As the country faces harsh economic times, some UA students, like media arts junior Christina Oh, said they are having a hard time finding a decent job that is accessible to campus.

Oh has been looking for a job for a month and hasn’t had any luck finding one.

“”A lot of places around school are definitely not hiring because there’s high demand,”” she said.

Oh said the economy has caused a lot of people to be vying for the same handful of jobs.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, and CNN.com reported that 71,400 jobs were cut on Jan. 26 alone.

Finding a job has become a priority for Oh, because her parents own a small business that she said is being affected by the current economic decline.

“”I almost solely rely still on my parents’ income,”” Oh said. “”They pay for my rent, they pay for tuition – I hardly pay for anything.””

She said it is important for her to get a job because it will help to get her family through the economic slowdown.

Dara Chail, an employee of Wilko, 943 E. University Blvd, said Wilko, like many other businesses, is not currently hiring.

“”We’ve been getting about five (applications) a day, every day since school started,”” Chail said.

She said that the majority of other stores on University Boulevard also are not hiring.

“”Everyone we’ve talked to says the same exact thing we do. They get a ton of people in every day but no one’s hiring,”” Chail said.

Sarah Leischow, a sales associate at Pitaya, 943 E University Blvd #135, said the clothing store isn’t even giving out applications right now, because there are no jobs available.

“”We’re so fully staffed,”” Leischow said.

Oh said she also applied to Starbucks Coffee, 802 E University Blvd., and was told to apply online to many stores, not just the location next to campus.

She now feels an off-campus job may be her only option.

“”My goal is to try to get a job far from campus,”” Oh said. “”Not too far, at least five miles.””

Tyson Myhres, a barista at Starbucks, said people seem to be drawn to the university location because students who live on campus can get to work easily.

“”We’re inundated with people looking for jobs,”” Myhres said.

Oh said that in the beginning of the job-finding process she was a little picky, but at this point in the process she would take nearly anything she can get.

“”I would like something focused in my major,”” Oh said. “”But at this point, I just don’t care.””

Oh has applied to three or four places and has gone to one interview. She said she has used stores’ Web sites and Craigslist.com to find jobs as well as applying in person.

Until she gets a job, Oh said, “”I am definitely trying to ‘budgetize,’ trying to spend less money, only buy things I need.””