there is so much going on
right now that will shape
the economic future of our
country and the global
economy. If you are truly
interested in these issues
and you study real hard,
you will find that there may
be more questions than an-
swers, and that’s what
makes economics so much
fun.
Want to major/minor in
economics? Declare here or
contact an economics pro-
fessor today!
It’s A Great Time to
Major in Economics
It has been said that the
economics profession is
counter-cyclical: when
times are good, no one real-
ly needs us; in difficult
times, however, our opin-
ions are highly sought after.
I think the same can be said
for studying and majoring
(or minoring) in the Dismal
Science; currently we have
the perfect storm for eco-
nomics students to ponder.
And as we listen and learn
about the issues, we come
to a full understanding of
what it means to be an
economist.
So what is this so called
perfect storm? The govern-
ment shutdown, the debt
ceiling, and the pullback of
quantitative easing are the
tripartite of problems facing
our government specifically
and our economy in gen-
eral. Students in money
and banking and macroeco-
nomics are learning how
these problems are interre-
lated and how solving them,
both individually and col-
lectively, is a very difficult
task. Congress, the US
Treasury, the Federal Re-
serve, and the President all
have very important roles to
play in how these issues are
resolved. For students, this
is a golden opportunity to
learn how our economy
works and how the govern-
ment can make things better
or make things worse. It is
a perfect time to learn about
the intricacies and compli-
cated natures of monetary
and fiscal policies, and how
the political realities of our
country make agreeing on
policies difficult.
It is a great time to be an
economics major, because
From the Colonel’s Desk
Reaching out This is our sixth release of
Roanomics and it continues
to grow in popularity. Sev-
eral alumni have sent
emails or posted on social
networking outlets that they
enjoy reading through the
newsletter.
We are thrilled that
Roanomics is catching on
in this way. Reconnecting
with alumni was one of the
purposes of the newsletter.
If there is something that
you would like to see in the
next issue, send an email to
Remember that you can
keep up to date on the Eco-
nomics Program between
issues of Roanomics by
following our blog, kas-
sensroanokeecon.blogspot.c
om, which is updated sever-
al times a month, including
items on current students.
Roanoke College Economics Program
Summer and Fall 2013
Volume 4, Issue 1
Roanomics
Advising tips:
The Economics Program offers a major and a mi-nor
If you major in BUAD, there are only five addi-tional courses left to complete the minor in ECON
Several of the ECON 200-level courses serve as electives in BUAD concentrations
ECON 121 can substitute for an INQ 260
ECON 277 is a May Term course and ECON elective
Inside this issue:
News and notes 2
Student Editor’s note
3
Faculty update 4
Presentations, Awards, Honors
5
New faculty 6
Inside the class-room
8
Travels with Dr. Bob
9
Economics Club update
10
Word from the De-
partment Chair 11
Lowry Scholarship 12
Dr. Garry Fleming
Jay Laramore `10 earned his
MA in Applied Economics with
a concentration in Financial
Economics from the University
of North Carolina at Greensbo-
ro in May
The Roanoke College Fed Chal-
lenge Team (Greg Long `14,
Sean Walsh `14, Emma Webb
`15, Conrad Classen `15, Rob-
ert Altier `14, and Spencer
Lewin `14 (coached by
Michelle Crook)) became the
first team in College history to
make it to the second round of
the competition. They placed
2nd in the region to James Mad-
ison University. Read about the
experience here and we will
have extended coverage of the
event in the spring issue of
Roanomics.
Dr. Alice Louise Kassens was
2nd place in the Cengage
Learning/National Economics
Teaching Association “Best in
Class” Award honoring peda-
gogical techniques in econom-
ics
Emma Webb `15 was recently
offered an internship with the
US Trade and Development
Agency for the spring of 2014.
Dr. Ali Nazemi took over as
Chair of the Business Admin-
istration and Economics Depart-
ment this fall. We are looking
forward to an exciting future
with him at the helm.
Dr. Pablo Hernandez joined
the Roanoke College Faculty
this fall as an Associate Profes-
sor. Hernandez joins us from
Hollins University and will be
teaching a variety of courses
including one on environmental
economics.
