A world we dare to imagine

Name: BOGOM

BOGOM is an organization that I believe will help support a sustainable economy in rural areas. Companies such as Toms pride themselves on their BOGO, or buy one give one, principals. For every pair of Toms you buy, they give one for free to a child in need. By promoting this idea, people are more willing to pay premium prices because they believe they are making an impact. If people paid $50 for one pair, it wouldn't be as appealing as when they pay $50 for 2 pairs.

Toms are shoes that cost less than $4 to manufacture, yet they sell it at $50 giving them a 1,250% profit. While it is a genuinely heartfelt idea to donate shoes to those in need, BOGO companies are actually doing more harm than good. I believe the solution to ending poverty in rural areas is to not give away things for free, but to introduce it into the economy as a marketable good.

Using Toms as an example, when they give shoes to those in need, these people now have free shoes that they didn't have before. Since they now have shoes, they won't need to spend money to buy shoes. Shoemakers, who make a living off of selling shoes, lose business and may ultimately close down. The economy takes a hit because shoe sellers can't generate income or spend money to buy other goods. I still applaud BOGO companies for taking initiative at helping rural communities, but I believe they are in it more for the marketability of BOGO rather than the benefits.

BOGOM's goal is to hopefully improve upon the BOGO principal. We plan to be the middle man between companies and the people of rural communities. Using Toms again as an example, instead of Toms directly giving shoes to kids, we will take these shoes from Toms and distribute them to shoe salesmen. Now they can sell these shoes at extremely discounted prices because they didn't have to make them. The community benefits by being able to purchase shoes for cheap, granted it's not free, but it will help circulate money through the community. Unfortunately, this organization won't thrive because there is no money generated to pay our workers. To mitigate this problem, we would have to sell these shoes to the shoes salesmen. But we would sell it for cheap to minimize the money spent by sales people. In this way, we hope to create a sustainable economy between the market and the consumers.

AMDP should support this organization because I believe this is a necessary step into ending poverty in rural areas. We can give so much for so little, but we have to do it in the right fashion. We cannot just hand to them free items because stores will be put out of business. They will not learn the value of money as well if items are constantly given to them. Instead, we should have them create supply and demand to help kickstart a sustainable economy. In the end, those who buy from BOGO companies will actually be making an impact for those in need.

Blue Sweater No. 3

Upon reading the last chapter of the Blue Sweater, thought I haven't experienced what Novogratz has, I completely agree with her life lessons. Money can buy a lot of things, and it may even be able to buy happiness, but there is no better currency than trust. Without trust, no relationships can be built. People distrust each other and foster resentment within them. Once relationships are built, then are we able to strengthen the most important quality within ourselves, human empathy. Trusting someone is hard, but the understand their backgrounds, their feelings, connects us all on a deeper level. A deeper empathy will help remove the prejudice that comes with low-income people. Most people think of low-income people as incapable and helpless, when they are in fact the most resilient and capable of deriving happiness and joy from the simplest of pleasures. I think it's great how we want to help the poor by donating money or goods, but simply walking by them is useless. They need to be given opportunities to grow.

Though this is not completely relevant to the blue sweater, it's unfortunate that buy one give one companies such as Toms thrive on this idea of charity. Buying a pair of toms means giving a pair to a child in need. Sure a child gets shoes, but that means they don't need to buy shoes. Shoemakers in the area then lose their customers and ultimately go out of business. What should be done is that these companies should donate these goods to local markets to create a sustainable economy.

Blue Sweater No. 2

Today I read Novogratz's chapter on Traveling without a road map. The chapter started off normally, talking about her trip in Rwanda, and how her 2 year trip was coming to an end. It seemed like she had gotten used to the rhythm of Rwanda. The thing that confused her, and confused me as well, was the trust system there. There was little law enforcement, and so many things were dependent on trust. Items were bought and paid through credit. But this credit is based on trusting others to pay in the future. Even with her body guard, Innocent, trust was crucial. However Innocent took advantage of her trust and stole her belongings and never admitted to it. I'm just as shocked as Novogratz was when she found out that her own bodyguard stole her things. In a society where police exist (barely), people readily steal things just to get by. Sure Innocent didn't make a lot of money, but he didn't have to abuse his trust with Novogratz and steal her things.

