Friday, January 31, 2014

Post 2 -

One of the first articles that popped up on my favorite app, Zite, was Bitcoin Money Laundering. Just days after discussing how Bitcoin can be abused and utilized in illegal sales, a CEO was arrested for selling Bitcoins for an invest firm named BitInstant. It is interesting that soon after a government crackdown on the Silkroad, the stem of the issue, Bitcoin, is now under fire.

Everyone uses their money in different ways. Some people are forced to pay off debts as soon as they receive a pay check, while others invest. What we buy, and how we buy also vary across the world, and even here in tiny Pullman. I would argue that the students consume much more than they produce in Pullman. Students spend most of their money on school itself as well as books, housing, food, and retail products. If we accept that a credit truly is a credit hour, and we're supposed to be studying outside class twice the amount of time spent in class, then we must recognize students do not have much time to contribute any labor to the Pullman economy. I work about fifteen hours a week, which is all I can manage coupled with nineteen credits. The true laborers of this town are in fact the professors, whose teaching lures in students and money. At Northwestern University, the athletes are seeking to form a union, The union would provide student athletes with medical insurance that extends into the future. The athletes have a solid case because they bring in more money to the University than people realize. At Northwestern, the football team alone earned over $3,000,000 from their 2013 season (Dochterman). Clearly student athletes are a source of labor for colleges as well.

http://thegazette.com/2013/10/25/sharing-gate-revenue-unique-vital-to-b1g-football/




2 comments:

  1. I definitely agree with you when you say students here in Pullman consume more than we produce! It's crazy how much trash we create, in fact it's kind of sick. Where does it all go? On the other hand, it makes finding cheap (and sometimes free) furniture really easy to find. Just check your local dumpster every now and then.
    I also work during the week, so I fully agree with your idea that students just don't have as much time to contribute to the Pullman economy. I feel like I barely have time at all! And professors really don't get paid as much as they should. Why does President Floyd get so much money? I mean, what does he really do that is more work than what our teachers do?

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  2. Again, my good sir, great article. You loaded this article up with very attracting information and insight to the economies of college towns which is a plus. The only word of advice I have for you is how many different topics you mesh into your blog post in the first half of the second paragraph. You start off by talking about how some people use their money, then you get into school credit hours and how you should be spending twice as much time studying as you do spending time in the classroom. Although, what you said about these things is vey true and interesting, you should have added a bit more detail into those topics because you left me short again. You always have good topics in your blog posts but you always leave a lot of details out of them! So, next time, More detail the better. I will always like reading your blogs for the simple fact that they interest me, but they always leave out a bit of depth. Not too much of a bad thing of course, just a suggestion.

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