Remembering Walter...

Walter Payton's statue was unveiled in Columbia, Miss. today, and it reminded me of his great discipline. It also reminded me of of Bears Coach Mike Ditka who did not give Payton a chance to score, instead preferring to run Perry into the end zone.

Interesting thoughts from intelligent students...

Communities can only improve when we are not being passive members. “Be a participant in the world that you’re in.” Perhaps if we can create a greater sense of community, we can create compromise on the controversial issue of gay marriage...KH

We have to somehow make the students care and want to go so that they can learn new and interesting things that they might not have known before....Even though I did not get to do much I was able to learn some startling facts that made me think about drinking and how bad it really is. I am going to keep on attending events to try and broaden my thinking and help myself be a better person...GH

The shift in willingness to accept has changed. The question of why exists here. The generations are changing. The future mindset is changing. This is very interesting. People are being less conservative it seems, or just more willing to accept...CS

I feel that going to this event has changed the way I look at college. I want to get out there and join more organizations and get involved because staying in my room all day gets pretty boring. I want to learn more about people and what they have to offer...GH

COrruption

The other day I mentioned during a Panel Discussion on Poverty that corruption has prevented organic development in many countries. Today the NYT has an article on the investigations being launched in India, where corruption is widespread, to catch corrupt officials.

Where the jobs might be...

With the jobs situation continuing to be dismal, industries that are positioned for a "spirit"ed comeback are few- the alcohol and spirits industry being one. One of these firms was recently interviewing on campus.

Legal work may continue to increase, as an interesting story in the WSJ reveals..."...Lawyers for years have added language to some contracts that stretches beyond the Earth's atmosphere. But more and more people are encountering such everywhere-and-forever language as entertainment companies tap into amateur talent and try to anticipate every possible future stream of revenue.Experts in contract drafting say lawyers are trying to ensure that with the proliferation of new outlets -- including mobile-phone screens, Twitter, online video sites and the like -- they cover all possible venues from which their clients can derive income, even those in outer space. FremantleMedia, one of the producers of NBC's "America's Got Talent," declined to comment on its contracts.The terms of use listed on Starwars.com, where people can post to message boards among other things, tell users that they give up the rights to any content submissions "throughout the universe and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed."Lucasfilm Ltd., Star Wars creator George Lucas's entertainment company that runs the site, said the language is standard in Hollywood."But, to be honest with you, we have had very few cases of people trying to exploit rights on other planets," says Lynne Hale, a Lucasfilm spokeswoman.In a May 15, 2008, "expedition agreement" between JWM Productions LLC, a film-production company, and Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc., a shipwreck-exploration outfit, JWM seeks the rights to footage from an Odyssey expedition. The contract covers rights "in any media, whether now known or hereafter devised, or in any form whether now known or hereafter devised, an unlimited number of times throughout the universe and forever, including, but not limited to, interactive television, CD-ROMs, computer services and the Internet."Odyssey said the wording was standard entertainment-law contract language. Jason Williams, JWM's president, said he feels a bit strange when his lawyers start using "cosmic language," but it's prudent..."

Increasingly, legal work is being off-shored to cheaper locations, so this may not drive demand at home.

Global Poverty Week

Today our students in the Global Poverty Club organized a panel discussion on poverty as part of the Global Poverty Week. It was a great experience to be a part of the discussion with bright, eager students. One only wishes that more faculty and students participate in these events and get engaged.

A "Text" book case of Flying

In an interesting turn of events, the pilots of the Delta flight who missed landing in Minneapolis and flew far beyond the Minneapolis airport into Wisconsin told the National Transportation Safety Board that "they missed their destination because they had taken out their personal laptops in the cockpit, a violation of airline policy, so the first officer, Richard I. Cole, could tutor the captain, Timothy B. Cheney, in a new scheduling system put in place by Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last fall." (NYT)

A few weeks ago, some students in one of my classes reported that they texted while driving, which drew a sharp rebuke from me. I will ask them if it was OK for the pilots to be on the laptops instead of watching the controls.

