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Deal reached to end shutdown While not seen as a victory for Republicans, the deal ends the shutdown while ensuring the nation’s bills will be paid on time. RYAN BERNDT Staff Writer Democrats and Republicans have finally come together and reached an agreement to open up the government and continue with their duties. While weeks of uncertainty have passed, members are hopeful that votes in the House and Senate will assure the federal government gets back on track just in time for debt ceiling talks. The deal is seen as a defeat for the Republican party. In fact, the only thing Republicans will get out of this will be better income verifications for people getting insurance under the new health care law. President Obama’s Affordable Care Act
will remain unaffected despite efforts from Republicans and members of the Tea Party. The spark of bipartisanship in both the Senate and the House didn’t stop there. Members have agreed to raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling until February 7th to allow more talks. However, this all depends on if the deal is passed by the Senate, House, and the President. 200 votes from Democrats and 20 votes from Republicans in the Senate would be needed. Although this is great news for both federal government workers who have been away from their jobs for days and anyone wishing to head to a national park or monument, the
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Web Photo With the government shutdown ended, the fiscal cliff akso won’t be touched until February.
Internship Program granted $700,000 from local company Project FPX helps students by offering paid internships, a rare commodity. LISA STEVENS Staff Writer Project FPX, an internship program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, for students in the Computer Information Science Department, recently received a commitment of more than $700,000 from FPX, LLC. FPX, LLC is a Mankatobased software company that creates computer programs for companies to increase their sales. FPX, LLC offers pricing, quoting and proposal generation solutions. Student interns for Project FPX are paid $12 an hour to perform software development tasks. Dr. Michael Wells, a Profes-
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sor of Management Information Systems and Director of Project FPX, said the program is mutually beneficial for FPX, LLC and its student interns. The program began in August 2010 when Wells met with representatives for FPX, LLC and explained the benefits of having students work for the company. Students are a lowcost, local resource, Wells said. Students majoring in Computer Information Science are required to complete an internship related to the field. Student interns for Project FPX work about 20 hours per week during school and 40 hours per week during breaks. The longer duration of Project FPX internships compared with most other
internship opportunities allows students to learn more, Wells said. “This is a great opportunity to expose students to working in the Mankato area,” Wells said. Many graduates want to stay local and continue working for FPX, LLC, and the company has hired full-time graduates over the years, Wells said. He said most graduates who worked for Project FPX now make about $50-60,000 a year with their undergraduate degree. “Every person who has graduated and worked for Project FPX has gotten a full-time job in the field,” Wells said. Wells said there are currently four student interns for Project
FPX, but there are usually four to nine. Alex Sorenson, a Junior at MSU majoring in Information Systems, has been an intern for Project FPX for about eight months. He said the program has allowed him to gain skills like critical thinking and problem solving, which have helped him succeed in his classes. “We know how to work with each other very well,” Sorenson said, referring to the other student interns. “It’s a lot of fun and a lot of real-world experience.” Sorenson said he has been working on a fair amount of different tasks, like working with Selenium, a browser automation system, and doing quality assur-
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ance tasks to ensure processes are running smoothly. Project FPX has an office located in Wissink Hall. Sorenson said a benefit of working for the program is the convenience of being able to walk to the office between classes. He he has also worked in the FPX, LLC office in downtown Mankato during Winter Break last year, when he started his internship. FPX, LLC has been in Mankato since 1983 and was formerly name Firepond Inc. For the company’s 30th anniversary, it is paying for the student interns of Project FPX to attend a celebration and private concert in Minneapolis where the band Train will be performing.
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