12A Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

The segment of people I am focusing on is University of Florida students who travel to campus each day for their classes and other obligations and need a place to park their car or scooter in a timely and convenient manner.

The three people that I interviewed include two current students and one recent graduate from the last spring semester. At first, I was unsure whether I could include the recent graduate, as his graduation may imply that he no longer has this need. However, he said that he still frequents campus to see people and participate in Intramural sports at Southwest Rec Center because he bought an alumni membership. He said that since his graduation, he still has problems with parking on campus because he no longer has a decal that he can use to even park on the outskirts of campus. He noted that one of the only places to park on campus that are truly available to anyone is the Reitz garage, and it is not very close to Southwest Rec and is usually very full. He said that the first thing he does when he knows he is going to campus and wont be able to park is to see if he can carpool with a friend that is also going to play intramurals but has a UF decal since they have not graduated.

The other two people face this problem differently and more severely. These people are faced with parking on campus every day to get to classes. One thing I found interesting was that one of the people I interviewed said that if she knows she is going to struggle to find parking, she takes the bus, which bothers her because she pays a lot of money to have a parking decal on campus. However, she does not have a better option because she does not want to risk being late to her obligations if she cannot find parking. Another interesting thing that came up in the interview process is that one person said that when they cannot find parking, they ask their older brother where they might be able to find parking or a parking lot that has lifted their restrictions because her brother has more experience with UF campus parking than she does.  

I think this segment is certainly aware that they have the need, however I do not think their information search methods are all that reliable. For example, asking a friend or sibling for advice on where to park may work sometimes, but it is definitely not guaranteed to work and in a time sensitive situation it would not be the ideal method of finding a solution.

11A Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You.

I am a 20-year-old sophomore student at the University of Florida. I am pursuing an undergraduate degree in business management here at Heavener School of Business. I consider myself very driven, independent, self-motivated, and hard working. I have had many experiences ranging from volunteer work, to paid part time jobs, to involvement in organizations across campus. My experiences have given me many skills that I can apply to the world of entrepreneurship, such as the ability to cooperate and work on a team. I am also skilled in organizing tasks in a team setting and usually feel personally responsible for partial leadership for the groups I am in. My aspirations are to work in a management position where I can exercise my skills and sense of leadership.

2) What are you offering to customers?

I am suggesting the implementation of more parking structures on campus for students to be able to travel to campus and not have to worry about parking. This would include more garages similar to the Reitz, and the inclusion on indicators of available spaces at the garages so that students are not spending their time looking for a spot that is not vacant.

3) Who are you offering it to?

The group of people that I am offering this to are people who travel to the University of Florida campus and need a place to park. This is mainly directed at students who are offered very limited parking spaces and can only purchase decals with restrictions. However, this can also apply to faculty who do not have the parking space they need, and general visitors to the campus for things like sporting events.

4) Why do they care?

People who park on campus already have to pay. Students and faculty have to pay for decals, visitors have to pay to park in garages like the Reitz. However, people are paying for these services and not even being able to use them because there is not enough parking spaces, so the incentive to utilize this business venture is ensured because people are already paying for this.

5) What are your core competencies?

This idea is vital and is set apart from others because as of right now there are no steps being taken towards a solution. There is no talk of furthering the parking spaces available for students, just a lot of complaining about the lack of parking. The University of Florida is garnering national attention, which is only increasing the amount of people visiting the school and needing to park.

I do believe that these elements fit together, as there is a need for this problem, a lot of discussion regarding this problem within the group of people who need it, and ideas that could solve the problem. However, I do think the drawback is that this would be a very large project to take on, and it would be hard to actually set the project in motion aside from people verbally agreeing with it.

10A Elevator Pitch No. 1

Elevator Pitch 1 on campus parking

9A Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Who: There are many people who do not have the need of additional campus parking despite the fact that they share a lot in common with people who do have the need. In general, the people with the need are University of Florida attendees who need to be able to travel to their classes and arrive on time with no impediments. However, there are many people who travel to the university and do not face this issue. For example, students who walk, bike, or skateboard to class to avoid parking at all. Another group of people who are outside the boundaries of the need are people who have decals that allow for better parking spaces, such as red 1.

What: There are a lot of aspects of campus parking that could distinguish certain needs from other. For example, is struggling to find parking on a football game day the same need as struggling to find parking in order to get to class on time? I would argue that it is not, because it is a different set of people that face these needs, and the consequences of not satisfying the needs are very different as well.

Why: I would say the cause of the need regardless of whether or not the person is inside or outside the boundary is the same. The cause all goes back to the fact that there is a limited amount of parking, there are only certain decals people can get, and there is strictly enforced parking rules.


Inside the boundary:

Who – people who travel to the university and need a place to park

What – a solution for the lack of parking available for people traveling to the university

Why – there are only a limited number of spots, there are strict parking rules, and there are a lot of people traveling to the university on a daily basis between students, faculty, and visitors.


