WEDNESDAYJAN. 28, 2004V o l . 1 2 5 , N o . 4 3

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Forum pages 7-8Cadenza pages 5-6, 12Calendar page 9Sports page 11

INDEX

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Cut it out and tape it to the wall, folks—February’s music calendar is here! Also in Cadenza: Album Reviews and Tyler Weaver’s Celluloid Paralysis, analyzing the “dude fl ick.”

MUSIC CALENDAR

PAGE 12

We check out predictions for Superbowl XXXVIII. Find out who your fellow students and favorite member of the administration picked to win the big game.

SUPER BOWLXXXVIII

PAGE 11

Custodians receive hourly raiseOther worker changes may be in the offi ng

The start of January brought two big changes for many of Washington Universi-ty’s custodial workers: along with getting a new employer, most received a $1.00 per hour wage increase. At the same time, the chancellor’s offi ce has confi rmed that a task force is being formed to examine other worker concerns.

Late last year, the University asked a variety of companies to bid on providing cleaning services for most of the Hilltop Campus. Among the winning bidders were WWF, which now cleans the School of Engineering, and ARAMARK, which cleans in the buildings and areas previ-ously serviced by ABM.

Although the companies are new to campus, Maintenance Operations Man-ager Bill Wiley said that the workers who previously cleaned the buildings received invitations to interview and be rehired.

The workers who were retained re-

ceived an extra bonus in early January, when they discovered they would be mak-ing an additional $1.00 per hour. This wage increase was not part of the initial bid by ARAMARK or WWF, and instead was implemented at the request of the University.

“We think these employees are a valu-able asset, and we hope that this addi-tional incentive will help us to retain even more of them,” said Ralph Thaman, asso-ciate vice chancellor of facilities planning and management.

The University has also instructed ARAMARK and WWF to pay newly hired custodians $1.00 per hour above the union wage.

One ARAMARK employee said she was delighted by the salary boost.

“We were very surprised—but it was a nice surprise,” said the worker, who asked to remain anonymous. “It means I’ll have more money to pay the bills.”

Charlie Hatcher, director of organizing for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 50, the union that rep-resents the custodial workers, said that when he announced the salary increase,

French grad student’s recent death mourned

Marie Blondiaux, 27, a doctoral candidate in French languages and literature, died Dec. 10, 2003.

Born in Abertville, France, Blondiaux came to Washington University after receiving her undergraduate education at Universite Jean Moulin in Lyon, France in 1998 and earning her master’s degree from Portland State University in 2001. She enrolled at the University in the fall of 2001.

Blondiaux served as a teaching assistant to an Arts & Sciences French 101 class this past fall. As a doctoral candidate, she was beginning the dissertation stage of the program and was scheduled to earn a doctorate degree in two to four years. She also tutored local elementary students in the French language.

“Marie was an excellent student who did very well in her courses here,” said Pascal Ifri, Ph.D., associate professor of French, speaking to The Record. “I also observed her as a teacher. She was very good in the classroom and had an excellent rapport with her students.”

According to Ifri, Blondiaux enjoyed chil-dren and animals. She was also fond of playing squash and swimming.

A memorial service in honor of Blondiaux was held this past Friday at the Newman Center, pre-sided over by Father Gary Braun. Braun said that he did not know Blondiaux, but that he consoled her friends in their time of grief.

cschneider@studlife.com

With winter well underway, construction on fu-ture MetroLink stations north of campus presses on.

Throughout December, several advances were made in construction of the Skinker and For-syth stations. According to MetroLink’s website, foundation work was begun on the underground Skinker facility, with tunnel excavation to the east and west of the Forsyth station now underway. A retaining wall was also installed to the east of Big Bend.

Foundation work and construction of the mainline barrier wall for the Skinker Station will continue throughout January, and tunnel excava-tion at Forsyth is still in progress.

According to Cathie Farroll, the project com-munications manager for MetroLink Cross Coun-ty, this civil construction will continue into 2005, with completion of the Skinker facilities set for the summer. Winter 2005 is the expected end date of civil work on the Forsyth station.

“What comes after the civil construction is work on the transit systems, including work on the tracks and the catenary power system, which carries electricity overhead to run the car and pro-pel it forward or backward,” said Farroll.

The signal and communications systems must also be created, as well as fare collection points.

Many residents of the Village were unhappy with the noise disturbance they experienced last fall as a result of the nearby construction, but complaints seem to be subsiding as construction continues.

“Recently, I haven’t had any direct complaints [from students],” said Cheryl Stephens, Residen-tial College Director for the Village. “People are kind of stuck with it, and we know that progress comes at a cost.”

Although the fi nal project will not be complete until 2006, most of the fi nishing touches needed for the facilities nearest to campus will be un-derground and less of a nuisance to those on the Hilltop Campus.

“West Campus is right by our Forsyth station, where more of [the work on the transit systems] will be visible, and these station fi nishes will con-tinue right up until the middle of 2006, when we will be ready to open,” said Cathie Farroll.

Although the MetroLink system has seen a decrease in passengers in the past few years, funding for the construction of the Cross County project has not been affected.

“The project is already completely funded,” said Farroll. “Funding for the project is already in the bank, and now we are paying for the bills as things need to be paid for. The funding was actu-ally completed before construction began, which

MetroLink construction continues

A student walks across Forest Park Parkway, where MetroLink construction continues to impede traffi c.

EMILY TOBIAS

University City police con-tinue investigation into crime

Two weeks ago, a Washington University stu-dent rolled down his car window to respond to a stranger’s query for the time. As he began to give directions, the student turned toward the stranger and found himself confronted with the barrel of a pistol. The man then demanded the student’s wal-let, ordered him from the car and stole the vehicle.

This carjacking is the latest in a series of report-ed crimes on and around the Washington Univer-sity campus. It occurred Jan. 14 around the 6600

block of Washington Avenue in University City. The victim, whose identity WUPD would not release, was waiting to pick up a friend when the gray sweatshirt-clad individual approached the car.

Since the crime was committed in University City, the University City Police department is in-vestigating the case. The victim is a University stu-dent, so the WUPD is cooperating with University City offi cials, but ultimately the city will handle the case.

“This is a jurisdictional kind of thing,” said University Chief of Police Don Strom. “The incident occurred in University City. Once we were advised of it, we issued a crime alert to people living in the area where this incident occurred. We offer assis-

Student carjacked at gunpoint on Wash Ave.

Custodial worker Sherman Harris, previously employed by ABM, now works for ARAMARK, the company that assumed the ABM contract.

EMILY TOBIAS

Above is the 6600 block of Washington Avenue, where a student was recently carjacked. The University police have issued a crime alert to try increase student awareness of safety precautions, thereby preventing future incidents.

EMILY TOBIAS

By Cory Schneiderq Senior News Editor

By Justin Choiq Assistant News Editor

By Kelly Donahueq News Editor

See CARJACKED, page 3

See METROLINK, page 3

By Jonathan Greenbergerq Associate Editor

See RAISE, page 3

Kerry 38% 95

Dean 26% 112

Clark 13% 30

Edwards 12% 36

Lieberman 9% 25

Kucinich 2% 2

Sharpton 0% 4

Candidate NH Total # of % delegates

NH Primary Results:

Source: CNN.com at 9:40 p.m. Central Time