The Virginia Association of
Economics will host their 2014
Annual Meeting at Roanoke Col-
lege March 20-21. The San-
dridge Lecture will be given by
Dr. William M. Rodgers III. To
find out more about the event
check out the new webpage.
Several economics students are
studying abroad this year includ-
ing Theodore Ellis `15 and Jona-
than Babington ‘15.
Dr. Robert Benne joined Dr.
Alice Kassens and several stu-
dents for the first meeting of the
Roanoke College Economics
Reading Group. Friedman’s Cap-
italism and Freedom was the
book covered. Find the discus-
sion questions here.
Please let us know what is new
with you at roanokee-
[email protected] or fill out our
form at kassensroanokee-
con.blogspot.com
News and notes
Where are our alumni now? Ian Kervick-Jimenez `13 Re-
search Intern at the Central
Bank of Peru
Jimmy McNeely `12 Retire-
ment Solutions Analyst at Mor-
gan Stanley
Kerry Murphy `13 Staff Ac-
countant at W Squared
Connect with Dr. Alice Louise
Kassens on Linkedin.com so
that we can keep up with you!
Have career advice or contacts
for our current Economics stu-
dents? Please send an email to
Matt Bolling `10 Amer ican
Homebrewers Association-
Events and Membership Coor-
dinator
Jay Laramore `10 Health
Economist with HealthSmart in
Charleston, WV
Anthony Brantley `10 Person-
al Banker at Bank of America
Giovanni Forte `11 Assistant
Vice President: Financial Solu-
tions Advisor at Bank of Ameri-
ca Merrill Lynch
Brunella Salazar-Gonti `13
Manager of Administration and
Public Policy at Roanoke Re-
gional Chamber of Commerce
Page 2 Roanomics
“My overall education at Roa-
noke College, and particularly
my economics education, pre-
pared me for dealing with the
extremely varied career and
educational experiences I have
had throughout my life”
-Roanoke College alumna `72
Give us your comments via
“Advice for our graduates” on
our blog and they might be in-
cluded in the next issue of
Roanomics!
38
There are
currently 29
declared majors
and 9 declared
minors in the
Economics
Program.
Declare yours
here
DID YOU
KNOW?
Jay Laramore
Kerry Murphy
I am thrilled to be the
new student editor of the
Roanomics Newsletter.
Working as Dr. Kas-
sen’s research and stu-
dent assistant has
brought a whirlwind of
new responsibilities. I
feel like I am much
more connected to the
Economics Department,
and I am thrilled to be
able to give back be-
cause the faculty in Eco-
nomics Department have
done so much for me.
I came to Roanoke Col-
lege two years ago
thinking I was going to
be a doctor; I was good
at science so obviously
being a doctor was my
destiny. I also signed up
for an Economics course
because I was curious
about and confused by
the events surrounding
the Great Recession. Af-
ter one semester in the
Economics Department,
I was sold. Last year I
combined my love for
economics with my love
with current events and
politics and declared a
double major in Eco-
nomics and Political
Science.
I’ve been doing research
on student wellness with
Dr. Kassens for a year
and a half now. This
summer I had the honor
of being Dr. Kassens’
Summer Scholar and we
created a comprehen-
sive, weighted, numeri-
cal Index to measure
undergraduate wellness
as part of the paper
“Undergraduate Well-
ness Index: Construction
and Implementation.” I
also defended the paper
as my Honors Project
for the Honors Program
this fall. This semester I
am continuing my well-
ness research in an at-
tempt to eventually cre-
ate a Roanoke College
wellness program.
Next semester I am stud-
ying in Washington DC
with the Lutheran Col-
lege Washington Semes-
ter Program. As part of
that program I will hold
a full-time internship at
the United States Trade
and Development Agen-
cy in the Public and
Congressional Affairs
Office. I am so excited
to explore real-life ap-
plications of Economics
and Political Science in a
globalized world.