Outside the boundary:

Who – people who do not come to the university at all, and people who travel to the university in other ways than a car or scooter such as a bus, walking, bicycle, or skateboard. Also people who travel to the university when parking is not an issue, such as strictly at night or on the weekends when most parking restrictions are lifted.

What – the need is not additional parking on campus, or even any parking at all as they do not utilize parking spots.

Alternate explanations – these individuals realize there is a problem and avoid this issue on purpose.


For the interviews I tried to find people who do not have the need for additional campus parking because they have found ways to get around that issue.

1. In my first interview I spoke to someone I know who uses a one wheel skateboard to travel to and from classes. He really enjoys this solution, as he said that it is efficient because the skateboard can go over 20 miles per hour, and since that is the speed limit on campus, driving a car or a scooter wouldn’t even be more beneficial in terms of speed. He also noted that the one wheel skateboard has a battery life that can take him up to 8 miles on a charge, and in basically every case, he would never be going further than that in one day just to travel between classes. Because of his investment in the one wheel skateboard (which he notes was a rather lofty one, and therefore a downside to this alternative method of travel) he does not have the need for campus parking despite being a University of Florida student.

2. The next person I interviewed is a University of Florida senior who uses a bicycle to travel basically everywhere. He said that he has been doing this since his freshman year and does not have a car or scooter at all in Gainesville. When asked if he considered this method an efficient alternative to driving, he said he does think so in terms of on campus parking. He said that because he does not have to struggle to park anywhere, there is no risk in taking his bicycle as long as he plans far enough ahead and is aware of how far he has to go before he leaves. He did note though, that in terms of all else besides parking directly on campus, a bicycle is not ideal. For visiting friends at their apartments or going to restaurants or stores, he would prefer to use a regular vehicle.

3. I interviewed a junior student who lives on campus and has a red 1 parking decal. A red 1 decal is for upperclassmen that live on campus. I chose to interview this student because when I was a freshman living on campus, I had a red 3 decal and was constantly wishing I could park in a red 1 decal spot. This made me wonder whether or not the red 1 student actually have an easier time parking as it appeared when I was a freshman. This student commented that she agrees that she has an easier time finding parking as an upperclassman living on campus because there are not very many people in this situation. She also commented that many students she knows that are upperclassmen and live on campus do not have a vehicle, which is why they live on campus in the first place, so that everything is very close.

4. I interviewed a friend of mine that does not have a car or a scooter and chooses to walk everywhere around campus. This student lives at Social28, which is in a pretty good location when it comes to walking around campus. She noted that it is slightly inconvenient having to walk to her sorority house twice a day, 5 days a week in order to eat lunch and dinner. She can confirm however that she has no need at all for campus parking because she does not have a vehicle, except when she rides with a friend somewhere and then the friend cannot find parking on campus.

5. The final student I interviewed is a freshman sibling of one of my friends. This student’s parents will not let him have a car in Gainesville until his junior year and thinks that scooters are too dangerous. This student chooses to take the bus as his primary mode of transportation and opts to stay around campus during the day even if he has hours of free time because he says it beats having to catch a bus back home just for an hour. Presently, this student does not have the need of additional campus parking but agreed that when he is able to have his car with him in Gainesville, he will have this need.

8A Solving the Problem

In my previous post I discussed the prevalence of drunk or distracted driving. Through my interviews it was clear to me that most people have either committed these behaviors before or know someone who has. It was also a common answer that most of the people doing these behaviors are young, even as young as high school level. Because this problem is about the behavior of people, it is difficult to offer solutions, because no matter what you offer people will still decide whether or not they want to use it. There are already many products are services in place to combat this. For example, Uber is great for people who need a ride home after the bar, but people choose not to use it. Snapchat has a filter that comes up if you take a picture or video going a certain speed that says, “don’t snap and drive!” These are all great, but they don’t guarantee anything. I think greater awareness at the high school and college level will help this matter greatly, so young people can understand the dangers of this behavior. I think a function on a cell phone could help drunk driving, such as the ability to blow into a port on the cell phone to give yourself a blood alcohol test. As far as distracted driving, because the action is literally committed with a cell phone, this seems easier to combat. I think cell phones should be able to detect if you are the one in the drivers seat, and then if you are traveling above a certain speed (similar to the Snapchat design) your phone simply wont let you text, perhaps only make phone calls. Some cars that have touch screens and technology like that already have this function so that the driver cannot mess with the touch screen while driving, so I think it could be feasible to add this to a cell phone.

7A Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

1. Drunk or distracted driving has been an issue for a long time, but with the increasing popularity of cellphones, distracted driving in the form of texting while driving is increasing.

2. The Who: People of all ages that have motor vehicles.

The What: They are driving drunk or distracted.

The Why: People are sometimes careless and are not considerate of how their actions affect other people.

