Heard in class:

"You are screwed, to royally frame it" Process Operation Management Professor

"Oaow, this is the first time that someone asks me to stay in longer...I mean, in class" Managerial Accounting Professor

"I am selling my seat!!!! 43,000 Euros!!!!" A student holding up his broken chair with two arms

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This week is The Heart Of Europe week, a Swiss-Austrian and German conglomerate. Boris Becker was leading our Amphi Storming, using his racket as a pointer, Arnie IS BACK from California to tell us to be on time at the Oktober Fest party this Friday, a cow was quite certainly some mad Lola running around the amphi on two legs.

Germany - beyond the Nazi stereotype of pointy helmets and rigid hand salutes, the sad story of the eradication of millions of people. An extremely rich country in poets, musicians and intellectuals, most of them with unpronouncable names. I mean who can say Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche? Inventor of the gas-powered car (Benz) thus indirectly responsible for the creation and supremacy of OPEC, after the French who had no oil invented the steam-powered car (Cugnot) hoping for the creation of tremendous wealth for the most rainy countries in the world (Northen Europe would certainly have had a good voting power in such cartel and Saudi Arabia would have been quite far behind). France and Germany, once opposed and somewhat differing in their idea of borders, are certainly building strong knots. Perhaps remembering the good old times when the Royaume Franc was ruled out of Aix-La-Chapelle. Whether France with its highly centralized government, its wine culture and strong nationalism can really work with a country with a landler organization, a beer culture and a strong nationalism is a question that I'd like to pose to all of you.

Austria - once a great empire, when partnered with Hungary. The country of Mozart has recently shown some signs of right-wing tendencies. Anyone who has travelled to Vienna, apart from a fantastically lit Christmas market and a not very heated Imperial Palace, might have felt a great sense of safety. The most beautiful waltzes have emanated from this dress loving country (watch the Sissi movies in lieu of a fashion "defile). You can also line up and buy an opera ticket for the equivalent of 1 UKP on the day of the show. When I visited Vienna, for the first time in years, a Mozart opera was proposed to the public. Boy! What this a success?
It became a national event!!!!

Switzerland. Apart from being a serious competitor to Procter and Gamble and Unilever in laundry products, servicing mainly the pharmaceutical/drugs industry, with probably some 30% of its revenues coming from them, Switzerland is this country in Europe which is not part of the European Union, athough a good example of language blending with German, Swiss and Italian part. Although when I talk to the German about the Swiss, they say that they can't undertand them, the French that their accent is so funny that their laughter fits usually cover the conversation and the Italian that they did not remember that Switzerland existed at all ;-) A country of clockwork organization, impeccable nature, expensive ski resorts, on the par with New Zealand (Switzerland has more cows than people, and the kiwis more sheep than people) for protecting wild species and great chocolate. The country shows some willingness to take part in world affairs, beyong the pharmaceutical business, with the rollexing out, I mean, the rolling out of a large accommodation program for international cooperation businesses, such as the United Nations or the CERN.

Anyway, looking forward to the party.


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Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay is coming to campus. As expected everyone wants to to go and see her presentation and demand far exceeds supply. Here is an ingenious log off (what someone can do with your e-mail if you forget to log off from the network):

Auction of Meg Whitman's tickets:

As a service to fellow students I've created a spreadsheet on the K: drive which allows for a mini-market of Meg Whitman tickets. So... if you really want a ticket, rather than flooding our mailboxes with mass emails, fill in your name and how much hard cash you would be prepared to pay for the ticket.

If you're a ticket owner and want to make some money, look through the spreadsheet and you'll find a list of willing buyers.

CEO of Linlcon Electric also coming today. We studied the company's incentive scheme in our Leading Organization class.

Erratum: Moulin Rouge show lasts for 1h 45 min (and the bottle of champagne is included in the ticket price)