Ignorance is dangerous. Assumptions and doubts fill the voids of information and over time, rumors become facts which have no basis. I believe it is fair to say that the vast majority of the campus community has absolutely no idea what the Executive Board does on a weekly basis. In the same manner, the very students and organizations we serve and represent have only a vague understanding of the processes we follow when making decisions. This ignorance has lead to a veil of secrecy that surrounds the E-Board and I intend to cast it off in my weekly discussions with you over the next year. In my articles, I will cover our major projects, our decisions made in the past week, and important topics that affect the Union. In doing so, I hope to show you how your money is being utilized and how you can participate in new experiences.
The E-Board conducts a number of annual reviews involving business operations within the Union. Last week, we met with Rob McIntosh, Sodexho’s director of Union dining, and Mike McDermott, director of business operations for the Rensselaer Union to evaluate two of these services. McIntosh presented us with a proposal to increase the prices for food items found in the Rathskellar and McNeil Room effective May 22. McDermott came to us on behalf of owner Tony Cafararo to propose an increase in rates at Campus Unisex. In short, the E-Board approved both of these requests, as they were both perfectly justified and well within reasonable expectations. Before you sharpen your pitchforks, light your torches, and come in search of us for daring to impose further financial burdens upon you as a student, allow me to explain the reality behind our approvals.
One of the most frequent complaints I heard when the “new” Rathskellar opened in January was that prices had been increased. That was never true. The E-Board is directly responsible for the approval of all pricing within the Union and Food Service prices are addressed annually. Last week, Sodexho did a fantastic job presenting to the E-Board its pricing plans for next year. By contract, Sodexho is automatically allowed a price increase equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which was 3.12 percent for the past year. The CPI is a fixed-quantity price index established by the U.S. Department of Labor used to measure inflation. This essentially means that Sodexho is allowed to meet the very real costs of inflation (i.e., automatic increases in salaries, and increases for food costs) by adjusting its prices annually. Entitled as they may be, however, Sodexho did not seek to increase prices to maximum levels.
After evaluating the sales levels for different items and gathering extensive comparison data from competitors in the area, twenty items were selected for adjustment closer to—yet still under—competitors’ pricing. The majority of these increases are twenty cents or less on food items from one of the stations in the Rathskellar. These adjustments will result in an increase of yearly revenue of approximately 1.3 percent, or under half of the total increase guaranteed by contract. After being presented with this information, the E-Board unanimously approved the proposed price increases for the next year.
Our second proposal regarding Campus Unisex was a far simpler topic to consider. Tony Cafararo has been operating Campus Unisex, the hair salon in the basement of the Union, for over 30 years. Rather than increase prices to meet rising business costs each year, Mr. Cafararo instead prefers to request increases every three years. As the last increases for Campus Unisex services took place in April 2003 and the requested increase leaves prices substantially lower than area competitors, a moderate $1 increase for all services was approved by the E-Board.
Though I extended the invitation last week, I would like to reiterate that we the Executive Board are here to serve your interests and support your needs. If you have a question, comment, or concern regarding any of the decisions or projects I present to you over the next year, please do not hesitate to contact me at pu@rpi.edu.
