Issue 5: February 2021 Archives - THE STERN OPPORTUNITY

Black Futures

By Oppy Staff on February 7, 2021

By Erin Pace

Black History Month is a time of celebration as well as sorrowful remembrance. Growing up in the South, I spent my free time in February reenacting civil rights marches, singing We Shall Overcome, and winning poster contests for my magic marker renderings of Rosa Parks proclaiming ‘I’m not movin’!’. This year, I’m trading my poster for this article in The Oppy and my ancestors would be so proud. Let this article serve as a thank you to the Black business people of times past who paved the way. A few of them include: Alonzo Herndon, who was born in 1858 into slavery but later obtained success through his barbershops and became one of the first African American millionaires in the United States; Madam C.J.…

The more things change…

The more things change…

By David Kalan on February 9, 2021

Just before kickoff Sunday night, I tweeted an extremely clever and definitely-not-too-subtle-by-half joke about Tom Brady’s “dubious” claim to the title of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). A while later, I did it again. I will be the first to admit that sometimes my sense of humor is a bit too dry, but more than one friend asked me what I was talking about, so after watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl LV in what could charitably be called a dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs, I’d like to clear some things up.

Are we seriously talking about Tom Brady as the GOAT?

…

Still Rooting for Everybody Black

Still Rooting for Everybody Black

By Kit Miller on February 9, 2021

When asked who she was rooting for at the 2017 Emmys, writer, producer, actress, and fellow awkward black girl, Issa Rae replied with, “I’m rooting for everybody black.” Since then, the now iconic phrase has been headlined, memed, lyricized, printed on t-shirts, you name it.

In any award show season, it’s hard not to remember the words of Issa Rae. The Golden Globes are no different. But for an award show infamously known for its collusion, it’s getting hard to root for everybody black when hardly anyone is black. And while this may seem insignificant to some, as if but another notch on the bedpost of weirdo white supremacists, it once again illuminates the lack of, specifically, racial diversity cast on award shows, television, entertainment and art in general–especially the business side of it.…

Are you not entertained? Perfect.

Are you not entertained? Perfect.

By David Kalan on February 8, 2021

As 2021 began, we found ourselves still grappling with a global pandemic, political division, and the psychological toll of riots on the Capitol. And then, my wife, a public school teacher, even in this time of remote learning, had a snow day. Two in fact.

Don’t let anyone tell you there isn’t good in this world.

That being said, while I truly believe snow days are one of childhood’s great rites of passage, I must admit I don’t love snow. It’s pretty for about 12 hours before the shoveling and slush make you wish you had a Space Laser to get rid of it all.…

Covid Vax Facts

Covid Vax Facts

By Deirdre Keane on February 7, 2021

Since our last issue, I received not only one, but two of my Covid-19 vaccinations. Excuse, me as I flex… my vaccinated deltoid muscle that is.

I received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, one of the two vaccines (the other being Moderna’s) approved for emergency use by the FDA in the US. Both Moderna and Pfizer use mRNA technology that consists of re-engineered messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA are molecules that relay genetic instructions from DNA to ribosomes, the cell’s protein-making machinery. In this case, the vaccine mRNA gives our B-cells (a type of white blood cell) the genetic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, and the B-cells then produce an immune response that generates antibodies.…

Short Squeezes – A Discussion with Professor Ian D’Souza

Short Squeezes – A Discussion with Professor Ian D’Souza

By Sanjna Shukla on February 7, 2021

What is a short squeeze and is this a common phenomenon?

Before we can get to answering what a short squeeze is, we need to answer some preliminary questions.

Let’s start with what is short?

A short is a position taken by an investor or trader making a bet that an asset’s price will go down, not up. On average, under 5% of the S&P market capitalization is shorted. Most participants in the stock market invest because they believe US stocks will go up over time. Shorts are a very small group of investors betting against most other investors’ view of the direction in the market and as such, are viewed with disdain.…

Stern Faculty Spotlight: Dean Raghu Sundaram

Stern Faculty Spotlight: Dean Raghu Sundaram

By Sanjna Shukla on February 7, 2021

The Oppy is proud and honored to kick off our inaugural Stern Faculty Spotlight with Dean Raghu Sundaram. In addition to being published extensively in various finance and economic academic journals and authoring books on optimization theory and derivatives, Dean Sundaram has led the launch of two one-year MBA programs at Stern and popular initiatives, such as Endless Frontier Labs. Dean Sundaram received his BA in Economics from the University of Madras, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a PhD in economics from Cornell University. He sat down with The Oppy to discuss Zoom classes, virtual networking, and most importantly, negronis.…

Post Corona Review

Post Corona Review

By Conor Clark on February 7, 2021

Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity is the fourth book from resident NYU Stern Professor Scott Galloway. I took Professor Galloway’s Brand Strategy class this past semester, and although at times it more closely resembled a game show than a graduate school course, I couldn’t help but come away feeling that it was a capstone experience of my time at Stern. He creates a similar aura of excitement and wonder in his latest book.

Professor Galloway, Stern’s B-school Joel McHale, finds success in making high level business concepts accessible and relatable to a wider audience. His followers want to be “in on the joke” and he offers them an open door and a path to sound smart and relevant.…

The Concept of Race and Its Relevance to Medicine

The Concept of Race and Its Relevance to Medicine

By Deirdre Keane on February 7, 2021

I began to wonder how relevant race identification is in providing competent healthcare to patients as I started reading “A Short History of the Race Concept” by Michael Yudell. It’s a short, well-written chapter from Race and the Genetic Revolution that discusses the role science has placed in forming and redefining the idea of race in science through the 18^th to 20^th centuries. To summarize Yudell’s point, race is a socially-constructed concept without any biological meaning as evidenced by genomic sequencing, which was first discovered by Francis Collins and Craig Venter in 2000.

Now to translate into English: all humans’ DNA is 99.9% identical, meaning we all have the same genes. …

I Disagree Professor, Amazon Is NOT Antitrust

I Disagree Professor, Amazon Is NOT Antitrust

By David Kammiel on February 7, 2021

Amazon has found its way to market headlines yet again in 2021. This time it’s a relatively small surprise, Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO, effective later this year. I trust you did not believe that any human, even Jeff Bezos, could run a space exploration organization, build the world’s most profitable company from scratch, and own the Washington Post all at the same time indefinitely. After his resignation, Bezos will stay with the firm as executive chairman of the board. Andy Jassy, who was formerly head of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the massively successful cloud services platform offered by Amazon, will take over as CEO of the company. …

Posts published in “Issue 5: February 2021”