Business students take trip to the Big Apple
■ Students introduce
themselves to the world of
sports marketing
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Usually athletes are the ones be
ing flown all over the country and
scouted by organizations such as
the NBA.
But on Jan. 18, the University’s
Warsaw Sports Marketing Center
took 20 master’s of business admin
istration students to New York City,
offering them a chance to see first
hand how the industry works.
For the second year in a row,
students spent four days in the Big
Apple and had plenty of opportu
nities to meet with representatives
from sports marketing agencies
and national sports leagues.
Dennis Howard, professor of
sports marketing, said the annual
trip is geared toward second-year
M.B.A. students focusing on sports
marketing.
“The intent of the trip is to take
our students to the heart of the in
dustry,” Howard said.
He said students met top exec
utives and had a chance to ask
questions and introduce them
selves.
The annual trip is funded by the
NBA, which has provided a men
torship development gift to the
Lundquist College of Business and
the Warsaw Sports Marketing
Center. Howard said the NBA cov
ered expenses for transportation,
lodging and meals. All sports mar
keting majors could attend.
Jeff McGillis, a second-year
M.B.A. student, said students had
to introduce themselves at a
luncheon with approximately 50
executives from the NHL, the
NBA and other top executives.
“It was tough to get up there and
talk” McGillis said.
He said most students talked
about past internship experiences
while others highlighted personal
traits that might help them suc
ceed in the world of marketing.
McGillis, who went last, said he
tried to introduce himself on a
lighter note, talking about his
home country of Canada and the
beer and hockey it is famous for.
McGillis said the trip was valu
able because many executives of
the sports marketing agencies that
the group visited with took the
time to show students around and
answer their questions patiently
and in depth. He said he was espe
cially impressed with David
Stem, commissioner of the NBA.
“It was kind of neat to see that
someone so powerful would take
that much time out of his day,”
McGillis said.
Scott Eilers, another second
year M.B.A. student who went on
the trip, said he appreciated meet
ing people from the industry and
establishing some valuable net
working contacts.
“Probably the biggest deal for
me was all the contacts we made
there,” he said.
Eilers said the students were pre
pared to ask good questions and the
executives honored their prepara
tion with thorough answers.
“It gave a lot of people the oppor
tunity to ask people questions
about jobs that they always thought
they wanted to have,” Eilers said.
Rick Burton, director of the
sports marketing center, said the
trip not only provided a great edu
cational learning experience and
the chance to network with profes
sionals, but it also showed stu
dents the quality of the M.B.A.
program they are a part of.
Teach
continued from page 1A
“corps members” are selected and
assigned to one of 13 sites around
the nation, where they commit to
teach for two years. The members
participate in an intensive eight
week summer training course,
where they earn their emergency
teaching credentials and learn
how to develop curriculum.
For Wilson, who is in his sec
ond year teaching at Jefferson Ele
mentary School, the experience
has been an eye-opener.
“I wanted to see what education
in America is really like right
now,” he said. “The first year was
a challenge, but the second year
has been nice. I feel like I have a
better grasp of things now.”
Teaching third graders was not
his first choice, Wilson admits, but
now he wouldn’t trade the assign
ment for anything.
“High school was my first
choice,” he said. “But I get to
spend more time with these kids.
At that age, I can really see the
process of development and how
their mind grows.”
The Teach For America pro
gram has shown Wilson firsthand
what problems are facing educa
tors today — from overcrowded
classrooms and budget cuts to the
looming teacher shortage expect
ed to hit in the next few years, as
waves of teachers retire.
“Teaching is a job that’s under
paid, unappreciated and under
represented by people with ahigh
level of skill,” Wilson said.
“There’s a huge shortage of quali
fied people who are willing to
meet the challenge of teaching.”
According to Elizabeth Chung,
a recruitment operations manager
for Teach For America, corps
members aren’t required to con
tinue beyond the initial two-year
commitment, though some
choose to remain teaching. The
main goal of the program, howev
er, is to build a base of lifelong ed
ucation advocates, she said.
The program has had that effect
on Wilson — he said it has given
him an appreciation of educators
that will extend beyond when his
term expires.
“There are few other jobs that,
right away, you’re given such a
high level of responsibility and a
comparatively low level of sup
port,” he said.
Of the thousands of applicants
last year, only 1,000 were selected
for the program, five of which
were University students.
“It’s very competitive,” said
Kyle Waide, a current corps mem
ber who manned the Teach For
America booth at Wednesday’s ca
reer fair.
“But it allows you to impact the
lives of children, get to work with
excellent people, and get to know
yourself in ways you don’t know
already.”
So far this year, 13 University
seniors have applied for next year.
Town hall
continued from page 1A
blamed for low faculty morale.
A panel including the members
of the SBC, University President
Dave Frohnmayer, Provost John
Moseley and professors Suzanne
Clark and Roland Gr&ene, an
swered a broad range of questions
about University financing.
University Senate President Pe
ter Gilkey, speaking on behalf of
the University’s chapter of the
AAUP, asked Moseley if the white
paper was “do-able.”
“Under the assumption that the
[Bill] Sizemore initiative doesn’t
pass—it is do-able,” Moseley said.
Of the six funding sources sug
gested by the white paper, Moseley
identified two as the most likely to
be feasible in the short term. The
first would be a reallocation of ex
isting University funds towards in
struction. The second was a pro
posed increase in the fee paid to the
University by two of its auxiliary
enterprises: athletics and housing.
Moseley said that a 2.5 percent
pay increase, plus an already
scheduled 2 percent increase is
likely within the next year.
Greene, director of the compara
tive literature program, delivered
a speech emphasizing the urgency
of the compensation issue and
pointing out aspects he felt the
white paper overlooks. Specifical
ly, the scheduled expansion of
Autzen Stadium in the face of
budget shortfalls in some academ
ic departments has raised ques
tions about the University’s com
mitment to academic excellence.
Frohnmayer addressed this is
sue, pointing out that the vast ma
jority of the funds allocated for the
work on Autzen is from private do
nations.
He gave his “personal assur
ance” that the academic disci
plines at the core of the University
are a focus of fund-raising efforts.
emu craft center
invites you to the
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an art exhibit by
Friday Jan 28th
5:00-7:00 pm
EMU FIR ROOM
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
craft center
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& staff
for more
information:
346-4361
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