Spring Commencement 2007 Slideshows and Student Stories
 

Farewell Reception for Bill and Dorothy Carner
Bill Carner, director of the Business Foundations Program and senior marketing lecturer, and Dorothy Carner, the university's business librarian, are leaving McCombs after many years of dedicated service. A celebration in their honor will take place today from 12 to 2:00 p.m. in the Legacy Events Room. A light lunch, refreshments and cake will be served. Bill Carner has taught at McCombs for 15 years and has accepted a new post at Columbia College in Missouri. Dorothy Carner has accepted a new position at the University of Missouri.

McCombs Welcomes Jeannie Boylan as Assistant to the Dean
Jeannie Boylan has been hired to serve as assistant to the dean. Boylan and her husband recently relocated to Austin from Washington, D.C. where she held a managerial position at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Prior to joining the PCAOB, she served as an executive assistant to the CEO of a Maryland company. Jeannie possesses strong interpersonal, writing and organization skills, and she will be a great addition to the Dean’s Office and to the business school. Jeannie’s responsibilities will include managing the Dean's Office, coordinating special projects, planning Dean’s Office events, managing the major academic processes and handling internal communications. Please feel free to stop by to welcome her to the school.

McCombs Staff Member Recognized for Excellence in Student Affairs
Congratulations to Lauren Cove, special programs coordinator in the Undergraduate Programs Office, for being honored with the Texas Star Award for Outstanding Service from the Association of Professionals in Student Affairs.

In the News: Degrees of Debt: More Students Investing in Stock Market
KXAN, May 17, 2007
Interest in stocks has skyrocketed on college campuses, including here at The University of Texas at Austin. “Some of the students have their own portfolio from their summer earnings,” said Kelly Kamm, McCombs finance lecturer, who teaches an undergraduate class on how to analyze companies for investment opportunities. One of her students, Matthew Davis, BBA ’07, said, “If you’re going to put your money into something when you’re young, put it into stocks. You can take a loss when you’re young, but you can also afford bigger gains.”
Watch the story.

In the News: Gas Hits New Highs, But For How Long?
Austin American-Statesman, May 22, 2007
If you have filled your tank recently, you have felt the pain. Average gas prices in Austin set a record of $3.03 a gallon Monday. Economists say that any sudden increase on a basic good such as gasoline always affects lower-income families more heavily because they have less money to spend on rising gas prices and related costs. “You are going to be taxing people at the lower end more heavily because they spend a larger fraction of their disposable income on gasoline,” said Ehud Ronn, McCombs finance professor. Ronn called the gasoline price increase disappointing because it isn’t tied to any shift in the underlying price of oil, which has declined from its latest peak last summer. “It is not a problem with storage or with the availability of crude,” he said. “Mainly it is a matter of getting refineries cleaned up and working better.”
Get the full story.  

In the News: Auditing Rule is Put at Risk by Texas Bill
The New York Times, May 18, 2007
Texas lawmakers are on the verge of rejecting a requirement that state and local governments disclose the cost of the healthcare they have promised to retired employees. Until now, most governments have been using pay-as-you-go accounting, which does not show the benefits’ total cost. This method shows only how much a government spends each year to buy health care for its retirees—not the value of the benefits coming due in the future.
“Politicians don’t want to deal with the problem,” said Michael Granof, McCombs accounting professor. Granof said state lawmakers were betting that by the time rising health care costs became unmanageable, they would no longer be in office and could not be held accountable.
Get the full story.

In the News: Proposed Immigration Reform in U.S. Congress
KUT Radio, May 22, 2007
Proposed immigration legislation in the U.S. Congress will affect illegal workers in many ways. Asked if illegal workers will see wages drop after they begin paying federal taxes, Michael Brandl, a senior lecture in finance, said they are likely to make more. “Right now, what is happening is there is a risk premium for hiring an undocumented worker,” Brandl said. “It’s risky from the employer’s standpoint. And what they do because of that risk premium, is they pay those workers even less. If you reduce that risk premium, these workers can get paid more.”
Listen to the story (final segment in newspod).

In the News: BBA Student Appears on CNBC
CNBC, May 15, 2007
Mark Tait, BBA ’07, appeared on CNBC’s Fast Money program in a segment called “Face 2 Face.” Tait questioned the show’s hosts about buying stock in Posco, the world’s third-largest steelmaker.
Watch the segment (registration is required).

In the News: MBA Alum Helps Musician Revive Band’s Profits
New York Times, May 16, 2007
As a musician and road manager with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Peter Schwarz, MBA ’01, was surprised to learn how his wife’s MBA education could be applied to running a band. He left the Playboys and went to the McCombs School to get an MBA degree of his own.
Now Schwarz’s job is to apply “straight M.B.A. stuff” to Ray Benson’s 37-year-old western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. “My job is to guide him in what ideas are going to stick,” Schwarz said. “How big is the audience? Is there money in it? In the music business, there really isn’t that rigor.” Since he became the band’s business manager, Benson credits Schwarz, with helping his band find a new audience, winning new critical acclaim and reinvigorating its music sales. “We are still pinching ourselves that we are in a growth stage,” Schwarz said. (Editor's note: The New York Times story says Schwarz got his MBA at Harvard, however, he is in fact a Texas MBA alum. He attended Harvard as an undergraduate.)
Get the full story (subscription is required).

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