A union of Georgetown University’s Aramark workers was officially certified this week, marking the end of nearly two months of negotiations between Aramark, which operates several food service locations at Georgetown, and Unite Here, a union that represents 80,000 foodservice workers nationwide.
“The union at Georgetown for its Aramark workers at Leo’s, Starbucks, Cosi, the Jesuit residence, and Dr. Mug has been certified,” David Schwartz (SFS ’12), a student who has been involved in the unionization efforts since last July, said.
Through their representation in Unite Here, Aramark employees who work in Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall, Wolfington Hall, the Cosi and Starbucks in the Leavey Center, and the Dr. Mug in the Preclinical Building now have the authority to negotiate with Aramark over health care options and wage increases.
[Editor's Note: A previous version of this post incorrectly reported that Dev and the Cataracs, not Kevin Rudolf, will headline the concert. We apologize for the mistake.]
Georgetown’s annual Spring Kick-Off Concert is going to be like a G6 — or at least part of one.
Kevin Rudolf, the Cash Money-backed artist behind “Let It Rock”, will headline the Apr. 9 concert in McDonough Gymnasium. (Thanks to a few verses by Lil Wayne, “Let It Rock” went triple platinum in 2009.) Dev and the Cataracs, Jason Smith, and Shwayze and Cisco will also perform.
While we couldn’t dig up anything about Smith, Dev and the Cataracs is best known for appearing on and producing the Far East Movement single “Like A G6.” You might recognize Shwayze and Cisco from “Buzzin” and “Corona and Lime,” two songs off Shwayze’s 2008 debut album.
Well, those seniors are getting some cash for the trouble. [Disclosure: I'm a senior who lives in Nevils. So, I'm getting paaa-aaaid.]
In an email sent yesterday evening, Vice President of University Facilities and Student Housing Karen Frank announced that each senior will be given $200.
“We have listened to your concerns, acknowledge the inconvenience and disruption, and understand that you may incur some unanticipated expenses as a result of this temporary relocation,” Frank wrote. “For these reasons, we will provide $200 to each graduating senior scheduled for relocation from Nevils in preparation for the renovation.”
The early move-out date, which is scheduled for May 16, is due to major renovations planned to begin during Senior Week. During the summer, the apartments will be outfitted with new lights, windows, heating and cooling systems, fire alarms, and remodeled kitchens and bathrooms. (If you’re living in Nevils next year, you’ll appreciate that last one more than you’ll ever know. Trust me.)
Frank added that the University will provide “moving assistance” for the displaced students, which includes “packing materials as well as personnel and trucks to move belongings from one location to another.”
“Please know that we worked closely with our contractors to delay closure as long as possible,” she wrote. “The work is so extensive that we must begin the work as scheduled.”
After the jump, we’ve republished Frank’s entire letter.
A group of Georgetown students launched stopcrimenotparties.com on Sunday, giving students the opportunity to report encounters with local residents, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Department of Public Safety, and the Student Neighbor Assistance Program.
The website’s goal? To document any instances of “questionable behavior” observed by students during those encounters — especially in the wake of an amended disorderly conduct law that outlaws any loud noise between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. that could be considered “likely to disturb one or more persons in their residence.”
“Obviously the new noise law means that things are changing a bit,” Adam Mortillaro (COL ’12), one of the founders of the site, said. “We just want to keep an eye on this as the ordinance moves forward.”
At 2 a.m. Saturday, a student on the 1300 block of 35th Street was sexually assaulted by an unknown man.
According to a Department of Public Safety alert, the assault occurred while the woman was looking for her keys and about to enter her residence. The student defended herself against her attacker, who then fled north on 36th Street and was described as “a white male, approximately 5 feet, 9 inches, stocky build, dark hair and wearing a white t-shirt.” Afterward, the student went to the DPS office to report the crime.
The assault will be investigated under the direction of the Metropolitan Police Department.
DPS is requesting that anyone who has information regarding this assault, or who noticed any suspects around the time of the incident, to contact them immediately at (202) 687-4343.
This morning, GUSA’s Finance and Appropriations Committee released its student activities budget for the 2012 fiscal year. Clubs requested more than $1.6 million in funding and received $800,000, as per the plan established in last semester’s Student Activities Fee Endowment reform.
“Although we had more money to give out this year, we were faced with much larger funding requests than last year,” the report reads. “Student organizations realized that SAFE Reform meant more money was available, and they responded by requesting more money to meet the needs of their groups.”
The highlights of the budget include $14,000 for the oft-underfunded College Readership Program, which was suspended last semester, as well as $150,000 for the Center for Social Justice’s Advisory Board for Student Organizations. According to the report, Fin App allocated the money to restore CSJ ABSO’s reserves, expand ABSO groups, sponsor Alternative Spring Break trips, and purchase vans. $12,500 was allocated to CollegiateLink Software, a student organization management tool.
Despite not receiving its total request of $125,500, the Student Activities Commission saw its funding increase by the largest magnitude from the previous fiscal year — it received $90,000, more than triple the amount it received in 2011. (Earlier this week, SAC voted use its reserve money to cover a potential budget shortfall in the event that GUSA reduced its funding.) The report explained that the money will cover approximately 85 percent of funding requests — if the numbers include outside funding sources.
