A recent study conducted by Dr. Robert Lustig, and expert on childhood obesity at the University of California showed that sugar is “poison beyond its calories”. In his research he explained that sugar, the fructose, when metabolized in the liver in excess, the liver will have to turn the sugar into liver fat which is the cause of many illnesses later on in life. Although this new research is surrounded by much skepticism, it is not a mystery to the unhealthy side effects of eating sugar. The average Canadian consumes 26 teaspoons of sugar a day, in a year that is about 40 kilograms. It is found in many popular grocery items like cereals and ketchup. Despite all this, there is actually no recommended amounts of the daily intake or sugar, it is recommended that men consume no more than  9 teaspoons and day and a max of 6 teaspoons for women. This recommended intake of sugar is actually quite hard to stay within considering the amount of sugar in the food we eat everyday, in a can of coke for example already has more than 10 teaspoons of sugar. Dr Lustig has also posted a 90 minutes lecture on youtube on which he described sugar as being “toxic”. This video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/how-toxic-is-sugar-1.1894262

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/sugarinthekitchen/

For those of you that skip classes once in a while, this website NoteWagon.com, originally thought of and created by Saif Altimimi  and his group of managers in the University of Waterloo. It enables students in that area to upload good quality notes for free and people to pay money in exchange for virtual tokens to acquire the notes they missed. The website also streams helpful youtube videos and articles that can aid students in studying on a particular subject.  NoteWagon has been featured on many sites such as the globe and mail and the toronto star. This idea has also been pitched on Dragons Den where all five dragons came together offering their expertise along with $250,000 for 32.5% equity. Although the deal did not survive, Mr Altimimi went on to acquire 1-million dollars of funding.This innovative idea has gotten the attention of many people and its popularity has been rapidly expanding. Much like Facebook, the creators of NoteWagon has successfully created a “Social Learning Network”.

Sources:

http://www.techvibes.com/blog/the-dens-dragons-didnt-invest-in-notewagon-after-all-but-really-do-they-invest-in-anything-2011-11-01

https://www.notewagon.com/

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/10/31/the-web-hit-that-got-away/

Located in New York City, the most expensive parking spot went on say back in Ma. 2012, it is about 12 ft wide, 23 ft long and 15 ft high. This parking spot will have its deed and sales contract and the owner will even be responsible for the maintenance fees. A person with this kind of money to spend on just a parking spot should just move somewhere else and buy a mansion. Along with the space, is the building’s prime rental, an 8000 sq ft penthouse and a 3000 sq ft terrace is tied along with this spot. How can anyone not feel but a little envious of the person able to afford this place?

Sources

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/Five-of-the-Worlds-Most-Expensive-Parking-Spots-218898281.html

http://www.christianpost.com/news/1-million-parking-space-to-be-manhattans-most-expensive-75328/

Following the class on where power as a motivator was discussed it got me thinking about motivation. What can we do to get motivation? Motivation, or procrastination,  is something we as students all struggle with, some better than others. What can we do to stop procrastinating? What can we do to find the motivation to complete our tasks? Because as many of us have found out, cramming 3 weeks worth of material for several subjects in the course of 2-4 days right before the midterm is not exactly the best way to go about getting the mark you want. After some looking around on the internet to see how to stay motivated, I came an article of motivational studies (link at the bottom). It wasn’t a normal website where it gave you the typical tips such as setting a time limit, work with others, etc… These studies had interesting results such as positive images can actually help focus and the fact that the harder a project is, the prouder we feel of it.

If you’re interested to read more here is the link!

https://www.pinterest.com/enigmaticmonday/study-motivation/

On the surface of the issue, most would immediately give a very certain NO. Though many find irony in the fact that these protesters use oil themselves, the oil carried by this proposed pipeline will be sent to the BC coast where it’ll be sent to China, not a drop of which will be directed to Canadians. Many cannot get over the environmental hazard caused by the pipeline but also by the oil tankers on the Coast of BC threatening environments on land and sea. Despite Enbridge’s best efforts to appease the public by promising the highest safety precautions, their track records suggest a spill will be more likely than not to happen. The substance being transported is called Bitumen, which in water actually sinks, so if any spillage occurs, the effects will be devastating and clean up extremely challenging as seen in the spill in Kalamazoo River.

On the other end, if this pipeline isn’t built, the oil will still have to be transported in some way. The alternative will be by train or road which is more hazardous and inefficient compared to a pipeline. Although many would like the oil to not be transported at all, but Canada’s economy depends largely on its natural resource exports, among which is the oil from Alberta. It is an imperfect world and the oil has to be moved somehow.

What do you think should happen? Or is there a better third alternative that avoids both environmental and economic disaster?

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/enbridge-s-kalamazoo-cleanup-dredges-up-3-year-old-oil-spill-1.1327268

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/news/display.aspx?id=20491

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/enbridge-profit-rises-as-crude-pipeline-volumes-increase/article15292321/

Over the second half of November, the anticipated releases of the long awaited PS4 and Xbox One will arrive. PS4, having a little head start on its archenemy will be released on November 15th and Xbox One on November 22nd. Their prices will be $399 and $499 respectively, though the Xbox is $100 more expensive, it comes with the all new Xbox Kinect, though the Playstation camera which can be bought separately is only $60, giving Sony a distinct advantage.

