Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:32
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
I cannot stop laughing at your hypocrisy! Let me give a little hint about living wages… Republicans refuse to pay a living wage to working class people with families. The federal minimum wage is $7.25…and you are advocating for a “living wage” for grad students for a summer. Oh, Republicans don’t EVER change.
What are you even talking about? Walk and chew gum at the same time.
I want a higher minimum wage (double would be start). I want a living wage for grad students. I'm not a Republican. I'm also not a strident boot-licker of prestigious institutions.
Graduate school is different than a job, though. There is a part of it that is a job, and a part of it that is career building and education. The first year or two is primarily coursework (and students rarely/never pay tuition for that), plus attending some group meetings, with limited productive output for the univeristy. Should undergrads also be paid a living wage for attending school? Undergrads even pay tuition for the opportunity to get an education.
I agree about "living wage" to a degree, some students are taken advantage of and do a ton of teaching and research labor without being fairly compensated, and don't have promising career prospects. That shouldn't happen. But being a grad student is something of a sacrafice and a priviledge, not a basic right.
You forgot about the part where these same grad students are, you know, acting as TA's and RA's for their professors and programs.
Yeah you definitely went to a university that had no business running a Ph.D. program. That's on you. Fully-funded programs through NIH do not require TA requirements. I advise my trainees to only apply to programs that don't require a TA-ship.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:31
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:^PP again. The bottom line:
"In 1978, Harvard University had a $1.4 billion endowment and admitted 2,200 incoming students.
In 2023, the endowment sits at $50.7 billion—with 1,942 students admitted. That’s a 3,521% increase to their endowment and a 12% decrease to their admissions. And the same is true for the rest of Ivy League."
Why do you care? Only because you are interested in destroying excellence. Go to Truth Social to find your crew.
I'm not MAGA. At all. I'm not the OP. But Harvard is hoarding wealth in opposition to its stated and historical mission. You can't be so starry-eyed about ivy league schools that you don't call them out for this insane hypocrisy.
But it is a MAGA talking point to yell about Harvard's endowment. Slashing NIH funding will hurt West Virginia University, Pitt, University of Maryland, and so on. And you didn't give those as an example. You picked the instituion in the BEST position to weather this storm.
Also, if you were genuinely asking, when you ask schools to dig in to their endowments to fund research, you're asking universities to pay for the research the public needs. University of Maryland doesn't need us to cure lukemia, the public does. Which is why the public invests in research. Universities won't see it as their jobs to cover the public need for health research.
I'm in research, and every biomedical health researcher I know thinks this is going to drastically impact our progress. People who are actually in the field and know how things work. It's astounding to me that either people outside of the system think they know better - either that of they don't even care that health innovations will be drastically cut. Clinical trials won't be funded at anywhere near the same pace.
Those of you in red states, please call your congressional representatives. PLEASE.
I would love to know if anyone is reading these well reasoned arguments about NIH funding and listening. Are any folks who have digested MAGA talking points open enough to say "Oh I didn't think of it that way. Geez I guess this is a big deal." I would feel so much better if I heard of ONE person who approached this with humility and didn't blindly accept right wing rhetoric (rhetoric offered mostly by people who have spent no time understanding the complex issues here).
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:27
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
I cannot stop laughing at your hypocrisy! Let me give a little hint about living wages… Republicans refuse to pay a living wage to working class people with families. The federal minimum wage is $7.25…and you are advocating for a “living wage” for grad students for a summer. Oh, Republicans don’t EVER change.
What are you even talking about? Walk and chew gum at the same time.
I want a higher minimum wage (double would be start). I want a living wage for grad students. I'm not a Republican. I'm also not a strident boot-licker of prestigious institutions.
Graduate school is different than a job, though. There is a part of it that is a job, and a part of it that is career building and education. The first year or two is primarily coursework (and students rarely/never pay tuition for that), plus attending some group meetings, with limited productive output for the univeristy. Should undergrads also be paid a living wage for attending school? Undergrads even pay tuition for the opportunity to get an education.
I agree about "living wage" to a degree, some students are taken advantage of and do a ton of teaching and research labor without being fairly compensated, and don't have promising career prospects. That shouldn't happen. But being a grad student is something of a sacrafice and a priviledge, not a basic right.
