Point News, 2001 February 13

              St. Mary’s College of Maryland
St. Mary’s campus weekly • 52nd year, No. 13 February 13, 2001 • St. Mary’s City, MD 20686
Student wages come
under review
DOMINIC VOTE
staff writer
On college campuses throughout the
nation, one does not have to listen long to
hear arguments considering the issue of
fair wages. Students at Penn State and
other colleges have set up large-scale pro­tests,
boycotting their own campus stores
for importing products constructed in the
sweatshops of the developing world. How­ever,
one does not necessarily have to look
to the developing world lo find examples
of substandard wages.
Many students at St. Mary’s College of
Maryland have jobs. Some work to fund
their weekend partying habits while others
struggle to pay their own fees and tuition.
Those who are fortunate enough to have
cars have a wide variety of jobs in the
surrounding community to choose from.
The rest are limited to what thay can find
on campus. Fortunately, there is a wide
variety of interesting on-campus jobs that
offer all sorts of relevant work experience.
The difference is every single one of those
jobs pays only $5.15 per hour.
The question on many student’s minds
is why do all on-campus jobs pay only
$5.15 per hour? Why is it that this
reporter, a two-year employee of the
campus store with managerial experi-first
year student who
gets hired tomorrow?
Many believe the stu­dents
are being taken ad­vantage
of. Those stu­dents
who don’t have
cars need to make money
somehow, so they are
forced to turn to on-cam-pus
jobs no matter what
they pay. When asked
about the issue at a
townhouse meeting,
Dean of the College
Michael Freeman ex­plained
that the minimum
wage rule was strictly
enforced by former Vi ce-
President John
Underwood, and that he
(Dean Freeman) saw no
reason why the issue
could not be reviewed.
Many believe that it is time to revisit
this issue. Student employees carry out
very important jobs all over campus. Its
not that nobody should be paid minimum
wage on campus, but many think stu­dents
should at least be allowed the
opportunity for advancement as they
gain experience and take on more com-
Derrick Bell speaks to campus community
Derrick Bell, a visiting professor at New York-University Law School and a civil
rights activist, spoke on Tuesday night as part of the Carter G. Woodson lecture
series. Prof. Bell spoke about the permanence of racism in our society. Here, Prof.
Bell is pictured with Andristine Robinson, Assistant Dean of Student Development,
during his book signing following the lecture. photo by Brian Sutherland
rying out managerial duties and respon­sibilities
should be rewarded with better
pay for their hard work. Many depart­ments
on campus have stated that they
would support paying the harder work­ing,
experienced students more, but they
are not currently allowed to even if they
have extra money in their budgets.
Offering students the opportunity to
policy for all involved. Not only will re­sponsible
students be rewarded for their
hard work, but there will be an added
incentive for students to show up for
work on time and do a good job so that
they might get that raise at the end of the
semester. Most economists would argue
that the result of the removal of a distor­tion
such as a wage ceiling will ultimately
ence, gets paid the same amount as a plicated tasks. In addition, students car- earn better wages seems like a win win result in increased efficiency.
Student heads committee for Goodpaster lecture series
ERIN CARMANY
senior editor
The College is planning the
fourth annual Andrew J.
Goodpaster lecture. However,
this year the planning committee
is headed up by a student, third-year
student Anne Sanner.
The administration was wor­ried
that the lecture was starting
to lose its appeal to students. The
lecture series “was created to
benefit the students and it was
losing that focus,” said Sanner.
Past lecturers include David
McCullough, historian and au­thor
of Truman and other books;
Brent Scowcroft, a former Na­tional
Security Advisor; and Ha­zel
O’Leary, who spoke last se­mester.
O’Leary is a former Sec­retary
of Energy.
The lecture series was previ­ously
handled under the auspices
of the Office of Development,
but it was moved to Student Af­fairs
under Dean Mike Freeman
in the hopes of increasing student
input.
Freeman asked Sanner to head
the committee to select next year’s
lecturer. He was impressed by
her during the application pro­cess
to become the Student
Trustee. Although third-year stu­dent
Kai Cunningham was se­lected
to be the Student Trustee-in-
Training instead of Sanner,
Freeman said that he would keep
her in mind for another leadership
position.
Sanner’s committee includes
Andristine Robinson, Assistant
Dean of Student Development;
Sharon Murray, executive secre­tary
for Student Affairs; Dirk
Griffith, executive director of
Alumni Relations and Planned
Giving; new faculty member and
alum Jerrold Van Winter, who
teaches management; Tony
Brooks, a Public Safety officer;
fourth-year student Nicole
Deming; and second-year stu­dent
Matt Bayer.
Sanner had some discretion
over the selection of committee
members. She wanted Van Win­ter,
who graduated from SMC in
1983, on the committee because
he had just recently joined the
campus community after work­ing
in the computer industry for
several years. “I thought he would
have a good perspective ... and
lots of contacts,” said Sanner.
Having student representatives
on the committee is a first, ex­plained
Sanner. “It’s helpful to
have students ... as a kind of
segue into the student popula­tion,”
she said.
Sanner’s responsibilities as
committee chair include research­ing
potential speakers and being
the contact person between them
and the College, as well as han­dling
“a lot of the nitty gritty
stuff.” The committee just
started meeting this semester.
“We’re still at the early stage,
trying to select a speaker,” she
said.
Speakers they are considering
include former senator Bill Brad­ley,
former president of Spelman
College Johnetta Cole, political
pundit/broadcaster Jim Lehrer of
PBS, and Charles Ogletree, a
Harvard law professor. In addi­tion,
they are considering Eliza­beth
Dole, but she may be more
than their limited budget can af­ford.
Sanner is faced with a task she
at first found “kind of intimidat­ing.”
“There’s never been a com­mittee
like this before for the
lecture series. There are no pre­vious
guidelines” to follow, she
said.
In addition, heading a committee
that includes members of the ad­ministration,
faculty, and staff is a
challenge. “They’re looking to me
to find out what to do,” she ex­plained.
In comparison to pro­grams
she has planned for SOAP
(Students Organizing Alternative
Programming) as president of that
organization, “the stakes are higher
and the sense of responsibility has
increased” for the lecture series.
However, Sanner knows that
“there are always people there
and [she’s] not doing this alone.”
She’s especially grateful for the
committee members who have a
lot of experience planning major
events like this and searching for
speakers.
Sanner, an economics major,
thinks that this experience will
help her succeed in the career
she’s hoping to have after she
graduates. Sanner wants to be a
real estate investor, and the com­mittee
has helped her prepare for
this goal by giving her chances to
interact with higher-ups like the
Dean “on a different level.”
“I’m learning so much,” she
said. “It’s a really good experi­ence
overall.”
The Andrew J. Goodpaster
Endowed Leadership and Honor
Lecture Series was established
by General Goodpaster, a former
trustee of the College and a top
military advisor to every presi­dent
from Dwight Eisenhower to
Bill Clinton. The objective of the
series is to bring to speakers who
serve as models of leadership and
service.
Inside
NEWS........................................................................ 2
FEATURES.............................................................3
HUMOR....................................................................4
A& E ........................................................................... 5
OPINION.............................................................6-7
SPORTS....................................................................8
I
D ating O n T he
Internet
Whether you’ve tried it or not,
features editor Lindsey Rocco
looks at the pros and cons of
cyber-relationships. Page three.
1s a?
T he R eturn of
T he C omics
Skippy Sunshy and The Ad­ventures
o f Nik and Chris have
returned. Joy! Page four.
S chool S pirit A t S t.
M ary’s ?
Megan Trudeau asks the
question of whether the cam­pus
community has enough
Seahawk spirit. Page eight.