Maurine noticed my stare and yet I chose not to look away. She took a tray off the line, stacked it on a cart and looked right back at me. Again, my eyes stayed fixed on her. She placed another brown tray on her pile, and then, without the slightest change in expression, she waved at me. I blushed and sheepishly turned my head.Dressed Oe la Salvation Army, she works as a dishwasher at Sherman Dining Hall. In fact, if you eat at Sherman, you might know Maurine.

During lunchtime, when she washes all the tables she sprays disinfectant high up into the air, almost as if she enjoys watching the aspirated molecules settle on the table, before she diligently mops them up with her rag. She might even do this close to you--too close for comfort sometimes --but you dare not say anything.

Maurine suffers from a developmental disability. She's one of five dishwashers in Sherman -- all with different mental challenges. Since 1985 the Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens (GWARC) has been staffing Usdan and Sherman dining halls with workers. Today, two teams of five workers wash dishes and clean tables in each hall.

"Awesome" is how Usdan Assistant Food Service Director Peter Christopher describes the dishwashers. "They're some of the best employees we have."

Actually, these laborers work neither for Aramark or Brandeis. They're similar to contractors in that GWARC, a nonprofit company, pays them.

The five GWARC workers manning the massive industrial dishwasher in the back of Usdan are managed by Jean Marius, an ex-Papa Gino's manager who brings his expertise to Usdan dining hall.

"I train them to be effective," he said in a thick Creole accent. Marius is quick to point out how, since he has taken over as their manager, productivity has gone sky high.

"I make them bring a book to work, and at the end of the day I give them an evaluation -- it's very helpful," said Marius. "My work is sometimes challenging but also rewarding -- I get to learn about and share in their lives."

Aramark workers in Usdan seem not to mind their GWARC counterparts.

"They're nice people," said Kathy MacDougall, a cashier at the Boulevard and an Aramark employee for three years. "They'll say 'hello' and remember your name -- and I try to remember theirs."

Assistant Director of Employment for GWARC Jim Brandano calls the program a "good deal."

"We get the job done and, for these people, it's a real joy to work," Brandano said.

Like Marius, Brandano was also in food service before he started with GWARC. He says working at GWARC has helped to dispel some prejudices he had about developmentally disabled people.

"They behave like you and I do, and not one of them is alike -- they are all unique," he said.

Students appreciate the GWARC workers for more than one reason.

For Sherman Dining Hall Cashier Maksim Lenerman '06, programs like this are as foreign to him as the United States once was. An international student from Russia, Lenerman said it is only in "a highly democratic country that you have programs like this."

"In Russia, many of them are beggars on the street -- I think it's good that they have a job here," he said.

Melissa Flemming '05, who frequently eats at Sherman, sees this job as "a way for these people to claim their independence."

"It's impressive that they could hold down a job despite the obstacles," she said.

John Kimani, a manager of the Sherman group, started working with the developmentally disabled while he was a computer science major at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Now, after working for GWARC he wants to study Psychology and better understand the people he manages.

"I have this program I use with the workers. I make them all go out at least once every hour -- they go out into the cafeteria and interact with people while they're working. It helps them feel comfortable to mix with people," he said.

Richard, one of Kimani's workers, can be seen hauling trays around Sherman or sometimes receiving and washing them on the kosher side. He's a big, burly fellow with a hunch. He has a gruff, curt voice that is surprisingly intelligible in spite of a minor stutter. The first thing he asked me was, "Are you from the Globe?"

Richard lives in a halfway house in Watertown. He likes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His favorite movie is "Shane" ("You know, from the 60s," he says). He's an avid viewer of Court TV and "LA Law."

Richard speaks of a friendship he developed with a Brandeis student: "Jenny, from California." I ask if he speaks to her a lot.

"I try," he says, frowning. "I gotta get my work done, you know."

Richard's favorite part of working is the money. "It's a lot of money," he said.

Richard said he uses the money to go out, "Down to the cape with friends."

Richard's job may be at stake soon. Much of GWARC is funded through state appropriated monies. With statewide budget cuts coming down from the governor's office, programs like GWARC may be in jeopardy.

"We're OK for this (fiscal) year, but we have no idea about next year," said Kimani. "We just don't know if the money will be there."

Brandono said that the reason GWARC is better off than many of its relatives is, in part, due to the jobs provided by Brandeis.

"These jobs are very important to our people," said Brandano.