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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1994)
Mentor Program links students, graduates Wondering where you're headed alter gradua tion? Willing to go through a decade of graduate school m order to put off the inevitable confrontation with the real world? Majoring in procras tination? Ah, you must be a Uni versity student. There is a solution to this dilemma The University has a cure for undergraduate anxiety called the Mentor Program The Mentor Program is a one credit course open to all students and is run by the Career Center, which helps students test the waters of the job market before tumping in. Most importantly, the program gives students an opportunity to talk with successful University graduates in their fields of study. For example, a journalism major would ideally be put into contact with an alumni writing for the Ore gonian Students are required to con duct a half hour interview with their mentor, during which they will hopefully become more informed about the specifics of the job. Often, however, the stu dent-mentor relationship goes beyond one interview Celia Larson, a graduate of the program, had an extremely posi Tum ui MENTOR, F’agc 4B EMPLOYMENT services Th» University a Mentor Program Is one way studenta can find contacts In their fields of Interest Employment Services, which la located In the Career Center has many resources that studenta can use to find a major, a career and a job. Military career more than an adventure or aiming high I could, In this article, begin by talking about how the Navy isn't just a job, it's an adventure, how you can be all you can be in the Army, aim high in the Air Force, and hang out with a tew good men in the Corps But I’m not going to do that It you are curious about career opportunities in the military, then I suggest that you go talk to a recruiter or the campus ROTC cadre. They’ll tell you all about the high-tech training, the enlistment incentives and obligations. I even recommend it. Talking to some body in a umtorm can't hurl and it might even do a lot ol good. What I will do, and the recruiters will shy away from, is talk about what the military lifestyle entails. Primarily, military service is not a rational act. It isn't rational because you have to volunteer to place yourself in harms way. As Jerry Pournelle once said, “To stand on the parapet and expose yourself to danger; to stand and light a thousand miles Irom home when you’re all alone and outnumbered and probably beaten, to spit on your hands and lower the pike, to stand last over the body ol Leonidas the King, to be rear guard at Kunu-Ri: to stand and be still to the Birken head drill; these are not rational acts." II you are serious about or even just slightly interested in mil itary service, you need to under stand that. Being military means being willing to do what all American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines take an oath to do - obey the orders of their superior officers and defend the Constitu tion of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic That means being willing to go to war. to risk death itself, when called upon to do so. To say that's not always easy would be something of an understatement So why do so many people do it if it's crazy and dangerous? A variety of reasons. Some do it for the money, some for the adven ture. some for a belief in Ameri can ideals, some for a peculiar thing called military virtue. Most do it for a combination of those and many other reasons. Is it worthwhile? Ask a hundred differ ent soldiers and you will get a hundred different answerr All would agree that military service can be the most challeng ing and rewarding experience ol your life Where else can nuclear - powered submarines, superson ic jet aircraft, 60-ton mam battle tanks and VTOL Harrier fighter bombers be found? Life and death decisions are being made on a daily basis, even in peace time In the military you will find people at their very best and at their very worst. Sergeant Lalie Burns is assigned to the 353rd Psycholog ical Operations Battalion, U S Army (Reserve), stationed at Moffet Field in San Francisco. She has been *m“ since Dec 12. 1985 and fully intends to make a career of it. or stay “until they kick me out.” Sgt. Burns first joined up for the discipline, travel, chance to live abroad and for the experi ence she thought military life offered. Since then she has lived in Germany, traveled Europe and gained invaluable life experience. “The opportunity for training and travel and advancement," she said, “everything between men and women is equal There's no discrimination in that sense II you can do the job, you can do it. There's a wide variety o( options that in a lot of places aren't given to women " Burns is also aware ol how (dif ficult military life can be She said she prefers Reserve Duty to the Active component because "it takes a very special person to be that structured and that disci plined 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, for 20 years' Overall though. Sgt. Burns, who is also a senior maiormg in international relations at Califor nia State University at Chico, is positive about military service. "I would recommend it to any body just to get some real life experience," she said She added a few minutes later, “I think everybody should do it . includ ing (President] Clinton." Torpedoeman 3rd Class Kim Ritterbush enlisted In Sept 1908 and serves with SUBASE Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Detachment 322, U S. Navy (Reserve). Currently maionng in political science and Planning. Public Policy and Man agement at the University, she summed up her military experi ence a bit differently “It has taught me the type ot people I don't want to work with, the type ol organization I don't want to be with," she said. "It has taught me what I want to light lor and what I want to fight against." Though adamantly opposed to the possibility ot making the Navy a career, she was quick to say, “It's been a great adventure. I gel to go to Hawaii lor free and get paid while I’m over there. I've done things I never would have done before," she said. “I’ve made friends that will last the rest of my life. I have a place any where in the world, pretty much, where I can go and crash at somebody's house." What both Sgt. Burns and TM3 Ritterbush have in common is the knowledge that their respective jobs are unlike anything they would ever do in civilian life. Sgt. Burns trains to destroy an enemy's will to fight. TM3 Ritter bush repairs and maintains weapons that will be directly Turn 10 MILITARY, Page 7B ES OMMENDED "•J j rf r 1 r. ■ /-tow to Survive Without Your Parents Money, by Geoff Martz ($9. paperback) ■ Electronic Job Search Revolution, by Joyce Lam Kennedy and Thomas J Morrow ($12 95. paperback) ■ The Complete Guide to Environmental Careers, by the CEIP Fund ($14 95. paperback) ■ Careers for Dreamers and Doers (8 95. paperback) On Wednesday and Thursday the University Career Center will sponsor its annual Career Fair The fair will run from 12 to 4 p m both days More than 90 schools and companies will be represented Booths with information and representatives will be located on the EMU Mam Floor and m the EMU Fir Room WHAT DIO YOU THI JOiiY Please respond with any comments you have regarding this supplement For example Was this section helpful to you’ Did the subect interest you’ Did the articles capture your attention’ What was your tavonte article’ Answers and comments can be sent by e-mail to tnstaOgiadstone uoregon edu