The Social Network

Mike Madarasz

Facebook’s initial public offering is now less than two weeks away.  The craze surrounding it will almost certainly cause it to be overvalued initially.  More importantly, the release raises the question of just how viable Facebook will be in the long run.  Whether Facebook will remain mainstream in the future or join MySpace in the digital graveyard is a hotly debated topic. 

Many people believe that at this point Facebook is so widely used that it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to take their place in the realm of social media.  The way I see it, it is only a matter of time until the “next Zuckerburg” arrives and offers something that trumps Facebook.  There is always going to be something better and more advanced that will come along.  If you asked anyone five or six years ago if AOL Instant Messenger would ever be dated, I’m sure you would get the same response as if you asked an identical question about Facebook today.  Ultimately, I see two factors opening the door for competitors down the road.

1.    A site with a more narrow focus will move in.  Facebook seems like they are already starting to over expand.  Newsfeeds are now cluttered with notifications about Words With Friends, Spotify and friends viewing videos and reading articles.  I can see this trend starting to frustrate people in the future.  Much like the way Facebook originally catered to college students and made MySpace obsolete, another site with a narrower focus could crop up and get a foothold in the market. 

2.    A site will be able to aggregate everything and make the internet a one stop experience (cough cough Google).  Google now competes with Facebook via Google+ .  Users can already search the internet, access their e-mail, get directions, instant message and search YouTube on one site.  It is only a matter of time before Google, or another site, is able to patch all of these services together under a single umbrella.

I am now about to post the link to this blog on Facebook.  Stay tuned though because at this time next year, it may be posted to MySpace, Google+ or something we haven't heard of yet.

Spring Fling

Shavonna Hinton

I miss being a kid (but I’m glad I’m growing up). Based on the events of this past weekend, however, it sure was great to be a kid again if only for a couple hours. The 5 hours of fun provided by the SAPB of Binghamton at Spring Fling were arguably some of most fun and enjoyable hours I’ve spent on Binghamton’s campus all year.

From fried dough and candy apples to carnival rides and bouncy houses, I really felt like I was at a carnival right in the middle of the Peace Quad. I won prizes and amassed copious amounts of candy and sweets. In addition, it also happened to be Cinco de Mayo which meant there were also strawberry daiquiris and margaritas for just $2.

Hearing grown college kids screaming like 8 year olds at an amusement park and getting to do arts and crafts, like splatter painting Frisbees, are events not commonly found on a college campus but Spring Fling had that sort of effect on stressed out overworked students. In the midst of preparing for finals and getting prepared for the summer, it was great to sit back and relax and let my mind take a break on a great Saturday Afternoon.  I’m sure everyone else appreciated it too.

Meeting the POBUS

John Minami

Tuesday night I was cordially invited to attend a dinner meeting with the POBUS (President Of Binghamton University SUNY).  It was just one of a series of dinner meetings that the POBUS was having with various students ranging from freshmen in Dickinson to seniors living off campus.  And overall, I enjoyed the evening pretty well.

I had expected to dine with him alone, but instead there were about eight students and two faculty members present at the dinner.  We pushed together a few tables in C4 and sat in a misshapen circle talking about how our lives were.  The students shared their majors and campus activities while the POBUS gave us some insight into the inner workings of a university president.  The revelation of the night: Harvey Stenger (a.k.a. the POBUS) is a person. 

All year I was plagued with news of a “new president” who would be presiding over Binghamton University.  However, in all honesty, I didn’t really care.  I had never met the man and I had absolutely no choice or say in whatever decisions he made regarding the campus.  I had not consented for this person to decide how my college life would go.  For all I knew, he could’ve disbanded the Crew team (a huge part of my college life) and hiked tuition up a thousand dollars.  He was a far-off giant who apparently had a significant amount of control over my life and I didn’t know how he would use that control over me.  When I had invited to the dinner, I didn’t expect much out of it.  My mindset walking into the dining hall was: “He’s just doing this as a formality to make it seem like he cares about the students.  In the end, he’s going to have the school and his own best interest in mind.”  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

What I learned about the POBUS through our dining experience was that he used to be a chemistry teacher at the University of Buffalo who also taught a computer science class.  He’s a loving husband who is taking his wife out to a play this weekend.  He recently defused his first student protest (the grad students wanted more money for Teacher Assistantships).  He is a great father who has a daughter in college.  He’s working with various local and state groups/organizations to control our exploding deer population.  Most of all, he cares about the students.  I had expected him to treat this dinner with little interest or care but I could see that as our dinner conversations progressed he genuinely cared about the Binghamton students.  I was amazed at how much interest he took in what we had to say to him and the way he shared so much of what was going on in his life with us, a group of younger (but not that much younger) adults. 

