This past week, I was able to combine that with my other love — travel. I took three students to a financial conference in New York City. None of the three had been to the Big Apple, so it was a double whammy.

This conference is designed for students but offers me the chance to sit at the feet of economic and market experts. I lapped up every word, and I marveled at the attentiveness of students.

They came from schools across the country, so it was a big surprise to find ourselves seated directly in front of the group from Mississippi State. These young people, who often show up for class in their PJs, were dressed to the nines for a business conference. They showed up at eight in the morning and listened carefully to words of wisdom from the Wall Street gurus. And they asked great questions.

It occurred to me that we often underestimate young people. When asked, they will clean up. When prompted, they will show up at eight in the morning. When pushed, they will think critically and ask important questions. It’s up to the adults in the room to keep raising the bar.

The conference was very educational for me and for my students, but the education continued when we took to the streets of Manhattan. From street vendors to skyscrapers, we experienced a different world. And we dipped into history with our view of the Statue of Liberty and our trek through the World Trade Center Memorial. The entire experience broadened horizons and was just plain fun.

Along the way, our little group bonded. I think this may have happened about the time I got us lost in the subway! Regardless, they were troopers.

Education doesn’t just happen in the classroom, and it doesn’t just happen from professor to student. It happens when experiences bring concepts to life. It happens when strangers express new thoughts, and it happens when groups share ideas.

And it can only happen when educational institutions commit to a broader definition of the classroom by putting their money where their mouths are. Thank you, Mississippi College, for the opportunity for this old dog to learn a few new tricks.

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Nancy Anderson, columnist

I’m shocked!
The governor just signed a bill to allow beer in Mississippi to increase its alcohol content from 5 percent to 8 percent. Where were all the good Baptists when this was going through the legislature? Were all the temperance women otherwise occupied when the vote was taken? Did the citizens of the dry counties drop the civic duty ball?
My, times have changed. I grew up in a teetotaling household. I heard things like, “One drink can turn you into an alcoholic,” and “Lips that touch wine would never touch mine.” On occasion, my father would find an empty beer can in the yard on Sunday morning (not mine, I assure you!). He would carefully bury it at the bottom of the trash can, lest the sanitation workers think he had strayed.
As for myself, I can’t stand beer. Two and a half cans consumed when I was 16 were enough to do in my taste for the barley brew. These days, an occasional glass of wine at dinner is enough for me. In fact, up until a couple years ago, I carefully tucked away all the bottles when my parents came to visit.
So, how did the Raise Your Pints crew get the legislators to go on the record for this controversial new law?  Was it by promoting this as an economic issue — more breweries, more tourists, more hipsters drinking the crafty stuff? Was it by pointing out that the higher alcohol content beers cost more, so the college students wouldn’t be in the market for them? Or did they simply send over a few cases and let nature take its course?
First casinos, now beer. What is this state coming to? Next thing you know, there’ll be a winery in the Delta. Oh, wait, there already is!
Well, if you can’t lick ‘em … Cheers!

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158.  She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Enter Jim Barksdale, former boy genius and tech guru who was on the front lines of the internet explosion with Netscape and AOL. Barksdale was educated in Jackson public schools and found his way to the upper echelons of high-tech business. And he came home to Mississippi.

Barksdale’s leading cause? Education. With his Barksdale Institute and his philanthropy, he has walked the walk. Barksdale understands that economic development goes hand-in-hand with an educated workforce, and educating our workforce is a long-term endeavor, not for the faint of heart.

So Gov. Bryant wisely appointed him to head the Mississippi Development Authority, and some cried foul. Had Barksdale ever “done” economic development? Was this just a political move?

I think it’s time to hang up the old model of economic development and try on one more fit for the 21st century. We should adopt a long-term view, with an emphasis on education. We should work with any entity available to make the internet accessible to every corner of our state. We should teach our citizens to fish, by showing them how to use technology to reach far-flung customers, whether from the cotton fields of the Delta or the pine forests of East Mississippi.

Jim Barksdale may not have “done” economic development, but he has lived in the worlds of business and technology long enough to know what works. I say we give him the room and support to try a few new things. What have we got to lose?

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.