FinTech 200

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FinTech 200

March 25, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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“The most important role of technology is to create time.

Information technology epitomizes this role.

And wealth creation is ultimately about time,

freeing human time from labor.”

— George Gilder

L’italiano Luca Pacioli, riconosciuto come “Il padre della contabilità e della contabilità” è stato il primo a pubblicare un’opera sulla partita doppia, e ha introdotto il campo in Italia.

 

“Hatred of the rich is the

beginning of all wisdom” 

— H.L. Mencken

 

Today we break down the literature that informs the finances of the real assets of education settlements.   We examine a few publicly available university annual budget documents and, lately, have been looking ahead at innovation in distributed ledger solutions, digital currencies and blue sky conceptions of a circular economy which has captured the imagination of trendsniffers in every nation.

Since our 2016 estimate of $300 billion — triangulated from several private and public databases; the number that measures construction spend coupled with operations and maintenance — a fair estimate of growth is likely closer to  $500 billion now.  Based upon the US Census Bureau monthly construction spend reports we have seen a slight uptick in construction spend. We still see construction activity running at an $85-$90 billion clip.

Ædificare

Tax-Free Bonds

Schenkingen

During 2024-2025 we will be breaking down this subject into manageable segments as interest in it clarifies.  For now it is enlightening to approach finance standards with an examination of a few operating budgets:

University of Michigan Budget Book 2024

Harvard University Budget Overview: September 2023

University of Minnesota 2022 Final Capital Budget Requests with Governor’s Recommendations

The 2022-2023 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Higher Education Budget Proposals (California)

Prince George County Public Schools Operating Budget 2022 

University of Illinois Deferred Maintenance 

Central Michigan University Capital & Deferred Maintenance Budgets

Every dollar passing through the business or academic side of the education industry has rules for how it is received and tracked.*   At the moment we track, but do not dwell, on the grant management standards asserted by state and federal funding agencies.  When we do, we place them on the agenda of the appropriate colloquium.

Appropriate use of public funding underlies some — but not all — of the accounting burden of the education industry. We steer clear of the grant management requirements public funding agencies place upon the education industry; maintain focus on the titles developed and published by organizations that have a due process platform.  For example:

Accredited Standards Committee X9

Financial Industry Standards: Program of Work

Preparing for the Quantum Era

Open-IX Association

Data Center OIX-2 Certification

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

X12 Incorporated

There are several trackworthy non-ANSI accredited standard developing organizations:

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

FASB/GASB

Public Consultation of Implementation (This statement fairly compares with ANSI’s Due Process Guidance.   Comments due January 20, 2023)

Real Estate Information Standards Board

Kuznets curve

 

Send bella@standardsmichigan.com an email for a detailed advance agenda.  To join the colloquium today use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

“De armen en het geld” 1882 Vincent van Gogh

Schenkingen


More:

Community FY22 Appropriations Request Letterdocx

PFN_InfraInvLtr_June 2021

Letter-Tax-Provisions-American-Jobs-Families-Plans-061421

Half the people working in schools aren’t classroom teachers—so what?

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR DOWNLOAD


Syllabus: Fintech 100

*Electronic Code of Federal Regulations

Education Community Finance

March 25, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Giovanni Paolo Panini, An architectural capriccio with figures among Roman ruins

The post-pandemic #WiseCampus transformation requires significant capital to meet the sustainability goals of its leadership.  Campuses are cities-within-cities and are, to a fair degree, financed in a similar fashion.  Tax-free bonds are an effective instrument for school districts, colleges and universities — and the host community in which they are nested — for raising capital for infrastructure projects while also providing investors with, say $10,000 to $100,000, to allocate toward a tax-free dividend income stream that produces a return in the range of 2 to 8 percent annually.

An aging population may be receptive to investment opportunities that protect their retirement savings from taxation.

Once a month, we walk through the prospectuses of one or two bond offerings of school districts, colleges and universities and examine offering specifics regarding infrastructure construction, operations and maintenance.  We pay particular attention to details regarding “continuing operations”. Somehow the education industry has to pay for its green agenda.  See our CALENDAR for the next Finance colloquium; open to everyone.

