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I am writing today to comment about the article “Handy to have around” that was printed on Sept. 3. Earlier that week, my dad mentioned to me that he was going to be featured in an article for the school newspaper about all of the work that he and his department do for Brandeis. I was really happy for him, as he has worked for Brandeis University for 24 years and it was great that the school paper thought it was equally important to write about the people that do a lot for the school, faculty and their students.

With this all said, after reading your article, I was appalled and quite disappointed of how my father and his department were portrayed. The article made a mockery of him, some of his other unnamed colleagues and the Trade Person Helper department as a whole.

If you wanted to print an article about layoffs, demotions, or any other aspect of facilities at Brandeis, then that is what your article should have been about. It seemed clear to me that this was really what you were trying to get across in the article when Mark Collins was mentioned and workers compensation due to injuries to facilities workers. The title of the article and what it was about was not related. “Handy to have around” should have been about how hard facilities works year-round when students are on and off campus, when faculty requests items at the last minute, and how they are employed by Brandeis to fix anything from a flooded toilet to an electrical issue in a dorm. This was not the way that he or his team were portrayed when you made it seem like my father wants all of the easy jobs like a flooded toilet as was mentioned in the article.

In response to the recent layoff situation and Mark Collins not commenting, my father was laid off, but in their union, they can be bumped down to a different position due to seniority; which is why he is now in TPH instead of HVAC and thankfully not searching for another job like so many people have to unfortunately endure.

My father, as well as I, thought that the article was going to be in a positive light, showcasing how the TPH and other facilities departments work very hard to keep Brandeis running and in great condition. This however, was not the case.

Sincerely,
Korrinn Nauss