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October 2012
Volume 25
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Boise, Idaho
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Finance students fund scholarships Sanja Lazic Staff Writer
The Dykman Financial Trading Room on the second floor of the Micron Business and Economics Building isn’t a typical business classroom. Home to three giant and intimidating monitors displaying the Bloomberg database, it is the location of Finance 460, a two-semester, hands-on portfolio management course. What is noteworthy about this class is the fact that for the 2011-2012 year, the students earned a 46.25 percent return on their investment for the D.A. Davidson Student Investment Program, the highest of any of the 20 participating universities. The return Boise State receives goes into funding scholarships for future finance students and each year the class is provided with $50,000 to invest by D.A. Davidson, with the company absorbing any losses and the university retaining 50 percent of the earnings above five percent. The university took home approximately $10,000 of the return this year. This student-managed investment fund actually includes three separate funds set up by donations from D.A. Davidson, Timothy Schlindwein, a money manager from Chicago, and a program alumnus who donated $100,000 to the fund. All three funds performed remarkably well, and the credit for this achievement goes to last year’s program members. “Going in I really had no expectations other then to get some hands-on experience investing money,” said Shawn McFarland. “Coming out, it was the best class I took for my career because it gave me an opportunity to use the tools in a very real life application that the core classes provide.” McFarland participated in the program during 20112012 and graduated with a degree in finance this spring. “Also, having to work together for a year with other students I didn’t even know beforehand, sharing ideas and opinions, research, and then
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Monitors in the Dykman Financial Trading room show the real Bloomberg database.
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It was the best class I took for my career because it gave me an opportunity to use the tools in a very real life application that the core classes provide.
making decisions and having to live with the results adds depth to the learning process that can’t be achieved through case studies from the back of a textbook. Regardless of the outcome of the portfolio, that real life responsibility was invaluable,” McFarland said. “I try to leave them as independent as possible,” Harry White, Ph.D., professor of the course said. “I’m not going to let them do something that’s going to blow up the fund,” he added, although it has never come to that in the seventeen years Boise State students have been managing a portfolio. This year the six students in the class are divided into three teams with each primarily responsible for one of the three funds. “I run it as a pro-
—Shawn McFarland
fessional money management shop,” White said. “Presentations on buys and sells are given to the whole group and the decision is made by the whole group,” he said. When asked how students are able to post such impressive returns, White attributes it to the process. “They go through the process of figuring out what their benchmark is going to be and measure their results against, and then they chose securities to try to beat that benchmark and they utilize the knowledge they get out of their other finance courses, in terms of asset valuation, how to choose a security, risk, all of that,” White said. “I’m hoping to learn how to allocate within a portfolio, have a better understanding of how to pick assets especially with timing of the market,” said Dustin Michaelson, president of the
Financial Management Association and senior finance major currently in Finance 460. “From day one you kind of get rolling. We get handed our funds and we immediately start looking at those funds. Half of our portfolio is cash right now and so we’re really looking right now where to allocate that cash,” Michaelson said. When asked whether there is a sense of fear about what he is choosing to invest in, Michaelson said, “Absolutely. Last week I felt pretty confident about it and today there was a little pop on in it, so there’s definitely some hesitation there,” but he realizes this is real life so “it has to be fluid.” White views the course as a just-in-time information delivery process. As the class isn’t structured in a traditional sense with students taking notes and living from one exam to the next, White gives lectures when students ask for specific guidance. Another student in the class,
Sydney Sears, a double major in accounting and finance, also believes she is involved in something important. “ You’re looking at stuff that’s impacting the day-to-day life of a lot of people, so you get to be a part of that. It kind of feels like you’re doing something right,” she said. Although this class is an elective for finance majors, it can be an amazing opportunity for at least those students to learn how to navigate the complex investment environment they will perhaps enter upon graduation. It is also a very unique course because it involves a collaborative effort that moves beyond classroom simulations. Every student should be lucky enough to have a program such as this available for his or her major.
up in the circus tradition and have trained in those for generations. There are people who’ve gone to circus school all over the world. There’s all sorts of people. Of the 50 or so performers who are on the show, about half of them are traditional Chinese acrobats from China, and the rest are a mix from all over the world, and the cast
represents people from the U.S., from Canada, from Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Hungary, Italy. There’s people from all over the world.” There are seven “Dralion” showings at the Taco Bell Arena from Oct. 1114. For more information about the show, go to the Cirque du Soleil’s website for more information.
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Dralion Blending the East and West
Danielle Davidson Staff Writer
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The blending of East and West and the combination of the dragon and the lion are elements from which “Dralion” is born. “Dralion” is one of the many Cirque du Soleil shows which first premiered in 1999. Cirque du Soleil started as a company of 20 street performers in Montreal, Canada in 1984 and has grown to have 5,000 employees worldwide. Contrary to what the name Cirque du Soleil may imply, it is not like a traditional circus. There aren’t any animals, but there are acrobatics, live music and gymnastics. “It’s kind of a mixed east and west,” Senior Public Relations Advisor Aneka Rao said. “It uses traditions of traditional Chinese acrobatics with the modern day multi-
disciplinary approach of Cirque du Soleil and kind of draws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and the quest for harmony between nature and humans.” Chinese culture often has opposites like yin and yang represented and even nature has its opposites. The opposites of fire and earth are water and air. “Dralion” incorporates these natural yin and yang-like elements. “In the show there are four elements that are represented, there’s air, water, fire and earth, and each of those elements are represented by a specific color and also a specific character in the show, and they kind of weave in and out throughout the show,” Rao said. “There are separate acts within the show but there are also these dancers that represent the elements and weave in and out and have their own
performances in the show as well.” The performers come from all over, but with a majority coming from China and many of the performers have been doing acrobatics since they were children. “We recruit athletes who are former Olympians,” Rao said. “There are people who have grown
CODY FINNEY/THE ARBITER
A “Dralion” perfromer practices during rehersal on Tuesday, Oct. 9. arbiteronline.com