August 2004 Edition of the Skills for Tomorrow Activities and Updates Listserv

As children head back to school and teachers are preparing their lessons, labor organizations should be prepared to take the union message into classrooms. We must continue on our quest to educate children about worker’s rights and the benefits of being a union member.

Teachers, remember this is an election year. Let’s instruct young people about the process for choosing the President in the United States. In this issue we have included information on the election process for kids. Be sure to share this information with them. Adults should find this information useful too.

If you have anything of interest to share, we would love to hear from you. To submit information on your organization, or career development curriculum, please email Linn Nguyen at lnguyen@teamster.org or Sharlene Mentor at smentor@teamster.org

On July 15, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters took part in the Labor Education in the Schools Interest Group meeting held during the American Federation of Teachers' (AFT) 78th Convention in Washington, D.C. Representatives from eight other labor and educational organizations also attended the conference.

AFT’s Research Director Jewell Gould and American Labor Studies Center’s (ALSC) Director Paul Cole co-chaired the meeting, which brought together leading voices, like the Teamsters, in youth outreach.

Cole described some of the highlights of the ALSC’s program that includes a history of the Kate Mullany House and plans to disseminate curricula around Mullany. Cole also said that the Baseball Hall of Fame is developing a curriculum that should be ready by the 2004 Baseball World Series, and plans to have an exhibit and lessons that tie in baseball with unions. He expressed satisfaction with the sizeable increase in ALSC’s website traffic and encouraged everyone to visit www.labor-studies.org for additional information and updates.

Gould reported that he gave a presentation on the ALSC’s program at the Illinois State Federation of Teachers Conference on Leadership and Professional Development. He said he hopes to incorporate the next Labor Education in the Schools Interest Group meeting with the AFT Quest meeting in 2005. He encouraged everyone to support Tom Juravich’s efforts to produce CDs of union music and songs.

Among the other speakers who described their organizations’ programs and services were Dan Golodner of the Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University, Dennis Serrette of the Communications Workers of America, and Sharlene Mentor and James Beeharilal of the Teamsters Union.

Mentor and Beeharilal updated those in attendance about the Teamsters’ educational efforts. Under General President Hoffa, the Union received funding from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education, and developed a school-to-work outreach project. In five short years, the Teamsters Union has increased its commitment to America’s youth tenfold through Skills For Tomorrow (SFT), the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Program, job shadowing, internships and other efforts coordinated by the Education Department.

Educators and trade unionists, including representatives from the Teamsters Education Department, learned how to educate students about the role of unions in our society at a train-the-trainer session held at ATF headquarters on June 28-29, 2004.

"Workplace Issues and Collective Bargaining in the Classroom" is part of a unique effort to disseminate information about unions to students in school districts in the Washington, DC area, sponsored by the Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO and primarily funded by a grant from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The training included six high school classroom lessons related to historical and contemporary labor-management conflict resolution cases.

The collective bargaining role-play, in particular, focuses on a present-day workplace and includes labor relations professionals who coach student teams in a contract negotiation session. Other lessons include labor and management's rights and responsibilities in the workplace, and the historical dilemmas faced by the parties as the collective bargaining process developed and became part of American public policy. The Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO plans to hold another training seminar for area educators in mid-October.

For additional information, contact James Auerbach, Project Director, Workplace Issues and Collective Bargaining in the Classroom, 202-857-3410, or jauerbac@dclabor.org

The 4th Annual DC Labor FilmFest is set for September 10-12 at the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Silver Theatre. The line-up of screenings will be announced soon. For more information please visit: http://www.djdinstitute.org

The President of the United States is often considered the most powerful person in the world. But just what does being President mean? The presidency is a unique branch of the American Government. When the Founding Fathers met at the Constitutional Convention, they had two fears about this branch of government. If it were too weak, the lack of authority under the Articles of Confederation would be repeated if it were; too strong, it might lead to tyranny and an eventual return to monarchy. The framers were swayed by the thought that George Washington should be the first president because they trusted his judgment in shaping the executive branch. Thus, in the Constitution, they created an executive with definite and limited powers, while at the same time they left unsaid many details.

The United States Constitution requires that a candidate for the presidency must be a “natural-born” citizen of the United States, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.

The following answer some frequently asked questions about the requirements and special cases.

