Brief in English

T:Teksti:

The Early Student Gets the Summer Job

The new year has begun and summer vacation seems a long way away, but the hunt for summer work is already on. An increasing number of university students are visiting the Helsinki University Recruiting Office in the hopes of finding a summer job. The University’s Recruiting Office on Vuorikatu acts as an intermediary between university students and businesses looking for summer workers, offering interested students assistance with resumes and interviews, as well.
     Hanna Koivisto
, Project Manager at the Office, says, "Active participation is absolutely necessary. Students should contact companies directly and bravely ask if there is anything
available." She expects that there will be more summer jobs available this summer than in previous years, but warns, "If you don’t start your search until mid-February, you may be too late.
    "Mats Holmqvist
,a student of South Asian studies, has made tentative plans to work in Italy this summer. "I don’t even know what kind of work it is yet, my brother set it up for me." Scandin-avian language student Milja Sarkola hasn’t decided what she’ll do quite yet. "I thought I try to find a job as a journalist because I have experience, or else look for something in the theater.
    " Mia Mailander
studies Spanish
philology. She didn’t work last
summer, but trusts that "there are
always cleaning jobs open." Koivisto encourages students to look for a job that isn’t in their future field. "It is good to have a diverse background and work according to the ’learning by
doing’ principle. All jobs provide you with contacts. Getting your foot in the door pays off in the future.

Kleptomaniacs Kollect Kontinuously

When things that don’t belong to you start piling up in your room or you get caught stealing on several occassions, you should seriously consider getting some help", explains Psychology Department Assistant Juhani Ihanus. Each of us is tempted to take certain things that aren’t ours – hotel towels and company pens come to mind – but for some the problem spins out of control.
     Ihanus explains,"There is usually a sense of disappointment that sets in once you have stolen something, when the void isn’t filled. Some people have a bad conscience. But it depends on our attitude. A kleptomaniac doesn’t feel quilty when stealing." The
problem often has its roots in people’s childhood. Doing without as a child may result in a lust for certain things as an adult. Others steal to overcome a meaningless, empty feeling they may have. "A kleptomaniac doesn’t need the things that are stolen and it is not a matter of financial gain. There is a certain excitement that overwhelms a klepto before stealing, an internal drive.
    "The worst stealers in the libraries of the university are, surprisingly,
future priests and judges. Library Director for the Faculty of Law Marjatta Sulevo understands why books disappear quickly, "There are so few tests and books and so many students.
    " The Undergraduate
Library would be at a loss without their electronic detection system. Cult publications and rare books are gone in a flash. Head of the Unicafé in Porthania reports that they have to buy new forks, knives and spoons each year, because students collect them for home use. Although most cases are overlooked, both students and teachers have both been caught smuggling food out of the cafeteria. Wallets, suitcases and leather jackets are always at risk on university premises when left unattended.

The Virtual Study Alternative

Now that the University of Helsinki is throughly accessible on the web and the Helsinki Open University has began coursework for credit via Internet, studying at home towards a degree in Finland is getting closer to reality. Still, the opportunity isn’t expected to change the average students’ university experience much.
     Although she admits that the net instruction is a good alternative for many, Taija Heinonen, secretary of the representative group for Helsinki’s disabled students, Kynnys ry. is
concerned. "It is unacceptable that
virtual study would become the preferred study alternative for disabled students in the future," she says.
     Taija herself needs a wheelchair which limits her mobility, but that doesn’t stop her from participating in lectures. "The social part of studies interests me, too. When someone in the department mentions that I could just take a book test or borrow someone else’s notes, I say that I prefer to sit in on the lectures." "A few times, my classes have had to switch to a
different lecture hall because I was
unable to get to the original place, but moving lectures hasn’t always been possible because of the lack of space.
    " The net also makes university
education available to prisoners throughout Finland. In the Kuopio municipality jail last fall, a few prisoners completed their matriculation exams. Prisoners are not allowed to use the
internet or e-mail connections without supervision.
     In practice, this means that the
prisoners’s study supervisor finds the necessary information on the web and sends the prisoner’s e-mail messages for him. It is still not possible to
complete an entire Master’s degree through the net and final testing is problematic. Time will tell how virtual study develops.

TV License To Be Sold By Phone

The Telecommunications Administration Center of Finland plans to begin a wave of phoning in the near future to check on TV licenses. The Center requires every resident of Finland with a television to pay a TV license charge of over 800 FIM for a color television.
     The Center does a surprise inspection of homes without a license several times a year. Because the Center is not allowed to enter people’s homes without a warrant, however, some Finns leave the charge unpaid and hope they are never caught red-handed watching their television by an door-to-door television inspector.
     Television Service Director Esko Kotilainen comments, "Television use without a license is higher among students, for completely understandable reasons." Kotilainen says the Center is well aware of how many students apartments have unlicensed television sets, but has not put students on a particular ’black list’.

American and French Crime on the Screen

The Finnish Film Archives organization, located at the Orion theater, will introduce a new film series in February in cooperation with the Helsinki Student Union (HYY) Student Film Group. The series will feature three French films by Jean Pierre Melville and a lecture series led by Eeva Kurki discussing the American film noir genre.
     Kurki explains,"The French crime film has been heavily influenced by the American film noir. But, on the other hand, film noir has elements of the French poetic realism from the 30’s and so the influence is in both directions." In Melville’s films, the thief is the hero of the film. His clean form, fluid storyline and sparse dialogue are appealing. "This kind of reverence is a good balance to the lavish dimensions of modern film," says Kurki. The lecture will take place at the Orion, Eerikinkatu 15 on Tuesday February 3 at 2:30 p.m. Free admission to anyone interested.