<p>“Independent contractor” meaning no benefits (including stock-based incentives), and she has to pay her own payroll taxes?</p>
<p><a href=“Data Science Intern Salaries in Denver, CO | SimplyHired”>http://www.simplyhired.com/salaries-k-summer-intern-computer-science-l-denver-co-jobs.html</a> suggests that the pay levels should be much higher than that. Even assuming that the pay level will be lower for someone between second and third year (as opposed to between third and fourth year), the offered pay level seems to be on the very low end. Indeed, $8 per hour is barely higher than the minimum wage that presumably gets paid to unskilled labor, and someone who has completed the second year of a CS major should have some in-demand CS skills to be worth a lot more than that.</p>