Should You Apply For Food Stamps?
Vital information for journalism school graduates: food stamps are a fun and easy way to stay alive!
According to a Times City Room post picked up by NYU Local, NYU journalism grad student Ryan McLendon, who is almost $100,000 in debt and about to graduate an expert in a dying industry, has applied for food stamps. Breaking! McLendon makes $450 a month as a freelancer. So, you know, he qualifies.
It is unfair and terrifying that a fellow student, with a degree supposedly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, has to get by on food stamps that he waited seven hours in line just to apply for.
Seven hours in line! Didn't they know he is getting a graduate degree?
We happen to think the collapse of journalism as a viable career is, on the whole, a bad thing. But: if you are underemployed, no matter what degree you are getting, you should be on food stamps. That is the point of the program. Everyone with an income at or below 130% of the poverty line should be taking advantage of it, regardless of their alma mater.
In fact, you, right now, reader, should head over to this handy webpage from the City of New York to see if you qualify for food stamps or any other federal or state assistant program! It will take 20 minutes of your time.
Basically, if you make $1,174 or less a month (for a one-person household), you might be eligible to receive up to $200 a month that you can use to buy food, to feed yourself, to stay alive. It is a good thing. And good on this Ryan McLendon person for taking advantage of it.
