Spring 2008 BGSIE

SPRING SPRING 2008 2008

BGS Takes Flight The Business of Air Travel

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what’s inside

BGS Corporate Contributors and Affiliates 2008

2

A Message from the BGS President

3

Letters to the Editor

4

BGS Takes Flight: The Business of Air Travel

Beta Gamma Sigma thanks those organizations that generously support the Society’s programs and services Beta Level Sponsors ($50,000+) BusinessWeek

8

Delays, Delays. Nothing But Delays.

8

5 Things Airlines won’t Tell You About Weather Delays

11

Stepping Forward: Air Safety

13

BGS Member Survey Results: The U.S. Economic Stimulus Package

Gamma Level Sponsors ($25,000-49,999) Bank of America Fortune College Loan Corporation (CLC) GEICO Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) KPMG and the KPMG Foundation

Others 1-800-Flowers.com

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EBL in Action: M. Lee McAllister, The Weaver ������������� Investment Company �����������������

A2Connect - BGS Wireless Solutions AACSB International AACSB Accredited Business Programs Apple AVIS Rent A Car System, Inc.

16

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Gifts from Friends

Barnes & Noble.com Becker Professional Review

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Corporantes, Inc. Diversity, Inc. The Economist Enterprise Rent-A-Car

BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE Beta Gamma Sigma 125 Weldon Parkway Maryland Heights, MO 63043-3101

SPRING 2008 Volume 7, No. 1 Circulation: 101,257

Financial Times GlobalFit Herff Jones Hotels.com JobTarget Kaplan and Schweser Test Prep Services LIFE, Inc.

email: bgshonors@betagammasigma.org phone: 314-432-5650 website: www.betagammasigma.org

McGraw-Hill Professional MBNA Canada MiQuotes The PhD Project Princeton Review

If you have any questions or comments about this issue of the BGS International Exchange, please forward them to exchange@betagammasigma.org.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio SIRVA – BGS Home Benefits USA Today

Beta Gamma Sigma is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.

The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal Asia The Wall Street Journal Europe

BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SPRING 2008 WWW.BETAGAMMASIGMA.ORG 3

We’ve also completed interviews with several other notable business leaders including Willie Deese, President of Merck Manufacturing. While in Atlanta for the Student Leadership Forum, Robert D. Reid, Dean of the College of Business at James Madison University, conducted an interview with Dan Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A. The ethical culture that permeates that organization’s headquarters is something special, and we look forward to bringing you transcripts and video clips from that interview in the near future.

You can find much more information about the Ethical Business Leadership initiative at www.betagammasigma.org/ ebl.htm. I encourage you to bookmark the site and check back often for updates.

Beta Gamma Sigma’s Alumni Network, which many of you know about, continues to expand. We have now established 18 alumni chapters in major metropolitan areas of the U.S., with one additional chapter in Hong Kong.

That’s not all the alumni activity taking place, however.

Members in several other areas – Cleveland, Beijing and Western Europe, for instance – have started to get together on a regular basis and network with other members. This represents a tremendous opportunity to expand the value of lifetime membership. If there’s a chapter in your area, consider getting involved. We list upcoming events and contact information on BetaNet, so check it out. If there’s not a chapter in your area and you would like to take a leadership role in starting the process, contact the Central Office at alumni@betagammasigma.org. This is a great way to give back to the Society and help your self at the same time.

The Society expects record participation in this year’s Scholarship Program. We’ve added the Advisor of the Year Award recognizing the outstanding efforts of those advising our collegiate chapters. We will soon announce the 2008 BGS Outstanding Chapters. We continue to hold chapter training seminars for both collegiate and alumni chapter representatives, and we recently completed our first of many training webinars for collegiate chapter advisors.

As always we are working hard to add valuable benefits for our lifetime members. Don’t forget to check BetaNet to find out what’s new, and to take advantage of the many special offers and discounts available through our affiliates.

Beta Gamma Sigma has certainly been busy as we celebrate our 95th anniversary in 2008, but there’s much more to do before the big celebration in 2013. I encourage you to get involved now and stay involved as your career progresses. We’ll induct more than 21,000 new members into the Society in 2007-08, and like you, they will have the opportunity to benefit from membership in Beta Gamma Sigma throughout their lifetimes.

A Message from the BGS President

I

t’s been a busy time for Beta Gamma Sigma and I thought lifetime members might want an update on a few of the Society’s initiatives. Many you know about; others you may not. But the Board of Governors and staff continue to work for you, making lifetime membership more valuable now and in the future.

In February, Beta Gamma Sigma held its 12th Student Leadership Forum, this time bringing 78 student members together in Atlanta, Ga. As we’ve learned at past events, these young people are truly the best of the best; they will be the world’s business leaders of the future. Nearly 1,000 members – from approximately 200 different business schools – have now participated in one of these events.

In Atlanta, we were very pleased to welcome students from five countries – Taiwan, Great Britain, Mexico, Canada and the United States. This was a record, and we look forward to including students from more schools outside the U.S. in the future. This has been a great opportunity for students to learn from the experiences of – and interaction with – their peers from around the world. After all, as seniors and members of Beta Gamma Sigma, they all ranked in the top 10 percent of their classes. But to be chosen as their school’s representative, they were likely ranked much higher than that. There was certainly a great deal of talent and potential in the room.

If you’ve read past issues of the BGS International Exchange or recently visited the BetaNet website at www.betagammasigma.org, you’ve probably seen something about Beta Gamma Sigma’s Ethical Business Leadership initiative. This is an exciting, developing program that holds great opportunity for the Society’s future. At this point in the initiative’s development, members of the BGS Board of Governors have been identifying and interviewing business professionals who provide great examples of ethical business leadership. They discuss their organizations’ ethical leadership culture and how they personally ensure that culture continues and expands. There are excerpts from an interview that James K. Weeks, Dean of the Joseph M. Bryan School of Business and Economics at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, completed with M. Lee McAllister, President and CEO of The Weaver Investment Company, on page 14.

Dan T. Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A, met recently with Robert D. Reid, Dean of the College of Business at James Madison University, for a discussion on Ethical Business Leadership.

Watch for excerpts from that discussion on BetaNet and in future issues of the BGS International Exchange.

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What do you think about this issue of the International Exchange?

Send your letters and comments to the editor: exchange@betagammasigma.org Ethical Business Leadership - BGS International Exchange I forget who said, “There are no business ethics, only people ethics,” I subscribe to that – ethical people form and run ethical organizations with guiding ethical principals. In our company, we essentially use the Rotary 4-Way test. Our values statement is: We will do what is right, whatever right might be under the circumstances. And if we fail to do this, we will do whatever is necessary to make amends. As a guide, we will use the Rotary International 4-Way Test: • Is it the TRUTH? • Is it FAIR to all concerned?

• Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

• Will it create GOODWILL? It is on the same page as our vision and mission statements because who we are (vision) and what we do (mission) are inseparable from how we do it (values). I require EVERY member of our organization, including part-timers, to recite these to me within a month of joining. If anyone – a customer, vendor, employee – observes ANY activity that they cannot get past ALL four of the criteria, they are to come DIRECTLY and IMMEDIATELY to me. This values statement has guided us through some difficult situations with OUTSTANDING results! As Mark Twain said, “Always do right. It gratifies most people – and astounds the rest!”

