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The number one reason people go to jail in Cook County? If you guessed drug possession, you're right. But violent crimes actually make up a bigger proportion than drug charges, and the number one violent crime-and the second-most likely charge for people who go to jail in Cook County-is domestic battery.

Published Dec. 3, 2012

The Cook County courts may have problems with data, but earlier this year Loyola's David Olsen produced an interesting report about the jail population in Cook County: what people are accused of, who goes to jail, where they come from ( PDF).

* The number one offense? Possession of a controlled substance, not counting marijuana: 12,066 admissions, or 16.8 percent of the total (71,663 admissions in 2011).

* Comparatively speaking, not that many people go to jail for marijuana possession, but it's still a lot: 2,532 admissions, or 3.5 percent of the total.

* In terms of broad categories, the number one cause is violent crimes: 20,567 admissions, almost a third of the total.

* Of violent crimes, the most common is domestic battery: 9,108 admissions, or 12.7 percent of the total-along with drug possession, the only specific offense to account for more than ten percent of the total, and accounting for 44.3 percent of all violent-crime admissions.

* As you might guess, men are much more likely to go to jail than women, making up 86.5 percent of the 2011 jail population.

* How the genders break down in terms of crime:

males [are] more likely than females to be admitted for violent crimes (30.3% versus 23.5%, respectively) and traffic offenses (16.6% versus 12.2%, respectively). Roughly similar proportions of male and female jail admissions were for drug-law violations (27.9% and 24.8%, respectively). On the other hand, women were more likely than men to be admitted to the jail for property crimes (22.6% versus 17.7%, respectively) and sex offenses, which include prostitution, at 7.6% versus 1.5%, respectively.

* Women are slightly more likely to be older offenders: the average age is 32.5 for men, 33.8 for women.

* Here's how it breaks down by race. The left column is men and the center column is women, and there are interesting racial differences between the genders; Hispanic/other men are more likely to go to jail than white men, while white women are more likely to go to jail than Hispanic/other women:

* Most people don't go back to jail twice in a year (83.2 percent), but men are a bit more likely to go back once or twice.

* 33 percent of admissions come from the south side, the highest percentage, just ahead of "outside of the city" (29.3 percent); the west side makes up 19.9 percent; the north side, 8.6 percent; the loop, 0.9 percent.

* People are spending more time in jail:

Overall, the average length of stay in the Cook County Jail has increased 13% over the past few years, climbing from an average (mean) of 47.9 days in 2007 to an average length of stay of 54.1 days in 2011, or 6.2 more days. Similarly, the median time spent in the jail increased from 11 to 12 days. While an increase in the average time served of 6.2 days per detainee does not seem like a dramatic change, when this small change is multiplied by the 73,369 inmates discharged in 2011, that additional 6.2 days translates to a total of 454,888 additional jail days (6.2 X 73,369), or an addition of 1,246 inmates to the jail's average daily population (454,888 additional days of incarceration/365 days in a year). Looked at another way, if the length of stay in the Cook County Jail in 2011 was the same as it was in 2007, the average daily population of the Cook County Jail in 2011 would have been 7,650, or 28% lower than 2007, and would have been the lowest average daily population since the late 1980s.

Which is worth keeping in mind when you look at the jail's average population over time:

Since 2004, there have actually been substantial declines in case filings; there's been a drop in the jail population as well, but it's small compared to the drop in filings: "between 2007 and 2010 (the most recent publically available court data), felony filings in Cook County decreased 16% and misdemeanor case filings fell 25%... but the jail's average daily population only decreased 7%."

Photograph: Chicago Tribune

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The number one reason people go to jail in Cook County? If you guessed drug possession, you're right. But violent crimes actually make up a bigger proportion than drug charges, and the number one violent crime-and the second-most likely charge for people who go to jail in Cook County-is domestic battery.

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It was rough and tumble, not for the faint of heart

Updated 10:38 am, Friday, September 2, 2016

My grandfather once knocked my grandmother out cold.

Shortly after they were married, she had gone in to wake him for breakfast.

But, as I was always told, he came up swinging and knocked her right out.

It wasn't an act of domestic violence, but instead a hard-learned habit from his years working and living in logging camps.

Logging camps and mill towns in Western Washington were rough and tumble places where mostly single men worked 10-hour days, made decent pay and had few things to spend it on.

Living in fairly isolated places most of the time, they drank, gambled and fought for entertainment, and slept in sometimes squalid bunkhouses where men might slit your throat for a few dollars in the dead of night (hence my grandfather's reaction to being woken up).

Seattle was in many ways only a larger variation of these smaller camps and mill towns, owing much of its success to first Henry Yesler's steam-powered sawmill, then to the giant shingle mills in Ballard and elsewhere in the area, said Leonard Garfield, executive director of the Museum of History and Industry.

"(That logging) character ended up establishing Seattle as a pretty rough place to live," Garfield said.

I never met my hard-swinging grandfather, Amos Roy Thompson, but he lived in some pretty rough places himself, places that, like Seattle, had vast stands of virgin timber just waiting to be harvested and turned into cash.

Roy got his start in the timber industry at a logging camp along the Hamma Hamma River, on the Olympic Peninsula, hauling logs for a fellow Norwegian who had once been a champion skier.

Roy and his brother Earl took to felling trees together the old-fashioned way: first chopping the notch to direct where the tree fell (called the undercut), and then cutting the tree down by hand with a crosscut saw.

Throughout the Great Depression, Roy and Earl drifted from logging camp to logging camp around Washington and British Columbia, felling and bucking so fast together that they had their pick of jobs.

"If they didn't like the work or the pay, they would just pick up and go somewhere else," my uncle, Danny Thompson, tells me of the duo.

Roy finally wound up staying on to work near Longview, Washington for most of a decade, where he and my grandmother had their children -- my uncle in 1946 and my mother in 1948 -- while Earl went off to the Army and eventually to medical school.

Longview was planned and financed by Robert Long, then president of the Long-Bell Lumber Comapany, as a solution to providing housing and space for what would be declared the largest mill in the world at the time.

In 1950, Roy and family moved back to Port Townsend and he kept a foot in the logging industry for most of the rest of his life, though no longer living the tough life of logging camps.

Many cities and towns across Western Washington can trace their roots, or at least a part of their roots, back to early logging camps.

And while the industry has shrunk since its heyday in the early and mid-20th century, it remains an important piece of the economic puzzle in the region and a backbone of the culture.
Information for this story was gathered from historylink.org, the University of Washington, and through interviews with both family members and Leonard Garfield of MOHAI. Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.

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Photos: A tale of the Northwest's logging past

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It was rough and tumble, not for the faint of heart Updated 10:38 am, Friday, September 2, 2016 My grandfather once knocked my grandmother out cold. Shortly after they were married, she had gone in to wake him for breakfast. But, as I was always told, he came up swinging and knocked her right out.

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In a down economy, a good benefits package can be hard to find.

But on Capitol Hill, a 401(k) and health plan are just the beginning. The hundreds of candidates vying for a coveted congressional seat this November will earn more than a chance at shaping the nation's legislative priorities if elected -- they'll tap into a mountain of perks that most Fortune 500 companies couldn't begin to rival.

A little-known benefit drew some attention Wednesday after it was reported that the family of the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd will be paid his $193,000 salary next year. That's just the tip of the benefits iceberg that comes with being a venerable member of Congress.

For those entering any of the 535 seats in Congress next year, here's a glance at the world of juicy perks coming their way:

Fun Money: The base salary for a member of Congress is $174,000. But all members enjoy access to a separate piggy bank known as their "allowance." This funding generally goes toward maintaining their offices and building up a legislative entourage. In the House, representatives are allowed to spend more than $900,000 on salaries for up to 18 permanent employees. They get about a quarter-million dollars more for office expenses, including travel, and additional funding for a well-known congressional perk known as "franking." Franking is the term for the mass constituent mail sent out by members of Congress and paid for courtesy of the taxpayer.

Senators enjoy the same privilege but get a much bigger allowance for their office expenses. According to a Congressional Research Service report, the average allocation for fiscal 2010 was more than $3.3 million. Personnel money varies depending on how big of a state a senator represents -- a senator from New York is going to get more than a senator from Montana. But for starters, each senator is given a $500,000 budget to hire up to three legislative assistants.

Nice Digs: A seat in Congress comes with office space -- lots of it. Not only do members move into an office on Capitol Hill, they maintain space in their home districts and states too. For senators, this benefit has a pretty high cap - up to 8,200 square feet. The CRS report said there is "no restriction" on the number of offices they can open in federal buildings in their home states. Plus senators get to shop at the equivalent of Congress' IKEA -- furniture supplied through the Architect of the Capitol. Every senator gets $40,000 -- and potentially more -- for furniture in their home-state offices.

Bonus Tax Deduction: Members of Congress can deduct up to $3,000 for expenses while outside their home districts or states.

Insurance/Retirement: All members of Congress can sign up for the same health plan and life insurance policy available to other federal workers. But there's more. In an age when the 401(k) often becomes a substitute for a pension, representatives and senators enjoy access to both. First, members of Congress can sign up for a 401(k)-style "Thrift Savings Plan," a tax-deferred investment in which members' contributions are matched up to 5 percent.

Then there's Social Security. Then there's the pension plan. The pension payments and eligibility vary -- in a nutshell, members are eligible for an immediate, full pension at age 62 if they've served five years or more; they're eligible at age 50 if they've served 20 years; and they're eligible at any time after they've served 25 years. The annual amount of the pension depends on a lawmaker's salary and the number of years he or she served -- typically the amount is considerably less than a lawmaker's outgoing salary.

Down Time: Perhaps there's no such thing as down time for a member of Congress, what with the constant shuttling back and forth between Washington and their districts, media appearances and constituent meetings. But the work week lately has been relatively sparse. The Senate has averaged about three working days on Capitol Hill - three-and-a-half if you count Monday nights. Plus there are several breaks, which Congress calls "work periods," penciled in the calendar throughout the year. This year, members of Congress returned to their districts for a Presidents Day break, a spring break, a Memorial Day break, an Independence Day break and a summer break. Congress is about to adjourn again until early November so members can campaign. Of course, that's good old-fashioned time off for senators not up for re-election this year.