Blue Sweater Post 1

This book is titled the Blue Sweater because of a blue sweater. Author Jacqueline Novogratz starts off with a story from her child hood about her attachment to a blue sweater. When she reaches middle school and starts to be teased for wearing this sweater, she donates it to Good Will. Coincidentally though, she runs into a young boy in Rwanda a decade later who is wearing the exact same sweater that she donated.

Novogratz lives an interesting life. She decides to leave her lucrative career with Chase Manhattan to try and solve the problems of the world's poorest places. She recalls stories from her travels not for the sake of telling a story, but to evoke an emotional response from her readers. She wants to encourage all her readers that they are all capable of lifting themselves up, they just need the tools to do so. 

This book has certainly accomplished the mission that Novogratz set out for it. After reading it, my understanding of trying to help the poor has changed. I've always thought that donating money to the homeless is the best way to help them, but I'm starting to realize that money can actually do more harm than good. I recently travelled to Honduras with Global Medical Brigades this past spring, and absolutely love the work that Global Brigades has done. Instead of funneling money from donors to these rural societies, Global Brigades tries to bring sustainability. As Novogratz puts it, everyone can lift themselves up, they just need the tools. Money is a tool, but not the right tool. Clean running water, sustainable food sources, and education are all tools that areas such as Rwanda need. 

Is Mars the Best Choice

Unless you live under a rock (and hopefully you don't), you know that our solar system consists of 8 planets: 4 rocky ones and 4 gaseous ones. Obviously we can't survive on the gas planets because there's not surface. This narrows it down to three, excluding our planet. Mercury is out of the questions because of it's extreme temperatures and it's distance from the sun. This leaves us with only Venus and Mars. 

If you've read or seen The Martian by Andy Weir, you're well aware of what it takes to survive on Mars. We would have to grow food, create water, filter the air etc. And most of the science checks out. Mars's gravity is only 40% earth's gravity, which would make it easier to move heavier things as well. Mars days are similar to Earth days, allowing animals to maintain their circadian rhythms. Mars rotates on a axis too, creating seasons just like Earth. The main downside, aside from the difficulty of surviving, is distance. Mars only lines up with earth creating a launch window every two and a half years. This makes supply transportation extremely difficult. On the other hand, Venus has a launch window of only 1.6 years. So why not Venus?

Venus is Earth's sister planet due to its similar size and gravity. Other than that, they're pretty different planets. Unlike our atmosphere and Mars's non-existent atmosphere, Venus's atmosphere is so thick, that the ground pressure is 90 times the pressure here on earth. If that doesn't kill you, then the extreme heat and cold or sulfuric acid will. Fortunately there is a bright side: HAVOC. HAVOC stands for High Altitude Operational Concept, with and emphasis on concept. Theoretically, because Venus's atmosphere is so thick, Earth's normal air is lighter. We can create "floating buildings" that float 50km above ground. At this height, the pressure and atmospheric composition is similar to Earth's. The temperature, however, is still pretty extreme. 

In the end, hopefully we're able to colonize both planets. But just know that Mars is not our only option. We always have our sister to help us out as well. 

AMDP Proposal: Postmates

To: Clark Hansen, CEO, ADMP

From: Andrew Lin, Research and Development

Date: October 24, 2015

Subject: Investing in Postmates

You gave me the job to research a company we can invest in and I’ve found it: Postmates. Postmates is an investment opportunity that Anima Mundi Development Partners cannot afford to miss. All of AMDP’s criteria are not just met, but exceeded. Postmates strives to be socially responsible, environmentally friendly, and profitable.

The country is shifting from the traditional method of eating out, to eating in by having favorite foods delivered right to doorsteps. Postmates exactly fulfills this job. But before I convince you to invest, first let me reiterate our company’s standards.

AMDP Standards

Triple Bottom Line

1. People- Beneficial and positive treatment of the company’s suppliers, employees, workers, investors, and community.

2. Profit- Sustainable growth that allows the company to continually generate income

3. Planet- Maximum reduction of the company’s impact on the environment through all types of pollution and waste.

Corporate Social Responsibility:

Since the 1960’s, CSR has become increasingly popular. A company must have a sense of responsibility towards the environment and community in which it operates. This responsibility can be met in several ways­­– reducing pollution on the environment, protecting the interest of investors and customers, and hosting or participating in philanthropic events.

Social Enterprise:

A social enterprise is a company whose main interest is to maximize improvements to humans and the environment, even if it means reducing profits. The two types of a social enterprise are for-profit and non-profit.

