Tuesday

March 10, 1998

Gerth probed in civil trial

CSUS President Donald Gerth testified yesterday in a $1.5 million wrongful termination lawsuit brought against the university by former Multi-Cultural Center director Suzanne Brooks.

Gerth's hour-long testimony followed over a day of testimony by Brooks' former supervisor, former Vice President for Student Affairs George Wayne. Also testifying yesterday morning was current Dean of Faculty and Staff Affairs David Wagner.

Brooks is suing CSUS, Gerth and two other university administrators for firing her in September 1995 after she worked five years as the Multi-Cultural Center's first director. She contends her termination was motivated by racial and sexual discrimination.

However, administrators say she was fired after an 18-month medical leave of absence left the center without a full-time director. Gerth, Wayne and Wagner all testified the directorship of the Multi-Cultural Center was a very important position that called for consistency and permanence.

Brooks was granted medical leave for stress in May 1994 after allegations broke out she was misusing the center's funds. During that time, the State Hornet ran a series of stories following allegations that Brooks loaned money from the center's fund to students for traveling purposes.

Brooks' attorney, David Brown, was unavailable for comment. However, during the trial he questioned Gerth on accounts of other staff positions at CSUS that were held on a long-term interim basis. He cited examples from the campus police, the career placement center and the financial aid office.

Gerth could not recall those specific incidents. Wagner, however, pointed out the director's position was not analogous to other staff positions.

The attorney representing CSUS, Deputy Attorney General Robert Cross, was unavailable for comment.

Other witnesses testifying yesterday were CSUS social work professor Arlene Prigoff and ex-student Rosenda Ramos.

Prigoff participated in a coalition in support of the Multi-Cultural Center in 1994. She said the coalition was formed to address the "crisis situation" that resulted from articles in the State Hornet and the administration's reluctance to address issues surrounding the Multi-Cultural Center.

In her testimoney, Prigoff acknowledged she wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the State Hornet's extensive coverage of the situation and sent a copy of the letter to Gerth. In response, Gerth wrote her back, thanking her for her concern.

Ramos is an ex-graduate student assistant who worked for Brooks at the Multi-Cultural Center in 1992 and 1993. She testified that an internal audit of the center's expenditures conducted by herself in 1993 found no misappropriations of funds.

However, university spokeswoman Ann Reed told the State Hornet last week that the university's audit of the Multi-Cultural Center, conducted by director of management services Jon Self in 1994, also found no illegal conduct on the part of Brooks.

Also being named in the lawsuit are former Vice President for Administration Mernoy Harrison and current Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jolene Koester.

The presiding judge on the case, A. Richard Backus, predicted testimony would wrap up Wednesday and that the 12-member jury trial would conclude by the end of the week.

Lottery allocation process questioned

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jolene Koester will be the sole power in deciding where more than $2 million in state Lottery funds should be allocated this year.

In a Nov. 10 letter, Koester announced to university officials that she eliminated the CSUS Lottery Funds Allocation Committee from the faculty proposal process, despite the concerns of faculty members and student representatives.

Jennifer Helms, a student representative on the committee, said she is worried that none of these changes were publicized to the student body. She is also concerned that the communication between faculty, staff and students regarding Lottery funds will be eliminated, allowing Koester too much power.

"Basically Jolene Koester goes to the committee and says 'This is my proposal, now I want a stamp of approval,'" said Helms, Associated Students Inc. director for Arts and Letters. "Students bring another viewpoint to the situation. We have different needs than the faculty and administration."

Koester has refused to comment despite repeated attempts by the State Hornet to contact her.

For the last three years the allocation committee -- made up of faculty, students and administration -- has been responsible for reviewing faculty proposals and recommending funds for projects and departments.

Faculty proposals are subsidized from a discretionary fund taken from the total Lottery money. Funding for 1997-98 is over $1,000,000.

Under the new process Koester will accept recommendations for funds distribution from department deans, but will make the disbursement decisions on her own. In her letter, Koester said she plans to use the majority of the funds for what she calls "big ticket" items -- instructional equipment, technology and Library materials.

