As of Sept. 26, the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo) began accepting Aggie Cash. The CoHo became the latest of UC Davis campus dining service locations to accept this form of payment, making Aggie Cash accepted at every dining service location on campus.

In addition to the CoHo, satellite locations The CoHo To Go and The CoHo South Cafe have also begun accepting Aggie Cash. According to Brenan Connolly, the general manager of Resident Dining, students now have more variety to choose from for their meals.

“From a standpoint of partnering with the Coffee House and trying to make sure we’re looking at all the different entities of food service means that our community spends their money with as much flexibility as possible. That’s definitely a benefit to the whole campus,” Connolly said.

Along with providing variety and flexibility to campus meal plans, Connolly also hopes that the Aggie Cash will grow beyond just a first-year market. Director of Student Development Branden Pettit is pleased at the potential for freshmen involvement at the Memorial Union.

“I am glad that everything fell into place this year so that residence hall students can engage the MU community even more than before,” Pettit said in an email interview.

According to Connolly, the partnership has been in discussion for at least six years. He claims that there are various reasons why the partnership didn’t work out until now. However, Connolly also claims that Darin Schluep, the most recent CoHo food service director, saw the deal as a viable option and was one of the major reasons for why the partnership happened.

“I’m relatively new to my position; I’ve been here about a year. So I thought it’d be a great opportunity to recheck it out and see what was available out there and if we could partner with them. Really for us, the reason why we want to do it is it’s a service to the students. So it was in our best interest to make it happen,” Schluep said.

According to Chris Rzenut, Aggie Cash program controller, technical issues also played a part in the delay of Aggie Cash partnering with the CoHo. He claims with the advancement of technology over the years, cost for it has been brought down enough to possibly sway the other party’s decision.

“As technology grows it gets easier, and I think the price came down enough that it made sense. Maybe five years ago, the technology would’ve been more expensive and wouldn’t have been worth their while to do it,” Rzenut said.

According to Schluep, the decision allows the CoHo to tap into the first-year market, a much smaller market than other classes. Having already seen an increase in the first week of business, Schluep expects both the number of everyday students that come into the CoHo and sales numbers to increase further over time.

“Up until now, we had some freshmen that come over, but not as much as they’re probably going to come over now just because they can use their Aggie Cash here. We’re tapping into a freshman group of 5,000 or so that are now able to utilize their Aggie Cash here,” Schluep said.

Although a 10 percent discount is given to those who use Aggie Cash at a majority of participating locations, the CoHo will not provide a discount for using Aggie Cash at this time. Schluep claims the reasoning behind this decision is that prices at the CoHo are already competitive. However, he also claims that the door for an Aggie Cash discount remains open if the program goes well for the Fall Quarter trial period.

“If down the road, we see that there’s a benefit to offering a discount, we do have the door open to do that if we so choose. Our prices are discounted already. That’s how we look at it. We have some great prices; we hold up well against anybody else,” Schluep said.

As of now, Aggie Cash is accepted at every location in the CoHo except the two outside registers at the Marketplace. According to Schluep, if one wants to use Aggie Cash at the Marketplace, they have to go to the middle three registers. There are also signs to direct people to which registers accept Aggie Cash. Schluep claims that it was a business decision to save money on installation costs as these registers are only open a couple of hours a day during the CoHo’s peak period.

A business’ startup cost for Aggie Cash includes running wires, purchasing readers, a monthly charge for the readers in case one fails and a monthly charge that goes to the service by Sodexo.

According to Kyle Privette, Dining Services marketing manager, UC Davis dining services look for unique businesses to partner with in terms of Aggie Cash. Privette claims what’s unique about the CoHo is that it’s on campus.

“We’re always looking for a variety of vendors that offer something unique. We don’t want 25 pizza places,” Privette said.

Regina Marion, a third-year nutrition science major, is a fan of the partnership because of the increased options.

“I think it’s great for students. I know a lot of places you would think would accept Aggie Cash, but don’t. It gives students more variety,” Marion said.

JASON PHAM can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

UC service workers are experiencing a decrease in take-home pay due to the recent enactment of UC’s latest proposal for AFSCME 3299 service workers.

The AFSCME service workers include custodians, gardeners, food service workers and facilities maintenance staff. The workers are now required to contribute a larger percentage of their paycheck to the pension fund. This change follows a series of negotiations between the service workers and UC at the bargaining table, which failed to result in compromise.

“The cuts amount to a 1.5 percent decrease in take-home pay for workers making an average of $35,000 per year, and up to $124,000 in higher health costs for each worker over their lifetime,” the AFSCME press release stated.

UC maintains that the changes are part of pension reform, and the wages of service workers compare favorably to those in public and private sectors.

Much of the outrage expressed over the pay cuts involves the fact that they were imposed on a unit comprised of over 8,000 of UC’s lowest-paid workers. According to AFSCME, 99 percent of the service workers are currently income-eligible for some form of public assistance. The high level of pay and recent raises for some of the top-earning workers and executives in UC has only added fuel to the fire.

“As far as executive compensation goes, it is a very small percentage of the overall budget that UC has,” said Shelly Meron, a media specialist in the UC Office of the President. “The compensation package that we give service workers is very competitive.”

Some service workers disagree with UC’s insistence that they are providing the unit with reasonable compensation.

“Working at UC Davis, as a father of two, I can’t even afford to live in Davis,” said Ruben Santos, a senior custodian in the UC Davis Facilities Management Department. “If the pay was competitive we wouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck.”

Santos also expressed his concern that he will be unable to pay for his children to someday attend the institution that he works for.

“This is not what a public university is supposed to stand for. They are supposed to build ladders to the middle class, and right now they are destroying those ladders,” said Todd Stenhouse, communications director with AFSCME 3229.

Other service workers are also struggling to support their families on their current income. Eugene Stokes, a senior building maintenance worker at UC Berkeley, spoke about the difficult financial choices he was faced with recently.

“Yesterday, I had to choose between paying the mortgage or helping my daughter with her tuition. On other days, that choice is between medicine and food,” Stokes said.

The changes were implemented one week before UC President Janet Napolitano began her term on Sept. 30. Many are looking to her for resolution on this issue.

Ten California state representatives recently signed an open letter to Napolitano addressing their concerns about UC’s treatment of the service workers.

“Whatever the reason, whatever the recent history, singling out the University’s largest population of minority workers for the harshest treatment at the bargaining table sends a deeply disturbing message.  Nothing could be less consistent with the values that you have embodied throughout your career,” the letter stated.

AFSCME and the service workers are currently deciding what steps to take next.

“What workers are worried about right now is our families and our futures. We love working for UC. We love the students and the faculty.  All we’re asking for is to make a fair wage and be respected,” Santos said. “We are ready to fight until we get something that’s fair.”

LAUREN MASCARENHAS can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.