Steve Jobs, Apple’s visionary co-founder, passes away October 5th October 2011 • Volume 9 • Issue 2

The Bull & BearMANAGEMENTUNDERGRADUATESOCIETYA publication of the

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Always online at www.bullandbear.caThe Brief 2 :: Monthly Markets 4-5 :: News 6-10 :: Lifestyle 11 :: Opinion 12-15

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We make the match, you make the decision.Jobbook Launches 7 Graduating Case Comp 10 MUNACA opinion 12

“Avicii took the madness of management Carnival, the spirit of frosh, And the rage of power hour, And pAcked it into the most amazing three hour set i’ve ever seen.”

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The Brief

The Bull & Bear

2

October 2011

What not to miss in Management this month.

Alex Pajusi Executive Editor

Ian Burke Cameron Lead News Editor

Ivan Di News Editor

David Lin Lead Opinion Editor

Jessica Simmonds Opinion Editor

Kristine Pinedo Lead Lifestyle Editor

Chris Conery Lifestyle Editor

Kunal Shah Photo Editor

Manuella Djuric Advertising Director

Michaela Hirsh Ad Coordinator

Sean Alex Finnell Online Editor

Michael Horowitz Layout Editor

Olivia Siu Marketing Director

Rodion Gusev Special Advisor

Staff WritersElana CipinDann BibasTarun KoshyDan SorekDan NovickAndrea ZhuYina ZhouApril WuSameer RizviMax WaterousAlvira RaoChristian SullivanSiddharth Mishra

Photographers: Amélia CoutureHolly SherlockKapil MehraJordana CohenNicole HimelfarbTheodora MeyersSoumia Zehri

The Bull & Bear is an editorially au-tonomous newspaper published by the Management Undergraduate So-ciety of McGill University. Editorial opinions expressed in the Bull & Bear are the sole responsibility of the Bull & Bear’s Editorial Board, and are not nec-essarily those of the University, MUS or their officers. The Bull & Bear is not re-sponsible for the delivery of any goods or services sold or advertised through its sponsors or Business Directory and is not liable for loss or damage of what-ever nature and extent resulting directly or indirectly from any use of the infor-mation made available by the newspa-per and sponsors.

Desjardins Info SessionOct 12 - 11am - Bronfman Lobby

Come learn about exciting opportunities at Desjardins.

The Bull & Bear

CASCO Hype PartyOct 20 - 9pm - Queue Leu Leu (Old Port)

The theme is cowboys versus aliens. Price is $10 advance, $15 at the door. Tickets on sale the week of (Bronfman lobby) exclusive McGill event, great drink deals. What cowboy doesn’t want to dance with a bunch of aliens at a costume party?

First-Year Street TeamA brand-new committee dedicated to promoting MUS events to first-years

The MUS is pleased to an-nounce that they have a new committee dedicated solely for first-year students! The First Year Street Team is a new initia-tive that was created by the Vice President of Communications, Rebecca Black, and the Board of Directors Branding and Com-munications Committee. With a

lack of first-year student involve-ment within the Bronfman com-munity, there was a need to reach out to first year students not only to get them involved but also to make them aware of upcoming MUS events. This committee will be dedicated to promoting MUS events to first year students in the various residences and even to those students who live at home in Montreal. The MUS hopes that the First Year Street

Team will not only increase short term participation to events, but hopes that they will inspire other first year students to get involved faster and more often.

Launching its first year of operation, the committee will consist of two Co-Chairs: Jony Tabuteau and Lara Ballantyne, along with eleven committee members: Derek Smith, Alex-andra Twyman, Daniel Sorek, Michelle Gastle, Emily Gastle,

Jenny Nguyen, Qing-Qing Yang, Natalie Huey, Emily Cheng, Amanda Hadid, and Brian Lau.

“It’s truly about making first year students feel welcome with-in the Bronfman community. And what better way to reach out to them than by their peers”, says Rebecca Black, Vice President of Communications.

Manuella DjuricAdvertising Director

Always Online. bullandbear.ca

News

The Bull & Bear

3

October 2011

Ian Burke Cameron, Lead Editorian@bullandbear.ca

Over a month after the be-ginning of the MUNACA strike that saw McGill’s main entranc-es become sites of long picket lines and non-stop drumming, no agreement between the uni-versity and the union has been reached.

After dozens of meetings between the two parties, the end of the strike does not seem to be in sight. And, despite the recent injunction that saw MUNACA’s picket lines shrink and noise lev-els fall, the union does not seem any more willing to go back to work than it did in early Septem-ber.

One of the picketers, whom The Bull & Bear offered to identi-fy only as John, described the at-mosphere before the injunction outside Bronfman – at the corner of McTavish and Sherbrooke – as “upbeat,” saying that “what [the strikers] are doing doesn’t appear tedious.”

Despite admitting: “I don’t understand [pensions] that well,” John reminded The Bull & Bear that “McGill is notorious for not paying,” and that all of MUNACA’s demands amount to “parity with other universities in the province.”

Other picketers interviewed post-injunction, however, have admitted to finding the new rules somewhat disheartening.

One of the strike negotia-tors – who cannot be named due to his position – maintained that the morale of the picketers was encouraging and that the lines reflect the frustration that runs through every level of the union. Frustration, MUNACA holds, that stems from unfair payment

practices, undesirable pension adjustments, and continued renovations around campus in the face of the school’s financial woes.

Another picketer, identi-fied only as Ingrid, radiated op-timism and confidence that the strike was going well. Citing the significant student support MUNACA has been receiving, Ingrid told The Bull & Bear that “It’s just amazing what [the strike organizers] are doing.”

Despite being “just a pick-eter,” Ingrid insisted that the en-tire union is pushing for the same goals – goals that, at worst, boil down to “at least [having] to be heard.” On Friday September 16, MUNACA held their big-gest rally since the strike began on the corner of McGill College and Sherbrooke, across the street from the Roddick Gates; if In-grid’s statement were meant liter-ally, she can rest easy.

The Montreal Gazette – who

had reporters at the rally – quot-ed McGill student Jamie Brunett as stating that “Everything [at McGill] is slower and I’m spend-ing more time in lines…It re-ally makes it clear how important their work is.”

However, despite Ingrid and the Gazette’s reports, not all students are in support of the strike. Students who spoke with The Bull & Bear in anonymity expressed frustration with what they characterized as the union’s

impractical demands, and The Bull & Bear’s David Lin openly opposes the strike in this issue.

With meetings between MUNACA and McGill sched-uled until October 26, it is un-likely that any students will soon be relieved with shorter lines and fully-staffed libraries. Until an agreement is reached, MUNA-CA’s members remain adamant that they will not be returning to work.

MUNACA Strike ContinuesAs October begins, still no end in sight

Ian Burke CameronLead News Editor

MUNACA workers picket outside the Bronfman building.

Steve Jobs1955-2011

Kapil Mehra | The Bull & Bear

Monthly Markets

The Bull & Bear

4

October 2011

Ivan Di, Editorivan@bullandbear.ca

From Spanish Con-quistadors in the 16th century to the British Colonizers in the 19th

and 20th century, Europe has un-doubtedly been the super power of the world for the past half millennium or so. However, as economist Dambisa Moyo (How The West Was Lost) sheds light on how a host of shortsighted

policy decisions have left the economic seesaw poised to tip away from the Western indus-trialized economies and toward the emerging world, it is clear that Europe is no longer the great power that it once was. Since 2000, the average growth rates of China and India, 9.8% and 7.4% respectively, have far exceeded Japan’s 1.6%, Germany’s 0.9% or the United States’ 2.8%. By the end of the century, the majority of the world will be developed – The era of western economic supremacy is over… or at least

they say. And nothing is more indicative of this statement than the European sovereign debt crisis that started in the last few months of 2009.

