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Show SpecialFeatures Page 14 Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009 Recession sparks modern-day gold rush 40 miles west of Yosemite National Park. The bearded man helping him drag the mining gear into the water was a jobless logger who lost his home to foreclosure. Fifty feet downstream, an unemployed concrete-truck COLUMBIA, Calif. Maybe it was the nail in Ray’s head. Maybe driver scoured the river bottom beside a laid-off furniture it was the economy. His wife said one as much as the other drove mover, back to prospecting after a day spent wrestling with the the decision to auction off everything that wouldn’t fit in the unemployment office. trailer and leave Vermont for the mother lode. “You have to consider the economy,” said Gary Rhinevault, “Thought we’d try to make a living at it,” Kim Lague said, caretaker of the Lost Dutchman’s Mining Association standing in a mining camp that was busier during the Great Depression than it was in the Gold Rush of 1849, and is busy once campground, where 45 prospectors pay as little as 30 cents a day to pitch their tents. “In 1932, there were more prospectors out again. trying to make a living than in the 1850s.” And so, 18 months after a co-worker’s pneumatic hammer Even in the trough of today’s great recession, most of the drove a 2 1/2-inch stainless-steel nail into Ray Lague’s skull — prospectors still double as hobbyists. The Lost Dutchman’s “the plunger of the gun brushed my hat and discharged” — the club allows members to camp for six months at a time, and its once-thriving contractor took his place among the prospectors dozen or so claims are crowded first with the motor homes of lining the steep banks of the South Fork of the Stanislaus River, freewheeling retirees. But as the economy soured, their ranks were swelled by adults of working age, pulled by gold prices flirting with $1,000 a troy ounce — the highest in more than two decades — and pushed by unfortunate circumstance. While there is no way to quantify the trend, anecdotally it is clear that the jobless are showing up not only in California but also elsewhere around the country where gold has been found in the past. “I have been seeing a lot of it this year, with so many people getting laid off or hours cut way back,” said Tim LeGrand, owner of TN Gold & Gems in Coker, Tenn. Permits for prospecting in the nearby Cherokee National Forest, BeRnard Cruz, left, and Scott Greene sift through sand for gold in Columbia, Calif. The price of named for the tribe pushed the precious metal is at its highest level in decades. Post photo by Katherine Frey. By Karl Vick The Washington Post Less support, more ‘trigger-pullers’ in Afghanistan WASHINGTON (LAT) -- U.S. officials are planning to add as many as 14,000 combat troops to the American force in Afghanistan by sending home support units and replacing them with “triggerpullers,” defense officials say. The move would beef up the combat force in Afghanistan without increasing the overall number of U.S. troops -- a contentious issue as public support for the war slips. Many of the noncombat jobs are likely be filled by private contractors, a source of controversy in Iraq and a growing issue in Afghanistan. The plan represents a key step in the Obama administration’s drive to counter Taliban gains and demonstrate progress in the war nearly eight years after it began. Forces that could be swapped out include units assigned to noncombat duty, such as guards or lookouts, or those on clerical and support squads. “It makes sense to get rid of the clerks and replace them with trigger-pullers,” said one Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been announced. The changes will not offset the potential need for additional troops in the future, but they could reduce the size of any request from Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and allied com- mander, officials said. McChrystal