involved in extra-program

curriculums,

like the

Honors

Program

and Intellec-

tual Inquiry

courses.

This in-

volvement

exposes stu-

dents who

might not

otherwise take an economics

class to our program, and has

been a point of entry for some

of our new majors. We contin-

ue to attract business majors

who want a “feather in their

cap” at graduation, with an

economics minor.

We are hiring a new tenure

track position this year, giving

us four full-time, tenure track

faculty. If our current growth

rate continues, I expect need-

ing a fifth economist sometime

soon. We have momentum.

Let’s keep it going!

The economics program at

Roanoke College has seen

significant growth over the last

few years, even as some pro-

grams have receded in popu-

larity. It has been said that

interest in economics is coun-

ter-cyclical: when things are

going well, we pay less atten-

tion; but when times are tough,

we want to know why and

what can be done. As the econ-

omy has recently shown a

resistance to improve, student

interest in economics has blos-

somed. A quick look at the

numbers tells all. Comparing

the years 2001-2006 graduat-

ing classes to those from 2007-

2012, there has been a 67%

increase in the average number

of economics majors in the

latter group. This does not

include seniors who had eco-

nomics as their minor. Includ-

ing minors and majors togeth-

er, it puts growth at well above

100%. This is an amazing

statistic for such a short

amount of time. Of course, I

like to think that the program

will continue this growth rate

well into the future. Someday

economics may be one of the

most popular majors on cam-

pus.

Another way to measure popu-

larity is current enrollments

across all student classifica-

tions, rather than only graduat-

ing seniors. Here we see more

evidence of growth. At pre-

sent, we have 26 economics

majors and 12 minors, for a

total of 38 currently enrolled in

the program. This number

represents a more than dou-

bling over just a few years ago.

Quality is just as important as

quantity. We have more stu-

dents involved in student/

faculty research than ever

before. This includes programs

like Summer Scholars and

Honors in Major. The Fed

Challenge continues to be

popular. We consistently field

strong teams for this competi-

tion. The economics faculty is

From the Colonel’s Desk

Reaching out

This is our fourth 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

roanokeecon@gmail.com

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 2012

Volume 3, Issue 1

Roanomics

Advising tips:

The Economics Pro-

gram offers a major and

a minor

If you major in BUAD,

there are only five addi-

tional courses left to

complete the minor in

ECON (one of which

can count as the BUAD

elective)

Several of the ECON

200-level courses serve

as electives in BUAD

concentrations

ECON 121 can substi-

tute for an INQ 260

Inside this issue:

News and notes 2

Student Editor’s

note 3

Spring courses 3

Faculty updates 4

Presentations, Publi-

cations and Honors 5

Consumer Senti-

ment 6

Feature: Where is

the Class of 2012 7

Undergraduate Re-

search 8

Economics Club 9

Travels with Dr. Bob 12

Garry Fleming,

Shannon Chair

of Economics

The Economics Club at Roa-

noke College continues… and

with a budget! If you are inter-

ested, please fill out the interest

form http://

kassensroanokee-

con.blogspot.com/2012/01/

economics-club-at-roanoke-

college.html

Zach Birtch `13 will present

his research at the Virginia As-

sessment Group 2012 Annual

Conference later this month in

Richmond.

Sara Caudle `12 and Chris

Kwaramba `12 earned the

Honors in the Major distinction

for Economics in May 2012,

Chanho Song `12 is engaged to

Geeyoon Chun. Congrats

Chanho!

The Economics Program is

starting a new recruiting initia-

tive for prospective economics

students. If you would like to

help, contact Dr. Kassens

Dr. Deborah Spencer will of-

fer the first Economics course

in the new INQ curriculum next

semester. The course, Capital-

ism, is discussed in more detail

later in this issue.

The 2012 Fed Challenge Team

of Conner Dubois `13, Brunel-

la Salazar `13, Ian Kervick-

Jimenez `13, Kerry Murphy

`13, Tiffany Ingram `13, and

Elizabeth Morris `13 was de-

layed by Sandy, but will com-

pete later this month in Rich-

mond.

We are on the job market! A

tenure track Assistant Professor

will be added to our faculty for

AY 2013-14. Interviews will be

conducted at the ASSA/AEA

meetings in January.

Tyler Rinko `11 is a finalist for

the Teach for America Program.

