Nice Work if You Can Get It

The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT bestows diminishing FUNDS so that students can work in EDUCATIONAL JOBS. Like teaching. Jewelry design. Taco manufacture.

THOUGHT may be free

and so, for that matter, are decent computer programmers, research assistants, and security guards. Which brings us to the discussion, if not praise, of the federal work-study program at Dartmouth.

The happy collusion of two bureaucracies would seem a miracle almost too great to ponder. Yet consider: Each year, about 1,200 students, or about 30 percent of Dartmouth undergrads, are employed, via federal funding, at various useful and necessarytasks throughout the College, from dishwash- ing to Russian translation to theater ushering. The usefulness and necessity of these tasks is decided by individual Dartmouth departments, almost all of which receive some federal work-study allocation.

Advantages? Let us count the ways. Short-staffed, underfunded departments get intelligent (always) and motivated (usually) help for cheap. Truly cheap. The average work-study student costs a department about $ 1.50 to $2 per hour to employ; the rest of the $ 5.50 to $7.75 wage comes from the feds' deeper pockets.

In turn, underfunded students get living expensesabout $625 a term for a ten- to 12-hour workweek. Not enough for a Powerßook, but it keeps one in Tab and notebooks. Moreover, before they pursue futures as Keynesian economists, medieval history scholars or entertainment lawyers, students can get some, like, work skillsinterviewing, job management, self-discipline. Picture some 20 to 30 students competing for a single coveted work-study position in Gilman Life Sciences. "I like to think of student employment as the first, best opportunity to get competitive experience," says Ann Affleck, director of the Office of Student Employment.

Like any bureaucratic program, work-study does have its Byzantine aspects. Here's how it works. The federal government decides how much money each college gets (Dartmouth is blessed with $700,000-plus), and holds out but one string: that five percent of work-study funds go

to community-service positions. (In Dartmonth's case, that includes jobs at the V.A. Hospital, the Montshire Museum, Hanover Recreation, and a few other off-campus spots.) From there, the Office of Financial Aid chunks out the funding like block grants. Dartmouth Medical School, for instance, gets a certain specific allocation, which it then divvies up into various positions. Dartmouth Dining Services, with more than 300 positions, gets the largest helping. The College of Arts and Sciences, which has about 100 positions, is next in line. All positions, work-study and otherwise, are stashed in Dartmouth'sJOBNET database, which students can blitz into anytime. They can riffle among job categories like "Office—security/safety" or "Data entry/programming," and download descriptions, salaries, and contacts (all of which improves on the big-binderfull-of-job-forms system). Advice and interview tips are additionally provided at the Office of Student Employment in Thayer Hall.

In truth, the system works like a big game of musical chairs: The ratio of work-study jobs to students who want them is just about one-to-one. Someone who's lucky, early, or skilled enough might end up drilling French grammar. Mixing gels in a lab. Designing costumes. Making jewelry. If not, well, one can always learn how to make a mean taco.

The most rewarding jobs, from a non-financial standpoint: Working for the Tucker Foundation. Leave-term students can teach at Navajo reservations, work at job clinics in distressed urban areas, assist at a battered women's shelter in Vermont. They can, in short, design their own internship, so long as they demonstrate "they're ready to learn, their motivation is excellent, and they can explore what we call moral and spiritual issues." So says Jan Tarjan '74, the Foundation's associate dean. The catch: A long, tough application process. The good news: Few projects get turned down. "If [the project] doesn't fit the criteria, or the student has spotty motivation, they're out of there before they become full applicants."

Both student and position must be "work-study qualified" for the feds to kick in their share—meaning students need the money as part of an overall financial package. If a non-qualified student gets a work-study dining hall job, for instance, Dartmouth Dining Services must pay the whole salary. If a qualified student wants to be, say, a golf caddy, the government saves the cost of the student's wages.

Not that the wages, financially speaking, are any big deal. Created in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act, workstudy is among the least whopping of financial aid packages. Compare and contrast: Dartmouth (with federal aid) spends about $ 1 million on work-study wages each year. It also spends about $2l million in grants—an amount that doesn't even count state and federal loans and scholarships. So if a student is truly broke, he or she qualifies for all three forms of federal aid: scholarships, loans, and work-study. Students in less need receive work-study and loans. Students in least need receive loans.

Though small, work-study has not been small enough to escape legislative scrutiny. Each year an increasingly parsimonious Congress "keeps chipping away at funding," says Affleck. Dartmouth's allocation, for instance, has not grown in two years even as student need has. The hope, though, is that: work-study will at least escape complete federal goring because its self-help nature is fashionable among the current Congress.

What are the chances the feds will take it all away? "I have no idea," says Chad Puis, work-study coordinator, whose job it is to manage department al locations. Each February and March, from his tiny and well-ordered office in McNutt (presided over by a ceramic gnome), Puis reviews deL partment funding requests, compares it to what the feds are willing to give, and allocates accordingly for the July 1 fiscal year. And what would happen to Dartmouth if the feds take it all away? "I have no idea," he repeats, this time with an expressive grimace.

