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Fixing the Numbers The article "Netplex Lags in IPO Financing," (WT, June 13) was quite good, but I wanted to let you know that BDM should have been at the top of the chart based on the initial public offering we did in June 1995 and the secondary offering we completed in March 1996. For the June 1995 initial public offering, we sold 2.875 million new shares at $18.50 a share for a total offering size of $53.18 million. In March 1996, we did a secondary offering of 3.22 million

The article "Netplex Lags in IPO Financing," (WT, June 13) was quite good, but I wanted to let you know that BDM should have been at the top of the chart based on the initial public offering we did in June 1995 and the secondary offering we completed in March 1996. For the June 1995 initial public offering, we sold 2.875 million new shares at $18.50 a share for a total offering size of $53.18 million. In March 1996, we did a secondary offering of 3.22 million shares at $36.50 a share for a total offering size of $117.53 million. Of the $117.53 million, $16.4 million was from the issuance of new shares (450,000 shares) and $101.5 million was from the sale of existing shares (2.77 million shares, principally from The Carlyle Group and its investors). If your chart in the article is only referring to the issuance of new shares, then proceeds from BDM's two offerings totaled $69.58 million, which is greater than the UUNET total. If the chart is referring to total proceeds from both new and secondary shares, then the proceeds from BDM's two offerings totaled $170.71 million, more than two and a half times the UUNET total. Todd Stottlemyer, BDM International Inc., McLean, Va.
Fixing the Numbers





Happy 10th WT
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary (WT, April 25). Thanks to your tireless efforts people now understand that we have a vibrant entrepreneurial community and that there is economic life after a shrinking federal government.
Gary P. Golding, General
Partner, CEO Venture Fund
Washington, D.C.

GMU Links Business and Academic Communities
"Is Higher Education Doing Its Job?" (WT, May 15) raised some interesting issues regarding the role of regional universities in preparing students for the "real world" of business.
As executive director of the George Mason University Century Club (a non-profit membership organization that links the business and academic communities), I appreciate your mention of the Century Club's faculty internship program at Hughes Information Technology and DynCorp. Through this program, GMU faculty members spend time in a corporate environment where they can better assess the skills needs of the high-tech business community.
I'd like to add, however, that in addition to enlisting the support of business to improve education, Century Club programs allow students to use their skills and talents to make significant contributions to local companies.
Through GMU's Technology Resource Alliance, for example, graduate business student teams work as small business consultants to help specific companies deal with a specific business issue.
The Century Club's reverse mentor program recruits graduate student volunteers to teach local business executives about the Internet.
Your article quotes a corporate recruiter as saying there is "always room for improvement" in the quality of recent graduates. True enough. Through promoting a true dialogue between the business and educational communities, the Century Club is committed to finding innovative ways to deliver that improvement.

Penny Lewandowski
Executive Director
George Mason University
Century Club
plewando@osf1.gmu.edu

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