THE HERO I N S I DE R THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GEORGE P. BURDELL
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Spring is finally here! In South Florida, spring usually lasts about 5–7 days, no matter what the calendar says. The dog days of summer are fast approaching, as is hurricane season. Time to update your summer vacation and disaster plans. Speaking of, how did your 2018 tax plan work out? With Tax Day (April 15th) arriving soon, now is a perfect opportunity to gauge how well your planning worked . . . or didn’t. If you’re surprised by your tax return or you have miscalculated your planning, now is a perfect time to re-evaluate your financial affairs. Might not be a bad idea to direct your spring cleaning efforts towards your tax planning strategies. It is also a perfect time to focus on getting ahead for next year. Are you ready to get your financial ducks in a row? Yes, we ask many questions of you. We do it because we are committed to helping people live outstanding, enjoyable lives. More on this in the months to come.
One of the Most Elaborate Pranks in History
Whether April Fools’ Day is a time-honored western tradition or a tired, unfunny festival of eyerolls depends on who you ask. Ask the mom who just got blasted with water via the old “rubber band on the sink sprayer” trick, and you’ll probably find the latter. But ask the kid who planted the trap, and you’ll get a hearty, cackling endorsement. Even if you’re sick of watching your back on April Fools’ Day and tired of the corporate cash grabs masquerading as (mostly) bad jokes that pop up like clockwork every year, you still have to give it up for the classics. Even the most bitter among us must admit that some pranks are so clever, elaborate, and inspired that they deserve their place in the annals of history. The name “George P. Burdell” will certainly reverberate through the hall of hoaxes for decades to come. Never make a clerical error with a young student who has too much time on his hands. In 1927, when William Edgar Smith was mistakenly sent a second enrollment form for the Georgia Institute of Technology, he had an idea. Combining the name of his then-principal, George P. Butler, with Burdell, the maiden name of his best friend’s mother, he enrolled the fictitious George P. Burdell in the prestigious university. Next, Smith signed Burdell up for all his same classes and, for the next four years, completed every bit of his schoolwork twice — once under his own name and once under Burdell’s, changing a few details here and there and varying his handwriting slightly so as not to raise suspicion. GEORGE COMES TO LIFE
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Somehow, despite the fact that Mr. Burdell never once attended a day of class, he managed to secure his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1930. Soon after, he continued on to his master’s degree. At some point, George P. Burdell morphed from an elaborate practical joke into a bona fide legend with countless copycat pranks to his name. One of the most famous came early on, when a truckload of furniture arrived “collect on delivery” to a Georgia Tech fraternity, addressed to one George P. Burdell. Apparently, a freshman had felt snubbed by the frat and decided to get even. Burdell was continually enrolled in the school by loyal fans for decades. In 1969, Georgia Tech computerized the registration process, but intrepid hackers found a way to enroll him in every single class offered at the school that quarter. The man was unstoppable. Members of the armed forces carried on the Burdell hoax, and Private Burdell began to appear all over the world in dozens of
conflicts. He even flew 12 missions in a B-17 bomber over Europe in the 8th Air Force until a Georgia Tech graduate was promoted to operations officer and put the kibosh on his service. Burdell wed the fictional Agnes Scott student Ramona Cartwright in 1958, served on the board of directors for Mad magazine, and was nearly voted the 2001 Time Person of the Year before the magazine removed him from consideration. Barack Obama even did his part to further the myth. While giving a speech at the school in 2015, he began “Now, I understand George P. Burdell was supposed to introduce me today — but nobody could find him!” The only thing more impressive than Mr. Burdell’s abundant achievements is his fans’ dedication to keeping him alive. You may think your buddies’ inside jokes are long-running — this one practically willed a human into existence.
or during football games. Even in his ripe old age, he still has time to be the production assistant on “South Park” and read thousands upon thousands of magazines during his spare moments. Wherever he is, we can only wish him well and hope that all the would-be pranksters out there take a note fromWilliam Edgar Smith’s playbook this April Fools’ Day. After all, if you’re truly dedicated to your craft, what’s 70-plus years?
Today, people always seem to be on the lookout for Burdell, paging him at the airport
Exploring the Crimes of Antarctic Wildlife Legal Case Study: Adélie the RockThief
On an island off the coast of Antarctica, a BBC film crew caught footage of a crime taking place. In the video, as one male Adélie penguin leaves his nest to search for additional rocks to add to it, his neighbor waddles over, removes a rock from the nest, and carries it back to his own. When the first penguin returns from his search, his neighbor plays it cool, but at each opportunity, he repeats the crime and steals his neighbor’s rocks. While animals aren’t actually subject to legal action, and the Adélie penguin was only behaving according to natural instinct, the fine writers for the blog Legal Grounds point out that the rock thief situation presents an interesting legal case study. By taking his neighbor’s rock and putting it in his own nest, the neighbor penguin committed an act of theft. Theft is defined as “the taking of someone else’s property with the intent to permanently deprive the victim of that property.” In some places, when a thief leaves the scene of the crime, the theft is considered complete. If the
thief returns and steals additional items, that could be considered a new crime and result in additional charges. So, since the neighbor penguin takes a rock, leaves the scene of the crime, and returns, he could be found guilty of multiple theft charges. If he’d decided to go big and take his neighbor’s entire nest at once, he might’ve been charged with grand theft. Now, if the penguin who was stolen from had used force to protect his precious nest rocks, the case would be complicated even further. Allowable force is generally limited in cases of theft. To prove self-defense, the victim penguin would have to show there was a threat of force against him, that he didn’t provoke the neighbor penguin in any way, and that he didn’t have the option to escape. From a legal perspective, it was probably best that the victim penguin didn’t use force.
