grad student news
The New Yorker has an article about grad student teaching assistants on strike at Columbia. That's right. On strike. I don't really know the details. What is interesting about the article is that it doesn't really go into the issue, highlighting the grad students' perspective, the administration's perspective, etc, like a newspaper would. Rather it is a snapshot of a classroom without their teacher and all the tension and different reactions involved. A much more visceral approach than the scientific news report. I don't really know enough about the issue to really weigh in with an opinion. I do know, though, that often grad students get called upon to do a lot of the department's work for even less money than an adjunct. And then expected to do all the preprofessional and student responsibilities on top of it. Thankfully, I'm not really in that situation. The prof I work for isn't very good about knowing how to delegate so ends up doing most of the work herself, and I haven't been able to teach because I have a class during one of the sections (just another way the School of Music brilliantly schedules things). I do know that "poor grad student" is not as romantic as it sounds. I do know that colleagues of mine at other schools with as much responsibility as I have get paid over twice what I do. I also know, that as opposed to students in law school and med school, the promise of a good salary when all is said and done is not held forth as an option. In fact, the promise of a job is somewhat clouded. But I digress. Anyway. I'm very interested the "grad student issue" since that is where I am at the moment, and it's nice to know how others are faring.