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How Are the Benefits? For Members of Congress, Not Too Shabby

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The hundreds of candidates vying for a coveted congressional seat this November will earn more than a chance at shaping the nation's legislative priorities if elected -- they'll tap into a mountain of perks that most Fortune 500 companies couldn't begin to rival.

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Cajuns and Creoles of French ancestry are dominant in much of the southern part of the state. Louisiana Cajuns are the descendants of French-speaking Acadians from colonial French Acadia, which are now the present-day Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

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One of the great attractions for many that become stockbrokers, more commonly known as investment advisors, is that there is no such thing as a typical day. In fact, being a stockbroker is essentially the same as being a small business owner. You decide when, how and who you work with.

How They Gain

While that sounds like a wonderful life of leisure, it usually takes successful brokers five to 10 years to get to that level. The first few years can be especially grueling. During this time, the vast majority of a stockbroker's energy is put into finding new clients with assets to invest. Since the average stockbroker generates approximately 1% to 1.5% in revenue on their assets under management, and they only get to keep 30% to 40% of that revenue, a new broker may need to find $10,000,000 in new client assets to make $30,000 to $40,000 in their first year.

What They Do

While some stockbrokers get lucky or have great connections, the vast majority of new brokers initially keep a daily schedule that is built heavily around marketing themselves. This means showing up at the office an hour or two before the stock market opens for trading, so they can get all their research done early in the day.

The first few hours of trading are spent contacting their existing clients with recommendations for their portfolio. Following a short lunch, the broker may meet with a few clients or prospects face-to-face, as well as wrap up the day's paperwork. Then, most new brokers usually end their day by spending two to four early evening hours making cold calls, networking or teaching seminars to prospective clients. It's not uncommon for new brokers to spend four to six hours on Saturdays doing some kind of marketing as well. (For more, read: Financial Careers According to Hollywood.)

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The life of a stockbroker: a typical day

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One of the great attractions for many that become stockbrokers, more commonly known as investment advisors, is that there is no such thing as a typical day. In fact, being a stockbroker is essentially the same as being a small business owner. You decide when, how and who you work with.

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A finance degree prepares students to work as stock brokers by focusing a student's studies on financial laws and regulations, accounting methods and investment management. Students study the principles of economics and currency, financial planning and financial forecasting. Programs require four years of study and commonly include courses on:

Financial markets and institutions

Financial management

Accounting methods

Corporate finance

Investments and insurance

Risk management

Job Experience

Employers prefer to hire stock brokers with 1-3 years of brokerage experience. Employers that offer online brokerage services may require one or more years of online brokerage experience. Internships are an ideal way for beginning brokers to gain experience and build their knowledge of the industry. Stock brokers with limited experience can find entry-level positions that provide on-the-job training programs. Stock brokers should have experience in investment management, financial planning, securities sales and customer service.

Licenses and Certifications

Most investment firms require stock brokers to have a Series 7 and Series 63 (or 66) license. Some employers hire non-licensed stock brokers if they obtain the licenses within several months of employment. To obtain a Series 7 license, stock brokers must pass the General Securities Registered Representative Examination, which is administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Brokers must receive a passing score of 72% to obtain Series 7 licensure.

To obtain Series 63 or 66 licensure, stock brokers must pass the Uniform Securities Agents State Law Examination, which addresses legal, bookkeeping and client services in securities sales and exchange. Some employers may offer training programs that prepare stock brokers to take the licensure exams. With both licenses, stock brokers demonstrate extensive knowledge of securities sales and financial regulations to employers.

Continuing Education

Employers and universities often hold workshops and seminars for stock brokers and financial advisors. Workshops may be a part of on-the-job training or continuing education program. These workshops may be presented by experienced stock brokers, financial advisors or financial instructors. Workshops typically cover topics related to financial management, investment analysis, client relations and stock exchange rules and regulations.

The National Association of Stockbrokers (NAS) is a large professional organization with more than 20,000 members throughout the country. The organization provides conferences, weekly meetings, networking opportunities and continuing education resources. Large corporations and financial institutions often have representatives at NAS meetings, which give members an in-depth look at trends in the industry. The NSA has chapters in 45 cities, so professional development resources are easily accessible to most stock brokers.

Becoming a stock broker involves a number of career-specific licensing and certification requirements, as well as a bachelor's degree in finance or business administration. On-the-job training is another key part of entering this career field.

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Uniform Securities Agents State Law Examination

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Stock Broker Training Programs and Requirements

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A finance degree prepares students to work as stock brokers by focusing a student's studies on financial laws and regulations, accounting methods and investment management. Students study the principles of economics and currency, financial planning and financial forecasting.

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Salary for Financial Retail Sales Assistant II - Registered in New York | Salary.com

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What are you worth? Salary.com provides you with Financial Retail Sales Assistant II - Registered salary, bonus, and benefits data for 27 cities in New York. Get your free personalized salary report today.

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$61,462 per year: Stock Broker Salaries in New York, NY | Indeed.com

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Teaching in Louisiana | Degrees, Licensing & Certification

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Interested in becoming a teacher in Louisiana? From certifications to course, our guide will show you the proper steps and help find a program for you.

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Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.

Logging is the beginning of a supply chain that provides raw material for many products societies worldwide use for housing, construction, energy, and consumer paper products. Logging systems are also used to manage forests, reduce the risk of wildfires, and restore ecosystem functions, though their efficiency for these purposes has been challenged.

In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used narrowly to describe the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage, however, the term may cover a range of forestry or silviculture activities.

Illegal logging refers to the harvesting, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including the use of corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits. It may involve the so-called " timber mafia".

Clearcutting (or "block cutting") is not necessarily considered a type of logging but a harvesting or silviculture method. Cutting trees with the highest value and leaving those with lower value, often diseased or malformed trees, is referred to as high grading. It is sometimes called selective logging, and confused with selection cutting, the practice of managing stands by harvesting a proportion of trees.

Logging usually refers to above-ground forestry logging. Submerged forests exist on land that has been flooded by damming to create reservoirs. Such trees are logged using underwater logging or by the lowering of the reservoirs in question. Ootsa Lake and Williston Lake in British Columbia, Canada, are notable examples where timber recovery has been needed to remove inundated forests.

Clearcutting, or clearfelling, is a method of harvesting that removes essentially all the standing trees in a selected area. Depending on management objectives, a clearcut may or may not have reserve trees left to attain goals other than regeneration, including wildlife habitat management, mitigation of potential erosion or water quality concerns. Silviculture objectives for clearcutting, (for example, healthy regeneration of new trees on the site) and a focus on forestry distinguish it from deforestation. Other methods include shelterwood cutting, group selective, single selective, seed-tree cutting, patch cut, and retention cutting.

The above operations can be carried out by different methods, of which the following three are considered industrial methods:

Tree-length logging / stem-only harvesting

Trees are felled and then delimbed and topped at the stump. The log is then transported to the landing, where it is bucked and loaded on a truck. This leaves the slash (and the nutrients it contains) in the cut area, where it must be further treated if wild land fires are of concern.

Whole-tree logging

Trees and plants are felled and transported to the roadside with top and limbs intact. There have been advancements to the process which now allows a logger or harvester to cut the tree down, top, and delimb a tree in the same process. This ability is due to the advancement in the style felling head that can be used. The trees are then delimbed, topped, and bucked at the landing. This method requires that slash be treated at the landing. In areas with access to cogeneration facilities, the slash can be chipped and used for the production of electricity or heat. Full-tree harvesting also refers to utilization of the entire tree including branches and tops. This technique removes both nutrients and soil cover from the site and so can be harmful to the long-term health of the area if no further action is taken, however, depending on the species, many of the limbs are often broken off in handling so the end result may not be as different from tree-length logging as it might seem.

Cut-to-length logging

Cut-to-length logging is the process of felling, delimbing, bucking, and sorting ( pulpwood, sawlog, etc.) at the stump area, leaving limbs and tops in the forest. Mechanical harvesters fell the tree, delimb, and buck it, and place the resulting logs in bunks to be brought to the landing by a skidder or forwarder. This method is routinely available for trees up to 900 mm (35 in) in diameter.

Felled logs are then generally transported to a sawmill to be cut into lumber, to a paper mill for paper pulp, or for other uses, for example, as fence posts. Many methods have been used to move logs from where they were cut to a rail line or directly to a sawmill or paper mill. The cheapest and historically most common method is making use of a river's current to float floating tree trunks downstream, by either log driving or timber rafting. (Some logs sink because of high resin content; these are called deadheads.) In the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, the most common method was the high-wheel loader, which was a set of wheels over ten feet tall that the log or logs were strapped beneath. Oxen were at first used with the high-wheel loaders, but in the 1930s tractors replaced the oxen. In 1960 the largest high wheel loader was built for service in California. Called the Bunyan Buggie, the unit was self-propelled and had wheels 7.3 metres (24 ft) high and a front dozer blade that was 9.1 metres (30 ft) across and 1.8 metres (6 ft) high. Log transportation can be challenging and costly since trees are often far from roads or watercourses. Road building and maintenance may be restricted in National Forests or other wilderness areas since it can cause erosion in riparian zones. When felled logs sit adjacent to a road, heavy machinery may simply lift logs onto trucks. Most often, special heavy equipment is used to gather the logs from the site and move them close to the road to be lifted on trucks. Many methods exist to transport felled logs lying away from roads. Cable logging involves a yarder, which pulls one or several logs along the ground to a platform where a truck is waiting. When the terrain is too uneven to pull logs on the ground, a skyline can lift logs off the ground vertically, similar to a ski lift. Heli-logging, which uses heavy-lift helicopters to remove cut trees from forests by lifting them on cables attached to a helicopter, may be used when cable logging is not allowed for environmental reasons or when roads are lacking. It reduces the level of infrastructure required to log in a specific location, reducing the environmental impact of logging. Less mainstream or now for the most part superseded forms of log transport include horse logging and the use of oxen, or balloon logging.

