NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...

s needed for the program to even begin to be compe
titive, and that list has now largely been elimina
ted,” said Mike Griffin, who was an assistant athl
etic director from 1996 to 2004.
And the endless losing seasons, combined with thes
e recent advances, creates a sort of job security,
where a handful of victories would be a major suc
cess and losses would not create undue pressure.
“There’s a certain hope-springs-eternal quality wi
thin the job,” said Jim McMenemin, the director of
principal gifts and senior adviser to the dean of
the college. “This is particularly true now, as u
niversity leadership is fully behind the football
program being successful and believes it to be com
patible with the academic and intellectual culture
of the university.”
Murphy acknowledged the futility of Columbia footb
all, pointing out that it had only five winning se
asons since 1956. She disputed, though, the charac
terization of Columbia as apathetic toward footbal
l. As an example — one she said she was disappoint
ed to see — she said Wilson’s wife had been subjec
ted to rude comments from angry fans at recent hom
e games.
She believes steadfastly that football is a core e
lement of the college experience, even in New York
.
Murphy said in the past she had been “naive” about
the influence of the city on the job, discounting
such factors like the cost of living and where a
coach would send his children to school. Now, she
said, the city was one of her strongest selling po
ints and that a candidate’s enthusiasm for it woul
d be a primary concern as she looks to hire a coac
h before a self-imposed Dec. 15 deadline.
“There’s nothing like New York,” Murphy said. “And