Student Life Archives

(U-WIRE) CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-The continuing occupation of Massachusetts Hall by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) marks an unprecedented escalation for the living wage campaign, which for the past two years has been characterized by an array of generally light-hearted actions and cooperation with the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD).
PSLM members, who began the semester delivering cookies and Valentine’s Day cards to administrators, say the sit-in is an unfortunate, but necessary, step in their two-year campaign for a living wage of $10.25 per hour for all Harvard employees. The student activists, who risk disciplinary action with the continuing sit-in, say they have been left no alternative.
In response to PSLM’s actions, a high-ranking committee of faculty members and administrators released a 100-page report last spring recommending that the University enlarge the scope of worker benefits, including health insurance, education and access to campus facilities.
PSLM members unilaterally rejected the recommendations and vowed to fight for a living wage. But the student activists say that since the release of the report, they have essentially been stonewalled by the administration, and have been forced to redefine their campaign strategy.
“Since the committee released its recommendations-rejecting the implementation of any wage standard whatsoever for Harvard workers-administrators have told us that the issue is closed,” the press release read.
“We’ve tried a whole variety of tactics, from teach-ins to rallies to meetings with administrators,” PSLM member Amy C. Offner ’01 said outside Mass. Hall yesterday.
But since the release of the report, the administration has not budged.
In a press packet distributed outside Mass. Hall yesterday, the students said they have exhausted all traditional avenues to enact change.
“We wish we didn’t have to do this, but we have to because the university has resisted all the attempts at dialogue we’ve had in the past,” Offner said.
It’s not clear that the sit-in will have any effect on winning a living wage.
A statement released yesterday afternoon by the Harvard University News Office said last spring’s recommendations would be the extent of the administration’s actions.
“In light of the recent comprehensive review, the university does not intend to reopen the question of a mandatory wage floor, but is actively implementing the affirmative recommendations of the committee,” the press release read.
The 50 students who have sworn to remain in Mass. Hall indefinitely and the administrators who quietly left their offices have reached a standstill, with no visible end in sight.
The student activists say they are willing to face disciplinary action for their continuing occupation of the building.
“All of us who have entered Massachusetts Hall have done so with our eyes open, and are prepared for any repercussions that we may face,” the press release read. “We do not think that punishment is justified, however, because we do not believe that what we are doing is criminal.”
When asked whether students would face arrest, HUPD Chief Francis D. “Bud” Riley said he did not plan to arrest students, because he “knew three-quarters of them by name.”
Ultimately, however, it is a question of whether the unprecedented action will prove successful.
Paul S. Grogan, vice president of government and community affairs, said the escalation in tactic is unnecessary. He said the student activists are unreasonably fixated on the concept of a living wage as the only way to benefit Harvard workers.
“The living wage is a great symbol,” he said. “But there are so few workers who are actually below the standard.
About 400 out of more than 13,000 Harvard employees are paid less than $10 an hour, according to a press release from the Harvard News Office yesterday afternoon.
Grogan said that the recommendations of the committee last spring, which were the result of 13 months of research, would be more beneficial in the long term than a salary increase to $10.25 per hour.
“The committee felt its recommendations would be far more powerful than the students’ proposal,” Grogan said yesterday. “They expressly rejected the students’ suggestion. They had a number of opportunities to argue and the committee said, ‘This isn’t a good idea.'”
Standing outside Mass. Hall last night, Offner said that the student activists both inside and outside the administrative building would not move until their demands are met.
“We see this as a major, justified escalation,” Offner said, gesturing to the 50 students planning to spend the night on the floor of the administrative building. “We’d like this to be the end, but even if it’s not, we’ll continue the struggle.”
Grogan said that it is simply unrealistic for the students to expect any movement in the direction of a living wage: it is not that the administration does not want to improve the welfare of workers at Harvard but they have decided that a living wage is simply not the best way to go about it.
The student activists who slept in Mass. Hall last night say that the recommendations are meaningless concessions and they will not budge.
“We are sitting in because poverty on our campus is brutal and cannot wait any longer for remedy,” yesterday’s press release read.

