Why I won’t be going to J-School

Although America may be out of the economic recession, as a soon-to-be grad, I can say job opportunities pretty much suck. And as a soon to be journalism grad, I can tell you the job market in media sucks even more. Media students are experiencing an even tighter pinch from the one-two punch brought on by the recent economic crisis and the web’s impact on the news industry.

It’s a thought many recent college grads are considering for a long time: since it’s tough to get a job in the field I want, I’ll just go back to school. For me, it was considering graduate schools in journalism.

But after talking with media professionals, people I know currently in J-School and some research, I’ve decided that going into a journalism grad school is not the best option for me. Here are a few reasons why:

Response plan: Assess and address

Illustration by Annette Farrell

An in-depth look at Whitworth University’s emergency response plan

By Kyle Kim

Editor’s note: this story was originally published for The Whitworthian’s March 14. 2011 issue.

Whitworth’s emergency response plan, which outlines response strategies in times of campus emergencies, provides flexibility while still providing a uniform and efficient guide to managing disasters, said the university risk management official who compiled the plan.

The university emergency plan that complies to standards set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a departure from previous Whitworth response plans in which emergency procedures have been categorized by incident, said Marisha Hamm, manager of environmental health, safety and risk management, who developed the plan.

“Emergencies aren’t predictable so you can’t have a predictable emergency response plan,” Hamm said. “The whole point of ICS is that you can’t plan emergencies.”

The Whitworth University Emergency Response Plan follows the structure of an Incident Command System (ICS) which is an approach developed by the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Homeland Security.

Homeland Security developed NIMS and ICS to create “a core set of doctrine, principles, terminology, and organizational processes to enable effective, efficient and collaborative incident management at all levels,” according to the FEMA website.

Report confirms news media still have no clue how to be financially sustainable

The 2011 State of the News Media released Monday by Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism reports what we already know about the news industry: media convergence continues to have a negative affect on newsprint readership while online readership is growing, newsrooms are continuing to shrink while community journalism seems to be growing (yes, I’m talking to you Seattle), news consumption is becoming more mobile (yes, I’m talking to you iPhone) and we still don’t know how the hell we’re going to make money from all of this.

Some other interesting points:

• Online advertising revenue surpassed spending compared to print advertising for the first time, but the profits aren’t going into their pockets (thanks Google).
• Magazines are safe, for now.
• More Americans are starting to listen to the radio online than in their cars.
• Egypt, India and Lebanon are experiencing increases in paid newspaper ad revenues.
• Alternative weeklies are finding ways to reinvent themselves (paging Madonna).

Want more information? You can create your own specific search results thanks to Pew’s handy database.

A juggling act for women

A recent report released by the White House shows women are making strides in higher education and the workplace, but still remain at a disadvantage.

Editor’s note: the story was originally published on the March 8 issue of The Whitworthian. The story is also available online.

By Kyle Kim

Although a recent federal study shows women outpacing men in college enrollment and graduation rates at all academic levels, the report also reinforces prevailing data on the existence of gender inequality for working women.

Federal data shows females will soon make up the majority of the workforce but the percentage of women working in high-wage fields traditionally dominated by men like management, business, finance, science, technology and engineering remains low.

The findings are part of a comprehensive report released Tuesday by the White House called “Women in America.” The report is a compilation of pre-existing data documented by various federal agencies outlining the state of income, education, employment, health and violence for American women.

From periodic elements to the Packers

A professor’s love for both chemistry and the Green Bay team

By Kyle Kim

Editor’s note: the feature was originally published on thewhitworthian.com on March 5, 2011.

Among the chemistry books and science articles spread throughout professor Karen Stevens’ office, another passion of hers becomes clearly evident. The native Wisconsinite is a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan.

Panelists question claims of female progress in today’s society

Editor’s note: The following story was originally published on thewhitworthian.com for the Feb. 18, 2011.

By Kyle Kim

Photo courtesy of John Ritter, The Atlantic

American women might not have been able to vote 100 years ago, but a recent article from The Atlantic claims women today dominate both the boardroom and bedroom in today’s society.Hanna Rosin’s “The End of Men” article for The Atlantic served as a springboard for a faculty-led panel discussion on the progress of women’s rights Tuesday night at Whitworth University.

Rosin wrote that not only are women making up the majority of today’s U.S. workforce and universities, but females are better suited for today’s postindustrial society where the fastest growing jobs require attributes more associated with women.

“The postindustrial economy is indifferent to men’s size and strength,” Rosin wrote. “The attributes that are most valuable today–social intelligence, open communication, the ability to sit still and focus–are, at a minimum, not predominantly male.”

Grads face tough prospects amidst slow job recovery

Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by The Whitworthian for the Feb. 14, 2011 print issue.  The online version was published Feb. 15, 2011.

By Kyle Kim

Photo courtesy of Charline Tetiyevsky

Economists may have called an end to America’s Great Recession, but employment still remains a struggle for many.

2010 yielded the highest annual unemployment rate in 28 years at 9.63 percent, according to Labor Department data.

Additionally, 2010 marked the worst annual unemployment rate for people 25 years and over with a bachelor’s degree since the government began recording data in 1992.

But despite high annual unemployment rates, labor statistics show degree holders are the least likely group to face unemployment in terms of educational attainment.