Professor discusses disappointment with Administration

To the Editors:

To hear Andy Evans and Nancy Dye talk, they believe Oberlin College facilities are better managed today than ever before. They will demonstrate this by showing you how much money Aramark (previously FRM) has saved the College since they took over management of our facilities. How do they save money – they reduce the work force, they stop performing regular maintenance, they cut back on custodial services, and they sell off (or simply give away) College assets. But what are the costs of these decisions?
Let’s begin with the last week’s power outage. When power went out at midnight, no problem, the backup diesel generator in Mudd would provide emergency services to that building. Except the generator wouldn’t start – under present management the College no longer tests its emergency generators weekly nor do they regularly top off their fuel tanks. It took 3-4 hours for maintenance workers to get the generator started, and then, the fuel tank was nearly empty. One worker ran home to bring back a can of diesel fuel so that the generator would not die before a fuel truck could arrive at 8 p.m.. (And, when power was restored before the emergency fuel delivery, managers debated canceling the order so that they could shop around for a better price!) Diesel engines and their storage tanks require considerable maintenance. What is the point of having a backup generator if you are not going to maintain it? The finance office is quick to claim the $180 saved by not refueling the tank. Where does lost productivity show up on their spreadsheet?
Under our present management, the College has discontinued its long-standing policy of stockpiling a day’s supply of coal on-site in case weather interrupts deliveries. I suppose their next step will be to cancel our fire insurance — we haven’t used that in ages!
Last year, some of you may remember a day when Philips was closed due to a chlorine leak. How did this occur? A valve that had been leaking for a long time finally gave out, spilling chlorine all over the pool basement. The incident would have been avoided with proper maintenance – the issue had been identified some time earlier. The deferred maintenance issues associated with the pool are too many to list.
Speaking of maintenance, students should know that the College no longer routinely repairs broken items in the dorms. Each summer College maintenance crews used to go through dorms fixing anything that was broken. No longer – now things get fixed only when an occupant complains – and that could take months.
Oberlin College used to own a fleet of vehicles for use by departments, athletic teams, and student organizations. Under Aramark the College has dumped these – now we rent vehicles from Enterprise. I am sure the bean counters must be ecstatic. These, of course, are the same bean counters that have decided we can make money by building more dorms. Who will maintain this new dorm?
For years, College workers have exhibited frugality by storing windows, radiators, and other items that could no longer be purchased – for the day they are again needed. No more – under Aramark management the storehouses have been emptied. This last summer when window air-conditioners were removed from Wright, the original windows that had been stored for years were no longer to be found – disposed of with hundreds of other items (including a sailboat – apologies to the sailing club) under our present management. The College had to pay a contractor to build permanent windows in place – operable windows, like the ones discarded, were cost-prohibitive.
The emergency backup generator for the new Science facility – rather than running on natural gas, it is powered by diesel fuel – what bean counter made that decision? Never mind the added greenhouse gas emission or the maintenance and safety issues associated with the diesel storage tank. How long will it be before this generator won’t start in an emergency or its fuel tank is left empty?

—John Scofield
Associate Professor of Physics