Professor Elam

Wednesday May 10, 2017

Nathan Guardia – Big Data

Rarely to never do we see a student actually using statistics. Nathan did just that in his study of Big Data. He mentions the frequency of someone at a particular gas station have their identity stolen by a device in the pump which copies card information. This happened at the new Shell station near my home just this past month. I no longer use a credit card at the pump but pay cash to inside the store. Buyer  Beware!  At any rate Nathan goes on to describe the data created by mankind to date and just how fast we are creating more. And there are some fine examples of how data collection can be applied. I guess you were not with us on review day as this one just knocked me over!  Nathan this was great, who are you where were you sitting in class, I don't  know who you are!

Jose Rincon – Mortgage Fraud

As noted in class, higer and higher home prices make more money for all involved, so there is a tendency for fraud to quickly escalate in such dealings. Jose looks at precautions against such activity.

Carlos Lopez – Penn State and Baylor

Carlos ran with my idea on Sports Played Badly. As he says, this is not a game played among students this is big time bragging rights and money. I am stunned that in  2011 UT was grossing over twice what A & M was in football. What UT only took in $100 million?  Well sure enough as the poster states only 3 colleges grossed over $100 M in 2013 but by 2016 28 colleges had grossed over $100 M.

Baylor had ample opportunity to learn from the Penn State Scandal. And ti had its own earlier scandal regarding the Basketball Program back in 2003.

Edward Zurita – Baylor Basketball

Edward examined the results of numerous NCAA violations which led to a ban on post season competition  in 2003-04.  Basketball coach Dave Bliss had paid the tuition for two players. One player killed another player.  Bliss concocted a story that the slain student was a drug dealer to cover up his illegal involvement. And he induces other to lie or be fired. The final result was one of the harshest NCAA penalties ever. One would think Baylor would have instituted numerous safeguards and internal controls and audits to prevent such an event from occurring again. But another failure to exercise oversight then occurred for the football team. Clearly the tone at the top was not what it should have been.

Renita Elizalde – A Penny for your Thoughts,  A Million for His   

I had suggested in class that a comparison of modern Presidents cashing in on their Post Presidency would make for an interesting comparison. Renita took me up on that.

Her hypothesis was that the President with the highest approval rating would make the most money post President. The result however as that the President  with the least fluctuation in ratings earned the most. That President is Bill Clinton. I suspect another dimension of this is the lengths the Presidents go to market themselves.Certainly starting a world wide foundation and openly soliciting donations boosted the Clinton cash haul.   And Renita observes that social mood towards a President cashing in since Truman has changed. She notes Obama accepted $400000 just three months after leaving office. Then she posed an interesting question. Given the cost of running for President, how long before a President takes money while in office. One could argue that has already occurred with unions funneling dues to political campaigns or wealthy casion owners contributing in the same manner.