Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1982)
Meeting job requirements Meeting future job requirements is the number one reason Oregoni ans take the O E D tests. State School Supt. Verne A. Duncan said today. Duncan said a survey o f more than 2,000 Oregon O E D candidates con ducted in the spring o f 1981 showed (hut 39 per cent took the high school equivalency tests to meet future job requirements. At the time the candidates took the G E D , 35 per cent were unem ployed and 86 per cent felt that the tests were im p o rtan t in finding or keeping a jo b . Seventy-three per cent said they hud no job counseling prior to the exam. Twenty-six per cent said they took the tests to meet educational admis sion requirements, and 23 per cent said they took them fo r personal s atislac tio n . T h ir ty -fiv e per cent said they planned to enroll in a com munity college, while 8 per cent said they planned to enroll in a four-year college or university. About 9,000 Oregonians— 86 per cent o f them 30 years o f age or younger— receive a G E D each year. Meanwhile, about 30,000 public and Black unemployment nears 25 per cent Three pieces o f economic and em ploym ent were released recently which reveal the dismal past, p re sent and future plight o f black A m ericans. A Government Accounting Office study reported that only 24 per cent of the former 300,000 C E T A public service em ploym ent workers have found full-tim e employment. G A O also found that some 130,000 black public service employment workers lost their jobs as a result o f C E T A cuts last year. The g o ve rn m en t’s own u n d er stated unem ploym ent statistics in M arch showed unemployment for all blacks at an all-tim e high o f 18 per cent. The officially reported fi gure o f 46 per cent unemployment for black teenagers is more nearly a staggering 55 to 60 per cent. In a d d itio n , over h a lf a m illio n blacks are am ong the 1.3 m illio n discouraged workers who have given up hope o f finding em p lo y ment. This means that overall black unem ploym ent is close to 25 per cent. M e a n w h ile , the Com m erce Departm ent index o f leading eco nomic indicators showed a further drop in February, marking the tenth consecutive month o f economic de cline. As layoffs increase in the public and private sectors, both white-col lar and blue-collar minority workers are learning once again the grim re ality o f ’’last hired, first fired.” It is painfully clear that a targeted coordinated national employment policy is desperately needed. It is needed to deal w ith the current crisis, as well as to prepare the na tion for the economic, educational and training initiatives required for the changing domestic and interna tional marketplace o f the '80s and ’90s. Instead, the downward slide con tinues— with blacks at the bottom o f the pile. A career as a Psychologist In many school systems school psychologists perform assessments and plan education programs. They are graduate trained professional who assess children and youth to as sist in planning edu catio n al p ro grams. The school psychologists help to improve the quality o f edu cational services for children. They spend a great deal o f their time giv ing psychological tests, ( I.Q . tests mainly), individual counseling, per sonality and emotional assessment, group counseling, consultation, be havioral m odification, curriculum development, in-service training and mental health prevention. School psychologists may work for public and p rivate school sys tems, human resource agencies and have private practice. School psychologists work closely w ith an in te rd is c ip lin a ry team o f school w orkers, such as teachers, counselors, social workers, adminis trators and parents. School psychol ogists assist classroom teachers in identifiying specific ways o f teach ing children who have special needs. This is accomplished through the use o f various testing instruments to measure interests, ability and a tti tudes. They perform many tasks in educational planning for the child; prevention o f psychological educa tional problems. C o nd u cting in-service train in g In order to effectively relate to their clients school psychologists must have the proper educational training and interpersonal skills. The educa tional preparation o f school psycho logists includes educational curricu lum development, educational phil osophy, psychological research, psychological testing, understand ing theories in learning, motivation, p erception, social b eh a vio r, and group interactions. Effective school psychologists must be able to estab lish rapport with the testec. Strong interpersonal skills arc important in communicating and understanding youths. U n d e r g r a d u a t e c o u rs e w o rk should include general psychology, developmental psychology, experi mental psychology, physiology, bio logical sciences, math and statistics. The m inim um entry-level require ment for certifying school psycholo gists is a Masters Degree. Information on graduate study in school psychology can be attained by writing the American Psycholo gical Association (A P A ), 1200 17th Street N .W ., W ash in g to n , D .C ., 20036. Newfields listed in publications private school students arc receiving their high school diploma. Here are some other results o f the survey: •T h e proportion o f those taking the tests was split equally between males and females. •R eading and mathematics were the tw o subjects seen as most im portant by the G E D candidates for use in later life. •S e v e n ty -fiv e per cent learned about the G E D p rogram from friends, neighbors, relatives or guid ance counselors. •Eighty-one per cent took a prep aration class and/or practice test be fore takin g the G E D exam , and m ore than 90 per cent who took preparaton classes thought the clas ses were h e lp fu l. M ost o f those classes are o ffered by com m unity colleges. •T h irty -n in e per cent said their grades in school were Cs or better. •Fo rty-tw o per cent said they be lieved the G E D certificate is equiva lent to a high school d ip lo m a in meeting all their needs. •T w e n ty -n in e per cent reported that their highest grade completed