3. People not included in the who that are related to this issue are those who do not personally drive but have been affected by someone driving drunk or distracted. For example, people who have been personally involved in an accident or has lost someone close to them because of this type of accident.


Ryan Jungels, 22 years old

1. How great of a problem do you think drunk or distracted driving is from 1-10 (1 being not a problem, 10 being a great problem)

- In terms of how severe the problem is when it is occurring, I say 10. This action can cost the lives of not only the people committing the action, but also innocent people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

2. Have you ever driven drunk or distracted? If so, why?

- I have driven distracted before. I do not do it frequently but when I was a little bit younger, I used my phone sometimes to reply to text messages when I drove. I did this probably because I didn’t understand the dangers or because it was a time sensitive matter.

3. Do you know anyone else who has driven drunk or distracted, or been affected by this driving?

- I know a lot of people who do this, yes. As a recent college graduate, I am familiar with the culture of college campuses and how frequently young adults are drinking. I have heard of many people who leave the bar and drive themselves home instead of calling an Uber or other ride because they do not want to have to pay for it. I’m not sure if they still do this, but the 50% off Uber rides from 9 pm – 3 am they used to have were a great idea to help combat this.

4. Why do you think people drive distracted?

- Like I mentioned earlier about drunk driving, I think it is partially because they don’t want to pay for a ride or potentially bother someone else by asking for a ride home. As far as texting and driving, as I admitted, sometimes people think their communications are more important than driving to the next destination unscathed.


Tina Jungels, 60 years old

1. How great of a problem do you think drunk or distracted driving is from 1-10 (1 being not a problem, 10 being a great problem)

- Definitely a 10. I get very scared thinking about people texting and driving and drinking and driving is even worse. With four children (who are now adults), I have to constantly emphasize to them how important it is to not drive after they are drinking, even if they do not think they have been drinking that much.

2. Have you ever driven drunk or distracted? If so, why?

- As far as drinking and driving, I don’t think I have, but if so it would have been sometime in my 20’s when the dangers of drinking and driving were not so prevalent as they are today. I do not use a cell phone ever while I drive.

3. Do you know anyone else who has driven drunk or distracted, or been affected by this driving?
- I hear stories of many young people these days using their phones while they are driving. Within the last year or so I read in the newspaper that a high school student was texting and driving and accidentally hit and killed a 90-year-old man outside of his assisted living facility. Things like this are so tragic and could be avoided so easily.

4. Why do you think people drive distracted?

- I think for the most part, distracted driving is something that young people do. Drinking and driving could be people of any age. This happens because people think that they will never be the one who gets in a crash because of this behavior.


Page Pannill, 20 years old

1. How great of a problem do you think drunk or distracted driving is from 1-10 (1 being not a problem, 10 being a great problem)

- I would say it is about a 5. I know there are a lot of people who do these things, but I would argue that not the majority of people who have a vehicle participate in this behavior.

2. Have you ever driven drunk or distracted? If so, why?

- I have yes, when I was in high school. In high school in the city I am from, it was very rare to use uber. After going to college in Orlando, I was surprised to see how many college students do in fact use uber, basically everyone if they do not have a designated driver to remain sober for the entirety of their event.

3. Do you know anyone else who has driven drunk or distracted, or been affected by this driving?

- I know a lot of people from my hometown that have driven drunk after they go to local bards.

4. Why do you think people drive distracted?

- The main people I notice doing this in my hometown are the ones who never went to a big college town. If they had, I think they would see the prevalence and importance of using uber. I also think that they drive drunk after going out locally because they are comfortable with the very familiar roads and the short drive.


Sarah Mattson, 20 years old

1. How great of a problem do you think drunk or distracted driving is from 1-10 (1 being not a problem, 10 being a great problem)

- I give distracted or drunk driving an 8/10

2. Have you ever driven drunk or distracted? If so, why?

- I have used my cell phone while driving, although I do understand it is certainly not good behavior. I use it to answer if my parents are texting or calling me because I don’t want them to be worried that I don’t answer. That seems pretty ironic though because it is endangering my safety and the safety of others to text while I drive.

3. Do you know anyone else who has driven drunk or distracted, or been affected by this driving?

- Yes, I was in a car accident in high school when my friend was driving drunk. I was not drunk and offered to drive, but she declined and since she didn’t seem drunk, I let her do it. Within the first three minutes of the ride she drove right off the road and smashed into a tree. Luckily, we were both unharmed, but I emphasize the luck part.

4. Why do you think people drive distracted?

- I don’t really know why they do. I can’t explain why I pick up the phone when I hear a text message come in even when I know I’m driving. I know the dangers, so I guess it is just due to a lapse in judgement.


