2nd Annual Drake Finance Week

This is an event I put on annually for Investment Club. I really like the line up we have this year.

"The GOLDen Age"
Spencer Johnson - FC Stone
March 28, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, Olmstead 310
In the trama of the recent recession, investors around the world ran towards gold for security. The price of gold has sky rocketed with seemingly no end. Finacial pundits acclaim its investment potential, and politicians have begun serious conversations about the gold standard. But, why gold? It has clearly become a serious asset class, but what is it that draws us so to this shiny metal?

"Money: More than Paper in your Pocket"
TBA/Pending
March 29, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, Olmstead 310
After the crash, television pundits kept saying the global supply of money had significantly decreased. But what does that mean? Did someone light a pile of dollar bills on fire? Well, no, but it does raise question about what money actually is. When we think about how often do we actual handle cash and how often are our transactions handled by the electronic exchange of theoretical numbers.

"The Road Ahead: Future of the Financial Industry"
Michael Bean - Merrill Lynch
March 30, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, Olmstead 310
Our world economy has experienced dramatic changes in the recent past years, and it has radically changed the global financial industry. With so much that has been altered in the regulation of financial institutions and the way they carry out their practice, what can we expect off in the horizon? Here we explore the what lies on the road ahead on this new journey we travel through.

"Where Did the Jobs Go?"
Robert "Skeet" Wootten - Wells Fargo Advisors
March 31, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, Meredith 235
While Wall Street seems to be making a substantial recovery and banks are seeing record profits, unemployment remains at a horrific high. Is it simply a matter of playing the waiting game, or is the reality that many of the jobs that have been lost will not be returning? Is unemployment a lagging factor of the recession, or is our society just not qualified for the jobs that are available?

"Finance Speed Networking"
Open to Finance Majors. Email james.hall@drake.edu for Signup
April 1, 10:00am - 11:30am, Aliber Hall
With the financial industry begin so large and extensive, this event allows students the opportunity to establish guiding relationships with experienced individuals in all facets of the industry, as they seek to navigate the direction of their career path.

"Money in Your Twenties"
Adam Carroll - National Financial Educators
April 1, 2:00pm - 3:30pm, Bulldog Theater
Financial independence is a goal to begin pursuing early. Those with the headstart find greater reward at the finish line. Adam Carroll, nationally recognized public speaker and author of Winning the Money Game, caps off Finance Week by offering innovative and practical strategies for students to begin right away in their pursuit of financial independence.

NPR Scandal

I have posted here the full version of Mr. James O'Keefe's video aimed to smear the credibility of NPR, because the more popular 11:38 video, which has received 1200% more views, has been distorted and edited to the point of libel by Mr. O'Keefe.

This should come as to no surprise as Mr. O'Keefe has a record of manipulating video tape to slander institutions viewed as left-leaning. The tapes of his supposed video sting against Acorn were deemed by prosecutors in California as "badly distorted." In May of 2010, O'Keefe was convicted of a misdemeanor after attempting to do the same to Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

Just some of the red flags that pop up are in the very beginning have to do with O'Keefe's opening introduction in describing the fake Muslim organization. He states that the website describe's the organization's mission as spread the acceptance of Shia. In the shorter version this is edited with a clip of the NPR executive laughing, "Is that what they said." This was taking out of context from a completely unrelated point in the conversation. This is red flag that Mr. O'Keefe is positioning clips to intentionally create an impression on the audience instead of allowing for unbiased, factual journalism. The big issue is O'Keefe edited the video to make it seem that the NPR executive would do anything to advocate the Muslim voice, but in the extended version you do not hear Ron Schiller immediately tell the men that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage because of a firewall protecting the news room.

NPR is biased. I'll say it, but we are talking mole hills and mountains here. Every news is biased; it's just a result of the human condition. But if you compare the bias of institutions like Fox or MSNBC with NPR then we're not even talking in the same stratasphere. It'd be like equating one of those freakishly giant carnival pumpkins with a grape tomato. The truth is NPR news coverage is the closest thing out there to purely factual news. On the news shows there is no opinion offered up on biasing descriptions, it is purely facts delivered at deadpan.