submitted a broad assessment of the Afghan war effort this week, calling the situation “serious.” Details of the assessment remain secret, but officials said it did not contain a request for more troops. Such a request could be submitted in coming weeks. The planned changes in the U.S. troop mix are part of what military officials call a “force optimization” review, a critical middle step between the assessment and a request for additional troops, designed to ensure the existing force is operating as efficiently as possible. ClassifiedAds Scott Greene, standing on rocks, and Benard Cruz, underwater, search for gold using a suction dredge to vacuum up gravel. Both are out of work and say they have nothing better to do. Post photo by Katherine Frey. westward after gold was discovered in early 1800s, have more than doubled since 2007. “People come out with high hopes and don’t realize the work that is involved until they get into it,” LeGrand said. “ Most try a few days and give up. Many struggle on and learn to pan. Very few get enough gold to do them any financial good.” On the South Fork, everyone claims to know this. “No one’s making a living down here,” said Tony Stroud, an unemployed machinist who, like the other prospectors repeating the phrase, surely believes the words. And yet, here they all are, investing $1,500 to $5,000 for the suction dredges that vacuum up gravel, for the sluices that separate the gravel from the black sand, and, not least, for the big plastic pans that, after the machines have done the heavy work, reveal the glimmers of color that set hearts to racing and render reason irrelevant. “You didn’t hear it from me,” Stroud went on a moment later, “but a guy in Columbia said downstream he took 14 ounces out in 48 hours. And we’re going to jump his hole.” Robert McFadden, seated to his right on a picnic table, set down his morning beer. “What’s the appeal of prospecting?” he said. “Hope I can get rich, number one.” The river is cluttered with the miners’ gear and the boulders they constantly rearrange in the search for a spot not already groomed of flakes. Yet the feeling is orderly, tents and motor homes lined around a rustic clubhouse that evokes familiar notions of prospecting as reliably as the bushy beards sported by many of the men. In a shady bend a mile downstream, DeWayne and Nick Shepard labored in frustration beside the Michigan flag, planted upon arrival 30 days earlier on a trip planned for three years. Their vision of prospecting was informed by repeated viewings — “must be hundreds of times,” Nick said — of “Gold Fever” and other cable television programs produced by members of the family that owns the camps. “He shows you, in his pan, what must be $15,000 in gold he says he got in two days,” said Nick Shepard, 28, who left his masonry job to come west with his retired father. “We wonder if there aren’t people who got sucked in worse than us,” DeWayne said. The Lagues watched the same shows. “Realistically, when we first started out, they say you can make an ounce a day,” said Kim Lague, in the 31-foot trailer the couple now calls home. “Now it’s down to, we just want to make an ounce a month.” Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com For more information, see USU Student Employment, TSC 106. On campus jobs: C429-96 Mowing $6.55/hr C395-09 S I Leader For Usu 1360 003 $8.00/hr C191-04 S I Leader Usu 1350 001 $8.00/hr C397-05 Research Technician BOE C088-07 Software Developer Assistant $8$14, BOE C005-04 Research Assistant $1500/month C171-95 Note Taker $7.25/hr C160-06 Substitute Teacher 65.00 - 75.00 C015-10 Marketing Starving Student Card open C012-93 Computer Lab Consultant $7.25 per hour C039-10 Instructional & Web Designer $16/hour c041-10 Skyroom Waitress 6.00 plus tips C320-05 Engineering Assistant BOE C163-07 Marketing Research Assistant $8$10 per hour C483-00 Laboratory Assistant 10-14 hr depend on qual C061-10 Gis Technician minimum $9/hr C065-10 Teaching