MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012
PAGE 18
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
EMPLOYMENT
Students struggle to find summer jobs
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN
Havana Mahoney, who just graduated from KU, talks to a customer at The Burger Stand Friday afternoon. Mahoney has kept her job there for nine months now. "You've gotta hit it at the right time when school's getting out and everyone's leaving for the summer or else it can be really difficult," Mahoney explained. Since 2007 the rate of employment has dropped just over 10 percent for those who are between 16 and 24 years old.
VICTORIA PITCHER
editor@kansan.com
After filling out more than 40 applications, both paper and online, Lynsey Becher, a senior from Hutchison, still hadn't landed a summer job. Becher started two weeks before spring classes let out, looking for jobs she had experience in, such as retail and nanny positions.
But Becher kept getting the same response from employers. They weren't hiring until the end of the summer.
"I would have thought it would have been easier to find a job in the summer," Becher said, "but apparently not."
This is a change from years past. Summer is typically the time when the amount of jobs held by students spikes. This July, however, the U.S. Department of Labor reported only 48.8 percent of people between 16 and 24 years old had jobs. Just five years ago, that number was 59.2 percent.
Kate Blocker, co-owner of Express Employment Professionals, a company that provides temporary, contract and direct-hire job placement, 1000 Iowa St., said the economy has something to do with it.
Lawrence, like the rest of the Midwest, was not hit as hard by the recession as the rest of the country, but Blocker says some employers are still weary of hiring. A lot of factors contribute to this, but employers are looking for flexibility in students' schedules.
Jean Milstead, interim vice president of economic development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said the unemployment rate in Lawrence is at 5.3 percent, which is still below the national rate of 8.2 percent. Milstead said Lawrence is usually below 3 percent.
The first week of July, Becher found a job at a babysitting agency. She actually pays the babysitting agency a small fee to find work for her, and there hasn't been much.
"It's one of those things where you don't get work if nobody needs a babysitter." Becher said.
Becher plans to resume her oncampus job in the theatre department once the fall semester begins, but until then, it's a waiting game.
Edited by Megan Hinman
LOCAL
Struggling cultural center reopened
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA, Kan. — After years of financial struggles that prompted a takeover by the city, the Mid-America All-Indian Center in Wichita is out of debt and optimistic about the future, center and city officials sai
The center, which provides meeting space, entertainment events and a museum interpreting the history and culture of the Plains Indians, has reduced staffing and cut some programs to secure its financial future, The Wichita Eagle reported Friday.
The center closed temporarily in 2005 and the city took over its operations because of financial issues and missing artifacts from the museum. Center officials took out a $175,000 loan from the city and paid it off within two years.
It now has enough in savings to stay
open for at least 10 months.
"We sit in a much better position than we did seven years ago," said April Scott, the center's director. "We are completely debt free. We have brought back the powwows. We are vibrant."
The center is sponsoring its second American Indian Festival this weekend, featuring the art, songs, dances and cultures of more than 72 tribes with members in the Wichita area. More than 10,000 American Indians live around Wichita, mostly from Plains and Southwestern tribes.
"If you look at the center now, and compare it to where it has been, it has been exciting to watch it grow," said John D'Angelo, director of the city's arts and culture department.
The center operates on a $440,000 operating budget and attracts about 40,000 visitors a year, D'Angelo said.
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