The QC, Vol. 84, No. 23 • March 16, 1998

              WHITTIER
uaker
March.26,1998
ampus
COL
Geirola,
My Dreams
Gustavo Geirola
is in the midst of
creating a new
interpretive play
with students.
S   P  O   R
Making
a Raquet
Women's
tennis blanked
the College of
Notre Dame
and LaVerne.
The Voice Of The Campus Since 1914
OPINION    TOPIC
■ A Major
Problem?
Is there gender
equality among
the majors at
Whittier?
CAMP  U.S
m
■ Sticking to It
Jeff Cain and Krista
Whyte made their
Lumies outfits out
of shiny adhesive.
Maintenance Transition Angers Staff
■ MAINTENANCE
by Liz Valsamis & Anna Neese
QC News & Campus Life Editors
Despite being told by Vice
President of Finance and Administration Jo Ann Hankin that maintenance employees would not be
negatively affected by the transition from Johnson Controls to
Marriott [see QC Issue 16, Volume 84], employees will have to
pay a significantly higher price
for benefits, according to Manager of Special Projects and Facilities Dan Peterson.
Two weeks ago, employees
underwent a personnel interview
with Marriott in order to keep
their jobs. They had been told
prior to the Marriott takeover that
they would not lose their positions with the College.
Not only will maintenance
workers pay more for benefits,
but they will also have to go on
another 90 day probation period
with Marriott, according to employee Elmo Rocha. Rocha has
decided not to continue working
at the College under Marriott,
which will end his year-long career at Whittier."Johnson Controls
would pay for full medical, but
these people aren't even bother
ing. That's why I'm leaving," he
said. "Family medical went up
from $10 to $215 [a month]."
Other disgruntled maintenance workers spoke to the QC as
well, but chose to remain off the
record in fear of their jobs.
Peterson said, "Johnson Controls may have chosen to use part
of their profit towards their employees' benefit [programs]."
Peterson feels that the College has done their part in taking
care of the employees. "We did
not legally have to worry about
taking care of them, because we
are not employing Johnson Control employees," Peterson said.
"But morally we have the responsibility. We did have the option
from Marriott to bring in a whole
new crew, which from the beginning we refused to have anything
to do with."
According to Peterson, Marriott designs the benefit packages for
the employees and the College allots a budget for Marriott to work
with. "We told them what we wanted as a benefit package and they put
it to their program," Peterson said.
Hankin said, "The benefit programs that Marriott offers may
differ some from those offered by
Johnson Controls, but I understand that the employees have
choices regarding health and re
tirement programs available."
Peterson also said that Marriott will allow only three sick days
per year, compared to the 12 sick
days offered by Johnson Controls.
"Marriott has a three yearcontract
with the College that allows for
specific pay increases in various
areas over the years," he said.
The interview process that
employees were subject to also
required an application that they
had to fill out, according to Peterson. "The other thing everyone
needs to know, even though Marriott interviewed everyone for their
jobs, the interview was specifically for what their [the employees']
plans were," Peterson said. "Hav«T
ing to go through a job interview
is an erroneous thing. It was a
personnel interview because they
were already accepted as employees as long they were willing to
meet the agreements they have as
an employer."
Rocha felt differently.'! assumed that it was a regular interview. They were treating us like,
cattle. If you asked questions they
had no answers."
Johnson Controls' last day at
Whittier will be Friday, March 27.
Marriott's official takeover begins
March 30 and their new maintenance department will be referred
to as the Facilities Department.
Advanced Placement
Policy Faces Revision
■ CURRICULUM
■ TOS
QC News Editor
A proposal for applying
Advanced Placement (A.P.)
credit to the Lik-ral Education
Program, not just towards individual major requirements, was
presented before faculty on
Tuesday. March 24. It has yet to
he vote.! on by faculty.
i lie proposal was presented
by Frit/. Smith.a representative
from the Transition Committee
Professor of Mathematics and
Coordinator of the Liberal Education Program. He proposed
that the current policy be restructured to allow A.P. credit
to he absorbed into the Liberal
Education Program. Currently,
.'..   ':. to.;,, to
Education Matii requirement;
however, A.P credit is accepted among various departments
to fulfill courses that are not be
TO TO     ;,  ■'■;:,..;    ...
Fritz Smith.
a) Education requirements.
if accepted by faculty, incoming students will be able to
apply their A.P. credit lo fulfill
various Liberal Education requirements. According to documentation iclea.icd to 1 acuity h>
the Transition ('ommiltce. A.P
credit in Biology. Chemistry or
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ductory Laboratory Science re-
TO '■. '.'.TOTO
jnts; credit in
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European re-
See A P., page 4
Student Union to Receive New $13,000 Furniture
■ ON CAMPUS
by Carlos Estrada
QCAsst. News Editor
Furniture for the Student
Union has been ordered and should
be in place by the end ofthe Spring
semester.
The new furniture has been
funded by the Council of Representatives (COR) and will consist of couches, love seats, chairs
and end tables. The new furniture will cost approximately
$13,000.
The new Student Union furniture will not include pool tables,
televisions and other forms of entertainment that were found there
previously.
"We were told when KWTR
was given a place in the Student
Union that we would not be able
to have them," senior Business
major and project coordinator
Renae Waestman said. "Too much
background noise would interfere
with the station."
Plans are in the works for installing coffee tables and plants to
give the room a "house-like feeling," Waestman said.
When finished, the room will
have plaques from each of the
College's societies hanging on the
walls. COR is also considering
plans to decorate the room with
student murals and art. The patio
facing Painter Avenue may also
be renovated once Marriott takes
over the maintenance of the campus.
"It will be more of an atmosphere where people can hold
meetings or study," Waestman
said.
The renovation ofthe Student
Union has been an issue since
1995 when a new site for KWTR
was first being considered. Since
then, COR has tried with varying
success to secure funds for the
project.
An outside committee was
eventually formed to deal with
the issue and was headed by senior Kim Bartl. COR has incorporated their suggestions into
their plan for renewing the Student Union.
"I have been working with
Kim and [Director of Student
Activities] Tracy Poon-Tambas-
cia," Waestman said. "I am working on the project because COR
thought a member should be overseeing the purchases."
The allocation of funds for
new furniture was not originally
COR's responsibility. Money for
new furniture was originally included in the planning for
KWTR.
During construction, the radio station went over its budget
and used some ofthe money allocated for furniture.
"COR debated for a long time
whether to fund the project or
not," Waestman said. "[Vice
President for Finance and Administration] Jo Ann Hankin's
office was asked to pay for the
furniture but they did not have
enough money."
Faced with waiting several
years for the project to become a
priority, COR decided to undertake the financing of the project
and approved the plan two weeks
ago.
The Student Union will still
require security cameras to ensure that the new furniture is not
stolen, but it is not sure who will
fund that purchase.
If COR has funds remaining
at the end of the year, they intend
on purchasing speakers so that
KWTR's broadcasts can be heard
in the room.
"We're just glad that it's finally getting done," Waestman
said. "We think that the student
body has gone too long without a
functioning Student Union."
■ Next Week's QC
Next week, the Quaker Campus will be distributed on
Wednesday, April 1 instead
of Thursday. April 2.
ISSUE 23 • VOLUME 84