hLIFE
Regardless of the
profession, work days
prove far more
demanding than many
people realize.
pages 6-7
Volume 84 No. 5
AH
Are
Teb o w's
actions
commend
able, or is
he going
too far in spreading a
message of Christianity?
Since he is an idol, he
holds influence over
many people, especially
children who may look
up to him.
- Jacob Sechter
r>
News
Soon to be forced
into early retirement
are civilians working
for the US Army due to
decreases in budget.
page 2
Opinion
Thrilled to return
home from the Middle
East, soldiers discover
new problems, this time
financial woes.
page 4
Features
Adam Sandler draws
both chuckles and a few
tears from movie
crowds in his latest
film “Jack and Jill.”
pages
Sports
Winter weather
prompts students to
visit the mountains for
skiing, snowboarding,
and snow tubing.
page 11
Index
News
2
Opinion
3-5
Spread
6-7
Features
8-9
Sports
10-12
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
January 31,2012
College graduates discover grim
job prospects in struggling economy
BY KAT ELLIOTT
&CLAYMILLSAPS
Features Editor & Reporter
As the economy continues
to decline during what some call
"The Great Recession," finding
jobs is growing much more dif
ficult than ever before, especially
in the case of new college gradu
ates. The unemployment rate
for recent college graduates has
risen to approximately five per
cent. The old way of thinking
was that if one attended college,
became well educated, and ac
quired a degree, securing em
ployment would be almost guar
anteed. Then the dream would
extend to purchasing a beauti
ful home and a stylish auto
mobile and being able to sup
port oneself without parental
assistance. Unfortunately, nu
merous college graduates have
recently learned that a sheep
skin diploma no longer guaran
tees that such wishes will
come true.
Joblessness among those
with advanced educations
probably drove the overall rate
higher, as that group makes up
30 percent of the labor force, the
single biggest sector. According
to NACEweb.com, government
figures show there were 2.4 mil
lion unemployed people in
October of 2011 with bachelor's
degrees and higher. In October,
the unemployment rate for
associate degree graduates in
the 20 to 24 year-old age range
was 9.6 percent; however, it
dipped to 7.3 percent for
associate degree graduates in
the 25 to 65 year-old age range.
USA Today's website
published that for bachelor's
degree graduates, the
unemployment rate was 7.7
percent for workers aged 20 to
24 years old and just 4.5
percent for those 25 to 65 years
old. The unemployment rates
for these groups of graduates
have remained relatively
consistent from October 2010.
The biggest shift has occurred
at the bachelor's degree level,
where the rate for graduates in
both age groups has dropped
several percentages.
Not only does the job
market seem unpromising, but
the college loans are haunting
young adults. With no income,
the unemployed college
graduate begins wondering if
attending college was the right
decision after all. Sometimes
these loans can run up to
several thousand dollars,
which can be difficult to pay
off depending upon the
financial condition of the
family. If the parents are not
able to help with these bills,
even more pressure builds for
graduates to find a stable, good
paying job or even to find
multiple jobs.
In July of this year. The
Huffington Post listed online the
top, best-paying majors for
graduates. Educators were not
lying when they said that science
and math are the two subjects
most critical to the future. Nu
merous types of engineering ma
jors all appeared in the top 14 of
the list, which included petro
leum, nuclear, and electrical, as
well as course of studies like eco
nomics, computer science, ap
plied mathematics, and physics.
Through all of these majors, the
smallest starting pay was
$47,300, but the mid-career me
dian salary rose to the $150,000
to $200,000 range.
Since The Huffington Post
posted the top paying jobs, the
online publication decided to
list the majors that earned
the poorest salaries. How
sad that the many of the majors
related to aiding the public, such
as Athletic Training, Elementary
and Special Education, Children
and Family Studies, Social Work,
and Culinary Arts, offered mini
mum beginning salaries at
$29,000 with the mid-career me
dian salary barely rising $15,000
on average.
College graduates still fare
better than their peers with
only a high school diploma, but
even their job prospects are few.
The unemployment rate for
students with just a high
school education staggers at
about 14 percent, while stu
dents with at least a college de
gree have an unemployment
rate near 4 or 5 percent. Hav
ing only a high school educa
tion or even less drastically re
duces the chances of finding a
reasonably paying job.
If the economy begins an
upward slope, it may
become easier for new
college graduates to find
work, but trends make it
seemthat college graduates
will remain trapped in this
position for at least a couple
more years.
Sandusky case prompts victims
across the nation to speak up
BYCLAYMILLSAPS
Reporter
Issues of molestation have
spread across the nation, begin
ning with Penn State's former
assistant football coach Jerry
Sandusky. Since he was
charged with 52 counts of mo
lestation involving young boys
over the past decade, many
other molestation cases have
surfaced since mid-November.
It seems that as soon as a
volatile issue in one field arises,
several other related stories
pop up simultaneously, such as
the sexual harassment claims
involving the previous Repub
lican presidential candidate
Herman Cain to Bernie Fine,
another assistant coach, this
time in basketball from Syra
cuse University.
After a three-year investiga
tion that explored allegations
of Sandusky having inappro
priate contact with a 15-year-
old boy over the course of four
years, the indictment was
made public. The boy's parents
reported the incident to police
in 2009. The jury identified
eight boys who had been
singled out for sexual advances
or sexual assaults by
Sandusky, taking place be
tween 1994 and 2009.
At least 20 of the incidents
allegedly took place while
Sandusky was still employed
at Penn State. Since Sandusky
has been accused of these des
picable crimes, he has resigned
from his position as assistant
coach at Penn State and awaits
a scheduled court date.
Several other cases publi
cized included that of Herman
Cain, who faces multiple
charges of sexual abuse. Unlike
Sandusky's accusations, he has
not been sexually active with
young boys, but rather faces
charges for sexually assaulting
women. Four different women
have come forward, one of
whom appeared publicly to
announce that she had been
harassed. Each of these indict
ments is fairly similar; all the
women claimed that Cain
acted and touched them in
ways that angered them. Most
who accused him once worked
for Cain. With no surprise,
these claims have resulted in
his campaign's demise, thus
causing him to be very un
popular with the American
public. Cain is no longer a front
runner for the Republican
Party because of these charges.
Syracuse University also fell
victim to bad publicity be
cause of a long-standing assis
tant basketball coach, Bernie
Fine. Two former basketball
players accused him of molest
ing them back in the 1980's, but
state prosecutors will not place
any criminal charges against
Fine for the alleged abuse,
which the coach adamantly
denies. The statute of limitations
in both cases expired nearly two
decades ago, just two years after
his accusers, who are now in their
late 30s, passed their 18th birth
days. They cannot sue Fine either.
Under state law, the two men
needed to file a dvil suit against
him before they turned 23.
Fine would not have fared
nearly as well elsewhere in the
country. In a growing number
of states, legal reforms now al
low victims of childhood sexual
abuse to seek civil damages and
criminal charges against their
alleged abusers many years af
ter reaching adulthood. Such re
forms are an acknowledgement
of substantial research demon
strating that abuse victims of
ten require an extensive period
of time before they are ready to
confront their abusers.