The Toxic Avenger is a charming love story and laugh-out-loud musical that has it all — an unlikely hero, his beautiful girlfriend, a corrupt New Jersey mayor and two guys who play… well, everyone else. The New York Post says The Toxic Avenger is “hysterically funny!” and the New York Daily News says it has “all the laughs you want.”

The Toxic Avenger features music and lyrics by David Bryan (keyboardist and founding member of Bon Jovi) and book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change).

Before setting out on a national tour, the The Toxic Avenger continues performances in New York City through January 3rd.

University of Texas students and alumni are invited to see The Toxic Avenger for as low as *$45. Visit BroadwayOffers.com, call 212.947.8844 and use code TOTEXAS10, or print this page and bring it to the New World Stages Box Office at 340 West 50th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues). 

*This offer is valid for select performances thru 1/3/10 and is subject to availability. Not valid on prior purchase.  Offer cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. Blackout dates and restrictions may apply.  Limit eight (8) tickets per order.  No refunds or exchanges. Offer may be revoked at any time.

Photo by Carol Rosegg

BBA ’99

I almost lost it today.

Have you ever been so mad, you’re ready to go off on anyone, regardless of the consequences? That was me today.

Actually, this was the capstone in a couple weeks of really frustrating occurrences.

• I left my phone charger at home (again) and only had my car charger so I had to come outside and sit in the parking lot for two hours every time I needed to charge my phone.
• I’m not adjusting well to switching to a Blackberry (you’ve probably read my rants on Facebook).
• Several of my talks have been flat. I’ve gotten great reviews but I personally know I can do so much better. I take this very personally.
• Every time I try to sit down to get some work done, I fall asleep because I’m so tired from flying, driving or speaking every day.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly-Effective People, Stephen Covey talks about the concept of having an emotional bank account. Mine was on Insufficient Funds. Even the slightest thing was liable to set me off.

I don’t know why people think that because of what I do, I’m somehow exempt from experiencing Yuck Days or having an attitude. Perhaps it’s my name. It’s hard to imagine taking someone seriously when they’re cursing you out, knowing their name is Sprinkles. Well trust me, when I start to lose it, there are no traces of anything “sprinkley.” Mr. Motivator looks more like Mr. Moody!

And now, by five minutes, I had just missed my flight home. It was my fault. I flat out lost track of time earlier that morning. I ended up having to stay in New Jersey for another three hours before the next flight. On top of that, the next connecting flight didn’t leave for another. . . SEVEN hours!

If I told you more details, you would think I was trying to make you feel sorry for me. I’m not. As with all things, I accept total responsibility for my actions and my attitude in response to my actions. I do, however, want to share with you some things that helped get me through. I know I’m not the only one who has ever been close to snapping, so I’m sure you can take away some new strategies for dealing with your Yuck when it comes your way.

1. Make A Decision – I was hot…steaming…livid! I couldn’t believe that I was about to, in essence, waste one of my precious days off. I’m really not an emotional guy, but when I get to the height of my anger, I start to tear up. If I ever actually shed a tear, run fast because I’ve totally lost it! I swear I could’ve knocked out the UFC heavyweight champion. After a few minutes of reveling in my pity party, I realized I could complain and whine and feel sorry for myself all I wanted, but what was done was done. At that point, I made myself say, “I choose…I choose.” At first, my statement was, “I choose to be pissed. I choose to feel like elbowing someone in the forehead.” Then I realized I was being really dumb and needed to choose something more constructive. Reinforcing my ability to choose my attitude was the first step to overcoming the overwhelm of the moment. After that, I could begin the process of figuring out how I could solve my problem instead of wallowing in it.

