page 10
daily nebraskan
friday; October 9, 1981
Careers in economics varied
By Charles Flowerday
Students tend to put too much emphasis on a major,
said Roger Riefler, chief adviser of the UNL Department
of Economics.
"The fact of the matter is, 90 percent of VS. corpora
tions hire people and they go right into a training pro
gram," Riefler said.
Riefler explained that he is in an awkward position
with regard to his advisees, economics majors in the Col
lege of Arts and Sciences. He said economics majors face
a relatively good job market in relation to other arts and
sciences majors, but that it also is the least career-oriented
major in the business school.
He contrasted it the more theoretical nature of the
discipline with accounting, which he said provided good
job opportunities upon graduation.
Economics provides a more general business back
ground, Riefler said. Students graduating with an eco
nomics degree would face the same period of training
as a history or English major, Riefler said.
He said students often face their senior year with the
question "What am I being trained for?" They frequently
have visions of being hired, put behind a desk and told to
perform, he said.
Nice selection
History majors, for example, who put a nice selection
of courses together-a good intellectual package, he said
are people corporations will train.
Riefler said the economics department is the only
department in the College of Business Administration
building requiring students to take an arts and sciences
curriculum. This serves to create a well-rounded student,
Riefler explained. He said students today are getting
career-oriented too early.
"I like the arts and sciences approach of distribution
requirements early. It worries me what students come into
introductory courses expecting: 'Does it make me
money? n he said.
Riefler said that if the only reason for studying eco
nomics was to able to amass great wealth, there would be
no economics professors. He said he encouraged students
interested in the discipline to take a selection of intro
ductory courses so they know what the field is about,
then begin thinking about a major.
According to a departmental brochure, economics
majors are prepared to pursue careers in local, state
or federal government, to work for regulatory agencies
such as the Interstate Commerce Commission, or the
Federal Reserve System, or to take the more traditional
business routes of banking, insurance, retailing or trans
portation. Societal issues
Department majors gain training in data collection,
forecasting, public and governmental relations, business
and governmental consulting, policy analysis and negoti
ations, the brochure said.
It also said the strength of the discipline is that it pro
vides a logical, Ordered way of looking at problems
and issues. Economics draws upon history, philosophy
and mathematics to confront topics ranging from individ-'
ual and business economics to societal issues such as in
flation, unemployment and pollution, the leaflet said.
"Career orientation is a progressive narrowing of inter
ests," Riefler said. "I hate to see a student as a freshman
say 4I want to be an economist.' I hate to see a senior
come in and say, 'What am I going to do with my life?' "
Riefler said the first step was to get into the right
college. "If you want to go into engineering, learn that
first, then study economics."
He encourages students to visit the career placement
office and go through some interviews.
He said many students may be surprised to find that
they learn as much as their interviewers in the process.
Long lasting inabilities,
linked to noisy settings
An airplane taking off, the sound of a jackhammer
tearing up the street, a car with no muffler - surround
ing noise abuses ears.
But more than hearing is at stake.
Recent research with children has revealed broad
consequences of environmental noise. University of
n rl- -11 ...
uregon psycnoiogisi, aneiuon ionen, ana his col
leagues studied children whose schools were in the air
corridor of the Los Angeles International Airport and
compared them to matched children whose schools
were in a quiet zone.
They found that children from noisy schools:
- have higher blood pressure
- do not develop the ability to ignore noise and to
concentrate on their work
- are more likely to fail on a task requiring thought
- are more likely to give up before completing their
work
- show relatively long-lasting effects from noise:
Noise abatement procedures in the classroom, such as
sound insulation, do not immediately reverse the con
sequences of continuing exposure to environmental
noise.
Cohen said, "Over 70 million Americans live in
neighborhoods with surrounding noise levels sufficient
to interfere with communication and cause annoyance
and dissatisfaction,"
He proposes that it may take more to solve the ef
fects of noise on children than just insulating only cer
tain places in the environment, such as schools. The
problem for society, says Cohen, may be to decrease
noise levels in general.
Dr. Cohen summarized his findings recentlv in the
Journal of Personality and Psychology and the Ameri
can Psychologist
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