Taking a look at the specs of both consoles:

PS4: CPU: 8 Core Single Chip x86 AMD Jaguar, GPU: AMD Radeon Graphic Core Next Engine, RAM: 8GB GDDR5

Xbox One CPU: 8 Core Microsoft Custom CPU, GPU: 853 MHz AMD Radeon, RAM: 8GB DDR3

Just by looking at these specs, the PS4 is a little more powerful in terms of gaming, however Microsoft has aimed Xbox One as more of an all in one home entertainment system. Which means you don’t need anything in your living room except for the Xbox One and a TV. Sony has oriented PS4 to focus more on gaming, Each console will have several announced exclusive games, most likely with more on the road ahead. Though the Playstation 4 is a little better in terms of specifications, which one is better overall is hard to say, it’ll be different from person to person and it’ll depend what each individual is looking for.

Sources:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2013/11/14/xbox_one_vs_ps4_console_war_comparison.html

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/ps4-vs-xbox-720-which-is-better-1127315

The US Government shutdown has now followed into its second week, and according to BBC News, the repercussions are starting to be felt in businesses. The country itself is reportedly losing 300 million dollars everyday the shutdown continues. The US Commerce Secretary explains that the shutdown has rendered her department unable to collect vital economic data that businesses need and now are not able to get. 800 000 workers have been “furloughed”  or sent home on unpaid leave, affecting individual bank accounts. National Parks, museums, and even passport services have been shutdown. All these things will lessen the amount of money being pumped into the still recovering economy of the United States. With the government already sitting on a 16.7 trillion dollar debt, right now their only option is to extend the debt ceiling even higher just to pay their bills. Though the shutdown has not been felt on a global scale, in words of the Philippine President Benigno Aquino, “what happens in the US, affects us all.” If not resolved soon, this shutdown can spark an economic crisis that will be felt all over the world.

Related Articles / Sources

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/markets-jittery-as-u-s-shutdown-enters-2nd-week-1.1928199

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24419564

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/05/us-shutdown-what-will-happen-who-affect

I was browsing through Ted Talks recently when I came across a video entitled “The key to success? Grit”. Intrigued on what the speaker would have say on this subject, I clicked on it. The speaker was Angela Lee Ducksworth, a psychologist who found that talent doesn’t always mean success. After numerous studies at different locations, Ducksworth and her team came to the conclusion that the most common characteristic to success is “grit”, which was defined as having passion for a long term goal, and persevering through tough situations not just for a day or week, but for years.

I believe this applies to us business students because everyone has failures, failures in school work, business ventures, or even just getting a girl/guy. It is important to see a failure not as a sign to stop trying, but as a motivator to try even harder. We need to have grit, and strive no matter how many failures we endure to reach the our end goal. I’m glad to have come across this video, it has strengthened my resolve to succeed in school.

The Ted Talk Video: http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2013S/None/AngelaDuckworth_2013S.mp4

I think we’ve all heard about the Sauder Frosh pro-rape chants, it’s been the talk of the first 2 weeks of school, from friends, news, family and teachers. In response to this event, “comprehensive measures” have been put in, which included a fact a fact finding inquiry into the chant, it the report it showed that these offensive chants have been a tradition for Frosh, but it was this particular one that shed light onto them.  In the words of Mr. Robert Helsley the dead of Sauder, “”This is a deeply, deeply troubling event and one that we take very seriously…and we will take steps to ensure that nothing like this happens at UBC again.” However that wasn’t the end of the metaphorical mud that has been tarnishing the reputation of not just Sauder but also UBC. Another piece of news surfaced revealing that there have been students who witnessed a chant that mocked the Aboriginals. If we weren’t in trouble before, we sure are now.

This brings up the topic of brand reputation, UBC has a reputation of being one of the top universities in Canada. It’s a school that is often at the top of a high school student’s list of universities they want to go to. My personal thoughts on this issue are that it has been blown out of proportion, though that’s just me. In the eyes of many other people it may be a much more serious issue that can possibly dissuade them from coming to UBC. Fortunately, UBC has taken a lot of measures to emphasize their opposition to any sort of offense, but I believe only time will erase all the concern from the public’s mind.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-investigates-frosh-students-pro-rape-chant-1.1699589

http://www.abbynews.com/news/224299891.html

Business ethics is a pretty general topic and though it provides the opportunity to think outside the box, deciding where to start is a bit of a challenge. So let’s start with the definition, according to investopedia, business ethics is the study of proper business strategies and practices. It includes areas such as discrimination, bribery, and corporate social responsibilities. Business ethics is often guided by laws and regulations set into place such as the GAAP Principles that must be followed by all accountants. For those of us sitting in a chair reading about business ethics, it’s easy to judge businesses who are not so ethical in their everyday dealings. However, one of my COMM 101 professors once said to the class, see the situation from both perspectives. Perhaps some businesses ignore ethics because there is a lack of reward or even consequences in trying to be. Take Chiquita for example, a banana distributor that tried to be ethical, but received no credit for it. They were the only American company that voluntarily admitted they used paramilitary forces to protect their plantations, however this only resulted in a boatload of lawsuits. Other companies who have witnessed Chiquita’s misfortunes will now want to avoid ending up in the same situation, it is clear being truly ethical will be harder than we all thought.

References:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business-ethics.asp – definition of business ethic

http://www.economist.com/node/21551500 – Chiquita, full story