Good luck to all students taking

the GREs this semester, includ-

ing Katie Thornton `13, Wai

Paing `12, and Yahia AbuHa-

shem `12.

The Virginia Consumer Senti-

ment and Price Expectations

Indexes will now be released

each quarter! The February 2012

report can be found here.

Please let us know what is new

with you at roanokee-

con@gmail.com or fill out our

form at kassensroanokee-

con.blogspot.com

News and notes

Where are our alumni now? research associate in Pediatric

Oncology. She and her husband

Michael are expecting their first

child next year.

Justin Tuma `11 completed a

graduate program at Durham

University and is now an Assis-

tant Lacrosse Coach at Ran-

dolph-Macon College

Fill out the alumni survey at

kassensroanokee-

con.blogspot.com

Have career advice or contacts

for our current Economics stu-

dents? Please send an email to

roanokeecon@gmail.com.

SJ Brusard `09 took a new job

with Wedbush Securities, In-

dustrial Equity Sales

Brode McCrady `07 is work-

ing at Vantiv as a Merchant

Data Analyst

Andrew Streaman `09 is an

analyst with JP Morgan Chase

John Pauler `07 is a manager

in Marketing Analytics at

Vistaprint

Danielle McCloskey `11

moved to Spokane, WA and is

working at Sacred Heart Chil-

dren’s Hospital as a clinical

Page 2 Roanomics

Chris Kwaramba

“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

alumni survey on our blog and

they might be included in the

next issue of Roanomics!

Ian Kervick-Jimenez

Katie Thornton

Marko Krkeljas

My time at Roanoke College

has gone by so quickly it

amazes me that I am already a

senior. I never thought that I

would be graduating Roanoke

with a degree in Economics

and concentrating in Account-

ing.

This semester I have been

busy with both my Economet-

rics class and The Federal

Reserve Challenge. In both of

these classes I have focused

on unemployment. In Econo-

metrics I am doing research

into the effects of unemploy-

ment on marital and family

relations. For the Federal Re-

serve Challenge I am covering

unemployment in our presen-

tation. In this class, myself

and 5 other students will be

traveling to the Richmond

Federal Reserve in late Octo-

ber to present our recommen-

dations to their staff. In addi-

tion to unemployment, we will

be covering GDP, housing,

consumer confidence, interna-

tional trade, and monetary

policy. Both of these classes

have really put into perspec-

tive all the things I have

learned in the classroom.

My interest in researching

unemployment started through

my experience as a student

researcher for Dr. Alice Kas-

sens last year. Her project

explored the correlation be-

tween unemployment and

depression. Working for her

gave me the chance to develop

my research skills as well.

This opportunity was not only

very educational and academi-

cally focused, but it also gave

me excellent job experience.

As I look towards graduation,

I have been actively preparing

for life after graduation. I am

moving towards a career in

the fields of research, finance

or risk management. I am

excited to be a senior and I

anticipate all of the great

things that are to come.

Student Editor’s Note: Kerry Murphy `13

Page 3 Volume 3, Issue 1

Spring 2013 Courses

ECON 121 Principles of Micro-

economics

Nik-Khah, Spencer

ECON 122 Principles of Mac-

roeconomics

Fleming, Kassens

ECON 227 Health Economics

Kassens

ECON 232 Money & Banking

Fleming

ECON 322 Intermediate The-

ory: Macroeconomics

Fleming

ECON 461 Economic Seminar

Nik-Khah

INQ 260EC WA Capitalism in

Crisi

Spencer

Please check Web Advisor for

official information and times

(Blogging in

Dr. Kassens’

Principles

course)

“helped me

to become

more aware

of how

economics

affects so

many

different

areas”

“[enabled

me] to

understand

how what we

were learning

in class could

tie in to other

economic

events in our

country and

worldwide.”

Kerry Murphy `13

WHY MAJOR IN ECONOMICS?WHY MAJOR IN ECONOMICS?WHY MAJOR IN ECONOMICS?

"A lot of people talk about majoring in business ... actually, economics is even better, because

you learn a lot more quantitative analysis, a lot more statistics, and things that are applicable in

kind of this big data world," she says. "Similar to physics, it's really good for salary growth

overall." -Kelsey Sheehy, US News and World Report, “College Majors with the Best Rate of

Return on Investment”, September 12, 2012.

