"It's bad," said Deborah Omasta-Mokrzecki, a dining services manager, who estimated that this year's worker shortage is probably the worst in history.
It has been increasingly hard for dining services to attract student employees and other part-time help in recent years, according to Director of Dining Services Charlie Thompson. Thompson added that when he came to Amherst in 1991, Dining Services generally employed about 250 student workers. Currently, Valentine has 20 student employees, according to Thompson.
Thompson said that Dining Services employs approximately 58 to 60 full-time employees, and that many have been working up to 15 hours over-time each week to make up for understaffing.
"I don't mind helping out, but everybody gets tired," said dining hall server Bernice Hripak.
Christie Tetretault, who says students call her the "egg Nazi," has been working three nights a week, though she usually works only during the day. "I'm a single mother, so I have to get sitters," she said. "I like the extra money, but it's a little senseless."
In addition, most members of the office and managerial staff have had to pitch in and work on the dishwashing line. "Every manager has been working extra shifts," said Omasta-Mokrzecki. "I really enjoy working on line, but my focus has to be in the office."
Thompson said that one of the major causes of the worker shortage is the stereotype that students working for Dining Services are second-class citizens. "It is an unfortunate stigma," he said. "I'm not sure how to react to make it better or to change student views of workers."
Marisol Thomer '02, co-chair of FACE (Financial Aid and Class Equality), echoed Thompson's concern that working in Valentine has become a stigma. "Once I put on the uniform hat and apron, I ceased to exist as a fellow student or hallmate-I became invisible, well, unless you needed more bean sprouts," said Thomer. "It's a reality most Valentine staff experience daily. It's just that it can often make you feel like an outsider."
Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Joe Paul Case said that he was perplexed by the worker shortage because there were no fewer work-study students than usual. Case speculated that last year's increase in grants and decrease in loans might have meant that students felt less financial pressure to be employed.
Thompson said that many students would rather get a job in a place where they can do homework while at work.
"Dining Services is different than other departments. It's a fast-paced job, not a glamorous job that we provide here," Thompson added.
Students who previously worked in Valentine are not coming back this year, Thompson said. He added that staffing is more difficult this year because Valentine is open an additional half hour at lunchtime.
According to Thompson, Dining Services has also had trouble attracting outside employees to fill part-time positions, probably due to the low unemployment rate and the number of new businesses in the area. He said that Dining Services regularly visits local high schools to recruit casual, part-time employees, although their efforts have recently been largely unsuccessful.
Thompson said that many students have reported being unhappy about the use of styrofoam and plastic utensils in the cafeteria, and that they have had to resort to this method up to a half dozen times so far.
"It's bad for the environment and it depresses me to go in and eat there because of all the plastic waste," said Rachael Willhite '04.
Thompson said that it is always difficult to find student employees in the first few weeks of the school year, but that after the add/drop period Dining Services usually gets more employees.