BonaResponds Blog: A class project on BonaResponds

BonaResponds Blog: A class project on BonaResponds: "..a group of Freshman 'Pacioli Scholars' put together the following video. It is very cool. :) Has interviews of a few leaders and of Ed and Donna who we helped locally, and video from Galveston.

YouTube - Bona Bubble - BonaResponds:

'Members of the Pacioli scholars at St. Bonaventure conduct interviews about the service organization that has done countless amounts of work in the community."

BonaResponds Blog: Fall Semester Recap

BonaResponds Blog: Fall Semester Recap: "Fall Semester Recap/Newsletter

'BonaResponds WNY: With no major national disaster, the focus this semester was on helping locally. We worked in Olean, Allegany, Hinsdale, Portville, Cuba, Friendship, Little Valley, Salamanca, Gowanda, Jamestown, and Machias.

And remember that is just this semester!'

Read the rest of the newsletter here."

SBU communications with parents

Did you know that SBU periodically sents out newsletters to the parents of students explaining what is happening on campus?

Here is an archive of past newsletters. They are really interesting and even those on campus will learn a great deal from them! I know I did.

Faculty News

Rodney Paul, Ph.D., had the paper "Bettor Biases and Price Setting by Sportsbooks in the NFL: Further Tests of the Levitt Hypothesis of Sportsbook Behavior" accepted for publication in Applied Economics Letters.

A great opportunity for alumni to get involved! Save the day!

On March 27 2010, BonaResponds will be sponsoring the first Bonaventure (inter) national service day. We are asking all alumni (and everyone else) to get involved.

It is really easy. No matter where you are around the world (we have at least one group in Singapore and maybe another in Western China as well). Go out into your local community and volunteer. Then share your experience with the hundreds of other volunteers that will also be volunteering.

It will be great fun and a great way to "change the world!"

For MUCH more information, see the BonaResponds National Service Day site.

Laurie Branch is featured in the Olean Times Herald

An article about Laurie Branch in the OTH. Not only is Ms. Branch the CEO of Iroquois Group, but she is on the SBU Board of Trustees and teaches a couple sections of Finance 301 at SBU.

Lessons in Leadership

"Part in parcel of the changing workplace, Ms. Branch said, is the vision workers have of what their lives can be like. “I think now we do a great job of managing expectations so that women don’t graduate from school thinking ‘Hey, I’m going to be a great mom, a great wife and a great executive.’”

Life facilitates choices.....

She said they have a game room at the office, complete with a Nintendo Wii."

New Journalism course opened up to business majors

Sounds like a good new course! And yet another example of how the distance between all fields is shrinking. As it has been said many times, "we no longer live in a world of silos".


Business Reporting (JMC 401B, M 5:30-8:10)

"Will the Buffalo Bills move to Toronto or Los Angeles? Michael Jackson died — so why was his comeback reincarnated as a movie? How were millionaires stripped of their wealth by an elaborate scam? These are some of the hottest stories of the last year. You’ll find one in the sports section, another in entertainment, and the third on the front page. But each is a business story. Business journalism is telling stories about people — how they create strategy, negotiate deals, take risks and make (or lose) money. That includes Wall Street, of course, and it includes the small shops you’ll find on Main Street in any town. It also includes multibillion-dollar industries like sports and entertainment. In this class, you will learn how to navigate financial statements and ask questions about numbers in a way that’s understandable to the ordinary citizen. This class is vital for anyone who plans work within – sports, entertainment or any field in which big money drives the big decisions. The instructor is Tim O’Shei, managing editor of the Business First newspaper in Buffalo. "

Faculty News

Rodney Paul, Ph.D., had the paper “Sportsbook Pricing and the Behavioral Biases of Bettors in the NHL” accepted for publication by the Journal of Economics and Finance.

Bonas Alum to Speak

Art Roberts, a 1968 graduate and former U.S. Army artillery officer, will draw on his most recent experience as the Vice President of Human Resources for Eastman Kodak on November 10 at 8 p.m., in the Quick Arts Center. The Leadership Center encourages all students in leadership positions or interested in pursuing a business degree to come, interact and engage with the fellow Bonnie!

YouTube - New Sports Management Minor up and running at SBU!

YouTube - New Sports Management Minor up and running at SBU!: "Just a reminder that there is now a sports management minor at SBU. It is available to you if you from any minor. Here Rodney Paul tells us what classes are available to fill slots this semester."

Former SBU Professor to Give Talk

Former SBU School of Business Professor, Dr. Steve Horan, will give a talk this Thursday Nov. 5th at the University Club above the Hickey. The event is scheduled for 8:30 am and breakfast will be served. Dr. Horan will discuss various topics dealing with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Dr. Horan is currently Head, Professional Education Content and Private Wealth for the CFA Institute.

The event is $10 for those outside the School of Business.

YouTube - Dean of St. Bonaventure School of Business

YouTube - Dean of St. Bonaventure School of Business: "Dean John Watson addresses current topics associated with the St. Bonaventure University School of Business."

