PROVO - In
a surprise move this morning, Church officials announced
they have finalized a deal to sell church-owned Brigham
Young University to software giant Microsoft.
The move
comes as a surprise for many Microsoft investors.
Said one major investment firm spokeman, "What in
the heck was Bill thinking?" Microsoft stock
was up slightly this morning, driven by speculation that
the purchase will increase investment in Microsoft by
Utah investors.
Speculation is rampant that the move represents a
new strategy on the part of the Redmond,
Washington-based software company to monopolize |
the
nation's software developer supply. Rumors abound
that Microsoft intends to break up BYU and sell off the
less glamorous majors, retaining only the computer
science, marketing, and law programs.
As usual, authorities at
Microsoft were quick to deny any allegations.
"The university will basically remain the same as
it always has. Other than replacing all Unix and
Novell servers on campus with Windows NT servers, the
company plans on making no immediate changes," said
Joe Jackson, an official company spokesman.
Jackson
admitted that a name change was a possibility.
"The | most likely
name for the new school will be MSBYU, although we will
need to make sure the domain name is available before
the decision becomes final," said Jackson.
Reaction
from students has been mixed. Freddy Longhorn, a
sophomore majoring in computer
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