MichiganMail

A bimonthly e-newsletter for the Global Blue Community of the University of Michigan Business School. Published by Alumni Relations.

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March 12, 2004

In this issue:

Featured Stories
▪ Stacy Stewart, MBA '87, to Deliver 2004 Commencement Address
▪ U-M President Mary Sue Coleman To Receive 2004 Women in Leadership Award
▪ Alumni Access Available to Harvard Business Review and Other Important Business Publications Free of Charge
▪ Spring 2004 Dividend Is On Its Way!
▪ Celebrate Your Michigan Memories at Reunion 2004!
▪ Be Recognized for Your Support of the Business School
▪ Michigan Business School Admissions Update
▪ New Kamrowskis Enliven Art Environment at the Business School

ALUMNI CLUBS/EVENTS
▪ Featured Alumni Event:  Meet Dean Robert J. Dolan in Chicago on March 23
▪ Alumni Events Around the World
▪ Professor Izak Duenyas Presents Supply Chain Seminar to Alumni in Singapore

Alumni IN THE NEWS
▪ Business Wire Latin America’s Annual Prize for the Promotion of Market Ethics in Latin America Awarded to
  Darío Epstein, MBA '91
▪ Darys Estrella Mordan, MBA '02, Featured in Latina Magazine as One of 10 Latinas "On the Verge"

Faculty & Research
▪ Energizing Your Workplace: New Book by Business School Professor Jane Dutton Shows How
▪ Business Roundtable Launches New Institute

STUDENT CONNECTIONS
▪ Global Blue Hosts Summit on Sharing Leadership Best Practices
▪ Jordan Berke, MBA1, Gives Back (and Gains Much) Via Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County
▪ Dare to Dream Grant Recipients Chosen for Financing of Student Start-ups
▪ Alumni Invited to Participate in LA Forum of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Club, March 18-19
▪ 28th Annual BBSA Conference Brings Business and Community Together
▪ 14th Annual Asian Business Conference a Great Success!

Links
▪ Alumni Events
▪ Alumni Directory
▪ MBS Marketplace
▪ Executive Education
▪ Alumni Job Database
▪ News Room

Featured Stories

Stacy Stewart, MBA '87, to Deliver 2004 Commencement Address Stacey Stewart, President & CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation, has been chosen to deliver to the 2004 commencement address on April 30, 2004. Stacey Stewart leads the country's largest foundation devoted to affordable housing and community development issues. Under her leadership, the Fannie Mae Foundation helps make homeownership a reality for millions of American families. To date, the Foundation's efforts have helped guide more than 15 million people on the path to homeownership. The Fannie Mae Foundation's mission is to create affordable homeownership and housing opportunities through innovative partnerships and initiatives that build healthy, vibrant communities across the country. Stacey became president and chief executive officer of the Fannie Mae Foundation in September 1999.

Stacey oversees a team of more than 100 professionals, and under her direction the Fannie Mae Foundation has become one of the largest private foundations in the country. In 2001, the Fannie Mae Foundation was responsible for nearly 20 percent of all housing and community development grants in the country.

From 1995 to 1999, Stacey served as vice president of Housing and Community Development in Fannie Mae's southeastern regional office in Atlanta. There, she was responsible for implementing low and moderate-income home-buyer programs such as the Trillion Dollar Commitment Initiative, Fannie Mae's pledge to help 10 million families buy homes of their own by the year 2000, which operated in 11 states. Stacey was responsible for opening nine partnership offices. She began her career at Fannie Mae in 1992 and was director of regional public affairs in the southeastern region until 1995.

Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Stacey was an investment banker for five years - first with Merrill Lynch in its public finance division, where she assisted state and local governments in structuring more than $2 billion in senior-managed bond transactions to fund vital housing and infrastructure projects. She then joined the investment-banking firm Pryor McClendon Counts in Atlanta as a vice president. She earned an AB in economics from Georgetown University. She attended the University of Michigan Business School on a full fellowship, earning an MBA with a concentration in finance.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman To Receive 2004 Women in Leadership Award

On April 14, 2004, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman will be awarded the Women in Leadership Award.  The award presentation will occur in Hale Auditorium at 4:00 p.m. and will be followed by remarks by President Coleman plus a question and answer session. The event will conclude with a reception in Assembly Hall Lobby.

Since 1993, the Women in Leadership Award has been given annually to recognize outstanding women leaders, their leadership and their achievements in promoting women's success. The event is presented by the Women in Business Initiative and the Michigan Business Women's Club.

The University of Michigan Business School is the only leading business school to sponsor such an award.

