SIDEBAR: Working: Sometimes, it's not always a rose garden

Not everybody needs to work. And of those who do need to work, some need to work more than others. Most students have an understanding that work must be balanced against school-work and extracurricular activities. Sometimes, however, a job can interfere with a student's academic career. Most students agree working can have a negative affect on schoolwork; those hours busing tables could be used to study calculus. But what is less clear is how much of an effect – positive or negative – that employment has. Engineering sophomore Joseph Yeh does not feel working is a serious detriment to his academic life. "It limits the amount of time I have to do actual school-work," he explained. "But besides that, it's no problem." Students must budget their time as they see fit. Of course, in this process a student invariably makes intentional sacrifices of one part of his life in favor of another. Problems arise when students are unable to see how the time commitments materially changes their lifestyles. "Your main job at a University is being a student. Working is superfluous," according to Mimi Benach, a College Sophomore. Though her view of work is nearly opposite to Yeh's, she is opposed to students working. Benach feels that the work-study program is "really good", and understands that students often need to work in order to keep up with expenses. Yet her statement reflects that she sees work as a trade-off with academics. Deb Levy, a College sophomore, sees employment in a similar light. She claims that, often, students work in order to maintain an unnecessarily lavish life-style, not just to pay for dinner and phone calls home. "Not working just means that I can't go buy every CD I want or go to every concert," she said. Levy also said that she thinks that some students work in order to feel more mature. "It's an independence thing," she suggested. "Working isn't necessarily a bad idea," she added, "if you keep it in check. You have to know what you're doing, and not get carried away."