Cafeteria major concern during South Campus student forum
by Justin Gilmore and Mary Barrera

    Taco Bell in the cafeteria, on campus citations and janitorial issues were discussed at the student/administration forum last week on South Campus.

   Huzefa Khanum, Student Government Association president, said, “This is a great opportunity for students and administration to get together and voice their opinions.”

   Dr. Ernest Thomas, South Campus president, led the discussion.

   “We are here to have a dialogue on some concerns you, as students, may already have,” he said.

   Several students complained that the quality of the food in the cafeteria has been slowly dropping and was now to the point where it is almost inedible. Students voiced concerns about the Weber cafeteria regarding spoiled ham in salad, high food prices and service.

   Though the college has a contract with Weber Food Service, students are interested in obtaining services from well-known restaurant chains such as Taco Bell, Burger King and Starbucks.

   Dan Chacon, dean of student development, said having name brand vendors was not feasible at this time because of an existing contract between the school and Weber, the food service used on every campus.

   Thomas added, “Some of us can’t eat tacos everyday.”

   Chacon decided to have a group of students meet with people from Weber to discuss the state of the food being served.

   “If they don’t know, they are going to think everything is fine,” he said. “Because of the contract, we need to go to Weber first. This does not mean that we can’t renegotiate the contract when it comes up again.”

   Students also voiced concerns about receiving parking citations without first getting a warning.

   One student mentioned that the student handbook states each student is entitled to one warning before being issued a citation.

   Lt. Toni Owens, who is new to the South Campus, said warnings are issued at the officer’s discretion. She also explained the way the department would handle warnings.

   Owens said her policy is based around a three-strike rule: a student’s first violation results in a warning, the second a citation that may be dismissed if the student has never received a citation on any campus and finally a citation that can be dismissed only through an appeal process.

   “The parking decal is stapled to a pamphlet so you can read the rules and regulations. It just takes a little while to figure out where we can park and where we can’t,” she said.

   The cleanliness of some areas on campus was of great concern to some students and staff. The restrooms in the business, computer science and math buildings are particularly dirty and have a stench, students said. The microwave oven and tables in the dining area of the SUB also need to be cleaned regularly.

   Thomas suggested providing cleaning supplies for the microwave oven for students to clean up after themselves.

   “If you use it, you clean it,” he said.

   Cleaning supplies and a sign will be placed in the area to see if Thomas’ proposal will work.

   A topic of great debate was the issue of student absences and makeup work.

   A student said she was not allowed to make up tests that she missed while attending two funerals.

   “If something comes up outside of school, it doesn’t mean I don’t want the education,” one student said.

   The discussion became heated when faculty members said that if a course information sheet says no makeups, then none would be given. The administrators also said it would be too hard to research each excuse on a case-by-case basis.

   Humanities chair Judith Gallagher said the instructor of each class sets the policy for absence.

   “An instructor cannot state ‘no makeup tests’ at the beginning and then make an exception,” she said. “They have to stick to what can be done consistently and fairly.”

   While commenting on the time that would be consumed by researching each absence, Dr. Thomas asked, “When will the teaching occur?”

   As this portion of the forum was ending, some students brought up the topic of instructor absence. Students said they were irritated because instructors apparently could miss class any time they wished.

   One student said one of her professors has been absent six times this year and the last time his daughter brought her child along while she substituted for him.
   After a brief explanation of how many absences instructors are allowed to have, Chacon asked the personnel department to look into some of the students’ claims.

   Chacon ended the forum by asking every student to take time out to help five students they did not know.

   After the forum, Thomas said he thought the forum “went marvelously good.”