Carbon Footprint:

Carbon footprint is the company’s carbon impact on the environment. Carbon dioxide is the major component of greenhouse gasses, but there are many other compounds that are released into the environment that can harm the planet as well. To measure a company's carbon footprint, the green house gas emissions are estimated. The world's temperature has been increasing and green house gasses have been named as the culprit. The government and companies alike are striving to reduce their carbon footprint to minimize the negative impacts on the environment.

What is Postmates?

Founded recently in 2011, Postmates' headquarters is located in San Francisco. Though it didn’t invent food delivery, Postmates revolutionized it to make all kinds of foods accessible to everyone. It provides fast and efficient food delivery where individuals, similar to those who work for Uber and Lyft, provide the transportation (Postmates). The endless amount of food couriers available allows Postmates to deliver foods from anywhere in under an hour. Since its founding, Postmates has not generated large amounts of profit, but has received enormous amounts of funding. This funding has allowed Postmates to launch itself by providing free or discounted deliveries

Are people cared for?

Just like Uber and Lyft, Postmates allows flexibility that restaurants with built-in delivery do not offer. Many couriers choose to work for Postmates as a side job not because of money issues, but because it’s enjoyable. They get to meet individuals of all different backgrounds while exploring the city.

Customers benefit from Postmates as well with speedy deliveries from friendly faces. Postmates ensures its couriers are overqualified by requiring its couriers to pass strict background checks. The courier's mode of transportation is inspected to minimize any transportation issues down the road. Postmates also personally interviews potential couriers before hiring to ensure that they have an easygoing personality. If someone doesn't meet these standards, they are no longer eligible to become a courier.

What about the environment?

Postmates lies in the transportation industry where reducing carbon emissions is extremely difficult, but extremely necessary. To accomplish this task, fossil fuel cuts are implemented almost everywhere.

Many couriers choose riding bicycles over driving cars to not only save gas, but to also exercise (Postmates). They kill not two, but three birds with one stone by exercising while working, while reducing carbon emissions.

Postmates also indirectly contributes to the green movement by offering discounts when ordering from organic and sustainable restaurants. These discounts make green restaurants much more enticing to customers.

Do they even make money?

Postmates has declined to provide its financial data, but it did release its delivery numbers. Since 2012, the amount of deliveries has grown exponentially, which translates to exponential growth in profits as well. To reach 500,000 deliveries, it started off at a grueling 116 weeks, but has now sped up to a mere 10 weeks (Wilhem). Despite the profit cap at just $13 million, Postmates recently raised $80 million to push for $1 deliveries to expand its name and drive out competitors.  Tiger Global Management’s Chief Executive Bastian Lehmann, who helped Postmates raise $80 million, stated that Postmates is not yet profitable, but is geared for insane growth. Postmates plans to expand into markets other than food such as healthcare and beauty products. It has already partnered up with Apple to deliver MacBooks within hours of the purchase. Lehmann said it best when he stated that "Food is for [Postmates] what books were for Amazon (Macmillan)." 

Do other people care?

According to Nancee Halpin and Cooper Smith of BusinessInsider, Postmates is crushing the competition in the on-demand food fight. Unlike Uber, which forces customers to order food and delivery at the same time, Postmates is an intermediary service that strictly delivers food, allowing its customers to order from the full menu of its merchants. (Smith). This strategy has allowed Postmates to secure exclusive partnerships with merchants such as Starbucks. Starbucks' customers have already been utilizing its Mobile Order & Pay service, making fast deliveries a natural extension (Starbucks). 

Similarly, Kia Kokalitcheva from Fortune praised Postmates because of its ability to expand. There are defined peak hours for food delivery, which limits the amount of profit generated by the company and its couriers (Kokalitcheva). To mitigate this, Postmates has begun to expand to other markets. Though it’s still in its developing stages, Postmates has already partnered up with Apple to deliver Macbooks within hours from ordering from the store. If all goes well, Postmates will be able to deliver numerous products from endless vendors, eliminating the peak hours that comes with food delivery, and improve its profits by at least 20% (Macmillan).