You forgot about the part where these same grad students are, you know, acting as TA's and RA's for their professors and programs.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:22
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:^PP again. The bottom line:
"In 1978, Harvard University had a $1.4 billion endowment and admitted 2,200 incoming students.
In 2023, the endowment sits at $50.7 billion—with 1,942 students admitted. That’s a 3,521% increase to their endowment and a 12% decrease to their admissions. And the same is true for the rest of Ivy League."
Why do you care? Only because you are interested in destroying excellence. Go to Truth Social to find your crew.
I'm not MAGA. At all. I'm not the OP. But Harvard is hoarding wealth in opposition to its stated and historical mission. You can't be so starry-eyed about ivy league schools that you don't call them out for this insane hypocrisy.
But it is a MAGA talking point to yell about Harvard's endowment. Slashing NIH funding will hurt West Virginia University, Pitt, University of Maryland, and so on. And you didn't give those as an example. You picked the instituion in the BEST position to weather this storm.
Also, if you were genuinely asking, when you ask schools to dig in to their endowments to fund research, you're asking universities to pay for the research the public needs. University of Maryland doesn't need us to cure lukemia, the public does. Which is why the public invests in research. Universities won't see it as their jobs to cover the public need for health research.
I'm in research, and every biomedical health researcher I know thinks this is going to drastically impact our progress. People who are actually in the field and know how things work. It's astounding to me that either people outside of the system think they know better - either that of they don't even care that health innovations will be drastically cut. Clinical trials won't be funded at anywhere near the same pace.
Those of you in red states, please call your congressional representatives. PLEASE.
I am also in research and I agree, it will drastically impede progress. And excellent points about the public needing these things, not the universities. NIH funds these things because they can't do it all. The research grant process is not easy, by any stretch either. And comes with a lot of oversight. The amount of people who think they understand how it works just don't.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:19
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
I cannot stop laughing at your hypocrisy! Let me give a little hint about living wages… Republicans refuse to pay a living wage to working class people with families. The federal minimum wage is $7.25…and you are advocating for a “living wage” for grad students for a summer. Oh, Republicans don’t EVER change.
What are you even talking about? Walk and chew gum at the same time.
I want a higher minimum wage (double would be start). I want a living wage for grad students. I'm not a Republican. I'm also not a strident boot-licker of prestigious institutions.
Graduate school is different than a job, though. There is a part of it that is a job, and a part of it that is career building and education. The first year or two is primarily coursework (and students rarely/never pay tuition for that), plus attending some group meetings, with limited productive output for the univeristy. Should undergrads also be paid a living wage for attending school? Undergrads even pay tuition for the opportunity to get an education.
I agree about "living wage" to a degree, some students are taken advantage of and do a ton of teaching and research labor without being fairly compensated, and don't have promising career prospects. That shouldn't happen. But being a grad student is something of a sacrafice and a priviledge, not a basic right.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:15
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:^PP again. The bottom line:
"In 1978, Harvard University had a $1.4 billion endowment and admitted 2,200 incoming students.
In 2023, the endowment sits at $50.7 billion—with 1,942 students admitted. That’s a 3,521% increase to their endowment and a 12% decrease to their admissions. And the same is true for the rest of Ivy League."
Why do you care? Only because you are interested in destroying excellence. Go to Truth Social to find your crew.
I'm not MAGA. At all. I'm not the OP. But Harvard is hoarding wealth in opposition to its stated and historical mission. You can't be so starry-eyed about ivy league schools that you don't call them out for this insane hypocrisy.
But it is a MAGA talking point to yell about Harvard's endowment. Slashing NIH funding will hurt West Virginia University, Pitt, University of Maryland, and so on. And you didn't give those as an example. You picked the instituion in the BEST position to weather this storm.
Also, if you were genuinely asking, when you ask schools to dig in to their endowments to fund research, you're asking universities to pay for the research the public needs. University of Maryland doesn't need us to cure lukemia, the public does. Which is why the public invests in research. Universities won't see it as their jobs to cover the public need for health research.
I'm in research, and every biomedical health researcher I know thinks this is going to drastically impact our progress. People who are actually in the field and know how things work. It's astounding to me that either people outside of the system think they know better - either that of they don't even care that health innovations will be drastically cut. Clinical trials won't be funded at anywhere near the same pace.
Those of you in red states, please call your congressional representatives. PLEASE.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:01
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
Most of the people in masters and PhD programs I know in stem their research assistantships gave them free tuition and some even housing stipends, that's a pretty good wage. Not to mention it also gave them experience and mastery under the guidance of mentors.