FinanceProfessor Best 100 Who Blog

Dr. Mahar is listed in the "100 Best Professors Who Blog" article dated October 12, 2009 posted on www.onlinecollege.org/blog/. He is listed at #76 under the Economics section. Check it out.

Monkey business in the School of Business!

As you may have heard, we launched a new graduate MBA Behavioral Finance class semester this semester. While the semester is not even half way over I wanted to report on the class. So far it is going very well even though we do not have a traditional text book and are relying on readings and a series of books.

The students have projects to do which either replicate existing behavioral economics work or extend the literature in interesting ways. For instance one student is testing the impact of learning on behavioral biases by testing introductory finance students as well as upper level students. Another student is examining the impact of social groups on portfolio changes following the market collapse. (Other projects include: determining if what consumers say is important in advance really is when the purchase is made; a look at risk taking by age and gender; and a survey of behavioral literature.)

In addition to the readings we have been using many short videos that address the brain and its impact on finance and economics (neuroeconomics). For instance recently we addressed what has traditionally been seen as a challenge to economists: why rational people would freely give money to others (charities).

Many hypotheses have been proposed that attempt to reconcile this apparent irrational behavior. These include the desire for public recognition, wanting to be apart of something, how you view yourself, and the popular "warm glow" which basically says it feels good to do good.

New technologies now allow researchers to peer into the brain to find the cause of this "warm glow". The findings suggest that there is more to it than meets the eye. Specifically the glow has roots as both an emotional (chemical) reaction as well as rational (thinking) response.

The thinking part suggests that people do want to be seen as generous and as the type of person that does "good" things. This is true even if the only person "seeing it" is the actual giver. In other words they behave as they do to fit their view of themselves.

The chemical side (which appears to be dominated by Oxytocin and Dopamin in case you were wondering) is particularly interesting since it begs the question of why would the body have such a response from an evolutionary perspective.

This led researchers to what in finance we would call an out of sample test; they considered monkeys. (Although I am not sure if they felt the monkeys were further evolved or less evolved that humans.)




The monkeys' behaviors are similar to that in humans that have vexed economic researchers and at least suggest that what at first glance appears to be irrational may be well grounded in our evolution.

Examples of monkey behaviors and their corresponding human counterpart:

* Monkeys shared their nuts. People give to charities. Why? It makes us (and probably the monkeys too, but they are not speaking right now) feel good to help others) (Uh, BonaResponds reference here? :) )
* Monkeys trusted each other. Without this trust the trades would not have occurred. People are the same way. We are hardwired to "trust others". This makes social living easier.
* Envy and Fairness both matter: Monkeys who were perfectly content with a dry cracker grew jealous and upset when other monkeys got a better prize. On one hand this is a long term motivator, on the other this can be to cause of fighting and unhappiness.

A fascinating class so far. Stay tuned, we are only half way!

SBU Finance mentioned in Toronto Globe and Mail

SBU Associate Finance Professor Jim Mahar was mentioned in this past weekend's Globe and Mail.

The September rally that wasn't supposed to happen

"As might be expected, the hot trend these days is behavioural. (That’s apart
from the painful soul-searching among prominent economists who discovered in the
current global crisis that their cherished beliefs about free markets were not
scientific truths.)

Last month, Prof. Mahar posted a summary of a
psychological study showing that temptation is a much stronger force than people
realize. He wondered jokingly if the Lord’s Prayer might make for useful
financial advice.

His own solution to curb irrational tendencies? Make a
plan in advance and put the whole investing process on autopilot. “Take the
discretion out of investing so you won’t be able to take unwise chances or take
risks that a rational investor would not.” "

Accelerated MBA programs

SBU's MBA program was one of the early "Accelerated" programs. The WSJ had the following on these programs:

The Top M.B.A. Programs if You’re in a Hurry - WSJ.com:

"[Only] About 90 accredited schools world-wide offer the accelerated M.B.A..

But the degree's growing popularity and reach led The Wall Street Journal to take its first close look at accelerated M.B.A. programs."

Getting through in one year is a definite upside, so are the pluses of an MBA! Look at the numbers on the left!



A downside? Many classes, little time.

"Some students said they wish they had more time to absorb case studies. Others said that the fast-paced curriculum was exhausting, leaving little time for extracurricular activities,...

It's all true, administrators say. "These students want to be taught, and then they want to move on," says Sean Rickard, director of Cranfield's M.B.A. program, adding that students have no time to do anything but study. "They never stop. It's five days of intensive lecturing and projects, week after week ...They begin to realize they can handle any problem you throw at them.""

More Faculty News

Kristin Paul and Dr. Rodney Paul had the paper “Noise Trading and Pointspread Movements in the NCAA Football Betting Market” accepted for publication in the Journal of Business, Industry, and Economics.

Meet the Accountants Night

Meet the Accountants Night is scheduled for:
Monday, Sept. 21
6 p.m.
San Damiano Room

Faculty News

SBU alumnus Kevin McNamara, ’02, John Watson, and Carol Wittmeyer published “The Utilization of a Succession Plan to Effectively Change Leadership and Ownership in a Small Business Enterprise” in The Journal of American Academy of Business (September 2009).


