A graduate student writes:
A friend who is writing a dissertation at another university has just found out that his funding was cut by $1000 this year. I felt terrible for him (and lucky for myself), but began wondering if other programs have had to do this. I also wonder what philosophers think about this as a policy during these tough financial times. There has been lots of discussion concerning faculty furloughs, but a pay cut for students seems even worse: in this case, the student is still teaching the same load, for less pay, and isn't even given the fiction that he is thereby allowed to take unpaid time off. In addition, a pay cut for grad students is taking money away from those who have VERY little. I would be interested to see if you or your readers have any thoughts about this situation.
This is the first I've heard of something like this, but I am curious how widely it is going on, if it is. Comments are open; comments referencing particular departments will have to be submitted with a full name for publication; other comments will require a valid e-mail address, which will not appear. Submit comments only once, they may not appear right away.