Logging is a dangerous occupation. In the United States, it has consistently been one of the most hazardous industries and was recognized by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to identify and provide intervention strategies regarding occupational health and safety issues.

In 2008, the logging industry employed 86,000 workers and accounted for 93 deaths. This resulted in a fatality rate of 108.1 deaths per 100,000 workers that year. This rate is over 30 times higher than the overall fatality rate. Forestry/logging-related injuries (fatal and non-fatal) are often difficult to track through formal reporting mechanisms. Thus, some programs have begun to monitor injuries through publicly available reports such as news media. The logging industry experiences the highest fatality rate of 23.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers and a non-fatal incident rate of 8.5 per 100 FTE workers. The most common type of injuries or illnesses at work include musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which include an extensive list of "inflammatory and degenerative conditions affecting the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, peripheral nerves, and supporting blood vessels." Loggers work with heavy, moving weights, and use tools such as chainsaws and heavy equipment on uneven and sometimes steep or unstable terrain. Loggers also deal with severe environmental conditions, such as inclement weather and severe heat or cold. An injured logger is often far from professional emergency treatment.

Traditionally, the cry of "Timber!" developed as a warning alerting fellow workers in an area that a tree is being felled, so they should be alert to avoid being struck. The term " widowmaker" for timber that is neither standing nor fallen to the ground demonstrates another emphasis on situational awareness as a safety principle.

In British Columbia, Canada, the BC Forest Safety Council was created in September 2004 as a not-for-profit society dedicated to promoting safety in the forest sector. It works with employers, workers, contractors, and government agencies to implement fundamental changes necessary to make it safer to earn a living in forestry.

The risks experienced in logging operations can be somewhat reduced, where conditions permit, by the use of mechanical tree harvesters, skidders, and forwarders.

Bryant, Ralph Clement (1913). Logging; the principles and general methods of operation in the United States. New York: J. Wiley & Sons.

Costa, F.; Magnusson, W. (2002). "Selective logging effects on abundance, diversity, and composition of tropical understory herbs". Ecological Applications. 12 (3): 807-819. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2002)012[0807:SLEOAD]2.0.CO;2.

Pinard, M. A.; Putz, F. E. (1996). "Retaining forest biomass by reducing logging damage". Biotropica. 28 (3): 278-295. doi:10.2307/2389193. JSTOR 2389193.

Putz, F.; Sist, P.; Frederickson, T.; Dykstra, D. (2008). "Reduced-impact logging: challenges and opportunities". Forest Ecology & Management. 256 (7): 1427-1433. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.03.036. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26.

Shukla, J.; Sellers, P.; Nobre, C. (1990). "Amazon deforestation and climate change". . 247 (7): 1322-1325. Bibcode:1990Sci...247.1322S. doi:10.1126/science.247.4948.1322. hdl:. PMID 17843795. S2CID 8361418.

Sokal, R. R.; Gurevitch, J.; Brown, K. A. (2004). "Long-term impacts of logging on forest diversity in Madagascar". . 101 (16): 6045-6049. Bibcode:2004PNAS..101.6045B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401456101. PMC . PMID 15067121.

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Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain that provides raw material for many products societies worldwide use for housing, construction, energy, and consumer paper products.

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Farmers are important because they provide communities with fruits and vegetables. Farmers also provide society with other products such as meat, eggs and materials such as...

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It is hard to say what is typical, but generally you would see things like this:

* Morning staff update (usually one or two people for five minutes updating political and legislative bits for the day).

* Constituent meetings. A few times a day a person from the home state will come to visit. Sometimes the Senator walks into the lobby and shakes hands and chats, or sometimes they sit down in the office for upto 20-30 minutes.

* Detailed Legislative Briefing. There are a couple of different types. Most offices would like to go over the votes on the floor each day but sometimes this gets pushed toward hallways or even the elevator (vote no on this, yes on that, etc). If the Senator is working a specific piece of legislation they'll meet with the staff on that bill for an update. They might need to call some folks related to that bill to see what is what. Finally the committee staff will come by and give advice on committee hearings and more importantly markups where the actual bill is drafted.

* Interest group meetings. Lobbyists will sometimes make a meeting to come in and talk about a bill or an issue, or an interest group will meet with the Senator to share a concern.

* Hearings. A Senator sits on a couple of committees and a few subcommittees and pretty much every day there is a hearing on this that or other thing. Whether they attend is based in part on their overall schedule, but generally they like to pop in and be seen from time to time.

* Floor votes and debate. These come up throughout the day. They have to run over to the floor and cast a vote or occasionally speak on an issue. Generally you have an idea "no votes until after 2" but sometimes someone gets finicky and starts calling roll calls on all sorts of things.

* Eating. Either a lunch with some constituents, or off the Hill at some 'lunch gathering' (the kind you see on C-Span). Sometimes at the Senate restaurant and often, at their desk eating a hamburger or something the staff grabbed at the carry-outs in the basement.

* Evening fundraisers. Members of Congress have fundraisers where the lobbyists come and drop the cash. Senators will attend other senator's (and even House member's) fundraisers to help them raise cash and show face. You can never have enough friends up on the Hill so getting around to these each night is pretty helpful.

Now there are other things but they depend a bit on your role in the Senate. For example the leadership will have a series of leadership meetings with the Whips and whatnot to make sure everyone is on the same page about pending legislation, and the Senators on the Intelligence Committee may get a National Security Briefing from time to time from some government agency. Some senators also have meetings with Presidential Appointees (like judges) who will be coming to the Senate for approval. I also haven't touched on what they do in the home state or when on official travel, but sometimes those occur as well.

update: I forgot one other thing. Answering mail and personal correspondence. About once a day (or more) the personal secretary/scheduler will go in and have a meeting about what invites / meetings to take the next day, and also hand over a folder of stuff that needs to be signed (in our office it was red so we knew it was the important one). Many Members sign quite a bit of their own mail, often dropping in a p.s. to someone they know or something. The personal secretary also helps deal with little things, like paying a credit card bill, buying airline tickets or sorting through trying to get a mileage upgrade on a flight. I'd say they spend 30-60 minutes a day with their personal secretary in the office.

But generally, meetings, meetings, meetings throughout the day. It can be quite hectic.

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What is a typical day in the life of a US Senator?

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Answer: At the end of each day a Senator is handed a small index-like card which will outline the schedule for the next day. This is usually handled by their "personal scheduler" which is a position in most Senator's offices who handles requests for meetings, personal correspondence, and takes i...

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U.S. Senate Salaries trends. 352 salaries for 35 jobs at U.S. Senate in Washington. Salaries posted anonymously by U.S. Senate employees in Washington.

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Salary for Logger in Washington | Salary.com

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What are you worth? Salary.com provides you with Logger salary, bonus, and benefits data for 20 cities in Washington. Get your free personalized salary report today.

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On the radio this morning I heard a story about the growing number of young people choosing to become farmers. The farmers in the story sounded a lot like me - in their late 20s to mid-30s, committed to organic practices, holding college degrees, and from middle-class non-farming backgrounds. Some raise animals or tend orchards. Others, like me, grow vegetables. The farmers' days sounded long but fulfilling, drenched in sun and dirt. The story was uplifting, a nice antidote to the constant reports of industrial ag gone wrong, of pink slime and herbicide-resistant super-weeds.

What the reporter didn't ask the young farmers was: Do you make a living? Can you afford rent, healthcare? Can you pay your labor a living wage? If the reporter had asked me these questions, I would have said no.

* * *

My farm is located in the foothills of Northern California, 40 miles east of Sacramento on 10 acres my partner, Ryan, and I lease from a land trust. In the heat of summer, my fields cover the bronzed landscape like a green quilt spread over sand. Ten acres of certified organic vegetables trace the contours of a small valley floor. Tomatoes glow crimson. Flowers bloom: zinnias, lavender, daisies. Watermelons grow fat, littering the ground like beach balls.

A businessman once advised me never to admit my business was struggling. No one wants to climb aboard a sinking ship, know what I mean? he'd said. At the time, I agreed. I believed if a business was failing it was because the entrepreneur was not skilled enough, not savvy enough, not hardworking enough. If my farm didn't turn enough profit, it was my own fault.

Whenever a customer asked how things were going, I replied, Great. I thought about the sinking ship, and never said, Well, we're making ends meet, but we work 12 hour days, 6 days a week, and pay ourselves only what we need to cover food and household expenses: $100 per week. I didn't tell anyone how, over the course of the last three years since Ryan and I had started our farm, I'd drained most of my savings. I didn't admit that the only thing keeping the farm afloat was income Ryan and I earned through other means - Ryan working as a carpenter and I as a baker. I didn't say that despite the improvements we made to the land- the hundreds of yards of compost we spread, the thousand dollars we spent annually on cover crop seed to increase soil fertility, every weed pulled - we gained no equity because we didn't own the land. I didn't say I felt like I was trying to fill a bathtub when the drain was open.

* * *

One afternoon, a fellow farmer came over for a visit. He asked how we were doing, and this time I told the truth. The farmer told me he'd been farming for nearly a decade and last year he made the most profit yet: $4,000. I spewed out a slurry of concerns, told the farmer how I'd done the numbers every way and the future wasn't looking much more profitable. The farmer just nodded, as if I was telling him what I'd eaten for breakfast that morning and not revealing the shameful secret of my failing business. The more we talked the more I began to wonder about other farmers I knew.