Past recipients have included The Honorable Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State (2003); Muriel Siebert, President and Founder, Muriel Siebert and Company, Inc (2002); Kay Koplovitz, CEO Working Women Network (2001) and Barbara Mowry, President and CEO, Requisite Technology, Inc. (2000).

For more information about the Women in Leadership Award presentation, please contact Michele Adams at mladams@umich.edu.

For more information about the Women in Leadership initiative at the Business School, visit the website at http://www.womeninbusiness.bus.umich.edu. For more information about the Michigan Business Women's Club, visit http://www.umich.edu/~mbwclub.

Alumni Access Available to Harvard Business Review and Other Important Business Publications Free of Charge

Kresge Library is pleased to offer a new current awareness service to University of Michigan Business School alumni. Business Source Premier is one of the top aggregators of business content and contains full-text access to over 800 scholarly business journals including Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review as well as popular titles like Fortune and Forbes. Alumni can set up an electronic table of contents notification and receive the table of contents of their favorite journals by email at a frequency they choose. Alumni can then follow the links to articles that interest them and access the full-text of these items. There is no cost to alumni for this service. Take advantage of it today by going to http://www.bus.umich.edu/KresgeLibrary/Services/AlumniServices/alumnitoc.htm.

An exciting new article to look up in Business Source Premier is "Breakthrough Ideas for 2004," in the February 2004 issues of the Harvard Business Review.   Of the 20 breakthrough ideas, Michigan Business School's Positive Organization Scholarship research is listed as #11.  Be sure to check it out!  If you have any questions about this new service, contact Kresge Library at kresge_library@umich.edu.

Spring 2004 Dividend Is On Its Way! The Spring 2004 issue of Dividend magazine will be hitting mailboxes this month, and it's packed full of valuable information about the Business School, faculty, alumni and students.  This latest issue includes major features on globalization, sustainable transportation and the U.S. tax system, in addition to the regular features of Alumni at Large, Faculty Research, Class Notes, Alumni Activities and much more.  Below is an excerpt from the the article, "U.S. Tax System: A Study in Marketing," with research from Professors Aradhna Krishna (Isadore & Leon Winkelman Professor of Retail Marketing) and Joel Slemrod (Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy):

U.S. Tax System: A Study in Marketing

As Americans grapple with one of life’s more unpleasant certainties - taxes - most incumbent politicians want to deflect blame by having taxpayers believe the burden of paying Uncle Sam is small. In fact, taxpayers need look no further than their Form 1040 to see marketing tools at work, according to University of Michigan Business School tax policy and marketing experts.

In their study, “Behavioral Public Finance: Tax Design As Price Presentation,” Aradhna Krishna, the Isadore and Leon Winkelman Professor of Retail Marketing, and Joel Slemrod, the Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, present evidence showing that, consciously or not, designers of the U.S. tax system have applied what marketing researchers call the theory of price presentation - presenting prices for products in a way that reduces the perceived cost - to the process of paying taxes.

Slemrod, who directs the Business School’s Office of Tax Policy Research and is a member of the Congressional Budget Office Panel of Economic Advisers, says much of price presentation theory is based on the notion that the framing of a situation affects how people respond. Tax system designers, through price presentation, can:

• Minimize taxpayers’ perception of their share of the tax burden.
• Persuade taxpayers that the more affluent are carrying a bigger relative share of the tax burden than they really are.
• Encourage particular activities, such as saving and labor supply.

Krishna and Slemrod provide several examples of aspects of the U.S. income tax system, as well as state and local sales tax systems, which appear to reflect and perhaps take advantage of consumer behavioral patterns.

For the full article (p. 31), and to read more about what's happening at the Business School, check out the Spring 2004 issue of Dividend magazine, coming to your mailbox soon!

Celebrate Your Michigan Memories at Reunion 2004!

Mark your calendars for Reunion, October 8-10, 2004! All alumni are invited to attend and we will be having special celebrations for the classes of 1954, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1994, 1999 and 2003. The weekend will be filled with opportunities to catch up with classmates, reconnect with faculty in the classroom and cheer on the Wolverines to a Homecoming victory!

You will receive your Reunion invitation this summer. For now, we invite you to visit the Reunion website at www.bus.umich.edu/reunion2004 to:

• Tell us your plans
   
• Make your hotel reservations
   
• Update your contact information

If you have questions regarding the Reunion festivities, contact Julie Antis, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations - Reunion, at antisj@umich.edu.

