The Vermont
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CYNIC
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa pays visit to UVM
The University of Vermont’s independent voice since 1883
W e d n e s d a y, S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 3 – Vo l u m e 1 3 0 I s s u e 5 | B u r l i n g t o n , Ve r m o n t
Sodexo employees fear benefits cuts Luke Hall Cynic Correspondant The state’s Department of Labor has ruled that Sodexo’s recent policy change is legitimate, but one of UVM’s own professors and state senators has said he is concerned for workers’ rights. In response to the Affordable Care Act and its mandate that employers be responsible for nearly all of its full time workers’ health insurance, management personnel from Sodexo— a company that employs around 800 people statewide, vtdigger.com reported— said they have adjusted their policy to comply with federal law and avoid per-person pen“To
match
the
Afford-
full-time employee, Sodexo is
PHOEBE SHEEHANThe Vermont Cynic
non-exempt employees as fulltime [to] someone who works an average of 30 hours or more per week over a 52-week period,” Sodexo spokesman Greg Yost said, speaking to a provision in the healthcare act which states that full time employees must have 95 percent of their health care costs covered.
Junior Mike Davis sits outside the marketplace with friends Sept. 24. Management personnel from Sodexo said they have adjusted their
See SODEXO on page 3
Fair Food Campaign organizer Kelly Mangan said they are skeptical that the adjustment was prompted because of the new legislation.
City Council votes to UVMtv makes move to Billings refine 8th ward plan Ted Levin Staff Writer
Staff Report Burlington’s City Council voted to refer a new redistricting plan that would add an ment at its meeting on Monday. The plan, referred to as “48-12” for its inclusion of four precincts, an additional eighth district and 12 councilors was passed by an 8-6 majority, bringing a possible end in sight to a redistricting process that has taken years to resolve. The plan was proposed by councilors Tom Ayers and Paul Decelles of Ward 7, David Hartnett and Bryan Aubin of Ward 4, Jane Knodell and Max Tracy of Ward 2, and Vince Brennan of Ward 3. The city has been attempting to redraw its lines in an effort to provide for equal representation since the census was taken in 2010, the Cynic reported, revealing that Wards
4 and 7 were overrepresented amid population growth, whereas Ward 1— which houses the University—was not represented enough. Although several of the councilors referred to the proposal as the best of the worst, some said they were still optimistic about the plan. “It does say something that democrats, republicans and progressives all support this,” Decelles said. University senior Charlie Kelley has been campaigning for an additional eighth ward that would give more representation to college students, the Cynic reported earlier this month. While he has pushed an 8 ward, 16 councilor plan, at the very least he said he would spend the coming weeks and months “mobilizing students to get involved in any way possible.” The new plan will be voted on at the Nov. 18 meeting.
UVMtv has faced its fair share of struggles in the past year. First came the announcement that the student-run television station would no longer be operating from the Davis Center after its lease expired in May. Now, with the removal of cable from the dorms and the club relocated to the basement of Billings, club members have been left wondering what’s next. Junior Hailey Grohman, communications director at UVMtv, said she is glad to have “It’s been a really tough ly looking up for us,” she said. Grohman said she remains nancial problems her club has faced and is excited for a new year of original programming online. Unlike some other student media organizations such as WRUV radio and the Cynic,
WALKER SULTZBACH The Vermont Cynic
were unable to pay the rent for their space at the Davis Center. UVMtv was not written into the original building contract opened in 2006. Because of that, they were expected to pay rent just like any other storefront would even though other clubs are exempt. The inability of UVMtv
to pay the rent is what ended their time in the Davis Center and resulted in their new space in Billings. As for the new location, Grohman is looking forward to the good things to come.
See UVMTV on page 3
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