Assistant $10 C143-06 Cwel Farm Labor $7.25 C448-07 Customer Service- Tooele Distance Ed 8/hr C078-10 Undergraduate Research Assistant $450/mo C080-10 Quadside Cafe Worker 7.50 C101-07 Laboratory Assistant BOE C337-08 Skyroom Server $6.00 per hour plus Tips C560-05 Hub Server $7.25/hr C208-09 Technical Support Intern $7.509.00/hr C238-97 Clerk/secretary 6.55/hour C092-10 Data Base Technician $12-15/hr GRA possibility C371-95 Lab/field Technician $8.00/hr C097-10 Temporary Substitute Slp $25$35/hr, doe C135-91 Intramural Official $7.25 to $8 per game C507-09 Farm Workers 7.50/hour C094-10 Slp Clinician & Consultant Commensurate w-experience C356-03 Research Assistant $9.50/hr C039-09 Sibling Care Provider depends on experience C425-07 Lifeguard $7.25 C124-92 Speech Instructional Assistant $5.85/hr C134-09 Laboratory Technician minimum $7.25 C296-05 American Sign Lanugage Interpreter $14-$26+ c208-96 Tutor $7.25/hr C033-06 Late Evening Custodian (part Time) $6.55 per hour C203-06 Manager Off-Campus Jobs: 3545 Quality Control Internship $14.00 3681 Cleaners 5336 Product Demonstrator $10.00 an hour 5342 Certified Science Teacher $1,000/ quarter 5398 Marketing Team Member 5438 Child Care DOE 5468 Technical Support $9.00 - $11.75/ hour 5465 Server/ Bartender 2.13/ hour + tips 5500 Part-time Guitar Instructor $25.00/ hour 3142 Sales Representative $8.00 +commission 5519 Internet Support Technician $9/ hour 5513 Live-in Nanny DOE 0328 Office Worker start @ $7.25 5520 Assistant Retail Manager 8.00/hr base plus commiss 5522 Part -time Nanny 5525 Computer Programer Negotiable 5526 Staffing Manager $8.25 5534 Cook DOE 5529 Fitness Manager $500/mo + commission WINDSHIELDS 905 NORTH MAIN 753-6671 up to $125 off deductible expires April 2010 $9.95 rock chip repair expires April 2010 5533 Dishwasher Starting Rate $8.00 5532 Graphic Designer 11 3083 Apartment Resident Manager 5530 Agency Contact Representative $9.00 per hour plus bonus 5537 Light Commercial Truck Driver $8.00/ Hr 0013 Graveyard Shift Cashier 5536 Preschool Teacher DOE 5539 Graphic Art & Design 5542 Gymnastics Coach 7.25-8.50 0058 Assembly $8.25 5543 Food Service Workers $7.25/ hr Starting pay 1351 Carwash Worker $7/ hr. plus tips 2994 Daycare Provider $7.50/hour 5544 Dietician Consultant $12.00 per hour 5555 Technical Support $9.00 - 11.75/hour 5552 Child Care/ Nanny $7/hr 5559 Customer Service Negotiable 4535 Maintenance Assiatant $7 to $9. per hour 5547 Programmer Analyst 5549 Crew Member 5550 Engineering Assistant $7.50 5553 Nanny 6.50 per hour 1184 Landscaping 8.50 starting 5563 Child Care Provider $7.25 5562 Engineering Documentation Support $11/hr 5561 Delivery $8.50 5560 Babysitter $7.50/hr 5558 Customer Service Representative DOE 5556 Part Time Nanny $9/hour 5554 Maintenance/handyman Negotiable 5569 Customer Service 7.50+ depends on Exp. 5568 Sales Professional 5567 Door Sales 8-30 5566 General Laborer/ Janitor 7.50 5565 Office Assistant/sales Person/web Design DOE 5564 Steel Tech Operator $10.95 5570 Sales Associate Neg 3686 Graphic Designer DOE Bicycles Bicycle for sale 10-speed, 20” frame with street tires. I bought this bicycle for $20, willing to let it go for $15. Please contact me at the email chanel.tompkins@aggiemail.usu. edu or visit in person at 91 South 400 West Hyrum, UT after 6:00 PM. Motorcycles/Scooters Super Gas Saver! 2006 Vento Phantom 150cc. $700 Remote Start, Alarm, Aftermarket pipe, Great gas mileage 70-80 MPG. Great for around Logan. Selling to help pay for my senior project Rommate needed Private room in Luxury townhome for rent - male Private room in new luxury townhome. Includes high-speed internet and over 100 channels of cable. fully furnished. No deposit. $275/month + shared utilities. Garage available. Close to USU, shopping, and everything. Nonsmoking / drinking. USU. Calculus Concepts & Contexts, Stewart 3rd edition ISBN 0-534-40986-5 I took the class last semester with this book. The bookstore is selling it for $99 