Media Mentions

KYW Newsradio

It could be cheaper to borrow money for college, now that the Federal Reserve is working to free up long-term borrowing. The Federal Reserve announced plans to buy up long-term securities in an effort to lower rates for long-term borrowing, including mortgages and student loans. Mortgage rates have already dropped and David Becher, associate professor of finance at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, says it should help students if they have good credit:

The Jewish Exponent

As a way to increase their income, at a time of national economic crisis, a number of older people are selling their insurance policies that they no longer need or want.That's according to Paul Aguirre, president, Equity of Life, LLC, in Plymouth Meeting and Skippack, a company that focuses on life settlements -- either the sale or assignment of a life-insurance policy to a financial institution for a lump sum cash payment -- for people 65 years old and older, who aren't terminally ill, and who have a life expectancy greater than two additional years.

VOA News

Zumunta Machunga-Disu had never heard of Drexel University in Philadelphia till her sister encouraged her to check out the university for her bachelor’s degree. “I am originally from Nigeria. My decision to come to the United States was basically to go to college,” she says. “I’m currently at Drexel University in Philadelphia. My sister actually recommended it to me.

Metro

Like most business owners, Michelle Guinta-Cimillo was looking for a way to draw more customers to her shop, so she offered a 20-percent sale before Black Friday. For a week. On everything. The Midtown shop owner is just one of many looking to boost what most predict will be a gloomy holiday season for retailers, especially those competing with thrift stores.

philly.com

Call it the Philadelphia region’s credit crisis conundrum.All through this credit crisis, we’ve been told that the credit markets are frozen or, at the very least, not functioning normally. Banks, they say, are hoarding cash, not lending.One semi-regular publication that describes lending activity is the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” report on current economic conditions its its 13 districts. The version released yesterday says “business and consumer lending activity continued to slow in most districts.”

Philadelphia Inquirer

The company’s iView software is in use in 230 college and university career centers, including MBA Career Services Center at the LeBow College of Business at Drexel University. “It’s a wonderful coaching tool,” said Marilyn Tietjen, associate director of the center. The colleges subscribe to the Web site, and students get a password so they can practice any time in their dorm rooms using the Web cam, now standard on many laptops. “By the time they go out on interviews, they’re generally getting offers,” Tietjen said. “It is not only building content, it is building their confidence.”

The Triangle

The Drexel University LeBow Graduate Student Association will sponsor the "Preston and Steve Camp Out for Hunger Food Drive" through Nov. 28, and all food collected will be donated to Philabundance, a food bank and hunger relief organization in the Delaware Valley.Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison host "The Preston & Steve Show" every morning from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on WMMR. They will camp out in an RV from Dec. 1 to Dec. 5 at the Metroplex Shopping Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. to collect food donations.

The Triangle

Global Entrepreneurship Week, a week when students are challenged to generate new ideas and develop skills in generating new innovations, will be held through Nov. 23 by the Drexel LeBow College of Business and Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship in Technology.

Philadelphia Business Journal

Alter Hall is the fourth new home for an area business school in the past 11 years. St. Joseph’s University’s Erivan K. Haub School of Business moved to Mandeville Hall in the spring of 1998 and Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School opened the Pearlstein Business Center and Jon M. Huntsman Hall, respectively in the fall of 2002.

Philadelphia Business Journal

Frank Linnehan, associate dean for graduate and undergraduate programs at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, said he aspects to see a shift away from finance-related majors, with more students focusing on the accounting skills that will be required to clean up the vast mess. “There are definitely options” for students he said. “The accounting people are going to be in demand. It’s now about how to evaluate value [of assets]. In the short term, there is going to be tremendous demand for people who can do that.”

Market Watch

RADNOR, Pa., Nov 12, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) – The Haverford Trust Company (Haverford), a privately owned investment management company, is pleased to announce that the firm’s President, Binney Wietlisbach, has been named to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2008 Women of Distinction. The Women of Distinction program is presented by Wachovia and sponsored by AETNA, Ernst & Young, LeBow College of Business, and Drexel University. For more information, please visit: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/event/4009.

Philadelphia Business Journal

Edward Nelling, associate professor of finance in the LeBow College of Business at Drexel University, said this is yet another effect of the credit crunch.“Under normal circumstances, a small business could move on to another company or a bank,” Nelling said. “But bank credit has dried up and credit card companies have all increased rates.”The most difficult part for small businesses is that their company’s profitability and credit history are not a major factor in the decision to increase rates.“Issuers are looking ahead even if the customer’s payment schedule has been good, they are predicting more risk,” Nelling said. “Even if the risk for your business hasn’t changed, you bear the brunt for more risky customers.

The Triangle

As the country’s major financial institutions and businesses report record losses and deep financial trouble, college students and their families are starting to feel the economic crunch, according to Ed Nelling, associate professor of finance at Drexel University. According to Nelling, recent and upcoming college graduates will be affected by the economic situation in three major areas: jobs, credit and investment.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Against a national backdrop of the $700 billion federal bailout package, "the fact that taxpayers in no way have to step into a potential bailout here . . . lightens the load by a couple of bricks," said Ed Nelling, associate professor of finance at Drexel University.

The Triangle

Drexel graduate and undergraduate students competed in a business competition Oct. 17, orchestrated by the LeBow College of Business and IBM.According to Donna Ferrari, director of Special Projects, Research and Ranking for LeBow, students participated in a corporate challenge that, "Evaluated not just [the] bottom line and price strategies," but where students were also "judged on leadership qualities, presentation qualities and team working qualities."

The Press Citizen

Houge and his co-author, Jie Cai, a business professor at Drexel University and University of Iowa Ph.D. alumnus, studied the long-run performance of the Russell 2000 – and the funds that track it – from 1979 to 2004. He said the Russell 2000 index itself is a valid and accurate reflection of small-cap stock performance at any given time. But its annual rebalancing means that index funds made up of the stocks on the index may not perform as well as they could. Because of the annual rebalancing, the stocks of growing companies are removed from the index just as they are starting to post significant returns.

Herald Sun

Continuing consolidation in the banking industry will be another change in the landscape, according to Erik Benrud, associate clinical professor of finance at Drexel University.“You are seeing that with the Wells Fargo, Citigroup bidding war,” Benrud said, in reference to the banks’ recent fight to take over the beleaguered Wachovia Bank.“Coming out of the rubble, there will be new institutions combining.“Benrud also believes that regulators will quickly turn their attention to the murky world of derivatives that is largely being blamed for the crisis.

Petroleum World

Who should get bailed out? Who should not? In the piecemeal approach that the government followed prior to the comprehensive $700bn rescue plan, the chance for an ailing institution to be bailed out in this financial crisis depends on several factors including size, connectedness and sophistication of investors. If you have the size, like Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac, then you will get support from the government to dodge the crisis. What if you are the fourth largest investment bank (ie, Lehman Brothers)? You will be let go to bankruptcy! But if you are Merrill Lynch, you will be rushed to fire-sell yourself to a very large commercial bank.

The Sacramento Bee

The fraction of U.S. households doing at least some of their banking online has grown from about 20 percent in 2002 to just under 50 percent today, according to Forrester Research. Over the long run, that trend will probably favor bigger banks, said Ed Nelling, a professor of finance at Drexel University in Philadelphia. “As technology evolves over time, people will get more comfortable with an anonymous working relationship with banking,” he said.

KYW Newsradio

Dean of the LeBow College of Business at Drexel, Doctor George Tsetsekos says leaders at the G7 meeting need action not words to unfreeze the credit markets. He says it’s not that banks and lenders don’t have the resources, but more that they’re afraid of getting burnt:“Because they don’t know who is on the other end and has the capability to pay back the loans or the credit lines or even the commercial paper, and that’s why the government introduced or became – for the first time ever – the dealer or the intermediary.”

Philadelphia Business Journal

"At Drexel University, belief in the value of experiential learning is so strong that starting this fall it comprises 70 percent of the MBA program, up from 50 percent previously. Students are required to participate in the hands-on activities; it is not optional."... "'Experience is embedded in the culture at Drexel,' said George Tsetsekos, dean of Drexel's LeBow College of Business. 'Just to have sterile discussions in the classroom is not enough.'" 

6 ABC

LeBow College of Business Dean George Tsetsekos speaks to 6 ABC about the financial bailout plan.

Philadelphia Daily News

CN8's Mary Caraccioli received an alumni community-service award from Drexel University for helping to raise more than $1 million for Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis & Education as co-chair of its annual benefit. Caraccioli, who graduated from Drexel's MBA program, was presented the award by Drexel prez Constantine Papadakis and LeBow College of Business Dean George Tsetsekos during a ceremony at Papadakis' home.

Middle East Economic Survey

Who should get bailed out? Who should not? In the piecemeal approach that the government followed prior to the comprehensive $700bn rescue plan, the chance for an ailing institution to be bailed out in this financial crisis depends on several factors including size, connectedness and sophistication of investors. If you have the size, like Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac, then you will get support from the government to dodge the crisis. What if you are the fourth largest investment bank (ie, Lehman Brothers)? You will be let go to bankruptcy! But if you are Merrill Lynch, you will be rushed to fire-sell yourself to a very large commercial bank.

Philadelphia Business Journal

“One measure of the worth of an MBA program is the opportunities it provides for students to interact with the top executives and experience situations outside the classroom that tests the students’ capacity to lead. Below are some of the more experiential MBA program components offered through local universities.” “Drexel University, LeBow College of Business” “Internships: Students have an opportunity to gain experience as a result of Drexel’s relationships in the business community.” “International Residencies: Overseas trips are integrated into the MBA curriculum to enable students to learn about doing business internationally”

Philadelphia Business Journal

More than 40 MBA students from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business are expected to join businesses on a trade mission to Hong Kong and Malaysia in what the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCGP) is touting as a first-of-it-kind program. Up until now, the WTCGP has focused on helping businesses break into foreign markets and LeBow College on preparing students to work in them. The two pursuits will combine for the first time during the trade mission, which takes place during the school’s spring break March 14-27 and will include two faculty members and two WTCGP employees. The goal is to link the students with at least 15 businesses looking to enter the markets.

Philadelphia Business Journal

“The relationship between the business community and any good business school is a symbiotic one,” said George Tsetsekos, the dean of Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. “It’s upon us, the business schools and the educational establishments, to develop the future business leaders that not only fit the bill for a particular company, but also … have been educated in future great skills and themes that will be useful to companies,” Tsetsekos said.

Philadelphia Business Journal

“If this thing is not fixed soon, the corporate sector will not have enough credit lubrication in its economic machine to do new investments, to do short-term financing of inventories,” said George Tsetsekos, the dean of Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.

6ABC

LeBow College professor Eric Benrud spoke to 6ABC about the current financial crisis.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Though ethics will likely get a more thorough going-over in the classroom now, the practices of employers will continue to have a bigger influence on behavior, said Edward Nelling, finance professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. “If there is a lesson to be learned, it’s ultimately for the leaders, the executives and directors of companies to establish a culture that does not reward unethical behavior,” Nelling said.“Part of the problem now is reward systems were set up for people just based on the volume of business - ‘Let’s get these loans written and approved. We’re not going to worry so much about the underlying risk.’ “Better behavior, he said, “has to start at the top and work its way down the organization.”