In a recent Forbes article, Sramana Mitra asks whether business schools that emphasize raising venture capital over bootstrapping set up their students for failure in the “real world.” First-time entrepreneurs typically don’t have the track record necessary to secure venture capital, so if they see it as their only option they may never get their business off the ground. It’s a testament to CEE Professor Jeff Fahrenwald’s Entrepreneurship course that bootstrapping and venture capital are both given equal consideration as appropriate funding tactics.

Read the article at Forbes.

During the Fall 2009 semester, CEE sponsored two essay contests. Cash prizes were awarded to the first place winners and honorable mentions in each contest. The essays were judged on their accuracy and depth of interpretation and their independence of thought.

The first contest was held in Professor Stephen Hicks’s Introduction to Philosophy course. Students were asked to write about the truth or falsity of the following Shakespeare line from Act II of Hamlet: “This above all: to thine own self be true / And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” Students related this line to one or more of their course books — Plato’s Apology and Crito, Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, and René Descartes’ Meditations. Congratulations to our five winners!

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The second contest was held in Professor Shawn Klein’s Business and Economics Ethics course. Students were asked to defend or criticize the following claim made by the character Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street: “Greed, in all of its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind.” Congratulations to our three winners!

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The Department of Philosophy and the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship are sponsoring two new reading groups, which are open to all interested members of the Rockford College community.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith. This group will meet from 1-2 pm in the CEE office on the second floor of Burpee on the following dates:

January 22
February 5
February 26
March 19
April 9
April 30
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The discussions will be led by Professor Shawn Klein, with Prof. Matthew Flamm. Also, there will be complementary snacks at each meeting!

Honor: A History by James Bowman. This group will meet from 6-7 pm in Scarborough 204 on the following dates:

February 9
February 23
March 16
March 30

The discussions will be led by Professors Stephen Hicks and Shawn Klein.
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Free copies of the books will be given to all who are interested in participating. Stop by the CEE office on the second floor of Burpee (open 9-5 weekdays) to pick up your free copy, or feel welcome to get one at the first meeting.

Also, view the PDFs of the Adam Smith group and the Honor group flyers.

Anja Hartleb-Parson, CEE’s Research & Publications Manager, talks with Fall 2009 guest speaker Joshua Hall about his presentation on “The Dilemma of School Finance Reform.” Professor Hall explains why we are spending more on public education over time but may not be getting our money’s worth. Watch the video below.

Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, talks with Fall 2009 guest speaker Dr. Jerry Kirkpatrick about his recent book, “Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism”. Dr. Kirkpatrick compares and contrasts the educational philosophies and methods of John Dewey and Maria Montessori, and discusses the potential benefits of such methods in a capitalist society.

CEE and Rockford College were mentioned in the October 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine as part of its “Top 50 Entrepreneurial Colleges for 2009” feature.

Steve Mariotti is the founder of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Before NFTE, Mr. Mariotti was a successful entrepreneur and a teacher in some of New York’s most challenging schools. Because of his innovative methods for teaching business concepts Mariotti was named Teacher of the Year for New York State in 1988. We met with Mr. Mariotti in New York to explore his thoughts on his passion for teaching and entrepreneurship education as an exit strategy from poverty for at-risk youth.

Kaizen: You were mugged in 1981 by three teenagers in New York’s Lower East Side, and that led you to a major career change?

Mariotti: It did. The mugging caught me emotionally off guard, and I had a lot of flashbacks afterward. It got me interested in the question of why some kids would humiliate me over a small amount of money. And I started to think: Had they been able to sell me something or ask me to invest in a business deal, they could have gotten a lot more money and it would have been a win/win situation for everyone. And that really got me interested in a new career path in education, which turned out great.
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The Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship is proud to announce its guest speakers for Fall 2009:

Timothy Sandefur

“Market Entrepreneurs and Political Entrepreneurs: Some Legal and Constitutional Issues”

September 16, 6 pm, SCAR 220

Timothy Sandefur is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm based in Sacramento, California. He is the author of Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America and has written for The San Francisco Chronicle.

Jerry Kirkpatrick

“The Importance of Philosophy to a Successful Business Career”

October 27, 6 pm, SCAR 204

“Montessori and Dewey as Educational Philosophers”

October 28, 6 pm, STARR 223

Jerry Kirkpatrick is Professor of International Business & Marketing at California State Polytechnic University. He is the author of In Defense of Advertising and a book on educational philosophy and public policy: Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism.

Joshua Hall

“The Dilemma of School Finance Reform”

October 13, 6 pm, Grace Roper Lounge

November 11, 6 pm, STARR 223

Joshua Hall is Assistant Professor of Economics at Beloit College. His articles have appeared in such publications as the Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, the Journal of Economics and Politics, and The Independent Review.

Also, click here to view the PDF of our flyer.