A group of Wharton students has established the First Wharton Latin America Private Equity Competition, to be held this Saturday.  With the Private Equity Conference taking place tomorrow, the students wanted “to put a Latin spin on an existing activity,” bringing together Wharton MBA hopefuls and PE funds in Latin America.  The judges will be private equity professionals from key U.S. cities and Wharton’s network in Latin America.  Teams from Booth, MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Columba, Stanford, London Business School and Harvard Business School will be competing with Wharton students in a two-stage competition: The winner will receive $2,000 and the second place finalist $1,000.

In the Entrepreneur’s Corner, the Journal interviewed Vivian Weng, the co-founder of FashionStake.  FashionStake was acquired by Fab.com on January 13.  FashionStake’s online platform puts the spotlight on independent fashion designers and allows its members to exchange thoughts and votes on the pieces.  Weng met her now business partner while pursuing her MBA through the Harvard Business School.

Germantown, PA received some support from Wharton’s rugby teams during a recent Habitat for Humanity project.  The Wharton Wharthogs and Wildebeests contributed to rebuilding an abandoned home through the Habitat Philadelphia ReStore.  The ReStore collects the donated materials that supplement Habitat’s efforts to restore and furnish a home for a very low price to disadvantaged families.  Two Wharton Non-Profit Board Leadership Program Fellows co-organized this event.

R&B’s Detroit 2012 SHIFT was held in Ann Arbor and Detroit last Friday and Saturday.  This two-day annual conference of the Revitalization & Business Initiative, a group founded by Ross in 2010, commenced in Detroit on January 19 with a keynote address by Dan Gilbert, the CEO of Quicken Loans.  The conference moved the next day to Ann Arbor for panels and further keynotes and Q&A sessions with national and area leaders.  Conference attendees also received updates and shared ideas about past and future Detroit Impact projects and IdeaLab projects.

Rossers also received some preparation for SHIFT from the R&B in the form of two “firsts” held last month.  A panel event titled “Living and Working in Detroit with an MBA” and a regional career fair were both held at Ross in December.  The panel brings together recent MBA graduates from a variety of industries to share their experiences of working in Detroit.  The Recruit Detroit career fair offered opportunities for both first- and second-year Ross students.

Ross also recently received a visit from the founder of Teach for America.  CEO Wendy Kopp, who began outlining the program in 1989, came to Ross to discuss her experiences in creating and garnering support for this venture.  Teach for America, which to date has made a direct impact on more than 3 million elementary school students in the U.S., started as Kopp’s undergraduate thesis at Princeton.  Kopp spoke about the processes of securing grant money and beginning this revitalization of the American education system, and she also shared that “leadership at every level of the organization” was key to TFA’s success.

While The Harbus features letters from several students spending time abroad as part of their FIELD programs, one student admits that he was a “Field 2 Skeptic.” Jehan deFonseka ’12 confesses that he was unconvinced that he would gain an in-depth understanding of the businesses or culture of a country in a week, among other concerns.  However, deFonseka’s week spent in Mumbai made him realize that these issues didn’t “[come] to matter much” and that the experience of being on the ground in Mumbai, not simply learning about it, made the opportunities of the market exciting and palpable.  Despite having spent six years at Goldman Sachs before HBS and hearing much about growth markets, deFonseka wrote that his time abroad “sure [felt] like it was a life-changing experience” and thanked those HBS administrators and faculty who had created this opportunity.

Meanwhile, a first-year MBA student at London Business School details the experience of describing the diverse elements of his first LBS term to his family.  Hamdi ’13 writes on the London Business School student views blog that his family at first “[suspected he] had joined the circus” after he mentioned a teamwork training event from his LBS Away Day.  The lesson on teamwork learned that day entailed both wire balancing and leaping off 15-meter pole with an ex-navy pilot.  Soon though, the coursework, leadership workshops, and club involvements he described were enough to convince his audience that LBS did offer a very solid education as well.  Hamdi concluded with his excitement for the next term (and some sleep), given that he “already [feels like he’s] learned a whole program’s worth of information” in just his first term.

