INSIDE
Cheap, tasty Korean at B.B. Bop
PAGE 2
Is Larry Brown coming to SMU?
PAGE 4
Sounding off on Obama’s policy
PAGE 5
Awesome eggs benedicts PAGE 2
MONDAY
APRIL 16, 2012
MONDAY High 79, Low 54 TUESDAY High 81, Low 55
VOLUME 96 ISSUE 82 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
career
Recession, fewer jobs leads to anxiety among graduates on job hunt COURTNEY BROMS Contributing Writer cbroms@smu.edu
JAN ANDERSON/The Daily Campus
Members of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority sell cupcakes on the Boulevard during Friday’s ninth annual Relay for Life.
SMU relayed Friday, raised $111,000 for cancer ALISSA FITZPATRICK Contributing Writer afitzpatrick@smu.edu
SMU’s Boulevard lit up Friday night as hundreds of students gathered to take part in the ninth annual Relay For Life. More than 1,000 participants and 58 teams joined in the 12-hour walk, which took place from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. The times chosen for the walk represent the journey of the cancer patient. “You start at 5 p.m., and it’s supposed to represent the beginning of the process,” SMU junior Alex Katsorelos said. “As the night goes on, you get more tired, which represents
the cancer patient becoming weaker. But once the sun rises, it represents the hope and the future of the cancer patient.” The event raised more than $111,000 for the American Cancer Society, which supports cancer research. “It is so important to have this research done because we are so close,” Katsorelos said. “We’ve made so many breakthroughs. With a little more funding, I know there is a way we can find a cure for cancer.” At the opening ceremony Friday night, cancer survivors walked around the Boulevard, honoring those who lose their lives to the disease, and acknowledging the strength it took
to defeat the odds and win their own battle. The SMU community surrounded survivors, cheering as they circled the Boulevard. “It’s important to show the survivors that we support them and that the community and other people are aware of what they went through,” Katsorelos said. Festivities continued all through the night as performers kept the campus awake, bringing vitality to the Boulevard. Empower Africa dancers, Mustang Mavericks, the Stefani Little Band, Empowered Hip Hop dancers, Belle Tones, Spencer Fox, MOVE, TREAT and Southern Gentleman all entertained
the crowds, bringing a celebratory atmosphere to SMU. Students set up tents in the center of the Boulevard as they listened to music, played games, barbequed, socialized with friends and sold food, all in the hopes of raising money to find a cure for cancer. “Gamma Phi Beta is selling cupcakes,” Katsorelos said. “We all got together as sisters and made homemade cupcakes this week. We’re also doing glow and the dark balloons.” While the event attracts SMU students and faculty, other local schools also got involved.
See RELAY page 4
Sitting at the computer surfing various job search engines, she slams her hand on the table with frustration when she finds out the job she has been waiting to hear back about has been filled. With disappointment and irritation, she regroups and continues searching. This is a typical afternoon for SMU senior Blair Sullivan. “I spend hours each day searching and applying for jobs” Sullivan, who is graduating in May with a marketing degree, said. “Not only are the amount of jobs limited, but with so many people competing for the same job, I know the odds of getting a callback can be slim,” Sullivan said. With the U.S. labor market still struggling to recover from the effects of the Great Recession, unemployment rates are still shockingly high across the board. The recession officially ended in June 2009. However, the national unemployment rate continued to rise, peaking at 9.6 percent annually in 2010. Although statistics show some signs of improvement, employment is recovering slowly, with the youngest adults (ages 18 to 24) among those most affected.
“This is a frightening reality that college graduates are having to face these days,” Real Estate Agent Denise Calkin, 52, said. “When I graduated college, it was shocking if someone I knew didn’t have a job secured,” Calkin said. According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center, in 2011, the unemployment rate among 18 to 24 year olds was 16.3 percent — almost double the overall rate. Although unemployment rates for all age groups have a natural tendency to rise and fall with the business cycle, the youngest adult demographic is set apart with consistently high unemployment rates. With May graduation on the horizon for many SMU students, the search for employment has been stressful and yielding little results. “I knew finding a job would be harder for our graduating class, but I didn’t expect it to be this disappointing,” SMU senior Marisa Witter said. Witter is a hard-working student, graduating with a major in marketing and double minor in economics and advertising. Taking on this kind of workload and achieving her impressive GPA make her seem like a shoe-in to any job. However, reality tells a much different story. “The reality of today’s economy has definitely forced me to make different career-related
See ANXIETY page 5
Alumni
campus
Despite many fellowships, SMU lags behind in Rhodes scholars ERIN GILMORE Contributing Writer egilmore@smu.edu For 36 years, SMU has been stag in receiving one of the most prestigious educational fellowships in the United States. SMU has housed 12 Truman scholars, 15 Goldwater scholars and over 20 Fulbright scholars, but only five official Rhodes scholars have come through SMU in almost an entire century. As an international and large-scale program, the Rhodes Scholarship offers a remarkable opportunity for students. Just 32 American college graduates are chosen through the American Rhodes scholars program. The Rhodes Scholarship has been a rare and coveted achievement since 1902. Rhodes scholars may study any post-graduate course offered at the University of Oxford in
Britain for two years, all fees paid by the Rhodes Trust. These applicants are selected based on scholarly achievements, strong character and potential leadership in the careers they will lead. “They’re looking for someone who will shine,” SMU’s Rhodes scholar advisor Ed Countryman, who is a Rhodes scholar himself, said. Countryman expressed that Rhodes is looking for future world leaders who are academically engaged in a serious way. This is a long-term project that must be started early. “It’s not instant,” Countryman said. “You have to be spotted out early, be mentored and encouraged.” The Rhodes process includes preliminary applications, portfolios, recommendations and final applications ending with an extremely selective committee — not to mention the complete
devotion in undergraduate studies to be a student beyond an A-plus ranking. Advisors from Duke and Harvard have expressed to other prestigious institutions like SMU that it’s important for advisors to spot students out early who have the potential to make it. Those chosen are students who will get into the very best graduate schools for their field, and “If you can do that,” Countryman said, “Rhodes can be good to try for.” Those who spot potential scholars can see that this student has something huge to gain from Rhodes and will benefit from Oxford specifically. Rhodes often caters to more scientific students than academic, yet not exclusively. The selectors also consider that they are letting in students who must be good representations
See RHODES page 5
Photo Courtesy of Josh Sepkowitz and Kyle Noonan
Kyle Noonan and Josh Sepkowitz, who both graduated from SMU in 2002, are opening the first upscale bowling alley in Dallas. Bowl & Barrel, which is located in the Shops of Park Lane, is scheduled to open Oct. 1.
Grads to bring upscale bowling to Dallas this fall SARAH KRAMER Editor in Chief skramer@smu.edu They lived in the same dorm freshman year, were roommates
Advertisement
the next, members of Fiji and were in each other’s weddings. But after leaving their respective careers to pursue a multi-million dollar dream of
theirs last summer, these two SMU grads say they are more like brothers now than ever.
See GRADS page 5