I wondered how many small farmers actually made a living. Before I set out trying to answer this question, I had to define what constitutes "a living." I decided making a living meant three things: 1) The farmer had to pay herself a weekly wage that equaled what a person working full-time would make on minimum wage, which in my town would be $360 per week. 2) The farmer had to abide by labor laws, meaning no unpaid workers or interns doing essential farm tasks. 3) The farmer had to earn her income from farming, which meant nonprofit farms that survived on grants and donations didn't count; neither did farms that sustained themselves on outside income sources.

I talked to all the farmers I knew, considered farms I or my partner had worked at in the past, farms I'd visited, friends' farms. Most farmers I talked to worked outside jobs to keep their farms above water, others skirted by on an income they calculated to be $4 per hours, and most depended on interns, volunteers or WWOOFers for labor. I did not encounter a single farmer who met my requirements.

Then I looked into national statistics. According to USDA data from 2012, intermediate-size farms like mine, which gross more than $10,000 but less than $250,000, obtain only 10 percent of their household income from the farm, and 90 percent from an off-farm source. Smaller farms actually lost money farming and earned 109 percent of their household income from off-farm sources. Only the largest farms, which represent just 10 percent of farming households in the country and most of which received large government subsidies, earned the majority of their income from farm sources. So, 90 percent of farmers in this country rely on an outside job, or a spouse's outside job, or some independent form of wealth, for their primary income.

* * *

One day late into my second season owning the farm, a customer walked in while I stood behind the counter spraying down bins of muddy carrots. The man asked how things were going. Financially, I mean. He held a head of lettuce in the crook of his arm, a bundle of pink radishes dangled from his hand.

I looked at the man and instead of replying with my usual "great," I said, We're getting by. He nodded, Well, you may not be making lots of money, but you're rich in other ways. I opened my mouth to reply, but the man had already turned away and was gazing dreamy-eyed out at my fields, each row buttered in late-afternoon sun. I turned back to the heap of carrots, not sure what I would have said anyway.

I wanted to ask the man which "other ways" did he mean, exactly. But I knew what he meant. I heard this kind of thing all the time: You must love what you do, or not much profit in farming, but what a great lifestyle, or, well, you're not in it for the money, right? Customers repeated these aphorisms warmly in an attempt to offer me some consolation or encouragement. But watching this man gaze out at my fields, I couldn't help wondering if it was the customer who was the one being consoled.

Surely many farmers enjoy what they do, as I often find pleasure in my daily tasks, but ultimately farming is work, an occupation, a means of making a living that must fulfill the basic function of a job: to provide an income. Does the notion that farming is lovable work excuse the fact that the entire industry relies on underpaid labor? Does it somehow make it OK that in 2014 it's forecast to be $-1,682? I had to wonder if this notion works only to assuage a collective discomfort provoked by an unsettling fact, a fact that should enrage us, that should disgrace us as a society: the fact that the much celebrated American small farmer can't even make a living.

* * *

A few weeks later I gave a presentation at a local high school. The teacher had asked me to talk to her food systems class about being an organic farmer. After I finished my talk the teacher turned to her class. So, she asked, how many of you think you might consider a career in agriculture after high school?

Not a single student raised a hand.

The teacher surveyed the air above her students' heads for a few moments as if scanning the ocean for whales, as if any minute a hand might spring up. None did. Then she looked to me and offered a sympathetic half-smile, half-grimace, as if the tally had come in and I'd just lost an election.

I shrugged. She didn't have to apologize to me, I hadn't expected the students to want to become farmers. I guess I didn't make it look too appealing, I said. And I didn't - I didn't romanticize the early mornings out in the field or extol the health benefits of physical labor. I'd told the truth: I grew 10 acres of organic vegetables, worked upward of 60 hours a week during the height of the season, and my total income last year was $2,451. Most of the kids probably earned more that this with a summer job. I told them how most jobs in organic agriculture were either "internships" where workers received food or housing instead of a salary, or were as underpaid and exploitive as jobs on conventional farms where workers were hired seasonally, earned minimum wage or less, and received no benefits.

Driving home from the high school I wondered if perhaps I should've placed a more positive light on farming. As the average age of the American farmer neared 65, I knew young farmers were badly needed in this country. Would it have hurt if I'd mentioned the evening the great white egret landed just a yard away from me in the field? How the bird's body stood taller than mine as I crouched between rows of collard greens, how its neck moved like a snake, slithering upward so it could peer down at me. And when the egret unfolded two white wings and lifted into the sky, a breath of wind pushed against my cheek.

Or I could've described the joy of pausing in the field during a summer morning harvest to slice open a watermelon, how the fruit's pink flesh remains slightly cool inside its thick rind despite the heat of the day, how I hollow out the melon with a spoon from my pocket and eat an entire half.

Of course the lifestyle of a farmer had its perks, but it didn't seem this was the point. Surely there were plenty of professions that offered moments of joy and satisfaction, surely the doctor, the wildlife biologist, the chef, or mechanic, at times enjoys her work. But no one expected these people to take this satisfaction as pay.

When a student asked if my farm was sustainable, I told her that I was certified organic, I managed my soil fertility through crop rotations and compost applications, I didn't use synthetic pesticides, I conserved water. But no, I'd said, I didn't think my farm was sustainable. Like all the other farms I knew, my farm relied on uncompensated labor and self-exploitation. My farm was not sustainable because I knew the years my partner and I could continue to work without a viable income were numbered.

* * *

One evening while running errands in town I recognized a customer walking toward me on the sidewalk. Hey, the woman said, I drove past your farm today, it looks beautiful, all those flowers blooming.

Thanks, I said.

I love having an organic farm in our community, the woman continued, I just think this whole food movement it so great. I imagined this woman walking into my farm stand, fumbling a tomato in her palm, admiring the new-car-shine of each purple eggplant. Maybe she chooses two crookneck squash and a handful of thumb-size jalapenos. Before getting back in her car she looks out at the fields, at the tidy rows of salad mix and baby kale; then the woman drives away smiling, watching my fields rise and fall in her rearview mirror.

My farm's become a billboard, and like all billboards, this one is deceptive. It depicts abundance and prosperity- two young smiling farmers working among neat rows of greens under a crisp morning sun. Heaping bins of produce, all of it picked fresh and free of synthetic chemicals. Despite all the talk of small farms disappearing, despite concerns of big ag controlling our food, GMOing everything and dousing it all in RoundUp, driving past my farm one might feel a flutter of relief, think there's a small farm right there where I can go and pick up a bag of organic baby kale, spot a bluebird resting on a fig branch, notice a patch of weeds growing among the lettuce.

Meanwhile, millions of dollars in federal subsidies are doled out to mono-crop farms growing high-input GMO corn and soybeans. Meanwhile, the EPA continues to approve the use of pesticides such as Atrazine, which have been linked to birth defects, infertility and cancer. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rules in favor of Monsanto, allowing the corporation to sue farmers whose fields are inadvertently contaminated with GMO seeds. Meanwhile, Ryan and I rifle the Internet in search of a new opportunity, one that can provide us with enough income to purchase health insurance or see the dentist, to take our soon-to-be-born child on a trip to visit its grandparents, to save a little chunk of money each year so that one day we might be able to buy a piece of land ourselves, and perhaps then we could return to farming. Because the truth is, no matter how many young people choose to farm, no matter how many bunches of kale are made into smoothies, or canvas shopping bags are packed full of colorful carrots and lacy heads of lettuce, no matter how many hip new restaurants declare themselves farm-to-fork, none of these things address the policies that dictate how our country's food system works, policies that have created a society in which the small farmer can't even earn a living.

I smiled at the woman on the street. Thanks, I said, and we both continued in our opposite directions.

Then the woman glanced back over her shoulder, I hope the farm stays here forever, she added. I hope you never go off and get a real job.

I let out a too-quick, too-loud laugh. Don't worry, I said, not turning around to face the woman, hoping she wouldn't detect the uncertainty in my voice, I won't.

* * *

A quarter mile up the road from my farm the land rises just enough to give me the elevation to look down upon the entirety of my operation - the fields, the greenhouses, the barn. Sometimes when I'm driving past I pull into a turnout here, step outside the car and lean on my hood. I look down at my farm, at the rows of tomatoes and peppers. I notice the thistle has grown high around the fence line, the bindweed curling up the steel tines of an idle tractor implement. I wonder how long it would take for the landscape to erase my farm if I simply walked away, if I quit farming tomorrow. If no one dragged a scuffle hoe through the rows of onions or mowed the thistle, if no one harvested the wheat or the melons or the squash, no one seeded cover crop in fall. The thistle would flower, each bloom dropping a dozen yellow seeds into the soil like needles into a pincushion. Ground squirrels would wait for the melons to ripen, for the pumpkins to flush orange, then carry them away in pieces. The neat edges of each half-acre block would fray, weeds creeping in until the 10 acres appeared once again undivided, just a fallow field.

Or maybe another young farmer would take over my lease, buy the greenhouses and tractor equipment, irrigation lines and stacks of harvest bins. Maybe this farmer would do it better, last longer. Or maybe she too would quit after only a handful of years.

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What nobody told me about small farming: I can't make a living

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On the radio this morning I heard a story about the growing number of young people choosing to become farmers. The farmers in the story sounded a lot like me - in their late 20s to mid-30s, committed to organic practices, holding college degrees, and from middle-class non-farming backgrounds.

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Thirty years ago, the state's farm workers were the best paid in the country. Now some don't even make minimum wage By David Bacon
June 3, 2015 - At the end of the 1970s, California farm workers were the highest-paid in the U.S., with the possible exception of Hawaii's long-unionized sugar and pineapple workers. Today, their economic situation is not much different from that of their coworkers elsewhere around the country. California's agricultural laborers are trapped in jobs that pay the minimum wage and often less, and are mostly unable to find permanent year-round work.

The decline in income is apparent in three ways. The minimum wage is the current wage standard for most farm workers. They receive a tiny percentage of the retail price of the crops they produce. And their living conditions reflect incomes that are at the bottom of the U.S. wage scale.