Student Editor’s Note: Emma Webb `14
Page 3 Volume 4, Issue 1
Spring and May 2014 Courses
SPRING
ECON 121
Principles of Microeconomics
Hernandez, Nik-Khah
ECON 122
Principles of Macroeconomics
Fleming, Kassens
ECON 227
Health Economics
Kassens
ECON 232
Money and Banking
Fleming
ECON 247
International Trade and Fi-nance
Hernandez
ECON 322
Intermediate Macroeconomics
Fleming
ECON 461
Senior Seminar
Nik-Khah
MAY TERM
ECON 277 Experimental Eco-nomics
Nik-Khah
Emma Webb `15
My summer was full of teach-
ing, running, and research; the
fall has been equally productive
and is quickly coming to an
end.
In July took my annual trip to
Rutgers University/Heldrich
Center to work on an ongoing
research project with Dr. Wil-
liam M. Rodgers III. We have
an end in sight and hope to have
one of a series of papers sub-
mitted for publication in 2014.
Prior going to New Jersey I
taught a section of ECON 122
(Principles of Macroeconomics)
and continued a project from
the spring: using Twitter in the
classroom. I put a paper togeth-
er about the project and submit-
ted it for publication in Septem-
ber. You can read a draft of the
paper here. I am grateful to the
two great sections of ECON
122 who worked with me on
this project.
I have presented the Twitter
paper twice. In October I was
awarded a “Best in Class
Award” by Cengage and the
National Economics Teaching
Association. I was invited to
their conference in Austin, TX
to present the paper. This was
my first time at this conference,
but it is now an annual must. I
brought home some great new
ideas that I have already used in
the classroom and met some
wonderful new colleagues.
Part of the award was a $500
donation from Cengage to the
Roanoke College Business Ad-
ministration and Economics
Department. Dr. Ali Nazemi
(Department Chair) and I decid-
ed to donate the award to the
Lowry Scholarship in Econom-
ics. This scholarship is for a
rising senior in economics in
honor of economics professor
Dr. Darryl Lowry who passed
away suddenly in December
2006. More information about
the Lowry Award can be found
on the last page of this newslet-
ter.
I also presented the Twitter
paper at the 2013 Virginia
Council for Social Studies in
early November and made a
great connection with a local
high school. I am looking for-
ward to working on a service
learning project with them.
Finally, on November 13 I am
giving a presentation for the Ro-
anoke Regional Small Business
Development Center on the im-
pact of the health care bill on
small businesses. If you are in
the area you should consider
attending. The event was orga-
nized by Roanoke College Eco-
nomics Program alumna Brunel-
la Salazar-Gonti `13.
I am teaching Labor Economics
(ECON 267) and Econometrics
(ECON 448) this semester and
have great groups in both clas-
ses. Make sure you check out the
game we played in the labor
class on page 8. I hope to see
some of you in either my section
of Principles of Macroeconomics
or Health Economics next se-
mester. I am putting together a
May Term class for 2015: Eco-
nomic Journalism in Alaska.
Mark your calendars!
I will run my 10th marathon No-
vember 17th. Hopefully the
weather and my legs hold up!
Faculty Update: Dr. Alice Louise Kassens
Page 4 Roanomics
Alice Kassens
Click on the
presenta-
tion to see
all of the
slides.
Dr. Alice Louise Kassens
Virginia Small Business De-
velopment Center (Roanoke,
VA), “Health Care Reform
and Your Small Business”,
November 2013
Virginia Council for the So-
cial Studies (Roanoke, VA),
“Using Twitter to Improve
#Writing, #Reflection, and
#Community”, November
2013
9th Annual Economics Teach-
ing Conference (Austin, TX),
“Using Twitter to Improve
#Writing, #Reflection, and
#Community”, October 2013
Roanoke College MCSP
Conversation Series, “Are
Virginians Healthy and Eco-
nomically Sound?”, April
2013
Presentations
Page 5 Volume 4, Issue 1
Spring 2013 Academic Honors
President’s List
Angela He
Emma Webb
Dean’s List
Maxwell Carroll
Theodore Ellis
Jeremy Peavey
Conor Fitzhenry
Cedric Moss
Cooper Sturr
Athletic Honor Roll
Maxwell Carroll
William Groth
Christopher Migliarese
Dr. Garry Fleming
“A Note on Measuring the
Stability of Industrial Sec-
tors”, presented to the Hawaii
International Conference on
Business, May 2013.
