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Even if you don't think you do, you already know plenty about commodities. Want us to prove it? No problem.
What makes oil produced in Saudi Arabia different from oil exported from Nigeria? It's the same thing that makes the corn you ate at last summer¿s barbecue different from the corn used to produce ethanol. Stumped? Well, don't feel bad, it's a trick question. The answer? Absolutely nothing. Corn is corn no matter where it comes from -- just as wheat is wheat and natural gas is -- right! -- natural gas. (Though the quality may differ, the make-up is uniform.)
So, in less elaborate terms, corn and oil (and all other commodities) are homogenous goods that can be processed, resold and more often than not, used as an input to the production of other goods or services. These goods are traded on a commodity exchange, thus setting the price-per-barrel (or other metric unit) used to value them.
Now pay attention, here's a question that indeed does have an answer: What is the difference between a commodity and a stock? While a stock can tank and become worthless, a commodity cannot have its value be wiped to zero. One other difference: Most commodities are traded in futures, meaning traders buy and sell where they think the price of a product will be at a certain point in the future. Stocks trade based on the value of the underlying company at that point in time.
Home / Personal Finance / Financial Planning / College & Education
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Sims 101: SD College Considers PC Gaming Major
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--Dakota State University is looking to help computer gamers make a living doing what they love by offering an undergraduate degree in computer game design.
DSU has asked the Board of Regents for authorization to develop a proposal for the major, which the Madison school hopes to begin offering as early as this fall. The regents' academic and student affairs committee is to consider the request at a meeting Thursday in Pierre.
Tom Halverson, dean of DSU's College of Business and Information Systems, says the bachelor of science degree would be a joint program offered through his department and the College of Arts and Sciences.
"This kind of pulls some of the programming side of computer science and some of the creative side of digital arts and design," Halverson said. "It kind of puts those two together."
Retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. hit nearly $18 billion in 2007, according to the NPD Group.
Halverson said breaking into the gaming industry can be a challenge, so his goal is to design its curriculum to be broad. DSU's computer game design degree will prepare students for jobs not only in computer gaming, but also in simulations, educational software and training software, he said.
In its request, Dakota State provided the regents with curriculum from the University of California Santa Cruz, which offers a similar degree. Its program requires courses in programming, calculus and physics and electives in the art, film, theater and music departments.
Computer gaming draws from a wide variety of fields and talents, Halverson said.
"There's a storytelling, creative writing aspect," he said. "There's storyboarding -- kind of how do you lay out some of the major scenes -- all the way down through the programming and physics to get realistic looking action."
The new major, which has been in discussion for a year or two, would use existing faculty positions. Dakota State is conducting searches for one instructor on the technological side and another on the creative side, Halverson said.
DSU also would use existing computer hardware and software, so the regents would incur no additional costs, he added.
If the board gives its go-ahead, DSU will finalize its curriculum proposal and try to get the major into its fall catalog. Otherwise, students could take courses and switch to the major in the fall of 2009.
"As soon as we can get it on the books, we will," Halverson said.
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