The interactive map provided by Electronic Municipal Market Access identifies state-by-state listings of tax-free bonds that contribute to the construction and operation of education facilities; some of which involved university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises.

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR INTERACTIVE MAP

 

If you need help cutting through this list please feel free to click in any day at 11 AM Eastern time.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our hope page.  We collaborate with subject matter experts at Municipal Analytics and UBS.

Issue: [Various]

Category: Administration & Management, Finance, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, John Kaczor, Liberty Ziegahn

*We see the pandemic as a driver for a step-reduction in cost in all dimensions of education communities.  We coined the term with a hashtag about two years ago.

*College and university infrastructure projects are classified with public school districts under the rubric “municipal bonds” at the moment.  CLICK HERE for more information.

 


More:

Duke Law Review:  Don’t ‘Screw Joe the Plummer’: The Sausage-Making of Financial Reform

An Expanded Study of School Bond Elections in Michigan

Management of University Endowment Fund Archives under the Background of Big Data

March 25, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Sui Jie, et al

Department of Economics and Management, Tianjin Normal University of Vocation and Technology

University endowment fund archives are very valuable document collection in the development of the University Foundation. With the advent of the era of big data, the management of university endowment fund archives presents many features, such as intelligence, convenience and high efficiency. We analyze problems about the management of university endowment fund archives under the background of the era of big data. Finally, the suggestion is put forward how to promote the efficiency of university endowment fund archives under the background of the era of big data.

CLICK HERE to order complete paper

Optical Frequency Comb

March 25, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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Compact Chips Advance Precision Timing for Communications, Navigation and Other Applications

Shrinking Technology, Expanding Horizons: Complete Article

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA

Igor Kudelin, et. al

Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

Abstract: Numerous modern technologies are reliant on the low-phase noise and exquisite timing stability of microwave signals. Substantial progress has been made in the field of microwave photonics, whereby low-noise microwave signals are generated by the down-conversion of ultrastable optical references using a frequency comb1,2,3. Such systems, however, are constructed with bulk or fibre optics and are difficult to further reduce in size and power consumption. In this work we address this challenge by leveraging advances in integrated photonics to demonstrate low-noise microwave generation via two-point optical frequency division4,5. Narrow-linewidth self-injection-locked integrated lasers6,7 are stabilized to a miniature Fabry–Pérot cavity8, and the frequency gap between the lasers is divided with an efficient dark soliton frequency comb9. The stabilized output of the microcomb is photodetected to produce a microwave signal at 20 GHz with phase noise of −96 dBc Hz−1 at 100 Hz offset frequency that decreases to −135 dBc Hz−1 at 10 kHz offset—values that are unprecedented for an integrated photonic system. All photonic components can be heterogeneously integrated on a single chip, providing a significant advance for the application of photonics to high-precision navigation, communication and timing systems.

 

Complete Article (PDF)

Retrodiction

March 25, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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By design, we do not provide a SEARCH function. We are a niche practice in a subtle, time-sensitive domain with over 30 years of case history in which we have been first movers. We provide links to the most accessed topics in recent days. All queries presented during our “Open Office Hours” every work day, or via email, are gratefully received and prompt a near-immediate response.

Standards: Sunday

Fireplace Lounges

Evensong “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms”

Standards March: Water

Campus Low-Power-Transmitters

Radio Spectrum for the Internet of Things

OB-GYN Welcome

Allston District Energy

Hunting for Radio Frequency Interference

Electrical Resource Adequacy

Finian’s Rainbow

Stuffed Cabbage

Theater Safety

Entertainment Occupancies

The science of beer

C++

Fish and Chips and the British Working Class

The Best Student-Friendly Brownies

print(“Python”)

Michigan State University

Oxford College Student Center

Edge Case: Leap Year

Fireplace Lounges

Sacred Spaces

Laboratory Fume Hood Safety

Evensong “Melody in F”

