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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1985)
Tuesday, October 1,1985/The Battalion/Page 3 t State and Local __A&M co-op students 2= get work experience, —edge in job market ScM. i needed t this si ■ One gy By JEANNE ISENBERG Reporter |Some of the largest companies in the nation, including IBM, NASA and even the CIA, are eager to pro- ay even n vide college students with a compet- y eight or it; itive edge in the job market over other students in the same field. ^According to the cooperative edu- eventoudii; cation office at Texas A&M, these birth conirt! companies and many others are ex cited about hiring students through irticle of. the University’s co-op program, thus minates St giving them the chance to develop ixatn, apno th' 1 ’ competitive edge earlier than vjtj ; their peers who choose not to co-op. "^“If a student joins the co-op pro gram. he can work three terms and have 12 months’ experience on a job related to his major, prior to gradua tion,” says Steve Yates, director of lativesr Ai th e(;o . 0 p program at A&M. “That’s npus, whoi w hat gives them the competitive ed- this was: ge.” ip," as (Ul ■Scott Sodoma, a junior computer he A P B- sc * ence ma j or co-oping with IBM, lintlv desm a 8 n>es ■“It’s tough to get a job these days,” lon - Sodoma says. “Everyone comes out of college pretty equal and the expe rience gives you a needed edge.” ■Yates says that edge is the basic goal of the co-op program, which works on an alternating degree plan. ■Students work a semester, then go to school a semester, work, go to school — usually for three work terms, he says — and then, upon graduation, they can receive the Co operative Education certificate, which notes that the students have s rates aret n to do i t are you™ ; woman ill ItemativesJ pital, to rifl Heal senicei would not r| ■ you refustl cancer.' m jrry to hea:| about one year of work experience. But the edge isn’t simply because of the prior work experience, Yates says. “The people we deal with in the industry who are contacts for co-op students are invariably the same people down here recruiting grad uates,” Yates says. “Co-op is basically a long-range recruiting tool for companies,” Yates says. “They have the first chance at identifying potential bright talent at an early stage, they can participate in the students’ educations and, of course, they are hoping to employ the students they discover after graduation.” Susan Lee, a graduate assistant who co-oped with NASA, conducts orientation programs several times a week for students considering co-op ing. “Co-ops receive more money and more job offers in comparison to other students with similar grades who have not co-oped,” Lee says. “Recruiters say the best students have a three-way triangle: experi ence, good grades and activities. But experience in the major and grades usually come first.” Students not only earn credit while at work, but salaries as well. Students surveyed by the co-op of fice said the money earned by co-op ing paid an average of 50 percent to 75 percent of their college expenses. But not all students co-op for the technical experience, the salary or even for the competitive edge. For some, it’s simply a chance to experi- Warped by Scott McCullar t CAN'T STAMP THIS SILENCE WH1 DOAJ'T THESE MEWA TERRORISTS DO SOMETHIN IF S0ME- f THIV6 VOE&n happen fieri QUICK GOtfVA HAVE KITTEf/ST HEY, DID YOU HEAR THAT? SOME GUY OVER ence life away from the academic at mosphere. Scott Cloud, a senior economics major who co-oped with the CIA, says “The thought of getting to the end of four or five years in college and being dumped on the world with nothing but an undergraduate degree in economics is a little fright ening. “I co-oped for the broadening ef fect of it. It’s a chance to go out there and do something challenging. You get away from the University envi ronment and get knocked around a little. That way it won’t be such a big shock later.” Lee says it also helps increase classroom motivation by seeing how the theory one learns in class really can be applied to a job. “It lets you get away from school, get your perspective in focus and re minds you of what you’re working toward,” she says. Yates says co-oping also can help students decide what they want do with their degrees. “Most students find their major appropriate,” he says, “but co-oping does help them better identify what they want to do within their majors.” “The co-op program trys to help them find out what they can do with their majors, narrow down their al ternatives and even what the de mand for areas within their major is and what it will be,” Yates says. “What may be a hot academic major today may not be one tomorrow.” Yet, the co-op program also has its share of disadvantages. Lee says the biggest disadvantage is the delay of graduation. “Still,” Lee says, “most students work three or four work terms and are rarely set back more than one or two semesters.” Jocelyn Koh, a senior computer science major, says another problem for some students is moving back and forth every semester. “It’s difficult, especially the first semester, but you just have to stick with it,” says Koh, who has just com pleted her last work term in the pro gram with IBM. “Moving away from your friends is hard, the being away from home, but you do meet a lot of other co-ops and it’s like being in a small family. You’re all away