Dr. Kimberly Young had two book chapters published in The Praeger International Collection on Addictions published by Praeger.

SBU alumna wins award in VA

From the Olean Times Herald

Olean native honored as an influential woman of Virginia

"Lisa Frisina Clement was among a group of 28 women honored by Virginia Lawyers Weekly with its inaugural Influential Women of Virginia awards. "

and later

"An Archbishop Walsh High School and St. Bonaventure University graduate, she also credits Donald Swanz, a business and pre-law professor at St. Bonaventure, with helping her down her career path.

“He’s certainly somebody who influenced me with what it takes to be a lawyer, the hard work and diligence,” she said. “He’s always been somebody I’ve admired and kept in touch with. He’s truly been an influence.”"

Keeping Up With Faculty

Rodney Paul, Ph.D., had the paper "Sportsbook Behavior in the NCAA Football Betting Market: Tests of the Traditional and Levitt Models of Sportsbook Behavior," accepted for publication in the Journal of Prediction Markets.

SBU Finance Professor Joins Top Economists in calling for Fed Independence

Academic research has shown that Central Bank Independence is important with respect to monetary policy.

Why? Because the politicians have the incentive to keep interest rates too low and money supply too high in order to keep the economy in high gear and thus get re-elected. This type of policy often leads to booms and bust cycles (not unlike what just happened) and inflation.

In light of the changing financial landscape that has come about as a result of our recent financial crisis, many politicians are pushing for a less independent Fed; more specifically a Fed that is more accountable to Congress.

A petition asking for the continued independence was to some of the top economists/financial economists in the country.

The petition (signed by over 350) read as followed:

"Open Letter to Congress and the Executive Branch

Amidst the debate over systemic regulation, the independence of U.S. monetary policy is at risk. We urge Congress and the Executive Branch to reaffirm their support for and defend the independence of the Federal Reserve System as a foundation of U.S. economic stability. There are three specific risks that must be contained.

First, central bank independence has been shown to be essential for controlling inflation. Sooner or later, the Fed will have to scale back its current unprecedented monetary accommodation. When the Federal Reserve judges it time to begin tightening monetary conditions, it must be allowed to do so without interference. Second, lender of last resort decisions should not be politicized.

Finally, calls to alter the structure or personnel selection of the Federal Reserve System easily could backfire by raising inflation expectations and borrowing costs and dimming prospects for recovery. The democratic legitimacy of the Federal Reserve System is well established by its legal mandate and by the existing appointments process. Frequent communication with the public and testimony before Congress ensure Fed accountability.

If the Federal Reserve is given new responsibilities every effort must be made to avoid compromising its ability to manage monetary policy as it sees fit"

The list of signers is here. The list includes (in no order)

Rene Stulz of The Ohio State University
Eugene Fama of The University of Chicago
Harold Demsetz of UCLA
Burton Malkiel of Princeton
Wayne Marr of Alaska-Anchorage (and SSRN fame)
Robert Merton of Harvard
Myron Scholes of Standford
Paul Asquith of MIT
Andrew Lo of MIT
Robert Hansen of Dartmouth
Maureen O'Hara of Cornell
Robert Shiller of Yale
Hal Varian of UC Berkley
Oh and SBU's own, Jim Mahar :) of BonaResponds and FinanceProfessor.com.

Orientation time

It's orientation time already at SBU. Welcome to all of our new students!

And thank you to all of the extra work that the Freshmen advisors are doing.

BonaSIMM: Performance Update

Mark Larry (one of last year's co-general managers) just posted the following on the SIMM blog.

The benchmark by the way which is being used as a comparison is made up of market indexes that are weighted based on investment style (value or growth) as well as size (large, mid-cap, or small cap).

BonaSIMM: Performance Update:

"As of 7/9/09 Year to Date SIMM's E-Trade account has returned 8.18%, while the benchmark has returned 1.02%...Outperforming the benchmark by 7.16%

As for the 2nd quarter 2009 SIMM's E-Trade account returned 16.71%, while the benchmark returned 13.58%...Outperforming the benchmark by 3.13%"

Best Schools for Journalism

Ok, so this is a School of Business Blog, but we do have joint programs with the JMC folks, so a tip of the cap to you on that side of the building :)


Best Schools for Journalism:

"Based on your votes, the top 10 schools doing the best job at preparing students for a career in journalism are (drum roll please):

1. University of Georgia, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications
2. University of California, Berkley Graduate School of Journalism
3. University of Missouri, Missouri School of Journalism
4. Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
5. St. Bonaventure, The Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication
6. Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
7. Northwestern University, Medill
8. UNC-Chapel Hill, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
9. Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University
10. The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism"

HT to St. Bonaventure!

BonaResponds Newsletter and Press Coverage

The Summer 2009 BonaResponds newsletter is available here.

You can sign up to work on the July 11th local service day here. (you can also find out how you can help fund BonaResponds every time you buy anything online. (just enter BonaResponds as the charity).

And watch for a story on BonaResponds on YNN out of Buffalo on Friday.

