SnoQap

Oct 27

Oct 27 A Look into the Market’s Lack of Response to Recent Events

With the President of the United States being hospitalized with a profound, new virus that has caused a global pandemic unlike the world has seen in a century, many investors would logically believe that the stock market would plunge. The market experienced a brief sell-off in the morning, but despite recent high levels of volatility, the S&P 500 still closed 10 points higher on Friday October, 2. There were certainly mixed signals being sent regarding the President, with the White House originally describing the action as a “precautionary measure”, then “mild symptoms”, and some reports even detailing a drop in the President’s blood-oxygen levels. Regardless of mixed reports, one would believe that a 74-year-old, high risk person would have an uncertain future.

Oct 26

Oct 26 2020 Election Polls: Should We Expect More Than 2016?

Naomi Buchanan

With November 3rd quickly approaching and election day anxiety intensifying, uncertain voters turn to the polls for some insight into what to expect. But, should we trust the polls? In 2016, national election polls had Hillary Clinton to win right up until Donald Trump’s surprise presidential victory. While polling ultimately results in a straightforward election prediction, there are many factors to consider when examining a poll. Often polling is more complex than simply comparing an election result to a poll’s prediction.

Oct 24

Oct 24 The Biggest Challenge for Distributing Vaccines Will Give You Chills

Ethan Plasker

Pfizer and Moderna are the frontrunners for an m-RNA vaccine for COVID-19 and are facing massive challenges in supply chain structures for their products. Cold storage needs are among the main concerns and analysts at SVB Leerink, a Boston investment bank, are afraid the two pharmaceutical companies won’t be able to meet regulatory guidelines. However, no mRNA vaccines have ever been approved, so Pfizer and Moderna are under pressure as both are racing to make history.

Oct 18

Oct 18 The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on Young People

Celia Schurman

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a weighted question that seems so impossibly vague at first that there may be no way to answer it. “Are you essential?”. The term “essential” has taken on a very specific definition during this crisis, referring to people whose jobs must continue during the crisis because their operation protects the livelihood of other humans. While most teenagers and young adults found themselves booted out of work when the pandemic hit, those with even a few more years of age fared better in the pandemic. Even as so many working youth were disrupted by the crisis, some had a completely different experience and were forced to step up and assume more working responsibilities than ever before.

Oct 15

Oct 15 From Pig Poop to Power

Jaret Prothro

Industrial-scale livestock farms have made meat more accessible than ever before by lowering costs and increasing availability across the United States. Obviously, producing more meat requires more animals. But one aspect that is often overlooked is the fact that more animals means more animal feces. For example, a single pig can produce up to 13 pounds of manure a day. Now consider Duplin County. The “pork mother lode for the $14 billion meatpacking goliath Smithfield Foods” houses 2.3 million hogs which are estimated to generate twice as much waste each day as the entire city of New York. With such an immense amount of waste to deal with, farms have to institute manure management infrastructure.

Oct 12

Oct 12 The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence

Ina Patrice Gonzales

As humanity continues to flourish, so do our innovations. Technological advancements exemplify humanity’s intelligence as well as creativity and are a component to our society’s existence. While technologies assist us in our daily lives, there is speculation as to when or if our electronic creations will eventually surpass us in terms of intellect. The mere creation of machines that are created to be able to learn for themselves is a concept that was once dismissed as unattainable. While humans have not yet perfected the art of artificial consciousness, the trend seen with recent technological advancements suggests that we are close to achieving this goal. With multiple billion dollar companies pouring large amounts of money into advancing this field and technology like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, it is apparent that the idea of artificial intelligence is now in the present.

Sep 27

Sep 27 What Programming Languages to Learn

Ina Patrice Gonzales

The world of computer science sounds daunting and difficult to navigate for the average person. The first time I was introduced to anything related to computer science was when I was a sophomore in college and enrolled in my first introductory class, Computer Science 1. At that time, all that I knew about programming was that really smart people could do it and that a bunch of words were written on a computer and did stuff, whatever that stuff was. Honestly, stepping into that class was intimidating and words like “C++”, “initialize”, and “runtime” confused me. However, at the end of the class, I realized that computer science was not as difficult as what I once thought it was and that anyone could do it if they put their mind to it. After taking CS 1, I decided to add computer science to my major and I have never regretted it since.

Sep 24

Sep 24 What You Should Know About Polling

Thomas DellaCroce

Now that Labor Day has passed, it is the home stretch of the election season. A large amount of attention will be directed towards polling and its results from now until Election Day. This shift occurs for good reason, as both conventions are over , both running mates have been announced, and most voters have already made their decision on who they will vote for. Thousands of polls have already been conducted from countless different media outlets, universities, and private polling firms. The sheer volume of polls can be overwhelming; not to mention it can be very difficult to decipher how accurate a poll may be. It is essential for individuals to understand polling so they are not misled by polls they see, and can determine for themselves an accurate picture of the race.

Sep 21

Sep 21 History Repeats Itself: Pandemic, Politics, and Public Health

Catherine Chen

More than three months since the beginning of coronavirus lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, President Donald Trump tweeted for the first time a photograph of himself wearing a mask. After months of mixed messaging from the federal government, the act of wearing a mask has become politicized. Anti-mask propaganda is widely circulated on social media sites, with trending hashtags like #maskscauseillness and #nomasksneeded. Despite a large body of scientific research confirming the efficacy of face masks in reducing the transmission of respiratory viruses (MacIntyre et al, 2009; Milton et al, 2013; Liang et al, 2020; Leung et al, 2020) and prominent public health organizations like the CDC and WHO recommending their use, masks have evolved into a political painpoint, with proponents shouting common sense and opponents viewing mask mandates as attacks on individual freedom. How did we get to this point?

Sep 13

Sep 13 SPACs: Is This New Investment Vehicle Here to Stay?

Ethan Wildes

A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a company formed with the purpose of acquiring another company. This “shell company” raises its funds through an IPO, at which point investors only know what the management team and general focus of the SPAC will be. This is why they are considered “blank check” companies, due to the specific target company being unknown to investors. Investors are giving their money to a company without any operations or production, with the assumption that within typically two years, they will acquire a company. With all the mystery, it’s no surprise that many find SPACs shady and would be hesitant to invest in something so unsure. However, as more SPACs are created and have found success over the years, they have gained credibility and popularity. The successful groups and management are what many investors look for in a SPAC. So far in 2020, there have been over 80 SPACs with an average IPO of just over $400 million (SPAC IPO, 2020). This is already triple what was raised in 2018, with nearly double the average raise.