In 1979, the United Farm Workers negotiated a contract with Sun World, a large citrus and grape grower. The contract's bottom wage rate was $5.25 per hour. At the time, the minimum wage was $2.90. If the same ratio existed today, with a state minimum of $9.00, farm workers would be earning the equivalent of $16.30 per hour. At the end of the 70s workers under union contracts in lettuce and wine grapes were earning even more.

Today farm workers don't make anywhere near $16.00 an hour.

In 2008, demographer Rick Mines conducted a survey of 120,000 migrant farm workers in California from indigenous communities in Mexico - Mixtecos, Triquis, Purepechas and others. "One third of the workers earned above the minimum wage, one third reported earning exactly the minimum and one third reported earning below the minimum," he found.

In other words, growers potentially were paying an illegal wage to tens of thousands of farm workers.

Indigenous workers are the most recent immigrants in the state's farm labor workforce, and the poorest, but the situation isn't drastically different for others. The case log of California Rural Legal Assistance is an extensive history of its battles to help workers reclaim illegal, and even unpaid, wages.
Five cents more for strawberries
To raise wages absolutely, workers need to increase the share of the money paid at the supermarket checkout stand that goes into their paychecks. In recent years the price paid to workers for picking a flat of strawberries, for instance, has hovered around $1.50. Each flat contains eight plastic clamshell boxes, so a worker is paid about 20 cents to fill each one. That same box sells in a supermarket for about $3.00 - the people picking the fruit get about 6% of the price.

According to UC Davis professor Philip Martin, about 28% of what consumers pay goes to the grower. Produce sales from Monterey County alone, one of two counties where strawberries are concentrated, total $4.4 billion.

If the price of a clamshell box increased by 5 cents (a suggestion made by the UFW during the Watsonville strawberry organizing drive of the late 1990s), the wages of the workers would increase by 25%. Most consumers wouldn't even notice, since the retail price normally fluctuates far more than that. Florida's Coalition of Immokalee Workers has used this idea to negotiate an increase in the price paid for tomatoes bought by fast food chains, which then goes to the worker in the field.

Low wages in the fields, however, have brutal consequences. When the grape harvest starts in the eastern Coachella Valley, the parking lots of small markets in farm worker towns like Mecca are filled with workers sleeping in their cars. For Rafael Lopez, a farm worker from San Luis, Arizona, living in his van with his grandson, "the owners should provide a place to live since they depend on us to pick their crops. They should provide living quarters, at least something more comfortable than this."

In northern San Diego County, many strawberry pickers sleep out of doors on hillsides and in ravines. Each year the county sheriff clears out some of their encampments, but by next season workers have found others. Romulo Muñoz Vasquez, living on a San Diego hillside, explains: "There isn't enough money to pay rent, food, transportation and still have money left to send to Mexico. I figured any spot under a tree would do."

Compounding the problem of low wages is the lack of work during the winter months. Workers have to save what they can while they have a job, to tide them over. In the strawberry towns of the Salinas Valley, the normal 10% unemployment rate doubles after the harvest ends in November. While some can collect unemployment, the estimated 53% who have no legal immigration status are barred from receiving benefits.

"The fruit that brings growers the most money here is the strawberry crop," says Oxnard picker Lucrecia Camacho, "but they pay us a wage that barely allows us to live."
This story comes from New America Media.

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.

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Farm workers in California can barely survive in 2015 | 48 hills

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Thirty years ago, the state's farm workers were the best paid in the country. Now some don't even make minimum wage By David Bacon June 3, 2015 - At the end of the 1970s, California farm workers were the highest-paid in the U.S., with the possible exception of Hawaii's long-unionized sugar and pineapple workers.

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As I sometimes do on the research road to compiling subject material to write this column each month I peruse the Internet, newspapers, TV broadcast reports and news magazines. Sometimes I get distracted from my initial goal topic and end up with an entirely unrelated chorus of facts I had no intention of spending much time on.

This is one such case. The thought sprung up after I read a report in magazine that food scientists at Cornell University have produced a strain of broccoli that thrives in hot environments. This will likely make it possible for states with sweltering summer months to grow the vegetable. This got me to thinking how fortunate Californians are to live in such a rich agricultural state. Here the cool coastal fog is perfect for growing typical broccoli and we currently produce more than 90 percent of the broccoli grown in the U.S. But what if California suddenly lost its massive agricultural ability to feed the U.S. and the world? What impact would this have on consumer choices and food prices?

I may be guilty of stating the obvious here but often I do believe that those who benefit most from the hard work of growers take California's "Horn of Plenty" for granted. So our good fortune frequently needs repeating.

Our home state leads all of the other states in farm income. It's positioned as the agricultural powerhouse of the United States. About 73 percent of the state's ag revenues are derived from crops while the other 27 percent of revenues are generated by livestock commodities. In terms of revenue generated, California's top five ag products are dairy products, greenhouse and nursery products, grapes, almonds, and cattle and calves. California agriculture generates roughly $37.5 billion annually, more than any other state.

So a loss of California ag production would hit hard consumers' wallets and their diets would become less balanced.This is because our state produces a sizable majority of American fruits, vegetables and nuts; 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95 percent of celery, 95 percent of garlic, 89 percent of cauliflower, 71 percent of spinach, and 69 percent of carrots and the list goes on and on. A lot of this is due to our soil and climate. No other state, or even a combination of states, can match California's output per acre.

Lemon yields, for example, are more than 50 percent higher than neighboring states. California spinach yield per acre is 60 percent higher than the national average. Without California, supply of these products in our country and abroad would dip, and in the first few years, a few might be nearly impossible to find. Orchard-based products specifically, such as nuts and some fruits, would take many years to spring back.

Soon, the effect on consumer prices would become attention-grabbing. Rising prices would force Americans to alter their diets. Grains are locked in a complicated price-dependent relationship with fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. When the price of produce increases, people eat more grain. When the price of grain rises, people eat more fruits and vegetables. (In fact, in some parts of the world, wheat and rice are the only "Giffen goods" - a product in which decreasing prices lead to decreasing demand.) Young people and the poor in America, more than others, eat less fresh fruit when prices rise.

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What happens if US loses California food production?

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As I sometimes do on the research road to compiling subject material to write this column each month I peruse the Internet, newspapers, TV broadcast reports and news magazines. Sometimes I get distracted from my initial goal topic and end up with an entirely unrelated chorus of facts I had no intention of spending much time on.

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Louisiana Teacher Shortages

A teacher shortage occurs when there are not enough teachers in key subject areas, which has been partly caused by years of teacher layoffs during the Great Recession, a growing student population and fewer people entering teacher preparation programs, according to the Learning Policy Institute.

The following is a list of teacher shortage areas in Louisiana for the 2016-17 school year as reported by the U.S. Department of Education . ( see page 65)

Steps to Becoming a Teacher in Louisiana
Important Note: Education licensure requirements, statistics and other information are subject to change. Teach.com makes its best effort to keep content accurate; however, the official sources are the state education departments. Please confirm licensing requirements with your state before applying for licensure or renewal. Last updated: 11/1/2016
To earn an initial teaching certification in the state of Louisiana, teaching candidates must meet the following requirements:

Step One: Complete a bachelor's degree and other prerequisite coursework required.

Step Two: Complete a state-approved teacher preparation program.

Step Three: Pass required exams.

Step Four: Submit a Louisiana teaching credential application.

Continue below for more information.

Earn Your Louisiana Teaching Credential

To earn your Louisiana teaching credential you will have to complete required the appropriate amount of undergraduate coursework and standardized tests, as well as an accredited certification program. Louisiana issues three levels of teacher certification.

The beginning Level 1 Professional Certificate is valid for three years. The Level 2 Professional Certificate, renewable every five years, is issued to teachers with at least three years of experience and ce who have passed the Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program (LaTAAP) , a two-year period of mentoring and assessment that evaluates the teacher's knowledge of his/her subject area and classroom management skills. The Level 3 Professional Certificate is issued to teachers with five years of experience in their area of certification who have passed the Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program (LaTAAP) and completed a master's degree.

Step One: Prerequisite Coursework in Louisiana

All states require at least a bachelor's degree to teach. Louisiana requires a certification area of focus, education coursework, field experience and student teaching. Louisiana requires 180 hours of field experiences, and one semester of student teaching or internship in a school as part of any teacher preparation program.

Step Two: Louisiana Teacher Certification Programs

Teacher certification programs can be taken online or on-site. They typically include an educational theory and classroom skills seminar and a fieldwork component of student teaching in the area. A list of accredited teacher preparation programs can be found on the Louisiana Department of Education's preparation page.

Step Three: Required Tests for Louisiana
You can learn more about the Praxis exams by visiting the information page provided by Return to the top , where you can also access free online , plus a variety of paid options for those who need additional help, including live prep classes, one-on-one tutoring, and on-demand online prep.
Read more about teacher certification tests on Teach.com.

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Counseling@NYU offers an online master of arts in Counseling and Guidance program, with concentrations in school and bilingual school counseling to prepare students to become collaborative leaders elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. Part-time and full-time options are available to fit student schedules.

Vanderbilt University's Peabody College offers an online Master of Education in human development counseling with a specialization in school counseling for students interested in becoming school counselors and making a meaningful difference in K-12 settings.

The Master of Arts in Teaching degree (MAT) is for aspiring teachers who want to gain the skills and knowledge they need to become great educators.
Return to the top
The online Master of Science in Teaching program prepares aspiring teachers (grades 1-6) for initial teaching certification or dual certification in teaching and special education.

Alternative Teacher Certification in Louisiana

Louisiana has several routes to a Practitioner License which can allow a teacher to work in the classroom for up to three years (with annual renewal) while they complete an approved licensing program. The Practitioner Teacher program combines intensive coursework-18 to 33 credit hours depending on the area you plan to teach-with full-time teaching. The Master's Degree Alternate Certification Program requires 33 to 39 credit hours combined with teaching. The Certification-Only program can be completed face-to-face or online and does not require a full-time commitment. It does require 80 contact hours of classroom readiness training.
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For more information about different types of certification, visit the Teach Louisiana certification page .

