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Oregon Daily
Emerald
Monday, May 5, 1986
Eugene. Oregon
Volume 87, Number 145
GTFs take complaints to chancellor’s office
By Chris Norm)
(H Ikv Kmcrald
Oregon has jumped I he ruh by
withholding taxes on graduate teaching
fellows' tuition waivers, according to
’ University CTFs who settled |n at the of
fii:e of William Davis. State System of
Higher Education chancellor. Friday
morning.
About 15 GT*Fs lounged on the floor in
Davis', office correcting papers and ex
ams while waiting for a Friday afternoon
meeting with University President Paul
Olum.; ... '
The.UTFs are protesting the decision
by the State Board of Higher Education
to begin compliance with the U.S. Tax
. Code and withhold tax on tuition
waivers'iro'm their paychecks. Until I)«h; .
31;'1985, tuition waivers were exempt
. •„ under, the tax code. Congress has not
, renewed the exemption, and.the State
Board decided in mid-April to ; tregin
withholding the tax: ’
Nearly every other state in the nation
'.Is'not enforcing the tax code, according
to GTF leaders. :.
- - "The president's office has confirmed
that 49- other states are not
withholding." said Chuck Hunt, presi
1 dent of the GTF union local. "It almost
looks like we're the only ones."
But Davis and Virginia Boushev, assis
tant to the executive vice chancellor, say
appearance* are deceiving. Boushev said
she has contacted many California state
system colleges and learned thut they
pay CTFs with a large stipend from
which tuition must be paid, rather than a
tuition waiver
r
Tha stipend has always heen subject to
tax. so the tax code change does not af
fect them, she said.
There is a case where the date of
registration made a difference,” Davis
said; •; ' ■ . • V.
He says a large percentage of other col
leges are on the semester system, so the
tuition waivers vyere issued in December
'of last year, making them part. of.1985 in
• come, when .they registered for sr>cond
semester.
This means the . GTFs at those.schools
' have not been taxed vet. and the tsix will
• la*.“Withheld beginning next semester,
: Davis»said;. '
- Other, schools are just hoping against
' hopp /that, . the*'.exemption will be
reinstated. Itbush'ey said. . ■
" We can't lakethat gamble.-’.she said.
"Once we have the legal opinion, any
administrator who says we'll ignorethat
"advice*and cpntjnue not to” withhold
.would tie personally liable! I dontt think
any-ime of us* can afford a million
■ dollars;."-"r-.
Bid the, (ITFs- cjaim the financial
burden has unnecessarily been shifted
onto their shoulders! although they, are
the least able to carry it. They feel that
ihe board should have put moire effort in
to finding alternatives to comply with
the tax code.
"TliftPifict of the Attorney General of
the state of Washington, citing a case
from a federal district court in Ohio, has
informed higher education officials in
Washington that withholding on tuition
waivers is not necessary.” Hunt said.
"The law is open to interpretation.”
1
Pinckney, IFC oppose
special fund for GTFs
By Stan Nelson
Of the Km<*r«ld
A University request to provide
short-term loans for financially ailing
GTFs failed at an Incidental Fee Com
mittee hearing Friday.
University President Paul Olum's
office requested the special hearing to
ask the IFC to loan surplus incidental
fees to GTFs.
The state of ()regon. not students, is
responsible for providing assistance
to GTFs. said ASUO President Lynn
Pinckney, who made the ASUO
recommendation to the IFC on the
proposal.
in a letter to Oium. she saiil there
were several problems with the pro
posal. The GTFs entered into an
agreement with the state to provide a
service for a set amount of money.
Because the state knew the
withholdings would occur, GTFs
should be issued payments equal to
the amount of the withholdings.
Using incidental fees for loans
would benefit individual students on
ly and be tantamount to subsidizing
teaching, both of which have been
considered inappropriate uses of the
fees before, she said.
GTFs might not las able to pay back
loans, she added. It is wrong also to
charge student’s interest on their own
money, she added.
Emergency loan money is depleted
and the University has no more
money to lend, said Alison Baker, ex
ecutive assistant to the president.
However, students have a reserve of
about $300,000 in overrealized in
cidental fees, and the attorney
general's office ruled that these funds
tan be used for short-term loans.
Maker said.
"The state won't give the GTFs
$150 so they can eat this month.” she
said. At least the University is making
an attempt to ease the financial
burden of the GTFs, she said.
However. "If (the GTFs) don't want
loans and will only accept money as a
gift, they won't get anything," Maker
said.