2. Make A Statement – As my mom used to say, “Don’t let your mouth write a check that your behind can’t cash.” I say, “Watch your words!” Be very careful about what you allow to slip out of your mouth, especially in highly-emotional moments. Statements made in anger and frustration [i.e. “This sucks,” or “This is some (you fill in the blank)”] will cause you to stagnate in the same emotional state. Trust me, I know it’s difficult when you’re ticked off, but choose to use your Winning Words. Say something that diffuses the emotion of the situation. Blurt out, “This is great, just great. Perfect!” or “I can’t wait to tweet about this.” I know this sounds like some stupid motivational speaker crap (I hate that stuff too), but this time, there’s some real meat here.

Dr. Lewis Baxter, a psychiatrist from UCLA, has documented that carefully chosen words have the same effect on the brain as a highly-prescribed drug. Science has proven that the connection between what you say and how you feel. Thus, when you allow yourself to spout off an explicative-laced soliloquy, you are triggering the portion of your brain that is responsible for melancholy emotions. But simply saying something more constructive (whether you really mean it or not!) will numb the effects of the moment and slowly bring you back to normal. Cussin’ and fussin’ feels good at the moment, but like sugar, gives you a temporary rush then leaves you crashing in the end.

3. Make Someone’s Day - One of the highest times in my leadership retreats is when we discuss how great we feel when we make a conscious effort to be a blessing to the people around us. The fastest way to turn a Yuck Day into a good day is to commit a random act of kindness. Pay the toll for the car behind you, grab a few mints at the restaurant at lunch and arrange them in a smiley face on someone’s desk, compliment three people, handwrite a thank you note to someone who deserves it. There is a “boomerang effect” that happens when you send love to others. It is impossible to give without simultaneously receiving.

My buddy, Beaux Wellborn (who was recently featured as a life coach on MTV’s Made), always has the best sayings on his Facebook page. Most recently, he said, “If you want to have a good day, have one. You want to have a bad day, you can have one too. But regardless of what happens in the day, it is ultimately our choice how we see it. I like good days!” Well said, Beaux! Even the best of us get down sometimes. But we don’t have to stay down.

I like good days, too.

———————-

Jonathan Sprinkles was voted National Speaker of the Year, Mentor of the Year and Pinnacle Award winner for business excellence. He is an expert in coaching Peak Performance, Persuasion and Presentation Skills, but it his “down-home” style that has made his name known nationwide. After a few minutes with Jonathan, you will feel like you have known him your entire life. Visit http://www.jonathansprinkles.com/home.html to learn more.

Along with the three Hall of Fame inductees, the school acknowledged two alumni with the Rising Star Award: M. Christina Clayton, BBA ’02 (below left) and Gregory H. Johnson, MBA ’05 (below right). This award is presented to alumni no further than ten years from graduation who have been successful professionally and have helped strengthen the McCombs Alumni Network. Read more.

  

• Associate Brand Manager, Dr Pepper Snapple Group – Plano, TX
• Accounting Supervisor, UT Health Science Center at Houston – Houston, TX
• Accounting -Mgmt./Planning, ICAP North America – Jersey City,  NJ

If you need your UT EID to access the Job Board, please contact the alumni office. If you have forgotten your password but know your UT EID, visit the UT EID Self-Service Tools and click “Find/Reset My Password,” or you may contact the ITS Help Desk at (512) 475-9400.

Gary Hoover
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, the Herb Kelleher Center

Upcoming Presentations:
5:30PM - complimentary appetizers and cash bar
6:00PM - lecture followed by discussion

Wednesday, December 2
Big Screen: How a handful of immigrants created the movie industry.

Wednesday, January 27
Flying High: The creation and development of the modern airline industry by visionary pioneers.

Wednesday, February 24
Lessons from Detroit: What every technology leader can learn from the founders of the “Big Three” US automakers.

Wednesday, March 31
Ringing Registers: The story of American retailing and its innovators.

This event is free and open to the public.

Where:
AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center at the corner of MLK and Lavaca Street, Room 201.
For directions, please click here!

Parking:
Underground garage parking available off of 20th Street.
$7 garage parking passes sold in Gabriel’s Café at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center after 4PM.

RSVP:
Please RSVP to Holly Marino or call (512) 471.8611.

Click here to learn more about Gary Hoover.

