R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

It’s something everyone wants, but not everyone gets their fair share of it.

Teaching assistants are a perfect example of this. They’re the little people at the bottom of the syllabi, the ones behind the big professor. They dish out and do the dirty work, correcting term papers and holding recitation and review sessions.

In other words, they work hard.

But 67 of these over-worked student teachers are now without tuition scholarships from the university. These students are not only studying at the graduate level, but also working for the university without the scholarship they were originally promised.

This is completely unfair on the part of Graduate College administrators.

These students were depending on tuition scholarships from the university to help fund their education, and were left hanging with a $1,700 bill mid-semester.

To expect any student to be able to pull this kind of money out of their pockets at the drop of a hat is crazy.

This is especially true for graduate students who usually do not have that many funds to work with already.

While administrators may say they will help these students out eventually, their assurances aren’t helping them sleep any more easily in their beds tonight as a u-bill stares them in the face.

The university made a commitment to 67 graduate students, a commitment which it has conveniently changed. It should have more respect for people committing such a substantial amount of time and energy to this institution.

Papers aren’t magically corrected, math problems don’t write themselves on the board and ISU’s graduate students can go elsewhere.

We have few enough people in the classroom already, the sooner Iowa State makes good, the better.

It’s all about respect, baby.

Editorial Board: Carrie Tett, Greg Jerrett, Katie Goldsmith, Amie Van Overmeer, Andrea Hauser and Jocelyn Marcus