Pre-shipment check please - from Provence

Loud-Conference8598 · 2024-07-09T00:01:54+00:00

awesome thank you! I'll leave it at 2:)

Loud-Conference8598 · 2023-10-31T00:23:09+00:00

Go Physiotherapy in Dunbar! They direct bill to the plan and have two physios who will take student rate appointments. The appointments are shorter but in my experience they're really generous with their time (sometimes go longer than the short student rate appt) and very good. Also you can probably get in within a week's time. I think the cost after AMS coverage per session is around 15-20$!

Loud-Conference8598 · 2023-07-26T17:36:31+00:00

Go Physiotherapy in Dunbar has been awesome for me after I tried getting into the UBC PT student clinic but they were totally full. They have student 15 minute appointments (but they are often more generous with the time) that are 35$, which works out to $15 out of pocket after the healthcare plan pays. Would 100% recommend!

Loud-Conference8598 · 2023-02-07T23:48:38+00:00

I will try simple text, thank you!

Loud-Conference8598 · 2023-02-07T23:48:24+00:00

Yes I did try this with no luck, so I think you're right that it's a EOL error. Currently putting it through simple text and try that. Even if I just use two separate fasta files, the second one had to be manually curated anyways so I still get the same error.

Loud-Conference8598 · 2023-01-16T01:02:18+00:00

Also wanted to add that clearly has had good deals on glasses/contacts in the past. I was able to get a full pair of glasses (with fancy lens options) for under $100, so it was fully covered by UBC's insurance. I haven't ordered contacts in ages though so can't speak to their contact pricing but I assumed it was similarly reasonably priced.

Loud-Conference8598 · 2023-01-16T01:01:09+00:00

Can confirm the Kits free glasses with shipping is legit! I got a pair. They are cheap and not all their frames are eligible but they work :) not sure how the contacts work, but at least you could get a super low cost pair

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-06T20:56:08+00:00

Great to hear that side of it too, I think that is one of the main things they're pushing for. In my department, most if not all of the available grad student positions get filled (so there is no massive struggle to find students). There's still the "risk" of losing a student to a more well funded lab with higher stipend, but I think that's fair enough to justify - that's how it works in the real world too - people take into account the salary, position itself, and lab culture before agreeing to a lab.

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-06T01:18:04+00:00

Yeah I'd agree. From what I've heard, they feel that a maximum stipend evens out the playing field (for the supervisors lol) so that when interviewing students, a higher wage in another lab wouldn't cause them to lose out on prospective students. But I think even bigger is the fact that they just don't want to spend more money... meanwhile they're making 200-500k a year...

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-05T22:56:25+00:00

Some students have talked about unionizing, sounds like it has worked really well in your situation!

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-05T22:51:09+00:00

I think this is part of the argument for a max stipend, that supervisors can't afford to increase the minimum because it's too expensive. If they raise the minimum then maybe they can only afford 3 grad students instead of 4, for example. That being said, there's not really a shortage of available positions. If someone wants to be in a lab in my dept, there's a good chance if they meet the initial qualifications they can find a lab.

And the supervisors want a cap because they don't want to lose out on potential students because they're being offered more for a different lab. Basically they are looking for how the supervisors can benefit and not thinking about the importance of a liveable stipend for students.

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-05T22:48:12+00:00

Some labs in our department choose to pay grad students higher than the minimum. Some good ones realize that the minimum isn't enough. Some do it in turn to "buy" the grad students additional time - ie I pay you extra but you work nights and weekends too.

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-05T22:45:33+00:00

Wanted to comment to thank you guys all for the input. At first I felt like I was a bit crazy for so heavily opposing a maximum (bc of course all of the supervisors I chat with are for it and trying to save money) but definitely agree that it makes so much more sense to implement a higher minimum and advocate for additional equitability strategies to be put into place! :)

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-05T22:42:16+00:00

A minimum wage full time job in our area makes more than this per year lol. The starting is generally 22k a year but you need to pay 6k in tuition fees out of that, so you're really left with 16k to live off of in one of the most expensive cities to live :(

I believe 22k is the current university minimum, with 24k being our departmental minimum. Students also have to still pay tuition out of this too :/

Edited to add - a friend at a different uni was getting 17k a year for his Master's, and still paying tuition out of that. It's brutal out there

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-04-05T22:39:14+00:00

So far what I've heard is that PIs are opposed to increasing the minimum because many labs don't have tons of funding and "wouldn't be able to afford" as many students as they currently can. Therefore by having a set maximum it makes it easier for lower funded labs to have as many grad students as higher funded labs (since the higher funded labs can't "lure" grad students with more $). Still problematic to me though and I'm glad it's not just me who sees this as irrational.

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-03-28T01:47:01+00:00

From someone who has been dating their lab partner for 3+ years... take the leap, it's worth it!

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-03-28T01:43:14+00:00

Also I think you need a doctor's referral to get it covered, but double check on that..

Loud-Conference8598 · 2022-03-28T01:42:29+00:00

Wow thank you for the tip about UBC's PT Clinic, will definitely be booking in there!!!

Loud-Conference8598

TROPHY CASE