Careers

Apple has launched a new program to assist its first-year employees on their career paths within the company. Apple revealed the program, called Pathways, to its employees Sunday night at its stores' quarterly meetings. The program is built around creating an Apple career path for new hires and extends the amount of time employees are in training during their first year at the company. Pathways comes after a major report by the New York Times , published over the weekend, that highlighted how Apple treats its 30,000 retail employees in the U.S. PHOTOS: Rumor roundup on iPhone 5 The article shed light on the fact that Apple does not pay commission to its employees, works them in high-stress environments and doesn't offer many opportunities for them to ever move up the ranks.

In response to "Why Have Children When Careers Come First?" by Colman McCarthy, Commentary, Jan. 28: When was the last time the author gave up his career to stay home and raise a child? I am fed up with men (usually white and from the religious right) dictating policy regarding family matters, while the responsibility and burden for such falls upon women. My husband and I have gone to great lengths and expense to provide consistent, top-quality care for our children. The result is that they are perfectly well-cared-for, well-adjusted, happy and loved.

What do you want to be when you grow up? What education is required for your career choice? What will you be doing on an average day? Find out what careers match your strengths and explore the variety of job possibilities that await you in the next century. Students and others can use the direct links on the Times' Launch Point Web site. Go to http//www.latimes.com/launch/

We were very pleased to find out in Andrea Adelson's article on Disneyland's Innoventions exhibit that our pregnant mannequins are so popular with children--but we do wish you'd told your readers they are part of the Kaiser Permanente exhibit ("Close to the Future," Oct. 8). Kaiser Permanente has put a lot of time and energy into making health care careers attractive to children and we chose the content of our Innoventions display to help further that effort. The other components, including the walk-through pulsing heart, were likewise designed to attract, inform and interest children.

In observance of Women's History Month, Estancia High School will present a Thursday conference on career opportunities for young women. The purpose is to teach self-esteem and self-sufficiency to students and to inform them about educational and career options, said Mimi Birch, assistant principal at Estancia.

They aim to be captains of industry, men and women who will steer the ship of capitalism through the rough seas of the 21st century. So how do 140 UC Irvine business administration students learn to get the best out of their employees, to run the most efficient businesses? On Friday, class convened in Huntington Beach, where professors told the first-year master's students to build sand castles.

As Wordsworth noted, "The child is father of the man." So what books and toys from childhood influenced America's top scientists and technologists to go into their chosen fields? Did any of those holiday gifts and books really matter?

Here is a list of Sammy Davis Jr.'s more notable career credits: MOVIES "Rufus Jones for President," 1933. "The Benny Goodman Story," 1956. "Anna Lucasta," 1958. "Porgy and Bess," 1959. "Ocean's Eleven," 1960. "Pepe," 1960. "Sergeants 3," 1962. "The Threepenny Opera," 1963. "Johnny Cool," 1963. "Robin and the Seven Hoods," 1964. "A Man Called Adam," 1966. "Salt and Pepper," 1968. "Sweet Charity," 1969. "One More Time," 1970. "Save the Children," 1973. "Gone With the West," 1975.