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Atrium's Fall 2009 issue!
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Suiting Up: A Guide to Applying to Professional School
Laurier’s Prospective Competitive Advantage
Getting to Know Laurier’s Ethics Board
Much More...
Inside:
FALL 2009
2
4 Suiting UpBrady McLeod
5 Laurier’s Prospective Competitive AdvantageClark Chami
7 An Interview with Alan Quarry - Entrepreneur in ResidenceGabriel McCrae
8 The Executive Development Weekend: The LinkErich Stilling
Contents
9 The World Can Be YoursAIESEC
10 Getting to Know Laurier’s Ethics BoardGourav Sathe
PRISM: More than Just Renting LaptopsAamir Mirza
13 Communicative CastawaysRobb Farago
Requiring Passion From our ProfessorsRobb Farago
15 Tweeting, Good for the SoulLauren Neal
11
14
14 With Glowing HeartsAntonietta Petrella
Contributors
6 How to Captain the LeadershipBurton Lee
12 The Worst Feeling Ever... When You Miss Your FlightAbhishek Sarathy
VISIT SBEATRIUM.COM FOR POSITIONS
TODAY!
Brady McLeodBrady McLeod is a Wilfrid Laurier Univer-sity graduate who is currently studying Law at Queen’s University. During his years at WLU, Brady was an Executive Editor for the Atrium Media Group.
Burton LeeBurton Lee is a fourth year Kinesiolo-gy student who is the AVP: First Year Experience for WLUSU and was the Co-ordinator of O-week.
Erich StillingErich Stilling is a Wilfrid Laurier graduate from the BBA program with a concentration in Accounting and a minor in Economics. He is former President of The Link, a student-run organization within the School of Business & Economics at WLU.
3
It’s hard to believe that we’re already into the final month of the semes-ter, that our final exams are just weeks away, and most importantly, that we’ll all be going away for Christmas soon! Sometimes however,
it’s important to step back and take notice of the lives we’re living. Most people would agree that their university years were the best phases of their life, possibly due to the highly unpredictable, fast-paced, (perhaps disorganized), and care-free nature of our lifestyles. One of the most important plus points of our university is that it has one of the finest Student Union’s, and is one of the best spirited post-secondary student environments. The competitive nature of our WLUSU interviews, ex-ecution of school spirit events such as Orientation Week and Laurier
Day are a testament to this.As you will see, AMG’s Fall issue is focused on recognizing various extracurricular student organizations that have been instrumental in fostering career development workshops, events and conferences at Laurier. What’s really commendable is that all functional areas in our clubs are student-managed, right from treasury and human resources to marketing. Our University years will not come back, and here is a chance get involved with various extra-curricular alternatives. The practical experience, development of your skills, time for social networking, and industry contacts that you will garner from your volunteer experience will be critical to building your career portfolio and skill inventory. Wilfrid Laurier is a stepping stone for you, to explore the world and to fulfill your dreams.
The key is to Think Big, Work Smart and Play Hard!
Gourav Sathe
From the Editor-In-Chief...
They say time flies when you’re having fun, and The Atrium Media Group has fully witnessed this notion as we have definitely had an exciting fall semester trying to expand our readership base, while
putting together our Fall Issue. A lot of time and effort goes into creating our issues and we hope you enjoy reading them and benefit from all that they have to offer. We have tried to appeal to all faculties by producing a more diverse maga-zine including a variety of different topics. As we keep expanding we hope to continue capturing the news, views and culture of the Laurier com-munity through interesting information, photography and video produc-tions.What’s next for AMG? We would love to draw more attention to our web-
site by focusing on our I LOVE MEDIA because... campaign. As well, watch for our blogging discussions on our website as they’re sure to spark debate and provide entertainment!The Atrium Media Group is near and dear to my heart and I hope that you’ll find something to love about it too.
On behalf of the entire AMG team, I wish you continued success at Laurier!
Lauren Neal
Vice [email protected]
From the Vice President...
