The seating of the Opera House.

On February 25th, 2010 the Tabor College Business Club traveled to McPherson to tour the newly refurbished Opera House.  The McPherson Opera House was built less than 20 years after the city of McPherson, Kansas, was founded, and its history is richly intertwined with that of the city.  The Opera House has been transformed throughout the years from an Opera House to a movie theater and back to the Opera House as we see it today.

The preservation of the Opera House began in 1986 by the McPherson Opera House Preservation Company (now the McPherson Opera House Company).  The Opera House was finished in early 2010 and is currently

A Preserved painting above the stage.

hosting many different events.

The Business Club had the opportunity to walk through the Opera House.  We began on the bottom floor sitting in the front row seats.  While sitting we heard from, John Holecek , Executive Director, who told us about the history of the Opera House, the funding of the project, and some of the problems they faced along the way.  We then got to see the 2nd and 3rd balcony, the ball room, the dressing rooms, we stood on the stage, and saw the grand entrance to the building.  The Opera House also has rooms that use to be sleeping quarters for performers.  The sleeping quarter rooms are now rented out and used for different business in McPherson.

After we toured the Opera House the group went to The Well.  The Well is a Christian bookstore and coffee shop.  The coffee shop side of the business created us our own special menu and served us lunch.  It was was a great ending to a good day.  For more information on the McPherson Opera House see their web site at

http://www.mcphersonoperahouse.org/

For more information on The Well see their site at

http://www.splashinthewell.blogspot.com/

Our group on the balcony.

In the ballroom.

For this semester, the Business Studies Department is offering a variety of different level Business classes that are included in all the different business majors.  There are two senior level classes offered this semester: Business Policy and Ethics and Human Resource Management.  Other upper level classes that are offered are  Intermediate Accounting II, Financial Management II, and Income Tax.

Along with the upper level classes there are also mid level and beginner classes being offered.  These include Organizational Behavior, Business Law II, Microeconomics, Advertising Management, Small Business Management, Managerial Accounting, and Desktop Publishing.  Most of the classes that are listed are taught by the four main business professors which include Norm Hope, David Kroeker, Jesse Schumacher, and Bruce Bostic.  However, Managerial Accounting and Business Law II are taught by adjunct professors Lilly Arthur and Tim Hodge.

Each professor has their own unique style of teaching which creates a great dynamic for us as students.  No two classes are alike which helps break up the monotony of the day.

The meeting featured a tour of Golden Heritage Foods and a dinner at Tabor with Brent Barkman the company’s Chairman of the Board speaking.  Golden Heritage is the consolidation of two honey manufacturers Barkman Honey of Hillsboro, Kansas  and Stoller Honey in Latty, Ohio.  The company employs over 100 people (75 in the Hillsboro location).  Golden Heritage is now the number two leader of branded honey sales and is the top provider of honey to the U.S. food service industry.  In addition to these business segments, Golden Heritage supplies honey to the industrial ingredient market.  Golden Heritage has made serving people first as its first priority.  Management believes that the company’s product and work is inseparable from their desire to serve others.  The company has four guiding principles 1) to reflect God’s will and purpose in all relationships through the Christian values of honesty, integrity, respect, and servant hood, 2) To nurture growth and development or their organization and its team members, 3) to provide product and service solutions for quality minded customers, and 4) to foster corporate industry and community growth through servant leadership.

During his presentation, Barkman mentioned the importance of keeping the organizations core values intact.  This was praticularly critical as both Barkman Honey and Stoller Honey discussed the merger of their two organizations.  Brent also emphasised the importance of ethical business practices.  Barkman noted that their two largest customers were Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs.  He also noted that their signature product is their honey bear.  They have introduced a new two ounce honey bear which they are hoping to market into a food gift item.  Other products produced are 3 lb packages, 12 and 24 oz squeeze bears, 16 oz inverted bottles, 40 oz squeeze bottles, 16 oz inverted organic bottles, and 12 oz honey spread.

In the Business Studies Department there are three main classes being offered: Personal Finance, Investments, and Introduction to Business.

Personal Finance teaches on everyday financial decisions that could be encountered and how to keep in mind a Christian perspective when making your decisions. The class is taught by Professor Dave Kroeker and  focuses on investments, balancing a checkbook, buying a car and house, ect.  One main concept that the students learn: ” everything you have belongs to God for this reason we must take good care of everything God has made us Stewards over.  Students were required to go with  Marlene Fast a local realtor to look at several homes in Hillsboro. Marlene told students what to look for and what to ask when they purchased a home.  Additionally, Michael Hagen visited with students about purchasing a car.  The students were to go and visit an auto dealership, test drive a car, price it and write an essay on their experience.

Investments is taught by Professor Norm Hope.  In the class, students had the opportunity to do a project where they had to run an  “hypothetical” investment trust fund for the month.  Their objective was to beat the return on the S&P 500 index for the month.  Additionally, students had the opportunity to study basic investment strategy, fundamental and technical analysis, derivatives, and real estate investing.

