BALTIMORE — Catholic Relief Services has announced revisions to an HIV prevention document because of its “inappropriate information” about condoms and their use.

“Despite the mistakes, at no point did CRS purchase or distribute condoms. We are revising the document to ensure that it meets our standards, as approved by the USCCB [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops],” Michael Hill, a senior writer with the relief agency, told Catholic News Agency Sept. 5.

Hill said the 179-page document was written in 2009 by outside consultants for a Vietnam program that aimed to halt the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users.“CRS staff prescribed revisions to the document that were not carried out by the external consultant in the final, posted document,” he said. This meant that five sentences in the document referred to condom use among couples where one person is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative.

The agency announced the revisions on Aug. 31 in response to a report from LifeSite News.

The relief agency, which is overseen by the U.S. bishops, has 5,000 employees working to help more than 100 million people across the world address poverty, hunger, drought, disease and other emergencies.

LifeSite News has also reported on several of the agency’s employees who have records of past employment with agencies that support legal abortion or distribute abortion drugs and condoms.

One reported case also involves an employee’s assault on pro-life demonstrators.

Charisse Glassman, a legislative assistant with Catholic Relief Services-Haiti, was charged with assault last year after she drove her car into a female pro-life demonstrator in a crowd at the national March for Life in January 2011. Court records say Glassman allegedly laughed several times during the incident.

In response to the questions raised about employees, Hill stated that Catholic Relief Services’ employees “all are expected to follow Church teachings and doctrines” in their work for the agency.

The agency also aims to hire “the best-qualified people for jobs.”

“In many cases, that requires that an employee be Catholic, but in many it does not,” he said.

Potential employees are informed about the agency’s Catholic identity and are asked about their commitment to the agency’s “faith-based mission.” All job postings also note “fundamental” Catholic teachings.

“If someone has previously worked at an employer with policies that are not in agreement with Catholic teachings, we do not assume that the applicant shares those views,” Hill said. “We do ask about their commitment to Catholic teachings to ensure they are a good fit for CRS.”

Hill said the agency does not investigate employees’ outside activities, but it expects employees to “conduct themselves with integrity to CRS’ values and its fidelity to Church teachings.”

In July, Catholic Relief Services responded to concerns about its funding of CARE, an international humanitarian organization that provides relief to the needy in developing nations but also offers contraception and early abortion-inducing drugs. Catholic Relief Services said the funding was carefully restricted to morally acceptable purposes and was reviewed by a Catholic bioethicist.

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The agency says the hotel in Bretton Woods is hiring for such positions as bartenders, servers, line cooks, housekeeping and sales.

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<!–enpproperty 2012-09-06 02:03:07.0Zheng XinAgencies help foreigners evade rules to land jobsAgencies help foreigners evade rules to land jobs1811048828Economy2@usa/enpproperty–>

When Chychyna Dina was forced to decide between a firm job offer in her native Belarus and studying economics in Beijing, she opted for the latter, convinced it would open more doors for her in the future.

“For me, Beijing simply promised more opportunities,” said the 26-year-old, who arrived at the University of International Business and Economics in 2010.

Foreign students walk at the Shanghai University campus. Many international students who want to find a job in China after graduation resort to service agencies that help them get around government policies. Shi Peiqi / for China Daily

Two years on, however, the new graduate said she now has only one option: Pack up and leave China.

Like many overseas students, Dina is unable to meet the requirement that foreigners must provide evidence of having at least two years of work experience before they can be employed in China, a rule in place since 1996.

“I don’t have that (experience), and without it I’m left in a position where I can either buy myself a return ticket to Belarus or become one of those foreigners who works in China illegally,” she said.

Dina’s is a common problem that education experts say is leading to many people turning to agencies that promise to help them evade the strict regulations.

According to information gathered by China Daily, consultation companies in Beijing and Shanghai are charging 1,500 yuan ($236) to 20,000 yuan to foreigners who cannot meet the work-visa requirements to help them obtain one.

Prices are based on the client’s nationality, age and educational background.

“Many foreigners have received work permits and visas through our connections with the local government,” said a female agent at Xiangrui Business Consulting in Shanghai’s Pudong district, when contacted by a China Daily reporter posing as a Japanese student. “Even if you’ve never worked before, there’s no need to worry, since our boss used to work with the government and has connections.”

An agent at Zhuolu Commerce Co in Beijing’s Dongcheng district also claimed he could help foreigners who did not have evidence of their work experience, which is usually provided by a former employer.

