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University Daily Kansan / Friday, February 21, 1992
OPINION
How not to get a job
Now is about the time that graduating seniors should begin to contemplate interviewing for a real, honest to goodness job.
I've attempted to find a job that would support myself the same number of times I've flown to Jupiter on a space rocket made of cotton candy, but I still feel I have some important interview tips to offer based on the facts that: 1) I've held a job or two in my time, 2) I can make stuff up pretty well, and I don't see why I can't do that with interview tips too.
First, the interview preparation. To help you with this I've devised a handy checklist to make sure you've done everything that's required for your first interview.
-Helpless and mindless gurgling
Birth.
—Taking, or at least cognitive gurgling.
- Sixteen years of schooling. Gosh, did you ever stop to realize you've been going to school for 16 years — actually 17 with kindergarten? I hope that doesn't make you feel OLD. You have enough to worry about already without me telling you how OLD you are. Just because a tree I planted 17 years ago is now 50 FEET TALL doesn't mean you should feel the slightest bit OLD!
A piece of paper that says you've graduated from an institution of higher learning — which is just a fancy way to say you're graduating in many years under the influence of alcohol.
If you have accomplished every item above, you're prepared for the interview. See, you have nothing to worry about. (Except maybe how OLD you are. Sorry, couldn't resist.) Now that you're ready for the interview, there are a few things you must keep in mind during the interview.
Rich Bennett Staff columnist
First, remain calm. Just because
this interview could be the difference between making millions of dollars or living in a cardboard box licking the inside of soup cans, there is no reason to panic.
Secondly, meet everyone you can while you're at the interview, including the secretaries. College advisers repeat this time and time again, and it's usually for this reason that I slap them silly. But it is true. The more people you meet while interviewing, the better your chances are of being remembered. Then again, if you just want to be remembered you could set fire to the carpet.
Don't appear to be shifty. In other words, don't cross your legs, fidget, or use shifty words like "shifty." Touching your face, and certainly anything resembling a nosepick, is out of the question. Don't even try the snake move where it looks like you are going to pick your nose but then you just rub the outside.
Finally, be wary of trick questions. Your interviewer will undoubtedly ask enormously open-ended questions designed to see how fast you can think on your feet. Here is a quick guide to prepare you for those difficult questions:
A) Well, I'm energetic, hard-work-
ing, and I love working with people.
I feel I would use these attributes every
day that I work for you.
B) Who wants to know?
C) Don't play games with me (inter-
viewer's first name here, or better yet,
a nickname). It says right there on my
resume who I am.
2. What specific strengths do you feel you would bring to this job?
I am very personable, dependable, and I think fast on my feet.
C) I deal well with people and only kill when provoked.
A) I had an internship in a big city where I got a lot of hands-on practical experience.
B) I learned that if you drink a lot of water after a long night of drinking you won't be as hungover the next day.
3. What one experience during college will help you the most if you work here?
C) What do you mean, "If I work here?" You'd be a fool not to hire me, and once you do, I'll have your job inside of three months.
4. What are you looking for in the way of salary?
A) Oh, it's negotiable.
B) Money and a lot of it. We're talking six figures here, pal.
C) Well, that depends. How much do you make?
If you answered "B" or "C" to any of these questions, you have shown an excellent ability to think on your feet. And it's a good thing, because that's exactly where you'll be — on your feet and in the unemployment line.
When you finally do land a job, just remember how much this advice helped you. And in case you have trouble remembering, don't worry. If I'm unable to find a job, I'll make sure to remind you repeatedly in a cheap attempt for a handout.
Rich Bennett is an Overland Park senior majoring in journalism.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KU buildings need insurance
In the tornado state of Kansas, faith in self-insured buildings is an idea gone with the wind.
Ask anyone what comes to mind when they hear the word "Kansas," and responses invariably will include "Dorothy," "Toto" and especially "tornadoes." Indeed, frightening, unusual weather does seem to be one of this state's biggest claims to fame. One would think anyone owning property here and not insuring it against such acts of nature would have at least one ear out of the water, so to speak. But 70 percent of the buildings on state university campuses in Kansas are not insured right now.
Regent Charles Hostetler has asked the Joint Committee on State Building Construction to give the Regents approval to purchase insurance for these buildings, a plan long overdue.
Some legislators hold the opinion that state buildings are self-insured. But, as those of us
on the University of Kansas can attest, that is certainly not the case with Hoch Auditorium. The state has not come up with the $18 million needed to rebuild the much-needed classroom space destroyed by lightning last summer. Nor is financing for total reconstruction planned for the near future.
Hosteller estimated that the total premium for insuring all structures valued above $100,000 would be between $750,000 and $1.2 million annually. This cost may seem prohibitive with all the financial difficulties the state currently is experiencing, but $18 million paid over a period of fifteen years is much easier to accept than the whole amount up front, as in the case of Hoch. And that is just one building.
Hostetler raises the question as to what would happen if a tornado wiped out more than one building on a campus. For all of us living in Kansas, that is not such a far-fetched question.
Kate Kelley for the editorial board
Books can combat ignorance
Banning controversial material from schools will not allow children to learn from our past
Banning books containing racial language and sexual innuendo from children who are old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong only keeps them ignorant.
In O'Fallon, Ill., a man with a sixth-grade daughter is trying to ban "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" from her classroom. Although the book contains racial language that is unacceptable today, children should be allowed to read it. A child should learn about these offensive words in school rather than on the streets.
gone through.
