The Oracle - Feb. 17, 2012

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CRITIC REVIEW: HOOLIGAN’S | PAGE 5

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THE

Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505

O

RACLE

Volume 95 | Issue 12 | Free in single copy | February 17, 2012

University finalizes deal to outsource custodians By NICK ROLLINS Asst. Managing Editor

Tech signed a contract with SSC Service Solutions Feb. 10, outsourcing its custodial services in an attempt to cut spending. “There was an administrative committee that reviewed proposals and evaluated all of the vendors, and the university accepted the contract,” Karen Lykins, Communications and Marketing associate vice president, said. According to Lykins, the Tennessee Board of Regents also approved the buyout and reduction-in-force packages offered to the custodians. Service Solutions will take over all custodial responsibilities May 1, and custodians can take a severance package from Tech. Lykins said that the custodians can choose from three different packages depending on how long they have worked at Tech. “If you have 15 or more years with the University as of April 30, you can remain a Tech employee or you can take the voluntary buyout package,” Lykins said. The other two packages are reduction-inforce packages. These are for custodians who have worked up to five years, and for those who have worked from five to 10 years. They will not remain as Tech employees, but will have packages “appropriate” to them, according to Lykins. “It will affect, over all, 60 custodians,” Lykins said. “There are 15 employees with 15 or more years of experience.” Tech’s budget has a $2.4 million deficit, leaving the University to look for ways to cut costs. “This year we lost about $939,000 of pro-

Nick Rollins

Supporters for the custodians bow their heads while Pastor Gene Skipworth, of United Church of Cookeville, said a prayer.

jected tuition revenue,” Lykins said. “We dropped in graduate enrollment programs, so that was money that we expected but we didn’t get.” Also contributing to the deficit is $825,900 of permanent reduction, as well as $623,000

Students to pick up tickets for Murray State game By JUSTIN DUKE Beat Reporter

Attendance for the Tech vs. No. 16 Murray State basketball game is expected to be high. The game on Feb.25 is also Senior Night for athletes, starting 10 minutes before the men’s and women’s games. “You can pick up your ticket at the ticket office located at the Eblen Center,” said Leveda Birdwell, director of Corporate Sales and Marketing. “We’re open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and have a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m.” In the first two days, Tech Athletic officials have handed out close to 700 tickets of the 1,200 allotted lower bowl student tickets. Once these are gone, Tech Athletics will begin giving out tickets for the upper bowl. Each student is limited to one ticket per

Tech ID. Next Tuesday and Thursday, Athletics officials will also be in the RUC during dead hour giving out tickets. “Students are very important to Tennessee Tech athletics,” Birdwell said. “They bring a really great atmosphere and the student athletes feed off of that really well. “We want to give the general student population an opportunity to come out and help cheer on the sports teams. They have a lot of liveliness and can get the entire crowd in to the game.” Gates open at 4:30 p.m., with tipoff for the women’s game starting at 5:30 p.m. The men’s game will follow at about 7:30 p.m. Students or groups wishing to sit together during the game should arrive at the gates as early as possible.

of non-recurring transition funds. The transition funds were provided by the state for the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010. “We’re not paid for enrolling as many students as we can anymore; we are paid for however many students we graduate and

See “Custodial Outsourcing,” page 6

Gym Class Heroes set to perform at April SOLO concert By JODI LAWERENCE Beat Reporter Gym Class Heroes will perform at 6 p.m. April 24 in the Hooper Eblen Center. Opening acts are Dev, artist behind “Bass Down Low,” and Outasight, recognized by popular song “Tonight Is The Night.” While Gym Class Heroes was not the first choice in the Fall 2011 vote, the band will perform popular songs like “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Stereo Hearts.” LMFAO, winner of the fall voting, declined the invitation. “We got a call from our booking agency saying that SkyBlu, which is one of the main guys in LMFAO, had two herniated discs in his back and was going to be having those repaired in January,” said Lees Gatts, SGA president. “They were pushing their shows in January to February and so on, pushing our show to May. We’re not here in May. So that obviously wouldn’t work with us. They weren’t going to be able to fit us in.” The SOLO concert series is also undergoing a major change. In recent years, the first 300

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retain,” Lykins said. “They gave us a little cushion money to transition. We had that this year, but we won’t next year; the transition goes away.” Since the contract is signed, the custodians will have 45 days to consider the offered packages, and will also have a chance to work for Service Solutions once the How could this takes not reflect against company over. [Bell]? It happened “Unless I am just forced under his watch. into working It’s going to be a for this outpart of his legacy side company, I have no desire as far as I’m concerned. He left to,” Terri Stidham, custodian us packing. at Johnson Hall, said. “I feel very betrayed by the — Terri Stidham, University, and Custodian I feel certain that they could have found another alternative. “I don’t want to hear it called the Tech family anymore; I don’t see how you can put that type of burden on a member of your so-called family.” Stidham said she has worked at the University since 1983 and that she was “really hurt to see the turn it has taken.” “They have found their cost savings on the backs of the lowest-paid people on campus,” Stidham said.

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Atlantic Records

Gym Class Hero members Eric Roberts, Travie McCoy, Matt McGinley and Disashi Lumumba–Kasongo will perform with Outasight and Dev at the April 24 SOLO concert. students in line would be given floor tickets, failing to fill the floor the way the SGA had expected. “The main problem in the previous concerts that I have noticed is that we weren’t packing the floor,” said Gatts. “That’s going to be the biggest change in the SOLO concert this semes-

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ter. If you are going to want to be on the floor then you are going to have to be one of the first 600 people in line before the concert.” Students can expect tickets to be released two to three weeks before the concert. Gatts could not specify a suggested time to be at the ven-

ue for floor access, but did say that past lines for entry have reached down 12th Street and around the block. “I am willing to campout outside of the Hoop and wait all day long to be right there in front of Travis McCoy,” said Thomas Cooper, sophomore pre-physical therapy major.

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