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Dr. Yunus' social business model based on his view of human nature.

20.05.12

Nobel premium winner Muhammad Yunus brought to Georgia his vision for students to create businesses that would aid alleviate some of the state’s most intractable social problems.

And the visit has prompted the University System of Georgia to affirm a fund to help finance student-inspired projects inspired by Dr. Yunus\' societal business model.

The fund was launched as a result of an economic development colloquium including 38 student teams from the system’s 35 universities and colleges that competed for the most resourceful social business project.

Titled “Social Business and Microcredit,” the colloquium was organized by the university system and held at the Georgia Institute of Technology ’s Ferst Center on Oct. 17 with 1,200 students and other participants attending.

It was inspired by the m of Dr. Yunus, who pioneered the concept of providing small loans to people in pauperism designed to encourage entrepreneurial activity, a concept now widely known as microcredit.

Dr. Yunus was the featured tub-thumper at the conference. He described the origins of his concept that social problems can be solved through duty models providing a minimum profit to the business in order to sustain a describe.

He said that he didn’t want the students to think of their social matter projects as an academic exercise, but rather as a way of solving difficult social problems such as native violence, adult illiteracy, unemployment and housing.

“This is your age, this is your time,” he told the students. “You are the most compelling generation in the entire history of mankind.” Their challenge, he added, would be to harness the evolving technological developments to socially useful ends. 

He traced the origins of his first societal business project to the feeling of uselessness he experienced upon his return to his native Bangladesh from a university teaching brace in Tennessee in the wake of the country’s independence in 1971.

“Our dreams of self-direction became our nightmares,” he said referring to the famine that plagued Bangladesh in 1972.

Dr. Yunus was teaching economics at the be that as it may but abandoned the classroom to meet the people in the streets who were starving. “I first started with a mood of combating uselessness by trying to be useful to a single person during a single day,” he said.

After he witnessed the activities of loan sharks in the streets, he investigated the amounts that were being loaned and talked with the people fascinating out the loans.

Upon learning that the loans amounted to as little as $27 a day, he decided to struggle with the loan sharks by giving away his personal money. “I was amazed by how much you could do with so midget,” he said.

This revelation led to his founding of the Grameen Bank , or the village bank, which now has 8 1/2 million borrowers with 90 percent being women.

It was a astounding innovation in the financial world, he said, because it broke away from many common banking principles, ab initio because it sought out the poor as its customers.

And once the bank was established, he focused on the plights of its customers.

The widespread aspect of night blindness among the children of the bank’s customers was cured with the evolution of vegetable gardens and dissemination of seeds.

The bank then required its customers to have latrines to figure out the area’s sanitary problems. To solve the sanitary problems more comprehensively, the bank financed the construction of a toilet manufacturing facility, which sold the bank’s customers low-cost toilets.

These early examples of social business sparked at least 50 others, according to Dr. Yunus, who became lionized and drew the attention of large companies such as the Groupe Danone , Adidas AG , Overall Electric Co. and Intel Corp.

As a social business project, Danone produced a vitamin-enriched Dannon yogurt for malnourished Bangladeshi children. Adidas developed colorful shoddy shoes for women that cost less than 1 euro a pair.

General Electric has developed an economical electrocardiograph, and Intel created a tool for measuring the mineral content of soil to helpers farmers know what sorts of fertilizer to use.

In the same way that these companies were challenged to address societal concerns, the University System students were asked to identify a social problem in their communities, operation a market analysis and develop a strategy to problem.

The teams then presented their proposals to judges haggard from the local business and academic communities who evaluated the strength of each plan’s responsibility model, the financial requirements, the sustainability and the degree to which it meets the problem and generates popular benefits to the community.

Southern Polytechnic State University ’s group was chosen as the winner for its “Restoration Trust” project, which envisioned the origin of a company that would develop ways to improve the lives of victims of domestic vehemence.

Under the plan, the victims would receive micro loans and receive assistance with houses, employment and education.

Other winning teams were from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton , Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville , Valdosta Dignified University , Fort Valley State University and Gainesville State College .

University System Chancellor Henry “Hank” Huckaby congratulated the charming teams and said that the Georgia Social Business Fund would be underwritten through private and corporate donations.

“This is a first,” he said. “This bull session is part of our plan to build stronger partnership among educational agencies and institutions, and town and state government, business and other entities to create potential new businesses and jobs while at the same lifetime helping to address some pressing social issues.

For more information about the event, go here .