Lee Hardeman (BGS 1982, The University of Tennessee at Knoxville)

Mortgage Crisis - B-Zine First off, thanks for a useful e-newsletter.

Itʼs one of the few that I get that I actually read. However, enough mortgage crisis news – weʼve gotten three issues dedicated to the topic now, and there is a lot going on. Iʼd love to see an issue dedicated to employee development or something like the changing nature of employer benefits. Keep up the great work, but please change the channel more often!

Thank you for the interesting articles about the state of the real estate markets in our country. As a BGS member who lives in Orlando, Fla., I see the affects of the “real estate bubble” everyday with overpriced houses and such.

Good read. Keep up the good work.

Jason B. Gore (BGS 2004, Stetson University)

Verlin Henderson (BGS 2005, University of Wyoming)

In my honest opinion, I do believe there is an end in sight – and that end, like many other things, is when people learn their lessons. The notion of freezing ARMs angers me because not only does it punish those people who did the right thing by paying higher rates to avoid variable fluctuations in the future, but it prolongs peopleʼs foolish, fiscally irresponsible decisions to buy things that are way out of their price range and then have someone else bail them out.

The housing market reflects general American ideals these days – everyone wants bigger and better, even knowing that they cannot afford it, and knowing that the possibility of it back-firing is inevitable, but then crying, complaining, and feeling entitled to being bailed out when everything falls apart. There is something to be said about “survival of the fittest.” While some people may lose their homes, it will force them to purchase housing that they CAN afford, and foreclosures and bad debt will level out and subside.

And this doesnʼt just go for people who attempted to purchase housing that they could only afford using a cheap, temporary fix (aka ARMs) – it more so goes toward those in the lending industry who greedily handed out these ARMs like candy in exchange for the interest they would rake in after five or however many years when rates adjusted. Analysts could not have been so stupid to have not thought that this would all crash and burn on them.

The whole situation is unfortunate but Americans need to learn their lesson; purchasing a home is a major decision and a long term investment (hence the name mortgage); you canʼt just sit back with a happy little interest rate for five years and then spend the additional 25 praying that miraculously your interest rate wonʼt budge. And companies with mortgage-backed securities? Thereʼs a reason why we diversify, and perhaps in the future these companies will learn not to saddle themselves in long-term investments with such a high risk factor.

Megan Jennings (BGS 2007, Loyola Marymount University)

BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SPRING 2008 WWW.BETAGAMMASIGMA.ORG 5

BGS Takes Flight T

The Business of Air Travel

he U.S. airline industry managed to earn limited profits the last two years after a disastrous half-decade of losses. Even before the events of September 11, 2001, the industry was staring at an uncertain future. Since then, four major carriers have entered and emerged from bankruptcy protection, only to find more dire predictions for the future.

“Some of the sickness in this industry was beginning to show its ugly head before September 11,” said William S. Swelbar, a Research Engineer in MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation. He said prices were dropping and low-cost carriers were gaining a foothold, resulting in a substantial loss of revenue for the big carriers.

“It’s a hyper-competitive business – fare structures coming down significantly, consumers really saying that price was becoming the all-important determinant – so as the result of that price fall, we had the low-cost carriers growing, the same number of legacy carriers competing, and suddenly we have lots and lots of seats chasing an industry with $30 billion less in revenue.”

Early aviation pioneers realized the importance of air travel in the pursuit of business almost immediately. One could argue that business people’s ability to chase business around the globe – through the air – resulted in the first baby steps of the global economy. The Internet has made the world smaller, but air travel is still a major player in national and global business.

While profitability for the major airlines has been elusive since the beginning of the 21st century, the frequency of air travel continues to increase around the globe. For November 2007, international passenger demand rose 9.3 percent, the fastest growth rate in 18 months, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The Latin American countries lead the way with a stunning increase in traffic of 20.1 percent over November 2006. According to the IATA, Middle East countries posted an 18.3 percent gain; the Asia Pacific

6 BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SPRING 2008 WWW.BETAGAMMASIGMA.ORG

countries gained 8.8 percent; and Europe and North America both gained 7.6 percent.

Freight growth in 2007 was not as sharp. According to IATA figures, freight demand grew 3.9 percent, well below the 4.8 percent growth in 2006.

“We ring in 2008 with a warning bell,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Passenger demand growth is expected to fall to 5 percent. And the expected increase in freight demand growth to 4.3 percent will only help us recover some of the ground lost against sea shipping.” Further, he cited high oil prices and the global credit crunch as factors forecasting a decrease in the airline industry’s overall profitability in 2008.

The cost of fuel has become a significant drag on profits.

The price of jet fuel has risen dramatically, with no real slowdown in sight. The U.S. airline industry has worked hard to lower its costs in all areas over the last decade, but fuel increases threaten to destroy that effort.

“The fuel cost issue is enormous,” said Swelbar. “If we take a look at an industry that has taken $15 billion to $20 billion in cost out of itself since 2002, and an

“You’re seeing an industry that has to look internally. Where is it I can put together two entities?...It’s really trying to find those synergies where one plus one should prove to be significantly less than two.”

William S. Swelbar Research Engineer, MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation

industry today that is paying about $17 billion more in fuel, all of the good work that has been done to reduce the cost in labor and non-labor areas of the business have basically been washed away with the increase in the price of fuel.”

So what is the industry to do now? Swelbar said consolidation is the most likely place to find ways to cut costs. At the time this article was written, the rumors were running rampant about a merger between Delta Air Lines (the second-largest carrier in the United States) and Northwest Airlines (the fourth-largest U.S. carrier). If approved, the new company would be the nation’s largest airline, surpassing American Airlines at the top.

There would be substantial cost savings to a Delta/Northwest consolidation. A Goldman Sachs report estimates the savings would surpass $800 million.

Perhaps more significant, this merger would only be the beginning.

If and when two or more airlines take the plunge to consolidate, all the others will have to consider their best option to stay competitive. Another rumor is that Continental Airlines and United Airlines are already far along in merger talks, although they are much quieter than the Delta/ Northwest negotiations right now.

“You’re seeing an industry that has to look internally,” Swelbar said.

They will ask themselves, “Where is it I can put together two entities and rid myself of some of that duplicative flying and begin to remove fixed costs at that level? There would be savings by combining management forces, headquarters staff, and certainly I would no longer need two different investments in technologies – one website instead of two, that sort of thing.

“It’s really trying to find those synergies where one plus one should prove to be significantly less than two.”

Some suggest that airline consolidation must take place in the next year because the current presidential administration might be more open to these mega-mergers than those who will follow in early 2009. If it does begin, how many U.S. carriers could survive and thrive in the new environment?

“I do think it’s somewhere in the seven-to-eight area,” said Swelbar, who also writes about the industry on the “Swelbar on Airlines” blog (www.swelblog.com). He mentioned his belief that three or four large network carriers,

along with three or four low-cost carriers, would be a positive outcome to increase long-term profitability.

