By Courtney Roach staff reporter Not just education, but entertainment, is the focus of Programming Council's celebration of Black History Month. PC has recruited three black comedians to emcee and perform during the Alpha Kappa Alpha First Steps competition on Feb. 23 as part of a CO-programming event with the sorority.
"Our goal is to expose everyone to different cultures, and the comedians will bring a whole bunch of people together rather than a selected group," she said. In addition, the PC has invited other historically black sororities and fraternities from surrounding colleges to take part in a "Greek spotlight" on March 4 in front of the Student Center."(There) will be music and food, kind of like a block party, and everyone is invited," said Amanda Wilsker, PC Multicultural Committee chairwoman. Last year, PC sponsored Bertice Berry, a speaker who mixed comedy with a discussion about stereotypes. However, the crowd at the event did not fill the Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium, PC officials said. "I think if you publicized an event as a Black History Month speaker, people would think it was boring and not as many people would come," said Katie Kirkpatrick, a junior special education major. "A publicized event that is presented in an entertaining way, like the comedians, would interest a bigger crowd."
Janae Hafford, a senior social work major and member of AKA, said Black History Month is not largely recognized by university programs. "I think it gets more recognition from smaller organizations, like the historically black sororities and fraternities," she said. "There's just not many programs that I know of." Wilsker said she hopes the comedians and the step show will present black culture to the campus. "I think it's about opening yourself up and removing stereotypes," Wilsker said. "If we can do that by using performers who you might have had (previous) stereotypes about, then great ... it's the ends, not the means," she said. Wilsker said she hopes students will put aside the notion to avoid what they don't know and participate in an event that might help them become more in touch with their own cultural heritage. Although PC has planned these events, Kirkpatrick said she wasn't aware certain events in the past, and now, were for Black History Month. She said the events are not publicized enough. "Students who want to know about it have to seek out the event, but it's not getting the amount of publicity it deserves," Kirkpatrick said. Hafford said regardless of what the event is, she hopes the main point of the month will come across. "The point is honoring the people who allowed us to go to TCU and remembering the people who made programs like this happen," Hafford said.
Courtney Roach
By Priya Abraham staff reporter Final candidates for the dean vacancies in the M. J. Neeley School of Business and the AddRan College of Humanities and Social Sciences will be on campus later this month. William Koehler, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said last week he hopes a decision on the new deans for each college will be made by mid-March. Some searches are yielding women candidates, he said. "We are sensitive to both gender and (ethnic) minorities," Koehler said. He said, however, that the searches have not yet yielded any ethnic minorities. "(There is) not a large number of minorities who have the experience required to serve as a dean," he said. One candidate for the School of Business, Robert F. Lusch, will be at TCU Feb. 15. Lusch holds the Helen Robson Walton Chair in Marketing and the George Lynn Cross Research Professorship at the University of Oklahoma. He was also dean of the university's Price School of Business from 1987 to 1992. "(We're looking for) someone who'll maintain the quality of the undergraduate program as well as who will know how to boost the rankings of the MBA program," said Bob Greer, chairman of the business school's dean search advisory committee. The new dean will also have to successfully interact with the national business community and raise funds efficiently to move the business school into the top 50 in the nation, he said. The names of the final two candidates for the AddRan College of Humanities and Social Sciences will be announced by the end of the week. Donald Jackson, chairman of the college's dean search advisory committee, said the two finalists will be selected at a meeting today. Jackson said the fourth "fly-in," or preliminary, interview took place Wednesday. The first candidate will be on campus Feb. 24 and 25, while the second candidate should be here March 2 and 3. While at TCU, the candidates will meet with administrators, faculty, staff and students in open forums. Greer, a professor of management, said a short list of candidates for the business school vacancy is still being considered, including Interim Dean William Moncrief. He said three final candidates will probably be invited to campus, and two more will be identified within the next seven days. The Provost's office declined to release information about the dean search for the School of Education. Two final candidates for the position will be on campus the last week of February. The two final candidates for the College of Fine Arts were at TCU Feb. 3 for their on-campus interviews.
