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UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

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Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#11

Post by orionsbelt »

avg_dev wrote: post #8
delichon wrote: post #7

This is a physicist who could likely make much more in the private sector. That's a compromise I've had to make too. I spend my weekdays doing work that I have little interest in and has less chance of improving the human condition, but it let me buy a house and pay the taxes and fees. If I instead choose to do what I'm interested in I'd be lucky to afford renting a room in someone else's house. I admire the guy for…

Of course you are correct, nobody is ever promised anything like the ability to fulfill their dreams or to live a decent quality of life. But maybe the universities could pay them a living wage for teaching six classes a week.

$70k is a living wage in Los Angeles; he his homeless by choice. To be clear, I’m not saying he is not underpaid. He might need a roommate and to live in a crappy apartment and not in Westwood to make it workable, which does not seem fair for a PhD teaching physics. But it’s not homeless level.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#14

Post by ricksunny »

delichon wrote: post #7

This is a physicist who could likely make much more in the private sector. That's a compromise I've had to make too. I spend my weekdays doing work that I have little interest in and has less chance of improving the human condition, but it let me buy a house and pay the taxes and fees. If I instead choose to do what I'm interested in I'd be lucky to afford renting a room in someone else's house. I admire the guy for…

And then might the society be worse off for lacking the physics/scientific advancements by not supporting adequately an an individual to remain on the scientific path.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#15

Post by petesergeant »

delichon wrote: post #7

This is a physicist who could likely make much more in the private sector. That's a compromise I've had to make too. I spend my weekdays doing work that I have little interest in and has less chance of improving the human condition, but it let me buy a house and pay the taxes and fees. If I instead choose to do what I'm interested in I'd be lucky to afford renting a room in someone else's house. I admire the guy for…

The end result of this is that only people who are independently wealthy or who can’t make the private sector work for them end up as profs, which seems like a worse situation for society.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#16

Post by willcipriano »

switch007 wrote: post #6

(Brit here). I'm not saying it's a huge salary at all but $70k is around $4500/mo after tax. If his rent was $2500, that leaves $2000 for everything else, which doesn't seem to equal homeless? Paycheck to paycheck probably I guess. What am I missing?

> I’m only being paid $70,000 for this academic year

hmm...

> ac·a·dem·ic year

> the period of the year during which students attend an educational institution, usually from September to June.

That's around 100k annualized. Something is rotten in Denmark.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#17

Post by readingnews »

I am no astrophysicist, but he notes:

    “Hi everyone, my name is Daniel, and I’m an astrophysics professor at UCLA. I’m only being paid $70,000 for this academic year,” McKeown says in the video.
 
    McKeown, listed as a lecturer on UCLA’s website, says he had to move out of his apartment because he could no longer afford the rent.

    McKeown says his rent was $2,500 a month. According to RentCafe, the average rent is $3,700 in Westwood.
Hrm, I have no idea what his actual situation or bills are. But 70k is not chump change, and 2.5k rent seems "manageable". Lets see, if his is single, that puts tax at 22%. It is probably 30% with state and local, minus SS tax. Lets kick it up to 36%.

(70000-(70000*0.36))/12.0=3733.33

Ok he is left with 3733.33-2500=1233.33 a month, that is BRUTAL, but I know people that live on less than that after a home mortgage and car note.

Again, I have no idea of his situation. Maybe student loans, maybe a car note, medical expenses, etc, but to state out loud that you have probably 1.2k a month after rent and can not possibly live without _a hundred grand_ extra (what he is trying to raise... which is EIGHT THOUSAND A MONTH EXTRA) seems a bit, I am not sure, overreacting? I am just conflicted about this story. I have really good friends that would do a hulluva lot for a 70k job with a 2.5k rent, but at the same time, it is true we are paying professors (and educators in general) far too little.

Is this just to make a statement maybe?

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#18

Post by orionsbelt »

switch007 wrote: post #6

(Brit here). I'm not saying it's a huge salary at all but $70k is around $4500/mo after tax. If his rent was $2500, that leaves $2000 for everything else, which doesn't seem to equal homeless? Paycheck to paycheck probably I guess. What am I missing?

Nothing - American here and 100% agree with you.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#19

Post by tw2024101316 »

There are different ways to be homeless (some not very good, and some worse). I don't know how many people have run the simulation in their heads before, but being a university professor is just about the most favorable set of conditions that you could have for a person who is forced into being (or chooses to be) homeless.

It doesn't look like low pay is the dispositive cause. This looks like it's cost of housing.

I have a simple solution to address housing costs: tax the hell out of rentseeking. We should be shooting for a scenario where, five years out starting from right now, a Schedule E filer who owns additional residential properties where they are not an occupant should only be able to net 10% in 2028 for the same gross in 2023.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#20

Post by cute_boi »

readingnews wrote: post #17

I am no astrophysicist, but he notes: “Hi everyone, my name is Daniel, and I’m an astrophysics professor at UCLA. I’m only being paid $70,000 for this academic year,” McKeown says in the video. McKeown, listed as a lecturer on UCLA’s website, says he had to move out of his apartment because he could no longer afford the rent. McKeown says his rent was $2,500 a month. According to RentCafe, the average rent is $3,700…

You haven't done anything extra like insurance, mobile bills, other loans etc... which is also costly.

If he is married, has obligations to support parents, you are out of luck.

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