The 10- to 12- member committee will now be responsible for CSUS' seven "Off the Top" programs and for assessing the programs' success in meeting student needs, said Haroldene Wunder, chair of the committee.

"We are only interested in programs where there is a wide benefit for students," Wunder said.

The seven programs include the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Festival of New American Music, the Multi-Cultural Center, the Office of Community Collaboration, School Based Educational Equality, Student Academic Development and student assistants in computer labs.

These programs received over $500,000 in Lottery funds for the 1997-98 school year. This money was taken from the discretionary funds, the same account used for faculty proposals.

The Off the Top programs do not submit proposals for funding.

According to Koester's letter, the proposal process consumed too much of the committee's time, especially in relation to the small amount of funds available to them, which would have been no more then $485,000 a year.

Tom Krabacher, chair of the Faculty Senate, said many of the committee's members also feel there is too much paperwork created with the proposal process.

Furthermore, the administration is not bound by law to abide by the decisions of the Lottery committee, Krabacher said.

"But I think it would be a shame to see all faculty involvement eliminated from the process," he said.

Following a unanimous vote by the Faculty Senate's Academic Policies Committee, chair Jean-Pierre R. Bayard issued a letter to Krabacher requesting the Senate's Executive Committee take the following action:

• Review the charge, membership and the university's policy relating to use of Lottery funds at CSUS.
• Investigate how these funds were supposed to be spent this year and ascertain if the funds are going to be spent in that way so that the faculty can be properly informed.
• Ask the Senate whether the faculty agree with Koester's decision.
• If the president supports Koester's decision, ask him to eliminate the Lottery Fund Allocation Committee and rescind his previous university policy.

Koester will meet with the Faculty Senate sometime in the next few weeks to explain the new program, according to Krabacher. The Senate will then decide whether to accept Koester's plan.

Foundation board OKs Union proposal

The CSUS Foundation's board of directors voted unanimously Friday to approve a tentative plan for Food Service facilities in the expanded University Union, despite doubts about the project.

Among the board's primary concerns was a proposed sports bar -- and its projected $99,000-plus first-year deficit.

"There seems to be a pattern" of past unprofitable Food Service ventures, said Ralph Laurie, residence hall associate for Sutter Hall.

The sports bar proposal was judged a bad investment by Marriott Consulting, which conducted a Food Service survey for the Foundation in 1997. The survey's findings indicate there are insufficient customers to support such an establishment, based on the proposed hours of operation: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m, seven days a week.

According to Elroy Littlefield, the Foundation's interim executive director, a portion of the bar's projected shortfall represents an absorption of costs associated with the central kitchen's construction in the Union.

"A significant portion of the commissary kitchen will be charged to the (sports bar)," said Littlefield.

He estimated Food Services might save $20,000 in part-time labor and about $30,000 in supplies if the sports bar is abandoned.

The Foundation has already proposed leasing half the kitchen to an on-campus bakery, Littlefield said. In fact, it is currently negotiating lease costs with Don Hinde, director of the University Union.

"We feel we are on our way to working that out," Littlefield said. "But should negotiations not work out, that will be an issue."

And while he suggested leasing the sports bar's serving space as a possibility, Littlefield spoke against taking that action, saying it would complicate negotiations with the Union.

"One of our approaches is to try to not renege on everything we said," Littlefield said of Food Services' original agreement with the Union.

Board members also voiced concerns about competition from local sports bars such as Stingers and Bleachers.

But the Foundation would lose money even if the sports bar was leased to another vendor, asserted Interim Vice President for Administration Ed Del Biaggio, who is consulting Food Services on the Union project.

Del Biaggio pointed to $240,000 in costs for which Food Services would continue to be accountable if the bar was leased to another vendor.

"You're talking about negotiated staff," Del Biaggio said. "You're talking about $99,000 roughly in overhead expenses."

Littlefield added, "These costs don't go away just because you're subleasing."

Catering -- another service that did not fare well on Marriott's survey -- will play a large role in the success of Food Services' Union expansion, Littlefield said.

