google vs. daimler - handelsblatt macht schule...be considered competition for daimler & co....

DIGITIZATIONA new industrial revolution is on the horizon. PAGES 2, 3

VLADIMIR PUTINThe Russian President is a controversial fi gure. PAGE 4

BLOGGERSThe internet is full of diaries. Popular blogs can become full-time jobs for their authors. PAGE 5

THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGEThe value of curiosity and why knowledge about medicine and health is so important.SPECIAL PAGES I to IV

Dieter FockenbrockHandelsblatt Düsseldorf

Daimler has been making cars for 130 years. Driving a Mercedes has become a symbol of affl uence and power – therefore making

it a favourite among politicians, rich sheiks and managers at big companies. So why should Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche worry about Google’s self-driv-ing cars, which are anything but alluring with their comical egg-like appearance? Or why should he lose sleep thinking about the rumour that Apple may want to start building its own cars? Zetsche thinks the latter is merely a marketing ploy. But he might be wrong.

In Germany, the brands BMW, Volkswagen and Audi have long dominated the automotive market. They are built in factories where nothing but cars are produced. The perception was that car-mak-ing is a job for a select few. But that isn’t the case anymore. Our globalized world suddenly makes it possible for internet companies like Google to enter the automotive industry – without ever having built a single engine. The US-based company is having

its egg-shaped car built at factories most normal people have never heard of. And yet, the car drives just fi ne. This is due in part to the fact that its engine, chassis and interior are built by the same manufac-turers that supply components to the traditional carmakers.

Google, though, isn’t interested in building a car that competes with Daimler’s luxury rides. Instead, the internet giant is testing and developing a driv-erless car in sunny California – a sort of laptop on wheels you might say. Google, and perhaps Apple, plan to make a “connected car” that can be remotely controlled. Using a digital map of the area, the car will safely transport its pas-sengers through the concrete jungle without a driv-er ever having to touch the steering wheel. In addi-tion to maps, the car will also use other information that Google has collected from its customers and internet users to guide it safely to its destination.

Yes, Google is building a very diff erent kind of car. But that is exactly why Google and Apple should be considered competition for Daimler & Co.

More on the topic of digitisation on pages 2 and 3.

Car manufacturers are getting competition from unusual sources. Internet companies are shaking up the market with self-driving cars.

April 2015ISSUE 33NEWCOMER zeitung fÜr

schÜler

www.handelsblattmachtschule.de/newcomer

Google vs. Daimler

Photos: google.com; http://media.daimler.com; Corbis | HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/Reuters; Icon: freepik.com / FlatIcon

IN THEIR OWN WORDS�…

» Free trade is in the interest of countries like Germany, as we are an ex-port-oriented nation. «Sigmar Gabriel, Minister of Econo-my and Energy (see page 6)

Self-driving cars are comingWhat benefits do you expect

from autonomous vehicles?

What problems do you foresee with autonomous vehicles?

Sources: EY; Survey of 1,000 consumers

Better flow of tra�c54%

48%

40%

32%

58%

46%

44%

Improved safety

Reduced consumption and emissions

Greater comfort

The joy of driving is lost

Di�cult legal issues in cases of accidents

Currently too unreliable

2


April 2015, ISSUE 33HANDELSBLATT FOCUS

A snapshot of this diverse professionWhen our work environment changes, it often does so due to technical innovations. Machines and computers have completely replaced humans in some occupations, while making their work easier in many others. The profession of photogra-pher belongs to this second group. Digital photography has greatly a� ected this fi eld. In earlier days, photographers had to develop their photos in a long and expensive

process. Now, they can process, edit, save and print their snapshots direct-ly from a computer. However, a good photographer still needs to have a good eye for framing as well as a thorough technical un-derstanding of the camera. Technical skills are also helpful when it comes to editing digital photos. Additio-nally, photographers need lots of patience and should be able to make people feel at ease and comfortable,

especially when doing portraits for instance or wedding photos, where a large group is supposed to look their best in a single shot. Other tasks can include preparing passport photos or helping custo-mers create personalized calendars or mugs. People who enjoy art class and have an interest in physical correlations, such as optics and light, have a head start on entering the professi-

on, which can be done via training programmes at vocational schools or degree programmes at universities. Once fi nished, photographers can work at a photo studio, for adverti-sers or publishing companies. More Information is available at www.berufe.tv

Maren KienaßInstitute of Economic Education at Oldenburg

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE: PHOTOGRAPHER

Ina KarabaszHandelsblatt Düsseldorf

When a customer order is received at Amazon’s warehouse, an em-ployee there receives a list with

the products ordered and where these are located in the online retailer’s massive sea of shelves. Without this information, the em-ployee would likely need all day to fi nd the products for one single order. That is because Amazon doesn’t organise its shelves accord-ing to product categories, with shoes in one spot and books in another. Instead, products are scattered throughout the warehouse. Rolling pins are next to Halloween make-up, while bike bells share a shelf with notepads.

This seemingly chaotic arrangement works thanks to the inventory software used. It always knows exactly where everything is. When new prod-ucts arrive at the warehouse, they are scanned, weighed and measured. Using this data, the programme fi nds a suitable spot on the shelves for the new products – and it never forgets where that is. This system is much quicker and cheaper than the old process: No time is wasted on looking for something and every bit of space is used effi ciently.

That’s what digitization is all about. Ba-

sically, the term refers to converting infor-mation (usually about tangible objects) to a digital or electronic format. This makes them easier to organise, work with and improve. Here is a simple example: Finding a certain passage in a book is much easier to do using a computer than fl ipping through a book by hand.

