A leader in sustainability CAS has worked to make operations more efficient and help Geneseo reduce its impact on the environment; it’s one of a small group of SUNY auxiliary services organizations that examine sustainability at campuses statewide. CAS’s introduction of high-efficiency washing machines, recycling and other programs has saved Geneseo more than 6.4 million gallons of water since 2007, and 8.5 tons of paper products from being dumped in landfills each year. Composting food scraps from the packaged meals made at the culinary center converts more than 14,000 pounds of food into mulch in the campus compost pile, which is used in campus landscaping. Those big and small changes add up. (Read more about the impact CAS has on reducing environmental impact on Page 10.) CAS also dedicates some of its operating budget to purchase goods and services from businesses in a 100-mile radius of Geneseo, and from minority- and womenowned businesses. “We believe in our responsibility to be stewards for Geneseo,” says Scott. “We focus on the broader definition of sustainability — not just reduce, reuse, recycle around material resources. We also focus on how to sustain communities and their well-being.” Student Impact CAS also plays a significant role in hundreds of students’ lives each year by easing their financial burden through employment. Along the way, they gain career skills, a new social circle and memories that resonate for a lifetime. Gina Middleton ’14 waitresses at the Big Tree Inn and serves as a student supervisor for the campus catering service to pay for her car insurance, gasoline and rent while she’s earning her degree in English and adolescent education. She needs the job but she racks up extra hours for something else — fun. She met her best friend working. Her boyfriend, too. Spreading butter onto plates for diners — and bantering with her buddies while doing it — feels as much like hanging out as work. “I love my job, I really do. I couldn’t imagine school without it,” says Middleton. “It’s my social life.” Like Middleton, Shaffer is thankful she can work on campus. But it’s more than
PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11
Scene editor Kris Dreessen, right, discovers what it's like to work for CAS in the new Chowhound food truck, with the patience of supervisor Maurizo Burroni.
Scene editor joins the front lines of CAS “One Walter with oink! One Scrappy Doo!” I’ve worked the Chowhound’s register for the past hour, cashing out students hungry for food served up in the new food truck. I am just comfy enough to find my food-truck voice. I slide receipts down the line like a pro, then look to my supervisor, Maurizo, to make sure I haven’t fouled up the works. I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The truck is new, a novelty of sorts, and fun. There’s music playing and the close quarters requires teamwork — think four people making lunch in a pop-up trailer — and breeds a familiarity that fosters friendship. As Scene editor, my philosophy has always been to get in the trenches to truly understand — and tell — the Geneseo story. To experience the flavor of working for CAS, I completed shifts at Chowhound and at Geneseo’s newest café, Share your memories of CAS! Fusion Market. email scene@geneseo.edu or visit our Geneseo Alumni Facebook page! At Fusion, Chef Chris first has me make a simple and large batch of peanut sauce. Well, maybe it’s not so simple, because I promptly ruin the batch by adding too much soy sauce. Oops. Lucky for me, Chris incorporates my error into a larger batch, doubling everything but the soy sauce, and we wind up with enough tasty peanut sauce to fill a kiddie pool. The sauce will be put to good use at the stir-fry station, where Mallory Shaffer ’15 cooks up an entrée every three minutes or so. I watch Mallory make a beef teriyaki — once — then jump in. I later move to the sandwich station, where we work nonstop toasting bread, spreading spreads and layering meat. At one point, I’m told I have a 42-second break while the toast is browning. When I finally take off my apron, I’m exhausted. I’ve learned a few things, and one of the most important is how hard CAS employees work. And, freshness counts. During my peanut-sauce adventure, someone next to me diced two cases of tomatoes for pico de gallo. Time and effort could be saved by buying these things, but CAS doesn’t. I appreciate what I order so much more. It was also fun. It’s a unique atmosphere to have your work enjoyed by your peers. There’s a real camaraderie and I was welcomed into it. Alumni are always telling me how much fun it was to get soaked in the dish room or how they met their best friends through CAS shifts. I can certainly see that.
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Winter 2013
11