The Compass - May, \g
page 6
Studies show bias
Looks can affect your future
Physically attractive peo
ple are more likely to score
good grades and land better
jobs than their plainer coun
terparts.
That claim is among the
theories advanced in a new
book called “Mirror, Mir
ror,” which explores the
importance of physical at
tractiveness in school, at
work, and in romantic
relationships.
The findings, by Illinois
State University Prof. Su
san Sprecher and Univer
sity of Hawaii Prof. Elaine
Hatfield, indicate that looks
may be more important
than previously believed.
For example, they
learned that couples con
sider physical attractive
ness to be the most impor
tant factor in beginning
interpersonal relationships.
“In the early sixties, stud
ies seemed to show that
things like intelligence and
social skills brought people
together,” Sprecher ex
plains.
“Now, in real life, it
seems attractive people
meet attractive people and
that seems to work at first.
Of course, when you get be
yond the surface, you find
you need more social
matching to make
relationships work. One
partner may not be as phys
ically attractive as the
other, but may have money
instead and that may be
what eventually makes the
relationship work.”
Some of the book’s find
ings show: ^
- Pretty women get better
grades in college than their
plainer counterparts, possi
bly because professors tend
to remember them.
- Attractive job appli
cants are more likely to get
hired and be paid more.
- Tall men score better in
the job market than short
men.
- Just half of 2,000 people
surveyed were extremely
or quite satisfied with their
looks. Only a few were ex
tremely dissatisfied.
- Most of the women sur
veyed like broad-shoul
dered men with small hips.
Most men preferred women
with big breasts, medium-
to-small hips and medium
legs.
“But these statements
are generalized, and not as
simple as the results sug
gest,” argues Frank Saal,
Kansas State University
psychologist and author of a
1985 study on male and fe
male sexual interaction.
“There is evidence, for
example, that in a tradition
ally male domain, physical
attractiveness can work
against a woman applying
for a job,” Saal says. How
ever, he continues, “In
‘pink collar’ fields where
women dominate the work
force, attractiveness is
good for getting hired and
for getting paid well.”
Saal suggests that attrac
tive women trying to break
into male-dominated fields
may face “the dizzy-blond
syndrome. There’s the feel
ing in some cases that no
matter how good a woman
is, there’s no way she can do
what a man does.”
In classrooms, the same
system applies, Saal con
tends. “In a mechanical en
gineering class, beauty of
ten is going to work against
a woman. She’ll be seen as a
dizzy dame, out of her
league. In home economics,
looks will work to her ad
vantage.”
Sprecher admits some of
the studies researched for
“Mirror, Mirror” show re
sults that back Saal’s
claims.
“A few studies show that
when a job can be defined
as masculine or feminine,
really beautiful women fare
less well in vying for mas
culine positions,” she says.
HELP WANTED:
Experience required
Bool( offers tips
for landing jobs
College graduates looking
for their first full-time job, or
even students looking for
summer jobs, can have
greater success if they follow
some common rules say ex
perts in career planning and
counseling.
According to Robert Nelson
in his book, “The Job Himt: A
Concise Guide to the Biggest
Job You will ever Have,” two
important rules are to view
the job search process from
the prospective employer’s
standpoint and to be consis
tent in your efforts and follow
up.
Nelson says that while your
reasons for needing a job are
certainly important to you,
your reasons are irrelevant to
prospective employers. They
are looking for people who
can best answer their ques
tions, “How will my hiring
you benefit my organization?
How are you going to fit into
our scheme? What can you of
fer us?”
Job seekers must view
themselves as the product in
a marketing process. Just as
companies find out how they
can meet the needs of pro
spective consumers by plan
ning and research, a propec-
tive employee must find out
how he or she can meet the
needs of the prospective com
pany by doing the same thing.
Part of any good plan says
Nelson, is follow up. Follow
ing up telephone calls with
letters, letters with telephone
calls, and interviews wit|
thank-you letters is a mus
Studies have shown a correla
tion between the number (
interviewees who send thanl
you letters and job offers
Such action gives you a sei
ond chance to demonstrat
your communication skills, t
demonstrate your operatin
style, and to demonstrat
your seriousness about you
job search. Employers sa
that while job openings ma
not be available when the in
tial interview or contact i
made, often when an openin
does occur, it the best n
membered interviewe
whose resume and applies
tion is pulled from the files.
Information interviews ca
also be useful Nelson says. li
stead of waiting for a jo
opening announcement, begi
investigating the type of wor
with the kind of companie
you desire. Set up meeting
with key people to find oi
more about the company or
particular position. Again, d
your homework because thi
should not be a high schoi
tour of the plant. You ai
there for serious talk aboi
the company. This method a
lows you to learn more aboi
industry and also gives th
company a chance to look i
you without the pressures
the interviewing process.
Experts like Nelson, agree
the keys to a successful jo
search are methodical aq
persistent research, inves
gation and follow up.
Industrial technology students gain experience
In a job search, experience
is often recommended, but
many students are not sure
how to get that experience.
Three opportunities to help
students gain experience of
fered at ECSU are a Co-op
Education Program in con
junction with the U.S. Coast
Guard; a Cooperative Educa
tion program through the In
dustrial Arts and Technology
Department, and an inter
nship/seminar course in the
English/News Media Depart
ment.
The Cooperative Education
Program offers many stu
dents in the Industrial Arts
and Technology Department
valuable experiences in their
chosen fields of study. Some
of the students taking advan
tage of this program are as
follows:
Rhonda James, an Indus
trial Technology major with a
mechanical option attended
NASA Research Center for
the summer of 1986. She was
assigned to the Airborne Lida
Laboratory where her duties
consisted of mechanical mod
ifications of the Ultraviolet
Differential Absorption Lidar
(UV-DIAL) system. Due to
safety factors, she was not al
lowed to work with the sys
tem while it was in operation,
but she learned its function.
