Challenge at the crossroads.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

Now for the hard part.

Having mastered sports marketing or computer science or business administration or any one of dozens of disciplines at the University of Oregon, graduates now face - trumpet fanfare, please - the rest of their lives.

But before they get down to the nitty-gritty - cleaning out apartments, applying for jobs, begging mom and dad for their old rooms back - students and families had one lovely day to bask in their accomplishments and be urged on to future greatness by commencement speakers at Saturday's graduation ceremonies.

The main event - overseen by President Dave Frohnmayer in McArthur Court - was rife with the pomp and circumstance that tradition requires.

But more intimate and revealing moments occurred in pockets all over campus as individual departments honored their graduates in separate ceremonies.

The philosophy department bestowed degrees on its 77 students with more humor than you'd expect from people who know what existentialism means and who aren't afraid to talk about it.

Professor Naomi Zack set the tone with a graduation address praising the students for the discipline of mind their studies had developed. But she also acknowledged upfront the employment challenge. For those not lucky enough to score professional philosopher jobs, there are other options, she said: law, business, public service, "or if you find yourself unemployed in a major metropolitan area, driving a taxi cab."

And students played off that humor as they accepted their diplomas.

Kieran Aarons said he got into philosophy "for the money, baby."

Ryan Johnson sought out the program as a way to effectively argue with his father.

Nathan Lauritzen wanted skills to be annoying in any conversation.

And Kasie Kudrewicz was attracted to the big vocabulary words.

Philosophy students have had plenty of practice deflecting the "what use is a philosophy degree" questions that come at them almost the minute they commit to the subject.

"It's a discipline that has an embattled social standing," said Jason Wicklund, who received his master's degree Saturday.

Kidding aside, philosophy offers its students skills they can take anywhere, said professor John Lysaker, director of undergraduate studies in the philosophy department (and a bit of a kidder himself. He'll be presenting a paper at a summer conference titled "Ralph Waldo Emerson: This Time it's Personal").

Philosophy students are critical thinkers who've learned how to communicate clearly, he said. In a world where job markets shift and people rarely stay in the same profession for a lifetime, those attributes will serve graduates well, regardless of where they end up, he said.

But there's more to it than job skills. These students bring a passion and concern to the big questions. They are democratic citizens who know how to see beneath the surface of the news stories of the day to analyze the broader issues, he said.

"Our task is buoying their hopes. There's despair about public life. They wonder, is there space for reflection?"

Despite the dearth of obvious job-market applications, more students are drawn to the subject, Lysaker said. The number of philosophy majors at the UO has doubled in the past five years, a fact he attributes both to a new intellectualism on the part of students and a willingness from parents to see their kids "make less and think more."

And about the job market? The class of 2004 is, well, philosophical.

Wicklund wants to get into social justice work, but for now he's stocking shelves at a retail clothing store.

Justin Katahira will go on to graduate school next fall, but for the summer, he's working at an architectural and interior design firm as a "gofer."

Johnson would like work in some field of social responsibility such as promoting fair trade or better labor strategies. At the moment, he's a barista at a local coffee shop.

But the philosophy degree has given him intellectual independence and the mental discipline that leads to a kind of freedom.

"You don't have to choose a party line," he said. "There are more channels through which to view the world."

CAPTION(S):

Lori Allen, a Ph.D. recipient (left), brought her newborn daughter, Emilia, to Saturday's University of Oregon graduation ceremony at McArthur Court. Emilia was born just nine days before the ceremony. There were 4,189 graduates eligible to receive diplomas on Saturday. Kasie Kudrewicz receives flowers and a kiss from her father, Richard Kudrewicz, after receiving her degree in philosophy. Kudrewicz joked she was attracted to philosophy because of the big vocabulary words.