WEDNESDAY. APRIL 24. 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Student starts business to change buying habits
By Adam Pracht Kansan staff writer
Amik Ahmad got an early education in business when he had his own lemonade stand as a child. The
Faces in the Crowd
street yelled at him and told him to move or to pay some of his profits to the other boy.
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN
Ahmad said he gave the boy's father the finger and kept selling and making money on lemonade for the rest of the night.
Ahmad, New York junior, is still passionate about business. Last semester, he started his own business, Empire Projects Unlimited, as part of a franchise in partnership with an e-commerce site called Quitstar.com.
"I've never liked it when people told me what to do and I never will." he said.
Ahmad said his business worked by changing the buying habits of people and businesses. The Quixtar.com site offers a range of products — from cars to toilet paper — at reduced prices.
His business tries to buy its products from the Quixit Web site instead of from retail outlets.
Ahmad then tries to show other businesses how to do the same thing. His business receives four percent of the profits from products bought by businesses that his started. This is possible because it cuts out the cost of middle men.
Ahmad said many people thought the business resembled a pyramid scheme until they learned how it worked. He said he was initially skeptical as well when his friend Paul Kopecky, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, sophomore introduced him to the business opportunity. Ahmad said that when he researched the franchise and met others who had been successful in the business, his skepticism about its validity was answered. He found that it was approved by the Federal Trade Commission and had a good record with the Better Business Bureau.
"Most people think it's get rich quick and it's not," Ahmad said. "It's a difficult business."
Amik Ahmad, New York junior runs his own business, Empire Projects Unlimited.
Kopecky said Ahmad had a good sense for business.
ment and seems to have an ability to see around corners when it comes to opportunities," he said.
Ahmad said that he had always been interested in owning his own business.
"He uses really good judg-
He said he had a favorite answer when people asked what he did: "Usually my first answer is that I'm in the business of changing people's lives."
Contact Pracht at apracht@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jeremy Clarkson.
KIMBERLY THOMPSON/KANSAN
Program teaches American culture
Pattamawalai Ruangtragoool, Thailand graduate student, Kimiko Tamura, Japan junior, and Young-oh Yoon, South Korea freshman, help April Matthews, Salina senior, make brownies. The MILK group, which works with international students, met in the Hashinger Hall kitchen Thursday afternoon.
By Maggie Koerth Kansan staff writer
Imagine never having dyded an Easter egg or been to a pot-luck picnic. Several international students got the chance to experience these American traditions thanks to the expansion of the Applied English Center's discussion groups.
Judy Bonifield, director of the program, said the discussion groups had been around for 10 years, but were branching out this year to offer students topic-oriented discussions and excursions into the Lawrence community.
Several of the new groups are lead by April Matthews, Salina senior, Kelly McCoy-McBride, Pittsburg senior, and Erica Jones, Concordia freshman. The three changed the format of their discussion groups to be focused on specific topics: Sunday nights were game nights; Mondays the group focused on sports; Wednesdays focused on current events; Thursdays the group cooked; and Fridays were movie nights.
"It's something the leaders of the specific groups decided to do because they thought it would be more interesting," she said. "In the last semester leaders have been encouraged to come up with more creative ideas and to bring their personal interests to the groups."
"This gives people a chance to practice English and have a good time." she said.
MILK, More Insight to
Lawrence, Kansas, is another new program offered by discussion group leaders.
Bonifield said the group had gone on several field trips this year including an Easter egg dying party and pot-luck and a tour of Free State Brewery.
Nathan Chang, Olathe senior, leader on the MILK program, said it was fun for students because it gave them a nonclassroom environment.
Kimiko Tamura, Yokahama, Japan junior, said she went to the programs because they were fun and helped her learn.
Bonifield said the Applied English Center hired discussion leaders as student hourlies. Bonifield said that discussion leaders were required to have studied another language and to have had some sort of international experience.
"I had a good time at the Easter pot-luck," she said. "I learned about the Easter custom of coloring eggs. It was my first pot-luck, too."
the sessions lead by Matthews, Jones and McCoy-McBride are Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. The Sunday group meets at 5 p.m.
