(CNN Student News) -- October 7, 2008
Quick Guide
Financial Future - See how some business students are being forced to adjust expectations.
European Disunion - Get a sense of Europe's "every country for itself" economic climate.
Big Screen Politics - Take the stage in a debate about whether Hollywood has electoral influence.
Transcript
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: You've tuned in or logged on or downloaded Tuesday's edition of CNN Student News, and we thank you for it. I'm Carl Azuz.
First Up: Drop in the Dow
AZUZ: Wall Street's on a bungee cord. You've heard us mention the Dow Jones, an index of U.S. stocks that's seen as a measure of how the economy's doing. Yesterday's answer: all over the map. The Dow dropped dramatically at first, losing as much as 800 points. It recovered somewhat before the bell rang, ending the day down 369 points, but all this shows how shaky the economy is, despite the government passing the $700 billion bailout bill last week.
AZUZ: All this is really rotten news if you're going into finance or investment banking. A friend of mine in business school said her colleagues are having to change their dreams from what they want to what's available. You'll see what we mean in this report by Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN REPORTER: Plan "A" for Akbar Thobhani was to turn last summer's internship on Wall Street into a full-time job earning six figures. But the second-year MBA student at MIT's Sloan School of Management ran into reality.
AKBAR THOBHANI, MBA STUDENT: At the end of the day, very few offers were given.
LOTHIAN: The hurricane that slammed Wall Street sucked the air out of big dreams.
ANDRE LO, PROFESSOR, MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: It's certainly a challenging time, and I think our students are concerned about what the future might be for their career opportunities.
LOTHIAN: Inside the grad school's simulated trading room, we met with second-year student Benjamin Frenkel. His high tech start-up went belly up during the last bubble, and the finance field he's headed into has imploded.
BENJAMIN FRENKEL, MBA STUDENT: I still really think finance is a great place to be, but I personally am sort of broadening my horizons as well as looking at jobs in management consulting.
LOTHIAN: At Harvard Business School, where 44% of the last graduating class went into financial services, career coaches are helping current and former students navigate through this violent and seemingly endless storm.
JANA KERSTEAD, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL: I think many of them are saying, "What's my risk tolerance? Am I comfortable with this or am I not?"
LOTHIAN: A team from here recently flew to New York City to meet with members of last year's graduating class who got great jobs on Wall Street, but wonder for how long.
PROFESSOR: It works for people, too.
LOTHIAN: Some still in grad school are also worried that consulting or high tech jobs might be harder to get, because now they're competing for those jobs with more MBA students and more experienced workers.
FRENKEL: I think it's a little bit scarier than you'd like it to be.
LOTHIAN: But Frenkel's passion to eventually do something in finance hasn't diminished; neither has Thobhani's.
THOBHANI: It's really hard to tell which direction I'm gonna head in. I mean, the goal is still there, but I just don't know how I'm gonna get there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Word to the Wise
ERIC GERSHON, CNN STUDENT NEWS: A Word to the Wise...
unilateral (adjective) involving or done by only one side
source: www.dictionary.com
AZUZ: All right, take a second and look at the labels on your clothes, school supplies or bags. You'll see they're from all over the world, and that's one illustration of how our economies are connected. Despite sharing one form of money though, several European countries are not taking a unilateral approach to deal with their struggling economies. Atika Shubert shows some different attacks on the same growing problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN REPORTER: It seemed like a good plan. Over the weekend, France, Germany, the UK and Italy met and agreed to stand united and defend Europe's financial system in the wake of the U.S. bailout plan. But by Monday morning, it was every country for itself. It started last week in Ireland with a blanket guarantee on private savings. European neighbors complained that Irish banks now had an unfair advantage, but Greece shortly followed suit. By Monday, Austria, Iceland, Portugal and Europe's largest economy, Germany, were all promising to guarantee personal bank deposits. Denmark and Sweden also increased the amounts they would guarantee. In London, UK Finance Minister Alistair Darling defended his government's decision to stick to only a partial guarantee on deposits of up to $87,000, calling instead for European unity.
ALISTAIR DARLING, UK FINANCE MINISTER: I've always been clear that each country needs to do whatever is needed to deal with its own particular circumstances. However, I also believe that wherever it is possible to do so, countries should work together and act to maintain stability.
SHUBERT: The knock-on effect of the country-by-country approach was clear as markets plummeted across Europe.
MARTIN SORRELL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WPP STEFAAN DECOCK: What people fail to understand is the interconnectedness. If one part of the banking system starts to fail, it obviously ripples through the whole banking system. And the decline in confidence is the real problem, that's the really toxic thing.