No it's f**ing not. Give me a break.
My husband is a md/phd, the government paid all his tuition and he got a yearly stipend. It was a very good deal for him.
That does sound good. I support that 100%. What kind of program?
This is basically all NIH supported graduate education. See, this is how I know that you don't know what you're talking about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Scientist_Training_Program
You can learn more about career development grants here, including those received by Universities, and those given to individual students:
https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs
Yeah, you're right. My mistake. This kind of funding applies to most grad students, not just a well-funded minority. Being a grad student in the U.S. is generally a very good deal.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 15:01
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
Most of the people in masters and PhD programs I know in stem their research assistantships gave them free tuition and some even housing stipends, that's a pretty good wage. Not to mention it also gave them experience and mastery under the guidance of mentors.
No it's f**ing not. Give me a break.
My husband is a md/phd, the government paid all his tuition and he got a yearly stipend. It was a very good deal for him.
That does sound good. I support that 100%. What kind of program?
NIH grant
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:59
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You are essentially asking the schools to use their own money to develop medical treatments and then give away the results. Maybe they cure diabetes or something really huge but eventually they run out of money. Add up all these endowments and you don't get the same level of support. Spending on research like this keeps our country in the race.
Pretty sure China and other challengers to the throne won't take their foot off the pedal.
Why do you allow foreigners from China into our universities, just to return to China and share everything with their Communist oligarchs?
Huh? Many stick around. One of the reasons America has been innovative versus the rest of the world is our ability to attract and retain the smartest people. One way we do that is by having the best universities in the world.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:58
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
Most of the people in masters and PhD programs I know in stem their research assistantships gave them free tuition and some even housing stipends, that's a pretty good wage. Not to mention it also gave them experience and mastery under the guidance of mentors.
No it's f**ing not. Give me a break.
My husband is a md/phd, the government paid all his tuition and he got a yearly stipend. It was a very good deal for him.
That does sound good. I support that 100%. What kind of program?
This is basically all NIH supported graduate education. See, this is how I know that you don't know what you're talking about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Scientist_Training_Program
You can learn more about career development grants here, including those received by Universities, and those given to individual students:
https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:51
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:You are essentially asking the schools to use their own money to develop medical treatments and then give away the results. Maybe they cure diabetes or something really huge but eventually they run out of money. Add up all these endowments and you don't get the same level of support. Spending on research like this keeps our country in the race.
Pretty sure China and other challengers to the throne won't take their foot off the pedal.
Why do you allow foreigners from China into our universities, just to return to China and share everything with their Communist oligarchs?
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:40
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
Most of the people in masters and PhD programs I know in stem their research assistantships gave them free tuition and some even housing stipends, that's a pretty good wage. Not to mention it also gave them experience and mastery under the guidance of mentors.
No it's f**ing not. Give me a break.
My husband is a md/phd, the government paid all his tuition and he got a yearly stipend. It was a very good deal for him.
That does sound good. I support that 100%. What kind of program?
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:37
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
Most of the people in masters and PhD programs I know in stem their research assistantships gave them free tuition and some even housing stipends, that's a pretty good wage. Not to mention it also gave them experience and mastery under the guidance of mentors.
No it's f**ing not. Give me a break.
My husband is a md/phd, the government paid all his tuition and he got a yearly stipend. It was a very good deal for him.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:37
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
I cannot stop laughing at your hypocrisy! Let me give a little hint about living wages… Republicans refuse to pay a living wage to working class people with families. The federal minimum wage is $7.25…and you are advocating for a “living wage” for grad students for a summer. Oh, Republicans don’t EVER change.
What are you even talking about? Walk and chew gum at the same time.
I want a higher minimum wage (double would be start). I want a living wage for grad students. I'm not a Republican. I'm also not a strident boot-licker of prestigious institutions.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 14:33
Subject: Question for those outraged about funding cuts
Anonymous wrote:Why supposed liberals are so enamored of cheap or "free" grad student labor, I'll never understand. Grad students should be paid a living wage.
I cannot stop laughing at your hypocrisy! Let me give a little hint about living wages… Republicans refuse to pay a living wage to working class people with families. The federal minimum wage is $7.25…and you are advocating for a “living wage” for grad students for a summer. Oh, Republicans don’t EVER change.