by Julie Lineback
For the second time in a row, economics students from the University of West Georgia have won first place in the Rockonomix National Contest. Viewers were asked to vote for their favorite video.
Rockonomix is a music video contest between universities across the country including UWG, University of Arizona, Northern Kentucky University, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, University of Tennessee-Martin, Florida Atlantic University and California Polytechnic State University. Kim Holder, economics lecturer in the Richards College of Business, started the contest in 2010 in an effort to stimulate interest by integrating pop culture, technology, and media with course content.
The winning video for the Fall 2014 semester was a parody of “Look at Me Now,” a song originally performed by Chris Brown featuring Busta Rhymes and Lil’ Wayne. The team included UWG students Alexis Williams, Hanjani Philemond, Abigail Samuda, Rakeem Farmer, Veronica Brown, and Tori Rice, with Alexis, Hanjani, and Rakeem featured on vocals. The video was filmed in various locations on and near campus.
Williams, a double major in finance and marketing at UWG, explained that the group chose an upbeat song and came up with the concept and lyrics after identifying subjects people could relate to such as entrepreneurship, employment, and having money in general.
“This project made it a lot more exciting to learn rather than just reading from a textbook word for word,” she shared.
“I am ecstatic about my UWG students coming through this semester so we can hold the title as back-to-back National Rockonomix champs,” Holder exclaimed. “I also think that expanding the contest to reach even more universities, from four last semester to seven this semester, is amazing.”
The UWG students won first place, while the University of Arizona won second place and Northern Kentucky University won third place.
“We are reaching students across the country and the support from the universities and surrounding community shows that we are spreading economics to the nation,” Holder continued.
“Overall this project really helped me see my potential and allowed me to recognize that if I work for what I want, I can achieve it,” Williams concluded.
The videos that won awards are:
1st Place - University of West Georgia - http://youtu.be/zxwFtDF64To
2nd Place - University of Arizona - http://youtu.be/dJc-2LN-rKE
3rd Place - Northern Kentucky University - http://youtu.be/b1aaYV5IOJ8
Do you have a comment or opinion about this story's topic? Perspective Online wants to hear from you. Submit a letter to the editor at perspect@westga.edu today.
