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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2004)
NATIQM THE BATTALION 5B Thursday, April 15, 2004 Help wanted hick offull-time jobs shows companies doing more with less THtrt By Adam Geller THE ASSOCIATED PRESS L1BERTYVILLE, Ill. — Shouting over the ine of pneumatic screwdrivers, Phyllis Patrick points to changes in the assembly line lit twists around her, evidence of a labor mar- ke; starting to thaw. In a plant where workers were asked last year to lake time off without pay, managers have post ed eight hours overtime on the scheduling board the coming Saturday. At stations alongside Patrick, a handful of temporary workers have be;n added as orders for the plant’s cordless nail- ins climbed. And now word is spreading down the line that ITW Paslode is set to hire 14 new B-timers. “We could always use a few more,” the safety- -clad Patrick says, turning back to a work- bebch where she’s testing motors in the partially assembled nail guns. The pickup at Paslode’s plant, 45 minutes north of Chicago, is good news in an economy that has be:n very slow to generate new jobs. It comes 1th a big asterisk: Those are about the only new jo>s that Paslode’s parent, a $10 billion manufac- l ing conglomerate that prides itself on running lejin, sees adding anytime soon. “Why would you be hiring people right now?” sal's John Brooklier, vice president of investor lations for the parent company, Illinois Tool rks Inc., which has shrunk its U.S. payroll ftm about 36,000 to 28,000 in the past three years. “If you still have a ways to go before (man- imdraiPicturing) capacity is filled, where are the jobs ing to come from?” Variations of that question loom over an econ- y that is down about 2 million jobs since early 2(01. Despite a government report showing the | Ji! Ilited States added 308,000 jobs in March, many aialysts continue to puzzle over the logic of enployers’ hiring decisions in an economy that by ie .' " c;: mast measures is in high gear. cenitlll, l As election-year politics heat up, much of the public’s attention has focused on “offshoring” as (lie culprit in the lack of new employment. .skediKii jhg truth behind the short supply of new jobs, ’ addin: | the hai# 'tiers, of the cos k is it," Bill Bb; ihi (f® Head West for golden opportunities In the past three years, Western states had a job loss of 0.6 percent, less than half the national rate of 1.5 percent. Percent change In job growth, Jan. 2001-Jan. 2004 pARTYTlMf] Party Time Rentals 1816 Ponderosa, College Station 696-6555 1904 S. Texas Ave., Bryan 822-5555 fcent Fun/ The Battalion in PRINT ONLINE ON RADIO News Sports Opinion Mailcall Aggielife Photo Graphics Comics AP News Classifieds Highest: s Alaska 7.5% $k> SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics Kathryn Tam * AP hinted at by changes at companies such as ITW, is more complicated. In a nutshell, businesses have figured out how to do more with fewer full-time workers. Even as the economy grows, many companies are reaping the benefits in part by rethinking the way they utilize people. Part of that is outsourcing, sending some of the work they do to firms and workers who will do it cheaper, both inside and out of the country. Some economists estimate outsourcing overseas accounts for perhaps 10 percent of the jobs lost. Businesses also are responding to increasing demand by relying more on temporary workers, freelancers and contract workers. Many work off payroll and without benefits. Employers also are harnessing technology, streamlining and automating operations to reduce the need for labor, and some are pushing remaining workers to do more. Those changes mean they often can respond to increased demand without hiring. “What employers have really discovered is ... you can have just-in-time employment,” says David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poors in New York. “That’s what this really is — I use the workers when I need them. I don’t use the workers when I don’t need them.” IS LOOKING FOR CAMPUS REPS FOR ON-CAMPUS INTERNSHIPS! SOPHOMORES, JUNIORS AND SENIORS to do Sports Marketing, Promotions, Guerilla Marketing, Event Planning and more.. Please go to www.sicampusrepsapply.com