First, I'm periodically re-watching some Time Team. It's the Specials, if you're curious. Great series, highly enjoyed.
If you're familiar with the show, what do you think Phil Harding smells like?
Second, I'm unfamiliar with the academic experience for a paleontologist. Last night, I watched the Special where they did something different, and went to Montana USA to dig dinosaur bones. That got me thinking...
I think I may found a field of study that treats undergrads more like slaves than archaeology departments. They give them tiny tools, tell them to smash away tons of rock, and get mad at 'em if they break a bone. Well, I assume they get mad at them if they break them, 'cause they're pretty damned careful.
Tiny, tiny tools. Like, a tiny chisel and paint brush. Then then sent 'em up a cliff, made 'em camp out, and had 'em whack the cliff away - with tiny tools.
They made them wrap giant chunks of rock with plaster casts - and then carry them up the cliff thing, by hand. I bet, at most, they get a stipend and probably are getting discounted/free tuition. At that point, their tuition wouldn't be hard to fund. Paying for grad school isn't really a problem. (Paying for life during grad school is.)
That has to suck. I'm not sure it's possible for someone to convince me that it wouldn't suck balls.
We have a potentially new contender for, "I'll take shittiest undergrad programs for $1,000, Alex."
When I watch these people at work with their tiny brushes it always reminds me of playing this game but doing it for days on end. I wouldn't last 10 minutes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_(game)