The Highacres Colleg Friday, November 11, 1977 Vandalism Closes Gym Building By Cathy Rusinko Collegian News Editor Acts of vandalism were cited as the ' reason for suspension of all physical - education programs other than scheduled /, classes, according to the campus Athletic Department. h “The Physical Education Building was C closed to make students aware of the if damage being done; if they see something f suspicious in the future, hopefully, they W will make someone in the. athletic department aware of it,” said Bruce Young, Director of the Physical Education Building Young explained that the building was closed for a one week period from October 17-22 as a result of vandalism which oc curred before the first half of the Fall term had ended. Acts of vandalism cited by Young included lavatory fixtures torn from their foundations, various markers and signs removed from the walls, ceiling tiles broken, trash cans kicked around, and lockers damaged. Continued on page 8 College Enrollment Expected to Decrease Throughout most of this century more jobs were available to college graduates than there were college graduates who wanted them. In the 1970’5, the opposite has been true. College graduates looking for work in the 1970’s were caught in a three-way squeeze: more people were graduating than in the 60’s, a larger percentage of the graduates wanted to go to work rather than continue their schooling, and large numbers of students who had attended college in the 1960’s completed their postgraduate training. As a result of the surplus, many college graduates were hired at salaries that did not keep pace with inflation, some could find no job at all, and others were unable to find a job usually given to college graduates. Starting salaries are sensitive to the general health of the economy and to the supply of college trained workers. Since the supply of college graduates in the early 1970's was greater than the economy could absorb, the starting salaries of most college graduates actually declined during this period when adjusted for inflation, a fact pointed out by Richard Freeman in “The Over-Educated American,” Since the starting salaries, adjuted for inflation, for seventies’ graduates have been lower than those of sixties’ graduates, the lifetime earnings of seventies’ graduates may also be lower than the lifetime earnings of sixties’ graduates. If seventies’ graduates do earn less, their rate of return for the cost of college will be lower than the 10 to 12 percent estimated for the class of '69. Richard Freeman estimates that the rate of return for the class of ’73 could be as low as 7.5 percent, still a better return than most savings banks, but a lower return than that offered by some investments. Un(der) employment. Working for a relatively lower salary than the one paid to the previous years’ graduates may be disappointing. Not working at all is worse. In October 1972, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates stood at 11.7 percent, according to the lIS Oenartment Published By Students of The Hazleton Campus of the Pennsylvania State University %m suft sub Members of the Student Union Board are gathering for a meeting to plan future activities on campus. They are proud to say that they are the activities people. (Photo by David Kraft) of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); the rate for high school graduates in the same age group was 7.7. A CPC survey of 1972 graduates conducted during the summer and fall of that year discovered an 18 percent unemployment rate. An astonishing 21 percent of the male arts and humanities graduates had not even received a job offer. These extremely high unemployment rates for recent college graduates should not be confused with the unemployment rates for all college graduates. In March 1972, the unemployment rate for college graduates was 3.1 percent, according to BLS; the rate fonhigh school graduates was 5.6. In March 1976, the college rate was 2.8 percent, less than half the high school rate of 8.2 percent. One might also note that by November 1974 the unem ployment rate for liberal arts majors in the class of ’72 was almost the same as the national average, according to a survey Michael Walsh describes in “Change,” September 1975. The unemployment rate in Walsh’s sample was 6.4 percent. The national average in November 1974 was 6.2. The anger and despair caused by unemployment can be understood even by people who have never had difficulty finding work. Underemployment, working in a job that does not make full use of a person’s education and ability, exerts more subtle pressure. Underemployment is extremely difficult to measure, in part because many people feel underutilized even though they work at jobs usually held by college graduates and receive a salary higher than the national average for college educated workers. Walsh found that more than 20 percent of the 1972 liberal arts graduates he surveyed considered themselves un deremployed; however, half of those who felt underemployed had jobs traditionally held by college graduates and earned more than $B,OOO in 1974. What’s Past Is Prologue. When a cow finds a bale of hay in the same place every Hazleton, Pennsylvania v&f ; ! ■§ , if r %| <r morning, she’s likely to expect it to be there the next morning. If the hay isn’t there one day, she might be puzzled. What will happen tomorrow? Will there by hay or not? The same question confronts those who try to estimate the value of a college education. Were the low starting salaries of the seventies a temporary phenomenon or the first sign of a lasting decline in the probability of a college degree? To answer that question, we must know how much college will cost in the future, how many students will graduate, and howmany jobs will be available for the graduates. The National Center for Education Statistics, DHEW, estimates that students in public institutions of higher education will pay about $2OO per year more for tuition, fees, room, and board in 1984-85 than they had to pay in 1974-75. The cost of a private college or university could rise $4OO. The average expense to a student will increase even more if less scholarship money is available in the future than was available through the early seventies. The National Center for Education Statistics also estimates that the number of bachelors’ degrees conferred will rise from 944,000 in 1974-75 to 1,076,000 in 1984- 85. A total of 11,328,000 bachelors’ degrees may be awarded between 1975 and 1985. Not all college graduates go to work, and not all entrants to the labor market with college degrees come right out of school. But if past patterns of entrance into the labor market remain unchanged, about 10.9 million people with bachelors’, masters’, doctoral, or first professional degrees will start looking for work bet ween 1974 and 1985, according to estimates by BLS. An additional 2.25 million people with college diplomas will reenter the civilian labor force. They include people separating from the armed forces and women returning to the labor force after raising children. A total of 13.1 million college graduates will, therefore, be reading the want ads and sending out applications. During this same period, BLS estimates that only 12.1 million jobs Continued on page 4 £U& Sa& Student Government Association to Conduct Survey By Cathy Kusinko Collegian News Editor Highacres Student Government Association will conduct an opinion survey to determine campus support of the recently adopted campus mascot, the “Condors.” The survey is the result of numerous discussions among campus members concerning the mascot. The adoption of a campus mascot was inaugurated by a committee organized last winter which included Dr. William J. David, Campus Director; Mr. Joseph McCallus, Dean of Student Affairs; Mr. . Everett Binns, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs; Mr. Art Boyce, Acting Residence Hall Coordinator, the campus athletic staff, and student representatives. This committee felt that a campus mascot would provide the Hazleton Campus and the Hazleton Campus Athletic Teams with a sense of identity. Following months of discussion in cluding meetings with faculty and staff members, the committee arrived at four prospective team nicknames and two prospective team color combinations which were presented to the campus community in ballot form during the spring term of 1977. The election was won by the name “Condors” and the colors “Green and Gold,” which were sub sequently adopted as the Hazleton Campus team nickname and colors. As a result of requests, and many questions concerning the appropriateness of the mascot by students, the Student Government Association will conduct a campus survey on the matter on November 30th during registration. The survey results will be published in a future issue of the COLLEGIAN. Inside The - Collegian Collegian Personality... P. 12 Club News P. 3 & 4 - ' Editorial P. 2 Entertainment Reviews . P. 9 Letters To The Editor P. 2 Sports P. 6& 7 ' “News is as hard to hold as quick silver. and it fades more rapidly than any morning glory. ” ian Volume 13, Number 2 H i m M
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers