5-03-2010 Broadside

Volume 86 Issue 12 broadsideonline.com Monday, 05.3.10

Broadside George Mason University’s Student Newspaper

Sodexo workers explain grievances to Student Government Employees reiterate concerns regarding pay and unsafe working conditions Asst. News Editor Four Sodexo w orkers, accompanied by Service Employees Int ernational U nion organizers and about 10 student supporters, appear ed at a Student Go vernment Senat e meeting Thursda y to further express objections regarding dining ser vices, r epeating assertions that manag ement has engaged in “intimidation and discrimination.” The student lawmakers heard t estimonies fr om Southside emplo yees Angelica Hernandez, F rancisca Gomez and Elizabet Blas F alcon. U nion organizer Ama ya Henry

translated their r emarks fr om Spanish, w hich focused on payment and injuries sustained on the job. Addressing a room of about 40 to 50 students , Falcon said that she w as denied immediate medical attention following a grease burn. “You can g et hurt and they won’t call an ambulance,” Falcon told Student M edia after speaking t o the Student Senate. “After an hour and a half of being int errogated b y a supervisor, I was finall y taken t o the hospital. I was treated lik e an animal.” Falcon was not the only one alleging misconduct. T wo workers, Gomez and Angelica

Student allegedly sexually assaulted Alleged attack occurs in Presidents Park’s Madison Hall Yasmin Tadjdeh News Editor A Geor ge M ason U niversity student was allegedly sexually assaulted on the second floor of Madison Hall, a freshmen co-ed dormitory in Presidents Park, in the ear ly morning hours on Sunday, A pril 25. A ccording t o police records, the alleged victim reported being sexually assaulted by an ac quaintance in her dorm room. According to M ason’s Pr ess Secretary Dan W alsch, the incident involved a young couple who w ere together from late Saturday nig ht int o Sunda y morning. During the c ourse of the stay, “behavior occurred that was un wanted by the female,” said Walsch. The alleged victim then contacted the Mason Police Department. Currently no one has been charged with any crime involving the incident. “If we do make an arrest — I’m not sa ying that one will be [made] — it will be [included in the] blotter,” said Assistant Chief of the Mason Police Department George Ginovsky. According t o Ginovsky, the case is still under investigation. Both the M ason P olice Department and the university have been in c ontact with both parties in volved in the incident, according to Walsch.

Students were not notified of the alleg ed sexual assault via the Mason Alert System. Ginovsky maintains that the case did not warrant the system’s usage, as it did not present a threat to the Mason community. “The alert system is [meant to be] used as an alert sy stem, not as a breaking news sy stem,” Ginovsky said. Walsch also believed that usage of the sy stem w as not warranted. “It w as not deemed to be a threat to the Mason community . . . because it was contained and isolated to one specific c ouple,” said Walsch. According t o W alsch, had the alleg ed sexual assault c ome from a random at tacker w here a predator was involved, the Mason campus would have been alerted. Mason Alert is a notification system used by the university to contact students and other Mason c ommunity members during an emer gency situation. Messages ar e sent via text message to users’ cell phones and e -mail ac counts. The alert system was put in place after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings. According to WUSA9 News, the M ason Police Department is receiving help fr om the F airfax County Police with the case.

Student hit by car moved to rehabilitation center Michelle Dawson undergoing speech and brain therapy Emily Sharrer Editor-in-Chief The r oad t o r ecovery for Michelle Dawson, the student who w as hit by a car w hile in a crosswalk on Patriot Circle on March 2 9, is going to be a long one sa y family of the junior marketing major. Dawson, w ho w as recently moved fr om INO VA F airfax to a local rehabilitation c enter, is currently under going speech, brain and oc cupational therapy according to Danielle Dawson, Michelle’s older sist er and a senior art and visual technology major. “She’s g onna be in a wheelchair f or a long time, there’s just no definit e answ er right no w,” said D anielle Dawson, w ho has been at Michelle’s side almost ev eryday since the accident. “She’s a fighter and she ’s doing everything the doctors are

telling her to do with the various rehab that she’s going thr ough,” said Michelle ’s dad, D ave Dawson. “It’s like a waiting game and everyday we get a new little piece of the puz zle. [Michelle and Danielle] were lik e insepar able. [Danielle’s] basically taken off her semester to help rehabilitate Michelle, w hich is sweet of her and we all appreciate that. Thank god D anielle’s there with her everyday and night,” he said. The driver of the car that hit Michelle D awson, J effrey Jenkins, a 2 3-year-old nonMason student was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian. “She’s been at the rehabilitation c enter for a little over a w eek and she ’ll be rehabilitating for quite a while. . . she’ll be w alking ev entually, hopefully without even a cane or crutches, but that’s still months away,” said Dave Dawson.

