I’ve feared the moment that my summers would be turned over to internships for a long time. I can’t remember for how long I’ve known internships are important – probably for as long as I’ve known about applying for college. My relationship with the idea of internships has gone through stages, with me sliding from thinking that they are silly resume builders to valuable and necessary work experience almost every day. I recently decided that I wanted to pursue some sort of consulting internship, and then felt a drop in my stomach similar to when I decided to apply for Wesleyan. But while there is a large and personalized application process still ahead of me, I don’t want to feel as scared as I did then. With this in mind, I sat down with Asie Makarova ’17 and Taylor Chin ’18 to discuss two of the main myths about internships and what truths, based on their experience, lie beneath.
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Peeking Into Design’s Toolbox: Design, Data, and the Liberal Arts Education
In 1994, a small company called Marvel acquired the rights to sell children’s toys and comic books based off of their characters. During this time they were riding the wave of the comic book boom, a time when comic book consumption and production reached a sudden high. Marvel entered this period of success with high hopes, and followed the lead of other comic book companies to find success. This follow-the-leader approach turned against them when the market collapsed in 1997, forcing Marvel to declare bankruptcy.
All of this happened before Marvel Entertainment was the media power house we know today. Now, it seems as if Marvel is expanding into every corner of product design, churning out movie and TV series with a built in comic book and merchandise market at such a pace that some are calling this Marvel’s Golden Age. This approach is startlingly different than the company’s mantra in 1997, leading many Marvel enthusiasts to ask themselves what has changed between then and now.
The Invisible and Pervasive Power of College Rankings
This article is inspired by and quotes from Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil, a book about O’Neil’s growing disillusionment with the data economy as she learned that data can be used to fuel toxic feedback loops. This post is the first in a series DataCrunch will be doing based on the examples cited in her book.
When preparing to apply to college, one of the first references that people often turn to are lists of college rankings. Almost every newspaper/journal has one – Forbes, Princeton Review, U.S. News. They are a big deal within higher education, with students and parents often referring to the lists as a point of reference when choosing where to apply. But the scope of influence goes beyond that. Alumni and teachers will also look at these lists to decide if they want to apply or donate money. These simple rankings of colleges have become somewhat of a bible in higher education that destines a school to fly or flop – all based on what their ranking is.
Does this sound scary to you? It should. It’s hard to truly understand the amount of power we give to these lists until you step back and look at how far the cycle of impact spans: The process of applying for college has become so much more than just “applying.” High schools will start prepping students their freshman year to be wary of their grades, ranked GPA, AP scores, extracurriculars, volunteer work, honors society, SAT scores, ACT scores…. And when high schoolers are stressing out about how much there is to do, they surely don’t think back to those college rankings that they started reading with your parents for fun. But the truth is that they are the center point of a vicious feedback loop that now controls our higher education system.
Why Are Textbooks So Expensive?
As Drop/Add week comes to an end, students are finishing up one of the most dreaded activities of the semester: Acquiring textbooks. Whether you have already purchased all your textbooks or are heading to Broad Street to pick up the final ones, you will all end the week having dealt with one of the worst cases of sticker shock possible. Because while the mile-long line is annoying, nothing is more horrifying than seeing your purchase total turn to a three-digit number for the nine textbooks your English class requires. Of course, there are cheaper options: you can buy used or rent new/used copies, borrow, lend, sellback after buying, have parents pay, pay part, pay full. But sellback can be difficult and asking parents difficult to navigate, especially if the money situation is tight. And with the prices sitting at a cringe-worthy level no matter what, paying for textbooks has become a serious concern for most college students.
Have you ever wondered why you’re textbooks are so expensive? Even normal books aren’t always cheap, but textbook prices have soared far above that level. There is some disparity in data, but on average it is reported that textbook prices have risen 800% in the last 30 years. And with choosing to not buy a textbook possibly hurting your grade, it poses questions about a rigged college system that favors those with money, even after you get past the golden gates. So what’s causing prices to be so high?
How does Netflix keep getting it right?
In 2013, Netflix came out with Orange is the New Black, one of the first original series to be debuted on an online streaming network. It was an immediate success, and ushered in years of Netflix continuously “getting it right”: House of Cards, Arrested Development, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, numerous Marvel shows, Sense8 – and, most recently, Stranger Things.
What’s fascinating is that there seems to be pattern of streaming video networks coming out with great original shows while cable TV shows are declining in quality and originality. When Stranger Things came out in early July of 2016, Netflix had another hit, and I heard many people saying in awe, “How does Netflix keep getting it right?”
It turns out there’s a secret to their success: Big Data.