LC Econ-News, Summer 2002

Hello, and welcome to the second installment of LC Econ-News, an electronic update for our alumni and friends, from the Economics Department on Palatine Hill. My name is Eban Goodstein, and I am currently chair of the department. We will be posting this occasional newsletter to keep you informed of developments here at Lewis and Clark, and also, we hope, to build a stronger network of LC business and economics alums. Each year we graduate a couple of dozen bright, capable and well-prepared young men and women, and as you know, strong LC networks are important avenues for these new alums to get started in the business, professional, non-profit or government world.

The big news this year is THE MOVE. Economics faculty are packing their offices this December, and decamping to temporary headquarters in the newly refurbished Albany Hall. Starting in January, the Faculty Office Building, and the Edmonds and Thaxter and Throckmorton classrooms will be demolished to make way for the a new social science building, Howard Hall. The plan is for Howard to be finished in time for our department, along with Political Science, International Affairs, So-An, and Communications, to take up residence at the beginning of the ’04-’05 school year. Watch this space for an invitation to a demolition party in December—bring a paint bucket!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to learn more about our new Economics curriculum or have suggestions for strengthening business study in the new framework; for details, please visit the department web site at www.lclark.edu/~econ.

We like to keep up to date on alumnus news—please drop us a line telling us what you are up to, and we will include it on our alumnus page: www.lclark.edu/~econ/Alumni.htm. (There is also an electronic update form on the page itself) Also, if you would like to be included on electronic announcements about economics-oriented talks and lectures at the college, let us know that too.

I came to Lewis and Clark College seven years ago, and since then have had the privilege of working with an incredibly talented and capable group of young people. Many of you were here before my time, and we have not had the pleasure of meeting or working together. Launching LC Econ-News will help the department keep in touch with old friends, and allow faculty like myself to make some new ones.

Student research:

Economics majors were busy out in the “real world” last year, involved in internships from New York to Munich-- as well as our own backyard here in Portland—and they brought that experience back to the classroom. Senior Trevor Looney spent his fall semester working at Salomon Smith Barney, a stock brokerage firm in New York City. The events of 9-11 framed a backdrop for his project, where he studied how the company was altering its strategies in the face of market turmoil and recession. Across the Atlantic, in Munich, sophomore Heidi Brown did marketing research for the launch of a new shoe line at Puma.

Senior Michelle Greene devoted her internship to developing a business plan for a Portland area law firm plotting a growth strategy. Junior Brendon Livingstone worked for the Oregon Center for Public Policy, where he put his econometric skills to work analyzing state welfare programs, while Nhena Lewis, also a junior, engaged in a financial analysis project at the Bonneville Power Authority. Last fall, junior Chris Webb analyzed the overall operation of The Oregon Golf Club, while seniors Daniela Wagner and Jasmine Aqualo developed a production planning model for J Frank Schmidt & Son Co., a large wholesale tree nursery.

John Maxfield, a senior, found that his junior-year internship at Integrated Utilities Group led to both a job and a senior thesis topic. John spent his junior summer working for IUG, a consulting firm that specializes in analyzing water projects-- and he will be working for them upon graduation this May. John’s senior economics thesis builds on his internship experience, examining the extent to which large users respond to price incentives to conserve water. (John also went to Atlanta where he attended the annual meetings of the American Economic Association, courtesy of a grant from the Lewis and Clark student government. Upon his return, he led a department discussion on “An Evolutionary Explanation for the Industrial Revolution”.)

Another senior, Christie Olsson, also combined internship and thesis work. Christie, an economics-environmental studies double-major, worked at the Climate Trust here in Portland, one of the few institutions in the world engaged in buying and selling pollution credits for carbon-dioxide, the primary source of human-induced global warming. For her senior thesis, Christie explored the extent to which pollution credit costs are correlated with the type of project which generates them.

Faculty updates:

Getting out before the market crashed completely, Phil Senatra officially retired from the department this year. Phil is committed to three-quarter time fishing and golfing, but isn’t leaving us completely: he will teach an introductory and advanced financial analysis classes on a yearly basis. Marty Hart-Landsburg continues to write and speak on the Asian Economic Development. On sabbatical in the fall, he will be taking several trips to Korea as part of a joint research team. Harry Schleef was reappointed as Social Sciences Division Dean, where he is overseeing the move to Howard Hall, and appears to spend most of his waking hours in meetings. Betsy Zahrt-Geib took a surprise leave early last spring, when her second child Bianca appeared several months ahead of schedule. Mom and baby are doing well, and Betsy will be returning to the classroom next spring. Cliff Bekar is staying busy with research on the saving strategies of mideval peasants, fourteenth century usury prohibitions, and the economics of the computer game industry. Jim Grant tapped into local economic expertise this past year, organizing a series of economic “brown bag” discussions for faculty and students. Department Chair Eban Goodstein continued his work with Julian Dautremont-Smith ’03—a national Truman Scholar-- analyzing global warming emissions from the LC campus, and costing out strategies for emission reductions. Our new Pamplin Professor of Economics, Art O’Sullivan, reports that he is pleased with his recent move up from Corvallis to LC. The fifth edition of his highly-regarded textbook Urban Economics came out in the spring. And finally, with her knee healed up, department secretary Kathy Anderson is back on her motorcycle.