Dear Fellow Graduate Students,

We hope that everyone's new year is off to a great start!

The university is currently in hearings with the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to determine whether there will
be an election to unionize graduate students.  The students
at WHUT? (Why Have a Union at Tufts?) are a group of
*independent* graduate students who feel that unionization
will create more bureaucracy than benefits.  We were never
approached by the administration to form this group, but
instead acted of our own accord.  While we agree that there
are student concerns that need to be addressed, we feel
unionization is not the answer.  The graduate student body
is a diverse group of students with many different needs. 
Trying to lump all graduate students together fails to
recognize that there are differences from department to
department and student to student.

One question about unionization is the potential negative
impact on Faculty/Student relationships.  We at WHUT? have
already seen evidence of boundaries being drawn between
faculty and students.  Several anonymous students have
contacted us who feel uncomfortable in their departments
because of differences in opinions between themselves and
faculty members on this issue.  Is this appropriate in an
academic environment?

Another question has been raised about alternatives to
unionization to address issues of health care and stipends.
We ask that the GSC, a group of *graduate students*
recognized by the faculty and administration, represent us.
President Bacow and other administrators recognize the GSC
as a unified voice for grad students. Why do we need a
third party?  Do we need someone else to be our voice? We
don't.  The GSC has worked hard to address such issues as
health care.  In addition to the GSC we have our own
ingenuity to rely on. Students in WHUT? are currently
contacting health insurance providers in the Boston area to
find options available for graduate students as an
alternative to our current coverage.

The issue of graduate student stipends is something we at
WHUT? are also investigating.  We are currently doing a
survey of the various departments at Tufts to see if we are
competitive with other Boston area universities of our
caliber.  All information found will be made public on our
web site.  We also feel that it is important for students
to know that stipends are currently determined by each
department individually, not by the University
administration.  As Sol Gittleman stated at the open forum
discussion on 12/19/01, each department is given a lump sum
of money which a department then decides how to divide up,
including how much to pay TA's, RA's, etc.  We believe that
stipends will remain a departmental issue whether we
unionize or not.

As a group we have spent massive amounts of time thoroughly
Researching every fact distributed.  All facts on our web
site and flyer have been verified with reliable sources
(e.g.  students, officials, and/or web sites at the
relevant universities).  If there are any errors, we
sincerely apologize, and we will correct any error
expeditiously.  The organizers of WHUT? extend an
invitation to all concerned graduate students to help us in
this effort.  Please contact us via email at
whut_01@yahoo.com, or through our web site at
www.geocities.com/whut_01.  Together as graduate students,
without a union, we can find our own solutions.

Sincerely,

The Students of WHUT?