My opinions and why you should care

If you’ve read my first sentence, you already know my thoughts. Postmates is a young company that is geared for tremendous success. Although it faces tough competition from other companies such as Uber, it has proven its ability to surpass competitors. Being able to reduce its time to make 500,000 deliveries by 1000% in less than 3 years is just the beginning. Soon Postmates will deliver all sorts of items such as computers, clothes, and beauty products, further increasing its profits. Postmates exceeds all of AMDP’s standards and would be well worth the investment. With AMDP’s help, Postmates can expand into other markets and increase its number of couriers further and faster than before, bringing its friendly service to more customers and couriers.

References

1. Kokalitcheva, Kia. "Why On-demand Delivery Startup Postmates Really Raised $80 Million." Fortune Why Ondemand Delivery Startup Postmates Really Raised 80 Million Comments. Fortune, 25 June 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

2. Macmillan, Douglas, and Greg Bensinger. "Postmates Raises $80 Million in Push Toward $1 Deliveries." Digits RSS. Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 25 June 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

3. "Postmates - On-Demand, 24/7." Postmates. Postmates Inc. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

4. Smith, Nancee. "Why Postmates Is Winning the On-demand Food Fight." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
5. Starbucks Delivery by Postmates Begins Service in Seattle. (2015, December 2). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-postmates-in-seattle

6. Wilhem, Alex. "Analyzing Postmates’ Growth." TechCrunch. Tech Crunch, 4 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 

The Genius of Money: Money and the Modern Mind

This chapter reveals two stories. The first story is an artist who pays for his meals using currency that he draws. He draws life-like images of money and pays with it, sometimes expecting actual change. The artist's point was to see how much value was put on simple paper money versus the amount of time he put into drawing replicas. He was able to challenge society's emphasis on monetary values set forth by the government.
In the second story, a rich man gives a poor man some food in exchange that the peasant watch over he grave for 3 days and nights. When the man died, the peasant protected his grave. Along came an ex-soldier who joined with him, in hopes to get paid. At the end of the third night, the devil came by to take the rich man's soul. However the peasant and soldier tricked the devil into giving them gold until the sun rose and the devil left. In the end, the rich man's body was safe, the peasant received food, and the soldier donated the gold. The moral of the story that the author tried to convey was that in each and everyone of us, we contain traits of each character. We have the greed of the devil, the kindness of the peasant, and the morality of the soldier. Though we try to escape the temptations of money, we are always drawn back into its paper web.

The Genius of Money: Money and the Dance of Death

In this chapter, Hans Holbein paints a picture of a man sitting at his desk in a jail-like cell. The walls are solid and the windows are closed and protected with metal bars. Hans wanted to illustrate that no man could get in or out, leaving the money alone. However, there is another 'man' sitting on the other side of the desk. Except this 'man' is more of a creature. It is supposed to be death, but Hans wanted to anthropomorphize death. The human man is blind with greed and scolds at death to leave his money alone, not realizing that death could care less about his money. The man is basically about to die, with nothing more than gold coins to keep him company. The dwindling candlelight and empty hourglass signify that he is out of time. To me, Hans's painting represents most of society-- how we are so obsessed with money that it has taken control of our lives. However in the end, we all die and what really counts is the human connections we have formed, not the value of metallic rocks.

The Buzz with Honey Bees

To much surprise (or at least to me), the terrifying stinging honey bee is a critical piece in the global economy. They help pollinate 70% of our crops from fruits, to vegetables, to the food for cows, chickens, and pigs. Without them, our major pollinators would disappear, potentially creating famines. Currently, bees are in decline due to disease and mites that are slowly destroying beehives. Bee farmers are struggling to maintain the health of their hives. We need to slowly bring back our bee populations if we want to maintain our population numbers. Thankfully there are some symbiotic relationships between us and bees that are making bees more approachable.

In China, there's been a recent increase in popularity with a special kind of mochi desert. Unlike traditional mochi that is prepared entirely in the kitchen, this mochi requires the help of bees. After the mochi is prepared, it is left out in the open for honey bees to "eat". As the bees eat at the mochi, they leave behind distinct honey that enhances the flavor of the mochi, making it a popular exotic desert.

Traditional honey hives have been improved as well. Though they were symbiotic before, extracting honey from bee hives was an extremely painstaking task that was uncomfortable for the bees. In order to obtain the honey, the bees had to be removed from the hive to isolate the honey combs. Now, an Australian honey beekeeper has developed a revolutionary hive that is able to extract honey from a beehive like a sink. There is no more need to remove the bees from the hive to obtain honey.

Though honey bees are exactly pet material, there are more ways where honey bees can be more easily included in our society. 

