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XU Alliance protests ‘pro-family’ fundrasier

‘Focus on ALL Families’ event opposes group’s anti-gay marriage stance

Sarah Wieten
Campus News Editor

In response to a fundraising banquet held at Cintas Center by Citizens for Community Values, a group that supports traditional families, Xavier’s Alliance, the forum for discussion of gay issues on campus, hosted “Focus on ALL Families,” an event that celebrated all types of families.

“Focus on ALL Families,” held on Tuesday, April 22, was an activities fair open to families of all kinds. The event raised money for groups unlikely to be supported by CCV, such as Xavier Alliance, Proponents for Parents and the Women’s Center.

The event was put on specifically in response to the CCV fundraiser. Senior Heather Skrzypiec said, “I think it’s ridiculous that they say that they support families, and yet their idea of family is so narrow, especially with this week being Golden Rule Week. It really makes me wonder if they are truly practicing what they believe. I don’t think they would like it if someone else prevented them from having the family they desired.”

The event was put on by Xavier Alliance with assistance from many groups including African Student Association, IMPACT Cincinnati, Equality Ohio, MUSE, The Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, Planned Parenthood, The Gathering, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, UC’s Out on Campus, Gender Bloc and the Gender Queer Coalition.

Activities included a threelegged race, face painting, arts and crafts, balloon animals, game booths and prizes (including a zoo membership), basketball and a performance by men’s and women’s choirs. Over 200 people attended the event, even after it was moved to O’Conner Sports Center because of rain. “It was a really great turnout” said Xavier Alliance Co-president AmariYah Israel.

“I wish the CCV people had been able to witness this event. We heard that some CCV people called Xavier with fears of harassment. And that really just shows how misinformed they are about this community. I wish we could just reach out and change some hearts and minds,” said Lynn Lefebvre, Vice President of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, who was present at the event.

David Miller, vice president of public policy for CCV, said, “As long as they [the Alliance] don’t interfere with our event, they can paint faces all they want.”

Cintas Center hosted the annual fundraising banquet for Citizens for Community Values. Around 500 people were expected to attend the event, which serves as a sort of “report to the stock holders,” said Miller.

The organization’s goal is to “uphold and promote the return of the Judeo-Christian moral ideals of this country,” said Jerry Lyon, vice president of operations for CCV. The organization was established by a group of pastors in the Cincinnati Area in 1983. CCV hopes to achieve its initiatives through legislative support of the traditional family. “The family” Miller said, “is the bedrock, the foundation of society. When that institution is happy, the society is happy.”

CCV works on city initiatives to bar entry of adult businesses, such as strip clubs and pornography shops, into neighborhoods with children as well as supporting efforts to limit the definition of marriage.

“It is unhealthy to specifically, purposefully remove the influence of the mother or father from the child’s life. When the government approves certain things it sends the message that they are healthy choices, when really other choices are preferable.” said Miller. “We encourage people to use their 1st Amendment rights, their voter’s rights to help pass these regulations.”

The banquet cost anywhere from $400 a plate and featured keynote speaker David Barton, the Founder and President of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization.

Xavier has hosted the event in Cintas Center for several years and is “a great school, a great supporter,” said Miller.

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Workers’ issues to direct Chartwells labor negotiations

Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief

After allegations of harassment of employees, a poor working environment and food quality problems have surfaced, Chartwells management and employees have taken preliminary steps to address these issues.

Employees and management of James Hoff Dining Center are looking to the upcoming contract negotiations, scheduled to begin April 29 between Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board Local 12 and Chartwells management, as a major means to address employees’ concerns.

These issues include unresolved grievances, harassment culture, attendance policy, hours of work, food quality and the lack of communication with the workers, according to Don Spell, the chief steward of Chartwells’ unionized employees and an employee spokesman to management.

Chartwells’ management met with union representatives and Chartwells’ human-resource employees to discuss these ongoing issues on April 16.
As a result of this meeting, Director of Dining Service Walt Silka said lines of communication need to be opened or augmented in order to “address problems before they increase.”

Silka did not offer many specifics regarding how Chartwells would open the lines of communication when he addressed students at Student Government Association’s Senate Meeting on April 20.

Spell said Chartwells seemed to be listening to their complaints during this meeting. “The meeting was just last week, so I have yet to see if they will act on our complaints,” he said.

Currently, the working atmosphere has not been improved since employees began to vocalize their concerns to the Xavier community, according to employees. Contract negotiations will be telling as to whether Chartwells is committed to improving communication and relations with employees, said Spell.

Ongoing harassment allegations and concerns over attendance policies are being handled through a standard grievance procedure between Chartwells and the union. Specific grievance issues were also addressed during the April 16 meeting. Spell said that two terminated employees will be able to return to work under certain conditions.

However, Spell said he asked for—but has not yet received—a written apology for an incident between a manager and an employee as a result of the March 25 issue of Newswire that addressed employees’ harassment allegations and dissatisfaction. The manager apparently taunted and threw a Newswire at the employee for speaking anonymously with the Newswire.

The employee reported the grievance to the union and to Chartwells’ human resource line Speak Up, which allows employees to report incidents. These incidents are then shared with Chartwells’ managers.

Sophomore senators Kevin Contrera and Neil Heckman have been focusing on this issue. “We are trying to address student concerns regarding the quality of food and employee treatement. As a university that says it is ‘men and women for others,’ we need to work toward fair treatment for the whole Xavier community,” said Heckman.