The situation became par-ticularly tense in early 2011 as the sovereign debt crisis, which was initially most pronounced in a few eurozone countries, de-veloped into a perceived prob-lem for the European Union as a whole. The one economy that was in distinct spotlight for the

majority of this summer is the “Hellenic Republic” of Greece.

Since its inception in the first few weeks of 2010, the anxi-ety regarding excessive national debt has only developed at an exponential rate. And rightly so, as not only have sovereign cred-it default swaps seen extreme growth, but also Greek national debt and budget deficit have worsened at an unprecedented level. Currently, gross external debt is an estimated US$ 532.9 billion, an alarming 151.4% of Greece’s nominal GDP. As previ-

ously highlighted, this is a euro-zone-wide issue. Gross external debt is at 83.2% of nominal GDP in Portugal, 64.8% in Ireland, 118.1% in Greece, and 63.4% in Spain. Collectively, these na-tions are sometimes referred to as PIIGS, an acronym coined by international bond analysts, aca-demics, and the economic press – often in regards to matters re-lating to their poor performing economies.

What truly caught the atten-tion of the press, politicians and public alike occurred in January 2010, when Greek Finance Min-ister, George Papaconstantinou, admitted that Goldman Sachs helped the Greek government to mask the true extent of its deficit with the help of a derivatives deal that legally circumvented the EU Maastricht deficit rules. A Ger-man newspaper stated that “at some point the so-called cross currency swaps will mature, and swell the country’s already bloat-ed deficit” – This is happening now.

However, all is not lost yet. Over the last two years, Greece has revised countless macroeco-nomic policies and adopted strict austerity measures and packages. Further austerity measures have also been implemented since June 2011, when S&P lowered the Greek sovereign debt to a CCC rating, the lowest in the world, following the findings of a bilateral EU-IMF audit.

In recent development (29th September), German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was initially seemingly against providing any further bailout funds for Greece, has now approved an expanded EU bailout fund. By a large ma-

jority, Germany’s parliament had voted in favour of supporting a more powerful fund to bail-out troubled Eurozone economies.

As Europe’s largest econo-my, Germany has agreed to raise its financial commitment to this bailout from €123 billion to €211 billion. Although this 71.5% rise is seemingly large, it is already being dismissed as inadequate in the light of the worsening Greek crisis and similar crises being faced by other European nations.

A large number of analysts believe that these austerity mea-sures and bailout plans are, in re-ality, pushing Greece’s paralyzed economy deeper into recession and choking any chance of real growth. Currently, the Greek prime minister, George Papan-dreou, is in talks with many oth-er EU leaders on a new bailout “tranche” Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy in October. But the question really is whether the other troubled European nations will continue to fuel these futile bailouts or would it be better for the greater European economy for Greece to just default on its debt.

Arguably, this is the first eu-rozone crisis since its creation in 1999. Managing Director of TRUST Investment Bank, Ja-son Manolopoulos, conclusively pointed out that the eurozone is far from an optimum currency area. Niall Ferguson, in 2010, wrote that “the sovereign debt crisis that is unfolding [...] is a fiscal crisis of the western world”. Ben Rooney (CNNMoney), in a May 2011 article, argued “Greece can continue to cut spending and raise taxes in a painful attempt to convince creditors that it can change its ways. Or, the country can admit defeat, default on its debts, and hope for the best.” Perhaps, Europe’s economic fu-ture is uncertain, but then again, uncertainty is inevitable in any financial market.

Diving into the Greek Debt CrisisSameer RivziMarkets Writer

“Greek national debt and budget deficit have worsened at

an unprecedented level”

Monthly Markets

The Bull & Bear

5

October 2011

Ivan Di, Editorivan@bullandbear.ca

On September 21st the US Federal Open Market Com-mittee, the branch

of the Federal Reserve (the Fed) that determines the direction of monetary policy, announced a new plan to help stimulate the American economy. Its grave tone, however, sent sellers rush-ing for an exit and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 5.9% over two-days, the greatest two-day percentage drop since De-cember 2008.

With a depressed hous-ing market and the US unem-ployment rate hovering around 9%, the Fed felt the “significant downside risks” to the US econ-omy warranted a new round of monetary stimulus. Nicknamed “Operation Twist”, after a simi-lar program during the Kennedy administration in the 1960s, the Fed effectively “twisted” the yield curve through lower-ing long-term rates while keep-ing short-term rates where they were. Over the next 9 months the Fed will purchase $400 bil-lion of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 6-30 years and sell an equal amount of Treasury securities with re-maining maturities of less than 3 years. Unlike the Fed’s “quantita-tive easing” policies, which used newly created money to buy as-sets, Operation Twist will avoid

expanding the Fed’s $2.8 trillion balance sheet.

As part of Operation Twist, the Fed will also reinvest pro-ceeds from maturities in its mort-gage backed security (MBS) portfolio with the hopes of bol-stering the housing market. To-day, 90% of all new loans in the US are funded by MBSs.

Operation Twist is designed to push down interest rates on everything from mortgages to

business loans to help encour-age the private sector to loosen its purse strings and start spend-ing. Since Operation Twist was announced, the yield on 30-year Treasuries has fallen more than 30 basis points to 2.90% on Sep-tember 30th, achieving the Fed’s goal of twisting the yield curve.

Even though the plan has had initial success in lowering rates, the Fed is likely to con-

tinue to draw fire from critics. Republicans in Congress sent a letter to the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, before the announce-ment warning against any further intervention in the economy fearing inflation. Also, many economists believe that lower mortgage rates will not solve the housing market’s problems as they maintain the issue lies with access to credit and not its afford-ability. Their claim is backed up

by the fact that even before the announcement the national aver-age 30-year fixed rate mortgage stood at 4.09%, the lowest rate since Freddie Mac began keeping records in 1971.

Even with Operation Twist, many investors are worried that the problems in the US may drag on for longer than expected as fiscal policy remains sidelined by a divided congress.

China’s economy may be growing but its property market seems set for a tum-

ble. All signs point to a bubble that is poised to burst, with av-erage housing prices rising 1% a month this year according to the National Bureau of Statis-tics. The supply only seems to be increasing as over 1.7 million square feet of new office space is being built in Shanghai this year. Hedge fund manager James Cha-nos calls it “Dubai times 1,000 - or worse”.

The implications of a real estate bust could be bad but not catastrophic. The Shanghai and Hong Kong markets would suffer due to their heavy expo-sure to property development companies. But most experts believe that it will not send the entire construction sector into

a depression. The impact of this bubble could, however, be felt on a number of markets that export heavily to China. Many Latin American and African econo-mies have shifted their focus to-ward Chinese demand for their raw materials, and many Western firms, including U.S. retailers and fast-food chains, now bank on Chinese consumers feeling wealthier to make up for stagnat-ing sales elsewhere.

The causes for this bubble are varied. The unprecedented growth of the Chinese economy led to a lot of new wealth being created. This newfound wealth went into real estate because keeping money in Chinese yuans provided no return (due to low interest rates). A high rate of ur-ban migration has also contribut-ed to the creation of the bubble.

However, bursting of this bubble may not have the same catastrophic effects as that of the 2008 housing bubble. The

Chinese property market isn’t as leveraged as the US market was in mid-2000s. As David Semple, Director of International Equity at Van Eck Global puts it, “Chi-na is not Dubai on steroids. You don’t buy with no money down there.” Moreover, the Chinese market is more regulated. Since last November, in China’s top tier cities, buyers are required to put 30% down for their first home, 60% down for a second home, and are not allowed to buy third homes on credit. The Chinese government has been introduc-ing several other policy measures since last year to slow real estate inflation, including raising in-terest rates, directly restricting home purchases, imposing price control targets in Beijing and Shanghai and finally charging a real estate tax, albeit on a trial basis, in Shanghai. Perhaps the biggest difference is that the gov-ernment actually recognizes the problem - unlike its American

counterparts who denied that the housing market was over-heated just when housing prices were skyrocketing.

The leverage of the financial system and the consumers to the boom and bust isn’t as great as

it was in the United States. This, coupled with regulations by the Chinese government, ensure that the bursting of this bubble will not result in a prolonged economic downturn.

Operation TwistMaxwell WaterousMarkets Writer

China’s Property Bubble: How it’s different from that of the StatesSiddharth MishraMarkets Writer

“Bursting of this bubble may not have the same catastrophic effects as that of

the 2008 housing bubble”

“Operation Twist is designed to push down

interest rates on everything from mortgages to business

loans”

News

The Bull & Bear

6

October 2011

Ian Burke Cameron, Lead Editorian@bullandbear.ca

With over a hundred stu-dents in attendance, the Stu-dents’ Society held its first Gen-eral Assembly (GA) on Monday, September 26th.The surprisingly large turnout was due to the hottest topic on the floor: the motion regarding SSMU’s com-mitment to pursuing accessible post-secondary education.

SSMU President Maggie Knight expressed excitement for the discussion of this motion: “All the motions are interesting in their different ways, but tu-ition hikes are a really big issue,

as we believe that post-second-ary education is a pillar.”

The Quebec government has increased tuition fees for uni-versity students by $325 a year, totalling a $1,625 increase over the past five years, which has been the largest tuition increase Quebec has ever seen.

The issue sparked heated de-bate, with those supporting the motion emphasizing that educa-tion is a right and not a privilege. With tuition rates skyrocketing, students turn to loans, as many cannot juggle academics with a

part-time job. This results in stu-dents laden with debt, which af-fects their future credit score.

The other side of the argu-ment is that education is an in-vestment; to be able to afford the best professors, we need to pay the price.

Arts Representative Isabelle Bi suggested that “The tuition hikes are not targeted towards McGill University, and instead of focusing on this motion, money should be put towards creating more work-study positions and even funding a co-op program.”

With 73 for, 17 against, and 14 abstaining, the motion re-garding accessible education was

passed, meaning that SSMU will specifically oppose the tuition increase affecting Quebec stu-dents and actively encourage its members to participate in mass demonstrations against tuition fee increases.

What was meant to be a joyful result was met with the sudden exit of more than 40 stu-dents who were either displeased with the outcome or simply had no interest in the remaining mo-tions on the floor. The SSMU GA had lost quorum - the minimum number of members of an assem-

bly that must be present to make the proceedings of that meeting valid - and was reduced to a mere consultative forum, which could not make any substantial deci-sions.

The SSMU executives ex-pressed their great disappoint-ment at losing quorum. SSMU Speaker Nida Nizam was ap-palled that students would walk out when the voting results were not in their favor, stating that this jeopardized the integrity of the event.

Before the mass walkout, the GA swiftly passed the motions regarding the SSMU Board of Directors and sustainability. The SSMU Executive Board was es-pecially pleased that the motion regarding the democratic reform of the SSMU Board of Directors was passed.

“We are going through a whole governance overhaul this year. Passing this motion al-lows us to improve the current structure by making the board bigger so that councilors hold more power than the executives,” Knight said.

Although the remaining two motions were only passed symbolically by the consultative body, these motions will still be submitted to the legislative council for consideration next Monday.

The first GA ended with SSMU encouraging reformation of subsequent GAs, so that they may be more effective and in-volve a larger portion of the stu-dent body.

Oops, We Lost Quorum AgainSSMU passes three out of five motions before losing quorum

April WuNews Writer

On Friday, September 24th, the Omni Hotel hosted the De-sautels Career Fair, bringing together 310 job savvy McGill management students and top recruiters from Canada and the world around.

The Career Fair gave stu-dents the opportunity to meet and network with potential em-ployers while recruiters scouted up-and-coming talent for their companies. Overall, employers’ reactions were positive towards McGill students.

Derek Ruediger from L’Oreal explained that Desau-tels is “almost a feeder school for young talent at L’Oreal. Above just academic achievement, Mc-Gill students seem to fit within the organization. There is an add-ed dynamic to their education.”

Surveys recording com-panies’ reactions to the Career Fair noted that Desautels has “an amazing pool of talented students who are well prepared, organized, well-spoken, and ag-gressive. In this regard McGill graduates have an upper hand on competing schools.” But is that enough for recruiters?

The folly of the GPA is some-thing that distracts many stu-dents from what really matters. Executive director of Desautels Career Services, Marie-Jose Be-audin, explains that “GPAs are relevant for certain jobs, but not all. Employers are looking for well-rounded, well-balanced candidates with achievements outside their academic careers. They’re looking for the passion, outlook, culture, value, and fit that defines candidates. A good GPA helps, but there is much more.”

In such a competitive job market, it is more true than ever that it is not what you know, but who you know. This is what

makes events like Career Fair so important for attaining pres-tigious positions because 80% of jobs are not posted. Beaudin gave suggestions regarding how to stand out in recruiters’ minds:

1. Be professional, first impres-sions are key

2. Be engaged in discussions

3. Bring a portfolio of accom-plishment (mentally, or physi-cally)

4. Don’t sit back; be proactive

5. Follow up!

Career Services has recently implemented a new portal to myFuture - career portal. This new feature gives students the knowledge and tools needed for specific careers in an effort to

help them launch into their ca-reers early.

U1 student, Dora Du, major-ing in International Management knows that it is never too early to start the job hunt, “I found the event provided a great opportu-nity to gain exposure and meet potential future employers.”

However, not all students shared the same reaction to the Career Fair. James Xiang Ji, a U3 Computer Science major ex-plains, “Although recruiters were taking resumes today, they were telling students to apply online; they simply took resumes as a courtesy. I was planning to make 30 new contacts and was only able to make 10.”

Similar to years past, compa-nies were impressed with McGill students. Recruiters continue to offer jobs to McGill graduates because of their continued excel-lence. The most important advice from recruiters was that you can never be too aggressive; passion is something that all recruiters find refreshing and appreciate.

In a Competitive Job Market, How Do Desautels Students Match Up?Chris ConreyLifestyle Editor

A speaker stands at the microphone during the SSMU General Assembly.

“What was meant to be a joyful result was met with the sudden exit of

more than 40 students”

“Employers are looking for well-rounded, well-balanced

candidates with achievements outside their academic careers.”

Holly Sherlock | The Bull & Bear

News

The Bull & Bear

7

October 2011

Ian Burke Cameron, Lead Editorian@bullandbear.ca

After approximately one year of planning, the new and contentious social media site Job-

boook went live to the public on Monday, September 26. The goal of this start-up is to connect stu-dents and recent graduates from most of the top Universities in Canada and the United States with prospective employers.

The idea for the company originated from Jean de Brabant, a 73 year-old Montreal-based en-trepreneur. The plan was to cre-ate a free service that matched candidates to jobs of interest. Thousands of dollars in invest-ment funds have gone into in-venting a new system to alert the user of jobs sorted by field, profession and title. A user must send their CV to the participat-ing company, and if hired, Job-book is paid by the employer a small percentage of the starting salary.

Before it can become ac-cepted in the McGill commu-nity, Jobbook must face a few challenges. Like any other new company, there is a steep learn-ing curve. Brabant explained, “When you’re a start up it’s hard to be a leader - at the bottom there are a lot of roles to fill.”

Some McGill students are upset to hear that Zach New-burgh, former SSMU President, is the Vice-President University Relations at Jobbook. SSMU Council voted in early February 2011 to censure Newburgh, as

his involvement with Jobbook was viewed as a conflict of in-terest. Newburgh was alleged to have met with student executives at other universities and pitched Jobbook at the same time.

