Forum Post: Give your breaks where they are deserved!
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 17, 2011, 11:57 p.m. EST by stephanierenee
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WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Reinstate the tax exempt status of Graduate Student Stipends As our economy is in turmoil and manufacturing jobs continue to be shipped overseas, it is an accepted fact that technology and innovation will carry our economy into the 21st century. This innovative, cutting-edge thinking is not being done by bankers, lobbyists, or hedge-fund managers. Innovating is done in the laboratory by Ph.D. and M.S. students. To make the long process of getting a professional degree less incentivized does a huge detriment to our country’s future. If various efforts are being made to purchase a home by adding tax exemptions or rebates, it seems only fitting to restore the tax exempt status of graduate student stipends to promote this difficult but worthwhile career path.
Please restore the federal tax exempt status lost in 1986 to graduate student stipends.
Are you a graduate student?
Yes, because upper middle class white kids with large future earning capacity need all the help they can get.
Yes, riethc, I am a graduate student. And Lizzy, just FYI, I am a first generation college student, from a poor family in the middle of nowhere. I am about as far from white/upper middle class as I can imagine. The ONLY reason I am in graduate school is because I have worked my ass off for the last 8 years to get there without having to pay for it. Although I do go to a prestigious private school, I would NEVER have dreamed of attending if it were not covered by grants and fellowships (or going to grad school period). I can also say that most of my classmates are also neither rich, nor white.
I am a student in the biosciences, and if you were to get your facts straight rather than just jumping to irrational stereotypes, you would realize that your "large future earning capacity" comment is a joke. WE ARE the little people, we work 60+ hours a week to find cures for diseases, develop alternative energies, and serve in the health and social services. While some of us may end up landing a high paying job, the vast majority of us have no illusions of such, and are doing this because we truly love our work.
We are not permitted to have part time jobs during our time in the program, so we rely entirely on our small stipend (no mommy and daddy coming to save us), and every little bit helps.
I hope that next time, before you shit on someone who is trying to make a small difference, you will at the very least get your facts straight, instead of pulling out some narrow-minded view of the world. Education does not equal elitism, and maybe if more people like you were able to separate yourselves from that idea, this country wouldn't be in such dire straits academically.
Nice argument there. Obama might throw you some crumbs.