2 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, June 17, 2002 NURSES Continued from Page 1 Many factors have contributed to the present nursing short- age including low salaries, work environment difficulties and less appeal to the profession. "There is less interest in nursing for a number of reasons. One is how attractive the work appears to the people consider- ing it. Traditionally nursing has drawn the bulk of its people from white women, and their job opportunities have expanded substantially," said Harvard School of Public Health Prof. Jack Needleman, the lead author on a staffing study published May 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Hinshaw said there has been a 30 percent decrease of inter- est in the field of nursing in the past decade and a half The University's nursing school has seen the effects of this decline. "We have seen some drop in enrollment in the last five years but not as much as the national drop, which is 21.5 per- cent below" she said. Calarco said she thinks one reason there is a lack of nurses is because of the demands of the profession. "Part of it is the work itself is challenging ." The work environment has upset many in the nursing field, Hinshaw said. The mandatory overtime, high stress levels and lack of respect are some of the complaints from nurses. The ability for a nurse to feel valued is imperative for their job performance. "The relationship between physician and nurse is important for communication and is better for the retention of nurses." One of the biggest reasons for the current shortage is because of the mass layoffs in the 1990s. "I think this hospital, like many across the country, was facing a lot of financial challenges-and did many things to decrease their costs. We hired more aides than RNs. People did not decrease, but there SHOSHANA HURANDDay Nurse Kelly Howell takes care of a patient in the Birth Center at University Hospital were less RNs," she said. "We know after several years now that that was probably not the best way to do things. That is why we have made such a focus on recruiting." Hinshaw said the layoffs had a major effect on the field of nursing. "(They) depressed the market (and) told peo- ple not to come into nursing because there were no jobs," she said. She added that another reason nursing is not always an attractive profession is because nurses will reach their highest salary in only seven to eight years. Unless nurses go back to school to attain a higher degree, they are limited in their careers. "You top out way too early," Hinshaw said. GOVERNOR Continued from Page 1 "The lieutenant governor has got the experience and vision for Michigan," Washtenaw County Republican Chair- woman Marlene Chockley said, adding that Posthumus's concerns for the economy and education are essential for the state. Brewer said Posthumus has been responsible for much of the suc- cessful legislation of the 1990s such as tax cuts and welfare reform. "Those are things that Posthumus shepherded through the legislature," Brewer said. "(He) has a solid record that I think he can run on." On the other hand, Posthumus opponent Schwarz is attempting to grab moderate voters and was helped by his endorsement last week by former GOP Gov. William Milliken, a moderate to liberal Republican. Washtenaw County Democratic Chairwoman Patricia Scribner said more people will be focused on this year's race in order to find a candidate who will address the issues Engler failed to resolve during his 12 year. tenure. "People are tired of Engler," Scribner said. "They're going to be looking at a candidate who meets their needs." With education being the only area spared cuts for the 2002-2003 fiscal year, K-12 schools and public univer- sities have been a high priority for Engler, University Vice President for Government Relations Cynthia Wilbanks said. She added that she hopes the new governor recognizes the importance of higher education for the future of Michigan. "I think it's a two-way relationship. I would hope that the new governor is considerate of the fact that higher edu- cation is an important priority of the state," Wilbanks said. "We are in a strong position to pro- vide the graduates that this state needs to go forward." HATE CRIMES Continued from Page 1 could see hate crime legislation on the president's desk," he said. Jeff Sheffo, press secretary for Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon), said the fate of the hate crimes bill depends on "a matter of different factors coming together." "Obviously it's very important," he said, while adding that the issue being debated during an election year may have an impact. "Republicans in general have some philosophical and moral prob- lems with the bill," he said, adding that this "hasn't changed" since the bill was debated in 2000. Despite the political wavering on the issue, Frederick McDonald-Den- nis, University director of the office of Lesbian, Gender, Bisexual and Transgender affairs, said he thinks a hate crime bill including sexual ori- entation is a positive and very strong step forward. "I think the impact would be tremendous," he said. McDonald-Dennis said he feels it is already difficult to be open and honest about sexual orientation because it could single out individu- als as potential targets for hate crimes but that the steps toward including sexual orientation in hate crime legislation are encouraging. "It certainly let's us know that the state is concerned," he said. He said he believes people are more educated now about the need for the inclusion of sexual orienta- tion in hate crime legislation, but it is still "unfortunate" that is has failed to be included thus far. "I really urge our state govern- ment to take this legislation very seriously and make it more broad- based," he said. "When we don't see ourselves in the law, it renders us invisible." "It says to perpetrators that on some level its OK to do this, that we don't value these people (the LGBT community)," he added. Ruben Duran, an Engineering jun- ior and a member of Young Ameri- cans for Freedom, said he is against the idea of hate crime legislation as a whole because when prosecuted, hate crimes receive harsher penalties than regular violent crimes. "Any kind of legislation of this nature is placing one class of human beings above another," he said. He said that violent crimes are "not by any means acceptable," but that the use of hate crime legislation to combat specific types of violent crime is not the solution. While this type of classification brings crimes of this nature to light, he said it gives more protection to certain vic- tims than others. Duran said he felt it was more important to give all violent crimes equal weight in the eyes of the law, regardless of distinctions that might set the victims apart. "Bad things committed against individuals should be given equal attention," Duran said. "If we want equality, this is this not the way to get it." Currently, there are 27 states with hate crime laws that include sexual orientation as one of the victim cate- gories, 18 states - including Michi- gan - that have hate crime laws that only pertain to race, religion and national origin and five states with no form of hate crime law. 4 ITORIAL Zac Peskowitz, Editor =F. Sravya Chnrumamilla John Honkala. Kevin McNet MNISTS: ?like Smith 'ORTS J. Brady McCollough, Managing Editor IuR EDITORS: Bob Hunt, Charles Paradis, Jim Weber F: Dary leeettyChisuemurke.itMfntaKn. Matt Kgmo, Kyle OrNenan Scvck UTS Lyle Henretty, L~uke Smith, Managing Editors OR: JefDickerson F:'FngL " Gu 'tt tasi< on:Ytvarz.Scttutila <2 atttekf Ax * Tylrfb 4 Lesley uiemk, Manager Rebecca Goodman. bndsay Ott. John Park. Anne Roesner. Anne Sause, Tarah Saxon, Julie Lee Allyson Wicha, Manager Margaret McGovern, Manager Nancy Cudney