Emma Webb `15
"Measuring College Student
Wellness: More than Booze and
Biceps?", Showcase of Experi-
ential Learning
Publications & Awards Dr. Alice Louise Kassens
Consumer Sentiment and Price Expectations in Virgin-ia. (2013) Salem, VA: Insti-tute of Policy and Opinion Research. (May, August)
PowerPoint Presentations to accompany Rudiger Dorn-busch, Stanley Fischer, and Richard Startz (2013), Mac-roeconomics, 12th edition, Chicago: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Cengage Best in Class – Eco-nomics Instruction, 2nd place
($1,000, $500 for department, trip to NETA Conference in Austin, TX)
Charles Koch Foundation Educational Grant (funding the Roanoke College Eco-nomics Reading Group)
Emma Webb `15
Summer Scholar
Katie Thornton `13
Senior Scholar
Alpha Kappa Psi Key
Zach Birtsch `13
Outstanding Student in Eco-nomics
James Bradshaw `13
Omicron Delta Epsilon
Award
Ted Ellis `15
Lowry Scholarship
Bradshaw & Thornton
Nicole Zelnik
Emma Webb `15
William Groth `14
Cedric Moss
A Short Summary of Dr.
Hernandez’s Life:
Dr. Hernandez was born
in the states, but his fami-
ly moved to Mexico when
he was nine so his father
could take a job as a pro-
fessor. He lived there dur-
ing his youth and got his
undergraduate degree
from Universidad de las
Americas in Puebla, Mexi-
co. He came back to the
United States get his PhD
at the University of Notre
Dame.
He and his wife met in
Mexico. They got married
in 1997, and they now
have two children, Sofia
who is 11, and Andres
who is 9.
Where did Dr. Hernan-
dez work before Roa-
noke?
Dr. Hernandez first taught
as a visiting lecturer at
Indiana University, but
was immersed in getting
his dissertation completed
and therefore wasn’t as
involved in campus life
and advising. Then he
transferred to a position as
a visiting assistant profes-
sor at St. Mary’s College.
“I received a lot of men-
toring and good advice
from various former col-
leagues of mine at St.
Mary’s. They were of
course very well versed
professors.” Then Dr. Her-
nandez moved to Hollins
University, and had been
there for 6 years before
joining us at Roanoke. He
has also taught at La Uni-
versidad Iberoamericana
in Puebla, Mexico as a
visiting professor in envi-
ronmental and natural re-
source economics during
the summer of 2008.
How did Dr. Hernandez
choose economics?
Dr. Hernandez was fortu-
nate enough to have three
excellent professors and
mentors as an undergrad:
one in micro theory, an-
other in international econ
and trade from a macro
level, and a third mathe-
matical economist. He was
a little unsure about what
to do when he finished
college, and he worked for
a while for a for-profit
macroeconomics and fi-
nancial consulting firm.
Then he worked for half a
year as research assistant
to Professor Victor Ur-
quidi at El Colegio De
Mexico, and that sparked
his interest to achieve a
PhD. Professor Urquidi
knew a few faculty mem-
bers at Notre Dame, and
was able to help Dr. Her-
nandez’s transition to grad-
uate school in the states.
Dr. Hernandez feels lucky
that he’s had so much guid-
ance and support from his
professors throughout the
years, and looks forward to
returning that favor to stu-
dents at Roanoke College.
What is Dr. Hernandez’s
research specialty?
Dr. Hernandez studies
common pool resource
conservation in Mexico. He
is interested in studying
common pool resource
management in small com-
munities in Chiapas to un-
derstand how these small
communities organize
themselves to manage their
resources, both tangible
and intangible. These small
communities are very dif-
ferent from other larger
communities, and they tend
to resist local, state, or fed-
eral reforms that attempt to
bypass their distinctive
rules or approaches to sus-
tainable resource conserva-
tion practices or impose
standards or rules that con-
flict with sustainable re-
source use. Several nation-
al goals conflict with the
sustainability approaches
embraced by members of
New Faculty: Pablo Hernandez
Page 6 Roanomics
Dr. Pablo Hernandez
Hernandez family
Take one of
Dr. Hernan-
dez’s many
courses:
ECON 121
ECON 247
ECON 287
ECON 321
INQ 260
these communities, and
the communities resent
larger government mo-
tions because they have
been continuously mar-
ginalized throughout
history and they have
witnessed a steady en-
croachment into their
communities. But the
area is very important
for domestic and inter-
national investors and
policy makers because
the highlands of Chiapas
has an extensive bio re-
serve, is rich in mineral
deposits, and is close to
shale gas deposits.