Finally, an interviewer from The Wharton Journal offers readers a picture of classmate Jason Lin ’12’s journey to the Wharton MBA.  A Taiwan native growing up in California, Lin worked with Arthur Anderson and Walt Disney before entering the film industry.  Lin was part of the first film that brought both Jackie Chan and Jet Li together on screen, and the Wharton student was the facilitator of the production deal that gave each star an equal stake in the process.  He also helped Li found the nonprofit ONE Foundation in China among other entrepreneurial ventures.  All of these experiences contributed to his vision to enable Chinese media companies to access the global market after obtaining his Wharton MBA.

Ground was broken just last month for Tata Hall thanks to the generosity of Ratan Tata.  Tata graduated from HBS’s Advanced Management Program for senior executives in 1975 and is currently the chairman of Tata Group; Tata Trusts and Companies gave a $50 million gift to Harvard Business School to enable the building of Tata Hall.  This seven-storied structure will “help build community” among those in HBS Executive Education programs.  The building is expected to be completed in December of 2013.

HBS Daniel Gwak ’12 has returned to the U.S. with a Purple Heart.  Seven months ago, the marine reservist departed business school for combat in Afghanistan.  While recently investigating a roadside bomb, Gwak was shot by a sniper in his left shoulder.  The HBS student received treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital and is currently making a full recovery.

The news outlet began its Alumni Interview Series by a conversation with Pete Lyon ’95.  Lyon is currently a partner at Goldman Sachs and manages client coverage strategy in the Executive Office for the Investment Banking Division there.  He noted in his interview that he feels “fortunate … to be working closely with many of [his] friends from HBS—both as clients and colleagues.”  Lyon also gave advice to HBS students interested in investment banking regarding the demands of the industry and how to anticipate success in the long term.

A not-yet-alumnus of Wharton discussed his startup: Lokalty.  Balu Chandrasekaran ’12 gave an interview about this loyalty program that serves small businesses in the Philadelphia area.  Lokalty launched near the end of 2011 in Center City, Philadelphia and is continuing to expand throughout the city.  Chandrasekaran also gave advice to readers seeking to begin their own ventures.

Next on the list is the article about the founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk ’97.  Tesla Motors seeks to make electric vehicles attractive to consumers of traditional internal combustion engine cars.  The author of the piece lays out the options facing Musk as a CEO in an unpredictable industry, not making light of the fact that the electric vehicles could likely claim anywhere from between 3 and 15 percent of 2020’s total car sales.  Tesla plans to begin shipping its second EV model this year.

Another interview featured sometime Harvard MBA student Sarah Paiji, founder of Snapette.  Snapette is an app for the iPhone that makes sharing of fashion experiences easy.  Paiji discussed her time at such large firms as McKinsey and Berkshire Partners in light of her new startup experience.  She also cites startup accelerator programs as a great help to those interested in turning their ideas into enterprises.

Booth students took the top spot in this year’s CNBC’s MBA Face-off Challenge.  The portfolio competition allotted teams from eight leading MBA programs with a fictitious $1 million budget each and challenged them to gain the best returns.  Booth’s 10-person ultimately gained an average portfolio of more than $1,237,00.  The team had bested the second-place finishers from Johnson School by over  $118,000.

Thanks to the gift of alumni, a new scholarship for Indian students is available at Booth.   Students who live primarily in India at the time of receiving the award are eligible to apply for this scholarship.  Those who successfully secure the scholarship will be known as Akhtarali H.Tobaccowala Fellows in memory of the Booth MBA ’52 graduate.  The scholarship is a gift of Booth MBA ’82 Rishad Tobaccowala and his sister in memory of their father.

After nearly completing his year as dean at Booth, Dean Sunil Kumar gave an interview about Booth and it’s role in the University of Chicago.  Kumar emphasized Booth’s collaborative relationship with other parts of the university.  He also noted that Booth’s approach to education would not change due to the economy.  Kumar finally gave some insight regarding his ongoing strategic review of the global programs offered by Booth.

Stern will be offering a new course on technology entrepreneurship in the spring.  The class comes as a response to an initiative proposed by NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg to get universities on board with developing a” science and engineering campus in the city.” Professor Ari Ginsberg designed the course and will be leading the instruction as well.  The course seeks to teach students about identifying and carrying through on technology commercialization opportunities.