Competitive Advantage....

AN interesting article about Twitter today in the NYT- Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers. The notion is that a firm 'outsources' its innovation and idea generation and product development to its 'users.' It is interesting to tally the amount of time spent by people on Twitter, and the advantages gained by the firm and the users. No wonder that skilled jobs are being outsourced to engineers and scientists in other countries- folks here are busy generating ideas for Twitter and Facebook by freely donating their time. The point is that users are not compensated for generating ideas that make money for the firms, and the users can put their time to much better use than posting or following tweets, however sweet they may be.

Recognizing the power of Youtube and Gmail

Credit must be given to YouTube (both pre and post Google ownership) for enabling millions of people, especially immigrants, to relive the movies and music of their yesteryears. In fact our mom is a big fan of YouTube, and watches many of her favorite singers and speakers on it. Similarly Gmail, with its impressive spam filtering techniques, is another great service to people everywhere.

Nothing to hide, not even your taxes.

Scandinavian countries are leaders in many areas, and set the standard for governance. As the NYT reports, "It’s the moment nosy Norwegian neighbors have been waiting for — the release of official records showing the annual income and overall wealth of nearly every taxpayer in the Scandinavian country.In a move that would be unthinkable elsewhere, tax authorities in Norway have issued the “skatteliste,” or “tax list,” for 2008 to the media under a law designed to uphold the country’s tradition of transparency.It is Norwegians’ way of keeping up with the Johansens — from fishermen on the western fjords and Sami reindeer herders in the north to members of the committee that awarded President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize...'

Serious Discussion, on the Fly...

The hilariously strange high-flying story of the day...from the Chicago Tribune.

Two Northwest Airlines pilots failed to make radio contact with ground controllers for more than an hour and overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles before discovering the mistake and turning around. The plane landed safely Wednesday evening, apparently without passengers realizing that anything had been amiss. No one was hurt. The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew told authorities they became distracted during a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of their location, but federal officials are investigating whether pilot fatigue might also have played a role.

Connecting others..to help each other

The focus these days is on social networking....today Microsoft and Google announced they will be incorporating Twitter feeds into their search results in the near future. Another report states that nearly 1 in 5 Americans are using Twitter, and the usage is increasing among the young.

I have found that connecting my best students to each other and having them leverage each other's skills is perhaps the the most attractive aspect of social networking. One student who had already taken LSAT is now willing to help out another student who is going to take it shortly.

More information, even real-time information, may be useless unless there is a processing system to make sense of it. Sometimes asynchronicity is a blessing, because it can slow down the information gathering and speed up the processing.

The Asia Effect...

As the earnings come in, it is clear that China, India, and other Asian countries are leading the companies to profits and optimism. Caterpillar, P&G, and other majors are all seeing growth overseas. One way to boost earnings is to let the dollar slide, so that overseas earnings translate to more money at home. However the fundamental drivers back home- productive capacity and productive labor and productive jobs, still remain in murky conditions.

A warm embrace...

Days like today provide the upper ups and the lower lows...It is rewarding to receive a warm embrace from a former student- it means a lot to know that students remember. Another stopped by to let me know that she is going to Jamaica. Students in the honors reading course exhibited some enthusiasm and thinking. On the downside, time really appears to be slipping away like an eel...with a lot that still needs to be done.

Ups and Downs...

Infosys recently reported stellar earnings and reported that it "gave its Indian staff an average wage increase of 8 per cent and international staff 2 per cent for this year. The group had deferred any decision on the pay rise at the beginning of its fiscal year in April because of the uncertain global outlook. The group also added a net 1,548 employees in the September quarter, bringing its workforce to nearly 105,500, reversing the trend in the first quarter of this fiscal year, when its workforce shrank for one of the first times in the company's history..." (from www.ft.com)

On the other hand, even highly profitable firms have been cutting salaries, benefits and laying off employees in the U.S., which still provides the largest single-country revenue for these firms. As the dollar falls the international revenue will translate into more dollars but one has to be concerned at the moves by these firms.

