For Carolyn Mansfield, a resident of Junipero, earning $10 an hour is simply a matter of walking to Residential Fellows Gavin Jones and Judy Richardson's cottage to baby-sit their eight-month old daughter Hazel. Babysitting for the children of her RFs is a great way for Mansfield to establish some financial freedom while a student.

"I like kids and it's an easy, convenient job that's not too time consuming," Mansfield said. "Gavin and Judy are really laidback employers."

Mansfield is one of five babysitters who watch Hazel once a week for two hours.

"We spend a lot of time just hanging out and watching 'Bear in the Big Blue House' and going for walks," she said.

Mansfield is just one of many Stanford students who balances classes and clubs with part-time work. The University offers a variety of employment opportunities ranging from working as a research assistant to earning $75 a quarter for taking notes for the Disability Resource Center.

Dining hall days

Perhaps, the most popular places of employment on campus though are Stanford’s dining halls and eateries. Sophomore Esmeralda Fuentes, for instance, has worked at Ricker Dining for $10.30 an hour, four and a half hours a week, since fall quarter.

Fuentes said she took the job because she found it to be “very convenient and because of the money as well<\p--\p>not only for books but for all the shopping I do,” she joked.

She also gets a free meal every time she works, which is a big plus, considering the high cost of meal plans on campus.

Despite the jobs perks, however, Fuentes plans to look into other job options on campus next year.

“It’s easy money because all I do is swipe cards, but it’s not something I’ll do again,” she said. “This year was more than enough. I think it’s good for the convenience but something more fulfilling, or at least more interesting, would be better.”

An Urban Studies major, Fuentes would like to find a job that relates to her major to build up her resume and build experience.

“I really like tutoring,” she said. “Right now I do it as a volunteer, but I could get work study for that. I’m probably going to be a coordinator for Habla La Noche next year too and that could also be my part-time job.”

Movie maven

Junior Katie Gillum has already been able to find a job that caters to her interests through working with movies at Media Microtext in Green Library.

Gillum took the job two years ago because “I needed money and because I like making and watching movies.”

She found out about working at Media Microtext from a friend she met the summer before sophomore year.

“I was in the Sophomore College film theory class and one of the other kids knew that they were hiring at the beginning of the quarter,” she said.

So far, Gillum has found the job to be very fulfilling. Because of her position as a resident assistant, Gillum currently works six hours a week as opposed to the 10 to 12 that she worked last year. Because she works on weekends, she gets paid $11 an hour as opposed to the usual $10.30.

In addition to checking movies in and out, Gillum has to deal with students who are trying to get tapes for the course Development in a Global Environment, or EDGE, at the last minute or those who are trying to get tapes on reserve. One drawback of the job that Gillum noted was that it was “hard to (work enough) hours because they’re given on the basis of seniority and merit,” the latter which is decided subjectively.

Additionally, she said that sometimes the students checking out DVDs can be difficult to deal with.

“The hardest thing about the job is that some people come in and expect it to be a Hollywood Video with multiple copies of each title,” she said.

Gillum noted, however, that some of the job’s special benefits really outweigh the cons.

“It’s really awesome to have access to movies and flat-screen TVs,” she said. “It’s also nice to be able to do my (school) work during the job.”

A fishy job

Freshman David Villafranca took on an unusual job at the Talbot lab, a research lab looking at Zebrafish genetics. Since March, Villafranca has performed two-hour shifts of feeding fish and changing the water of the lab?s 200-plus tanks for $12 an hour. Villafranca works ten hours a week.

“It’s probably the most disgusting job I’ve ever had,” remarked Villafranca. But Villafranca admits that it pays more than other campus jobs and enjoys “having my own financial freedom.” As a result, he said he’ll probably continue working there next year.

Villafranca heard about the job from a friend, freshman Stepanie Oberfoell, who has worked at the lab since February.

Oberfoell used to always perform the same tasks as Villafranca but now sometimes works in the upstairs part of the lab as well where she does genetic screenings of the fish DNA in yeast cells. She said she prefers this work to that required in the basement of the “fishery.”

“We feed them fried shrimp that smells like vomit and the fish tanks have maggots covering them,” she said. “Also, the room is kept at 85 degrees Fahrenheit and feels like it has 100 percent humidity.”

For both jobs at the lab, Oberfoell and Villafranca have the benefits of getting to listen to their music while they work and basically making their own hours.

“It’s disgusting, but it brings home the bread,” Oberfoell said.

Putting tech skills to the test

As Web Content Monitor and a member of the support staff at El Centro Chicano, Carlos Ortiz’s job gives him the flexibility of being able to work from his room when updating El Centro’s Web site.

Having worked at El Centro Chicano since November 2003, Ortiz works between 10 and 20 hours a week for $12.50 an hour. He found the job through the Career Development Center his freshman year.

“I just needed a job and there was an opening,” he said.

The amount of work usually varies for Ortiz, and as “the tech guy” he does everything from arranging the sound and light systems for special events to helping set-up and clean-up for Cinco de Mayo, for example.

“Some of it’s just being at the front desk and being in the office, and doing what needs to be done,” he said.

One aspect of Ortiz’s job at the center, which he said he particularly enjoys, is the social atmosphere.

“The people who work at the center are very involved and committed to what they do,” he said. “I really like working with them because it just rubs off on me.”

Overall, Ortiz said he likes his job.

“I just like having a job and being able to have my own dispensable income. The office is a lot of fun and I like to be informed about what’s going on at El Centro Chicano.”