Omnivore's Dilemma No. 3

For this time's blog post, I read the chapter titled The Consumer, A Republic of Fat. What's it about? You guessed it, people and fat.

He starts off by bringing us back to the 1900's when corn first started to become mass produced to a point of surplus. Farmers had managed to produce more corn than people could eat. To try to maximize profits and minimize waste, the excess corn was turned into corn whiskey. This surge of corn whiskey dropped prices, making whiskey extremely cheap and affordable. Everyone started to buy pints of whiskey to drink at every meal. Just as we drink soda, people back then drank whiskey. And rightfully so due to the affordability and abundance. Though the two drinks are entirely different, they're major ingredient is still the same: corn.

Coke was the first company that turned to corn as a substitute for sugar. A surplus of corn made high fructose corn syrup cheaper than real cane sugar. Very soon other soda companies adopted high fructose corn syrup as the sugar substitute. And as we all know, high fructose corn syrup is extremely high in calories, making it much easier to expand our waists.

Michael also addresses something similar to what we've discussed in class: a plant's ability to adapt to human needs. Corn has nailed it when it comes to being desired by humans. Just like how apples have appealed to our sweet tooth, corn too has evolved to become a very useful sugar substitute. Everyone already knows about the famous Johnny Appleseed, but perhaps there should be another figure who spreads the joy of corn across the nation. After all, corn is all around us.

Budgets and Cars, Cars and Budgets

Criteria to Focus on When Purchasing a Car

Imagine the look on friends’ faces when you pull up in your brand new Ferrari. Jaws drop as you rev your 500 horsepower turbo-charged engine. Their overwhelming silence says it all as you step out of your car. But too bad that Ferrari doesn’t actually exist because, well, you’re on a budget; a budget of $23,000 to be more specific. Why? Because $23,000 is a proper amount to purchase a car that can suit most needs. Fortunately, I’ve created this simple guide that covers safety, size, number of doors, engine type, and brand to help you decide which car is best for you. While the task of buying a car may be daunting, I'll make it feel like you have just purchased your very own exotic Italian car. 

1) Safety First

The most important element of a car is its safety rating. There’s no reason to drive a machine that can’t handle the average crash. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates every car as either superior, good, acceptable, or poor based on the vehicle’s crashworthiness and crash avoidance and mitigation. Crashworthiness translates to how well the passengers are protected in a collision and crash avoidance and mitigation translates to the technology that can prevent a crash or lessen the severity (Top Safety Picks).

There are many technical details to determine a car’s rating, but long story short, you want a car that is an IIHS Top Safety Pick. Several examples include the Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda 6 and more.

2) Size Matters

There are three sizes to consider under $23,000: sub-compact (Honda Fit), compact (Toyota Corolla), and midsize (Ford Fusion). Size is probably the factor that will cause you the most frustration due to an infinite number of factors. To make this easier, I’ve condensed size into two major categories: comfort and cargo space.

Comfort means how comfortable your passengers will be. As the driver, you should always be comfortable no matter what, and this won't change based on the car. What will change is how much leg and headroom your passengers will have. Generally, a midsize car can seat 5 adult males comfortably, a compact can seat 4 adult males comfortably, and a sub-compact can seat 4 adult males semi-comfortably.

This sub-compact sedan has little legroom for this passenger

The other major factor is cargo space. How much room you need will affect the size of the car. As a college student, it’s safe to assume that you will need to carry your dorm room around with you several times, leaning you towards a car with more cargo space.

Comfort and cargo space tend to be directly proportional. More comfort equates to more cargo space, which equates to a larger car, but unfortunately also a higher price. 

3) Number of Doors

A car's number of doors goes hand-in-hand with size. Most car manufactures offer the options of 2-doors (coupe), 4-doors (sedan), or 5-doors (hatchback). Which one you pick is entirely up to you.

The coupe looks sporty. Having only two doors gives it a sleek, expensive look for a cheap price. However don’t be fooled—it may look like a sports car, but it doesn’t perform like one. The other downside is convenience. Not only are the back seats slightly smaller, but also getting in and out from the back is a hassle because you constantly have to move the front seats.

Depending on your tastes, the hatchback can vary from ugly to sporty. Regardless of the look, the hatchback offers the most cargo space. The trunk becomes a door, combining the trunk space with the back seats. This allows you to stack your things higher than a normal trunk.