Priya Abraham
By Jaime Walker staff reporter One of the hardest questions college students are forced to answer is what to do after they graduate, said Melissa White, assistant director of TCU's Career Planning and Placement Center. For some students, it makes sense to continue their education and pursue a master's or doctorate degree, but it is not necessary in all fields, she said. Ben Wilkinson, a senior chemistry and marketing major, said he has debated going to medical school or getting a master's of business administration. But entering the work force seems more appropriate for now, he said. "Most of the skills you need for a job, you learn by working," Wilkinson said. "Practical experience is often the ticket to success." In the current job market, where America's unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since 1970, an advanced degree may not be a necessity. According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, job opportunities for people with a bachelor's degree increased about 10 percent in 1999. But U.S. Census records show in 1996 people with a master's degree earned an average of $46,332 a year - 24 percent more than college graduates with only bachelor's degrees. Don Coerver, director of the Master of Liberal Arts program, said students have many job options because the economy is strong, but students who get a master's degree automatically make themselves more marketable. "More degrees mean more experience and more money," he said. Records from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that between the ages of 25 and 64, a master's recipient earns about $240,000 more than someone with a bachelor's degree. This translates to a lifetime salary of $3.3 million. Kristin Runyan, director of TCU's MBA Career Services, said the typical TCU graduate leaves the MBA program with a starting salary of $52,000. Graduates with five years of work experience before they obtain their MBA will re-enter the work force making an average of $60,000, Runyan said. A master's degree is the key to job promotion, Runyan said. "As you climb the corporate ladder, an advanced degree is essential," she said. "It gives you valuable perspectives about the workplace." Kelly Boyington, a senior coordinated dietetics major, said TCU has prepared her well to get a job, but she will be going to law school because she feels motivated to continue her education. "Not everyone wants to keep going to school, and that is fine," she said. "I made that choice because it will make me happy. People need to remember to do what makes them happy. If their dream requires a master's, then they should go, but if not that is OK, too." Runyan said although there are many factors to consider when looking at graduate school, students need to realize they will have to enter the real world eventually. "Bill Gates said recently, 'Life is not fair. Get used to it,'" she said. "For all those people who coast by and avoid 8 a.m. classes, I have one thing to say - face the harsh reality of the real world."
Jaime Walker
By Courtney Roach staff reporter For some students, getting a job is only a point and click away. However, computers cannot take the place of person-to-person contact, said Bill Stowe, associate director of the Career Planning and Placement Center. Students are turning to online job search engines and company Web sites that they are using free of charge to find and get jobs. "A lot of companies are using the search engines instead of headhunter agencies because it is fairly inexpensive to list jobs on the Web," Stowe said. "The availability of job openings with the Internet is exploding, but getting jobs is still a person-to-person deal." There are a number of Web sites that students can use to find internships and entry-level placements. Two examples, (www.jobs.com) and (www.hotjobs.com), feature options that allow people to select a career choice, then select a city or state location and job position. The site will then match the two if any are available. Most sites allow people to submit résumés electronically and then match jobs to their résumés, Stowe said. He also said an electronic résumé needs to be treated differently, though, because the database uses key words to search. "I don't know how effective it is to put your résumé in a database and just wait for someone to respond," Stowe said. "But a good thing is that computers don't care how long a résumé is. Employers just want to flip through a résumé and decide quickly." Marcus Cady, a May 1999 TCU graduate said he tried to use the Internet to find a job but had only minor success with it. "I've used (jobs.com) and some other sites, and they have put me in contact with a couple of people," Cady said. "But I think most companies use headhunter agencies. I guess for your average company, (headhunters) are adequate." Cady said he is going to type his résumé onto a TCU database and see what happens, but most of his job offers have not been from the Internet. "I've had most of my success through the headhunter agency," Cady said. "It has been free because the fee is usually paid by the company that listed the job." Marianne Graham, a senior speech communication major said she had some luck with a specific online job search engine, (www.Showbiz.com). "Actually, the Internet and (Showbiz.com) have been pretty effective, since the kind of job I'm looking for is in the entertainment industry, and newspapers don't usually have ads for those jobs," Graham said. "I'm using mostly personal contacts through my internships, though, and that has been the biggest help." Stowe said he also thinks the easiest way to find a job is to have a connection. "Unfortunately, most people don't have those contacts," Stowe said. "It's a realistic goal, though, if you do internships and network yourself during college." Stowe said it is helpful for students to know what kind of job they want before they proceed with the application process. "One of the key factors and mistakes of students is they send out a résumé expecting employers to find what kind of job they can do," he said. "That was good back when your parents graduated from college, but now employers want you to tell them what you can do." Stowe also said students who use the Career Planning and Placement Center usually find a job through TCU's Web site. "Overall, students use job listings on the TCU Web site to find and get jobs because we list between 50,000 to 60,000 jobs a year," he said. "I suggest students use company Web sites and find a person to contact because it all comes down to people skills in the end."
Courtney Roach |
Meredith Killgore, vice president for programming,
said music and comedy are a good combination that might be able to draw
in crowds that a speaker otherwise might not.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |