What I said was that you don't want students who are deciding between U of T and Princeton to choose Princeton because U of T decided to implement the pasternak94-plan, whereby all PhD students are unfunded and must take out loans to finance their education. Sure, some bozos would still do it, but they'd be the lowest quality students. All the best and brightest would go to Princeton. And the quality of education at U of T would diminish. Worse graduate students means less prestige, means worse research output, means prestigious professors don't accept jobs here or accept jobs elsewhere to advance their own research, means undergrads go elsewhere, etc.
Yet U of T holds one of the top spots in the world ranking as an institution. Why don't we start rolling down the standings (and we've been climbing them compared to 10 years ago)? If this is true then it should hold in the long run.
the value of graduate student research
I asked you to point out a PhD thesis in the past 5 years that was directly correlated with more prestige for U of T.
This is sad because the university is supposed to be a place where your mind is open to new ideas, and you seem to be a lost cause in this respect.
What? I came into the fray between the union and the university a neutral person. After reading the arguments all the people on the union side have made, I've been very opposed to the union side. Nevertheless, every time I've responded, people like you are more entrenched with their own viewpoints and criticize others for doing the same thing.
Look, here's the deal: if you think that PhD candidates should take out loans to get PhDs, then you clearly have a very different perspective on the value of higher education.
I used to live in a socialist society where this wasn't an issue. But we're not living in that kind of system here. The value of higher education here is reflective of the culture here. You have to pay for it. I know my role; you should better understand yours. You're not as valuable as you think. Until you are a proven academic, you need to cut down on the ego a little bit. By the way, if you want to live in a socialist society, I'll tell you that you will not get any extra stipends. You will get your tuition paid in full and the suffering you endure is on society's behalf, for society's future benefit.
You seem to embody the entitled and individualistic culture here in North America most appropriately. Look at the hypocrisy of many TAs:
A) I don't want to pay tuition because I only take 4 courses in 5 years: WHY SHOULD I PAYYYYYYY????? :( (Because you need to pay your share for being a student.)
B) I want to be subsidized more by others for being a student that will directly result in a betterment of my human capital in the end: Why don't other people pay more? :) (Because in a capitalist society, people always tend to look out for themselves; nobody pays more taxes unless they are forced to)