Stevens New Director of MBA Program

John B. Stevens named MBA Program Director as of June 1, 2009. Stevens replaced Brian McAllister.

"An instructor in SBU's School of Business, Stevens is an organizational development, training and human resources professional. He also owns and operates JB Stevens Organizational Solutions. Stevens, of Olean, has over 30 years' experience in positions involving organization development, administration, human resources, communications and public relations. Stevens past experience includes vice president for human resources at The Rehabilitation Center; director of the Achievement Center for Continuous Learning at St. Bonaventure; manager of training and employee development at CUTCO Corporation; training manager for AVX Corporation; and training specialist for Dresser-Rand Corporation. Stevens is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), recognized by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); and a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT), recognized by the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). He holds a master's degree in business and policy studies from SUNY-Empire State and a bachelor's degree in journalism from St. Bonaventure. He is a past president of the Greater Olean Area Chamber of COmmerce, serves on the Cattaraugus-Allegany County Workforce Investment Board, and is president of the Leadership Cattaraugus program. In addition to St. Bonaventure University, he has taught continuing education or college courses at Cornell University, Jamestown Community College, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and Penn State University."

Letter from Sr. Margaret (university president)

A letter from Sister Margaret:

"Dear Students,

I am proud and pleased to report that we have surpassed our goal of the 150th Anniversary Campaign, raising more than $95 million for scholarships, faculty and staff development, and a range of academic and co-curricular programs.

More than 20,000 donors, including nearly 50 percent of our alumni base, demonstrated their faith in the University and the work we do by contributing to the Campaign and enabling us to ...

* Create 100 new scholarships
* Construct four buildings and three sports facilities
* Garner 20 million-dollar commitments
* Expand academic and co-curricular programs
* Enhance technology
* Renovate facilities"

SIFE's Microloan project in Uganda: Seed capital

Call it a microfinance program or seed capital, it is great to see the success of SIFE's micro loan project in Uganda.

Lindsay’s Blog:

"Teddy was in our first group of ten loan recipients from last May. She got a 300,000 UGS loan (about $150) to for her business in Bethlehem selling pancakes. She had eight months to pay back her loan in two installments.

Today (May 25th) we had an opportunity to meet with all of the trading loan recipients from last year (May loans, November loans and April loans). Teddy told us of her experience and we were blown away!

She used her loan to buy supplies for her pancakes in bulk at a discounted rate (cassava flour, bananas and cooking oil.) The market for her pancakes is very good in Bethlehem and she has little competition. In addition, her pancakes are very good (we tried them!) With her early profits from selling pancakes she was able to buy a pregnant she-goat who soon had two kids. Then she used her next profits from the pancakes to buy 3 hens and 1 cock"

New MBA Class!

Behavioral Finance

The School of Business is excited to offer a new MBA class. Behavioral Finance!

Joining the likes of NYU, Penn, Harvard, MIT, and many others, SBU will now have a class that introduces student to the exciting world of traditional finance and psychology.

What is behavioral finance? See this video from a class at Yale for a taste:




Contact Jim Mahar or Jeff Peterson for more information.

New SBU video

Here is a new (12 minute) video on the 150th Anniversary Fund Raising campaign.

From SBU News

Newsmakers for Summer 2009:

"Mark Wilson, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics, and Rodney Paul, Ph.D., associate professor of economics, had the paper “Testing Market Efficiency and Bettor Biases in the Baseball Totals Market” published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Business, Industry, and Economics."

EmbraceItAfrica Trip updates

Andrew Mantilla (2008 BBA, 2009 MBA) is part of the SBU-SIFE sponsored trip to Africa (See EmbraceitAFrica.org). He has kept a blog of their journey. Highly recommended!

Andrew's Blog: Last Days in Uganda:

"It was hard to see this other side of Africa where there is development, tourism, somewhat of a regular economy, and money. Our time at Bethlehem and Kyotera was full of intense culture and poverty where we were the only white people anywhere in site. It was hard to see the struggle that most of the people in this country have to go through and then just around the corner there are people with money.

I'm really going to miss the school as it was an experience that has changed the way I look and feel about things forever."

The rest of his blog is here. Some of the Africa Related posts are

• Last Days in Uganda
• Visiting Homes
• Teachers Gift from HSBC and Ugandan Homes
• Loans, School and More Uganda
• First Visit to the School, Driving, and Loan Meeti...
• First Full Day
• Arrival to Uganda
• Getting Ready To Leave
• Lindsay's Blog: Summary of Plans for 2009 Trip

BonaSIMM

Not too bad considering the market's performance! The portfolio is entirely student led. They make all investment decisions.

BonaSIMM:

"As of the end of trading on June 4th the E-Trade account is valued at $44,300 and the Bank of New York Mellon account is valued at $102,073. Giving the SIMM portfolio a total value of $146,373."

As an aside, the class still has some openings for the fall semester. Also students can take the class twice (Finance 410 and Finance 411) as an undergrad. Graduate students can also take it as a MBA student. Finally, students can take the class not for credit as a "club".

