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George Mason University’s Student Newspaper www.broadsideonline.com
September 7, 2010
Volume 87 Issue 2
No justice, no pizza New student group to Merten: fire Sodexo Matt Snyder News Editor
RIDING IN CARS
WITH BOYS
Courtesy of Edward Weiner
A car carrying three freshmen girls headed to a fraternity party flipped on Waples Mill Road last February. The driver of the car was found guilty of reckless driving following the incident, and now one of the female passengers is suing the national Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter, the Gamma Mu chapter of AEPi at George Mason University, the president of the Mason chapter and the driver of the above vehicle.
Fraternity included in $20 million lawsuit after student is injured in car accident Emily Sharrer Editor-in-Chief Broadside was approached by attorney Edward Weiner, an attorney with Weiner, Rohrstaff and Spivery, PLC, and one of his clients to write a story about an incident that happened in February 2009 and a lawsuit in relation to the incident against a George Mason University fraternity chapter, the national chapter of the fraternity and two students in that fraternity. The client wished to remain anonymous and was granted that request in exchange for a detailed and candid interview about her experiences regarding the event. Asterisks will be placed by the client’s name on first mention in the story. Across the nation, Friday night means party time for college students. For George Mason University students, it often means traveling off campus to bars or fraternity houses for a night of dancing, drinking and meeting new people. For freshmen girls in particular, Friday night presents its own dangers; in the first weeks of school, fraternity members stake out Presidents Park, inviting the newest members of the Mason community to their parties and
offering free shuttles to get to offcampus party spots. Their first night on campus, freshmen MistyDawn Forester, an English major, and her roommate Kelly Ferguson, an undeclared Courtesy of Edward Weiner major, were invited to a party Another angle of the vehicle that rolled last February while transportwhile walking through Presi- ing three freshmen to an off-campus fraternity party. dents Park and declined. “Later that night, we came catch a shuttle to the party. fraternity party. back out and there were a lot of Chattering and excited, the What Lindsey didn’t know is people and a girl we know was that a year and a half later, she trio leaves Presidents Park like ‘come to the party, we’re go- would still be recovering from in- headed for Student Union Building, he’s going to drive us’ and we juries she sustained after a reck- ing I in time to hitch a ride to the were like, ‘okay’ and [we went],” less driving accident en route to party. When they get there, LindForester said. “I don’t have a car that fraternity party and be on sey sees the fraternity brother she here, but if I did I’d honestly pre- one side of a $20 million lawsuit knows with about four other peoCourtesy of Edward Weiner fer to know the address and drive against Alpha Epsilon Pi, Inc., the ple also waiting for a ride to the ourselves there, but I just kind of Gamma Mu chapter of Alpha Ep- party. assume that that’s not how it silon Pi at George Mason UniverTwo cars pull up to the back works here for the frat parties.” sity, Mikhail Vinokur, president of SUB I and as instructed, Lind“The first guy I rode with, of the Mason chapter, and Jacob sey and her friends get into the they said that he was getting high Dilles, a fraternity member who back of the second car. The fraor something,” said Lindsey Blue, was driving the car she hopped ternity brother she called about a freshman, undeclared major, into that night. the party is in the front passenwho says all the other rides she’s ger seat and turns to her and her gotten to fraternity parties have friends and tells them that Jacob Feb. 6, 2009 been safe. “He got high before he Dilles, the man driving the car, drove us and he was going down It’s uncharacteristically can get them to the party faster like these 35 [mph] roads at 60 warm for a night in early Febru- going a longer way than the other miles an hour,” she said. ary. Lindsey, wearing a tank top, car can going a shorter way, she A year and a half ago, Lind- jeans and flip-flops, with her two says. sey White** was just a freshmen friends by her side, is ready for a herself, a tall, pretty blonde look- night out. With their previous ing for somewhere to go on a Fri- plans having fallen through, day night with friends, who Lindsey calls up a brother she wound up getting into what she knows from AEPi and she says he was told was a shuttle to go to a lets them know where they can See Lawsuit, Page 3
Keeping it together
Story taken from Connect2Mason
The Pilot House remains open despite minor setbacks Sonya Hudson Managing Editor The Pilot House continues to thrive on campus despite some early setbacks. An electrical problem that at first expected the new dining facility to be closed over the entire Labor Day weekend managed to be fixed before the original Tuesday prediction. The necessary part arrived Friday, which allowed The Pilot House to serve its gourmet pizzas throughout the long, holiday weekend. Before the electrical problems, The Pilot House had a short-