Be Recognized for Your Support of the Business School

You may have recently received a copy of the Business School’s Printer’s Proof. This Printer’s Proof includes a fiscal half-year list of alumni and friends who have contributed financially to the University of Michigan Business School. We are grateful for this support and for the opportunities it provides students during their experience at Michigan.

If you would like to be included in the 2004 Investor’s Report, we must receive your gift by June 16, 2004. To make your gift online, visit www.bus.umich.edu/annualfund. If you would prefer to make your donation by mail, please make checks payable to the University of Michigan and mail to John Copeland, Director of Annual Giving, 701 Tappan Street, D1235, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Credit card gifts or gifts of securities can be made by contacting the Office of Development at 734.763.5775.

Michigan Business School Admissions Update

Round 1 Decisions Are Out!
Decisions from our first round of applicants have been finalized. As always, each prospective student admitted in Round 1 received a call from an Admissions Staff member (or an email if time zones were preventing us from reaching them). Admit binders should now be in their hands, and they have already been active on the Class of 2006 website (on iMpact) and on a Yahoo group that they established themselves. We have a team of students helping monitor our webboards, and we’ll continue our M-Talk Admit e-newsletter to them. We also sent all admits a very cool (at least we think so!) flash email piece congratulating them on being admitted to Michigan. Click here to view the flash piece.

Class Profile
What does the Class of 2006 look like on a preliminary basis? We are very pleased with the quality of applicants out of Round 1 and hope we see the same in Round 2. For our admits, the average GMAT is over 700, 31% are female, 30% are international, 13% are underrepresented minorities, and the average age is somewhere between 27 and 28. (At this time last year, we were at 26% female and 11% minority.) In addition to the more typical backgrounds, we have concert violinists and oboists, a television news reporter, a co-founder of a creative film company, and more. Career interests range from those pursuing fields such as investment banking, consulting, brand management and corporate development, to one day running the Humane Society, a family business or doing work in Ghana. We look forward to getting to know them all better as we interact with the class over these next few months and at Go Blue! Rendezvous (GBR) 2004 April 2-4 (our weekend for admitted students and their significant other). We know already that we are competing with some other schools’ admit “sell” weekends, so we are working to get as many folks to Ann Arbor as we can – GBR really makes an impact in an admitted student’s decision to attend Michigan.

Pursuit Teams
As noted above, every admit typically gets a call from a student, a call from an alum, gets invited to alumni events around the country and is invited to Go Blue Rendezvous (if in Round 1 or 2). Admissions wants to ratchet this up a notch with our top admits and mimic the approach used in consulting - creation of coordinated Pursuit Teams that own the relationship with the candidate and do whatever they can to get them to commit, in this case, to Michigan. We are planning to have Pursuit Teams for our top admits, with special emphasis on women and minorities. The Pursuit Teams will have a couple of components - faculty, alumni, and students.

Here are the responsibilities by group:  faculty in the candidate's interest area(s) will contact the admit and perhaps develop a relationship - we will have Dean involvement for some teams. The alumni on the pursuit team will do the usual outreach, but will also be asked to maintain ongoing contact (not just a one time call), and will be asked to meet in person, perhaps for dinner or coffee, with their admit if they are located in the same city. Also we will look to the alum to refer other alums to him/her if they feel it would be beneficial. The student champion will establish ongoing contact with the admit - perhaps twice a month to check in and see how he/she is doing. The student would also be responsible for checking in with the alum and the assigned faculty member (and the Dean if applicable) and compile any input, make sure they have been able to make contact, etc. The student would keep the Associate Director or Director assigned to the admit up to speed on developments and share info to see if additional efforts are needed. Student champions may also bring in other students to help sell the admit on the School based on admit's interest areas.

Alumni are always welcome to help out with Admissions efforts. If you are interested in volunteering with Admissions, contact the appropriate regional director:

New Kamrowskis Enliven Art Environment at the Business School (Excerpts taken from the Business School News Room - http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom.) American artist Gerome (Jerry) Kamrowski was a well-known figure at the University of Michigan School of Art where he taught for 40 years, but few could have predicted his surrealistic works one day would become popular among Business School students and faculty.

Last year, Kamrowski loaned the Business School his sculpture Arborescent, which was displayed in Assembly Hall. The immense piece depicting five fanciful creatures was such a hit that the School's Art Acquisition Committee decided to purchase two Kamrowskis by using a sizeable contribution to the Art Fund from the Charles H. Ihling (MBA '79) Memorial Fund. The Ann Arbor artist, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, felt so honored to be part of the School's Art on View collection that he donated two additional works, making four in all.

