Silicon Valley giant Motwani dies in pool

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: UPI

Published: June 7, 2009 at 6:43 PM

ATHERTON, Calif., June 7 (UPI) -- Stanford University computer science professor Rajeev Motwani has died at his Atherton, Calif., home, San Mateo County, Calif., officials said. He was 47.

Motwani apparently drowned Friday in a backyard pool, the San Jose Mercury News reported Sunday. Friends told the newspaper Motwani, who could not swim, may have slipped and fallen into the pool.

Motwani was a well-known and beloved figure in the Silicon Valley community of high-tech companies and workers, where he was described as a kindly academic who was never too busy to mentor Stanford graduate students and officers of start-up companies -- including one started by former student Sergey Brin, founder of Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12542197?nclick_check=1

Stanford computer prof. Rajeev Motwani found dead
The Associated Press
Posted: 06/07/2009 07:14:19 PM PDT

ATHERTON, Calif.—Rajeev Motwani, a well-known Stanford University computer science professor who advised one of Google's creators, was found dead in his swimming pool.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/07/Silicon-Valley-giant-Motwani-dies-in-pool/UPI-82951244414608/

[Jeep789]

1. Ugh, I don't understand why anyone would have a pool if

they couldn't swim.

[Cha]

6. And, I know this is

dense of me but I can't understand how anyone could attempt to swim to save their lives?

I guess they panic..poor thing.

[LisaL]

12. Pools usually aren't even that deep.

[create.peace]

17. don't you think he might have been knocked unconscious? nt

[create.peace]

16. he could have been knocked unconscious on the edge

i am amazed at how silly you people are. houses come with pools already and if you like the house, you might buy it in spite of the pool you can't swim in. i would have a pool cover myself, but if you are into the looks, well i could see him tripping and hitting his head.

[LisaL]

24. Oh gee.

An adult male is found dead in the pool, and anyone who has questions about it is "silly."
:eyes:

[Cha]

29. My reaction

too.

[JI7]

19. to show off ?

[rox63]

21. He may have just used the pool for entertaining purposes

It sounds like he was a prominent academic, so he probably did a lot of entertaining. Parties around the pool are usually a hit with guests.

[slackmaster]

26. The reason in this case seems clear enough

It was a place to drown.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

35. mine came with the house

I hate swimming and hated the maintenance costs so I had it torn out.

[pnwmom]

2. In some areas pools are so common you would eliminate a lot of homes

if you wouldn't buy one with a pool. But it is very sad that he never learned to swim.

[LisaL]

10. In which case you could put a protective cover on the pool.

[pnwmom]

15. There may well be other swimmers in his family. He probably never thought

he'd have a life-threatening accident. Most people don't.

[imdjh]

3. OK, so was I the only one wondering WTF a giant motwani was? I though some rare serpent perhaps.

[valerief]

4. Nope. I thought it was some kind of animal, too. nt

[miyazaki]

5. seems you'd learn to swim really fast...as an adult,..in a pool

my god.

[valerief]

7. I don't understand how people can't keep themselves afloat in a pool.

I just don't understand what stops them from dog-paddling to the side. Isn't that kinda instinctive behavior?

[pnorman]

11. I imagine that PANIC would instantly set in.

"Waterboarding" sort of PANIC, the type that has been described in great detail here on DU. Recall that RW shock jock who volunteered to be "waterboarded". Even knowing that there was no real danger, he threw in the towel (rubber toy?) in short order.

pnorman

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. Keeping oneself afloat is taught in swim class, how to relax your body so you float to the surface

Don't know if it is instinctive.

[Jeep789]

18. It is not...

[valerief]

27. I never went to swim class. I grew up near the ocean, so I guess I can't relate. nt

[TrogL]

32. Skinny people don't float

and dog-paddling is an inefficient and tiring way of attempting to swim. He could easily wear himself before he makes it to the side.

[Canuckistanian]

9. They're not as common as the Lesser Motwani, but still dangerous

I hear they can grow to a size of over 10m in the wild.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. Ok...another article / thread in need of a better title.

[Canuckistanian]

22. It was irresistable

It's the editors who should be aware of things like this.

[undeterred]

31. It could have been Motwani titanicus

Beautiful creatures, but can't swim worth a darn.

[smirkymonkey]

39. That's exactly what I was thinking - now I feel kind of bad!

[roody]

8. It hardly ever even gets hot in Atherton.

[Fumesucker]

20. Darwin award..

A forty seven year old with a back yard pool and he can't swim.

There is a reason you must put a fence around a pool in a lot of places, it's to keep out people who can't swim (typically children).

We have a nine foot deep pool on our property and it is enclosed with a fence that has a locked gate, no one who cannot swim is allowed in there by themselves, ever.

[cosmicone]

25. That is a bit insensitive...

Not every accident is out of stupidity. A lot of people, both swimmers and non-swimmers, accidentally die in swimming pools. Does every house that gets burnt down which doesn't have sprinklers and or a halon system deserve to get a Darwin award?

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_12542451?source=rss

[Fumesucker]

36. I'm not a particularly sensitive person..

I agree that not every accident is out of stupidity but this one certainly looks that way to me.

If you can't swim don't even get close to a body of water deep enough to be over your head.

People who are intellectually very bright often have a huge gaping hole where their common sense should be, I'm well above median IQ and have done a bunch of really dumb things myself and could easily have been a Darwin award recipient several times over. If something had gone the other way and I had been killed I don't feel that a Darwin award would be out of line.

[Blue_Tires]

23. i remember the days before i knew how to swim, and being near pools scared the hell outta me

you could not get me within 100 feet of any body of water i knew was more than a few feet deep...(of course, I had a really bad near-drowning incident when I was five, so that may have had something to do with it)...

i know hindsight is 20-20, but personally, if I was Motwani, I would have learned fast or had the pool drained

[ClarkUSA]

28. This is tragic. Prof. Motwani was generous with his genius. He's the godfather of Silicon Valley.

His funeral, if open to the public, will bring techies from all walks of life to mourn at his graveside.

[avaistheone1]

34. Motwani is not the godfather of Silicon Valley by any stretch of the imagination.

How about the founders on Intel? Hewlett-Packard? National Semiconductor? and there are plenty of others who were up and running strong in Silicon Valley before Professor Motwani was even born.

[ClarkUSA]

37. For those who were part of the 90's Silicon Valley tech boom, he was their mentoring godfather.

Happy now? Ancient history aside...

Economic Times: "Silicon Valley to miss Google mentor Motwani":
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Internet-/Silicon-Valley-to-miss-Google-mentor-Motwani/articleshow/4633278.cms

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. I find that a little hard to believe.

Even adults who can't swim should be able to thrash their way to the edge of a pool. I'm betting something else was involved, heart attack, stroke, hit his head in a fall, etc.

[jmowreader]

33. "Slipped" = "conked his head on the concrete."

Being able to swim has nothing to do with this death. Michael Phelps would have died in his pool if he would have done that. Tis sad.

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. That crossed my mind as well