10.24.2005

Why I Have a Love/Hate Relationship w/USF

LOVE

#1
New Green Class Offered to Students of USF's School of Business and Management (aka McLaren School of Business for the old folks)
by Emily Coon
“The objective is to stay in business indefinitely.” Todd Sayre

This fall, Todd Sayre, associate professor - accounting, launched USF’s first course on sustainable business. Using science and economics, Sayre will demonstrate how sustainable practices make good business sense. Sustainable businesses seek to balance the necessity of economic achievement with environmental quality and social justice. A quick scan of the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index reveals how extensively corporate America is embracing this new perspective. Sayre asserts, however, that education has not kept up with the trend. He is eager for USF to “get on board.”

“The university’s Vision and Mission Statement is a good fit with the principles of sustainability,” he said. The new course boasts a stimulating line-up of guest speakers including the co-founder of Global Exchange and a top executive of Interface. Sayre has been coordinating with USF’s chapter of Net Impact, a national organization that promotes corporate social responsibility, green business, public policy, and legislation. They plan to publicize the speaker schedule as a lecture series open to the public.

Two field trips are planned for the end of the semester. One is to Frog’s Leap Winery, which employs sustainable farming practices such as the use of spiders rather than pesticides. The other trip is to Solar Living, an “off-the-grid” community in Marin.

The sustainable business course has proven popular with undergraduate students and is at maximum enrollment. Says Sayre, “I am excited about the semester. I have many socially aware students.”

#2
USF has increased their ethnic minority recruitment for instructors in the past few years and one of them on the tenure track is Assistant Professor Victor Rios. This picture does little justice to this fine specimen of a homie from around the way turned budding sociology professional with an expertise in gang formation and the juvenile justice system in the United States.
USF Alumni Donnettes, check out the latest issue of "USF in the News," Vol. IV, No. 2. Yes, I must confirm that I would have had further distraction besides the ocean views if this man were around back then.

HATE
eh...check out my other blogs...I've included tidbits on USF's shadiness...I'm sure I can dig up more dirt later. The University has been spending money like water to update dilapidated facilities and actually make it more asthetically attractive to go to school there. I'm sure some kind of drama is bound to come from that. Besides, it's good to still be in touch with faculty and administration.

No comments: