Portland Observer, August 11, 1902 Section II Page 7
Careers in the forest service
Approxim ately 20,(XX) employees
w ork fo r the Forest Service. The
Forest Service has programs in four
m ajor areas. One o f them is M a n
agement o f 190 m illion acres o f Na
tional Forest System (NFS) land for
economic and social benefits. NFS
lands consist o f 154 national forests
and 19 na tio n a l grasslands across
the country, located prim arily in the
west. These lands, which belong to
the public, include rolling hills, fo r
ests, grasslands, deserts, mountains,
streams, lakes and seashores. They
are managed fo r a variety o f p u r
poses. The public enjoys them fo r
such recreational activities as camp
ing, fishing, hiking, skiing and boat
ing. They provide a home for w ild
life ranging fro m tro u t to g rizzly
bears and act as watersheds fo r
much o f the n a tio n ’ s supply o f
clean water. These lands also p ro
vide grazing fo r cattle, sheep arid
w ild life . The forest service also
cooperates with state foresters, p ri
vate foresters and woodland ow n
ers, wood processors, and private
and public agencies to increase the
q u ality o f goods and services pro
duced fro m non NFS land. The
agency conducts research to support
management o f its national Forest
and cooperative forestry programs,
as well as to aid in the management
o f all the nation’s forests and range-
lands. A ll o f these activities provide
opportunities for careers in the fo r
est service.
Among the many jobs in the forest
service are preparing and revising
plans to grow and harvest tim ber,
managing w ild life habitats and de
veloping recreational facilities.
So, you w ant to be a manager
Youth from City's CETA program at w ork In Oregon's forest.
CETA/Forest service offers youth employment
nv Lanita Duke
Grassroot News, N. W —The tra-
d ilio n a l sum m er jobs fo r young
adults in a static economy arc basic
office help, fast food and yard work.
The C ity o f P o rtla n d ’ s C E T A p ro
gram in collaborating w ith the For
est Service is breaking the pattern
c u rre n tly w ith 40 in n e r-c ity youth
whose duties range from brush dis
posal to erosion c o n tro l. T h e ir
workplace is the naked forest (C ol
um bia R iver G orge, B u ll Run
Areas) w ith the clean a ir, insects,
bear and deer.
D is tric t C o o rd in a to r Kenny
W ashington explained the premise
o l the program . " T h is is our ninth
year w ith the C ity 's C E T A p ro
gram. U nlike any other district we
thrive on human-resource programs
to accomplish our goals." The goals
are erosion c o n tro l, tr a il b u ild in g
Engineering offers
ups and downs
T h cU .S . has 1,500,(XX) engineers
in 12 specialized subfields. Those in
the greatest demand c u rre n tly are
petroleum , mechanical, ind u stria l
and electrical engineers. O f (his to
tal, blacks represent only about I
per cent, approxim ately 12-13,000.
U nfo rtu n a te ly, engineering has al
ways been a boom-and-bust occupa
tion: aspirants rush into it when de
mand is high and by the tim e they
graduate, the government funds
that finance most engineering re
search and co n struction projects
have often dried up. The usual and
most lucrative s o lution is to move
in to management or sale (usually
helped by a night school M B A ) after
about 5 years or so as a technician.
This tra n s itio n can boost earning
power trem endously since the me
dian salary fo r engineers in their
prime is about $33,000.
Counseling offered
Those o f you who w ould like to
take advantage o f a low -cost jo b
and e d u ca tio n a l p la n n in g service
should check in to P o rtla n d State
U niversity's vocational and educa
tional counseling.
The special service is designed for
people who are n o t PSU students,
and who want to make the most o f
their interests and talents— whether
or not they’ re currently w orking or
attending school.
I f you are asking questions o f
y o u rs e lf such as, " W h a t are my
interests, talents and career prefer
ences?” " H o w can I tra n s fe r my
ab ilitie s to a new career?” "C a n I
im p ro v e my s k ills in my current
jo b ? ” "S h o u ld I go back to
school?” — then this service may be
useful to you.
and brush disposal.
" W e th in k the p rogram is very
cost-effective. W ith the cutback; we
c a n ’ , accom plish o ur o bjectives.
T hus, we rely heavily on this p ro
gram and o th e r hum an resource
programs in the district. I f we d id n ’t
have these crews out here w orking
fo r us the work would not get done
as q u ic k ly w ith the pro g ra m . We
would have to find someone else to
do the w o rk.”
District Ranger Gene Zimmerman
concurred w ith this statem ent.
"C om pared w ith the p ro je ct’ s cost
it is cost effective. We have some o f
the funds. But in some cases the
w o rk w ould not get d o n e ." Z im
m erm an believes that the young
adults on these crews derive less d i
rect benefits. "T h e y also learn the
re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f an em ployee,
such as showing up to work on time.
every day, and le a rn in g to w o rk
with others."
