Recent comments in /f/philadelphia

Glazed_donut29 t1_j9olqb9 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Striking Temple University graduate students overwhelming vote down proposed contract by diatriose

I’m just saying your hysterics about our pay is misguided. I mean it’s pretty weird to keep insisting I am unable to survive on my pay when I am doing just fine. Like you tell me it’s impossible, while I sit here in my apartment with my pets and fully stocked fridge with groceries I paid full price for lol

I don’t live in a shitty neighborhood. In fact, I live in my favorite neighborhood in the city.

Just because you couldn’t fathom living on 30k doesn’t mean there aren’t more frugal and minimal people doing just fine. Stop insisting I’m literally not surviving lol stop the dramatics dude

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Inevitable-Place9950 t1_j9okibf wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Striking Temple University graduate students overwhelming vote down proposed contract by diatriose

Of course they’re full-time students. And I’d look at adjunct pay before you assume it would cost more than $20k to hire TAs. If the math is wrong, show me where.

The minimum stipend (STEM students tend to earn more) is $19.5k for 9 months of half-time work would be $39k full-time. That would be $4,333 a month or $52k if they worked full-time all year. They don’t pay FICA on assistantships, a 7.65% tax break, or income tax on waived tuition.

They’re requesting a $32,800 minimum for half-time work for 9 months. $65,600 at full-time is $7,289 a month or $87,466 for 12 months- with the same tax break.

That pay rate is in line with and in some cases higher than the starting salary of an assistant professor who already earned their PhD and it’s well above a poverty rate. While they are making a great case that they deserve more, it’s disrespectful to compare them to people who are living in poverty unless they’re actually supporting a family of 3 or 4 on that stipend alone.

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Glazed_donut29 t1_j9okag1 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Striking Temple University graduate students overwhelming vote down proposed contract by diatriose

Lol do you know how many people live on less than 30k in this city? I’ve lived in Philly for years and have never made more than 30k. It’s completely possible to live on 30k in Philly. You clearly have never been on benefits if you think 30k/year is “just enough” to not qualify for benefits. You have literally no idea what you’re talking about.

Tell me you’re upper middle class without telling me you’re upper middle class lol

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ell0bo t1_j9oizhg wrote

Reply to comment by DANPARTSMAN44 in Can anyone else just not breathe? by worriedaboutlove

The problem with Government, at least in the US, is that there's two parties in charge of it. One party tries to get it to work, the other party says "the government is broken, let me show you how broken it can be." Government also doesn't tax the crap out of us, taxes have been higher in the past, just the biggest money people get the most tax breaks.

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Inevitable-Place9950 t1_j9oifqi wrote

Reply to comment by rtxj89 in Striking Temple University graduate students overwhelming vote down proposed contract by diatriose

They don’t pay for students’ own research for their final projects; those in teaching or administrative assistantships get paid the same as researchers because the stipend is paid for the labor and studies for the final projects are on their own. But plenty of times the researchers choose (or I’m guessing are pushed into, I never signed up for a research one) a topic a professor is already working on to do their own project’s research and that’s where the line that’s clear for teaching and administrative assistants blurs for research assistants.

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