Tuesday

February 10, 1998

14 students win battle for back pay

Fourteen students were reimbursed Thursday for pay that was withheld when an administrator dropped their salaries by 1 cent rather than bump them up 75 cents to meet new payroll standards.

Some of the students contend that the pay was withheld by their supervisor, Academic Advising director Tom Griffith, when they were working as summer orientation leaders.

According to two orientation leaders who asked to remain unnamed, Griffith hired the students as level-three student assistants last February at $6.50 an hour.

When payroll services announced in April that a new pay schedule would increase level-three pay to $7.25 an hour effective July 1, Griffith decreased the students' salaries to $6.49 an hour. This dropped the students to level-two status.

"We were doing level-three work at level-two pay," said one orientation leader. "We were hired at level three and should have stayed at level three." In a June 2 letter to orientation leaders, Griffith told them the reason for the drop in pay was because his secretary would "have to do twice as much paperwork to deal with the change" in salary regulations.

However, another orientation leader said there wouldn't have been any additional paperwork. In fact, dropping the pay to $6.49 created increased paperwork for payroll services, according to the student.

"Since it was universitywide, payroll had already planned to help offices with the paperwork required for the pay increase," said the orientation leader.

According to Griffith, his secretary contacted payroll when his office was first notified of the change in the pay schedule. However, she was unable to get a clear definition of what the change meant to the orientation leaders.

"Since the students only worked for a period of about six weeks, we were uncertain as to how the change applied to them. The July 1 date fell in the middle of that period," Griffith said.

So to keep things simple, Griffith said, he decided to keep the orientation leaders within one pay level.

"We have since learned that you can't do that," he said.

After finding out in December that Griffith had withheld their salary increases, some of the orientation leaders wrote a letter to vice president for Academic Affairs Isabel Hernandez-Serna requesting reimbursement. Thursday each student received a check along with a letter from Griffith explaining the action. In the letter, obtained by the State Hornet, Griffith did not acknowledge any wrongdoing.

Hernandez-Serna said that no action was necessary against Griffith for his handling of the students' salaries.

"He was alerted to the issue and he took care of it," she said.

According to one orientation leader, reimbursement checks varied from $20 to $150, depending on how many hours each student worked.

Second computer stolen from State Hornet office

Another computer was stolen from the State Hornet office last week, the second of what staff members fear may the beginning of a serial attack against the student newspaper.

"All our graphics and advertising files are gone. We have to start from scratch," said Ryan Anne Polli, State Hornet graphics editor.

In the early morning hours last Friday, someone sneaked into the Hornet office and left with one of the newspaper's most powerful computers. Another computer had been stolen a few days before Christmas.

"We've been marked," said editor in chief Melissa Jones.

According to the campus police report of the Feb. 6 crime, the thief removed a narrow window in the graphics department and slid through the 10-inch-wide opening. The window was found intact on the ground outside the temporary building that houses the Hornet.

According to Jones, a staff member was working late in the office when he heard a thump in the building. When he walked through the building to investigate, he noticed the missing window.

Also missing was the computer's central processing unit. The computer's monitor, however, had been left on the floor.

"The suspect apparently ripped off the security device," Jones said.

According to Jones, this second theft has made securing the Hornet building imperative.

"We're like sitting ducks out here," she said. "I am working with the university to try to find the means to move the Hornet into the new University Union building, where the office would be secured, as soon as possible."

CSUS muddles through blackout

CSUS lost electrical power for more than two hours Friday morning after a nearby power line was disabled, a SMUD official said.

"The outage was caused by a eucalyptus tree that interfered with the overhead lines," said SMUD spokeswoman Cindy Arvin.

Arvin said the tree struck the lines as a result of the high winds that swept through Sacramento early Friday morning.

The blackout, which struck at about 7:15 a.m., caused few problems on the campus, but forced some teachers to cancel classes.

"Individual professors may have canceled classes if they did not have windows" in their classrooms, said university spokeswoman Ann Reed.

Student Geri Blouin said the effect of the blackout on her 9 a.m. government class was minimal.

"We just opened up the blinds," she said. "Half-way though the lecture, the lights came back on, so it wasn't a problem for us."

Reed said the university has a special voice mail that goes out to all campus phones, notifying employees of the problem and providing instructions on how to handle the situation.

In this case, professors were given the option to respond to the event as they saw fit. Administrators were updated on possible times the power might be restored as it was relayed though SMUD, Reed said.

Arvin said the location of the problem was near the CSUS campus. She said SMUD workers were able to reroute the power to most of the areas affected by the outage, except the university and immediate areas due to the problem's location.

"Usually the people closest to the problem are the ones that wait the longest," Arvin said. "In this case we needed to identify what the problem was first."

