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Good jobs for grads come at high price
' ■ OUR OPINION: Despite a recent
1_ news report, employment for UO
\x graduates is still difficult to find
the May 27 Register-Guard said it so well.
Graduates from the University, and
across the country, are finding more jobs
now than in recent years. A national
study was cited that said employers plan
to hire 17 percent more new college grad
uates this year than last.
And the story of Chris Mettner, a senior
in computer science, was told. He landed
a $40,000 job with Lockheed Martin
Corp. in the company’s satellite division.
He was offered the job earlieix
this year after
he headline was so promising.
“Job outlook bright for UO’s
grads”
The article on the front page of
only
a 10-minute interview.
Are we all really so fortunate? Are we
all really snagging high-paying jobs after
graduation, sometimes even before com
mencement? We wish it were true.
The Guard article, unfortunately, is ter
ribly misleading. Despite such high hopes
and increasing numbers. University grads
are still having trouble finding jobs, espe
cially good jobs. And we see no signs that
this is changing.
Sure, it’s easy to say things are getting
better. But what’s really going on? The ar
ticle was quick to point out that graduates
in engineering, computers and business
are in the highest demand. But what about
the plethora of other majors? And the
1996 University questionnaire cited had
only 401 respondents among graduates
from that year. Out of those 401 grads, 80
percent said they had jobs six months af
ter graduation; 67 percent of that number
had jobs in Oregon and 10 percent were
headed to graduate school.
i
First, that’s only
I 401 people, and
second, no dis
tinction is
made as to what kind of jobs those gradu
ates had. Beth Swank, assistant director of
the University Career Center, was quoted
as saying a myth still exists that the pre
dominant factor in a student’s career
choice is their major. She said employers’
most common request is “any major.”
But last we heard, students wanted to
get jobs in their respective major, not just
some general job in a large corporation
like Nabisco (which is also mentioned in
the article). Any college graduate can vie
for those types of jobs; the key is to obtain
employment in one’s area of expertise.
This dream, we are sure, is not being re
alized any more than in the past. This is
because specialized jobs are so much
more difficult to obtain than in our par
ents’ college days. Now, graduates must
involve themselves in extracurricular ac
tivities and honor societies as well as get
good grades. And most importantly, they
must seek out and secure internships in
their field.
The University would no doubt like to
think its graduates are succeeding. It
would like to think it is arming its stu
dents with the skills they need to succeed
in a competitive job market. But the fact is
a degree is not just a degree. Many of the
skills students obtain in order to be hired
for competitive jobs are found outside the
University, in internships and other orga
nizations.
The Register-Guard article did give us
hope. But it’s important to note that
many students are still having trouble
~~ in their job search, and jobs in re
spective majors are still extremely
hard to come by. Standing by mis
leading statistics and optimistic offi
cials could make the search even more
difficult. We can’t be lazy and must still
i work hard, in and out of the Universi
ty, in order to get the job of our
dreams.
This editorial represents the opinion
of the Emerald editorial board.
LETTERS
Canadian sympathy
So, Nicole Kristal has no idea
why Oregonians dislike Californi
ans? One glance at the headline of
her editorial (ODE, June 3) should
give some indication. While I am
not an Oregonian (I am not even
American, rather I am Canadian),
I do sympathize with natives of
this state.
Being an Oregonian is similar in
many ways to being Canadian. We
both live just north of a social and
cultural behemoth that produces
citizens who are self-absorbed and
have little time for or understand
ing of things outside their borders.
In many ways the concerns
voiced by Oregonians about the
influence of Californians on their
way of life is similar to the those of
Canadians who fear American val
ues will eat away at a distinct
Canadian culture.
I would suggest to Ms. Kristal
that her defensiveness about being
Californian is just one symptom of
why Californians are disdained.