I enjoyed a productive sabbati-

cal over the spring. In addition

to using the APS Franklin Grant

to conduct research at the

CUNY-Baruch College RDC in

NYC and Rutgers University, I

made plans to begin a project

regarding obesity, diabetes, and

income in Latin America with

Dr. Yana Rodgers. We hatched

this idea running along the Rari-

tan River in NJ and hope to

present our progress in 2014.

Yana is a development econo-

mist. Our project will marry her

skills with my background in

health economics. I will be

looking for a student to help

with the project next semester.

My blog, “The Running Econo-

mist”, which details my journey

searching for the optimal bal-

ance between two of my pas-

sions, running and research, is

coming along. I have also be-

gun blogging for Women Talk

Sports. This is a fantastic site

for women’s sports issues and I

am proud to be a part of it. I

have interviewed several world

class athletes, including Kara

Goucher and Stephanie Brown-

Trafton. You can find all of my

interviews and contributions to

WTS here: http://

www.womentalksports.com/

profiles/view/3540. Consider

following me on Twitter

@RnningEconomist

My biggest excitement was the

publication of an article that I

coauthored with three of my for-

mer students: Sara Caudle, Tyler

Rinko, and Justin Tuma. We

detailed a process for effectively

supervising multiple independent

studies. You can find the elec-

tronic version of the article on

the journal’s webpage. LINK

I hope that this is the first of

many coauthored papers with

undergraduates.

My econometrics students are

working on a variety of exciting

projects which we will share

with you in the next issue of

Roanomics.

Faculty Update: Dr. Alice Louise Kassens

Faculty Update: Dr. Deborah Spencer ernment within a capitalist soci-

ety? Why do Economists disa-

gree? Why does Capitalism

dominate rival economic sys-

tems? Does our Capitalist sys-

tem promote freedom with pur-

pose?

Different economic perspectives

use different methodologies to

answer these important and dif-

ficult questions. Join us in this

fascinating journey to under-

stand and critically analyze the

economic perspectives that ulti-

mately compete for your alle-

giance.

What did Adam Smith, Karl

Marx, John Maynard Keynes,

and Thorsten Veblen say that

can inform our thoughts on the

The Economics program will

launch its first INQ 260 course

this Spring semester entitled,

Capitalism in Crisis. The fact

that we are in a state of crisis is

evident in the numbers: high

levels of public and personal

debt, rising medical costs along-

side a growing number of unin-

sured, high and prolonged un-

employment, pervasive under-

employment, large and persis-

tent trade deficits and an in-

come distribution picture that

takes us back to the 1920’s.

The questions raised by these

alarming trends are the focus of

inquiry for this course. Can

Capitalism survive? How does

it work? What are its require-

ments? What is the role of gov-

Page 4 Roanomics

Dr. Alice Louise

Kassens,

Associate Professor

of Economics

Dr. Deborah

Spencer,

Visiting Assistant

Professor of

Economics

current crisis and capitalism gen-

erally? How can we borrow from

and “modernize” these giants of

economics at a time when eco-

nomic change is inevitable? Take

“Capitalism in Crisis” and be a

participant in shaping your fu-

ture!

NOTE: Dr. Spencer’s class is

listed as an INQ 260 course. You

can register for it now and take

the inaugural offering in the

Spring 2013.

Dr. Alice Louise Kassens

North American Clinical Der-

matologic Society’s 53rd

Annual Meeting, Zurich

Virginia Society of Certified

Public Accountants, Roanoke

Dr. Edward Nik-Khah

History of Economics Society

Conference, Brock University

History of Political Economy

Conference, Duke

Society for the Social Studies

of Science Conference, Den-

mark

Utrecht School of Economics

Workshop, The Netherlands

Dr. Edward Nik-Khah

“Island Empire: Economics

Imperialism a an Inperative

of Chicago Neoliberal-

ism” (with Rob VanHorn).

Journal of Economic Meth-

odology 19(3): 259-282.