In truth, without work-study, Dartmouth jobs would diminish, departments would wither, and students would likely either cut back expenses or head off campus (i.e., babysitter rather than research assistant). "No matter what, Dartmouth students will be expected to work as part of their financial- aid package," says Puis. "But how you do that [without work-study] is beyond me."

Think of it this way: every dollar in grant money translates to $3.3 5 in wages. Three positions for the price of one.

Whi ch, of course, makes jobs possible. Consider, for instance, the editorial assistant position at Dartmouth's own Alumni Magazine, Until a recent allocation cut, the magazine spent only $855 for the job's $2,875 annual salary. The position stays; the funding goes; the money now comes from—some- where. Here is a sampling of the jobs, rated by the students who held them

SECURITY GUARD, HOOD MUSEUM

Ambiance during interview: All quiet in the Hood Museum of Art as Derik Davis, '96 pre-med, resplendent in natty blazer and tie, patrols from the early Syrian mosaics to the Harrington Teaching Gallery.

Best part of job: "It's not stressful. You need a place where you can relax."

Hardest part: That first week. "Getting used to standing around for hours."

The challenge: Keeping kids off the "Rampant Dog in a Flying Gallop." Restraining a man in a tour group who inexplicably began shaking the window glass.

Favorite objet d'art: Panathenaic amphorae. "I take a lot of Greek studies."

Salary: $6 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 7.5. "It's peaceful here."

STUDENT ASSISTANT, HOPKINSCENTER JEWELRY WORKSHOP.

Ambiance during interview: In shorts and sandals, Natasha Grotz, '95 biology, leans across a long wooden bench hung with tiny tools, talking reassuringly to a student who holds an evolving silver something in his hands.

Best part of job: Name it, from teaching satisfaction to selfgrowth. "It's taught me a lot of different levels of expression."

Hardest part: None, unless you figure in the two-year training curve.

The challenge: Big competition. Forty-five applicants for last spring's job opening.

Most cited reason for taking jewelry workshop: Engagement ring.

Salary: $6.10 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 10!

AREA MANAGER,THAYER DINING HALL.

Ambiance during interview: David Donato, '95 English and government, relaxes post-shift with a glass of water at a now spotless dining table as two students behind the counter whip each other with towels.

Best part of job: Impressive resume. Donato started in dish room as freshman; worked to Food Court supervisor, area supervisor, and then top-dog area manager.

Hardest part: Managing. "I've learned a lot about conflict resolution."

The challenge: Sticking it out. Only 20 percent of workers make it to supervisor.

Why it pays better than anythingelse: The Invisible Hand theory. It's the least desirable, most necessary work.

Salary: $7.35 per hour. Job rating, 1-10:9. "It's hard work, but we have a good time."

STUDENT ASSISTANT, COMPUTER RESOURCE CENTER, KIEWIT.

Ambiance during interview: Slouched in the fluorescent computer-screen glare, just inches from the cacophony of students packed into Kiewit's unconscionably narrow halls, Jason Seiler '98 looks up as a student tentatively enters his den. The student declares, for what must be the hundredth tim e that day, "I just have one quick question...."

Best part of job: "It's not a very demanding job. You get to use your brain."

Hardest part: "Getting people who are annoying and don't stop bothering you."

The challenge: Figuring out what the student's computer problem is. Some are so inarticulate about the Mac they can't quite phrase the question to have answered. "I have to kind of feel them out."

Why he won't pursue a computer career: "I've seen computer puter science majors and they scare me."

Top three computer problems: NetScape. BlitzMail. "My computer crashed."

Salary: $6 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 9.9. "It keeps my brain active."

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL, BAKER LIBRARY

Ambiance during interview: With sureness and poise, Serge Kalista, '95 economics, sits at a tiny station in Baker's nondescript filing area, clicking through the library's database, checking book records, translating Russian book orders into English, and filling in catalog order forms for professors. Best part of job: "The flexibility. I can come when I want to. There's always work waiting,"

Hardest part: "When the network freezes."

The challenge: Learning to operate the database system. Now that he's got it down, his skills have proven "very helpful in research for my thesis."

Why he thought he'd be making donuts: He'd been working at a bagel shop in Tokyo when Dartmouth informed him he'd have a work-study job at Baker. Pause. Get it?

Salary: $6.80 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 10. The oddball, international nature of the work somehow suits a person born in Poland, fluent in Russian, and married to a Japanese clothing designer.

DOCENT, MONTSHIRE MUSEUM.

Ambiance during interview: As three little girls bounce corks off levers constructed of blocks and rubber bands, Todd Haskell, '95 psychology, attempts to keep the spirit of the proceedings somewhere between interest and mayhem.