Abhishek SarathyPRESIDENT
Lauren NealEXECUTIVE VICE
PRESIDENTHUMAN RESOURCES
Gabriel McCrae VICE PRESIDENT
MARKETING
Gourav SatheEDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Aamir MirzaMANAGING EDITOR
Clark ChamiMANAGING EDITOR
Antonietta PetrellaDESIGN EDITOR
Naomi De Marchi
PROMOTIONS
Sarah EatonMARKETING MANAGER
Yi Feng YanPHOTOGRAPHY
Rochelle HeinrichsWEB DESIGN
Kyle CoulterDESIGNER
Erin GulasVIDEO PRODUCTIONS
Robb FaragoWRITER & BLOGGER
Simar BadiLAYOUT ASSISTANT
Angela Van RoonDESIGN CONSULTANT
The views and opinions shared by some writers do not necessarily represent those
of Atrium Media Group
4
Regardless of how close, or painfully far, you are from completing your undergradu-
ate degree at Laurier, there will always be one question approaching from the distant horizon; what will I do after graduating? While completing my third year of a business degree at Laurier, my answer came to me. I was applying for full time “career paths” when I realized joining the workforce immediately was not the only option. I decided to ap-ply to law school last November and 9 months later I find myself in Kingston drowning in work, but very satisfied with my decision. What follows are all the steps that weren’t explained to me that got me into one of Canada’s best professional schools. Evaluate your own situation – For most professional schools, and law school in particular, your undergrad background isn’t of importance. What matters is your passion to enter the field of your choosing. Imagine your-self actually performing the duties of the job. Can you see yourself in court or seeing clients as a lawyer or alterna-tively performing surgery as a medical professional? If so proceed to the fol-lowing steps. If not, there will always be an open cubicle waiting. Look at the required steps – Each professional school has their own ad-missions process and often requires ap-plicants to write a standardized test like the LSAT, MCAT or GMAT before ap-
plying. There are ranges of acceptable scores on these tests that paired with your grades will compose the bulk of your application. Being realistic is important. If you partied too hard in the first few years of your degree it is possible that your application won’t be competitive. Also, professional schools aren’t cheap. The good news is the bur-saries, scholarships and grants avail-able to grad students are very generous and even if you don’t qualify banks will be willing to loan money to students they believe will be successful in a few years. Get Moving Early – Once you’re sure you have found the post grad op-tion for you, start making arrangements early. It may seem obvious to most, but the application process for law school, medical school and MBA programs is often extremely competitive. There isn’t much point in doing applica-tions half way. Take prep courses for entrance exams. Get excellent letters of reference. Keep your undergradu-ate grades up. Yes, it is lots of work but think of the rewards. Complete your application – Leave yourself plenty of time before the sub-mission deadline because professional applications are time consuming. Law schools in particular require references for academic, extracurricular and oc-cupational achievements as well as a personal statement. A personal state-ment is essentially an essay about your
strengths as a person, a student and as a future member of the school in ques-tion. An effective personal statement will be well written, have a cohesive theme and will be interesting to read. Submitting a laundry list of personal qualities could actually hurt your ap-plication. If you aren’t sure about the quality of your personal statement or your application as a whole, bring a copy to the experienced advisors at ca-reer services. Wait – After submitting your applica-tion you will undoubtedly let out a huge sigh of relief. This is sadly a temporary feeling. Once acceptances start com-ing out it wouldn’t be unusual to check your mail five times a day. But few feel-ings are better than when the letter of acceptance finally comes in. Assuming you didn’t follow the preceding advice word for word, it is possible you won’t get it in. If you are determined and this is something you want you will get in. Re write the entrance exams and work harder on your application. Some peo-ple attend professional school in their 40’s so don’t be discouraged. I hope I was able to impart a little wis-dom to curious undergraduate students and encourage you all to at least apply to post graduate programs. Education can be your most valuable commod-ity and despite all the stereotypes of professional school as difficult, which it is, let me assure you the experience is unparalleled.
A beginner’s guide to applying to professional school - By Brady McLeod, Queens Law 2012
Suiting Up:
5
Laurier’s Prospective Competitive AdvantageAcademic
t r a n s -gressions
have become so ordinary within institutions of higher education that epidemic has become the pre-ferred expression
in describing the situation nationally. A 2006 study published in the Canadian Journal for Higher Education revealed that over half of Canadian undergradu-ates engage in serious academic mis-conduct with respect to their written coursework. Nearly one-fifth of these same students admit to cheating dur-ing a test or exam despite known invig-ilation that could put their academic careers in serious jeopardy. Worse yet, the capacity for this indiscretion to im-pact greater society beyond university boundaries is becoming even clearer with growing evidence that the future state of our economy will be obstruct-ed by the absence of integrity in the post-secondary system.