Dr. Hernandez got into
this field by looking at
the economics of com-
mon property resources.
His inspiration in the
common pool research
field was Elinor Ostrom,
a famous American po-
litical scientist at Indi-
ana University and first
woman to win a Nobel
prize in economics for
her analysis of the gov-
ernance of the com-
mons. Common proper-
ty resource economics
studies polycentric ways
of managing resources,
and looks for descriptive
patterns in understand-
ing how individual deci-
sions can be made to
manage collectively
common access re-
sources.
Where can you find
Dr. Hernandez out of
school?
If Dr. Hernandez is not
at Roanoke College he is
likely at home with his
kids, or in Mexico doing
field research. His fami-
ly travels at least once a
year to Mexico to do
research and work, but
also for leisure and to
visit their families. In
the Roanoke Valley, Dr.
Hernandez likes to go
walking or hiking.
What is Dr. Hernan-
dez’s best piece of ad-
vice for students?
“Choose something you
like whether it’s a topic
for a paper, or a major,
or a first job, or intern-
ship, or a strategy to
take a test or improve
your grades. Do it be-
cause you personally
want to do it, and do it
well. Not to please oth-
ers. Put your heart and
mind into it. Lukewarm
isn’t enough. Be pas-
sionate. If you’re doing
it to please others, that
strategy won’t pay off in
the end. You’ll get frus-
New Faculty (Cont.)
Page 7 Volume 4, Issue 1
trated one way or the
other. Particularly when
it comes to research and
fields of study, and es-
pecially with graduate
school. Graduate school
is not necessarily a con-
tinuity from undergrad,
or meant to be because
your parents are telling
you to do it, or because
you want to circumvent
facing that first job in
life. You should go to
grad school because you
really want to go that
route and see what re-
search is about at that
level.”
“What makes a differ-
ence at the end of the
day is perseverance, part
of it is imagination and
skills and the ability to
convey things, but per-
severing is the big thing.
If you’re not fully in it,
you will find it harder to
persevere.”
By Emma Webb
FIVE THINGS YOU
MIGHT NOT KNOW
ABOUT DR. HER-
NANDEZ
1.His newest musical
addiction is Carole
King
2. One of his favorite
authors is Roald Dahl
3. He was a graduate
school classmate of
Dr. Nik-Khah at Notre
Dame
4. He hopes to one
day hike at least part
of the Appalachian
Trail
5. He loves The Sound
of Music
Hernandez family
Hernandez family
Economists refer to the differ-
ence in earnings between two
identical jobs save some nega-
tive attribute (risk, odd hours,
etc.) as a compensating wage
differential. In order for enough
people to supply their labor to
meet the demand for trash pick-
up, a premium must be paid to
everyone in the trash collection
market to draw them away from
other nicer-smelling job mar-
kets with similar job require-
ments.
Dr. Kassens’ Labor Economics
course (ECON 267) analyzed
compensating wage differen-
tials the first week of Novem-
ber.
After reviewing the theory and
working through a few numeri-
cal examples, the class played a
game illustrating the concept.
The game, inspired by
“Bobbing for Widgets: Com-
pensating Wage Differentials”
by Catherine Eckel et al. in a
2005 issue of the Journal of
Economic Education, split the
class into pairs; each had to
negotiate two jobs and how to
split $20 in six rounds.
In the first round, the two jobs
were file clerk (sorting cards
from ace to 10) and miner
(holding a book perpendicular
to the floor and pulling a piece
of paper with a red dot out of a
bowl without looking).