Ernst & Young donation pushes total for year to almost $20,000

Ernst & Young donation pushes total for year to almost $20,000:

"St. Bonaventure University has received a gift of $9,650 from Ernst &Young as part of the accounting firm's matching-gifts program.


The contribution brings the total contributed this year to St. Bonaventure by the firm and its staff members to $19,300."

The CNN video of Wolf Blitzer Speaking at SBU

Wolf Blitzer was the graduation speaker this year:

Father Dan Riley Video

While not technically from the School of Business, Fr. Dan is enough of a part of campus that we will claim a part of him too! Here is a tribute to him for his recent Gaudete Medal.

Ellen Grimes chosen as student speaker for SBU's class of 2009

Ellen Grimes chosen as student speaker for SBU's class of 2009:
Congratulations to Ellen Grimes an SBU Marketing major!

"St. Bonaventure University senior Ellen Grimes of Clinton, N.Y., will address her classmates and guests as the 2009 undergraduate student speaker of the University’s 149^th Commencement Exercises May 17.

Grimes is vice president for the Class of 2009, a member of the women’s rugby team, is in the Pacioli Scholars Program for the School of Business and has been a resident assistant for the past three years. She has been a member of Concert Choir and Chamber Singers since her freshman year, is the president of SBU’s music ministry and was a First Year Mentor in the School of Business.

Following graduation, Grimes will pursue her master’s of business administration degree at St. Bonaventure."

St. Bonaventure inducts newest class into Betta Gamma Sigma

St. Bonaventure inducts newest class into Betta Gamma Sigma:

"St. Bonaventure University inducted 29 students into Betta Gamma Sigma on Thursday, April 30, at the University Club.

Betta Gamma Sigma is a national honor society for business and management programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

An election to a lifetime membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest honor a business student can receive in either an undergraduate or a master’s program."

For the list of students click through.

SBU alum Bill Hammond spoke to students

Bill Hammond spoke to Jim Mahar's classes last week on careers in insurance and risk management. Bill is a 1966 graduate who works in the Dallas area. He has also been active with BonaResponds.



Watch Bill Hammond's presentation at SBU School of Business in Educational & How-To | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Faculty News

Dr. Carol Wittmeyer presented a session at the annual National Shoe Retailer Association entitled: Preparing for Succession: What Will Your Legacy Be? The meeting was held on April 30th at St. Pete Beach, Florida.

Also, Dr. Wittmeyer was a moderator for a succession planning workshop featuring the Azteca Foods Story at the Family Business Network USA Chapter meeting held in Chicago on April 23rd.

Dr. Wittmeyer has been very busy!

Guest Speaker from Acu-Rite Companies, Inc.

On Wednesday, April 30th, Michael Metzger, CFO of Acu-Rite Companies, Inc. spoke to Prof. John Plumb's MBA class regarding ethical issues confronting businesses today.

Acu-Rite Companies, Inc. is headquartered in Jamestown, NY and does business world wide. It is a manufacturer of precision measuring devices and precision control devices. Mr. Metzger is a 1976 graduate of St. Bonaventure University and obtained an MBA from RIT.

SIFE's Annual Competition

WAY TO GO SIFE!

"The annual SIFE Regional Competition took place on April 3, 2009 in Tarrytown, NY. A group of five St. Bonaventure University seniors gave a 23 minute presentation on all of the work SBU SIFE has done in the past year. Seniors Lindsay Pohlman, Erin Danahy, Courtney Shares, Kristen Schober and Thomas Burke presented while freshman Lauren Pingelski over-saw the visual aspect of the presentation.

SBU SIFE has approximately 60 members and is one of the largest student service organization on campus. Projects serve the local community of Cattaragus County as well as the international communities of Grand Bahamas Island and Bethlehem, Uganda. The presentation included a variety of examples of these projects and how they met one or more of the six SIFE criteria. The team came in as first runners-up."

The BonaResponds Newsletter

The BonaResponds newsletter is now online.

"The Spring 2009 BonaResponds Local Service Weekend is almost here! We have about 20 jobs sites lined up in and around the area. From Allegany to Friendship, Portville to Randolph. And from Mount Ireanous to Olean, from campus to Carrolton, we have work!

It is our first ever three day service weekend (in the past we had two day and one day events), so we need many more volunteers than in the past."

There is much other news in the newsletter, so be sure to check it out!

Dr. Susan Anders on VITA

Dr. Susan Anders is a Professor of Accounting who also runs the Vita Program. In this video she describes VITA (the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program) and gives us a brief history of the program.

Where Dr. Wittmeyer has been these days

Dr. Carol Wittmeyer presented the following session at the Annual Association of Fundraising Professionals Great Lakes Regional Meeting: Journeying from Good to Great: Executing Fundraising Strategies. The annual meeting was held in Rochester, NY.

Dr. Wittmeyer also presented a session at the International Academy of Business Disciplines entitled: All Donors are Not Equal: Decision Making Strategies for Prioritizing Potential Donors. The international annual meeting was held in St. Louis.

Speaker on Monday April 27th 12:30 to 1:20

Bill Hammond

Next Monday at 12:30 Bill Hammond of Cardinal Risk Management in Dallas will be speaking in the Dresser Aud (AB). He is a 1966 Bonaventure graduate.