“Because of the very large requests from advisory boards this year, unfortunately we were not able to give anyone their full request. We are confident, however, that this drastic increase in SAC’s allocation will allow it to fund clubs at a much higher rate than past years,” the report reads.
The Advisory Board for Club Sports received $250,000, the largest share allocated from the budget. The money will be used to subsidize club sports teams and fees.
Groups that requested funding now have a week to appeal their amount of allocated fund. Then, Fin App will vote on the budget. If it passes out of the committee, the GUSA Senate will vote on the budget no sooner than a week later.
[Editor's Note: Due to an error in the FinApp report, an earlier version of this post reported that SAC requested $225,500, not $125,500 — the actual amount requested.]
According to UIS Associate Director Donna DeLay, Copley Hall will have wireless access come Mar. 11.
“University Information Services will be upgrading the data network and activating wireless internet services in Copley Hall on Friday, March 11th between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.,” she wrote in an email to Copley residents. “Once the installation is complete, the wireless internet service will be available for your use.”
While Vox doesn’t have any updates about any other dorms—notably, Alumni Square, Darnall Hall, Harbin Hall, Henle Village, LXR, Nevils, Village A, and Village C—we’re waiting to hear from UIS about wireless infrastructure status across campus.
Get excited, everybody. Campus tours don’t have to lie anymore!
Victor Reinoso (SFS ’91), D.C.’s former deputy mayor of education under Mayor Adrian Fenty, will join Georgetown University as an “new project development” advisor to University President John DeGioia and Chief Financial Officer Christopher Augostini.
Reinoso will advise DeGioia and Augostini about “international education, distance learning and long-term strategic development.”
“Victor’s more than 15 years of experience in senior leadership positions in government and the private sector will serve the community well as he helps to implement new strategic opportunities for Georgetown,” Augostini said in a press release.
Reinoso, who served under Fenty from 2007 to 2010, faced his fair share of difficulties as a deputy mayor. Although he had oversight of public school construction and the school system’s social services, D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Office of Public Education Facililties Modernization Executive Director Allen Lew “ran their operations with unquestioned authority,” writes the Washington Post‘s Bill Turque, leaving Reinoso “largely elbowed to the margins.”
Reinoso also faced intense scrutiny from the D.C. City Council in 2007 after admitting that a D.C. schools report published by his office plagiarized whole passages from a North Carolina school system’s strategic plan. From that point forward, his relationship with the Council was strained to say the least. (And to top off his tenure in D.C. politics, one of Reinoso’s assistants was fired in 2007 for hanging nude photos of her boyfriend all over D.C. Public School headquarters.)
Prior to joining Fenty’s administration, Reinoso worked for the Federal City Council and a number of start-up companies in the nonprofit and private sectors.
The results are in — Jed Feiman (COL ’12) and Henry Sims (COL ’12) won our GUSA election straw poll with a shade more than 33 percent of the vote.
Trailing a bit less than 10 points back are Mike Meaney (SFS ’12)and Greg Laverriere (COL ’12), with the Ace Factor (COL ’12) / James Pickens (COL ’12) and Charles Joyce (COL ’12) / Paige Lovejoy (SFS ’12) tickets almost 20 points behind.
However, don’t assume Feiman-Sims is a shoo-in just yet. Although we’re awfully proud of the 755 votes in our poll, last year’s GUSA election drew more than 3,100 votes. (And more than 2,600 votes were cast in the election before that.) Plus, the instant-runoff voting system that’ll be used on Thursday means that a plurality doesn’t guarantee a win — but nonetheless, it’s a sign of strong support for Feiman-Sims.
The Georgetown Dish is reporting that Burleith residents’ anti-Campus Plan lawn signs were burned and left on one resident’s front steps during the three-day weekend.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the signs were removed from the front lawns of at least two houses and burned between 11 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Monday. Despite an open investigation, no witnesses have been identified.
“We’ve had signs disappear and vandalized, but we’ve never had signs that were burned,” Burleith Citizens’ Association President Lenore Rubino told the Dish. “There are legitimate ways for people to express their opinions, but when you have burning of the signs it takes it to another level.”
Since last June, Burleith and Georgetown residents have displayed the signs, which read “OPPOSE GU’s Campus Plan” and “Our Homes Not GU’s Dorm” to express their frustration with the University’s 2010 Campus Plan.
“The symbolism of burning something on someone’s front lawn is not to be lost,” Rubino told the Dish. “It’s intimidation and it’s meant to incite fear.”
Not much has changed since the University filed its plan in late December. While the Georgetown-area Advisory Neighborhood Commission will present its recommendations next Monday, the D.C. Board of Planning has yet to file its report with the D.C. Zoning Commission, which will ultimately approve or deny the plan.
Vox Populi is the staff blog of the Georgetown Voice, Georgetown University's weekly newsmagazine. Opinions expressed in posts are those of their author alone unless otherwise stated.
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