Digitalization is one of the hot buzzwords in technology and business these days. Just recently, digitization was the focus of the Cebit, the world’s largest IT trade fair. Visitors and exhibitors talked about things like cloud

technologies and digital optimizations for produc-tion processes during the fi ve-day event in Hanover.

For companies, these simplifications can rep-resent enormous added value. Computer pro-grammes can process in-formation much quicker and provide detailed re sults . A s a re sult , unnecessary manu-

facturing processes are eliminated while others are automated. This is why an increasing number of jobs are being handled by machines. Once they have been provided the necessary information, such as the design and dimensions of a component, they are programmed to cut, weld or paint it much faster and more precisely than a human

ever could.Companies benefit from this in several

ways: They save money thanks to lower costs and earn more money as they can produce

Everyone is talking about digitization these days. And no wonder: It has changed how we work and live in many ways.

Always Connected

Caricature: Kaja Schönborn and Tomma Otzen

Industrial Revolution

This term is used when new

production processes or tech-

niques have major impacts on

the economy and society. The

fi rst industrial revolution began

around 1780 with the inven-

tion of the steam engine. The

second started in 1880 with mass

production and electricity. The

advent of PCs and the internet

represented the third stage. Now,

we are heading for industry 4.0.

An employee scans products in a warehouse.

April 2015, ISSUE 33 3


HANDELSBLATT FOCUS

COMMENT

We Pay for Digital

Luxury with Our DataIna Karabasz

Handelsblatt Düsseldorf

As is so often the case: What seems simple at fi rst glance later turns out to be quite complex. This applies to fractions, learning languages and the digital world. The latter not only promises simplicity, but comfort as well. After all, it’s great when your favourite music starts playing and the house is cosy warm when you come home – all controlled by your mobile phone or tablet. Some gam-ing with a friend is also fun. So what could be di� cult about this? It’s not the applications of digitization that are important to understand, but the concept behind them. The most important message is that apps, tools and games are never free. The providers have to make money; otherwise they wouldn’t be able to make these o� ers. This leads to the next point to consider: For each application and product, we should ask ourselves how the company is making its money – and if we are OK with the answer.

Corporations like Google and Facebook have become very powerful by selling their users’ information – data like their names, birthdays, interests, friends and more. They sell this information to companies that want to market their own products – and not just to anyone, but to those people that are most likely to buy their products. After all, that is an e� ective way to spend advertising money. Grandpa probably isn’t likely interested in buying a PlayStation and his grandson is unlikely to be looking to purchase denture cream any time soon. The amount of money that companies are willing to pay for this kind of data shows how valuable targeted advertising is to them.

Now, you could say: Fine, I don’t care what these corporations do with my data. It doesn’t matter to me if they know what I do, where I am, who I am with and what we talk about. Or you could be opposed to this approach. Everyone has to make this decision for themselves. But we must fi rst be aware that this decision needs to be made – other-wise we are simply a sheep shepherded by corporations.

products faster. This allows them to lower their prices, which in turn generates greater demand. Governments also profi t from this development. Thanks to higher earnings,

companies expand. This means that new jobs are created and more taxes are paid.

But this is only the beginning. That is why the German government has initiated the project Industry 4.0. 4.0 stands for the fourth industrial revolution (see cheat sheet). With many production processes already digitized, companies are now focusing on making them more intelligent. The machines in factories are equipped with a SIM card, just like the ones found in smartphones. These SIM cards allow the device to connect to the internet and communicate with other machines. As a result, the machine can share its knowledge, such as a product’s design, with others and warn of errors or malfunctions.

With this intelligence, machines will become more diverse in their abilities – not limited to repeating one task over and over. For example, instead of just making a table, a robot for the furniture industry might also be capable of making chairs and cabinets – whatever a customer orders. Experts call this “mass customization”. For example, a customer orders a pair of trousers on the internet and provides their exact measure-ments. The product is delivered a few days later – a perfect fi t without involving a tailor.

Most companies are still a good way from this kind of service though. The main reason being the costs and time involved in converting or purchasing a large number of machines. Furthermore, the technology is not yet fully developed. In order to be eff ec-tive, machines need to be able to commu-nicate with each other within milliseconds. Today’s mobile networks aren’t quite that fast. They need to be improved and expand-ed. Other issues, such as security against external hackers, also need to be resolved.

Photos: private; Amazon.de

The student editorial board says:

» In a few years, the process to apply for

jobs will be more digitized with apps

pre-selecting the best applicants. «

Fleming, Year 10

An employee scans products in a warehouse.

That’s the students’ view

4


April 2015, ISSUE 33PROFILE

Maximilian NowrothHandelsblatt Moscow

Vladimir Putin is everywhere in Russia’s capital Moscow: A confectioner sells Pu-tin chocolates, while a Russian fashion

designer markets T-shirts with the face of the Russian President. Putin enjoys a cult following among his people. Nine out of ten Russians approve of their leader’s politics according to surveys.

Vladimir Putin has been the most important man in Russia since 2000. He led the country for eight years and then spent the next four years as Prime Minister – the second most important position in the country. In 2012, the 62-year-old reclaimed the peak of political power in Russia – once again being named President.

The country is the largest in the world by

area. Travelling from Moscow in the west to Vladivostok in the east takes six days by train. 140 million people live in Russia, nearly twice as many as in Germany. The country is very rich in oil and gas and sells these raw materials throughout the world. This gives the country its economic power.

