University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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This blessing may also turn into a curse simply because you can also end up without a job. However, this is not to say that every grad- uate from the College of Letters and Science gets the worst end of the bargain or that everyone with a technical background makes his first million by tne age of 30. Ka- ren Swanson, a ' 90 graduate who now works as a research assistant for the State Department of Public Health Services, responds posi- tively to her Sociology major. My studies in health issues have been useful in my job, she confirms. One concept that needs clari- fication is money isn ' t every- thing, an often preached but hard to follow adage. It certainly is not what all Berkeley graduates place on the top of their list as the driving motivation behind earning a Berkeley degree. In fact, a survey of 1,216 ' 87- ' 88 graduates re- vealed that only 47% wrote being financially well-off as the most important factor. Perhaps one thing may never change about obtaining a degree from Berkeley — the experience, knowledge and wealth which we acquired from the University ' s many academic and social pro- grams. They will always remain vdth us. . .along with the 30,000 degress that go unclaimed. ) N V THE BERKELEY DEGREE 27

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TH JAM O ( this figure does not show and tell about the day after. Are new Berkeley graduates mov- ing up the success ladders of America or are they merely moving on with the flow? What ' s the objective behind fulfilling Berkeley ' s demanding requirements? Most of us have our eyes on the green. In this culture of consumption, our far-reaching aspiration to matriculate into college and then earn big bucks may have been planned as early as five years of age. As one of the world ' s most distinguished public institutions, Berkeley of- ten gives more and expcts more from its stu- dents in return. As a result, their efforts are often reflected in the employment sector, where 51% of recent graduates rate getting a Berkeley degree as being very important to how their applications were evaluated, ac- cording to a survey conducted by the Office of Student Research. Especially in the technical field whose spec- ificity promises easier job placements, 63% of engineering baccalaureates enjoyed a median salary of $31,600 for instance. Even though the effects of the ongoing recession have also taken its toll on science and engineering ma- jors leading to slower job offers, There is a definite advantage as a graduate from Berke- ley, says Kathleen Stanton, technical career advisor at the Career Planning and Placement Center. According to Stanton, despite the fewer on-campus recruiters, companies such as Hewlett Packard, who did not recruit last year, are saving the limited positions they do have to recruit at schools like Berkeley and Stanford this year. True enough, power does dwell in a Berke- ley degree. Yet is there more that an im- pressive salary does not tell, and do all its recipients live in the fat of the land there- after? For starters, the generous sum is de- rived before taxes. Especially if you are sin- gle and have no children. Uncle Sam does not let you get away with much — literally, reflects Amelia Yuan, an ' 89 graduate in pe- troleum engineering who has been working for Shell Oil upon graduation. Even though I ' m in the highest-paid engineering profes- sion, I take home less than two-thirds of my $40,000 salary but see even less of that; with hefty house payments and education loans to repay, my bank account still looks pitifuU, about the same as it did when I was a student at Cal. Unlike their technical counterpart, liberal arts majors earn a starting median salary of $20,700 in the humanities. Whereas 80% of science and engineering majors receive job offers immediately, Stanton acknowledges the general trend that liberal arts majors usu- ally do not get jobs right away or would have to switch several jobs before finding one they like. Thus, without the specific training given under technical studies, grads in the aries liberies, the Latin origin meaning work be- fitting a free man, often have to creatively mold their skills acquired from a broad un- dergraduate education to accommodate a par- ticular job. (Peterson ' s Liberal Arts lobs, 1989) As the optimistic saying goes, You can do anything with a liberal arts major. If a. O O 5 26 THE BERKELEY DEGREE

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