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MMA Network ONLINE CONNECTIONS
December 2002

In this Issue:
Alumni News
McCombs Business
Outside the Box
Press Mentions


ALUMNI NEWS

‘Tis the season for Winter receptions
We invite you to attend our annual winter receptions being held in various cities around the country. These events offer an opportunity to connect with local alumni, current students, as well as McCombs faculty and staff. Our local MBA alumni chapters will be hosting receptions in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Austin and a number of international locations. Please check the Alumni Network calendar for the most current information on these events: http://mba.mccombs.utexas.edu/mma/calendar/2003/jan.asp

Alumni Networking Panel: Student Connection
In an effort to educate current students about networking with alumni, we invited a panel of alumni to come and speak to the students about the most effective and efficient ways to contact alumni. The event was a success and very enlightening to the students who attended. Many thanks to alums, Lyn Graft, MBA 95, Leslie Schaffer, MBA 95, and Randall Kempner, MBA 98 for participating in the panel discussion and offering their expertise and sage wisdom.

MBA OutSource News (formerly Gay and Lesbian Graduate Business Network)
The student organization formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Graduate Business Network has changed its name to MBA OutSource. In addition, the organization has begun an alumni directory for networking opportunities for all GLBT students and alums. If you haven’t done so recently, please be sure and update your Alumni Profile to include OutSource as one of your organizational affiliations so that we can keep in touch as new things happen. For more information is available at: www.mccombs.utexas.edu/students/glgbn/

Coming Soon: Business@Texas
Our bi-annual magazine, Business@Texas, will be arriving in your mailbox in the coming weeks. Articles include an inside look at the economic climate in Argentina, a trip beyond the city limits to Berlin, Germany, and how two alums maintain a work-life balance.


McCOMBS BUSINESS

2002 fall MOOT CORP winners
A graduate school business plan that converts organic material into natural gas used to power environmentally friendly energy systems was named the winner of the 2002 fall MOOT CORP® competition. The competition, sponsored by the McCombs School of Business, means Organic Energy Systems receives the $100,000 grand prize and an opportunity to bring the MBA student venture to market. Find out more at: http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/news/pressreleases/mootcorp2002_winner.asp

Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship Launches Working Paper Series
Faculty and staff of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship have completed its inaugural series of working papers, which will be a regular initiative of the Center and will highlight the latest research in the emerging discipline of entrepreneurship. You can access these papers at http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/research/hkcenter/papers.htm.

End of Year Gifts to the McCombs School
With the end of the year less than a month away, now is the time to make a gift to the McCombs School and help the school achieve its goal of becoming the best public business school in the nation. All donors will be listed in our annual Investors’ Report and online at http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/development/donor.asp. Go to our gift/pledge form at https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/development/pledge/info.asp. Learn more about Hermes Society membership and benefits at http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/development/hermes.asp.

McCombs to host 2003 Net Impact Conference
The McCombs School of Business Net Impact Chapter will host the 2003 National Net Impact Conference. After reviewing conference bids and visiting the campuses of several potential conference hosts, Net Impact National announced their decision at the 2002 Net Impact National Conference last month in Washington, D.C. The conference, to be held November 6-9, 2003, will bring 1,000 MBA students, alumni, and business leaders from around the world to Austin for an inspiring and educational weekend. More information available at: http://www.texasbusinessweekly.com/news/321266.html

U.S. Census Head Visits McCombs' Bureau of Business Research
The implications of the interruption in Congressional funding of the 2003 Economic Census and the new American Community Survey were among topics addressed by U.S. Census Bureau director C. Louis Kincannon during an on-campus seminar Nov. 8. The full story: http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/news/pressreleases/census.asp


PRESS MENTIONS

MBA: A Whistleblower’s Odyssey- Wall Street Journal, Nov. 25
Ted Beatty received his MBA in 2000, but his education in the “real world” did not begin until after he left Dynegy and filed a whistleblower’s lawsuit. The WSJ, in an extensive story, profiled what happened when the government, plaintiff’s lawyers and others grabbed hold of documents Beatty took when he left the one-time energy trading giant.

Two Sides to Delta’s Low Cost Fare Plans, Seidel Notes- Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, Nov. 27
Financially ailing Delta Airlines is set to introduce a new fare structure that it claims offers savings ranging from 10 to 40 percent. “It will most likely reduce walk-up full-fare prices, but it appears that it also will drive up what was traditionally the less expensive advance purchase discounted fares,” said Marc-David Seidel (MGMT).

Interlocking Directors Could Hamper Independence-USA Today, Nov. 25
The USA's worst run of corporate scandals in decades has made painfully clear how vital it is that a company's board of directors be qualified, actively involved and -- above all -- unbiased. But an analysis by USA TODAY and The Corporate Library revealed that the boards of the nation's leading companies have a startling amount of overlap. “This can compromise board governance,” said Jim Westphal (MGMT). Nonetheless, this type of arrangement is very common, Westphal noted, adding that a third of directors sit on at least one other board with a CEO.

UBS Closes Trading Floor Acquired From Enron-New York Times, Nov. 21
Less than a year after acquiring Enron's once-vaunted energy trading operation, UBS Warburg said that it would sharply reduce the size of the unit and shut down Enron's former trading floor in Houston. The decision comes during a sharp downturn in the energy trading business and after some large energy trading companies have announced plans to scale back sharply their operations or leave the business. “This market is suffering significantly,” said Ehud Ronn (FIN). “There's regulatory uncertainty. There's a lack of liquidity. And a number of the companies can't expand because of credit problems.”