On Tue, 29 Jul 1997, Frank E. Thomson, III wrote:

> I am currently earning just over 3 times more than my entry level position.
> Of course I am still earning only slightly more than the starting salary of
> a teacher with a masters degree in North Carolina (yes, I know how hard they
> work.)

Consider yourself lucky to be earning that much! My salary is about the
same as the average salary a student makes who graduates from this
university with a bachelor's degree! And I have an M.S., many years
experience, and have worked for several well-known large institutions.
Nationally, my salary is behind the average starting salary for a
bachelor's! I teach one course here, in addition to my museum
responsibilities, and I often look at my students and realize that they
are going to be making more than I when they graduate! Ironically, I will
never be able to afford to send my son to the very university that I work
for! (There are no fee waivers here for staff). On top of everything,
Missoula is being discovered as a great place to live and the cost of
living is sky-rocketing here.

> For those who don't move up for whatever reasons, many turn to other
> careers.  Hopefully, they retain their interest in art, science or history
> and museums.  They are probably a little richer for the experience and our
> field is richer for their participation.
>
> It is a tough field.  There are many things I would like to see change in
> the museum field.  But, I wouldn't trade my work for anything else I know
> of.

That's the problem. I, as most of us, have that "museum curse"; we love
what we do and I could not imagine doing anything else!  So I continue to
try to work within the system to make improvements. (Unions aren't always
the answer, we have a union here...)

David Dyer

Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum
  & University of Montana Herbarium
Division of Biological Sciences
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812