Nathan Castellano `12

2012 Senior Scholar

Marko Krkeljas `12

2012 Outstanding Senior

Sara Caudle `12

Dr. Alice Louise Kassens

“Do as I say and as I do: An

adaptation of McElroy’s

Mentor Demonstration Model

for Multiple Independent

Studies” (with Sara Caudle,

Tyler Rinko, and Justin Tu-

ma). Perspectives on Under-

graduate Research and Men-

toring, 2.1

Roanoke College Faculty

Summer Research Award for

“A study of the Patient Pro-

tection and Affordable Care

Act”

2012 ODE Award

James Bradshaw `13

Lowry Scholarship

Nomin Baasandavaa `13

Phi Beta Kappa

The Lowry Scholarship is

for rising seniors and is in

honor of the late Dr. Darryl

Lowry. If you would like to

donate to the Lowry Schol-

arship, please contact the

Roanoke College Resource

Development Office

Presentations

Publications, Awards and Honors

Page 5 Volume 3, Issue 1

Spring 2012 Academic Honors President’s List

Katie Thornton

Emma Webb

Dean’s List

Nomin Baasandavaa

Zach Birtch

James Bradshaw

Ted Ellis

Tiffany Ingram

Chris Kwaramba

Chanho Song

Amanda Stewart

Patrick McLaughlin

Spencer Lewin

Honors in the Major

Sara Caudle

Chris Kwaramba

Athletic Honor Roll

Christopher Migliarese

James Bradshaw

Edward Nik-Khah,

Associate Professor

James Bradshaw `13

Tiffany Ingram `13

Dr. Garry Fleming

Hawaii International Confer-

ence on Business

Tiffany Ingram `13

Family Weekend Showcase

of Research and Creativity,

Roanoke College

Consumer confidence in the econo-

my has a profound influence on the

current and future health of the

national economy. For example, if

individuals lose confidence they

might begin to save more and con-

sume less, thus reducing US GDP.

There are several measures of con-

sumer confidence:

1) Consumer Confidence Index

(CCI, produced by The Con-

ference Board): based on

5,000 household surveys,

conducted monthly, focus on

current and short term busi-

ness and labor market condi-

tions

2) Consumer Sentiment Index

(ICS, produced by the Univer-

sity of Michigan): based on

500 household surveys, con-

ducted monthly, focus on

current and short term person-

al financial situation, business

conditions, and climate for

purchasing durable goods

3) Consumer Comfort Index

(BCCI, produced by Bloom-

berg, LLC): based on 1,000

household surveys, conducted

weekly, focus on current

views of the economy, person-

al finances, and buying cli-

mate

There is the potential for the media

to influence households’ responses

to the surveys and thus the indexes

themselves. A non-scientific poll

was conducted of students, alumni,

and friends of the Roanoke College

Economics Program during the last

week of October 2012. The ques-

tion was “Do you think the media’s

coverage/reporting of the economy

plays a role in consumer confi-

dence?”

Twenty people responded to the

poll, which was posted on the RC

Economics Program blog and Dr.

Kassens’ Facebook page. The sam-

ple is small, but the results are still

interesting. The majority believed

that the media does have influence.

Consumer Sentiment and the Economy

Page 6 Roanomics

Want macroeco-

nomic data? Feder-

al Reserve Eco-

nomic Data

(FRED) is a great

secondary source

of government

data. FRED recent-

ly released an ex-

cel add-in to in-

crease the ease of

data manipulation.

It was used to gen-

erate the plot of the

ICS below. Over

64,000 data series

are available free

of charge.

What do you see in the above graph? Does there appear to be a relationship between US unemployment

and consumer sentiment? The consumer sentiment measure used is the ICS from the University of Mich-

igan. Give us your feedback here and we will include it in the March issue of Roanomics.

Page 7 Volume 3, Issue 1

FEATURE WHERE IS THE CLASS OF 2012?

Yahia AbuHashem

Millennium Insurance (DC)

Applying to graduate pro-

grams in economics and other

FT work

Nomin Baasandavaa

KPMG, Associate

Nathan Castellano

George Washington Universi-

ty Law School

Sara Caudle

Trent Capital Management,

Portfolio Administrator/

Relationship Manager

Dustin DeMaria

Smart Options

Phillip Gereaux

Pamplin College of Business

(Virginia Tech) - MBA Pro-

gram

Nikolay Karagyozov

National Securities Corpo-

ration (NY)

Marko Krkeljas

McIntire School of Com-

merce (UVA)—Master of

Science in Commerce Pro-

gram

“Overall the [McIntire]

community is great, the

academic resources are su-

perb, and the classes are

interesting.”

