WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Workshop aids job search
By Jessica Hood
jhood@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Graduate students looking to work in the federal government gained insight into the application process yesterday.
The Graduate School sponsored the workshop, "Employment with the Federal Government with an Academic Degree." The brown-bag workshop was part of the Graduate School's "Preparing Future Professionals" program. About 30 students attended.
Diana Carlin, dean of the graduate school, said the program was part of an effort to give graduate students more employment opportunities outside of academia.
Danny Sudler, a human resources specialist for the Office of Personnel Management, pro
vided graduate students with tips on applying for a variety of jobs in the federal government.
The most important step in applying was to read the vacancy announcement carefully and follow the directions, Sadler said.
"If you follow the directions and include all the necessary information, they technically have to accept your application on a party napkin," Sadler said.
To keep students interested in the presentation, Sadler asked questions about the covered material and awarded flying discs to students with the correct answers.
Sadler said advantages of possessing a degree included the outstanding scholar program, under which a 3.5 grade point average can qualify a graduate for noncompetitive eligibility for certain government jobs. Another advantage is the federal
student loan repayment program. Under the program, students can have up to $40,000 paid on their federally insured student loans for certain jobs in some federal agencies.
Sadler recommended that students interested in obtaining federal jobs should visit the Web site at www.usajobs.opm.gov to find vacancies.
The résumé builder tool on USA Jobs is a good resource, and has all the information needed for a job. Sadler said.
Karen Willey, a graduate student in geography, learned of the presentation through the Graduate Student listserv and found it helpful.
"It did a good job of giving an indication of where to start looking for those who haven't started looking," Willey said.
— Edited by Anne Mantey
By Eddie Yang
eyang@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Russian pianist to play today
A Russian pianist from an extensive musical family will be visiting the University of Kansas today.
Olga Kern, 2001 Van Cliburn Gold award winner, will give a presentation today at 4:30 at the central court in the Spencer Museum of Art entitled "Rachmaninoff and Me." Kern will speak about Sergei Rachmaninoff, his music and their families' associations. Kern's great-grandmother sang with Rachmaninoff, a Russian composer. Kern's great-great grandmother also played with Russian composer Pytor Tchalkovsky.
Kerns will play for about 15 minutes, said Barbara Bosché, director of education at the Lied Center, but she may play longer.
"We're leaving it up to her on how she wants to handle it," Bosché said.
Bosché said the presentation was free and open to the public.
"She is going to speak in Russian, and it will be translated into English," Bosché said. "The plan is trying to bring together different cultures."
Alice Downs, associate professor of music and dance, said that in the morning Kern would be giving master classes.
Kern began studying piano at five years old. She is a laureate of several international competitions including the Hamamatsu, Ciani and China piano competitions. On June 10, 2001, Kern was the first woman to receive the Van Cliburn Gold award since 1969. In the summer of 2001, Kern made her Boston Pops debut and performed at the Kennedy Center. She was featured
in a documentary on the 11th Van Cliburn Competition, which premiered on PBS stations on Oct. 17, 2001, and was directed by Emmy Award-winner Peter Rosen.
Kern will give a concert in the Lied Center at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets are still available. Kern's 90-minute Lied Center performance will include "Impromptu in F.minor," "D.935, No.1" and "Impromptu in B-flat major" and "D.935, No.3" by Schubert, "Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35" by Brahms, "Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42" by Rachmaninoff, "Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp minor, Op. 29" by Sergey Taneyev and "Islamey" by Mily Balakirev.
"Anybody who enjoys music should enjoy the event," Bosché said.
Governor proposes to balance budget through bonds, taxes
Edited by Anne Mantey
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proposed yesterday that the state issue bonds, speed up collection of local property taxes and take other steps to balance the budget through mid-2004.
Sebelius said her package, which included a gambling provision she had already endorsed, would allow the state to avoid a tax increase and protect education from further funding cuts.
additional $5 million would be captured through a tax amnesty program.
For the current fiscal year which ends June 30, Sebelius proposes issuing $175 million in bonds backed by money from Kansas' $1.7 billion share of a 1998 settlement between states and big tobacco companies. An
Her proposals would raise $224.6 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1, mostly by having Kansans pay half of their property taxes next year in May rather than June.
The Democratic governor said the state must continue a "tight-fisted, sharp-penciled" approach to its budget problems because too many Kansans are suffering in a slow economy.
"I cannot tell the people of Kansas that when it comes to changing its ways, their government has already done all that it can," she said at a news conference.
Some Republicans criticized the proposals, which generally would need legislative approval.
"It's a plan based on debt, gambling and asking people to pay their taxes a month early," said House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. "It doesn't fix anything long-term."
Taken as a whole, Sebelius' proposals would give the state cash reserves of $75.4 million at the end of the 2003 fiscal year and $175.1 million on June 30, 2004.
Such reserves — also called the ending balance or rainy-day fund — are required by a state law which governors and legislators have sometimes worked around. But Sebelius and lawmakers say the reserve is helpful when revenues fall short of expectations.
Sebelius said her revenue package would provide the money needed to fund a $10.2 billion budget she presented in January for the 2004 fiscal year.
Debate on the budget plan opened yesterday in the House, with members quickly rejecting two efforts to spend more for public schools than the $3,863 per pupil the governor had sought.
A proposal by Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, to give all state employees a 2.5 percent raise effective July 1 was defeated on a 77-20 vote yesterday evening. No raises are included in the House budget bill, but the Senate's bill—to be debated starting today—proposes a 1.5 percent raise.
The gambling proposal that
Sebelius supports would allow slot machines and other electronic gambling devices at the state's five dog and horse tracks and in Dodge City if local voters approved.
Developers agreed to pay the state a total of $30 million for gambling licenses.
Selling bonds against the state's eventual revenue from the tobacco settlement had been suggested by some legislators, but others said the timing posed problems.
Mays, who is a securities broker, questioned whether there is much demand for tobacco bonds because several states have already issued them.
Also troubling to Mays was Sebelius' proposal to use the
bond proceeds for highway projects — and use funds originally dedicated to highway projects for other government programs.
Such a plan amounts to using debt to cover the state's operations, Mays said, "Who's fooling whom?"
Sebelius' plan also calls for Kansans to pay the second half of their 2003 property taxes in May 2004 instead of June 2004. The change would provide an additional $162 million in the 2004 fiscal year.
But the proposal still could cause some heartburn, because banks and mortgage companies that collect money to cover taxes from property owners would have to recalculate monthly payments.