Assignment 7

1. The issue I would like to focus my innovations on is increasing safety on campus and preventing campus sexual assault. This is a serious problem on UF’s campus as well as campuses around the country.

Who: students 

What: creating mechanisms to prevent campus sexual assault 

Why: to increase safety 

Testing the who: I believe that many other students feel the same way about this issue

Testing the what: I believe that creating mechanisms including the blue light emergency system on fraternity row would positively impact this

Testing the why:  I find that students would be positively impacted by the increase of safety measures 

Post Interviews: after talking with friends who are more involved in Student Government than I am, it is apparent that this has been an issue people have tried to combat in the last few semesters. There are no blue light emergency poles on fraternity row and many students are concerned about this 

Assignment 6

1. Rising costs of education 

Education is known to end poverty, but this comes at a cost. Sociologist Sarah Goldrick Rab writes about the rising cost of higher education and issues of education inflation that make it necessary to gain higher forms of schooling. I see this in my own life and in that of me peers.

2. The minimum wage:

Initially started during the New Deal Era, the minimum wage was instituted as a protection system for workers. However, as it is not adjusted for current rates of inflation, the minimum wage becomes less livable as time goes on. At the same time, businesses are used to paying workers a certain amount, and raising the wage too quickly or too drastically could cause negative economic effects. I have seen the opportunity as a minimum wage worker myself in the past

3. Evictions

Harvard Sociologist Matt Desmond estimates that 2.3 million people were involved in eviction cases in 2016. Additionally 1/4 families in the United States are considered rent burdened. Possible solutions are discussed in public policy debates nationwide. I have seen this need in some of my sociology classes and have discussed many solutions the last few months. 

4. Food Deserts 

In areas with a lower socioeconomic status there is a severe lack of availability when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables. I have learned about this need through classes and this is an issue that severely impacts Alachua County Residents  

5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

“Duval, St. Johns counties issue water conservation notices” 

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190531/duval-st-johns-counties-issue-water-conservation-notices

Hot temperatures, even before the month of June, are causing an extremely high demand for water services in Duval and St. John’s Counties.This is a problem for both the residents of these counties and companies like JEA. The result is regulated days for sprinkler use in order to conserve water in the most efficient manner. 

“World Health Organization defines ‘burnout’ as an official diagnosis”

https://www.jacksonville.com/zz/lifestyle/20190528/world-health-organization-defines-burnout-as-official-diagnosis

Everyday Americans are impacted by a sense of “burnout” and it is been deemed an official diagnosis. Workers stuck in a loop experience mental distance and stress when doing the same tasks every day 

“On the Road: Biking a deadly pastime in Florida”

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190531/on-road-biking-deadly-pastime-in-florida

Issues of safety are severely impacting Floridians who frequently ride their bikes on main roads. Fatalities are most frequent in Florida. Possible safety changes could be creating better sidewalk access and greater space in bike lanes.

“Jacksonville Beach mailman spends days off cleaning veterans’ headstones”

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190526/jacksonville-beach-mailman-spends-days-off-cleaning-veterans-headstones

To solve issues concerning the cleanliness of headstones, a Florida man spent his memorial day trying to beautify a cemetery. Coming from a military family himself, he wanted to pay his respects on the holiday weekend.

“Record floods breach Arkansas levee, overtop 2 in Missouri”

https://www.jacksonville.com/ZZ/news/20190531/record-floods-breach-arkansas-levee-overtop-2-in-missouri

Due to issues with heavy rainfall, Arkansas residents are proposing solutions to the increased flooding. 

4A

Steps 1 & 2)

My initial belief is that there are not enough emergency blue poles in the area on and around UF’s fraternity row. This is crucial to the safety of the student body as a serious percentage of campus sexual assault happens in this area of the school. This is a need due to general safety concerns as well as a problematic culture setting on college campuses and around the world. Emergency poles are spread around campus but are not in an area that truly needs it the most. Currently in order to meet this need, student government members have tried to pass resolutions in order to make this happen, but legislation has been blocked for various administrative and partisan reasons. This opportunity exists, it it simply a matter of getting the connections set up in order to get it done.

3) The prototypical customer would be all UF students as it benefits their safety greatly.

I asked 3 students about how they feel walking in this area of campus and about their general concerns. Additionally I asked about their thoughts on campus safety measures.