Chris Kwaramba

Pamplin College of Busi-

ness (Virginia Tech) - MBA

Program, Master Candidate

and Graduate Assistant

Serena Laughlin

Inverness Counsel LLC,,

Compliance Administrative

Assistant (NY)

Mike McGeough

Management Associate

(New Orleans)

Trevor McNally

Trading Associate

(Chicago)

Ray Owens

Cotton & Company LLP,

Staff Auditor

Wai Paing

Queens Library Foundation,

Donor Relations Coordina-

tor (volunteer)

Applying to graduate pro-

grams in economics

Max Stein

Insite Properties, LLC, In-

tern

Mahmoud Thaher

The Hope Fund (DC)

Nick White

Codebryx, LLC, Marketing

Analyst

NOTE: National numbers are from The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. (2012) “Chasing the

American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession”.; Data for the RC Class of 2012 was collected

via survey, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Working with a faculty member

on a research project can give

you the experience and edge

that you need for graduate

school and the labor market.

All members of the economics

faculty are actively engaged in a

variety of research projects.

You should volunteer to help

one of them with a project. In

some cases there may be funds

available to pay you for your

efforts. A definite benefit is the

ability to add research experi-

ence to your resume.

Currently Dr. Alice Louise Kas-

sens has several students help-

ing her with projects.

Conor Fitzhenry `16

Conor is currently assisting

with a project concerning aging

female responses to adverse

health related shocks, particu-

larly a diagnosis of Type II dia-

betes. Response is measured as

a change in BMI or hip/waist

circumference. Data from the

National Institutes of Health

Women’s Health Initiative

(NIH WHI) is being used, the

first economics project to do so.

Conor is starting with learning

the basics of health economics

and the economics of obesity.

Additionally he is familiarizing

himself with the NIH WHI.

Emma Webb `14

Emma joined a project led by Dr.

Kassens and Dr. Julie Maina

(HHP). They are using data col-

lected by Sara Caudle `12 to as-

sess student wellness at Roanoke

College. Resources include sev-

eral sets of student survey data

and nutrition and exercise logs

from spring 2012 HHP 160 sec-

tions.

Emma is currently entering sur-

vey and log data so that it can be

analyzed and the next steps of

the project can be determined.

Undergraduate researchers: Update

Page 8 Roanomics

Undergraduate researchers: Student comment

My name is Conor Fitzhenry. I

was born in Miami but currently

reside in Buffalo along with my

four brothers, my dad, Mike,

and my mom, Colleen. Some

of my hobbies include running

and working out when I’m not

busy studying. At Roanoke

College, I intend on majoring in

economics with a minor in

Spanish.

My work with Dr. Kassens per-

tains to health economics and

the economics of obesity

amongst older women. We are

working with data from the

Women’s Health Initiative to

study the health issues of post-

menopausal women. I look

forward to continuing my re-

search with Dr. Kassens as the

year progresses.

Dr. Julie Maina, HHP

Conor Fitzhenry `16

How can I participate in undergraduate research?

1) Independent study

2) Honors in the Major

3) Research Assistant

4) Upper level courses

What can I do with my research?

1) Present at a conference (on or off-campus)

2) Submit to an awards competition

3) Submit to a journal for publication

4) Include in your application to graduate school or share

with a potential employer

This fall, the Economics Club

of Roanoke College is proud to

announce Dr. Alice Kassens as

it’s new advisor, and to see new

faces in our ranks.

Already Dr. Marvin Phaup

(’62), has joined us to speak

about the Congressional Budget

Constraint and budgetary treat-

ment.

This year, we plan to learn off

campus at the Federal Reserve

Bank in Richmond and to ex-

plore the history of the financial

crisis first hand in New York

and tour the NYSE.

On campus, we will continue to

bring exciting and relevant

speakers.

Relevant to the political season,

the Economics Club will mod-

erate a debate between the Col-

lege Republicans and College

Democrats.

The Economics Club hopes to

increase student involvement

with extracurricular activities

on campus, increase student

knowledge of economics out-

side of class, and provide mem-

bers the opportunity to apply

economics to the real world.

An Economics major or minor is

not required and all students are

welcome to join the Economics

Club.

I look forward to seeing you at

our next meeting!

Sincerely,

Conrad Classen ‘15

President, Economics Club of

Roanoke College

Economics Club: Message from the President

Economics Club: Comment

they pose.

In short, the system is flawed

due to misaligned incentives.