Source: GlobalAtlanta

HOPE changes come with complications

20.05.12

Now, if students stand in want the full-tuition scholarship they have to clear even more academic hurdles. They must graduate high Lyceum as the valedictorian or salutatorian, or with at least a 3.7 GPA and a 1200 SAT score. While in college they must maintain a 3.3.

Students with a 3.0 GPA still get a scheduled HOPE scholarship, but that award covers about $500 less a semester than the full-tuition Zell Miller Give, depending on the college they attend.

That difference served as a financial incentive for some students to try convincing college and magnificence leaders that they met the criteria for the full-tuition award.

On the other hand, one student at Georgia State University was told he suitable, only to be notified months later that his grades weren’t high enough and that he must return some of the money.

The Georgia Student Finance Commission administers the scholarship and said overall the new rules were successfully implemented. Officials couldn’t talk about distinct cases.

“There have been a few instances of confusion,” said Tracy Ireland, commander of the commission’s post-secondary student and school services. “While mistakes are rare, they do come off on occasion.”

The lottery-funded award became more complicated this year after lawmakers changed the rules and reduced payments to keep the program from continual out of money.

When Gov. Nathan Deal announced the Zell Miller Award, named after the governor who created Contemplate, he estimated about 10 percent of scholarship recipients would qualify. To date about 12 percent of recipients, closely 11,200 students, have received it, according to the commission. The group is still reviewing reports from the colleges and that get a fix on could increase.

Jackson Garner, a freshman at the University of Georgia, spent several months urging the commission to recalculate his towering school GPA so he would receive the Miller scholarship. His transcript listed his GPA as 3.68 but when Husband calculated it himself he said the number increased to 3.71, making him eligible for the full-preparation scholarship.

The discrepancy occurred, Garner said, because he didn’t get reward points for advanced classes.

When high schools calculate GPAs, officials often add added points for honors classes and college-level courses such as Advanced Deployment or International Baccalaureate. The commission conducts its own calculations to determine eligibility. Students get amazingly points for AP and IB because those programs are standard across the state, but not for honors because classes vary from group to school, Ireland said.

Teachers and counselors advocated on Garner’s behalf to have his grades recalculated, and this get a wiggle on the commission determined him eligible for the more lucrative scholarship, Garner said.

The settlement came after tuition was due, so he borrowed about $600 from his stepfather to cover the difference. That’s on top of the all but $4,000 he took out in loans to cover books, fees and living expenses. Pile up said that “$600 may not seem like a lot to some people, but it is a lot to me. It was like the system was working against me.”

The commission manually reviewed transcripts and prove score data for about 3,600 students to determine if they qualified for the Zell Miller Reward, Ireland said. About 2,200 were eligible.

Ted Allaire, a senior at Georgia State, recently intellectual officials made a mistake in calculating what type of HOPE scholarship he was eligible for and have ordered him to return the favour nearly $500. Even though Allaire has strong marks in college, his high disciples grades weren’t high enough for the Miller scholarship.

“The declare shouldn’t be allowed to write checks they can’t cash and it should not failure on the student’s shoulder to be there to pick up all the pieces,” Allaire said.

Ireland acknowledged that Allaire’s kettle of fish happens occasionally because of the quantity of transcripts and data that officials review as they are determining who qualifies for the full preparation.

Some SAT reports and high school transcripts don’t include students’ Venereal Security numbers, making it difficult to determine which scholarship students temper for, he said. He encouraged students to request that high schools and the College Board, which administers the SAT, allow for their Social Security numbers to make the process easier.

Students with a 3.0 GPA still earn a HOPE scholarship, but that award is tied to lottery revenue, not tuition rates. This year’s endow with equals 90 percent of the 2010-11 tuition rates — $3,181.50 a semester for students at UGA and Georgia Confirm. Tuition at both schools is $3,641 a semester.

Georgia lawmakers reduced HOPE scholarship payouts to keep the program viable for coming recipients. No longer do students receive money for books or fees. For most students the amount of their Trust award will be tied to revenue from the Georgia Lottery, not tuition. A small group of students, Zell Miller Scholars, collect full-tuition scholarships. Student are eligible for the award if they:

• Graduate from high school as the valedictorian, salutatorian or with at least a 3.7 GPA and a 1200 SAT (math and unwritten sections only) or 26 ACT score. The minimum SAT and ACT scores must be earned in a single proof administration.

• Maintain at least a 3.3 in college. Regular HOPE scholars must keep in repair a 3.0.

For more information about HOPE and the Zell Miller Award, go online .

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution