Brown and White Vol. 131 no. 11

              The Brown and White Vol. 131 No. 11
Friday, October 14, 2016 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
Photo Illustration by Roshan Giyanani/B&W Staff
How safe is your stuff?
Gryphons,
ORL discuss
contract
discrepancies
By JESSICA HICKS
Associate News Editor
By REBECCA WILKIN
Deputy News Editor
Students question security of campus libraries
It was an ordinary Tuesday after-noon
and Mark Schatzman, ’17, was
following his typical weekday rou-tine.
After his classes ended Sept. 20,
Schatzman headed to the fourth
floor of Fairchild-Martindale Library
where he usually studied. He found a
table behind a whiteboard and set his
phone and computer down to charge.
When he returned from a short trip
to Upper Cort, he noticed his phone
was gone.
Schatzman then remembered see-ing
two young girls exit the elevator
as he entered. The girls looked out of
place, but Schatzman only thought
about them for a moment or two. He
then began to piece together the story
unfolding before him: He believed the
girls had taken his phone.
Lehigh’s open campus allows for
anyone in the community to enter
its public spaces, such as libraries.
Students who feel comfortable leav-ing
their belongings unattended
in these buildings have sometimes
experienced theft.
“Obviously I know it’s not good to
leave things, but I’m a senior, and
I’ve been doing this for the last couple
of years,” Schatzman said. “I guess
you start to take it for granted and
not think about it anymore.”
Schatzman contacted Library &
Technology Services to ask if they had
seen any suspicious activity. Nothing
had been reported, so Schatzman
used his computer to send an iMes-sage
to a friend who was studying in
FML. Together, he said, they enabled
the Find my iPhone application and
could not believe what appeared on
the screen before them.
“There was my phone — a quarter
of a mile away, two quarters of a
mile away,” Schatzman said. “I was
actually sitting there watching as it
traveled farther and farther away
from Lehigh.”
Schatzman’s friend pointed out
the phone stopped moving at a local
Wendy’s and suggested they go
there themselves. A little hesitant,
Schatzman stayed behind and con-tacted
the Lehigh University Police
Department to see what his next
move should be.
Professor removed from chemistry teaching position
By SAM TOPP
Assistant News Editor
Courtesy of Lehigh University
Ned D. Heindel, a professor of chemistry
It’s the first week of classes. More
than 150 students are seated in an
organic chemistry lecture, feeling
anxious about the semester. The
next lecture, they notice a few more
students in the room. The next, even
more. By the time they notice 85
more faces in the room, classes have
been in session for more than a
month.
An organic chemistry section was
permanently moved to another class
section by the chemistry department
two weeks ago.
On Sept. 27, professor Suzanne
Fernandez received an email ask-ing
if 85 students in professor Ned
Heindel’s section, the only other
organic chemistry section, could be
permanently moved into her class-room
for the rest of the semester.
The notice was not expected.
Fernandez, who has taught full-time
at Lehigh for two years, said she
noticed more students in her class
throughout the month of September,
prior to her receiving the email.
David Vicic, the chairman of the
chemistry department, said com-bining
the two course sections was
entirely a student choice.
“I think the students solved the
problem by themselves,” Vicic said.
“Professor Fernandez has been the
main instructor for organic chem-istry.
She has it down to a science,
so maybe that’s why students have
gravitated toward her.”
Vicic said professors sometimes
emphasize different parts of the
material, and this raises students’
concerns of missing critical class
content. Both professors contribute
to writing exams for the course.
However, when the professors focus
on different material, the students’
performance on those exams may
vary.
Heindel began teaching organic
chemistry this year as a replacement
for professor Keith Schray. Heindel
did not respond to requests from The
Brown and White for comment.
Vicic said Heindel is doing his best
to learn from the experience.
“I think (Heindel) is disappointed,”
Vicic said. “I think he spent time pre-
This semester, members of the
Gryphon Society have expressed frus-trations
with the Office of Residence
Life regarding discrepancies related
to obligations and compensation for
their work.
At a Gryphon staff meeting last
month, Eden Weinflash, ’17, the
head Gryphon of Upper Cents, said
the ORL announced Pacing Break
would not be included among the
compensated breaks listed in their
contract. The contract originally stat-ed
that staff on duty during Pacing
Break, Thanksgiving break and
spring break would be compensated.
However, on Monday, just days
before Pacing Break weekend,
Gryphons were notified that staff
staying on campus for the break
would indeed receive a $25 stipend
per day.
Ashley Lemmons, the interim
associate dean of the ORL, said she
received feedback from Gryphons
who were opposed to having Pacing
Break included among the com-pensated
breaks, as it would create
scheduling complications for mem-bers
of the staff.
“(Gryphons were) upset, not about
the contractual issues, but about
the (way they were executed),” said
David Kabrt, ’17, the head Gryphon
of Richards. Kabrt said he had not
spoken to any Gryphons who were
not frustrated with the situation.
Lemmons said when Gryphons
signed their contracts in January,
See THEFT Page 2 See GRYPHONS Page 4
See ORGO Page 3
paring materials that emphasized
what he thought was important.”
Emilia Galka, ’18, said although