Sitting next to him in C4, I didn’t feel like I was talking with the POBUS.  It felt more like talking to an old acquaintance who I was catching up with.  It felt very relaxed and casual and I loved every moment of it.  We got to know each other as actual human beings and as more than just faculty and student.  I am not sure if the POBUS is holding any more of these dinners but if anyone has the opportunity to attend them, I would definitely do so.

To President Stenger: Good luck with running the university because your job and my future depend on it.  But I’m not worried because I am sure we will both be fine in your very capable hands.

Student Tracklete

Shavonna Hinton

After several weeks of trying to avoid this topic, I’ve finally realized it was inevitable that I was eventually going to have to write about it. Ever since I’ve been in middle school I’ve always been known as the “tracklete”. I was hoping I might be able to shake this title once I got to college but sadly, I haven’t.  I’m not saying I don’t love the sport I just feel as if there’s so much more to me as a person but everyone always gets hung up on  the fact that I run track. However, being in college I’ve learned to embrace my role as a student athlete.

From my first day at Bing I was already at an advantage socially considering that my roommate was also a runner, which made the bonding process a little easier. Not to mention the fact that I would also be instantly connected to a group of 90 plus people all just by being on the team. I’ve grown to respect and admire many of my teammates for the hard work they put in on and off the track. Whenever I’ve had any questions about academics or finding a balance in college I could turn to someone who had gone through similar experiences and who could guide me through it all. I know it’s a cliché but my team is like a family. For the most part we are a pretty tight unit and we look out for each other. We celebrate each other’s victories and help each other out when someone might be down.

When I tell people I’m an athlete they’re usually very impressed with the fact that I’ve chosen to make a huge commitment aside from being just a student. Additionally, I hear you earn big points with job recruiters because of all the life skills you learn to develop as a student athlete.  All in all, being a student athlete is a badge of honor at Bing and I’m proud that I get to represent this college every week when I step out on that line to race.

Astronomy 100 to Management 580

Mike Madarasz

There are a handful of classes I have taken in my college career that I would consider vital moving forward into the professional world.  The Excel classes I have taken have no doubt made me proficient in a very important program. 

However, realistically, in my case a good percentage of the things that I have learned in college are not going to be overly relevant when I get my first job, whenever that may be.  Any kind of elective I’ve ever taken automatically falls under that category.  Nothing against astronomy but unless there is a company camping trip it’s very unlikely that it will be pertinent to a job in marketing.  This could even be said for some material in SOM classes that I have taken (professors, notice the emphasis on some).  For example, case studies and class discussions can be very valuable in obtaining an understanding of a subject.  However, I don’t see myself pulling out the “Four P’s” of marketing very often in a real business setting. 

That being said, college, and especially grad school, have provided me with skills that are much more important than much of the concrete knowledge I will come away with.  For example, I would say I have done upwards of thirty presentations in my life.  Public speaking is one of the most desirable traits for an employee and college has gone a long way in helping me perfect this skill. 

I can’t say enough about the communication skills that I will leave school with.  In grad school especially, group work is constantly required.  It forces you to be in constant communication with your group and make sure everyone is on the same page.  Not only that, in a competitive school such as Binghamton you are constantly working with very intelligent people and there is something to be said for that as well. 

Finally, if nothing else, college has taught me to be organized and on top of things.  Especially as a grad student with a 19 credit schedule, you need to manage your time in order to be successful.  You always have to be aware of what’s going on and have a plan for everything.

I may be graduating after five years with a significant amount of student loans to pay back but I think I can justify them pretty easily. 

