3.27.12

Kaitlyn Bernath

This article was talking about college education. It was talking about the rising and falling of money received in loans etc. In this article it was saying that tuition has gone up and people are wondering why. Like for estimates, they don’t take deductions from employment or income taxes. The estimated life time earning is $800,000. College is worth it, you need to spend money carefully. While in college you give out so much money, but you don’t take in as much money as you’re putting out. Scholarships help to reduce the initial price to get in to a university.  College will offer you classes and degrees that will get you farther in life, and make you earn more money. If I go to college hopefully I won’t pay for it. I’d like to get a scholarship that pays for the majority of my fees, and then I would be more than happy. If I don’t get a large scholarship, I hope my parents will help with tuition; otherwise I’m going to be stuck with multiple jobs, depending on what kind of college or university that I go to. So basically I hope I’ll get help with tuition or I’ll be left on my own.

                I picked the University of Florida, and the University of Michigan. To attend school at The University of Michigan, for four years, it costs anywhere above and below 10,000 a term, unless you’re not a resident of Michigan, then it’s around 20,000 a full term. To attend The University of Florida, it costs fewer than 2,000 for a full term. These colleges use bright futures etc.  The books cost around $50 used. College is very pricy and costs a lot of money. I’m still hoping to get a scholarship to guide me through. 3 more years!

3/12/12

Kaitlyn Bernath

Sports Marketing 1

Alves

3/12/12

Compare and Contrast: “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Scottsboro Case”

In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and “The Scottsboro Case” there was a lot of prejudice and racist people. The Judge was white, and so was the Jury. This meant that there was basically no tolerance for black people. In the courtroom, the blacks even had their own section to sit in. The judge and the jury had the verdict before they even started in the court. They ignored all the evidence that proved the offender not guilty. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the offender was Tom Robinson, and in “The Scottsboro Case” the offenders were the nine Scottsboro boys. The Scottsboro boys and Tom Robinson were charged with raping white woman. The three of these women wanted attention. Ruby Bates, and Victoria Price, who were in “The Scottsboro Case”, were prostitutes so they obviously wanted attention. Mayella from “To Kill a Mockingbird” was emotionally and physically abused. She did not even  understand what love was, and what it felt like to be loved. Mayella was supposedly beaten by Tom on the right side of her face, but evidence proved it wrong. If Tom had punched Mayella, he would have used his left hand, but he could not use it. When Tom was younger his left hand got caught in a cotton gin and that accident made his hand unusable. Bob Ewell, Mayella's father was left handed which proved him guilty of beating her. Also in the Scottsboro case, the two girls were completely unharmed and not injured in anyway , which obviously meant they could not have been raped. Also both trials occurred in Alabama in the 1930’s.

                There were also a couple of differences in the two trials, here are a few. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there was Tom Robinson and Mayella only (one on one), but in “The Scottsboro Case”, there were nine boys and the two girls(nine on two). Also, the nine boys in the Scottsboro trials were all teenagers, and Tom Robinson was a happily married man with kids. Also, the trials and convictions of the Scottsboro Case took years and years longer than the trials and convictions in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Another thing is, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was a book and The Scottsboro trials happened in real life. But no crime in American history had more convictions, trials, reversals, and retrials as did “The Scottsboro Case”.

2/6/12

                John Barrie was interested in paper mills, which were websites where students could get papers from online for a small fee, and turn them in as their own work. John Barrie had an idea. He decided to use technology and use it to catch kids who were cheating on their assignments. John Barrie made a for-profit company called iParadigms. His website is used for hundreds of U.S High schools and universities. When a school licenses his service the faculty make accounts on his service. The teachers tell the students to turn in digital copies of their work to the service. Then the papers go through databases and they see who has used the same paper. He says that 85% of the papers turned in are exact replicas of the ones online. Another 13% comes from old papers used by other students.

                I think that Mr. Barrie is very smart and is doing the same thing. When you plagiarize, the person who actually spent time in doing their research doesn’t get any credit, which is wrong. I think if you’re actually going to take the initiative to go to college, you need to do what’s expected of you rather than cheat and feel bad. When you do things you feel accomplished, but when you cheat, you don’t feel good about it. Plagiarism is not okay and it shouldn’t be motivated. When you have a lot of things going on and are stressed, honestly, you think about it but you got to have some responsibility and then you’ll be looked up to. You won’t be looked down on or have a bad reputation. I think that definitely the student needs to sit there with the teacher watching and do the report. Then they most likely won’t do it again, who wants there teacher hovering over them? Anyways, I think institutions take it seriously because, if you cheat it won’t take you anywhere in life, and it won’t prepare you for future jobs and business opportunities. At the University of Michigan, international students (if caught plagiarizing) cant register for full time classes, will have to go to another school, or even possibly have to leave the U.S. Plagiarism could result in suspension from the school for several terms, permanent expulsion, and the students degree could be revoked. I think plagiarism is wrong.  Also on  http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/7506 it says that UM actually uses Turnitin.com.