From there, the jobs were
changed slightly to see how
teams responded in terms of
negotiated job and wage. The
jobs in the remaining rounds
were as follows:
Round 2: Due to improved
technology, the duty of the
clerk has changed to tasting
candy.
Round 3: Politicians decree that
the two tasks require the same
skill and should be paid equally.
Round 4: OSHA determined
that mining is dangerous. Min-
ers must complete their job in
five seconds, otherwise neither
the clerk nor the miner get paid.
Round 5: Instead of mining for
coal, miners are saving sweet,
precious kittens from a certain
death. There is no time limit and
clerks are back to sorting cards.
Round 6: Due to a glut of coal
and no more kittens to be saved,
the government creates a job to
employ miners. They must go on
Main Street and dance like
Elaine Benes for six seconds
(and it will be recorded and post-
ed using Vine.) The government
believes that this job will in-
crease the happiness of all citi-
zens.
The average wage differentials
between miners and clerks by
round are shown in the graphic
below. Miners had to be paid the
most to do the “embarrassing”
job. Miners accepted $13.20 to
save the kittens suggesting that a
“hero” premium is a part of the
perceived total compensation.
One group was selected at ran-
dom to perform the tasks. Tim-
my Yuhas `14 was the lucky
student who performed the
“Benes” on Main Street which
you can watch here.
Who said learning can’t be fun?
Inside the Classroom: Labor Economics Game
Page 8 Roanomics
Alice Kassens
How much
would you
need to be
paid to do the
“Benes” on
Main Street in
Salem?
“Sweet fancy
Moses!”
-George
Costanza,
Seinfeld
This past spring we traveled
to Europe, starting in Ox-
ford—a multi-college town
about an hour’s bus ride from
London. Dr. Mark Miller ,
Roanoke College History
Department, has often trav-
eled there with student
groups. He provided us with
a detailed itinerary of the
town’s colleges, museums
and pubs.
My favorite pub was the Ea-
gle and the Child (known
locally as the “Bird and the
Baby”), once a hangout for
J.R. Tolkien (author of Lord
of the Rings) and located
near the Ashmolean-a sprawl-
ing, eclectic museum that
will drive you to drink.
I was disappointed to find
that English pubs do not dis-
pense draft IPA; yet the
British invented this highly
hopped brew to ship to their
troops in colonial India.
What’s up with that?
We took several great side
trips from Oxford: a day in
the charming villages of the
Cotswolds and a trip to the
opulent Blenheim Palace,
birthplace of Winston
Churchill. The Palace was a
gift from the Crown to the
Duke of Marlborough as a
reward for his victory over
the French at the battle of
Blenheim in 1704 (judging
from the reward, the French
army must have been more
formidable back then!).
Next, we traveled under the
channel via the chunnel to
Paris where we met up with a
group of my high school
friends (yes, a few are still
alive). We stayed at a small
hotel near the Montparness
Tower, a rather ugly high-rise
that somehow evaded the six
-story rule that pervades most
of Paris. We had a great time
doing the usual Paris things,
marred only by rainy weath-
er, a few surly waiters, and
hordes of tourists at the Pal-
ace of Versailles. We had
only one encounter on the
subway with the infamous
Paris pickpockets; they are
usually young teenagers who,
when caught by the police,
are immediately released
because of their age. Who
says crime doesn’t pay?
From Paris we took a three
day trip to Normandy region,
the highlight of which was a
visit to Omaha Beach and the
American Military Cemetery
there. It was a sober reminder
of the sacrifices made by
American forces in WWII.
After a few Social Security
checks refreshed my finances
(and I do thank you for your
S.S. “contributions” that you
make with every paycheck),
we travelled to one of the
most scenic national parks—
Glacier NP in northern Mon-
tana. Since the park was still
relatively crowded in late
August, our strategy was to
stay in resort towns adjacent
to the park: towns such as
Whitefish, Big Fork and Ka-
lispell. We were able to stay
within the park at Many
Glaciers Hotel, one of our
favorite places. Our best hike
started from there: a five mile
trek up to Iceberg Lake-a
small mountain lake filled
Travels with Dr. Bob
Page 9 Volume 4, Issue 1
with chunks of ice from a
nearby glacier.