He said the industry must also begin making additional connections with carriers outside the U.S. to provide them some room for growth. He suggested that KLM/Air France has made it clear they would be an investor in the proposed Delta/Northwest merger; Lufthansa could be an “equity player” in a Continental/United merger; and British Airways could team up with American Airlines to provide additional global service at a lower cost. He said American has enough domestic business that it doesn’t necessarily need to find a partner for that side of its business.

Swelbar said that low-cost carriers are dependant on growth to maintain their profits. So, as a way to find additional growth opportunities, he predicted that the successful lowcost carriers might look to additional North American opportunities – flying to Canada and Mexico. He also said they would likely pick up some of the business left behind by the big guys when they consolidate.

Labor

The first big question surrounding merger talks is the willingness of labor to continue making concessions to the industry. Some think the unions will be a major roadblock for any merger, with labor’s seat a very important one at the negotiating table.

Delta’s pilot union helped derail previous attempts at consolidation, including one proposed last year between the company and US Airways.

Pilots’ seniority determines their pay, work schedules and types of airplanes they fly, and seniority is often lost when one airline merges with another.

“Job losses and seniority issues are labor’s chief concerns,” Michael Derchin, an analyst at FTN Midwest Research Securities, said in a report. “In return for support of consolidation, labor would likely demand stakes in the combined carriers, some job protection and higher wages.”

Another complicating factor is that each airline has a different setup with the unions. Delta flight attendants, for instance, weren’t part of a union. At the time of this article, they had just signed on for union representation, saying this should help them get their voices heard in any upcoming negotiations.

Swelbar thinks labor will support the process.

Continued on Next Page BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SPRING 2008 WWW.BETAGAMMASIGMA.ORG 7

BGS Takes Flight: The Business of Air Travel (Continued from Page 5)

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“Labor in the airline industry is pretty sophisticated,” he said. “Right now they’re feeling a little beaten up. But I think in the end, as they reflect back on 30 years of history since we deregulated this industry, that the boom-and-bust cycles haven’t been good for them either. You know, in one negotiating cycle I get it back, but then the industry goes into an economic downturn and I give concessions. Then the industry gets healthy, and I get back as much as I can.”

Because of this, he said he thinks labor is now at a point where they won’t oppose consolidation like the last time.

They recognize that it may be best for everyone at this point.

Regulators

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Government regulators represent more hurdles for airline consolidation. They’ve opposed mergers in the past, arguing that any move toward less competition is bad for the industry and the general public.

“The opposition in Washington could be fierce due to concerns about upward pressure on fares,” said Joe Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University, in a recent article in Reuters. In addition, he said government regulators could be concerned about the Delta/Northwest merger because the two airlines have hubs relatively close to one another, and one or more may need to close.

Again, Swelbar says the time is right for regulators to overcome their objections. But will they?

“I think so,” he said. “For the last five, 10 years, the low-cost sector of the business has been the darling of the business. I love Southwest. I love JetBlue. I love AirTran.

“But those guys have done a tremendous amount in driving down the cost of air travel for the consumer. Here you have a sector with very low cost, highly dependant on growth to make their business work – and continue to be able to keep those costs low through organic growth to pass on those savings to the consumer – that finds itself at a place where the home domestic market does not have many opportunities for them to grow.

“In a consolidation scenario, you’ll probably see some capacity by the bigger guys taken out of the system. That in turn will create some growth opportunities for the low-cost carrier sector. And so in the end, the two sectors will be able to co-exist, much like they do in Europe.”

He stressed that regulators don’t have as much to worry about when it comes to raising prices, because the lowcost carrier sector has taken up approximately 30 percent of the market. He said the system is in place to keep prices reasonable, so that if someone tries to inflate the pricing system there are plenty of other carriers that will step in and force prices back down. He said regulators now understand that the market can handle consolidation better than it could 10 years ago.

“That’s what’s really changed since the 2000 period when United and US Airways first tried,” to consolidate, he said.

“You had Southwest – they were growing significantly – but they were really the only meaningful competitor at the time.”

Customer Experience

Swelbar believes consolidating the U.S. carriers can have another effect that business travelers would appreciate – a better customer experience.

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“If someone has a choice to fly British Airways or American Airlines across the Atlantic, they’re probably going to fly British Airways.

It’s a better service. The flight attendants are happier. The food is better...We need to get back to being an industry where we have a product that is competitive with our global counterparts.”

William S. Swelbar Research Engineer, MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation

“From a customer’s perspective, anything that I can do in the merging of networks, which doesn’t disadvantage or disenfranchise anyone from the air transportation system is good,” he said. “Anything I can do to turn two-stop

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connections today into one-stop connections tomorrow by moving flights around, I have made travel for the customer better.

“The one thing we haven’t done in this industry is to get to a place where we can start to invest in new steel. And there’s no good customer experience out there. What do we need to do as an industry to invest in – whether it be gates, or on-board amenities – how do we bring some customer experience back? Because if someone has a choice to fly British Airways or American Airlines across the Atlantic, they’re probably going to fly British Airways. It’s a better service. The flight attendants are happier. The food is better.

“We need to get back to being an industry where we have a product that is competitive with our global counterparts. Because this is less and less a domestic business and more and more a global business.”

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“Delays,

delays.

Nothing but delays!”

This line from Marvin the Martian in the classic Warner Bros. cartoon could well describe the frustration of business travelers who depend on the inconsistent performance of the major airlines. Recent studies indicate the problem could be getting worse before it gets better.

On a recent Wednesday evening at 5 pm EST, a quick check of the Federal Aviation Administration’s website (www. faa.gov) showed more than 40 major airports in the United States were experiencing some sort of delays. This included La Guardia and John F. Kennedy in New York City; Logan in Boston; O’Hare and Midway in Chicago; Los Angeles International; Hartsfield International in Atlanta; and Dallas/ Ft. Worth International, among many others.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reported in February that the on-time rate for 2007 – 73.4 percent – was the second lowest on record (2000 was the worst). In December 2007, flights operated by the major U.S. carriers arrived to their destinations only 64.3 percent of the time, down from 70.8 percent in December 2006.

American Airlines, the largest carrier in the United States, had a total of 52,576 flights scheduled in December 2007, according to the DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics website (www.bts.gov). Of those, 1,784 were cancelled (3.4 percent) and 19,795 were delayed (37.65 percent), resulting in more than 40 percent of all scheduled flights not arriving on time. The average arrival delay for the 19,795 delayed flights was nearly an hour (58.56 minutes).

Delta Air Lines, which at the time of this writing was in talks with Northwest Airlines about a possible merger (see related story page 4), did a bit better. Of the 39,123 scheduled flights, 10,321 were delayed (26.4 percent). These flights had an average delay of just over 47 minutes.

Why are so many flights delayed? The major reasons,

according to airline officials, are bad weather and airline missteps. But in a Feb. 6 Wall Street Journal article, it was reported that the shortage of air-traffic controllers is also beginning to add to the problem. In September 2002, there were 12,801 fully certified controllers working in the United States. The article reported that today there are approximately 11,000, with many more scheduled for retirement in the very near future. On the FAA’s website, “Become an Air Traffic Controller” is the third link in the “Highlights” section, showing the importance that agency places on finding new controllers.

