Will Windley is one of several Walker College students to participate in this year’s Holland Fellows program. The group recently returned from their trip to Fudan University in Shanghai, and Windley spoke about it with the Gaston Gazette.

Windley said he was especially impressed by the young Chinese at the university. He found them not only hospitable, but also very intelligent and eager to learn. They are completely sold on capitalism as the way forward for their nation, he said. Their enthusiasm surprised him.

“They are full of life,” he said. They were not at all the cold, gray Communists he expected.

Still, his Chinese counterparts are subject to much more governmental control than Americans, he said.

During his three-week stay, Windley said he was able to visit a number of businesses, and he said the experience changed his own perspective. Despite having much less than Americans have, he said, the Chinese are happy.

“It really opens your eyes to what we have and makes you grateful,” Windley said.

Here are two links to YouTube videos uploaded by the students while in China. Here are some details on their overall trip.

Two Walker College students, Jimmy Hunt and Nick Barringer, are the driving forces behind the upcoming Music on the Mountain, a music festival scheduled for August 23 at the old High Country Fairgrounds outside Boone.

The twosome - Hunt, a marketing and management major, and Barringer, a finance and banking major - are using the event to raise awareness about renewable energy as well as build their new company, Black Paw Entertainment. Their efforts were sparked thanks to the Center for Entrepreneurship in Walker College.

Today’s Winston-Salem Journal has details.

The center was established in 2006 and is designed to support student entrepreneurs, but it also offers programs and help for members of the faculty and staff and community members.

The center has helped start 10 student businesses.

The center connected Hunt and Barringer with student Jay Kramer, a 21-year-old from Charlotte, who had already started High Country Booking.

Kramer is promoting the local bands and regional talent for the festival. …

Hunt will get some class credits for the work, and he is staying in Boone this summer to nail down details for the festival.

“I can’t afford to leave — there’s so much work to do,” he said. “It seems like something new pops up every minute.”

Here’s a video news report on the festival.

The back page Appalachian State ad in the July 2008 issue of NC Magazine features Walker College alumna Helen Hollifiend ‘87 ACC with fellow graduates Avery Hall ‘93 and Brad Wilson ‘75.

To see a larger image, click here.

This is the latest in a series of Appalachian advertisements.

Harry Davis, economist for the North Carolina Bankers Association and is professor of banking at Appalachian State, has a new column posted at WRAL.com. With regard to the national economy, he says a slight majority of economists think the country has yet to hit a recession.

He is not among them.

To this point in time, the most important indicator that we are in a recession is data from the employment front. The economy has lost 324,000 jobs over the past 5 months for a monthly average of nearly 65,000 lost jobs. The average monthly losses in the two previous recessions were 110,000 in 2001 and 150,000 in 1991. Therefore, the data point to a mild recession.

There are several reasons for a mild rather than deep recession. First, the Federal Reserve acted very quickly and decisively to lower interest rates and increase liquidity. Second, U.S. exports are growing at double digits due in part to the lower value of the dollar. Third, Congress and the President moved quickly on the $168 billion economic stimulus package which is already impacting the economy.

Davis further notes that “North Carolina continues to outperform most states” and “the state economy continues to grow.”

David will be joining Walker College Dean Randy Edwards for a COB Night in the Triangle Wednesday, August 20 at Embassy Suites in Cary. You can find more information and RSVP online here.

Raley Hall recently became home to a four kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system, one of many campus projects made possible by the Renewable Energy Initiative (REI) student fee.

The REI is a $5 per semester student fee that started in 2005 to support renewable energy initiatives on campus. The PV project at Raley Hall will cost about $55,000.

The ASU News Bureau has more details.

“This is one of the most interesting displays of photovoltaic technology we’ve worked on,” said Shawn Fitzpatrick, renewable energy engineer for Southern Energy Management, which has offices in Raleigh and Charlotte. “Compared to typical solar PV systems, the array at Raley Hall is somewhat of an engineering novelty due to its unusual triangular shaped modules, which were integrated into the design to create a symbolic representation of the mountains. In addition, all of our installers who worked on this job are ASU graduates, so that made this project even more meaningful for us.”

According to the release, the PV project is expected to generate about “5,250 kilowatt hours of electricity each year – about enough energy to power an energy-efficient home.”

A report by the new Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis within Walker College says Appalachian State University had a “$506 million total economic impact on the region in the 2006-07 fiscal year.”

That includes not just students, staff and faculty but visitors to campus, such as camps and sporting events.

Economics professors Todd L. Cherry, Michael McKee and Stephen W. Millsaps compiled the report. They created an economic model specifically for a five-county region comprised of Watauga, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell and Wilkes counties.

“The report formalizes what we should already know – that the university is a significant entity within this region’s economy,” Cherry said.