SHUBERT: European financial ministers are due to meet Tuesday in Luxembourg to try and instill some much needed confidence and stability. But in terms of a consolidated European Union policy, it may be too little, too late. Atika Shubert, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Headlines
AZUZ: Checking up on a couple other headlines. Religious displays, terrorism, cuss words on TV: The Supreme Court is gearing up to review cases concerning all of these issues. Its new term runs through next June, and the decisions the court makes could affect our lives for decades. In the short-term, though, we're keeping our eyes on a storm named Marco. It formed on Monday near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and is expected to pour as much as four inches of rain in southern Mexico. The country's government issued a hurricane watch, but as of last night, Marco was still a relatively small storm.
Fast Facts
GERSHON: Time for some Fast Facts! The Taliban are a Muslim fundamentalist group that controlled a large part of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. They were criticized for the harsh way in which they ruled, and they were sanctioned by the United Nations for creating thousands of refugees. The Taliban allowed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to stay in Afghanistan as a guest. After refusing to hand him over to the U.S. after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Taliban were attacked and ousted from Afghan rule.
Taliban Talks
AZUZ: The Taliban still exist, and they're kind of at a standstill with Afghanistan's current government. See, Afghanistan doesn't think the Taliban can be completely wiped out by military force, and the Taliban don't think they can win a war against the U.S.-led coalition currently in Afghanistan. So another country, Saudi Arabia, is getting involved. Its king recently hosted historic talks in Mecca between the Taliban and Afghanistan, the first step in an effort to bring peace to the troubled country.
Promo
AZUZ: There's another form of talks going on tonight in the U.S.; it's just a little debate between these two men who want to run the country! To give you an edge, though, we've set up a free Learning Activity, a One-Sheet on debates, video on debate history. It's a wealth of free resources, and it's all as close as CNNStudentNews.com!
AZUZ: Hollywood, surprise surprise, has always had plenty to say about politics. You could probably name a couple stars, like Heidi Montag or George Clooney, who've been vocal about whom they support for president. But a lot of movies also carry a political message, and Brooke Anderson asked whether these types of films could spotlight any influence on Election Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN REPORTER: With the presidential election just weeks away, Hollywood is releasing a slew of politically themed movies, both from the left and the right.
FROM "AN AMERICAN CAROL": I love America. That's why it needs to be destroyed.
ANDERSON: "An American Carol" takes aim at liberals.
DAVID ZUCKER, DIRECTOR, "AN AMERICAN CAROL": Instead of Scrooge, it's a Michael Moore like character who is saying "bah humbug" to America.
FROM "W": Ruin the Bush name!
ANDERSON: Bush critic Oliver Stone's "W" is a fictionalized, unflattering portrayal of the current president. But will these films actually impact voters' decisions at the polls?
LEAH ROZEN, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: I don't think that much of what people see on a screen affects them when they go into the voting booth. I think these movies preach to the converted. I think people who go to these films tend to already be on whatever political side they espouse.
ANDERSON: Other new offerings take a less partisan approach to government and policy.
FROM "BATTLE IN SEATTLE": They want to keep the truth gagged? So be it.
ANDERSON: "Battle in Seattle," about the 1999 World Trade Organization protests, was shown at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
STUART TOWNSEND, DIRECTOR, "BATTLE IN SEATTLE": This film isn't a left or a right film, or a Republican or a Democratic film. It's about Americans. It's about patriotic Americans standing up, fighting the power.
ANDERSON: "The Lucky Ones" centers on three Iraq War veterans' return home to the U.S., and "Body of Lies" targets terrorists.
FROM "BODY OF LIES": It's a dangerous, dangerous world out there, you know.
ANDERSON: Proof Hollywood's latest plotline mirrors real-life issues as the nation prepares to cast its vote. Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Before We Go
AZUZ: Okay, you're handed 10 bucks, but there's a catch: You've got to do something with it to help other people. A Seattle Credit Union is trying this out with two goals: One, show people it gives back to the community. And two, create a competition: People say on camera what they plan to do with the money, viewers vote on the best plan, and the winner gets a thousand dollars donated to his or her charity of choice. This is on our blog; tell us what you would do with the ten bucks.
Goodbye
AZUZ: And don't say you'd give the ten to your friend and have him give you his. That's cheating! We'll look forward to your comments and see you tomorrow.
| Most Viewed | Most Emailed |
| Most Viewed | Most Emailed |