings Silicon The result: Izborsk, Russia’s Export Council. becoming restless with the high-pressure, Valley genes and skills to this oldest fortress, which repelled Jeff’s mother, Becky Morgan, is even better high-tech world of international sales. new mission. Son of Silicon Val- western invaders for 1,200 years, known on the Peninsula as a state senator for He recalls a lunch with the head of Nature ley powerhouses James and has already been partly restored nine years, and president and CEO of Joint Ven- Conservancy, who asked him, “Jeff, why don’t Becky Morgan, Jeff was trained through the GHF process of ture Silicon Valley Network. you do something to help the world?” as a city planner at Cornell Uni- building partnerships and rais- Jeff grew up in a Palo Alto Eichler, graduated Another defining moment came on a visit to versity, and ing funds, both internationally from Palo Alto High the famous Maya worked for years and locally. School, and fol- center at Tikal in Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities with big-name “Izborsk is the reason Russians lowed both parents Guatemala. Talking meters high, the free- companies and speak Russian today,” Mr. Mor- to Cornell Universi- to the son of one of g arch at Ctesiphon in startups, here gan says. “Otherwise they’d ty, where he got a the early local uld become a thriving and abroad. He speak German or Lithuanian.” degree in 1984 in guides, he learned center if it — and Iraq specialized in So far, Mr. Morgan and GHF urban and regional the son is now stabilized. The Global international have raised $1.8 million. They planning. attending law e Fund in Palo Alto is sales and mar- are actively working on nine He spent the next school — an occu- with the Oriental Insti- keting, before sites in eight countries, with an 16 years as an execu- pation far beyond he University of Chica- responding to assortment of partners. They tive with a series of his father’s dreams. the Iraq Department of an inner call to have completed several visible high-tech firms, from At that moment, es on plans to stabilize help the world. projects, and are coming out HP and Sun to start- Mr. Morgan real- eriorating structure, Mr. Morgan with a book, “Saving Global ups. He lived in Japan ized how tourism threatened by every- and archaeolo- Heritage,”on December 1. for a while, and, with could change not om cracks and vandals gist Ian Hodder, “Each site tells a life story that his father, co- only a site, but the tions from military air- chairman of is so relevant today,”Mr. Morgan authored a book, Photo courtesy of the Global Heritage Fund lives of the people taking off nearby. Stanford’s observes. “Each site has faced “Cracking the Japan- Jeff and Valerie Morgan of Menlo Park check out the around it. People Archaeology tragedy and war.” ese Market.” Temple of Zeus, the largest Greek temple in the world, in who were living on Department, co- He also developed northern Libya for the Global Heritage Fund. Mr. Morgan is dirt floors 10 years founded the Glob- Mostly success a taste for interna- executive director of the startup fund, which seeks to pre- ago now have regu- al Heritage Fund three-and-a One satisfied customer is John tional work, and serve and restore cradles of civilization around the world. lar houses with run- half years ago. Its goal is not only Rick of Menlo Park, chairman of migrated into inter- ning water. “That to preserve and restore ancient the Anthropology Department national sales and moment changed cultural sites, but to promote at Stanford. GHF has supported marketing. “I didn’t have any interest in going my life,”he says. tourism around them, and his work at Chavin de Huantar, to Dallas again,”he says. The Global Heritage Fund itself grew out of develop self-sustaining, healthy a monumental pre-Inca cult Meanwhile, Mr. Morgan met Valerie Disle, a a lunch with Stanford archaeology professor Ian communities. center and world heritage site in young French video producer visiting friends in Hodder, who helped recruit experts for the To this task Mr. Morgan is the high Andes of Peru. Palo Alto. They married in 1989, and live with board of advisors. “I quit my job as vice presi- bringing Silicon Valley know- Thanks to a grant from GHF, their three children in west Menlo Park. dent for marketing at NextSet in March 2002,” how and organization to some the circular plaza where feath- Ms.