Roanomics, vol 6 iss 1

7/24/2019 Roanomics, vol 6 iss 1

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Roanomics

Volume 6, Issue 1

Contents:Meet the student editor...........................2

Awards and Honors.................................3RC Econ travels to Alaska......................4Fed Challenge..........................................5Public Choice Seminar............................6Economics Reading Group....................6SAS Joint Certificate Program...............7SAS/UN Comtrade Data &witter Contest......................................8

Alumnus Jonathan Babingtonworked at the CAO institute as an

intern afer graduating with a majorin economics in December 2014. Oneo his accomplishments is the cartoonabove that he drew to accompany thearticle ax Policy, Double axation,ax Reorm, and the Proper Definitiono Income (D. J. Mitchell, Te Feder-alist, April 15, 2015.) You can read thearticle here.

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http://thefederalist.com/2015/04/15/tax-policy-double-taxation-tax-reform-and-the-proper-definition-of-income/http://thefederalist.com/2015/04/15/tax-policy-double-taxation-tax-reform-and-the-proper-definition-of-income/http://thefederalist.com/2015/04/15/tax-policy-double-taxation-tax-reform-and-the-proper-definition-of-income/


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Meet the Student Editor:MAX CARROLL

W

hen the hands on the clock struck1:10 p.m., marking the end o myfirst college macroeconomics class,

I quickly came to realize I was on the edgeo my seat and my palms were slightly damp.Dr. Fleming and the 10 principals o macro-economics just made so much sense. I wasascinated, intrigued, and eager to dive deeperinto other similar topics. No more than a weeklater, I was hooked on economics and ready todeclare or my major. Te warnings o riendsand amily, who believed it was too early or

such action, ell on dea ears as I had alreadymade up my mind. With my time at RoanokeCollege quickly coming to an end, I am stillmore than happy with the decision I made.However, this decision would have been eveneasier with some insight on exactly what I wasabout to be getting mysel into.

For those aspiring, and potential economicsmajors here are a ew helpul hints. Graphs.

Be ready to learn, understand and interpretdozens o different orms o graphical inor-mation. Also, many readings you will be as-signed are going to seem incredibly dry how-ever there is a reason they are given and willhelp guide you towards understanding majorconcepts. Not only will these readings expandyour academic vernacular, you can easily im-press your parents by throwing out such terms

during their weekly check in calls. You willsoon have the ability to comprehend the econ-omy and subsequent markets on a level abovea vast majority o your classmates, as well asthe common man/woman at that. I have cometo learn that this ability is a priceless skill thatI will orever use or the rest o my lie.

Tere are going to be long nights o work and

studying but dont reak out, there is alwayslight at the end o the tunnel. Tere will alwaysbe another student or teacher ready to lend ahelping hand at the drop o a hat and guideyou to ormulating your conclusions. o thoseo you who are willing to declare yoursel as astudent o Economics, I only have one morething to say. Welcome to the amily.

Max CarrollStudent Editor,RoanomicsEconomics Major

Member Mens Var-sity Lacrosse eam

Get to know Max:

What is your favorite late night snack?Goldfish or pretzels

Favorite thing to do in the summer?Be with amily and riends at the beach

Best (clean) memory at Roanoke College?Winning an ODAC Championship

Hardest class so far at Roanoke College?Computer Science

Dream job?Proessional skier or skydiver


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Awards and Honors

3

D L (3.5 or term, earnednothing lower than a B-) Spring 2015

Ryan Dill Nick Flanagan

Jonathan Eary Katelyn Nuckoles

ed Ellis Jeremy Peavey

P L (4.0 or term) Spring 2015

Conor Fitzhenry

Conor Fitzhenry

ed Ellis Jonathan Eary

Katelyn Nuckoles Jeremy Peavey

Department Awards and Honors

S SEmma Webb

O Sed Ellis

L SAngela He Chen

H Med Ellis

Congratulations to the Class of 2015One o the largest class o economics majorsand minors in program history.

W . . .


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RC Econ travels to Alaska

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In May 2015 Dr. Enz and Dr. Kassens tooka group o students to Alaska or the Mayerm travel course Economic Journeys in

Alaska.

Te class travelled by ship rom Seattle toSoutheast Alaska. Stops included:

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Icy Strait Point/Hoonah

Te class studied an economic topic in eachport and wrote a graded journal entry. Class

meetings were held onboard to discuss find-ings rom a port, review journal entries, anddiscuss an upcoming stop.

For example, in Ketchikan students learnedabout the tension between the stores ownedby locals and those owned by the cruise lines.Once on land, students stopped several trav-ellers on the street and asked them questionsincluding Are you more likely to shop in a

locally owned store? and Would you bewilling to pay more or a product in a locallyowned store. Some students struck up con-versations with local store owners and learnedabout their challenges.

While in Juneau the class toured a salmonhatchery and learned about its importance tosustaining a vital component o the Alaskaneconomy.

A park ranger gave the class a tour o Skag-way. She taught us about the impact o theKlondike Gold Rush on the development othe town.

Icy Strait Point is the only native-ownedcruise ship destination in the world. We ob-served the differences in atmosphere and en-vironment between it and earlier stops on ourtrip. Most o us walked into Hoonah, a townoriginally populated by the lingit pushedout o their home in Glacier Bay by advancingglaciers in the 18th century.

Sites rom cruising Glacier Bay, Alaska

Bald eagles seen in Hoonah.


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2014 Fed Challenge eam

Once again alumna and CFO o theBank o Botetourt, Michelle Alexan-der Crook guided a team o Roanoke

College students to the Fed Challenge in the

all o 2014. Te team travelled to JMU wherethey played the part o monetary policy mak-ers and competed against other schools inthe region. Teir presentation included ananalysis o economic indicators such as theunemployment rate and inflation. eams arequestioned by a panel o olks rom the Feder-al Reserve Bank afer their presentation.