“I was not representing the SSMU in an official capacity. And that should have been clear. And was made clear,” Newburgh said in an interview with The Daily on when Jobbook was mentioned in his meetings with other student executives.

During a meeting in Febru-ary with the Legislative Council, Newburgh declared that he “used the Conflict of Interest Policy to guide my involvement with Job-book in the first place.”

Although he admitted that he should have been more open with SSMU about his involve-ment, he maintained that his involvement never impeded his ability to function as SSMU President. In addition, he noted that Jobbook would help McGill students.

A number of groups thought that Newburgh abused his lead-ership position to gain a financial stake in this opportunity. When his involvement became a con-troversy in January, Newburgh told the student body that he was dropping his financial share and commitment to the company. Some who believed Newburgh’s actions were unethical have been sceptical about joining Jobbook.

However, Newburgh shrugged off past controversy at the pre-launch party that took place on Saturday, September 24. Friends, family, and the media

joined the founders and employ-ees of Jobbook in the spacious Montreal head office to celebrate the opening. Newburgh and his coworkers were very welcoming, and showed guests how to use the interface while explaining the way it all works.

Some guests were impressed by the open-concept office space they walked into, with a DJ play-ing. They compared the atmo-sphere to that of The Social Net-work, since the Jobbook office had non-traditional features such as a basketball court, darts, and a work-out room.

Jobbook can be compared to sites such as Monster.ca or Linke-dIn. However, co-founder An-

toine de Brabant, son of Jean de Brabant, explained that “[with] LinkedIn, a lot of people get con-fused about what the services are. People don’t really see it as a place where I’m going to go find a job that’s for me.” He further ex-plained that LinkedIn is mostly for the benefit of the employer, and that Jobbook is not aiming to take away any of their market.

According to de Brabant, the intention is to have a more user-friendly system for the typical student. “Imagine more of a dat-ing site where you get to see ba-sically live streams of jobs based on your selections, and you get to ‘like’ them or not ‘like’ them.”

It was Antoine de Brabant

who thought that having a spa-cious, unconventional office would be key in building up Job-book’s success. “These are amaz-ing offices, and can only hold an amazing project,” said de Bra-bant.

Jobbook’s exponential growth has been impressive. In only three or so days since its launch, Jobbook reached around 4 500 members. They intend on introducing new design updates and features in the near future. They are also trying to get in-volved in the Montreal start-up community, and have been hold-ing conferences in their offices to that end.

Job-Search Website Jobbook.com Launches

Elana CipinNews Writer

Above: Zach Newburgh shows off the Jobbook interfaceBelow: Employees, friends, and reporters gather at the Jobbook pre-launch office party.

Dan Novick | The Bull & Bear

Former SSMU President and other employees unveil site at pre-launch party

Dan Novick | The Bull & Bear

News

The Bull & Bear

9

October 2011

Ian Burke Cameron, Lead Editorian@bullandbear.ca

On September 15, Veni Vidi Avicii, presented by the Manage-ment Undergraduate Society, took its place among McGill’s largest student-run events. The show was fully sold out, with 1200 McGill students in atten-dance. Tim Bergling, the Swed-ish DJ, remixer, and record pro-ducer professionally known as Avicii, performed an exclusive concert for McGill students.

Telus Theatre was packed within one hour of doors open-ing. When the clock struck mid-night, the lights went off and the crowd erupted, chanting “Avicii”. Students welcomed Avicii with an epic McGill Once, McGill Twice cheer. As 1200 students chanted the final ‘MCGILL!’, Avicii blasted an unreleased re-mix of his latest single, “Fade Into Darkness”, immediately electri-fying the crowd to what would be a thrilling three hour set. Avi-cii featured “Seek Bromance”, “Blessed”, and “Rolling in the Deep” as well as hits such as “Let Me Show You Love”, while end-ing the show with a remix of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside”.

“Words cannot describe how ridiculous that night

was,” said Aram Aharonian, U3

Account-

Kristine PinedoLead Lifestyle Editor

ing. With an impressive light show, four CO2 jets, gold confetti blasters and a sold-out crowd, “Avicii took the madness of Management Carni-val, the spirit of Frosh, and the rage of Power Hour, and packed it into the most amazing three hour set I’ve ever seen,” de-scribed Ben Pidduck, U2.

Director of Corporate Rela-tions, Manuella Djuric, orches-trated the event with the support of the MUS. The original idea for the Avicii concert was to bring the music superstar to play for SSMU Frosh; however, they in-stead chose Dragonette. Djuric went on to plan the concert as an MUS event exclusive to McGill students that would become part of Avicii’s North American Col-lege Tour.

The concert was an excit-ing way to start the school year and encourage involvement in MUS events. First year students received a reduced rate as a wel-come from the MUS. As Mi-chelle Gastle, U0, stated, “After the Avicii concert, I knew McGill had been the right choice and all my friends agreed. It made me want to get involved in our awe-some faculty and I interviewed

to be on the First Year Street Team the following week.”

Graduating students such as Marissa

Rosen, U3,

share the senti-ment, “Avicii was hands down the best electro/house event I have ever been to. It is a testament to the MUS understanding of what the faculty wants, which is evidently more fun seeing as how successful the night was!”

Djuric and her promotional team worked with Spin Artist Agency to schedule Avicii and with Telus Theatre to set up the show. “Tim’s booking agents, David Brady and Andrew McKe-ough as well as his road manager Malik Adunni, were extremely helpful and an absolute pleasure to work with,” stated Djuric.

Djuric conceived the idea for the concert after meeting Avicii during Grand Prix Week-end over the summer where she mentioned the idea for a McGill event. “It was a huge challenge, but it was definitely facilitated by meeting with him first and then working through the details with his team,” she said.

Gaby Abou Merhi, MUS VP Finance, spoke with The Bull & Bear detailing the finances be-hind the event. The MUS raised approximately $50 000 in reve-nue from ticket sales. $30 tickets were sold to Frosh leaders and

first-years entering Bronfman as a thank-you for their

involvement, and to help them get to

know the

MUS while in-tegrating into the faculty. Ticket sales were then staggered into batches of 200 and sold in $15 increment increases, reaching $60 in the last week.

Profits from the concert, to-taling approximately $7995, will go towards MUS events that did not receive sufficient funding through sponsorship, such as last month’s Graduating Case Com-petition.

After all the difficulty of planning such a large event, Dju-ric expressed her feelings about the outcome of the show, “I feel the concert went extremely well…the positive feedback I have been getting from it is abso-lutely amazing.”

Photographs from the event, taken by McGill students, Amelia Couture, John Kelsey, Soumia Zeh-ri, and Thuymi Do can be found at the Bull & Bear website and at www.facebook.com/musavicii

veni vidi Avici i

News

The Bull & Bear

10

October 2011

Ian Burke Cameron, Lead Editorian@bullandbear.ca

Robert Bonsant, Vice Presi-dent Investment Advisor of CIBC Wood Gundy, recently spoke with The Bull & Bear to of-fer McGill management students some advice and insights about the financial industry. According to the McGill alumn, “life is not a sprint, but a marathon.” It took Bonsant around twenty years to find a career choice he was truly passionate about. Indeed, his ca-reer path is anything but boring.

Bonsant worked as a teller for RBC, an analyst at the Mon-treal Exchange, a sales repre-sentative at Standard Life, and a regional manager at Crown Life. Throughout his career, he continued his education, com-pleting the Canadian Securities Course and all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst program. Bonsant finally discov-ered his calling with his fifth job in investment advising. He de-scribes his job as “having [his] own business without having to put down a lot of capital.” As an investment advisor, he is able to find his own clients and maintain relationships with them as he sees fit. Work-life balance is easy to achieve as Bonsant fixes his own schedule. He is motivated

by personal responsibility since he is directly compensated for the outcomes of his effort. As fu-ture employees of a company, he recommends students be “rev-enue items [and not] expense items.” If you are able to bring in new accounts and close deals, you will be respected and not be the first to go in times of financial distress.