In the 20th century, Russia represented the largest country in the Soviet Union, a vast em-pire under communist rule (see map). Putin grew up in the Soviet Union. He was born in Leningrad (now known as St. Petersburg) in 1952. He studied law there and then went to work for the Soviet secret service (KGB). In the 1980s, he worked in Dresden, where he learnt to speak nearly perfect German.

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, democratic structures were established in

Russia and the previously poor relationship to the West began to improve. When Putin became President in 2000, many West-ern countries hoped that he would up-hold democratic values such as freedom

of the press and the right to freedom of ex-pression. These hopes have been met with

disappointment. Today, the relationship be-tween the West and Russia is worse than it has been for decades. A major turning point was Putin’s decision to send Russian soldiers to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014 and declare that territory Russian. He is also being accused of supporting the war in eastern Ukraine by supplying troops and weapons. Countries like Germany and the United States see these acts as violations of international law and have reacted with economic sanctions.

Sulfi a DilavirovaInstitute of Economic Education at Oldenburg

German pop music is more popular than ever. And singer Helene Fischer is a big rea-son why. She mixes traditional music with contemporary pop. This blend has obviously struck a chord with listeners across all age groups.

Her greatest success so far was her hit song “Atemlos durch die Nacht” (Breathless Through the Night). The song captured the top spot on the German singles chart in 2014. Her current album “Farbenspiel” (Colours) has already sold two million copies. As part of her “Farbenspiel – Live” tour, she has

scheduled nearly 50 concerts through July 2015, which will generate an estimated 60 million eu-ros in ticket sales.

The 30-year-old’s success is certainly due in part to her good looks and talents. But it also benefi ts from a clever marketing strate-gy. Her manager, Uwe Kanthak, has skilfully built up the Fischer brand. With his range of friends and contacts, he has helped keep Fischer in the spotlight. Helene Fischer has her own show on the German TV station ZDF and is a welcome guest on other shows.

She appears in advertisements for the herb butter Meggle, hair dyes from Garnier and the VW Polo. You can also fi nd a Fischer

perfume at Douglas and Helene Fischer jewellery and fashion items at Tchibo. Moreover, fans

can buy watches, posters and calendars of their favourite star via her online shop. And soon, the singer will be ap-

pearing on the TV show “Tat-ort” alongside Til Schweiger.

TIP: You can find a graphic with even more economic facts on

Helene Fischer in PDF format at www.handelsblattmachtschule.de/helene

Breathless Coverage

A Controversial FigureVladimir Putin has been ruling Russia for the past 15 years. His current policies have been met with criticism in the West.

Photos: Corbis | Klimentyev Mikhail/ITAR-TASS Photo; TOBIAS SCHWARZ/Reuters; Map: TUBS, Ssolbergj

Vladimir Putin

The map shows the territory of the former Soviet Union and today’s

Russia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved and its individual member

states, such as Estonia, Latvia, the Ukraine and Georgia, became inde-

pendent democracies. Some are now members of the EU.



COMPANIES AND MARKETS

Catrin BialekHandelsblatt Düsseldorf

Views of the video “Mein Freund schminkt mich” (My Boyfriend Does My Make-up), have shot through the roof.

The film has been watched approx. 180,000 times so far on the “xLaeta” YouTube channel. Video blogger xLaeta, whose real name is Julia, is 18 years old, lives in Rhineland-Palatinate and has just finished her Abitur. In the film, she lets her boyfriend try his hand at applying her make-up. The result is a delight for viewers as his inexperience with the finer points of women’s cosmetics becomes painfully evident. “I don’t know, I think you usually look better when you do it,” the young man comments off -camera.

YouTuber Julia is one of many thousands of people posting videos, photos and texts for the world to see online. They call themselves bloggers and publish articles that are gener-ally written from a first person perspective and represent their personal opinions. “Blog” comes from the combination of the terms “web” and “logbook”.

The first blogs were posted in the mid-1990s. Back then, they were simply known as online diaries. The number of blogs has increased significantly in the last few years though it is diffi cult to fi nd reliable statistics on this phenomenon.

There are generally two types of blogs: Text blogs focus on written articles, which are usually accompanied by a handful of images. Video blogs, as the name suggests, use videos as their medium of choice. Another term often used in this community is YouTuber, which de-scribes a person who posts videos to YouTube

(which is also owned by Google). A few exam-ples include LeFloid, Daaruum and Gronkh. There are other blogging formats, such as pho-toblogs on Instagram. The photo publishing site was bought by Facebook in 2012.

Blogging is not limited to private individuals though. Companies also use this form of com-

munication to inform their customers about news, entertain them and involve them in so-cial media advertising campaigns. They often look to join forces with other bloggers – giving them samples to try and keeping them in-

formed about new products or pro-motions. Companies particularly look for bloggers that infl uence tar-get groups that the company also wants to reach. The goal is to have bloggers talking positively about the company and/or its products and thereby generate sales.

Bloggers are often asked if their work generates enough money to live from. According to a survey, about 70 percent of bloggers earn some money by selling advertise-ments on their websites. Most of them earn less than 300 euros per month, but there are exceptions of course. Alexander Olma is one of these exceptions. The 35-year-old launched “iPhoneBlog.de” back in 2006. Today, the site attracts roughly 250,000 visitors per

month. In a recent interview, he noted that he earns about 3,000 euros per month from the site. Blogging has been his main occupation since 2010. He says: “My plan for the future is simple: To keep blogging and be my own boss for as long as possible – I really enjoy that freedom.”

So, Tell Me About YourselfThe web is full of blogs. Authors can earn money from them and companies use them to advertise.

Blogger Jessica Weiß (28) founded the fash-ion blogazine “Journelles” in 2012. Along with fashion, she and her team of writers report daily on beauty, travel and lifestyle topics.

