Coagula Curatorial

The exhibit was located in Chinatown. I merged onto Hill Street at the beginning of Downtown L.A. (coming from campus) and took it down all the way for a few miles.  The area was filled with Chinese businesses and, even though I have never been to China, I felt as if I was there.  It was quite an experience being in this area because you feel you are in another country, even though it is conveniently located about 15 minutes from campus.

The exhibit was definitely exquisite and unusual to say the least.  I have not experienced or analyzed much art, but this was a welcome sight.  The story behind the art had to do with "conspiracies, family secrets, and UFOs"; quite interesting to say the least.  The artist argues that truth and untruths are part of the fabric in life and it is what can add to the comfort of life.  It is quite a different way of thinking of things, but it gave me a perspective to ponder that I would have never thought of without this.

A World We Dare To Imagine - Part 3

The mission of my organization is to decrease the number of people living in poverty - but the ultimate goal is to eradicate poverty from our world.  This is why I decided to call my organization "The DH Poverty Eradication Foundation."  My organization will work from day to day towards our goal.  We will reach out to people all around the world to receive support for our foundation.  We believe that our interest is a shared interest for humanity, and there should not be people who would be against the idea of eliminating poverty.  One of our ideas is to make a well respected person in the world - who for instance could be a business mogul or a former president - to be a chairman of our foundation.  

People tend to be more interested and give more attention to an organization if they know or have heard off a person that is on the board of the organization.  In addition, we seek active government members to be part of our board as well.  We believe that with the help of the government members - who could be part of any governmental body - to bring the poverty topic back on the table and to request government officials to make plans and take action to eliminate poverty.  But this is not all.  We will also reach out to famous athletes around the world to gain their support and to use their popularity for our interests.  

My organization will be unique as it will constantly look for new ways to eradicate poverty.  We are well aware of the fact that part of eliminating poverty is to raise substantial funds.  These funds are needed to make sure that people living under poverty will be given food and nobody in the world will die any longer from starvation.  But does poverty just mean hunger or starvation?  The answer is no.  Poverty goes well beyond hunger and starvation.  Many people living under poverty have a poor or no education at all.  In addition, people who have no shelter are also considered to be under poverty.

A World We Dare To Imagine

I had many issues crossing my mind when I was starting to think how the world can be improved.  There are so many problems in our world that need to be addressed.  For instance, global warming, wars, water drought, HIV, and the list goes on.  However, there is one problem in this world that always bothered me and it is one of my greatest wishes to see it being eliminated - poverty.  It is very sad for me to know that there is people in this world who do not have enough food, and die due to starvation.  I know that a great number of the wealthiest people in the world make vast financial contributions in an attempt to eliminate poverty - and I am thankful for that.  Unfortunately, this is not sufficient.  More non profit organizations need to be created and more capital needs to be raised to address the issue of poverty.  The world needs to realize that more actions need to be taken.

The difficult decision I had to make - IDF or USC?

Before attending college in America, I had to make a decision: whether to serve in the IDF - the Israel Defense Forces for three years; or move to America to attend college immediate following my graduation from High School.  It was a very hard decision to make and I reached out to my family and friends to seek an advise on what I should do.  After seeing that all my friends from High School decided to serve in the military, I didn't want to be different than them and decided to join the military as well.  This decision postponed my wish of attending college in America by three years.

As of today, I am confident that I made the right decision to serve in the military.  The three years serving in the IDF made me a more independent person, more punctual, and see life overall in a different perspective.  Moreover, I believe that my experience in the IDF made me ready to attend college in America.  I am happy that I made the decision of serving in the IDF, and I believe the skills I gained through my time in the IDF will benefit me for my whole life.

The Genius of Money: An Interview with an Anonymous Donor

I choose to read this article because of the title that was appealing to me - An Interview with an Anonymous Donor.  I have great respect for people who like to donate and help the people in need.  I believe that if a donor prefers to stay anonymous and not to disclose his or her name, it shows a lot about the persons personality.  I recognize many anonymous people as being very humble.  This is because they do not expect anything in return.  Unfortunately, some people and organizations donate in order to be recognized and to build a reputation.  I believe that a donation should be made solely for the purpose to help the beneficiary - not to personally benefit from it.  It was interesting for me to read that the person being interviewed was not first into philanthropy, but more interested in psychology.

The Genius of Money: Part 2 - Chapter 2

The author emphasizes how a good business relationship can last for a long time – sometimes through generations. We learn that by being a banker, you are putting your reputation on the line. However, bankers who have a physical branch have the advantage of making these personal relationships. Thus, even if they don’t have the best interest rates, they do have the trust of their customers. The author also discusses the venture capital model. He describes how money is being invested in the people just as much as the idea. I agree with this, and I believe personal connections and trust are by far the most important aspect in business.

Chapter 2 discusses the personal connection people can make through finance.  The author believes that the recent market crash could have been prevented if we had an economic model where people could have had a deep, personal connection between each other.  For instance, he mentions that many years ago, it was the norm that bank clients had a very strong relationship with their bankers - the bankers would know everything about their clients, and their families as well.  To support his claim, the author talks about the CSA – Community Supported Agriculture.  The CSA is an existing economic model in the United States.  Here, the farmer partners together with his community.  The community becomes shareholders of his farm, and the proceeds are shared between the farmer and the community.  In essence, the community works closely together with the farmer to make sure that the farm will be profitable, thereby creating a strong relationship with the farmer.  According to the author, this model works very well, and he emphasizes that there is no doubt that a strong, personal relationship among people will be beneficial.