“Global yields are the lowest they’ve been in over a century. Arable land, water, everything is shrinking. Everything is in demand. Everything is expensive,” Bob Katsiouleris of Rio Tinto Minerals stated as an introduction to Tuesday’s Economics & Business graduate student lecture. “Rice yields in India today are the lowest they’ve been since 1950, “ he continued. “We’ll talk about why, what’s happening and how both from a socioeconomic, economic and marketing standpoint it’s critical to understand what’s happening and how we can step in and get the situation back under control.”
Year: 2010
TSA violates legal rights
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I had the fun and exciting experience of going through the TSA’s enhanced security checkpoint. Overall, it was an uneventful experience, but, I still have some problems with it.
Website has arguable morals, big decision
Recently, a friend showed me a website, birthornot.com, created by a Minnesota couple, Pete and Alisha. Pete and Alisha have been married for about 8 years, and are expecting a child. On their site, they post news about their pregnancy, including updates on doctor visits and current ultrasound photos. This site is also a poll in which web-users can vote on whether Pete and Alisha should keep or abort their unborn child.
Dilemma
Recently, I was taking a test, during which we were not allowed to use calculators. This is an upperclassman-level test, so the professors are fairly trusting. I noticed that a friend was using a calculator, which, as I have said, was not allowed on the test. Based on my discussions with him/her prior to the test, I am certain that this was totally an honest mistake on his/her part.
What should I do in this particular situation, and what is ethical in the general case?
–Witness of Unintentional Cheating
Mines defeats CCU 78-65


Minds at Mines: Black Friday

Thanksgiving break is a great time to relax and hang out with family and friends. Of course, it is also the season to gorge on delicious food. After falling into a food coma, many people are ready to wake up bright and early the next day for Black Friday. Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, stores bring out some of the best deals of the season on almost everything. Doors open as early as 3 AM to a crowd of eager shoppers. Interesting things are known to have happened on Black Friday, so Minds at Mines wanted to know what Mines students did on the busiest morning of the Christmas shopping season.
Quit groping my person, TSA
There’s this little article in in the Constitution of the United States of America called the 4th Amendment. This little article goes something like this, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”. Maybe the definition of “unreasonable searches” has changed in the past 200 years, but it seems that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) violates the 4th amendment every time a law-abiding citizen walks through a security checkpoint at any major airport in the United States.
At 6:30 in the morning, most people are still sleeping. At 6:30 in the morning at this time of the season, even the sun is still sleeping. But, at 6:30 in the morning, Senior Ben Zywicki’s isn’t observing the inside of his eyelids. His alarm clock wakes him up and encouragingly nudges him out the door for his daily jog. This ‘jog’ consists of over six miles and has greeted the cross country runner every morning for five years. And as his career winds to a close, his hard work has begun to pay off.
Student Body pushes to cancel Finals
In an unprecedented move, the student body government is passing a petition around campus asking for the cancellation of all finals this semester. “To fritter away so much time on standardized testing,” the petition reads, “is to degrade and demean the immense creativity and passion that learning should entail.”