"We're banking on catering growing and its bottom line increasing significantly," said Nancy Pennebaker, special assistant to the Foundation's executive director.

But if catering doesn't start netting a profit, Food Services will be hard-pressed to meet its operation costs, said Littlefield.

Three more candidates join campus race

Addressing an issue that is rapidly becoming the No. 1 subject of the spring Associated Students Inc. election, executive vice president candidate Devin Cook attacked presidential candidate Gary Davis' plans to ease the parking problem.

"Gary Davis' plan is idiotic. It would cost too much to outfit the shuttles during the day," he said. "It would not be a benefit."

Davis has suggested using the CSUS Night Shuttles during daylight hours to ferry students from parking spaces farther from the campus.

Cook, the current director for postbaccalaureate, likened the proposed system to the trams at Disneyland, and said he doubted students would be willing to wait for vans. "They will just go start walking," he said.

Jennifer Helms, on the other hand, agrees with Davis.

"I want to look for feasible ways of using the night shuttle during the day," she said.

Helms, the current director for Arts and Letters, said while she and Davis are not a slate, they will lend help to one another during the campaign.

"Gary Davis and I are supporting one another," she said. "Our main issue is to be proactive."

Helms also said she wanted to see a more student-friendly government.

"I want ASI to be a resource for (the students)," Helms said. "I want to strengthen all the work teams and the committees to make them a force on campus."

Cook shared Helms' interest in putting the government more in touch with the student body.

Cook said he would like to see board meetings moved into the quad to allow greater student visibility.

"The most beneficial board meetings include people we have never seen before bringing up issues we have never heard before," Cook said.

Stephanie Parrish has been cleared by Student Activities to run for director of Business, but could not be reached for comment.

Fight over student loan rates rages

The interests of college students and bankers clashed in a high-stakes subcommittee meeting in Washington last week, as lawmakers tried to find a compromise on the impending change in student loan rates.

At issue is an $11 billion savings over five years to students whose school loan rates will be dropped starting in July. This aspect of the Higher Education Reauthorization Act was debated Thursday in a hearing in front of the Subcommittee for Postsecondary Education.

The financial institutions that loan the 70 percent of student financial aid not covered by direct loan are attempting to stop the mandated change in interest rates, and are threatening to pull their business from that market.

Currently, student loan rates are set by a formula of the 91-day Treasury bill interest plus 3.1 percent -- totaling 8.25 percent. The new law would reduce the interest rates to 7.1 percent by setting the rate on a formula based on 10-year T-bills plus 1 percent.

Student advocates are understandably thrilled with the expected drop in interest rates. With the average student graduating with a debt of $13,000, the savings could add up to over $650 over the 10-year life span of the loan. For graduate students, that would add up to even more.

David Foy, press secretary for subcommittee chairman Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, said Thursday's meeting consisted mostly of testimonials and not any decisions on the future of the law.

"Congressman McKeon has always tried to keep focusing on finding a compromise," he said. "The stakes are too high to play partisan politics."

Foy said McKeon would "love to see really, really low interest rates," for students, but that the congressman understands the needs of the banks also.

"They're going to walk if they can't make some sort of profit," he said.

If that happens, Foy said, students will have to rely on the direct loan program, which he called a "bad system."

The Federal Direct Loan Program subsidizes 30 percent of students who receive loans, with the rest loaned by private financial institutions. The bank loans, however, are guaranteed by the federal government.

According to Erica Adelsheimer, the legislative director for the United States Student Association, students and their representatives were far outnumbered in the hearing.

"There was only me and a representative from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities," she said.

Adelsheimer said it is important for students to have a representative there to let Congress know that students are concerned about the rates.

"Congress really has to look at how overwhelming student loan debt is," she said.

California Congresswomen Loretta Sanchez and Lynn Woolsey, both Democrats, also attended the hearing, according to their offices. Congressman Frank Riggs, R-Eureka, is also a member of the subcommittee, but his staff was not sure if he attended the hearing.

The subcommittee must find a compromise soon. It has until March 18, when the bill is scheduled to be forwarded to the full committee on education.

