Monday, December 7, 1998
Letters
UC violates rights
of SAGE workers
I am appalled at the University of California’s refusal to
recognize SAGE (Student Association of Graduate Employees) and am
angered by UCLA’s disregard of some of its most valuable
employees.
Yes, UC President Richard Atkinson, TAs are employees of the
university. When you pay someone to perform a job, and you expect
them to follow your rules and work up to your standards, you have a
special relationship with that person – you are called the employer
and they are the employee.
Teaching assistants have a job they are paid to do, and most of
them do it quite well.
Working one-on-one with students, teaching them difficult course
material, preparing them for exams, grading papers and leading
discussions are duties which are not at all "integral" to a
graduate student’s "educational experience"; for the most part,
being a TA means being able to pay some of the bills. On the other
hand, these elements are integral to the education of the students
that TAs work with. Apparently, undergraduate education is of the
least importance to UC officials.
It is ludicrous that the University of California should so
blatantly violate the rights of its employees simply because they
happen to be students. If and when undergraduates are affected,
they should not point the finger at anyone but the University of
California.
Support from students and staff for teaching assistants and SAGE
is long overdue.
Yesenia Mendez
Fourth-year
Communication studies and classics
TA teaching ability must be reassessed
In response to the graduate teaching assistant (TA) strike
approaching we decided that the unheard voices of the undergraduate
population should get a chance to speak their minds. We are the
ones that are directly affected by this strike, and we have a few
issues to discuss. First of all, how many UCLA undergrads can
actually say that they have had good TAs?
Sure we can all think back to one or two (and if you’re really
lucky three or four) good TAs. But how many TAs have really made
discussion an actual "discussion"? How many sections have actually
enhanced learning and given insight to the class? Question of the
week: Can anyone name five TAs that they have had in the past?
An unfortunate discussion section trend is the simple
reiteration of lecture topics by TAs. The failed attempts at
discussion always lead to a silent classroom where the TAs and
students stare blankly at each other. There is no active or
interactive element in most sections. There is no learning taking
place. It’s simply an hour or two where you show up to get your
participation points.
So who’s fault is this? Sure, it is easy to fault apathetic
students. But has anyone ever considered that it’s the TA who is
not doing his or her job?
And now they want employee benefits. It seems ironic to us how
some TAs can’t even fulfill their job requirements yet are still
demanding the benefits. Once TAs get their acts together and
actually do what they are supposed to do, i.e., teach, then maybe
undergraduates will be more supportive of their actions.
If TAs want what they do to be considered a "job" then they
really need to start dedicating more time and more effort into this
newfound profession. If being a TA is such a time-consuming
responsibility how come we don’t see any of this commitment or
effort in our discussion sections? If this is a job, then treat it
as a job, and prioritize accordingly.
Mary Kate Rochester
Third-year
Biology
Carin Ashley
Third-year
History
Administration must recognize value of TAs
As a former graduate student employee at UCLA, I applaud student
workers’ decision to strike. I was a "special reader" for a year at
UCLA. In this position, I taught and advised graduate students and
graded their papers. I worked 20 to 25 hours each week yet was only
paid for 10 hours. Based on the true number of hours I worked, I
earned $8.20 to $10.20 per week. My tuition fee was also reduced;
however, because of my teaching workload I only had time to be a
part-time student.
I received much less mentoring as a graduate student employee
than I have had in all other jobs I have held in my professional
career. In addition, I was paid a great deal less than any job I
have had since earning my bachelor’s degree in 1989.
University of California employees are simply asking for the
right to collectively bargain.
I urge university administrators to stop their rhetoric and
admit that student workers are valuable employees that have a right
to bargain for fair pay, benefits and treatment.
Mark J. Chekal
UCLA alumnus
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