(U-WIRE) MEDFORD, Mass.-When people think of fraternity life and college in general, many conjure up images from the movie Animal House. The movie’s inspiration, Dartmouth College, has a longstanding reputation for the crazy parties and even crazier antics of its Greek Community. But this reputation was put in jeopardy this February when the Dartmouth administration announced plans to eliminate the school’s fraternity and sorority system.
In a February interview with The Dartmouth, Dartmouth President James Wright said the school’s Board of Trustees’ decision will mean an “end to the Greek system as we know it.”
The Greek system at Dartmouth has long been criticized by students and faculty as an exclusive system that promotes alcohol abuse as well as politically incorrect views. But the single-sex fraternity and sorority network at Dartmouth has existed for more than 150 years and involves more than 50 percent of eligible students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors) in 25 single-sex fraternities and sororities. The school also has three coed houses.
While the fraternities and sororities are independent from the school, Dartmouth is set to outlaw houses that do not comply with the rule changes and prohibit their members from registering at the College, according to The Dartmouth Review, the school’s independent newspaper. The president and the Board of Trustees plan to revolutionize a social scene that is based primarily on private student associations. But it is unclear what will replace the current social and residential set-up.
The announcement sparked student debate on both sides and produced plenty of student and alumni protest. Although the issue is “dying down,” according to Dartmouth sophomore Kathy Valerin, the campus was in turmoil at the onset.
Emergency meetings were held by members of the Greek system, and acts of protests were widespread-hanging the American flag upside down, fraternity houses blasting Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up (For Your Rights).”
The Coed-Fraternity-Sorority Council (CFS) canceled the Greek system’s participation in the school’s annual Winter Carnival, leaving the carnival with merely a snow sculpture and a ski race. Protesters shouting pro-Greek chants tried to drown out Wright’s speech at the official inauguration of the Winter Carnival weekend. The issue was even brought up in classes by professors.
Valerin, a student not directly involved in the Greek system (known there as an “independent”), describes the Greek scene at Dartmouth as “huge.”
“Whether you’re in [the Greek system] or not, it affects you daily,” she said. Valerin said she is split on the issue-while she does not like some of the fraternities on campus, she says there aren’t many forms of entertainment other than frat parties.
“I don’t really like the Greek system because of the mentality of guys there… I’ve had a good time [at frat parties], but I’ve also felt uncomfortable. Some are worse than others,” she said.
Indeed, controversy has arisen over many fraternities’ views of women, which are sometimes considered sexist. In particular, two cases involving the degradation of women added fuel to the anti-Greek system fire. Dartmouth’s Zeta Psi fraternity published “sex papers” that explicitly described the sexual adventures of fraternity-the document included the names of various female students. One story focused on a female who had sexual relations with several members of the fraternity, all of whom were competing to be in the “Manwhore Hall of Shame.” Zeta Psi now faces the possibility of derecognition.

University Trucking and East Coast Express (ECX) are vying for students’ trust as the students leave their belongings and head home for the summer.
On paper, the two companies look very similar. Both companies were founded by WU undergraduates; both companies offer free pick-up in May and delivery in August. They both will also ship items anywhere in the nation.
Scott Neuberger, part-owner of University Trucking, said that his company has lower rates, on average between 10 and 15 percent below those of East Coast Express. East Cost Express Owner Mike Kurland, on the other hand, said the cost differences are because of ECX’s superior service.
“Our prices are slightly more expensive than University Trucking this year for the first time,” said Kurland. “But you get what you pay for. We use professional package handlers who are experienced in handling large and heavy objects, not WU students.”
“That is a lot more expensive,” Kurland continued. “Instead of paying eight dollars an hour we have to pay 15. But they are worth every penny. They will ensure that things get back and forth safely.”
Neither company can make a guarantee that when students return to school, their belongings will be waiting for them without damage.
“There have been instances were things have been misplaced,” said Neuberger. “Usually that happens to one or two customers a year. It’s a random occurrence, but when you are handling between 2500 to 3000 boxes a year and they are going to six different places.something can occur.”
Kurland at first said that East Coast Express had never had any problems, but then recognized that it is a possibility that things have occurred in the past of which he was not aware. He also said that there have been problems delivering things on time.
“The only problems we have had in the past is when a customer tapes a label on their boxes. and it falls off some point in the transport. But by referring back to our invoice and we can match unlabeled items with their owner.”
Both companies offer insurance against possible loss or damage. Kurland said that ECX offers free insurance on the first $100 of stored property and charge $1.50 for each additional $100 thereafter. Neuberger says that University Trucking provides free insurance on all items.
Neither company wants to make a claim against their insurance, however, and are constantly making improvements in their invoice systems, such as University Trucking’s new computerized tracking system.
“With the new tracking system, we have some knowledge of where things are at all times,” said Neuberger. “In the past it has been somewhat of a scavenger hunt in the fall when we try to locate people’s stuff and get it delivered on time. We have been able to do this in the past, but it becomes more difficult to do so as your customer base grows.”
Neuberger said that the new tracking system will increase the efficiency of delivery in the fall.
ECX uses a different system. They use individual mobile, wooden vaults provided by Storage Banc. They take an invoice of each vault and separate people’s belongings based on what dorm they are going to live in the following year.
“Each compartment has a number and we know where every box is at all times. They are small enough that we can have easy access to these vaults at all times,” said Kurland.
To stay ahead in the business, each company struggles to provide the latest conveniences and technology. But Kurlan says that even if ECX or University Trucking comes out with a new offer ahead of the competitor, the competitive edge is short-lived.
“As far as staying ahead of our competitors, it’s difficult. We always look to add more services, but as soon as we put up our flyers, [University Trucking] matches that move,” said Kurland. “For example, we were the first company to contract with UPS, but they contracted with them as well when they found out that we had done so.”
For now the demand for storage and shipping services is sufficient to support both companies. Kurland said that his company has experienced a 65 percent growth this year, while Neuberger said that University Trucking has doubled each of the past couple of years.
Neither University Trucking nor ECX would reveal their profit margins, but Neuberger said that University Trucking had $120,000 in revenue last year.
As the school year comes to a close, Neuberger and Kurlan hope that there are still students who have not made shipping and storage plans for the summer. The companies have actively recruited customers, opposing each other side by side in Mallinckrodt this week.
– Michelle Leavitt contributed to this report