Ashley Jungels, 24 years old

1. How great of a problem do you think drunk or distracted driving is from 1-10 (1 being not a problem, 10 being a great problem)

- 10

2. Have you ever driven drunk or distracted? If so, why?

- When I was say, 16-18 I probably did a few times, yes. When you are in high school and it seems like everyone is doing it, sometimes you don’t think about the dangers or hurting other people.

3. Do you know anyone else who has driven drunk or distracted, or been affected by this driving?

- I certainly know other people who have driven drunk, yes. Even at 24 years old, I know people who used to drink and drive in high school that still do.

4. Why do you think people drive distracted?

- They think their own messages are the most important thing in that moment, or they think their time/money that would be spent on a cab or an uber would be wasted since they could just drive themselves home. I certainly think there needs to be greater emphasis on safe driving, and as I just became a mother I worry when I think about how prevalent of an issue this is.



Many of these interviews were interesting, and a lot of people had different stories to tell. It seems that everyone ranks the problem pretty severe on a scale from 1-10, although one person did make a good point that the majority of people are not drinking or texting while they drive. I find it alarming that most people admitted to driving drunk or distracted at some point in their lives, and even if they didn’t they said they know someone who has or has been affected. I found a common trend that people suggest they did these actions or other people did these actions when they were younger, such as high school level. This leads me to believe that emphasis on changing the ways of younger people will help solve this problem.

6A Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

1. Economic Trend: Baby Boomers Aren’t Retiring

a. Where I found it: https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666

b. Why an opportunity exists: The article explains that in a recent survey, half of the people surveyed between the ages of 45 and 75 had to delay their retirement because they were no longer prepared because of the recent recession in 2008. People are transitioning into semi-retirement instead of truly retiring. This causes a problem because the older generation are not retiring and freeing up jobs for the new generation.

c. Prototypical customer: The prototypical customer is a new college graduate who is looking to begin a career. Because of the “retirement crisis,” new generations are seeking higher level degrees, or using new technology to create jobs that were not available to baby boomers.

d. Relatively easy or difficult to exploit: I’d say this is relatively hard to exploit if the trend of baby boomers not retiring does not change. The only way for new college graduates to take up typical careers is for the opportunities to open.

e. Why I see the opportunity: I see this opportunity because in two short years I will be a recent college graduate and will be presented with the task of starting a career. If this is difficult because of the retirement crisis then I will also be forced to figure out a different, less main-stream career.


2. Economic Trend: The Economy is in the Expansion Phase

a. Where I found it: https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666
b. Why an opportunity exists: This article explains that the cycles of the economy change frequently, and the 2008 recession was a major setback for the economy. It took seven years for the economy to recover, and things like the U.S. debt crisis and government shutdowns slow economic progress. However, now the economy is in the expansion phase, and then it will reach the peak phase.

c. Prototypical customer: Someone who has a business idea or wants to begin an entrepreneurial endeavor would be the prototypical customer.

d. Relatively easy or difficult to exploit: the difficulty of this would depend on the type of business, but in general it would probably be difficult to exploit.

e. Why I see the opportunity: I think this is a pretty common opportunity, I think I noticed it because I know several business owners and can see how the recession and subsequent improvement of the economy affected them.


3. Regulatory Change: Protection for First Responders

a. Where I found it: https://www.workcompwire.com/2018/11/partner-post-4-current-regulatory-trends-and-what-they-mean-for-pharmacy-management/

b. Why an opportunity exists: Recently there has been extra attention and coverage for first responders who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Because of the increased awareness, there has been more people distinguishing post-traumatic stress from other disorders, and if there is care that is more specifically tailored to a person then they are more likely to seek help.

c. Prototypical customer: The prototypical customer is someone like a first responder or a military veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress and wants to seek help.

d. Relatively easy or difficult to exploit: I think this would be relatively easy to exploit if there are people willing to seek help for their problems and now evidently there are people willing and eager to help these problems.

e. Why I see the opportunity: I see this opportunity because I know that there are many people who suffer from post-traumatic stress but don’t know how to seek help for themselves. I also agree that sometimes people are less inclined to seek help if the help may not be specific to their needs.



4. Regulatory Change: Medical Marijuana

a. Where I found it: https://www.workcompwire.com/2018/11/partner-post-4-current-regulatory-trends-and-what-they-mean-for-pharmacy-management/

b. Why an opportunity exists: Marijuana is legal for medical purposes in 30 states, despite the fact that the Drug Enforcement Agency still considers it a “schedule 1” drug. In the states where it is legal, the requirements people must meet in order to be prescribed marijuana are getting wider and wider.

c. Prototypical customer: The prototypical customer is someone who wants or needs to use marijuana as a means of medicine such as for pain relief.

d. Relatively easy or difficult to exploit: I think this is relatively easy to exploit, as there are many people who are eager to use marijuana medicinally and even more people who want to use it recreationally. People are opening up dispensaries all over in places where it is legal.

e. Why I see the opportunity: This article made me think of a family friend I know who has struggled with opioid addiction. In the article it talks about how medical marijuana can be used as a means of trying to break someone’s opioid addiction, and that leads me to believe there is a large group of potential customers.