The power returned at about 9:40 a.m., Reed said.

Arvin said about 23 power outages occurred Friday morning.

POLICE LOG

SATURDAY, JAN. 24
INDECENT EXPOSURE: It occurred near the parking structure on Sinclair Road. Two women were walking near Sinclair and were called over to a parked vehicle, inside which was a man they thought needed directions. An older, Asain male, in his 40s was sitting in his metallic, tan Mazda wearing no pants and fondling himself. The suspect drove off north on State University Drive.

SUNDAY, JAN. 25
ARSON: A Coke machine was on fire in the first floor of the Psychology Building. Three juveniles were seen leaving on in-line skates.
MINOR IN POSSESSION: An officer was present in Desmond Hall, taking another report, when a male subject stopped and stared at the officer, who noticed the scent of beer. The officer found the minor in possession of a can of beer in his left pocket. A citation was given to subject and he was released.

MONDAY, JAN. 26
Several incidents of keys being locked in cars and persons being unable to locate their cars occurred.
THEFT: Two IBM computers and a laser printer were taken from rooms 132-134 of the Physical Education Building. There was no evidence of forced entry.
DISTURBING PEACE: Two Hispanic males were fighting and one was seen bleeding.
THEFT: A backpack containing a checkbook and parking permit valued at $110.00 was taken from the bookstore.
VANDALISM: A black Mercedes was keyed in Lot 8.

TUESDAY, JAN. 27
AUTO BURGLARY: A faculty/staff parking decal was taken and damage was done to the driver's side of acar in Lot 4.
INDECENT EXPOSURE: A naked man was seen in the men's restroom on the third floor of Mendocino Hall.
GRAND THEFT: Forty out of 50 cameras were stolen from inside the parking structure.
PETTY THEFT: A backpack containing a cell phone and a walkman was taken from the bookstore.
PETTY THEFT: A cashier's check in the amount of $1,687 was lost or stolen.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28
AUTO BURGLARY: Someone broke a window and stole a parking permit in Lot 10.
TRAFFIC ACCIDENT: A pedestrian was hit and subsequently taken to the Student Health Center with possible minor injuries.
STALKING: In the Food Service Building and other parts of campus, a student -- also a former boyfriend of the victim -- has been following the victim around campus. Public safety advised the victim to file a restraining order, and the suspect was advised not to contact the victim at risk of criminal charges and jeopardizing his student status.
AUTO BURGLARY: Someone broke into a car in Lot 2, stealing a cassette, a checkbook, a backpack, speakers and an amp.
AUTO BURGLARY: A window was smashed and a parking decal was taken from a residence hall parking lot.

News Briefs

CSSA needs student help

Carlson said students interested in working in public relations or on state budget issues should contact him at (916) 441-4514. The internships are flexible, running as long as the student needs them for credit. Students are encouraged to apply any time.

CSSA is also looking for volunteers to help with the California Higher Education Student Summit, an annual conference featuring speakers from the state Legislature, and other key political figures.

The event, known as CHESS, will be held April 24 to 27 at CSUS and the Sacramento Convention Center, and will feature a panel of candidates running for state office. They will speak on higher education issues.

Invited are candidates for governor, such as businessman Al Checchi, Attorney General Dan Lungren, Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and others. Candidates for other state offices have also confirmed they will attend the event.

The cost is $100 per person for the entire event, but can be offset for students who are willing to work during the summit. Volunteers are also needed to house students traveling from around the state.

Members of a CSUS fraternity, Sigma Chi, will assist with security for the conference, Carlson said.

"We're trying to make sure that all the money students pay to CHESS goes back to students who help with the conference," Carlson said.

Math lecture at CSUS

Wu, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been examining the policies of mathematics education since 1992, and has since applied himself to working on standards, writing articles, and speaking to both parent and teacher groups.

The lecture will be held at 3 p.m. in Mendocino Hall, room 1005.

For more information, contact the CSUS math department at (916) 278-6534.

ASI board meeting Wed.

On the new business agenda, the board will discuss the appointment of Antonio Ruiz as the director of Computer Science and Engineering, as recommended by ASI President Sandra Schlemmer.

Jennifer Helms, director of Arts and Letters; and Devin Cook, director of Postbaccalaureate Students will propose an amendment to Operating Rule 200.2B, which deals with the appointment of vacant director positions.

Anyone interested in addressing the board is reminded there are two open forums in meetings. One is placed at the beginning of the meeting in which speakers may address the board on any matter.

The second is available directly before the "old business" section, in which speakers may address the board on issues on the agenda.

For more information, contact the ASI office at (916) 278-6784.

Correction: