Three Southwestern students presented papers at the Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research held April 1 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Ann Alston presented a paper titled “Gender Wage Discrimination Among College Graduates.” Maggie Bishop presented a paper titled “Are You Smarter than A 5th Grader? An Econometric Study of the determinants of 5th Grade Math Scores.” Jenna Mossbarger presented a paper titled “Determinants of Major League Baseball Pitcher Salaries.”

Ann Alston, a senior majoring in economics and minoring in music, published an article titled “Beating the Low Brass Stereotype” in the Spring 2011 International Tuba and Euphonium Association Journal. Alston worked with Eileen Meyer Russell, associate professor of music, to research recruiting and retaining low brass players in junior high and high school music programs. As part of their research, Alston and Russell surveyed college students who play low brass instruments. Alston’s article presents the data related to student views of music instrument stereotypes.

Senior business and communication studies major D’Artagnan Bebel has been selected to receive the 2011 Academic Internship Student Achievement Award from the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA). Bebel will receive the award at the CEIA’s annual meeting in San Antonio April 10. The award comes with a $500 prize. Bebel is the third Southwestern student to receive this national award in the past six years. Read more here.

Mary Young, professor of economics, gave a talk last week at the meeting of the National Texas Organic Producers & Farmers Association held in Killeen. Her talk was on Irish Dexter Cattle and their suitability for grass-fed beef.

Dirk Early, professor of economics and associate dean of the Brown College of Arts and Sciences, presented a paper titled “Do Blacks Pay More for Identical Rental Housing and Do Whites Pay a Premium to Live in Predominantly White Areas?: Evidence from HUD’s Housing Voucher Program” at the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association meeting in Denver, Colo., Jan. 6-9. The paper was coauthored with Paul Carrillo at George Washington University and Edgar Olsen at the University of Virginia.

Ken Roberts, professor of economics, has a paper titled “The Role of Children on Migration Decisions of Rural Chinese Women” forthcoming in The Journal of Contemporary China. The paper is the third in a series of four papers he is writing about migration in China.

Professor Don Parks received the Organization Advisor Award for his work with Omicron Delta Kappa at the Twelfth Annual Student Leadership Banquet April 22. Read some of what Parks told the banquet attendees here.

Mary Grace Neville, associate professor of business, had a chapter published in a new book titled Mending the World: Social Healing Interventions by Gestalt Practitioners Worldwide. Her chapter is titled “When Poor is Rich: Transformative Power of I-Thou Relationships in a Brazilian Favela.” It is based on her experience living in a poor Brazilian community in 2001.

Members of the Southwestern community contributed more than $1,700 worth of food to The Caring Place this fall. Economics Professor Mary Young donated $1,300 worth of ground beef from her ranch and faculty, staff and students donated $400 worth of canned food to accompany the beef.

Ken Roberts, professor of economics, has had a paper accepted for publication in the July 2010 issue of Feminist Economics. The paper is titled “The Impact of Circular Migration on the Position of Married Women in China.” Roberts wrote the paper with Rachel Connelly of Bowdoin College and Zheng Zhenzhen of Beijing University.