Wood Gundy has been help-ing Canadians manage their in-vestments for over 100 years. Within his sixteen years at Wood Gundy, Robert Bonsant has no-ticed a trend in the industry. Margins are decreasing as more assets are needed in order to gen-erate comparable returns. This is due to increased information flow and the possibility for the “Average Joe” to do his own in-vesting. However, since margins are thinner, it takes more skill in order to “beat the market,” some-thing that “Joe” may not neces-sarily have.

The median age of Invest-ment Advisors at Wood Gundy is around fifty. Even though cli-ents should not think that age is the sole determining factor of an adviser’s ability, it is most defi-nitely reassuring when a person has proved himself or herself in an industry for so long. Bon-sant recalls how hard it was to

sell pensions to senior execu-tives while working for Standard Life in his twenties. They did not take him seriously. Jokingly, he says that this is “one of the ad-vantages of having grey hair.” As

Baby Boomers will be retiring in upcoming years, companies like Wood Gundy will need to begin preparing and training young as-sociates. To this effect, they have in place a mentorship program where associates can expect to prepare reports, analyse portfo-lios, and execute other clerical tasks under the supervision and guidance of a mentor.

Despite Bonsant’s pride in being a McGill alumn, he notes that university is only the first

step towards launching a career. An undergraduate degree dem-onstrates to potential employers that the student has acquired ba-sic skills and will thus allow you a first level entry job. In order to “move up the corporate ladder more quickly,” industry courses are critical. If you are interested in the retail side of finance, such as investment management for individuals, a Canadian Securi-ties Institute certification is cru-cial. If you are interested in the institutional side, a Chartered Financial Analyst designation is recommended. Even after getting a job, if you think you are done with education, think again. For example, Bonsant takes continu-ing education classes in order to maintain his securities and insur-ance licences. This is not meant to discourage, but instead to pre-pare you for what to expect once you leave Milton Gates.

In terms of changing jobs, only pick the opportunities that represent a progression and will allow you to grow. Speaking from experience, Bonsant advises “do not change just [for the sake of] change.” Change if you are un-happy with the current job or if you think you can learn more in a new position.

As a cautionary note, not all personalities are suited for in-

vestment advising. One should be outgoing, disciplined, and willing to help other people. At the beginning, establishing a cli-ent base requires much persis-tence and patience as cold calling and rejection are standard.

Bonsant’s experience is exemplary of the fact that it re-quires time to find the right job. Many students leave university without any idea as to which ca-reer they wish to pursue. Do not worry if you are still soul-search-ing and hesitating - trial and error is likely before you find a job you are passionate about. Keep your options open and be willing to take whatever comes your way.

Golden Ticket to SuccessMcGill alum shares his long journey in the financial industry

Yina ZhouLifestyle Writer

The 2011 Graduating Case Competition, sponsored by Cap-ital One and Sinfully Asian, took place on the weekend of Septem-ber 23rd. The contest was divid-ed into three categories: strategy, marketing and finance, and was judged by twelve representatives from various companies, includ-ing Accenture, Wire Rope Indus-tries, BMO Nesbitt Burns, In-terinvest, Claridge, inc., KPMG, and Pandion Investments, Ltd.

Fifty-six members of the graduating class participated in the competition, which started off on Friday with two tutorial sessions, followed by an opening cocktail at the Omni Hotel. The next day, participants, who were divided into teams of four, were given a case to crack within three short hours. After their time was over, they gave a twenty-minute presentation followed by a five-minute question-and-answer ses-sion with the judges.

The marketing case was cho-

sen by Capital One - the platinum sponsor of GCC - and related to student cards. Because most stu-dents tend to sign up for their first credit card under the same bank as their parents, the case fo-cused on how to attract students to Capital One instead. It was a particularly popular case because it was a real-world case and espe-cially relevant to students.

The finance case, however, proved less popular and more challenging. It related to pension funds, about which most stu-dents had little knowledge. Some felt that the question was “un-clear” and that the over-arching topic was not close to student interests. Judges even joked that there were “four groups, and no perfect crack.”

Awards were given out at a cocktail on Saturday, which was attended by participants, judg-es, and The Bull & Bear. Judges were generally quite impressed with the teams, but the greatest praise was undoubtedly given to DCGA Consulting. They were the winners of the strategy

case, which involved identifying where to expand existing product lines with a strategy that would allow LEGO to maintain market dominance in their market. One judge enthusiastically exclaimed, “They blew us away and made us

want to buy a thousand bucks worth of LEGO!”

The closing cocktail on Sat-urday marked the end of the in-tensive two-day competition for participants, who described it as “incredibly stressful, but equally

fun.” Fortunately, there was an open bar to for the fatigued par-ticipants to either grieve loss or celebrate victory.

2011 Graduating Case CompetitionDesautels’ students put their education into practice

Alvira RaoNews Writer

A winning team poses at Graduating Case Competition

Robert Bonsant, a McGill alumnus and Vice President Investment Advisor at CIBC

Wood Grundy.

Kapil Mehra | The Bull & Bear

Lifestyle

The Bull & Bear

11

October 2011

Kristine Pinedo, Lead Editorkristine@bullandbear.ca

With just a month remaining until the November 7 application dead-

line, The Next 36 is hot in pursuit of Canada’s best and brightest fu-ture entrepreneurs. At an event at the Desautels Faculty of Manage-ment last month, the founders of The Next 36, supported by busi-ness leaders from Montreal and across Canada, pitched their idea to McGill faculty and hopeful students. Last year The Next 36 chose 36 of Canada’s most prom-ising undergraduate students to participate in their eight month entrepreneurial boot camp. Sup-ported by Canadian business fig-ures including W. Galen Weston, Paul Desmarais and Jim Pattison, The Next 36 offers participants classes with faculty from lead-ing institutions such as Harvard, Wharton, Ivey and Georgetown, one-on-one mentorship with top Canadian CEOs and entrepre-neurs, and to top it all off, seed capital totalling $50,000.

The brainchild of serial-entrepreneur and University of Toronto business professor Reza Satchu, who admits that ”it’s an absurd program”, The Next 36 aims to transform those students with the most potential into high-impact entrepreneurs. His hopes are that the candidates will start identifying problems and creating real-world solutions. However, this requires experi-ence and understanding that the candidates have not yet fully de-veloped.

That’s where the experience of established CEOs and entre-preneurs is so valuable. Four-student teams are created by the organisers based on area of study and specific ability, and each team is mentored by one CEO and one industry-specialist. At last month’s event, Executive Director Claudia Hepburn re-called how the mentors were told they’d be spending 5-10 hours a month conferencing with their teams, but in some cases spent up to 60 hours per month with their teams.

The program culminates in the expected launch of ventures created by the teams in the area of digital media and communica-tion. Whether the ventures suc-ceed or not, the candidates have gained something even more valuable: experience.

However, the experience is not without a purpose. The Next 36 is a venture that is living the

strategy it aims to teach to others, solving the problems that would scare away anyone but the most willing and able. “We’re trying to solve a major problem here” says Mr Satchu, ”the prosperity gap between Canada and the United States is increasing. It’s not that there are not enough highly pro-ductive workers, it’s that there are not enough Googles here”.

Compared to the United States, Canada is slowly being left behind. The key factor is that innovation and the drive to take the risks to be revolutionary are not ingrained in our conscious-ness like they are south of the boarder. The Next 36 encourages participants to take risks, and to stay with it ”[so that] when [they’re] ready to do something big, [they] can do it”

In an interview with Mr Satchu in July of this year, The Globe and Mail quoted him as saying “I thought all the kids from Harvard, Yale and Stanford would know so much more, but they didn’t. Their advantage is that they have massive exposure to leaders and much higher ex-pectations of themselves.”