Don’t “Be You” at BU, but “Find You” at BU

John Minami

If you looked into my closet, you won't find a single Binghamton University hoodie.  Looking at my friends and random students on campus, it appears that almost everyone has a university hoodie.  There are probably a multitude of reasons why everyone has one: it was on sale, it was supposed to be for a family member, they have a lot of school pride, etc.  As for me, I never really got around to getting one.  I've always wanted one, but various reasons (low cash, school store was closed, too lazy to walk to the school store, etc.) have always prevented me from making the purchase.

Since my time at Binghamton University, I have acquired these two hoodies.  The left one is from the Korean-American Baptist Organization or KABSO for short.  The other one is from the Binghamtom Crew team. 

To me, these are more or less my "Binghamton University hoodies".  You see, for me, Binghamton University isn't about the buildings or the classes or even our prestigious name.  To me, Binghamton University IS KABSO and BU Crew.  Without these two organizations, Binghamton University would cease to be what it is.  Both organizations have had such a profound impact on not only my first year of college, but my first year living on my own.

In KABSO, I was able to discover a new support system of emotional ties that act as my "pseudo"-family when my real family cannot be with me.  Without it, I don't know what I would do.  Sharing not only a faith, but also feelings and problems with this group has been an amazing experience for me.  Being so far from home, it is difficult to find people who truly love you. Luckily, I was able to find those people in KABSO. 

In BU Crew, however, I have found a different sort of support system.  Whereas, KABSO catches me when I'm down, BU Crew does something slightly different.

BU Crew pushes me past my limits.  When I am tired and dying, it drives me to continue moving.  Rowing every morning makes me believe that I can do anything.  If I can wake up at 5:00 AM every morning to kill myself for an hour or two BEFORE going to classes, I think I can pretty much do anything.  You know those billions of e-mails that SOM students receive from Christina Whitney?  I apply to every single one that doesn’t have a credit restriction.  Even though, my chances of getting that internship or job are slim, I persevere regardless because that’s what Crew has taught me to do.  It doesn’t matter how the odds are stacked against me, I just keep moving forward, doing my best.  I believe this determination will get me far in life.  Heck, it got me into EY Connect, which I never had believed I would be good enough for.  I also decided to double major in English because of Crew.  The workload will be hard but it is something I want to do, so I will reach for it with all my strength and effort.

To me, college isn’t about a time for getting good grades or a degree.  It’s about exploring yourself, and discovering parts of you that you never knew existed.  It’s about finding out how much you really miss your family and crave a close emotional connection.  It’s about realizing your full potential when you try your hardest. 

I’ve learned a lot about myself this freshmen year, but I’m still not done. I still have 3 more years to learn even more about myself.  And I can’t wait.

It's That Time of Year

Mike Madarasz

This is my fifth year in school and I can see a way too familiar time of year right around the corner.  It’s that time of year when the weather gets nice, academic motivation suffers and it becomes exponentially harder to bring yourself to be a diligent student.  It’s when you begin to see that stereotypical college scene of kids laying out and playing Frisbee on the college green.  I don’t know what it is about nice weather that makes college students “lose it”, but there is definitely an inverse relationship between temperature and academic achievement. 

I would be lying if I said I have not been guilty of this in the past.  Once the weather gets warm, I can’t help but let my mind wander to the golf course while sitting in class.  Whatever the topic in class is that day is not nearly as important as what I’m going to shoot on 18 holes later on.

After careful review and scientific analysis, I think I can partially explain this phenomenon.  First, suffering through winter comes with going to a school in upstate New York.  There are only so many weeks of good weather during each school year and students feel like they have to take advantage of them.  Also, by the time April comes around everyone is just plain tired of class.  I don’t feel I need to elaborate on this point.  Finally, everyone can taste summer right around the corner and the anticipation alone is enough to make students “lose it”.    

That being said, I have a tee time to make.

Crew Took the "Break" out of "Spring Break"

John Minami

While all of my friends were chilling and relaxing back in New York City, I was down in South Carolina going through one of the toughest weeks of my life.  I was attending the annual Binghamton Crew Spring Break Camp.   All of the upper classmen on the squad, who had been on the team for years, promised us, the novice team, that we would die at camp.  They weren’t kidding.