together.” But students say the advantages outweigh the disadvantages by far. Sodoma says, “No class can substi tute for co-op experience. You learn things about the real world that you can’t learn in class.” Yates says recognition for the pro gram is constantly growing. The College of Engineering provides the majority of co-ops, he says, but that college has been a part of the pro gram the longest and is more aware of its benefits. “I think we’ll keep getting in creased support, although support has always been good,” Yates says. “Approximately 300 co-op stu dents are placed into co-op jobs per semester. There is no greater satis faction for me than watching these young people take this chance to grow, develop and mature.” Lee says many students fail to take advantage of the co-op program be cause they would rather take a sum mer job in their major and finish their education in the traditional manner. Co-oping allows students to re turn to the same job again and again, thus earning the student increasing levels of responsibility as time goes by ’.^ • • Co-oping is not just a summer job, and it’s not just a one-shot inter nship,” she says. “There is no across- the-board guarantee of placement from us, although most employers do offer their co-ops jobs after grad uation. What we do provide is the competitive edge.” ^ State employees’ pay raise ‘embarrassing, ’ official says Associated Press ■ AUSTIN — The executive direc- r _i» tor of the Texas Public Employees igrOTS Association said Monday the average Salary increase for state employees of about $1 a day is “embarrassing” i I auric H.| an( * “demeaning” to professional letter I show , was very jvanistic era ractice. "fe an Aeeie workers. [“In the brightness of the Sunbelt 'Towth, that amount of money is a r throwback to the dark days of our Great Depression,” Gary Hughes told a news conference. The 1985 Legislature granted state employees pay raises of 3 per cent for each year of the biennium that started Sept. 1, but Hughes said about 10 percent of the workforce would receive less money because of higher health insurance rates. “State employees were not a No. 1 priority for the governor or the Leg islature — or not even close to being a No. 1 priority — and that’s going to change in these races coming up or we will be supporting the people who are going to make that hap pen,” Hughes said. He said the association for the first time in its 40-year history “will most likely endorse in statewide races, so that 185,000 state employ ees and 20,000 retirees, plus their families and friends, will know who to support for their state representa tives, senator and governor.” Hughes said the association would ask the 1987 Legislature for raises of about 22 percent to 24 percent over two years. Each percentage point equals about $50 million, so the total request would be $ 1.1 billion or $ 1.2 billion. Asked where the money would come from, Hughes said, “We’re going to hAve to make an issue in this next session, a No. 1 priority.” Committee considering sophomore test Associated Press AUSTIN — The Select Commit tee on Higher Education will look at requiring college sophomores to pass an exam in order to become ju niors, the committee chairmrin said Monday. Larry Temple of Austin said seve ral states have adopted the sopho more testing program. “It’s just to be sure students are getting the education they think they are getting and we hope they are getting,” Temple told a Southern Legislative Conference meeting. The Austin lawyer was picked last week by Gov. Mark White as chair man of the special committee that will scrutinize the state’s higher edu cation system. The committee will hold its first meeting within two weeks in Austin, according to Temple. The sophomore test is used in Florida as a requirement for a junior college degree and as a prerequisite toward a four-year degree. “We need to look at that to see if that fits in the state of Texas,” said Temple. The purpose of the test of “basic, rudimentary skills” would be “to be sure the students that want to go to the junior year in college get there in a competent and qualified way,” he said. The special committee also will re view hign school graduation require ments to see if a standard course load should be mandated for college entry. Under the current system, un qualified students are getting into college, said Temple, chairman of ege, the College and University Coordi nating Board. “We are finding students in col lege now who are not prepared for college,” he said. “They can’t do col lege work.” Committee members also will look for more efficient ways to use facili ties, he said, mentioning early morn ing and Saturday classes. The “structure” of the higher ed ucation system will be a “threshhold question,” Temple said. “Do we have enough individual institutions?” he asked. “The quick answer is yes. Do we need any more? the quick answer is no,” he said. wo percenif: first yell pw ;ood time he d telling sets doing her Y- n “let's go least Lou®'- omen." fie crowd pN and clap afe d remarks, i- he women P Freshmen i any wonu ntly sexist if xse women it j clap. I fi 0 - >racticewasf 4gie spirit k je tradiuot o percenter & Sophomores! tho iooc A , Freshmen and Sophomore photos for me 1986 Aggieland has been extended to October Ml. Photos will be taken at Yearbook Associate’s studio located above Campus Photo Center at Northgate. Office hours are 8:30-12 and 1-4:30.