to submit your resume and learn more about being an SI Campus Rep! )A charges student ^ vith faking abduction il Boulf i city anil wiroiw nd act]®! By Jenny Price THE ASSOCIATED PRESS m iFiiww Same*A MADISON, Wis. — A ed ge student accused of faking t own kidnapping last month ulas charged Wednesday with i otte Ijing to police in what they sug- i the gsted was a desperate attempt oberaiti | (l g et boyfriend’s attention, chichi'i Audrey Seiler, a 20-year-old diumsophomore at the University of Wisconsin, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of ojstructing officers. Each large carries up to nine months jail and a $10,000 fine. Seiler disappeared from her -campus apartment March 27 ithout her coat or purse. She as discovered curled in a fetal asition in a marsh four days ter, and told police that a man ad abducted her at knifepoint. But police concluded Seiler tade up the story after obtaining store videotape that showed her uying the knife, duct tape, rope ad cold medicine she claimed er abductor used to restrain her. eiler confessed after she was anfronted with the tape, accord ing to authorities. 1 “I set up everything. I’m just I a messed up. I’m sorry,” they : noted her as saying. But she later recanted the statement, iisisting she had been abducted. I Hundreds of people from ladison and Seiler’s hometown arched for her after she disap eared, and her claim about an rmed man touched off a major lanhunt that authorities said it the police about $96,000. Her first court appearance ftjk as scheduled for Thursday, but er attorney was expected to IlickW*’ intWi* IWTW^ 3/T 0 I lain appear in her place. Lawyer Randy Hopper would not say Wednesday whether she would contest the charges. He called Seiler a “model student, a model citizen.” The criminal complaint depicts Seiler as a young woman upset by a fading relationship with her boyfriend, Ryan Fisher. Friends said the two had been fighting, and Seiler’s roommate. Heather Thue, told officers that Fisher did not pay as much attention to Seiler as she wanted. Seiler’s mother told police her daughter had not been herself lately and was “extreme ly needy” of Fisher. Three days before she disap peared, her laptop was used to log onto Fisher’s e-mail account and read exchanges “with romantic overtones” between him and another woman, according to the complaint. Hopper said Seiler was home with her parents and receiving “medical care and the care and support that she needs from her family.” Seiler had also reported an unexplained attack in February, saying she was struck from behind and left unconscious. But the complaint does not say whether police believe that attack was also fabricated. According to police, one woman spotted Seiler on a bike path near the marsh on March 29, 30 and 31. On March 31, the woman said, she saw Seiler lying in the fetal position. When she asked how Seiler was, Seiler sat up and said she was OK and liked to come to the marsh after class to relax. International Student Association (ISA) Elections Who is going to be an ISA officer next year? Here is your chance to decide. Come to election night. Date: April 15, 2004 Time: 7:00-8:15 p.m. Location: Rudder 510 Adisou. C ' S A < fe M i3«' s ° m M-F^ 4m — LGI S LmO m mam mm m Out To Eat mmwmmt m %m mm mm m/ Thursdays in The Battalion c pr SMust <Be j . .VVWVWVWWVV^yfc ffleaOen Sandwich Shoppe Old Fashioned Sandwiches Fresh Baked Bread Soups - Quiche - Salads Baked Potatoes Homemade Desserts COLLEGE STATION Rock Prairie Rd next to College Station Mod Center 764-9222 —r c co O *o S- GL ° £ S 5 > ttz o CM CO CD m CD £ JC To B as & s E CL 8 -ir o >» CO CD c o CD CD <c ■' 1 5/ fW/Httellci Authentic Italian Casual Cafe 260-6666 \ SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS ONLY Present your Student I.D. and GET ONE FREE FRITTELLA w/purchase of a Pepsi drink ( s 1.50) J Present coupon when ordering. Expires 4/27/04^* 3901 S. Texas Ave. (1/2 mile North of University Dr.) | Sun - Thurs. II a.m. - 2 p.m., 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. Fri & Sat. II a.m. - 2 p.m., 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. CLOSED MONDAYS £ Italian Cafe 1 X as S. 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