How did you get started with blogging?It was pure curiosity in the medium. I started my fi rst fashion blog “LesMads” in 2007, then later “Journelles”. This allowed me to combine two passions: fashion and writing. What are your goals?“Journelles” is now the

leading fashion blogazine in Germany. It has more than 350,000 readers every month. I want to enhance the brand’s profi le internationally and expand the website. More than anything, I want to continue living out my dream of being self-em-ployed.

How is the blog fi nanced?We sell banner advertise-

ments on our website and so-called advertorials – informational texts from

companies written in a journalistic manner. We also get commissions from companies when they sell products via our blog.

What do you think one needs to be a successful blogger?You need to fi nd your own niche, stay current and not get discouraged. Bloggers constantly need to refi ne their websites. The quality has to be right – content is king!

The interview was conducted by the student editorial board of the Handelsblatt Newcomer.

INTERVIEW: “YOU HAVE TO FIND A NICHE AND PERSEVERE”

The student editorial board says:

» A blog needs to be constant-ly updated – even if the person doesn’t have any new ideas. «

Kaja, Year 10

Photo: www.youtube.com/user/xLaeta; Jessica Weiß

YouTube blog “xLaeta”: My Boyfriend Does My Make-up.

Blogger Jessica Weiß (28) founded the fash-ion blogazine “Journelles” in 2012. Along with fashion, she and her team of writers report daily on beauty, travel and lifestyle

How did you get started with blogging?It was pure curiosity in the medium. I started my fi rst fashion blog “LesMads” in 2007, then later “Journelles”. This allowed me to combine two passions:

leading fashion blogazine in Germany. It has more than 350,000 readers every month. I want to enhance the brand’s profi le internationally and expand the website. More than anything, I want to continue living out my dream of being self-em-ployed.

How is the blog fi nanced?We sell banner advertise-

ments on our website and so-called advertorials – informational texts from

6


April 2015, ISSUE 33HANDELSBLATT EXPLAINED

Thomas LudwigAn excerpt from a Handelsblatt article From 26 January 2015

Despite all com-m e n t s t o t h e contrary, hard-

ly anyone in Brussels bel ieves that Barack Obama will still be the U S P re s i d e n t by t h e time the transatlantic free trade agreement (TTIP) is completed. “It would hardly be feasible – just from a technical perspective,” according to people close to the negotiations. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has ac-knowledged that, at best, there will only be a framework for an agreement by the end of 2015.

Talks on the controversial topic of investment protection (see cheat sheet), which is very important to the Americans, has been put on ice for the moment.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

A Handelsblatt article explained

This time on the topic offree trade agreements

Everyday European companies trade a wide range of goods with companies in other countries. One reason they do this is because some products can be manufactured more cheaply in other countries. But this process is not always a smooth one. There are customs duties and di� erent regulations that governments use to prevent overly strong competition from developing for European companies. After all, if everyone bought cheaper foreign products, companies in the EU would go out of business. This is why for-eign companies pay customs duties on their products when exporting

them, which increases the fi nal price. Some goods, however, aren’t even allowed to be sold in the EU because they do not meet the local hygiene standards or technical regulations.

What benefi ts would TTIP have for the EU?The economies of the EU and the United States are very export-ori-ented. In the past few years, both the EU and the US have seen exports drop as countries like China, Brazil and India have increased their own exports. The transatlantic free trade agreement (TTIP) would provide a boost to both US and EU

exports. The plan is to eliminate customs duties between the EU and the US. This would allow companies on both sides to sell their products faster and in larger quantities, while consumers would have access to cheaper products since they would not have to pay these extra duties.

What are the potential problems?When a joint agreement is made between di� erent countries, these countries must modify certain nation-al laws to make them as similar as possible. In the EU, for instance, many laws regarding animal, climate and data protection are stricter than those

in the US. The EU must therefore low-er some of its legal standards so that US companies have an opportunity to enter the EU market. To protect the respective foreign investments, a reciprocal infl uence in the legislative process is being discussed. Normally, European laws are passed and enacted solely by EU insti-tutions. This topic of investment protection (see cheat sheet) has therefore been the source of fi erce debate among politicians.

Beate FaulbornInstitute of Economic Education at Oldenburg

Business representatives are now counting on some goodwill coming from Washington: “The Americans must understand that the Commission needs to see substantial pro-gress in order to present good arguments for TTIP to the sceptical public.” Progress in the reduction of customs duties would represent one of these arguments.

Overall, six rounds of negotiations are scheduled for 2015. One of the central themes will focus on the EU Commission’s proposal for a new authority or institution whose members would regularly discuss current legislation on

both sides of the At lantic . C r i t i c s a r e alarmed: They

Talks on the transatlantic free trade agreement continue to drag on.

Tough Negotiations

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström

Photos: Corbis | Wiktor Dabkowski/ZUMA Press

time the transatlantic free trade agreement (TTIP) is completed. “It would hardly be feasible – just from a technical perspective,” according to people close to the negotiations. EU Trade negotiations. EU Trade


– just from a technical perspective,” according to people close to the negotiations. EU Trade


Investment Protection

A portion of the money that internationally

operating companies make is spent in

foreign countries. For instance, a company

might build a factory in another country.

These foreign investments should be protec-

ted. With investment protection, a company

that feels it is being discriminated against by

local laws would be able to take the matter

to a private, not state-run, arbitration court.

Each party in the dispute would name a

(referee) judge and these two judges would

agree on a third judge. Their arbitration deci-

sion is then binding on both parties.

fear that this would increase the infl uence of large corporations.