age of food on its opening night, Sunday, Aug. 29, which could be seen as a product of the gourmet pizzas’ popularity. According to Denise Ammaccapane, the district manager of Mason dining, The Pilot House sold 87 pizzas in five hours on opening night, not to mention the other food served. “It’s a rarity that we run out of food or don’t have it,” said Ammaccapane. The new campus pizza joint was stuck in a guessing game as to how much food to order with the opening night being a Sunday, the night before school starting and not knowing how popular the pizza would actually be. The Pilot
A new student group who says they back the campus dining services workers employed by dining contractor Sodexo hand-delivered a message Thursday to university President Alan Merten asking for the administration to fire Sodexo. They call on Merten to hire a new company who will provide a living wage and better conditions. The GMU Students for Workers Rights joined some workers in accusations that employees work in unsafe conditions and alleged cuts, burns, and back injuries as a result. Merten was not in and the students’ letter was received instead by presidential operations manager Sharon Cullen. She had no comment. Sporting signs and stickers like “No justice/ No pizza,” “Our Workers Deserve Fair Wages,” and “Shame on Sodexo,” about 15 student protestors and five workers walked the letter to Mason Hall and then another petition to Sodexo management at Southside. The petition from workers included pictures of alleged workrelated injuries, including a deep cut to one finger and a worker wearing a back brace. The petition and photos were received by Sodexo Resident District Manager Denise Ammaccapane, who promised to forward it to corporate management. Most of the student protestors at Southside were closed out of Sodexo’s offices when they tried to enter the limited office space. Several students held their signs against the glass windows of the doorway area, and Students for Workers Rights leader Jason Von Kundra said he was displeased with how their group was separated and felt those outside the office couldn’t express their views. Ammaccapane was told workers with the petition were also shut out, so she permitted several students in the office to change places with workers who wanted to present their grievances. She limited them to four people at once in her smaller personal office. Ana Urias, a 27-year Sodexo employee who works at Jazzman’s in the Johnson Center, presented the petition and photographs of injuires to Ammaccapane. Ammaccapane said she has signed statements from each employee proving they have been trained, and that training is done in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Von Kundra has said workers dispute that claim. Sodexo assistant controller Charles Olson told some of the gathered students that Sodexo pays fair and comparable wages and that most worker injuries occur because procedures aren’t followed – chain mesh gloves are not used for handling knives and stools are not used for reaching high places, for instance. Those claims, too, are disputed by some workers, Von Kundra said. Claims and counter-claims between members of management and workers have been prevalent throughout the debate. Workers will share their problems with Sodexo to the student body at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the Johnson Center Cinema, an event that the Service Employees International Union has helped put on, said Van Kundra. Talking to students outside South Side offices, Retail Operations Director Bill Fry suggested some of the workers were being coached on what to tell students by the SEIU, who have made efforts to organize workers and helped put together the protest in April. When some in Sodexo’s management expressed their displeasure with SEIU, Von Kundra answered complaints of their involvement by saying he only represents a student organization. The Students for Workers Rights are not affiliated with the SEIU, but when Von Kundra was asked if the SEIU had contacted them or nudged them to act, he made no comment. The SEIU had made calls to alert the College Democrats to the worker protest in April. Many Students for Workers Rights members were also members of other left-leaning campus organizations, including the College Democrats. Last April, the College Democrats backed workers in a formal letter when over 70 workers protested and went on strike against Sodexo. Von Kundra said the protest was what drew the attention of so many students on campus and what sparked their new student group.
Dodgeball Rocks Record breaking attempt a success
House now knows to order more food. Ammaccapane is excited about the rave reviews the operation has received from students. The Pilot House now offers its own boxes, so pizza can be taken to-go. Ammaccapane said that the delivery business will start in January after they figure out the volume of pizza ingredients that should be ordered and the number of people that frequent the establishment. “We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew,” said Ammaccapane.
Kevin Loker C2M Executive Editor
Photo Courtesy of Connect2mason.com
Over 1,000 students participated in Friday's Welcome Week event designed to create the world's largest game of dodgeball. By unofficial George Mason University count, the attempt was a success. According to Student Activities' Facebook page, the number of participants in Friday's game totaled 1,257. This
exceeds the previous record held by the University of Alberta, who last spring organized an event that brought 1,198 participants to the dodgeball floor. Documentation of the event has been sent to Guinness World Records and is waiting official approval. Before University of Alberta, San Diego State University held the record with a much smaller total of dodgeballers: 450.