He will be speaking on careers in business (what to expect, how to get started, etc) with particular emphasis on risk management and insurance. Bill has worked in enterprise-wide risk measurement and management. His clients include past presidential candidates and many Fortune 500 firms.

He is a great speaker and easily the most liked alum among BonaRespond members. He has made two trips with us and will be working this Sunday with us as part of the BonaResponds Local Service Weekend.

This trip came out of a talk we had in Bridge City in January. His expertise is impressive as well as his ability to communicate with a wide range of individuals. The presentation will be an excellent opportunity to expose students to an area (insurance) that every business needs but few classes cover.


12:30 Monday Murphy AB

Local Service Weekend April 24-25-26

BonaResponds will be hosting their largest local service weekend to date this weekend.

There will be work at about 20 different sites in the area. All levels of help are needed.

You are not too young, too old, or too anything else to help :)

For more information see BonaResponds.org. Specifically the help page.

Accountants in Residency Day

The Bonaventure Accounting Association and The Department of Accounting presents "Accountants In Residence Day (AIR)." Please join us Monday, April 20th for AIR day in the Doyle Dining Hall. The following speakers will be presenting:

1:30 TBA

2:30 "Applying For the CPA Exam" -Erin Johnson, Deloitte & Touché

3:30 "Making the Transition From College" -Andrew Neyman, Ernst & Young

5:00 Student Reception

Congratulations Courtney Spencer

Courtney Spencer has been awarded the Bennett Scholarship for next year. Congratulations Courtney!

Congratulations Dr. Mahar

Dr. Mahar was honored this past Wednesday with the Book of Golden Deeds Award by the Olean Exchange Club.

"The award recognizes dedicated volunteers who give endless hours of their time and talents towards making their communities better places to live, work and learn," said Brian Snyder, Chairman of the club's Golden Deeds program.

Congrats, Jim!

Keeping up with the Faculty

SBU School of Business faculty have been busy busy.

from Inside SBU

"Dr. Carl J. Case, Darwin L. King, and Kimberly DeSimone presented their paper “Virtual Worlds: An Exploratory Study of Undergraduate Behavior ” at the Allied Academies 2009 Spring International Conference held in New Orleans, La., on April 8-10, 2009.

Two of the authors also collaborated on

"Dr. Carl J. Case, professor of management science, and Darwin L. King, professor of accounting, presented their paper “The Undergraduate Blogosphere: Academic Class Activity and Perceptions” at the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences 16th Annual Conference held in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 19-22, 2009. The paper was also selected as Best Paper for the MIS II Track."

and in other news

" Dr. Kimberly Young, professor of management sciences, had a paper published in the International Journal of Cyber Criminology. The paper, Understanding Deviant Behavior Online from an Addiction Perspective, outlined 22 forensic cases that Young worked on as an expert witness. These were federal or state criminal cases involving traveling or online sex offending that Young evaluated from an addictive or psychological perspective."

Calling all school of business alumni!

We'd like to add a regular article on the blog of "Catching up with SBU School of Business Alumni."

To do this we need some information. So if you graduated from the SBU School of Business, we'd love to here from you!

Some suggestions:

• Name: (including maiden name)
• Email:
  
• Major:
• When you graduated:
• What you are doing now:
• News:
• Most important thing you learned at the SBU School of Business:
• Most memorable event that happened when you were at SBU:
  
• Anything else that you think might be interesting:

Also please specify if you want your contact info (email basically) listed.

Thanks in advance!

For now, email to me (hey my mailbox is already so full I can't reply, what are a few more hundred emails?) lol... jmahar@sbu.edu

Reminder that Vince Volpe will be speaking

From Dean Watson:

"This is a reminder Vince Volpe, President and CEO of Dresser-Rand Group Inc., will discuss Business Strategy in a talk tomorrow (Wednesday) at 3:00 p.m. in the Dresser Auditorium."


Here is a previous link to this along with a brief bio of Mr. Volpe.

Did you ever see our fall 2008 newsletter?

Just realized many of you may not have seen the Fall 2008 newsletter from the SBU School of Business. It is available here.

Catching up with Rodney Paul

As many of you know, Rodney Paul is an associate professor of Economics who has been able to bring his love of sports into his research. Rodney is beyond any shadow of a doubt our most prolific researcher.

Recently some of this work has been referenced in blogs and news stories. We thought you might be interested so here is a handful of such articles.

1. Studies of Addiction - on lottery betting
2. Brandes Institute on Market Efficiency - on Market efficiency using NFL data
3. Blog on Academic Studies of Sports Gambling - on sports gambling
4. SportsInsights on Academic Studies of Football - on football betting
5. Washington Capitals Blue Line Website--does fighting increase hockey attendance? and more on fighting in Hockey.

Finance Club Trip to Chicago

Finance Club Trip to Chicago

The Finance Club just returned from their annual trip to Chicago. The trip was a great success with students learning what Chicago has to offer in the world of finance and also some great job seeking advice from alumni. The hospitality and generosity shown by the alumni was greatly appreciated.