Our best dining adventure
was at the Northern Lights
Saloon in Polebridge—an
“off-the-grid” village near
the Canadian border. The
clientele consisted of river
rafters, Duck Dynasty look-a
-likes, and persons who may
be in the witness protection
program.
We hope to return to Glacier
in a few years; it is one of the
crown jewels in the NP sys-
tem—right up there with Yo-
semite, Yellowstone, and the
Grand Canyon.
Locally,we made a few inter-
esting trips, including one to
the Greenbriar Hotel where
we toured the cold war bun-
ker. It is a decommissioned
fallout facility for Congress
in the event of nuclear war
(trust Congress to select a
five-star resort!).
Most recently we travelled to
Asheville,N.C. and made our
annual pilgrimage to the Mt.
Pisgah Inn (a biblical name
meaning “promised land”). It
is located about 15 miles
south of Asheville on one of
the most scenic stretches of
the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Every room has an incredible
view of the mountains . It’s
always reassuring when you
don’t have to endure airline
hassles or spend a fortune in
order to enjoy a great travel
experience.
Happy Travels, Dr. Bob
Bob and his wife Vicki at
Glacier National Park
Bob at Pointe du Hoc,
Normandy
Bob in Iceberg Lake,
Glacier National Park
Hello all!
The Economics club at Roa-
noke College has recently gone
under a change of management.
I was recently elected President,
by unanimous vote, by my fel-
low students. Conrad Classen,
last year’s President, is now
Vice President. Emma Webb is
still our secretary, which means
she keeps us all on track. Our
new treasurer is Caitlyn
Gaugler, a sophomore in the
program.
Elections aside, we were affect-
ed by the most recent govern-
ment shutdown. We had plans
to go to a conference in Wash-
ington DC; however, we also
wanted to be tourists in our
nation’s capital. Of course,
there is not much to see in DC
when many of the sights were
shut down, departments were
practically at a standstill, and
Congress could not agree on a
unifying budget. The budget
closed many social media out-
lets, the primary news outlet for
many students nowadays. The
government shutdown also af-
fected The National Zoo and
shut down its live Giant Panda
Cam; this broke the heart of
Giant Panda lovers nationwide.
Most importantly, many depart-
ments were ordered into an or-
derly shutdown, furloughing
many workers. Our nation’s
support system for services and
supports were crippled. Of
course, we must also consider
the many families that were
affected; overnight many could
not go to work the next day,
some could not expect to pay
their monthly bills, or even fig-
ure out a way explain to their
families what had happened.
It becomes a problem, to say the
least, when politics interferes
with the daily routine of gov-
ernment activities and our econ-
omy. The fingers can point to
anyone, but a government shut-
down was embarrassing. Con-
sider the fact that many interna-
tional students attending Roa-
noke College had planned to
visit Washington DC and ex-
pected to see the beauty of the
most powerful country in the
world. Instead, what was wit-
nessed was closed monuments
and overflowing trashcan. Inter-
nationally speaking, the most
powerful country in the world
has no excuse for the govern-
ment shutdown that will placate
the frustration of the American
people. From a humble RA’s
perspective, it was a bit embar-
rassing to have to explain to my
international residents as to why
the Smithsonian museums were
closed. Graciously, they took it
as a sign of the times and as an
observation of inconvenience.
I would also like to congratulate
two of my fellow majors and
Econ Club fans, Emma Webb
and Conrad Classen, and the rest
of the Fed Challenge Team on
their most recent Fed Challenge
competition. They made it to the
second round, the furthest any
Roanoke College Fed Challenge
Team has ever gone. Congratula-
tions guys! You’ll get them next
year!
Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow students for the privilege of being your Econ Club Presi-dent. I will represent the club colors of green and pink proudly! As always, Econ Club will con-tinue to meet, as often as possi-
ble, to be an open and fair forum for our opinions on the economy and Dr. Fleming’s stories.
Economics Club Update
Page 10 Roanomics
Zoe Richards `15, William Corso `15
Matt Nguyen
As most of you know, I took
over the chairmanship of the
Business Administration and
Economics Department. I
guess that’s what happens
when you are late to the
meeting at which they pick
the next chair. By the time I
got back they have already
assigned me bunch of new
duties. But seriously, I am
honored that the department
faculty trusted me with this
job.
