by April Misa | Co-President

As environmental issues across the globe continue to arise, the days when only biologists and ecologists took environmental studies courses are now long gone. It is now quite common to find more college courses that enable students to save the environment, whether through business or science. According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), there were over 100 new majors, minors or certificates with an emphasis in sustainability at American colleges in 2009 – a huge increase from only three new programs in these fields in 2005. These emerging degrees create extremely specific areas of studies in almost every aspect of the environment. With well over a thousand four-year college campuses across America, students can easily find courses in majors and minors that accommodate a diverse set of interests ranging from sustainable business, agriculture, fisheries sciences, and even paper engineering.

At Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, students can dabble in less common environmental science courses offered by the Natural Resources Department and the Nature and Culture Department. Some courses offered in the Natural Resources major are Fur Bearer Ecology & Management and Vegetation Management. With fur being utilized for fashion and decoration, studies in this area explore how fur can be used in ways that prevent inhumane wildlife treatment and extinction. Vegetation Management teaches students how to maintain plants despite the constantly changing environment and the dynamic forces that arise with human civilization. Northland College also offers a minor in Sustainable Community Development that focuses on the politics and economics of sustainability, with a required course called Capitalism, Justice, & Sustainability.

Combining complex engineering with environmental studies, Arizona State University has created a School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. This program works closely with ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, which ​U.S. News & World Report has deemed to be in the top 10% of accredited graduate programs in the nation. The school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in civil engineering with a specialization in either sustainable environmental engineering. Sustainable engineering emphasizes the use of sustainable practices in all areas of urban infrastructure. Environmental engineering concerns the maintenance and regulation of chemical and biological wastes, as well as contamination sites.  Graduates of these programs strive to strategically improve building construction and performance in ways that minimize reliance on non-renewable resources. Non-renewable resources can become scarce in the future as their supply diminishes; consequently, the prices of these resources tend to be high. By minimizing the costs of using non-renewable resources and discovering more sustainable alternatives, sustainable engineers can increase profitability for society. Environmental engineering can help prevent hazardous wastes from polluting inhabited areas as waste disposal remains a constant issue.

ASU also offers a graduate program in Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization. This program prepares graduates for careers in industry, government, or the nonprofit sector that ​involve the utilization of solar energy. The effects of using solar energy are numerous; for instance, it helps reduce the costs of purchasing electricity and power. Although there is a start up cost for installing these independent solar panels, the long-run savings are much more promising. By eliminating reliance on fossil fuels, one will no longer have to anticipate the fluctuations in gas prices. Lower fossil fuel usage can minimize air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute global warming and health problems. An especially attractive aspect of solar energy is that as long as the sun rises every day, it is constantly renewable and will never become a scarce good.

Another widely known college environmental program is the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The School of Forestry & Environmental Studies offers master’s degrees, such as the Master of Environmental Management (MEM) and the Master of Forestry, that focus on research into environmental issues on the local, regional and global levels. The mission statement of Yale’s Environment School is to “collaborate with all sectors of society to achieve fair and effective solutions to environmental problems”; indeed, the school offers many joint graduate degrees that integrate environmental studies with other degrees, like International Relations, Law, and Public Health. Stephen Kellert, professor of Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, finds that most master’s students at Yale are more interested in “policy making, decision making, management, and leadership types of positions”. Among the 2010 –2011 courses offered are Sustainable Development in Post-Disaster Context: Haiti, Greening Business Operations, Indigenous Religions and Ecology, Managing Resources, and Water Quality Control.

These are only a glimpse of the numerous environmental programs offered in America today. According to James E. Crowfoot, the former dean of University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources, “the pressure for interdisciplinary environmental problem solving in both curricula and research programs will continue to increase”, along with the growth and severity of environmental problems.

by Tom Hogan | Contributing Writer

American Fast Food in Fast Decline

Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Gross believes that a business model based on low-quality products, such as “a pressed, processed protein product that bears little resemblance to roast beef”, is simply unsustainable. Just last year, private equity firms acquired Carl’s Jr. in February and Burger King in September. With the American public’s growing health consciousness, fast food corporations are realizing that their futures lie in international markets. One of the main consequences of this new focus is a trend of brand downsizing. Food corporations are quickly learning that concentrating their international efforts in one brand allows for new store growth and increased opportunities for differentiation in a crowded market. According to Yahoo Finance, Wendy’s announced on January 20 that it is trying to sell Arby’s, whose sales dropped 5.9 % in the last fiscal quarter. In addition, YUM Brands, who currently owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, is selling A&W and Long John Silvers as of January 18. YUM! understands that A&W and Long John Silver’s are irrelevant to their long-term global growth strategy. YUM! is now opening KFCs in China at a rate of one per day. Emerging overseas markets may prove to be the savior of many historically American fast food chains.

Departure of Eric Schmidt as Google’s CEO to Bring Change?

On January 20, following its reported fourth quarter earnings, Google announced that Eric Schmidt would be stepping down from his position as CEO. There is much speculation throughout the business world about how this change in Google’s management will affect the company’s structure and strategy. However, Google’s management has not shifted as dramatically as one initially think. The company’s founders and co-presidents, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have essentially been running the company for the past decade. According to ZDNet’s Tom Foremsky, Eric Schmidt has always had a minority vote in the corporation. As CEO, he assumed the company’s legal responsibilities and provided the two founders with, in Schmidt’s words, the “adult supervision” of an experienced Silicon Valley executive. But the three leaders basically managed the company as a self-proclaimed “triumvirate,” according to Larry Page’s 2004 Founders’ IPO Letter. On April 4, Larry Page will reclaim the title of CEO. While many believe he is ready, others worry that his emphasis on technology instead of brands and services might hurt the $30 billion global corporation in the long run. Only time will tell if Google will undergo any significant changes as a result of Schmidt’s departure.