Having an App(etite) for Food...

An interesting article in the NYT today- Who's Ignoring Those iPhone Ads? Women.

Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb writes that "According to mobile marketing firm Brand in Hand, female iPhone users are the worst demographic in terms of interacting with mobile ads on the iPhone....So why are women ignoring the ads? Apparently, they're too busy actually using the apps....Instead of offering distracting mobile banner ads that get in the way of the task that needs to be done, food and beverage giant Kraft introduced their own iPhone app instead.This branded effort, dubbed "iFood Assistant" (iTunes link), is a recipe app that helps users plan meals. This fits in perfectly with how Brand in Hand claim women use their smartphones - they launch apps designed for a particular purpose. Yet this time, while doing so, the women (and men, too, we suppose) are also engaging with the brand itself because the recipes featured in the iFood Assistant app include Kraft food products of course.This app is so successful that Kraft is even able to successfully charge for it, something that rarely works for branded apps. But Kraft's app sells - and sells well - priced at 99 cents in the iTunes App Store. They even hit their 3-year download goal in a matter of weeks, said Ed Kaczmarek, Kraft Foods director of innovation...."

It is amazing that women need an "app" from Kraft to teach them recipes. Reading a good recipe book is far more productive, and is not based on a vendor/peddler's processed foods. But ah, who has the time to read a book?

Amazon landing punches, Kindling fights

Amazon has been active recently. It is having a price war with Wal-Mart on online books, now selling popular titles for $9 this season. Amazon is also proving a 'same day shipping' option for customers in some cities. This is only for books, at present.

A week that was....

This Friday night winds down a hectic week. Advising is in full swing, and some students have needed a lot of advice and encouragement. Once in a while a student will remark that "I always feel better after talking with you" so I must be doing something right.

Along with advising, a number of committee meetings also took place- these meetings reveal the different ways people approach an issue. I also had a meeting with a business man BrS who is interested in opening an office in India and I am helping him out as he has provided internship to one of my students. Also had an Honors reading class, visits by two former students, two guest speakers, and I gave a presentation on India yesterday. Upon reflection, this hectic pace is rather self-inflicted, but there is no other choice.

An Indian Presentation

Today's presentation on India (that I gave) was well-received. There were a lot of questions, and good discussion. The questions were hard, and very thoughtful. It feels satisfying to know that some of the attendees were engaged and ticked.

Learning a lot, for a few bucks..

Today one of my former students came by on my invitation. Treating her to lunch was a delight. In addition to giving the pleasure of her company, she explained her internship- a project involving sustainability at one of the big local cities. As one who teaches sustainability I found it to be a great piece of information that could be very useful in the classroom. She also agreed to visit our sustainability class and talk about her project. A few dollars for lunch provided a great ROI.

MAP cuts into the future

Thanks to the State Legislature, the Illinois Monetary Assistance Program grants (MAP) are being cut by 50%. Some students will see their tuitions jump significantly next year.

Businesses don't want to pay higher taxes, GWB cut taxes on dividends and capital gains and the income tax rates, and yet we want to support education. Borrow, Borrow, and Borrow....

When people remember...

Today I received an email from a student who graduated more than two years ago. He was one of my advisees, and an outstanding individual. He gave me an update about his personal life, and then went on to write that "...This current year many of my friends graduated from college and have found difficulty finding career opportunities. Also many other graduate students in XYZ's accounting program are very nervous about getting jobs, especially foreign students that tell me companies are not hiring foreign students. All of this makes me thankful for going to Elmhurst and having a certain advisor that was always looking for opportunities for me."

This student also helped others find employment. It is nice to see young boys and girls mature into outstanding human beings.

Logic....all but illogical

The Chicago CTA is one example of what is grossly wrong with the economic and management systems.

