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CURRENT EVENTS ASSIGNMENT – 35 points
OVERVIEW
One of the stated learning objectives of BA101 is to be able to, “explain current business news from the perspective of
different business disciplines.” This assignment is designed to help students meet this objective. Moreover, as students
we always want to see the application of what we learn in the “real world”. This assignment does exactly that.
Each student’s goal is to find a newsworthy business event and and write exactly how this news relates to our course. As
an example the sample article in Canvas covered a range of topics related to the course including: International business,
market share, market research, contract manufacturing, innovation, acquisition, pricing, brand loyalty, and differentiation.
STEPS Each student needs to do the following to complete the assignment.
1. Find one news article (see “Possible Sources” list on the last page of this document). An acceptable news article:
a. Has direct relevance to specific terms/concepts in our course.
b. Was published on 9/1/17 or later (so not before 9/1/17).
c. Can be a written article, podcast/radio story, video, or other relevant media. You must be able to provide
a link to the content.
d. Not acceptable:
i. Articles, press announcements, news releases, etc. from a company web site.
ii. Educational sites (see here for an example)– needs to be the media reporting on an event.
2. Write the paper.
a. Explain why you chose the article. What is it that interested you (the topic, the company, etc.). Don’t just
say, “I chose this article because it talks about a lot of topics from class.” I’m interested in what drew you
to the article.
b. Select 4 to 6 key words or topics from our course to relate to the article.
c. Briefly define all key words. If you get your definitions from somewhere other than the class (e.g. the
textbook and lecture slides) you need to cite your source.
d. Summarize the article in your own words and in your summary explain exactly how your article
demonstrates the key words or topics you defined. As an example if one of your terms is “venture
capital” then you should note how the article related to venture capital (i.e. “The article mentioned XYZ
Inc. had just raised $500 million in a venture capital round which valued the company at $21 billion
dollars.”). See “Template for Format” document in Canvas.
e. Communicate your personal thoughts on the article. Do you agree with it? Do you think it made valid
arguments/points? Did it make you realize/understand something you hadn’t before?, etc.
f. Review your draft for organization, grammar and connection to the course.
g. Upload the paper– SEE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.
Specific paper/writing requirements:
Must have student’s name at the top.
Must have link to media at bottom.
Word count should be between 400-800 words.
Submit as either a MSWord or PDF document in Canvas.
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SCORING
Scoring will be based on the rubric found in Canvas with the assignment.
The best efforts will:
Select an article that thoroughly covers the news story and relates to a lot of course key words/topics
Provide a concise summary of the article and thoroughly explain how our course topics apply to the article.
Be communicated in the student’s words (i.e. do not use lots of quotes from the article).
Be clearly articulated and well written.
Be thoroughly proofread. See page 4 for writing tips.
TIPS & HINTS
Choose a news article that contains enough information to promote discussion of many course topics. If
your article is too narrowly focused or too short, it would be impossible to relate to enough course topics. That
would result in a poor grade for this assignment
Start early. This assignment takes time to create well. If you review your module early and choose your article
early, you will have time do a better job and get a better grade.
SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENT
1. Click on SUBMIT ASSIGMENT.
2. CHOOSE your file and click SUBMIT ASSIGNMENT
3. You will see a confirmation in the upper right corner.
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POSSIBLE NEWS SOURCES
This is not an exhaustive list. You are free to use any reputable business source of your choice. As an
example if you are interested in finance and the markets you might choose an article from SeekingAlpha. Just
remember the article has to be broad enough to hit 4-6 topics/concepts from the course.
Doing a web search for a topic you are interested in also works.
FOR THE EYES
Bloomberg – https://www.bloomberg.com/
The Economist – http://www.economist.com/
Fast Company – https://www.fastcompany.com/
Fortune – http://fortune.com/
Inc. – http://www.inc.com/
International Business Times – http://www.ibtimes.com/
New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html
Oregon Business – http://www.oregonbusiness.com/
Wall Street Journal – https://www.wsj.com/
Wired – https://www.wired.com/
FOR THE EARS – podcasts.
BBC Business Daily – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsxs/episodes/downloads
Bloomberg Benchmark – https://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts/benchmark
Hard Pass – https://www.acast.com/hardpass
HBR Ideacast – http://feeds.harvardbusiness.org/harvardbusiness/ideacast
How I Built This – http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this
Inc. Uncensored – http://www.inc.com/inc-uncensored
Marketplace podcasts – http://www.marketplace.org/podcasts – All in One, Corner Office, and Make Me Smart are all good
Planet Money – http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money
Slate Money – http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/slate_money.html
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ON WRITING
I expect students to “write tight”. What you write should be concise and have clarity. What William Strunk, Jr.
said a century ago is still true today.
This concision and clarity does not come automatically, it takes time, effort, and persistence. Good writing
happens through rewriting. You need to review and revise. The writer Octavia Butler probably said it best:
Observing four of George Orwell’s rules for writers will help you in this aim:
1. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
2. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
3. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
4. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
I would add to Orwell’s list two others: 1) Avoid clichés (they are lazy writing) and 2) avoid numerous or long
quotes from your article – the paper should be in your words.
Most of my comments on your paper will be in the rubric attached to the assignment in Canvas. I will use the
following notations within your paper to point out specific issues. I will not mark the entire paper, only a
sample.
AWK/RW – Awkward or wordy WC – word choice VT – verb tense TRAN – transition CL – cliché
UC – unclear SP – spelling PUNC – punctuation CAP – capitalization
Quote Sources: http://izquotes.com/quote/394448, http://www.azquotes.com/quote/594344, https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/tips-masters/george-
orwell-6-questions-6-rules
