Check out the Homecoming section to find out the rest of the week’s events and learn KU traditions.
HOMECOMING 2006
Get ready to roll. Roller derby is back but with a new attitude. Read about KC’s roller girls in today’s Jayplay.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOL.117 ISSUE 36
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 1A
EMPLOYMENT
Aging Baby Boomers pass jobs to recent graduates
BY DAVID LINHARDT
Experienced workers across the Kansas economy will begin retiring during the next 5 to 10 years, which will open up highly skilled jobs to recent college graduates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Kansas Population Center.
More than 70 million baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — will leave the workforce between now and 2020. The much smaller Generations X and Y will have a chance to fill positions in education, engineering and management, according to the bureau.
Local companies must plan to market those open positions to students, said Beth Johnson, vice president of economic development at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.
"It's huge to think about filling those positions," Johnson said. "Our focus becomes figuring out the skills of the students who are graduating."
Johnson said Lawrence paralleled the national trend in terms of the types of jobs that would become available. Teachers in primary and secondary education will be highly demanded, as will accountants and managers, and mechanics and engineers at local manufacturers, she said.
One key to keeping KU graduates in the local job economy is offering competitive wages and keeping property taxes reasonable, Johnson said.
Laszlo Kulcsar, director of the Kansas Population Center, said metro areas in Kansas would likely maintain the best and most diverse job opportunities. Vacancies in agricultural towns like Dodge City or Garden City will be hard to fill as college graduates look for more glamorous or higher-paying jobs in Topeka, Overland Park and Wichita, he said.
With its business-friendly tax breaks, the Kansas City area could become a corporate haven in the next few years, Kulcsar said. He said the migration of young people from the western half of Kansas created an "intrastate brain drain."
"Some Kansas communities aren't prepared to face this trend," he said. "Proportionally, aging is more traumatic to rural areas."
SEE RETIREES ON PAGE 4A
BOARDWALK REMEMBERED
Jose Gonzalez always arrived to work early, greeting his colleagues with a smile and a 'good morning' as they walked through the door. His death was a loss to a 'big part of' the company.
FAMILY MAN LOST
Part 3: Co-workers recall man who made them smile
BY DARLA SLIPKE
Jose Gonzalez was always one of the first members of his crew to arrive for work at Quality Electric Inc. He sat out back on a role of wire in the shop where the workers met each morning before going to the work site and greeted his co-workers as they filtered in. Most of the workers were tired and groggy, but hearing Gonzalez say "good morning" put a smile on their faces. Something about his pleasant greeting was contagious. One year after a fire engulfed Gonzalez's apartment in the Boardwalk apartment complex and killed him, his former co-workers remember him fondly, but with a pained heart. Dale Wolford, project manager at Quality Electric Inc., still visits the black slab of concrete near the entrance of Mount Cavalry Cemetery that marks the grave of his former employee and friend. Gonzalez worked for Quality Electric as an apprentice, where he did electrical wiring work for residential houses.
SEE BOARDWALK ON PAGE 4A
ONLINE
Go to kansan.com/ boardwalk to view all of the parts of the series that have already appeared and to leave
FRIDAY
your comments.
The family and friends of Nicole
Bingham have endured a year since the KU student died in the apartment fire.
Within days of the fire, Jason A. Rose of Lawrence had been charged with committing the fire. His trial is in February.
FRIDAY
FRIDAY
Many of the factors that led to Board
that led to Board walk's quick demise are common factors in many other Lawrence apartment complexes.
EDUCATION
Math, science suffer teacher deficit nationally
BY DANNY LUPPINO
The United States is facing a shortage of teachers in science and math, and Provost Richard Lariviere wants to make combatting that shortage a priority.
Lariviere said the University of Kansas, as well as all other American colleges and universities, needed to find a way to produce more quality teachers in those subjects.
"There is a crisis on our hands now — it's no longer looming — in specific fields like science and math where there's not enough teachers to meet the demand," Lariviere said. "This is a component in the educational continuum that is very important for America's future."
Lariviere said American schools generally performed well compared to other
SEE TEACHERS ON PAGE 4A
SPEAKER
BY DARLA SLIPKE
Pulitzer Prize winner to speak about liberties
What sets Leonard Pitts, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, apart from the rest of the field? His editor, Shelley Acoco, said it was his drive to learn and develop as a thinker and a writer.
"He is a wonderfully creative writer who always pushes himself to turn corners and find new places with his writing," Acoca said. "He's never comfortable."
Pitts
Pitts is known for tackling publicly-disputed issues, from 9/11 to the death penalty, in his bi-weekly column in the Miami Herald. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his commentary in 2004.
Tonight at 7:30 at the Lied Center, Pitts will address the changing face of civil liberties in the United States. Students can react to his opinions during a question and answer session after his lecture.
SEE PITTS ON PAGE 4A
We'll all float on,all right
Betty Kaspar, Wichita sophomore and Kansan staff member, right, and Kim Goodwin, Denver freshman, work on a homecoming float at Triangle Fraternity. Members of Delta Delta Deha and Triangle have been preparing for this weeks homecoming parade for two weeks.
Lisa Lipovac/KANSA
Freshman quarterback Kerry Meier has been medically cleared to play in Saturday's game. Kansas football coach Mark Mangino said despite the clearance, he still wasn't ready to announce a starter for the game against Texas A&M.
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Classifieds...5B
Crossword...6B
Horoscopes...6B
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...6B
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