— STAFF EDITORIALS —
EDITORIAL | Chartwells
We need more transparency
As Chartwells management and employees begin to address issues regarding harassment claims, attendance policies, hours and food quality, more transparency is needed to encourage real change. Without this transparency, the Newswire sees Chartwells as a big corporation that is focused on corporate image rather than building personal relationships with employees at Xavier.
Chartwells management is aiming to “increase lines of communication” between managers and employees, but it has not been transparent and has not listed specific ways in which it is going to accomplish this goal besides the contract negotiation process.
Without these specific goals, issues between management and employees will continue to exist without resolution.
As Chartwells is considering how to open lines of communication, managers need to realize that communication must not just be reactive measures taken to discipline employees. Chartwells needs to take proactive approaches to listen to employees.
Many of these employees have been at Xavier for almost a decade or more and understand the university. As the new corporation on campus, Chartwells could benefit from listening to employees that have worked here before the James Hoff Dining Center was even built. Furthermore, it would encourage a climate of respect the employees feel is missing in the workplace.
If management does not directly answer questions or present concrete examples, the Newswire can only assume that no steps are being taken to improve relations. Transparency will increase accountability as well as give steps to measure progress in developing a workplace where managers and employees are respected.
EDITORIAL | Focus on ALL Families
Thanks for taking a stand
As the illustrious Andrew Chestnut wrote a few weeks ago, Xavier students love to complain. We constantly feel the need to gripe no matter what the circumstances. But when we gripe, we do it in the comfortable presence of our friends or over an indifferent mountain of homework.
There are very few students who actually stand up and do something about their complaints, especially in the face of powerful opposition. That’s why we at the Newswire applaud the Xavier Alliance for their rally yesterday.
The event, officially titled “Focus on ALL Families,” was both a rally and a fun-filled evening for all kinds of families in the Cincinnati area. The event featured zoo animals, face painting, food and good family fun. The atmosphere was cheerful and light, but the intention was clear: they were fighting for change, and fighting hard.
Perhaps most significant about this fight was that the Alliance held their event at the same time that the Citizens for Community Values (CCV) organization held their annual fundraiser. The CCV is a blatantly anti-gay marriage group; the Alliance’s press release noted that the CCV has channeled millions of dollars into anti-equality legislation like the Defense of Marriage Act in Ohio and Proposition 8 in California.
In the face of such opposition, the Alliance (or any opposition to an organization) could have easily resorted to becoming a crowd of protesters. They could have simply stood by and watched. They could have complained.
But Xavier students with real passion know better than that. The Alliance instead held an event of their own, one highlighted by its hopeful nature rather than its hateful rhetoric. On behalf of the rest of us who can’t or won’t act on the things we believe in, thanks for taking a stand. Thanks for showing us that it’s possible to act positively in the face of enormous obstacles.
Fixing your finances
Wilford Durbin
Editorial Columnist
Who needs reminding that summer vacation looms three weeks away? We’re just three weeks until students break from their desks and exams to the relaxation, partying and care-free nature of summer (who knows, maybe even warmer weather). While that seems obvious, are as many students concerned about how their financial situation may worsen over the summer?
The failing economy headlines numerous presidential speeches and exploitative
business advertisements, perhaps to the point that students lose their sensitivity
to the subject, untroubled within the country-club conditions of Xavier University.
Without souring the anticipation for summer, students will see a different side
of the United States when they are cast from the “garden” to return
home. Joining the reported 8.5 percent of unemployed, a number sure to rise,
students will encounter difficulty finding work with companies already dumping
workers and suspending their summer hiring.
Students who are unable to find reliable work this summer should question the
availability of their scholarships and loans in the coming years. The Nation
magazine reported last January that loan accessibility is down, endowments are
shrinking and government funded programs are showing signs of weakness. The
Federal Family Education Program (FFEP) which accounts for the majority of student
loans, including $52 billion in 2007, has lost 168 lenders since the start of
the recession. Remember Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Their cousin corporation
Sallie Mae is a heavy lender for FFEP, and many analysts are questioning the
integrity of its continued operation.
Don’t count on Xavier to give you any breaks, either. Tuition will increase to $13,950 per semester this summer, $1,620 more than the per semester costs in the 2007-08 academic year.
Also new this year is the restriction on sophomore housing. Disproportionately affecting Xavier’s poorest students, sophomores are no longer allowed to seek less expensive off-campus housing. I stand to save nearly $3,000 by renting a house rather than living in the Commons again next year (utilities not included). It could also be that Xavier will follow universities throughout the country who look more favorably upon wealthier applicants capable of paying for the increased cost of education without substantial financial aid (“Paying in Full as the Ticket into Colleges,” New York Times, March 30 2009).
Hopefully some of you are beginning to ask yourself how to save money this summer. To your reflections I would like to add some thoughts which you may not have considered.
Work: Good jobs may be hard to come by, so don’t be afraid to scoop ice cream, work the night shift or mow your neighbor’s lawn. Take any and every job that you can, and hold no work too base because of your contemptuous entitlement complex.
Slow down: The Economist may tell you to spend, but common sense should tell you to save. Don’t forget that these are tough times and the end is nowhere in sight. Rather than taking that cruise or splurging in Mexico, stay at home, go to the local park, cook for yourself and enjoy the simple pleasures of your community’s hidden treasures.
Plant a garden: Gain a little independence and satisfaction while you save money growing your own produce. Plant a garden at home during the summer, and with Cincinnati’s late winter, you can even plant fast growing or hardy crops like cabbage, tomatoes, green beans, onions, broccoli, cauliflower and radishes in the fall. After your vegetables ripen, cook them yourself. It’s cheaper and healthier than the caf.
