STEPHEN SKELTON EYES DRAFT PROSPECTS - PAGE 24
SODEXO VIOLATES STUDENTS’ TRUST - PAGE 11
SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS
1918-2011
APRIL 13, 2011
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 10
Students Outraged By Sodexo Health Violations Students Shower Sodexo with Complaints at Town Hall By BRIAN KRAKER NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/ THE RAM
Brian Poteat apologized to students for infractions discovered during a recent Health Department investigation.
Fordham Flocks to Facebook to Vent Frustrations and Coordinate Student Response By BRIAN KRAKER NEWS EDITOR
The Fordham community transformed Facebook from a social networking Web site to a forum for student activism following recent health code violations at four Sodexo-run facilities. Students flooded the online
community with links to information regarding the violations and also formed two Facebook events, allowing users to commiserate and prompting two University gatherings. These events have allowed students to share pictures and anecdotes of their experiences with Fordham eateries. John Mantia, GSB ’13, is the
founder of the Facebook event, “Demanding a Refund from Fordham Hospitality Services,” which amassed over 1,600 members on its first day. Katherine White, FCRH ’13, founded the group “Protesting Sodexo’s Unsanitary Conditions,” which recruited over 700 students. “I guess that somehow struck a SEE FACEBOOK ON PAGE 3
On-line USG Displays Student Housing Art in McGinley Center Selection Launches By PATRICK DEROCHER SENIOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Fordham students, beginning with rising seniors, inaugurated the University’s new room selection process on April 11. Monday was the first day of Phase 3 of the housing selection and assignment process, which began with the distribution of lottery books in late February. At the time of publication, there had been very few issues with the room selection process, according to staff members at the Office of Residential Life. “The process has been terrific, as far as room selection is concerned,” Greer Jason, assistant dean of students and director of Residential Life, said. She noted that there was one “minor” technical glitch, wherein students were unable to select six-person rooms and another where a group had to be talked through correct room selection. “I saw the building and the apartment we wanted were available, but when I went to assign the beds to the people in my group, the system reported an error,” Ada Colocho, FCRH ’12, one of the affectSEE HOUSING ON PAGE 2
Recent health code violations at four Sodexo-run dining facilities sparked outrage among the Fordham community, culminating in a town hall meeting Monday night. Over 200 students and a handful of faculty members filled O’Keefe commons, as Sodexo representatives and members of the United Student Government fielded questions and complaints from the student body. Speakers raised grievances over the presence of vermin in dining facilities, lack of transparency with health code reports and cost of meal plans. “I am personally sorry for the results of those health inspections,” Brian Poteat, general manager of food services, said. “They are unacceptable and we’ve done everything we can to improve the facilities as quickly and as expeditiously as we could.” Poteat, in addition to Susan Gregro, regional food safety and sanitation manager; Heather Muhlenberg, district manager of Sodexo Campus Services at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center; Michael DeMartino, executive chef at the Rose Hill campus, and Abir Roychoudhury, operations director at the Rose Hill campus, represented Sodexo. Both Executive President of USG Sara Kugel, FCRH ’11, and Executive Vice President of USG Caitlin Meyer, FCRH ’12, joined the panel and answered questions. Many students expressed contempt for the results of March 21 health inspections, which exposed the presence of mouse feces, roaches and improper storage of food. “I worked every day this summer to help pay for Fordham,” another
student said. “Basically I just paid $5,000 to eat rat food.” Julian Saad, FCRH ’13, addressed the panel about his affinity for Fordham, saying he could not be paid to attend another school and his desire to see improvements in the dining facilities. “These situations of complete disgusting conditions don’t occur overnight, it’s a buildup, and that’s a failure to us,” Saad said. “We as students don’t want to fail you, the administration, and we work our butts off in the classroom, out of the classroom and we deserve something more.” Other students expressed unease with eating at the facilities after student testimonials described finding foreign objects in Sodexo’s food. “Its really scary that there’s a pushpin in someone’s muffin,” one student said. “That is reminiscent of something that would happen in a Saw movie.” Poteat assured the crowd that the pushpin was not baked into the muffin, but it is still undetermined how the object arrived in the cafeteria food. “Whenever we have an issue where a foreign object is found in the food, we have to send it off to an independent laboratory,” Poteat responded. Poteat repeatedly apologized throughout the town hall meeting and pledged a policy of openness toward students. Poteat also informed students that the Student Deli and Millennium Grille both received additional inspections where they received A grades, while Campbell Café was given its first examination, when it was also awarded an A. Poteat also told the crowd he spent nine hours SEE SODEXO ON PAGE 4
Women’s Empowerment “Complicates the Issue” By CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
COURTESY OF ROBERT SKODA
Student artists pose before their artworks during the Art Gallery opening.
By KATHRYN HILLMAN STAFF WRITER
The McGinley Student Center hosted the unveiling of the new McGinley Student Art Gallery on April 6. The project, sponsored by United Student Government, was led by Sara Kugel, executive president of USG. This had been an item on her platform when she ran for USG, and in the process of putting it together, she has worked with Chelsea Becher, vice president of FCRH ’11, and Adam Remiszewski, GSB ’11, vice president of student life. The gallery provides an opportunity for students at Rose Hill campus to showcase their creativity.
The project began over a year ago, when Kugel proposed the idea as a part of her platform while running for USG executive president. “When you go to Lincoln Center’s campus, there is an almost palpable disparity between the art cultures, there and at Rose Hill,” Kugel said. “But for anyone SEE ART ON PAGE 5
As Respect For Life’s annual “Respect Life Week” took place on campus between April 4 and 8, Women’s Empowerment, a subcommittee of the Progressive Students for Justice, sponsored its second annual “Complicate the Issue: Reproductive Rights” week with a table in the McGinley Center and fliers throughout campus. The activity was chaired by Sara Lynch, FCRH ’11 and Caroline Egan, FCRH ’12, and consisted of
fliers containing “unbiased information and healing resources,” and other information, including “the story of a Fordham student who chose to have an abortion and the story of a man who realized why men should view reproductive rights as an important issue to stand by,” according to the group’s Facebook page. Women’s Empowerment explained, however, that they did not view the activity as pro-choice activism on a Catholic campus such as Fordham’s. “We wouldn’t call this pro-choice SEE WOMEN ON PAGE 2
INSIDE Sports PAGE 19
Opinions PAGE 9
Culture PAGE 15
Softball goes 4-1 throughout the week.
Fordham class of 2015 admit rate plummets.
Fordham wraps up its participation in RecycleMania.