A survey conducted by international professional services firm KPMG shows that “over half of Canada’s 1,000 largest companies had reported in-stances of fraud in 1997.” In the United States, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners have uncovered that losses from corporate fraud have increased approximately 60 percent from $400 billion in 1996 to an esti-mated $638 billion in 2005. It has been suggested that much of the losses can
be traced back to the classroom, with the Journal of Education for Business finding in 2001 that those “who engage in dishonest behaviour in their college classes were more likely to engage in dishonest behaviour on the job.” By pairing the gradually more startling figures with the identification of busi-ness students as the greatest culprits of academic misconduct it should then be no surprise that studies report the ma-jority of fictional business executives on television to be found committing crimes. It is my suspicion that this gen-eralization is to the discontentment of many business students – but un-less we seize control of our domain by working to reverse these incriminating trends, who is really to blame? Wheth-er considering the more tangible im-plications of academic dishonesty in the form of economic losses or the less pronounced but potentially equally as damaging media perceptions, the value in rectifying the moral senti-ments of our business students and hence forthcoming practitioners is ap-parent. With what Peter Todd, dean of McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management describes as a mature “North America business school mar-ket” with “intensification of competi-tion over the last 10 to 12 years,” it is an opportune time for Laurier’s School of Business & Economics to embrace a cultural grassroots revitalization de-fined by principles of justness, hon-esty and fortitude, assuring our valued stakeholders that more than most, Laurier’s graduates have sound integ-rity to compliment their intellect. With
the credibility of a university degree being progressively questioned, imag-ine the benefit of having a potential employer discard any concerns about the veracity of your accomplishments. When speaking of change movements, cultural shifts surely command an inor-dinate amount of effort and time, but the incontrovertible need for change and its evident payoffs certainly justify these commitments.
In fact the change movement already has an impetus with the advent of Laurier’s Student Academic Integ-rity Council – an initiative incubated within our very own School of Busi-ness & Economics. A first-of-its-kind initiative in Canada, LSAIC aspires to establish Wilfrid Laurier University and its students as leaders in the sphere of academic integrity through the pro-gressive cultivation of a culture defined by uncompromising righteousness. Still in its infancy stages, the council is soliciting interest and membership of passionate students who want to as-sume a revolutionary role in shaping the future of the School of Business & Economics and Laurier as a collective; laying the foundation for a cultural progression that will leave a lasting im-pact and legacy, perpetuating ideals of integrity beyond our years on campus. The competitive opportunity could not be any clearer or more promising and so as an institution we need to capitalize on a prospect that will be as fruitful as it is noble.
Clark ChamiManaging Editor
6
We can all pic-t u r e
in our heads the classical “leader”. Think of a smart,
charismatic, good looking individual who always knows the right thing to say and the right people to talk to. This person has the best work ethic and seems to balance thousands of things at once and complete every task in spec-tacular fashion. I’m proud to say I’m a leader, but the funny thing is: I really don’t possess any of these traits.
The real key to successful leadership is to find your own “Leadership Person-ality” that you are comfortable with. With this, you will be able to appro-priately respond to every situation in a way that works for you. In turn, those around you will feel the positive im-pact of a leader who has created a calm and controlled atmosphere.
I’ve been asked to write this article out-lining my experience as a leader within the Laurier Community. However, as each leadership experience is so indi-vidualistic, it is my goal instead to help you realize that in any task, project, or event you choose to undertake, you can find within yourself the tools to be a phenomenal leader.
I’m currently proud to currently hold the position of Assistant Vice Presi-dent: First Year Experience within WLUSU. In essence, this means that
I (along with an eighteen member in-ternal team) had the opportunity to coordinate Orientation Week and it’s $350,000 zero-operating budget, six hundred volunteers, and three thou-sand participants. Throughout the year I also work alongside a group of driven and enthusiastic first year students called the WLUSU Liaison Team to program relevant and innovative on-campus events.
Although these two teams – along with the many other opportunities I’ve been a part of at Laurier and beyond – involve different skills, responsibilities, and outcomes, they can all be tackled successfully using one simple phrase: Bring the H.E.A.T.
I feel as though I ramble on and on about this phrase wherever I go, but it is something that inspires me to try and achieve as much as I am capable of at all times. The phrase “bring the heat”, as referenced in the academical-ly-renowned Urban Dictionary, is “the act of adding power to anything.” We could all use a little more power in our life, right?
The ‘H’ stands for ‘humility’. No matter what you choose to undertake or the scale to which you achieve greatness, there is no reason to flaunt those suc-cesses in any way. If you truly do your best, praise and honour will surely come.
‘E’ is for ‘Energy’. Don’t go buy a Red-bull. Instead, love what you are doing and you will have a passion for it that forces you to take your endeavors to the next level.
‘A’ accounts for ‘Accountability’. Just as in that last sentence, you need to stand for everything you do. Right or wrong: stick by your decisions. Therefore, the pressure is on you to always do what is best.
‘T’ is not just a drink with jam and bread, but also the ‘Time of your life!’ Always remember to have fun with whatever situation you are in. Whether you’re stuck in an eleven hour New Venture meeting, you have three ex-ams in the next two days, or you’ve or-ganized a movie night for 3500 people and the sound system fails, there is always a positive spin and a good time to be had. Most of us will leave Laurier with nothing more than a piece of pa-per, so you might as well have fun in the mean time.
