Starting this spring, San Antonio College will offer its students expanded options for taking economics courses as well as a new course, Introduction to Economics - ECON 1301, a non-technical analysis of such economic problems as unemployment, taxation, and social security, among others.

Introduction to Economics, which requires no prerequisites, transfers as a free elective to most four-year universities and also satisfies the University of Texas at San Antonio's three-hour economics core requirement.

The new course complements San Antonio College's more technical economics courses: Introduction to Macroeconomics ECON 2301 and Microeconomics 2302. Beginning this spring, both courses will be offered for the first time via the Internet and video instruction.

According to Economics Chairperson Wesley Booth, economics marries the mathematical with the societal, drawing on history, philosophy, and mathematics to flesh out solutions to such personal and societal problems as the cost of living, wages, and voting.

"You approach things from a particular way of thinking - looking at problems from a perspective of efficiency," Booth said. He added that of all the social sciences economics has the most potential to shape social destiny.

He encourages students to study economics, because the discipline crosses into so many fields that students can use it to pursue a variety of careers, such as policy analysis in federal, state, or local governments; analysis of economic conditions and forecasting sales in the private sector; research and teaching in academia; or as a springboard into management, law, or government service.

The following list of bachelor's degree-holders in economics illustrates the variety and breadth of the field: former President George Bush, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former Senator Phil Gramm, business magnates Ted Turner and the late Sam Walton, Tiger Woods, John Elway, Mick Jagger, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

For more information on economics courses at San Antonio College, call the Economics Department at 733-2540.