>One of the reasons I ranked on this yahoo's chain so hard as I've
>heard many, many stories from photographers about this problem. I've
>never been so naive to think that photographers are the only creative
>people who've had their efforts devalued clear to $0 by folks who
>insist they just love their work.
>
>Oh, actually, I've heard this from a couple of musicians I've known
>over the years, too.
>
>- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>

As I roll through my long list of tweeters messages for the morning,
deleting one after another with great will power, I couldn't pass up this
thread. I've already posted to Don about it, thanking him for his
appropriate comments.

I should add that peoples' brains and knowledge, as well as their
photographs, art work, and painting skills, are often valued in the same
way.

I have been asked again and again to attend meetings, where, essentially,
my brain was pumped for what I knew about something. During the meeting I
realized that everyone else there, most from public agencies, was being
paid to come to that meeting--i.e., it was part of their job--while I was
essentially leaving my own work to participate. At times I've felt so
strongly about it I asked retroactively to be paid for my time. I've
always felt guilty by doing so. It has hardened me to such endeavors,
which I now am only likely to join in when the other people involved are
volunteers or a non-profit group is being benefitted. Or the cause is SO
important (as a meeting I attended yesterday that is involved in preserving
huge tracts of the Cedar River Watershed) that these "petty, self-serving"
considerations don't apply.

Can you believe that environmental consultants (who usually make pretty
good money on their jobs) call me up and want several hours of my time, to
tell them all about the birds of Commencement Bay, or some such, and when I
ask about remuneration, most say "oh no, we don't have any money in our
budget for subconsultants"? I'm getting better and better at responding in
the appropriate way to this, but for years I was fairly complacent about
it, as I kept thinking "gee, I'm helping some cause by giving my time."
But I'm pretty well finished with lengthy phone or in-person conversations
with people who call on me because they don't know much about what they are
supposedly doing, need the information, yet for some reason figure they can
get it for free, if they call up enough "experts."

All this relates to the thread on amateurs in research, I'm sure....

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416