Sonja writes:
" I'd at
least like to make more than I do now at my job that's paying for my
schooling..."

I agree.  It appears that here we are all in a catch-22.  In order to do what
we are trained for and what we apparently love, we must make the choices of "
do I take a job in my field for a substandard wage and generally not-so-great
benefits *just* so I can work in my field, or do I work and train and go to
school for many years, and then take a totally unrelated job that pays more
in order that I might pay off my school loans and  support myself with a
modicum of comfort".  We'd all love to have benefits, sometimes we'd settle
for any benefits, not just great ones.  We'd all also like to make a decent
wage, we'd settle for decent, since we're pretty assured that in our line of
work, we'll never get great ones.  However, the difficulty lies in the sad
truth that most of our jobs are underfunded, we don't always get decent
benefits, and we don't always make enough money to afford supporting
ourselves plus subscribing to health care in the event that our employers do
not provide any.  The problem compounds itself when there is a family to
support.  It saddens me that we work so hard to finish school and get our
degrees so that we may work in the fields of
archaeology/anthropology/museums; and aside from the personal satisfaction we
derive from doing our jobs well, we seem to get very little from our efforts.
 I've been following this thread silently, but feel that I must speak.  If an
employer cannot or will not offer health benefits to its employees, then I
feel it should make every effort to build the costs for this health care into
the money it budgets  for an annual salary so that the employee can subscribe
to a health care plan of his/her own.  It's still an added cost to the
employer, but  a healthy employee is a much better asset in the long run to
the organization than a sick one who is stressed about paying for medical
bills.  Thank you for allowing me to vent.

Lynita