| A baseball stadium is trashed after the game is over. Not
the field; the stands, littered with fan debris. A college campus is the same way. Maybe not as bad, but
still papered with the kind of throw-away stuff that almost
18,000 students, staff and faculty bring to campus every
day. |
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When the last students are leaving campus, another group of
people is arriving. When they get here, the campus can be
quite a mess. When they leave, many times after midnight,
the campus is cleaned up and ready for another 18,000
students.
And that’s just the routine stuff. What happens when there
are two, or more, events scheduled for 6 p.m., one in the
Main Quad and the other in Room 220. Who do we call when we
need 40 more chairs for Room 220 “right away” and, “Oh, by
the way, it’s raining in the quad and the set up needs to be
moved to the breezeway – (right now, of course)?”
Who are these midnight heroes?
They are the campus Custodial Services, a few of whom the
daytime population may see, but others who are unknown on
campus during class hours, even in the evening.
On Monday through Thursday, the following custodians report
for work at 10 a.m. and go home at 6:30 a.m.: David
Arredondo (who works in the South 500 area), Berry Baker
(North 300s), Joe Balestreri (LTRC), Mario Bribiesca (North
200s), Martin Fontenot (South 200s), Alfredo Gacias (LTRC),
Steve Gonzalez (South 300s), Mary Hough (West 300s), Joel
Lopez (Student Center), Tony Mok (East 500s), Bob Neely
(Phys. Ed.) and Edmund Osborne (Phys. Ed.)
On Friday, they get to campus at 5 p.m. and leave at 1:30
a.m.
There is a swing shift: Teddy Barbachano (district offices),
Kim Danley (faculty offices), Thelma Miller (Child
Development and LTRC basement, and Maurice Watkins (100
Bldg.) They work from 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
And there is a day person, Ricardo Macias, who from 11 a.m.
to 7:30 p.m. keeps the Student Center tidied, and for whose
work Joel Lopez must be most grateful.
Supervising them all is Custodial Supervisor Kurt Brauer.
“Our goal is to provide to you the best service available
with the staff available on a daily basis,” Brauer said.
It hasn’t always been this smooth, according to Tim Flood,
director of campus facilities and operations, “In the past
few years, we have seen a marked improvement in overall
campus maintenance, reflecting a renewed emphasis on
maintenance and cleanliness for our students. We have
instituted changes and reorganization in a continuing effort
to provide the Grossmont College community with the best
possible learning environment.”
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