Category Archives: Events

Events that are happening around and with the MPA

Career, Events, Feature, Melissa

And the Oscar goes to…

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Accounting firms in the public eye

Did anyone else see the PwC partners walking the Academy’s votes down the red carpet at the Oscars? There are a lot of things in the popular media that are actually done by accounting firms. The accounting nerd in me was really excited to see “PricewaterhouseCoopers” on the screen of the Oscars. So of course I snapped a quick iPhone photo, as displayed on the left. This spun me into some web research (Googling) about accounting firms in popular culture and I want to share it with you all.

PwC has been in charge of counting the ballots for the Academy Awards for 78 years, and the accountants in charge actually know the winners 48 hours ahead of the public. But even crazier is that, for all eternity, these partners know who came in second place, and are sworn to secrecy- probably because sometimes, the runner-up misses the Oscar by one vote. In the 78 years of counting ballots, there has been no security issues, leaked winners or miscounts. On the day of the awards, the two partners in charge take separate routes to Kodak Theater, with LAPD officers in tow. They both hold identical briefcases with one whole set of the winning envelopes. Also, they MEMORIZE the winners in case something happens to these briefcases. At the show, they stand in the wings and hand the envelopes to the presenters before they walk on stage. Sounds like a job I would LOVE to have!

It is interesting to note that after all the accounting scandals in the early 2000s, when the world looked down on the accounting industry, there were critics who actually raised suspicions that PwC was not to be trusted with the counting of the Academy Awards ballots. Of course, as I stated before, PwC has always handled the task with the upmost professionalism and accuracy, however, this was a reflection of the times.

Other instances of public accounting firms in popular culture:

  • E&Y counts the ballots for the Golden Globes
  • KPMG sponsors professional golfer, Phil Mickelson
  • Deloitte Sponsors the U.S. Olympic Committee
Alexandria, Events, Student Life

MPA Council takes Project 2012

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The River City Youth Foundation Success Center, where we spent our morning volunteering

Just last Saturday,MPA Council joined approximately 2000 other volunteers to reach out and improve the greater Austin community for Project 2012, UT’s largest day of service. What an experience it was!

Here’s a summary of my memorable day: I had to wake up quite early (especially for a college student) in order to report for duty with council members. We, along with the other morning shift volunteers, were then welcomed and thanked for our help by multiple local politicians. We also were lucky enough to watch the Dove Springs Middle School cheerleading squad perform for us! It was definitely the highlight of the ceremony.

We then went to our volunteer location, River City Youth Foundation, in south Austin. They had a multitude of tasks for us to complete to improve the facility for Austin’s youth. Some members and I were responsible for repainting the interior of the complex, while other members helped re-mulch the trails by shoveling mulch into a wheelbarrow. Continue reading MPA Council takes Project 2012 →

Academics, Austin, Career, CPA Exam, Events, Paul, Student Life

While you were Meme-ing…

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…I was studying with Becker. It seems that the relaxed semester is impossible under my terms and lifestyle. Nevertheless, it is what it is, and explains my hiatus from the blogging world for the past two weeks.

There is no shortage of stories though. Here is some recent Conversationalia from the past couple of weeks:

 

Texas to Host 2014 Menuhin Competition

The University of Texas will host the 2014 Menuhin Competition for violinists. It will be the first time the competition will be held in the North American continent. Read more about this in the Daily Texan’s article.

Yehudi Menuhin was born in America, but he spent most of his professional music career in the United Kingdom. He was a popular violinist during the 20th century, during which time recordings were available. My mom used to play a CD of Menuhin playing the Mozart violin concertos in the car. When you’re nine years’ old, you don’t particularly listen that closely. However, there was something about the last movement of Mozart’s fifth violin concerto that I just loved. I’m not sure if it was the sweet innocent opening theme or the somewhat raucous “Turkish” section in the middle, but this piece was my motivation for continuing to study the instrument throughout elementary school and high school, since it was only five Suzuki books away. (Otherwise, I’m not sure how much longer I would have lasted at the time…) Anyways, here’s Menuhin’s performance of that piece:

PitaLicious!

What I love about Austin is its entrepreneurial spirit. It’s awesome, and one of the great ways it’s exemplified is through the Trailer model. Here you save on fixed costs and experiment with your product in a small food trailer instead of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. One of my new favorites is PitaLicious on South Congress.

Why do I love it so much? Two reasons: the first is that the owner is Lebanese (where my great-grandparents emigrated from, thus earning extra points in my book) and serves kafta (which is a dish my siti loves to prepare for my brother and me when I visit El Paso). Second, and more substantially, is that the owner and his girlfriend have full-time jobs. (He’s an engineer, and she’s a nurse.)That’s right—they operate this food stand for fun. When talking to him, he told me that this was one of his passions and always wanted to do it. And that is what I love about Austin—the culture of doing things because you want to and taking some chances with life! PitaLicious is open on Thursday and Friday nights as well as the weekends. Follow your dreams.

Final Thoughts

Speaking of music, the University Orchestra—of which I have been a member of for my entire five years at Texas—is performing Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, “Pastorale,” on Tuesday, February 28 at 7:30 p.m. The piece is awesome, invoking a lot of imagery of nature and minimalism. This is, to me, one of the best pieces ever written—a true work of art—and a great piece to listen to even if you are not a hardcore classical music person. This is simply a must-hear.

Events, Spring Break, Student Life, Xinmiao

Spring Meanderings

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A candy store on SoCo.

Is it Spring? It’s hard to tell in Texas sometimes. But I say, it is! In honor of the emergence of Spring (and the fact that I hail from a city north of Houston dubbed Spring, TX), I’m going to mention just a few fun things I’ve done / will do this Spring.

I…

…went to a reading.
There are a couple of contemporary writers that really excite me, that just make me feel completely starstruck. One of them is Ben Marcus, author of The Flame Alphabet (sweet cover, right?). It was terrific to see him read at BookPeople, “Austin’s leading independent bookstore,” in January. Marcus is actually an Austin native (I did not know that) and his reading is the result of a partnership between BookPeople and the literary magazine, American Short Fiction, I worked for in the Fall. I am really excited for their reading series and future collaborations. Continue reading Spring Meanderings →

Academics, Events, Feature, Melissa, Recruiting

Surviving my first week of career events

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Recruiting is all about finding your perfect fit among the firms.

It is the point in the semester where all of the firms hold “Career Nights” for the third-year MPAs. Essentially, it is a less formal information session paired with a networking reception. To mirror my blog about mock interviews, I will tell you a few things I learned this week.

1. You really will start to discover the firm where you will fit best. Originally, I approached that notion with skepticism, thinking there was going to be a consistency between the firms. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. By no means are there “good” vs. “bad” firms, but moreso you will start to see where your personality fits in.

2. Know what makes you fun/unique. Of course it is important to know what year you are, what track you are pursuing, where you want to intern, etc. But how long do you think you can talk about that in a networking setting? Not very long. It is great when you talk about where you studied abroad, your favorite hobby, or your favorite food in Austin. And when you connect with someone who also lived in Paris, or also loves P. Terry’s, it makes the conversation more memorable and personal.

3. Get business cards and send thank you emails. But, do this because you WANT to, not because you think it something you have to do. The professionals can tell if your email is genuine or if it is forced. Make it personal. Do not have a shell email with which you “fill-in-the-blank” for firm and professional’s name.

These are just a few tips- but hopefully you get an idea for what Career Nights are really about, and I hope that my advice helps you in the future.