The difference between the American students and the Ca-nadian ones isn’t one of educa-tion, but of trajectory. “It is about a mindset,” says Jon French, Di-rector of Marketing and Events. “Taking young leaders who are

already destined for great things and giving them an incredible amount of resources, with the expectation that they will have a huge impact on the prosperity of their country.”

Gideon Hayden, a partici-pant in last year’s The Next 36 and a McGill graduate, believes that the mindset he grew into during the program has perme-ated not just his take on business and entrepreneurship, but his whole life. “I think that the value of The Next 36 is that you get exposure to such accomplished entrepreneurs and leaders in this country, and as a result your ex-pectations of yourself drastically increase.”

So what are prospective ap-plicants hoping to get out of this? McGill student and The Next 36 hopeful Chris Conery told The Bull & Bear: “I truly believe that this program directly fast tracks participants’ success...only the most prominent applicants are selected and are given resources, education, experience that is go-ing to unlock potential.”

That is what the team behind The Next 36 is hoping for. Believ-ing that entrepreneurship can be taught, and working to give those most able the tools they need to truly exceed, The Next 36 is pre-paring the next generation of in-novative and visionary thinkers for the Canadian business world.

The Next 36 Visionaries unite in entrepreneurial spirit

Christian SullivanNews Writer

Reza Satchu speaks at Desautels event Nicole Himelfarb | The Bull & Bear

Opinion

The Bull & Bear

12

October 2011

David Lin, Lead Editordavid@bullandbear.ca

I am inspired by the ongoing strike to recall a recent case in labour relations history. In August of 1981, union

members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike after a series of failed negotiations with the Federal Aviation Administra-tion (FAA) to increase wages, improve retirement benefits, and shorten the work week. President Reagan subsequently fired them all and brought in the military to supervise and man airport tow-ers. Two months later the FAA decertified PATCO. This case is meant to be allegorical more than premonitory, because unlike MUNACA, US federal employ-ees are banned by law to stage mass strikes that could compro-mise the nation’s infrastructures. Thus, I don’t anticipate, or even hope that MUNACA would share PATCO’s fate. Still, there are striking similarities in the way these strikes have been ex-ecuted that need to be addressed. PATCO chose to strike during the busiest time of the year for airlines; revenue losses would have forced employers to cut wages or even lay off additional workers. In parallel, MUNACA scheduled their demonstration to coincide with the fall back-to-school rush, thereby maximiz-ing their collateral damage done to students and teaching staff in need of their services. Granted, this is a textbook pressure tactic commonly employed by labour unions en masse but what is the rationale for courting your hos-tages for support? Those stu-dents who do support the strike must surely have noticed the de-lay in IT services in posting on-line lectures, the closure of sev-eral libraries, not to mention the pre-meditated blocking of major entrances for the sole purpose of inconveniencing commuters. I think I may be naïve in hoping that unions could abandon their geocentric world and for once refrain from exploiting innocent third-parties as a PR ploy, but in either case, I refuse to be treated as collateral damage and support this two-faced charade, and it is for this reason that I will not “join in MUNACA’s ranks in sol-idarity,” as SSMU so passionately pleads us to do.

MUNACA has shown that not only do they lack tact in ex-ecution but also lack credibility in their communication. Hav-ing invalidated themselves as an organization of subtlety, the

union has leveraged on the dis-semination of their core mes-sage, “All we want is parity,” to build sympathy for their cause. The underlying implication here is that they are not currently being treated as equals and as such, are granted by natural law to embark on a crusade against “social injustices,” as one worker described in her comment on another campus newspaper ar-ticle. There are two problems with this: first, the scope of social injustices in our society extends beyond the confines of the Mc-

Gill campus, and second, there is no real evidence to suggest that MUNACA employees are gross-ly underpaid and are subject to intolerable working conditions. The administration is offering a 1.2% annual increase in pay, which they claim is on par with other McGill unions and is more than what’s offered to 450,000 of Quebec’s public sector em-ployees. Granted, 1.2% is lower than the average Canadian base pay increases of 2.9 per cent for 2011 (as projected by Mercer) and even lower than the CPI of 3.1%, but let’s compare this fig-ure with MUNACA’s demands. University workers in Montreal are compensated on a wage scale, meaning that employees start at the minimum level of pay and progress to the maximum salary at a rate that is determined by the employer, which in the cur-rent case is only 1% per year. At this rate, MUNACA claims that it would take a new worker 37 years to reach the maximum sal-ary, as opposed to 3 to 14 years at other local universities.

It therefore becomes clear that MUNACA workers aren’t being paid less in terms of their salary levels compared to that of

other union workers; rather, it is the slower rate at which their salaries increase per year that is the issue. By shortening the time to complete their salary progres-sion to a proposed 6 years, work-ers will be able to increase their pay at an annual rate of 9.4% (28% increase over 3 years), but MUNACA argues that this isn’t unreasonable since the workers who have completed their sal-ary progression are subject to no more than a 3% yearly increase thereafter. As the master fram-ers of information that they are,

MUNACA has failed to disclose that currently only about 25% of their employees have completed their salary progression, so the majority of their workers would still be eligible for a 9.4% yearly increase. Still, I find it difficult to fathom that a union would make such vampiric demands during a melancholy episode of economic trauma. To put things in per-spective, the Canadian real GDP growth rate in 2010 was 3.1%; what justifications do clerical workers at a university have for increasing their income at three times that of the inflation-ad-justed output of Canadian capi-talism? That being said, the cur-rent contract stipulates a salary increase equivalent to only 0.33 times the GDP growth rate, so I think that some moderation is re-quired for fairness to be reached.

The degradation of MU-NACA’s reputation as a credible source of information is further evidenced in their reports of McGill’s contingency plans in the face of a strike. The school administration writes that “un-der Quebec law, certain types of managers are allowed to perform the work of the striking employ-ees.” MUNACA was quick to

identify those casual workers who have been hired to work in lieu of them, a process informally known as “scabbing.” In their own defence, the union has even cited article 109.1 of the Quebec Labour Code which states that an employer cannot utilize the services of a part-time worker to replace a member of the bargain-ing team. What MUNACA didn’t disclose, either as an intention to frame or simply out of sheer ig-norance, is that section 109.3 ex-plicitly states, “The application of section 109.1 does not have the

effect of preventing an employer from taking, where such is the case, the necessary measures to avoid the destruction or serious deterioration of his property.” The terms “property,” “destruc-tion,” and “deterioration” are subject to legal interpretations, but it is not difficult to argue that McGill had to act on behalf of its students and faculty to prevent a total shutdown of the univer-sity’s support infrastructures.

The final straw for me was the contemptible manner in which MUNACA responded to the recent court injunction. Fol-lowing the court order to abstain from protesting within school grounds, workers began handing out pamphlets that read “Warn-ing: you are entering McGill, a no free-speech zone.” Pardon me, but I do not condone your insulting my alma mater in such a degrading tone; just because you have the right to protest it does not mean that I have the obligation to listen to you, and it certainly does not mean that your employer has the obliga-tion to provide you with a forum with which to broadcast your woes. To quote Ayn Rand, the philosopher and novelist, “The

right of free speech means that a man has the right to express his ideas without danger of sup-pression, interference or puni-tive action by the government. It does not mean that others must provide him with a lecture hall, a radio station or a printing press through which to express his ideas.”