The introduction to business class was taught by our scholar in residence, Jayakar Dalavai.  Originally from Shamshabad India, Jaykar came for the month from Texas. (see related article http://www.tabor.edu/about-tabor/news/2010/1/6/dr-jayakar-dalavai-to-begin-scholar-in-residence-program).  His research interest, corporate social responsibility and business ethics were an important component in the class.  Students gained an overview of what business is and how businesses operate.  In addition to the class, Dr Dalavai presented a lecture to the faculty on corporate social responsibility and a public lecture on the global meltdown and the dangers of outsourcing.  An article on his public lecture can be found at the following links

http://www.tabor.edu/about-tabor/news/2010/1/12/scholar-in-residence-to-present-public-lecture-january-20

http://www.tabor.edu/about-tabor/news/2010/1/25/us-economy-may-fall-in-global-ranking-visiting-prof-says

On Saturday, November 15th, eight  Management Information System (MIS) students with the instructor and his family launched an experiment that they had been working on. MIS is a technology class that all business students are required to take.

The experiment,  launching a weather balloon and following its path, had been a month long project.   In the month previous to the launch the students were assigned to program the camera and had to figure out the predicted landing site of the balloon. The camera along with a GPS would be attached to the weather balloon as it floated away.

The balloon was launched from McPherson at 1:00 p.m.  The flight lasted 2 1/2 hours and for an 1 1/2 of it the students lost sight of the balloon.  Losing sight of the balloon was not a shock to the students. They had already predicted that the GPS would only track the balloon to a certain height then the signal would be lost. They believe the balloons maximum height was about 90,000 feet.

Once the balloon started to descend, the GPS once again picked up the signal and the students went to retrieve it.  The balloon had fallen only 1 1/2 miles farther than their predicted landing spot.  The balloon had traveled to Herington, Kan. and landed in a student from Tabors Father’s field.

After the flight was successful, the eight students were required to present on their project and what they learned.  A few learned concepts  that the students mentioned in their presentation was project management, programming, and predictions. They also discussed what they would have done differently.

There is talk of a future flight taking place.  Only this time two cameras will be used so they can get more pictures.

The day started at 4:45a.m. when 17 students and 2 faculty met in the business building to embark on the days  adventure.  The destination was Omaha, Ne.  The quest was touring Gallup University and Rosenblatt stadium.

If you are driving from Hillsboro to Omaha you are guaranteed at least 5 hours in a car for some high quality bonding experiences.  The group divided into two vans.  One of the vans had a GPS named Lou Lou.  When we arrived at Omaha, Lou Lou became a much needed companion.

After a few wrong turns and getting aid from Lou Lou we arrived at Gallup.  The Gallup tour was a cool experience.  We didn’t get to tour the whole building because of how big it is, but we saw a good majority of it.

On the tour we saw the CEO’s office and learned that he is only at Gallup in Omaha a few months out of the year because he resides in Washington D.C at the corporate headquarters.  On the tour we also saw that the company supplied a daycare, bank, and a workout center.  Gallup wants their employees to have conveniences right in the work place.

We also experienced the technology room. The technology room at Gallup has a database of all the data they have collected over the years. The database is secluded in a room that is highly secure.  The room is designed to with stand tornadoes.  The database is also backed up in another location.  These precautions prevent the company from losing any of  the data they have collected over the years.

The database is securely locked down so no hackers can break through.  Gallup hires companies to try to hack into their computers.  This prevents any leakage of information and gives confidence that everything remains confidential.

Gallup’s main products include:  research, Strengths Qwest, Gallup Poll, and they just recently started a Global Poll.  The company does not have an overall mission statement, but instead has individual missions for each employee that targets the values of the company.

After Gallup we headed straight to Rosenblatt Stadium.  Rosenblatt Stadium is home to the College World Series.  While we were at Rosenblatt, we learned that the Stadium is going to be torn down and two new stadiums will be built.  One of these stadiums will be specifically for the College World Series while the other will be for the Omaha Royals.

Rosenblatt Stadium is an outdated stadium, but it was still fun to tour.  We started the tour by going down on the field and taking pictures standing on it.  Then we saw the locker rooms, announcers box, press boxes, and party rooms.  The marketing manager of Rosenblatt gave us the tour and was very informative on sports management and everything it entailed.

After Rosenblatt we stopped for supper then headed home.

By the time we returned back to Tabor it was around 9:00p.m. It was a long day, but we had a lot of fun, made memories, and learned more about different jobs in the business field!