Rhonda says that the experi
ence was valuable to her be
cause she learned the impor-
tance of working
cooperatively with others.
She has returned to NASA un
der the co-op program again
this semester.
Darryl Thompson, also an
Industrial Technology major
with a mechanical option, at
tended NASA Langley Re
search Center the summer of
1986. He was assigned to the
Operations Support Division
Laboratories Operations
Branch, Technical Support
Section “B” in support of the
High Energy Science Branch.
Darryl assisted the engi
neering technicians on three
research projects: a mega
ampere plasma switch, which
he helped in the reassembly
of, a laser oscillator ampli
fier, with which he performed
operations with power tools
and precision instruments,
and a hypocycloidal pinch,
with which his duties included
making detail and isometric
drawings and the cutting of 0-
rings and 0-rings grooves.
Michael Ray, an Industrial
Technology major with an
electronics option, attended
NASA Langley Research Cen
ter during the Fall 1986-87. He
was, assigned to the Micro
electronics Development Sec
tion (MDS) which provided
technical support for the de
sign, development, fabrica
tion, and testing of microelec
tronics. His responsibilities
icluded the fabrication of
Thin-Film Sensors, coating
materials with Parylene, and
working in the Speed Wind
Tunnel.
Lonnie Young, an Indi
trial Technology major wi
an electronics option,a
tended NASA Langley R
search Center during the Fa
of 1986-87. Lonnie was a
signed to the Facilities R
search Support Section. H
duties consisted of assistii
the senior technicians, andl
was instructed on how
make pins for computer (
bles to be used in the Wii
Tunnels. He also worked
gauges that would be usedj
the Space Shuttle. Loni
says that this was a great e
perience that will benefit hi
in the years to come.
Co-op program involves
students with Coast Guard
by Valerie Williams
staff writer
A Co-op education pro
gram, offering students
“hands-on” experience and
giving them a chance to work
on state of the art equipment
before finishing school has
been developed in the Indus
trial and Technology building
by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Automatic Test Equip
ment Research Laboratory
contains all electronic test
equipment and is the first at
tempt of the Coast Guard to
develop its own computer
programs to assist in re
pairing equipment.
- Mike Ray, a 29-year old
Jacksonville, N.C. native and
Industrial Technology stu
dent has been actively in
volved in the program since
its inception in November
1985. Ray served six years in
the Navy prior to enrolling at
ECSU and has since learned a
great deal of digital technol
ogy. As a result of Ray’s dil
igence, he has been offered
the opportunity to work with
NASA in the summer.
Becoming involved in the
Co-op program will not only
help prepare students for a
career in the military, but
will also be helpful in pursu
ing any kind of work dealing
with electronics and com
puter programming.
“Students could be involved
in a wide range of activities if
only they would give the pro
gram a chance. Only about
six students are involved in
the program,” said Ray.
“Everything the military
does is bwoming more mech
anized with sophisticated
electronics. Since there are so
many pieces of information
that the human mind can’t al
ways grasp, computers can
be very helpful,” said Lt.
Cmdr. Sam Edwards, a 25-
year veteran in the electron
ics field and employee of the
U.S. Coast Guard. According
to Edwards, this program is
not only beneficial to the stu
dents at ECSU, but to the
Coast Guard as well because
they get student labor for
free, large space, and visi
bility on campus.
Although the laboratory
will not remain on campus in
definitely, Edwards said, “We
don’t intend for the project to
ever be over as long as there
is new technology. We want to
find ways of shortening the
length of time it takes to re
pair equipment and hopefully
the students 6n campus will
become more involved in
such a unique opportunity be
fore it is too late to get the ex
perience needed before enter
ing the competitive work
force.”
Media student interns
as utility PR person
Experience is needed for
the job, but how can you get a
job to get the experience with
out the experience to get the
job. It is a Catch-22.
According to Joe Holley, a
senior majoring in English
with a concentration in Me
dia, valuable experience is
possible for media students in
the internship/seminar
course. This course for media
students requires at least 50
hours of fieldwork.
Holley worked this semes
ter with the Albemarle Elec
tric Membership Corporation
(AEMC) in the Public
Relations/Member Services
Department. AEMC is an
electric utility located in
Hertford that provides power
to approximately 7,*00 con
sumers. Holley was super
vised by Larry Johnson,
Member Services Director.
Holley was mainly respon
sible for interviewing, gather
ing, writing and editing the
March issue of the electric
company’s consumer news
letter. He also prepared seve
ral feature stories plus han-
dled black and white
photography assignments.
“Interviewing some of the
consumers was quite interest
ing. I learned some things
about welding, bee keeping,
sign painting, as well as
learning to work with the pub
lic in the capacity of a public
relations person.”
According to Holley, expe
rience is a must because with
out experience most employ
ers will overlook your
application to get those that
have relevant work experi
ence for the position.
There are even some extra
experience gained some
times. Holley had to learn
something about bees for ore
story.
According to the Edenton
native, he had to interview a
farmer for a story who kept
about 20 beehives that we
leased to farmers to he
cross-pollenate the croi
These bees also provid
honey for commercial a
personal use of the b(
keeper.
“I got close to one of t
beehives, maybe about thi
or four feet,” Holley sai
“which required coura
since I had been attacked
about five bees at one tii
about five years ago.”
Working with the electi
company’s personnel al
was valuable experience ss
Holley.
“While working with Lar
Johnson, the Member Servi
Director, he gave me the i
portunity to write my ownS
ries after which he would
over them and make sugl*
tions as far as improvii
them, but it was always left
me as to what aproach
use.”