SU Urges Points Trading

On Wednesday, the Student Union Senate passed a resolution requesting that the administration allow students to continue trading meal plan points amongst one another.
This year, as with previous years, Dining Services allowed students to buy and sell points. However, the meal plan for next year mandates that students will only be able to buy points directly from Dining Services and that those with extra points will be unable to sell them back.
Arts and Sciences Senator Ben Smilowitz authored the resolution, which read, “Dining Services amends its 2001-2002 Academic Year meal plan to allow for the transactions of points between students.”
The resolution pointed to students losing unused points as the major reason for allowing the transactions. It also stated that students have made 217 such transactions this year, as of April 25. The total value of these transactions was approximately $16,000. While this is a significant amount for students, the resolution said, it is relatively inconsequential to Dining Services.
The resolution passed 18-4. WU Director of Operations Steve Hoffner was unavailable for comment.
Dining Services Ranked Fourth Nationally

WU Dining Services and Bon Appetit have been ranked fourth in the nation in food by the Princeton Review. The rankings were determined by students themselves. During the spring of last year, Princeton Review handed out surveys to students across the nation asking them about various aspects of their school. Wheaton College, the other university to which Bon Appetit caters, was ranked second for their food service.
Arvidson, Waterston Receive Faculty Recognition Awards

Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., and Robert H. Waterston, M.D., Ph.D., will be awarded the 2001 faculty achievement awards. This announcement was made by Chancellor Mark Wrighton at the Chancellor’s Gala this past Saturday. Arvidson is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Waterston, James S. McDonnell Professor, head of the Department of Genetics and director of the Genome Sequencing Center at the School of Medicine, leads WU in its effort to decode the human genome. The award comes with a $5,000 honorarium and a framed citation, which will be presented at a ceremony in September.

TKE Offers Rabbit Ring Toss

This Friday during lunch hours and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., TKE will host a Rabbit Ring Toss at the “Thinker on a Rock” statue east of Mallinckrodt. Prizes include rabbits’ feet and ultimate frisbee discs. Proceeds benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Library Announces Winners of Book Collection Competition

WU Libraries recently announced the winners of the 14th annual Carl Neureuther Student Book Collection Competition. Fran Hooker won first-prize among graduate students for her collection entitled “Narratives of Exploration.” Kendall Miller, a graduate student in business, took second-place honors. His collection is entitled “The Art and Use of the Japanese Sword.” Amanda Verbeck, a senior graduating in fine arts, achieved first-place honors among undergraduates for her collection “The Many Faces of Spirituality.” Nicolas Montemayor was awarded second-place undergraduate honors for “How to be a Working Actor.” First-prize winners receive $750, and second-prize winners receive $500.
Tyson Center to Open to Public

Washington University is opening the Tyson Research Center to the public for the first time in more than three years. Tyson Trails Day will be held April 28, 2001, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Nature trails and history trails will explore the 2,000-acre biological field station about 20 miles west of St. Louis. Nature trails include tours of Mincke Quarry Cave, a mushroom foray, a butterfly walk, a bird watching hike, and more. History trails include a visit to the Mincke Hollow Mining town, a Native American teepee encampment, history of Route 66, storytellers and more. Admission is $8 per car, $15 for a full shuttle van, and $5 for a car with one person.
Grad Students to Display Artwork

Fourteen second-year graduate students from the Washington University School of Art will present a thesis exhibition at the In/Form Gallery, 3519 S. Broadway. The “Master of Fine Arts Exhibition” opens with a reception from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Friday, May 4 and remains on view through May 20. Gallery hours are 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Both the exhibition and the opening reception are free and open to the public. The show includes painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics and installations.

