The Oracle MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 I VOL. 52 NO. 119
Inside this Issue
A S S T .
Discounts make being a student worth the money. Page 4
Montage
S PORTS USF men’s golf dominates the green in NCAA Regional. BACK
classifieds..............................................7 Crossword.........................................7 sports............................................................8
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
Entrepreneurs expand future of business By Russell Nay
LI F E STYLE
www.usforacle.com
The Index
News.................................................................1 Lifestyle......................................................4 Opinion.......................................................6
N E W S
E D I T O R
Entrepreneurship has always been a strong value in the U.S., one that lends itself to innovation and pushes for new businesses. This innovation in business is invaluable to emerging markets and inventions, such as the growing popularity of 3-D printing. “I think 3-D printing will be like microwaves — there’s going to be one in every house,” said Derek Redmon, a growing entrepreneur and USF alumnus. Last week, President Barack Obama delivered a call to action urging the increased support of entrepreneurship in the U.S. and around the world. He focused on empowering women and youth entre-
preneurs in his administration’s global entrepreneurship programs and elected nine new members to the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship — a group of business leaders committed to helping entrepreneurs in the U.S. through donations and mentorship. “At a time when the world is more interconnected than ever, we’ve got unprecedented opportunities to help more people access capital, resources, networks,” he said. “Entrepreneurship breaks down barriers between cultures, between faiths at a time when we need more than ever the capacity to understand and work across borders.” Entrepreneurship is also a valued force at USF, one which was showcased last month when the USF Entrepreneurship Center
hosted the seventh annual Fintech Business Plan Competition in the Muma College of Business. The competition allowed student startup companies to present their business ideas to prominent leaders in business, like Fred Steube, senior director of emerging technology at Cox Target Media, and Manuel Aguilar, a business banking executive at Regions Financial. The men judged which start-up had the best business plan and which company would be worthy of the $15,000 grand prize. Of the 50 initial applicants and seven finalists, student startup Visualflo ended up taking first place. “It’s been a huge opportunity,” said Redmon, co-founder of Visualflo. “(Visualflo) got introduced to the whole Fintech competition on a whim. We saw the
poster (for the competition) one day … and said, ‘Hey this is going to be good practice for us; we can figure out how to pitch to people’… As we went through the process, we realized we had a pretty good shot.” Not only did the competition allow Visualflo a chance at $15,000, but it also created new connections for the student startup in the form of an additional competition. After winning the Fintech Bussiness Plan Competition, the founders of the winning company were entered into Florida Venture Forum’s eighth annual Early Stage Conference, which took place May 14. Florida Venture Forum is a statewide organization which helps entrepreneurs obtain funding for their startups, as well as develop
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Sigma Kappa new sorority on the block By Christopher Collier A S S T .
N E W S
E D I T O R
The USF sorority community will have a baby sister to add to its family come the fall. In April, the USF Panhellenic
board voted to adopt Sigma Kappa as its newest member on campus. Founded Nov. 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Sigma Kappa is like many sororities on campus. The sisters value friendship,
personal growth, service and loyalty. “It’s not that they were different, it’s more that they actually meshed with the type of community we already have,” said Victoria Hetman, USF senior Panhellenic executive
board member and vice president of recruitment. Last fall, the USF Panhellenic board voted to open for extension. Extension is the process by which a sorority or fraternity joins a university. In other words, USF was inviting a new sorority to campus. After researching the student life at USF and how the university views Greek life, Sigma Kappa decided to make a bid. The national director of extension at Sigma Kappa, Melinda Mettler, explained how the sorority was considered. “We actually made a trip to campus and we really realized that USF was a good fit for Sigma Kappa,” Mettler said. “Any sorority that is interested has to submit a packet of materials, so we submitted a packet of materials to USF’s Panhellenic community.” From the different packets of materials received, only three sororities were chosen as finalists to come to USF in
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