APRIL 1988 " Dollars And Sense
U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER 11
I~ ~~ i~ Career insights Debt monitor Away from home New heart at 22
Roundup on potential U. of Kansas seeks Peace Corps couple trades U. of Delaware's Kim
salaries, hot jobs, and computer to keep students in San Diego college life for Claudfelter received
interview hints. out of debt. Senegal village. surprise heart transplant.
Page 12 Page 14 Page 14 Page 16
Anatomy
of the
crash
By Eric Elbell
The Snapper
Millersville U., PA
The President's Task Force on
Market Mechanisms, designed to
uncover the causes of the Oct. 19
crash, has stated that the crash
may have been caused by only a
handfuloflargeinstitutional inves-
tors.
Although the report does not
mention any names, it has been re-
vealed that FidelityInvestments,
one of the largest mutual funds in
the country, and Wells Fargo In-
vestment Advisers were heavy sel-
lers in that crucial first hour on Oct.
19.
As a mutual fund, Fidelity pools
together investors' money, and in
turn invests that money in diffe-
rent investments such as stocks or
bonds. Whenever investors want to
withdraw their money, they can.
The markethad fallen 108 points
the previous Friday, and Fidelity
had been hit heavy with orders over
the weekend from investors who
wanted their money out.
Most mutual funds carry some
cash in their portfolios to cover in-
vestors' withdrawals. However,
Fidelity keeps just about all of its
$30 billion in stock funds fully in-
vested in the market in order to
gain higher returns.
Thus, when investors started
pulling out-which they did at
twice the normal rate over the
weekend before Oct. 19-Fidelity
was forced to do some serious sell-
ing in order to pay off investors.
Consensus has it that Fidelity
spent the entire weekend program-
ming their computers to sell the
maximum amount possible as soon
as the market opened, hence contri-
buting to the $500 million in sell
orders that greeted the New York
Stock Exchange when it opened on
the 19th.
The Task Force mentions that
Fidelity dumped about $500 mil-
lion in stock in the first 30 minutes,
which amounted to more than 25
percent of all stocks sold in that
time period. It has also become
known that Fidelity was a heavy
seller on the London Exchange,
contributing to that market's dive
as well.
In total, Fidelity unloaded nearly
$1 billion in stocks during the day,
See WALL ST., Page 15
U. of Southern California's Melissa Thomas debuts her original movie cookies at a theater
near you.
Cookiequebas
to honor Disney idols
By Renee Sanchez
Daily Trojan
U. of Southern California
"When you wish upon a star, it makes
no difference who you are ..."
Sophomore Melissa Thomas' wish to
build a business by selling Disney char-
acter cookies came true with the begin-
ning of the Original Movie Cookie, Co.
The first batch of 10,000 was a mar-
ket test upon which Disney will decide
whether to license further production.
The batch of Cinderella-designed
cookies came packaged with trivia cards
and were sold exclusively in movie thea-
ters for $1 to $1.50. The sale coincided
with Disney's release of Cinderella.
Disney does the artwork to ensure au-
thenticity and detail.
"They're not like popcorn, but maybe
there's a market for the younger
moviegoer," Thomas says.
Thomas, a two-share Disney stock-
holder, began her venture less than a
year ago.
At the time, Disney was preparing for
the 50th anniversary of Snow White,
and Thomas saw an opportunity to
spring her idea on the company.
"I rehearsed my speech for a long
time. I traced the characters from an old
Disney coloring book onto sample
cookies and proposed my ideas to Dis-
ney's licensing department," Thomas
said.
Disney liked her idea enough to grant
her a license to use the characters.
With no major financial backing, Tho-
mas, a public relations major, managed
to get a contract with a baker in
Washington, a packaging company and
major movie theaters as well as with
Disney. Her family and friends have
helped, too. Her grandmother designed
the company logo-a chef surrounded
by a roll of film. And a friend agreed to
do all the printing for free until Thomas
makes a profit.
Despite academic demands, Thomas
manages to run OMC, Co. and a typing
service out of her dorm room.
Disney has been a strong inspiration
for Thomas. "I have always lived by
Walt Disney's motto about the four Cs.
If you have courage, confidence, curios-
ity and constancy, you can accomplish
anything," Thomas said.
Thomas has been a loyal
Mouseketeer since the age of three.
"When I went to Disneyland, I enjoyed
talking with all the characters. I used to
bring Snow White presents and write to
her," she said.
Thomas went to an opening of Cin-
derella and stood by the concession
stand eager and nervous about the
crowd's reaction.
"At first, no one paid attention to the
displays until one little girl begged her
mom to buy one. I was so happy that I
took a picture with her," Thomas re-
members with a smile.
As of yet, OMC, Co. has not broken
even. But if Disney is pleased with the
report Thomas turns in, she hopes to
continue making cookies to coincide
with future releases of The Fox and the
Hound and Bambi.
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MBAs may sweep the country clean with recycling biz
By Cheryl Family Philly" awards. "My partners took entrepreneurial
*The Daily Pennsylvanian The project was called the Phi- management classes, and Itookgovern-
U. of Pennsylvania ladelphia Recycling Company. It is now ment classes," explained Mike Driscoll.
To many, the words "school project" a subsidiary of the National Recycling "This project fit everything together.
evoke memories of shoe-box dioramas Company. Wharton graduates Mike The big question was if this company
and collages on poster board. But to Driscoll, Phil Wallis and Stewart Borie could work. One of our professors intro-
three 1986 Wharton graduates, the began the company on October 31, 1986, duced us to the firm, and it took us six
words translate into thoughts of multi- with $1.1 million from a venture capital months to negotiate the deal," Driscoll
million dollar negotiations and "Best of firm. See RECYCLING, Page 14