Page 6 The Broncos' Voice October, 1991
'■ yrx ■■■ ’'-v. :
OUR WILL TO LIVE MUST
NO WNGER SUPERSEDE
OUR WILL TO FIGHT, FOR
OUR FIGHTING WILL DE
TERMINE IF OUR RACE
SHALL UVE.
H.RAP BROWN,1967
"Job Out Look Still Isn't
Good," Employers Say
By Amy Reynolds
(CPS) - The scene is familiar.
Young men and women in suits, armed
with resumes, handshakes and smiles for
older men and women prepared to greet
them with stories of the grim realities of
today’s job market.
Welcome to Career Expos for
the 1991-92 school year.
"There are fewer positions
available because of the recession and
because of sales trends," says Dot
Svobdia, a manager with American
Tourister. "Still, we’re hoping to find
some good folks out there."
So is everyone else. This
particular job fair brought nearly 80
perspective employers to the University
of Central Florida in early September.
"I think it’s tight," says Jim
Gracey, director of UCF’s Career
Resource Center. "I had some employers
say that they would not attend because
of the recession."
Minority
Becoming
Majorities?
BOULDER, Colo. (CPS) - A first-ever
projection of the ethnic makeup of the
nation’s public schools reflects that by
1995, one-third of the U.S. students will
be from minority groups.
"This trend will continue to
grow," predicts Robin Etter Zuniga,
author of the two-year study sponsored
by The College Board and the Western
Interstate Commission. for Higher
Education. "The white birth rate has
declined, so the younger the age group,
the more you’ll see this sort of thing.
Many states have no single majority any
longer."
The study says 199.5 will also
see ethnic minorities making up a
majority of students in four states. In
1989, Blacks, Asians and Latinos made
up a majority of high school graduates
in Hawaii, New Mexico and the District
of Columbia.
Of the ones who did,
sentiments were the same. "We’re
finding a lot more qualified applicants,"
says F. Darren Oli\'erio, a field training
consultant willi Metropolitan Life.
The reason for the flood of
qualified students is the lack of jobs.
Although not all companies are suffering
from the sagging economy, they are still
seeing an increase in applications.
"We’re now even seeing alumni
coming to these events," says Moira
Oliver, director of Human Resources for
Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. "We didn’t
used to see nearly as much."
Oliver calls the turnout at job
fairs in 1990 and 1991 "astounding."
"We have been surprised at the
number of qualified applicants we’re
seeing. It’s really been to our
advantage," said Sieve Hoppe, of Arthur
Andersen Tax Technology Group
Beciiuse of the flood of
graduating college students entering into
the job market, employers are getting
pickier when hiring.
They offer this advice to job
seekers:
* "Students should get
practical experience
before they graduate. That’s
very important," Oliver said.
* "In our business, a college
education isn’t a determining
factor," says Oliverio of work
in the insurance field. "We look
for someone who really has
oomph. When we find someone
who’s hot, we make room for
(him or her)."
* "People really need to
prepare for tlie interview,” says
Wayne Johns, regional human
relations manager for Coca-
Cola. "People need to work on
their appearance and their
preparation for questions and
answers."
good
good
interpersonal skills, a polished,
genuine, smart person," Hoppe
said. "We want the best and the
brightest."
* "We’re looking for
academic background.
Homeless Man Lectures At Cal State
By Karen Neustadt
(CPS) - When Ixn Doucette becamc
homeless, he got angry. He wanted
others to understand the humiliation, the
hopelessness, the loss of self-esteem. So
he began teaching a class about his
situation.
"I want to get my students as
angry as I am about the conditions -
angry enough to do something about it,"
Doucette said. "The problem starts with
misconceptions about the homeless."
When he first offered the
course "Homelessness and Public
Policy" through California State
University at Bakersfield, only a dozen
students showed up. That has changed.
His lectures - peppered with
antedotes of welfare agencies,
unemployment lines, street life and
experiences in overnight shelters - arc
not easy to listen to. Some students
dropped the course after the first lecture.
"The students who do stay in,
however, are very motivated and
concerned with the problem," says Jaci
Ward, a program coordinator for the
college. "Mr. Doucette puts his ego
aside and discusses the problem
objectively. He’s able to depersonalize
it."
Doucette first became homeless
four years ago when he was in an
accident that cost him his low-paying
job. He lived in San Francisco, working
part-time jobs that did not cover the
rent. He is now temporarily living with
a friend because he can’t afford rent on
his part-time instructor’s pay.
The outspoken Doucette, who
says he does not allow himself to
become discouraged, compares the
current wave of homeless persons witli
the Depression of the ’30s. "Except that
now these people are single. The
dissolution of the family is a contributor
to this problem."
Doucette tells students that
while the homeless issue is getting press
coverage for the first time, the majority
of the problem is hidden. "These people
look just like you or me. But they arc
living with friends, or family - or in
cars."
the class, designed by Doucette,
features local speakers such as members
of Congress and social agency officials.
Then the students are required to take
part in five learning experiences and
write a paper, expressing thoughts and
feelings about each.
Doucette’s curriculum
instructions include the following: (1)
Go to a location where the homeless
congregate and stay one or two hours.
(2) Render yourself homeless for a day.
The minimum amount of money allowed
on your person: 25 cents, no credit
cards, no food. (3) Go to a non-profit
agency and find out what is required to
enroll in an assistance program. See
how you are treated. (4) Go to a busy
urban area and ask five people for the
money for a cup of coffee. Note your
strategies and the other person’s
reactions. (5) Do something to help a
homeless person, makmg special note of
how you view the person, and how you
think the person views you.
"It is one thing for this to be an
intellectual exercise and another to
personalize the problem, to feel the lack
of self-esteem," Ward said.
Doucette taught a similar
course at San Francisco State,
University. The 55-year-old instructor
says he wants to remind students that
many people are "just one or two
paychecks away" from the streets.
/ found the University. . .clean and
noble, but I did not find the university
alive. I found the American university had
this ideal as phrased by a professor in
Chicago University: "The passionless pur
suit of passionless intelligence-clean and
bole, I grant you, but not alive enough..
And in the reflection of this University
ideal I find the conservatism and uncon
cern of the American people toward those
who are suffering, who are in want."
Jack London, 1906
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