used so I’m asking $70. Call or text or email. I live in logan but have an idaho number. (208) 965-6963 MHR 2050 Business Law Cheeseman custom USU edition **NEW** Business law book, for MHR 2050, USU custom edition still in shrink wrap originally $104... will sell for $90. MAE 3400 Book - THERMODYNAMICS I am selling a Thermodynamics book w/ the CD. It is the 6th edition - current edition used by USU. Authors Cengel and Boles ISBN # 978-0-07-352921-9 $ Price negotiable $ Math 1100 textbook Calculus an applied approach seventh ediion Larson, Edwards . This book is for math 1100 students. will work out a price for any student in need. just call katie @ 801-897-8875 Textbooks Apartments for Rent MHR 4880 Textbook Excellent Condition This is the international version of the book for Prof. Herrmanns class. It is in great condition- used in the bookstore you can buy this book for 130, I’m asking $90 OBO. I really need to sell it soon so call/ text if you’re interested. Female Private bedroom Contract for sale at Island Inn Apts. $2130 for school year with heat & internet paid. Ask for Holly’s contract; my loss = your gain. Call 435752-2073. Their website is islandinnapts.com. Cheap Textbooks: Business Law (MHR2050) $60 psychology 1010 $70 MIS 2100(USING MIS) $60 ACCT 2010 (Financial Accounting) $60 Business Statistics(STAT 2300) $50 Math 1210 or 1220 Calculus ’ve got a math textbook for Math 1210 at Room for Rent 1016N. 180 W. #102 Logan, UT Private bedroom/shared bath in a four man condo for $225 per month. Price includes furnished living room, kitchen, dining area and washer/dryer. Option of a garage space for an extra $20.00 Amazing Rental! AVAILABLE NOVEMBER! I am getting married, and need to sell my contract at Maple Valley Apartments - I currently have a private room. Large apartment, 3 great roommates, Balcony, storage space, large closets, washer and dryer included. Pool Hot Tub Club House Big Screen TV Pool Table Laundry Exercise Equipment. Rent is only $190/month, and easily beats student housing. Located at 1693 N. 400 W. # i201 in Logan. For more information call Brady at 801.498.0596 AVAILABLE NOVEMBER Girls Apartment Contract for Sell! Private room with a walk in closet at Oakridge Apartments. Close to cam- Free Classified ads for USU Students. Check out what’s there at www. aggietownsquare. com pus with a shuttle stop right outside. Free Laundry, free utilities, work out room and pool access all included in price. Free High Speed Internet and cable hook ups in room. 2 large bathrooms shared with 3 other girls. Room includes a large desk and large dresser. Great Kitchen and furnished living room. GREAT ROOMMATES! $2600 for entire school year. Deposit already paid. You save $700. Please call McKenzie @ (435)820-0475. ARCHSTONE APARTMENT Private Room. Availible FOR CHEAP! Apartment is CLOSE TO CAMPUS, has ON SITE LAUNDRY, FULLY FUNISHED,SWAMP COOLERS, AND WIRELESS INTERNET!! STARTING AT ONLY..2300.00 for the school year OBO! PRIVATE ROOM IN A TOWNHOUSE STYLE, NEW FUNITURE & PAINT! GREAT DEAL! PINEVIEW MENS HOUSING CONTRACT FOR SALE. Fall 2009 school year contract for sale both semesters (fall and spring), $265/month, w/o utilities, will pay the first month, awesome roommates, easy to get everywhere from here! Pineview Apartments @ 780 East 1000 North Apt 38 Give SHANE PALMER a call at 208-680-2284. $239 OBO for Dell Laptop 1.73GHz Centrino Processor NVIDIA dedicated graphics card Hi-Res Display (up to 1680x1250)! 2GB RAM 160 GB Hard Drive (New!) DVD Burner (only reads DVDs) The battery doesn’t retain a charge for very long anymore (about 15min) so it’s recommended that it be replaced. It does come with the AC power supply, so as long as it’s plugged in it’s fine. Laptop has been used the last 3 years for college so it’s in good condition, a few scratches on the chassis. Only $239.00 or best offer! Contact Alex at 801-726-9091 Apple Power PC G5 includes ipod touch White iMac (desktop) for sale! It is 4 years |