1/24/12

Fast Break to China- Kaitlyn Bernath

Basically this article is talking about how important Mr. Yao will become, if he continues to succeed and do well. Mr. Yao’s journey to the NBA is the product of a calculated bet more than a decade ago when they said sports would provide a commercial opening to china. The league had first aired a game on TV in China in 1987. Nike actually outfitted China’s track team in the Olympics in 1984.The NBA and Nike got lucky when they landed Mr.Yao, a skilled and personable athlete who is already a cultural icon in China. David Stern said that kids will now want to be like him. Mr. Yao will be a market unto himself. Mr. Yao is important to the NBA because he has a big impact already and he will connect the sport of Basketball to China. International players impact people everywhere. They open up opportunities for players everywhere when they realize what they can do, and who they can be like. For example, now that Mr. Yao has come to the US there will be many young kids in China who want to do the same thing.

As of last season, there are a total of 84 international players. Last season only 2 teams did not have a foreign player on their team. The Toronto Raptors have 6 international players from Australia, Brazil, Italy, Lithuania, Nigeria, and Spain. The Mavericks and the Utah Jazz have 5 foreign players from Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the Virgin Islands, while 8 teams have four. France provided the most players with 11 followed by Turkey, 5 from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Serbia, and Spain with 4. (Taken from http://www.interbasket.net/news/7229/2010/10/record-84-international-players-as-2010-11-nba-season-opens/) The players are important because they open new business opportunities and bring new ideas and cultures from their countries. It all started at the Olympic Games when basketball was introduced. When the Americans had lost to the European team they realized how much value there could be in allowing international players to come to the United States.

1/18/12

                This article talks about how Mr.Mahmoud wanted to start a pizza business. Mr.Mahmoud went to Italy to learn the art of making pizzas, but dreamed of opening his own shop. Mr.Mohmoud started a pizza business in Baghdad. He decorated his shop with things from Rome and an Italian flag with Arabic writing. Americans from the nearby compound came and bought pizzas, and was soon selling nearly 200 pizzas a day to the Americans. His profit rose up to more than $1000; this was a lot of money in Iraq. Soon terrorists blew up the US compound and his profit fell to only $160 in September. Sales picked up a little, but dropped again. When he went through the receipts he made $17 one day, $13 the next and $1 the next. When he was in danger he left and quit, then he came back and started selling them again. His family helped by doing different things in his restaurant. Another good business would be a grocery store, but I personally wouldn’t work there in the war because I would rather be safe than sorry. He decided to think of a place that there was little business and most likely no pizza, and succeeded when he decided to open a business.

                They have to go through many different stages before opening a business overseas. They have to talk to the U.S. department of commerce and they have to think about how different things will be before they jump to conclusions.They need to do their homework on the customs and rules they need to know before spreading their business. They also need to pick a location where there are people who would be attracted to what they’re selling, and they need to decide what business they are opening. They need to make a business plan also and find a representative who can help them with any questions they need to know; an expert preferably. They also need to find a bank and hire the right people for their blog. They need someone who is willing to work and will do a good job. It would also be good if the person has experience in the field. Lastly they need to take it slow, think through everything,  and make sure you have all the necessary documents. There is actually a McDonalds in Iraq. They seem to be quite successful too.

1/9/12

Tattoos

I think that it makes sense. If you are going to an interview and have tattoos, you should cover the majority of them up. If you have a bunch of tattoos you don’t look very civilized. If you have one or two tattoos people shouldn’t be so judgmental, but if you have a lot of noticeable or large tattoos it makes sense to cover them up. It can count as discrimination. For example, if someone won’t hire you because you’re black, or won’t let you play a sport because you’re small it’s pretty much the same thing. Although I do think if you have a lot, you’re less likely to get hired. Business owners have the right to hire who they want, but it’s wrong for them to judge people just because they have a tattoo. If I owned a business I wouldn’t be rude or impolite to the person. I would kindly say well, those ones need to be covered so please wear long pants etc.  Standards now are different because back then it wasn’t as common to have a tattoo. Now there are kids that are 16 who have tattoos but back then, it would be more of a surprise. I believe people shouldn’t be so strongly judgmental, but also believe you need to act mature and ethical when you want a job.

12/4/11

  

In this article it is talking about how some NBA teams are losing a lot of money, and need to cut back. The NBA is going above and beyond trying to please fans anywhere from fancy season ticket packages to paper Christmas cards. The NBA, when trying to please fans, is spending too much money. They are putting out more than they are bringing in. In doing this they are having financial problems, and are even considering dropping players.

To cut back, teams have been doing different things. One team allows a young boys basketball team to entertain the fans during half time. When letting the boys entertain the fans, even some of their parents are buying tickets to watch the boys perform. So when the boys entertain pro-bono, they also bring money in from the parents. The Cleveland Cavaliers are switching from paper Christmas cards to electronic ones, and this will save the Cavaliers $40,000. Also, the Denver Nuggets have eliminated free cell phone texting for employees.

Some of these cutbacks can hurt the team. The fans may not like the way the team does things after making cutbacks. Also, the usual player amount is 15. If they eliminate 1-2 players some players may get fatigue, and the most valued players will not get as many breaks or free time.

The teams make most of their money through TV contracts. The other money comes from the arena, through ticket sales, luxury suites, in stadium advertising, selling merchandise, local advertising and sponsorships, and local TV and radio broadcasting deals. I think they are doing the right things but they need to cut back on the things that don’t matter. For example, it doesn’t matter if you send your fans a paper Christmas card to their home or an electronic Christmas card to their computer. It is the thought that counts.