Benefits of a Master's Degree in Louisiana

It is no longer enough to only have years of experience teaching. After No Child Left Behind and other academic quantification measures, teachers are almost solely evaluated by their success in the classroom. A master's degree in the field of education will give you more educational theory and classroom skills, as well as more hands-on student teaching experience with a mentor. After a master's program, you may be able to achieve better results in the classroom and have more job security and higher pay.
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Learn more about the benefits of a Master of Arts in Teaching vs. Master of Education on Teach.com.

Louisiana Teacher Salary and Incentives
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In Louisiana, teachers earned an average of $51,381 per year in 2012-13, according to the National Center for Education Statistics . Additionally, Louisiana provides differential pay for teachers willing to work in high demand districts and in shortage subjects. Salaries in Louisiana vary by parish, for more information go to Louisiana Department of Education's page.

Learn more about teacher salaries on Teach.com.

Louisiana Teacher Benefits and Retirement

Louisiana teachers become vested in the state retirement system after 10 years of service. Employees are allowed to retire at age 60 after 10 years of service, age 55 after 25 years of service, or any age after 30 years of service.The employee required contributions to the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System is currently 8 7.5 percent of the gross salary. The state also contributes 15.8 percent to the teacher's retirement fund. Other benefits include health insurance, paid holidays, sick and annual leave, and promotional opportunities. To learn more about the benefits of becoming a teacher in Louisiana, check out the Summary of Louisiana Teacher Benefits or read more about benefits for teachers on Teach.com.

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A teacher shortage occurs when there are not enough teachers in key subject areas, which has been partly caused by years of teacher layoffs during the Great Recession, a growing student population and fewer people entering teacher preparation programs, according to the Learning Policy Institute.

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View a directory of 1,391 public schools in Louisiana (LA), serving 718,376. Find school information, reviews and news.

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All teachers must be certified before they begin working in Louisiana's K-12 education system. The certification process is overseen by the Louisiana Department of Education. Continue reading to learn more about how to become a teacher in Louisiana.

How to Become a Teacher in Louisiana

All teachers in Louisiana are required to hold a bachelor's degree, complete a Louisiana teacher preparation program, and pass the appropriate Praxis exams. For traditional route educators, the required teacher preparation - which includes 180 hours of field experience and a full year of classroom residency - is included in the bachelor's degree curriculum.

Those who have already earned a bachelor's degree but did not complete teacher preparation may be eligible for alternative teacher certification in Louisiana.

Louisiana uses a tiered licensing structure. Those who meet the basic requirements above are eligible for a Level 1 Professional Certificate. Teachers can advance to the Level 2 Professional Certificate by completing the Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program (LATAAP) and successfully teaching for three years. Educators can advance to the highest certificate, the Level 3 Professional Certificate, by earning a master's degree and teaching for at least five years.

Finding Approved Teacher Education Programs in Louisiana

Projected Job Growth

5.4%
Growth in Teaching Jobs in LA through 2024²
Perhaps the most important step to becoming a certified teacher in Louisiana is completing training in an approved teacher preparation program. Certification candidates must note that teacher preparation programs in Louisiana must be approved by the Board of Education. Non-approved programs will not qualify graduates for licensure.

When evaluating program options delivered out-of-state or online, applicants must confirm that the school is accredited by the appropriate regional accreditation agency. The US Department of Education oversees six regional accreditation agencies. Schools attended must hold accreditation from one of these six bodies for graduates to be eligible for Louisiana teacher licensure.

In addition, schools may hold accreditation from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This organization is the result of the consolidation of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). Voluntary accreditation from CAEP is highly respected and serves as a marker of high standards.

See our list of CAEP accredited schools in Louisiana.

Louisiana Teacher Outlook
The Louisiana Workforce Commission predicts 100 average annual job openings due to growth and 400 average annual job openings due to replacements for elementary school teachers, 50 average annual job openings due to growth and 200 average annual job openings due to replacements for middle school teachers, and 80 average annual job openings due to growth and 340 average annual job openings due to replacements for secondary school teachers in Louisiana from 2014 to 2024. ³ Estimates from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics place the number of elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers in Louisiana at 43,920, excluding special education teachers. ⁴ The average salary for elementary school teachers in the state is $48,430, while middle school teachers make an average annual salary of $47,530 and secondary school teachers make an average annual salary of $49,800. ⁴ For more information and news regarding employment opportunities and teaching in Louisiana, visit the Louisiana Association of Educators.

Louisiana Teacher Education Requirements

The state requires that those pursuing Louisiana teacher licensing complete a bachelor's degree and state-approved teacher preparation program with a minimum 2.5 GPA. In addition, the applicant must have a written recommendation from the teacher preparation program completed to be eligible for Louisiana teacher certification.

Teacher Quote "Know that you are entering a profession that allows you to truly impact lives everyday. You have a tremendous opportunity to cultivate not only the talent that is obvious to others, but also the hidden potential within each student." -Cindy Wallace, Louisiana Math Teacher

Louisiana Teacher Testing Requirements

In order to earn Louisiana teacher certification, candidates must take and pass the Praxis exams appropriate to the grade level(s) and subject(s) they wish to teach. The required examinations include the Core Academic Skills for Educators to assesses the candidate's basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as content-area exams. Consult the Louisiana Department of Education for a current breakdown of required exams by endorsement area.

Additional Louisiana Teacher Certification Requirements

Louisiana is one of the few states that does not require new teachers to complete a fingerprint background check. However, individual schools and districts reserve the right to conduct their own criminal history checks. In addition, candidates for a teaching certificate are required to disclose previous criminal convictions on their applications.

Louisiana Teachers Licensing Application Process

Once prospective educators have completed all of the steps listed above, a complete application packet must be sent to the Louisiana Department of Education. Candidates must provide the following documentation:

Verification of bachelor's degree.

Verification of completed Louisiana teacher preparation program, including certification recommendation from the program's designated official.

Verification of passing scores on the required Praxis exams.

Completed application with non-refundable processing fees.

Applicants should use the state's online licensing portal for educators, Teach LA. Visit the Louisiana Department of Education for further details on teaching certification in Louisiana.

Louisiana Teacher Salary and Jobs
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2015.⁴
Louisiana Teacher Interview

Frequently Asked Questions about Becoming a Teacher in Louisiana

Question: How do I become an elementary teacher in Louisiana?

Answer: To become a certified elementary teacher in Louisiana, you must have a bachelor's degree in education and complete a teacher preparation program. The state also requires that you pass the Praxis tests for elementary certification and participate in student teaching in an elementary classroom.

Teaching and Education Programs
References:
1. Louisiana Department of Education: http://www.teachlouisiana.net/
2. Projections Central, Long Term Occupational Projections: http://www.projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm
3. Louisiana Workforce Commission: http://www.laworks.net/labormarketinfo/lmi_employmentprojections.asp
4. US Department of Labor Statistics, May 2015 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Louisiana: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_la.htm

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Louisiana Teacher Certification and Licensing Guide 2018

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All teachers must be certified before they begin working in Louisiana's K-12 education system. The certification process is overseen by the Louisiana Department of Education. Continue reading to learn more about how to become a teacher in Louisiana.

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Working as a Police Officer at Chicago Police Department: Employee Reviews | Indeed.com

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Reviews from Chicago Police Department employees about Chicago Police Department culture, salaries, benefits, work-life balance, management, job security, and more.

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Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced plans to hire nearly 1,000 new police officers in the next two years.

Johnson spoke at a 2 p.m. press conference inside police headquarters to announce the hiring blitz, which includes 200 new detectives, 516 officers, 112 sergeants and 50 lieutenants. CPD Communications Director Anthony Guglielmi tweeted about the breakdown of the new hires Wednesday morning.

Here's a breakdown of new 970 police officer positions coming to CPD: 516 officers, 92?field training officers, 200 dets, 112 sgts, 50 LTs
- Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) September 21, 2016

"We're going to add officers to areas experiencing violent crime, and we're going to fill vacancies in districts in communities across the city. And so because Mayor Rahm Emanuel's, because of his strong support, we're going to get all the things that we ask for," Johnson said at the press conference.

Johnson said he met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently to address the growing rates of murder and other crime in the city. He said the answer, he said, is more officers to work the streets and more promotions to relieve the burden on many of the overloaded detectives and supervisors.

"The truth is we can't pull officers from the safer communities into the more violent ones. Gang members will figure that out and shift their operations. I'm confident that these added resources will make us better and give us the capacity we need to address our crime problems across the city," Johnson said.

The city has yet to say exactly what the hires will cost or how they will pay for it, but at least some of the money is expected to come from reduced overtime for current officers.

The move was welcomed by the Fraternal Order of Police, which said adding more detectives is especially significant.

"You'll see homicide detectives and shooting, aggravated battery detectives walking around the area with a coffee mug duct-taped to their hand, more or less, because they never leave and they never stop. And they need a lot of help," said FOP president Dean Angelo.

"Because we stretched them so thin I think we've seen some really disappointing repercussions in our communities," said 45th Ward Alderman John Arena.

Johnson's proposal will increase the number of officers from 12,656 currently to 13,535 by the end of 2018.

In the violence-plagued Austin neighborhood, there was tentative hope and some skepticism about how much of a difference more police will make.

"We're putting the onus on the police department. We need a war on poverty. We need to put some resources behind job creation," said Rev. Ira Acree.

In the past five years Mayor Rahm Emanuel relied on police overtime to fight skyrocketing violence in the city. Aldermen said in 2015 they paid about $100 million in overtime pay, which they said would go a long way towards paying for the new officers the city hopes to hire.
ANNOUNCEMENT PROMPTS CONCERNS AMONG ALDERMEN, COMMUNITY
Hiring more police is an old idea that has been hotly debated in Chicago for the past five years.

Aaron Lewis, 48, is an ex-convict and recovering drug addict who said more police would help in his West Side neighborhood but only if the new cops dealt with crime in a different way.

"Instead of dealing with it in a violent fashion, they can deal with it in a more mature fashion," Lewis said.

"Are we going to recruit 500 more police officers that may wind up giving us 500 more Laquan McDonald situations?" asked political consultant Maze Jackson.

"How are we going to pay? Are we going to go back to the taxpayers, are we going to raise taxes again, are we going to tax the air that we breathe? I mean, where are we going to get the money?" asked 10th Ward Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza.

But other aldermen expressed confidence that Johnson would hire and train the right people, and that their constituents would be willing to pay more in taxes.

"If the money is spent correctly, wisely and has an impact, nobody will remember what the price tag was," said 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez.

"Most of the citizens in the city of Chicago wouldn't mind doing something more to be safer in this city," said 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett.

Emanuel toured a youth job fair at Malcolm X College Wednesday where he offered no details on how he planned to pay for the additional cops. He also stressed the need for jobs in the citywide effort to prevent violent crime.

"Making sure our kids and people who are either not in school or in work have hope in their lives and have a job," Emanuel said.

During his reelection campaign, Emanuel opposed hiring more police officers, but in the wake of worsening violence and reports that Illinois has the highest African American unemployment rate in the country, Jackson said it appears he is doing what mayors in such situations typically do.

"Until we're ready to address some of the systemic and social issues, that's always going to be the answer: find more police, more enforcement," Jackson said.

Black Lives Matter Chicago released a statement criticizing the announcement, saying in part, "The causes of crime and intra-communal violence exist because of the conditions of poverty that Rahm Emanuel has exacerbated for Chicago. More policing will not "fix" these conditions. What more policing will accomplish is more violence, more lock ups and more trauma for our already suffering communities."

Some community activists were skeptical of the hiring plan and said the money it will use would be better spent on police training and investments in blighted communities.

"I think the money should be spent more effectively. Not in new hires, but actually in training the ones that we have," said Bishop James Dukes, of the Liberation Christian Center.

"If you can raise $1 billion for a Star Wars museum, surely you can raise $1 billion to bring resources into our community," said Pastor Greg Livingston, of the Coalition for a New Chicago.

Emanuel is set to give a speech on public safety Thursday night, and he indicated he would not use it to reveal his plan to pay for additional police. He said that would be part of his budget proposal, to be released and negotiated later this fall.

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CPD announces plan to hire nearly 1,000 new officers

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Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced plans to hire nearly 1,000 new police officers in the next two years. Johnson spoke at a 2 p.m. press conference inside police headquarters to announce the hiring blitz, which includes 200 new detectives, 516 officers, 112 sergeants and 50 lieutenants.

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Salary for Police Patrol Officer in Chicago, IL | Salary.com

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View salary ranges, and bonus and benefits information for Police Patrol Officer in Chicago, IL. Don't forget your salary report - free of charge.

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Tele Aadsen started out in Wasilla, spending her first few years in the strip mall town north of Anchorage later made famous by a certain former Alaska governor. But the Sitka troller and writer didn't remain in Mat-Su for long. When Aadsen was a second grader, her parents, Ken and Val, built a sailboat in their Wasilla backyard, a construction project that eventually morphed into a job and a lifestyle for their daughter.

"My fishing career started in 1984 when I was seven," Aadsen says. "After my parents finished the boat, they sailed it from Anchorage across the Gulf of Alaska without any clear idea of what was going to happen next."

As it turned out, the Aadsens found themselves in Sitka, one of Alaska's busiest fishing ports located on the outer coast of Southeast's scenic Inside Passage, surrounded by the lush Tongass National Forest. As the family moored their sailboat, Sitka's docks were crawling with people offloading fish and others looking for deckhand jobs. The family instantly got caught up in the summer fishing frenzy that defines many coastal Alaska communities.

They decided to rig up the sailboat as a hand troller and try their hand at salmon fishing.

"After a couple of years it became obvious we weren't going to earn a living that way," Aadsen says.

In the fall of 1986, the Aadsens decided to get serious. They traveled to Port Townsend, Wash., and found a fiberglass hull. They traded a piece of land they owned in Petersburg for the hull, and went to work transforming it into a power troller. The family lived in "a broken-down motor home outside the boat barn," and, later, in the Port Townsend boat yard, working 18-hour days to get the Willie Lee II built in time to fish the upcoming season.

"They didn't know it was impossible for a couple to build a boat in nine months, so that's what they did," Aadsen says. "We fished the Willie Lee II that July and sold the sailboat."

They fished together as a family for a few more years. But the bottom fell out of the Alaska wild salmon market in 1989 following the Exxon Valdez spill, and Ken decided to get out of the business. Val, however, saw a future in commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska and kept the boat. The couple split.

At the time, according to Aadsen, Val was one of the few female skippers in Southeast Alaska, and her only crewman was her daughter. They fished for nearly a decade together until a few years of poor returns, low prices and equipment costs took a financial toll. Her mother ended up selling their boat.

Aadsen took a break from fishing, got a master's degree and did social work in Seattle for seven years. But, like many fishermen who get hooked on the lifestyle, Aadsen's heart was on the water. She traded her social work job for a full-time career as a troller and a longliner in Southeast Alaska and hasn't looked back since.

"I'm paying off my student loans with my fishing business," says Aadsen, who is also writing a memoir while maintaining "Hooked," her popular fishing blog.

Loving What You Do

She and her partner, Joel Brady-Power, own and operate a 43-foot fiberglass troller, F/V Nerka, which they fish from July through September. Before the salmon season, Aadsen longlines for halibut and black cod in April and May.

"I don't love killing fish, but I love my life as a fisherman," she says.

As a fisherman, Aadsen cherishes being able to provide a high-value, carefully managed and sustainable product, and being surrounded by the beauty of Alaska, as well as the fact that she's her own boss.

Despite the mystique of working for oneself on Alaska's pristine waters with stunning mountains and glaciers as a backdrop, commercial fishing can be a brutal, competitive and highly risky business. It's definitely not for everyone, notes Bruce Wallace, a longtime Juneau resident, seiner and vice president of United Fishermen of Alaska, a trade association representing 37 commercial fishing organizations.

"A lot of people dream about having a career in fishing, but the industry has a way of selecting the people who will stick around. A lot of people crew for a few years and then they say, 'It's time to go get real.' Some of us never get out of Alice in Wonderland, but that's another story," Wallace says.

Raking It In

Wallace got into fishing about 40 years ago in Alaska. He had one of his best seasons ever last year when Southeast Alaska outpaced every other region in the state, including Bristol Bay, for its commercial salmon harvest, valued by state regulators at more than $203 million.

Southeast was also the state's most productive region in terms of number and weight of salmon caught. Southeast fishermen hauled in 73.5 million fish weighing 324.5 million pounds, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

"I know that some boats landed more than 2 million pounds of pinks. At 45 cents a pound, that's a pretty good season," Wallace says.

Southeast high school kids who worked as deckhands aboard seiners reportedly came away last summer with tens of thousands of dollars. Some showed up at school in the fall driving shiny new pick-up trucks bought with their crew earnings, according to reports from fishermen.

World's Top Producer

In Alaska, salmon is both big business and a cultural icon. People tend to associate Alaska with salmon, and for good reason. Alaska is one of the few places where wild salmon largely remain healthy and abundant due to intact habitat and careful management.

©2012 Christopher S. Miller / AlaskaStock.com

Gillnetters wait to deliver their fish to tenders in the Ugashik fishing district, Bristol Bay, Southwest Alaska.

Alaska is the world's top producer of wild salmon, eclipsing Russia, China and Japan, according to research by Gunnar Knapp, an economics professor and fisheries expert at the Institute of Social and Economic Research in Anchorage.

The state produces nearly 80 percent of the world's supply of wild king, sockeye and coho, all high-dollar species. Although salmon constituted just 18 percent of the total volume of seafood caught in Alaska in 2010, it accounted for 35 percent of the export value, according to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

Times have been good lately for Alaska's commercial salmon fishermen with prices on the rise. Wholesale salmon prices jumped from $1.31 per pound in 2002 to $2.45 per pound in 2010, according to the Juneau-based research firm, McDowell Group. During this same period, the total value of salmon permits also rose from $205 million to nearly $521 million.

Salmon is just one of Alaska's top commercial fish species. The other notables include herring, halibut, shellfish and ground fish.

Ground fish-namely pollock, cod, rockfish, hake and haddock-are the big kids on the block. Some 43 percent of the export volume of Alaska seafood came from pollock in 2010, according to ASMI. Pollock is a tasty white fish often made into fish sticks and battered frozen fillets.

Alaska's ground fish harvest is one of the world's largest commercial fisheries. According to a study published in 2009 by Northern Economics, a research firm with offices in Anchorage and Bellingham, Wash., Alaska ground fish and flat fish made up about one-fifth of the world's catch of these species in 2006.

All told, commercial fishermen in Alaska harvested a staggering 4.5 billion pounds of seafood in 2010.

Big Numbers

Although oil is king in Alaska-funding more than 80 percent of the state's treasury-fishing dwarfs petroleum in some regards, particularly in employment numbers. The fishing industry is Alaska's largest private-sector employer and fish are the state's main export product.

Think of it this way: in the United States, about 99,000 people make their living as commercial fishermen, and more than half of them do so in Alaska. According to the McDowell Group, using Alaska Department of Labor figures, Alaska directly employed some 53,000 people as fishermen or in processing jobs in 2009. About 45 percent of them were Alaskans with the rest from out of state.

But despite the fact that a relatively high percentage of seafood jobs are held by nonresidents, the industry brings enormous sums into Alaska through direct and indirect employment, taxes and sales.

According to ASMI, the wholesale value of Alaska seafood in 2010 totaled $3.8 billion dollars. In 2007, that number was $3.6 billion, according to the Northern Economics study. But the so-called ripple effect makes the figure much larger. The $3.6 billion generated another $2.2 billion in indirect economic activity for a total of $5.8 billion in economic output for Alaska, the report concludes.