University of Iowa | Johnson County

2023 National Electrical Safety Code

Friday End of Workweek Provocation: Chemistry of Beer

Национа́льный иссле́довательский То́мский госуда́рственный университе́т

Robie House

Electric Power Availability: Cold Weather Preparedness

Making Greenwich the centre of the world

Roger Scruton Memorial Lectures

Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future


Winter Vegetable Soup

Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future

Brankscom Hall Toronto

Fire Alarm & Signaling Code

Ice Swimming

Uniform Plumbing Code


Banished Words 2024

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“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession

of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 

 

Original White Paper: Bitcoin

March 25, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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Evensong “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms”

March 24, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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“Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms” is a popular Irish folk song with lyrics written by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. It was first published in 1808 as part of a collection of Moore’s works called “Irish Melodies.” The lyrics of the song are based on a poem by the Irish poet Anne Boleyn (c. 1747–1801).

The melody is traditional Irish, and it is often performed as a slow air or a ballad. The song expresses themes of love, fidelity, and the enduring nature of true affection. Over the years, it has been recorded by many artists and remains a beloved classic in the folk music repertoire.

Illinois

Animal Safety

March 24, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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“One of the Family” 1880 | Frederick George Cotman

NFPA 150 Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code has entered its s025 revision cycle.   Many education communities are responsible for animal safety in academic units, research enterprises. museums and even — as in the United Kingdom — large farm animals that wander freely on campus with students, faculty and staff.  The number of colleges and universities that permit students to live with their pets has expanded; and with it the responsibilities of university administration.

From the document scope:

This standard shall provide the minimum requirements for the design, construction, fire protection, and classification of animal housing facilities.  The requirements of NFPA 150 recognize the following fundamental principles:

(1) Animals are sentient beings with a value greater than that of simple property.

(2) Animals, both domesticated and feral, lack the ability of self-preservation when housed in buildings and other structures.

(3) Current building, fire, and life safety codes do not address the life safety of the animal occupants. The requirements found in NFPA 150 are written with the intention that animal housing facilities will continue to be designed, constructed, and maintained in accordance with the applicable building, fire, and life safety codes.

The requirements herein are not intended to replace or rewrite the basic requirements for the human occupants. Instead, NFPA 150 provides additional minimum requirements for the protection of the animal occupants and the human occupants who interact with those animals in these facilities. 

 

A full description of the project is linked below:

Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code

Access to the 2022 Edition is linked below:

FREE ACCESS NFPA 150

We provide the transcript of the back-and-forth on the current 2022 edition to inform how education communities can contribute to the improvement of this title; a subject that stirs deep feelings about animal safety in research enterprises.

NFPA 150 First Draft Agenda

NFPA 150 Second Draft Report

Public comment on the Second Draft of the 2025 Edition will be received until March 27, 2024.   

We have been advocating risk-informed animal safety concepts in this document since the 2013 Edition and have found that it is nearly impossible to overestimate the sensitivity of educational communities to the life safety of animals — either for agriculture or medical research.

We maintain the entire NFPA catalog on the standing agenda of our Prometheus colloquia.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [11-1] and [19-5]

Category: Fire Protection, Facility Asset Management, Academic, Risk Management

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier

More:

Protecting Animals When Disaster Strikes

Animals 100


 


Bibliography:

25 Most Pet-Friendly Colleges

National Institute of Health: Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

International Building Code: Section 304 (Business Group B): Animal hospitals, kennels and pounds

Terrestrial Animal Health Code

IEEE Guide for Animal Deterrents for Electric Power Supply Substations

ASHRAE Animal Facilities

IEEE Livestock Monitoring System

Ventilation Design Handbook on Animal Research Facilities

HVAC Design in Animal Facilities

USDA Animal Welfare Information Center

ISO Assistance Dogs

US Department of Agriculture: Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations

S. 4288: Reducing Animal Testing Act

Guaranteeing safety of animals under risk of fire: conceptual framework and technical issues analysis

Protecting Animals When Disaster Strikes

 

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