Could a person born abroad to parents who are U.S. citizens eligible to be President?

~~~~> The Election Process for Kids

The presidential candidates for the major parties are nominated by a National Convention. Conventions convene about three months before the election. Delegates from all the states assemble and nominate a President/Vice-President ticket. They also decide on a party platform: the issues the President and Vice-President will represent in the election. Often, the President and Vice-President will be two people who have different yet complimentary backgrounds. This is done to “balance the ticket,” or appeal to the largest possible amount of people.

For eight to ten weeks between the Convention and Election Day, the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates “go to the people.” The candidates state their thoughts on the party platform and make promises on behalf of the government. They also make speeches and appear at rallies to present their philosophies and views on current issues. On the first Tuesday in November (or the Tuesday after the first Monday in leap years) the voters go to the polls and cast their ballots. The candidate with the highest number will receive that state’s electoral votes.

The electoral system is unique to the United States. The Electoral College refers to the group of electors who vote for the President, each elector having one electoral vote. Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of their Senators and Representatives. The District of Columbia has the minimum three electors by the 23rd Amendment. Today, there are 538 electors: 535 from the 50 states (100 Senators, 435 Representatives) plus 3 from the District of Columbia.

On Election Day, the ballot has the phrase “electors for” followed by the names of the President and the Vice President. The winning slate of electors is the one that receives the majority or plurality of popular votes from the state (A plurality occurs when someone has the largest number of votes, but the number of votes is less than fifty percent of all the votes). After Election Day, the electors meet and officially vote on the President.

Contrary to popular belief, an elector is not obligated to vote for the candidate he or she originally indicated. Electors are free to vote for whomever they wish when they gather to officially vote. However, it is extremely rare for an elector to not vote for whom he or she originally indicated.

A candidate must receive a majority of votes (over 50%) to become President. If no one has a majority, the person with the most votes has a plurality, but is not President.

The Constitution includes a clause that guides the selection process in the event of a plurality. Article II, Section I states that “If the Electoral College does not give any candidate the necessary majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President from among the top three candidates in electoral votes. In such a situation the House votes by states, with each state having one vote. To be elected President, a candidate must receive the votes from a majority of the states.”

~~~~> Labor Education Materials on Eleanor Roosevelt Are Now Available Online

The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers is pleased to announce that new labor education materials on Eleanor Roosevelt, Human Rights and Workers’ Rights are now available online. Eleanor Roosevelt worked closely with many unions and was a champion of workers’ rights, civil rights, and women’s rights around the world. Their collaboration is best reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 23, which establishes everyone’s right to work without any discrimination, the right to equal pay for equal work, and the right to form and join trade unions.

Until now, there has been very little historical information available about Eleanor Roosevelt’s support for unions and the unions’ support for human rights. In labor workshops over this past year, a great deal of interest was found in these topics. Roosevelt's words and actions provide inspiration and examples for meeting today’s problems.

After talking with many union and university labor educators, it was decided that the best way to make new materials available is on the web. Background text, letters, speeches, quotes, and photographs can be downloaded and used to develop new workshops and courses or incorporated into existing programs. For example, a copy of Eleanor Roosevelt’s union membership card (The Newspaper Guild, 1936-1962) is now available at www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/workers.

Articles of Interest

~~~~> Kerry Promises more money for schools

Published July 17, 2004

By Ben Feller
Associated Press

Washington — Democrat John Kerry told teachers on Friday that his first presidential priority would be financial support for schools, saying educators who move kids from sorrow to success need big help themselves.

"Millions of children have been left behind — left with overcrowded classrooms, left without textbooks and left without the high-quality tests that we know really measure learning," Kerry told 3,000 delegates of the American Federation of Teachers at their biennial convention.

"So I'll tell you what: Politicians who talk about valuing morality and personal responsibility ought to start by keeping their own promises," Kerry said.

In accusing President Bush of reneging on a pledge to fully pay for his No Child Left Behind education law, Kerry seized on a complaint that's emerged from statehouses to schoolhouses.

Kerry pledged to spend as much on the law as authorized for its programs — at least $27 billion more, he said — by rolling back part of Bush's tax cuts.

The Bush campaign says Kerry is the one who hasn't kept his word, as the four-term Massachusetts senator voted for the landmark law in 2001 but now criticizes its enforcement, its funding and some of its provisions.

Kerry's 45-minute speech served as a reminder that education, which lags behind terrorism and jobs in polls of the public's concerns, remains an issue that touches many voters' lives.

Kerry pledged to reduce teachers' health care costs, put greater emphasis on high school graduation rates and improve access to college.

"Pay for teachers in America today is a national disgrace," Kerry said. "We need to raise it – starting in the poorest schools and in the subjects where we face the most serious teacher shortages.”

~~~~> Tech Bust Zaps Interest in Computer Careers

By Alex Pham
Times Staff Writer

There used to be waiting lists for Rick Ord's classes as students packed 200-seat auditoriums to scribble down bits of code once thought to unlock a life of riches and security.

These days, Ord's lectures on systems programming at University of California (UC) San Diego convene in smaller halls with plenty of empty seats. It's the same scene on campuses across the country, as enrollment in computer science programs has dropped sharply — down 23% from 2002 to 2003.