For now, we’ll leave the Adélie penguins to their nest-building business and save the legal cases for the human world.
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The Booming Subscription-Service Business Recurring Subscription Satisfaction for Businesses and Consumers
In today’s economy, the demand for accessible and customized goods and services is steadily increasing, and companies are responding by bringing their business to the comfort of your home. With recurring payments, deliveries, and an ever-changing selection of products, pioneers like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Dollar Shave Club are redefining what a modern transaction looks like. From movies and pop culture memorabilia to contacts and glasses, there is a reasonably priced subscription service destined to cut out the middleman for most industries today, and the numbers show that the companies developing this market have no intention of slowing down. The subscription-service industry is booming all over the globe. According to a long-term survey conducted by McKinley and Company, the e-commerce market has grown by more than 100 percent per year in each of the past five years, grossing $2.6 billion in 2016 alone. We’re all familiar with Netflix and Hulu, but subscription-box services, like Blue Apron and Birchbox, have been growing in popularity in recent years. These companies provide subscribers with a new box of products — from groceries and
cosmetics to potted plants — on a monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly basis.
The impact is widespread, with 15 percent of online shoppers saying they’ve subscribed to an e-commerce service over the past year. The numbers are even higher for entertainment services; 46 percent of the survey’s respondents subscribed to a streaming platform like Netflix. The priority for most customers is the ability to customize. Over half of all subscription services are built based on the pillars of curation and customization. And while some consumers buy subscriptions just for convenience, the majority sign up to be able to customize their products to their needs and preferences.
Whether you want graphic tees, hair-loss products, or healthy meals, there’s a subscription service for you.
Take a Break
Opening Day Hamburgers
Ingredients
•
1 pound ground chuck, 80 percent lean 4 soft, white hamburger buns, split
• • 4 small leaves iceberg lettuce 4 1/4-inch-thick yellow onion slices 1 teaspoon vegetable oil Salt and pepper, to taste Condiments of your choice desired doneness, about 1 more minute per side for medium-rare, 2 more per side for medium-well. 4. Let meat rest for a minimum of 3 minutes. 5. To assemble, place patty on bottom bun and top with • • •
•
• •
4 1/4-inch-thick tomato slices
12–16 pickle rounds
Directions
1. Lightly grease a small
nonstick skillet with oil. Heat over medium-high. 2. While heating, gently shape meat into four patties 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Be careful to handle the meat as little as possible to prevent tough burgers. Season liberally with salt and pepper. 3. Sear patties on each side, about 1 minute per side.
tomato, pickles, lettuce, and onion (in that order). Spread condiments on top half of bun and place on top of onion. Serve.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until
Inspired by Bon Appétit
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Yolofsky Office PAGE 1 The Ballad of George P. Burdell PAGE 1 A Chilly Legal Case Study PAGE 2 Take a Look at the Subscription-Service Market PAGE 3 Take a Break! PAGE 3 Opening Day Hamburgers PAGE 3 Books to Engage the Whole Family PAGE 4
Worlds Within Pages Books to Engage theWhole Family
FOR THE MIDDLE SCHOOLER: ‘The Night Diary’ 12-year-old Nisha navigates her world after the partition of India creates
Learning to read opens up a world of possibilities. When your child walks through the back of the wardrobe into Narnia with Lucy Pevensie or rides with Harry Potter on the train to Hogwarts, they connect to something beyond their own experiences. In the U.S., April 23 is World Book Day, and the date commemorates the deaths of legendary authors Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as the birth of author Vladimir Nabokov. World Book Day is the perfect time to sit down with your family and let yourself be transported to new worlds. So, here are three great stories to help you take young readers on brand-new adventures. “Song of theWild”makes a great read-aloud book for beginner readers because they can get lost in the beautiful artwork while you read the text. Written in prose and rhyming poems, this book showcases sprawling landscapes — savannahs, jungles, and oceans — and features the wildlife living there. It’s worth a read simply to appreciate the colorful depictions of each animal. This book was written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Petr Horácek. FOR THE ELEMENTARY READER: ‘Song of theWild: A First Book of Animals’
the new country of Pakistan and her family is forced to leave their home. Her mother may be gone, but Nisha finds solace in writing nightly letters to her in her diary as she discovers what the future holds. Based on author Veera Hiranandani’s memories of her own family, this moving tale lets readers experience life through someone else’s eyes. FOR TEENS: ‘Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked theWorld’ While some might not think of comics as proper reading, Penelope Bagieu’s graphic novel forces reconsideration. Her clever, colorful artwork and engaging narrative take the reader through the biographies of 30 women, from Bette Davis and Mae Jemison to lesser-known but equally intriguing ladies like Giorgina Reid. All in all, this book provides a great way to get kids excited about history in an entertaining form.
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