Will the situation get better? Many industry experts say no. They say that a big part of the problem is the current industry trend toward smaller airplanes, which result in fewer empty seats but cause more traffic, congestion and delays. They also cite pilot shortage as an increasing problem.

5 Things Airlines Won’t Tell You About Weather Delays

by Christopher Elliott Tribune Media Services

Is your airline telling the truth about the weather?

If you were a passenger on one of the more than 1,200 flights United Airlines recently canceled, you might have wondered – particularly after its pilots claimed the carrier was understaffed during the peak travel period, contradicting the airline’s explanation that winter storms were to blame for its actions.

And if you had a ticket on Northwest Airlines last summer, and one of your flights was called off because of what the airline said were thunderstorms, but everyone else said was a pilot shortage, you might also have your doubts.

Heck, you don’t even have to fly to distrust an airline.

Have you seen the commercial with the pilot and the iPhone yet? Air traffic control says there’s a weather delay. The pilot pulls up the weather report on his phone and

Total Flights

Late Flights

Percent Flights Late

American Airlines

52,576

19,795

37.95%

Delta Air Lines

39,123

10,321

26.38%

Northwest Airlines

32,144

13,033

40.55%

United Airlines

40,008

15,749

39.36%

Southwest Airlines

99,422

25,845

26.00%

AirTran Airways

22,578

6,945

30.76%

Frontier Airlines

7,987

3,322

41.59%

US Airways

39,203

9,217

23.51%

Airline

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics Summary Airline Statistics: December 1, 2007 - December 31, 2007

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10 20

80

30

Average Late Flight Departure Delay Average Late Flight Arrival Delay

60

Average Departure Delay (Late Fights) Average Arrival Delay (Late Fights)

70

Average Arrival Delay

60

Average Arrival Delay (All Fights)

60

Average Departure Delay

70

50

70

Average Departure Delay (All Fights)

40

Average Airline Delays

80

Delay in Miuntes

50

50

40

40

30

30

20

20

10

10 0

0 American American Airlines Airlines

Delta Delta Air Lines

Air Lines

Northwest Northwest Airlines Airlines

United United Airlines

Southwest Southwest Airlines Airlines

Airlines

AirTran AirTran Airways

Airways

Frontier Frontier Airlines Airlines

US US Airways

Airways

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics Summary Airline Statistics: December 1, 2007 - December 31, 2007

finds there’s no weather problem. The tower clears the flight.

“Everybody was happy, and life was good,” he says.

If you’re not asking about weather delays yet, you probably will be. This time of year traditionally brings blizzards, ice storms and cold winter rains, offering more opportunities for airlines to play the weather card.

And they almost certainly will, analysts say. That’s because of a quirk in the way weather delays and cancellations are reported, an unusually generous definition of weather adopted by airlines and passenger contracts that are written in a way that gives airlines every incentive to blame Mother Nature.

Continued on Next Page

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“If there is a hint of bad weather anywhere, that will be used as the excuse.”

5 Things Airlines Won’t Tell You About Weather Delays (Continued from Page 9) For the record, the airlines insist they’re telling the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when it comes to climate-caused cancellations. Asked about its Christmastime meltdown, United Airlines e-mailed me a letter sent to employees by Pete McDonald, its chief operating officer, which explained the situation.

“Through the month of December, we were affected by significant irregular operations, particularly at O’Hare, as a result of repeated weather events, including ice, fog, wind and snow,” he wrote. “We also struggled through snowstorms in Denver. In fact, weather and air traffic control delays affected United twice as much as the rest of the industry.”

That may be true, but there’s likely more to it than that, say observers. Here are five things your airline probably won’t tell you about weather delays:

1 2 3

Weather is only half of the story, and it’s not the interesting half “If there is a hint of bad weather anywhere, that will be used as the excuse,” says Holly Hegeman, an airline industry analyst with PlaneBusiness.com. But there’s often more at work. In United’s case, a pilot shortage exacerbated by a frayed relationship between pilots and management was probably the primary cause. “I think United looked pretty guilty the last two weeks, as American did not post similar cancellation numbers, nor did Southwest, out of O’Hare or Midway, for the same time periods,” she says.

When we call it a weather delay, we’re off the hook “It’s very convenient to put weather over any other shortcomings,” says Henry Harteveldt, an airline analyst with Forrester Research. Why? Because under most airline contracts of carriages – the legal agreements between you and the airlines – weather is considered an “Act of God” and it basically means the carrier owes passengers nothing. “They don’t have to offer you accommodations, meals or hotel vouchers,” he says. “It’s a giant loophole that the airline likes to fly through.”

We’re on the honor system when we report a weather delay When an airline says a flight is affected by weather we have to take it at its word. The data is reported to the government but not subjected to any kind of formal audit. Since it first required airlines to report the causes of delays five years ago, the government has red-flagged weather delay numbers only twice. In 2005, SkyWest Airlines was fined $25,000 for “inappropriately attributing flight delays to the National Aviation System,” according to a consent order. And last year, JetBlue Airways was told it had incorrectly tagged some of its winter cancellations as “air carrier” delays, when,

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4 5

Holly Hegeman Airline Industry Analyst, PlaneBusiness.com

in fact, weather should have been cited. It was not fined.

Our definition of a weather delay is absurdly loose “Squishy,” is how Meara McLaughlin, vice president of business development for flight data site FlightStats. com, describes the new airline definition of weather.

“The definition of weather has expanded a bit,” she says.

It isn’t just the conditions at your airport, along the way, or at your destination that count, but weather anywhere in the system that can be invoked. That’s because the airlines’ so-called “hub and spoke” system relies on aircraft coming from other cities, which could be affected by weather. “To my way of thinking, you have to call that something other than weather,” she says. As someone who processes a lot of aviation data, McLaughlin believes airlines are applying this looser definition of weather with greater frequency.

We’re even confused by the way we report weather delays Robert Mann, an airline analyst who has investigated how airlines report delays on behalf of the Transportation Department, says the process can even be confusing to someone inside an airline. Each carrier has what he calls “inherent biases” to the way it classifies a delay. It all comes down to who gets to report the delay internally. “If the gate agent has the opportunity to code the delay, they won’t code it as (being their fault) because they could lose bonuses or get a bad review,” he says.

“But if you give the reporting capability to someone else, they’ll code it a different way.” More often than not, it’s the bottom line that holds the most sway over how a delay is reported – what kind of delay will cost an airline the least, in terms of compensation paid to passengers or on-time rankings.

So what’s a passenger to do when a flight is delayed or canceled because of a storm? Arguing with a ticket agent is pointless, because the agent isn’t making the call – it’s someone down the line, safely out of your reach.

Your most effective weapon is not information, but politeness. It could get you a hotel room or a meal voucher even when you aren’t entitled to one, and it could put you on the next available flight to your destination.

And next time an airline says your flight is canceled because of the weather, don’t bother looking out your window.

