I am a graduate student who is lucky enough to have a Graduate Research Assistantship. This means I get paid for working in the lab and also receive a tuition waiver. Pay for assistantships frequently ranges from $14,000-$18,000 per year.  I am still responsible for any and all fees LSU assesses.  Currently, I pay fees totaling more than $2,300 per year.  If this “Flagship Fee” is instituted, graduate students with assistantships could see a 5 to 7 percent cut in their gross pay. In your article, Robert Kuhn, the associate vice chancellor of budget and planning, said that cutting faculty and staff salaries by the necessary 10 percent is not an efficient method for recouping funds. I ask that LSU consider its graduate students, because a 5 to 7 percent cut in our relatively low pay is a huge cut. This additional fee would mean 18 to 24 percent of graduate assistants’ paycheck would go back to LSU for fees. As part of our assistantship, we cannot work a second job to make up this difference (nor would we have the time to). Instead of nickel and diming their students with fees, LSU needs to raise tuition if they need more funds.April Bryan-Masongraduate studentrenewable natural resources