Studying Child Labor

The U.S. government recently issued a grant to Tulane University in New Orleans to fund a three year study of child labor in Africa.  The grant more specifically is giving researchers money to study the Cocoa industry in western Africa, the two primary countries being Ghana and the Ivory coast. According to Tulane university the grant"will be used to measure trends in the worst forms of child labor in agriculture, including the cocoa sector in these countries"

http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com
Considering that these countries are plagued with child labor it is a good place to hold the studies, especially in the cocoa industry. Should the U.S. government be doing these studies? what will they find? where else should they fund these studies?

Bandcamp.com

In my last blog post, I talked about how much an artist makes from selling their music on iTunes.  After finding out that an artist makes very little from iTunes, I decided to write about Bandcamp.com.

Bandcamp is a website where anyone can sell their music.  Unlike iTunes, almost all the money goes to the person selling their song or album.  Bandcamp makes money from revenue share on sales.  The money you make goes directly into your account.  On the home page, it shows top sellers and music that is currently selling.  Bandcamp is a great website to sell music and get discovered by new fans.




http://natefancher.com


http://bandcamp.com/pricing
http://bandcamp.com/
This website is reliable because the blog post was written about it.


Are there other websites for musicians to sell their music on?

Dance Moms Drama

Many dancers and non dancers alike are familiar with the show "Dance Moms."  This show stars Abby Lee Miller and her selected dancers and moms to compete a new dance routine each week.  This show is very entertaining and full of gossip and drama.  The show normally starts out with Abby ranking the girls from worst to best on a pyramid, either crushing or raising the girls' spirits.  This pyramid is usually the first spark of drama when the mom of the "worst" dancer screams that her position is unfair and not accurate.  The show continues on with the girls learning a variety of dances in just a few days.  You can hear coach, Abby Lee Miller screaming in the girls' faces until they break down crying, causing the moms to run in yelling and Abby for her crazy ways.  The camera cuts to the moms sitting in the viewing room above the studio watching the girls and gossiping about each other.  Every week at the competition, the girls crack as Abby pressures them to be the absolute best and nothing less.  Each week is garunteed tears and fights, but the viewers can't get enough. 

Abby states that the production company, Collins Avenue Entertainment, chose the dancers and moms that are the most dramatic to be on the show. In reality, most moms get along with Abby and don't cause any problems, but that doesn't get 2 million viewers each week.  Abby also claims that the pyramid ranking was the show's idea, not hers.  She had never ranked her kids before and believes it's cruel, but it keeps the show going.  The show is a false depiction of reality, despite being a reality show.  Dancers are not normally pressured to learn and compete several new dances each week.  The show "Dancing with the Stars" is focused more about dance styles while "Dance Moms" focuses on the drama in dance competitions.  My dance studio is very different than the popular show "Dance Moms."  We joke around about who we think of our fellow dancers most resembles those at Abby Lee Dance Company.  When competing against other studios, we have brushed into the Abby Lee Dance Company a few times.  We notice how fake they act and witness the camera crew telling them to act out the fight a 3rd time for a new camera angle.  Dance Moms is truly a crazy show, but wildly entertaining.  Do you think it is fair to call it reality T.V. when it is so fake?  Or is that what all reality T.V. shows are today?

www.avclub.com  is a reliable site because it is trusted by many to review popular television series.  The article was published August 15,  2012 showing it is current and credible.

http://img.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dance-moms__oPt.jpg

http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Entertainment/660/371/abbylemiller640.gif

The benefits of Child Labor

Yes, it does sound crazy, but there actually is an upside to child labor.  Child laborer's in Latin America have been gathering support and creating unions in attempts to protect their rights to work, that's right the children themselves are advocating FOR child labor. They are working to make actual unions in hopes that they can get protection from the government as well as improved work conditions.  A Bolivian child labor advocacy group and union named Bolivia's Union of Child and Adolescent Workers backs about 15,000 workers under 18 and fights for their rights and protection. These groups believe that the problem is not that children are working, the problem is that children are being mistreated, overworked and under-payed. They believe that if child labor is regulated and has unions that it would be okay for children to work.

Image source: Time.com
The Bolivia's Union of Child and Adolescent Workers is not the only group of it type. Countries all over South America are following suit and creating organizations such as these. Why isn't this more prevelant in the news? Why don't we ever hear abhout the benefits of child labor? If the laborers themselves are advocating for their right to continue working, then who are we to stop them?

Synthesis & Plan

I have covered all sorts of different topics within child labor so far. I have looked at certain countries where it is most prevalent as well as industries and products that are commonly plagued by child labor. I have seen how child labor has been effecting the chocolate industry in recent times. I have also looked at something that we don't see often which is child labor law violations in america. Another curious topic within child labor that I have researched is the benefits of child labor and why some people are in support of it.

Advantageous to be a larger or smaller company?

Urban outfitters is a large chain store, but in it's humble begins it was a smaller store with less generic clothing and products. While large companies can offer broader selections of clothing and have advantages in purchasing, marketing and distribution, smaller stores can compete by offering more unique merchandise, targeting a specific demographic, providing superior customer service, or serving a local market. Some could say Urban Outfitter lost their small town college vibe, not necessarily selling out but creating a company more profitable. The store has done a fairly good job with have more creative pieces produced and distributed, but obviously beforehand their store offered one of a kind pieces which customers enjoyed picking up, and added to the laid-back feel. That it was almost a 2nd hand store, but more trendy. Now, the brand reaches a larger demographic from regular everyday folk, to overtly trendy fashion moguls. Nevertheless the brand continues to grow, but would it have more appeal if the stores were limited to one or few? More demand?  

Proffessional Athletes' Yearly Salaries

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-10423863

This site shows how much a player in each gets paid on average. As you can see, These players get paid millions of dollars. Are they worth the pay they get? Well, with all the ads they act in and all of the sponsors they have, they might as well deserve it.

In some sports where there are few players on a team, like basketball, players are paid more . Where as in sports where there are many players on a team, such as football, each individual player, on average, isn't paid as much.