OUR LEAD ITEM: Sometimes I say to myself “Self, why don’t they warn you that after a winter vacation of sun and sloth, Section A returns to face unheard- of challenges: seat changes, new courses, subscriber-model valuations, Spangler TOM issues, negotiating with Section B, and the simple prospect of finding gainful summer employ.” But is there a group more up to the challenge than the 83 members of Section A? Despite the break-up of first term’s “Right Field Mafia” and the foiling of certain first-term sky-deckers’ plans to continue dozing through class, Section A has quickly morphed into our new seat assignments, perhaps the
most disconcerting of all the second term’s changes….
THE NEW POWER AXIS: Starting next week, Katie Cousins and Josh Weisbrod will be running the Section A BGIE review sessions. Our many ex-consultants will thrill us with C&S reviews also….JUST ASKING: Who wants to know what Nadine Haj-Hasan spent on the “hairy purse”? While we’re at it, who wants to know how many pairs of Gucci loafers Bill Connell really owns?….WHAT I DID OVER WINTER VACATION: If you were anywhere in the vicinity of the Bay Area, you couldn’t drop off a resume in the Valley without tripping over someone from Section A. There will be omissions, but the WesTrek attendees included: Ken Mendiwelson, Rajesh Bilimoria, Lena Haas, Ken Davidson, Sean Gass, Michelle Gee and Michelle Dietz, Rich Appiah (who gave this grateful hitchhiker a ride from the Yacht Club halfway across the city), Claude London, The Man, Jon Tower, Aman Kapadia, Jeff Street, Benji Gigot, Steve Ko, Anthony Change and a bunch of others who shouldn’t be pissed that I forgot them. Others, with their tales — Phil Black: “Surf. Sun. Run. Repeat.” Ricky Ayers: “I ate at the Waffle House approximately 10 times (since the northern assholes don’t have such delicacies). I get my hash browns scattered & covered (although I did try a little Bert’s Chili on them one time).” Jeff Street: “My wife and I danced the New Year in with the Boston Pops. Then I was off to WesTrek and DenverTrek.” Eric Christensen: “Froze my ass off on a beach in South Carolina!” Steve Swartz: “I was nominated for labor secretary, but when they found out I had employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper back in L.A. I was forced to withdraw my nomination. So, I decided to come back to HBS after all. I’m not sure it’s news-worthy, I did finish the boat I had been building in my basement over the past semester (proof you can do things outside of HBS during the first semester), then went to visit my company in LA, and ended up impulse buying an old 4X4 truck three days before school started. I then drove about 20 hours a day last Sunday and Monday, then all day and all night Tuesday, arriving just in time to pick up my cases mid day Wednesday.” Carolyn Bockius was seen in both Delaware and Killington. Kelly Granat and Deb Huret were spied power-brunching at New York’s tony Blue Water Grill. Victor Ho was apparently wowing his girlfriend’s parents in the U.K.—just as surely as he wowed her with his Wal-Mart analysis in class last Tuesday. Not the rest of us, though….Apparently, Jeb Jones who word has it was the inspiration of the John Moxon character in “Varsity Blues”—was spied taking in the Florida State-Oklahoma game solo on a barstool in the lovely Crimson Grille….FROM THE “I CAN PROBABLY THINK OF A BATNA” FILE: Nearly two dozen Section A’ers were caught at a single company’s cocktail party during the crazy January recruiting season. Overheard conversation centered mostly on new seat assignments….PORTER’S SIXTH FORCE: Congrats to Section A’s own Benji Gigot for his performance last weekend at the prestigious MBA case competition in lovely Detroit, Michigan….SECTION A HOOPS REPORT: Fielding both “A” and “B” teams, Section A looks to translate one core competency—Trivial Pursuit dominance—into butt-kicking on the courts at Shad. Everyone who’s anyone knows that Section A garden-decker Joaquin Tamez is the best pure shooter in the cohort. However, only the spies (and “Kah-Tee” Cousins) understand Section A’s Secret Weapon, code named “The Moore Project.”…JUST ASKING II: Why are there no garbage cans in the main Spangler eating room? The quickest way to turn a $60 million facility into Kresge (circa December 2000) is to give students a BATNA of leaving their trash on the tables….CANDY UPDATE: Whoever brought those chocolate-covered pretzels into class, please let me know so we can give you your props in this space. LAST WORD: Good luck to everyone during Hell Week. Root for your neighbors!
