Faculty members in academics are under-paid and under-appreciated. Another way of looking at it though is -- It's the university way of making sure that faculty members, who are joining academics are only doing so because they love teaching, mentorship, scholarship, and publishing. It's tricky balancing the stress that comes along with your academic passions.
There is, however, a legitimate financial PERK in academics, especially if you are a Mac user. As a faculty member or medical student, you can purchase things from the Apple Education Store at a significant discount. For instance, a MacBook Pro 15'' laptop costs $2,099 (cost saving of $200).Where you can really save is on software costs. For instance, I recently purchased Adobe's Creative Suite 4 Web Premium for $360 (cost saving of $1,340). For those interested in building their niche in technology and education, this is a critical software package which includes Dreamweaver, Flash, and Photoshop. Check it out.
On an aside, the H1N1 vaccine is finally out for our hospital. Photos of me getting my shot. Wow, that's a big needle. Glad I didn't look and was busy taking a picture with my iPhone.
