BUCS Hosts Its First Event of the Year

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Fiona Doran Social Media Coordinator

On Friday, Sept. 25, the Bishop’s University Commerce Society (BUCS) hosted its second annual Fun in the Sun event. Students of all majors were welcomed to enjoy a variety of games and snacks, as they learned about the different business organizations within the Williams School of Business.

Although the event was effective in enabling unacquainted students to meet one another and in providing schoolmates with an opportunity to experience the now rare pleasure of in-person socializing, the main goal of Fun in the Sun was to increase awareness of extracurricular opportunities and encourage engagement. Specifically, the organizers had the intention of helping first-year students get involved. The Bishop’s University Accounting Society (BUAS), Finance Society (BUFS), Enactus, and Women in Business were all in attendance to showcase what learning opportunities and leadership positions their organizations offer students. The different JDCC teams were also able to meet at this event and socialize before their training begins.

Although these groups seek to engage business students, there are opportunities for people with academic backgrounds outside that realm. For instance, Enactus, whose mission is to “engage the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders to use innovation and business principles to improve the world,” recruits students of various fields, given the multifaceted nature of the societal issues it aims to tackle.

Despite the lack of traffic across campus, BUCS was pleased with the turnout for the event. As the gathering was outdoors, changes could easily be made according to the COVID restrictions to allow for a great time.

As an incentive for students to sign in, those who provided contact information were registered in a raffle to win a BUCS face mask and mug.

Longtime professors like Mark Gandey and Nathalie Hivert stopped by to say hello to new and familiar faces alike, and new professors were able to learn about what their students can get involved in. Even the sun made an appearance near the end of the event, keeping true to the name.

For the next event, BUCS wants to host a barbecue and expand the games offering, which this year included spikeball. Looking onward to the rest of the semester, BUCS is hoping to maintain many of their past events. Events like the Wine & Cheese and case competitions are currently in the works, so check BUCS social media and your emails for updates!

Photo Courtesy of Theresa Graham

Investment Apps: The Stock Market at Students’ Fingertips

David Rossiter Sports Editor

With the rise of investment smartphone apps, especially ones that target young adults, it is becoming as easy for students to buy and sell stocks as it is for them to post on Instagram.

Modern technology has made the stock market more accessible than ever. Not only is tracking stock prices easy with the internet, but you can also follow the news to help you decide which companies you should invest in. Most importantly, you can do all of the trading remotely.

Before the rise of the internet, stocks were traded directly by professional stockbrokers on behalf of their clients. This restricted the hobby or business of trading to those privileged enough to afford it. For trading to be economical, trades would have to be large enough to offset the substantial brokerage fees, so traders would have to be heavily invested.

University students are often part of a demographic left out of the above criteria. Usually on a tight budget, college kids spend their income on necessities like food, textbooks, and, of course, partying. Any remaining discretionary income is generally not in large. Investment websites and applications recognized this fact and decided to target this untapped market.

Although the internet is nothing new, the investment apps that are blowing up in colleges are a fairly recent development.

Robinhood, an American premier trading app favoured by many in the 18-22 age group, launched in 2015. Wealthsimple, an extremely popular Canadian equivalent to Robinhood, launched an app in 2018.

Justin Grout is a politics student at Bishop’s who uses Robinhood to invest. “I use it to learn about watching the market and to gain experience while keeping it low-risk,” he explained. Justin does this by only investing small amounts of money.

The majority of these innovative apps do not require you to deposit a minimum amount of money to access their services. They allow you to trade with as much or little as you like. This makes the app accessible to users like Justin.

Patrick Thompson, a business student, is a Robinhood aficionado. Patrick says that Justin’s experience is part of the beauty of Robinhood. Commenting further, he stated, “Without broker and commission fees, Robinhood is an extremely cost-efficient way to trade… Personally, I am very happy to be able to trade on this app and learn from my mistakes without having to pay any extra fees on top of my shares purchased.”

Make no mistake: this attractive convenience is by design. Robinhood has an entire section on its website devoted to college students who want to begin investing. Wealthsimple also shares in its mission statement that it was created specifically for young adults.

When asked about other features that appeal to him and likely to other young adults, Patrick brought up the design and interface of Robinhood. “The display is very aesthetically pleasing, and the charts and information [are] easily accessible.” The biggest change brought by these apps is accessibility, which creates a world in which the stock market is somewhat less white-collar-professional centric.

With their avant-garde interfaces, and no commission fees or minimum deposits, these apps succeed in whipping up the perfect storm for university students. “Apps like these are quite simply the perfect platform to learn,” Patrick concluded.