No one knows when TTIP could be fi nal-ized. It is still unclear whether the national representatives will also need to approve the agreement in addition to the EU Parliament.



STUDENT JOURNALISTS

What does the start-up centre do? We help young businesses implement their busi-ness ideas. Our target group includes innovative or technology-oriented companies, particularly those in the areas of IT, engineering and renew-able energies.

What kind of help do you provide?We take care of a lot of the organiza-tional tasks so that entrepreneurs can focus on their core business. They can rent o� ces, laboratories or workshops from us that are equipped with the necessary technology, such as tele-phones and internet. We also o� er the companies secretarial services. This gives the companies a fi xed address from the outset and they can share their experi-ences with the other companies working

here. Rent is also somewhat cheaper here than at a large o� ce park, as we receive some fi nancial support.

There are currently 70 companies here. Do the entre-preneurs discuss their experiences with one another? This network is perhaps the most important ser-vice that the TGO o� ers. We have contacts here for every sector that these 70 companies work in. Moreover, we have contacts in Oldenburg and the surrounding region as well as at other companies

and colleges. We even have connections with some politi-cians and public

o� cials. When needed we try to network our clients.

How long can the companies stay here?

The companies can stay at the centre for a maximum of eight years, so that other new busi-nesses have the opportunity to take advantage of the o� ers here. It also means that we always have an exciting mixture of new and established companies.

How is the start-up centre fi nanced? When we initially started, we received fund-ing from the state of Lower Saxony, from the federal government and the EU so that we could construct the building. Thanks to these savings on construction costs, we can o� er a more favourable rent. Beyond that, we receive a small annual grant from the City of Oldenburg. The city gives us these funds because we promote local business. We want to create jobs and give young companies a better opportunity to succeed.

The interview was conducted by Hanne Hägele and Kaja Schönborn (Year 10), members of the student editorial board. The complete interview can be read at:www.handelsblattmachtschule.de/newcomer

Helping Young Businesses The Technology and Start-up Centre Oldenburg (TGO) supports people that have started their own business. The student editorial board contacted Managing Director Jürgen Bath to learn more.

Linus L. Bahun, Mark O� ermann (School leavers)Gesamtschule Hardt, Mönchengladbach

We are on stage at a conference venue in Berlin. The event is a conference of the Fede-ral Association of German Newspaper Pub-lishers. About 80 people are in the audience and they are here to listen to us explain what today’s youth is interested in. Why did they choose us? We were invited because we launched the student newspaper “standpunkt” four years ago to-gether with our teacher Dorothée Vollmer and some classmates. We wanted to create content that was relevant to young people and was presented in a way that engaged pupils, students and trainees. Our concept, articles and often expe-rimental layout apparently struck a chord with our readers. Over the years, we won a few competitions. After fi nishing our Abitur, we quickly decided

to continue. Since then, “standpunkt” has be-come an independent magazine. Something that makes us somewhat unique is our cross-media focus. The texts, photos, videos and audio clips that our editors (mainly pupils and students) compile appear both on our

website (www.standpunktonline.com) as well as in the printed ma-gazine. We link these two sources with each other. For instance, you

can read an article in the magazine about mobile phone use in schools. If you want to know more, you can fi nd an interview with a

media expert on our website. We believe that print and online media complement each other, so we try to engage our readers and users both on the go via their smartphones as well as on the weekend when they sit on the couch with the printed magazine. To ensure that the website and magazine appear punctually, we have to operate like a company. We therefore engage in some co-operations with businesses. For example, a print agency prints our magazine for free. It would otherwise be too expensive. In return, the agency is allowed to advertise in the magazine and distribute free promotional copies. Our authors write for us for free. We do most of the photos and layout

Students Take the Spotlight

tional tasks so that entrepreneurs can focus on their core business. They can rent o� ces, laboratories or workshops from us that are equipped with the necessary

Moreover, we have contacts in Oldenburg and the surrounding region as well as at other companies

and colleges. We even have connections with some politi-cians and public

o� cials. When needed we try to network our clients.

Jürgen Bath, Kaja Schönborn and Hanne Hägele (from l to r)

Photos: Privat

Did we print that?!

Sharp-eyed readers surely noticed it right away. An error crept into our

February issue on page 7.

Canberra, of course, is the capital of Australia and not Sydney. We apologise for the error!

“standpunkt” team members Nikolas Proksch, Paula Vollmer, Linus

Luka and Linda Bahun (from l to r)

Jürgen Bath, Kaja Schönborn and Hanne Hägele (from l to r)

8


April 2015, ISSUE 33FUN & FACTS

Hans Kaminski (Direktor IÖB) und Dieter Fo-ckenbrock (Chefkorrespondent Handelsblatt)

ImpressumHerausgeber: Dieter Fockenbrock, V.i.S.d.P. (Handelsblatt) und Hans Kaminski (Institut für Ökonomische Bildung IÖB, Uni Oldenburg)Redaktion: Melanie RübartschKonzept: Katrin Eggert, Dieter Fockenbrock, Hans Kaminski, Michael Koch Art Director: Stefan Vieten Koordination: Maren Kienaß, Melanie RübartschLayout und Fotos: Sandra Janzsó, Corinna ThielMarketing und Vertrieb: Verena von HugoEnglische Übersetzung: John Dalbey für PONS GmbHVerlag: Handelsblatt GmbH Geschäftsführung: Gabor Steingart (Vorsitzender), Frank Dopheide, Claudia Michalski, Ingo RieperKasernenstr. 67, 40213 Düsseldorf, Tel.: +49 (0) 211-887-0Druck: kuncke druck GmbH,Kornkamp 24, 22926 AhrensburgMitarbeiter dieser Ausgabe: Linus Luka Bahun, Mark O� ermann, Lehrer und Schüler der Helene-Lange-Schule Oldenburg (Ortrud Reuter-Kaminski, Victor Borghardt, Hanne Hägele, Yannoh Mügge, Tomma Otzen, Lea Pari-sius, Kaja Schönborn, Lea Schönborn, Imke Thomssen, Fleming Wiesner)Fragen und Feedback: [email protected] Handelsblatt Newcomer erscheint alle zwei Monate.Lehrkräfte können den Handelsblatt Newcomer für ihre Schüler kostenlos bestellen:www.handelsblattmachtschule.de/newcomer