Along with bringing the H.E.A.T., I empower you to find your own “Lead-ership Personality” in every situation. There is nothing more satisfying than learning that you are fully capable of success in everything you do. Thank you to Vince Lombardi for reminding us that “the quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commit-ment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” At the very least, remember: I believe in you!
How to Captain the Leadership:“And why I hope the title is the worst part of this article...” - By Burton Lee
H . E . A . T .
Bring the H . E . A . T .
“”
Burton Lee
7
Alan Quar-ry is the c u r r e n t
Entrepreneur in Residence with The Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship, teaches Integrated Marketing Com-munications to BBA and MBA
students, and is CEO of Quarry Inte-grated Communications.
What is your role as the EIR?As the 5th Entrepreneur in Residence, I act as a resource for student at Lau-rier interested in exploring ideas and concepts that may be convertible into a business or economic reality. I often act as a soundboard or coach as stu-dents are exploring entrepreneurial possibilities. Additionally, I meet with students in the New Venture competi-tion to help them assess the validity of their business models.
What made you want to be the EIR at Laurier? I have been involved with Laurier teaching marketing communications to BBA and MBA students since 1993. After twenty-five years in an entrepre-neurial role at Quarry Integrated Com-munications, I volunteered myself to Ginny Dybenko to be the Next Entre-preneur in Residence. I wanted to give something back to the school and be able to listen to student’s dreams and help them achieve success.
What goals are you looking to ac-complish as the EIR?My goal is to create a ‘win-win-win’ relationship with the school. The first ‘win’ is for students. I want to inspire students to achieve their en-trepreneurial dreams and earn ROI (and that’s Return on Imagination!). The second ‘win’ is for SBE. I want to help SBE in fundraising and to re-engage with alumni whom can act as mentors for current students. The last ‘win’ is for myself. I want to expand my horizons as the EIR and learn with students – as they say, ‘he who teaches learns twice!’
What can you tell me about the jour-ney that has led you to where you are today?I began on my path as an entrepreneur at the age of seven when I was the youngest TV Guide delivery boy in the Burlington area. At sixteen I stared my real first business – ‘Alan’s Errand Ser-vice’. The business was a delivery and errand service I ran for two summers in cottage country. I really enjoyed this experience and it gave me my first taste on customer-service focused business. Since then, I have opened six business-es in the field of communications. The early lessons I learned have helped me grow Quarry Communications into a leading North American commu-nications firm with clients including Research in Motion, FedEx, and Bell Canada.
What advice do you have for students interested in marketing or marketing
communications?If you want to be successful in market-ing listen to the mantra ‘think and feel like the customer, always anticipate, and have fun!’
What is your favourite marketing cam-paign of all time? The most brilliant campaign I have seen is the Mac vs. PC campaign. The campaign flawlessly communicates rational and emotional components of being a member of the Mac tribe with-out ‘twisting the nose’ of the PC!
Make sure to attend Global Entrepreneur-ship Week brought to you by The Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship from No-vember 16-22. Check the Schlegel Center for Entrepreneurship website for more de-tails and be sure to hear Andy Macaulay, President & CEO of Zig November 17th from 11:30AM-12:30PM in the Paul Martin Center.
An Interview with the Entrepreneur in Residence
Alan Quarry
Gabriel McCraeVice President
8
June 13th 2009, marked the first time The Executive Develop-ment Weekend was open to
individuals outside of The Link’s executives. A total of 35 students rep-resenting seven different clubs and organizations within the School of Business & Economics attended a two day conference designed to help them develop on a personal and professional level.
The conference – hosted by The Link (a student run business organization which connects past, present and fu-ture students within the SBE, Wilfrid Laurier University and the communi-ty), gave delegates the chance to learn, discuss and interact with industry pro-fessionals, students and organizational leaders. It also allowed students to share their experiences with others to gain a more well-rounded idea of how to manage and operate while in their upcoming executive roles. Throughout the conference, examples of past chal-lenges faced within organizations gave executives the chance to discuss solu-
tions, share insights and form connections with each other.
Discussion was focused, but not limited to areas such as communication, leadership, team work, professionalism, moti-vation and networking. The two lead sponsors for The Executive De-velopment Weekend,
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Inves-tors Group, helped lead discussions on pertinent topics and were able to pro-vide delegates with industry insights and how to build potential future rela-tionships. At the end of each training program a series of games or activities relating to the discussion gave students an interactive way to apply the con-cepts. At night, delegates participated in fun activities that encouraged team-work and communication.
