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Comment by sandworm101 | Hacker News Reader

These are grad students. They are the academic equivalent of college athletes. They provide great benefits to the school. They generate substantial income. But they are not long-term employees, nor does the school want to turn them into such. The school wants to educate grad students, to turn them into something other than grad students. There is something to be said for not paying them too much, for not encouraging the profession of being a perpetual grad student.

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Surely there are plenty of potential mechanisms to discourage perpetual grad student-ism by just limiting the contracts and number of years one can be paid to work at a given institution, rather than paying so poorly that the rest of society has to pick up the tab. Particularly for an institution with tens of billions of dollars in the bank and other employees with multi-million dollar salaries.

I could be wrong, but per my assessment many Boston-area grads are spending way more than necessary living in "cool" flats. I don't understand why, though? Lofts, hostels or something less expensive (maybe live in Dorchester instead of Cambridge/Somerville?) would make more sense.

Paying them enough to live off of though isn’t asking for much.

Paying enough to live is more than many jobs these days.

That some other employer doesn't pay well justifies all employers to do the same?

All employers should be paying living wages. I said as much in my first post.

Right, I’m agreeing with you.

>> They provide great benefits to the school. They generate substantial income.

But they won’t pay them enough to be able to feed themselves?

The student athletes aren't paid anything. The reality is that in academia there are a great many positions meant to be temporary, positions that in the past might not have been paid anything at all. Many undergrads generate massive amounts for their schools. Not every star athlete is on scholarship. Not every lap assistant is a paid grad student. Most are actually required to pay the school for the education they receive despite them also generating revenue.

'An injustice anywhere is a justification for injustice everywhere'

If they can get the welfare system to take over, why have temporary grad students? Grad students with 20 years TA (or research) experience could really reduce the number of tenured professors they need to pay.

In some countries the government funds the education system.You could call that welfare I suppose.

This is a good point. There is literally no difference between a grad student and a stray cat. In both cases if you feed them you’re responsible for them until they die.

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