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Wirtschaftsnachrichten und Informationen zur ökonomischen Bildung. Willkommen sind auch Meinungen zum Handelsblatt Newco-mer oder eigene Themenideen.

The United States is the undisputed leader when it comes to economic output. Roughly one out of every five

products or services is produced in America. Its gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to 17.5 trillion US dol-lars, about 16 trillion euros, in 2014. The GDP is the total value of all goods produced in a country over the course of a year. From an economic perspective, the US is about as large as the 28 EU countries combined.

The second largest economy belongs to China with an eco-nomic output of about 10 trillion US dollars. Should the country maintain its high rate of growth, it could take over the top spot from the US in about ten years.

In view of their size, China and the US have a strong infl uence on the development of the global economy. For instance, China’s gigantic

economic stimulus plan helped the world recover from the serious economic crisis in 2009.

However, it would be an error to equate economic size with wealth. In order to see how wealthy a country is, one has to view the GDP in relation to its population. This puts countries with lower populations at the top: Luxem-bourg, Norway, Qatar and Switzerland are the winners here. The US, with its almost 320 million inhabitants, ranks only ninth. At 53,000 US dollars, its per capita GDP is only about half as large as Luxembourg’s. Germany ranks 18th by

this measure and China 38th.Axel Schrinner

Handelsblatt Düsseldorf

Is it true that …*

… the US has the largest economy in the world?The US tops the list of countries with a high economic output. But economic size and wealth are two diff erent things.

Photo: Sebastian Damberger

*�The questions for “Is it true that...” are submitted by students. Suggestions can be submitted at: [email protected]

VOCABULARY

ENGLISCH DEUTSCH

a� uence Wohlstand

to be anything but alles andere sein als

alluring verlockend

ploy Strategie

perception Wahrnehmung

to scatter zerstreuen

rolling pin Nudelholz

tangible greifbar

buzzword Modewort

to weld schweißen

malfunction Funktionsstörung

diverse vielfältig

to be a perfect fi t perfekt passen

to look to do sth. etw. unternehmen wollen

denture(s) Zahnersatz

to reclaim sth. etw. zurückfordern

vast weit / riesig

violation Verstoß

ENGLISCH DEUTSCH

to be in the spotlight im Rampenlicht stehen

the fi ner points of sth. die Feinheiten von etw.

to enhance sth. etw. verbessern

to the contrary im Gegenteil

feasible machbar

goodwill Wohlwollen

overly allzu / übermäßig

from the outset von Anfang an

somewhat etwas / ein wenig

funding fi nanzielle Unterstützung

to engage s.o. hier: jds. Interesse wecken

to strike a chord with s.o. (eine Saite in) jmdm. berühren

on the go unterwegs

undisputed unbestritten

The next H Newcomer will be

published in June. It will cover numerous topics, including

LONG-DISTANCE BUSSING.

www.bayer-stiftungen.de Images from Corbis | Photos: Artwork on the topic "Heart Clock" by Tara (10) ; moodboard/Corbis

The subjects of health and medicine rarely come up in the classroom. There are good reasons to change that.

The Classroom as a Place of Discovery

Health is a universal concern. Everyone is relieved to know that

there are doctors, nurses and therapists to take care of us when we get sick. "But with-out that basic human desire to diminish suff ering and heal sicknesses, some advances would never have been possible," says Thimo Schmitt-Lord, Chairman of the Bayer Foundations.

Health is a prerequisite for ensuring that each person receives the same opportu-nities in a modern society. "Young people need to learn more about the importance of health in order to promote equal opportunity in society,"

says Professor Karl Max Ein-häupl, Chairman of the largest German hospital, the Charité in Berlin.

Also: Hardly any other in-dustry aff ects our society as much as health and medicine.

Each year, it generates about ten percent of Germany's gross do-mestic product. And the occupations in-volved in the health in-

dustry have grown signifi cant-ly over the past few decades. There is at least a ten percent probability that a pupil will work in this industry at some point. "This generation will eventually determine the future of the industry and its eff ect on society," adds Schmitt-Lord.

Often, though, children con-sider occupations that they have become familiar with while living at home. But this choice does not always refl ect their personal abilities and as-pirations. "That is why pupils urgently need to learn more about the intrica-cies, daily challenges and re-quirements for a wide range of professions," pleads Profes-sor Einhäupl. A good doctor, for instance, needs the ability to relate to patients, a strong sense of responsibility and dedication in addition to medi-cal knowledge. The profi les on the following pages show

where a thirst for knowledge can lead and how this can im-prove society. Allow us to in-

troduce you to a few modern medical pio-neers. They all belong to insti-tutions that are supported by

the Bayer Foundations and all of them share a common goal: helping others.