4/25/01, 11:38 a.m. LARCENY-THEFT, MALLINCKRODT CENTER-Student reported unknown person(s) stole his black leather wallet from his pants pocket between 9:00 p.m. and 1 a.m. of 4/24/01. The student was in a play during this time, and the door to the dressing room is usually locked, but was not this time. Student had $15 in cash, a Missouri driver’s license,
a social security card, and a debit card inside the wallet. The debit card was cancelled, but it is unknown if any charges were made. Estimated loss $34.

4/25/01, 6:01 p.m. LARCENY-THEFT,

PARKING LOT #4-WU student reported that on 4/22/01, between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m., unknown persons stole a microphone, cordless microphone, and transmitter. Items had been rented from Swank audio visual. Estimated loss $1200.

4/25/01, 7:13 p.m. PROPERTY DAMAGE, ALPHA EPSILON PHI-Persons used an unknown object to break/damage the double pane windows at the above location. WU maintenance responded. Office of Greek Life was notified via voice-mail. Estimated cost of damage unknown.

China Attacks Bush Over Taiwan

BEIJING (AP)-A “strongly indignant” China on Thursday accused President Bush of further damaging already strained ties with his blunt warnings about America’s will to defend Taiwan.
“There is only one China in the world. Taiwan is part of China. It is not a protectorate of any foreign country,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at a news conference. “The Chinese government and people are strongly indignant and opposed” to Bush’s comments, Zhang said.
Zhang noted that Bush’s “mistaken remarks” came on the heels of an American offer Tuesday of arms to Taiwan, which China strongly opposes.
Taiwan remained generally low-key in the wake of the favorable developments, although its Foreign Ministry affirmed U.S. efforts to safeguard regional stability and said, “We must build up our own defenses.”
In strong remarks aimed at Beijing, Bush told The Associated Press on Wednesday that U.S. military force is “certainly an option” if China acts on long-standing threats and strikes Taiwan.
Bush issued a bolder warning in an earlier TV interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, saying America has an obligation to defend Taiwan if China attacks.
The goal of U.S. policy has been to keep Taiwan from provoking China by declaring independence, and to keep China worried about the possibility of American forces defending the island from Chinese attack.
Zhang said Bush’s comments violated China-U.S. communiqu‚s in which Washington acknowledged Beijing’s claim to Taiwan.
Beijing reminded Washington to adhere to its commitment not to have official relations with Taiwan and not to challenge Beijing’s claim that the island belongs to China.
Virginia Tech Diners Help the Hungry

Flex out Hunger, a program originated at WU within Sigma Alpha Epsilon, has expanded to Virginia, where members of the fraternity at Virginia Tech run the program. SAE and the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program organized the event that began on Monday and continues through Friday.
U.S. Heightens Effort in Mideast

WASHINGTON (AP)-The Bush administration is stepping up its diplomacy in the Middle East and assigning a key role to the CIA.
Violence in the region is still the toughest problem and the Bush administration is pushing both Israel and the Palestinians to end it.
Criticized by the Arabs as sitting on the sidelines, the administration not only is trying to curb the violence that has plagued the region since September, but is looking for a way to revive peace talks.
The CIA, whose role was being reduced, now is acting as what administration officials call a “facilitator” between Israel and the Palestinians.

Signaling the new surge of diplomacy, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday, “We have a number of things working right now, quietly, to get the security situation stabilized, start violence moving down rather than up.”
Powell, in a joint news conference with Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon after they had met at the State Department, said, “When we have some success there, we can build on that success with improving the economic situation for the people in the region and then ultimately getting back to a negotiating track.”
Hariri told reporters Thursday that Powell had assured him the administration did not have a hands-off policy. In fact, Hariri said, “My impression is they are as committed as much as President Clinton was but they want to use different tactics.”
Powell told him he knew there was an impression the Middle East was not a priority for the administration, but he said it was not so, Hariri said.
The pace is likely to pick up Wednesday when Foreign Minister Shimon Peres of Israel visits Washington for talks with Powell and other administration officials.
In the meantime, the CIA, initially relegated to the sidelines by the Bush administration, emerged as a key player.
Israel and the Palestinians have been holding security talks with the participation of a CIA official, agency spokesman Mark Mansfield said.
Koizumi is Named Japan’s Prime Minister

