The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 24, 1992 - Page 5
Students fear recession job
slump, crowd CP&P office
by Ilona Greenfield
As the recession drags on and the
unemployment rate slowly rises,
many students say they perceive that
the "Land of Opportunities" is
becoming a "Land of
Disappointments."
As LSA senior Jeff Paul com-
mented, "The recession is still here,
'The recession is still
here, and the job
market is not as large
as people said it
would be. Things don't
seem to be getting
better.'
- Jeff Paul,
LSA senior
and the job market is not as large as
people said it would be. Things
don't seem to be getting better."
Students said that they are feel-
ing frustrated because of the reces-
sion. LSA senior Jennifer Trabin
said, "Companies are saying that
they would have hired me a few
years ago, but now they can't. Most
don't know if they're hiring yet."
Some students, such as Engineer-
ing senior Allan Dewey, said they
are considering changes in the
future.
"If this were a normal time in
the economy, I would just apply to
the aerospace companies. Now I'm
thinking of going into consulting,
graduate school, or another
technical field," Dewey said.
Career Planning and Placement
(CP&P) Director Deborah May said
that CP&P is the busiest she has
seen it in her 10 years working at the
center, largely due to the pressures
of the recession.
"It's always been wild, but not
as wild as this year," she said. "It is
not unusual to come in on an
afternoon and not be able to find a
seat."
May said that students feel un-
duly worried. She said she is trying
to encourage students to take this
nervousness and "translate it into
action."
The first step of this action, ac-
'cording to May, is to determine
"who are you, what are your skills
and values, what might be out there
for you in terms of career
opportunities."
May said that despite CP&P's
efforts, the number of companies
that recruit on college campuses has
dwindled.
According to a Northwestern
University report, 54.5 percent of
the 259 companies surveyed cut the
number of college campuses from
which they recruit.
May said the University has ex-
perienced a 12 percent drop in busi-
ness recruiting, and added that some
campuses have experienced as much
as a 30 percent decrease.
May said that because of mergers
and foldings of many Fortune 500
Companies, their recruiting
strength has dwindled.
Because firms can no longer eas-
ily afford to come to campuses, May
said, many students are ieeing anx-
ious and threatened.
CP&P has sponsored 197 pro-
grams since September to teach stu-
dents how to conduct their own off-
campus job search, May said. She
added that workshops designed for
first-, second-, and third-year stu-
dents have become increasingly
popular.
Despite all the efforts that
CP&P is making, many students say
they feel an intense crunch searching
for a job. Students now more than
ever feel that they have to be pre-
'It's always been wild, Rackham symposium
but not as wild as this Brinkley Messick speaks during a symposium on ethnicity and nationalism
year. It is not unusual in Rackham Auditorium yesterday.
to come in on an
afternoon and not be"
able to find a seat.' LD S recognizes
- Deborah May,
CP&P director professors, Tsfor
pared - even over-prepared - when
applying for a job.
Nonetheless, the process contin-
ues as students research and apply
for various positions and pursue
possible career options.
Even though students such as
LSA senior Jim Davis feel "pretty
leery and scared," they are spending
more time than they had ever imag-
ined going after the job they desire.
extraordinary effort
by Crystal Gilmore
The Learning Disability Society
(LDS) - a support group for stu-
dents with learning disabilities -
recently recognized 40 University
professors and TAs for taking time
to help students with learning
disabilities.
Asher Stoller, an LDS member,
said the purpose of the awards is
"to let teachers know that students
appreciate their help and to let
other students know about the soci-
ety."
Todd Handel, co-chair of LDS,
said he nominated "teachers who
realized what difficulties the stu-
dents had and willingly gave extra
time to help out."
Chemistry Professor Marian
Chu Hallada and Business Professor
Carleton Griffin were among the 40
University professors and TAs rec-
ognized by LDS.
Hallada said she didn't consider
her efforts extraordinary. "The dis-
abled students I have met have not
been particularly demanding." She
said most students are cooperative
and she does whatever possible to
help there learn.
Griffin said he has had students
with a wide variety of needs. He has
allowed some students to tape
record his lectures and has given
other students extra time to take
tests.