“There’s basically no risk. We’ve been doing it for years,” he assured a reporter in a conversation over the QQ instant-messaging tool. “We don’t fake any documents. We simply skip the process entirely.”

Being selective

Both agencies ask potential clients to provide personal details and information about their prospective employers before agreeing to help.

“We don’t take foreigners with a criminal record or those without a bachelor’s degree, as it’s hard to get them a work permit and could bring us trouble,” said the agent in Shanghai. “Once your case is accepted by our agency, getting you a work visa and permit is a piece of cake.”

It is easier for people offered positions in finance or trade, she said, especially citizens of the United States, Japan and European countries, compared with those of India or the Philippines.

The Beijing agent said his company does not accept clients from Africa or the Middle East, but did not give a reason.

According to the agents’ estimates, the fee for China Daily’s “Japanese student” was 3,000 yuan in Shanghai and up to 8,500 yuan in Beijing, depending on circumstances. The price included official paperwork translation, the government charges and the agency service fee.

Because of the limitations of her company’s connections, the Xiangrui Business Consulting agent said she can accept only clients planning to work in Shanghai. She declined to reveal which government department her company cooperates with.

However, she did say that her agency receives about 60 clients a month and that almost all successfully apply for work visas. “There are many agencies like ours in Shanghai. The market is pretty tight,” she added.

A spokesperson for Shanghai Foreign Worker Careers Center, which falls under the city’s human resources and social security bureau and issues work visas, could not be reached for comment.

However, the management office of work permits under the city’s exit-and-entry administration said it had received a complaint about a foreign teacher using forged certificates. The office said it had sent the case to the human resources and social security bureau.

In Beijing, the human resources and social security authority said no such case has been reported, while the capital’s exit-and-entry administration could not be reached for comment.

When China Daily contacted Xiangrui Business Consulting again, this time in an official capacity, a different agent answered and confirmed that the agency offers the service. However, she said it was “not convenient” to talk about it more and hung up.

An agent at Zhuolu Commerce Co, meanwhile, denied his company offers such a service and said he did not have a colleague going by the name of the one China Daily talked to previously.

Student numbers climb

China has attracted an increasing number of international students since its reform and opening-up, thanks to its rapidly developing education system and ancient culture, Chen Yinghui, director of international cooperation and exchanges for the Ministry of Education, said in March.

The country received just 33 students from five countries in Eastern Europe in 1950. By last year, that number had soared to 292,611 from various nations, she said.

“In 1950, international students could be enrolled only in Tsinghua University, whereas students now are free to choose from 660 universities nationwide,” she said.

Besides, the areas of study are no longer confined within language and linguistics, but now include agriculture, medicine, economics and arts, Chen added.

At the University of International Business and Economics, the number of overseas students is now almost triple the 1,000 or so they received in 2005, and is expected to hit 3,200 by the end of 2015.

Although more of the students are staying in the country after graduation, mostly in positions related to finance and economics, the number who get work visas still accounts for a small percentage of those coming for school, as very few of them have two years of work experience, said Li Yong, director of the college’s career center for overseas students.

“Most of our students still go back to their own country after graduation,” he said. “It’s a loss of talents.”

He said he is not sure if any of the international students without two years of working experience has turned to illegal agencies for help but said that might be the last resort for them.

“It makes sense that Chinese students are given priority in employment,” Li added. “But it’s a little bit unfair for the international students, who are familiar with the culture and business of both China and his motherland after years of study and might bring more advantages to the firms he worked with.

“The temporary work-visa policy for foreigners is probably a bit too exclusive, which means it either shuts the door on many talents with international perspectives, or will breed illegal agencies,” he warned.

Contact the writer at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

 

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By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – Is the U.S. job market dismal as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says?

Or is it steadily improving as President Barack Obama contends?

Not to dodge the question, but both men are correct. It’s all about how you slice the data.

Romney and his Republican allies like to point to the unemployment rate. It’s stuck at 8.3 percent, compared with 7.8 percent when Obama took office. Most economists say “normal” unemployment is 6 percent or less.

Obama naturally prefers to stress the more than 4 million jobs the economy has added in the past 2½ years.

Neither figure fully illustrates the state of the job market – the pivotal issue for many voters in the final stretch of the election season. You have to consider other numbers, too.

What about the number of people who’ve given up looking for work and so aren’t counted as unemployed?

Or the pace of layoffs?

What about the level of job openings advertised?