5A Identifying Local Opportunities

The following articles are from the Sarasota Herald Tribune 

1. Nurse vacancy report four years out of date | Guide used to determine nurse vacancies and recruiting was last produced in 2015

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASHTB%21Sarasota%2BHerald-Tribune%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0907%21September%2B07&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/175D5A63588344C0
This article explains that a report that shows how many nurses are needed in Florida, and where they are needed, has not been updated since 2015. This report is put out by the Florida Center for Nursing (FCN). The report included information from six health care industries, detailing numbers of employees and the difficulty experienced in the recruitment process. However, four years ago, the facilities that were providing the information to the Florida Center for Nursing stopped, and now the FCN cannot estimate turnover, vacancy rates, or estimated job growth. The article explains that there is a statewide shortage of nurses, and many nursing positions are being filled with temporary employees.

The problem here is that many health care facilities stopped providing data regarding their employed nurses, their vacancies for nurses, or the difficulty they found in recruiting qualified nurses. This data collection stopped four years ago, so the latest information is very outdated because so much can change in four years. This is a problem for prospective nurses, as they are not able to see future job growth, and they are unable to find what areas are in the most need for nurses. This also is a problem for healthcare facilities, because if nurses do not know which areas need them, then some healthcare facilities will have to go without nurses who have “advanced education such as bachelor’s and doctorate degrees,” this is a major problem for everyone in the state who may need medical attention, as advanced education leads to “improved health outcomes for patients.”



2. How the Manatee school district ruined FSU football
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASHTB%21Sarasota%2BHerald-Tribune%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0906%21September%2B06&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/175CB0828102AEA8

This article details a chain of events to explain FSU Football’s bad games as of recent. Last year, FSU did not play in a bowl game for the first time in 36 years. During their first game of this season, they were up by 18 points, were facing a freshman quarterback, were playing at home, and still lost to Boise State. Their coach, Willie Taggart, “is a 52-58 career coach who has never won a conference championship or a bowl game.” Under him, FSU had its first losing season in over 40 years. This article claims that FSU’s losing season can be traced back to the Manatee County School district because they fired Hall of Fame high school coach Joe Kinnan in 2014. Here’s why: FSU’s current coach (Willie Taggart) was coaching USF in 2013, and USF went 2-10. He called in his own old high school coach, Joe Kinnan, to help him. Kinnan, who had been recently fired, agreed, and lead USF to a school-record of 11 wins. The fame was given not to Kinnan, but to Taggart, who was then recruited for more money and better schools, originally going to Oregon and now to FSU. To support that it was Kinnan who lead the bulls to victory, the article explains that Kinnan had 290 career wins and five state titles as a coach at Manatee High.

The problem here is that FSU football is going downhill fast under the coaching of Willie Taggart. This is a problem for FSU football, and all their fans who pay to go to their games to see them win. If they continue playing poorly and having losing seasons, they will lose some of their fan base which means they will lose some of the revenue that football games bring in. It is also a problem, because if FSU fires Taggart, they still have to pay him 85% of his contract (aka $17 million), which they could have used to pay a coach that will actually lead their team to victory.



3. Sarasota: Playground for the privileged?

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASHTB%21Sarasota%2BHerald-Tribune%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0905%21September%2B05&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/175C5C262D9E44B8

This article is a commentary by a Sarasota resident regarding something that happened in town recently that left him a little shaken up. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune ran a story recently headlined “Big Art.” The story explained the $1 billion of art and cultural projects going up around Sarasota County that is supposed to “transform” Sarasota. The unsettling part is this: the story ran on the same day as another column by this same author who told about the tragic death of a homeless street musician who had been a staple on Main Street Sarasota for the last several decades. The author writes, “Charles Canterbury died alone on a patch of grass in J.D. Hamel Park — about equidistant from … the proposed $67 million expansion of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.” This situation highlights the socioeconomic divide in Sarasota that is only getting wider as millions of dollars are poured into the arts and more expensive tourist excursions. The author made it noted that they are a devout fan of the arts, as the arts is what drew them to Sarasota in the first place. The author poetically writes, regarding the rampant trans-generational poverty, racism, and trauma that “while everything may be beautiful at the ballet, there’s a lot that’s not so celebratory outside the theater.”

The problem emphasized in this article is that Sarasota county has citizens struggling with poverty and homelessness, but they are still contributing millions of dollars to expand tourist attractions and the fine arts. Although this is a worthy cause, there are other causes that are being totally neglected. The problem is for those 38% of Sarasota County residents that live check to check and cannot afford basic housing, childcare, food, or transportation. The problem is also that those that are not plagued with monetary struggles are ignoring the situation. The problem is that in Sarasota, where there are many who are fabulously wealthy and also many who have nothing at all, it is easy to be oblivious to the struggles of other people if those people are not in your immediate environment.



