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al. XCV, No. 110 Copyright 1985, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan - Tuesday, February 12, 1985 Fifteen Cents Ten Pages
85 jo
By CARRIE LEVINE
First of a series
This year's college graduates should
be smiling.
They are about to enter a bright job
Sarket with improved salaries and
placement opportunities, according to a
Michigan State University study.
Overall, employers across the coun-
try expect to hire 9.2 percent more
bachelor's degree graduates at salaries
as much as 4 percent higher, predicts
the report, "Hiring Trends for 1984-85."
The study was based on surveys of 658
businesses, industries, governmental
agencies, and educational institutions
f all sizes that hire new college
aduates.
OPPORTUNITIES are on the up-
swing particularly in the technical and
scientific sectors of the economy.
St. Who?.
fag ers
climbto
b market
brightens
Organizations with the brightest hiring
prospects include the petroleum
companies; hotels and recreational
facilities;. automotive companies;
chemical and drug manufacturers;
and, to a lesser extent, public
Carers A
,look abhcad
conglomerates.
At the University of Michigan, more
recruiters have interviewed students
since September than during all of last
year, reports Deborah Orr May, direc-
tor of the Office of Career Planning and
Placement.
"Certainly all indications say that
hiring will be up, based on what we can
tell from interviewing," says Lou Rice,
a counselor at the office.
PLACEMENT officials expect hiring
quotas to jump nationwide. And despite
Michigan's troubled economy, job op-
portunities are on the rise statewide as
well.
"Michigan is definitely up," says
Jack Shingleton, director of MSU's
placement office and author of the 67-
page study released in December. "We
aren't turned around completely, but
we're better."
In 1983, hiring of new college
graduates sunk to its lowest point since
World War II, Shingleton said, but since
then, the trend has reversed.
HE attributed the turnaround to the
strengthened economy coupled with
employer's need to compensate for
early retirement and other belt-
tightening measures.
But he hesitates to say the job outlook
would be as rosy for the Class of 1986.
"It's pretty hard to predict so far in
advance because things change so
rapidly," he says.
This year's study predicts that elec-
trical engineers will be in the greatest
demand. Mechanical engineers, com-
puter science majors, accountants, and
general business administration
majors follow close behind.
DECLINES in job opportunities are
expected for students majoring in
retail, physics, natural resources, and
social science. (See accompanying
chart.)
Liberal arts and natural resources
majors fell on the bottom of the starting
See STUDY, Page 2
PIRGIM
No.
Three
From staff and wire reports
The Wolverine basketball team is
now the third best college team in the
ountry, according to The Associated
ress poll of sportswriters and broad-
asters released last night.
Michigan jumped five spots from last
week's number eight rating in the poll.
The Wolverines moved to seventh, up
from tenth, in the United Press Inter-
national poll, which surveys a group of
coaches. In other polls, Michigan is
ranked third by the USA Today and nin-
th by ESPN.
"They're the .hottest . team in the.
ountry, but they're'hot as good as top-
ranked St. John's or number two
Georgetown," said Drew Esocoff, a
sports assistant with ESPN who voted
Michigan third.
The Wolverines, 18-3 overall and 9-2 in.
the Big Ten, are riding a nine-game
winning streak, including wins over
10th-ranked Kansas, 11th-ranked Iowa,
and Illinois (15th in UPI, 17th in AP).
Most recently, Michigan needed a
tough defensive performance in the
inal 20 minutes of Saturday's contest
gainst Illinois to overcome a 26-24
See NUMBER, Page 9
petitions
for support
By NANCY DRISCOLL
The Public Interest Research Group
in Michigan will submit a proposal to
the regents on Thursday asking for a
one-year extension on its funding con-
tract.
PIRGIM, which is part of a nation-
wide consumer action group that
studies issues such as hazardous waste
and student financial aid, has drawn
fire in recent years from both students
and the regents over the way it gathers
monetary support.
STUDENTS who wish to give money
to PIRGIM need only check a box on
their Student Verification form to have
the $2 fee added to their tuition. This
system has been in effect since 1972.
Under the original guidelines written
by the regents, any organization that
had thersupport of at least 50% of the
students could use the same funding
mechanism. And 13 years ago, over
16,000 students'signed petitions suppor-
ting the group, the largest drive in the
University's history.
The regents stipulated that continued
support of at least a third of the studen-
ts would"be-required to use the system.
Because of changes in the University's
registration system, the student sup-
port requirement was lowered to 25
percent, then 20 percent, and finally
eliminated altogether in subsequent
contracts with PIRGIM.
THE GROUP'S current funding con-
tract expires April 30, 1985, and the
organization says it needs a year to
study alternate means of financial sup-
port.