After speaking to several University of Florida students, it is clear to me that I am not the only person concerned about the lack of emergency poles. We preach being a safe, responsive campus but this problem is not being properly addressed. Students are concerned for their safety and would feel more comfortable walking in these areas of campus knowing that emergency poles were nearby. While it is most important to attack the problems of rap3e culture from their source, creating a better, safer, more properly equipped emergency contact system would greatly benefit both students and the university. 

In order to create successful products, entrepreneurs must cater to their customers. In my case hearing from students confirmed my ideas and concern about this need in particular. My opportunity is absolutely still there and more pertinent than ever. 

Bugs!

1. When I was organizing campus for a local election, most students expressed that they didn’t care about voting because it doesn’t affect them, even though it affects them the most…this bug exists because many students don’t know about the importance of local government 
2. The light from the streetlamp outside my apartment still gets into my room waking me up in the middle of the night, even though I have blackout curtains. This is because of the angle and placement of my window 
3. During the summer, it is almost impossible for me to see an advisor on campus. This bug exists because of the overwhelming number of preview students that need initial advising appointments
4. When I put on mascara in the morning I always get it on my eyelid because of the shape of the wand.
5. I can never find a hair tie when I need one, yet I can always find several when I do not. This is because I am a mess
6. The restaurant “Just Salad” serves more than just salad! They serve avocado toast which is not salad. They do this because avocado toast is delicious and a fast seller. However, the title is extremely inaccurate 
7. It bugs me when people go by their middle name when they have a perfectly good first name. They do this because they probably like that name better.
8. I dislike the smell of sponges after I do dishes. I also dislike doing dishes but I understand that it’s just one of those things that has to get done. But the smell, which is probably some sort of chemical reaction, is one of my least favorite things 
9. I dislike the fact that some people refuse cultural sensitivity and refuse to do very simple things such as respect a person’s pronouns. This probably occurs because of ingrained beliefs, but the lack of concern for another person’s preference makes me seriously frustrated.
10. Every time I make spaghetti, I can never drain enough of the water out of the pot. This makes the noodles wet and has a horrible consistency, even when I add sauce.
11. There is never enough parking in Norman…during my internship when I still lived on campus, I had to wake up at 6am to move my car in order to not get ticketed. I literally did not sleep for the entire fall semester.
12. My computer constantly gives me alerts for spam email because I randomly subscribed to retail emails for coupons
13. My phone crashes every time I attempt to connect Spotify to my car, most likely due to a technological error because I hate updating my phone
14. I get extremely annoyed when people chew loudly. It is probably just the way they eat
15. I hate when people forget to recycle. It is probably something people forget to do out of habit.
16. It annoys me when people do not put on their turn signal on when they drive! They do it because they are bad drivers.
17. When people interrupt my stories, I get annoyed because it is simply rude.
18. It annoys me when I am unable to carry all my groceries at Trader Joes in a small hand cart. It gets too heavy and I get sad.
19. It bugs me when there are bugs in my house. This is because I live in Florida and it is summer.
20. It annoys me when I can’t find the clasp on my necklace because it’s extremely small.

This assignment was not too difficult for me, however many of the bugs I first thought of had to do with people and human nature. It would be quite difficult to innovate my way out of those.

3A – Your Entrepreneurship Story

Through my involvement with UF’s (amazing!) Innovation Academy, I had the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship first hand during a showcase last summer called Catalyst. My classmates and I were tasked with innovating a solution to solve problems associated with biodiversity and plan the creation from the ground up. This project was more difficult for me than I expected; as a political science and journalism student, science is not really my strong suit. However, I was able to gain delegation and collaboration skills firsthand. Since several of my fellow group members were computer science majors, we designed an interactive app that served as a technology-based education initiative to get younger elementary students more engaged and excited about biodiversity. I believe the leadership skills I gained from this experience have allowed me to grow as both a person and an entrepreneur.

I’m taking this class both for my minor in Innovation and because I think it would be able to supplement many of the skills I am learning in my major classes. The conglomeration of business and communication can help me grow in my leadership style.

Me and my amazing team! 

Testing...1,2,3: Houston We Have a Blog Post

Welcome to the most exciting blog you'll ever read! Summer C ENT3003 let's go...