Watercooler Stories

QUALIFIED WORKERS MAY NEED 'SOFT SKILLS'

The time has passed when prospective employers hire high-tech workers simply on the basis of qualifications listed in a resumé. Even the most competent computer expert, swept up in the collapse of the dot-com industry, can find it tough sledding in the recently glutted job market.

The Hartford Courant says there are fewer jobs, lower salaries, more picky bosses and a new job requirement -- so-called soft skills.

Soft skills is a new term job recruiters use in describing the "whole person" and include personality and ability to deal with others -- not just a fine-lined "teckie" mentality.

Many tech workers were among the first to be laid off when the dot-com balloon burst. The unemployment rate of qualified computers workers may be as high as 20 percent nationally.

COLLEGES DOING MORE BELT TIGHTENING

The University of Houston is the latest in a series of American colleges announcing major budget cuts. The president of the school, Arthur K. Smith, has sent a letter to faculty and staff saying the majority of the cuts will be made in long-awaited maintenance projects, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The announcement comes in the wake of a call from the governor of the Lone Star State, Rick Perry, calling for reductions in operating expenses at all state schools.

The anticipated 2 percent reduction the university feels will be forced by lawmakers in Austin will mean trimming about $11.4 million from next year's budget.

Additionally, the school's president will be working with the other three schools under the University of Houston umbrella to ensure all four campuses meet the budget-cutting goals.

WEB SITE HOLDING ON-LINE PHOTO CONTEST

If you think you are better than the average amateur photographer you might want to show your wares on a new Internet Web site. Logging in at dpchallenge.com will allow non-professional photographers to upload their work for review by a panel of judges.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the majority of the shots currently on the Web site are a cut above most of the work done by amateurs ... no shots of the baby or camping trip or weddings or vacations.

Most of the entries are well organized, nicely framed and show the work of people who didn't pick up the hobby yesterday.

The Web site is easy to navigate and has several links to other photographic information. The rise in the popularity of digital cameras has created a whole new generation of high-tech camera enthusiasts.

The latest gadget is a combination cell phone and camera that allows users to snap a photo and send it through the air -- via cell phone -- to the Internet.

BEATEN MAN STANDS TALL AT WIFE'S FUNERAL

The fatal beating of an elderly suburban Pittsburgh woman and the cruel attack on her 90-year-old husband have left the "secure" neighborhood in shock. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Shannon Dale, "his eyes blackened and his face swollen from the beating four robbers gave him, stood tall" this week as he buried his wife.

The publication says the 89-year-old woman, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, died of fright, which brought on a heart attack, after being pummeled and gagged. The home invasion robbers, who posed as local gas company workers, also broke the woman's nose and one of her ribs in the attack.

More than 160 friends and concerned area citizens attended the funeral, held at Thomas Presbyterian Church in Nottingham. Many people burst into tears when they saw the surviving husband's battered and bruised face as he turned to follow the pallbearers to the hearse.