Because what you see doesn’t really matter.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. E-mail him at celliott@ngs.org.

What do you think about this issue of the International Exchange?

Send your letters and comments to the editor: exchange@betagammasigma.org

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Stepping Forward: Air Safety The airline industry looks to further improve safety following a disapointing 2007.

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Any discussion of air travel would be incomplete without addressing the issue of safety. For as long as man has taken to the air (or traveled by any other method), accidents are a part of the process. While safety has taken a back seat to congestion and delays as a topic of conversation among business travelers, there is still much work to be done in this area.

Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said that after a long stretch of sustained improvement in safety worldwide, “2007 looks like a big step backward.”

“Safety is a growing challenge,” he said. “It is our No. 1 priority and without public confidence in safety we don’t have a viable business. With an industry growing at 5 to 6 percent per year, we must reduce the accident rate.”

Bisignani said his organization’s goals are quite ambitious regarding safety, and they take the issue very seriously. According to its website, the IATA “represents some 240 airlines comprising 94 percent of scheduled international air traffic.” He pointed out that a decade ago the organization set a goal of cutting the worldwide accident rate in half from 1996 to 2006.

“We achieved that,” he said, “and 2006 was our safest year ever.” However, that also illustrates the organization’s disappointment with the industry’s poor 2007 safety record.

According to the IATA, many areas of the world did quite well in 2007. In the Middle East, North Africa, China and Russia, for instance – areas where there have been big problems in the past – there were zero accidents reported.

The IATA says that accident rates have dropped significantly in Europe and North America over the last couple of years.

But the problem areas remain Brazil, Indonesia (and other Asia-Pacific countries) and Africa. Each has continued to struggle with airline safety, and Africa for instance has seen its accident rate climb above 6 percent for all flights on the continent. Africa’s accident rate for 2006 was 4.3 percent.

In the United States, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) website (www.ntsb.gov), there were 16 “Major, Serious or Injury” accidents aboard U.S. carriers in 2007. These accidents resulted in one fatality and 15 injuries to crew and passengers. In addition, there were 11 instances of “Damage” accidents that resulted in no additional fatalities or injuries.

At the FAA, there has been much effort lately focusing on reducing the occurrence of runway incursions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines runway incursions as “any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft.”

Although Hank Krakowski, COO of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, said the incidence of runway incursions is down more than 55 percent since 2001, reducing these accidents remains one of the organization’s most important goals.

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Stepping Forward: Air Safety (Continued from Page 11)

growth in airline travel will create challenges when it comes to training qualified pilots. With the advancing age and pending retirement of so many pilots around the world, the current shortage will only get worse.

“There are 16,000 planes on manufacturers’ order books,” he said. “To fly them we must produce 17,000 new pilots each year. How do we train and qualify them, while continuing to improve safety?

“Already we are seeing the first signs of strain with two worrying tendencies: lower standards for training and qualifications, and human factors cropping up in more accidents. It’s time to ring the warning bell – we must re-think pilot training and qualification.”

According to Bisignani, there are no global standards for pilot training concepts or regulation among the major international governmental agencies. Not even the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have agreed upon standards.

Bisignani said this has to change for airline safety to continue improving in the future.

“Safety is our top priority, and runway safety starts with preventing runway incursions,” he said recently to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation. “We remain focused to make the safest system in the world even safer.”

Bisignani of the IATA pointed to many “Safety is our top priority, and runway safety starts upcoming struggles with preventing runway incursions...we remain regarding international air safety, not the least focused to make the safest system in the world even of which is the looming safer.” pilot shortage. As Hank Krakowski mentioned before, the Chief Operating Officer, FAA’s Air Traffic Organization 5 to 6 percent annual

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Beta Gamma Sigma Member Survey Results

Beta Gamma Sigma recently conducted a short survey of its membership to gauge members’ sentiments about the proposed (at the time) U.S. economic stimulus package. Proposals have now been accepted by both houses of the U.S. Congress The U.S. Economic Stimulus Package and signed by the president, so the stimulus package will take effect and individuals will start receiving tax rebate checks this summer. There are also some tax concessions for businesses included in the final deal.

But the Society wanted to know member opinions before the deal was approved. When asked, “Do you believe the federal government should provide an economic stimulus package to jump-start the U.S. economy?” 39 percent responded “Yes” and 46 percent “No” (15 percent “Not sure”).

For those answering “No,” the most important reason was that the stimulus package would create additional debt and would have to be paid back in higher taxes later. Many also said that peaks and valleys are normal in a free market economy so the stimulus package was unnecessary.

The national debt and deficit spending was highlighted again when more than a third (34 percent) of members said it was the most important issue facing the U.S. economy. The ongoing mortgage crisis and falling home values received the second-most responses (22 percent).

For those in favor of the stimulus package, several items received strong support as beneficial steps to stimulate the economy.

Tax rebates for low- and middle-income Americans; further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve; tax cuts for businesses; and increased federal spending on infrastructure projects were mentioned most often. Few (13 percent) supported tax rebates for everyone, including those who paid no taxes.

Finally, lifetime members of Beta Gamma Sigma were asked how they felt about the direction of the U.S. economy. Thirty-one percent indicated they were very or somewhat positive about the coming year, while 69 percent were very or somewhat negative.

BGS Member Feedback I am just stunned that our leaders feel (or at least say) that we can consume (aka spend) our way out of a recession.

It seems to me that this is like saying to a person – “well you are in financial trouble so go and spend as much as you can on your credit card and you will get out of it…” I must have missed that lecture during my MBA! I have not heard the word “savings” or “spending within one’s budget” ever mentioned by anyone in the administration – what message are we giving to those that do not have the ability to rationalize what they are hearing. The current sub-prime mortgage shows exactly what will happen if you give people false expectations of their financial capabilities.

Alex Collier (BGS 2001, Suffolk University)

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This economic stimulus package is like using a shovel to kill a fly. It won’t work and you will probably injure yourself. Giving people a $600 or $1,200 tax rebate may help stimulate China’s economy when people use it to buy clothes or a DVD player, but it won’t do much to solve the root causes of the problem: the housing bust and energy costs. Further the $150 billion will just go further to increase our (debt) to China and other rival or unfriendly nations.

We would be better off using the $150 billion to buy mortgages at a discount through the Government Mortgage companies and keeping people from losing their homes.

This tax rebate, and in some cases welfare payment, is purely a political move to keep the taxpayers happy. In fact it is a slap in the face. Our country has gone into debt a couple more trillion dollars due to unbridled government spending and tax cuts. The tax cuts did a lot to cut capital gains making all the people in private equity firms rich at the expense of the companies they bought and the employees of those companies. And so society gets $600 in a rebate and the rest of the country and companies suffer.

Tony DiGirolamo (BGS 1972, Duquesne University)

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�� responses to this survey are Additional now viewable on BetaNet. ���

Find out what other BGS Lifetime Members are saying about this topic:

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BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SPRING 2008 WWW.BETAGAMMASIGMA.ORG 15

Jim Weeks: Please tell me a little about Weaver Investment’s servant leadership model?