But reading these kinds of books in the classroom alone is not solving the problem. Instead, educators must provide their students with accompanying information about why this language was being used and what they can learn from it. If a teacher takes the time to explain why the words are intolerable in today's society, what the consequences of using the language are and how they pertained to our past, children would become more aware of the changes our world has
Banning books containing sexual innuendo also shelters children from reality. When it is time for them to start experimenting with sex, children must be aware of the consequences as well as knowledgeable about what they are doing to their bodies. Some may disagree and feel that sex should be taught at home. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. By educating children with books and classroom instruction, our children can be better informed individuals.
Today it is inevitable that most people will be exposed to some sort of sexual activity before marriage and even before high school. By banning books with foul language we are letting our children learn it off the streets. For parents who do educate their children about sex, the information taught in the classroom can only enhance the learning. Seeing people stricken with diseases, unwanted pregnancies and so on illustrates the need to educate our future adults.
Banning books that represent past and present behaviors will shelter our children from reality. We need to educate in order to fight ignorance.
Julie Eileen Litt for the editorial board
Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the University Daily Kansan editorial board. Opinions expressed in letters, cartoons and guest and staff columns are solely those of the author or artist. Views expressed in columns and cartoons are not necessarily shared by the Kansan.
Wise up, philosopher
Philosophy often has the reputation for being the enemy of common sense. Folks think of philosophers as "admirals in the Kansas Navy." Philosophers are the ones who can never make a decision because they are not sure anything really exists, or they can never be happy because everything exists and does nothing else.
Most of the ribbing that philosophy gets is undeserved. Philosophers are among the most even-keened, to-the-point, common-sensical people I've known. However, Eric Fliokoski, a KU senior majoring in philosophy, is an outstanding exception. Judging from his attempt at satire in the Feb. 12 Kansan, Flokoski is as informed by reality as Ronald Reagan, O. G. Carr, and Stephen Hawking. In Eastwood, Axel Rose and anyone else who is a legend in his own mind.
If Folkoski wants to satirize KU feminists
intelligently, he should find out what they actually say. To do that, he should listen to them and read them instead of fabricating them from his not-so-philosophical armchair.
Lawrence KU graduate
Lettersto the editor
Ticket policy is alright
First, the athletic director and his staff do not determine the student ticket allocation for Allen Field House. That determination is a matter of the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation Board policy, which is now and has been for as long as anyone can remember, that 45 percent of the seating will be allocated to students. Further, to prevent erosion of that number, the KUAC Board two years ago adopted an additional stipulation that any student tickets not purchased in any year would be made available for sale to the faculty, staff and general public on a one-year, nonrenewable basis and returned to the student pool the following year.
In the Jan. 31, 1992, Kansan, an editorial entitled "Ticket policy slights students," contained several inaccurate statements which should be corrected.
Second, this year we sold 31 tickets less than last year and 331 more than two years ago (1989-90). The 31 ticket difference between this year and last year is primarily due to people who were not enrolled in at least seven hours, or who had dropped out of school at the time they picked up their tickets.
Third, the total number of seats made available to students this year is 7,187. This includes sports combo tickets sold, student athletes, marching band, basketball pep band and spirit squad. These 7,187 seats represent 49.9 percent of the seating capacity (15,643). In other words, students have 148 seats more than the standard 45-percent allocation.
Finally, to our knowledge, no other major
Division I basketball program in the country, which is in a sellout situation, has as high a percentage of seats allocated to students as we do. At Indiana, for example, students can only see every other game because of the limited number of tickets allotted to them.
The KUAC Board and Athletic Department are keenly aware that the enthusiasm that makes the field house the best place in the nation to play basketball originates with the students. This is reflected in the board's student ticket allocation policy.
Stephen Parker Chair, KUAC Board of Directors Letter hurts feminists
Kaufman expressed concern that I was speaking for all women. Yet she used broad generalizations and incorrect assumptions to get her point across.
I absolutely agree that all women are not the
same. However, there are many statistics that illustrate the patriarchal power structure of our society. Twenty-seven percent of college women have been victims of rape or attempted rape. Only 2 percent of the reported rapes result in a conviction. On the very day that Kaufman's letter appeared, a report was printed of a woman having been sodomized near her home.
Currently in two states, if a man forces a woman to have sex it is never rape if they are married. A man with a high school diploma will earn more than a woman with a college degree. There are only two women in the U.S. Senate. Finally, a woman has never held the positions of vice president or president of this country.
TIFFANY HARNESS Editor
The fact that I was described as "living in a man-hating microcosm," and had sarcastic remarks made about my social life attests to the damaging stereotype of a feminist woman.
- Rebecca Pickens
- St. Louis senior
KANSAN STAFF
VANESSA FUHRMANS Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
Editors
EDUCATION
News .. Mike Andrews
Editorial .. Beth Randolph
Planning .. Lara Gold
Campus .. Eric Gorski/Rochelle Oleson
Sports .. Eric Nelson
Photo .. Julie Jacobson
Features .. Debbie Meyers
Graphics .. Aimee Braunad/Jile Meewes
JENNIFER CLAXTON Business manager
Campus sales mgr .. Bill Leibengood
Regional sales mgr .. Rich Harbisonberg
National sales mgr .. Scott Hanna
Co-op sales mgr .. Arne Johnson
Production mgrs .. Kim Wallace
Marketing director .. Lisa Keeler
Marketing director .. Kim Clintax
Course coordinator .. Leah Ward
Classified marr .. Kie Chin
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
JAY STEINER Retail sales manager
Business Staff
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Stick
by David Rosenfield