School of Business

School of Business student named 08-09 ASPLU President

Undergraduate business student John de Mars was recently appointed President of the Associated Students of Pacific Lutheran University (ASPLU) for the 2008-09 academic year. De Mars will be entering his senior year this coming fall, finishing up his business degree with a concentration in finance. Last year, de Mars served ASPLU as the Director of Finance.

As President, de Mars hopes to lead ASPLU in the accomplishment of three goals: improve the internal system of ASPLU through enhanced communication, strengthen ASPLU’s own role within the student body by effectively representing the student’s voice, and reach beyond campus into the surrounding community and world.

De Mars believes networking can help accomplish these goals. “ASPLU will work on drawing networks between clubs and organizations and providing more opportunities to build student involvement and leadership on campus,” de Mars said. “By doing this, we hope that students can feel comfortable coming to ASPLU to become educated on how to utilize the Senate to make PLU a better campus that meets every student’s needs.”

De Mars also hopes to further the efforts made in previous years regarding the promotion of sustainable living. “Establishing sustainable life-long habits that students can take with them is valuable in helping them to make a difference when they leave PLU,” de Mars said.

ASPLU plans to use the upcoming presidential election as a platform to promote global education. “ASPLU will push for a goal to have 90% of the student body participate in the 2008 Presidential Election,” de Mars said. “It is important for students to vote because this allows them to engage in the political process and encourages PLU students to become more informed on current policy. Hosting a variety of programs that not only promote diversity but also educate students on global issues at home and abroad is crucial to our global world and global business.”

De Mars credits a great deal of his ASPLU success to his business education. “As director of finance, I found myself using fundamental accounting skills and money management tools to successfully fulfill my duties. This experience was significant because I directly applied what I learned in the classroom and related that to my ASPLU duties,” de Mars said.

De Mars’ internship last year with Russell Investment Group allowed him to explore and further understand organizational behavior, financial accounting, business law and ethics, informational systems, marketing, and sales. He believes this knowledge will be beneficial to his time as President.

Time inside the classroom has also helped de Mars prepare for his ASPLU duties. “One of the most engaging courses I’ve taken so far has been Professor Carol Ptak’s Creating Value in Operation Management course,” de Mars said. “We covered an array of business concepts centered on the idea of improving operations within an organization. After completing this class and starting my duties this past spring, I have already used many of the key values and thoughts learned and applied them to structuring the upcoming year.”

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May 2008 BBA graduate Justin Larimore was recently offered an internship at T-Mobile that focuses on process-based projects. Larimore credits School of Business professor Carol Ptak and her Creating Value in Goods & Services Operations course for his successful series of interviews.

“I really learned a lot through Professor Ptak’s teaching style. Her hands-on, real world application helped me gain a better understanding of what actually happens in the operations world. Her projects always pressed us to have an ‘outside-the-box’ type mentality, helping me to think critically on this subject.”

Larimore’s critical thinking abilities were tested throughout his four interviews at T-Mobile. “They asked me to walk them through the process of how I would implement gas stations into downtown Seattle if I were the ‘King of Seattle,’” Larimore said. “Since there are not many gas stations within the downtown area, they were challenging my thinking abilities by asking me to decide on how many gas stations and where to place them. This question reminded me of the type of scenarios that Professor Ptak challenged us with in class.”

A highlight of Professor Ptak’s operations course is the lack of a traditional textbook. “I do not use a traditional text because they are too confining,” Professor Ptak said. Instead, Ptak uses a series of selected texts. One of these texts, “The Goal” by Eli Goldratt, proved to be incredibly beneficial to Larimore in his interview. “One manager asked me several questions that hit on main ideas from the book,” Larimore said. “Being familiar with Goldratt’s book, I was able to answer his questions correctly. He said that I was the first intern to ever do so.”

Following the interviews, Larimore was asked to consider an Operations Analyst position. Larimore chose to accept the internship position first in order to experience different areas of the business before committing to a full-time position.

“Justin was a student who gained excellent operational insights and was able to apply them quickly in the work world,” Professor Ptak said.