Click here to RSVP.

Each semester Dean Tom Gilligan hosts an informal conversation with 3-4 keynote “C-Level” speakers from major U.S. corporations. Guest speakers discuss their background, career, corporation, and give advice to students to help them succeed in their future careers. The event consists of an informal interview session followed by an open floor question and answer. The average audience is 200-400 students, primarily undergraduate business students. This event is open to all University of Texas at Austin students and staff, as well as the general public. The series is organized and sponsored by the Undergraduate Business Council.

Click here for more information on Michael Dell and save the date for future VIP speakers:

• Doug Ulman, President, Lance Armstrong Foundation, February 4
• Roy Spence Founder, GSD&M Idea City, February 23

Click here for additional details and information on upcoming speakers.

In addition to his work with McCombs, Loeffler is also a member of the 1883 Council and the Cockrell School of Engineering Development Board. The 1883 Council works with the development office to develop future generations of alumni leaders through education and involvement.

 
Who were your favorite teachers at McCombs?

Some of my best memories are from the core finance class with Jay Hartzell. Also, particularly for what I do today in investment banking Andres Almazan was one of the teachers that really stuck out. The topics that he covered in advanced corporate are some of what we do day-in and day-out in investment banking.

How did your educational experience change you?

I graduated undergrad and went to work doing corporate finance for a business in Austin. I got to a point at that firm where I knew there was not a whole lot of chance for upward mobility, so I took the opportunity to go back to the MBA program and used it to leverage my switch in career. It was always a goal of mine to “work on Wall Street.” McCombs allowed me to go from the corporate world to the financial services side.
 
What are your goals for the future, career-wise and in relation to McCombs?

I look to develop in the financial services sector. I have personal goals to do things on the private equity side in the financial sponsors arena, but also a longer term goal is to eventually be elected to public service.

But I think more than where I’m going, my goal is to also continue to be more involved in the McCombs community and really at UT in general. It’s great to know what’s going on in the university, how young alumni can help in the current situation from an economic perspective and just to be part of the next generation of leadership that will guide the university over the next 30 or 40 years.
 
Why do you think it is important for alumni to attend the reunions?

I think that the reunion and the alumni network provide a necessary platform for us as classmates to keep up with each other and with professors, but, in general, it’s the connection that you need to your school. I think that those are the three important things that the alumni network offers.

Based on that, the things that we felt were important to the reunion were an opportunity to see what’s going on at the school and to tour the facilities, to reach out to some of the professors and have them involved in the events, and also to make sure that there is enough social time to allow people to catch up with classmates and to continue to network.
 
How have you personally benefitted from being a part of the alumni network?

Certainly networking from a professional perspective has been important. You get to cast your net among many, many smart people and people that are interested in the things that you are. The fulfillment I get is getting to know the other leaders, learn from them and make really good friends.
 
What advice can you offer to current McCombs students?

Continue to work hard but enjoy your time at the 40 Acres as much as you can, within reason. Both my stints at McCombs were unbelievable. Whether it’s an opportunity to make friends that you’ll have the rest of your lives or to put in your toolkit the tools you’ll need for your career, those are the things that you can never replace.

I would also advise students to stay involved in McCombs and the university community. It is a unique experience to be a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin. That degree carries with it a lot of responsibility and part of that is to continue to give back whether you do that with monetary gifts or service.

Professor Herb Miller invited Eddie Lucio III to McCombs this week to talk to his Foundations of Marketing class, and students were treated to a slice of Texas politics, the realities of launching a new clothing line, and some straight talk on getting ahead in life. They should have been taking careful notes, as Lucio was on a roll.

Eddie Lucio III is a member of the Texas House of Representatives (38th District) and a business school graduate from the McCombs School (’01). He also received his law degree at UT Austin (’05). Eddie’s father, Eddie Lucio Jr. is a member of the Texas Senate.

