Many of us, for one reason or another, have discovered that work-study jobs at Hampshire pay at the same wage rate. Are you one of those who wondered why?
The pay rate here is $8 an hour whether you wash dishes or monitor space or organize books at the library. "Hampshire has had a one-tier pay system since the beginning," says the Director of Financial Aid, Kathy Methot. When asked why Hampshire has kept this one-tier system, Kathy reponded that it is to keep "a level playing field." Work-study is to help students with the costs of college, not to cause unnecessary competition.
One might wonder how our sister schools deal with work-study. The rest of the Five College Consortium has varied wage systems. The differences in pay are due to skill envolved, experience, and perquisites. The concept of "work-study" is sponsored by the Federal Work-Study Program. Since this is a federal program, one might think there are unifying rules regarding how it's run. The answer is there aren't. There are some guidelines (like "Hourly wages must not be less than federal minimum wage."), but nothing substantial regarding levels of pay. Usually, the Federal Government funds about 75% any given work-study program at different colleges around the country. This amount of money is decided by the age of the institution, enrollment, and other factors. Normally, the work-study positions at these schools are given out until the school has to pay their 25%, and then there is no more aid. At Hampshire, this is not the case. According to Kathy Methot, Hampshire gives close to 85% of the money for our work-study program. To understand this, know that the Federal Government pays around $120,000 of the nearly $800,000 that is pumped into Hampshire's work-study wages.
Around 15 years ago, there was a motion to move the college to a
two-tier system. The administration was unable to define those students that would be on a higher pay system than others. Would it be by finacial need or skilled labor or both? Naturally, they were unable to reach a consensus and the motion was tabled. However, in the summer of 2006, this issue resurfaced. Michelle Green, Dean of Students, would not take no for an answer. She felt that jobs requiring certification merited higher wages. "I worked with the Business Office and the employing offices to make that [higher wages for trained positions] happen." These higher paid positions include EMTs, lifeguards, and Event Monitors. They receive $8.75 an hour.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Local Reporter Goes Off the Record to Enlighten Students
Amherst- Nick Grabbe, a reporter at the Amherst Bulletin, spoke yesterday in an interactive question and answer session at Hampshire College. The question and answer session was the second in a series of similar discussions in a a class entitled “Newswork.” Newswork is a January Term class where students learn all about journalism, and even do field-work.
Nick Grabbe introduced himself as the senior writer for the Amherst Bulletin. Reporting is relatively new for him. Before reporting, he was an editor there for 19 years. He started out in journalism working for Lafayette College's school newspaper, where he was a Copy Editor. Later, he had an internship at the Boston Globe on the copy desk. Grabbe had three other copy editing jobs before he landed at the Hampshire Gazette and later the Amherst Bulletin.
As preparation for his visit, the students were expected to read four of Nick Grabbe's stories. Each of these was discussed in class. In discussing the stories, many students had pertinent questions about different situations that may have arisen from reporting on these stories. This led to lots of advice on Grabbe's part about how to do his job. For example, when discussing a story about an Episcopal Church that has stopped performing marriages so as to be in solidarity with homosexuals, Grabbe stated that journalists are naturally biased. This statement raised some eyebrows in the class, but he further explained that a journalist is biased toward those that help him out and against those who hinder him. That same story was published on the wire. Grabbe tracked it over the internet and found an astonishing array of hate-based web-sites and chat rooms that discussed it. As a consequence, the rector of the church received a number of hate phone calls because of his stance of acceptance toward gays. Grabbe feels bad that he is the root of this, but at the same time feels that he can not regret his part in getting a good story out.
Nick Grabbe had other opinions and advice for the students. He said that it is risky to use anonymity in stories, because it gives more responsibility of creditability to the reporter. This is why the Amherst Bulletin and Hampshire Gazette have policies against its use. When asked if there was a set ethical code that he follows, he responded that there probably is one in the employee handbook, but he has not read it. However, as ethics go, he does not put bumper stickers on his car, or participate in local protests. When asked about plagiarism and if it was ever caught at the Gazette or Bulletin, he stated that there has been no problem with blatant plagiarism, but that the internet makes that a hazy area. He is currently working on a story about real-estate pricing, and a reporter at the New York Times wrote a piece that has the exact information he wants to use. Instead of using the Times directly, he has tried to insert words into the mouths of his sources. This method works sometimes, but so far, he has not spoken to the right source.
Nick Grabbe feels like a dinosaur in a changing world. He is trying to adapt, but finds it difficult. He thinks that his is a dying profession. Grabbe feels that there will always be a need for local news, but the medium may change very soon.
Nick Grabbe introduced himself as the senior writer for the Amherst Bulletin. Reporting is relatively new for him. Before reporting, he was an editor there for 19 years. He started out in journalism working for Lafayette College's school newspaper, where he was a Copy Editor. Later, he had an internship at the Boston Globe on the copy desk. Grabbe had three other copy editing jobs before he landed at the Hampshire Gazette and later the Amherst Bulletin.