Contrera and Heckman said that Chartwells needs to focus on increasing its transparency and offer concrete solutions for increased communication.
Currently, Spell said communication between management and employees is focused on addressing grievances that employees have filed with the union or disciplining employees rather than listening to employees, which he sees as ineffective communication.

“Many employees have worked at Xavier for over 20 years, and management could benefit from listening and incorporating employees’ input. This could help us provide the best service” said Spell.

Silka said these issues need to be addressed in contract negotiations since Chartwells “needs to move forward, get a good program, make everyone as happy as possible.”

Besides treatment of employees, employees are concerned about food quality and preparation methods.

Silka said Chartwells is committed to preparing and serving “quality food.” Complaints or concerns regarding dining services will be addressed when brought to Chartwells’ attention.

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Dear Jack

Katherine Monasterio
Op-Ed Editor

Jack's Mannequin frontman, Andrew McMahon graced Cintas Center this past Monday night as he performed for hundreds of Xavier students. If you’re not familiar with JM’s punchy music and sweet lyrics, you may know Andrew McMahon from his previous gig, Something Corporate. Jack’s Mannequin is his solo project, where his singer-songwriter status has propelled him to even more fame. JM’s newest album, The Glass Passenger, is his first release after his struggle with (and full recovery from) acute lymphatic leukemia. Along with touring, McMahon has been working with his organization, the Dear Jack Foundation, which supports leukemia research. Last week, before the music, before the lights and the buzz, Andrew McMahon took a few minutes to chat with the Newswire to discuss his new album, his musical history and a little about the director of his newest music video...

Xavier Newswire: How did you first become involved in music?
Andrew McMahon: I always tinkered on the piano when I was a kid, but when I was about nine years old I lost a close family member to cancer. I kind of gravitated towards the piano at that point, within a week or two of my uncle’s passing. That was my real awakening. It was sort of that moment where everything changed; I’d write up to eight hours a day. I’d get home from school then play until my parents made me go to bed. It’s sort of been that way ever since.

How is Jack’s Mannequin different from Something Corporate (acoustically, personnel-wise, etc)?
Something Corporate is my high school band, the first band I ever played in. We started playing shows while I was still a junior in high school and were signed within a year of my graduation. We put out records and toured the world, but I think we started wearing on each other. We’re still good friends to this day. I saw us becoming that cliché band where we weren’t really working in harmony together, and for me, all I ever wanted to do was make music, so I decided at that point I wanted to go on my own. I talked to the guys, and they felt the same way.

Describe your music writing process. Do you write the lyrics first? Music? Both?
I think the reason I like songwriting so much and haven’t tired of it is because it’s really kind of a mystery. It doesn’t really originate at a lyric always or a melody always, it’s just walking down the street and something comes into your head. Usually it starts with something in your gut that says you have something to say; that’s the point where I find myself sitting at the piano. I tend to do it all at one time. I usually am just sitting at the piano and throwing out words and melodies and phrases. Oftentimes, as the day goes on, I’ll go hop in the shower and rewrite lyrics in my head. It starts as kind of a dance between the elements and continues to revive itself over a day, or it sometimes takes weeks to finish a song, depending on the song itself.

Where do you get your inspiration?
As I continue to write, I’ve started focusing on the everyday. When you’re in high school writing songs, the obvious conflict for any person in high school is whoever your girlfriend is. That’s what’s getting you going in high school, but as I’m getting older, the act of everyday living is a beautiful thing, but it’s also a struggle.
For me, I try to find the moments in the everyday that speak to me, that I can talk about and relate to other people with, from the relationships I have to frustrations of doing what I do­­—being constantly away and traveling. There’s a lot of inspiration from my travels and the people I meet along the way. And obviously being home in southern California, being close to the ocean is kind of a constant source of inspiration.

Describe the name of your new album, The Glass Passenger. Is there a story behind it?
It originated in a song that has not made its debut yet; I haven’t recorded it for the record. The lyrics were “keep your eyes on the road, I’m the glass passenger” and I went back and wrote that into a song. I was traveling around doing these shows (I had no idea I was sick), and I think as the record progressed and I kept writing songs for it, I kept coming back to that phrase. Even as much as it’s a self-reference, I felt like I was connecting to many people; there was this sort of collective consciousness, this feeling of people being unsure of themselves and where they were heading. With this impermanent life we live, it’s a positive statement to some extent.

Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, directs your new video, “The Resolution.” Have you read Twilight?
I read the first one. I had a friend who told me we were included in her playlist on her website; she has a playlist for each of her books and where she gets inspiration for certain characters. There was this situation [of trying to find a director] where no one was coming through. This girl writes these books and she’s super famous, why don’t we bring her on for the video (not my typical reason).
I found the book to be totally redeeming; I haven’t read the rest of the series, but [Meyer’s] got her finger on the pulse of something and I was definitely honored to work with her.

Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
Play, play, play and play in your hometown. Since my first band broke, the standard for how people approach a young band and trying to get heard has shifted from becoming a great live band to recording stuff in your house and putting it on MySpace. I would argue that the thing that was successful for me was working my ass off. I think people notice you when you practice like that rather than trying to get a quick fix off the internet.
Listen to “Swim” [laughs]. This record was probably the biggest struggle of my life. No matter what, just trying to be positive and finding good in the bad, that’s probably pretty cliché but that’s gotten me through the good and the bad.

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