"We only buy works on paper by nationally recognized American artists for the permanent collection, but the feedback on Arborescent was so positive we decided to purchase something outside the theme," says Kathleen Dolan, who joined the Art Acquisition Committee shortly after she and her husband, Dean Robert J. Dolan, settled in Ann Arbor three years ago. "Jerry Kamrowski's reputation also was an important factor in the decision."

During the 1930s and early 1940s, Kamrowski worked in New York with such artists as Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollock and helped spearhead the development of American Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. His work from this period is in permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art and other leading museums around the world.

For the full article, and other Business School news, visit http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/ArticleDisplay.asp?news_id=2547.

ALUMNI CLUBS/EVENTS

Featured Alumni Event: Meet Dean Robert J. Dolan in Chicago on March 23

Join fellow Chicago alumni and friends for an evening of networking and information sharing. Dean Dolan will present "The Future of Business Education and the Michigan Experience." He will also share his vision for the upcoming Capital Campaign, an update on current School initiatives and activities planned for 2004. The events are hosted by the University of Michigan Business School Chicago Alumni Club and the Office of Alumni Relations.

This event will be held 5:30 p.m. at the Marriott Chicago Downtown, located at 540 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611 (Phone: 312.836.0100).  To confirm your attendance, contact Alumni Relations at alumni@umich.edu or 734.763.5775. If you have questions about the event, contact Sheryl Smith at sheryls@umich.edu or 734.763.4469.

Alumni Events Around the World

Michigan Business School alumni clubs around the world are very active in planning events for alumni, students and friends.  Click on the city names below to see upcoming events in that area.  Also, for the most up-to-date information on alumni events around the world, visit the Alumni Events Calendar.

Chicago, IL ▪ Detroit, MI ▪ Frankfurt, Germany ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ Mumbai, India ▪ New York, NY ▪ San Francisco, CA ▪ Sao Paulo, Brazil ▪ Washington, DC ▪ Zurich, Switzerland

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS

Business Wire Latin America’s Annual Prize for the Promotion of Market Ethics in Latin America Awarded to Darío Epstein, MBA '91 (Excerpts taken from IMS Companies press release, dated January 17, 2004.) Business Wire Latin America (BWLA), a subsidiary of IMS Companies, has established an annual award to recognize efforts promoting the development of emerging Latin American markets based on ethics, transparency, disclosure and equal opportunity for investors. The first BWLA Annual Prize for the Promotion of Market Ethics in Latin America has been awarded to Darío Epstein, President of Sur Investment Co. and former director of the Argentine National Securities Commission.

Héctor Botero, CEO of IMS Companies, noted that the Argentine executive earned the award for his active participation over many years in the creation of innovative instruments for Latin American markets, both as a regulator and as a participant in market activities and investments.

Epstein was "profoundly honored" by an award that recognizes what he called "my passion for transparency, information and investor protection, which I consider as or more important than what may have been my sound decisions on financial projections."

Botero observed that another element worthy of acknowledgment in Epstein is his commitment to investor education, something that BWLA considers an essential tool for the protection of investors and investment in the region.

Epstein, 40, is a public accountant by training, with an MBA from the University of Michigan, and vast experience in the financial markets, both in Argentina and internationally. He started his career as a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton, served as a member of the Argentine National Securities Commission during an outstanding period of market growth in his country, and also served as an advisor to various Argentine and international financial institutions. He has been living in Miami for the last two years, where he advises companies with a presence or interest in Latin America. Epstein divides his professional activity with his work as an expert analyst for CNN en Español, where he provides regular weekly commentary and other contributions.

The Business Wire Latin America prize will be presented in March, at a special ceremony to be held in Miami, home to the headquarters of BWLA, part of IMS Companies and in turn, subsidiary of Business Wire, the world’s largest corporate press release distribution company, with a worldwide presence.

BWLA, the Business Wire subsidiary for Latin America, operates the largest corporate press release distribution network and has distribution agreements with the major news agencies and financial information services in Latin America, including Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Darys Estrella Mordan, MBA '02, Featured in Latina Magazine as One of 10 Latinas "On the Verge" (Excerpts taken from the March 2004 issue of Latina magazine (p.94).  Article written by Grace Bastidas.) Darys Estrella Mordan may work on Wall Street, but her heart is still with Latin America. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Darys Estrella Mordan says she saw firsthand how economies operate.  For example, there would be periods when basic goods such as rice, potatoes, bread or eggs would become wildly expensive, even as her family's income stayed the same.  "It was the kind of stuff that a kid in the U.S. wouldn't know," she says, "but over there, it was part of our daily life."

