April, 27 , 2004 Print this page

La Salle University Team Captures Regional Title at “Students in Free Enterprise” Competition, Will Move onto National Tournament

A team of La Salle University students won a regional competition for teaching business skills and information to Philadelphia school students and community residents, and will move to the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) national competition next month.

Held in the Boston, The 14-member La Salle team impressed the judges with how it conducted workshops and other educational functions for students and community residents who wanted to start a business. Held in Boston, judging was done by executives from 13 corporations. The La Salle team earned a $1,500 prize for its performance.

“You really don’t understand all that you have accomplished as a team until you get on stage and have the trophy in your hand,” said Michael Antonelli, team vice president who is a sophomore Marketing major. “It was one thing to be respected on campus, but now we are making impressions on a national level.”

“La Salle University’s SIFE not only taught free enterprise, but team members also made a difference in the Philadelphia community by developing projects to meet specific needs of community members,” said Lorraine deSouza, a La Salle junior with a double major of Management Information Systems and Integrated Business, Science, and Technology (ISBT). One of those projects was “The Stock Market Game.”

“We did this program at Olney High School,” said deSouza. “This game helped us teach and reinforce essentials skills and concepts such as critical thinking, decision making, and economics. We helped to teach this game by utilizing Internet research and news updates just as a professional investor would do.”

The judges at the SIFE competition wrote, “Great job teaching young adults about the market. It will go with them for a long time," and, "Great job in exposing kids to stock research and teaching.”

“The team worked very hard and did a wonderful job, not only at the competition but also at the workshops they conducted in the Philadelphia area,” said Marsha Timmerman, a faculty member in La Salle’s ISBT program and the SIFE faculty advisor. “The students are always amazed at how much they learn while teaching others.”

In addition to Antonelli and deSouza, team members are: Dan Lawson, Phil Robertson, Sean Flynn, Tom Rodgers, Viridiana Robles, Deetria Little, Nick Caramanico, Andy Estroff, Mike Fry, Joseph Traficanti, Greg Ventura, and Larry Steward,

The La Salle team will compete for the SIFE USA National Championship title at the SIFE USA National Exposition in the Kansas City from May 23 to 25. The winning team will advance to represent the United States at SIFE World Cup 2004 in Barcelona, Spain, competing against national champions from more than 30 other countries.

SIFE is a non-profit organization active on more than 1,600 college and university campuses in 40 countries. SIFE works in partnership with business and higher education to provide students the opportunity to make a difference and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise.