By
Nobody
University abused Dawg Daze
To the editor,
I worked for Dawg Daze, the former U of A hot dog vendor, for about six years (from 1992-98). I left to pursue other opportunities, but have remained in close contact with the outfit.
I could not have worked for and with a nicer bunch of people. We cared about the students; they came first. It was such a pleasure to come to work. It was more than just a job; it was a great learning experience for me. I am absolutely appalled by how the U of A just let Dawg Daze go.
It was only after the Dawg Daze contract had expired that the university finally sent them a notice announcing their contract would not be renewed.
I find that unprofessional, irresponsible and as arrogant as the university tends to be.
Certainly we are in a free market system, but one would hope the university would at least maintain the courtesy of informing the vendor in a timely and appropriate fashion.
I know that the people at Dawg Daze will miss all the students. Yet another local business has been gobbled up by the University of Arizona without even a courteous farewell.
Dale F. Baker, Jr.
Tucsonan
Editorial misses point
To the editor,
This letter is in response to the editorial in the August 23rd edition of the Wildcat. In this editorial, the Wildcat expresses the opinion that while Likins needs to pull out of the Fair Labor Association, it is valid for him to want to meet with the Task Force first.
This editorial misses the main problem with Likins' current conduct: he is violating the "Commitments Relating to Sweatshops" which he made to the university community in April of 1999.
For those who may not recall, Students Against Sweatshops staged a ten-day sit-in in Likins' office. While we were sitting-in, we spent that time negotiating with Likins about conditions for continued university participation in the FLA. The product of those negotiations was the Commitments Relating to Sweatshops-a series of deadlines for the FLA to improve itself. In those Commitments, President Likins promised the University community that if the FLA had not adopted the four major labor principles by August 1, 2000 that the University would withdraw from the FLA.
August 1st has come and gone and the university is still a member of the FLA. President Likins is currently breaking his promise to the university community. There is nothing ambiguous about that. The Commitments say he must withdraw and he hasn't.
Rachel Wilson
Psychology graduate student
Res Life getting bum rap
To the editor,
Residence Life's goal is promote a community that respects other people's beliefs, have a fun and memorable social and also be a place where students can study. Through the years, our university's on-campus students have shown time and time again that they do better than off-campus students.
Next Residence Life was responsible for creating El Mundo which is a committee responsible for Multicultural Programs: for example Holiday Fest started by a former Area Coordinator and Tunnel of Oppression started by a fomer Hall Director Jordan Farrow. Both programs promoted understanding between the diverse community of U of A and the city of Tucson.
In January 1999, Jim Van Arsdale showed what problems Residence Life was going through. There were ideas of having a lottery system and only have a few upper division students return. Since then Casa Feliz Apartment complex was rejected from being a residence hall by President Likins and Arizona-Sonora had to turn double rooms back to triplet rooms.
Because of a naive hope of the lottery system, construction on Pima was also late. Also the "slow poke American Auto-worker style" construction workers has been doing a very poor and lazy job for Pima Hall. There are quite a few negative aspects in Res Life, but the current situation is the University Admin's fault, carelessness, and lack of respect to students.
Bottomline: give Res Life a break! And appreciate for the countless educational programs the RA's organize, assist, and what not.
Ahmad Saad Nasim
General business senior
