Letter: Proposed tax code harms grad students

TO THE EDITOR:

The graduate students of UNC need your help. As The Daily Tar Heel reported, the new proposed tax code would make waived tuition taxable income. As a result, graduate students would be responsible to pay taxes on money that they never had in the first place.Tuition is waived in exchange for working at the university as teaching assistants, tutors, lab techs, research assistants and even primary course instructors. It’s not hyperbolic to say UNC needs graduate students to function.

But for graduate students at UNC, some of whom already live on food stamps, this bill would be devastating. Many graduate students will be forced to make an impossible choice between their education and livelihood. Many graduate students will be forced to leave.

I teach the smartest, wisest and funniest ENGL 105 class (If any of them read this, I’m sure they’ll just roll their eyes, but they know it’s true!). I love being their teacher. I cannot imagine having to choose between this community and my next meal.I hope I don’t have to, but this isn’t about hope. It’s about action. 

To stop this from becoming the reality of graduate students across the country, call your congresspeople. Call them today. Call them now. 

Richard Burr: (202) 224-3154

Thom Tillis: (202) 224-6342. 

Find your representatives here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/.

A sample script for the call, prepared by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students: http://nagps.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Call-Script-TCJA-.pdf.

 

Margaret Maurer

English and Comparative Literature

PhD Student