The Club went to the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and ThinkorSwim. ThinkorSwim is unique, fast growing company that is a specialized online trading platform, with many SBU alumni at the company.

Along of the formal visits the students and faculty on the trip got a chance to relax with alumni and really experience Chicago. The group went out for Chicago style deep dish pizza one night and to the top of the Hancock Building to check out a bird’s eye view of the city, among other things.

Thanks to all the alumni out in Chicago, we couldn’t have made the trip without you. A special thanks to Dr. Peterson, Professor Bootheway and the Cullen Brothers for all their help.

Submitted by Mark Larry Finance Club President

Several SIFE videos

Lyndsey Pohlman has created several videos about SIFE and its EmbraceitAfrica project. Here is an overview of SIFE's many projects.

SBU's SIFE Embraces Africa!

Africa Team Gives Presentation in NYC:

Last Wednesday, April 1st, the Embrace It Africa team presented to alumni, family, and friends in midtown NYC. The event was sponsored by John Boucher, Bonaventure alum and KPMG partner at the Heritage Training Center on Park Avenue at the KPMG office.

The embrace it Africa team, MBA student Andrew Mantilia, seniors Erin Danahy, Lindsay Pohlman and Zachary Rodriguez and freshman Lauren Morris, presented their work and progress since the projects beginning last year. Their goal was to provide those who live farther away with information on the Africa project and show what St. Bonaventure students are doing to help those in need. The hour-long presentation included a slideshow of pictures and information and a question and answer session.

The team believes that it was a very successful event and hopes to have similar nights in more cities this spring.

For more information please check out the embrace it Africa website: embraceitafrica.org

St. Bonaventure's China Program

YouTube - St. Bonaventure's China Program

Don Swanz on the SBU China Program:

Congratulation to Carl Pfadt

Congratulations to Carl Pfadt for winning the 2009 Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award.

Carl is a Finance and Accounting Double major.

Honorable mention to Gregory Weidert a BIS major.

SIMM-Students in Money Management

The following is from a Handout made by David Abriatis a co-General Manager (with Mark Larry) of the Fund. It was handed out to students to get more in the class.

Overview

What?: SIMM, Students in Money Management, is a student run class where we invest real money into various asset classes. Currently our portfolio has almost $140,000, which we can invest and trade with in two separate accounts, one that has been donated by alumni, and another that is part of the university’s endowment fund. Students do their own analysis of assets we wish to buy and the class decides whether or not to buy the asset. The majority of classes not lectured-based but are student oriented projects and analysis of different investments.

Who: SIMM is available to all majors as a club, and students can sit in on classes and participate as frequently as they would like. SIMM can also be taken as a class for credit with the only pre-requisite being Finance 301. The class can be taken three different times for credit, twice as an undergrad and once as a graduate student

When: SIMM is offered every semester and has held a few different time slots. This coming Fall SIMM will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:00-5:15

What Others Think

“SIMM s the most valuable finance class we offer in the program. This is because you have to take all of the financial principles and calculations and apply them to a real life situation… This is one of the best experiences you can bring into an interview whether it is for an internship or a career.”

– James Kane, Alumni Undergrad 2006, MBA 2007, Currently at MetLife

“This is one area in which St. Bonaventure truly excels students manage all levels of the course, and it is a great experience overall. They invest real money and are currently facing one of the most challenging investment times on record.”

- Jim Mahar, SIMM Instructor

"SIMM is a fantastic learning opportunity for current students in that it allows for unique, practical application of Financial concepts and principles that are learned in a traditional classroom setting. The course is rigorous, the material is advanced, and the structure is very demanding - students don't just participate, they actively run and manage the fund....is a great tool to set oneself apart not only in the University setting, but in the interview process as well. Success in SIMM demonstrates the ability to apply what is learned in the classroom to real life situations, and shows future employers that the candidate is capable of insightful and strategic analysis - prior to even being hired. SIMM was easily one of the highlights of my tenure at St. Bonaventure; the class truly enriched my education and experience at SBU."

--Stephanie Karnas Class of 2005. SIMM board member. Currently at M&T.

“The leadership experience and analytic tools students gain in SIMM parallel that of the skills needed to be successful in today’s challenging investment industry. This class puts Bona students’ one giant step ahead when seeking employment in today's extremely competitive job market."

- Chris Zimmer, Alumni 2006, Currently at Bessemer Trust

YouTube - Finance @ St. Bonaventure University - Director's Cut

YouTube - Finance @ St. Bonaventure University - Director's Cut

This is the long version of the TV Commercial that SBU is running in various markets. The focus is the SIMM program, but about mid way it brings in service that happens at SBU as well.

A short video on Joe Coate speaking on the Pacioli Project

It is really short, but a nice recap of what the Pacioli project is and how it fits within the School of Business.

A special Thank you to Kathy Premo's Management class

Several volunteers from Kathy Premo's Management class teamed up with BonaResponds to make the Buffalo Service day a big success. Co-hosted by BonaResponds and Villa Maria College, we had about 120 volunteers.