The sedan is the typical car you see that is the middle ground of the coupe and hatchback. In other words, you can’t go wrong with the sedan.

4) To Hybrid or not to Hybrid

That is the age-young question: whether 'tis worth it to buy a conventional or a hybrid car. A hybrid seems better on paper with its attractive 40+ mpg, however this doesn’t come without a hefty price. Hybrids are generally more expensive than their conventional engine counterparts, but do end up saving you money. Assuming you drive the average 10,000 miles per year with gas costing $4/gallon, it would require at least six years to cover the $3000 premium price tag (Govind). In the long run, a hybrid would indeed prove to be more economically sound than a conventional car (provided that gas doesn’t become cheaper than water), but that doesn’t mean there won’t be sacrifices.

These sacrifices come in the size of your car and additional packages. As I mentioned before, larger cars cost more. You could purchase a tiny sub-compact Toyota Prius C starting at $19,500, or you could purchase a larger compact Nissan Sentra for the same price. To compare similar sized cars, you can buy a Honda Fit with extra features such as leather seats for the same price as the stock Toyota Prius C.

What I’m saying is that hybrid fuel economy, while great, comes at the cost of size or luxury.

5) Brand Last

Because a car’s job is to get us from point A to point B, you want the car to be able to run as long as possible. Honda has the highest rated engines with only 1 out of 344 engines failing (20 Best Car Brands). The runner up is Toyota with 1 out of 119 engines failing. However this statistic isn’t the deciding factor as to which cars last the longest.

Warranty also plays a major role in car longevity. Each car brand offers different warranties that can make your average engine last longer than Honda’s impressive engines. There are different kinds of warranties such as basic and powertrain. Pay more attention to powertrain because it covers the parts that move your car. Hyundai currently has the best warranty with 10-year/100,000 miles powertrain. The runner up would be Kia, the subsidiary of Hyundai, with the same warranty (Hunting). Even though Hyundai’s engines aren’t on par with Honda’s, the warranty will save you repair money throughout the lifespan of your vehicle.

***

Of course there are many different cars to choose from based on your personal preferences, but my ideal car on a budget would have to be Hyundai’s Elantra sedan. It’s a combination of good fuel economy, IIHS top safety pick, excellent passenger room (as a compact car), good cargo space, and the nation’s best warranty all while saving $3,000 than if I had bought a hybrid. By no means does this car drive like a Ferrari, but I’d like to think that it’s the best car I can get with a budget that fits my needs.

Congratulations! Now that you’ve reached the end, you’re ready to purchase your very own car. I know it’s hard to pick the perfect car, but the most important advice I can leave you with is this: test drive. Learning everything you can about a car means zilch if you don’t like the feel of the car. Drive as many cars as you want, as many times as you want—don’t worry about annoying the salesperson. He will try to shame you for wasting his time test driving, but remember you're the customer, and the customer is always right. So get up...

Work Cited

1. Govind, A. (2013, February 20). Synapse. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://synapse.ucsf.edu/articles/2013/02/20/buying-car-tight-budget.

2. Hunting, B. (n.d.). 9 Best New Car Warranty Programs. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.autobytel.com/car-buying-guides/features/9-best-new-car-warranty-programs-120917/.

3. The 20 Best Car Brads Listed. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/10018481/The-20-best-car-brands-listed.html.

4. Top Safety Picks by year. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/TSP-List. 

Expert Article

Buying Your Car on a Budget

Imagine the look on the valet’s face when you throw him the keys to your brand new Ferrari. His silence says it all as you walk away. But too bad that Ferrari doesn’t exist because you’re on a budget. Fortunately for you, I can help guide you through the daunting task of buying a car to make it feel like you’ve just purchased an exotic Italian car.

1) Lease or Purchase

There are many factors that influence your decision of whether you will lease or purchase your first car, but because this is for those entering college on a budget, the best option is to purchase the car. This way you own something. There’s some math involved that deals with opportunity cost, but let’s disregard that as a college student.

Now that purchasing a car is your decision, you may be wondering if you should buy a brand new car or a recently used car. But I’ll come back to this point at the end as it isn’t make or break. 