From the Chicago Tribune....CTA service would run less frequently and the basic fare would be raised to as much as $3 next year under a dire 2010 budget proposal unveiled today. The CTA workforce would be hit hard as well to ease a projected $300 million budget shortfall. Up to 1,100 union jobs and 100 administrative position are slated for elimination if new public funding and employee concessions fail to occur, transit officials said. "Union employees have been relatively untouched by layoffs [in recent years]," said CTA President Richard Rodriguez. "We are asking the unions to step up and be a part of the solution."Some 110 of the CTA's 150 bus routes would provide less frequent service under the belt-tightening plan. Average waiting times could double.Rail customers, who would pay the highest fares, could also face more crowded trains, Rodriguez said. "Customers may have a longer wait and they are less likely to have a seat," he said during a news conference at CTA headquarters downtown....

Just about every year there is a budget shortfall, and the solution "always" is to raise fares and cut services, which then guarantees less ridership and lower revenues...a slow death spiral. The City management needs to figure out a viable pricing strategy that will last a few years, cut the bloated management staff and their salaries, and put more money into infrastructure. When cities like Shanghai are having top-notch rail facilities, it is a disgrace to be stuck with this miserable thing called the CTA. Cut the salaries, make it public, then raise fares ONCE to a sufficiently high level to cover a few years, and then provide great service. $3 is a bargain (when compared to driving and parking in downtown) but the hassle involved is not.

Sheer Garbage....

An interesting article on Garbage in China...
As China's economy grows, so do mounds of garbage-China's increasing prosperity and urbanism create tons of garbage, causing tons of trouble....ZHANGLIDONG, China (AP) -- Visitors can smell this village long before they see it.More than 100 dump trucks piled high with garbage line the narrow road leading to Zhanglidong, waiting to empty their loads in a landfill as big as 20 football fields.In less than five years, the Zhengzhou Comprehensive Waste Treatment Landfill has overwhelmed this otherwise pristine village of about 1,000 people. Peaches and cherries rot on trees, infested with insect life drawn by the smell. Fields lie unharvested, contaminated by toxic muck. Every day, another 100 or so tons of garbage arrive from nearby Zhengzhou, a provincial capital of 8 million."Life here went from heaven to hell in an instant," says lifelong resident Wang Xiuhua, swatting away clouds of mosquitoes and flies. The 78-year-old woman suddenly coughs uncontrollably and says the landfill gases inflame her bronchitis.As more Chinese ride the nation's economic boom, a torrent of garbage is one result. Cities are bursting at the seams, and their officials struggle to cope.The amount of paper, plastic and other garbage has more than tripled in two decades to about 300 million tons a year, according to Nie Yongfeng, a waste management expert at Beijing's Tsinghua University.Americans are still way ahead of China in garbage; a population less than a quarter the size of China's 1.3 billion generated 254 million tons of garbage in 2007, a third of which is recycled or composted, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.But for China, the problem represents a rapid turnabout from a generation ago, when families, then largely rural and poor, used and reused everything."Trash was never complicated before, because we didn't have supermarkets, we didn't have fancy packaging and endless things to buy," said Nie. "Now suddenly, the government is panicking about the mountains of garbage piling up with no place to put it all.".....

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Our FYS "Local Choices Global Effects" students will be looking at Waste Management later in the term... this article provides one more reason why the study of study of trash is golden.

Too Big to Fail...

An article on Twitter the other day used the phrase 'too big to fail' - implying that Twitter plays such a vital role in the social fabric of the country that we cannot allow it to fail, even if it does not make any money or generate revenues. The bailout of the banks has reinforced the notion that some companies are "too big to fail." This gives new meaning to the phrase "grow or die," except that in these situations, one grows so big that others do not let it die. A truly bizarre world- where people have too much time to create these shenanigans.

Clash of the Titans...

HP against Cisco, Cisco against the server folks, IBM against Cisco, Apple against Google, Google against the phone folks...

Just read an article that Cisco is putting additional modules in its Router racks and loading software to make the routers do more server functions- trying to make a dent in the server space. Cisco has access to top level execs so its story will get heard. Whether IT folks look at cost reduction and implement this approach remains to be seen. Cisco certainly works on lowering the economics of the business for customers, so its router-as-server story should be taken seriously.

