The Musing Mill

OK - so now I’m limping around with a torn hamstring. But we won the game 25-13. The exciting game write-up using this link.

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Last week was definitely more in-the-groove. I’ve gotten the drive time down to 30 minutes each way. That helps. We’re in a rhythm with the MBA-family balance. The kids have gotten used to it. I see them in the mornings, a couple nights for dinner and then weekends.

I’ve been enjoying the hard skills classes more. They are filling in gaps in my accounting, finance and marketing knowlege areas that I was uncomfortable with. These professors are top notch. The softer Org Behavior stuff is leaving me flat. In truth, the Autodesk Leadership Program (ALP) is much better, meaning more effective.

I’m going to bring this up with the faculty and see if OB can be improved for future classes. The second year students made big improvements for us, and it shows. Each class needs to improve the BU experience IMHO.

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Here’s what we did in class at BU this week;

Marketing 723 - Sealed Air Corp case analysis; segmentation, competition. Intuit analysis
Statistics 716 - Measures of variation and the normal distribution
Accounting 710 - Ananlysis of key ratios, ROA and ROE; Midterm exam
Finance 723 - NPV calculations and compounding
Org Behavior 713 - Carter Racing Excercise; Hidden traps in decision making
Presentation Skills 700 - Audience Analysis and message structure

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The MBA is definitely fun and a much needed change from working for a living. Right now I am partying like a 25 year old again, as you can see from the picture (I didn’t know Vincent was behind me). That won’t last. I will need to start working again in a couple months, so I’m relishing it right now. First mid-term exam next week.

I’m starting to get more excercise than I have in a long time. It feels great. This coming week I’m playing tennis and also have flag football practice. Ahhh - the college life again.

Meanwhile, my Mom is helping out with the kids, so Susan is able to also take an excercise class and start practicing with a choir. She’s wanted to do that for a long time. Life is good.

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Here’s what we did in class at BU this week;

Marketing 723 - DeBeers case analysis - entering Asian markets
Statistics 716 - Depicting data using StatTools and Excel
Accounting 710 - Preparing and analyzing Operating statements
Finance 723 - Long term corporate financing strategies
Org Behavior 713 - Morgan Stanley case, Staples case. Todd Krasnow as guest speaker.
Presentation Skills 700 - Presentation techniques; eyes, gestures, voice, etc.

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To the left is Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 US gold-medal olympic hockey team, a BU grad, a member of the BU Sports Hall of Fame. I’ll get to him in a minute. But first, a bit about the first week of the MBA…

I’d characterize the first week at BU as mild hazing. They want to induce some stress to make you perform with your new team. So there are classes until 9 at night, assignments every day, class all day Saturday, etc. I refuse to freak out about such things, but some of my classmates are buying it.

I’m starting to realize what a difference the age gap (I’m about 10 years older than most there) is going to make. On Saturday we saw a documentary film about the 1980 US olympic hockey team to analyze the leadership style of its coach, Herb Brooks. Brooks is a deity in Minnesota, the other hockey powerhouse in the US (BU is, of course, the first).

The film showed the US team’s win over the Soviets and the effect it had on the morale of the country given the political climate at the time (Carter, hostage crisis, gas lines, etc). Eruzione had scored the winning goal and was the emotional magnet, accepting the medal. I had been 14 when this happened and remembered it well.

It was a bit of a culture shock to realize that only a few other people in the class remembered this event. We’re talking GRAD students here, not college undergrads. That means they also don’t generally remember Reagan or the Columbia space shuttle disaster.

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OK - so far B-school is pretty fun. The class is a great bunch of people with a diverse set of backgrounds. Week 1 is for bonding - a huge number of social events happen, at least one a night. As Rudy put it, ‘these people are geniouses. There’s so much networking they make you believe accounting is a relief.”

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I found a picture from last years Folkfest and made it my avatar on MSMBA.net. Since I’ll be away at BU many evenings, I thought it would be nice to look at my kids everytime I post

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Our hearts go out to all those affected by Hurricane Katrina disaster this past week. One of the people in our MBA class is an EMT from Baton Rouge. Through him we’ve heard firsthand accounts of what went on in New Orleans last week. He had a tough week. His friends work in the hospitals all around New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Today on NPR’s Fresh Air, Teri Gross interviewed several musicians and historians on what makes New Orleans such a beloved city. I thought it would be good to keep this in mind (what a special place the Big Easy is) as the discussion of what to do going forward unfolds.

On another note, BU is offering free admission to all registered Tulane students for the coming year. For more info, see the press release.

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