It’s that time of year again. I am not talking about the holiday season, but rather I am talking about graduation time.

In a little less than two weeks, some of our peers will walk across a stage, shake a hand and get a piece of paper that says they are competent in their respective trade.

Regardless of the fact that these graduates will receive a bachelor’s degree and stand out as one of the approximately 25 percent of Arizonans with a college degree, they will still be entering a job market that is in a dire state. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, unemployment is just less than 7 percent. Media estimates say roughly 533,000 jobs were lost in November, the largest number of losses in a month since 1974.

Hopefully no soon-to-be graduates just read that. But if they did, I do at least have some good news.

This past weekend, President-elect Barack Obama offered a preview of what is to come. He has proposed a government stimulus package that would help improve highways and the efficiency of energy in public buildings, modernize broken down schools and put computers in classrooms that don’t have one. Obama estimated that his plan would be able to save or create around 2.5 million jobs by 2011.

The only drawback of this is the fire it will draw from fiscal conservatives, as it will require a large amount of government money. An estimate in The Washington Post put the cost of acting on Obama’s plan at about $500 billion.

According to economistsview.typepad.com, though, one of the options for stimulating the economy would be to “increase in purchases of goods and services by state and local governments.” This is precisely what Obama’s plan calls for.

“There’s been a lot of thought put into economic recovery,” economist Mark Zandi told The Washington Post. He added that the spending increase Obama supports “makes perfect sense.”

Obama hopes to have the plan sitting on his desk on Jan. 20, after he is sworn in. But that will take a lot of cooperation and reaching across the aisle — and time is already winding down.

This plan, if it makes it through Congress, could be another great product of bipartisanship. If not done correctly, it will look like the Democrats are bullying the Republicans into voting for another bill. That being said, common ground must be found on this bill, as it is a large venture.

I cannot see a better investment of government money though. It will create jobs and better America’s public services, both of which are greatly needed. These improvements will last through this temporary recession that we are in.

The most important part of this proposal is that it kills two birds with one stone. We are all aware that roads need fixing, schools need renovating and all classrooms deserve a computer with Internet access. Now is our chance to address these issues. More money will be spent on these things in the future anyway, so why not on a plan like that will also provide some temporary relief to a gloomy job market?

Soon-to-be graduates, do not fear; help is on its way. This plan addresses what we need for both today and tomorrow. We need jobs today, but better facilities will launch us into the future. As the graduates walk across that stage, they can take solace in the fact that better days should lie ahead.

Andrew welcomes your thoughts and can be reached at andrew.hedlund@asu.edu.