OPINION Volume 126, No. 50
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Liberals have it easier in college
SPORTS
Football is back! PAGE 10
PAGE 5
Friendly CSU employees give advice, share positivity and save lives
Students enjoy food from Braiden Dining Hall during late night on Halloween. PHOTO BY ELLIOT JERGE COLLEGIAN
By Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick @tatianasophiaPT
Todd McCollam: LSC Custodial On Todd McCollam’s first day as an employee doing custodial work for CSU he spent an hour scrubbing the microwaves in the Lory Student Center. Students had been so careless while warming up their varied foods that they jointly left behind a huge mess – a mess that someone would have to
clean for them. But, when McCollam is asked about working he has nothing bad to say. “I’ve only been working here a couple of weeks, it’s been nothing but positive,” McCollum said. “Students have been gracious, polite, I haven’t had any issues. I enjoy working here and I’d love to be working here long term.” Like many CSU employees, McCollam contributes to a positive environment on campus. From the custodial staff to the dining hall, there are a select few employees who have become a familiar face for students. Jackie Swaro, the Team Lead Benefits Administrator of Human Resources, wrote in an email to the Collegian that “most eligible employees are entitled to a rich suite of benefits.” This includes medical, dental, vision and life insurance. Swaro wrote, “many employ-
ees also have access to the Employee Study Privilege program (up to 9 credits of tuition), the Tuition Scholarship Program (tuition discount for employee’s dependents) and several other perks under Commitment to Campus.” According to Swaro, there are great options and opportuni-
ties for employees at CSU. Mel Liddell: Spoons The reason Mel Liddell has worked at Spoons in Allison
Hall for more than a decade is the students. “I love the students,” Liddell said. “This is my therapy, I enjoy it very, very much because you guys make me feel young.” Liddell worked with preschool-level children in special education for 8 years before working at CSU when she decided to give college-age students a try. She found she loved it. Lidell has a wide range of responsibilities at Spoons and she considers being a positive part of a student’s day one of them. “I try to have everyone have a good day,” Lidell said. “If I see someone who’s down, or all by themselves, I try to comfort them.” Liddell takes this responsibility very seriously. Around 10 years ago a freshmen CSU student approached Liddell and told her he wanted to say goodbye. Liddell was confused and asked why. He told her that he
planned to commit suicide. “I said ‘no you are not,’ because I just had a friend who committed suicide,” Liddell said. “I said, ‘would you do me a favor? If you ever get stressed here’s my phone number, here’s my address, I want you to come to my house and I’ll just listen to you. I have any kind of movie you want, I have music you want to listen to, come over, but I want you to come see me every single morning.’” Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and the school year came to an end. According to Liddell, this student’s parents came to campus and he introduced her to them. The parents asked to speak to Liddell’s manager – they wanted the supervisor to know that Liddell saved their son’s life. Liddell asked the parents not to; she told the student that what the student went through was just between him and her, and she see FRIENDLY on page 13 >>
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