This week’s post features incoming News Editor Joe Bonica ’12, incoming Treasurer Anthony Longo ’13 and incoming Editor-in-Chief Dennis Shiraev ’12.
Job Prospects for Cornellians
Dennis: The figures in the Sun article are discouraging as best. Most Cornellians enter thinking that they’re going to graduate with a great job offer, or, at least some job offer. It’s even worse when your starting salary is less than the $50,000+ that your parents have been paying each year for your education. Does this mean that a Cornell education is not worth the price tag during this economic downturn? Not really. We need to keep this all in perspective. Future graduating classes will find better job prospects, and recent graduates will also see increases in salaries and employment opportunities when the economy starts to recover.
Anthony: It’s a shame when even a Cornell degree can’t even help you get a job nowadays. I think these stats are reflective of the economy and not of Cornell, but the huge dip in Engineering salaries does seem a bit frightening. If you look at the pooled statistics from all universities, you’d probably find that Cornell is still way above the average as far as entry pay, employment rate, job retention, etc.
Joe: This is purely a reflection of the poisonous job market. Nobody, no matter what their degree or lack thereof, has had an easy time finding jobs for the past couple of years. As the economy begins to recover and firms begin to rehire, we will no doubt see a reversal in these statistics. For now, they must simply be considered the unfortunate side effects of recession.
Blazej Kot Conviction
Dennis: This story didn’t get as much publicity because it was a grad student and the murder incident happened during the summer. The trial was also overshadowed by suicide stories and the basketball run. I’ll echo the other two bloggers by saying that justice was definitely served.
Anthony: The insanity plea and its variants are overly-abused loopholes in our legal system, and they have resulted in far too many sentence reductions. The courts should have stronger means to overrule and bypass such excuses–which were originally intended for good. Unfortunately, our nation’s sharp defense lawyers have really learned to play the game when it comes to the insanity plea.
Joe: I’m no trial lawyer, but this must be one of the worst uses of the insanity defense I’ve seen. So much evidence pointed towards some degree of premeditation that the likelihood of an “extreme emotional disorder” was slim to none. Kot is a brutal murderer and was recognized as such by a jury of his peers; now justice awaits.
Obama Approval Ratings Continue to Fall
Dennis: The demolition of the myth of 2008 continues. As Bonica points out, though, Obama still has plenty of time to regain popularity before the 2012 elections if the economy starts to recover. Even if the long term stability of the economy is not guaranteed, people will respond positively to improved macro indicators, most of all unemployment figures. For now, though, Republicans remain in good position for the 2010 midterms.
Anthony: Thank God that Americans are finally seeing through Obama’s guileful presidency and, more importantly, that the polls reflect this. It seems that the recent health care disaster did indeed play into the most recent approval rating. It took just over a year for Obama to lose his popularity (or at least lose the American majority).
Joe: It’s taken Gallup a long time to realize what rival pollsters Rasmussen has shown on a consistent basis since at least this past July: people are upset about the actions of the current administration. While these numbers are certainly great news for any conservative, it is important to remember that Obama has only been in office for about a year and a half, and there is plenty of time for the direction of the economy and thus Obama’s presidency to change. With the recent actions of the administration, however, this does not appear to be the case.