JW: So it’s a program that internalizes for individuals their development and growth. Is that a fair summary?

M. Lee McAllister: The way our program works is that we have anywhere from 12 to 18 folks from all of our different companies, across company lines, participate in the first year of a very intensive servant leadership program. The cornerstone of the program is 360 degree feedback that each participant gets from nine of their peers, subordinates and bosses.

And then based on that feedback they come up with an action plan. These are actionable items that are put in place in order to change the behaviors that had been indicated “At on the 360 feedback.

MLM: Yes, and interestingly enough, this type of culture and this leadership development is not for everybody. And we recognize that. So this is voluntary.

We’ve yet to have anybody say they don’t want to do it. However, we have had a number of people, and I’m talking about high-ranking people in our various organizations, that have gone into this and just could not adapt to this kind of culture. And they basically have resigned. We had one of the top

And then, (for additional accountability), we have what is called a CIP Panel, a Continuous Improvement Panel, made up of folks who have already been through the first year of servant leadership. This is an ongoing program for us. We’re working on our fourth group now. We’ve had 60+ people go through this and we’ll continue on until we go through our entire organization.

MLM: Yes, but on the ethical side, all of it is cultural development and it is a very powerful tool. For example, we just had someone falsify an expense report and if we hadn’t been in servant leadership the conversation with him would have been much more difficult than it was. Once we discovered this, it was a very simple, straightforward conversation.

The powerful thing about it was that he also knew he had to go. We didn’t have to say, “And therefore you’re fired.”

He knew what the consequences were because we had created this culture. So

the end of the day, the ethics piece of this, it’s huge for us...We’re basically setting the bar, we’re setting the standard. We’re putting ethical behavior at a level where we think it ought to be. And then we’re trying to close the gaps between that bar and where you are.”

It’s really sort of a holistic approach in that not only do you have the CIP Panel, but you also have your peers, subordinates and bosses holding you accountable; you’ve got yourself holding yourself accountable; and family and friends if you involve them and most folks do interestingly enough, which is not necessarily required per se.

M. Lee McAllister President and CEO, Weaver Investment Companies

people in one of our biggest operating companies, the top guy, who stepped down and left. He had a military background and this culture just didn’t fit. Very sharp guy, great manager, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around the notion of serving others.

there wasn’t a lot of discussion about, “Give me a second chance.” Or, “it really wasn’t that bad.” Or anything along those lines. He knew what he did was wrong, he knew that his high rank wasn’t going to get him any leeway, and he eliminated himself.

JW: So it was not an issue with him or others that they were not ethical business leaders, but how it was manifested in your organization – in your culture and in your practices.

At the end of the day, the ethics piece of this, it’s huge for us...We’re basically setting the bar, we’re setting the standard. We’re putting ethical behavior at a level where we think it ought to be.

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And then we’re trying to close the gaps between that bar and where you are.

We have our code of conduct on poster boards at all of our companies including this company. And we’ve got little wallet cards which have that on it.

So people are very familiar with this code of conduct. We’ve had company meetings that have been solely for the purpose of discussing the code of conduct, and we have new employee orientation that has a piece of it that is just totally for the code of conduct.

Most of our employees, you’ll find carry these cards, these little plastic cards that have our code of conduct on it. The interesting thing about that is what it has evolved into. When individuals see a coworker, superior or subordinate that is violating the code of conduct, they will simply just hand the person the card. It’s extremely powerful because it speaks volumes without anybody saying a word.

JW: Do you ever get carded?

MLM: Yeah, I have been carded. In fact I was actually carded for gossip one time. Interestingly enough, I was talking about somebody else when somebody threw their card down. As a matter of fact, there are occasions now where I hear about people who have just reached in their pocket and pulled out a card and somebody will just stop doing whatever it is they’re doing. That’s become a great tool for us as it relates to fully trying to drive what I would characterize as ethical behaviors.

JW: What was the process that resulted in the company, or you, or whoever was involved deciding on servant leadership?

MLM: I think the real driver for me was that I had come from a background

where I was president of a company that was in the home building business. And so it was easy for me because it was one business, and it was just a typical home building business. Although it was a large home building business, it was easy for me to understand how people were feeling. It was easy for me to touch base with all different levels.

When I got here and we started acquiring companies, I realized that I didn’t have that same feel. I couldn’t have that same influence because these companies were in other buildings, often in other cities. I was very uneasy about that. I thought we needed to do something to drive all these people together; to create a single mindset as this relates to how we treat people.

JW: How is servant leadership part of the hiring and screening of potential employees?

MLM: We now have a panel of employees who actually interview the candidates applying for executive level positions in our company. And it’s all based on this whole open, honest environment that we try to operate in.

We just hired the individual who will be the No. 2 guy in one of our operations here in Greensboro. He actually went through two of those panel interviews.

The candidate had a panel of employees made up of sales and management and all of that. And then he had a panel interview with warehousing, operations, logistics, fulfillment, settlement truck drivers, storage, warehousing of product, etc.… and he was told that up front during the interview process.

This is a big hire for us. And it was interesting, this person who is a very seasoned guy actually, had an MBA from University of Georgia, was all for it. He was fine with it.

JW: Have you done any training of the people that are on the hiring panel?

MLM: No, what we have done is that we have asked them to treat this like a CIP, Continuous Improvement Panel.

And they know what the mindset is, because they’ve all been through a CIP panel. And a lot of them have sat on both sides of that panel. They’ve come to that panel with their work and they’ve sat on the other side and they’ve evaluated the people who have come to them with their work. And we tell them that and they know exactly what that means.

JW: How well have your efforts worked? There’s no question in your mind that servant leadership has worked for your company?

MLM: You know, I love to question everything that I do and that others do.

There are often times that I question if we’re doing the right thing here or not as it relates to the amount of time, energy, effort and money that goes into this. And if I wake up three or four years from now and say, “You know we went down the wrong road for this and this was just a huge waste of time, energy, effort and money,” then I will stop. But today, I don’t have any evidence of that. And until I do, and I’m open to it, I think we need to keep doing what we’re doing.

There are a number of CEO buddies of mine who think this is pretty outrageous and is probably a waste of time and money. But I’ve got to tell you that when we look at financial results, especially what our two larger companies are experiencing, I don’t think there’s any question that this cultural development is influencing these positive financial results.

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Gifts from Friends

Beta Gamma Sigma gratefully acknowledges the support of the following individuals, as well as the organizations listed on page one. Without this assistance, the Society would be unable to continue adding value to the lifetime membership.

