10
letters S.A.L.E. on them worn
by many of the custodial
workers stand for, “Sanitary,
Attractive Learning
Environment. ”
She laughs when asked if
“Students are leaving early”
was another way of interpreting
the button.
“Yes indeed,” she says, “that
was the joke.”
She says students in the first
floor lounge of Harrington
Tower rarely get in her way.
“They move out of your way
and let you work, ” she says.
“Nobody gets in anybody’s
way.
“All the people in this
building are very nice. I haven’t
run into any nasty people yet. ”
Ola Mae Moore started
working in the Memorial
Student Center in 1959.
She says there have been
plenty of changes in the MSC
since she began. She recalls the
original building with only 33
guest rooms (it has 63 now) and
very little other space.
“But you’d have to talk to
Mr. J. Wayne Stark about all
that,” she says. “He’s the one
who got all this started. ”
Moore’s title is custodial
worker II. For the past nine or
10 years she’s cleaned the
bowling and games area of the
basement, she says. But she
started out cleaning the guest
rooms and has cleaned just
about every part of the building
in the past 28 years.
She says the guest rooms
didn’t have carpets, thermostats
or televisions in 1959.
“I could tell a whole lot of
things,” she says. “I’ve seen a
bunch in 28 years. But I don’t
know, if I talked about what I’ve
seen — they might get upset. ”
Until the early ’70s the black
custodial workers were not
allowed to eat lunch in the main
cafeteria, even though blacks
worked as cooks in the MSC.
“Now we all get to eat
together,’’she says.
Moore, who was born in
Burleson County, has four
grown children.
She says she cleans house
for her supervisor one or two
times a month to earn a little
extra money.
David Gentry, Joe Mendez
and Ron Trejo all clean and set
up rooms for meetings in the
MSC and Rudder Tower. They
work the 2-11 p.m. shift.
Gentry, an assistant foreman,
says the work is all right.
“It takes a lot out of your
social life by working nights and
weekends,” he says, “but it’ s a
job.”
Gentry says the salary is j us t
enough to pay the bills.
“As far as saving and all that
goes, you can’t save a fort^ ne
out of your check, ” he says
All three men have children
—Gentry has three, Mend$ z
has one and Trejo has two.
They say second jobs help
make life easier.
Gentry used to work at
Whataburger, but had to giv e
that up because he needed to
devote more time to his
children. Mendez still works a t
Whataburger and with his
brother in construction. Trejo
works with his father in a new
landscaping business.
They all have plans for the
future, too. Trejo says he hopes
the landscaping business will be
successful. Gentry says he
wants to work for the Texas
Department of Corrections, and
Mendez wants to work as a
warehouse manager —he
wants a nine-to-five job.
Gentry also has hope for the
future of his children.
“The way I look at things,
maybe ten years from now I’ll
have a young superstar coming
up, ” Gentry says, “and I won’t
have to work.
“Even if he’s a writer or a
teacher or something. My oldest
girl, she loves school. She’s
about an ‘A’ student. ”
These are just a few of the
people we never notice. Behind
the shrubbery. Behind the mop.
Behind the counters. And
behind the tables and chairs.
Grounds maintenance has
120 full-time workers. The
physical plant employs about
1,100 people. Food services
has up to 750 full-and part-time
workers during the fall and
spring semesters, and the
University Center has 90 full
time employees.
We often don’t notice them,
but A&M couldn’t operate
without the valuable services
they provide.
As you rush to class, smile at
the behind-the-scenes people.
Take time to appreciate the jobs
they do.
Custodial worker Paul Karkoska cleans a door in Hart
Hall. He is in charge of ramps A through E.