The times for MILK sessions vary but students interested in attending can contact Bonifield at jdyb@ku.edu or Karl Magnuson at magnusonkf@aol.com.
Contact Koerth at mkoerth@ kansan.com. This story was edited by Brooke Hesler.
Campaign promotes TV turn-off week
By Ron Knox Special to the Kansan
The object itself is simple enough: a glass projector with a plastic or wood casing, a series of image-and-power inducing tubes and wiring, voltage, and high-frequency wave receptors. Some call it the greatest invention of the twentieth century and the post-modern object that changed culture forever: television.
But this week, an international campaign is urging people to turn away from lives engrossed in television by turning it off.
The annual Television Turn-off Week was founded by Adbusters Media Organization and celebrated its inaugural week in 1993.
Adbusters, a Vancouver, British Columbia, anti-media collective and monthly publication, added TV Turn-off Week to a slew of similar campaigns the organization already had in place.
"In 1993, we were looking for campaigns that fought against consumer culture," said Kalle Lawson, *Adbusters* editor-in-chief.
Lawson said one objective of TV Turn-off Week was to shed light on the effects watching television has on people in general, and on communities.
"Television allows people the option of ignoring reality and ignoring the problems that the world actually faces," Lawson said. "This is tolerable to an extent, but television can make the escapeism permanent."
Bill Staples, chairman of the sociology department, said college students were just as adversely affected by the power of programing.
"Obsession with television ultimately leads to a decline in social capital — a decline in our interaction with our community, and each other." Staples said. "It comes down to the time spent watching TV versus what you could be doing."
Another objective of the movement is to make people aware that television converts people into the products of corporations and makes blind consumers.
"Television is more a business than entertainment," Staples said. "So the public becomes obsessed with consumption."
Lawson said the problem was described as "television addiction" or the social and sometimes physical "disease" caused by a lifetime of television patronage.
For Lawson, it is difficult to use such a loaded and sometimes harsh term for something allegedly real, and he said it had to be handled carefully.
"When people hear 'television addiction' they are so quick to write it off as some reactionary idea," he said. "They fail to realize that television addiction is the number one mental health problem in North America."
Contact Knox at editor@kansan.com. This story was edited by Anne Morgenmeier.
"WHERE IT'S COOL TO BE FAT"
Congratulations to the new 2002-2003 KU Ad Club Officers
please drink responsibly,after 9pm sodas are free!
President
Melissa Williams
Membership
Erin Osburn
Vice President
Elizabeth Trotta
Membership
Brad VanGoethem
Treasurer
Public Relations Taylor Thode
Krystal Jacobs
Creative
For more information about getting involved in the KU Ad Club, e-mail adclub@ku.edu.
785-864-SHOW
www.ku.edu/~sua
Saturday, April 27 Day on the Hill 2002
Saturday April 27, 2002 12-6 pm West Campanile Hill
A FREE outdoor festival of live music and special events
Friday, April 26
Tunes @ Noon
Tuesday, April 30 8:00 pm
Windtalkers FREE Sneak Preview
Friday, April 26 Elaine Gluck Exhibit
Vouchers are available on the day of the day in the SUA Office, Level 4, Kansas Union. All movies shown in Woodruff Auditorium, Level 5, Kansas Union. A voucher does not guarantee a seat.
April 29-May 10 Melko Ono & Adrieanne Jones
8:30am-4:30pm Kansas Union Gallery Level 4, Kansas Union
Wednesday, May 1 7:00 pm
The Palama Game
Wednesday M 1 May 11:00am-3:30pm
Sandcastle play day
Woodruff Auditorium Co-sponsored by EAT
Wescoe Beach
SUA It's still not too late to join a committee to help plan for next year! Check with the SUA Office for times and locations of meetings
Other events at the Union
Brown Bag Classics Wednesday, April 24 KU Tuba-Euphoria
Aderson Auditorium, Level 4, Kansas Union
3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Traditions Area, Level 4, Kansas Union.
Free sweets and tea. International Student Fashion Show
Friday Freebies
FRIDAY FREEBIES
1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Atrium, Level 3, Kansas Union
THE SOUND ALTERNATIVE
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