MUM students win tickets to Katy Perry concert

Students Win Trip to Katy Perry Concert

As this issue of The Review went to press, students Sharlyn Muigei and Jeremy Erdman were preparing to enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a concert featuring Katy Perry, Norah Jones, and Mavis Staples.

They were the winners of a campus contest sponsored by MUM's Changemakers initiative that entailed writing an essay or poem on the topic 'What does being a changemaker mean to me?”

The concert, billed 'Silence the Violence,” is a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation to provide scholarships to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique to 10,000 children in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Muigei, an MBA student and Student Government Communications Director, submitted a poem that challenged everyone to rise up as changemakers. Mr. Erdman, a Maharishi AyurVedaSM student, wrote a piece emphasizing that 'All it takes to make change is a small group of people with passion and purpose.”

They will share their experiences at a recap celebration on October 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Festival Hall. The evening will feature performance and interview clips from their D.C. adventure.

TV Series by David Lynch MFA Students Now Available Online

A six-part TV series written, directed, and filmed by MFA students is now available online, with a 10-episode version scheduled to be released November 12.

Why two versions? Students who enrolled in the TV track in 2016 in the David Lynch School of Cinematic Arts were fortunate to be able to have veteran Hollywood producer Bill Borden teach some classes and be the de facto executive producer of the series. After the students had finished their TV series and graduated in 2017, Mr. Borden decided, based on his extensive experience, that it may have more impact by having a different version.

Mr. Borden approached well-known editor and director Duwayne Dunham, who was the editor for David Lynch's series Twin Peaks (1&2), as well as several of his feature films, including Blue Velvet.

Mr. Dunham agreed to work on the series with the proviso that he be able to host a weekly Skype session from his edit room with the students to discuss with them his editorial approach to their material. This version, titled Fairfield Square - Episodes 1-6, was released on October 8.

'Duwayne's brilliant editorial efforts sent the series into some interesting and unexpected directions,” said Professor Michael Barnard, who was the lead professor for the course.

Executive producer Joanna Plafsky, co-founder of the David Lynch MFA, also played a major role in shepherding Mr. Dunham's version to completion.

The original version edited by the students, titled Fairfield Square: The Next Town Over - Chapters 1-10 will be released on November 12. It will include a six-part behind-the-scenes documentary about the creation of the series.

Aside from writing and directing all of the episodes in both versions, in this version the students also handled all aspects of postproduction in a totally immersive experience, Mr. Barnard said.

'This will be a unique release for many reasons, but perhaps most intriguing is the fact that the two versions feature the same material written and directed by the students, but edited in a completely different manner,” Mr. Barnard said.

Both series are available via SingularDTV's new platform at www.breaker.io that uses a blockchain-rights management system and peer-to-peer distribution. To view the series and other content, download the Breaker app at www.breaker.io.

Both versions of the series are set in a small town in Iowa, with the town being thrown into confusion and grief when the beloved wood shop teacher Edward Price is killed in a car accident.

On the day of the funeral, storms and tornado warnings force the residents to take shelter, with the various episodes revolving around the interactions of those sheltering in locations such as the local church, a bar, and the high school.

According to the students' original synopsis, 'The intensity outside increases along with the events inside, and secrets once thought safely veiled in history begin to unravel in light of Edward's mysterious death.”

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New Study: Maharishi Vastu Architecture Increases Creativity

A new study published in Creativity Research Journal found increased creativity in employees who work in a building designed according to Maharishi Vastu® architecture.

In the first study of its kind, 21 employees of an architectural consulting firm who moved into a Maharishi Vastu office building scored more highly on the standardized Torrance Test of Creative Thinking compared to their score four months earlier in their previous location. The study found that there was less than a 1% possibility that the result was due to chance.

'This research experimentally demonstrated that moving from a conventional architecture building into a Vastu building led to large measurable improvements in employee creativity, in particular in the originality of the ideas generated and their detailed elaboration,” said Professor Anil Maheshwari, first author on the study. 'I think every organization, big and small, could benefit.”

The study was based on the Ph.D. dissertation research of management student Margaret Rose Werd, who is a co-author of the published version.

The researchers hypothesized that this traditional system of architecture that originated in India would have a wide range of benefits because it's said to be more in harmony with nature.

Features of Maharishi Vastu include alignment with the cardinal directions; a silent central area called a Brahmasthan; specific placement and proportions of the rooms; appropriate slope and shape of the land; an unobstructed view of the sun; a location that's distant from sources of electromagnetic radiation; and use of natural materials and energy.

'It may seem unfamiliar to a Western, scientific perspective, but the fact is that our physiology is intimately tied to the material and rhythms and forces of the earth and sun,” Dr. Maheshwari said.

Creativity Research Journal is one of the two leading journals in research on creativity.

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MBA Students Aid Fairfield Businesses With Accounting

Two MBA students helped local entrepreneurs transform their accounting practices as a project in their June capstone course.

While most of the students in the class already had client projects with a focus on sustainability because they were in the sustainable MBA, accounting students Daniel Belay and Michael Otiego, both from Africa, were told by Professor Ayako Huang on the first day of class that they needed to find clients by the next day or they wouldn't be able to take the course.

