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4B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, January 17, 2002
Grad. school applications expected to rise ToplD

The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - TI

By Jenni Glenn
Daily Arts Writer

In the midst of an economic recession, the
members of the Class of 2002 are weighing the
option of graduate school before they decide to
enter the workforce.
At least that is the conclusion at area test prepa-
ration centers, which are seeing evidence of
increased interest in graduate school among stu-
dents. Enrollment for-graduate test classes rose
this year at centers including the Princeton
Review and Kaplan. The centers offer preparatory
courses on graduate school exams such as the
MCAT and the LSAT.
Kaplan's graduate testing business increased 20
percent nationally between January 2001 and
October 2001, said Kaplan spokeswoman Bonnie
Eissner. She added that this growth suggests more

students will apply to graduate school this year.
"Since the majority of students who prepare for
business, law or medical school do so with
Kaplan, our numbers are strong predictors of
future trends," Eissner said.
Increased numbers of students also signed up
for the preparation courses at the Princeton
Review, said Amber Clark, assistant director of
outreach for the center at 1220 S. University Ave.
She said this is typical for a year when the econo-
my is in recession.
"I think there are a few more people out there
who are searching for something because of the
economy," Clark said.
LSA senior Robin Trombley modified his plans
to deal with the state of the economy. Originally,
he wanted to head to New York City after gradua-
tion and try his hand at acting. In light of the Sept.
11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and

the economic recession, he said he decided it
would be too hard to break into performing.
"As it is, it's difficult to get a job (in acting),"
he said. "Now it's nearly impossible."
Trombley said he opted to take the GRE exam
this semester instead. After his graduation, he said
he will try substitute teaching for a year while he
decides whether to find a more permanent job or
return to school to earn either his master's degree
or teaching certificate.
Like Trombley, most University students who
attend graduate school choose to work for a year
or two before they return to academia, said Terri
LaMarco, associate director for employee rela-
tions at theCareer Planning and Placement office.
The approximately 20 to 25 percent of students
who do continue their education are merely
changing their timing as a result of the economy,
she said.
Rather than working for a few years, members
of this year's graduating class tend to consider
attending graduate school before entering the job
market, she said.
Graduate school is "still not a good choice if
you're going just because of the economy,"
LaMarco said. "You should be looking for person-
al enrichment."
But graduate programs can serve as a viable
alternative to looking for work in a tight job mar-
ket. Until she found a job at a Fortune 500 com-
pany, LSA senior Jen Cowley said she intended to
take the LSAT and apply to law schools.
"I did have a back-up plan to go back to school
if I didn't get a job offer," she said.
Cowley said she found it more difficult to find
a job than her acquaintances who graduated last
year by pursuing job openings more intently.
An environment where fewer employment
opportunities are available like this often causes
demand for preparatory courses at Kaplan to
grow, Eissner said. In particular, she said business
and law programs become more popular because
they are influenced more by the job market than
programs that involve long-term planning like
medical school. The company's GMAT business
rose 34 percent and LSAT business increased 26
percent during the first 10 months of 2001 as a
result, she said.
The flexibility of these graduate programs con-
tinues to provide an alternative to the job market
for students. Trombley said many 9f his friends
plan to attend graduate school immediately after
graduation. They will wait out the recession while
continuing their education.
"If I weren't burnt out, I'd probably do the same
thing," he said.'

ELITE ENTERTPIMMENT EXPOSITION
AN OPEN APOLOGY TO A GIRL IN MY
ENGLISH CLASS

NO

Courtesy of Interscope
No Doubt about it, it sucks ass.
B ILLOERD
TP 10
1. Weathered, Creed - Creed
will launch their "Sucking Hard '02"
tour later this month.
2. Hybrid Theory, Linkin
Park - This and Creed, No. 1 and
No. 2. Sad.
3. Word of Mouf, Ludacris -
I'm still really having a hard time
with the "f."
4. Silver Side Up,
Nickelback - Three of the top
fouralbums are this bad, wait, four of
four.
5. Now 8, Various Artists -
Now that's what I call shitty.
6. A Day Wthout Rain, Enya -
Sweet, enough mooching off of Lord
of the Rings. You're still awful.
7. Pain is Love, Ja Rule - All
he needs is to stab someone and get
off, and he'll be the biggest rapper in
the land. Yeah, that's right Jay-Z, Ja is
coming for you.
8. M!swdaztood, Pink - Pink
like what? Like a taco?
9. Stillmadc, Nas - Stillmatic,
this is one of those "colloquial"
terms.
10. Rocksteady, No Doubt -
Rounding out the top 10 for the week,
the party-ska band No Doubt. Sweet.

BRT MUUNIAIN/Uaily
LSA sophomore Semyon Zarkhln listens to study tips given at the Princeton Review MCAT preparation class.

WriT' S NEWS IM ENTERTEIMMENT

"BlackHawk Down" under fire for
racism - Ridley Scott's film con-
cerning a U.S. military disaster dur-
ing the Battle of Mogadishu in
Somalia in 1993 has come under
heavy criticism for its allegedly one
sided presentation of the events por-
trayed in the film. Both Elvis
Mitchell of The New York Times and
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment
Weekly have raised concerns that the
position of the Somalis is not fairly
represented.
According to the Internet Movie
Database, Producer Jerry
Bruckheimer has responded to the
accusations of racism by saying "I
don't know if he saw the movie,
because the second scene in the pic-
ture is a conversation between one of
the supporters of Adid, who's very
articulate, very smart, and gives you

the Somali point of view." questions
as to whether this controversy will
hurt the film's chances at the
Academy Awards by saying "it's pos-
sible," but he took comfort in the
fact that the film has made many
critics' top ten lists.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
paid $77 million not to
get pregnant -
Zap2it.com reports
that the actress , who'
is married to
Michael Douglas,
recently signed a
nine-picture deal
for $77 million
that stipulates
that the deal is
void if she has
any more chil-

dren before 2005. Zeta-Jones' pregnancy
during the _ filming of Steven
Soderbergh's "Traffic" was worked into
the plot, but ......... is not anxious to shoot
around another pregnancy.
Coen Brothers go commercial -
The filmmakers have agreed to make
a 30 second commercial for
H&R Block that will run
during the SuperBowl.
The Internet Movie
Database reports that the
Beatles' song "Taxman"
will be featured in the
commercial. The
brothers reportedly
commented, "We
have always been
fascinated with the
mysteries of the
Courtesy of wirelmage tax code."

TE 03. LL uSTIR
OF T HE WEEK
John Travolta
The actor demanded that the con-
tract for his new movie "Basic"
include the provision of eight $350
Armani shirts per day. Travolta, a
devout member of the Church of
Scientology, doesn't believe in the use
of dry cleaning chemicals, so he can't
wear the same shirt twice. Hey, we'll
give you one shirt for every good
movie you've made since "Pulp
Fiction." We've got $350 to spare.