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Show On-the-job training aids the student, employer Many critics of universities have claimed that schools place too much emphasis on ideology and theory and not enough stress on practical application. They often forget that a university uni-versity is one of the few places where individuals can scrutinize scruti-nize ideology and learn theorgy, but the idea of involving more students in practical application of what they learn has merit. Every summer many students have the opportunity to apply ap-ply their knowledge because an increasing number of industries indust-ries are hiring interns or trainees. The industries are becoming aware of the benefits of giving jobs to students. They realize that many of the students they employ for the summer could return following graduation. As one employer said, "By employing em-ploying juniors with potential during the summer we then have the chance to hire them as regular employees after graduation grad-uation before our competition gets to them." Of course, many of the companies refuse to hire interns because they think that students may not be valuable in their field as yet. They fail to see that it is the summer training that they could give students that would later make those students more productive employees. University departments also realize the importance of having hav-ing students gain practical experience. Some departments at j the University encourage summer internships by giving participating part-icipating students credit, and in other departments an intern-' intern-' ship or some type of practical experience is required for graduation. grad-uation. But it is the students who gain the most by on-the-job training. Besides monetary compensation, often in the internship intern-ship situation the student works in the areas where it takes regular employees years to work up to. And if the student performs well, a job is often waiting after his graduation, or a record of experience can be shown to future employers. Summer internship employment seems beneficial to both the student and the employer. And we concur with a former intern who evaluated the internship's value with, "It's too bad that there aren't more internships around for other students to participate in." |