No surprise then, that Darys, 34, chose a career that gives her the chance to change the way Latin American economies operate.  As president of Dominicans on Wall Street (DOWS), Darys - an associate in the fixed-income currency and commodities division of New York brokerage firm Goldman Sachs & Co. - shares her financial expertise with corporations in her native country, helping them to expand their businesses.  And in her previous job at Deltec Asset Management, Darys met with the likes of "President Chávez in Venezuela, President Menem in Argentina and finance ministers" to determine opportunities for U.S. inventors.

But Darys, who majored in Hispanic studies at Vassar College and received an MBA from the University of Michigan, isn't all business.  At the end of the day, she can't wait to get home to her husband, Andrew Wilson; son Yan Diego, 7; and daughter Maya, 4.  "I hear 'Mommy,' " Darys says, "and I forget everything else."

FACULTY & RESEARCH

Energizing Your Workplace: New Book by Business School Professor Jane Dutton Shows How

Business leaders and managers can energize their workplaces by building and sustaining high-quality connections that activate and renew the energy people bring to their jobs, says Jane Dutton of the University of Michigan Business School.

In her new book, Dutton provides strategies for building beneficial ties among people that are marked by mutual regard, trust and active engagement and suggests ways for dealing with low-quality, or corrosive, connections that diminish employees' performance and organizational effectiveness.

"Energize Your Workplace: How to Create and Sustain High-Quality Connections at Work" (Jossey-Bass, 2003) also outlines steps for designing and constructing workplace environments that energize people and enable organizations to excel. The book is part of the Michigan Business School's focus on Positive Organizational Scholarship, a revolutionary field of scientific study established as a center of excellence at the Business School.

"The energy and vitality of individuals and organizations alike depends on the quality of the connections among people in the organization and between organizational members and people outside the firm with whom they do business," says Dutton, the William Russell Kelly Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Management and Organizations and Professor of Psychology. "Every interaction with others at work - big or small, short or lengthy - has the potential to create or deplete vital energy, which governs whether you are going to achieve greatness, mediocrity or failure."

She says that when positive energy is activated through a high-quality connection, it can lead to "positive spirals" where people experience more energy and positive emotions, which increases their capacity to think and act in the moment and in turn enables them to build more capacity and desire to interact effectively with others.

For the full article, visit http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/ArticleDisplay.asp?news_id=2610.  For more information about faculty and their research, visit the Faculty & Research website at http://www.bus.umich.edu/FacultyResearch.

Business Roundtable Launches New Institute

(Article taken from the Business School News Room - http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom.)

Timothy L. Fort, University of Michigan Business School Associate Professor of Business Ethics and William Davidson Institute Co-Director for the Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility area, is one of 10 ethicists leading a Business Roundtable ethics initiative.

The Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics will bring together educators in the field of ethics, business leaders and business school students to forge a new and lasting link between ethical behavior and business practices, says Franklin D. Raines, Co-Chairman of the Business Roundtable and Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae. The institute, to be housed at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, will conduct research, create a business ethics curriculum, lead executive seminars on business ethics and develop best practices in the area of corporate and business ethics.

In October, Fort received the Academic Leadership Award from Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003: Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship, sponsored by the World Resources Institute (WRI), an environmental think tank, and Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, which helps business executives integrate financial success and social and environmental progress.

Joining Fort in the Roundtable ethics initiative are faculty from Darden Graduate School, Harvard University, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Pennsylvania State and the University of Texas.

The Business Roundtable is an association of CEOs of leading corporations with a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees in the United States and $3.7 trillion in revenues. For information about the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics, visit www.corporate-ethics.org.

STUDENT CONNECTIONS

Global Blue Hosts Summit on Sharing Leadership Best Practices On March 7, Global Blue hosted the first Annual Amazin’ Global Blue Leadership Summit as a forum for outgoing, proven leaders of MBS student clubs to share best practices across clubs with the incoming leadership in the MBA program. Kicking off the Summit, Anuja Rajendra, Global Blue President, informed participants how this event was designed to help leave a strong leadership legacy with incoming officers. Susan Winslow-Tahir, VP of Strategy, and Ron Bednar, VP of Events, Global Blue along with Anuja facilitated a round table discussion about key topics relevant to leading a club at MBS: Establishing Leadership and Designing Club (Team) Environment: Key findings raised were: starting early and matching student and club interests. Furthermore, matching value-added activities with students who are passionate about a cause was also considered crucial in creating a productive team environment.

