May 20, 2010 at 6:00 am
The Institute for Athletic Coach Education (IACE) in the School of Education is hosting a 1-day conference for coaches, directors, and and leaders of youth sport at the Agganis Arena from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM today. Attendees will enjoy a rare opportunity to learn from exceptional sports practitioners who address issues relevant to coaches, while presenters will explore the psychological, emotional, social and moral dimensions of sport. Featured speakers include School of Education Dean Hardin Coleman and Director of the IACE John McCarthy. For tickets/more information, contact 617-353-0365 or coaching@bu.edu.
May 19, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Because no one followed suit, Germany's unlateral ban on "naked" short selling of European government bonds - speculative bets that prices will fall on borrowed assets which then can be sold back to the lender with the speculator pocketing the difference --rocked global markets. Mark Williams, who teaches finance at the BU School of Management and is author of "Uncontrolled Risk" about the lessons to be learned from the fall of Lehman Brothers, says this shows that systemic risk remains high in our global financial market.
“Short sellers are a symptom not the cause of our fragile financial system. The action that will be most effective is coordinated efforts by G-20 powers to enact a global financial reform. Efforts being made in the U.S. will not solve the systemic risk that Greece has reminded us still exists."
Contact Mark Williams, 617-358-2789, williams@bu.edu
May 19, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Preparations have begun at the United Nations for the global sustainable development summit to be held in Brazil in 2012, with the "Rio + 20" summit to mark the 20th anniversary of the "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro which was held 20 years after the 1972 environmental conference in Stockholm. International relations Professors Adil Najam, director of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and Henrik Selin, a research fellow at the Center, write in a New Strait Times commentary that sustainable development is the key to a "Rio + 20" agreement.
"They should seek to craft a global new deal for sustainable development; a deal that could finally help bridge the North-South divide by tackling poverty as well as over-consumption, environmental degradation as well as social justice, and greenness of the economy along with sustainable livelihoods."
Contact Adil Najam, 617-358-4000, anajam@bu.edu; Henrik Selin, 617-358-2590, selin@bu.edu
May 19, 2010 at 10:54 am
U.S. Senate primaries -- with Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter defeated in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln forced into a run-off, and a hand-picked GOP candidate beaten by Tea Party favored candidate Rand Paul in Kentucky -- may indicate an anti-incumbent mood in the country. But political science Professor Graham Wilson cautions that the Specter loss proves no national trend and the Democrats also saved the late John Murtha's House seat in Pennsylvania where the Republicans seemed favored.
“However, Paul’s victory does show that within the Republican party the tea party movement is a real force, one that might result in the GOP being encumbered with far right conservative candidates in the November elections. It’s like the reverse image of the McGovernites taking over the Democratic Party in the 1970s.”
Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu
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Tagged Arkansas, Arlen Specter, Blanche Lincoln, Democratic party, GOP, Graham Wilson, John Murtha, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rand Paul, Senate, Tea Party, U.S. Senate primaries 2010
May 17, 2010 at 12:50 pm
On the heels of his getting a health-care reform bill through Congress (with no GOP votes), President Obama this week may get the financial-services reform package which largely reflects the administration's original blueprint. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of "Business and Politics," says this could only make the president look good.
“If Obama gets this as well as health care he is starting to look like a legislative genius.”
Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu
May 12, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley reportedly is being investigated by federal authorities to see if it misled investors about mortage-derivatives deals it helped design and sometimes bet against. This is on the heels of the Securities and Exchange Commission charging Goldman Sachs with securities fraud involving similar collateralized debt obligations or CDOs. Law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, a former SEC attorney and Wall Street lawyer, says this suggests Morgan Stanley might end up in the same position as Goldman is in.
"The federal government is now making clear that they will take the aggressive watchdog actions they have recently been chastised for not taking over the past two years. The bigger question is what other banks can expect a phone call from the SEC or the DoJ.”
Contact Elizabeth Nowicki, 518-867-5355, enowicki@bu.edu
May 12, 2010 at 11:53 am
Verizon and Google are teaming to develop a tablet computer in their combined effort to catch up with Apple's iPad and host AT&T. School of Management Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, head of the Information Systems Department, is researching competition in business network and says this is a new form of competition -- not between firms but between pairs or clusters of firms.
“The real question is whether it will be a Google-branded tablet like NexusOne or Android-OS running on multiple variations of touchscreen tablets manufactured by many different hardware vendors.”
Contact N. Venkat Venkatraman, 617-353-7117, venkat@bu.edu
May 12, 2010 at 11:11 am
Metropolitan College's Master of Science in Health Communication program was awarded a Silver Medal for best Practices in Distance Learning Programming by the United States Distance Learning Association. The Health Communication program is taught in conjunction with the College of Communication. MET Dean Jay Halfond said:
“Our faculty and staff commit a substantial amount of time and talent in creating high-quality online courses. We have the reputation of a great university to protect and extend, and believe that programs like this reflect well on BU and provide degrees every bit as credible and valuable as those on campus.”
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