After flocking to computer science during the technology boom, students are fleeing it almost as fast, spooked by tales of unemployed programmers watching their jobs migrate to India and Eastern Europe.

Ironically, the enrollment dip is occurring just as companies prepare to ratchet up hiring, prompting worries about a potential shortage of domestic tech workers when engineers from the Class of 2007 graduate. Long term, some fear that continuing declines could hamper technological innovation.

The Labor Department projects that the number of jobs for computer software engineers will grow 46% from 2002 to 2012. Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates barnstormed five engineering schools to drum up interest.

"Computer science today is poised to do all these amazing things," Gates told students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where computer science enrollments dropped 44% from 1999 to 2003. The decline has hit just about every type of school. At UC Berkeley, the number of students enrolling in computer science and computer engineering dropped 41% in that period. Enrollments at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta fell 45%.

Nationwide, new enrollments are at 1996 levels — and few expect them to rebound soon.

"It's been precipitous," said John Guttag, head of MIT's electrical engineering and computer science department.

At UC San Diego, home to the largest engineering school in the University of California system, applications to the program fell 24% from 2002 to 2003.

Jeanne Ferrante, associate dean of the UC San Diego school of engineering, said there was little mystery why. After hovering under 2% in the late 1990s, the jobless rate for computer scientists and systems analysts grew to 5.4% in the last three months of 2003. It then jumped to 6.7% in the first quarter of this year — outstripping the overall national unemployment rate of 6.1%.

"It used to be that students could name their job, their salary and their bonuses," Ferrante said. "Now it's not as easy."

That scares Robert Omoto. Two years into his undergraduate studies at UC San Diego, the 20-year-old Sacramento native chose to major in biology rather than computer science, even though he's been fascinated with technology since grade school.

After graduation, he plans to join his parents' optometry business. "Everybody needs healthcare," Omoto said. With computer science, "you can't be sure there will be a job after you graduate."

Phuc Ly, a computer science major at UCLA, graduated in June but considers the five years he spent getting his degree "a waste of time."

"My father basically wanted me to major in computer science so I could make a lot of money and support my family," said Ly, a 22-year-old from San Jose. Inspired by the tech bubble, Ly's father wanted him to become a millionaire. "That's not going to happen, obviously."

Instead, Ly plans to teach English in Japan while he contemplates new career paths.

Like many of his classmates, Ly signed up for computer science at the height of the technology boom in 1999. But the bubble burst and legions of programmers were laid off. Enrollment, which tends to lag behind employment by a year or two, took a dive in 2003 — falling to 17,706 new students nationwide from 23,033 the year before.

For their part, tech companies are trying to reassure nervous students that jobs are out there. Gates' college tour was part of that effort. His company plans to hire 4,000 new workers over the next 12 months.

"There's been an awful lot of gloom and doom post-bubble," said Kristen Roby, Microsoft's senior director of college recruiting.

IBM Corp. this year announced plans to hire 4,500 U.S. workers. Hewlett-Packard Co.'s chief executive, Carly Fiorina, said the company was likely to add 5,000 workers.

"Our ability to grow depends on the people we're able to hire," said Doug Burke, chief executive of DefenseWeb Technologies Inc. in San Diego, a defense contractor that needs to hire five software engineers. "And right now, I'm having a very difficult time finding talented engineers."

Some companies have deeper concerns. "In the short term, we'll get by," said Nicholas M. Donofrio, IBM's senior vice president of technology and manufacturing. "But in the long run, we have to take stock in this country's ability to create, invent and innovate. That means understanding the business problems, applying the technology and creating the solutions. That can only happen if we're better educated."

Many universities are adopting a wait-and-see approach.

Stuart Zweben, chairman of Ohio State University's computer science department in Columbus, Ohio, pointed out that the slide came after an equally sharp rise — a classic bubble. "We had a doubling of new computer science students" between 1995 and 2000 nationwide, he said. "That kind of growth was not sustainable."

Some even welcome the drop in enrollment, including students who are able to get into courses much more easily and professors who no longer have to manage bulging classes.

"The smaller class sizes make for a much better learning experience," said David DeWitt, chairman of computer science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Calvin Park, a second-year UC San Diego computer science student, is thrilled that his classes aren't packed.

"I see computer science as an art," Park said. "Thank goodness all the people who are only interested in making money are out."

Get Connected: Web Site Links

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End of Issue

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~~~~> The Election Process for Kids

~~~~> Labor Education Materials on Eleanor Roosevelt Are Now Available Online

Send your questions or comments to: info@ibtstw.org ©2005 The International Brotherhood of Teamsters / Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau

Send your questions or comments to: info@ibtstw.org
©2005 The International Brotherhood of Teamsters / Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau