Questionable Quality

Found on the premises of Johnson-McFarlane and Centennial Halls are what are supposed to be “convenience” stores. These convenience stores make their business off of college freshmen. They have food, drinks, toiletries, paper plates, and plastic silverware on stock. However, the quality of some of the products that they serve can be questionable. On a day-to-day basis these students rely upon the convenience store’s services to help them survive through the day.

Many products that are used by college students more frequently are electronic and most may require batteries of some sort in order to power them. If one of these electronic device’s power was to die out, the convenience stores do not even sell batteries, they would have to find a way to acquire new batteries. Especially with college students, some places that these items could be sold have the possibility of not being within walking distances. Therefore students would be forced to find an alternative mode of transportation. Seems a bit much for just a set of batteries.

For the past few years, there have been a lot of advocations for introducing healthier foods into schools. First Lady Michelle Obama has implemented the foundation “Let’s Move.” What she is striving to achieve with this foundation is for obesity to be conquered and to bring up a healthier generation of children for the United States. Not only is she striving to change the healthy habits of school cafeterias, but also “Let’s Move” tries to ensure that children eat healthier food at home and in their free time. If children learn healthy eating habits on their own, they would have more chance of making healthy choices when they are independent adults in college.

Recently, the “c-store” has begun selling granola energy bars, sandwiches, salads, and even sushi. For the most part the entire c-store is mainly junk food. Although some junk food is acceptable, some healthier foods can be incorporated into the c-store’s supply stock. Products such as granola bars, yogurt, and some organic foods could be tested out on the shelves to test their demand.

One item in particular that has had many complaints lodged against is the milk products. In the c-stores of both Johnson-McFarlane and Centennial Halls, they sell half gallons of whole, reduced fat, and nonfat milk. Like all other perishable food items, the milk gallons have expiration dates recorded to ensure consumption before the milk goes bad. Many residential hall students have found that these expirations dates are bogus. Within the week of expiring, the milk can have already produced chunks of moldy milk.
If the University of Denver is going to provide services that the students thrive one, there may as well be the quality that is expected. Since students cannot count on prices being low for many of these items, they have to be able to depend on the quality of the products that they wish to purchase. Students pay a large fee in order to attend courses at this university, however it seems that they are cheated out in ways they should not be. If students are paying for a quality education they should at least have quality food in return.

The Not So "C" Store

Hidden deep within the compounds of JMAC and Halls dormitories, lay two convenient stores. Known to most as the “C” stores, these little food and beverage outlets provide students with goods at a convenient location. The “C” stores, however, tend to not be as convenient as their name depicts. The stores frankly do not cater to the students needs.  The biggest flaw of the residence hall’s snacks stations is that they are anything but convenient.

Orientation week, on the first day of freshman year, I was overly excited to be in a dorm that has such cool features. The dorm had a lounge, common rooms, mailboxes, and even a convenience store. It was like living as an adult, on my own, but with so many convenient accessories. Most freshmen were overly zealous about the “C” store. Drinks, food, gum, cups, plates, munchies, ice cream…. it was like a dream come true. But most of the time, when I craved something from the store, or simply walked by it, the door was closed and the lights were off. The issue was uncomfortably confusing and it refused to leave my head. Some days it was as convenient as ever, and others…not so much. I wondered if there were scheduled hours by which students can get their snacks, but I was far too nervous to approach the front desk…embarrassed by my question…for my answer. Finally I had the courage to ask a friend, and it was that point in time where I learned how inconvenient the store really is.

The “C” store in Johnson-Macfarlane, for example, closes at 9pm on weekends….wow! The few nights college students can actually stay up a little later and sleep-in the next day, can’t even get a snack, refreshment, or pack of gum. Even sit-down restaurants such as Noodles, Tokyo Joes, and Jason’s Thai stay open later than 9. The only alternative a student really can have is to take the 10-minute walk to the 24-7 Seven-Eleven. Now in what way is that convenient?

