Roberta:
There are more ways to do it, depending on what messagey you want to portray.
You can make a stacked column, or a side-by-side columns chart, or a
combination line-column chart with the totals as line chart. Below is the
set of data I worked with.

TA RA AA Tot
2002 S1 25 20 18 63
S2 20 30 40 90
2003 S1 15 30 12 57
S2 18 24 30 72
2004 S1 30 25 20 75
S2 12 12 12 36

Note that the cells left of TA are empty (if TA=C1, A1 and B1 are empty).
Select the tabel A1:E7 and choose Column Chart, stacked (second in first row
in the wizzard). The total stack represents the total. Disadvantage is that
the stacks are difficult to compare.
If this isnt what you seek, reply with more accuracy on what you want the
chart to say and I'll try to work out another example.

GL, Henk


"roberta" wrote:

I need to have 2 different bits of information on the x-axis - both semester
and type of assistantship. For example:
In 2002 - 2003 there were Teaching assistantships, Research assistantships,
Administration assistantships and then the Total # of assistantships. All
that shows up is the year with the tick marks for the different
assistantships. I want to labe the tick marks
Can someone suggest how I might do this? I have tried the help on Excel
with no luck.
thanks
roberta