At the start of every day, we would force ourselves out of bed at 6:00 AM sharp to go for a “light run” before breakfast.  Unfortunately our coach’s idea of a light run was a six mile jog down a dusty road.  The captain of our team had a bit too much fun during the run as he chased those of us who were slacking off with a giant stick.  There is a lot of incentive to run faster when seeing a shirtless, muscular man running towards you with a stick.

After the run, we would eat a light breakfast.  I emphasis “light” because right after breakfast we were expected to jump into our boats and row for about one-and-a-half to two hours.  Anyone who decided to stuff themselves at breakfast were punished with nausea and stomach cramps. The rowing was intense and we were barely given any breaks while on the water. After all, we had each paid $450 to attend the camp; we were definitely getting our money’s worth.

Finally around one we would pull back into shore, ragged and sore from our first two practices, and head to lunch.  Everyone had seconds.  The food was only slightly better than Sodexo food but to us, exhausted rowers, it tasted like rainbows and chocolate milk.  After our fulfilling lunch, guess what we did.  If you guessed anything other then “row more” you’re wrong.  After all, we are a crew team.

So after lunch, we went for our second row of the day, this time rowing about two-and-a-half to three hours.  This row was the worst part of camp.  Pulling that oar after the earlier workouts, feels like trying to lift a tree out of the ground.  It was pure hell.  But luckily after that row, all we had was dinner and then the rest of the night was ours.  We had initially expected to stay up all night to talk and hang out but almost everyone started to pass out around eight. 

Crew Camp was definitely a lot of hard work, but the accomplishments feel amazing.   Over a six day period, we covered a little over 80-miles of water.  That’s more than 10-miles a day!  Plus every member on the team was able to grow closer together and improve their techniques.  Binghamton Crew is an amazing team to be a part of and I am so glad I joined it this year. I can’t wait to give up my next Spring Break.

My Wild Spring Break

Shavonna Hinton

With only a few weeks left in my first year of college, I’m realizing now more than ever how much my life is really starting to change. Maybe change isn’t the word I’m looking for but I guess it’s just that it has finally hit me that it’s time to grow up.

Usually for spring break I’d spend my days waking up late and going to bed even later, usually just wasting hours away watching TV not actually doing anything really productive. Doing schoolwork was usually out of the question until the final day of break and typically teachers were nice enough to not assign us with anything. Oh how I wish I spent my spring break like that this year. Some college students travel to Cancun or Barbados or go on some wild adventure in the Adirondacks, but I spent my break right at home.

My time at home was consisted of applying to 20-something different jobs, looking for summer internships and finding more scholarships for college. If I wasn’t doing that I was studying for a test or writing a paper. By the end of the week, I felt somewhat accomplished with what I got done. I also realized that life as I had previously known it was slipping away. Sure it may sound a bit dramatic but it’s true. If I want money for college next year I need a job, if I want to do well on my finals in a month, it’d probably be best if I started to prepare now. Professors don’t care if you stay home or travel the globe for break, if you have a paper due, that’s that. You have to find time to get it done. 

Overall I can say I enjoyed my break, I did find some time to catch up with some old friends and family but this break was definitely another one of those learning lessons that showed me “Hey, you’re not a kid anymore and you’ve got to start being an adult now.” To me being an adult is simply being responsible enough to realize that you’ve got to make decisions and actions that further benefit your life. Would I say I’m an expert on that yet? No. But I’m definitely working my way towards getting there.

Jobs!

Mike Madarasz

I can’t wait to get a job.  The biggest reason is because then I won’t have to go through a grueling job search again for a long time (unless I get canned).  For those that have not gotten to this point yet, it is every bit as time consuming and stressful as you hear about.  First of all, it’s difficult enough just to find a listing that you think is worth applying for.  On sites like Monster or CareerBuilder there are going to be hundreds of listings to pour through. 

For most listings you then need to write a cover letter.  It doesn’t sound like much except that writing letter after letter gets very tedious very quickly.  Many companies also require you to register with their website.  You are required to enter all your personal information as well as past education and past schooling.  Once again, this becomes very repetitive. 