At CSUS, 11,208 of 22,575 students receive financial aid.

Survey shows student leaders' salaries vary across the nation

(U-WIRE) Boston, Mass. -- From full tuition to annual salaries topping $10,000, universities across the country are offering student government leaders compensation for their efforts.

Student Leader magazine recently surveyed 150 public and private universities; of those, 88 percent gave some type of compensation to student government leaders.

Schools offer stipends, scholarships and cash so students can concentrate on student government without having to worry about part-time jobs, said Butch Oxendine, editor of Student Leader. Paying students also increases interest and professionalism, he said.

"Students are expected to put in 60 hours a week and handle multi-million-dollar budgets," Oxendine said.

At Boston University, where student government leaders do not receive any type of compensation, Student Union members said some form of compensation isn't such a bad idea.

"It's a really good idea to encourage a higher caliber," said Union President Meghan Fay, a junior in the College of Communication. "With not being paid you get students who are dedicated, but it's definitely a 40-hour week."

BU administrators maintain that involvement in student government should not be prompted by pay.

"They're getting a lot and putting a lot into the university. It's still a voluntary act," said Abby Elmore, director of the Student Activities Office. "The students who are involved do it because they enjoy it."

Elmore conceded that some students may not be able to run for Union or Senate positions because they need to hold part-time jobs, but she said that doesn't justify making the jobs paid positions.

"It's a decision each student needs to make," Elmore said.

But that's not the case at the University of South Florida, where top student government members are paid $10,937 a year.

"Student government is a voice for the students, to the administrations and senators in Florida who handle higher education needs," said Elain Bispo, a fiscal coordinator for the school's student government. "They don't just do the fun stuff, they do the hard stuff, too."

South Florida's student government has complete control over its $4.5 million budget, Bispo said. The money goes to finance an extensive array of programs, including a student escort service, a computer lab, and the cost for students to lobby the state government over issues of importance to them.

BU's student government budget is $250,000, and Union and Senate members have much less control over it. The money is split between the Programming Council, the Student Union Advisory Board and the 10 individual college governments.

Involvement in student government at BU has been notoriously low. Last year, only two slates vied for the top student positions on campus; the winning "U" slate didn't throw its name into the mix until after the deadline for declaring candidacy.

Jason Ilstrup, the Union's vice president of financial affairs and a CAS junior, said paying students might bring a higher level of professionalism to student government and increase participation.

"I think there should be some kind of compensation, a stipend or scholarship," Ilstrup said. "What we're doing is for the whole school."

With many students struggling to pay tuition and board, giving up 20 to 40 hours a week to participate in student government is not an option Jason Brill, president of the student body at the University of Miami, receives full tuition. Without that perk, he said, he would not be able to make such a commitment.

"I would have to take time out for a second job," Brill said. "They offer academic scholarships, athletic scholarships; I feel I've reached the pinnacle of leadership."

News Briefs

Panel to discuss religion

"Beyond the Canon: Faith, Religion and Conviction in the Classroom" is a way for students to discuss how to handle spiritual issues in class and to determine the role of faculty in drawing the line between secular and non-secular.

The discussion is sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Multi-Cultural Center and the Spirituality in the Classroom Roundtable.

For more information, contact the Center for Teaching and Learning at fdrc@csus.edu or Tony Platt at 278-7069 or at platttm@csus.edu.

Newspaper seeks students

The Business Advisory Committee will meet at 1 p.m. on March 18 in Sacramento Hall. The Publications Board will meet at 3 p.m. on March 20 in the University Union.

Call 278-6583 for room numbers and other information.

Women talk about their work

In celebration of Women's History Month, the presentation will start at about 1 p.m. on March 21 at the Heritage Inn on Tribute Road in Sacramento. The event is free to the public.

The women will discuss preparation for their careers, if and how they benefitted from Title IX, their mentors and any barriers they may have found because of their gender.

The presentations will follow a luncheon and a short business meeting of the association. The doors for the lucheon open at 11:30 a.m. It costs $14. For reservations, call Jane Reinmuth at 456-1844.

Correction