The Stern Opportunity also solicited feedback from MBA2s on how MBA1s might best prepare for the interview season.  The tips are organized across common industries and include both advice and key tidbits to surviving the process.  The students also include more general advice on preparing personally for the interview process.

Finally, the paper highlighted the achievements of Stern faculty in media and research.  The article assembled highlights of faculty-featuring texts from the months of November and December.  Stern professors commented on current business situations include the euro zone, the global banking industry, and business education.  The faculty were featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

This month, Ross announced that its EMBA Program will be offered in Los Angeles.  The new 20-month program will go into effect in August 2012.  The Los Angeles program’s curriculum will match that of the current EMBA program, and faculty from Michigan will visit LA students monthly.  Ann Arbor will play host to the student orientation for the program in order to closely acquaint students with Ross’s culture from the outset.

Last week, MBA students enjoyed a visit from John M. Fahey, CEO and Chairman of the National Geographic Society.  Fahey is a Ross MBA graduate who has maintained his roles at the society since 1998 and is also the Chairman of the society’s executive committee.  He discussed the current state of traditional media outlets and the environment he had encountered upon entering the firm in 1996.  Despite the weakening of the media industry, Fahey conveyed optimism to Ross students about keeping the National Geographic solvent by making dynamic choices and partnerships.

The MSJ also welcomed Ross’s latest startup, Lunchbox, to campus.  Lunchbox is an online service that offers Ross community members easy access to restaurants and their lunch options.  It is also a low-cost service that organizes menus and delivery time for convenience.  The pilot launch of Lunchbox proved successful, and the founders plan to make this fully available across Ross next month and to seek other opportunities throughout Ann Arbor by February.

November saw the 24^th occurrence of the Marketing Club’s annual Brand Challenge.  Roughly 60 first-year MBA students at Darden worked to resolve marketing-based issues spanning industries from social media to consumer-packaged goods.  A full 17 teams of first-years hosted booths in the PepsciCo Forum in order to gather market research on a broad span of products and campaigns.  The event boasted over 170 attendees and was sponsored primarily by General Mills.

Another November event, the annual Mustache Competition, raised more than $900 for charity.  This contest stipulates that students participants be clean shaven on the first day of November and grow a mustache throughout the month before appearing before a student panel of first- and second-year students.  The Mustache Competition is part of the international Movember movement, and all proceeds went to the Movember charity.  The group seeks to raise awareness of cancers affecting men and supports the search for a cure.

Throughout the fall and winter, Darden has been making ongoing efforts to become the “sustainability thought leader” among all business schools.  In 2008, Dean Bruner announced this effort for 2013, and the ultimate goal is for Darden to be a “zero waste, carbon neutral enterprise” by the year 2020.  Several changes are being made to support these goals, including recycling programs and the incorporation of local foods into the menus at student dining facilities.  Darden has also made strides by facilitating more sustainable transit options through the use of ZipCars and University buses as well as the implementation of more bike racks on campus.

Journal interviewers spoke last week with Maryellen Lamb, Wharton’s new head of MBA Career Management.  Lamb discussed changes in the recruiting landscape over the last decade, which has necessitated Wharton’s broader focus on more than just mature companies.  She noted how Wharton was advantageously positioned among MBA programs within the challenging bank recruiting landscape.  Lamb also noted that risk tolerance is often the first factor to consider when advising students on a career path.

The online ElectNext was the focus of this issue’s Entrepreneur’s Corner.  The site aims to “match you to your candidates” by taking voters through the confusion caused by the U.S. ballot system.  Founder and CEO Keya J. Dannenbaum discussed her choice to take leave from her Wharton MBA and how the idea was born.  She attributed ElectNext’s success to its timing during this political year.

Wharton’s men’s rugby team earned second place at the University of Texas Fall Brawl in November.  The team competed against squads from other MBA programs including Stanford, Kellogg, and Harvard.  First place was ultimately won by HBS’s team.  The tournament concludes the men’s fall season.