4. When a ‘joke’ isn’t funny

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASHTB%21Sarasota%2BHerald-Tribune%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0903%21September%2B03&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/175BB35FDA09C968
I found this article particularly interesting because I personally know the people discussed. In this article, the author is upset about a joke that was made that she did not think was appropriate. The Sarasota County Commission had a meeting regarding a potential Mental Health Care District that would raise money to support community wide mental health services. Its a potentially good idea, and a topic that should be harmless, but it was not. The commissioners agreed there was a need, but then toward the end of the discussion, Commissioner Nancy Detert said “Anytime you create something new, you’ve created a new bureaucracy. They need a building, they need staffing…” — here she looked toward Moran and Chair Charles Hines — “and I don’t want to insult the gentleman, but you all need a secretary to send an email, you can’t send it by yourselves… .” This comment was not met well, as Charles Hines was in shock and called Detert a “snowflake” (a political insult used for sensitive people, typically aimed towards liberals according to the article). The author is upset because in 2019 there should not be these gender stereotypes being used as retaliation to a group that has been marginally more privileged.

The problem here is that a female made a joke that was not taken well, regarding how men always need a woman secretary to accomplish their job. This statement causes a few problems, one attacking men saying they are incapable of doing their work on their own, and another assuming that women are typically only secretaries and never the one in charge. Continuing this stream of thought simply perpetuates the problem. This kind of commentary ending the discussion also causes a problem because it diverted the attention from the need for mental health funding, and brought the attention to a petty argument between adults that should have been avoided in the first place.



5. White teachers, principals say they feel unprepared to serve diverse students

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASHTB%21Sarasota%2BHerald-Tribune%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0902%21September%2B02&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/175B5EC36F49E560

This article contends that the majority of teachers and principles currently employed are not well prepared to lead students. This is due to a wide racial difference, being that 80% of principles and teachers are white, and more than half of the US’s students are not white. In a survey, 15,000 teachers and 3,000 principles claimed that their “program [did not] prepare [them] to work with black, Latino, or low-income students.” This means that their formal training for their positions, which in most cases is at least a bachelors degree from an accredited university, has not prepared them. Further, 39% of principals and teachers considered themselves “completely unprepared” or “mostly unprepared.”

This is a serious problem when you consider how much relationships between teachers affect students and their performance in school. If a student felt their teacher didn’t understand them or didn’t like them, it would be devastating to their attitude and grades. The article says that “racial congruence is linked to positive outcomes for students,” which shows that their needs to be more diversity among principles and teachers so that all students feel they have someone similar to them that they can talk to if need be. I think this is especially important because the students that are from low-income homes or other situations that would already have a tendency to cause struggles for the students are the ones that need to see a familiar and similar face the most at school.

4A Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe that an opportunity exists regarding University of Florida campus parking. I originally thought of this because when I think of some of the problems I experience, for example some I put on my bug list, they revolve around campus parking (or the lack thereof). When I was a freshman, I had a car on campus, and got several tickets because of the strict and unclear rules of campus parking. I began taking the bus frequently, it’s a great system don’t get me wrong, however it still has its flaws as well. I ended up buying a scooter, which seems like the most ideal option, but even still, parking is limited and very crowded.

The unmet need comes from the lack of enough parking, and the rules regarding what decals students can purchase based on their living situations. For example, I don’t even buy a UF decal for my car because the only decal I am eligible for as an off-campus student is designed to park on the outskirts of campus and take the bus. The people who have this need are all UF students, from those who do not have a car or scooter and need to take the bus, to those with a car with no where to park, to those with a scooter that park in extremely crowded scooter lots. Not only UF students, but also UF faculty, as I recall my freshman year Gen-Psych professor complaining about finding parking near her lecture halls, and all the students being shocked that even staff had issues with parking.

I’m sure that this issue has varied over the years, as student body has varied in size since UF’s origins and cars and parking and certainly scooters were not an issue in the early years of UF’s history. However, in the years that my siblings have gone to UF and now myself, I know this has certainly been an issue. Right now, people are walking, biking, or skate boarding to class as one way to meet this need. They are also buying scooters, since scooter parking on campus is available for off campus students while car-parking is not. I’m basically sure that an opportunity to expand UF campus parking exists, it is just a difficult solution to find. The prototypical customer is a UF student, either by building a large garage or parking lot with a new decal, or by having more parking for each decal color therefore encouraging people to buy more decals.

I asked three friends the following questions regarding this.


Lexi Mendes, 3rd year nursing student at UF.

Q. 1. How do you travel on campus? 
I mostly use a scooter, but sometimes I drive my car in the evenings and the weekends when parking is lifted.

Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment? 
When I use my scooter, it often gets scratched and it is very difficult to find parking in the crowded lots, even when the vehicles are the size of a scooter. When I use my car, which I only can certain hours of the day, parking is so limited that you sometimes have to drive around a lot for up to 30 minutes trying to find a spot.


Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it? 
It makes me angry when I can’t find parking and I am in a rush, because the time it is going to take you to find a spot isn’t something you can predict very well. There is not enough parking for the amount of people who have decals. I think if the university put even a fraction of the money they put into sports into decent parking lots we wouldn’t face this problem.

Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots? 
Freshman year I became aware of this problem when I had to walk to all my classes, or sometimes run if they were back to back periods, or else take a 30 minute bus ride to get my car from the commuter lot as this was the only decal available to me.

Q. 5. How long have you had this need?
All 3 years of attending this school.

Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus? 
I can’t really do anything to fix the problem, so all I can really do is leave very early before class in case parking is especially bad. As I can’t be late, this means I’m very early to class when I do find a spot quickly. Being early doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but when you have an 8 am every day I would certainly like to avoid being 30 minutes early if I could. I purchased a scooter to make parking easier for me, and it certainly did, but that has problems as well.

Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need? 

I do not really know how I can help advocate for the need for more parking, and I’m not really satisfied with having to leave early. Many students can not afford to buy a scooter or have to use their student loan money to do so and that does not seem very fair.



Michael Jungels, 3rd year botany student at UF.

Q. 1. How do you travel on campus? 
Right now, I get to my classes by driving my car to the park n ride lot, and then waiting for the bus to take me to campus. From there I walk, or longboard/skateboard to get in between my classes before taking the bus back to my car. I also ordered a one-wheel battery powered skateboard that will be here soon which I will then use predominantly.

Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment?
I park at the park n ride lot on Bledsoe Drive (by Southwest Rec) and there is always parking there, however that’s because it’s a mile away from my actual classes and I then have to use the bus. This is the only kind of decal available to me.

Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it? 
The parking situation is certainly not good, but I also understand that it’s problem with a minimal amount of good feasible solutions. Because of this, I try to make the best of what is provided. For students who live on campus and can purchase the red decal, it probably isn’t so bad. Even more so for the on campus students who are upperclassmen, as they are allowed to get an even better red decal which has parking spaces throughout the center of campus.

Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots? 
I am a transfer student at UF, and this fall is my first semester here. Because of this, I was recently introduced to this problem. I knew parking was going to be a tough situation when my sister sent me instructions that were over a page long on how to use the app for the buses and the park n ride lot. Within the first week, the buses started consistently passing me due to being full every morning. This is completely unpredictable, and I feel there needs to be a better solution besides waking up an hour earlier to make the bus and always ending up 20+ minutes early to class or 5 minutes late. No in-betweens.

Q. 5. How long have you had this need?
I have had this problem for 3 whole weeks now since transferring.

Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus? 
I am not really addressing it, just bypassing the bus situation and parking problem with the one-wheel skateboard I ordered. It is quick, efficient, has an 8 mile battery life, and I will at least enjoy my ride from the same far commuter lot.

Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need? 

I am very satisfied with the prospect of the one-wheel and think it will make my mornings a lot smoother not having to worry about parking.



Ryan Jungels, recent UF graduate 

Q. 1. How do you travel on campus? 
During my undergraduate experience at UF, I traversed campus either by foot or by taking the bus. I did not invest in a scooter, as I already owned a car and felt that it was unnecessary to have multiple motor vehicles to be responsible for and thus have to buy decals for. Looking back on my time at UF, investing in a bicycle would have likely been beneficial.

Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment? 
Having lived in the dorms my freshman year and off-campus every following year, I experienced the difficulty of parking tied to multiple decals. Parking lot space for on-campus students is limited especially for underclassmen, making it inconvenient to travel by car. There would be bouts of time where I wouldn’t move my car for over a week because I knew there would be no parking spaces when I returned. While the park-and-ride lot is sizable, there remains a limited number of spots during the busiest class periods, and limited bus routes from the lot create an inconvenience. 

Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it?   

I feel that the parking environment on campus is quite stressful and could be tremendously improved with the addition of large parking garages open to both on-campus and off-campus students. From a first-hand perspective, limited parking space can hinder students’ timeliness; I feel UF could improve the overall well-being of their students by establishing more options for parking on campus. 

Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots? 
I first became aware of the necessity for additional parking and better decals during my first week of undergrad, in which the Springs Complex residential parking lots were entirely full and I had to park at the end of the fraternity parking lot. While I did find a spot, having to walk 5-10 minutes to my dorm room at night left much to be desired regarding parking. Additionally, the Red decals do not provide any parking close to classes and are almost exclusively used for residential parking; this means that students are forced to find an alternative method of getting to classes. 

