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New Rochelle, NY – For the second year in a row, the Iona College team has reached the semifinals in the Fed Challenge at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which was held on Monday, November 5.  This will be the third year that Iona has had a team in the event, which is a competition for undergraduates in the Second Federal Reserve District (all of New York State, the 12 northernmost counties in New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Connecticut). 

In the competition, teams of 3-5 students work cooperatively to research and analyze current economic data, and then develop a 20-minute presentation recommending a specific course for monetary policy.  This presentation is made before a panel of judges, consisting of Fed officials, Wall Street economists, and academics.  At the end of the presentation there is also a 15-minute question-and-answer session. 

Judges score a team based on four criteria: knowledge about the Federal Reserve's role in developing and implementing monetary policy, responses to judges' questions, presentation skill and quality of research and analysis. Evidence of team work and cooperation is also important.

Under the direction of Dr. Mary Lesser, Professor of Economics in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Iona team consists of five presenters and a group of other students working on research and helping to develop the overall presentation. This year’s presenters are Daniel Arce, Tim Clark, Susom Ghosh, Kristy Mealia, and Ava Sun.

Tim Clark and Ava Sun are returning veterans from last year’s team that reached the semifinals. Iona was the high-scoring team in its group, which consisted of Fairfield, Baruch, Ramapo, and Nyack. Among the area schools that did not make it to the semifinals were Barnard/Columbia, Pace, Marist, Fordham, NYU, and St. John’s.

To advance in the Second District competition Iona will compete against West Point, Princeton, the College of New Jersey, Rutgers ( Newark) and the winner of the New York Fed competition in Buffalo. The winner of that round will go up against the winners from the Chicago, Dallas and Richmond Federal Reserve districts for the Interdistrict Championship, held at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C.  The Moody’s Foundation is awarding over $80,000 in prizes to participants, part of which goes to the college/university and part of which goes to the student team.

For more information about the challenge, including the purposes (and prizes), visit the Web site at www.ny.frb.org/education/fedchallenge_college.html.

Founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, Iona College is a private, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of American Catholic higher education. Iona, currently listed in the US News and World Report's annual " America's Best Colleges 2008" and The Princeton Review's Best Northeastern Colleges 2008 edition, offers undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, and business administration, as well as master of arts, master of science and master of business administration degrees and numerous post-graduate certificate programs.

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For questions or more information please contact:
Cecilia Donohoe
Public Relations Office
Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801
tel: (914) 633-2005 fax: (914) 637-2711
cdonohoe@iona.edu

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