Motivating Classmates: With numerous activities competing for students’ time, outgoing leaders highlighted the importance of laying the proper groundwork, obtaining buy-in from the team and being available as a resource to the team in order to help motivate peers. Leaders should be their clubs’ best salespeople by constantly promoting their organizations’ purpose and activities.

Corporate Relations: Best practices to help leaders effectively obtain corporate support – very critical to the success of clubs and beyond - were discussed included organizing, coordinating and communicating opportunities for corporate involvement. Several leaders commented that sharing information between clubs is critical.

Reflecting on the event, Dean Dolan, who participated along with Dean Anderson, Al Cotrone of OCD, and Ann LaCivita and Melanie McIntyre of Alumni Relations, deemed the event as phenomenally effective.

The event was very successful in creating a forum to exchange information between outgoing officers, incoming leaders and key administrators at MBS. Over 50 leaders participated representing 20 clubs, as well as Evening MBAs and joint degree programs. Global Blue plans to build upon the initial success with future Summits.

For additional information about the Leadership Summit or Global Blue, contact Gitesh Dubal, VP Marketing at gdubal@umich.edu.

Jordan Berke, MBA1, Gives Back (and Gains Much) Via Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County

(Excerpts from MLive.com, January 24, 2004.  Article written by Emma Jackson, News Staff Reporter.)

Tucked in a booth and hunched over a Monopoly game, Jordan Berke and Maurice Maddox barely warrant a second glance from patrons at a busy, Ann Arbor eatery. Nothing about two guys, grabbing a bite, playing a game, engaged in easy conversation would seem unusual.

But the language on the Parker Brother's game is Chinese and Berke is giving his young friend a history, business and geography lesson as they move their tokens over the spaces. It's a winning moment for mentoring.

The pair has been meeting most weekends for more than two years, brought together through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County. Berke became a volunteer for the program, which has some 210 active matches, because of a family holiday tradition.

"Thanksgiving we have a family ritual that everyone goes around the table and says what they are grateful for. In 2000, I decided I didn't want to come back a year later without having done something to give back to the community," Berke said.

He began looking into charitable options. At the time he was employed with an advertising firm and could afford to make a financial contribution, but decided his time would be the most valuable commodity. He now realizes he's gained as much as he's given from being paired with Maurice.

"Being with Maurice has given me a good opportunity to work on areas like patience, flexibility and to help him improve in areas," Berke said. "It's like coaching."  Maurice said he enjoys being with Berke because, "He's fun. He's like a kid, kind of."

Pauline Maddox, Maurice's mother, said the mentoring program has been invaluable. "As a single mom, the bigs (nickname for the mentors) have helped a lot. All three of my children have bigs and they are able to take them out and show them things that I can't get out and do," Maddox said. "I have seen major, positive changes in Maurice. He was very quiet and now he's more open. Jordan has introduced him to different people and activities and has improved him (socially)," she said.

Berke , 27, and Maurice, 12, are as different as their age span. Berke lives in a condominium in Ann Arbor and is a graduate student at the University of Michigan, studying business and taking Chinese language courses. Maurice is a sixth-grader who lives with his mother and two sisters in a modest home in Ypsilanti Township's West Willow neighborhood. The disparity in their worlds has been bridged by a bond that caused them both to grow.

"As an only child, I never had to share myself," Berke said.

"I've taught him not to be greedy," Maurice said, giving his buddy a big grin.

For the full article, visit http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/107494306655770.xml?aanews?NECL.

Dare to Dream Grant Recipients Chosen for Financing of Student Start-ups

In February 2004, the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies awarded three student teams start-up funding through its “Dare to Dream” grant program. In addition, these student teams will receive a $1,000 scholarship for two team members to attend the IT Zone’s Entrepreneurial Boot Camp.

Sreeram Veeragandham, MBA '04 - Arcanum Medical Systems
Grant Award: $20,000
Arcanum has developed a non-invasive glucose-monitor to replace the current invasive blood testing process for diabetics. The grant will be used to purchase lab equipment and to cover expenses related to creating additional prototypes.

Benjamin Lewis, MBA '05 - iHome Electronics
Grant Award: $10,000
The iHome solution offers an integrated media system, unified messaging system, and a home automation system all controlled by a central computer located in the home - making your home a wireless “smart house.” The grant will be used to create the first iHome.

Jeremy Sutton, Evening MBA - Caliente Grille
Grant Award: $5,000
Caliente Grille, a Mexican fast-casual restaurant with an aggressive growth plan, is positioned to open its first restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan in summer 2004. The grant will be used toward the purchase of point-of-sale software, the development of a marketing and promotional campaign, and toward legal fees.

