"The channels of communication between the GSC and the administration have always been open to bring up concerns and address them," says Lopez, who is a graduate student in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies.

In the past few years, graduate students have worked with the University over the past few years to improve the financial aid packages. Last spring, Harvard announced a restructuring of the financial aid system that guaranteed four years of funding.

The guarantee of teaching positions built into many of these financial aid packages will further improve the employment conditions for Harvard's graduate students.

Despite the success of the financial aid package, Fagen is quick to point out that graduate students are have no formal input in negotiating their compensation and terms of employment. The Faculty makes all the decisions.

"There is virtually no discussion between students and Faculty on these issues," he says. "While many students do seem reasonably happy with the situation, there is no guarantee that it will remain."

Apathetic or Content?

Others think that a lack of cohesiveness is the reason that Harvard graduate students have not organized.

"Because other schools--like Business, Kennedy, Divinity--operate as fiefdoms, there is little coordination of effort," says Foster, who is also a second year student at the Business School.

Foster sees the fractured nature of graduate student interests across schools and departments as a reason for the lack of labor activism at Harvard.

"The bulk of these students are not employees acting as research assistants or graduate teaching assistants and have very little interest in labor disputes of this sort," he says.

Foster advocates for the coordination, and perhaps, unionization, of graduate students through the GSC and GSAS across Harvard's many graduate schools.

"My feeling is that there is a need for a stronger coalition of students who are engaged in study and are also working for the University," he says.

Some graduate students say unification across or even within graduate schools could be difficult.

"Harvard graduate students are extremely self-focused, and that makes it hard to bring them together on any particular issue," says Elisabeth Laskin, the GSC representative for the History Department. "I don't mean this in a negative way, but simply that the nature of the academic world is one of self-promotion."

The administration says they have not noticed any signs that graduate students at Harvard are thinking of organizing.

"There has been no noticeable sign in recent years or now that indicates that unionization is a goal our students want to achieve," Wolff says. "Nevertheless, there are always reasons to be vigilant."

Wolff attributes this relative calm to the good relationship between administrators and graduate students.

"We have a well-established consultation process and try to respond to students' concerns, whenever possible, swiftly and un-bureaucratically," he says.