If you’re lucky enough, the next step is usually a phone interview.  This obviously requires some preparation as well familiarizing yourself with the company.  Assuming you didn’t royally screw up the phone interview, they will probably ask you in for a real interview.  A lot of times for me this means making the trip from Binghamton to Manhattan.  Fortunately, route 17 is lovely this time of year.  Obviously this interview takes much more preparation and practice while really getting to know the company as well.  Once you get your haircut, shave, print your resume, figure out how to get there and iron your suit, you can proceed with the actual interview.  

It’s that easy folks!

Hindsight

Mike Madarasz

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in school for five years already. Nonetheless, in less than two months I’ll be graduating for good. Looking back on my college career as a whole, I can point to several things that I am glad I took part in and several that I wish I had.

-One thing I wish I had done was study abroad. During my first few years of school, I had never had any desire to go overseas. Plus, as a student athlete it was difficult to miss an entire semester to begin with. Knowing what I do now, I wish I had had the chance to spend a semester in Europe. I’ve yet to hear of one negative experience of a semester abroad.
Binghamton International Programs: http://www2.binghamton.edu/oip/

-One experience I am grateful for is my experience as an intern. I can’t say enough about how important this was. Obviously, it’s great experience in a professional environment and a chance to build valuable relationships. Aside from that, it confirmed the fact that I wanted to continue to pursue a career in that particular field. I would definitely encourage anyone else to do the same.

-I’m also grateful for having the opportunity to play a varsity sport during my four years as an undergraduate. There’s a lot to be said for the experience aside from the fact that it gave me the chance to continue to play a sport that I love. Being a student athlete forces you to be extremely conscientious and motivated, among other things. In addition, it can only help when searching for a job.

Ernst and Young

John Minami

This past week, I attended TWO events held by Ernst and Young (EY). Now, the purpose of these events weren't to offer jobs or internships (unfortunately), but rather to just show Binghamton students what EY is really about. And you know what? I really liked what EY was about.

The first event was EY Invasion Day. It was held in the Old Union Hall with about maybe 70 to 80 students. We sat at different tables and each table had a couple of employees. This was a great opportunity to talk with them on a personal level and really get to know everyday EY employees. Those guys were great. I was able to talk with them as if they were my friends. The conversation came really easily. I had expected them to be intimidating and overwhelming, but I found out they seemed more like college students... with jobs.

The rest of EY invasion day consisted of a panel of executvies who we could question about anything and a "murder mystery". The "murder mystery" was a bit embarassing at times, but it was actually pretty fun. It gave us a way to connect with the employees at our tables. Overall the experience helped me to see what Ernst and Young is and what they stand for as a company.

My second experience with EY was the "Ernst and Young Launch", which is a program run by EY where employees just give Freshmen and Sophomores tips and advice about their futures, especially if those futures lead to EY. It was a smaller group than in EY invasion day but in some ways it was better. We ended up having more of a large group discussion sort of experience rather than a Q and A.

I had never given EY much thought before these two experiences but now I'm learning towards them as possible future employers. They showed me exactly how much they care about their current employees and possible future employees, and I really like that about them. I felt a genuine warmth and happiness radiating from the employees and I know that EY would be a great place to work at. Hopefully I can find a position with them one day.

P.S. Did you know the average GPA of an EY employee is 3.3? This gave me so much hope in finding a job!

Binghamton, NY

Shavonna Hinton

My intentions for last week’s blog post were not to boast and brag about how awesome and great I think upstate New York is.  In actuality, I was setting up a comparison of sorts to what I intend to blog about this week.  First, I feel a back story is in order.

When I first started looking at colleges, Binghamton wasn’t on my list.  I’d never even heard of it.  I had my mind set (like many other college seeking students) that I was going to go to a big name school.  It wasn’t until my dad told me about this well ranked business program that one of the SUNY’s had that I decided to look into Bing.

As I perused the college websites, the reviews I found were less than stellar.  I read things like, “the campus looks like trash “and “WalMart is the social hotspot every day of the week.  Nightlife sucks.” Needless to say, after reading several more downtrodden reviews I was not looking forward to visiting Bing.

Fast forward to now and I can say I have not a single regret in deciding to come here.  Binghamton went from being not on my list to my top choice.  I love the campus, it’s a manageable size, despite the fact that Mountainview has a killer hill and Newing is literally on the edge of campus.  While it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing place on Earth, it’s nice to know that people care enough to continually renovate and make the campus look more modern rather than old and boring.  WalMart is the social hotspot but who cares?  I’m sure everyone remembers the first time they took the bus to WalMart, it’s part of the initiation into the Bing process.