The Executive Development Weekend is a unique opportunity and is a suc-cessful addition to The Link’s portfolio of events. Next year The Link hopes to further enhance the conference by increasing the number of sponsored speakers to provide greater industry insight, as well as increase the involve-ment of more clubs and organizations on campus.
The Executive Development Weekend is one of four events held annually by The Link. The flagship event The Link
hosts is The Leadership In Business Conference, which is a 4 day, 3 night interactive business conference for senior high school students. The Con-ference features a university-level busi-ness case focusing on a variety of cross functional areas including marketing, finance, accounting and organizational behavior. During the course of the conference, delegates are able to expe-rience university life at Wilfrid Laurier by spending nights on campus, meet-ing current university student leaders and engaging in fun night activities that encourage team building and lasting friendships. The 7th annual conference featured Gala speaker for the Confer-ence was Scott Kress. Scott an accom-plished mountaineer and President of two companies proved that climbing mountains was similar to running a successful business. Scott provided a wonderful speech on the importance of teams, leadership and motivation, as well as how it applied to his climbing experience on Mount Everest.
The Link also hosts a Steer Your Career event which is designed to connect current Wilfrid Laurier students with corporate sponsors and Laurier Alum-ni in an informal positive networking environment. Students are able to gain information about potential job op-portunities, industry insight, career ad-vice and best practices, while sponsors and alumni get the chance to talk to a highly concentrated group of business students and market their company’s benefits and opportunities.
The Executive Development Weekend: The Link
-By Erich Stilling
9
As a university student it can be very difficult finding oppor-tunities to develop and learn
outside of a classroom. The quest for experience is daunting and if you do not know where to look, you may end up empty handed. Many students at Wilfrid Laurier and other surrounding academic institutions are unaware of an amazing opportunity to travel and gain real world experience right on their doorstep.
AIESEC Laurier offers students of the surrounding local institutions includ-ing Wilfrid Laurier University, Univer-sity of Waterloo and Conestoga Col-lege the chance to go abroad and gain valuable cultural experience. AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run orga-nization, and is the international plat-form for young people to discover and develop their p o t e n t i a l so as
to have a positive impact on society. In addition to providing over 7,700 leadership positions and delivering over 470 conferences to the AIESEC membership of over 35,000 students, AIESEC also runs an exchange pro-gram that enables over 5,500 students and recent graduates from around the world the opportunity to live and work in another country. AIESEC Laurier offers opportunities for exchange focused on four develop-mental purposes; educational, manage-ment, technical, and developmental. Several returning exchange partici-pants had the following to say about their experience abroad:
Since joining AIESEC last year, I have been an active member of the organiza-tion, taking both leadership and ex-change opportunities. I am currently the Vice President of Outgoing exchange for AIESEC Laurier and have had the op-
portunity to attend 7 conferences both domestically and internationally.
This past summer I also did a two month internship through
AIESEC at Marla Language Academy in Istanbul, Tur-key.
I was an English Teacher, and was responsible for do-
ing everything from making
lesson plans and activities, to teaching classes and planning events. I taught chil-dren between the ages of 6-14 at the basic to intermediate level and adults in ad-vanced conversation. AIESEC in Istan-bul provided support for me while abroad both logistically and socially. I lived in a house with 8 other interns from around the world and attended two international conferences while there, where I was able to network with over 200 individuals from AIESEC in Turkey and AIESEC internationally. I also had the opportu-nity to travel around Turkey and the sur-rounding area after my internship where I gained a deep cultural and historical understanding. -Cristina Balaita
The experiences available to Laurier students are endless and AIESEC Lau-rier is continuously looking for future AIESECer’s to follow their dreams and travel abroad. If you are inter-ested in an international exchange or would like more information on the exchange program or AIESEC, please visit AIESEC Laurier’s website at www.aiesec.ca/laurier or send an email to [email protected]. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. AIESEC Laurier is here to give students the chance to experi-ence something they may never find in a classroom.
The World Can be Yours – Hidden Opportunities
-Collaborative Effort: AIESEC Team
10
The down-fall of En-ron Cor-
poration, one of the world’s leading natural gas, electric-ity and communi-cations companies with revenues of almost $101 bil-
lion, the debacle of Arthur Andersen, once considered amongst the world’s five largest accounting firms, and the case of Conrad Black has reinforced the need in the business community to uphold ethical integrity and to in-tegrate corporate social responsibil-ity within organizational long-term strategic objectives. Two years ago, a team of students at Laurier responded to this need by forming the Corporate Social Responsibility Board (CSRB) within the SBE Students Society. The CSRB may not be one of the most well-known student run organizations within the SBESS, but in the past two years the team has been working to fa-cilitate various fundraising events, and has helped to raise awareness about the importance of upholding ethics principles. I had the opportunity to interview Terry Ibele, the President of CSRB to find out more about this emerging organization.