was the ninth grade or less. I t ’s very d iffic u lt to predict the future labor m arket conditions in every industry and occupation with p erfectio n . New inventions and technologies create some jobs while elim in a tin g others. T h e ebb and flow o f demand for a service or pro duct will affect the number o f work ers needed to satisfy the demand. Changes in the size or age distri bution o f the population, their work attitudes, training programs and re tirement programs especially in the black com munity— these and other forces affect the ratio o f shortages or surpluses o f candidates to open ings in the job market. The occupations listed in this guide are a rough sampling o f those fields that are expected to have a fa vorable outlook over the next years for an increase in available open ings. But remember, this is “ only a sampling.” There are m any, many new bur geoning fields lik e Mass T ra n s it, Energy Resources and C onserva tio n , Parapsychology, N u tritio n , e tc ., about which not much is known and statistics are short. For a complete list o f jobs in va rious industries and categories, write for the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Superintendent o f Doc uments, U.S. Government Printing O ffic e , W ashington, D C . 20402. Also, here are a few other publica tions which may help in the area of career opportunities: College Placement A nnual: C o l lege Placement Council, Inc.; a non p ro fit o rg an izatio n o f placement professionals that publishes a varie ty o f materials helpful to students. F ed e ral C areer D ire cto ry: U .S . C ivil Service Commission. A guide for college students to careers in the federal government. Manufacturing opportunities The persons who look for jobs in the fields o f m anufacturing as ap prentices, helpers, technicians, mechanics, and operating engineers, basically fa ll in to two distinct groups. T he first group includes those who have completed a sizeable percentage o f their technical educa tion and who have had enough on- the-job experience to qualify as ju n io r mechanics, technicians, or o p erating engineers. The second group includes those who aspire to a career in a manufacturing industry. but who have just started their tech nical education and had lim ited work experience. The employment opportunities of these two groups are quite different, and this should be clearly u n d er stood. Those w ho have c o m p le t ed a m ean in g ful am ount o f tech nical training and have had a few years o f experience will find many jobs open to them. Many jobs in the manufacturing area do not require extensive tra in in g or w ork exp er ience. The question of pay rates for students or inexperienced workers is important. It would be wise for the prospective worker to adjust his or her expectations to the realities of the situation. Good attitudes are im p o rta n t to a beginning employee; the ability to get along with fellow em ployees, to take an interest in business, to show initiative and to assume a measure o f responsibility are qualities that are highly prized by ail employers and supervisors. Opportunities In The Medical Field Accidents on jobs Job-related accidents or illnesse* affected more than 37,000 workers in Oregon during the last year. To help in the diagnosis o f these health problems, University Hospi tal at the O regon H ealth Sciences University has established the Occu pational Health Clinic which was in itiated after requests from several unions for an “ o b jec tive , th ird - party diagnostic center.” “ In add itio n to providing d ia g nostic services to patients, the clinic staff will promote the education of other university health professionals and students in the field o f occupa tional medicine and nursing,” said Dr. W illiam M orton, director of the clinic is well as professor and head o f environm ental medicine at the O H S U School o f Medicine. Questionnaires have been devel oped to obtain the detailed informa tion about work history and occupa tional health symptoms which arc necessary for accurate diagnosis. This type of intensive search is more likely to produce the cause of the oc cupational health problem. “ The clinic will deal with persons who may have been affected by ex cessive exposure to heat, radiation, noise, dust and other types o f fumes; repealed exposure to low doses o f irrita tin g substances and certain types o f chemicals; tra u matic injuries to nerves from vibra tions; and other a ilm e n ts ,’ ’ cx- plained P a tric ia d e G a rm o , nurse practitioner who also serves the neu rology and internal medicine clinics. Patients arc seen by D r. M orton, M s. d eG arm o and D r. Douglas L in z, assistant professor o f m edi cine in the division o f general medi cine. After completing a physical ex am ination and lab orato ry studies, plus reviewing the occupational and health histories o f the patient and researching potential exposures in the work place, the clinic staff will refer the patient back to the p er son’s own physician or to other health care professionals, depending on the diagnosis. Th ey may also muke recom m endations to the worker or his employer for im prov ing the health c on d itio n s o f the work setting. W o rkers who are ill and con cerned that it may be related to then w ork situ atio n can be seen at the nev clinic with a doctor's referral or by phoning 225-7967 between 8 a m. and 4:30 p.m. daily for an appoint m ent. C lin ic hours are 1-4 p .m . every Tuesday at University Hospi tal's Am bulatory Care Center (out patient clinic). The Occupational Health Clinic is a jo in t e ffo rt between U n ive rs ity H o sp ital and the School o f M e d i c in e ’s D ep artm en ts o f M ed ic in e, and Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Business Manager Secretary File Clerk Computer Input Operator Registered Nurse (RN) Nurse Practitioner Pharmacist X-Ray Technician Lab Technician Physical Therapist General Practice MDs Specialized Medicine MDs Typist • LPN PHIL REYNOLDS MEDICAL CLINIC 15 N. Morris St. Portland, Oregon 97227 287-4532 Walter C. Reynolds M.D. I an;. Prac. Kalpana H. Rajdev M.D. Fam. Prac. Herbert L. Baker M.D. E.N.T. (Plastic Surgery) I
