The Existential condition of being an Adjunct Professor. Salon.com reports some on food stamps.

A recent article in Salon.com reports that adjunct professors often don't even earn the minimum wage.  In the article, "Professors on Food Stamps", Salon.com reports that:  

Over three quarters of college professors are adjunct. Legally, adjunct positions are part-time, at-will employment. Universities pay adjunct professors by the course, anywhere between $1,000 to $5,000. So if a professor teaches three courses in both the fall and spring semesters at a rate of $3000 per course, they’ll make $18,000 dollars. The average full-time barista makes the same yearly wage. However, a full-time adjunct works more than 40 hours a week. They’re not paid for most of those hours.

Given the salaries that the Compton Community College District gives to its own adjuncts, we would not be surprised if a number of our own adjunct professors are also in these dire straits.  There is also this concept of the Walmart model that shifts the burden of workers from the company to the government by forcing people into subsidized programs.   There is a reason why an adjunct professor can qualify for unemployment insurance during the summer.  The article states: 

Robert Baum, a former adjunct and now a dean, was able to provide insights from both sides of the problem.
“That pressure [to make money] has been on higher education forever,” he said. “A lot of the time when I was an adjunct, things were very black and what I’m finding is that the graying is happening a lot. I’m losing track of the black and white.” Still, Baum noted that the current system was hardly ideal, and that change was necessary. “The Walmart model is based on the idea of putting the burden on taking care of the worker on either the state or on the worker’s credit card or on the worker’s family. And that is no different than what I’ve experienced across my adjunct life. No different. Zero difference.”

The CCCFE is aware of this, and we are working on it.  However, the Walmart model appears to be all "some" people want.