Miller opened the session by noting that the topic of the class was promotion, and how to market yourself to be successful. “You learn to get to know people and engage with people to be successful,” he said. “Promoting, marketing and networking for the common good with people who can help you. Building a relationship, networking not to get anything, but to give. And the more you give the more you get.”

Lucio began by recounting his early years growing up with politics.

“I grew up with politics in my family and I hated it,” he said. “Dad was away a lot, and Mom had to raise the kids. It was tough. But while I was at UT law school there was an issue regarding tuition deregulation. I got involved in that, got a taste for advocacy and got it in my system.”

Lucio told the students he often drew on the lessons of marketing as he launched his political career. A major barrier he faced was his relatively young age and the fact his father was in the Senate. “I had to establish myself as my own person,” he said. “I met with advisors and created a marketing campaign that emphasized the positive aspects of my age and my experience in politics. I had never tried a case, owned a business or run for office. But I talked about being an outsider and representing the perspective of my generation. I had to present myself as someone who had the answers. Young, responsible leadership.”

In answer to a question Lucio stressed that he had never sacrificed his personal integrity in order to survive in politics, whether on a bill or on the campaign trail. He explained that 95% of the issues politicians face are not black and white, and he has had to vote against some bills that were basically good but contained provisions that he could not support.

Turning to the business world, Lucio discussed his involvement in an entrepreneurial venture he just launched.

“I’m a big martial arts fan” he explained, “And I would go to fights and see a lot of Latinos wearing clothing that wasn’t designed specifically for them. It stuck in the back of my mind. So I got together with some artists and developed a fashion line for Latinos who enjoy martial arts. That was the inspiration for Ganas Clothing. The word means desire, will, passion and heart. It is about having courage.

“With Ganas I learned not to take things casually. I had to put together a strategic plan that will resonate with buyers. I had to learn about the textile market. There is so much detail to learn, even about something as simple as t-shirts…where it comes from, what region of the world, the size and fit and style. There are opportunities to set yourself apart.”

Lucio said that while the brand was originally targeted exclusively for the mixed martial arts crowd, he soon realized there was a larger market out there. “We’re a young company,” he stated, “but we learned quickly that our competitors all started small, and developed a following before they ever got into stores. A friend of mine in the business told me, ‘Eddie, don’t grow too quickly.’”

It was clear from his presentation that Lucio has a passion for this new venture. “We are using iconic images from Hispanic culture, with young artists,” he said. “It has been fun to get into, and we’ve been successful whenever we go to an event. We went to a biker show on South Padre Island recently, and I thought ‘I’ve gone from debating deep issues of politics to selling t-shirts at a biker show.’

“There is no shame in my game,” he said with a laugh. Turning serious he encouraged students, “If you prepare properly, manage your finances and work hard you can accomplish nearly anything.”

Lucio’s final comments focused on developing personal relationships based on trust and respect.

“I started off in the mail room in a law firm. I was treated horribly and I loved it, because that was real life,” he said. “When I became an attorney I treated the support staff awesomely, and I could get anything done because they would support me. Remember that the person who greets you at the front desk may have more influence over your success than the person in the corner office.”

While Congress spent another day immersed in debates on healthcare reform, leaders in the Texas Medical Center participated in a panel discussion, sharing their visions for healthcare coverage and how to pay for it.

The Nov. 3 event at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston was presented in conjunction with The University of Texas McCombs School of Business. Kevin Dillon, M.B.A., UT Health Science Center at Houston executive vice president and chief operating and financial officer, moderated the panel discussion at the Beth Robertson Auditorium of The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM).

Panelists were Thomas R. Cole, Ph.D., The John P. McGovern, M.D. Center for Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit at UT Medical School at Houston; Leon J. Leach, M.B.A., The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Osama Mikhail, Ph.D., The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston; and Pauline Vaillancourt Rosenau, Ph.D., UT School of Public Health.

Befitting  the UT business school backdrop, healthcare cost drew the most attention from the panelists and audience members. All experts agreed that controlling costs is a critical component to any reform plan, but in the end the four panelists proposed four different solutions to this complex problem.