2) Safety

The first and most important element of a car is its safety rating. There’s no reason to drive a machine that can’t protect you through the average crash. The IIHS, or Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, rates every car on a scale of superior, good, acceptable, and marginal or poor based on the vehicle’s crashworthiness and crash avoidance and mitigation. Crashworthiness translates to how well the passengers are protected and crash avoidance and mitigation translates to the technology that can prevent a crash or lessen its severity. There are numerous technical details to determine a car’s rating, but long story short, you want a car that is an IIHS Top Safety Pick. 

3) Size

When looking at the size, there are three sizes to consider under $25,000: sub-compact (Honda Fit), compact (Toyota Corolla), and midsize (Ford Fusion). Size is probably the factor that will cause you the most frustration due to an infinite number of factors. To make this easier, I’ve condensed size into two major factors: comfort and cargo space. Comfort means how comfortable your passengers will be. As the driver, you should be comfortable no matter what, and this won't change based on the car. What will change is how much leg and head room your passengers will have. The other major factor is cargo space. Every car has different trunk sizes, and depending on how much room you need will affect the size of the car. Comfort and cargo space tend to be directly proportional. More comfort equates to more cargo space which equates to a larger car and also a higher price. 

4) To Hybrid or not to Hybrid

Probably the least important of your worries when buying a car on a budget.The age young question of whether a hybrid or conventional car is worth it. A hybrid seems better on paper with it’s attractive 40+ mpg, however this doesn’t come without a hefty price. Hybrids are generally more expensive than their conventional engine counterparts. The savings in fuel are not worth the premium price tag. Unless fuel prices shoot up to. Looking strictly at cost, buying a conventional engine is the way to go.   $700, $1,206 AT $3.50/gal, you would be saving ~$500 annually assuming 10,000 miles per year. This would require at least 6 years to cover the $3000 premium price tag. In the long run, a hybrid would indeed prove to be more economically sound than a conventional car provided that gas doesn’t become cheaper than water.

5) Brand

Similar to Size, there are many factors to consider when looking at the brand of a car. Because a car’s job is to get us from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time, the car needs to be able to run as long as possible. Honda has the highest rated engines with only 1 out of 344 engines failing. The next closest company would be Toyota at 1 out of 119 engines falling. However these statistics aren’t the deciding factor as to which car will last the longest. Warranty also plays a huge role. Each car brand offers different warranty’s that can make your average engine last longer than Honda’s impressive engines. There are different kinds of warrantys such as powertrain and blah blah. Powertrain is the most important because it covers the parts that causes your car to move. Hyundai currently has the best warranty with 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain. The runner up would be, Kia, the subsidiary of Hyundai. 

Omnivore's Dilemma No. 2

Previously I read Michael's chapter on fast food and how corn plays a major role in producing fast food. This week, I decided to back track and learn more about corn itself. I've always known how widely produced corn is, but I never understood why. Michael proceeds to explain that in 1850, consumers cared immensely about quality. When purchasing corn, the corn is sold in bags that has the farm's name written on it, sort of like advertisement for the farm. If the corn is good, consumers will buy more from that farm. However in 1856, the Chicago Board of Trade instituted a grading system with No. 2 being high quality. Now consumers didn't care about the farm itself, but only cared about how much corn they could buy. This led farmers to favor the "quality of sheer quantity" which created the corn surplus that we have today. And according to Michael, whenever there is an excess of biomass in nature, creatures will step forward and consume it. These 'creatures' led to corn-fed cows and the production of ethanol and high-fructose corn syrup with humans being the consumers and etc. This new food chain, so to speak, created the high percentage of corn in the (fast) food that we eat today.

Omnivore's Dilemma No. 1

I agree with Michael Pollan when he says that fast food is sometimes comfort food. It’s not that chicken nuggets are necessarily the classic examples of comfort food that I agree with, rather it’s the idea that eating fast food as a kid has created a nostalgic effect. I didn’t eat Mc Donald’s often as a kid and whenever my grandparents took me, it was (almost) like going to Disneyland. The food was great and there was even a playground I could run around in. Looking back on my childhood though, I’m glad that my parents restricted the amount of fast food because it is quite unhealthy.

I’m also relieved that he didn’t fill the chapter with negative statements of fast food being the cause of obesity in America. Instead he talked about the agricultural and economic side to fast food. He mentioned specifically the corn content in the food. Even though it seemed like he was eating chicken nuggets, he was consuming mostly corn. I’ve never read the ingredients in fast foods simply because I know they’re terrible for human beings, but I’m shocked at the high percentage of corn that comprises a fast food meal.