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University Daily Kansan Thursday, March 6, 1952
Editorials
52 Graduates To Have Bright Job Prospects
(A recent editorial in the Purdue Exponent carried a welcome word for those of us who will be forced into the cruel world after graduation this spring).
If the armed forces don't claim them, students who graduate from college in 1952 will have the brightest job prospects in American history. And, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study in the current edition of Career, the annual guide to business opportunities, even students who will be inducted into military service will find it fairly easy to find employment when they are discharged.
"Unemployment," says the Career article, "has declined sharply from about three and a half million at the outbreak of Korean hostilities to well under two million." It will be necessary, the study shows, "to draw into the labor market between one and one and a half million more workers than would be available on the basis of recent trends."
The greatest spur to employment has been, of course, the partially revived defense effort and war mobilization. Company interview demands at the campus placement service reflect the trend that engineers and college graduates are needed for all types of jobs in the business world.
The bureau's study observes that "the need for personnel with college training is accentuated in practically every segment of the economy. Engineers, teachers, the whole gamut of specialized and scientific personnel, administrative and managerial personnel, and technicians in many fields are finding not only a long-run increase in demand, but a demand under-scored as well by needs of defense economy."
The future is bright, as evidenced above, for job-seeking seniors. But, someday the situation might reverse. For this reason it is well to stay on the good side of these companies even when jobs are plentiful and the student can have a wide choice. Qualified men are needed by industry, as the Career article points out.
Short Ones
The UDK recently announced that NROTC midshipmen will get water from the seven seas in which to dip their rings. Evidently the ring dance this year will be a big splash.
Chinese Communists are charging the UN with bacteriological warfare, when the real trouble is the bugs in their own war machine.
The AP recently reported that two St. Bernard dogs were discovered hungry and exhausted in the midst of a snow storm in Philadelphia. Do you suppose the man who found them had a can of dog food around his neck?
The UDK announced recently that senior pictures must be taken before March 10 if they are to appear in the 1951-52 "addition" of the Jayhawker. What sort of additions is it going to have?
Scanning the election results for the ugliest man on the Oregon State campus we notice that the ATO candidate only got 14 votes. Some people just don't have what it takes.
Have you noticed that the Lawrence streets too narrow to use before the big snow are now too wide to be cleaned?
University Extension is now offering a course to the Lawrence Flower club which will give a flower show judge's certificate. Just what kind of an examination does one take to be a qualified flower judge?
The Pasadena (Calif.) Independent headlined a who's-going-to-run-for what story, "Truman Jogging—May Still Run."
In Troy, N.Y., Grandma Moses, painter of primitive landscapes, registered as a self-employed person, at 91 received her Social Security number. How secure can you be?
The University of Indiana has come up with a new degree, a master of arts in literary criticism. Now if they'll just establish one in music criticism maybe President Truman could get another honorary college degree.
Proposals For School Spirit
Letters:
Dear Editor:
A few weeks ago the Campus Affairs committee met to discuss school spirit. From the meeting we received several proposals to present to the traditions committee from the All Student Council.
Since the meeting, Tom Murphy, chairman of the traditions committee, has talked to several people on the campus such as Mr. Lonborg, Mr. Nichols, and Chancellor Murphy and is accomplishing the following:
(1.) All of the Jay Jarres and KuKu's are to be admitted to the remaining basketball games.
(2) More coordination between the band and the pep section.
(3.) Cheerleaders' pictures in the annual and on the football programs next year.
(5.) Seeing about getting new Jayhawk costumes.
(4.) Trying to get letters for the cheerleaders.
(6) . Working for more pep and rallies at the K-State game.
We would like any more suggestions which the people of the University might have. If you have any suggestions, please contact Tom Murphy at the Beta house or Lou Ann Smee at Miller hall.
Lou Ann Smee college sophomore
College Students Show Ignorance Of Geography
What most college students don't know about geography would fill several university libraries, a New York Times survey indicates.
The paper gave a geography test to about 5,000 students in 42 colleges. Some odd misconceptions of how the world is layed out were turned up.
For example, when asked to name the countries bordering Yugoslavia, some students named Belgium, Egypt, Manchuria, Portugal and even Canada. Only two per cent, incidentally, could closely estimate Canada's population.
Less than half the students could approximate the United States' population. Many thought it was 500 million or more, while some placed it in the billions. (1950 census estimate the U. S. population: nearly 152 million). Five percent could name the states bordering on the Atlantic coast. Many states as far inland as the Mississippi were mentioned.
So far few college papers have commented on this survey. The Kansas State Collegean called the results "appalling" and added:
"The wild guesses show that our college men and women are deficient in basic facts about our country and the world . . . A refresher course on basic geography would be a fine subject to require of all students in order for the men and women to be 'wide-awake' and intelligent citizens."
"Like I always said, you could get away with murder in his class!"
Is U.S. Expected To Provide Bulk Of NATO Men, Arms?
Not all these troops will be under arms by the end of 1952, but the organization hopes to recruit at least half this number for active service and enlist the remainder in the reserves. This project will cost approximately 300 billion dollars, NATO estimates.
Plans to raise the number of divisions in Europe this ye-r from 18 to 50 were agreed upon by the North Atlantic Treaty organization at its recent conference in Lisbon.
The reservists will be Europeans, according to the plan, but NATO doesn't say where most of the other divisions are to come from. Nor does it say who will foot the 300 billion dollar bill. The assumption is that the United States will furnish a large share of both men and money.
But will it?
It is up to Congress to determine how much money will be spent on European defense, and Congress is never too generous in an election year. NATO has given its approval to the raising of several divisions from West Germany. This decision comes at a time when warnings have been issued that Nazi-like parties are on the move again there, hence the decision may cause uneasiness here as it has done already in France.
Sentiment for ending the war in Korea before sending more men to Europe exists in this country. Also, a number of citizens will agree with John Snyder, secretary of the treasury, who told NATO that he believes it is up to Europe to assume most of the responsibility for its own defense.
NATO will need a great deal of American aid if it is to carry out its ambitious plans, and it seems doubtful that immediate aid on such a large scale will be forthcoming. —Jeanne Lambert.
Short Ones
The size of a place apparently is no indication of its ability to produce. KU has four queens for an all-school dance and the British Empire for all its vastness has only one.
From the "Strange as it seems" department in the Howard Clemson comes this story.
Last fall, after registering for a
class, the girl decided to drop the class.
She followed the usual procedure and thought the matter finished. However, others in the class told her that her name was still on the roll:
Checking with the registrar's office she was assured that not one but two notices had been sent to the professor.
Came time for final grades and she got her marks.
She passed the course with a "C."
The engineers are trying to get the journalism students to put up a statue of William Allen White. They figure that while they are out painting Jimmy Green they might as well get Willie White.
Almost every college campus has had a poll this year to determine the popularity of the various presidential candidates. Eisenhower has emerged as the winner in most areas. But at Tennessee the students said, "Eastest or Westest, Estes is Bestest."