An independent newspaper
http://www.dailyemerald.com
Thursday, January 31,2002
Since 1 900
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 103, Issue 86
Winter Career Fair
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Terry Taillard, regional human resources director tor Frito-Lay incorporated, was on campus Wednesday representing one ot approximately
65 companies—half of last year’s number—at the Career Center’s 2002 Winter Career Fair in the EMU Ballroom.
All dressed up, nowhere to go
■ Many companies are shying
away from recruiting college
students as the U.S. economic
recovery remains uncertain
By Katie Ellis
Oregon Daily Emerald
From journalism to finance majors,
from graduating seniors to aspiring in
terns, University students in search of
jobs and internships were dressed for
success at the annual Winter
Career Fair on .Wednesday — but the
staggering economy is making employ
ment opportunities increasingly diffi
cult to find.
Only half as many companies
attended this year’s career fair as
came to the 2001 Winter Career Fair,
according to Mei Yong, marketing and
communication specialist for the
Career Center.
“There were about 130 companies at
the career fair last winter, and there are
about 65 here today,” Yong said.
Along with a decreased number of
companies offering full-time employ
ment opportunities for students, there
was a lower number of internships
available because of the current state
of the economy. The newspaper
industry has been particularly affect
ed, cutting back or eliminating stu
dent internship programs until the
economy improves.
The Oregonian recently canceled its
annual summer internship program that
Turn to Internships, page 3
Students protest financial aid drug rule
■ Oregon Students of Color
Coalition is urging repeal of
a federal law barring financial
aid to convicted drug offenders
By Robin Weber
Oregon Daily Emerald
Bola Majekobaje is only a Universi
ty senior, but she’s already worried
about the next generation’s future in
higher education.
She fears that if drug offenders’ con
victions put them at a disadvantage for
education, their futures will be filled
with “poverty,.welfare and inequality.”
Majekobaje and about a half dozen oth
er Oregon Students of Color Coalition
members rallied outside the EMU Am
phitheater Wednesday afternoon to
protest a federal law denying financial
aid to students With drug convictions.
The rally was part of a “day of action”
sponsored by student groups at Ore
gon and California public universities
advocating the repeal of the Higher Ed
ucation Act drug provision.
“We want to get the attention of
people passing by ... to pass House
Resolution 786 to repeal the Higher
Education Act drug provision,” OSCC
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Educate Don’t Incarcerate’ was the message of a ‘day of action’ organized by the Oregon Students
of Color Coalition in the EMU Amphitheater on Wednesday.
board member Mario Sifuentez said.
As the Higher Education Act current
ly stands, students with drug-related of
fenses are ineligible for federal financial
aid if they answer “yes” to a question on
the Free Application for Student Finan
cial Aid asking if they have been con
victed of a drug offense. This year, if a
student even skips that question on the
form, they can lose aid.
OSCC opposes the law because the
group believes it unfairly targets stu
dents of color and low-income students.
“Out of the 13 percent of the nation’s
population that is African American,
Turn to FAFSA, page 3
Diversity survey
gives University
mixed grades
■ Forty percent of the 1,500 students say they
have experienced harassment at the University
By Diane Huber
Oregon Daily Emerald
Of the approximately 1,500 University students surveyed in
spring 2001, 53 percent felt classrooms were not welcoming
for underrepresented groups. The campus climate survey, de
signed by Susan Rankin, senior diversity planning analyst
from Pennsylvania State University, asked students, faculty
and staff about their personal experiences with harassment,
cases in which they’d observed harassment and discriminato
ry practices on campus, and suggestions for improving the sit
uation, if needed.
Rankin presented the results of the survey Wednesday to a
group of about 20 students, staff and faculty.
The University was one of 22 campuses nationwide that
participated in the survey. The University was “ looking for an
assessment to measure campus climate because nothing out
there existed,” Chicora Martin, the director of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Educational and Support Service
Program, said. Martin’s group and other campus departments
organized the survey, which was funded by the ASUO and
the administration.
Rankin said she specifically designed the survey to overrep
resent minorities on campus because they experience the most
harassment, yet their voices are usually stifled within the ma
jority in surveys where participants are randomly sampled.
Measuring campus climate doesn’t refer to tolerance on
campus, she added.
“There is a big difference between being tolerated and being
welcomed,” she said.
And the results are already outdated — since Sept. 11, in
stances ofbias and harassment have most likely gone up, she said.
The survey revealed that 60 percent of respondents had not
experienced harassment in the past year. Of the 40 percent
that had, harassment was primarily directed toward women
and minorities.
Turn to Diversity, page 3
Candidate says
higher education
must be priority
■ Governor hopeful Ted Kulongoski visited the
University to talk with students about the future
By Brook Reinhard
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon gubernatorial candidate Ted Kulongoski told
student leaders Wednesday that they must vote and stay
involved in the political process to ensure their future as
Oregon citizens.
“I wish we could find more ways to get
(students) involved in the process,” Kulon
goski said.
He said students should vote or they
iRACE could be drowned out as the aging popula
tion of baby boomers begins to blanket the
ballot box with issues such as health care
and retirement funds.
Kulongoski added that students should care about issues
like Medicare because they’ll end up supporting it with
their tax dollars.
“Who do you think will end up paying for all of this?
You!” he said.
Kulongoski is one of three Democrats vying for the guber
natorial endorsement of Oregon’s Democratic Party in the
May 21, 2002 primary. Another Democrat, Beverly Stein,
visited the University this week, but Mike Linman, co
chairman of the University’s College Democrats, said that
Turn to Kulongoski, page 4