Te team did not make the finals, but gave a

strong perormance.Questions rom the Fed panel included:

During the 2008 crisis, the Fed exercisedits emergency lending authority. Whatwere the risks and benefits o their ac-tions?

Explain your description o a dovishFOMC composition.

I the Fed will accept above target infla-tion, why havent they been more accom-modative?

According to Mrs. Crook the students werenot caught off guard by any o the questions,indicating both the quality o the students andher coaching and preparation.

Te 2014 Roanoke College Fed Challengeteam (pictured top right) included:

Cameron Webb

Devon Good

Mark Adams

Nick Roch

Conor Fitzhenry

Kaitlyn Manning

(Coach Michelle Crook)

Participating students had glowing commentsabout the experience.

Mark Adams commented I have gained moreinterest in looking at the news on a daily ba-sis and reading the statements released by theFederal Reserve to see what language they useand how it will influence consumers and whatimpact the decisions made will have on theeconomy.

Conor Fitzhenry stated Te expectation oresponding to unknown questions was nerve

wracking but it was something our previousclassroom experience had prepared us or. Teconnection between concepts we had learnedor years came to light in this instance and itwas a moment o realization or me.

Finally, Nick Roch said Te final presentationat JMU was a great educational experience.As a team it orced us to collaborate with eachother in order to answer hypothetical scenar-ios presented by the judges. Overall, I wouldrecommend the Fed Challenge to any studentwho is looking to apply the principles o eco-nomic theory that they have learned to realworld situations.

Te Fed Challenge is one o the highlights othe economics program. Interested studentsshould contact Mrs. Crook or inormation.


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Public Choice Seminar Economics Reading Group

In January 2015 five selected RoanokeCollege economics students travelledwith Dr. Kassens to Christopher Newport

University to participate in a Public Choice

Seminar. wo other schools also participatedin the event sponsored by an external grant:Hampden-Sydney College and ChristopherNewport University.

Prior the trip students read three books, alsocovered by the grant:

Te Calculus o Consent

Bootleggers and Baptists

Te Myth o the Rational VoterTe seminar lasted three days, with acultystarting the discussion with several questions;students were the primary discussants. Tegroup took time out or some delicious meals,including dinner at the Crab Shack on theJames.

Roanoke College student participants were:

William Corso

Jonathan Eary

ed Ellis

Nicholas Flanagan

Katelyn Nuckoles

It is hoped that the seminar will become anannual event.

In February 2015 our selected RoanokeCollege economics students travelled withDr. Kassens to Washington, D.C. to visit

with Dr. Stan Veuger, a Resident Scholar at the

American Enterprise Institute. We were treatedto a roundtable discussion with Veuger dis-cussing issues such as income inequality.

In the all semester students read Tomas Sow-ells Economic Facts and Fallacies, meetingtwice to discuss selected topics rom the book,including income inequality.

While in D.C. students also had dinner withRoanoke College economics alumnus Nathan

Castellano who is finishing his law degree atGeorge Washington University. Nathan talk-ed to the students about how his economicsdegree helps in his legal studies and about hiswork with the World Banks Office o Suspen-sion and Debarment and as a research assistantor Proessor Stephen Schooner.

Roanoke College student participants were:

William Corso ed Ellis

Ryan Dill

May Chu

Tis was the third year o the Economics Read-ing Group, but the first with a travel compo-nent. All activities were covered by a grant.


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SAS/UN Comtrade Data& witter Contest

I-sah Hsieh o SAS virtually joined Dr. KassensECON 122 Principles o Macroeconomics classby video chat. Recently, SAS and the UN launched aweb-based platorm to quickly analyze and visualize

over 300 millionrows o UN international tradedata (ound here.)

Prior the visit, students studied scarcity, opportunitycost, GDP, trade, and economic growth. Afer ex-plaining and demonstrating the unctionalities o theweb-based platorm, I-sah walked through severalexamples o its recent use. Te most poignant cameafer the recent earthquake in Nepal.

Nepal experienced a massive earthquake April 25,2015. Beyond the distruction in lives and inra-structure, the looming monsoon season created animpetus to build strong shelters to protect the 45,000displaced amilies living in 200 tent camps. TeInternational Organization or Migration (IOM) is afirst responder to natural disasters, including Nepal.Te IOM needed to find a large amount o corregat-ed iron sheeting or roofing. I-sah used the SAS/UNComtrade interace to assess the closest exporterso the material to Nepal. With this inormation, theIOM contacted these countries (inluding portions

o Nepal and India) and got the needed materials totheir location quickly.

You can watch a more detailed account o the jointefforts between SAS and the IOM in Nepal here.

Afer the classroom interaction, the Roanoke Collegestudents experimented with the platorm and tweetedtheir findings as part o a contest SAS hosted or theclass. You can see all o their tweets here.

Te winners (shown below) were authored by EllenGreen, Christina Chariott, and Yu Choi. Tey receivedan item o their choosing rom the SAS store.

Explore the SAS/UN Comtrade webpage yoursel!

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http://www.sas.com/en_us/software/visual-analytics-comtrade.htmlhttp://www.sas.com/en_us/customers/iom.htmlhttps://storify.com/alicekassens/sas-un-comtrade-and-kassens-econ-122-roanoke-collehttps://storify.com/alicekassens/sas-un-comtrade-and-kassens-econ-122-roanoke-collehttp://www.sas.com/en_us/customers/iom.htmlhttp://www.sas.com/en_us/software/visual-analytics-comtrade.html

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Roanomics, vol 6 iss 1