Iceburg! Right Ahead!

I used the Titanic analogy earlier quite loosely, but it seems to be closer than I thought. A story from AP about the evacuation of the last people who were at the Superdome ends thus:

Tensions at the dome ran high ever since residents unable to get out of the city ahead of as Hurricane Katrina used it as a shelter of last resort. A near-riot broke out in the scramble to get on the first few buses that arrived to ferry evacuees to Texas.

After that, lines of people a half-mile long snaked from the dome through the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel, then to where buses waited. Babies were held over parents' heads, and the sun beat down mercilessly. State troopers, making every effort to be cheerful, handed out bottles of water and tried to keep families and groups together.

At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line — much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.

Network, Network, Network

One thing we are told from Career Services is the importance of networking. That a majority of jobs are not advertised, and that it's important to leverage your network of friends, family, college alumni, previous work colleagues, and in particular fellow students.

So it's nice to see some evidence of this claim in the real world. How could a lawyer, with no disaster management experience, whose last job was as Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association where he was forced to resign under threat of lawsuits because of mismanagement, become head of FEMA?

Maybe it's because Michael Brown's college roommate at the University of Oklahoma was his predecessor Joe Allbaugh.

So, Where's Dick?

How many officials have we heard talk about Katrina? I count (at least):

Bush (Prez), Rice (State), Rumsfeld (Defense), Hastert (House Speaker), Blanco (Gov LA), Landrieu (D-LA), Vitter (R-LA), Nagin (Mayor), Brown (FEMA), Chertoff (Homeland Security), Vanderwagen (Rear Admiral to the US Public Health Service), Perry (Gov TX), Craig (FEMA Recovery Director), Myers (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs), McElveen-Hunter (Chairwoman of Red Cross), Chao (Labor), Leavitt (Health & Human Services), Mineta (Transportation), Gerberding (Director of CDC), Pelosi (House Minority Leader), Frist (Senate Majority Leader).......

MISSING:

End of the Beginning

I have a four day weekend. Which is nice. The only thing we have planned is a possible pot-luck dinner with some MBA families living in Eagle Heights.

Mainly though it's just relaxing and getting ready for the start of classes proper next on Tuesday.

I've written about orientation before, but one thing that's surprised me is that as opposed to a lot of the orientation stories I've read elsewhere where classes seemed to concentrate on quants those at Wisconsin have concentrated on getting everyone up to speed on soft skills. This is what we've done, not the actual titles but what was concentrated on.

• Intercultural Communication
• Presentation Skills
• Networking Skills
• Written Communication (Particularly Persuasion)
• How to Analyze a Case Study
• Team Dynamics and How to Make Them Work in Study Groups

The last one was a little interesting. I found that according to the FIRO-B test I am completely incompatible with my study team. I am pretty average on "wanted" behavior, but very low on "expressed" behavior. The expression of inclusion, control, and affection. Whereas the other members of my team who made it to this lesson (it was the last one of a two week orientation) were both high on wanted and expressed behavior.

I wasn't surprised by this though as they are American, and I am English. I know this to be a fact as I checked my passport and everything. I'd be worried if it wasn't that our team works so well. Mr. FIRO-B can kiss my arse.

Hastert

I just saw a speech by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert on CNN. First thing he mentioned was the importance of getting the Oil Refinery's back up and running.

Because if there's one thing this woman needs it's gas back below $3 a gallon.

stamp

Stamps may sound nerdy but the art is quite purdy
this one's from commies, just like my 2 mommies

Movie Analogy of the Day

Rose: Oh mother, shut up! Don't you understand? The water is freezing and there aren't enough boats. Not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die.


Cal: Not the better half.

Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons!

I've never considered myself really smart, and many who have read this blog may feel that this belief is well founded. According to this survey conducted by the National Science Foundation I'm virtually Einstein.

• 52% of people believe that the Earliest Humans coexisted with Dinosaurs (64% with a less than High School education)
• 25% of people believe the Sun revolves around the Earth (48% with a less than HS education)
• 26% of people believe that Sound travels faster than Light (39% with a less than HS education)
• 55% of people believe that LASERs are focused sound waves (68% with a less than HS education

Now, if you're one of these people and you somehow managed to get your computer hooked up to the Internet... these are all wrong. The fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun has been known since Copernicus in 1543. You're nearly 500 years stupid! The discovery that light travels faster than sound was discovered by Abu Rehan Beruni just after 1000 A.D. You're 1,000 years stupid!!!

Anyway, I have one piece of advice for you (apart from to please stop voting). Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha, ha.....thud.

Honey, I Have Something to Tell You

Lindsey tried to put Juliette to bed tonight without her Binky/Pacifier/Dummy. Not a success. Lindsey told her it was 'lost' and that she should try and sleep without it. Juliette started whimpering and going though all the places it might be to make sure we had checked them all. Then she started crying. It was one of saddest things I've ever seen. Then I was asked to see if I could 'find' it.

We figure that she only uses it to sleep and never uses it outside. There's no need to ever take it away again. The issue therefore becomes one to be handled by Juliette and her future husband on her wedding night.

Racism In Action

Fatrobot has a great post about the coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katarina.

Can any of you spot the difference between a couple who are "finding bread and soda from a local grocery store"...


...and a man just after "looting a grocery store in New Orleans"

It's Official - He's a Dick

Keven's been a bit busy lately, so I'm filling in with some random internet tidbits.

From IMDB: "Russell Crowe has launched a scathing attack on A-list charity campaigners including Bono and Sir Bob Geldof - because he believes they only want publicity. The antipodean actor regularly donates to charity outside of the glare of the media spotlight and urges other stars to give quietly without publicly martyring themselves. He says, 'I do my bit to improve the world but I think it's very important to get things done on the quiet. I'm sick to death of famous people standing up and using their celebrity to promote a cause. If I see a particular need, I do try to help. But there's a lot that can be achieved by putting a cheque in the right place and shutting up about it.'"

Sure he's a good actor, but he's also an arrogant thug who plays kiss-you/hate-you game with the press. He's like a laddish Mango. And now he disses Bono, a man who is trying to save an entire continent despite the best efforts of Western leaders to ignore the problem.

Off you go, Crowe.

Jerry Falwell Defends Gay Rights

Sorry I couldn't find a more respectable news outlet for this story - Southern Voice Online isn't exactly a bastion of free-thinking. The story is from last week, and seeing as how the web hates anything that old, it's been archived by the more substantial media outlets. However, in their reactionary and outraged mode, SOVO did post the full story of Jerry Falwell's bizarre and welcome change of heart. Wonder what this is all about, really...

Temple of Greed

In case you weren't aware the University of Wisconsin has a reputation as a very liberal school. Maybe not quite UC-Berkeley, but not too shabby considering it's in the Midwest. When being shown round the Business Library the guide mentioned that periodically "Temple of Greed" is scrawled on the pavement outside the Business School. We figured that would make a great name for an MBA soccer team. The Temple of Greed Acolytes.

Flatpoint MBA wrote a couple of weeks ago about something one of his professors had got the new class at Yale to chant at the beginning of a session

"What do we want?!
MONEY! (with social consciousness . . .)
What do we want?!
MONEY! (with social consciousness . . .)"

I was reminded of this today by a quote from our Strategy Professor (paraphrased below).

"...and the goal is to make money. For those ethically conflicted by this remember; the more you make, the more you can give away."

While this was kind of a throw away comment it is important. Many people are coming into MBA programs with an altruistic intent. It'll be nice to make money, but it's more important to make a difference. The Business Week Business School pages are full of them.

Request of the Day

Ashlee Simpson, please stop.