A Mundane Inquiry

The taboo around asking coworkers' salaries has somewhat assuaged, but these topics

remain rather private. The academic analogy in my view, especially for public 

universities, is not salaries, but start-up funds, the money a new professor gets

to "start-up" their lab. Some fields are inherently more expensive than others, at least

in procuring initial equipment (sometimes, the grad students cost more... ); when one

receives that wonted offer (or two??) for a tenure-track position, an important concern for the

5-7 year deadline. More grad students = more papers, but don't want to run dry before

the next grant comes in. Ah, just accept students without guaranteed funding. Worst case? 

They get some valuable teaching experience; industry loves that, right?

If anyone has more numbers, please do send...