[BC] Educating callow youth

[Cowboy]

On Saturday 02 December 2006 07:18 pm, Barry Mishkind wrote:
> At 04:53 PM 12/2/2006, Bernie Courtney wrote
> >I just feel that unless a person is a bump on a log they can almost
> >immediately do some rudimentary work around the plant and should be
> >compensated for the time they invest.
> 
>          I've said it, and others have said it:
> 
>          EDUCATION CAN BE COMPENSATION.

 I'd go a step further and say that in the scenario(s) presented, the
 education *IS* the compensation.
 Since the education can not be obtained in any other way at all, the
 investment of a little short term time IS compensated by long term
 gain, since education once obtained is never lost. It's a currency that
 can be spent over, and over again.

>          It is only a greedy generation that
>          demands money and only money
>          without actually doing or producing
>          anything.
> 
>          We are not a Wednesday evening
>          television game show.
> 
>          We are now moving too far from
>          broadcasting and probably should
>          stop this thread here.

 Your argument starts to, I agree, but I'm not so sure the idea of an
 apprentice working in broadcast in any capacity, for the education, does.
 It's a staple of the industry from the earliest days, and remains so today.

On Saturday 02 December 2006 07:01 pm, Gary Zocolo wrote:
> The thing is....as I have said to anyone who was interested...If I didn't 
> have a job doing this stuff, I would do it for free anyway...Its just that 
> cool to me...always was...but thats what I get for hanging around with some 
> old great engineers in my past who spent a little time with "that kid"...and 
> the kid did whatever they wanted for free.

 This kid got nearly all of his broadcast education by hanging around here 
 and there, and doing the work "for free" over many years.
 I, too, have told many that I consider myself one of the more fortunate
 individuals to work at my hobby, AND get paid for it ! Whoda thunk it ?

On Saturday 02 December 2006 06:53 pm, Bernie Courtney wrote:
> treading in very shallow water there, and I would put money on the fact that
> any corporate council would never allow such to take place.

 Perhaps that's why the kid showing up at midnight just to see how a bridge
 works isn't usually run past the sharks first !
 If that same kid wants to carry the equipment, who am I to deny them the
 privilege ?

 The first time the consultant allowed me to actually connect a bridge, I was
 the richest kid on the planet !
 Again, the first time I was allowed to actually turn a crank on a phasor. 
 Kinda like the credit card ad, "priceless" !!

> Now don't get me wrong, I'm by no means saying people shouldn't be given the
> change to LEARN,

 You see, we're not so very far apart.

> in fact I've expressed interest in trying to get one of the 
> (only?) high school kid in the local SBE chapter gainfully employed, but I
> just feel that unless a person is a bump on a log they can almost
> immediately do some rudimentary work around the plant and should be
> compensated for the time they invest.

 Allow me to refer you to my statement above.
 We are constantly hearing laments about where the next crop of engineers
 will come from. They will come from the kids that carry the tool box without
 getting paid in cash. They will come from the wide eyed kid that stands in awe
 at the very sight of the transmitter of their favorite station.
 Them that respect and deeply appreciate the mere chance to stand in the
 presence of the men ( and women ) who make it happen.

 Compensation ? As Willie said fairly well, here is my version.
 I WAS that wide eyed kid. Merely being permitted to be there
 was compensation enough at the time. A LIVE microphone ?
 That thing is *actually* being heard by countless listeners ? OMG !!
 I was compensated then, and I'm still compensated to this day ( and tomorrow )
 for simply showing up back then.
 Who was doing the tune up ? Carl Smith ? Pal, I'm THERE ! ( and I was )
 My CB set might do 5 watts, but that meter says HOW MUCH ?
 Star struck ? Perhaps. Taken advantage of back then ? Maybe.
 To this day, when the contactors go BANG! the lights dim just a little, blowers
 whir, and meters start indicating lethal voltages and dangerous currents, I'm
 still in awe that I'm merely allowed to be there, let alone that *I'm* the guy
 who gets to push the button !
 That my presence is often requested, there are no words.
 Compensation ?
 Radio has been pretty good to this Cowboy, and I'd like to think I've not done
 too much damage to radio over the years.
 Even still, yes in this day, I'll still just show up on some jobs, just to watch and learn,
 or maybe just to meet some of the people, with no expectation of cash payment.
 ( admittedly not so often these days )

 Should students be paid to attend school ?
 Students pay tuition to attend school.
 There are no schools that will teach how to adjust a phasor, or how and why to
 connect a bridge, or read a VSWR meter. WHY we use 15% silver-bronze, and
 not Radio Shack silver solder. What IS a sample system, and why we need one.
 The procedures for correctly adjusting that matching section hundreds of feet
 up the FM tower, and why we need it at all.
 And so much more.
 Most of these things will ONLY be learned by tagging along.

 To say that only interns who are paying some institution should be allowed to tag
 along on these overnight excapades, or one who is being paid in cash for
 merely showing up, and not an interested wide eyed kid who asks nothing more
 than to be there, with that I can not agree.
 The 20-somethings that respect what we do, that sometimes do stand in awe
 of us, ( yes US ) THAT's where the next crop will come from.
 There aren't so many of them today, or maybe there are.
 Somehow, they manage to show up on my jobs from time to time.
 Somehow, they manage to get "paid."
 And sometimes, every once in a while, they *might* even get to turn a knob.

-- 
Cowboy