Court Justice by Ed O’Bannon with Michael McCann

COURT JUSTICE by Ed O’Bannon with Michael McCann is subtitled “The Inside Story of My Battle Against the NCAA.” In this non-fiction work, O’Bannon describes his decision to participate in a class action suit and seek compensation for the use of his image after seeing himself and his UCLA teammates portrayed in a video game.  I know that this book, which is written in a simple conversational tone, will interest those students who are passionate about paying student athletes and protecting their rights. For me, COURT JUSTICE is a unique twist on that issue and an appealing read as it details O’Bannon’s efforts to stand on principle and fight for fairness for college athletes. He also includes a section with a dozen recommendations and ideas for reform. In this season of the Olympics and its own rather distorted view of “amateurism,” it seems especially appropriate to spend some time reading and reflecting on COURT JUSTICE.   

Why Wall Street Matters by William D. Cohan

WHY WALL STREET MATTERS by William D. Cohan was just released and it seems fairly apropos with the Dow surpassing 21000 earlier this week. The author, a well-regarded financial journalist, has been appearing in several interviews such as this one from CBS NEWS:

And while writing a review [“Big Bonus, Big Problem”] for Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, Burton G. Malkiel succinctly outlined Cohan’s concerns about compensation and incentives on Wall Street. Cohan stresses that there have been excesses on Wall Street, but also argues that recent regulations have often been counterproductive.  In WHY WALL STREET MATTERS he begins by providing history, explaining what banks are, and then moves on to talk about innovations in the 1970s and later.  Cohan comments, “what Ranieri [from Salomon Brothers] and his innovation [packaging mortgages] really did was fundamentally change the ethic of Wall Street, from one where a buyer knew a seller, and vice versa, to one where the decision to buy something was separated from traditional market forces.”

Cohan writes based on his own experience and insider knowledge. Calling his book "simple, concise and clear," Cohan says he wrote it because "people need to understand [something so] essential to our way of life."  WHY WALL STREET MATTERS will be an appealing read and high interest for many of our students.