Casual stealing a common occurrence at The Cove and The Commons
By Inés Guerin
Food, drinks, plates, cups, glasses, silverware and even tables sometimes "disappear" from The Commons and The Cove. University of Portland students steal things from these areas so frequently that nobody calls it to attention or punishes that behavior, according to some students and Bon Appétit personnel."I've heard of kids who just walk by The Cove and take crackers or even salads and food from the grill," junior Kevin Johnston said.
Kirk Mustain, Bon Appétit general manager at UP, has encountered students who seem to have the same attitude of entitlement at The Commons.
"I'm sure every resident has at least one piece [of equipment] from The Commons," Mustain said.
According to Mustain, this year Bon Appétit bought 1000 plates, 800 glasses, 300 coffee cups, 800 bowls and 25 silverware sets, among other things. Just 10 percent of that equipment normally breaks in everyday use, but the remaining 90 percent of those items ends up in the students' dorms, Mustain said.
"Every now and then we go to the students' dorms and bring back some of the things we recognize belong to The Commons, but of course we never recover all of them," Mustain said.
When Mustain plans and presents the annual budget to the UP administration, he considers this "missing equipment."Dealing with these students' actions is part of running the business, he said.
"Every semester, I have to buy a bunch of whole new equipment," Mustain said. "People who live on campus think they can take [from The Commons] whenever they want; they think it's included in the tuition they pay."
Also, at The Cove, students take snacks and sodas in their backpacks, Mustain said.
"I don't want to be the police," Mustain said. "That's one of the reasons why the prices go up; somebody has to pay for this."Pratik Rachh, a business graduate student, worked at The Commons, The Cove and Bon Appétit concessions at the Chiles Center last semester. He prepared food, served coffee and worked the cash register. He said employees don't have special training in the event that they must confront a burglary situation.
"If I saw a student taking food, I'd call my boss or confront that person if my supervisor was not available at that moment," Rachh said.
Johnston is conducting a situational study with other classmates in which they will observe people's behavior at The Cove. The group will sit at a back table of the dining room with a pen and paper tracking how often people steal. The data will be anonymous, and they will also try to figure out how males and females differ in these actions, Johnston said.
"You don't get punished that much for stealing," Johnston said. "You have to turn in an essay to Bon Appétit saying 'I'm sorry, I stole this' and pay for the stuff. That's all."
It's a different story if a student turns on a fire alarm-he or she has to write a ten-page essay and pay a $250 fine, Johnston said."That's understandable because you can put lives at risk," Johnston said.
Michael Walsh, the director of residence life, said there are no standard penalties for students who pull fire alarms. They can be removed from the hall, depending on their previous disciplinary history. However, these students commonly have to pay a $250 fine, Walsh said.
Johnston and his team will not have a specific proposal about punishment after they finish their study, but they think it might be interesting to know how often stealing occurs on campus.
In search of a solution, students and Bon Appétit staff gave different options. At this moment, people come in and go out through both entrances. Rachh said one way to prevent future stealing from The Cove is to have just one entrance and one exit so people would circulate in only one direction.
"We're facing an ethical problem that has to do with students' integrity. The solution might be increasing awareness among all UP members," Mustain said.