Artificial Intelligence Driving the Auto Industry – and Us

The next step in the evolution of smart cars goes far beyond automatic parking and avoiding crashes. Stocked with sensors, GPS, and state-of-the-art computing power, modern cars are gradually taking the steering wheel out of our hands. For example, the new Mercedes-Benz S550 boasts a next-generation cruise-control system that uses radar emitters to calculate the distance of surrounding vehicles. This info streams to the car’s central control unit, a computer that efficiently adjusts the brakes and throttle to move the vehicle through traffic without the help of a human pilot. The driver indicates a maximum speed, and the car attempts to reach that number given current traffic conditions. According to Wired Magazine, the 2011 Chevy Volt operates on over 10 million lines of code, surprisingly more than Lockheed Martin’s new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet. Last year, Google tested its self-driving Toyota Prius on the hectic city streets of the San Francisco Bay Area, clocking over 140,000 miles. However, it will take many more investigative trials and increased government supervision before fully auto-piloting cars are available to the public. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will not allow the proliferation of such futuristic vehicles before they are undoubtedly verified to safely navigate the madness of American streets and highways. Nevertheless, these new technologies have a great potential to alleviate traffic jams and decrease the amount of car crashes.

Will China or the U.S. Prevail in the Green Tech Race?

Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy, believes that green technology is unquestionably the future of energy production – and consequently, the future of economic growth and sustainability. It is becoming increasingly clear that publicly held energy companies can only thrive in the crowded international market with strong government support. While the Obama administration has promoted green technology as a staple of its agenda, American firms are still struggling to contend with powerful foreign producers. According to the New York Times, Evergreen Solar, Inc., an American company that develops and manufactures solar cells, announced in mid-January that it is closing down its barely three-year-old Massachusetts factory and shifting production to China, despite receiving over $58 million in government aid. 800 workers will be laid off by March 31 as a result of the move. The U.S. is currently responsible for only $1.6 billion of the total $29 billion global solar panel market. China’s bold energy policies have caused the Obama administration to file multiple cases with the World Trade Organization against China for violating world trade regulations. The most recent case was filed on December 22, 2010, whereby the Obama administration accused China of illegally subsidizing the production of wind power equipment. China’s aggressive initiatives and rapid economic growth have led many to predict that China will be the undisputed dominant green technology producer in the near future. However, Congress is trying to counteract this trend with such policies as requiring the Pentagon to only purchase domestically made solar panels. Von Jones urges Washington to make green technology a central focus of industrial policy if America is to stand a chance against the rising power of China.

Siemens’ New Wind Turbine Plant

According to the January 20 issue of the Financial Times, the German industrial conglomerate Siemens announced its next wind turbine project. The plant will be built in the Alexandra Dock of Hull, United Kingdom, and will be Britain’s first major offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant. Doubling the capacity of the largest plant in the world to date, it is estimated to create up to 10,000 jobs and will foster exportable expertise in the field. This project is a huge advancement for England’s renewable energy sector, which has been lax in the past due to the fear of limited government subsidies. It is very possible that this large investment of £80 million from Siemens and £100 million from Associated British Ports could put the U.K. at the forefront of wind power technology.

China’s President Visit Promising for Sino-American Cooperation

China’s president, Hu Jintao, met with American political and business leaders in Washington D.C. and Chicago during the week of January 17. While geopolitical differences inevitably tinged his visit, Obama and Jintao mainly focused their joint news conference on business collaboration. “We want to sell you all kinds of stuff,” Obama said to Hu, according to the New York Times. The Chinese president was delighted to accept this offer, and throughout his stay made deals for approximately $45 billion in U.S. exports to China. Obama stated that more than 500,000 American jobs are supported by American exports to China, which currently amount to $100 billion annually. Considering China’s size and that its economy grew by 10.2 percent in 2010, Jim O’Neill, the chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, estimates that China’s GDP will increase by $1 trillion in 2011. The rise of China is the principle reason why the global economic growth rate is rising, which in turn gives the U.S. economy a better chance of recovery in upcoming years. According to the New York Times, Mr. O’Neill said, “The notion that China grows at everybody else’s expense is at least three years out of date.” The significance of maintaining a robust economic relationship with China cannot be overemphasized. We will, however, have to face our unresolved political and ideological disparities if our economic alliance and political amiability is to survive.

By Steven Laird

As the consulting field has become increasingly popular among undergraduate business students, many students commonly ask themselves two important questions: how can I differentiate myself and how do I break into the consulting industry?  Are you among the many who are interested in landing that consulting job with prestigious firms such as Bain and Company, ZS Associates, Mercer, and Deloitte?  If so, the best way to get your feet wet and get one step closer to that full-time offer is to participate in a case competition.  A case competition is a competition in which contestants choose teams of three to five persons to tackle a business problem by a hosting firm.  This spring’s Strategy and Operations Case Competition was held on Saturday, April 17, and was hosted by Bruin Consulting, who gathered contestants from CAST Management Consulting, Inc.; Bain and Company; L.E.K. Consulting; Monitor; Mercer, and ZS Associates.

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By David Vayzner

Ernst & Young along with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, and other top executives of the Lehman firm were sued on April 9^th by the Retirement Housing Foundation for an accounting gimmick known as the Repo 105 which allows companies to classify borrowing activities as revenue.

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