Students in Free Enterprise win competition

After winning the regional competition March 20 in Cincinnati, IU’s Students in Free Enterprise team is getting ready to compete in the SIFE USA National Exposition in Dallas on May 6-8. Although team members expect the competition to be hard, they say they have plenty to offer, from a variety of different projects to a dynamic and growing \nstudent organization.\nStudents in SIFE have worked on projects such as developing a fair-trade shop in Bloomington, cooperating with entrepreneurs setting up new businesses, and helping high school students acquire the necessary skills for a \njob application.\nSIFE President Annie Cornett said she thinks the team managed to get the results of its projects across well to the competition’s judges.\nThe organization was re-established three years ago and has 57 members. At IU, students can receive credit for their efforts on the SIFE team. Cornett said the organization is special because students from many schools and departments participate, involving the whole campus instead of only the business school. \nThe projects include the “Travelin’ T” project, in which elementary school pupils learn how a T-shirt is produced. The children get to see the whole process of making a T-shirt before it is sold in a store. They also get information about the countries through which the shirt traveled. \nAt the Aurora Alternative High School, the SIFE team teaches pupils to develop communication skills, how to write resumes and how to prepare for interviews. Teacher Barbara Curry is enthusiastic about the partnership. \nThe pupils’ reactions were also positive. They take the interviews seriously, even though they aren’t real, Curry said.\nThe projects create a win-win situation, because SIFE team members can get real-world experience and have the chance to work with professionals, said vice president Nicole Gump.\n“You learn leadership skills; you learn to work with people. (SIFE) is one of the things on your resume (that companies) draw on,” Gump said.\nCornett, discussing the Fair Trade Bloomington project, said, “Not only does it have an impact on the people in Bloomington; it has an impact on people all over the world.” \nProject leader Nichole Common agreed.\n“This is a way for me to make a difference in the world from where I live,” she said.\nSo what are the chances of IU’s team making it to the final in Dallas?\nCornett notices the major improvements IU’s team has made during the previous two years. But she also said the competition will be much harder because other universities have more funding, bigger teams and more experience.\nShe said the goal of this year is to make it through the first round. \n“If we make that, we would be very happy,” Gump said.