Hernandez, additionall y told Student M edia that Sodex o offered inadequat e pay and sometimes r educed pa y without providing explanation. “I’ve been working her e f or 24 years,” said Gomez. “M y problem is that I was making $11.67 [per hour], and aft er a review my pa y was r educed t o $11.32 [per hour]. They didn’t say why, and I want them to explain.” Some Student Go vernment members w ere sk eptical of the statements made by workers. “These claims ar e ridiculous,” said Alex Romano, a member of the Administrative Subcommittee on Dining Services that earlier this month issued a str ong stat ement in

support of M ason Dining’ s management. “I’m c onfident they’re not true. I think [the workers] are being unfairly targeted by SEIU. SEIU promises higher pay, but that’s not in writing. How can they guarantee that?” Sodexo Resident District Manager Denise Ammac capane expressed confusion at the accusations in a phone interview with Student M edia after the meeting. “Everyone has a right to come to me and no one has come to me at all,” she said. “We also have a 24-hour hotline and callers can be anonymous. Why wouldn’t they come to me?” Newly-inaugurated Student

Government President D’Leon Barnett showed int erest in the issue, saying resolving the matter would be a priority. “We need to sit do wn with both Sodexo w orkers and [management] t o come t o common ground,” Barnett said. “I know through my ex perience with Denise Ammaccapane that [Sodexo managers] w ant to provide fair opportunity for all employees, but the concerns that workers h ave are raising a lot of eyebrows, including in Student Government.” Barnett’s position stands in contrast to the views expressed in the dining committee’s let ter, the onl y prior Student Government action regarding

the unionization efforts. However, he denied distancing himself fr om the outgoing government’s policies. “I can’t speak on the past or on w hat’s writ ten,” he said. “To get to the truth, we need to have a panel with both sides. Then we can better help, and we can all be happy campers.” As of pr ess time, no unfair labor practices appear to have been filed with the N ational Labor R elations Boar d against the Sodexo account at Mason. A petition has not been sent to the NLRB f or a f ederallysupervised secret ballot election.

For more information visit www .connect2mason. com

Come fly with me

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BRASHIER

Ethan Vaughan

A Piper L-4 Grasshopper airplane was one of eight planes Avia on Club members got to fly during the club’s first-ever ‘Flight Day’ last Saturday.

New Aviation Club lets prospective pilots take the controls during ‘Flight Day’ at Warrenton Airport Emily Sharrer Editor-in-Chief It’s been near ly three years since Rick Davis, associate pr ovost for under graduate education first hatched the idea of a flying club at George Mason University, close to a year since student J ames But tery began rallying support and gathering paperwork to make it a reality, and a little over a month since the M ason Aviation Club has been instated at Mason. Already the gr oup has gather ed close to 200 F acebook fans and 50 official members, 29 of whom gathered on Saturday for the club’s first-ever Flight Day at Warrenton-Faquier Airport. “This is r eally a t est semest er for us , we’re just kind of seeing w hat w orks and what doesn ’t,” said Conor Dancy, a freshman environmental science major and vice president of the Aviation Club. Last Satur day, the Aviation Club got together at W arrenton Airport t o fly airplanes, eat BBQ, and have a meet and greet with local pilots, including famed Flying Circus A erodrome airshow pilot Charlie K ulp, also kno wn as “the Fl ying Farmer.” “In the a viation w orld Charlie Kulp, especially around her e, is a pretty big celebrity, so even just the fact that he would come out to something like that, in the eyes of the aviation community, that’s a really big thing,” said Buttery, a senior c onflict analysis and resolution major and president of the Aviation Club. Through their local c onnections, Buttery and Dancy w ere able to borrow a hangar f or the day fr om local aviation services company Skyworld Aviation, while local pilots g ave club members rides in their planes, gi ving them a chanc e to take the controls if they so chose.

“It was absolutely incredible that they would just be willing to sho w up,” said Buttery, who has been a fl ying-enthusiast since he w as a child and has his Private Pilot License. “All the pilots donated their time and their money and their aircrafts, so it didn’t cost the flight members anything.”

Quick facts on the GMU Aviation Club So far, the club has 50 official members. Senior James Buttery is the president, and freshman Conor Dancy is the vice president. The club held its first “Flight Day” last Saturday, and 29 members got the chance to fly planes at the Warrenton Airport. Next year, Buttery and Dancy hope to hold “Flight Days” for club members twice a semester. To find out more about the brand new club visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ GMUAviation

Members of the Flying Circus, a Bealeton, V a. gr oup that performs wing walking, parachuting and acr obatic acts , offered Aviation Club members free rides in their planes — a service that normally costs hundreds of dollars ac cording to Buttery and Dancy.

“I’ve looked at [their] website and what they char ge for a ride at the Flying Circus and w hat they w ere just gi ving a way w as absolutely amazing,” said Buttery. “There w as not a sing le person yesterday who didn’t walk away with a huge grin on their face,” said Dancy, who has his Commercial Flig ht Lic ense and is working toward his C ertificated Flig ht Instruct or certificate. “I t couldn’t h ave gone any better.” Over the summer But tery and D ancy are planning air tr affic control t ower t ours and other small ev ents for interested club members, and in the futur e hope to host “fly outs ,” w here the students w ould take day trips in planes to places like New York, Philadelphia or other nearby cities. The pair also hopes to host other successful flig ht days like Saturday’s event. “Our f ocus is on really fl ying; getting people in the air,” said Dancy. “We probably are g onna take as many trips as w e have meetings.” The ambitious pilots are also planning on off ering official introductory courses to help club members int erested in getting their pilot’s licenses. “We kinda get you half way there,” said Buttery, “it’s not fl ying an airplane, but it’s learning all the little mechanics.” “Our ultimate goal with this, I guess is to provide a strong background in aviation for people w ho ev entually w ant to learn how to fly,” added Dancy. “We can ’t gi ve them their pilot’s licenses but we can teach them what they need to know so that they can get it more easily, and in less time and spend less money.” For mor e inf ormation on the Aviation Club visit w ww.facebook.com/GMU Aviation.