To most of America, Binghamton, NY is the most depressed city in the country, the home of the 40-Million-Dollar-Hurricane-Katrina-of- the-North-Flood and the second fattest city in the nation.  But to me, Binghamton is none of these things.  It’s not about what the city has or doesn’t have and labels are just labels.  The relationships you foster and the memories you make will far outlast and outnumber any negative stigma the rest of the country can give this town.  Binghamton isn’t a statistic, it’s been my home for the past 8 months and I’m proud to live here.

21st Century MBA

Mike Madarasz

As I wrapped up a group paper this week I realized that I don’t personally know two members of my group and this was the fourth assignment we had done together.  The work was divided up via e-mail and the assignment completed via a Google Doc.  Therefore, I could not pick two of my group members out of a lineup if I had to.  This has become pretty standard in the year 2012.  Obviously for certain types of projects group meetings are required but for many others the work can be completed entirely online without ever having to meet in person. 

The MBA program in particular is very heavy on group work and I cannot imagine trying to complete all of it even 20 years ago.  Obviously group meetings would be required at least a couple of times to complete assignments.  Not to mention it would be much more difficult to coordinate these meetings and communicate as a group without e-mail or cell phones.  In addition, the collaboration would require much more than a simple cut and paste.  On top of all of that, producing a report wasn’t as simple as typing it up on Microsoft Word.  I can only imagine how much more time these types of projects must have taken.

The other implication of this is that technology has taken some of the face to face interaction out of the MBA program.  There is something to be said for the chance to improve one’s ability to work in groups and communication skills in grad school.  Some say that this is an important component of an MBA.  I personally do not feel like I am missing out on that element of my education and would much rather have the convenience of 21^st century technology.  Along those lines, the future of business lies in the hand’s of this technology and it is just as beneficial to become comfortable with it now. 

Upstate Pride

Shavonna Hinton

Being from upstate New York but attending a school that basically feels like you’re in the middle of Long Island has become somewhat of a badge of honor at Binghamton.  I’ve been told that I have a southern accent.  I’m constantly being mocked for the way I pronounce things and the funny upstate quirks that I’ve developed.  But what is most annoying and gratifying at the same time is when people ask me, “What is there to do “up there”? It must be so boring.

Well contrary to popular belief I can say with 100% assurance, there are things to do in upstate New York.  No, I don’t live in the sticks or the boonies or in a cornfield out in the middle of nowhere.  In fact, my neighborhood looks just like any other typical suburb in America.  I spend my summer days at Seabreeze Amusement Park (home to one of the oldest roller coasters in the world), going to the National Museum of Play, which is also home to the National Toy Hall of Fame, and the  International Center for the History of Electronic Games.  Sure these places might not be as cool as the Statue of Liberty or Times Square, but they make upstate New York not so “boring”.

Even though New York City might be one of the most diverse and metropolitan areas in the world it’s not like upstate New York is just Patriotville, USA.  I live just a few hours from Canada which is pretty awesome in its own merit considering I can go to Toronto or Quebec for a weekend road trip whenever I please.

I never realized how much upstate pride I had until coming to Binghamton.  I guess it’s because living where I do, I never appreciated all the cool places and perks that can be found up north.  I can get to virtually any place within a 20 mile radius of my home in less than 30 minutes—no three hour traffic jams for me!  No subway rides just to commute to school, I just hop on the trusty old school bus.

All in all upstate New York is just as cool, fun and awesome as living in the city or out on Long Island is. I guess it’s just all about perspective.

Until next time…keep it classy

What I Learned in Boating School Is...

John Minami

I used to love Spongebob when I was a kid. Heck, if I had Nickelodeon on my TV, I would still be watching it. Over the countless episodes (and re-runs) I have seen, there is one that comes to mind when I think about school. In this certain episode, Spongebob, the main character of the show who happens to live in a pineapple under the sea, has failed another test for his boating license (in the show, characters drive boats instead of cars because they live underwater). Mrs. Puffs, his boating instructor, is tired of his constant failure and tells him she'll pass him if he can write a 10-sentence essay about what he learned in boating school. The whole episode revolves around Mrs. Puffs trying to get Spongebob to write the essay, but he is unable to figure out what he learned in boating school. 