After a role-playing exercise in which she helped them with basics such as how to greet a prospective client by shaking hands and making eye contact, they headed down to the Fairfield square.

They visited all the businesses on the square and came back the next day with five prospective clients who needed help with their accounting.

'I was shocked,” Dr. Huang said. 'I asked, ‘How did you find so many?'” She said that small businesses are often reluctant to make a major change, especially at the suggestion of a stranger from another country who walks in off the street.

They then had to choose which of the five to assist and selected an entrepreneur who offers online consulting related to information technology and an entrepreneur who does food-related genetic lab testing.

'Self-employed entrepreneurs are often focused on marketing and not on financial reporting,” Dr. Huang said. 'People need to learn how to do this.”

The students focused on teaching their clients QuickBooks accounting software. They spent half a day working with the clients and half a day working on a manual for each client that would take them through the specific QuickBooks features they needed for their business.

By the end of the course, each student had created a 30-page manual and had helped their clients transition to using QuickBooks.

Dr. Huang said that not only were the clients thrilled with the help they received, but also the Fairfield Economic Development Association was excited about the project and has indicated an interest in sponsoring similar projects in the future.

The students also learned how to prepare an assessment in order to have their clients evaluate them as consultants, and both received a very high rating. And they each created an exam for their clients to determine whether their clients had mastered the necessary QuickBooks features.

'Daniel and Michael said it was the most fun class that they had during the MBA,” Dr. Huang said. 'They felt they not only gained confidence, but also gained a sense of service to others and of achievement.”

Both are now beginning the practicum phase of their Accounting Professionals MBA in which they work in a paid position at a U.S. company for up to two years.

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Quantum Leadership Presentation Coming October 19

Author and management expert Chris Laszlo will offer a free talk on quantum leadership Saturday morning, October 19, from 10 a.m. to noon in Festival Hall.

Dr. Laszlo's latest book, titled Quantum Leadership: New Consciousness in Business and co-authored with Frederick Tsao, draws on extensive research to show changing a person's consciousness is the most powerful lever for unlocking his or her leadership potential to create wealth and serve humankind.

The authors explain that the journey to higher consciousness changes people at a deep intuitive level, combining embodied experience with analytic-cognitive skill development. Benefits for leaders include greater creativity and collaboration along with an increased capability to inspire people and produce lasting change.

Co-sponsored by the new Changemakers series and MUM's management department, Dr. Laszlo's presentation will offer deep insights into a radical new approach to leading from the source.

He is a professor of organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve University, where he researches and teaches flourishing enterprise. He's the author of Quantum Leadership (2019), Flourishing Enterprise (2014), Embedded Sustainability (2011), and Sustainable Values (2008), all from Stanford University Press.

In 2012, he was elected a 'Top 100 Thought-Leader in Trustworthy Business Behavior” by Trust Across America and is often credited to be the thought-leader who introduced the concept of 'sustainable value” into the business world.

'I'm very excited to bring Professor Laszlo to MUM to offer us a bigger vision of how business can drive positive change in the world,” said MUM business professor and event host Anil Maheshwari.

The Saturday presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. The event is free and open to the public.

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Maharishi Honored with Postage Stamp in India

On August 30, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 12 postage stamps commemorating 12 'master healers” who have 'contributed significantly in the field of the Indian system of medicine.”

Among those recognized was MUM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

A news release from India's Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) included bios of each of the recipients. The description of Maharishi reads:

'Known for original contributions to Yoga and Meditation, he is remembered most for developing the Transcendental Meditation technique. The Shankaracharya of JyotirMath, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, was his guru. From 1955 he traveled around India and the world to spread his message of peace and spirituality and inspired thousands of followers. Maharishi's legacy lives on through the numerous books that he authored, and the many institutions that he set up, including the Maharishi International University (later renamed Maharishi University of Management).”

Also honored was the late Brihaspati Dev Triguna, who visited the MUM community many times.

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Two-Week Tour of Italy Planned for Late May, Early June

The public is invited to join a two-week tour of Italy in late May and early June that will include Tuscany, Umbria, and Rome.

The tour will be led by professor Matthew Beaufort, who has years of experience leading tours in Europe and exposing participants to fine art and culture.

This will be his fourth tour of Italy. He has also led tours of France, England, Spain, China, and many U.S. museums.

His love for Italy began when he studied art history and the Italian language in Florence. He graduated from Yale University magna cum laude with honors in the history of art. He holds two master's degrees and is an associate professor of humanities, specializing in art history.

The tour will convene in Rome on May 23 and head to a first-class resort in Tuscany for four nights. Day trips will include Lucca, a city with medieval walls still intact, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Florence, and Siena.

The tour will then head back to Rome for three nights at a first-class hotel. Day trips will include Assisi and a walking tour of Rome. The next venue will then be Florence for four days before heading back to Rome for departure.

For more information and to sign up, see tours.mum.edu. The tour is limited to 18 people.

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