The decision to withhold $150 from
GTF's wages in April and May for
winter and spring term tuition oc
cured in mid-April when it became
evident the federal tax exemption that
expired January 1, lOHti, might not be
renewed. Maker said.
The Oregon attorney general’s of
fice ruled that GTF tu.tion waivers are
taxable income, and the State System
of Higher Fducation had no choice
but to withhold, she added.
"The crux of the matter is how do
GTFs feel about the proposal,” said
IFC member Adam Apalategui. There
was too little time to consider the pro
posal. he said.
The IFG voted 5-1 to deny the ad
ministration's request. It did indicate
that the GTFs could still make a direct
request to the IFG for assistance.
Graduate teaching fellows grade papers
Chancellor William Davis' office Friday.
and exams
Flftutii b> lUrvry Noun*
during a protest in
said Ken Summers, a C.TF in sociology
■ The jiax. code} is vary specific alx>ut the
amount to-be paid, but the enforcement
is very vague. The whole system of en
forcement depends on the cooperation of
the employer. So all of these other
universities have decided that they'll
u ait until they absolutely have to
withhold ''
What the GTFs want. Summers said, is
to know the basis for the board’s deci
sion to withhold the tax at this time.
The decision was based on a reading of
the law. and an opinion by Oregon
Assistant Attorney General jerry Lidz
that the department of higher education
is'Iiable for payment and penalty of non
payment if the money isn’t withheld
from the GTFs' paychecks. Davis said.
The new tax takes about $150 in addi
tional income-tax from the average GTF’s
April and May paychecks. Most GTFs
i arn between $400 and $500 each
month.
(Generally, tax on tuition waivers will
Ik; about $50 each month from GTF
paychecks, but because the State Board
waited until April to begin withholding,
three months’ worth of back taxes on tui
tion waivers were already due.
Local leaders of sanctuary
affirm movement’s future
By Michael Rivers
Of the Kmrrald
Leaders of the Eugene luterfaith Sanc
tuary Network reaffirmed their commit
ment to the sanctuary movement at a
noon rally and press conference Friday.
The reaffirmation came despite the
felony convictions of eight Arizona ac
tivists on Thursday.
About 70 supporters gathered in the
rain to hear sanctuary movement ac
tivists declare their strengthened
resolve.
Karen Hemmingsen, a member of the
Eugene Friends Meeting, said in
reference to the Arizona verdict,
"Twelve reasonable people reached a
reasonable decision based on the facts
given. But they were not allowed to hear
the real case.”
llemmingsen’s statement referred to
the prosecution's success at narrowing
the scope of the trial to exclude such
issues as religion, humanitarianism, in
ternational law and political asylum.
Augustine Lopez, a Salvadoran
refugee being sheltered in Eugene,
believes the convictions "demonstrate
massive repression,” but said, "we have
seen much worse.”
American sanctuary efforts are saving
thousands of lives in Central America.
Lopez said, speaking through an inter
preter. Reassuring the crowd that he
wasn’t trying to judge the sanctuary
movement, Lopez said, "We risk disap
pearing. losing our lives, and you risk
only one or two years (in jail)."
Marion Malcolm, a member of the ln
terfaith Sanctuary Network and a staff
person for Clergy and Laity Concerned,
called the movement "a powerful threat
to U.S. policy in Central America.” She
accused the United States of
"perpetuating torture, death and killing
in El Salvador.”
She said there are more than 240 con
gregations across the nation involved in
the sanctuary movement.
Onlookers were invited to sign a state
ment of complicity in support of the
Arizona defendants. The statement will
be turned over to the assistant federal
prosecutor at the Eugene Federal
building today.
The statement says: "If the United
States government finds our obedience
to the highest laws of Cod and of nations
to be in violation of the Immigration and
Nationality Act of 1952, then we declare
our complicity with the actions of love
and concern for refugees from Central
America which have led to the convic
tions, in Federal Court at Tucson,
Arizona, of our fellow workers in the
sanctuary movement.
"We the undersigned acknowledge
our complicity in upholding the Refugee
Act of 1980, the Geneva Accords and
other international laws prohibiting the
refoulement of refugees.”
jack Maddex, a spokesman for the
Central Presbyterian Church, said they
are offering sanctuary to refugees "not in
disrespect for authority, but for the pro
per ordering of authority.” There are
currently five Salvadoran refugees in
sanctuary with the church.
Bill Cadbury, representing the Eugene
Friends Meeting, said the fundamental
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