News
$6.5 million gift launches business school at CMU The Redekop School of Business was launched Oct. 19 at Winnipeg’s Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), financed by a prominent family of West Coast entrepreneurs. The school was established “as an expression of thanksgiving for God’s providential care for the family of Jacob and Maria Redekop, and their children Mary, Jacob, John and Peter,” said CMU president Gerald Gerbrandt. The two brothers, John and Peter, their nephew James, and the extended family, have together pledged a minimum of $6.5 million and potentially up to $7.5 million to found the school. Twenty‑four members of the family travelled to Winnipeg from Alberta and British Columbia for the announcement. The late Jacob and Maria Redekop, together with their four children, fled to Canada from the Soviet Union following World War 2. They spent four months in Manitoba, where they were welcomed by family and church, before settling in British Columbia. “We see the need to educate the next generation in commerce, marketing and finance, and to do this in a university that inspires and prepares future leaders with skills complimented by Christian ethics, integrity and service,” said Peter Redekop on behalf of the Redekop family. “The school will greatly enhance the university’s ability to prepare and educate a significant number of Christian business leaders who will provide a positive influence on society and the life of the church, and who will have the resources to fund the church’s institutions,” he said.
CMU’s business program will use an inter‑disciplinary approach in preparation for a global business environment. The goal is to prepare students to become engaged in business and not‑for‑profit organizations, with a worldview and character shaped within Twenty-four family members traveled to Winnipeg for the launch of a Christian university the new Redekop School of Business. community. Redekop School of Business Human Resources Managenot‑for‑profit leaders. will offer career opportunities ment; and “We are convinced that the for students through the fol• a Bachelor of Arts degree Redekop School of Business lowing programs: (3‑ and 4‑year), major in will have a positive impact • a Bachelor of Business Business and Organizational on our church, our commuAdministration degree (4‑year, Administration. nity and all those who will be with a 5‑year Co‑op opThe school will offer opserved by our business gradution) with majors in Business portunities for a term of study ates,” said Gerbrandt. (CMU Management, Not‑for‑Profit in an international setting, and release) Management, Accounting, and interaction with business and
Web & e-mails not benign when it comes to energy Many people think sending an e-mail doesn’t consume much energy as long as you don’t print off the message. Not so, according to those who monitor the growing environmental impact of our wired world. They say the power needed to send text messages and keep mobile gizmos roaming and on alert is growing by leaps and bounds with 1.5 billion people using the internet every day. A European environmental assessment agency has studied the impact in Europe and found that such technologies already contribute two percent to greenhouse gas emissions and will double by 2020. The French have taken
The Marketplace November December 2011
the report seriously and have examined the carbon footprint of their use of e-mail, web searches and document transmission. E-mail volume is already huge, and growing. In 2009 daily worldwide volume of e-mail was estimated at 250 billion. That number is expected to double by the end of next year. The French study found that someone working for a company that employs 100 people is likely to receive an average of 58 e-mails a day and will send another 33. Based on that volume, professional e-mails can produce 300 pounds of greenhouse gas per employee per year. The carbon impact comes from the energy needed 22
by the computers to store, process and send data, as well as the energy that goes into making the components in the first place (flashdrives reportedly are high energy offenders). Web browsing also takes a toll, as servers use electricity, generate heat and need to be kept cool. An average web browser using a search engine to gather information produces up to 22 pounds of greenhouse gas per year. Among the gas-calming suggestions: send e-mails to fewer recipients and reduce storage of messages and attachments on a server. And, of course, print only when necessary. (Guardian Weekly)