I sort of felt like Spongebob throughout my high school years. Sure I had learned a lot in my high school classes, but what had I actually learned? I learned about about how to find the area of a triangle and how America was founded, but honestly, those things didn't matter much to me. And I don't think they mattered much to anyone else. They were just things you had to remember and prove you could remember them in the form of a test, just so you could get a number on a sheet of paper telling you how smart you were. I didn't really consider myself to have "learned" anything in high school, or at least "learned" anything significant.

But when I had gotten to college, everything changed. I was suddenly learning useful things that I could actually use in life. Sure there are still a few things that I believe I will never use again (like the importance of Vietnamese culture in modern day Vietnam), but it's still definitely a lot better than in high school where I felt as if I wasn't learning anything useful.Yesterday, I was sitting in my statistics class when the teacher showed us a very interesting problem. We were supposed to figure out the actual percentage of a person having breast cancer after testing positive for it, considering the amount of people in a population that have breast cancer and the chances of having a false positive on a breast cancer exam. The results were ridiculous: if a woman tests positive for breast cancer, there is still only an 0.8 percent chance of her having breast cancer. We learned to use statiscal magic to prove this, and I believe this is definitely something that could be useful in life.

"MBAs Wanted"

Mike Madarasz

I’m currently in the market for employment following graduation.  I’ve been fortunate enough to come across these “promising” opportunities for MBA’s during my search: 

-Binghamton University has listings for a Full Time Art History Professor at Monroe Community College, a Dental Receptionist and an Elementary School Principal in Rochester.

-A “Sales Associate/Photographer” in Eureka, Missouri

-Entry level sales position where I can apparently make up to $350,000 a year

-A job selling life insurance in Hawaii

-A “Management Training Program” where the requirements are a valid drivers license with no more than 2 moving violations in the last three years, no DUI/DWI arrests in “the last 5 years” and “must be willing to accept $10.00/hour compensation”.  DWIs from 2006 are frowned upon, but apparently not a deal breaker.

-Another “Management Training Program” with Waste Management that requires you to “Ride along with Waste Management drivers on existing routes” in New Jersey.  I have a feeling the New Jersey branch has their hands full…

Who says finding an entry level job is difficult?

Sick Days

John Minami

When I was in high school, I loved sick days.  Sure, all of the coughing and fevers may have sucked but at least I was able to stay home and not go to school.  It was high school. Who cared if I missed a day of classes?  It wasn't anything that I couldn't make up the next day.  But college is a lot different.

I didn't take a sick day today, but because my first class didn't start until 4:30PM I was able to lie in bed all day.  It was a pretty miserable experience.  First of all, I didn't have any cold medicine.  At home, my parents would always keep a medicine cabinet full of various pills and syrups to make me feel better. However, in college, I had to devote more of my financials towards textbooks and food.  So I decided to just "man up" and simply rest today.

The second bad part about being sick in college is that I didn't have any parents to take care of me.  I didn't have a mom to make me soup and bring me extra blankets.  I didn't have grandparents to cook me warm food.  I had to make do with heating up some soup and drinking some juice.

And the final bad part would be that I didn't really get to get any work done.  The workload in college is significantly higher than the load in high school, so I sort of regretted not getting anything done today.

That is, of course, except for writing this. 

Crunch Time?

Shavonna Hinton

So we’re a third of the way into the semester now and signs of summertime are popping up all around us.  Even if Binghamton may have extremely bipolar weather, the sunny days we’ve been experiencing certainly outnumber the cold ones.  Along with this summertime feeling brings the realization that in a mere two months school will be over until August.  While this brings joy and excitement, for me, it also caused me to wonder, Now What?  Once school lets out, I’ll have three and half months with nothing to do.  How in the world am I going to fill this time up with something productive?