Jeanne Sun, 20, w orks w ith the
erosion c o n tro l crew . " M y crew
goes out and revegetates cut banks
where logging was done. We inspect
how much damage is done and later
we send a crew out to co rre ct the
damage done to the trail by men.”
Jaime Santos, 19, tells o f his re
sponse at meeting M other Nature on
her level. " M y first few weeks were
kinda hard. I had to adjust to the
early m orning hours. But I ’ m sure
the skills that I ’ ve learned w ill help
me later on in life .”
Chris Guinn, 17, defines his work
experience on his crew as different.
“ I ’ ve worked with little kids before
as a C E T A em ployee. But this is
more o f a w ork s itu a tio n . It w ill
help me later on i f ever I get a jo b
that requires physical la b o r." W ith
the unem ploym ent o f black teen
agers w ell over 60 per cent C hris
plans to com bat the negative per
centage with " E f f o r t . "
Renee Breedlove admits her work
on the brush disposal crew is a non-
tra d itio n a l task fo r young women.
" B u t I never did enjoy w orking in
an o ffice . W o rking outdoors suits
me. It is a lot o f hard w ork which
prepares me fo r the real w o r ld . "
Ms. Breedlove hopes to m ajor in sci
ence and her introduction to nature
w ill complement her interest in sci
ence.
Kenny Washington believes a new
respect for nature w ill coincide with
the basic employee skills. "W e hope
that o ur example w ill in s till some
appreciation fo r the environm ent.
We also show our crews that their
work and e ffo rt fits into the overall
picture o f the Forest Service."
There is more to climbing the cor
porate ladder into top management
than to have graduated from a pres
tigious college or university. In a
late 1980 survey o f 782 sm all, me
dium and large companies by the
H'aZZ Slreel Jo u rn a l and the G allup
organization, executives comment
on (he qualities that make good or
bad managers. O f the 782 com pan
ies polled, 282 were from the na
tion's largest corporations, 300 were
from medium sized, and 200 fro m
small companies.
Positive factors: According to the
>urvey, the three most im p o rta n t
personal traits needed to advance
in to management are in te g rity , in
dustriousness and (he a b ility to get
along w ith people In a d d itio n ,
managers should demonstrate per
sonal am bition, commitment to the
goals o f the company, imagination,
good judgm ent and the a b ility to
motivate others.
The fla w s: The most serious fault
is managers’ "in a b ility to work with
people and to understand th e m ."
C h ie f executives also cite " in n e r ”
character weakness, lack o f aggres
siveness, in itia tiv e or com m itm ent
to their jobs and employees as se
rious deficiencies. Some other nega
tive factors are failure to assume re
sponsibility, acceptance o f the sta
tus quo, narrow-mindedness and
egotism. Personal insecurity, unw il
lingness to take risks, in a b ility to
make decisions, and the diminishing
work ethic are also considered prob
lems o f weak managers.
A ccording to the W all Street
Jo u rn a l, the strong consensus
among chief executives o f compan
ies o f all sizes is that " in n e r” char
acter strength matters most for suc
cess and advancement in business.
Several pinpointed qualities such as
honesty, good judgm ent, se lf-re li
ance and hard work. Six o f every 10
executives o f large firm s mention at
least one o f the afore-stated qu a l
ities. More than one-half the execu
tives o f medium-sized companies
m entioned at least one, and more
than 40 per cent o f executives from
small organizations did the same.
When asked about weakness in
subordinate executives, the most
frequent negatives include narrow
mindedness and the in a b ility to
work with others. "T h e lack o f con
cern for people as human beings” is
a m ajor shortcoming, one executive
said. A board chairm an o f a large
com m unication com pany said,
" T h e salient p roblem is a ’ p rim a
donna syn d ro m e ,’ and a lack o f
team play.” Another saw some sen
ior executive managers as " to o ego
tis tic a l" and wanting "th e c re d it”
only for themselves.
There are few differences o f per
ception between large and small
company executives. One example is
that executives o f large companies
believe " c re a tiv ity ” is a prem ium
trait necessary for managers in their
organizations, while small company
executives do not see it as an essen
tial ingredient in their businesses.
Safeway Grows with Oregon
Sound Economic Growth Depends On. . .
Good Government, Labor Relations And Management
WHAT PART DOES SAFEWAY PLAY
IN THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF OREGON?
_ . w_ n
I A A to
P A Y R fll I
■ m H U LL
Over $4,000,000.00 Annual Contribution
to Municipal, State and County
Governments.
Over 568.000,000.00 Annually for
employees throughout the state.
Over S100,000,000.00 Annually for
purchases of Oregon products to
n i i n p U A o r p dis,ribu,i«n throughout the United
r U n u M A o t o States and Canada.
Everything you want from a store
and a little bit more.
V