Food for Thought...

Today was a remarkable day, in its own way.

Our FYS students made a presentation on food that revealed some interesting insights. Students often skip breakfast and/or indulge in the 4th meal (between dinner and breakfast), according to the presentation.

Good as the presentation was, the team committed some "detectable" errors including the mention of the "nutrition conscience"

In the evening my brother educated me on the Bronte sisters- a tragic story, and the books by Daphne Du Maurier. I wish I had read the books by these wonderful writers, but it is not too late to start now.

Those were the days....

The song 'These are Days You Remember' is playing on my laptop, and it brings back memories of many past events. In particular, I remember the 20 year anniversary of Tellabs during the halcyon days of telecommunications. We had great parties, and the Natalie Merchant / 10,000 Manics song was the theme of the party.

Investors take the money and run...to the bank

An interesting article in the NYT about the explosion in prepaid debit cards. The card companies tack on a variety of fees, many of them hidden in unreadable fine print. These fees include activation fees, and numerous recurring fees including $1.75 for each A.T.M. withdrawal, $1 for each A.T.M. balance inquiry, 50 cents for each purchase, $4 for monthly maintenance, $2 for inactivity after 60 days and $1 for a call to customer service.

The investors in these services are clearly making off like bandits...the unsuspecting or uneducated or lazy consumers get the hit...Darwinistic behavior at its worst.

Why can't every state and country be like...GOLDMAN?

News report indicate that Goldman Sachs stands to gain $1 Billion if CIT filed for bankruptcy. CIT was "bailed out" by the U.S. Treasury, and taxpayers can lose $2.3 billion if CIT goes under.

Rhode island, the smallest state in the U.S., has one of the highest "official" unemployment numbers. The state's governor sounded desperate when he asked for the state workers to "share the pain" as they have jobs. He wants the workers union to relax the restrictions against reduced hours and cutbacks in pay. Why shouldn't Rhode Island and other states just sell to Goldman and have Goldman run the country?

We are what we eat...

There is a moving story in the NYT today about the beef patties that go into hamburgers...

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

This article highlights the risks in the food supply chain, especially for meat and meat products. There is a massive gap between what people expect and what people are willing to pay for those expectations. Ensuring a safe food chain costs money, and no profit-motivated corporation is going to spend money on safety unless required to do so. If the public does not want to pay higher taxes to support the inspections and enforcement, and the public does not want to impose limits on the money corporations, managers and shareholders make, then they should be ready to face the consequences...unfortunately people's lives become fodder for the profit chains.

Informality..or Irreverence?

I receive quite a few emails from students. There is quite a variety in the construction of those emails. In the U.S. some students write politely, and address me as Prof. Gopal or a variant thereof. A nice thank you is also included. On the other hand, quite a few omit any salutation, and just ask a question. So far I have not had the experience of "chat"ting with students here. Apparently Email etiquette is not part of the basic writing course that students take.

Students in the MBA program in Delhi, where I spent a few weeks this summer, communicate with me often, but always address me as Sir- whether it is in an email or while 'Chat'ting or SMS'ing me. One should not be surprised that, on the margin, employers would hire workers from abroad- they are more respectful, and this can extend to customer relationships too.

Will Cliq Click or Crack?

T-Mobile will be selling Motorola's Andriod based Cliq phone this season. Sprint will have HTC Hero. A poll of my students indicated that no one was interested in the Cliq, even though integration with social networks is the main feature of Cliq. Quite a few of my students had Moto's Razor, but were unhappy with the frequent breakdown of the device. It appears, based on my very small sample, that MOTO has its work cut out.

Going after Google...

Bing, launched to a lot of noise, helped MSFT gain a few points in search share, but the latest reports from StatCounter and others indicate the Bing has lost share in August.

IBM is trying to go after Google by offering a bare bones email for $36 / user/ year, compared to Google's $50. Given the larger capacity of Gmail and other offerings that are packaged with Google's service, not to mention Google's amazing spam filter, it is doubtful if IBM's service would make for serious competition.