Identifying Local Opportunities

Assignment 5A

I chose The Independent Florida Alligator on which I will write my five articles. 

1. “‘Privacy, not confidentiality’: reporting sexual assault at UF” http://www.alligator.org/news/article_0d7cfe9c-0267-11e8-a6a4-8372de07b499.html This story explains a situation in which a freshman at Beaty was sexually violated and unsure of how to continue forward. The student spoke to their RA, who was understandably very worried. The article goes on to discuss the options the victim can take and that these options in themselves are not mandatory to take. The problem presented is that students do not know where to go or who to contact when they have been sexually harassed and believe that they will be forced to take about their trauma. There are only three facilities on campus that deal with this kind of issue, and many students do not know these facilities are available to them.

2.  “About 24 students stained their pants with fake blood. Here’s why.” http://www.alligator.org/news/article_19de8a3e-00b9-11e8-b682-638af34b1985.html In this article, Amanda Rosa, a staff writer for The Alligator, writes about the protest that took place in Turlington Plaza to raise awareness for free, accessible menstrual products on the UF campus. This protest was in response to UF’s student government failing to pass a bill that would make menstrual products free on campus. The problem presented in the article is that feminine products are either not available in restrooms, or are not free. Although the majority of people protesting were female UF students, this problem exists for all females as any female can get their period at any time and not have access to the products they need. The following day after this article came out, The Alligator publish an article the following day stating that they have taken back their initial decision to deny funding and will supply Gator Well with free feminine care products starting in February. This is the link to this article. http://www.alligator.org/news/article_50b478b4-00cf-11e8-b8e4-5fb475f52735.html

3.   “Dinner celebrates different religions in honor of MLK Jr.” http://www.alligator.org/news/article_567300b8-0269-11e8-9ca8-63e70bb4fbee.html This story describes the multicultural lunch that occurred on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The lunch consisted of approximately 65 people of more than six different faiths talking and interacting in a peaceful way. An underlying problem that this lunch gathering is trying to solve is the disrespect that comes from not understanding other religions. In the world we live in today, everyone is so eager to jump at one another’s throats and less eager to listen to what they have to say and in what they believe. Who has the problem? I’d say everyone, for that matter. While some people are generally more willing to listen than others, we all do it at some point or another.

4.   “New SG party to be formed, campaign manager says” http://www.alligator.org/news/article_c33e8696-0263-11e8-91b4-d322710e9913.html This article explains how Janae Moodie recently formed the Challenge Party since she felt Impact was tokenizing minorities. The problem presented in the story is that blacks have been underrepresented and many feel as though they do not have intrinsic value in a social sense, but are merely recognized for the skin color. Although blacks are the ones who suffer from underrepresentation, this issue affects everyone since no one exists in a bubble but instead we exist in relation to everyone and everything else.

5.   “Birds are dying at UF. Here's why.” http://www.alligator.org/news/article_957634f8-ff1a-11e7-b59a-cfb0f863ce08.html This article describes the tragic and bizarre reoccurrence that consists of birds flying into buildings and landing dead on the sidewalk. The story mentions a student who experienced this during a class she was in and found it quite disturbing. Her peers were making insensitive and repulsive jokes to cope with the horror of the situation such as saying “accounting kills.” The problem discussed in detail is that when birds are migrating during this time of year, they head west and often mistake windows for open air to fly in. This issue affects bird lovers, animal lovers in general, and compassionate people alike as we should all care about our ecosystem and the wellbeing of different species. I do appreciate that a professor at UF has developed a mechanism to prevent these deaths from happening.

Forming an Opportunity

Assignment 4A

The belief I’d like to discuss is that having separate laundry and dryer machines is less convenient than having one machine that does both. I discovered this bug through the bug list I created. The unmet need is that people want one machine that does both, as I previously mentioned. This stems from both the convenience factor and the fact that the price can be cheaper when a consumer buys one single washer/dryer machine. The target audience would be adolescent teenagers to older folks and anyone in between. This need has always existed, although it is already present in Europe. People in Europe are buying these washer/dryer machines as they are typical, but for some reason, they are not as popular in the US. I am 100% sure that this opportunity exists because people in Europe have these. The prototypical customer is a man or woman in their mid-thirties and up.

Who is being interviewed?	What is the exact nature of the need?	When do they become aware of the need?	Do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes?	How are they currently addressing their need? Are they satisfied?
Interview #1: Nurit Faierman, my grandmother. Age 73. Travels between New York and Germany.	The need no longer exists on this level since she has already met the need while in Germany. Living in Europe, it is common to have this machine. However, when she goes back to the US, she is no longer satisfied.	She is thankful for the machine every time she uses it.	She experiences the need sometimes, when she travels back to New York occasionally and uses the separate washer and dryer machines.	While in NY, she doesn’t address the need, and instead just longs to have the machine back in Europe. She is not satisfied while in New York but she is satisfied in Europe.
Interview #2: Tamy Faierman, my mother. Age 50. Lives in Florida.	To save space.	As my mom has more kids, she has more laundry and she needs more space in the laundry room.	She experiences the need every day.	She isn’t addressing the need.
Interview #3: Matthew Taub, my father. Age 52. Lives in Florida.	To take up less space.	He becomes aware of it when clothes fall behind the machines.	He experiences the need every day.	He isn’t addressing the need because he can’t find a huge washer/dryer combo that fits the amount of clothes he needs to fit.

Reflection:

From this opportunity, I learned that the American culture should populate the washer/dryer. I did not think of the benefit of saving space. Now that both Tamy and Matthew brought it up, I see the value in it. I was surprised to learn that my dad can’t find a washer/dryer combo that fits a lot of clothes.

Summary:

My original opportunity is still 100% there. I believe that I had a great opportunity to work with in the beginning, so it did not change. However, I do feel that entrepreneurs must adapt their opportunities when necessary. Although the trade-off between adapting and staying firm is a delicate balance, I think it is a must.