THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
PAGE 3
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RULES OF THE RIDE
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
University alumnus Joe Cronemeyer coordinates the Critical Mass bike ride while looking down Jayhawk Boulevard on Wescoe Beach. The group organizes during Final Fridays to ride around town together.
KC-area manufacturers see skilled worker shortage
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A nationwide manufacturing boom has created openings for plenty of well-paying jobs, but company leaders in the Kansas City area say there aren't enough skilled workers available to fill them all.
As U.S. manufacturing continues its comeback from steep job losses during the recession, there are an estimated 600,000 manufacturing job openings, The Kansas City Star reported.
In the Kansas City area, several manufacturers with openings said their vacant positions would pay between $14 and $25 an hour. Some would be union jobs and others nonunion — either direct employment or through temporary or contract agencies.
Employers say they can't find the talent they need to run their sophisticated factory equipment, and school-to-work programs linking high school and college students with industrial employers are taking too long to reap results.
"It really has to start in junior high," said Steve Hasty,
owner and president at A&E Custom Manufacturing in the Fairfax area of Kansas City, Kan. "We can train our own welders, but it has to start with people who have respect for what we do, who are accountable for their actions, who are able to complete a sentence that our customers can understand.
"Some applicants can't even read a ruler, let alone operate calipers or other measuring devices."
JOHN PATRICK
President of Clay &
Bailey Manufacturing
That's a common refrain from employers in any industry, but in the increasingly high-tech manufacturing world, it has become a national outcry.
"We're talking reading, writing, arithmetic, plus an attitude of 'What can I help you do?' rather than 'What can you do for me?"
basic math skills," said John Patrick, president of Clay & Bailey Manufacturing in east Kansas City, Mo., which makes fittings and accessories for the petroleum tank business. "Some applicants can't even read a ruler, let alone operate calipers or other measuring devices."
Training workers can come at a steep cost, said Jeff Owens, president of Advanced Technology Services, a training company that was spun off from Caterpillar to provide tech training to other companies.
"We're finding a lack of
"You could spend $10,000 a year per employee in training to ramp up their skills," he said. "That's a high number, but it's do-able for big manufacturers. The challenge for smaller companies is to get an employee to the necessary skills," sometimes starting below zero" with math ability.
There wouldn't be any shortage of qualified workers if companies would invest in training new hires, said Dave Flanders, president of Christopher and Long, a recruiting company.
Eating habits improve, except among the poor
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Americans' eating habits have improved — except among the poor, evidence of a widening wealth gap when it comes to diet. Yet even among wealthier adults, food choices remain far from ideal. a 12-year study found.
On an index of healthy eating where a perfect score is 110, U.S. adults averaged just 40 points in 1999-2000, climbing steadily to 47 points in 2009-10, the study found.
Higher scores mean greater intake of heart-healthy foods including vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fats, and a high score means a low risk of obesity and chronic illnesses including heart disease, strokes and diabetes. Low scores mean people face greater chances for developing those ailments.
Scores for low-income adults were lower than the average and barely budged during the years studied. They averaged almost four points lower than those for high-income adults at the beginning; the difference increased to more than six points in 2009-10.
The widening rich-poor diet gap is disconcerting and "will have important public health implications," said study co-author Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health. Diet-linked chronic diseases such as diabetes have become more common in Americans in general, and especially in the poor, he noted.
"Declining diet quality over time may actually widen the gap between the poor and the rich." Hu said.
Harvard School of Public Health researchers developed the healthy diet index used for the study. It is similar to federal dietary guidelines but features additional categories including red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and alcohol.
"Declining diet quality over time may actually widen the gap between the poor and the rich."
FRANK HU Study co-author
The study authors used that index along with government estimates on trans fat intake to evaluate information in 1999- 2010 national health surveys that included interviews with people about their eating habits. The results are published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Hu said the widening diet gap reflects an income gap that deepened during the recent financial crisis, which likely made healthy food less affordable for many people. Hu also noted that inexpensive highly processed foods are often widely available in
low-income neighborhoods.
The overall diet improvement was largely due to decreased intake of foods containing trans fats but the disappointing results point to a need for policy changes including better nutrition education, Hu said.
In recent years the government and manufacturers have moved to phase out use of artificial trans fats in foods including processed cookies, cakes, frozen pizza and margarines. Trans fats contribute to unhealthy cholesterol levels and can increase heart disease risks. These fats are made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil to improve texture and shelf life.
The study authors say their results are consistent with an earlier report showing that "nearly the entire U.S. population fell short of meeting federal dietary recommendations."
The federal guidelines are updated every five years and new ones will be issued next year. The current recommendations emphasize limiting intake of trans fats, sodium, processed foods and added sugars. They don't specify amounts but encourage diets high in whole grains, vegetables and fruits.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A variety of healthy fruits and vegetables are displayed for sale at a market in Washington. A 12-year study released Monday, shows a steady improvement in American's eating habits, but food choices remain less than ideal.
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