The job market began strengthening in mid-2010. That was about a year after the Great Recession officially ended. The gains since then have been steady but achingly slow. That’s why nearly every gauge of the job market plays into a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty election debate.

Here’s an overview of key numbers and the varying stories they tell:

- UNEMPLOYMENT

Romney and other Republicans have stressed that the unemployment rate has topped 8 percent for 42 straight months. That’s the longest such stretch since government record-keeping began in 1948.

For Obama, this is probably the most threatening statistic. No president since World War II has won re-election with such a high rate. President Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976, when the rate was 7.8 percent. President Carter was unseated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, when it was 7.5 percent.

Reagan managed to win a landslide re-election in 1984, when unemployment was a still-lofty 7.2 percent. But the rate had tumbled from a peak of 10.8 percent in December 1982.

A similar trend could benefit Obama. True, unemployment is historically high. But it’s down from a peak of 10 percent in October 2009. Some economists argue that the trend in the unemployment rate in an election year affects voters more than the rate itself does. Presidents have won re-election even when unemployment was high – as long as the rate was trending down.

That said, Obama has a problem: The unemployment rate has stopped declining recently. It’s now where it was in January. That could all change in coming months. Three more jobs reports will be issued before the election, including the August numbers that will be released Friday.

- JOBS

Obama and other Democrats point out that the private sector has added jobs for 29 straight months. And over that time, 4.5 million jobs have been added. By contrast, over roughly the same period after the first year of President George W. Bush’s first term, only 1.3 million private-sector jobs were added.

But the positive trend for Obama depends on a carefully selected time frame. It counts job gains dating from February 2010. It ignores Obama’s first year in office, when employers shed an average of 357,000 jobs a month. And by counting only private-sector jobs, Obama’s claim excludes hundreds of thousands of layoffs by local and state governments.

Since Obama took office, the overall economy – including the public sector – has lost 316,000 jobs. Private employers have added only 332,000 jobs. Put all that together, and you’re a long way from 4.5 million.

The administration’s supporters argue that it’s fair to exclude the early part of his term. That’s because his economic policies, particularly the $824 billion stimulus package, didn’t kick in until months after his inauguration.

Even counting the gains of the past 2½ years, the economy still has 4.7 million fewer jobs than it did in December 2007, when the recession began.

- THE UNDEREMPLOYED

Many analysts point out that the unemployment rate would be even higher if it included millions of Americans who have given up looking for work. (The government counts people as unemployed only if they’re looking for a job.)

Nearly 12.8 million people were unemployed in July. But Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, prefer to cite a different figure: One that also includes people no longer looking for a job and people working part time who would prefer full-time work.

When you add up those groups, plus the unemployed, you end up with 23.5 million. That produces an “under-employment” rate of 15 percent.

The trend is especially stark among younger Americans. An Associated Press analysis earlier this year found that roughly half of college graduates under age 25 are unemployed or underemployed.

- LAYOFFS

There’s one clear area of improvement since Obama was inaugurated: Layoffs have plunged.

As Obama has often pointed out, more than 800,000 Americans lost their jobs in January 2009, the month he took office. That was the largest one-month drop in more than 60 years. The pain persisted for months: The economy shed 600,000 or more jobs each month from November 2008 through April 2009. A total of 4.5 million jobs were lost.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits soared. In January 2009, so many people sought unemployment aid that they swamped the phone lines of some state unemployment offices. Some offices’ websites crashed. In the last week of March, 667,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits, the most in more than 26 years.

Since then, layoffs have dwindled. The economy is steadily adding jobs, however modestly. And the number of people seeking unemployment benefits each week is averaging about 370,000. Still, most economists say that in a healthy economy, applications for unemployment aid would fall to roughly 325,000.

- JOB OPENINGS

The government calculates how many open jobs are available each month. This figure has shown improvement. But it remains below pre-recession levels.

In June, the most recent data available, employers posted 3.8 million available jobs. It was the most in four years – and 57 percent more than in July 2009, a month after the recession ended. Before the recession, job openings regularly topped 4 million.

And employers aren’t filling their openings very quickly. Actual hiring is up only 19 percent since July 2009 – a much smaller increase than the increase in openings.

The job openings report provides perhaps the best gauge of what the job market feels like for the unemployed. In June, an average of 3.4 unemployed people were competing for each open job. That’s down sharply from its peak of 7 to 1 in July 2009. But in a healthy economy, the ratio is usually about 2 to 1.

“We aren’t where we need to be,” Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press late last month. “Everybody agrees with that.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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