IMPRESSUM

Bayer-StiftungenKaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 1 51368 Leverkusenwww.bayer-stiftungen.deLayout: Sandra Janzsó

THE RESEARCHERChristiane Opitz’s fi ght against cancer cells. PAGE 2

THE MEDIATORAnja Bittner translates medical terms for patients. PAGE 3

THE ARTISTHelmut Hoff -mann teaches medicine with paint and brush. PAGE 4

4.4 million people work in the health care sector.

The industry genera-tes revenues of 250

billion euros per year. That is ten percent of

Germany's gross dome-stic product.

Helmut Hoff -

APRIL 2015SPECIAL PUBLICATION FROM THE BAYER FOUNDATIONS

Medicine – HealthResearch – Economy

www.bayer-stiftungen.de Photos: Corbis | Lee Frost/Robert Harding World Imagery; Clark/Imagemore Co., Ltd.; private

While watering the fl owers at home, Christiane Opitz noticed something interesting about the

nasturtiums. The water simply rolled off the leaves. 16 years old at the time, she became curious. She came up with an experimental set-up and discovered the Lotus eff ect. "The leaves are covered with small hairs that are bunched so close to-gether that no water can fi t between them. The water is mainly in contact with a layer of air," explains the scientist. Thanks to this discovery, she would later become the third woman to win the "Jugend forscht" (Youths Research) competition.

"The question of 'why' has always interested me," explains the now 35-year-old. After school, she studied medi-cine and molecular cell biol-ogy. Today, the doctor leads a research group at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg and is working on her specialisa-tion in neurology (combating sicknesses that aff ect the nervous systems) at the University of Hei-delberg. Her area of research focuses on brain tumours. Together with colleagues,

she discovered that the reduction of a specifi c amino acid makes cancer cells more aggressive and prevents the body from mobilising its defences. This fi nd-ing could enable the development of new therapies. For her research, she was awarded the "Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award in Biology" in 2012, a prize for young scientists.

"When I am treating my patients, I no-tice how limited our possibilities are," says Opitz. This is what motivates her to learn more about tumours and how they devel-op. "Knowledge is the key to fi ghting this and every other disease." The doctor wants to spread her enthusiasm for research. She

works hard to support young researchers and would like to encourage pupils to ques-tion things. "There needs to be more space in the class-room for answering individual questions and not predefi ned ones," says the mother of two. And pupils have to be allowed to fail occasional-ly. "Those that would like to

become researchers later need to be able to deal with the frustration of failure," she adds from experience.

A Natural-born Researcher

"A Great Experience"Kathleen Opoku (32) is an internal con-sultant at Bayer. In 2014, she travelled to Tacloban in the Philippines as part of the Bayer Foundations' "Bayer People Care for Society" programme. She wanted to help the people there recover from the chaos resulting from typhoon Haiyan.

What kind of help did you provide to the people of Tacloban?

I gave German lessons to some pupils and talked about life in Europe. I also advised a hospital that was having fi nancial diffi cul-ties. I tried to determine what the problems were and develop solutions together with the managers, doctors and nurses.Why did you immediately sign up for this project?

My job has a lot to do with business man-agement. The break gave me a chance to gain experience in a very diff erent area. It also helped remind me what is truly impor-tant in life. In the end, everything we do is about providing something of value to other people. Did the experience live up to your expec-tations?

It exceeded them. I had the feeling that I was able to give hope to children who really needed it. Initially, I had been thinking about how I could help them with their German skills. But that wasn't really the important part. For them, the highlight was being able to hear about people and places on the oth-er side of the world and to realise that these people care about them and want to help. That was much more important to them than conjugating verbs!

Christiane Opitz was interested in unlocking the mysteries of nature from an early age. Today, she researches therapies against brain tumours.

II SPECIAL PUBLICATION

Kathleen Opoku (middle) in the Philippines.

Lotus eff ect

Christiane Opitz

www.bayer-stiftungen.de Photos: Amac Garbe / ein-satz-zentrale.de; SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/Science Photo Library/Corbis

For Anja Bittner, the desire to help other people and improve communication came while she was still in school.

Since then, she has found an optimal way to combine these goals. During her medical studies, the now 31-year-old launched the internet portal "Was hab' ich?" (washabich.de) together with two colleagues. The site allows patients to upload medical results that they don't understand. These are then translated into "normal" German for free by medical students and doctors who work for the ini-tiative as volun-teers.

"The idea came to me after a friend showed me some results for her mother," recalls the doctor. The family was very con-cerned. 20 years earlier, the mother had fought with breast cancer and now the paperwork had come back saying some-thing about cancerous metastases. "I ex-plained what the report meant to my friend and could help her through the next deci-sions." But what would she have done with-out this help?

The powerlessness of patients was un-settling to the former student. "In our stud-ies, we learned how to write in a very cryptic language that helps us communicate accu-rately with our colleagues. But patients often don't understand this specialist ter-

minology. It usually confuses and dis-courages them," criticizes the Dresden

native. She was quickly able to convince her now husband Johannes as well as

IT expert Ansgar Jonietz of the idea's potential. After just four days

of work, the fi rst version of the webportal had been programmed. During the fi rst few weeks, the

founding trio was overwhelmed with re-quests for help. The group quickly turned to their fellow medical students for assistance translating the documents.

That was back in 2011. Since then, the "Was hab' ich?" team has worked on mak-ing its services more professional. Over 1,100 medical students (8th semester and above) across Germany, Austria and Swit-zerland volunteer for the portal. The trans-lations are done according to a specifi c concept that the founders developed. Each new volunteer sends their fi rst translations

to a personal supervi-sor – a kind of mentor or trainer. Once they have shown the nec-

essary skill, the supervisor approves them for direct communication with patients.

