STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSIT Y IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 Bears soccer is hot! Both the men and the women scored—and won—big this weekend. Check out the action in Sports. Page 6.
Today’s Forum: post-midterm bingo, locks, the Cadenza brings you a new regular cartoon Alumni Association, “Fair Trade” coffee, Plan feature, Jason Anderson’s Freshman Fifteen, B, social commentary, and more! Page 4. in addition to All Real Numbers. Page 7.
VOLUME 127, NO. 25
The ubiquitous camera phone has supplanted the lighter as a rock concert staple. Jordan Deam takes on this annoyance in a new column, Sound Affects. Page 10.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2005
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Coke contract hinders Cheap Lunch By Margy Levinson Contributing Reporter A 2001 Washington University contract making the Coca-Cola Company the exclusive distributor of soft-drink products on campus is hampering EnCouncil’s efforts to provide low-cost lunch. Originally, Cheap Lunch bought Coke products from the grocery store, where a 24-pack of 12 oz. cans could cost as little as $5.50. But sophomore Frank Beling, who is in charge of Cheap Lunch, says that plan was foiled after a chat with the student services chair. “He said we have no choice but to buy Coke directly from the distributor” because of the contract, recalls Beling. “I think it is absurd.” Through the University’s distributor, a 24-pack of 12 oz. cans goes for $8.25. As a result, Cheap Lunch, which sells pizza, soda and chips
once a week for two or three dollars to students from all University schools, brings in virtually no revenue. “It’s going to raise our costs each Lunch,” Beling said. “Sometimes we break even, but even a difference this small, it’s going to make a big difference with our overall budget.” Just how did Coke products become the exclusive drinks on campus? “We went through a competitive process, with the big-name drink companies, mainly Coke and Pepsi,” said Alan Kuebler, the University’s executive director for resource management. “We invited both to propose to us, and Coke’s proposal was way more advantageous to the University, much more so than Pepsi’s.” For the exclusive “pouring rights,” the University receives money from Coke, said Kuebler. The University also doesn’t have to pay for any of the vending ma-
chines around campus. “We don’t have to pay for electricity, the product that goes in them, to service them, to refill them, or to get the money out of them,” said Kuebler. The University then splits the earnings from the 105 vending machines on campus with Coke. Bon Appétit is not so lucky. It still has to pay for the bottled soda and the syrup to put into its fountains. “We are limited in what we can purchase to bring on campus, and as far as Bon Appétit [is concerned], it hasn’t really hindered direction. The only concern we have is that the students can’t get some of the products they ask for,” said Kathy Carmody, general manager of Bon Appétit. Some students don’t like the limited soft-drink options on campus. Freshman Leah Bressler said, “I like Pepsi products better than Coke products. We need more variety.”
EITAN HOCHSTER | STUDENT LIFE
Sophomore Dan Asin buys some Coca-Cola at Bear Mart on Monday, Oct. 24. The University has an exclusive contract to only distribute Coke products on campus.
Chancellor’s salary higher than Harvard, Duke By Elizabeth Lewis Staff Reporter Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton makes more than $600,000 per year, earning more than the presidents of Duke and Harvard Universities, according to fi lings with the Internal Revenue Service obtained by Student Life. Nennerl O. Keohane, the president of Duke University, made almost $500,000 including contributions to employee benefit plans in 2002, the last year for which data was available. Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard University, also makes close to $500,000. All non-profit organizations must fi le an IRS 990 form, which contains information on the organizations’ fi nances and salaries. An examination of Washington University’s 990 form reveals that high-ranking administrators earn salaries significantly higher than the national average for comparable positions. But when the salaries are compared to similar positions at “peer institutions,” the wage
gap narrows. The average salary for a general council position at a four-year private university offering doctoral degrees was $141,251 in 2002, according to statistics compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The average chief executive at a university offering doctoral degrees made $250,358, less than half of what Wrighton rakes in. “Averages are skewed. At schools like Wash. U., Emory, and MIT, these schools are more complicated and there is more research going on,” said Anne Prenatt, the vice chancellor of human resources. She added that doctoral institutions, like Northwestern and the University of Miami, are not as research-driven as a school like Washington University. Salary comparisons between the two types of institutions may be misleading, said Prenatt. Many factors determine how much money administrators will make. “Whether a school is private or non-private, size, to some degree location, complexity, universities with medical centers, state-
run, and geography all play a role,” said Prenatt. She added that “schools on the east and west coasts have administrators who receive higher incomes.” The scope of research at a school also “determines how much research money is rewarded to an institution,” said Kim Grobak, the University’s director of compensation. Comparing how much administrators receive at schools like Washington University to the average amounts that administrators receive at doctoral universities “would be like comparing tuition here with the tuition at UMSL,” said Prenatt. Among other higher-ranking officials at the University, Michael Cannon, the executive vice chancellor and general counsel, makes over $300,000, including benefits. Anne Taylor, the vice president and general council at Harvard University, made about the same amount, and Beth Harris at the University of Chicago and Richard Zansitis at Rice University both made around $250,000 for the same position of general counsel.
