As an employee of the George Sherman Union administration, I was personally incensed by the article you ran on Friday regarding earlier food court closures (“Closing times earlier for GSU restaurants,” Feb. 29, p. 1) — and not because I’m hungry. While I do not mean to discount the work of the Union Court student managers, calling these individuals “GSU student managers” not only propagates the myth that the GSU is only a food court, but also completely disregards the tremendous work done on a daily basis by the operations staff of the GSU.
The GSU administration, comprised of six departments and more than 100 student employees, is responsible for the security, programming assistance and general operations of the building from open until close — as well as the countless hours dedicated to further enhancing services. In addition to the operations staff, the GSU administration is also responsible for the University Reservations Office, Union Information, BU Central, GSU Technical Services and the Escort Security Service. It is due to the hard work of these “behind-the-scenes” employees that the GSU can even operate as a building.
Again, while I don’t mean to denigrate the work of the undoubtedly hard-working Dining Services staff, I believe it would be more appropriate to reference the operations managers as “GSU student managers.”
Additionally, the article continues to make references to the Union Court as “the GSU,” which, while at face value may seem reasonable to many students, is not a valid connection. The Union Court is operated by Dining Services, and, aside from its location therein, has virtually nothing to do with the GSU administration, which falls under the Office of the Dean of Students.
I thus write on behalf of the building managers, student managers and employees of the GSU Administration and respectfully request that you acknowledge our service — or simply not grossly misplace recognition.
David Scaduto
ENG ’09
Student manager
GSU Technical Services