For more on the day and many pictures see the BonaResponds Blog.

Jeff Peterson on the economy

Recently Dr. Jeff Peterson gave a campus-wide presentation on the economy and what led to the economic crisis.

YouTube - Accounting and its role in the current economic crisis

YouTube - Accounting and its role in the current economic crisis

Rodney Paul on the new Economics of Sports Minor at SBU

Major Field Exam

All senior business students will be taking the major field exam this coming week starting on Sunday, March 29th and concluding on Sunday, April 5th.

The content of the major field exam reflects the basic knowledge and understanding gained in the core undergraduate curriculum. The multiple choice exam is designed to assess mastery of concepts and principles of students at the conclusion of a major in a specific area.

The major field exam is used to measure students academic achievement and growth. The exam evaluates the students ability to analyze and solve problems, understand relationships, and interpret rationalizations. The scores allow for detailed curriculum review and evaluation and student receive an effective metric to determine their own level of achievement compared to other students in the program and in the nation.

Visiting Executive

Mr. Vince Volpe, President of Dresser-Rand will be a visiting executive in the School of Business on Wednesday, April 15th. In addition to visiting classes he will be making a presentation in the Dresser Auditorium in Murphy from 3:00-4:30.


Want more information on Vince Volpe? Here is some information from Forbes.

"President and Chief Executive Officer and has served as a member of our Board of Directors since October 2004. Mr. Volpe has been with Dresser-Rand Group Inc., its affiliates and predecessor companies to the business since 1981. He has held positions in Engineering, Marketing and Operations residing and working in various countries, including: Applications Engineer in Caracas, Venezuela; Vice President Dresser-Rand Japan in Tokyo, Japan; Vice President Marketing and Engineering Steam and Turbo Products in Olean, New York; Executive Vice President European Operations in Le Havre, France; and President
Dresser-Rand Europe in London, U.K. In January 1997...."

Student research

A sometimes overlooked benefit of a small school is the ability for undergraduates to actually work on research projects with professors (at most larger schools this is a privilege reserved only for PHD students).

It is for that reason the SBU has recently begun a new Journal of Student Academic Writing. The first edition will be out soon and congratulations are due for Evelyn Kriby and Brianna Bricker for their work being included.

Ms. Kriby's "The Use of Sponsorships in NASCAR," which was nominated by Dr. Michael Russell, has been accepted for publication in the new journal and Ms. Bricker's "Sponsorship in College Football Bowls," received an honorable mention and will be included in the online version.

Way to go!

Wednesday March 25th--EXERCISE ONLY: Shooter on campus

This Wednesday we will be having a disaster preparation drill (a fancy term for we will be pretending there is a shooter on campus). Local police and emergency teams will be participating.

Much more information on this can be found here.

Congratulations to Rob Chatt

Congratulations to Rob Chatt the 2009-2010 McGowan Scholarship winner!!!

If you do not know, the McGowan scholarship is given annually at schools across America to deserving Business students.

From their website:

"The McGowan Scholars program recognizes the academic achievements and excellence of students pursuing a major offered by an accredited business school. It is designed to encourage leadership ability, interpersonal skills, and a significant involvement in academic, campus and community activities. It also recognizes excellence of character, a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial potential."

This year the SBU winner is Robert Chatt. Ron is a hard working and industrious student that will be a fine representative of SBU’s School of Business.

Congratulations Rob!

Also a Thank You to the selection committee of Carol Fischer, Jeff Peterson, John J. Watson, John Stevens and Brian McAllister for your work on making the selection.

David Campbell's Presentation to Business Majors

Who is David Campbell? From the announcement:

"Mr Campbell has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Tektronix, M&T Bank, MRO Software, Gibraltar Industries, and PowerSteering software, and Niagara University and SUNY-Buffalo, as well as civic positions including Chairman of Roswell Park Cancer Institute Council, the Buffalo United Way campaign, and the Erie County IDA and Chamber.

Recognitions include an honorary doctorate from Niagara University, citizen of the year from The Buffalo News, and inclusion as a Fellow in the first year awards of the Purpose Prize."

He gave two lectures. The first which was aimed at the campus-wide audience focused on HODR, the benefits of volunteering, and the challenges of running a volunteer organization in challenging economic times. (The first speech is available on the BonaResponds blog.)

The second lecture was tailored to business students (and faculty!). He talks about the current economic problems (he thinks unemployment will go above 10%), governance, auditing, regulation, globalization, and what students (and others) can do to "wait out" the recession.

Becoming Extraordinary Lecture-Carol Fischer and Joe Coate

Joe Coate and Carol Fischer recently gave a lecture as part of the SBU Becoming Extraordinary Lecture Series.

Here is a quick look in:

Welcome to the St. Bonaventure School of Business Blog!

Welcome. This will be a means to keep up to date with what is going on at the St. Bonaventure School of Business.

We envision this as being a storehouse of information on events, publications, and news items that show some of the many things going on at the SBU's School of Business.

It will be updated regularly (Jenifer Spencer has agreed to help update it), so be sure to check back often.