ABS Festival brings astronaut Jemison to campus By Jessie Rothstein Contributing Reporter Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel into space, will deliver this week’s Assembly Series lecture in conjunction with the annual Black Arts & Sciences Festival. The theme for this year’s weeklong festival, put on by the Association of Black Students (ABS), “Shoot For Your Moon, Break Through Their Stratosphere: Celebrating Black Frontiersman,” aims to celebrate the achievements of black scientists and inventors throughout history. In her lecture, entitled “Exploring the Frontiers of Science and Human Potential,” Jemison will reflect on her dedication to motivating change and spreading her appreciation for scientific education to others. She plans to discuss not only her own story, but also the importance of education and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and technology. Jemison made history when she traveled on the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s STS-47 SpacelabJ flight as the science mission specialist in 1992. A NASA astronaut for six years, Jemison carried out experiments in the life and material sciences on board the Endeavor and also functioned as co-investigator for bone cell research in the Spacelab laboratory module. In addition to her career as an as-
tronaut, Jemison has also held the professional roles of chemical engineer, scientist, physician, and teacher. Members of ABS have requested Jemison as a speaker for the past several years but had their first opportunity to bring her to campus this year. Sophomore Michelle Jamison, the programming co-chair for ABS, said, “This year we put all of our efforts into bringing her here and are ecstatic that she is actually coming.” The speaker selection process, which began last May, was a joint effort of the entire ABS executive board and the programming co-chairs. Her visit to the University marks a monumental event for many students who have looked to her achievements for inspiration in the past. “She has been my personal role model since I was in the sixth grade and first heard of her,” said Jamison. Senior Raumesh Akbari, president of ABS, echoes such sentiments as she states that attending her lecture will “be like listening to living history.” Currently working as a professor-at-large at Cornell University, Jemison’s accomplishments stretch far beyond the professional realm. One of her main enterprises is The Jemison Group, founded in 1993, which is a technology consulting firm that is concerned with technologies’ social, cultural
and economic impact. Among other projects, this company provides needed health care services to developing areas, such as West Africa, where Jemison formerly served as a medical officer for the Peace Corps. In addition, Jemison also founded The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence in 1994. This nonprofit organization sponsors an annual international summer camp, called “The Earth We Share,” which teaches teenagers problem-solving skills and methods for applying them to current global dilemmas. Given her wide range of successes, Jemison accurately reflects the theme of this year’s Black Arts & Sciences Festival, which Akbari describes as one that “essentially promotes achievement even in the face of barriers and limits others try to place on you.” Other events planned for the week include open-forum discussions such as “Ask a Negro Leaguer” with “Prince” Joe Henry, which will discuss the frontiers in sports by speaking with a former player in the Negro Leagues, the baseball league for black players in the years before they were allowed to enter Major League Baseball. The annual ABS semi-formal, held on Saturday night, will conclude the week. More information about the Festival’s events can be found at ABS’s Web site, w w w.clik.to/abs.
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
Students attend an Association of Black Students event discussing minorities and health care in Mudd House on Tuesday night.