All bark no byte

Rude presidents. Hurt feelings. Offices shut down.

Sound familiar? Only this time, it doesn't involve Bill Clinton or Newt Gingrich, but a former employee of MACcess Computer Center, and Associated Students President Kenyan McCarthy.

The computer center, which is owned by Franciscan Shops, was forced to close its doors in the Cesar Chavez Student Center last week due to poor revenue. According to former MACcess manager Cathe Allege, the closure was unexpected and left three people unemployed.

Allege, who called McCarthy a "land-grabbing vulture," said the issue was not the center's closing, but McCarthy's arrogance.

"Two days after we received word that the center was closing, he (McCarthy) started milling outside the windows, peering in," Allege said. "It should have been obvious that he was dealing with people who were upset. We were scrambling to clear things out and deal with losing our jobs, and he was already sizing our office for his own personal use.

"It was like somebody gawking at a dead body in a car accident," Allege said. "It's hard to be productive when somebody's picking around through your guts."

According to Allege, McCarthy rapped on the computer center's window and beckoned her to come outside to the student center's mezzanine to discuss the moving process.

Allege said McCarthy was "extremely rude" when he talked to her, especially in light of the fact that Allege had just lost her job. Allege said she went back to the computer center and stewed for about a half hour before deciding to confront McCarthy in his office.

Allege said she got no further than the AS secretary, "who slammed a window" in her face, and refused to let her speak to McCarthy.

McCarthy, who called the incident "spooky" and "weird," said he would have been glad to talk to Allege, but said he was in a meeting while Allege stood outside, "banging her fist on the window and screaming vulgarities."

"I was talking to the manager of the Franciscan shops," McCarthy said, "and we were discussing what needed to be done with the computer center, when this person starts hammering on my window, demanding to talk to me, saying that she pays my salary."

McCarthy said Allege's fist marks are still visible on his office window.

But fist marks aren't the only lasting impressions that were left from the incident.

Allege feels that the whole episode was "indicative of the way McCarthy treats people," and shows his "lack of empathy for the very people that helped elect him."

McCarthy responded by calling himself "one of the nicest presidents that the university's had in a long time," and hoped that "everyone could get together and put this thing behind them."

[ Golden Gater Online November 21, 1995 ]

[ back to top ]