Alumni Invited to Participate in LA Forum of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Club, March 18-19

The Entertainment, Media & Sports Club of the University of Michigan Business School will travel to L.A. March 18-19 to meet with successful professionals in these three industries, and we would love it if you could make time to share your thoughts and insights with a group of Michigan students.

The club's L.A. Forum is designed to give business school students, both undergraduate and graduate, better insights into business functions like finance and marketing that help make entertainment, media and sports companies run. It is an opportunity for people like yourself to connect with others in your field and to meet young students on the rise.

This event is presented in conjunction with the University of Michigan Entertainment Coalition, an alumni organization for all Michigan grads working in creative and business functions in entertainment, media and sports. For more information, visit their website at http://www.uofmentertainmentcoalition.org.

You have two opportunities to get involved:

• A reception the evening of March 18 at the Rita Hayworth executive dining room on Sony's Culver City lot.  U-M alums and others working in entertainment, media and sports are invited to attend the networking reception, 6:30-9:00 p.m., to meet club members and network with other professionals in a wide range of business functions in these industries.  RVSPs are required to get you onto the security list - if you would like to join us, please respond to EM&Sforum@umich.edu with your name, company and title. You will receive a map via email after you RSVP.
   
• Company visits March 19. We invite working professionals to talk with us in a mix of visits to their facilities and roundtable discussions.  We aim to attract people in various business functions, from operations to real estate and from business development to legal affairs, who can talk to us about what they do, about the business climate in L.A., about tips on getting a first job and other relevant industry topics. Typically the visits take between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on your availability. If you would like to learn more, please email us at EM&Sforum@umich.edu.

At past events, we have had participation from professionals employed at Universal, NBC, ESPN, Univision, National Football League, Disney, HBO, Showtime, Time Inc., Island/ Def Jam Records, Major League Baseball, William Morris Agency, Everlast Boxing, JP Morgan, Accenture, Actors Equity Association, USA Today and many more. We hope you will plan to join this impressive roster of companies that have been generous with their time, and that have seen the value of fostering a relationship with University of Michigan Business School.

If you are interested in participating, or in learning more about the Entertainment, Media & Sports Club and its forums, please email us at EM&Sforum@umich.edu. Contacting us now will help us keep you apprised as details come together.

The L.A. Forum is presented with support from the L.A. alumni of the University of Michigan, as well as from Admissions, Alumni Relations and the Office of Career Development at University of Michigan Business School. We are grateful for their support, and for yours, as well.

And please share this invitation with any Michigan grads you think might like to join us!

Sincerely,

Colleen Newvine Tebeau, President
Per Larson and Mike Ignaffo, L.A. Forum coordinators
Entertainment, Media & Sports Club
http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/Organizations/entertainment-media-sports 

28th Annual BBSA Conference Brings Business and Community Together

(Article taken from the March 8, 2004 issue of the Monroe Street Journal.  Article written by David Lasoff, MBA2.)

This past weekend marked the BBSA 28th Annual Conference and Alumni Weekend. The Conference is one of the premier events for the BBSA, a student organization dedicated to the recruitment of black business students and the professional and academic development of its membership.

The theme for this year's Conference was "Nurturing the Independent Spirit." The topic framed the activities of the weekend as participants focused on ways to empower and motivate each other to lead in today's business and community. The workshops and seminars concentrated on using the knowledge gained in the past to establish even higher standards of excellence, and to proactively leverage this learning to make a measurable impact on both careers and community.

The BBSA also hosted 29 prospective students who came to Ann Arbor to attend the Conference. On Thursday night, the prospective students had the opportunity to eat at Pizza House before joining current students at Mitch's for the UMBSA Happy Hour. Events on Friday included a group meeting with Kris Nebel and Al Cotrone, a Q&A session with current students, a housing tour of Ann Arbor and a catered dinner.  The group then went to the Bird of Paradise to meet up with other Conference participants for a fun-filled night of jazz.

The Conference's keynote speaker at the Saturday night gala dinner was Mr. G. Barry Huff, President of Glory Foods. Glory Foods is a privately-owned producer of canned and frozen Southern cuisine and was awarded Black Enterprise magazine's Emerging Company of the Year distinction. Huff, a University of Michigan alumnus, provided key insights from his many years of experience in entrepreneurial and corporate settings. The Saturday luncheon address by Lee Merritts, senior partner of Encore Associates, Inc. and former Director of Diversity for Proctor & Gamble, North America, examined the individual's role in cultivating the business case for corporate diversity. The weekend-long conference also included an annual student case competition, interactive workshops and seminars, an alumni town hall meeting with Dean Dolan and panel discussions featuring prominent speakers from around the country.