How did the CSRB form and in what ways will the organization benefit students at Laurier?Terry: It’s not that we were seeing a lack of ethics within the student body, but there was a need to define it fur-
ther. The business world needs us to have a good understanding of corpo-rate social responsibility and ethics, es-pecially considering that we continue to witness rising cases of fraud in the business community. So our goal is to best prepare the Laurier student body and to raise the importance of uphold-ing ethics as best possible.
What major events has the CSRB facilitated over the last two years?Terry: In the last few years, we’ve looked to get a good team together, and now we feel is the right time to explore new opportunities. One of our major events has been the “CSRB with Junior Achievements- Economics for Success”, which was attended by the Mayor and corporations like Manulife. We paired up with a high school stu-dent and taught them simple but effec-tive things like what a budget is, what an interview is, and helped them from a career planning point of view. We’ve also done quite a bit of volun-teering for the YWCA, such as starting the “bracelet for hope campaign.” It’s basically a fundraising event targeted at empowering impoverished African women in Lesotho (which is a tiny country in the South).
What events are you planning on initiating during the 2009-2010 academic year?
We’ll be continuing with our usual fundraisers, like our bake sales, and in addition to that, we’ve got a really busy schedule of events! First there’s the National CSR and Ethics Confer-ence, where we’ll be inviting various business schools to compete for the title of recognized CSR leaders. We’re looking to initiative that on a really grand scale. Apart from that, we’ll be looking to continue to help with Meals on Wheels. This is program we’ve been doing in the last few years, and it con-sists of interacting with isolated senior citizens and using fundraisers to buy them gifts, especially during holiday season when there’s no one to care for them.
R apid F ire R ound
1. CSRB in a sentence? -Feels a bit weird trying to answer this question, as I normally ask this ques-tion to my interviewees!….It will prob-ably have to be our slogan: “the role of business in society tomorrow”.2. Favorite club apart from CSRB at Laurier? -SIFE3. What do you think of the Leafs this season?-Disappointment4. Two events you’re looking forward to the most at Laurier?-Christmas, reading week5. What does Laurier mean to you?-Interactive, Fun and Challenging
Gourav SatheEditor-In-Chief
Getting to Know Laurier’s Ethics Board
11
PR I S M Laurier is a r g u a b l y
the least under-stood organization amongst SBE stu-dents. To begin with, it’s more of an organization than a club and
they are responsible for the majority of the technological innovations in the SBE building. Examples of their work include the PRISM power plugs in classrooms, the SBETV initiative and the new PRISM Collaboration Centre. They’re also largely responsible for im-proving WiFi in the business building which has improved significantly in the past few years. What Prism is not known for are their campus events and they are aiming to change. They took a step towards this goal by holding the PRISM Technology Forum which was a debate between representatives from the tech industry. Attendees included Trevor Dantas (Toshiba), Lubor Pta-cek (OpenText), Rudy Loepp (IBM) and Derek Phillips (Google).
The event was emceed by PRISM Vice President Ken Davie who directed questions and kept proceedings mov-ing along at a good pace. Questions ranged from ones on technology mak-ing humans lonelier to predictions about the next tech bubble. These ques-tions were submitted by SBE students from both the undergrad and graduate level so the themes were varied. The debate was followed by an open mic
question period where students in the audience posed questions to the indus-try experts. The event ended on a light note with a word association game for the experts and there were also two lucky students who walked away new
Toshiba laptops. A networking session after the event allowed students to fa-
miliarize themselves with the industry representatives and to get any ques-tions answered.
Describing the event, PRISM Presi-dent David Silva said, “I was pleased with the turnout. The event panned out smoothly and the panelists were both insightful and interesting”. PRISM executives are hoping to use the experience they gained this year to host the Technology Forum next year and hopefully turn this into an annual event. PRISM’s future plans also in-clude renovating the MBA lab and in-stalling quick-print stations around the business building. Laurier is fortunate to have a student run organization such as PRISM which strives to improve the technological status of the SBE and as PRISM’s President says, “The best is yet to come”.
PRISM More Than Just Renting Laptops
Aamir MirzaManaging Editor
Derek Phillips, Rudy Loepp, Lubor Ptacek, and Trevor Dantas at the PRISM Technology Forum.
I was pleased w ith the turn-out. The event
panned out smoothly and the
panelists were both insightf ul and interesting.
