Happy Monday Blog Readers!

I hope the weekend treated you well. It’s Monday again which means it’s time to remove the stale pizza crust from your unwashed tresses and get serious again . . . if only for the next five days. So, spend a few minutes rummaging around your room for your car keys, put on the cleanest pants you own, part your hair to the preferred side and get ready to head off to class, your internship, or work. And remember, you’re never fully dressed without a smile.

Zappos.com founder and CEO Tony Hsieh has been lauded for the laid-back corporate culture he has established at the successful online retailer (now owned by Amazon). In a recent interview with The New York Times Hsieh discusses his career, and how his experience at one of his early startups led him to determine the importance of leadership and the proper company culture.

One of our values is, “Create fun and a little weirdness.” So one of our interview questions is, literally, on a scale of 1 to 10, how weird are you? If you’re a 1, you’re probably a little bit too strait-laced for us. If you’re a 10, you might be too psychotic for us

It’s not so much the number; it’s more seeing how candidates react to a question. Because our whole belief is that everyone is a little weird somehow, so it’s really more just a fun way of saying that we really recognize and celebrate each person’s individuality, and we want their true personalities to shine in the workplace environment, whether it’s with co-workers or when talking with customers.

I think of myself less as a leader, and more of being almost an architect of an environment that enables employees to come up with their own ideas, and where employees can grow the culture and evolve it over time, so it’s not me having a vision of “This is our culture.”

Maybe an analogy is, if you think of the employees and culture as plants growing, I’m not trying to be the biggest plant for them to aspire to. I’m more trying to architect the greenhouse where they can all flourish and grow.

Each week we take a look at what is happening on campus at ThinkTalk schools. This week we have internet entrepreneurs in Central Florida, social responsibility in business at the University of Maryland, the fast-paced world of fashion in New York and helping the homeless in DC.

The GW Hatchet Profiles a Junior Making a Difference: "Over the summer, Thal created Furniture For Good, a company that resells furniture and other household items to raise money that will help feed the homeless. Sales come via the company's Web site, and 60 percent of the money from each sale is allocated to feeding the homeless in D.C."

The UMD Diamondback Features a University Center Stressing Social Responsibility in Business: "The program brings business leaders to the campus for panels and workshops. It will also offer graduate classes in the spring and may offer undergraduate classes as early as next fall. It is also looking to start sponsoring study abroad trips that focus on students fostering change in developing countries, said Melissa Carrier, the center’s executive director."

New York University's NYU News Has the Story on One Interns Fashin Experience: Junior Teresa Lee interviewed "90210" start Shenae Grimes, French clothing designer Jean-Paul Knott and the editor-in-chief of Women's Wear Daily Paris for her internship with style.com. She's attended more than 50 shows. has her own videoblog and is even planning her own collection. That's a pretty solid internship.

Central Florida Future Reports on Two UCF Students With Entrepreneurial Dreams: "Max Tau, a senior majoring in political science, and Eric Marks, a senior majoring in marketing, developed OrderKnight.com — an online restaurant directory that allows students to have food delivered to their doorstep with the click of a mouse." Food to your dorm? Wish I had this in college!

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.