TUSCALOOSA, AL. — You can add another feather to the cap of Phillip Carter Copeland, a senior at The University of Alabama.
Copeland, an economics major in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration (C&BA) who will graduate in May, has received honorable mention on the prestigious USA Today All-USA College Academic Team.
Copeland, whose hometown is Fredericksburg, Va., is no stranger to such recognition. He has been a member of the honors program since 1997, and was named The University of Alabama’s “Outstanding Junior” for 1999-2000, an annual award based on academics, service and leadership. Copeland tied with four other students for C&BA’s Gladys M. Poe Award, which honors the student with the highest grade point average. He also received C&BA’s “Economics Faculty Award” for 1999-2000, and was one of two recipients of the C&BA “Outstanding Junior in Economics” award for 1999-2000. Copeland is currently the recipient of the Sarah E. H. Rodgers Endowed Scholarship, which he was awarded in 1998.
Copeland has been a Crimson Tide cheerleader for four years. He became captain his sophomore year and became head cheerleader, or the “mic man” his junior year, a position he still holds.
Copeland is also the historian of the Anderson Society, the university’s most selective leadership honorary. The society has raised about $3,000 for charity, more than any previous group, since he became a member.
Like many college seniors, Copeland, who goes by his middle name of Carter, hasn’t yet made up his mind about what he is going to do after graduation. Unlike many, however, he has a choice.
He spent the summer of 2000 as an intern on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. He was chosen for one of six slots out of about 700 applicants. The other interns came from Harvard, Yale, Syracuse, Cornell and Georgia.
While at the Fed, Copeland was responsible for contributing to a research project that studied the financial impact of employee benefit plans on their sponsoring corporations. Copeland’s unpublished paper, A Contribution to the Study of the Influence of Private Defined Benefit Pension Plan Returns on Corporate Earnings, explains the influences of pension plan returns on corporate profits.
Each of the applicants was required to have research experience with a professor. Copeland began his working relationship with Dr. Gary A. Hoover, assistant professor of economics, two years ago, when Copeland was Hoover’s student in both Intermediate Microeconomics and Public Finance. “In both classes he did exceptionally well,” said Hoover. “In fact, a quick glance at his transcripts reveals that this is a very gifted student. Unfortunately, transcripts and grades don’t really convey what type of person Mr. Copeland is.”
Hoover was so impressed with Copeland’s progress, he asked him to become his research assistant. As a result, Copeland has been the RA for most of Hoover’s research.
“This is normally a position reserved for senior graduate students, but Mr. Copeland has a quick mind and was able to grasp highly complex ideas without having had any graduate training,” said Hoover.
As an RA, Copeland is responsible for assisting in economics research at the University while concentrating on statistical and computerized econometric analysis in areas dealing with public finance, taxation and game theory.
“In doing this type of research, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details and look for ways to cut corners,” pointed out Hoover. “I was afraid that an undergraduate might not be able to handle the pressure associated with the exacting standards required for academic research.”
Hoover’s fears have now been put to rest. The professor says he trusts Copeland’s work “unconditionally.” “He doesn’t work hard and drive himself because he thinks that I’ll check behind him, but rather something inside of him drives him to do the very best that he can because he is motivated from within,” said Hoover.
In addition to working as an RA, Copeland also co-wrote a paper titled The Impact of Project Assist and American Cancer Society Giving on State Level Cigarette Tax Rates. The paper is a study on the political influence of cigarette tax rates and levels of smoking. “It attempts to determine the effectiveness of taxes levied on tobacco products,” said Copeland.
Copeland’s research does not end there. Since April 1999, he has assisted in other research projects at the university. These projects entail gathering data and using statistical and econometric analysis to examine what kind of information he discovered.
Hoover said he believes Copeland shares his views about routing government waste into programs for the poor. “He recognizes that the data we work with is more than just numbers; it represents people and how we can make life better for them,” said Hoover.
Because of Copeland’s “zeal,” Hoover nominated him for the internship at the Fed. Naturally, Copeland was excited when he heard the news he’d been chosen as an intern: “The Federal Reserve is where the best economic research is going on,” he said.
The Fed has about 600 Ph.D. economists, and Copeland worked solely with the 15 in his section, The Flow of Funds. Copeland realizes the contacts he made during his three months in Washington will prove helpful while he travels on his career path. “They know what they’re doing,” said Copeland, “and the experience I gained will help when I look for another job.”
If he decides to return to the Fed, where a position is open for him, Copeland will work for about two years and then return to school for his M.B.A. At the Fed, he would probably be a research assistant, where doing research and producing economic data to help the Federal Open Market Committee make its decisions on interest rates.
He is also considering the possibility of a position in private industry.
Contact
Bill Gerdes, UA Business Writer, 205/348-8318