1. Genetically altered food safe but not curing hunger
2. New $7.5 million recreation center to be built in Alachua
3. Gainesville turns up in three upcoming TV shows
4. Zumper report gives city a 'B' for new grads
5. UF program gives disabled vets tools for entrepreneurship
In light of recent political discussion on the subject of genetically modified food, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine published a 408-page report summarizing their findings. According to the report, genetically modified food is generally safe both for humans and for the environment, and there are no indications that GE food poses a higher risk to human health concerns than non-GE food.
There are still concerns, however, around the potential labelling of GE food. According to the authors of the report, there is no safety reasons behind labelling GE food, but there is an argument for labelling on the grounds of transparency and cultural factors. An interesting comparison was drawn between labelling GE food, and the Made-in-America stickers that are increasing in popularity.
Finally, the article states that despite the demonstrated safety and validity of GE food as a replacement for regular crops, there is the issue that GE food has not delivered on its promises. According to proponents of GE food, the increased resilience of the crops will increase yield, and potentially help to curtail the world food deficit in the long-term. The study's findings contradict this, however, stating that there is no demonstrable increase in yield as a result of the introduction of GE crops.
The problem presented in this article is the popular perception of GE opposed to the critical findings presented by the study. This problem is important to numerous interest groups, including the farmers responsible for growing both GE food and traditional crops, the consumer public, and the business and scientific interests championing GE food.
On May 10th, a groundbreaking ceremony took place to celebrate the commencement of construction on a $7.5 million multipurpose recreation facility next to the Hal Brady Recreation Complex in Alachua. According to experts, the construction on the facility will take one year, and will be part of the city's Legacy Park project launched in 2012.
An emphasis on energy efficiency has characterized the construction plans for the facility. Features intended to address this goal include low-maintenance materials, efficient Air Conditioning, and LED lighting. This facility is intended to anchor the Legacy Park project, and the use of the remaining land will be dictated by the needs of the community.
The problem demonstrated in this article is the expense and time required to complete the project, as well as the future dictation of use for the earmarked land. This affects both the citizens of Alachua, and the construction companies and elected officials for whom this project is a significant undertaking.
Gainesville will be subject to significant national attention following the airing of three upcoming episodes of reality television that center on the city. "Beyond the Tank" and "Undercover Boss" will both be airing on Friday, and "Tiny House Nation" will air on Saturday. "Beyond the Tank" is the companion show to ABC's "Shark Tank" and chronicles the future growth of companies that receive investments from the Sharks on the parent program. For this episode, the local beanbag bed company CordaRoy's will be interviewed.
On "Undercover Boss", United Real Estate Group CEO Dan Duffy will visit a local franchise of theirs, Gainesville's United Country Land and Lifestyle Properties. On the episode, Duffy will review franchise activities, and survey the unsuspecting employees.
Finally, on "Tiny House Nation," viewers will be invited inside the 45-foot-by-15-foot home of two Gainesville residents on SE 9th St. The problem evidenced by this increasing media attention is the national perception of Gainesville as a city. This directly affects Gainesville business owners who may benefit from the increased exposure, as well as the citizens as a whole who are influenced by the perception of the group they are a part of.
According to an apartment searching service called Zumper, Gainesville is the 136th best city for new college graduates out of 260 cities across the United States. This determination was reached by analyzing Census figures and Zumper's own rental data and algorithms.
Overall, this gives the city of Gainesville a 'B' rating as a recommendation for new graduates. The top three cities as determined by Zumper are Madison, WI, Columbus, OH, and Austin, TX. This report's problem is the influence this will have on the popularity of Gainesville as a destination for new graduates, and the subsequent impact for rental properties. This will obviously affect the college graduates themselves who are searching for a city to target for employment, and both the companies who employ them and the property owners searching for tenants.
The Veterans Entrepreneurship Program offered by Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida intends to aid veterans in their reintroduction to civilian life and success in the competitive business environment. The program is free, with all costs of attendance taken care of by sponsors and private donations.
The program includes three phases: introspection and business concept development during the first phase, lectures and workshops intended to impart the fundamentals of business ownership during the second phase, and networking and feedback opportunities for six months in the final phase.
This year's class includes 42 veterans, representing four branches of the U.S. military. The problem addressed by this program is the difficulty inherent in reintegration for veterans, and the subsequent economic hardships many of these individuals face due to physical, mental, and emotional injuries or lack of necessary skill sets. This will affect the veterans themselves, as well as the support staff and instructors, and the public at large who will be affected by the attention this program garners.
Very interesting articles selection. Reading my classmates posts I realized that there are problems and opportunities that I would unlikely see in my day-to-day. I seemed the article "Genetically altered food safe but not curing hunger" very interesting since this kind of food is a delicate and arguable topic. It has been an argument for a while that the no GMO food is safe or not but this article makes an interesting point about if it is curing hunger or not.
ReplyDeleteI seemed to be drawn to the article about where Gainesville ranks against other cities for the best cities for college graduates. You mentioned the problem would be less graduates moving to Gainesville and that having a direct effect on the rental property market. Perhaps another issues that might have a significant impact would involve companies that are known for hiring recent graduates leaving Gainesville or not coming to Gainesville in the first place. They would most likely want to go to a city where more graduates are looking to move to and have a larger selection for their hiring pool. Gainesville should want to attract more businesses, not lose them due to rankings like this.
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