Perhaps the commentary last week by Jason Zaler was putting the blame where it does not lie. Yes, the Political Science co-op department does have many problems, but, I feel (and perhaps others do as well) that it is not necessarily the fault of Mr. Lee or Mr. Wray. Northeastern itself has failed the political science and international affairs students for failing to provide these two critical individuals with the resources necessary to do their job to the fullest extent. Case in point: they no longer have graduate students assiting them to fax resumes out to co-op employers or follow up on opportunities or contacts; Mr. Lee is overburdened as an advisor to five majors (including half of political science and all of international affairs);and Mr. Wray is only provided with five stipends to distribute to Washington co-opers (which gets eaten up by housing anyways). Another major problem with political science co-ops is that most require work-study, which limits those without it. I was lucky enough to get two worthwile co-ops so far, but next time I may not be so lucky. Perhaps, Jason, we should not blame Mr. Lee and Mr. Wray, but Northeastern for discontinuing critical resources to their beloved co-op program.
Political Science co-ops
February 22, 2005
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