On Wednesday, November 18 the auditing and intermediate accounting classes will be attending the Annual Professional Issues Update  in Wichita.  The Kansas Society of CPA’s (KSCPA) is responsible for organizing the Professional Issues Update and have focused the discussion around issues currently affecting and potentially affecting the accounting profession.  The main speaker of the day is  James C. Metzler who is  Vice President of Small Firm Interests Amerian Institues of CPA’s.  Mr. Metzler will specifically be speaking on IRS testing of tax return preparers, the latest national survey results, student recruitment, staffing issues, technology, and much more.  All accounting students and faculty have been invited to attend the event which gives Tabor’s students a chance to connect with other accounting students in the area.

On Friday, November 20 the Business Club will be making the long trek to Omaha, Nebraska.  The day will be packed full of tours and presentations on different types of jobs available to a business major.  We are going to start the day  by going to Gallup.  Gallup is one of the largest marketing and research firms in the United States and is  most commonly known for the Gallup Poll as well as Strenths Quest. While we are at Gallup, they are going to be giving us a tour of their facilitiies, talk to us about the history of their company, job opportunities, and we will eat lunch in their cafeteria.  After Gallup, the club will then go to Rosenblatt Stadium.   Rosenblatt Stadium is where the college baseball world series is played.  The business club is going to tour the stadium and get to go down onto the field.  They are going to hear a presentation on the history of the stadium and the recent decision that has been made on building a new stadium.  They are also going to see possible job opportunities that are available for Business Professionals who love sports and specifically baseball. After touring the stadium we will make the long journey back home.

Both trips will be great opportunities for Tabor Business Students to network with other business professionals as well as learn about different job opportunities that are available.  The days should allow us to gain awareness of future jobs we would like to pursue and work towards. As well as, help us become aware of issues and circumstances affecting business today.

The business students at Tabor have settled into a comfortable, yet hectic, routine and are working hard to successfully complete their courses.  For some, this routine includes scheduling  time with their newly assigned mentor.  The new mentoring program for business students is currently underway.  Each student that had an interest in participating in the program has been partnered up with a successful business studies alum.  The mentor and mentoree are encouraged to make some kind of contact with each other at least once a month.  The goal of the program is  “to prepare business students to become future business leaders by linking them with senior mentors who have taken that path and are committed to sharing with the next generation.”

On November 18th, seven accounting students will be going to an “Annual Professional Issues Update” which is being presented by the Kansas Society of CPA’s.  At the presentation, the students will hear issues currently affecting the accounting profession and predictions of issues that could arise in the future.

The business studies building has also been asked to create a survey to collect information in order to determine instructional needs of technology at Tabor.  We have sent out the surveys using survey monkey and have received feedback, but are still awaiting more.

If you are interested in us keeping in contact with you, please email us at business@tabor.edu . We would be glad to let you know all the happenings on campus!

For the first time in 20 years Tabor is once again offering Agriculture as a class.  This class was added because of high interest from some of the students.  Taking a look at some of the other classes, projects are a huge part of the curriculum.    Some of the projects are individual projects where you demonstrate what you have learned throughout the course while others are group projects which give you the opportunity to collaborate with other students.  Financial Management is one example of a class where the students are working hard on an individual semester long project while gaining knowledge from a text book.  The entire Public Relations class is working on one big group project.  The project is creating a PR Campaign for the Student Success Office.  The campaign will cover many forms of advertising and is design to promote the tutoring program.   International Business, Auditing, Accounting, and Marketing classes have all challenged the students with at least one test already this semester.

Many of the students are excited for this weekend as the homecoming festivities will be underway.  Starting the festivities on Wednesday night, is  the  homecoming musical “Children of Eden.”     “Children of Eden” has involvement from many of our students and will be presented Wednesday through Sunday.  Along with the musical the students are looking forward to the big game which also encompasses the dedication of our new stadium as well as the crowning of the king and queen.  The students also look forward to the campus coming alive as we meet up with old friends that have graduated as well as be introduced to Tabor Alumni from years gone by.

Koch’s presentation to the students was on “Getting a New Prospective.”  One way to gain a new prospective is by taking part in an internship program.  Koch’s  internship program is highly competitive.  They have approximately 40 positions to fill for their summer program.  Koch  is looking specifically for Accoutning/Finance majors.

Since this process is competitive, they  gave advice on how you can succeed in the application and interviewing process.   First, how you present yourself on your resume is crucial.  Choosing the right words to describe yourself can be a major factor on whether you get the job.  Second,  extracurricular activities in comparison to your GPA will heighten your chances.  Koch is looking for students who have become involved in other activities outside the classroom. Especially if those activities have taken you into a leadership role.  Koch is  more likely to take a student with a lower GPA and lots of leadership skills then a student with a high GPA and no  leadership skills.  Third, when going in for an interview make sure you have specific life instances that show your true self.  Koch is looking to find out what makes you stand out among the other students  applying.  They want to know how you have responded in certain situations and if you are aware of your actions.

Having Koch come to campus was a great opportunity for students to network with other business professionals as well as get feedback on what will help each one succeed.  We are grateful Koch was willing to take the time to come and present to us.