If You Hate on Kansas, You Hate on America

BOOM! KU did it! They whooped up on Richmond, and now they are the only top-tier team to move onto the Elite 8!

For all you nay-sayers out there hating on an amazing powerhouse like Kansas, you seriously need to check this artical out below, because you may very well, although misguidely, be killing the American spirit. Yes, as Mr. Stevens clearly points out, to cheer against KU is to cheer in support slavery and racism, and against the very institution of basketball itself. You're basically making Lady Liberty cry by not supporting the Jayhawks.

(Seriously it's a pretty funny, tongue-in-cheek article)

March Madness: If You Root Against Kansas, You Root Against America - Hampton Stevens - Culture - The Atlantic

Move: Win Win

Now by their own admission, this is no Vision Quest, but it looks pretty damn good. I was a 119, but I was no where near as good this kid. Watching these moves is amazing. In that level of performance, it's not about strength really, I mean it's still a factor, but with these the defining aspect is controlled momentum. When he slips under an opponent and tosses them over his shoulder, he's waited until the opponent pushes weight into him. He's using the opponent's own force against him. It's really hard to develop that heightened level of sense.

Anyway about the movie, Giamatti's life, as you can see, is swirling around the toilet bowl in mid-life turmoil, when he begins extorting money from an elder, ignorant client. The boy is the client's grandson who arrives to escape a terrible life with his druggy mother. The boy starts kick ass on the wrestling team Giamatti coaches giving him a new lease on life, which ultimately creates conflict for Giamatti in stealing from the grandfather and caring for the grandson. Kind of an old framework and I'm sure you could have picked all of that up from the trailer. One thing I would point out that is shown but not explained there is the hitting thing. Apparently the kid's amazing wrestling ability comes from having grownup in an abusive and violent homelife, and the smack on the head gets him in mode so to speak.

The Theater: How to Succeed in Business... // The Book of Mormon

I have two upcomers for this. One unremarkably stupid and an insult to a classic work of art. The other remarkably innovative and equally brilliant.



Daniel Radcliff is NOT a good actor! He's not! Stop it. Everyone likes Harry Potter, but that does not change the fact that he is a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE actor who in no way deserves the acclaim he has received. The only thing he has going for him is that he has the same nerdy, doofusie look of the lead character of a book series that captured the imaginations basic every child in the world.

To allow him to desecrate a role like J. Peirreport Finch is not only terriblely stupid but is to act with complete negligence and disregard for the integrity of a classic work like How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Rob Ashford, you are a freakin' moron! Go to hell. I pray this show and its cast go the same route as the Spiderman show. Break a leg Radcliff; seriously.



The Book of Mormon is a religious satire musical written by tony-award winner, Robert Lopez (Avenue Q) and Trey Parker and Matt Stone, co-creators of South Park. The play centers around two young Mormon men venturing out into the world on a mission trip in Uganda.

Now I can understand the immediate reaction to hearing that the men behind a show as crass and inappropriate as South Park are adding their spark to Broadway might be that the culture is heading in a handbasket to hell where Satan and Sadaam Hussien are gay lovers sharing a condo by the lake of fire. In fact, Vogue Magazine described the show as, "the filthiest, most offensive," but, "and—surprise—sweetest thing you’ll see on Broadway this year, and quite possibly the funniest musical ever."

This is a new classic in the making. The New York Post noted audiences in rehearsals were "sore from laughing so hard" and describe the show as "tuneful and very funny" adding "the show has heart."

What's more, even though this is humor in the heart of South Park, Parker and Stone have tastefully addressed the commentary on Mormonism. This is in no way an unrelenting bash on the Church of Later Day Saints. The NY Post remarked in their reveiw that, "It makes fun of organized religion, but the two Mormons are real people, not caricatures." Even the response amongst Mormons has been quite tempered. In the Church's official response, they state, "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

Movie: Sunset Limited

Now I'm late in recognizing this, but I'm home on Spring Break and finally able to watch it on my parent's HBO. Sunset Limited is Cormac McCarthy's second play (author of the novels No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses) and was first produced in Chicago during the spring of 2006. More recently it was adapted as an HBO production starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson.

The story centers around two unnamed characters in a rundown, single-room apartment only identified as Black and White based on their respective races. White is a college professor about to end himself and Black, a janitor, stops him from carrying it through and takes him back to Black's apartment. The overwhelming bulk centers around the two debating the existence of God and the general morality of the world.

McCormac's writing is enthralling and the complexity with which the conversation unravels is brilliant. What I will take against the work is the characters are terribly outdated, racist archetypes. Their protrayal here could not be legitimately called racist; that would not be fair, but the origins of these archetypes are founded in some really racist protrayals. Black is the cliche African-American savior; simple-minded at the surface yet possesses the deep insightful ability to see through the bull-shit we tack on in order to see the truth. This has been continued and repeated and up to the recent (Bagger Vance, Morgan Freeman in basically all of his roles), but this can be seen as far back as the Mammy from Holiday Inn.

On the flip the White has surrounded himself in his intellect in order to rationalize his pain and build up fortress walls of knowledge to protect against his internal struggles. While he is on the surface an educated man, internally he is lost and looking; unable to see above the forest trees for the light.

The issue is that in these archetypes the audience actually attributes more to the white character. In this dynamic, only the white character is fully developed enough; is complex enough to question, to search, to yearn, to struggle. Human development and growth is founded on internal struggle and when the author reduces a character to an Uncle Tom with all of the answers he denies that character the opportunity to overcome struggle and grow, he denies the character the opportunity to be human.

This is the traditional protrayal of these archetypes, but, while McCormac utilizes the basic archetypes, he takes a rather unorthodox turn with them. Because this is a work of McCormac, the ultimate revelation is not one of hope and renewed faith but of nihilist despair. In the end, Black does not persuade White to God or guide him through the turmoil to the light. No, in the end it is White who succeeds in rattling Black's faith. The force of White's elaquently arranged closing arguements seem to have an even physical blow to Black from which he is unable to find the words to recover. It is interesting to see Black's archetype quiver from his characteristic assurance. In the closing Black offers up a Job-like plead to God asking, "Why couldn't you of given me the words? You gave 'em to him." He's desperation is even more impactful by the lack of return. Just a man shouting to the ceiling with nothing to hear.

Muhammad Yunus Expelled

Muhammad Yunus is the man who made the whole idea of MicroFinance a reality. For that he was renowned for extending millions of people well below the poverty line the ability to establish creditworthiness and move towards financial independence. In 2006 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

Now the Bangladesh government is forcing him out from his position as the head of the Grameen Bank, the bank he founded. The other day Bangladesh's High Court official removed Mr. Yunus on the grounds of some flimsy legal violations and a BS age limitation on the position. Mr. Yunus and his legal team are appealling the decision.

Iowa KofC College Convention

This weekend we all had the Iowa Knights of Columbus College Convention and it was a blast! Three gentlemen and I headed up to represent Drake and made sure it was a good time.

The whole thing was held at UNI and was put on so beautifully. Keep in mind this is a bunch of college students coordinating this whole thing on top of jobs and schoolwork. There was a registration table and pamphlets and materials and goodie bags and at the end of the whole thing all of the presenters slides were given out on zip drives.

The whole thing was planned back to back with events and arranged in a way that broke up the pass at all the right moments and kept a perfect balance of spiritual growth and partying. I know not a combination most would think should go together, but we're Catholics not radical, Tea party, fundamentalist loons. You can be a good person and have more fun than playing Apples-to-Apples on a Saturday night.