Re: fw: Complete Streets Fellowship Available!

National Complete Streets Coalition 06/26/2008 09:19 AM
 >> Compensation: The Fellowship comes with a stipend of $1,800 per
 >> month. He or she will receive five days of paid sick leave or
 >> vacation and will have paid leave on all federal holidays that
 >> occur within their tenure at SGA. Health benefits will not be
 >> offered.

SueW Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:01:40 -0700
 > Seems like they want everything for no pay.  $1800 per month is low

Esp in DC ... but, hey, let's be fair. First off, ...

 >> Timeframe: Full-time, forty hours a week for six months. This
 >> position will very likely lead to full-time, permanent employment
 >> with the National Complete Streets Coalition.

... this is "try before you buy," not a "temp job." Now I don't *know*
what they'll be paying the "permanent" but I'd bet it'll be more than
1800 $/mo. (Whether they'll get health insurance is another question.
Note also that "permanent," when referring to US jobs, should always
be accompanied by scare quotes. I was "permanent" at IBM until they
whacked my whole workgroup last year. That every American schoolchild
is not taught in detail the meaning of "employment at will"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_at_will

is to my mind a complete bleeping scandal. But I digress ...)
Secondly, NCSC is doing good work

http://completestreets.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_streets

and it is another unfortunate fact that, in the US, the satisfaction
of professional good-doing typically comes out of one's paycheck. E.g.
I am now a graduate student in environmental science, and *also*
making ~1800 $/mo (~1/3 what I made coding for IBM. But at least I
can do it in Chapel Hill, where 500 $/mo rents you a closet AND a room
 There is a lot wrong with that, but NCSC didn't make that happen.
(40 years of Republican dominance made that happen, but I digress ...)

 > I doubt they will find anyone.... especially with a B.A. and all the
 > computer language stuff they want...

And you are very wrong--not only will they have many worthy
applicants, but said applicants will have master's. I know folks in
UNC's City and Regional Planning dept (I may even be attending that
next year): they are highly motivated and not by money, because even
the "well-paying" jobs in that field don't pay much. (Another aside:
don't let anyone tell you that "kids today" are all materialists,
'cause frankly, as a middle-aged, ex-middle-class guy, sometimes it
scares me how little $ a lot of them are willing to work for.
Sometimes it give me hope.)

FWIW, Tom Roche <Tom_Roche <at> pobox.com>
--
This message comes to you via the hpv <at> bikelist.org mailing list, sponsored by http://ihpva.org/
Visit http://bikelist.org/mailman/listinfo/hpv to manage your subscription.