Chairman’s Board $2,000 - $4,999 Business Achievement Award Joseph W. Moeller Columbia University Mace Siegel Directors’ Table $1,000 - $1,999 University of California, Irvine David H. Blake University of Georgia Ogden O. Allsbrook, Jr. University of Iowa Margaret M. Wendt North Carolina A&T State University Bernard J. Milano The University of North Carolina at Greensboro James K. Weeks Oklahoma State University Sara M. Freedman Oregon State University Donald F. Parker University of Pittsburgh Donald R. Beall Purdue University Jerry S. Rawls University of Rhode Island James A. Viehland Tulane University Darwin C. Fenner Valdosta State University Kenneth L. Stanley President’s Cabinet $500 - $999 Baylor University Tim D. Brewer Baruch College – CUNY William H. Shron California State University, Chico Henry W. Wright College of Charleston Guy E. Beatty Duquesne University James M. Zillian Eastern Illinois University Jack Schultz Indiana University Christopher T. Winkler University of Iowa William C. Hunter University of Kansas Larry D. Horner Michigan State University Bruce D. Bottomley Purdue University Dennis J. Weidenaar San Diego State University Monty W. Dickinson Seattle University Gary P. Brinson Western Carolina University James A. Valkenaar, Jr. Willamette University James W. Bernau Deans’ Club $250 - $499 Appalachian State University Betty S. Carreiro University of Baltimore Barry A. Benz Baruch College – CUNY Murray H. Neidorf Boston College Bennett Soo Yee Bowling Green State University Michael W.Hoffman California State University, Long Beach Susan L. Volmer University of California at Berkeley Mark J. Desoer Herbert G. Meyer Clemson University John P. Harman University of Connecticut George G. Roller

Fairleigh Dickinson University William C. Kulkens Lehigh University Paul Caster Michigan State University Craig D. Brown University of Michigan Philip L. Smith University of Minnesota Thomas J. Wilford Nicholls State University Richard H. Barker, III North Carolina A&T State University Quiester Craig Ohio University Albert J. Weatherhead, III Oregon State University Ken Austin University of Oregon Eugene E. Holt Seton Hall University Jamie A. Uitdenhowen Shippensburg University Brad P. McMullen University of South Alabama Donna L. Conner University of Southern California Doreen Lee Gee Southern Methodist University Robert E. Henderson Cher E. Thomas Jacobs Texas Tech University Ray L. Robbins The University of Texas at Arlington Julia M. Kilchenstein The University of Texas at Austin Glen A. Rosenbaum Tulane University Lance B. Young University of Vermont Rocki-Lee DeWitt Washington University John P. Wareham Century Club $100 - $249 University of Akron Michael J. Berthelot David Leshner University of Alabama Whit Armstrong Herbert A. Barr Jeffrey S. DeMond Margaret E. Hudson Gregory B. Jones Maurice F. Kahlmus James P. Tate, III University of Alabama at Birmingham Jeffrey I. Stone University of Alaska Anchorage Donna M. Conrad Arizona State University Jeffrey A. Brower Sheila M. Kidwell Thomas L. Legler Donald R. Morriston The University of Arizona Bruce C. McAlister Catherine E. Yeager University of Arkansas Richard M. Bushkuhl Sheila Counihan Anne Harris David R. Malone Julia Peck Mobley Robert P. Taylor University of Arkansas at Little Rock Susan G. Rogers Ball State University Kara Y. Hoover Lenox Philip H. Sprowl Baruch College – CUNY Wayne I. Danson William J. McCarron Edwin B. Morris Dr. & Mrs. Samuel G. Ryan, Jr. Edith S. Sands Jerome A. Seidman

Baylor University Sally M. Delbeccaro Reese L. Harrison, Jr. Boise State University Sharon E. Nielsen Boston University Michael T. Bloom Harvey A. Creem Gregory E. Hudson Nathan M. Matz Bowling Green State University John W. Fisher June E. Yusko University of Bridgeport Rita A. Galgano Brigham Young University Donald G. Scheer University at Buffalo, SUNY Sherman A. Cox Daryl R. Nitkowski California State University, Fullerton David W. Armbuster James C. Pieschel California State University, Northridge William R. Hollinger University of California at Berkeley Leonard A. Aplet Arthur E. Johnson Leland E. Leisz Carter C. Miller University of California, Irvine Cabell Cobbs II University of California, Los Angeles Irwin S. Field Al A. Finci Bernard D. Fischer Irwin D. Goldring Raynor J. Klaris Ridgway L. Pope Ross E. Roeder C. William Winkler, Jr. Canisius College Reginald B. Newman II Jeffrey G. Wagner Case Western Reserve University Marguerite Burton Humphrey Henry Ott-Hansen University of Chicago Melvin L. Leutkens, Jr. University of Cincinnati Hugh H. Hoffman The Claremont Graduate University Denise V. Bickerstaff Clark Atlanta University Hubert D. Glover Clark University Claire Maday-Travis Dawn Murphy Clemson University Marvin J. Pinson, Jr. Colorado State University Richard L. Robinson University of Colorado Robert S. Graham Katherine L. M. Hart Edward C. Mitchell Columbia University Earle W. Kazis Diana M. Sattelberger Washington Sycip Bartholomew J. Tortella University of Connecticut Robert C. Burrill Dolores J. Katzenberger Creighton University Bryan K. Brown University of Delaware Norma T. Clayton Judith A. Schabel University of Denver Allan Gemmell Lowell A. Hare John S. McCatharn DePaul University Thomas E. Deming James T. Schaefer

18 BGS INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SPRING 2008 WWW.BETAGAMMASIGMA.ORG

University of Detroit Mercy Kathleen D. Aznavorian Peter T. Swallow Drexel University Kathleen M. Kiernan Duquesne University Rebecca L. Hannan Saul Weitz Emory University Susan Kornblatt Eaglstein John W. Spiegel Florida Atlantic University Eric H. Shaw Florida State University Charles N. Keye University of Florida John C. Appel John J. Slaboch Fordham University Gregory C. Papalexis Diane Kalkbrenner Turner James R. Weldon Francis Marion University Frank H. Avent George Washington University John M. Cibinic Mary M. Lewis Christine Piorkowski Philip D. Reiff Georgetown University Robert J. Almerini Jeffrey P. Travers Georgia Southern University Mary F. Hazeldine Georgia State University W. Daniel Barker Helen M. Blanchette University of Hawaii Takeo Maruyama Alan Yamashiro Hofstra University Janet R. Cordano University of Houston Marilyn M. Falkenhagen Kenneth Y. Rosenzweig Elizabeth C. Starkey University of Illinois at Chicago Dennis W. Baker Mary S. Blust University of Illinois Thomas W. Hough Thomas B. Sleeman Indiana University Donald C. Danielson William D. Fischer David E. Greene E. Jan Hartmann Thomas S. Hoelle W. Stanley Stuart Mervyn R. Thede Barbara S. Wood Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne Susan M. Hinds Kennesaw State University Vishwa Mohan Kumar University of Kentucky Linda Ford Lehigh University Sandra Goldfarb University of Louisiana at Monroe Saul A. Mintz Louisiana State University Virginia J. Kahnt Loyola University Chicago Craig Granville Musgrave Kenneth R. Weigand Loyola University New Orleans Brandt J. Dufrene, Jr. Marquette University Dale N. Hoemke Lois A. Smith University of Maryland Robert H. Carmack Louis I. Rosen Neil Spiegel University of Memphis Patricia M. Dick University of Miami George M. Corrigan Mary V. Fisher

