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Politics : Idea Of The Day

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To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44265)	7/15/2003 5:12:44 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) of 50167

Zach on intern ship and Oxbridge... I have noticed that those students from the London School of Economics or from Oxbridge (an abbreviated version of the twin pre-eminent universities in Britain, Oxford and Cambridge) tend to be the heaviest drinkers no doubt in part because of the extreme stresses they have endured whilst at their institutions. Drinking is enshrined in daily life as a sort of mechanism that discharges stress and I fear getting drunk has become something that is looked forward to. Alcohol has been a means and a method by which youth can have a readily available (and legal) form of escape. <<Well I've just finished a hectic week of training to prepare me for my first week of work this Monday. Having lived the past two months like any other student free from term my schedule has been warped to the extent that it is no longer recognisable to what it once was. Having always imagined myself to be a nocturnal creature I am now looking forward to sleeping at 23.00hrs in order to be at the office at the demanding schedule (I am meant to come in the office at 9.00hrs on Monday however on the following days I could be expected to be in the office from 7.00-7.30hrs). I'm working at a German bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in it's Capital Markets Division. I'll be interning (which has rather different connotations in the United Kingdom than in the United States) at the Index Structured Research Division, which means that I'll be in one of the most controversial areas of the business. It is increasingly argued that the Research division has no place in an investment bank because of the conflicts of interests involved (indeed during one of my intermittent breaks during training this week I was able to draw the ideal regulated financial structure, which would minimised firewalls, Chinese walls and conflicts of interests in general so perhaps I'l discuss it in a future post) and it will be an exciting few years as the trends draw to a certain inevitability and the behemoth banks are once again required to undergo a corporate restructure. I'm sure I'll enjoy work much as I did training and my fellow interns (with whom I've been interacting with for much of the past week) seem a good sort. I have noticed over the past four years of a distinct trend coursing throughout my academic and professional history. At undergraduate university I made relatively few friends because of the huge nature of the classes (lectures were designed to accommodate 150 students) and the disparity in backgrounds and aspirations. At my postgraduate course there was a much greater affinity and friendship because of the small size of the class (sixty students were continually together for the entire year in every seminar and lecture) and similar ambitions (everyone wanted to be an investment banker) whereas in the workplace friendship has been relatively quick because the level of filter-ation has been so high that DrKW has selected those only it deigned to be a "good fit" to the corporate culture and it's people. So in a way there is a greater similarity that makes elaborate introductions somewhat superfluous though as always colleagues and classmates are considerably surprised when they learn of my youth (funnily enough I can pass off as someone in my early twenties though I am only 18). Thrust into fulltime employment requires stamina to socialise with those who are intent on drinking marathons. Whilst I refuse to imbibe anything of an additive nature (alcohol, caffeine, drinks and drugs) my time at the bar allows me to make a few observations. I have noticed that those students from the London School of Economics or from Oxbridge (an abbreviated version of the twin pre-eminent universities in Britain, Oxford and Cambridge) tend to be the heaviest drinkers no doubt in part because of the extreme stresses they have endured whilst at their institutions. Drinking is enshrined in daily life as a sort of mechanism that discharges stress and I fear getting drunk has become something that is looked forward to. Alcohol has been a means and a method by which youth can have a readily available (and legal) form of escape. Though I am not one to make judgements (despite some fiercely held opinions) I would think that this sort of dependence is hardly healthy and should be discouraged somewhat. latif.blogspot.com Zachary Latif 16:05

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