Q. 5. How long have you had this need? 
The need for additional, open parking in the center of campus has been present since my first day at UF. Being able to park right next to my classes would have taken out all the extraneous steps currently required to arrive at classes in a timely manner – finding parking in undersized lots as well as arriving to the bus stop early to ensure no routes are missed. Even still, students are sometimes at the mercy of availability, as some buses that pass by park-and-ride are filled with off-campus students. 

Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus? 
To minimize the difficulty associated with limited parking, I enrolled in early class periods. This allowed me to arrive at campus before parking lots were filled and before many students began classes. While this remedied many parking inconveniences for me, this is not an option for students that cannot find availability in early or late class periods. 

Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need?   

Enrolling in early classes had many benefits as well as many drawbacks. Like many other college students, I was absolutely fine with having classes later in the day, as this led to getting more sleep. Having to wake up early to avoid parking conflicts took away my ability to sleep in, though did allow me to finish my daily classes earlier. Ultimately, I am indifferent to the way I approached my parking needs.


Conclusion and Summary

I think that my three interviews confirmed that there is a problem with parking on campus. Everyone agreed that there are limited parking spaces, and for those with a scooter like me, the parking lots are too crowded and can damage your scooter. I found it interesting that everyone has different ways of handling their parking problems. For example, the answers ranged from walking, to bicycling, to buying a scooter, to buying a battery powered skateboard. Some of those are getting rather creative. This causes me to slightly doubt the aforementioned opportunity, because it seems like although the parking situation is stressful, everyone figures out a way to bypass it that works the best for them. The opportunity is certainly still there, because if there was certain parking near classes then a lot of people would abandon their bicycles and their skateboards. I do not believe the opportunity is more accurate simply because like I said, people figure out their own solutions. I believe that entrepreneurs should almost completely adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. For example, if Ronnie offered 100 people his chicken wings before he opened his restaurant and all of them said they taste bad, Ronnie would likely change his recipe or change his idea. An entrepreneur can not see any profit if their expected patrons are not interested in their product or service.

3A - Your Entrepreneurship Story

Had I been asked six months ago if I personally knew any entrepreneurs, I would probably think for a moment before saying I didn’t think so. However, within just a few weeks of this course I realized that I would have answered that way because when I heard the word “entrepreneur” I immediately think of the Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffets of the world, when I should be thinking more of the Ronnie Patels of the world. When I think of the people I know who did things like Ronnie, the list is much longer.

I haven’t dappled much personally in entrepreneurship, but I can think of a few instances. In high school, a group of friends and I wanted to raise money for the International Baccalaureate program we were in, since it was the first year it was established at my high school. To do so, we designed T-shirts, then redesigned them, then redesigned them again to make sure they were good. After, we went around to all the classrooms of IB students and pitched our T-shirt design to the students and teachers, available with whatever your graduation year was, along with the purpose of our endeavors. We were able to get a very good price on them because of buying in bulk, and afterwards had over $400 of “profit” to give back to the IB program. Although it was a very short venture, it was the first steps of entrepreneurial behavior.

I also know a few entrepreneurs in my personal life. My grandmother was an entrepreneur, as she opened and owned a very successful restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina in the 1950’s. She has long since been out of the restaurant business, but she often told stories of the long hours involved and the stress that came from having to be the boss of a staff of people at such a young age and with such little experience. I imagine her struggles would be very similar to that of Ronnie Patel, as he said, you basically have to be married to your business, with little time for anything else. Of course, as a wife and mother of three, that would have been hard for my grandmother.

I also have a friend from home who started his own lawn care business when he was 12. This seems like a difficult feat in itself, and almost just a joke, but it becomes more impressive when you throw in that he is also disabled, suffering from Cerebral Palsy that greatly affects his mobility. Despite everything, he is 20 years old now and serves many of the homes in his area and makes a great income. I have seen his struggles firsthand from spending a great deal of time with him, and one of the hardest parts about his business is finding reliable employees. There is definitely a high degree of persuasion required to convince someone to work 40 hours a week in the unbearable Florida sun for $15-$17 an hour. However, he continues on, and finds help from his friends when he is in a bind with his actual staff. He moves forward, continuing to upgrade his business, and he just recently implemented credit card billing to his patrons. Now they have an option of enrolling in an automatic payment program, so they pay their monthly bill for their lawn care on the first of the month, and it just comes directly out of their accounts. This is much more beneficial for my friend because he had previously been receiving handwritten checks from his customers, some of which he had to all but chase down to get them to pay every month. In addition, he no longer will have to worry about checks bouncing from his customers that enroll in the credit card program.

Ultimately, I enrolled in ENT3003 because it fulfills a major requirement, but I do hope to get a lot of beneficial information from this class. I think that the principles learned in this class can be useful even to someone who is not planning to start their own business, because the qualities that entrepreneurs have are good qualities for any businessman or woman.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/01/27/18/business-mentor-are-you-ready-to-become-an-entrepreneur