Best part of job: A rekindled interest in education. "I didn't think I was capable of dealing with a roomful of seven- and eight-year-olds."

Hardest part: "When I'm the only one on the floor and 200 people are here and everyone is making whirly birds and dropping them off the balconies."

The challenge: Dealing with issues ranging from "Hey mister, L where's the bathroom?" to "I've got this dinosaur with a spiny tail, but it's not a spinosaurus..."

Most common requestfrom supervisors: "Have yon got five minutes t0...?" Salary: $5.90 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 10. "If I could do this fulltime, I would."

TEA SERVER, SANBORN HOUSE.

Ambiance during interview: Surrounded by perfectly arranged lemon cookies and the small scree of a boiling teakettle, Brian Bajari, '95 English, awaits the imminent queue of students and professors who gather at Sanborn Library for daily tea.

Best part of job: Civil, aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. "It's fun to meet new faces and people."

Hardest part: "When people don't come in on a sunny day."

The challenge: No bags allowed; strictly tea leaves and sieve. "I'm very proud of it. At first I had to ask everybody if it was too weak or strong."

A spot of history: Edwin Webster Sanborn, for whom the 1929 is named, used to invite English majors to his home for tea.

Salary: $5.55 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 10. "Twelve and a half hours a week of hanging out with people. And when it's slow you get to study."

TACO MECHANIC, THAYER FOOD COURT.

Ambiance during interview: At 10:18 on a Wednesday night, it's slow on the Food Court line. A student requests two tacos. Wally Rodriguez, '98 Spanish and economics, responds eagerly, although the customer must remind him that, no, she didn't want lettuce on that one.

Best part of job: Money. "You can get $6.10 per hour first term. You can't get that anywhere else here."

Hardest part: Mopping.

The challenge: "I'm working eight hours today. I'm going delirious."

Working the system: Put in 100 hours per term, get better payanda$50bonus. Supplement with catering, andyoumake some tips as well. "We were paid as much as $11 per hour when Elie Wiesel was speaking."

Salary: $6.50 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 5. "It's not bad."

GRAMMAR DRILL INSTRUCTOR, DARTMOUTH HALL.

Ambiance during interview: "¡Que elephante tan grande!" says Eliana Marcenaro, '97, comparative literature, Spanish and English. UEEEE—urrrt!" She makes an arm into an elephant trunk, braying, until the eight students arrayed before her dutifully respond: "iQue elefante tan grande!"

Best part of job: Perfect practice for a future teaching career.

Hardest part: Real-time audition before a panel of drill instructors and professors. "A little stressful."

The challenge: No English allowed. "The students have to be very very quick, and very awake." They're often neither.

Keeping them awake: Karate kicks, handshakes, squeaky door sounds, and a (fortunately) restrained lambada are among her repertoire.

Salary: $5.85 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: 10, judging from her enthusiastic performance.

WOMENIN SCIENCEPROJECTINTERN/RESEARCHASSISTANT,GERRY HALL.

Ambiance during interview: As a six-foot-high trolley of cages wheels down the hall, three dozen or so perplexed looking rats begin snuffling the air, awaiting the administrations of Jess Reiser '97 and Erica Brandling-Bennett '98. Their ongoing task is to assist Professor Ann Clark in gauging the effects of anabolic steroids on the sexual receptivity of female rats.

Best part of job: It's real science. "In high school you have halfhour labs that are boring," says Erica. "This is on a completely different level."

Hardest part: From the look of things, giving injections.

The challenge: Precision. How many kicks and bite attempts two males exhibit. Whether a female rates a 0, 1, or 2 in receptivity. Number of seconds to ejaculation. And so on.

Why rats are people, too: "They're not as disgusting as most people think," says Jess. "They're like hamsters."

Salary: $5.55 per hour.

Job rating, 1-10: Jess: 10. Erica: 11. "I love it." (Both originally came as part of the Women in Science Project, which encourages freshmen women to choose careers in science.)

Writer Diane Cyr lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

SCIENCE

derik SECURITY Guard davis

todd MUSEUMDocent

natasha JEWELRYAssistantgrotz

brian TEA Server bajari

101 hours a week of hanging out with people. 2 And when it's slow you get to study."

And If You're NotWORK-STUDY? In a highly unscientific perusal of Dartmouth's JOBNET, coupled with a thorough riffling of the thick, untidy binders of job forms in the Office of Student Employment, we unearthed the following positions available to students, work study and otherwise. They are, in no particular order: Weather station supervisor Walking escort Hometown News assistant Gallery technician Darkroom assistant Skiing and snowboard instructor Babysitter: "20 hours a week, forever" Goodies Without Guilt sales rep Freelance cartoonist, $10 per page, plus royalties Racquetball instructor: "Must play well" Classical violinist Vee-jay for "Mind Extension University" Travel bureau public relations Grocery clerk, "able to lift, bend, kneel, and stock to Shaw's STANDARDS" Poster catalog distributor