Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 49 | Friday, April 10, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Job market is scaring students out of it
hop e springs e te rnal
Many Brown students are worried about their future job prospects, but more than 15 percent do not plan to enter the workforce immediately after graduation, according to a recent Herald poll. About 45 percent of students surveyed said they were “worried” about getting the job they wanted after graduation, while fewer, about 35
THE HERALD POLL
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Business, art run together with RISD President Maeda By Dan Alexander Staf f Writer
By Seth Motel Staff Writer
percent, said they were “confident” in doing so. Most of the students who said they planned to get a job immediately after graduation answered that their confidence was at neither extreme. In regard to getting the job they wanted, 31.2 percent said they were “somewhat worried” and 23.5 percent said they were “somewhat confident.” Just 10.5 percent said they were “very confident” about getting the job they wanted. Nationwide, many graduating seniors are choosing either to take time off after college or to enter graduate school directly, said Andrea Koncz, employment information manager for the National Association of Colleges and Employers. A study by the organization showed that 23 percent of last year’s graduates anticipated going straight to graduate school and 4 percent planned to take time off, Koncz said. For some students, getting a job and making money immediately might be especially important during the current recession, which started in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Others see graduate school as a way to stay out of the turbulent job market for the time being. The number of college graduates heading straight to graduate school is increasing, but only slightly, Koncz said. Barbara Peoples, the interim director of the Career Development Center, advised students not to rush off to graduate school for the wrong reasons. “Students should apply to graduate school when they are sure why they are going,” she wrote in an e-mail. “You will be obtaining a professional degree, often at considerable expense, so it’s not something to leap into hastily.”
SPOTLIGHT
Quinn Savit / Herald The Sustainable Food Initiative celebrated the first day of the 2009 growing season Thursday in the garden on Hope Street.
Just before 6 a.m., Providence is still sleeping, and its lamp-lit streets are silent. But eight joggers are stretching outside of a downtown Starbucks before their monthly run with Rhode Island School of Design President John Maeda. The group sets off, with Maeda leading the pack. They run a two-mile loop up College Hill and back down to the Starbucks under the Hilton Hotel. The pace is slow, and the runners chat as they weave through RISD’s campus. “Let’s be technical — I don’t really run,” Maeda said. “We just jog.” The idea for the jog emerged after the newly hired Maeda had just finished giving a “meet-and-
Low acceptance rate reflects nat’l trend By Ellen Cushing Senior Staf f Writer
Brown’s admitted Class of 2013 reflects both national patterns and previous years’ demographics, according to Dean of Admissions Jim Miller ’73 and admissions professionals. Just 2,708 — or 10.8 percent — of the 24,988 total applicants were admitted this year. That figure is Brown’s lowest acceptance rate ever, consistent with a national admissions environment that has seen more applicants and lower admission rates than ever at many of the country’s elite schools.
Brown’s acceptance rate “appears to be ver y much in keeping with the progressively more selective admissions processes at our already more selective institutions,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. According to Miller, this year’s growth in the application pool was generally “consistent across all regions, all groups and all concentrations,” and there were no significant demographic differences between the pool of admitted students this year and in the
past. High school seniors and college advisers underscored how competitive admissions were this year, at Brown and across the country. Lily Waters, a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. who was waitlisted at Brown, said she and her classmates were aware of how competitive admissions were this year. “People were getting rejected by their safety schools. I have heard of a couple people who didn’t get in anywhere,” she said. continued on page 2
greet” lecture last June to business leaders in Providence. “Is this the last time we’re going to see you?” Maeda recalls someone asking during the question-and-answer session that followed. “Because ever y time we see a college president, they disappear.” Steve Cronin was sitting in the front row when the question was posed. Cronin, president and CEO of Mercury Print and Mail, came up to the new president and said, “Let’s start a run — a jog in the morning” to stay connected, Maeda recalled. So once or twice a month, Maeda rises with the sun and jogs with Cronin and anyone else who wants to join. Most of the joggers are local entrepreneurs, businesspeople continued on page 2
Brown University Class of 2013 Demographics 52% female 40% minority students 15% first generation college-students 10% international students Most-represented states New York and California Intended concentration 29% physical sciences 26% social sciences 21% life sciences 16% humanities
RISD admits larger frosh class due to bad economy By Brian Mastroianni Senior Staf f Writer
During the first week of April, 930 hopeful students opened their mailboxes to find they were admitted to the Rhode Island School of Design’s class of 2013. That represented an acceptance rate of 33 percent, and an increase of 70 admitted students over last year. More students were admitted this year because admissions of ficers were concerned that fewer people would choose to matriculate given the economy, said Edward Newhall, director of admissions at RISD.
“We were thinking mostly about the economy,” Newhall said. “You see stories everywhere about the wide variety of decisions families are making in terms of how to spend their money. College is a big part of that.” The school received 2,814 applications this year. Though RISD has increased its financial aid budget for students, Newhall said, the school anticipates applicants will be more concerned about financing college than in past years. The admissions Quinn Savit / Herald
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RISD worried fewer accepted students would matriculate next year.
News.....1-4 Ar ts........5
Arts, 5
Sports, 7
Opinions, 11
World & Nation...6
TAbula Rasa A blank canvas causes tension among friends in ‘Art’ at the PW
Hot streak M. lax takes on Penn this weekend hoping to bring their win streak to nine
Recycle right Katharine Hermann ’09 says sustainability must start small
Spor ts...7-8 Opinion...10-11 Today........12
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