A MUNACA employee, whom I’ve become acquainted with over the years, chatted brief-ly with me while I passed him on the picket lines earlier in Sep-tember. When I asked him, half-rhetorically, what he was doing, he explained that they are “living the dream.” I offered to do what I could to help, but even then I re-alized that no amount of slogan chanting or juvenile behaviour along the lines of booing at Mc-Gill executives during a meeting at the MacDonald Engineering building is going to help expedite the negotiations. Notwithstand-ing this insight, I’d like to uphold my offer and make a few modest (and non-satirical) proposals. To MUNACA and its affiliated unions, I propose that you return to work immediately, thereby re-leasing students as your hostages during this siege against the Mc-Gill administration. It is under-standable that a union such as yourself is not completely satis-fied with the university’s coun-teroffers at this time, in which case the employees can resume their indispensable work of up-holding McGill’s infrastructures while the councils and execu-tives of MUNACA can continue the negotiations on your behalf. Incidentally, I propose that you, as a collective union, come to the realization that your demands for wage increases are economically unreasonable and self-deprecat-ing, as one practical way for Mc-Gill to fulfill a 28.9% salary in-crease over three years is to hire fewer of you. I further propose that if such an impasse were to occur in the future that MUNA-CA’s 1700 workers would kindly consider the consequences of such a strike on the lives of Mc-Gill’s 34,000 students and stage your protest at a time such as the summer as to minimize any disruptions to learning during the regular school year. In doing so, you might earn not only the students’ support, but also our respect. Alternatively, you can prolong this stalemate by your lawful occupation of marching and drum-beating, but I’d be wrong to assume that this is truly the “dream” your colleague spoke of.

A Modest Proposal to MUNACANot everyone supports the strike

David LinLead Opinion Editor

MUNACA’s core message of demanding “parity” is misleading and poorly justified.Kapil Mehra | The Bull & Bear

Opinion

The Bull & Bear

13

October 2011

David Lin, Lead Editordavid@bullandbear.ca

It seems, once again, that the world has waged war on traders and bankers alike, sparked by the recent arrest

of UBS equities trader Kweku Adoboli in London over $2.3 billion in hidden trading losses. Of course, the media has wasted no time in broadly painting the realm of trading as a world of professional gambling filled with frat-boy gunslingers betting on pure odds. What, was banker-bashing not enough? However, though as much as I would love to tear apart this sad stereotype, there is the proverbial grain of truth that needs addressing – business students aren’t being taught the right attitude when it comes to trading. Let me put it this way: how many movies do you see or articles you read about traders that consistently make steady returns? Probably not many.

There’s no underdog, rags-to-riches potential that Holly-wood so loves. Wall Street, Wall Street 2, Boiler Room, Rogue Trader are all movies about big players, big positions and big

money. And although the films attempt to provide a silver lining to the story, it’s far more interest-ing to imagine the fame of pull-ing in the big positions yourself.

You only hear about the big swinging, hard-hitting rainmak-ers who pull in enough to buy a small European country (or a couple of countries in this mar-ket). It’s the George Soroses and Warren Buffets of the world who are idolized and worshipped in business schools, not the steady, rational folks who work with the market day-in and day-out. And that, ladies and gents, is what re-ally grinds my gears.

Sure, we can blame some of it on the media for dramatically sensationalizing the few big-hit-

ters and labelling the failures as “rogue”. Add to that the unedu-cated rants of people likening the financial market to one big casino and we have a rosy picture for our future traders. And trust me, that type of attitude has flourished in the ego-centric Bronfman High; talk to any budding finance stu-dent and you’ll be subject to a laundry list of how much money they’ve made trading on their own and how they’re like the next George Soros. For added ef-fect, liberally toss in red “power” ties and LV handbags. But don’t tell me that the point of trading is just to make money – it’s as much about how one trades as it is about how much one makes. That’s the key missing link at

schools like McGill. Education isn’t just academic prowess or research muscle, it’s also about sending out intelligent individu-als into the workplace and intel-ligence means more than how much one can regurgitate on the exams. So don’t just tell me how to measure risk, show me how to manage it.

I had the lucky opportunity to work on the trading floor at a bank last summer and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there exists a fine line between controlled-risk trading and act-ing out Die Hard as one’s trading strategy. In the aftermath of the crises and now the arrest, banks have been quick to tout existing internal controls or assure inves-tors of new, tougher ones. Just a few days ago, Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn cited poor risk-management practices, not products or trading attitude, as the cause of company losses and failures. Furthermore, Mr. Cohn went on to boldly state that Goldman Sachs has a “robust separation of duties.” In light of the recent UBS scandal and sub-sequent resignation of the CEO, it sounds to me like a very deft move to cover one’s posterior

rather than address the prover-bial elephant in the room.

However, in my opinion, it should come down to dealing with the fundamental human behaviour. See, trading, unlike banking, is inexorably linked to squeezing money out of every market situation. So how does one both encourage and prevent a flawed human nature? Obvi-ously, having traders unwilling to deal in anything but 100% safety won’t get anyone far – but neither will the trend of subtly prized high rollers.

My point comes down to one simple premise: the atti-tude towards trading must be of controlled risk. Be aggressive, but stay within ironclad, self-enforced limits. Traders are very smart cookies; they’re used to manipulating a system far more complex than new risk manage-ment systems and the culture, while differing within banks, needs to be cultivated in the ear-ly stages. So rather than strutting around like the next Warren Buf-fet, Don Draper or Prada model, be realistic about what you’re dealing with, because the market isn’t quite so forgiving.

One Giant CasinoExcessive risk taking jeopardizes the stability of markets

Tarun KoshyOpinion Writer

The endorphin-releasing thrills of gambling are stereotypically likened to the recklesness of risk-seeking traders.

Yesterday I was granted early access to Facebook’s new pro-file interface, called Timeline. It’s without a doubt Facebook’s most radical redesign yet, and like all Facebook changes, it’s sure to have vocal opposition from some.

With new competitors in the social networking arena, Facebook has taken a large leap in re-envisioning your social life on the web. Whereas the first-generation Facebook had cer-tain information boundaries, the new Timeline encourages you to share every detail of your life: birth (where you can even add a photo…I skipped that part), relationships, broken bones, ill-ness, a new job, military service, pets, kids, loss of a loved one, travel; the options are shockingly detailed.

Many Facebook feature upgrades and redesigns have seemed the haphazard work of some geeky engineers. Most re-cently, the company backtracked on its idea to keep the Chat side-bar always visible on the right, yet show only people it thought

you might want to talk to.Facebook Timeline shows a

noticeable departure from that trend, with careful visual execu-tion that demonstrates true em-phasis on the user experience. The first thing users will notice is the Cover, a full-width banner at the top of your profile. Here, the user chooses an image that best reflects their life. I picked one of my friends and I spending a hot summer day in the pool. The im-pact of this enormous billboard is immediate and truly emotional when done right.

Beneath the redesigned banner is the Timeline. Here, Facebook has taken its wealth of information about your life from the moment of your account cre-ation and created a full timeline of your interactions. Active Face-book users may be surprised to revisit previous years of photos, wall posts, and events they had long forgotten. Timeline is very nostalgic, providing a virtual li-brary of old memories that scroll endlessly down the screen.

Privacy advocates may argue that Timeline has gone a step too far in providing access to other peoples’ lives. True, Time-

line does facilitate creeping. But it also serves to remind us just how much data we share with Facebook’s servers. In its effort to compete with Google+, Face-book has developed advanced privacy controls that allow for fine-tuning at the post level. If that’s not enough to assuage the privacy-concerned, they’ll have

little recourse – Timeline goes live system-wide in the coming weeks.

With increased emphasis on photos and a more visually pleas-ing interface, Timeline shows a refreshing new commitment to the user experience. As us-ers spend a longer part of their lives on Facebook, the site has

adapted from what was simply a college social tool to a full digital record of your life.

To learn more about Timeline, visit www.facebook.com/about/timeline.

A Look at the Facebook RedesignThe Timeline interface is the social network’s biggest leap yet in user experience.

Alex PajusiExecutive Editor

The new full-width cover photo is the first thing users will notice about Timeline.

Opinion

The Bull & Bear

14

October 2011

David Lin, Lead Editordavid@bullandbear.ca

In early June of 2011, Grou-pon filed its S-1 with the SEC – the formal move that signified its forthcom-

ing initial public offering. How-ever, its launch as a publically traded company has recently been put on hold, with the Sep-tember cancellation of an im-portant roadshow typically used to attract investors. In its pre-IPO state, Groupon is currently undergoing the “quiet period” during which federal law limits what company employees and representatives can say regarding the profitability of the company. That said, a leaked office memo has left critics everywhere specu-lating not only about the delayed public offering, but also about the sustainability of the daily-deal business model.

In the leaked memo spread in late August, head executive Andrew Mason took skeptics head on, stating that he has “nev-er been more confident and ex-cited” about the future of Grou-pon. He urged his employees to “silently argue in their minds” rather than retaliate publically at bloggers and business writers, and addressed concerns that the company is spending too much on marketing with no profits to date.

Mr. Mason’s 2500 word cheerleader act may have turned some frowns upside down with-in Groupon headquarters, but the message of encouragement raised concerns that the com-pany had violated SEC rules by hyping the company. In 1996, the IPO for tech media company Wired Ventures was pulled af-ter an internal memo was made public – setting an unfortunate precedent for what is currently happening with the daily-deal mogul.

But it’s not breaking a vow of silence that has Groupon shaky on its upcoming IPO – there have recently been vola-tile swings in the market that endanger scooping the highest possible stock prices. As well, Groupon is low on cash. If the IPO is not carried through in the next month or so, the company should hunker down on reduc-ing spending and making its mar-keting efforts more cost-efficient. In other words, Groupon needs to make good on its remarkable rate of growth – 2009’s revenues of $30.47 million were bested by 2010’s revenues of $713.4 mil-lion. The first quarter of 2011 brought revenues of $644.7 mil-

lion – almost as much as it made during the previous year. That said, regulators have been critical of Groupon’s accounting due to how it would book money that went to the merchant as their own revenue. Prior to Septem-ber 23, the company counted as revenue the total value of coupons sold. After discussion with the SEC, Groupon is now only counting its commission on sales. This cuts its stated revenue for 2010 by half.

But Groupon isn’t nearly below water - its rapid growth cannot be denied. Groupon’s success can be attributed to its unique form of self-refreshing marketing – once the company grabs your attention, you are flooded with daily e-mails boast-ing 60% off a massage, or 70% off high quality Japanese fare. It becomes a game where consum-ers are invigorated to spend in order to save, and curiosity urges you to open up that e-mail every morning.

Its shortcomings as a model are then drawn from the type of customer a Groupon attracts: someone who buys a mani-pedi for 50% off is making the pur-chase for the one-time deal, and is not likely to provide long-term business for the merchant. Simi-larly, vouchers can reduce prof-its by prompting loyal custom-ers to use discounts. Moreover, merchants can find themselves unprepared to deal with the on-

slaught of new customers – too many vouchers sold may exhaust the merchant of its products or services, leaving the merchant poorer than before, and custom-ers angry. The Butchers Organic Meats store, located in Toronto, is an excellent example: over 15,000 vouchers were sold in 2011 to the point where their stock and meat quality became intolerably sparse, leaving cus-tomers feeling dissatisfied when they could only leave with sau-sages. So many vouchers were sold, in fact, that the shop de-cided to stop honouring them without informing the deal sites – leaving customers seething. After having to interact with such a dishonest merchant, it would not surprise me if The Butchers deal prevented these people from using deal sites ever again.

That is not to say all deal sites fall victim to the same fatal flaws. Campus Coupon, Mc-Gill’s own daily deal site, has been flourishing since its late August debut. After conducting thorough market research and publicizing through listservs, students Jared Saks and Jonathan Rosenbluth have managed to run two weekly deals unscathed. When asked what makes Cam-pus Coupon more attractive than bigwigs Groupon or LivingSo-cial, Jared cites that the competi-tors have “failed to tap into the student market”. “The two of us are current McGill students, and

we both know what students like. We offer deals that are specific to students, featuring nearby res-taurants, bars, and more,” he says. By their records, over 75 hungry students will be enjoying $12 worth of offerings from Le Smart Burger at a 50% discount.

Responding to the contro-versy surrounding Groupon’s finances, Jonathan states, “Over-spending on marketing is an easy way for a group buying site to dig a hole for itself.”

“A balance between market-ing and sales, and investing early profits into further marketing – as opposed to having a major marketing budget prior to any profits – is a successful model.” he finishes.

Upon reflection, perhaps the key to profitability lies in recog-nizing and aptly targeting niches. Just as Mr. Saks and Mr. Rosen-bluth have narrowed their audi-ence down to McGill (and pos-sibly Concordia) students, they are able to conduct considerable primary and secondary research to ensure a deal’s success before it even goes live.

It is clear that Groupon needs to amp up the “local” qual-ity, as indicated by Campus Cou-pon’s new-found success. Deals sent to my mailbox should be catered to my interests, and thus should be concentrated much more heavily on Shiatsu massag-es rather than discounted power tools.

Daily Deal DramaInvestigating Groupon and Campus Coupon

Jessica SimmondsOpinion Editor

Campus Coupon founders Jared Saks (left) and Jonathan Rosenbluth (right).

In my personal endeavours, I have been fortunate to receive insightful feedback from my men-tors. Along with a little humor and wisdom of my own, I am excited to share with you some tips, tricks, and thoughts that might smooth out a few wrinkles along the path to success. Follow my business blasts geared towards graduating students looking to have the up-per hand when entering the labour market.

Who you are in the labor market is more than your knowl-edge, skills, and abilities listed on your CV. Your marketable identity includes your person-ality, lifestyle preferences, and yes, physical appearance as well. Think Morgan Freeman – white hair, deep voice, and kind smile associated with the image of “God.” Or Tim Burton with his tinted glasses and dark suit, all characteristic of his macabre edge. What does your overall image say about you? Are you a creative soul with quirky classes? The tall introvert who is always diplomatic? The serious negotia-tor with the perfect poker face? Without even having spoken or shaken hands with anyone, our dispositions may already be sell-ing us to the rest of the world.

Think about what your per-sonal traits may be conveying to others, and leverage your im-age to best serve your desired identity. You could also work backwards and decide what im-age you wish to convey, and then make changes to help you por-tray that demeanor. Anything from picking a bright colored tie for an interview with a creative company, to lowering the pitch of your voice while presenting a business case will send a direct message. Impression manage-ment is more than just suiting up, and whether it occurs conscious-ly or unconsciously, a targeted tweak in your image is likely to feed your audience more desired messages about your personal qualities.

Business BlastLeverage Your ImageAndrea ZhuColumnist

Amelia Couture | The Bull & Bear

The Last Word

The Bull & Bear

15

October 2011

Your monthly fix of gossip, goings-on, and graphics.

We make the match, you make the decision.

Hot or NotOur guide to your next opinionated conversation

HOT NOT

We make the match, you make the decision.

Oktoberfest

NHL Season Starts

Facebook Timeline

Avicii Photos

Turkey Dinners

Amazon Kindle Fire

First Year Street Team

JobBook

McGill’s obsessive control of their name/brand

Midterm season

Facebook tracking user data on other sites

The Redpath bridge is closed

The Avicii Phone Thief

Rainy October weather

BlackBerry PlayBook

No iPhone 5

The MUNACA strike

Slutty Halloween Costumes

The Second Floora photo blog by Holly Sherlockbullandbear.ca

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