The BBSA Annual Conference continues to be one the largest student-run events at the Michigan Business School and provided a wonderful opportunity for alumni, corporate sponsors, faculty, students and community members to interact with each other both professionally and socially. The Conference has always served as an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the BBSA membership, strengthen ties to Corporate America and increase the power of the community through the sharing of knowledge. Though this year's Conference has come to a close, the BBSA looks forward to continuing this distinguished legacy next year.

14th Annual Asian Business Conference a Great Success! The 14th Annual Asian Business Conference was held on February 6 and 7, 2004 at the Business School. The Conference theme, "Asia: Miracle Maker or Heart Breaker?," sought to examine the paradox, commonly found in Asia, of seemingly miraculous macroeconomic performance and highly challenging business conditions. For some multinational firms, the hope of tapping into Asia’s rapid economic growth and strong market potential has ended in disappointment and heartbreak. Still others have been able to garner powerful market share and reap tremendous profits. The Conference provided a forum for discussing the factors that have separated the winners from the losers in Asia, and explored tactics for turning Asia’s economic promise into business success.

The ABC program was designed to enable students to learn about the intricacies of doing business in Asia. "For many of us, the words ‘intrigue’ and ‘innervation’ sum up our feelings toward Asia," said Choon-Peng Ng, Conference Co-chair during the first day opening address. "We are proud to have brought 27 esteemed speakers to unravel the paradox, and we want students to come away with valuable information they can take with them through their careers."

Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), kicked off the Conference on Friday evening. S.G. Ong described the key developments affecting the Southeast Asian region. Economic conditions in Asia continue to improve, global recovery is underway, and Asia is growing faster than all other regions of the world. More importantly, S.G. Ong emphasized that although the makeup of the group is diverse, with each country possessing its own unique cultural, historical, and geopolitical traits, ASEAN has been able to progress significantly toward regional economic integration. The rise of China has been an important impetus to this integration imperative. S.G. Ong was optimistic that the continuing collaboration of ASEAN with China and India would ensure the region’s attractiveness to investors into the future.

Kishore Mabhubani, Singaporean Ambassador to the United Nations, was also equally optimistic with regard to the political and economic environment facing Asia today. The Ambassador focused primarily on macro-security issues that have been affecting the region. He noted that, a decade ago, notable scholars had been pessimistic about the region’s political stability and were almost certain there would be major political conflicts. However, the region that was supposed to be full of conflict has instead come together in a way that is creating a stable geopolitical platform upon which economic growth will rise in the coming years. The Ambassador also alluded to China as a major factor for this stability, pointing to the fact that a stable Asian region will enable China to gain prominence in its role as a major political influence in world affairs.

On Saturday morning, B. Ramalinga Raju, CEO of Satyam Computer Services, kicked off the Conference. He focused on the development of India, and the direction of the country’s services industry. Mr. Raju also talked about the mind-boggling implications of the share of services in world GDP (2/3rds) and the ability to deliver those services in a distributed value chain. He thinks that with the market in software outsourcing estimated to be approximately $90bn by 2008, Satyam is well positioned to take advantage of this growth. Although there is a lot of media attention today regarding jobs and outsourcing, the reality is that American investors’ expectation for greater returns cannot be avoided. When faced with returns of 20% vs 10%, investors will ultimately choose the higher returns that outsourcing is able to generate through cost savings.

During nine panel sessions on Saturday, more than 600 Conference attendees from across the University of Michigan and the Midwest region learned from experts about issues affecting the countries of Japan, India, China, Korea, and the ASEAN region. There were also panels that focused on Corporate Social Responsibility, Healthcare, Finance, and Technology. Thirty-five business executives and academics with extensive experience in Asia presented on these topics throughout the day on Saturday.

In attendance were several alumni who helped to make the Conference a success: Michael Dunne, MBA/MA ’90; William Byun, JD; Anurag Jain, MBA ’95;   Jehkun Lah, MBA ’94; and Paul Tucci, BA International Politics. We realize that alumni all around the world are instrumental in bringing the Conference to the university every year.

For a copy of the post-Conference report and other weblinks (such as archived streaming video), please check back on the website at http://www.umich.edu/~asiabus. For speaking or sponsorship opportunities, please contact next year’s team through the “Contact Us” link on the site.

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