For example, traders in the fi-

nancial system present the

shareholder with the principal-

agent issue; they are incentiv-

ized to take enormous risks for

which they are often rewarded,

but never penalized. This issue

could be mitigated by changing

the structure of bonuses for

investors in financial firms:

instead of being giving bonuses

in the short term, traders’ gains

and losses could be evaluated

The Need for Reforms in the

U.S. Financial System

Both the United States and

global financial systems have

been long overdue for a series

of thorough reforms.

The recent financial crisis in the

United States should have been

a wake-up call, but policymak-

ers have been reluctant to re-

spond due to the surface stabil-

ity the markets have achieved.

The structural problems respon-

sible for the crisis remain both

largely unaddressed and dan-

gerous to citizens because of

the high level of systemic risk

Page 9

over a long span of time to more

fairly reward them for their ef-

forts. This would decrease in-

centives for traders to engage in

the high-risk betting that so pre-

cariously positioned our financial

system in the years leading up to

the crash.

Congress needs to become more

involved and take action to rea-

lign incentives. Of course there

will continue to be financial cri-

ses, but proper regulation and

free markets will work together

to prevent catastrophes like the

one we have just experienced.

Conrad Classen

`15

Ted Ellis `15

Would you like to be a part of one of the newest recognized clubs

on campus? If so contact President Conrad Classen or Dr. Alice

Louise Kassens. You can also fill out the interest form.

INTEREST FORM

Join the Economics Club

Volume 3, Issue 1

Page 10 Roanomics

Page 11 Volume 3, Issue 1

“...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

(fleming@roanoke.edu)

For comments or suggestions about the newsletter email

roanokeecon@gmail.com

Read our blog: kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com

Faculty Editor: Dr. Alice Louise Kassens

Student Editor: Kerry Murphy ‘13

221 College Lane

Salem, VA 24153

Phone: 540-375-2426

Fax: 540-375-2577

E-mail: roanokeecon@gmail.com

Economics Program

Badlands of South Dakota; a

beautiful place in a desolate

sort of way. We took side

trips to Mount Rushmore and

the Crazy Horse Memorial. In

a mountain carving competi-

tion, I vote for Crazy

Horse: when finished, it will

be about ten times as large as

Rushmore. There is an inspi-

rational story behind it: it has

been a sixty-five year quest

by one man, Korczak Ziol-

kowski and his family to

transform a granite mountain

into a monument to a famous

American Indian

chief (without a cent of gov-

ernment funding). It is still a

work in progress and will not

be finished in my lifetime.

You should take a minute and

check out their website for

some great pictures.

Early October found us at

Virginia Beach’s annual Nep-

It has been a busy travel year,

so I will cover the high-

lights. In early June we trav-

elled to California-the land of

high taxes, oppressive gov-

ernment regulations, munici-

pal bankruptcies (e.g. Stock-

ton), and almost 11% unem-

ployment. They must like this

state of affairs because they

continue to back the politi-

cians responsible for it. Cali-

fornia is a great place to visit.

Yosemite National Park- one

of the most beautiful places

in America. We stayed a his-

toric hotel, the Wawonna,

meaning "bathrooms down

the hall". Our best activi-

ties were a tour of the sequoia

forests, a hike up the Mist

Trail to the top of Vernal

Falls, and a trip up to Glacier

Point.

Another off-season national

park adventure was to the

tune Festival. A highlight was

a sand sculpture competition

with artists from around the

world. We stayed at a friend's

timeshare condo one block off

the beach which he purchased

for $1.00 on E-Bay from

someone who did not want to

pay the annual maintenance

fee (about $600 for a week's

stay). The moral of the story:

don't buy a new timeshare

from a salesman-you basical-

ly will be giving them a $10K

-$15K commission for a

timeshare you can buy in the

resale market for a few hun-

dred dollars or less.

We headed to the NC moun-

tains to see the fall colors. I

highly recommend the Mount

Pisgah and the Little Switzer-

land Inns: both are on the

Blue Ridge Parkway, are

within an hour or so of Ashe-

ville, and have amazing

Travels with Dr. Bob

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mountain scenery. Asheville is

becoming the craft beer capitol

of the East Coast. They have

several good local breweries,

and Sierra Nevada and New

Belgium are moving in. Craft

brewing is a rapidly growing

industry that creates jobs right

here in America. They deserve

your support! Remember what

Ben Franklin said :"beer is

proof that God loves us and

wants us to be happy."

Happy Travels, Dr. Bob

Bob Stauffer,

Professor Emeritus