TOKYO (AP)-Junichiro Koizumi was elected prime minister of Japan Thursday, capping a stunning sweep to power on public disgust with his predecessor’s scandals, gaffes and failure to pull the nation out of its deep economic doldrums.
Koizumi was elected premier in votes in both houses of Japan’s bicameral Parliament. In the more powerful lower house, he won with 287 votes, easily above the 240 majority he needed.
Opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, who had 127, was next.
He won 138 votes in the upper house, to 59 for Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party.
Koizumi needed a 124-vote majority to win.
A media-savvy but relatively untested politician whose highest post until now had been health minister, Koizumi swept to power on impassioned promises to reform the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party and pull Japan out of its decade-long economic slump.
Koizumi’s pleas for change clearly won a popular mandate.
Koizumi, Japan’s ninth premier in just 10 years, swept virtually all of the primaries among the party’s rank-and-file, where a strong sense of crisis has been building. Many in the party fear the sour economy and voter disgust with the scandals and gaffes that dogged Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori could translate into a big loss in Parliament elections in July.
Holding to his campaign vows, Koizumi carried out a shake-up of the party’s top posts Wednesday, replacing the old guard with three allies.
California Energy Prices Limited

WASHINGTON (AP)-Responding to growing political pressure, federal regulators are ordering limited price caps during California electricity emergencies in an attempt to head off severe price spikes this summer when the state is expected to face critical power shortages.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted 2-1 late Wednesday to regulate prices whenever California’s electricity reserves fall below seven percent, triggering a stage one power alert. FERC chairman Curtis Hebert, a Republican, said the order seeks to “balance” the need to encourage investment in power plants and boost badly needed
supply, but also protect against unreasonable prices when supplies tighten.
California has a three-stage power alert system with stage one warning of potential supply problems and stage three signaling a requirement to curtail demand and prepare for likely rolling blackouts. This summer, California is expected to be short at least 3,000 megawatts of power even if temperatures are normal. State officials have warned of likely frequent power disruptions. A megawatt hour is enough electricity to serve 1,000 typical homes for one hour.

Web Master

This summer, Washington University will begin a complete $20 to $40 million renovation and modernization of Olin Library that will take place over the next three years.
“The new renovations will change the architectural structure as little as possible while bringing resources up to date and increasing the library’s usability and attractiveness,” said B.J. Johnston, assistant dean of collections.
The improvements, however, will come at a price. This summer, beginning on May 11, Olin 1 will be closed, and its contents will be moved to West Campus between May 11 and May 31, remaining there until at least July 27. The floor’s shelves will then be dismantled so that asbestos can be removed from the area.
Some other changes will be more permanent. The “Olin Beach” area will no longer be accessible to students. Though it will not be removed, it will be expanded to serve as the roof for the expansion and caf‚. Plans to provide an alternative to the beach include landscaping and adding benches near the entrance.
The entrance to the library will also be relocated to the south side of the building. Walls on the third level will be pushed out to the edge of the structure, creating 12,000 square feet more space for shelves and study areas. There will also be more couches, as well as new individual study stations. Group and graduate study rooms will grow as well.
A cyber caf‚ with glass walls will replace the courtyard area currently near the entrance of the library. Internet access, coffee and bagels will be available in the cafe. The study area will be open 24 hours to meet student demand.
To keep true to the original architectural design of the building, the new caf‚ will be enclosed in glass as opposed to concrete walls, Johnson said.
“Our emphasis is on user space and services. The ambiance will be nicer, and in general the library will be more and better,” Johnston said. “We rejected plans which dramatically altered the building, but we do want to bring it up to date and make it a better place for students to study and research.”
Other possible cosmetic changes include the removal of the carrels from the fourth- and fifth-story windows to allow more natural light, and adding more windows on these floors.
One major objective of the renovations is to make Olin as convenient and user-friendly as possible. This objective involves technological updates and reorganization. The library will be completely wired, or wireless data ports will be added so students can access the Internet from laptops anywhere in the building. Level two will house a multimedia center with technology classrooms, a computer lab, and a location for scanning and digitizing images.
Circulation, Reserve, Reference, and Inter-Library Loan will all be in one area together for increased convenience for both students and librarians. Compact shelving on the ground floor will have double holding capacity for books as well. New plumbing, air conditioning, heating, and electricity will also make the building more pleasant.
The changes will take place floor by floor so that the library will always be somewhat usable. During first floor renovation, books will be moved to West Campus. During second floor renovation, books will move to the first floor, and shifting will continue throughout renovation.
“We are not anticipating major problems since the books will always be available… it will just be a matter of finding them,” Johnston said. However, some students currently working on final projects, papers, and exams are having difficulty in the ever-shifting library.