Eye opening crooks

Part of this high tech business education I'm receiving involves an immersion in all things financial. I take it our professors want us well-tuned to the beat of American finance and all things Wall Street. To that end, my managerial accounting class suggested each student subscribe to the Wall Street Journal which I did immediately. After watching my dad read that paper for as long as I can remember, now I'm in the inquisitor seat digging out what nuggets I can from its pages.

Short version? WSJ rocks! That is an excellent paper and it is fascinating to just read it everyday. (Yes, this is coming from a generation-X'er who still loves his news updates via Google News: http://news.google.com/ ). Did you know Kraft is trying to strongarm Cadbury into being bought out? Or that Mars SWALLOWED Wrigley's gum last year? And in other news, I guess I've just been in a cave under a rock under the earth's core somewhere, but while we continue to lambast ol' Bernie Madoff for his treacherous Ponzi scheme, I have learned through WSJ that there are Madoff-spinoffs who are just as bad! These guys are not shady wanna-be multi-level marketers hawking every version of water filter, super vitamin, and weight loss pill known to man...these guys are established in the American financial sector, respected in their communities, and generally thought of as decent guys. That is, until the fateful day when they walk up and announce to their investors the impending doom that they face. I imagine it sounds a little like my dad put it once, when I was expounding on the corporate benefits of organizational communication and he said "Oh, so somebody just needs to say HEY YA'LL! WE GOING BROKE!". An entire semester course summed up in 5 words and the worst part is, he's 100% right. Where's the accountability? Where's the checks and balances? Where's the guy with the bullhorn belching out my dad's line at the top of his lungs? Woefully, nonexistent - again, bear in mind some of these guys are MBA types like I'm trying to be - makes you wonder. Heck, even Bernie was a former chairman of NASDAQ! Can't get much more established than that.

Anyway, good guys will be good guys and bad guys will be bad guys and at the end of the day, you better have some form of internal gauge on how you handle money that is based on something more substantial than whether or not said decision will yield you a positive net income. That's what Bernie used to do and I emphasize USED to.

To conclude, here's stories about two other Ponzi schemers that aren't getting much press right now - that is except in the Wall Street Journal:

Idaho man makes off with $100M! That's a whole lotta potatoes!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123216172808292889.html

New Yorker takes dirty money and gets it dirtier!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125242221709292609.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Rich man fresh in jail:

Same man, not so rich, not so fresh. Any questions?

Random Labor Day thoughts

#1 Nothing really heavy to share today. I'm quite appreciative of the fact I can have my folks and my in-laws over for a BBQ and everything goes well. Good food, fun, and fellowship. In case there is anyone left on planet earth that hasn't figured it out just yet, a loving family is more valuable than all the degrees and high-paying jobs in the world. Even when your baby looks at you like you're crazy!

#2 After much reluctance, I must admit facebook is quite addictive. Never mind the number of people who try to "friend" me who were never really my friend, it really gives you an effectice way to catch up on old times with lots of good people from your not so distant past. I'm interested in growing my lists from a networking perspective but I take it linkedin is more geared toward that type of thing. Great, another site to register for. Oh and twitter serves no purpose for me whatsoever. I do not want you to know when I go shopping, jogging, and cutting my weed-infested grass. It's just not that serious.

#3 The more I learn of this amazing world, the more diverse my interests become. That's a good thing right? WRONG! At a time when I'm trying to pinpoint that final big career that's going to take me into my gray years, that one thing that pays ridiculous money yet feels like fun, that one thing where I'm going to earn my 25 year pin, that "thing" could potentially be any NUMBER of things. Even during down time when I visualize ideal career scenarios that get my juices going, it could be

• V.P. Marketing and Sales for a Fortune 500 foodservice provider
• Senior Director Corporate Training and Development for a resort chain
• Program Coordinator for distance learning degree options at a major university
• Business Professor at an HBCU
• Upper administration at an HBCU
• Management Consultant specializing in lean enterprise initiatives
• Founder, CEO for a new restaurant franchise based on my mom's Cajun and southern recipes
• Founder of a company that produces one product that I can't tell you about right now (it's just that good)

You see where this is going. I'm intrigued by a whole lot of stuff. So until that majestic day when I graduate with MBA in hand I'll continue to ask questions, investigate, and perhaps the final pick will be something I haven't even thought about yet.

#4 Recently added another role model to my list of people to keep an eye on. Check him out:

http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com/

#5 HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Campus Meeting

Well, I had an eventful and educational Saturday. On the 29th, about 25 of us "distance-learning" types met at Ole Miss for an in-person informational session. We started with coffee and pastries around 8 and by 8:15 we were rolling. We were introduced to Bethany Cooper, a chipper young lady who directs the whole program, our IT expert Randy Uncapher, Dr Vorhies who is "Mr. Marketing" on campus, and I think the Dean, Ken Cyree.

After those pleasantries, we burst headlong into class. My two classes for the day were Managerial Accounting and Corporate Finance though the finance professor made it very clear the entire class was really a VALUATION class (of projects, firms, etc) and all the little pieces that go into that valuation. That professor, Dr Fuller, is a fireball! Very engaging fast talker with a comedic pace to her patter. Other professor reminded me of an 8th grade English teacher I had - just 2 sweet.

Looks like a lot of casework this semester as we already had cases assigned in the accounting class then after a vote on Saturday we "magically acquired" cases for the finance class. Buckel your seatbelts, things might get a little rocky for a bit.

Summer's Over

Well my first semester as an MBA STUDENT has ended and the results are in: 2 B's and 1 A - not the stellar performance I was going for but upon reflection I think this is pretty darn good considering a full time job and full time family. Taking two classes this Fall: Managerial Accounting and Corporate Finance - wife is going back to school as well so this will be a very interesting and challenging two years. We'll have our first in-person training session this weekend so I'll actually see professors in person as well as meet the dean. Should be fun.

NEW BAG!

I've seen some pretty nifty laptop bags in the last few days. I don't really need one, really can't afford to buy one but there's this impulse thing at play. So let's vote; here's a few popular styles. Msg back and let me know which way you would go. In all likelihood, I'll stick with my Dell shoulder bag regardless but I thought this would be a neat exercise. If your favorite isn't listed, include a link or picture in your post.

Online education debate

OK so I'm a huge proponent of continuing education. It was as a "nontraditional" student that I was able to complete my Bachelor's at Mississippi State University. That said, not all online programs are built the same, and not all online programs yield the same results. I just listened to a sad story today about yet another student "burnt" by unscrupulous online schools. This young man was attempting to transfer to a major university and was summarily told he could not be admitted until completion of two classes he could have sworn were on his transcript. When he searched his transcript, indeed he had taken the two classes via an online program. Long story short, the "school" he took the classes through was locally accredited only and held no national accreditation which means he really took those classes for nothing. He spent his money, put in the time, but was not able to use those classes to his benefit whatsoever. That's sad.

My humble advice to anyone consideing completing college credit through an online program: take those classes through a traditional campus-based university that you have heard of and potential future schools and employers will have heard of as well. Too often, "online only" schools are little more than quick profit centers that teach little while taking much. Stick with a school you already know. Public as well as private schools around the country are opening their doors via the access point of the web and they bring a level of familiarity and reputation that will help immensely. Worked for me.

Gotta fly now

OK so all work and no play makes Brainy a dull smurf. Soooo I packed up the wife and flew off to New York for our third anniversary. I needed that, NYC is hot, I loved it top to bottom. Well, everything except the drivers. Those cats are crazy.