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Trustee Scholarship recipient Christopher Turano ’04 (Clifton, N.J) is hitting a grand slam in his yearlong honors research project on Major League Baseball (MLB), which he is presenting at the 18th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held April 15-17 in Indianapolis, Ind.
NCUR is a major annual event drawing more than 2,000 undergraduates, faculty, and administrators to hear and discuss undergraduate creative and scholarly work. As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to NCUR each year. Forty-two Lafayette students have been accepted to present their work at this year’s conference.
An economics and business major and government and law minor, Turano is analyzing MLB and the problems that have led to the possibility of contraction within the game, which would result in reducing the number of teams by two. The topic, Turano says, has just surfaced in the sports business world and he wanted to be among the first to study it in depth. He is doing so under the guidance of Thomas Bruggink, professor of economics and business.
Turano is determining what two teams should be eliminated based on economic and location factors, Bruggink explains. His paper has four main parts — background on contraction, an examination of the problems in MLB that helped develop the apparent need for it, an empirical model ranking teams according to the likelihood that they would be contracted, and an analysis of whether contraction is a viable solution.
“Contraction is more of a problem of location,” Turano says, explaining that successful teams are in areas with great potential for high profit margins. “Whether these teams are located in viable markets is the real question.”
He says that working with Bruggink on this project is helpful because he has a vast knowledge of sports economics.
“I really enjoy working with [Bruggink] because he is a renowned sports economics scholar who has been published many times over,” says Turano, noting that their relationship reaches beyond the classroom. “He is extremely helpful in guiding me in my research and I have the utmost confidence in his suggestions.”
“Chris is hardworking and fully prepared for each weekly session,” notes Bruggink. The professor’s research has been published in numerous academic journals and books, including a recent article in Journal in Business and Economics Research, and has been cited in many newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. He is a referee for 12 periodicals, primarily economics journals.
During his time at Lafayette, Turano has met and come to know virtually every professor in the economics and business department. He says all are always willing to make extra time for students and answer questions.
“Each professor is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable not just in his or her particular area of expertise, but about economics in general,” he says. “They are challenging yet fair, highly effective teachers.
Lafayette provides a good academic environment for students, Turano adds.
“It is such a tight-knit community and students are provided the opportunity to work closely with a professor that would perhaps not otherwise be available at a bigger university,” he says.
“Without having graduate students who need guidance in their research, the faculty has the time to guide undergraduate research,” Bruggink says.
Turano completed an internship at ONYX Environmental Services in Ledgewood, N.J., the second largest hazardous waste service company in North America
He has been involved in campus activities including the Building Bridges Through Leadership program, Register to Vote, and Trustee Scholar Day. He also participates in the Investment Club, serves as a statistics tutor, and is a member of the international economics and business honor society, Omicron Delta Epsilon. Upon graduation, Turano hopes to go to law school and possibly pursue business law.
He is a graduate of Clifton High School.
Selected from among Lafayette’s top applicants, Trustee Scholars have distinguished themselves through exceptional academic achievement in high school. They receive from Lafayette an annual minimum scholarship of $7,500 (totaling $30,000 over four years) or a grant in the full amount of their demonstrated need if the need is more than $7,500.