Go Junkin’: A common pastime in my hometown, you can make money while recycling. Go around your community and backyard and collect all that metal junk just laying around, then take it to a recycling center. Prices range from around 20 to 30 cents per pound for aluminum, up to $1.70 per pound for copper tubing (Quoted by A & A Recycling, 400 Station Ave, Cincinnati).
Move off-campus: Simple, find living accommodations which are more competitively priced.
Friends, our generation will be tested in the coming years. We are constantly reminded that unlike the leathernecks and scrappy generations of old, our entitlement and consumer-driven generation is incapable of the hard work and resolve needed to weather these hard economic times. Let’s hope that we do not see the hardships of the “Greatest Generation,” but know that adversity is coming. The difference between remaining a self-absorbed, incapable culture and rising above may be as simple as planting a garden, or raising your voice.
Quick Hits
Brandon McClain
Editorial Columnist
Chris Mack
Now that we’ve all calmed down and collected our thoughts into a more structurally-sound and profanity-reduced mindset, I hope that we have moved past the recent coaching abandonment and are instead focused on our future with Coach Mack. We have a great opportunity here before us to re-write our script as student fans and as a community that supports Xavier Basketball.
Granted, if you’re one of the students who are apathetic, that’s fine, but for the rest of us fans who actually care, this is a big deal. It’s a huge opportunity to reach out to Coach Mack and show him the support that he deserves from the get-go. As a Xavier alumnus, he knows how things work around here and we need to stand behind our guy—one of our own in more than one sense—if we wish to keep our future looking bright.
We have a golden opportunity to evolve into a new level of fans that are actively involved and not just at nail-biting games to be seen. It is my sincerest hope that Coach Mack can become “the people’s coach” and foster a great relationship with the students so that we can be more willing and able to show excitement for our team. Maybe we can even change the lame-duck mindset that was so painfully evident this past season.
Epic Fail: Construction
I’m going to put this as nicely as possible without blaming the people involved. I just blame the circumstances for this failure; I can’t stand the construction that has been going on at Xavier in recent weeks. I’m certain the workers can’t do anything about their schedules, but enough is enough. Not only is the end of the year rapidly approaching and I’m already sleep-deprived, but being woken up at 7:30 in the morning because of the jackhammer in front of the Commons is not cool.
The worst part is, this construction is everywhere—not just in front of the Commons, but also by the library, next to Alter and on the greenspace.
I’ll repeat myself: I don’t blame the workers themselves because they’ve all been friendly. The scheduling and the circumstances have failed. It’s not fair for anyone to be woken up due to poor timing for construction purposes.
Great Success: Workshop 2009
Everyone involved with Workshop 2009 deserves a big shout-out after this past weekend’s production. For those of you who didn’t see it, you truly missed out on the constant stream of laughs. Screw the comparisons to last year’s epic performance because Workshop 2009 was special, fun and awesome in its own right, and I was proud to be a part of it.
One special shout-out to all my people (both human and zombie) in “The Return” cast, because it was funny as hell and I was glad to be the “Xavier Zombie.” This further proves that Xavier basketball may in fact actually kill me one day. And finally, thanks to Kelsey Gray for being the most BA drama buddy.
— LETTERS TO THE EDITOR—
Go for it, sophomores
This last week I was perusing my copy of the Newswire when I came to the back page, entitled “How to be an Upperclassman.”
This was an advice column for upcoming sophomores, juniors and seniors and as I read it I found myself a tad shocked at what I was reading, in regards to one section in particular.
The advice given to sophomores relating to job searches was that they should not apply for internships because no one will want to take on a sophomore.
Not only is this terrible advice to give to sophomores, but it also happens to be untrue. I know many people who were able to obtain an internship sophomore year, all with various companies and majors.
While it is true that some of them did have help from family and friends, that’s just how it works in the real world, too. It’s better to learn that lesson now than later.
So here’s the real advice for sophomores: go ahead, try to get that internship. You might not get it, but you just might. Either way, you gain the valuable experience of applying, interviewing and finding out what type of job interests you. If you happen to get it, so much the better! Now you have the chance for some real hands-on experience and get to find out relatively early in your collegiate career if you actually want to do what you thought you wanted to. Go for it, sophomores. You never know what could happen.
Ben Schuerman | ‘10
Criticism of Queer Week
You all are shoving this “Queer” stuff down the throats of Xavier students. If you want to be gay and lesbian, go ahead. I certainly don’t care. I actually think homosexuals should be able to marry.
However, what I get sick and tired of is gay rights organizations pushing their agenda on other people and then calling them bigots and homophobes when they object. If you want to be gay, be gay. It’s really not a big deal to the rest of us.
It just seems like you’re going out of your way to provoke people rather than educating them. Why else would you put a shirt on the statue outside Cintas Center? What really does this accomplish other than to anger students?
I appreciate what you’re trying to do. Nobody wants anyone discriminated against. But when you draw attention to yourself using the antics and in-your-face tactics you all are utilizing, you should expect a negative response. It’s even worse when your student newspaper tells those who disagree they should “die.”
Your mission should be to help gay and lesbian students by being an outlet for them to come together and share their experiences and tribulations with each other.
I’m not gay, but I imagine it’s a lot easier to live in the world as a straight person. Your organization is full of young people who are still learning how to deal with being homosexual. Maybe you should focus on helping them with their struggles, rather than inciting battles with people who could care less what you are or what you do with your love life.
By the way, I would write this same letter to those organizations that use the same tactics to condemn homosexuality. The bottom line is you have the right to be gay without persecution and those who object to homosexuality also have the same right. But you both just need to pipe down and get out of each other’s faces.Those of us in the middle who don’t give a damn are getting tired of it!
I wish your organization the best and hope you will put your efforts to better use in the future.
Jeff Davis | ‘97
Katherine Monasterio
Op-Ed Editor
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