As preparation for his visit, the students were expected to read four of Nick Grabbe's stories. Each of these was discussed in class. In discussing the stories, many students had pertinent questions about different situations that may have arisen from reporting on these stories. This led to lots of advice on Grabbe's part about how to do his job. For example, when discussing a story about an Episcopal Church that has stopped performing marriages so as to be in solidarity with homosexuals, Grabbe stated that journalists are naturally biased. This statement raised some eyebrows in the class, but he further explained that a journalist is biased toward those that help him out and against those who hinder him. That same story was published on the wire. Grabbe tracked it over the internet and found an astonishing array of hate-based web-sites and chat rooms that discussed it. As a consequence, the rector of the church received a number of hate phone calls because of his stance of acceptance toward gays. Grabbe feels bad that he is the root of this, but at the same time feels that he can not regret his part in getting a good story out.
Nick Grabbe had other opinions and advice for the students. He said that it is risky to use anonymity in stories, because it gives more responsibility of creditability to the reporter. This is why the Amherst Bulletin and Hampshire Gazette have policies against its use. When asked if there was a set ethical code that he follows, he responded that there probably is one in the employee handbook, but he has not read it. However, as ethics go, he does not put bumper stickers on his car, or participate in local protests. When asked about plagiarism and if it was ever caught at the Gazette or Bulletin, he stated that there has been no problem with blatant plagiarism, but that the internet makes that a hazy area. He is currently working on a story about real-estate pricing, and a reporter at the New York Times wrote a piece that has the exact information he wants to use. Instead of using the Times directly, he has tried to insert words into the mouths of his sources. This method works sometimes, but so far, he has not spoken to the right source.
Nick Grabbe feels like a dinosaur in a changing world. He is trying to adapt, but finds it difficult. He thinks that his is a dying profession. Grabbe feels that there will always be a need for local news, but the medium may change very soon.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Local Reporter Records Her View for the Next Generation
Amherst- At Hampshire College, a classroom was filled with eager students of journalism during the optional January Term. Some were there for curiosity, others to improve their writing, and still others wanted training in the reporting arts. The class is called “Newswork”, and it is has a very broad subject area; by the end of the January Term, the students will have studied perceptions of journalists as depicted through popular culture and scholarly accounts as well as ethics and principals. The students will also do a field-study where they will shadow journalists at work in a newsroom and in the field.
On January 7, the class was visited by Tina Antolini, a reporter and broadcaster from WCFR, the NPR-affiliate station at UMass Amherst. Antolini has had her current job for two years. Her job entails going into the field, doing her research, and recording her story. She records more than an hour of sound for a story, and in it's final edited form it might be just 1.5 minutes but could be as much as five. In her introduction to the class, she stated that unlike newspapers, the audience can not reread the radio, and unlike television there are no images, just sound. She said that this could be a problem, but that it also allows for intimate story-telling. One of the important tips that she gave the class was that a radio journalist should sound like they are on the scene. For any given story, she would have recorded ambient sound that goes well as a background to the piece, but she would narrate parts of the story from the newsroom. In editing, the ambient sound would be overlaid with her narration. Interestingly, Antolini does much of her own editing. She learned to use audio mixing software in college, and now uses it for a living. Apparently, Antolini does not have a regular 'beat' like many reporters. Instead she will be assigned to a case based on experience or availability. When asked if she had to do a lot of quick learning, she responded with an emphatic yes. She finds however, that it is better not to make oneself an expert in the subject they are covering, such that they will ask the same questions that the public might want answered.
On January 7, the class was visited by Tina Antolini, a reporter and broadcaster from WCFR, the NPR-affiliate station at UMass Amherst. Antolini has had her current job for two years. Her job entails going into the field, doing her research, and recording her story. She records more than an hour of sound for a story, and in it's final edited form it might be just 1.5 minutes but could be as much as five. In her introduction to the class, she stated that unlike newspapers, the audience can not reread the radio, and unlike television there are no images, just sound. She said that this could be a problem, but that it also allows for intimate story-telling. One of the important tips that she gave the class was that a radio journalist should sound like they are on the scene. For any given story, she would have recorded ambient sound that goes well as a background to the piece, but she would narrate parts of the story from the newsroom. In editing, the ambient sound would be overlaid with her narration. Interestingly, Antolini does much of her own editing. She learned to use audio mixing software in college, and now uses it for a living. Apparently, Antolini does not have a regular 'beat' like many reporters. Instead she will be assigned to a case based on experience or availability. When asked if she had to do a lot of quick learning, she responded with an emphatic yes. She finds however, that it is better not to make oneself an expert in the subject they are covering, such that they will ask the same questions that the public might want answered.
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