M O N D AY NOV. 17, 2003 Vol. 125, No. 35
P.M. T-storms 63 / 58 w w w. s t u d l i f e . c o m
STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
INSIDE
Worker pact may come today
Da Bears go elite
CRÊPE CREATIONS
By Jonathan Greenberger q Associate Editor
Foodnatic visits the City Coffee House and Creperies in Clayton. Find out if their crêpes make getting out of bed in the morning on weekends worth it. Also in Cadenza: Cody Elam reviews Medeski, Martin, and Wood at Mississippi Nights and Greg Fulco helps you find the perfect digital camera.
PAGE 5 VOLLEYBALL TO ELITE EIGHT
PAM BUZZETTA
The women’s volleyball team beat Wartburg College 3-2 on Saturday during the NCAA regional championship at the Field House to advance to the Elite Eight. The Bears will host the quarterfinal against Ohio Northern University on Nov. 22. Read more on page 9 of Sports.
By noon today, supporters of the 36 Nicaraguan custodians recently fired by the University expect to know whether the workers will be hired by University contractor Top Care Lawn Service. In addition to asking for a written statement from the University saying that Top Care will hire the workers, the proposed agreement calls for the University to give the fired workers $3,000 and pay for other costs that the workers incurred in traveling to the United States and returning home to Nicaragua. Charlie Hatcher, director of organizing for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 50, the union that represents the displaced workers, told approximately 40 students these and other details at a meeting late last night. While he said that he is hopeful the University will agree to these terms, Hatcher was very critical of the administration’s overall dealings with the workers. “We are talking about workers being taken advantage of,” he said. “The most disturbing thing has been [the administration’s] total refusal to answer substantive questions about this.” Hatcher also said that the University has told him that if an agreement is not reached today, administrators will report the workers who are still in St. Louis to immigration authorities, and they will become illegal aliens. Approximately 10 workers are believed to still be in the St. Louis area. The 36 workers came to St. Louis in August on a 10-month work visa. They originally planned to provide custodial services on the Hilltop Campus for University contractor G&G Building Services until next May, but instead learned on Oct. 31 that the University had abruptly terminated its agreement with G&G. Numerous calls to University staff and administrators, as well as to G&G, have failed to shed light on the reasons for the contract’s abrupt end. The students who gathered in the Lab Sciences Building last night to support the workers are optimistic that the University will meet their requests. At the same time, they have already begun planning a response if an agreement cannot be reached. University spokesman Frederic Volkmann, contacted after yesterday’s meeting, said he was unaware of the proposed agreement.
Cyclists dodge more than mere potholes By Sarah Laaff q Contributing Reporter
The volleyball team won the Central Regional Championships this weekend over Wartburg College. Find out how they defeated the Knights and how they plan to take on Ohio Northern University in the quarterfinals. Also, reporter Matt Weinstein talks to Coach Dillinger about the end of the women’s soccer season and Renee Hires checks in with swimming and diving.
Stephen McCarthy received his fi rst bicycle—a red Huffy engraved with his name—when he was five. His training wheels came off about a month later. Because he learned to ride early on, he probably thought his days of getting into accidents were over. About two weeks ago, though, as McCarthy rode down the Brookings stairs on his way to the arch, he “hit his front brake instead of the back,” and wiped out. On a separate occasion, McCarthy said his bike bucked him off as he was riding across the Swamp. “I was trying to get back onto the sidewalk when I fell and scraped up my elbow,” said McCarthy, a sophomore. As McCarthy could testify, riding a bike on the Washington University campus can be a dangerous activity. With crowds of walkers and a multitude of staircases, a bicyclist has a lot to watch out for. Sometimes the greatest peril is the
embarrassment that comes from minor accidents in front of spectators. “I was rushing back to my dorm [and while riding through the underpass], I went too fast and hit a crack,” said freshman Jordan Walerstein, who rides a GT Performer BMX bike. Walerstein landed with a leg injury and a pang of embarrassment. He noted that in retrospect, it was a good accident because now he’s more cautious. Bicyclists, however, are not the only ones who feel the danger of bikes. Pedestrians sometimes fear getting hit by bicyclists. “I feel like the bikers just kind of speed along and you never know which way they’re going to go,” said freshman Allie Cartwright. “They weave in between people. It’s insanity!” While bicyclist-pedestrian collisions are certainly a concern, though, they are not necessarily a reality. “We do see them occasionally, but
See BIKES, page 4
YU ARAKI
Freshman Chris Markham locks up his bicycle outside Umrath Hall. Markham uses a Kryptonite lock, which Police Chief Don Strom suggests will help students protect against the recent rash of bicycle thefts on campus.
Muslims, Jews bridge their differences
PAGE 9 DOES GOD EXIST?
Dialogue focuses on groups’ commonalities By Sarah Kliff q Contributing Reporter EMILY TOBIAS
The flight cuts came as part of parent company AMR Corporation’s decision to stop operating St. Louis Lambert as a major hub. “Starting Saturday, St. Louis becomes American’s fourth-largest hub in terms of daily network departures,” said David C. Cush, American’s vice president of St. Louis operations in a press release. Officials at Lambert International said that the flight cuts have impacted their operations. “The most immediate impact is the decreased number of direct flights that are available out of Lambert right now. In response to that, Lambert is making considerable effort to recover some of those routes through growing interest from other
The recent Muslim-Jewish Dialogue gave students an opportunity to hear about the commonalities between Muslims and Jews, rather than just the conflicts. Monday night’s panel discussion on being a minority in America showcased two religions coming together to share their experiences. The panel featured juniors Evan Weiner and Uthalya Abdullah. Also on the panel were Hillel Kieval, professor of Jewish history, and Ahmet Karamustafa, professor of history. The panelists accepted and answered questions regarding the integration of their religious and American identity, how that affects the entire nation and what it is like to have allegiances to multiple countries. Parallels emerged between the Jewish and Muslim experience, such as the idea of merging with American society. “Right now, it’s much more challenging to be a Muslim in society than a Jew,” said Kieval. “Muslims are on the defensive like Jews were on the defensive in the 1930s. The challenge is to talk about similarities and help each other out.” Junior Evan Weiner, one of the student panelists, said that learning about other cultures is integral to students’ growth.
See AMERICAN, page 3
See FRIENDSHIP, page 4
A deserted American Airlines ticket counter at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. This once-bustling hub for the airline has been quiet as of late due to scaled back flights aimed at bolstering the company’s bottom line.
Richard Swineburne, a retired Oxford professor, gave a lecture in Graham Chapel last Thursday on why God exists. Find out what he said and why the Conservative Leadership Association brought him to campus.
PAGE 3 INDEX Cadenza Forum Calendar Sports
pages 3-4 pages 5-6 page 7 page 9
As American reduces operations, students feel strain By Justin Choi q Assistant News Editor Out- of-state students who fly home for the holidays may find themselves in a predicament this year American Airlines, the largest commercial airliner, has nearly halved its departing flight capacity as of Nov. 1. Previously, the airline behemoth managed 417 departing flights from the Lambert hub on a daily basis. American, which was Lambert’s largest carrier, will now send only 209 planes from the airfield. Of these 209 flights, only 53 will be on the larger jets owned and operated by American. The remaining flights will be on smaller jets operated by regional partners AmericanConnection and American Eagle.
STUDENT LIFE
One Brookings Drive #1039 #42 Women’s Building St. Louis, MO 63130
Newsroom: (314) 935-5995 Advertising: (314) 935-6713 Fax: (314) 935-5938
Editor: editor@studlife.com News: news@studlife.com Calendar: calendar@studlife.com
Please Recycle