The Falconer chats with Mr. Masteller about Libya, anti-Muslim video

Japanese Telecommunications Company Purchases Sprint For $20 Billion

By Preston Michelson

The third-largest wireless carrier in the United States now has received a shot in the arm, as the Japanese mobile phone company SoftBank has purchased 70 percent of Sprint for a whopping sum of $20 billion.

This transaction is expected to be finished in mid-2013, and will give Sprint the ability to improve its 4G LTE network, which trails behind AT&T and Verizon Wireless. 

SoftBank's purchase has been approved by the boards of both companies, but it yet needs to pass through the approval American regulators and of Sprint's shareholders, as Sprint is publicly traded. 

Andrew Miller '13 sees this deal as a game-changer. Assuming that the deal passes through the FCC, he sees this kind of funding as giving "Sprint the opportunity to become a major player again." 

Although the reaction of Sprint's purchase has been mostly positive, SoftBank has not received such praise. Their shares have dropped more than 5 percent in Japan, their lowest finish in five months. 

SoftBank is no stranger to large-scale purchases, as they bought Vodafone's Japan unit for $15.5 billion in 2006. This acquisition, however, is the largest foreign purchase ever conducted by a Japanese company. 

Masayoshi Son, the founder and chief of SoftBank, has a reputation of being a risk-taker. His purchase of Vodafone was treated as a risk, but he was able to double the value of that company. 

This purchase allows SoftBank to enter into an American market that is thriving, as opposed to the Japanese market which has stalled. Allowing Sprint to become a powerful presence in telecommunications would indeed prove Son's investment worthwhile, while making this transaction a win-win for both sides. 

North Carolina Votes to Ban Gay Marriage

Earlier this week, North Carolina voted to ban gay marriage.

I am saddened by this news, which reminds us that even after so much progress, much of our country remains unsupportive of gay rights.  

This is a political issue for President Obama, who says that his views on gay marriage are still evolving. With the upcoming national election, he will need to win over anti-gay marriage voters to clinch another victory. Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin have also banned gay marriage.

Interestingly enough, Vice President Biden in recent weeks has become much more vocal about his support for the issue. This past Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.”

By Sofia Pedroso '14

Facebook buys Instagram for $1 billion

This past week, Mark Zuckerburg (creator of Facebook) bought Instagram $1 billion.

For more information, click here.

Family Health Care Costs to exceed $20,000 this year

With President Obama's health care bill in the hands of the Supreme Court as your reading this article, average employer health care is on the rise. The cost to cover a typical family may reach heights of $20,000 this year according to early projections from a firm. This price has gone up 7% from last year and has gone up from $9,235 in 2002. Small buisness owners are shifting costs, from advertisements, and a better coffee machine, to now supplying their own health care. This economy may be the biggest obstacle this country has faced in the last 20 years. 

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/29/pf/healthcare-costs/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3

Frank Nespral