Ruth,

Good sense. Though I presume for doctors there is the incentive of 
eventually making a good wage, and as with lawyers they can move around 
the world fairly easily if they do not like where they are at. For these 
young conservators there is not a whole lot of upward mobility, no place 
to go, and they more-or-less have to stay near the buildings that they 
would work on. They have to have had enough smarts and the ability to 
attract money to get themselves into grad school. If they have a 
profession/trade, architect/engineer, timber framer, stonemason whatever 
then I can see them moving away from the object conservation focus which 
either amounts to diversification of career or wholesale change of 
career into another profession. Many of the preservation grads do go 
into other lines than to be an architectural conservator. Landmarks 
staff, museum administration or education being examples. To an extent 
the idea of an architectural conservator, as I see it was made up to fit 
a not so clear market need. Add to this long hours, relatively low pay, 
work that one considers demeaning (even if it is not), unanticipated 
abuse, debt burden, competition for market and personal position, and 
need to live in proximity to urban environment. When there is a downturn 
in the construction economy architects and engineers look for other 
careers. Architects and engineers, as with doctors and lawyers, have a 
degree of geographic mobility where they can pick up their profession 
and go where the work is. If the economy tanks the architectural 
conservators will be on more of a front edge for survival than 
architects and engineers.

After Black Monday a whole lot of carpenters in NYC became taxi drivers.

][<en

Ruth Barton wrote:

>The very reason why new physicians have to do their time as interns and
>residents.  And to them pigeon carcasses and guano would be child's
>play--you all should see some of the stuff THEY get into, especially if
>they are lucky enough to do their internships in big, innercity hospitals.
>It weeds out the men from the boys, or the adults from the kids.  And these
>poor kids have hardened old nurses about 3yrs from retirement breathing
>down their necks.  Nothing like and old war horse to put the fear of
>whomever into a young doc.  Ruth
>

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