6A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 4.2008
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
New major could mean better jobs for graduates
BY MEGAN WELTNER editor@kansan.com
Sam Dean sits through his 9 a.m. introductory business class struggling to keep his eyes open. His professor is explaining the newly added major, Supply Chain Management (SCM). As Dean, Fort Worth, Texas, sophomore, struggles to listen, a few comments catch his attention. When he arrives home, bored with his homework, he decides to Google the major.
As he reads more and more, he realizes that the SCM industry may not be such a bore. He said he was overwhelmed with Web sites regarding the various careers within the field, logistics, consulting, transportation and consumer services management to name a few. Dean begins to question whether finance is the most promising major for him.
Dean has stumbled upon an industry which gets little attention, yet is one of the most lucrative fields in business today. SCM offers some of the most promising careers for undergraduate, entry-level applicants. According to the
The increase in technology has led to SCM becoming a more integral part of companies. With improvements in the Internet, companies have the ability to mon-
U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, SCM job growth in manufacturing or industrial companies is expected to be between 3 and 9 percent through 2012 and supply chain positions within service
"Companies are demanding more proficient people in the development and movement of their products."
industries are expected to grow at an even higher rate.
NATE WINSLOW YRC Logistics
"The supply chain is the heart and soul of every business," said Nate Winslow, field human resources representative for YRC Logistics. "One of the areas recognized as a great opportunity is optimizing your supply chain."
itor all aspects of their supply chain.
"The industry has certainly grown in sophistication with technology," Winslow said. "Companies are demanding more proficient people in
the development and movement of their products."
The SCM industry also offers some of the most competitive salaries in the business field. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average starting salary offer for the winter of 2008 is $49,300. That's
4 percent more than the average salary offer in the winter of 2007. According to NACE, the average is greater than both the industries of finance and accounting.
"It's one of the highest paying
"It's one jobs for entry-level applicants and it's not a job that's going to go away," said Michelle Frazier, director of implementation and project management for YRC Logistics. "You will always have to
analyst, assistant, specialist or manager, and experience in fields such as transportation, logistics and consulting.
"You must wear a lot of different hats in this industry," said Doug
get a product from point A to point B."
"It's one of the highest paying jobs for entry-level applicants and it's not a job that's going to go away."
MICHELLE FRAZIER YRC Logistics
The broad reach of the SCM industry can cause students to question the field, yet it is also an aspect that makes it such a lucrative opportunity. The SCM industry offers titles such as agent.
Houston, director of finance, economics and decision sciences at the University of Kansas. Houston spearheaded the addition of the SCM major at the University.
Added in the Fall 2007.
The University is one of the only schools in the Midwest to offer the SCM major. Prior to the addition of the major, companies in Kansas City, Wichita and Topeka were forced to recruit from Arizona State, Michigan State or Ohio State. Now companies such as Hallmark,
Yellow Freight, YRC Logistics and Spirit AeroSystems are able to save money by recruiting at the University.
"We have never had recruiters more excited," said David Byrd-Stadler, KU employee relations coordinator. "These companies are able to save time and money. They no longer have to travel great distances to find the students they want."
The University felt a push from local recruiters for a major in SCM. The faculty proposed the new major two years ago and approved it in the spring of 2008.
With the addition of the new major companies are flocking to the University in hopes of gaining well-trained professionals for their businesses. While the major has only four graduates for the upcoming spring, with the way recruiters are demanding SCM professionals, the future looks promising.
STATE
Edited by Jared Duncan
Judge to decide whether abortion records will be authenticated
BY ANDALE GROSS ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLATHE — A Johnson County District Court judge will decide later this month whether to let the state authenticate abortion records in a case against Planned Parenthood.
Judge Stephen R. Tatum heard arguments Thursday concerning the late-term abortion records from Planned Parenthood's Overland Park, Kan., clinic. But he said he will not rule on the records until April 28.
has in his files. Kline doesn't doubt the documents are authentic copies, but he wants state health officials to say so on the record.
District Attorney Phill Kline says he needs the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to verify some abortion records he already
But health officials say state law forbids them from providing district attorneys with abortion patient information. They say the information can be given only to the state Board
Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri faces 23 felony counts for allegedly manufacturing or forging documents in August
"This judge knows as every judge does that this is a very contentious issue."
PETER BROWNLIE President of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri
of Healing Arts or the state attorney general's office, and that has to be upon request and for criminal or disciplinary matters.
2006 regarding late-term abortions. It also faces 85 misdemeanors for allegedly failing to maintain records between 2003 and 2006, failing to determine the viability of a fetus
before late-term abortions at various times in 2003, and performing unlawful late-term abortions at various times in 2003.
The hearing Thursday before Tatum stemmed from the health
The hearing 7 Tatum stemmed department filing a motion to quash Kline's subpoena regarding the patient records.
Planned Parenthood denies the allegations, calling the charges a political move by Kline.
Peter Brownlie president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said he is dispoint-
standable.
"This judge knows as every judge does that this is a very contentious issue," Brownlie said of the debate over abortion and privacy.
"It's important for people to understand it's not about new information. It's a simple matter of KDHE verifying that the documents came from them."
BRIAN BURGESS Spokesman for Phill Kline
ed that Tatum didn't rule on the records, but that the delay is under-
"He wants to be sure that when he does do something that he does the right thing."
Brownie said Planned Parenthood agreed with the health department's
position that Kline should not be allowed access to the abortion
information.
The forms that Kline is trying to verify are ones Planned Parenthood is required to give the health department to show compliance with late-term abortion laws.
"It's important for people to understand it's not about new information," Brian Burgess, spokesman with Kline's office, reiterated Thursday.
The preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for May 27 to 28.
Kline, a Republican who opposes abortion, has investigated Planned Parenthood before. But Paul Morrison, who replaced Kline as attorney general, cleared the agency of criminal wrongdoing last year. Morrison has since resigned from office.
MILITARY
BY TERENCE HUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATO allies support missile defense system
BUCHAREST, Romania — NATO allies gave President Bush strong support Thursday for a missile defense system in Europe and urged Moscow to drop its angry opposition to the program. The unanimous decision strengthened Bush's hand for weekend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was "a breakthrough document on missile defense for the alliance." At Bush's first NATO summit in 2001, "perhaps only two allies gave even lukewarm support for the notion of missile defense," Rice said.
This was Bush's final meeting with members of the 26-nation alliance, and White House officials described it as a day of freeheeling talks in which leaders and their foreign ministers got off script and gathered in crowds to debate the wording of a statement. "It doesn't happen in NATO meetings a lot," said Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley.
He said a group of leaders gathered around German Chancellor Angela Merkel to talk about putting former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on a path toward NATO membership, a step she opposes. Moscow heatedly opposes any further eastward expansion of the alliance.
Summit leaders refused to grant the two countries a membership plan now, but said they would look at the issue again in December and they empowered their foreign ministers to decide it. The Balkan nations of Albania and Croatia were invited to join the alliance. Macedonia was turned aside at the insistence of Greece, which says the country's name implies a territorial claim to a northern region of Greece, also called Macedonia.
France helped resolve a sensitive issue for NATO by pledging to send as many as 1,000 more combat troops to Afghanistan's eastern part. That would free up U.S. forces to move into the south, home of fierce fighting with Taliban and al-Qaida forces. Canada had threatened to pull its soldiers from the south unless it received 1,000 reinforcements from another ally.
Some allies, notably Germany, Italy, Turkey and Spain, refuse to send troops to the Afghan front lines because of the unpopularity of the war at home. Hadley said military commanders in Afghanistan are pleading for more forces.
Already the largest contributor to NATO's 47,000 troops in Afghanistan, the United States is dispatching an additional 3,500 Marines and readying plans to send in more in the south next year, Hadley said.
Putin arrived Thursday evening and joined the leaders at dinner. Putin planned to meet more formally with NATO chiefs Friday.
With U.S.-Russian relations in a deep chill, Bush and Putin will meet Saturday and Sunday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in their last talks before the Russian leader steps down in May. Bush's term ends in January.
Rice said the two leaders were expected to produce "a strategic framework" to guide relations between Washington and Moscow under their successors. "Part of that has to be some discussion of missile defense," Rice said, but she stopped short of saying the two leaders would find agreement on the prickly subject.
Russia views the system as designed to weaken its military might and upsetting the balance of power in Europe. Bush argues that the shield is not aimed at Russia but at Mideast countries such as Iran.
In a series of concessions, the White House has offered to let Moscow monitor the sites and promised to delay activation of the shield until Iran or another adversary tests a missile with a range to reach Europe.