“
”
12
Earlier this year, you might have
seen the YouTube video of a woman at Hong Kong airport, who goes hysteri-cal after learning that she’s missed her flight to San Francisco. She was
screaming and charged at a security guard at the departure gates. I can safe-ly say that I almost felt like acting the same way, when I missed my flight from Paris to Glasgow last month. Instead, however, I opted to hand my credit card over to the woman at the airline counter to buy another ticket and shell out a painful amount of euros. This is after taking a desperate 2-hour cab ride to the airport, which also emptied out my pockets.
Although this experience put me way
over budget for my weekend trip to Scotland, it was well worth it, as part of my 4-month European tour and study exchange in France this semester.Only a few Laurier students even think of going on study exchange during their university career. I would con-sider these four months some of the best and most enriching at university, especially as a SBE student. Making the decision to live and study abroad took a lot of planning and budget-ing. I also learned to deal with culture shock and adapt to new surroundings. In class, I am studying business with a fresh, European perspective. Each of my project groups consists of students from around the world, allowing me to learn from their perspectives, ideas and experiences – a model that several lead-ing MBA schools pride themselves on. But most importantly, this experience allows me to represent my Canadian culture and share my Laurier experi-ences with peers here.
Although the process of getting to France for exchange went pretty seam-lessly with some help from Laurier In-ternational, a lot more can be done by our school to encourage and assist stu-dents to go abroad. At SBE, too much focus is placed on influencing students to apply for Co-op, and very little is said about other equally or more rewarding opportunities. As I meet students who are on exchange with me in France, I notice that their schools have a very strong network of international school partners and a culture of student ex-changes. Moreover, their schools offer several scholarships to assist their stu-dents. This has showed me that there is a lack of financial aid and support on our campus that is discouraging stu-dents from taking on this opportunity and limiting the ability for Laurier to be a reputable global school.
There are too many advantages to pur-suing a study exchange. Academically, the global exchange of ideas and expe-riences between students from around the world can further develop the skills of leadership and innovation. A study exchange also differentiates you from the rest, in the job market. Finally, you have the chance to travel every weekend and visit a different city on your check list of sights to see. Beware though, that traveling comes with its own set of lessons to learn, like what to do to avoid missing a flight and paying extra!
Abhishek is in his final year of the Honors BBA program and is attending Rouen Business School’s Master Grande Ecole program for the Fall 2009 semester.
The Worst Feeling Ever... When You Miss Your Flight
Abhishek SarathyAMG President
13
Ev e r y d a y t h e r e are new
technologies and computerized so-lutions that make communication and business easi-er. We pride our-selves on being at the forefront
of the electronic revolution. We im-mediately update online statuses and tweet to the world about the newest releases of technology and boast about their connection speeds, memory sizes and capabilities. We are proud of our growing Facebook and Linke-dIn network sizes and can IM, e-mail, text, post, tweet, blog, and comment from almost anywhere in the world right from our handheld devices. But how skilled are you at reading body language? What does your handshake say about you?
Many people are so wired into tech-nology these days that they are forget-ting about the most basic and effectual type of connection - direct human contact. Meeting someone face to face and engaging in a conversation is an incredibly useful and rewarding skill, but many neglect its develop-ment, opting to increase their thumb typing speed. How will your ability to text quickly aide you when you have to present in front of a board of direc-tors? The ability to speak clearly and effectually will always be a necessary skill no matter how much technology advances.
Humans are social creatures and re-quire communication that is more substantial than a string of text fly-ing invisibly through the air onto our tiny screens. Communication is also listening, voicing your thoughts, and understanding body language. Tools such as e-mail and professional net-working sites are great for making ap-pointments and establishing contacts, but maintaining relationships requires a higher degree of interaction, without it you may end up being perceived as nothing more than a ‘ghost in the ma-chine’. We should be using these tools to supplement our communication not replace it.
Using your cell phone to text or IM a contact may seem like an efficient and professional use of technology, how-ever there is so much more that can be gained by an in person conversation. You can ask questions and elaborate on points thus presenting your ideas in a much clearer way that won’t require an all evening text conversation.
Practicing your communication skills will also help you meet new people and expand your personal and profes-sional networks. Being able to confi-dently start up a random conversation with someone you have never met be-fore will always prove to be positive.The best part of all is that we already possess the hardware for direct com-munication; we just need to get out there and remember how it works.