Bittner wants to ensure that the transla-tions are accurate and accessible. "After all, we don't just want to help the patients, but at the same time we want to train doctors to write their reports in a way that patients can understand," she explains. The found-ing team's work has helped set new training standards. At the end of 2014, the Technical University of Dresden off ered its fi rst "Was hab' ich?" elective for medical students.

The portal also claimed second place at the "2014 Aspirin Social Awards", where the Bayer Cares Foundation recognises social projects in the health sector.

Anja Bittner has found her dream job. "We help patients communicate with doc-tors on a level playing fi eld and show medi-cal professionals how important good com-munication is."

Speaking Their Language

The original document states: Acute distension three weeks ago

Translation: Three weeks ago, you suddenly (acute) strained the mu-scles in your shoulder (distension). Strains are an over-stretching of the muscle(s). This elongates the indi-vidual fi bres of the muscle. It does not, however, result in any long-term damage.

Original: Evidence of a pro-nounced bone marrow oedema at the ventral circumference of the humeral head in the fl uid-sensitive sequence.

Translation: The fl uid-sensitive se-quence is an imaging format where liquids are especially visible. In this format, one could see a build-up of fl uid (oedema) in the bone marrow.

Bone marrow is the place where blood is produced. It fi lls the cavities of the bones. The fl uid build-ups in the bone marrow were seen at the front (ventral) of the shoulder joint (humeral head).

Original: Warping of the labrum at the dorsal circumference.

Translation: The shoulder joint has a thin band of cartilage called the labrum. This band of cartilage en-larges the shoulder joint. It looks diff erent than normal at the back part (dorsal cir-cumference). The X-ray specialist describes this abnormality as a warping.

Anja Bittner was always bothered by the communication diffi culties between doctors and patients. This led her to develop the web portal "Was hab' ich?" (What's My Diagnosis?) together with two colleagues.

"Was hab’ ich?" founders: Ansgar Jonietz (right), Anja and Johannes Bittner (centre).

FROM SPECIALIST MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY TO EVERYDAY GERMAN – EXCERPTS FROM A "WAS HAB’ ICH?" TRANSLATION

We help patients communicate with doctors on a level playing fi eld.

We help patients communicate with We help patients communicate with doctors on a level playing fi eld.

SPECIAL PUBLICATION III

www.bayer-stiftungen.de Photos: Artwork on the topic "Heart Clock" by Emilie (11); private; discovering hands®

A Blinding SuccessGynaecologist Frank Hoff mann wants to improve breast cancer screening with the help of blind women. His company Discovering Hands trains them as medical tactile diagnosticians.

"The Art of Health"The Berlin-based doctor Helmut Hoff -mann teaches pupils the basics about their bodily and sensory functions through art. He has been recognized multiple times by the Bayer Volunteer programme.

What is the concept behind your projects?Pupils are tasked with artistically inter-

preting a medical subject. The subjects are diverse: our senses, the heart, immu-nizations – it can be just about anything. This is always accom-panied by an experimental part, where the participants carry out their own investigations. For the "heart" project, for instance, they listened to heartbeats, learned how to take a pulse and meas-ure blood pressure.

What is your goal? We want to show pupils from an early

stage how important it is to actively protect their health and convey this message in an age-appropriate and engaging manner. This helps children and young people better un-derstand medicine. That is something they don't often get from the normal school cur-riculum.Why is it important to focus on health lit-eracy at an early age?

It strengthens their awareness of their own bodies as well as teaching them how to pro-tect and care for it. The projects even have

an eff ect on the adults. At a workshop on lungs, we showed the diff erence be-tween a normal lung and a smoker's lung. Weeks later, a mother approached me and said that her son had forbidden

her to smoke from that day on. She quit smoking as a result.The workshops have been in ex-istence since 1995. How did you

come up with the idea?I was looking at some books on medical

illustrations – that was what initially inspired me. At the time, I was working as a doctor at the Youth Health Services in Berlin Reinick-endorf and therefore had lots of contacts at local kindergartens and schools. In 1995, I asked pupils in a Year 10 class whether they would be interested in learning about med-icine in an artistic manner. That resulted in the fi rst project: "The heart in surrealism".

Centimetre by centimetre, Marie-Lou-ise Voll examines the breast area of her patient – from the armpits to

the base of the breast. She is searching for tiny lumps in the tissue. Marie-Louise Voll is blind. She is one of the fi rst trained medical tactile diagnosticians (MTU), which assist

gynaecologists with breast cancer preven-tion and follow-up.

The idea to use blind women as tactile experts comes from Duisburg-based gynae-cologist Frank Hoff mann. He founded the company Discovering Hands in 2004. "The earlier a breast cancer tumour is detected

in women, the better their chances of being healed," explains the physician. The tactile examination of the breast plays an important role in this process. Blind people are prov-en to have a superior tactile sensitivity. Dis-covering Hands therefore designed a train-ing concept and a specialised examination methodology for severely visually impaired women. They can become trained tactile experts in a nine-month programme and subsequently fi nd a job at a gynaecologist's offi ce or clinic. 21 MTUs are now working in Germany.

"As a physician, my goal is to help others. As a social entrepreneur, I have also taken the opportunity to think outside the box," says Hoff mann. In this way, his company helps people in two respects: "We have de-veloped a better way to detect breast cancer while also creating jobs for blind people." In 2014, he was recognized with the "Aspirin Social Award" for this concept.

Frank Hoff mann Demonstration of a tactile examination.

Artwork painted by eleven-year-old Emilie as part of the "Heart Clock" project.

IV SPECIAL PUBLICATION

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