This is an issue that everyone faces and for every college student it’s a little different.  For a college senior, they’re hit with the notion that their lives are about to change drastically.  Some may go on to grad school others may go out into the workforce.  Juniors in college might begin to realize that they’ve only got 2 semesters to finally get that 3.8 they’ve been striving for or they might be working hard to nail down that internship for the summer.  But when it comes to college sophomores and freshman I feel as if there’s a huge gap.  It’s almost as if we’ve become complacent with how our lives are.

In high school, more specifically senior year, everyone makes that big push to beef up their resumes and get involved in everything they can.  Many students actively seek jobs and for the most part I’d say were very productive in society.  Then after a year of hard work and productivity it all just seems to stop. Many of the freshmen and some sophomores I know make very little effort to further themselves in college at an early age.  Whereas in high school everyone was racking up volunteer hours and joining clubs left and right, it seems like now everyone would rather go to The Rat or Paradigm on a Thursday night.

Now I’m not saying having fun is a bad thing, I’m just saying instead of spending $8 for a long island iced tea, it might be a better use of time and money to go to a SIFE, SEAC or Haitian Student Union meeting. Not only will you get to meet other students at Bing (while sober), but you’ll also be racking up activities to put on your resume.  As for internships, often I’ve heard people say there’s nothing out there for freshman and sophomores.  I say make up your own.  Ask around and see if there is a need of some sort in your hometown.  Figure out how to solve it.  Any experience is good experience.  The earlier you start, the better off you’ll be in the long run.

Until Next Time…Keep it Classy.

Business Etiquette

John Minami

Most of us SOM students know what this is.  And just in case there are some who don't know what it is, every single one of us is put through a grueling semester of CQS 111.  Judging by the lack of interest and enthusiasm for the class, a lot of SOM students probably already have a general sense of how people should be treated, not only personally, but professionally.  A lot of my friends, myself included, found the class really repetitive and it felt more like a nagging mother, than a "real" college class.  It wasn't until Thursday afternoon that I found out the importance of teaching and solidifying the rules of business etiquette.

For the past couple of days, my mother's company has been looking for part-time workers.  I've been asking a lot of friends if they were interested, and I found a few who were.  Among those few was more of a "friend of a friend" than a "friend".  But anyways, my friend asked me as a favor to get him a job, so I told myself "why not?".

The person answered the question of "why not?" when he didn't show up to a meeting with my mother and then proceeded to make her wait an hour until finally he told my FRIEND to tell ME to tell my mother that he wasn't interested in the job.  If I had heard about this happening to someone else, I would have shaken my head at the un-professionalism and disrespect but because this was a personal matter, I felt utter outrage.  Not to mention, the embarrassment I felt for referring him to my own mother.

Business etiquette is really important.  In the future, I will never share any job opportunities with that person ever again.  I also honestly doubt that he will ever find a job with the low level of respect he seems to hold for future employers.  I can't believe I'm going to say this, but... CQS 111 might actually be a useful class.  Even if it's to only educate the few barbarians who can't bother to at least make a phone call to waiting employers.

Certified Public Losers

Mike Madarasz

I have three roommates, all of whom are accounting majors and are in the process of becoming Certified Public Accountants.  I have to thank these gentlemen for confirming that I chose the right degree to pursue.  I originally chose Business Administration because I thought accounting was too tedious and quite honestly, too boring.  I couldn’t see myself pouring over spreadsheets and expense reports all day every day.  Now, based on my roommates, I know I was right.  I honestly get nauseas listening to them talk about it day in and day out.  

On the other side of that, they all have jobs waiting for them after graduation while I am still trying to catch a break in that department.  They will also probably be a little better compensated for their first jobs than I will.  There definitely seems to be more job security in the field of accounting and that’s hard to argue.  This is all fine with me.  I would rather look harder now and spend some time cutting my teeth at a job I enjoy than take the security of a job that I don’t. 

The real kicker in this whole debate is the CPA exam.  I have witnessed firsthand just how miserable this test can make people.  The series of four tests requires hours of studying a day for weeks at a time and that doesn’t even guarantee a passing grade.  To put it in perspective for myself, when I think about taking the GMAT three additional times, I cringe.  It’s not something I would ever want to do and I am extremely thankful there is not a comparable test in the field of marketing. 

I’m sure my three roommates are all going to be awesome accountants but that is not a job I am jealous of.  I look forward to them doing my taxes in the future.