Communicative Castaways
Robb FaragoWriter & Blogger
14
The goal of the Olym-pic move-
ment is “To build a better world through sport”, and the XXI Winter
Olympic Games intends to do so With Glowing Hearts, the motto
for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. In a few short months, Canada will be the host country for its third Olympics, this time held in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Winter Games will run from February 12th to the 28th, and the Paralympics will take place from March 12th to the 21st. During the 2010 Olympics, approxi-
mately 2,500 athletes from over 80 dif-ferent countries will come to Canada to fight for gold. There will be compe-titions held in 15 separate sports and a chance to win in 86 separate medal events. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic emblem is a contemporary Inukshuk. It is a symbol to encourage the values of hope and friendship to help wel-come the guests coming from around the world to partake in the Games.Everyone is encouraged to take part in any way possible for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Events leading up to the games in February have already been set in motion, starting with the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Tradi-tionally, the Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, Greece and brought to the host country. The relay began on Octo-
ber 30th, 2009in Victoria, British Columbia and is currently making the 45 000 kilometer route around Canada. Over the course of 105 days, the torch will be carried by 12,000 torchbear-ers across 1,036 Canadian communi-ties. The route across Canada once completed will be the longest torch relay in Olympic history. The torch is scheduled to pass through Waterloo on December 27th and a celebration will be held at that time in Kitchener to commemorate the event. The Olympic Winter Games are ex-pected to be a promising experience for Canadian athletes as they strive to make their country proud and own the podium With Glowing Hearts in Van-couver 2010.
With Glowing Hearts -Vancouver 2010
You have p r o b a b l y noticed it
by now. Every se-mester you seem to have several courses you really enjoy, ones that get you motivated and excited to at-tend every week. You always do
your readings well ahead of time and can often engage your professor in discussion after each lecture. Then you have those other courses, the incredibly abhorrent lectures that actually cause you physical discomfort to attend. The material is dry, and the professor is dull and you’re more interested in getting through the material rather than get-
ting a student engaged. It is a sad reality faced by every student in university.The worst part of the whole situation is that in most cases the fun lectures are usually your elective courses, or simply put, courses you took out of passing in-terest or a last minute schedule change. These courses have little impact on your future and though you sometimes flirt with the idea of changing, they will rarely result in program change. The other courses are most likely part of your core program. Straight theory lec-tures that every student in your faculty must take in order to graduate. No one in their right mind would choose these courses on their own and even the pro-fessors seem averse to being there.Having a professor stand at the front of a classroom and recite information from memory may be a testament to
their expertise, but it does little for the striving student. Professors are the leading authorities in their fields and should consider themselves as more than just transmitters of knowledge. These courses have potential to be stimulating and the onus should fall on the lecturer to get students interested. A professor’s passion can be infectious and will drive the pursuits of any stu-dent.A professor has the opportunity to captivate an entire room of people en-grossed in the exact same subject they have been studying all of their lives. One would think they would be ex-cited to present this material. Students don’t require much to enjoy a class, we just want our professor to be eager to teach and we will respond in kind by being eager to learn.
Robb FaragoWriter & Blogger
Requiring Passion from our Professors
Antonietta PetrellaDesign Editor
15
For the lon-gest time, I honestly
didn’t understand Twitter. I consid-ered myself an “anti-tweetist”. Ev-eryone kept telling me that I should join twitter, but I already had Face-
book and that was enough. My men-tality changed once I attended a career centre session about finding jobs. The speaker kept stressing twitter as a posi-tive tool and as I sat there and rolled my eyes; she explained that it’s benefi-cial to use it to follow companies and people, rather than just to tweet that you’re “in the shower”. She seemed to have presented her case well as I went home that night and joined Twitter Twitter is easy to navigate and surpris-
ingly highly addictive. I kept looking for companies and people to follow. Then I became interested in who started Twitter and how it became so popular so fast.
Twitter was founded in 2006 by a man named Jack Dorsey. Jack always had an interest in being able to know what his friends were doing and wanted to com-municate with them through some sort of a social network. He pitched his idea to his colleagues and Twitter became a work in progress. The first prototype was built in only two weeks, and after launching publicly, Twitter Inc was born.
Simplicity has played a major role in Twitter’s success. There aren’t too many bells and whistles, just enough to keep people interested. Twitter asks its users “What are you up to”? It’s
uncomplicated yet clever nature has helped Twitter to raise over 57 million dollars from Venture Capitalists, not bad for a simple concept.
Now that I am a “pro-tweetist”, I can truly see the benefits from being a part of this social network. Seeing what companies are achieving will give me a great edge if someday I wind up the chair across from a CEO. I can say with confidence that I’ve been following the company and know about its accom-plishments.
Will I be tweeting every single day about my various activities? Probably not, but will I be keeping up with the latest news from my potential employ-ers and with my personal favourites like Ellen DeGeneres and Anna Win-tour, that is a yes.
Lauren NealVice President
Requiring Passion from our Professors
Tweeting, Good for the Soul
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