<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Feb 1, 2007, at 11:49 AM, Willem Blees wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">I think the first step in this process is related to Lance's last<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">statement. "The whole system just doesn't seem to be conducive</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">to getting good quality work, just the cheapest price."<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Until universities recognize that in order to get quality work, it<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">will be necessary to pay a technician a wage comparable to what they<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">make in the private sector.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Fred, one of the things CAUT can do is ask PTG to do an in depth<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">survey of the income of piano tuners. Qualifications not withstanding,<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">until the PTG can show how much the top money makers in our field are<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">making, universities will have no bench mark from which to start. They<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">will continue to offer inadequate salaries, and then wonder how come<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">noone who is qualified to do the work will apply for the job. <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>I think the question is more related to the contract bid process, which is a bit of a horse of a different color. With the employee interview process, you can have more flexibility. With the bid process, you may be having unknowledgeable people making decisions based on numbers on a sheet of paper.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Have we not gotten the results on last year's survey? I have to admit, I wasn't able to participate in it. By the time I got my W2 and had a chance to calculate my income and expenses for the year, the company conducting the survey closed it out.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">Qualifications not withstanding, <DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">until the PTG can show how much the top money makers in our field are </DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">making...<snip></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><DIV>I think this is exactly the rock and a hard place we are in. The top money makers may not necessarily be RPTs or even members. But they wouldn't be top money makers without at least an above average reputation. Being an RPT is great and all that, but I think making money is why most people go into this business. And reputation will make you a lot more money in this business than three capital letters after your name. That's what makes it so difficult to word qualifications.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Jeff</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>Jeff Tanner, RPT</DIV><DIV>University of South Carolina</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>