So, as the new chair of the
department I want to take this
opportunity to welcome all of
our students to Business Ad-
ministration and Economics
programs and congratulate
you on your great choice of
college and major. I would
also like to invite our alumni
to take a more active role is
mentoring and helping our
students.
This year we are renewing
our focus on students’ aca-
demic and career success. To
that end, we have put forth
new initiatives to help stu-
dents to achieve higher aca-
demic performance and pro-
vide resources to better pre-
pare them for the life after
college. These initiatives
include:
Increasing the number of
Internship opportunities
Increasing the number of
short-term and long-term
Study Abroad programs
Creating an “Alumni-
Student Mentorship”
program
Providing “Student Men-
tors” to help underclass-
men with their academic
performance
Streamlining concentra-
tions to make them easier
to complete
Showcasing student and
alumni accomplishments
by recognizing outstand-
ing their work and their
contribution
Installing “Digital Sign-
age” to bring the most
current business and fi-
nancial news and trends
to the West Hall
Providing more oppor-
A word from the Department Chair
Page 11 Volume 4, Issue 1
tunity to participate in
Independent Study, Un-
dergraduate Research ,
and Honors in Major
Increasing the number of
social and academic
clubs and organizations
Increasing Social Media
presence to connect to
other students and alum-
ni
Placing more focus on
academic and career ad-
vising
I would like to encourage our
students to take advantage of
these opportunities and take
an active role in their aca-
demic and career success.
Please do not hesitate to stop
by my office to talk to me
about these opportunities
I look forward to meeting you
and hearing about your aca-
demic and career plans and
accomplishment.
Dr. Ali Nazemi
Chair – Business Administra-
tion and Economics
Dr. Ali Nazemi
Ref Ali Chef Ali
Stop in to see
Dr. Nazemi in
113 West Hall
“...Because we view economics as solidly within the liberal arts, we are
committed to examining the relationship between economics and other are-
as of knowledge. Students will therefore find it to be an excellent comple-
ment to many other majors, including, but not limited to public policy, soci-
ology, history, environmental policy, mathematics, biology, and business
administration, as well as concentrations such as gender studies and peace
and justice studies.”
For information about the Economics Program contact Dr. Garry Fleming
For comments or suggestions about the newsletter email
Read our blog: kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com
Faculty Editor: Dr. Alice Louise Kassens
Student Editor: Emma Webb ‘15
221 College Lane Salem, VA 24153
Phone: 540-375-2426 Fax: 540-375-2577
E-mail: [email protected]
Economics Program
in Lowry's name inspired
Stauffer to set up the Lowry
Scholarship in Economics, the
recipient of which, when the
fund achieves endowed level,
will be decided upon by the
economics faculty.
Recipients of the scholarship:
2013-14 Theodore Ellis
2012-13 James Bradshaw
2011-12 Katherine Thornton
From the Roanoke College webpage:
Dr. Darryl W. Lowry, associ-
ate professor of economics,
devoted the past 25 years
instructing and nurturing Ro-
anoke College students,
"spending hours each day
carefully organizing his lec-
tures and meeting with stu-
dents," said Dr. Robert Stauf-
fer, associate professor of
economics. When Lowry
died on Dec. 31, 2006, after a
short battle with bone cancer,
the bereaved campus strug-
gled to find ways to honor the
man who had been so pas-
sionate about economics,
volleyball, and roller coast-
ers. The spontaneous dona-
tions that current and former
students and colleagues made
You can give to the Lowry Scholarship!
Simply go to https://www.roanoke.edu/give/
Select “Other”
Enter donation amount
In the “Details” blank type “Lowry Scholarship in Eco-nomics”
Thank you for your contribu-tion.
You are helping a young economist and honoring a wonderful man.
— The Roanoke College Eco-nomics Program
Give to the Lowry Scholarship
Follow us on Twitter @roanokeecon
Tell us what is new with you roanokeecon.blogspot.com
Join the BUAD/ECON Facebook page
Dr. Darryl Lowry