Handel said other teachers al-
lowed students to see their lecture
notes or arranged for students to get
the notes from a classmate.
LDS members said approxi-
mately 60 University students are
registered with Services for Stu-
dents with Disabilities as having a
learning disability.
Stoller explained that certain
students learn differently.
"History of Art teachers are very
'The disabled students
I have met have not
been particularly
demanding.'
- Marian Chu Hallada,
Chemistry professor
good with people with LD" because
of their right-brained teaching
styles, Stoller said.
He added instructors in other de-
partments also try to be helpful,
but sometimes are unaware of the
challenges faced by LD students. He
said some instructors "did not
know about it until they had me."
However, he said the University
is giving more support to students
with learning disabilities.
LDS gives recognition awards to
any teacher who has been nominated
by a student with learning disabili-
ties. Emily Singer, the LDS founder,
said the society does not turn anyone
down for the award.
Don't trust
much about
history
After finally seeing Oliver
Stone's much-ballyhooed movie
JFK, I'm not sure whether I agree
with Stone's theory or not.
This puts me in the minority
- most of the people who saw
the film are ready to either
canonize or incarcerate Stone.
What bothers me about the
entire controversy surrounding the
movie is not who is right and who
is wrong, but the unwillingness of
constituents
on each side
to accept the Matthew
possibility of
being wrong. Rennie
In JFK,
Stone says
the assassina-
tion of
President
John F.
Kennedy was
the result of
an intricate
conspiracy involving everyone
from then-Vice President Lyndon
Johnson on down. Lee Harvey
Oswald, the man charged as
Kennedy's lone assassinis
portrayed as the fall guy for the
whole network.
The investigation into the
conspiracy theory was initiated by
New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison, played by Kevin
Cosner in the movie, after he
found several disturbing inconsis-
tencies in the Warren
Commission's official report.
Stone has used his dramatic
license to lend more credibility to
Garrison's hypothesis.
I don't know what really
happened in Dallas on that
historical November day. Neither
does Stone. Neither does Garri-
son. And neither does the Warren
Commission.
The Warren Commission
could have pulled off oneof
history's biggest lies. Or Oliver
Stone could be a grandstanding
leftover from the '60s who never
met a conspiracy he didn't like.
I'm not ready to take either source
as gospel, but we would be
foolish to dismiss either without
consideration.
The pervading fear is that our
generation, which was not around
when Kennedy was assassinated,
will take Stone's movie as
history. Stone is not qualified to
be a historian, people say, because
he lets his personal biases cloud
his judgement.
My question is: Who doesn't?
We have a tendency to regard
all history as completely objec-
tive, never considering that
historians are not immune from
the biases which affect everybody
else.
You and I could watch the
same event take place right in
front of us and could come away
with different accounts of what
happened. If these discrepancies
are conceivable, why should we
expect such pristine objectivity
from historians who write about
long-removed events?
At one point in the movie,
Assistant D.A. Bill Broussard
yells at Garrison, "How the hell
do you know who your daddy is?
'Cause your mama told you so."
Nearly all the truths we hold
dear require a certain amount of
blind faith. How do we know
anything? Because somebody told
us. Maybe in a history book.
Maybe in a movie.
No historical account should
be exempt from scrutiny. No we
shouldn't blindly accept Stone's
theory just because of its glossy
presentation. But nor should we
buy the Warren Commission
report just because it came from
our government.
The license to write history, to
shape how future generations will
remember the past, is an immea-
surable power. Whomever we
grant this power to must be
monitored closely.
Stone closes his production
with the following message:
"Dedicated to the young, in
Watch out, Wayne
Lorie Seck, a junior majoring in chemistry, steals a hockey puck from Rodney Gleason, an engineering sophomore,
leaving him to watch her drive to the goal.
MSA Environmental Issues
Commission becomes official
Bush requests funds
to clean Great Lakes
by Nicole Malenfant
The Michigan Student Assem-
bly's former environmental ad-hoc
committee became an official com-
mission Jan. 14 as the result of a
student referendum last November.