University expenditures, including salaries and wages, operation and maintenance costs, capital spending, and spending that supports special programs and events totaled $258 million. Students spent almost $97 million for off-campus housing; food, entertainment and recreation; and transportation. Visitors attending campus athletic and cultural events spent almost $7.8 million.

“There is no way to capture every dollar that is spent, but we did try to include major expenditures in categories such as real estate, wholesale and retail trade; construction and repair; recreation; and transportation, communication and utilities,” Cherry said. “We wanted to determine how much regional economic activity is due to the university’s presence.”

The direct economic impact of that spending, plus the indirect and induced impact as dollars re-circulate among local business and households in terms of salaries, goods and services, yields the $506 million total impact.

A website for CERPA is currently under development. When it goes online the full report is expected to be on the site.

Tom Kilgore, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority, will be the featured speaker at the Fall 2008 Harlan E. Boyles Distinguished Lecture Series. He will be speaking at Farthing Auditorium Wednesday, October 8.

Kilgore was promoted by the TVA in October 2006, “having served as Acting CEO since March 2006. He was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer in March 2005.”

With energy costs the topic of much news discussion, Kilgore has been quoted recently regarding the long-term energy supply goals for the TVA. Specifically, the future of pursuing more nuclear power.

TVA President Tom Kilgore said the rising costs of materials for nuclear reactors is causing the agency to re-examine its pursuit of new reactors. But the Tennessee Valley Authority, at this point, appears to still be committed to building more nuclear units.

“The cost of new plants are higher because concrete has gone up, steel has gone up, and other commodity prices have gone up,” Mr. Kilgore said. “That causes us to pause and rethink, but frankly it’s still the best option.”

The TVA, the nation’s biggest government utility, in the 1970s and ’80s sunk nearly $10 billion into nuclear plants that it ultimately decided to scrap when plant costs escalated and the growth in power demand slowed. But TVA officials insist they are using a different, more cost-competitive approach today toward building more nuclear units.

Unlike the 17 different reactors TVA began designing in the 1960s, the authority now is taking its power additions one reactor at a time to better align new power generation and power demand and to focus management attention on each reactor.

The next generation of reactors also will be built in cooperation with other utilities and with standardized designs to help speed construction and allow workers to successfully move from one plant to another, TVA Vice President Jack Bailey said.

The Richard S. Brantley Risk & Insurance Center within Walker College recently announced the complete agenda for July’s insurance symposium entitled “Insuring Coastal Properties.” It is scheduled for July 20-21 at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center on campus.

Several speakers and panel discussions are scheduled during the event. Among them:

Steve Weisbart, Chief Economist, Insurance Information Institute

Panel Session, Katrina’s Legacy: Why are the Carolinas Paying for Katrina?
- Eleanor Kitzman, Goldman Sachs, former Director of Insurance, South Carolina moderator
- Smitty Harrison, Executive Director of SC Wind and Hail Underwriting Assoc.
- George deMenocal, Aon Re
- Rich Attanasio, AM Best Rating Agency
- Michael Young, Senior Director of Mitigation and Regulatory Affairs Risk Management Solutions, Inc.

Lunch and Keynote speaker
- George Dale, Adams & Reese, former Insurance Commissioner of Mississippi speaking on the “Katrina Experience”

Panel Session, “Regulatory and Market Proposals for the Future,” featuring
- Dave Wood, Freeman Professor of Insurance, moderator
- Jim Long, Commissioner of Insurance North Carolina
- Kevin McCarty, Commissioner of Florida
- Scott Richardson, Director of Insurance South Carolina
- John Miletti, Travelers

Mitigation: The Key to Any Long-Range Solutions.
- Leslie Chapman-Henderson, President and CEO, Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)

You can find the complete schedule - and RSVP online - here.

Donald Jim ’81 MKT recently accepted a position at BAE Systems, Inc located in Dahlgren, Va. Retired from the Phoenix Police Department after 21 years of service, he entered into the Individual Ready Reserve with the United States Marine Corps Reserve. His position at BAE Systems, Inc. is the Theater Operations Coordinator for the Joint Expeditionary Forensics Program (JEFF) in Iraq.

The Alumni Blog spoke with Jim two summers ago. He was kind enough to send photos from Iraq.

Congratulations to Robert C. Hatley ‘72 ECON, president and chief executive officer of Paragon Commercial Bank. He was recently named the 2008 Carolinas Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year for Financial Services.

He accepted the award on behalf of Paragon’s employees at a banquet held the evening of June 12, 2008 at The Westin Charlotte Hotel.

“I am honored to receive this prestigious award, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees,” said Hatley. “We will continue to provide creative and flexible services to our corporate and individual high net worth clients and are pleased that Ernst & Young has recognized our successful efforts.”

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program celebrates its 22nd anniversary this year. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries throughout the world.