The nine o’clock closing is almost as bad as the fact that the store doesn’t even open until 2 in the afternoon. This can be a problem for students who want a granola bar, energy drink, orange juice, or even some cereal before walking to class.  This is a huge flaw for the “C” store, as between 9-12am is when they could potentially get the most business. Students need brain-food in the mornings, and by not providing them with this service is setting a bad example that students should hold off until 2pm to get a convenient meal.

Realizing that this is truly an issue worth further exploring, I decided to ask students around campus what their views were on the hours of the residence hall’s convenience stores. Michael Adams, a freshman in Centennial Towers, had this to say on the issue: “Well, when you really want some snacks to crave that late night hunger you can’t go to the caf because it’s closed at like 7:30, and you can’t you can go to the ‘C Store’ because that place is always f****** closed, you either have to end up starving or spend 3 dollars on either s***** vending machine snacks or waste money on delivery. It’s kinda ridiculous that the school has such unreliable food hours.” For students like Michael who either live in Centennial Halls or Towers, there is no alternative to the “C Store,” as that side of campus is far away from many food shops and convenience outlets. This is pretty much the same as in Johnson-McFarlane. There are no alternatives to the store other than the previously stated Seven-Eleven, which is a good ten-minute walk. When asking a J-Mac resident, freshman Colby Munk had this to say: “Hahahaha that S*** blows dude. I get so p***** off by those hours.“            

Clearly, there is a problem with the way the “C” stores are run. When this many students are complaining about an issue that can potentially be easily solved, it seems as if something has to be done about it. Sodexo does not limit the hours of the “C” Store, but rather DU has the power. If enough students bring up this issue to the administration, us students can find ways to keep our convenience store open. The hours are unreasonable which make the store completely unreliable and unsatisfactory to all the students that live in the residence halls.  

 

 

 

Over Pricing

There is nothing worse than walking into the dorm convenient store, commonly known by students as the "C" store, feeling hungry as ever, and having to pay the outstanding prices that they charge for food. The food is all way too expensive, and everyone around campus knows it. A small box of cheese-its costs $6.45; is that not ridiculous?

To try and find out more information on the subject, I interviewed the woman, Rejoice, who works in the "C" store in the freshman dorm, Johnson-McFarlane. When asked if she thought the prices were fair to college students, she agreed with the majority of the dorm residents and said she thought that they were ridiculously over priced as well. She explained the process of how to get the prices lower and, believe it or not, the students play a very big role in this. At the end of every year there is a survey that students fill out and price changes for the following year are based on their comments. Surprisingly, the current prices have actually been lowered from last year. Rejoice's knowledge on the current prices is limited and she does not have much of a say in the prices in the store. The fact that they have a monopoly on the food sold in the dorm is unfair to us students, because it results in unfair prices that we will pay regardless, due to the fact that there is no other option close by.

These stores are like a trap to students. They lure us into their over priced store, then mark up the food that we buy the most. Candy bars, soda, cereal, and snacks are very expensive. The items that aren't marked up are the products that are already so expensive they can't possibly sell at a higher price. These include the Naked juices, ice cream, and energy drinks. Kids usually end up spending all of their meal plan cash in the "C" stores and don't have any left to buy meals for dinner. This leaves students disappointed that they have to eat at the cafeteria for the rest of the quarter and cant enjoy a nice chipotle burrito or a bowl of noodles.

Sodexo is the company that owns the "C" stores in J-Mac and Halls, Jazzman's, the pub, and supplies all of the cafeterias with food. They are a big enough company that I think they can afford to cut college students a break. They are robbing us of our meal plan cash and flex money. They probably don't care because they think that parents endlessly refill their kids flex dollars. Yes this is true in some cases but not all. Sodexo needs to take into consideration the average college student's budget and lower their prices.

What is there that we can do as students to try and change these outrageous prices? If we seriously want a change we have to have people filling out the surveys at the end of the year. Don't be selfish and say "Oh it doesn't matter, I wont be living in J-Mac or Halls next year." It does matter. Sodexo manages all of our coffee shops in the Law Building, Driscoll, Olin, and the library. It is important that everyone comments on the prices. To get more fair prices, we as customers have to make it clear we want them cheaper.