The Michigan Daily - Saturday, June 11, 1983 - Page 3
Youths meet Job Corps deadline
By DAN GRANTHAM
with wire reports
A flurry of activity marked the last da3
plications for the Michigan Youth Corps jobs i
yesterday, as young people rushed to off:
register before the 7:00 p.m. final deadline.
"They're really pouring in today," said Ka
Robinson, director of the program in Ann Arb
THE YOUTH CORPS program was be
Governor James Blanchard this May to he
than 60,000 youths find jobs this summer.
Officials at the Michigan Employment S
Commission offices, which accept the appli
said there was a notable increase in the nu
Ann-Arbor and Ypsilanti applicants as the d
approached.
Robinson attributed at least part of the inc
the many high school students who started si
vacation this week.
VIRGINIA RICHIE, director of the Y
program, said the MESC office in Ypsilanti als
"flurry of people" apply yesterday.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Ypsilanti of:
received 689 applicants since registration
Invention
convention
explores
marketing
techniques
By DAN GRANTHAM
and
JAYNE HENDEL
More than 300 inventors from around
the midwest gathered at the University
yesterday to learn how to get their
ideas from the drawing board to the
commercial market.
The two-day conference, entitled
"Making Invention Work," offers in-
ventors fifteen workshops on how to
fund, market, and license their
products.
THE CONVENTION is part of a chain
of programs the federal government is
holding around the country to en-
courage the development of energy-
related products, according to George
Lewett, chief of the federal Office of
Energy-Related Inventions.
While some workshops dealt with how
to get new ideas off the ground, others
told inventors how to make money once
they were ready to sell their creations.
Inventors must remember that
customers are the most important
aspect of selling a product, said Ann
Arbor marketing consultant Carter
Good in the session called, "Marketing
Your Product.
WITH SOME products, however, this
can be very difficult. For example,
Caroline Roi, whose Ann Arbor com-
pany, The Soya Plant markets tofu,
(pressed soybean curd), said that her
company must appeal to a diverse
group of customers to be successful.
Tofu is a 2,000-year-old traditional
staple of Oriental cuisine, but many
American health-food lovers have
recently started to eat tofu, she said,
which makes marketing very difficult.
Roe says she is now targeting
the"Brie and Perrier crowd," because
tofu has become an "in" food.
Fifteen organizations, including the
University, are joining the government
in sponsoring the conference, which en-
ds today._
June 1, Richie said. In Ann Arbor 475 people had ap-
plied for the program, Robinson said.
Patterned after New Deal programs of the 1930s,
the Youth Corps jobs program is an effort by state
leaders to relieve high unemployment among 18 to 21
year olds, especially in Detroit and Flint.
STATE AGENCIES will use the lists of applicants
to hire 60,000 youths to do road repairs, work in state
parks, and participate in conservation programs.
State officials are hoping to hire nearly all of the
people who apply.
Before the applications are passed on to state
agencies, however, they are ranked to give youths
who are the head of their household the top priority in
hiring. The rest of the screening is done by the agen-
cies.
Kelly Rossman, a spokesperson for the Youth Cor-
ps Program state-wide, said it has been very suc-
cessful. Over 55,000 people had applied by Thursday,
and well over 5,000 more were expected to register
yesterday, Rossman said.
"WE'RE VERY pleased with the applications,"
she said. "The kids have responded superbly."
The response in Ann Arbor was smaller than the
JML
state's larger cities like Detroit, Flint, and Lansing,
which together accounted for one-third of the ap-
plicants statewide, Rossman said.
She attributed the low Ann Arbor turnout to the
number of University students in the area.
WE FEEL that because of summer, the majority of
the kids staying in the area are enrolled in school and
don't have time for a job, or have already found a
part-time job,"she said.
Some state legislators, however, expressed some
dissatisfaction yesterday at the amount of money to
be spent on promotion and advertising for the
program.
State officials plan to use about $60,000 of the
budget to purchase caps, buttons, reflective vests,
and hard hats for workers. Each of the items will
bear a green and white emblem with a "Michigan
Youth Corps" logo in the middle, and Governor Blan-
chard's name at the bottom.
"It seems to me we're really heading off here in a
rather silly direction," said Senate Republican
leader John Engler. Engler said the money could
have been used to provide 50 or 60 additional jobs.
Michigan Futurity competitor Philip Laren is deep in thought contemplating the consequences of his next move. The
chess tournament was held in the basement of the Union yesterday.
Topcehess players compete for
prizes and international ratings
By HALLE CZECHOWSKI
Entangled in silence, heavier than any found in Univer-
sity libraries, 10 of the top chess players in America have
been fighting it out in the basement of the Michigan Union
since last Saturday.
The Second Annual Michigan Futurity conference
draws chess players from across the nation competing for
more than $524 in prizes and a chance to be internationally
ranked.
PLAYERS AT this week's conference have already
been rated among the top 1 percent in the nation by the
United States Chess Federation, said Jim Kulbacki tour-
nament director.
"It's a relatively major tournament," said Jonathan
Schroer, a semi-pro from Stoneybrook, New York. It's
not an international tournament, but it's- the next best
thing," said Shroer, one of the four internationally ranked
players who received $100 plus expenses to attend the
tournament..
If a player wins enough games to be ranked inter-
nationally he can compete at international tournaments
and receive reduced entry fees, said Kulbacki.
"ONCE YOU get one of those ratings it's like free
money," said Albert Chow, Illinois state chess champion.
"The chance to get an international rating is almost im-
possible," added Chuck Schulien, competitor from Ohio
State University.
The tournament at the Union is especially important for
chess players from the Midwest because so few inter-
national competitions are held in this area.
THE ALL-male competitors ranged in age from 13 to 52,
but most players were between 18 and 21. Most of the
competitors have full-time jobs, but a few quit jobs or
college to become professional chess players.
"Most of (the players) are drop outs from life," said
Andy Beider, chess player and insurance salesman from
Farmington Hills.