Lewis Kaye
Journalism
State supremacy
We would like to write to our
kind Californians who have gra
ciously invited themselves to the
great state of Oregon. We are sorry
that you think we are ignorant, for
it is you who come to our state to
vehemently complain about the
weather, our attitudes and above
all the way we say “pop” for soda
drinks.
However, why is it that our state
and the people are so bad and your
state is so awesome, and yet Cali
fornians still pour into Oregon like
people following Lewis and Clark
on the Oregon Trail? We apologize
if our state is not good enough for
you, but nobody ever asked you to
come here in the first place.
However, we would like to
thank all the Californians who do
come to school here, for without
you, we would have to pay a great
deal more for our education. We
will gladly accept all the com
plaints for the five figure donation
that you all pay every year to visit
our state.
And one more thing to all the
lovely Californians: Have a nice
day.. .somewhere else!
Greg Nicklas & 3 cosigners
Undeclared
For shame
Your story on the Broadway tree
removal [ODE, June 2) was accu
rate in most respects but gives the
impression that Eugene police at
tempted to push the crowd “away
from where the trees were being
cut.”
They had already all been cut.
The use of tear gas, mace and de
structive force came at a pointless
time and, I believe, was only for the
purpose of asserting power and
control. Many gentle citizens were
hurt as a result.
When I came here (yes, from Cal
ifornia) the preservation struggle
centered on buildings. The last of
the magnificent original architec
ture was being demolished —
“Save the Armory, the
Mayflower.”
Over the years we’ve said good
bye to hundreds of trees (to make
room for those oh-so-essential
cars), stretches of natural river
front, pedestrian space (more
cars!), three ofEugene’s four majes
tic old theaters, a quaint village of
shops and eateries (Sacred Heart
parking)... the list goes on.
Whose town is this now? Who
are the police and our elected offi
cials working for? People turned
out to grieve these leafy ancestors
as well as a psychotic development
agenda. The power elite reacted
with a Tienanmen hallucination.
Those in charge now cater to the
distorted dreams of strangers who
have come into our midst, and —
to find their comfort level — seek
to replicate the metropolitan con
sumer addiction hells they so re
cently fled.
I say: Go to the corpses of those
stately trees. Pick up some of the
pieces. Take the bones to City Hall.
Let those who allowed this step
over the carnage to get to work.
Vip Short
Eugene
Hourly limits
What follows is a message I
have now received three times, de
spite my requests to stop sending
them to me. The gist of the mes
sage is that students are now being
harassed about their number of
hours online per week.
As a student who pays her inci
dental fees, I find this restriction
(or request, as they put it) to be an
unworkable solution to the prob
lem.
The postmaster has set an un
reasonable limit of 14 hours per
week, or 2 hours per day, of online
time. The University network feels
this limit will reduce the busy sig
nals encountered by students dial
ing in from home. I find many
problems with this “solution.”
For one thing, the reason I my
self encounter a busy signal is that
frequently 2 of the 3 dial-up num
bers cease functioning after about
8 pm. It’s no wonder it is often
busy.
The University has recently
been voted one of Amoi'i/-a’r.
“Most Wired Campuses.” This is
due in large part to the efforts of
the University to allow its stu
dents to become dependent on the
Internet. We are given a new web- A
based interface for Janus and
brand new Gateway computers on
which to see it. Many students
have classes in which a great deal
of class and study material is now
online, such as Image Reserve for
the art history department.
The solution is obvious. The
University needs to do what any
company would need to do in the
same situation: Take steps to live
up to the demand. Perhaps instead
of spending money on some of the
most expensive computers
around, the Gateway 2000, for its
new Janus terminals, we could set
tle for a less glamorous PC, in or
der to acquire more modems for
the modem pool.
Ariel K. Jones
Classics
Correction
In the June 5 commentary by
Chelsea Lincoln, the name of
Monte Matthews, director of Uni
versity Veterinary Services and
Animal Care, was spelled incor
rectly.
The Emerald regrets the error.