The new Environmental Com-
mission hopes to use its formal
recognition to expand its ongoing
goal of uniting environmental
groups on campus, educating stu-
dents, and communicating students'
environmental concerns to MSA,
said Commission Chair Nena Shaw.
Shaw petitioned to upgrade the
commission's ad-hoc status last
fall. It was put on the ballot during
the November election, and passed
by a 3-1 margin.
MSA President James Green said
the referendum returns demon-
strated that students believe the
student government should be in-
volved in environmental issues.
Shaw said environmentalism has
become such a big issue on campus
that tenth ctnrdent-. anrd faulnty want
to incorporate it into all aspects of
the educational experience.
"By having the Environmental
Commission on MSA, we will be
providing students with another
outlet to become aware of the issues
and problems facing the environ-
ment today, and how this relates to
each student individually," she said.
The commission began as a part
of Jenifer Van Valey's 1990 presi-
dential campaign, and has grown due
to increased participation and inter-
est. Although it was not an official
part of MSA until Jan. 14, the group
has remained active.
The commission includes mem-
bers from groups such as Environ-
mental Action, Recycle-UM, Rain-
forest Action Movement, GREEN,
and PIRG-UM, and meets weekly to
discuss environmental issues and fu-
ture projects. "This way we keep the
groups networking," Shaw said.
Ivor Kiwi, a member of En-Act,
agreed that this networking is bene-
firial_ "It gives nnity to the envi-
ronmental movement on campus,"
Kiwi said.
"We all have common goals,"
added Dan Rabinovitch, a PIRG-UM
member, "so why not all take a
piece of it and work together?"
Green said he believes that the
group has been able to achieve an
unusual degree of cohesion and unity
and that it is a model for other
groups wishing to unite for a
common cause.
Besides sharing responsibility
for projects, the commission also
plans to have another mug sale this
year in order to promote using
recyclable cups. It is also currently
working on a plan to make the
Michigan Union more
environmentally sound..
Environmental groups on cam-
pus have also begun planning to
come together for Earth Day '92.
Kiwi and Rabinovitch stressed
that they hope to get other groups
and people aware of, and involved in
the commission.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Bush is requesting $61.1 mil-
lion to clean up the Great Lakes in
his fiscal 1993 budget, a 16 percent
increase over this year's allocation,
the White House said yesterday.
If approved by Congress, it
would be the second straight big in-
crease in spending on Great Lakes
programs.
Congress and the administration
agreed on a $19 million increase for
fiscal 1992, bringing the Environ-
mental Protection Agency's Great
Lakes budget to $52.6 million.
An EPA official who spoke on
condition of anonymity said the
Great Lakes budget request contin-
ues a five-year initiative announced
last year by Administrator William
Reilly.
He promised to fight pollution
on a comprehensive basis, simulta-
neously working to stop discharges
directly into the water and protect-
ing the lakes from airborne toxics,
instead of the piecemeal approach
used in the past.
The spending proposal also
would allow continued implemen-
tation of the Great Lakes Critical
Programs Act of 1990. The law set
deadlines for completing a variety
of programs that had been languish-
ing, including strategies for clean-
growing at a more rapid rate than
the rest of the agency ... it's not
small potatoes," the official said.
The budget proposal drew cau-
tious praise from Sen. Carl Levin,
(D-Mich.), and Mark Van Putten,
director of the National Wildlife
Federation's Great Lakes Natural
Resource Center in Ann Arbor.
Both have criticized the EPA's
handling of Great Lakes cleanup in
the past but have said the agency's
performance is improving.
"If the report is accurate, this is
good news for the Great Lakes and
for the millions who depend on this
vast freshwater resource," said
Levin, who sponsored the 1990 law.
He said he wanted more details of
the budget request before comment-
ing further.
"Assuming it's all true and that
there aren't cuts in other programs
that benefit the lakes ... we're very
pleased," Van Putten said. The fund-
ing increase comes as the EPA is
making the Great Lakes a bigger pri-
ority, "and both are long overdue,"
he said.
Van Putten said he hoped the
spending increase indicates the ad-
ministration is committed to break-
ing a logjam on setting federal wa-
ter quality standards for the lakes,
which the Critical Programs Act
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