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Do we even trust our leaders to help?
Retiring old ideas about retirement
Social Security more solvent than most Americans realize
Focus group participants discuss retirement
Series looks at middle-class angst
Insurance misery has no easy cure
Health-care matchup finds Ohio falls short
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Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family
Man found hanging at playground in Stow
Family is proud of late son's gift
Man shot in back near Akron park
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Varejao's $50 million deal isn't really $50 million
FBI asked to investigate attack on white family near Firestone Park
Woman, 75, charged with beating fawn to death
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Patrick McManamon:
Dwayne Wade says no to Cleveland
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Opponent outlook: Kent State
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Quick thought on Browns rookies
Tribe Matters:
Now is no time to quit
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
All Da King's Men:
Baby Got Barack !
Blog of Mass Destruction:
As California Goes?
Akron Law Café:
Why do public officials violate Ohio Ethics Laws?
Varsity Letters:
Report: Ontko selects Wisconsin
See Jane Style:
Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Margy inquires-when is a Taste of Hudson?
Sound Check:
LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
HRLite House:
DDI One of Best Places to Work
Akron Gamer:
Video game sales drop in May
Published on Sunday, May 25, 2008
SPEAKING OF . . . After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said.
Mario Nemr, 29, of Akron: ''I look at myself at age 17, when I graduated from high school. I wasn't ready for college. I would've been much better off laying bricks somewhere. . . . You feel like if you don't go to college, you are a loser. But I know a lot of guys who didn't go to college, who are doing great.''
Tom Fuller, 62, of Akron: ''You have a whole population of people who would love to have a manual job, a factory job, an assembly-line job. And they're not there. I mean, the jobs aren't there. So what happens to those folks? I'll tell you. Where I see some of them, they're sitting on their cans and in some cases getting into trouble.''
Marguerite Coffield, 50, of Stow : ''The area is so dry. If you lose your job, there's very little opportunity. I'm now in my 15th month of nonpermanent employment. My father worked at Goodyear for 40 years. We never wanted for anything. We didn't grow up worrying. Now I have three adult sons — 19, 21 and 25 — and they are the most pessimistic people you've ever met. They don't believe in America or the American dream.''
Mark Nicol, 49, of Uniontown: ''I can remember I worked for General Tire in the late '70s when I first got out of high school. It was a good-paying job — I was making $8 an hour and living at home. Back then, I felt like I was rich. At that time, people thought that was just a blue-collar job. But right now, I think a lot of people would give anything to see that kind of job come back. . . . Not only did they pay a good wage, they had tuition reimbursement for employees attending the university. If you were willing to try to help improve yourself, they would help out. That was a priceless benefit.''
Louella M. Reynolds, 51, of Akron: ''One thing I see [that] is very disturbing is the bonuses awarded the higher officials at the end of the year, when you're fighting to get 2 and 3 percent increases and they're giving themselves big, fat bonuses at the end of the year. . . . These CEOs and their assistants and their chairpeople are just cushioning their pockets while the little underdogs are there scuffling to get a 3 percent raise.''
Bill Jelen, 43, of Uniontown: ''The Friday layoffs became a regular occurrence at Telxon in Fairlawn. You hated to see anyone from H.R. headed your way with a box on Friday afternoons. I worried about getting fired for 13 years.''
New century brings fewer jobs to U.S.
Ohio doesn't bounce back after last recession
Ohio manufacturing jobs decline
Mixed picture for Ohio service sector
Ohio's winning and losing occupations
U.S. occupation trends: How jobs counts have changed since 2000 and annual earnings in 2007
Ohio occupation trends: How jobs counts have changed since 2000 and annual earnings in 2007
U.S. job counts for high-technology industry sectors
Ohio job counts for high-technology industry sectors
SPEAKING OF . . . After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said.
Mario Nemr, 29, of Akron: ''I look at myself at age 17, when I graduated from high school. I wasn't ready for college. I would've been much better off laying bricks somewhere. . . . You feel like if you don't go to college, you are a loser. But I know a lot of guys who didn't go to college, who are doing great.''
Tom Fuller, 62, of Akron: ''You have a whole population of people who would love to have a manual job, a factory job, an assembly-line job. And they're not there. I mean, the jobs aren't there. So what happens to those folks? I'll tell you. Where I see some of them, they're sitting on their cans and in some cases getting into trouble.''
Marguerite Coffield, 50, of Stow : ''The area is so dry. If you lose your job, there's very little opportunity. I'm now in my 15th month of nonpermanent employment. My father worked at Goodyear for 40 years. We never wanted for anything. We didn't grow up worrying. Now I have three adult sons — 19, 21 and 25 — and they are the most pessimistic people you've ever met. They don't believe in America or the American dream.''
Mark Nicol, 49, of Uniontown: ''I can remember I worked for General Tire in the late '70s when I first got out of high school. It was a good-paying job — I was making $8 an hour and living at home. Back then, I felt like I was rich. At that time, people thought that was just a blue-collar job. But right now, I think a lot of people would give anything to see that kind of job come back. . . . Not only did they pay a good wage, they had tuition reimbursement for employees attending the university. If you were willing to try to help improve yourself, they would help out. That was a priceless benefit.''
Louella M. Reynolds, 51, of Akron: ''One thing I see [that] is very disturbing is the bonuses awarded the higher officials at the end of the year, when you're fighting to get 2 and 3 percent increases and they're giving themselves big, fat bonuses at the end of the year. . . . These CEOs and their assistants and their chairpeople are just cushioning their pockets while the little underdogs are there scuffling to get a 3 percent raise.''
Bill Jelen, 43, of Uniontown: ''The Friday layoffs became a regular occurrence at Telxon in Fairlawn. You hated to see anyone from H.R. headed your way with a box on Friday afternoons. I worried about getting fired for 13 years.''
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