Grad Student Union Idea Grates

* Re “Student Union at UCI Works for Recognition,” July 23:

Don’t be misled by the rabble-rousers: The tangible rewards of university employment include free medical insurance, course credit and good pay.

Intangible rewards include one’s own collection of course syllabi, lecture notes, collegial relations with professors, as well as plenty of opportunity for learning grading, dispute resolution and interpersonal skills. Did I mention the $15 to $20 per hour?

It beats me why union activists don’t just stick to their studies and appreciate the opportunity to serve as well-compensated apprentice educators, rather than biting the hand that feeds us.

DANIEL HILLYARD

Irvine

* While the graduate student population at the UC Irvine has some real issues to discuss with the administration, unionization would be a disastrous course to take for the entire university.

Unionization would simply add another bureaucracy to the university that would undermine the quality of education, which could mean higher expenses, leading to higher registration fees, which are already high.

While it may not be a savory thought, graduate students are primarily students who are teaching assistants merely for their future careers in academia.

If graduate students become union members, then it will only be a matter of time before undergraduate students press for unionization, making the entire university a parody. The labor movement simply has no place in the university.

DINO E. BUENVIAJE

Fountain Valley

* Teacher assistants at UCI or any other place of higher education do not deserve higher pay, smaller workloads and more benefits.

Yet these are the reasons, according to your article, that graduate students have aligned themselves with the United Auto Workers union.

After teaching at a local private high school for 10 years, my husband earns less than $36,000 a year. My health benefits are paid out of this salary.

Since he teaches English, he assigns essays and term papers. He grades nightly and over weekends. Time off (Christmas, Easter, summer break) is spent updating lesson plans or reading and studying new novels he intends to teach the following year.

In his spare time he has nearly completed his master’s degree, for which we wrote another $600 check. So, forgive me, I am not sympathetic to any grad student who complains about getting paid to teach and study simultaneously.

My husband plans to earn his doctorate so he may have the honor of doing the job these current UCI grad students are whining about. He’d do it, if requested, for less than they are now. Students pay to earn an education; they shouldn’t expect to earn a profit as well.

REGINA POWERS

Orange