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By: <cite>Fast Company</cite> StaffWed Dec 19, 2007 at 8:24 AM

A Corporate Education

Elizabeth Svoboda's excellent and well-researched article ("Microsoft's Class Action," September) raises the right question: Is corporate partnership a vested interest or altruism? Interdisciplinary and thematic programs address this because they greatly improve learning while they lower potentially narrow corporate self-interest. Svoboda also comes to the right conclusion: Something has to give in American education before it can be improved.

Jim Evers
Nanuet, New York

While my company, Arment Dietrich, would love the clout of Microsoft, AT&T, and Citigroup, we're a long way from that level. But what your article made me realize is that we can help in Chicago and in Milwaukee (cited as one of the poor inner cities in your article) by creating programs that teach high school and college students the communications and people skills they need in business. Because of your article, we are creating a task force to look at one or two schools to get involved with and help mold the curriculum. We need the human capital as much as the big companies, and we're going to get involved.

Gini Dietrich Chicago, Illinois

Whatever, Life Is Good :)

Your profile on Ashley Qualls and her company, Whateverlife, in the September issue of Fast Company ("Girl Power") was superb! In a world where young girls often assess their value in terms of physical beauty and their power in their level of sexual desirability, Qualls models curiosity, perseverance, and healthy risk taking as ways of gaining power and confidence in her life. She is a terrific role model for other young girls, inspiring them to take responsibility for their own lives and to be fearless, and demonstrating that standing out is a good thing.

Elizabeth M. Johnson
Lakeville, Connecticut

Editor's note:
Since our article ran, Ashley Qualls has turned down a $2.5 million offer for her company.

Fast Favorites

We asked readers to vote online for Fast Cities (July/August) and rate them from 1 to 5, with 5 being Fastest. Voting is still open, so if you disagree with the results below, based on the first two months of voting, click here and cast your vote.

Here are online voters' picks of Fast Company's Fast Cities:

	City	Rating
1	Curitiba, Brazil	4.8
2	Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina	4.6
3	Madison, Wisconsin	4.6
4	Austin, Texas	4.4
5	Buenos Aires, Argentina	4.3
6	New York, New York	4.3
7	Boise, Idaho	4.3
8	Tucson, Arizona	4.3
9	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	4.2
10	Fort Collins, Colorado	4.2

Of the cities not mentioned in the magazine, two U.S. cities--Washington, DC, and Columbus, Ohio--barely missed the 4.0 mark, while five cities overseas made it: Perth (4.5) and Melbourne (4.2) in Australia; Victoria, British Columbia (4.2); Singapore (4.0); and Hong Kong (top of the charts at 5.0).

In India, Bangalore was rated 3.7, almost as fast as official Fast City Chandigarh (3.9).

Finally, of the 21 cities we identified as being on the verge, only two had substantial support from Web voters: Philadelphia and Atlanta. St. Louis, which we named a slow city, squeezed past the midpoint on our scale, with a rating of 3.2.