The Journal

Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial

Media Credit: Contributed by Kyle Vincent

With rising costs in education, it has become harder for students to continue to afford to attend college. Tuition isn't the only cost that a student has to take into consideration when paying for school. Room and board, textbooks, lab fees and even dining expenses need to be considered. So when simple items like soda prices fluctuate throughout the campus, it can come as an unwelcome surprise. Sodexho campus dining services charges more for their sodas on campus than the vendors that stock the vending machines. The variations are not fair to many students who struggle to pay for college.

Throughout the campus the price fluctuates anywhere from a few pennies to 15 cents for the exact same product. This is ridiculous.

Some students have to sacrifice heavily to earn their educations, and this outlandish nickel-and-diming for the bottom line profit is wrong. There should be no difference. As college students sometimes have to find out the hard way, that extra penny here and there can be a killer.

Sodexho is responsible for the various food service areas on campus, which includes Marlettos Marketplace, Jazzman's Café, Sverdrup Café a la Cart, and the Crossroads, which includes Blimpies, World of Wings, and Freshens.

Cynthia Goodson, the supervisor of Campus Dining Services, was surprised to hear of the price ranges.

"I didn't realize that the prices were different," Goodson said.

For faculty, staff and students, there are various meal plans offered to help defray costs, which include bonus points and tax-free meals. Goodson explained that students with meal plans and points, which are like a debit card, don't get taxed, plus, with meal points, students could buy meal plans and get bonuses. For example, if a student buys a $100 meal-plan the card will be for $120. The bonuses go up the more students' buy.

This is fine for students who live on campus and have to get a meal plan - every break they can get is a blessing. However, while some students may benefit from the meal plans, others do not. In order to take advantage of the price discount, commuters, who don't eat most of their meals on campus, would have to spend too much money to make it worth the price.

These are the students who are typically paying for school, working jobs, supporting families and paying the high price for gas to travel to and from their classes. In my experience, very few purchase food or drinks often enough to necessitate a meal card.

Goodson said that the tax-free meal plan was a factor for customers when they choose where to purchase their meals, and the difference in price was usually too small to affect the students eating in the Crossroads outlets. She also said sometimes students would pay the extra price for the bottled soda because they prefer the lid on the drinks.

"I don't really notice the difference in prices," said Michelle Narup, a sophomore animation major who agrees with Goodson's analysis.

She has a points card and says that the different prices don't affect where she buys her sodas.

Brad Woodroffe, the general manager of Sodexho Campus Services, is aware of the difference in prices.

"I have thought about changing the prices, but it would cut into my profit margin," he said," I have thought about lowering the prices, but I haven't done so yet."

Woodroffe said an outside company stocks the campus vending machines. He said that they set their own prices and he has no input.

The students that work next to the food cart in the Sverdrup building aren't impressed. Sandeep Batavia, a senior advertising and marketing communications major with a minor in art, works in the Desktop Services lab, which, is located next to the Sverdrup a la Carte.

"I don't eat from the cart unless I am really hungry, but I will go down the hall and buy a Pepsi from the machine because it is cheaper," he said

Mark Pusateri, a senior science and business student and the senior lab assistant at the Desktop Services lab said he was surprised when he saw students purchase bottled sodas when cheaper options were just a few feet away.

"It seems ridiculous that people still buy from the cart when they could get it cheaper from the machines."

As a student, commuter, and father of two children, sometimes the piggy bank gets robbed to put food on the table, that extra 10 to 15 cents can be a headache. The prices for the exact same products should not vary, not even by a penny. The profit margin be damned, it is not logical and it's unethical.

Price Variations of Soda at WU
For customers without meal plans, after taxes sodas at Crossroads outlets sodas go from:
• 22-ounce soda goes from $1.19 to $1.29
• 32-ounce goes from $1.39 to $1.50
• 44-ounce goes from $1.49 to $1.60.
Price of 20-ounce bottle in Sodexho outlets on campus:
• $1.29 without tax, and $1.39 with tax.
Price of 20-ounce bottle in vending machines on campus:
• $1.25 at all vending machines.

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