LSA SOPHOMORE Barry Horowitz,
the PIRGIM local chairman, said the
current funding system is outdated.
See PIRGIM, Page 3
R i !Daily Photo by ALISA BLOCK
Rain?!
Raindrops-surprisingly enough--bead on a window in Tappan Hall overlooking the President's house yesterday after-
noon. Throughout the day, Ann Arbor battled a slippery mixture of rain, snow, and ice, the result of a storm spreading
from the Gulf States to the Great Lakes.
..... .. .
.... .............. .... .......
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.. ............
Education
I secretary
supports
aid cuts
WASHINGTON (AP)-William Ben-
nett, the new secretary of education,
said yesterday that President Reagan's
budget cuts may force some students to
give up their stereos, cars, and beach
vacations to pay for college.
Bennett acknowledged that
eliminating loans and grants for more
than a million college students would
force some families who are already
sacrificing "to tighten the belt even fur-
ther."
BUT HE suggested that other studen-
ts will simply have to forego luxuries.
He likened it to a "divestiture of cer-
tain sorts: stereo divestiture,
automobile divestiture, three-weeks-at-
the-beach divestiture."
I do not mean to suggest this will be
the case in all circumstances, but it
will, like the rain, fall on the just and in-
just alike," said the former philosophy
professor.
Bennet, at his first news conference,
also said the belt-tightening could make
people more cautious about spending
$20,000 on a college education. He cited
a new report from the Association of
American Colleges that concludes the
bachelor's degree has lost much of its
value.
Sea ofmiser%
'84 tax returns due April 15
U oers outdoor adventures
By RITA GIRARDI
April 15 will mark the 73rd anniversary of the sinking of
the Titanic. It is also the deadline for filing this year's in-
come tax returns.
For some this coincidence might only be a humorous
historic fact. But for others drowning in a sea of Internal
Revenue Service jargon the analogy is an ironic twist of
fate.
FORTUNATELY, there are a number of tax-help life
preservers available to students confused about filling out
their returns. One of these is the Voluntary Income Tax
Assistance (VITA) program offered through Project
Community.
The VITA program has offices on the third floor of the
Michigan Union and offers free help in tax preparation to
both students and members of the community.
According to LSA senior John Borradaile, a co-director
of the program, VITA expects to give tax assistance to
about 1,000 people this year.
BORRADAILE and LSA senior Douglas Graham head a
group of 165 student volunteers who have gone through
eight hours of training with a certified public accountant.
Only about 30 percent of the people who use the tax service
are students, according to Borradaile.
"We're very concerned with servicing the elderly and
low income," he said.
VITA now operates an extension service at National
Bank and Trust on S. Main and also has a mobile unit to
visit the homebound who need its services.
Although Borradaile said that the majority of student
returns are "basically routine", the most common
problem they have concerning taxes that are paid on
grant money. There are also a number of foreign students
and out-of-state students who come in with questions con-
cerning visa types or how to report two state incomes.
Because VITA is a nationwide program sponsored by
the IRS, there is no extra penalty charged if your return
has been filed incorrectly. Although any normal penalties
will be assessed as usual. Returns prepared by the
program also go through a quality review process conduc-
See APRIL, Page 2
By GREG MEENAHAN
The next time you're looking for something interesting
to do at the University, why not try rock climbing. Or wind
surfing.
Thanks to a new program, the folks at the North Cam-
pus Recreation Building can help people carry out those
and other not-so-exotic activities like cross-country skiing
and canoeing.
The NCRB's Outdoor Recreation Center, which opened
its doors in September, supplies University students and
Di-TODAY-
Drive-in gift shop
staff members with affordable rental equipment, infor-
mation, and organized group trips, said Dick Pitcher,
NCRB director.
"I'VE RENTED camping gear several times during the
fall-tent, sleeping bag, and all that stuff, said Mike
Ward, a programmer in the industrial engineering depar-
tment. "I've even been rock climbing with the recreation
program. It was a great time."
The center is offering a number of spring break
See STUDENTS, Page 2
pretty good idea." Owner Dick Finley patented the idea of a
drive-through florist and gift shops and opened two Affor-
dable Love stores after realizing that lots of people enjoyed
taking gifts home but, like him, dreaded having to buy
them. "Gift giving, I thought, for the male commuter was
always very difficult," said Finley, 38, who is also a sales
executive for a Pittsburgh metals company. Confident of a
market, he went into business in October, building two
Reagan administration, the PBS airwaves are filled with
soft-sell product plugs, and some public stations are turning
their studios into high-priced lecture halls. "People who
work in public TV and raise money have been trying an
awful lot of things for a long time, but anytime your back is
against the wall, you work even harder," said Michael
Soper, PBS' vice president for development. During an ex-
perimental phase in the early 1980s that provoked much in-
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