Michigan State Uiversity Dennis W. Duquette Robert E. Gerrie Edward E. Hagenlocker Douglas M. Klein Richard J. Lewis Ronald J. Patten Ronald A. Smith Stephen P. Stonestreet University of Michigan Richard C. Slayton The University of Michigan-Dearborn Deborah Huet University of Minnesota James B. Dagnon Duane R. Kullberg University of Mississippi Lee W. Randall University of MissouriKansas City Richard S. Loraine University of MissouriSt. Louis Gary D. Rodenberg Montclair State University David C. Zimmerman University of NebraskaLincoln Alan D. Chunka University of Nebraska at Omaha M. Gene Newport University of Nevada, Reno Richard A. Cable University of New Orleans Charles E. Price New York University Joseph E. Adiletta Walter A. Buri Stuart S. Flamberg Bud Mayo Sanford J. Moster Warren D. Schaub Peter Simigan Steven B. Wolitzer Stephen Zolotow New York University-Stern Graduate School Joyce Albers-Schonberg Matthew T. Feldman Pamela S. Jacobson Barry N. Winograd Norfolk State University Santosh K. Choudhury North Carolina A&T State University Bowman K. Burton The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Alan B. Flaschner The University of North Carolina at Wilmington Joan C. Williams University of North Florida Richard D. Palmer Northeastern University William F. Krock Baker A. Smith Lorraine P. Steele Northern Arizona University Douglas P. Busch James O. Carnes Northern Illinois University Denis M. Desmond University of Notre Dame Leo V. Ryan John A. Smigelsky Jr. Thomas S. Taylor Oakland University C.S. Bud Kulesza George H. Seifert The Ohio State University Stephen J. Hopkins E. A. McClintock James G. McMillan Charles Plum Press C. Southworth, III Dennis G. Thornbloom University of Oklahoma Shelle G. Lutke Elizabeth K. Willard

GENEROUS DONORS SUPPORTING BETA GAMMA SIGMA Ocober16, 2007 - January 15, 2008 The Pennsylvania State University John T. Fogarty Bebby Hua-Ben Miao James B. Miller University of Pennsylvania Michael S. Blechman Robert C. Nevin University of Pittsburgh Donald H. Peters Joanne M. Shore Robert R. Zahm Portland State University George E. Miller University of Portland Craig Christenson Rochester Institute of Technology Edwin J. Carroll, III University of Rochester Ramachandra Bhagavatula Gary P. Johnson Roosevelt University Donald H. Ho Fung Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey Camden Jennifer L. McKinney Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey Newark Harold Haddock, Jr. Samuel J. Sirota Richard D. Whitehead Saint Joseph’s University David W. Turner San Diego State University Debra A. Ernst Carla M. Kuhns Charles M. Medvitz University of San Francisco George W. Parkerson San Jose State University Dave L. Coles Santa Clara University Mark J. Bluth Robert J. Emmons John A. Fabbro David M. Gervais Anthony J. McKeon Mary D. Niemiller Seattle University William B. Gavin University of South Carolina Gloria Cook University of South Florida Darrell J. Ferrigno Lois A. Sorensen University of Southern California Edward M. Casselman Jay H. Grodin Terrence O. Hughes Gustavo E. Paladines Jason M. White Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Deborah L. Johnston Southern Methodist University Gary A. Feather Christopher C. Loy University of Southern Mississippi Harold C. Brashears St. John’s University Iris Altilio Saint Louis University David A. Gardiner Suffolk University Susan O. Oliver Susquehanna University Raymond C. Lauver Syracuse University Gustav J. Braun Walter W. Hemming Frederick H. Weeks Temple University Russell U. McLaughlin Stephen H. Morris George W. Morriss Gary Mozenter John W. Wilchek

Texas A&M University David E. Hairston The University of Texas at Arlington Joe Foster Julia M. Kilchenstein Susan M. Williams The University of Texas at Austin Donald R. Broadland Susan Bonner Mead Carol F. Shepherd Texas Tech University Barbara A. Frankhouser University of Toledo Borge R. Reimer Tulane University Marie D. O’Neill University of Tulsa Nancy B. Quigg Young University of Utah Francis A. Madsen, Jr. Valdosta State University W. Ed Crane Villanova University John J. Brucato Virginia Tech University James A. Angell Hermann Buerger James A. Hixon Edward M. Mazze James E. Pearman, Jr. John G. Rocovich, Jr. John E. Wilson University of Virginia Derwood S. Chase David E. Houseman Scott C. Withrow Washington University Howard E. Lovely Maria W. G. Schweizer Henry L. Seifert Joe Strawn John K. Wallace University of Washington Philip R. Bogue West Virginia University Richard M. Gardner Russell L. Isaacs Western Michigan University John B. McKay Quenten T. Wilber College of William & Mary Hays T. Watkins University of WisconsinMadison James J. Fetek David Geraldson Daniel L. Goelzer James F. Kress Thomas G. Ragatz Robert K. Roemer Anton T. Vanek University of WisconsinMilwaukee Lea E. Grunig Carlen A. Schenk Tara L. Zerby University of WisconsinOshkosh Larry R. Koeppen Wright State University William M. McCullough, Jr. Xavier University James Satkoski Matching Gifts Aetna Joseph T. Doyle Law School Admission Council Jerry Goldman Morgan Stanley Paul Baeske United Way Tocqueville Society Mark Vergnano

Thank You!

FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

GEICO and Beta Gamma Sigma have teamed up to offer a special discount on car insurance.

Special member discount

To find out how much you could save, visit geico.com or call 1-800-368-2734 today.

Visit geico.com for your FREE, no-obligation rate quote and be sure to select Beta Gamma Sigma when asked for your affiliation. New customers save an average of $500 when they switch.

GEICO offers you 24/7 service, fast, fair claim handling and money-saving discounts!

Average savings amount based on national GEICO New Policyholder Survey data through August 2007. Discount amount varies in some states. Discount is not available in all states or in all GEICO companies. One group discount applicable per policy. In New York a premium reduction is available. Beta Gamma Sigma is compensated for allowing GEICO to offer this auto insurance program to Beta Gamma Sigma members. All expenses for this mailing are paid by GEICO. Government Employees Insurance Co. • GEICO General Insurance Co. • GEICO Indemnity Co. • GEICO Casualty Co. These companies are subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. GEICO auto insurance is not available in Mass. GEICO, Washington, DC 20076

BGS CareerCentral is the only job search site exclusive to Beta Gamma Sigma members. It’s the place the world’s top businesses go when they are looking to hire the “Best in Business.”

Ready for your next career step?

Looking to hire the “Best in Business?”

BGS CareerCentral can help! careercentral.betagammasigma.org

February 7-10, 2008

Atlanta, GA

“I came here already asking myself many hard questions, but the Student Leadership Forum forced me to start answering them.”

Charles Thomas, Syracuse University

“This experience was like nothing I have ever participated in before, and it amazed me. I am leaving the Forum with a new perspective on leadership and a continued passion for business.”

Emily Resetco, James Madison University

Beta Gamma Sigma, Inc. 125 Weldon Parkway Maryland Heights, MO 63043-3101 www.betagammasigma.org bgshonors@betagammasigma.org (314) 432-5650

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