1996-05-15; Central Michigan Life

              ^crvi*F
Central I irr
Michigan LITE
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 15,
1996
VOLUME 78. NUMBER 87
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48859
©1996 CM LIFE
(517)774-3493
8 PAGES
CMU to reconsider AFSCME Dining Services bid
By Jennifer Ackerman
• |   ' tafj Write;	
CMU officials nullified previous plans to subcontract labor
Positions lo ARAMARK when
the university announced last
week that tt would reconsider a
labor proposal from AFSCME
Local 15*38 after an arbitrator
ruled that the university had not
given the union bid fair consideration
According to Rae Goldsmith,
associate vice president of Public
Relations and Marketing, the
university decided to review the
union.- proposal again after the
arbitrator, Mark J Glaser,
deemed its decision to subcontract with ARAMARK "unreasonable" and determined that
the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal
Employees I.oral  1568 "ran per-
Bailing out
of Kilgore
could be
probed by
university
By James Cook
and Jason Schrnitt
The ('Ml* basketball program
once again finds itself in the
news for the wrong reasons, this
time   for   possible   NCAA   rules
violations   fur   bailing   a   player
out of jail last November
Thomas Kilgore, who has
since transferred to Eastern
Michigan, was bailed out of jail
by teammates Mike Walker and
Chad Guelda when he was
arrested Nov 3 after confessing
to domestic violence charges
against a fellow ('Ml* student
with whom he had a child. The
Detroit W u s reported Tuesday.
Police and court records
acquired by The Detroit AVr.es
show that Kilgore had only $11
in his pocket when he was
arrested before the 1995-96 season began
Guelda, a junior from
Kentucky. was (ailed by
Assistant ('oath Edgar Wilson to
gather money for Kilgore*s bad
$250 or IO percent of his $2,5O0
bond
Wilson has since left CMU to
become the head coach at Ferris
State I University
Guelda took $100 out of his
hank account anil returned to
practice to tell   Wilson   he  didn't
See BAIL Page 8	
/ \
RTS
St
ENTERTAINMENT
tally     outta hsre!
CMU says farewell to
2,800 students in three
graduation ceremonies.
PAGE 7
TODAY- 55/35
Cloudy
 '  fl
1
THURSDAY. 56/36
Cloudy
form the work in a more economical basis   . .**
On dan 15, the university
announced that it would subcontract the labor portion of the
Dining Service operations to
ARAMARK, a national firm that
has managed CMlTs food service
since January 199f>
CMU Dining Services will continue to be managed by ARAMARK under its current con
tract which expires m 2000
regardless of the outcome of the
university's decision to accept
the proposal from AFSCME or
subcontract to ARAMARK.
University officials met May 8
with representatives from
AFSCME Local 1568 to discuss
the union proposal.
(loldsmith said the university
prepared a draft of a letter outlining   its  understanding  of the
AFSCME bid and presented it to
union representatives. She said
the group including James
Wood,    manager   of    Employee
Relations    and    Staff    Personal
Services, and John Fisher, director of Residences and Auxiliary
Services, will meet today to discuss tlie proposal with AFSCME
representatives
"I guess we're going to wait
and see what .happens (today) at
this point." Fisher said
Wood declined comment
Monday and directed all questions to CMU Public  Relations
Linda Philo. president of
AFSCME Local 1568 and utility
helper m Carey Dining
Commons, said university officials presented union representatives with a proposal to review.
Philo said the proposal will be
reviewed hv the union's 10-mem
ber executive board and outside
legal counsel
"If we reach a mutual agreement the union membership
would have to ratify the agreement." Goldsmith said. "The university hopes to have this finalized, including the ratification
vote by May 24."
In response to talk about a ratification vote. Philo said, "The
university does not have a right
to speak for the union and say
that we should take it to a vote
We don't even know if there will
be a vote."
Goldsmith said the May 24
deadline was set to give the university enough time to settle the
labor issue before a new contract
goes into effect in January 1997
It an agreement between the
university and the union is
reached, it would be a two year
BUZZED
LIFE Photo/Bryan Bosch
Facilities Management employee Kristy Nelson, Cadillac senior trims
the grass near Park Library Monday afternoon.
Haddad to resign as of July 1
By Heather N. LaFave
%
News \ tfitc
CMU's affirmativa- action officer; Angela Haddad, has decided
to  resign   from   her  position   to
take  an  educational   leave as  of
duly 1
Haddad    said    she    barf    been
thinking   about    resigning   for
about    a    year    and    decided    to
leave tht- university to complete
her doctorate degree m sociology
at  the  University of Michigan
Ann Arbor
Haddad said while she is leaving the* affirmative action office,
she will come back to CMU in
approximately six months, dust
where she will be has yet to be
determined
Haddad   said   she   is   not   sure
what she would like to do when
she comes back
'Til come back in some capacity in the academic division." she
said
Haddad has been at CMU m
the affirmative action office for
six year- serving one year as the
assistant officer, ore year as the
interim officer and four years as
the university's affirmative
action officer.
She said she will still be avail
abb-     to     help     the     university
address    issues    pertaining   to
affirmative action as they come
up
"III still be in the area, so it
wont   be a big bother," she said
Although she said she will
miss   a   lot   of   people,   she   said
plans to keep in touch and characterized her time at CMU as
"okay"
"It's been a glowing experience, 1*11 put it that way. IVe
learned a heck of a lot." Haddad
said
Eileen Jennings, Univei.ity
Counsel, said she has known for
a few days that Haddad decided
to leave the affirmative action
office after talking about it for
about a month
Jennings said she is not happy
that Haddad is leaving, but is
pleased she has the Opportunity
to   complete    her   degree   and
return to the university m the
academic division
"I'm really sorry she is going   I
See HADDAD f aye §	
agreement. If a consensus can't
be reached, both AFSCME and
ARAMARK will have a chance to
submit new bids for the labor
portion of CMU's Dining
Services.
If the bid is awarded to
AFSCME, most food service
workers employed by ('Ml' will
continue to work tor the university, Goldsmith said
Goldsmith said the university
cannot guarantee that every
employee will have a job under a
new contract until it discusses
the matter        further        with
AFS< 'ME representatives.
If the bid is awarded to ARA
MARK, workers will have* thek
opportunity to reapply for positions with the food service man
agement firm, which has contracts at more than .'{HO collets
and universities.
Despite the fact that the union
won the grievance*, the university maintains that its initial decision was made in a fair and accurate fashion.
"Everything that happened
has happened through the collective bargaining process/"
Goldsmith said.
"We may not necessarily agree
with the arbitrator's decision,
but we have to live with it/' she
said. "He had an interpretation
of the proposals that we don't
necessarily agree with He simply looked at them in a different
way."
Instead of fighting the arbitrator's decisiejn, the university
elected to reevaluate its initial
decision not to accept the
AFSCME bid. Goldsmith said.
See ARAMARK Page 2
Position of 23-
year employee
terminated
By Cindy Trombley
I Si  Editor
After 23 years of service in the
Alumni Relations and
Development Office, the director
of Scholarships and Endowments
was informed April 29 that her
position had been eliminated.
Connie Behm, the current
director of Scholarships and
Endowments, has served in a
variety of capacities during her
2d years in the ('ML Alumni
Relations and Development
Office, which was changed to the
Advancement Office in February.
lit bin said a letter submitted
to her did not give a reason for
the elimination of her position as
of June 30.
Bedim said she- was orally
informed by Annie Stafford, associate vice president tor
University Advancement, that
she did not meet Stafford's expectations of a plan giving officer
Behm took on the responsibilities of a plan giving officer in
January.
Stafford could not he reached
for comment
Behm said she doesn't see
downsizing or budget cuts as a
factor in the elimination.
Bedim said there has been
restructuring in the office during
the* past year Some reorganization was the result of a study
conducted last fall by the
Minnesota-based Law Firm
Benz, Whalcy and Flessner.
Behm said she thinks the staff
will be* larger than ever when the
reorganization is completed
The study was cited as the re*a
son for        eliminating Bob
IVudinger's position as director
of        Regional and Special
Programs Beth Sowulewski's
position as director of Annual
Giving was reclassified as a
result of reorganization She
obtained a position outside of
CMU because of the reclassifica
tion. Sharon Deni, former director of Special (Jiving Societies,
bad ner title eliminated as well.
"Its tin- new management's
pe rogative to have the people
'Stafford' feels will do the best
job," Behm said.
Behm said she sees the elimination of her position as an
opportunity to explore her
options.
"Life goes on. I'm going to
explore everything," Behm said.
About the changes, Behm said,
"I think the people who had their
positions eliminated were valuable people with fund raising
strengths and were personal
assets to the university . . - we
lost a lot of experience."
Behm said she will miss working with the donors. "I thoroughly enjoy working with people.
That's what I've enjoyed the
most."
"I feel ('MU was very good to
me." Bedim said She said CMU
provided her with the opportunity for employment and growth.
'I want the next 23 years of my
life to be as satisfying as the last
23 years," Behm said.
Behm said her experience at
CMU is  "rich with memories.**
Behm said no matter what the
future holds for her she doesn't
want to relocate from the 120
acre Blanchard residence she has
lived at for 25 of her almost 27
years of marriage to Tom Behm,
a fifth grade teacher at
Rosebush. Their 16-year-old
daughter. Alexis, also lives with
them.
In response to the elimination
of Bedims position, Russ Herron,
vice president of University
Relations, said. "Connie is a
valuable CMU employee whose
job has changed
"She's been an excellent
employee I think there will be
something else for Connie Behm
at CMU," Herron said
[ IF [ Photo/Bryan Bosch
In order to widen High Street., it was necessary to tear down the
M 20 bridge near Watson Street.   See related story page 3.