The independent student news organization of Nicholls State University

the nicholls worth

The independent student news organization of Nicholls State University

the nicholls worth

The independent student news organization of Nicholls State University

the nicholls worth

Student feels betrayed by Hulbert, Sodexho

Dear Editor,I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m pretty much close to broke. I also share like every other still-breathing human being the need for physical sustenance. When these two things are combined with one another, I end up facing a vending machine with $3 that won’t buy me anything solid from the student union anyway, not even a cup of coffee. I end up settling on a bag of pretzels, a bottle of water and a roll of breath mints.

If I had enough money for some sort of meal involving chicken or some other solid meat, I’d have to have in my pocket upwards of $6. All of the money goes to Sodexho, unless I want to risk losing my precious Talbot Hall parking spot and leave campus to get something to eat.

Even our cafeteria is corporate-run. A few days ago, around the time that last week’s article on the issue was written, I was faced with a similar situation; I found that the St. Thomas Aquinas Center was serving food at much lower and much more affordable prices. I took my three bucks and braved a walk across the street to buy a bowl of chili, which was incidentally better than the pretzels. I left and picked up a copy of The Nicholls Worth that the campus administration was rather upset about the delicious chili that I’d just eaten, and that they had crossed the line by serving food to the students on campus.

I then ask myself, “Haven’t they always had food there?” I’ve been there to eat before. It’s always been cheaper. They didn’t have a menu last time; it was more like a plate lunch, but the food was still good, still cheap and still worth the trip across the street. It seems a tad silly for this hullabaloo to start over an issue that’s been occurring since the dawn of my time here at Nicholls.

I read further on that Sodexho wrote an angry letter, threatening to break corporate ties with campus if the atrocity of selling students food at prices they could afford would not cease immediately. John Monica wrote, and I quote, “…we consistently strive to gain every dollar on campus, and allowing another food service vendor is taking revenues away and eliminating our return on investment.” So Sodexho reps openly admit that they want all of what little money I have? Sounds like a greedy corporate money vacuum to me. Surely the campus administration that we look up to would stand up for our rights and values as students, notice this and defend a place that’s simply trying to break even and eventually spend money on church causes like feeding the hungry and vaccinating the ill, right? No. Selling anything besides hot dogs, hamburgers, coffee and donuts is surely crossing the line. There’s evidently something inherently wrong with me becoming full by eating chili or a crab burger as opposed to having stadium-staple food. Then it dawned on me: I’m being sold out.

How exactly is it that you guys feel that the Aquinas center is trying to become a full-on restaurant that attracts people off-campus? There aren’t any realistically available parking spots anywhere near the Aquinas center that don’t require an official Nicholls State University parking permit to park in. If you want to park within 50 feet of the Aquinas center, you have to have a faculty tag as well, unless you want to risk a $20 fine to eat a $2 hamburger. Any advertising done is easily overshadowed by the advertising done by Sodexho when the student union renovations were made a few semesters ago.

I feel in some ways that I’m being led around by men in business suits made out of my own money that don’t really care about my wants or needs. I read on to find out that Hulbert wrote a letter supporting a grant of $50,000 for the recent renovations to the Aquinas center, but did not know what improvements would be made. Did he ever actually read the grant? Contractually, doesn’t someone from campus administration have to look over architectural plans for any new facilities on campus and approve them? Didn’t somebody see the space where the coffee machine and pastry display shelf go in the blueprints? How in the world did we put somebody in charge that would sign over that much money to something and out of casual ignorance doesn’t know where exactly the money is going to?

If the campus administration is that oblivious to where all of this money is spent, then I honestly wouldn’t mind having my tuition raised a few hundred bucks to pay for a non-corporate affiliated cafeteria and student union because I’m probably spending a few hundred bucks I don’t really need to be spending already. Wait, I take that back, uh, hey Steve, I need $50,000 for the broke college student retirement fund. Can you please sign here, date here, and initial here? Thanks. I think I can afford to eat at Chick-Fil-A now.

You can make the check out to Tyler Himel.

Tyler Himel

education senior

from Morgan City

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Student feels betrayed by Hulbert, Sodexho