Cutting wasteful administrative costs would be the place to start, asserted Rosenau, who cited the Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Administration systems as models of service providers that operate without high administrative costs.

Mikhail’s solution would involve changing the way reimbursements are determined in order to pay higher reimbursements “upstream,” that is, at the prevention, promotion and education end of the healthcare spectrum. This may add short-term costs, Mikhail recognized, but would provide long-term cost savings.

Leach proposed nationalizing medical malpractice litigation limitations like those currently in place in Texas, letting insurers compete across state lines and moving toward a value-based competitive system for setting fees for services.

Cole argued for having a public healthcare option that would serve to provide the possibility of keeping the health insurance companies honest and that would expand access and coverage the most.

“These are complicated issues that don’t reduce themselves well to simple answers,” Dillon noted. “We are fortunate to have this outstanding panel of experts right here in the Texas Medical Center.”

The panelists are considering reprising their presentation to a largely School of Public Health student audience within the next few months.

“A felony is forever. That’s not a legacy to leave to anybody.”

Harvin C. Moore III (right) gave a speech on ethics Nov. 4 to Urton Anderson and Janet Dukerich’s undergraduate studies class, Organizational Corruption and Organizational Control.

At first glance, Moore looks like the picture of success. He earned a law degree from UT Austin and went to work for a law firm in Houston, where he had a “Midas touch” for putting together lucrative business deals. His real estate developments were valued at $250 million and he co-owned a savings and loan business with more than $400 million in assets.

It wasn’t until Moore took off his jacket and put on the prison badge he wore during his 2-year sentence in federal prison that students realized that this wasn’t going to be like any ethics speech they had heard before.

Moore was in business during the collapse of both the oil and gas industry and the real estate market in the four oil and gas states - Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Louisiana. That collapse caused all of his personal business to fail and left him with only the savings and loan institution, which he believed to be in excellent health.

However, the savings and loan institution was hit by defaults on the loans it had made to people in Houston and under the rules the partners could not declare a dividend for themselves under those circumstances. That meant that they could not pay back their debts and lenders were threatening to foreclose on their stock in the institution, thereby forcing both parties into bankruptcy.

It was the pressure and fear of being without a job that caused Moore to make three loans to his friends. Those friends would then use part of the money they were lent to “buy” miscellaneous assets from Moore’s personal holdings so that he could use the money to pay his debts.

Moore said he knew that this type of lending was illegal but that he rationalized his actions by convincing himself that he needed to do it to survive. He also told himself that he and his partner were the only ones at risk since they had made the original loan and would be the only ones hurt if the borrower defaulted. He tied it all up by reminding himself that “everybody’s doing it,” and that they were doing far worse things than what he had done.

Things continued to get worse at the institution, however, and by the end of 1988 the company had been taken over by the Resolution Trust Corps (RTC), which mean that Moore lost ownership of the company to the government and had to file for bankruptcy anyway. It was then that his 27-year marriage ended in divorce.

During the investigation of his bankruptcy filings the RTC found those illegal loans and filed a criminal suit against Moore. While he was planning how to defend himself, he suddenly realized that he had no defense.

“It didn’t matter that the institution was solvent when I made that loan,” said Moore. “Did I get the money out correctly? The answer is no. That is a federal crime, and I realized I could not go into a courtroom and plead not-guilty.”

As a result of his conviction, Moore spent 601 days in federal prison and three years on parole in Houston. He was forced to pay $500,000 in restitution and he lost his licenses to practice law and to issue property, casualty and life insurance. He also lost the right to vote or to own or possess a gun.

He said that the toughest thing was getting a job after his release. He went through five jobs in five years before he found one that gave him a platform from which to rebuild his life and his career.

Moore ended his talk by reinforcing the consequences of one bad decision.

“When you make the right choice, most of the time there is a short-term cost associated with it,” said Moore. “But the potential of taking the other side is a long-term liability.

“A felony is forever,” he continued. ”That’s not a legacy to leave to anybody.”