Student Workers Raising Funds for Usc Describe a 'Culture of Fear and Intimidation'
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SUMMER TROJAN WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2021 | STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINCE 1912 | VOL. 203, NO. 4 Art & Design by Lauren Schatzman and Alyssa Shao | Daily Trojan STUDENT WORKERS RAISING FUNDS FOR USC DESCRIBE A ‘CULTURE OF FEAR AND INTIMIDATION’ One year after the closure of USC’s call center, former “SCallers” say they feel ambivalent about their time spent working the phone lines. By JOSH CODE “I think getting people to part with Ward made connections not only Thomas recalled one Chinese Daily Trojan their hard earned money is definitely with donors but also with his co-work- American SCaller who quit after her hard to do, especially when you’re em- ers. He met supervisors Mariah Breit first week because a client complained n a windowless room on South broiled in so many scandals,” said Ethan and Thomas while working in the call that there were too many Asian stu- Grand Avenue, dozens of phone lines Ward, a former SCaller who graduat- center, and the three enjoyed lasting dents attending the University com- came abuzz every night as student I ed in 2021. “There were plenty of mo- friendships with their fellow SCallers, pared to when he had graduated. workers chatted up USC alumni, hoping ments when people were pissed off that many of whom were USC students. The “I was very, very surprised that, even to get a donation by the end of each call. you were calling asking for money, but managers would sometimes order pizza at that time, USC wanted to contin- This off-campus facility was home I feel like the positive interactions out- for the SCallers, organize Christmas gift ue with the call center,” said a former to “SCallers,” a cohort of student work- manager, who asked to remain anony- ers who raised money for USC through weighed those.” exchanges and facilitate team-building Despite the monotonous nature of activities. mous in the interest of job security. “I phone conversations with alumni. They think it actually took a toll on the stu- called former Trojans and shared news dents themselves because we can train of facility upgrades, new programs for re- them on how to combat or rebut … the search and positive personal anecdotes complaints. But, still, that’s a lot of emo- about USC, aiming to convince clients “I think getting people to part with their hard tional and mental abuse they all have to to open up their purses to their alma ma- earned money is definitely hard to do, especially deal with.” ter. SCallers followed a script that asked The former manager — though not them to “smile while you dial,” and re- when you’re embroiled in so many scandals.” a USC student — was part of a staff quired they ask each client four sepa- · · · hired by Ruffalo Noel Levitz, an institu- rate times for money before hanging up. tional fundraising contractor that over- This number was later lowered to three ETHAN WARD sees call centers at more than 1,900 uni- on account of a recent spate of University A former SCaller and 2021 alum versities and non-profit organizations scandals, said Alice Thomas, a former around the world. USC’s call center was USC student and supervisor. one of the biggest money-makers for The call center closed in May 2020 RNL, she said. after a few scandals of its own, includ- scripted phone calls, Ward looked for- “The fun part was the conversations But for years the money raised for ing a controversy over employees’ paid ward to work. He fondly remembers that we had amongst each other,” Ward USC by RNL belied an opaque manage- sick leave and a bathroom break policy building rapport with clients and devel- said. “Being able to build friendships, ment style which penalized SCallers for that penalized workers who used the re- oping the courage to make multiple re- leaving there, and then going to hang quests during his time at the call center. out afterwards. A lot of my good friends bathroom breaks and misled them stroom for too long. But in reflecting on | see CALL, page 1 | the history of SCallers, some former em- The job was a fun challenge to his per- now — I met them there.” ployees also value the friendships and suasive skills. But on the phone lines, the conver- skills that emerged from their work ex- “My favorites were the people who sations were sometimes less friendly, perience amid these drawbacks. The answered the phone saying ‘I’m not go- Thomas said. Daily Trojan interviewed seven former ing to give any money today,’” Ward “You get a lot of rude people, a lot of employees who worked at the call cen- said. “Then they would give money by upset people, a lot of racist people some- ter between 2015 and 2020. the time we got off the phone.” times,” she said. INDEX 2 · News 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 6· Sudoku 8 · Classifieds 12 · Sports PAGE 2 JUNE 9, 2021 | WWW.DAILYTROJAN.COM NEWS Student named Goldwater Scholar for disease research Bryson Choy’s research understanding of diseases. Rohs “I never regretted about [taking] directed Choy to various labs, in- him because he actually is a fast focuses on understanding cluding the Katritch Lab, where he learner, and he quickly learned the chronic diseases treatment would begin research during his ropes,” Katritch said. second semester. In addition to working with By SYDNEY FIORENTINO “That was my very first experi- Katritch, Choy also began research Staff Writer ence [performing research], I had with William Padula, assistant Originally from Honolulu, no previous exposure to research, professor of pharmaceutical and Hawaii, Bryson Choy enjoyed his- but that’s when I really began to get health economics in the School of tory and economics in high school, engaged in different projects,” Choy Pharmacy. After onboarding onto but his interests shifted to drug said. “My interest in research be- Padula’s research team, Choy com- discovery and quantitative biolo- gan to build … but the prospect of pleted tasks that required data gy when he enrolled at USC three discovering new things, of making analysis, computer programming, years ago. After pursuing research new discoveries and being able to systematic literature review and during his freshman year, Choy was advance your knowledge of, for ex- identified important data points to one of two USC students to receive ample, a specific disease or a specif- build the lab’s research. the Barry Goldwater Scholarship in ic protein and how it works, was re- Padula said that it takes a cer- March. Out of 1,200 applicants who ally enticing.” tain type of person to dedicate received nominations from their Choy has continued working at themselves to such research initia- school, 410 students received the the Katritch Lab and is currently tives, as it takes a lot of work and Photo Courtesy of Bryson Choy $7,500 award for their works. writing a manuscript based on his time before one can get their work Bryson Choy conducted research with two professors, Vsevolod Choy, a rising senior studying discoveries, after which he will con- published in a journal. Katritch and William Padula. quantitative biology and pursu- tinue working on another project “Bryson showed me that he was ing a progressive degree in quanti- related to the discovery of anoth- very patient, [was thinking] ana- “His accomplishments and what Biology and Biological Engineering tative and computational biology, er selective small molecule. While lytically and was learning the right he’s doing [is] a challenging prob- at Caltech. Following the comple- had family members who had a his- first beginning at the Katritch Lab, methodology to contribute to the lem, and how he approached it is tion of his progressive degree pro- very competitive for the highest tory of chronic diseases. He wanted Choy was mentored by Arman type of work that we were doing gram next year, Choy hopes to apply to understand how different treat- Sadybekov, took on a few pilot proj- in my lab, so I could tell right away level.” Katritch said. “I was not sur- to doctorate programs in computa- ments worked and was interested ects and started to work on an in- that he was a good fit,” Padula said. prised that he was chosen.” in learning how research could bet- dependent project, which included As Choy continued his research, Padula called Choy an “up and tional biology. He said that being ter address how diseases are treated modeling and analyzing the func- he heard about the Goldwater coming star.” Choy seemed to be a Goldwater Scholar will not only with different therapies. tional role of sodium ions in recep- Scholarship — an award for stu- very altruistic, with a desire to do help him pay for tuition, but con- “[The award] is really a manifes- tors and how the ion impacts acti- dents interested in doing STEM research to help people and to im- nect him to a valuable network. tation of the work that you did in vation and various functions. field research as a future career — prove social services, Padula said. “I think the opportunity to con- your undergraduate research,” Choy Vsevolod Katritch, associate pro- from another student from Hawaii “He wants to be a researcher in nect to others, like Goldwater said. “It’s a good stepping stone for fessor of quantitative and computa- who had previously received the the field of social services, whether future research fellowships that you tional biology and chemistry, said scholarship. In his scholarship ap- that’s healthcare and public health or Scholars, and being able to talk and might apply to for graduate school.” that it was unusual for a freshman plication, Choy wrote about his in- whether that’s somewhere else is re- connect to other students who are Beginning freshman year, Choy to be interested in his lab.