CU Social Entre Builds Urban Chicken Coops

A group of Colorado University engineering students has built a better chicken coop that is targeted to the growing number of urban chicken farmers in the U.S.  From the article by Melanie Asmar of the Colorado Daily.

But the idea behind University of Colorado senior Jeff Troutman’s coop is decidedly down-to-earth. The architecture student set out to build a chicken-house that could be manufactured easily and inexpensively — and sold at an affordable price to Boulder’s burgeoning set of urban hen-keepers.

“I would love to see it become a functional coop in people’s backyards,” he said.

Keeping a flock of chickens next to the lawnmower shed is a practice that’s taking off across the country and across Colorado, as more and more cities make allowances for backyard birds. Boulder allows them, as do Superior and Longmont.

For proponents like Troutman, who, as a renter, has never had a flock of his own, backyard chicken-keeping is partly about knowing where your food comes from — and where your waste goes.

“That’s the idea behind this — to create a cycle, instead of this throw-out culture,” he said.

 

Luxury Dorms Selling Out

Read anyone covering the state of higher education (or emails like those I receive from administrators at

Image property/courtesy of the Chicago Tribune Company

major schools) and you will hear about soaring costs and dwindling budgets. Much of it is true (though its a continual storyline in higher education), but there are always pockets of demand, growth and expansion to be found on the college campus.

Came across an article from the Chicago Tribune (via @SusanBeacham ) highlighting the growth of luxury dorms (often including maid service, tanning beds, and flat screens) and the huge demand that is meeting their high prices. The piece, by Sara Olkon, highlights dorms coming online across the country (BU and Purdue to ASU).

Tom Cheesman, architect of Purdue’s $52 million First Street Towers, said the residence hall is “essentially a hotel.” He said it is especially attractive to “helicopter parents who want to send their son or daughter to college campus but give them all the luxuries of home.”

The demand for more posh undergraduate housing is growing across college campuses, contradicting general economic trends toward simplifying and cutting back.

This fall, Boston University unveiled a 960-bed luxury dorm overlooking the Charles River that comes with walk-in closets, large private bathrooms and washers and dryers programmed to alert students via computer when their sheets are dry. Rooms in the elegant tower also run about $5,000 more than a traditional room.

“Students want beauty, and they should have beauty,” Kenneth Elmore, BU’s dean of students, told the Boston Globe.

Sounds like there ripe opportunities for many to be found in campus housing and services. In the four years that I have been on the George Mason University campus I have seen countless dorms being built and lots of amenities (from coffee shops and health club like facilities) spring up. The on campus population continue to rise.

Secrets of Self-Made Billionaires

Forbes.com has a cool feature where they ask self-made billionaires a bunch of questions to find their secrets. Worth a quick read. For example,

One lesson is clear: If you want to make serious cake, start a business. Of the 400 titans on our list, 274 are self-made–up from 270 last year. Six of the top 10 spots on the Forbes 400 belong to entrepreneurs (as opposed to those born into wealth). Their combined net worth: $166.5 billion.

Its a nice feature with pictures and videos and there are some good nuggets in there. BTW, 5 of the 8 (including Donald Trump) are currently worried about government  regulations adversely affecting their business going forward.