Current Event 12/17/2014

Victoria Grasso December 17, 2014Mrs. Wood Business Communications

After Starting 4 Businesses, College Entrepreneur Decides on Degree

John Grossman

December 10, 2014

This article is about Daniel Fine, a 21 year old student at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. Fine’s primary business are foldable plastic sunglasses, called Glass-U, that bear the licensed brand of Universities, fraternities, musical festivals, and this years 2014 FIFA World Cup. Fine’s other businesses include NexTutors, which he started right out of highschool and funded the start of his other businesses, Dosed, an app to help diabetics track their insulin, and Fine Prints, a printing company. Besides these businesses, however, Daniel Fine also has a non-for-profit business which he started when he was 11 years old, called “Team Brotherly Love”, which at this point has raised about $1.9 million dollars. Although he was selected for the second round of the Thiel Scholarship, a $100,000 scholarship for students who take off from college to pursue their businesses, Fine decided that a degree was important, so he is staying at UPenn to finish his degree.  This is happening in the United States at University of Pennsylvania.

I found this article so interesting because I am at the point in my life where I choosing a major and a college, and it was inspired to see that there was someone not that much older than me do so much. About business, I learned that how you present yourself goes a long way. Daniel Fine is only 21 years old, yet he was able to convince the CEO of a company, whom he had never met, over the phone, to give him licensing rights to print the FIFA World Cup 2014 on his merchandise. When we had guest speakers, they told us that how you command an interview and answer questions says more about you than a resume ever could. Also, the fact that Fine was able to use the few resources he had to create four successful businesses shows that all you need to start a business is strong entrepreneurial senses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/business/smallbusiness/daniel-fine-of-glass-u-decides-that-the-degree-matters.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A14%22%7D

12/2/2014 Current Event

Victoria Grasso December 2,2014

Mrs. Wood Period: 5

Online Sales for Girl Scout Cookies Are Approved

Elizabeth Olsen

December 1, 2014

This article is about Girl Scouts allowing online sales for the first time every. The article says that the Girls Scouts of the U.S.A. have been working for three years to develop a website that will be safe and convenient for scouts to sell their cookies on. The site includes provisions such as anonymous accounts for those under 13 and parental approval of material. Additionally, people can only access the page if a girl scout has sent them the link. The website will be launched this month in certain areas that have already started sales, and then across the United States starting in January. In the past, girls scouts have been prohibited from selling or soliciting online. There is much controversy over the online sales, however, because the tradition of having to sell cookies in person teaches girls the importance of hard work and helps them build people skills, which selling online will take away from. To make up for this, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. have incorporated lessons on e-commerce, online marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Having been a girl scout up until 8th grade, I know the ins and outs of selling Girl Scout cookies. I do not think that online sales is a good thing because it takes away from the tradition of going door to door to sell cookies. I was also the girl that always forgot to sell cookies and made my mom buy 10 boxes the day the order forms were due. I have never thought of Girl Scouts as a business, but I guess that it is, and just like any other business, it has to adapt to the changing technology. This article does show, however, that online sales is becoming more prominent, and will eventually surpass brick and mortar. It will be interesting to see by how much the website will increase the sales of Girl Scout cookies. I think it will increase sales dramatically, especially because you can now pay with a credit card, which makes it so much easier.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/technology/online-sales-for-girl-scout-cookies-are-approved.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A16%22%7D&_r=0

11/19/2014 Journal Question

My favorite subject this year is probably English, by my all time favorite is either Physics or United States History. Physics was nice because once it clicked, I could do almost any problem and I actually liked doing the harder problem. Also, it was an exact science, but you could get partial credit too, which is nice. I could see myself being a physics teacher in the future, but I don't see myself working in a lab or for NASA or something like that. I also really liked United States History. When I was younger I would love those books that were set during the Civil War, but fake stories.

11/17/14 Journal Question

I think what Taylor Swift did was so dumb. She claims she is all about her fans and her fans are the greatest, yet she is restricting their access to her music. I do think that music is art, but wouldn't it be better for art to be free and enjoyed by everyone? I love Taylor Swift's new song, "Blank Space" (I have been listening to it non-stop on repeat for the past week!), but her comment really put me off. Taylor Swift's image is changing; she is no longer a country singer, and now she is a Diva as well. I have never used Spotify, I am more of a Pandora person, but maybe I will start using it. I really don't like Taylor Swift for this comment.

11/13/2014 Journal Question

It is crazy to think that there were $9 Billion dollars of sales in just 24 hours. That is like every person in Chine buying $9 worth of goods, which when you think about it is insane. I think it is hard to compare this to Black Friday, however, because it is characterized by going to the store and buying, and the brick-and-mortar black Friday made more than six times that amount, at $57.4 billion dollars. Another thing to consider is how the United States would profit from an online shopping day with a Chinese company. Maybe Ebay or Amazon should do something like this to try and increase sales, and because they are US companies it will boost our economy. I do think that online shopping has become easier and a lot more people prefer to shop from home, but I do not think online shopping will ever be more popular than physically going to a store.

11/10/2014 Journal Question

I actually didn't do anything for Veteran's day this year, which is out of the ordinary. We were traveling to see my sister so we weren't able to go to any parades or celebrate with my grandpas, both of whom are veterans. I think this goes to show, though, that there isn't as much appreciation for Veteran's day anymore. To many people, it is just a day off. I regret not doing anything to honor those who fought and fight for my freedom, and I hope there can be a resurgence of pride in our nation.

11/12/2014 Current Event

This article is about internet freedom, and who controls the information on the internet. President Obama suggested that the telephone service and or the company that delivers electricity be classified as a public utility, therefore giving the F.C.C. grounds to regulate the price and content. There is hesitation to do this, however, because the internet is the nations fastest growing service and very profitable. Companies such as Netflix have accused broadband providers of slowing their service on purpose, thus breaching net neutrality. There can also be political motives behind internet advertising, another reason the government wants to regulate content. Overall, however, the internet needs to be regulated to protect the "smart kid with the clever new idea" from "the zippy websites of established players in the fast lane". The net neutrality debate has been a hot topic in the United States because of the demand for technology.

I chose this article because I had done an article on net neutrality before and the follow up is very interesting to me. I think that being in a communications class, the use of the internet is vital to discuss. I think that the government regulating the internet, however, would take away the freedom of it. From a business standpoint, I learned that the bottom line for most things come from profit. In this case, business do not want the internet regulated because they can’t make as much money and they cannot advertise what they want. I also found this article interesting because it mentions that T-Mobile offers free music streaming to it's customers, which is one of the reasons my family just switched providers, so their advertising and internet manipulation does work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/business/net-neutrality-debate-access-and-costs-are-top-issues.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A15%22%7D&_r=0