That nearly $6 billion economic contribution makes fishing a key economic workhorse for Alaska. Behind oil and gas and the federal government, the seafood industry ranks third in Alaska as far as generating basic economic activity.

It's especially important in rural parts of the state.

Rural Jobs

Fishing is an integral part of the culture and economy of rural Alaska, and in many cases, the primary economic driver.

Alaska has about 44,000 miles of coastline dotted with cities and villages. In many of these isolated areas, unemployment is sky high and the cost of living exorbitant. Fishing offers a way for rural Alaskans to pay bills, through commercial harvest, in jobs associated with the sport fishing industry, and through traditional subsistence gathering.

According to the McDowell Group, one in every seven rural Alaska residents of working age found employment aboard a commercial fishing vessel or in a processing plant in 2009.

"In many rural communities, fishing provides one of the few options to earn cash," says Tyson Fick, communications director for ASMI.

Many of Alaska's top fishing ports are located in rural areas, such as Unalaska/Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians, Kodiak, Naknek-King Salmon in Bristol Bay, Cordova, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Wrangell and Yakutat. Other major hubs lie in more populated spots including Seward, Juneau, Homer, Kenai and-the state's largest city-Anchorage.

In terms of gross earnings from commercial fishing, the remote Aleutians and Pribilof Islands are typically the highest-ranking part of the state. According to ASMI, the gross earnings of permit holders in this region in 2009 totaled more than $657.5 million.

That's followed by the Southeast panhandle with grossing earnings of $173.48 million. Bristol Bay came in third with $133.32 million; Southcentral fourth with $131.35 million; and Kodiak fifth with $111.16 million.

When you compare Alaska's commercial fishing industry by size of work force, Southeast ranks highest. In 2009, Southeast had a seafood industry work force of more than 10,150. The Aleutians and Pribilofs came in second with work force of 5,309. Bristol Bay, Southcentral and Kodiak followed respectively.

Regarding export partners, China is Alaska's biggest buyer in terms of volume. Japan is the largest in terms of total value. Brazil is also a very important emerging market for Alaska.

"Brazil is one of the world's fastest growing economies. The population of Brazil is three and a half times that of Europe and they're big fish eaters," Wallace says.

ASMI recently opened an office in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in hopes of expanding Alaska seafood exports to the South American nation, Fick says.

Protecting The Resource

Alaska is blessed with rich stocks of wild fish, and the science-driven management provided by state and federal regulators is often held up as a model for other states and countries-but that's not to say there aren't threats: ocean acidification, climate change, endangered species listings, habitat alterations and pollution are some, to name a few. At least one salmon-rich region of Alaska faces the prospect of a major new mining development over which many fishermen have expressed concern.

There's also unrelenting fishing pressure from other countries with less rigorous regulations than Alaska.

"The ocean is a productive soup and everyone wants a share of it," Wallace says.

As fishermen adopt increasingly sophisticated technology to find and capture fish, pressure on the resource grows. But management, at least in Alaska, has proven adept at responding to advances in equipment, shifts in fish populations and other changes, he says.

"As the industry gets better at doing what it does, the management gets more conservative. It's an economic-ecological balancing act," he says.

Knapp notes that the world's vast oceans are still an unknown entity in many respects and nothing about the future of commercial fishing is certain.

"Even with the best and most consistent and conscientious management, we don't control the oceans," he says.

One of the things we do have some control over is how we manage fish habitat within our state and habitat conservation is critically important, says Aadsen.

"What I see sometimes is a sense of entitlement to our resource. You'll hear some folks say, 'This is here for us to use,' as if Alaska is somehow exempt from the consequences that salmon have experienced in the Lower 48. In Alaska, we can't even imagine our salmon not being here," Aadsen says.

As more young people break into the ranks of commercial fishing, Aadsen says she sees growing awareness among the fleet that unless the watersheds that produce salmon are left intact, the same problems that decimated salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere could happen here.

"What we have up here is nothing that should ever be taken for granted," she says.

This article first appeared in the May 2012 print edition of Alaska Business Monthly magazine.

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Alaska's Fishing Industry: The universal relevance of a multi-billion dollar industry

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In Alaska, salmon is both big business and a cultural icon. People tend to associate Alaska with salmon, and for good reason. Alaska is one of the few places where wild salmon largely remain healthy and abundant due to intact habitat and careful management.

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Boats made so much money they could hire an extra guy on a half-share basis just to make life a little easier for everyone. It was relatively easy for an able-bodied guy to get a site, even if he didn't have any fishing experience.

Things are quite different today. Regulations, oil spills, an economic emphasis on imports, the crash of the Japanese economy in the mid-90s - all of these factors have drastically changed the fabric of the industry over the last two decades. But the romantic allure persists and the risk/reward factor is still intense.

The job can still be quite lucrative for the right person, and the best way for you to land your site is still to simply SHOW UP! Skippers don't troll for employees on Monster. There are websites dedicated to finding "fishing" jobs in Alaska, like Alaskafishingjobs.com, alaskajobfinder.com, and others.

Some of these charge a membership fee though, and most of the positions are on factory processors owned by giant seafood corporations like Trident or Peter Pan. This might be a good place to start, but in truth, the chances of getting hired on a proper fishing boat, sight unseen, especially if you're "green", are about zero.

There is no application process, we're going straight to the interviews. So if you're starting a career or just taking a sabbatical from the cubicle, here's how to go about it.

1. Do your research first

You want to be in the right place at the right time. Herring season kicks off in Togiak in April. The salmon run in Kenai starts in July.

Last year I worked with a guy who flew into Kodiak in mid-May, went to the city employment office (hint, hint), and had a site on a seiner the next day. He said he made $25,000.00 in ten weeks. Now that was a fortunate scenario, but he made his own luck by showing up at the right time, just a week or so before the season opened.

An e-visit to the city in question should provide you a timetable, provided it's a big enough place like Homer. A smaller burg like Naknek will require some extended effort. National Fisherman publishes monthly articles, filled with tons of data on the volume and value of almost every fishery.

Visit NationalFisherman.com and check the dates. There's even a small classifieds page there. Local and regional newspapers always carry a story or two as well. Be creative with your search.

2. Pack appropriately

Functionality is key. Even in the summer months the weather will be unpleasant at times, and you're there to work. Go with some sweatpants, hooded sweatshirts, comfortable, durable socks, and some rugged footwear. Bring a light, rain-resistant jacket.

You want layers of versatility stuffed into one semi-large pack. Remember, you want to be mobile, and the vessel on which you land your site isn't going to have a lot of extra space for storage.

You can easily get your slickers and gloves after you've landed your site. In most cases the boat will even charge it, then just take it out of your first check.

Under Armor is great stuff, too. (Make sure to keep every single receipt for ANY related purchase. Find an accountant familiar with the maritime industry, there are all sorts of deductions for commercial guys.)

3. Be professional

You're ready to swashbuckle like Captain Jack Sparrow, but this is still a business. The number one issue for boat owners and captains is the dependability of their crewmen. Beat the docks early, and without a hangover.

You want to stress your reliability and your eagerness to respond to a good opportunity. If the man asks you if you have any experience, just say "No" or "Not yet." Do not tell him how you went sailing on your uncle's yacht one summer. Do not tell him that you are a hard worker and a fast learner, he's heard it a million times. He'll be more impressed with directness and honesty.

Do you have any relevant skills? Maybe you can "turn a wrench" or you're familiar with electronics. If you're not mechanically inclined yet, don't sweat it. The number one attribute for fresh hires? Cooking. If you can whip up a nice meal for three or four or five guys on short order, your prospects just improved significantly.

Now if the boss listens to what you have to say and still tells you to ease on down the dock, don't take it personally, some skippers wouldn't hire Superman if he hadn't been on a boat before. But I've worked for a lot of skippers who liked to hire "clean and green," because they knew the guy was going to be trouble-free and they could train him up how they wanted.

4. Adapt

You might not land a site right away just by beating the docks, so you'll need to utilize your resourcefulness. Check the fishhouses and canneries, a lot of skippers will post their "want-ads" in the offices there. Talk to people. You need to drum up as many leads as possible.

I worked with a guy who made his contact in line at the post office. Another guy put up his "resume" on the bulletin board at the coffee shop and had calls within 24 hours. Their combined previous experience: 0.

If you're not getting any breaks, maybe you need a change of scenery. Another guy I worked with beat the docks of Cordova for two weeks and couldn't get any action. He finally jumped on the ferry to Kodiak and found a site on his third day in town.

Persevere. There are tens of thousands of commercial fishing boats and hundreds of thousands of sites in Alaska. But they aren't going to come to you.

Once you're in, your performance will propel you wherever you want to go. Maybe you'll settle in on a big ship that works year-round. Maybe you'll network to different sites in different fisheries for different seasons.

Just like any other business, the owners and captains all know each other and who needs crew, and when. Build a good name for yourself and you'll have it made in the industry for as long as you want.

So now you're ready! It takes a lot of confidence and determination to find substantive employment in this manner. You need to be alert, assertive, and flexible. If you can't handle what it takes to get the job then the job isn't for you. Good luck.

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How to Get Work on an Alaskan Fishing Boat

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Matador is a travel and lifestyle brand redefining travel media with cutting edge adventure stories, photojournalism, and social commentary.

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Commercial Fisherman Salary | Salary Genius

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Commercial Fisherman salary statistics. Detailed salary analysis for 'Commercial Fisherman' by location. View graphs and statistics for Commercial Fisherman.

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I Am A Commercial Fisherman | INDIE ALASKA

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Toby Sullivan has been setnet fishing the shores of Uganik Bay on Kodiak Island since 1983. His fish camp, known as East Point, is only accessible by boat or seaplane. In this video, he and his partner, Katie Oliver, share the story of what it means to them to work as commercial fishermen in remote Alaska.