President Wilson W. Sorensen of the Utah Technical College here in Utah Valley made an interesting statement Thursday at the 197’9 spring graduation ceremonies. He explained that less than half of the graduates were in attendance because so many of them were alreadg working at jobs made possi le through skills developed in UTC classes. Indeed, a total of 479 graduates earned certificates and degrees, but only 200 or so were present in cags and gowns. or a longl time Utah Technical College has ada reputation of being a le to place its graduates in jo s. The percentage of placement has been consistently high. All of which speaks well of the Provo-Orem based school and its administrative staff and faculty. Business, industry, education, the various trades, and other occupations benefit also because of the skills taught at UTC. To a measure, the availability of men and women expert in a broad range of skills contributes to the commendably low unemployment rate in Utah County. The number of unemployed workers in the county declined again in May – down to 2,660. This caused the raw jobless rate to remain at 3.4 percent, an alltime recorded low for Utah County. The local rate compares with the 5.0 percent unemployment rate for the nation as a whole. Note, from these li res by the Utah Department of E%:1ployment Security at Provo how the total labor force has increased in the last decade in Utah County – but how the number unemployed and the jobless percentage rate have tended to decline during the same period: ‘ 1970, 48,730 workers; 3036 unemployed for 6.2 percent; 1971, 50,916, 3446. for 6.8 percent; 1972, 54,2-19,2998 for 5.5 percent; 1973, 58,537, 2991, for 5.1 percent; 1974, 61,289, 3370, for 5.5 percent; 1975, 53,269, 4580, for 7.2 percent; 1976, 66,234, 3650, for 5.5 percent; 1977, 70,323, 3394, for 4.8 percent; 1978, 76,050, 3211, for 4.2 percent. Spokesmen for industries of the area often comment on the high caliber of labor force found in Utah County – and we are confident Utah Technical College is deserving of considerable credit for this situation. The school, of course, seeks also to train its enrollees to be worthy citizens – qualified for making a good life as well as a good living. Utah State Sen. Warren E. Pugh, comment speaker, stressed some of these essentials in his address, and certainly hit on a thought that can be taken to heart by everyone when he urged the graduates to prize personal integrity above all other virtues. The Herald ‘oins the people of the Utah Valley community in salutlng UTC graduates and in expressing pride in the expanding school which has grown from infancy in four decades and become important to the entire region. In Spite Of… A beautiful statue in Mexico bears the translated title, “In spite of.” The name does not honor the subject in stone but the sculptor. Robert Schuller, pastor of the Garden Grove, Calif. Community Church, relates that while working on the statue, the sculptor suffered an accident and lost his hand. So determined was he to finish it that he leamed to chisel usingl only his left hand. in spite of his andicap, he conpleted the work. Notes Schuller: In spite of blindness, Milton wrote; in spite of deafness, Beethoven composedi in spite of rheumatic hands, Renoir painted. A lot of folks here in Central Utah have mastered handicaps to achieve and win the admiration of their friends through determined application of their talents. Despite all manner of affliction, people serve, achieve, overtime, and triumph…creating and accomplishing “inspite of!” So They Say “Many people talk about the right to life. I think we must begin ta king about the, right to a future.” – Rep. Barbara Mlkulksl, DMd., a former social worker, supporting a blll to provide basic health care for about 2 million poor children and 100,000 lowlncome pregnant women.