Minimum Wage Increase

As many of you have heard, by May of 2012 the minimum wage for British Columbia residents will increase to $10.25. Although this increase has been long in coming and eagerly awaited for, there might be negative consequences due to this increase.

The proposed changes are proposed like this:

Standard Entry Level Jobs

Today                          8.00/hr

May 1/11                    $8.75

Nov 1/11                     $9.50

May 1/12                    $10.25

Liquor Servers (From Waiters to Bartenders)

Today                          8.00/hr

May 1/11                    $8.50

Nov 1/11                     $8.75

May 1/12                    $9.00

For students working to pay off school like me, this seems like a wish come true. However, many business owners do not particularly have the same view. The amount of money it takes to get a specific task done will then be increased by $2.25 / hour per person! Although this may seem like much, even small businesses have at least 15 to 20 employees minimum! This leads almost to a $33.75 to $45.00 per hour. It becomes apparent to many small business employers that this might not be the most worthwhile, most likely leading to hour cutting or layoffs.

Theoretically, let's say that a restaurant makes approximately $500,000 a year. In general, general labor and wage cost will be approximately 30% ($150,000). With this wage increase, the wage cost is then increased by another $45,000! This pushes his wage cost up to $195,000, and operating in a declining market. Then it is possible that he will make one of two choices, either to increase his prices (not advisable) or to terminate employees (most likely).

However, not everybody has this same view. Many people feel that the increase in minimum wage will actually help our economy. They are under the common view that people with money in their pockets will most likely spend that money on small businesses in the economy. In addition, because the increase is done in increments over a period of a year, the consensus is that the increase might not necessarily be drastic upon employers.

It is hard to say whether the increase to minimum wage will create positive consequences or negative consequences. The result might be both. The only way to tell is to sit back and see what will happen.

$¢hoo£

Is education really worth thousands and thousands of dollars every year?

I realize that we do come to school, in order to get educated. But is it worth the thousands and thousands per semester? I think not. However, it is hard to put a price on knowledge.

The tuition varies very much with every university, but the average student usually amasses about $30, 000 in student loans when they take their first steps out of university and into the real world. How can we choose to educate ourselves through debt - having the knowledge that once we are done, this overwhelming wall of debt will outright smother you?

Education at university is very useful. People come and go, leaving with pieces of papers in their hands. They range from taking a Bachelor of Science to Bachelor of Business Administration. To get a bachelors, however, does not guarantee you a job. In the past, that was very much true, when it seemed like only the rich went to school. In this century, enrollment has skyrocketed at almost every university. More people are walking around with degrees and diplomas. Distance learning has also gained major popularity, offering the ease of education without a campus.

Is it really worth getting educated before going into the workforce? Or should we gain enough experience and return to expand upon them?

Valentine's Day

What does Valentine's Day mean to people in this century? The origin of Valentines is very cloudy, but it was originally used to honor the Valentines of Rome and Terni. However, there is one interesting romantic legend that about the origin of Valentine's Day. In this legend, St. Valentine was captured and persecuted. He was later questioned by the Roman monarch Claudius the Second. Two stories branch out at this point.

One depicts St. Valentine as a priest that refused to follow a law set by Claudius II, a law that ordered young men to remain unattached and single. This law was brought about through the belief that, without a wife or family, these single men will become better soldiers. In defiance of this law, Valentine secretly performed marriage ceremonies for these soon to be soldiers. For his defiance, Valentine was thrown in jail.

The second one is very similar to the first one, and very much follows the same plot. However, the ending is a little bit more gruesome. On the day of Valentine's execution, he writes the first Valentine's card, to a girl he truly loved. At the bottom read 'From your Valentine'.

Valentine's Day, in the modern world, is held on February 14, 2011, Monday of this year. It is an annual celebration of love and affection between couples. However, businesses have also used this day as a day for profit. Walking down an aisle in a grocery store, you can see a variety of Valentine's cards, teddy bears and chocolate hearts that number in the hundreds. It has become such a celebrated holiday that the promotions of Valentine's Day can even be compared against the massive promotions for Christmas.

So what does Valentine's Day mean to you? A day of expense or a day of love?

First Steps

Hm....What to write in a blog?  It's hard to say. I guess an introduction would be a good start. My name is Arthur Lin. I am a second year university student at Thompson Rivers University, in the process of pursuing a joint bachelor in Business Administration and Computing Science. I moved from Taiwan, where I was originally from, at the age of 5 and have lived in Canada for the majority of my life. Most recently, I have been in charge of running the beer gardens at TCC for our varsity home games. It has been an interesting experience, although very exhausting at times.