This year's banquet was a joint venture between Economics and Finance; it was held at the Granary Restaurant.  Academic year 2003-2004 was a great time for the Economics Department, and at the Banquet we recognized the accomplishments of a number of fantastic students.  Some of the highlights included 5 students receiving student-faculty research grants.  They included:  Jeff Albright, Sofia Castillo, Chelsea Nelson, Cliff Moll, and Laurie Turtenwald.  We also honored students for getting into graduate schools, including the MA program in Finance at the University of Chicago (Anna Kovzik) and the MA program in Economics at UW Milwaukee (Mark Hamilton).

In addition, Andy Rank, Caleb Dahl, Laurie Turtenwald, and Bobby Post presented original research projects at the UW Symposium for Undergraduate Research held at UW Oshkosh this year.

And we have our newest ODE members including Anna Kovalenko, Sofia Castillo, Jolene Menuier, and Mark Hamilton.

ESA President Laurie Turtenwald (blue) and Rookie of the Year Sofia Castillo (pink)

"Rookie of the Year" is an award that recognizes the most outstanding new major--anyone who declared their major after the last banquet is eligible.  This year the award went to Sofia Castillo, who had an outstanding GPA in her economics classes, and also received a Student Faculty Collaborative Research Grant for Summer 2004 to study the impact of dollarization on Latin American economies.  She will present his research at the UW System Undergraduate Research Conference in April 2005.  This next year, she's serving as an officer for the Economics Student Association.  Sofia is also working on a math minor and is hoping to pursue a graduate degree in economics.

"Research Paper of the Year" went to Caleb Dahl.  Using NLSY data, Caleb studied whether risky behaviors reduce the return to schooling.  Caleb presented his paper at the UW System Undergraduate Research Conference at UW Oshkosh in April.

  Reece and Kay looking good at the banquet.

"Outstanding Graduating Senior" went to Alston Reece.  Reece had the highest GPA of all graduating seniors in economics.  In addition to doing outstanding economics work, Reece has provided invaluable computer support for the department, and was instrumental in outfitting the Economics Student Lounge with up-to-date computers and web connections.  Reece is currently pursuing an MBA at UW Oshkosh.