By Amanda Blas
A slice of cheese pizza: $3.50. A cheeseburger and some fries: $5.75. Holding on to your receipt for dear life because you're scared you'll be accused of stealing and taken in by Public Safety: Priceless.
It's no secret that The Commons is cracking down on stealing. If you haven't heard about the numerous "food busts" that have already happened, beware: P-Safe officers are chilling by the entrance, while Commons' employees are keeping more than a watchful eye on passersby carrying food. With all the commotion, you'd think stealing is the only problem at The Commons.
But is stealing the only real problem? Maybe not.
After The Commons changed last year from buffet-style dining to paying by the plate, many of us were drowning in Commons' points: we had so many leftover, we weren't quite sure what to do with them. But this year, that's not the problem. With the way The Commons has raised its prices, most of us have so few points to spend this year that we're worried we'll end up starving before school even ends. This sounds like a problem to me.
Stealing is bad, and it really is a problem. But think about it: would stealing in The Commons be this big of a problem if students didn't have the problem of so few Commons points and such expensive meals? Not likely.
The Commons needs to put itself in our shoes. It may think it's reasonable to pay $3.50 for a slice of cheese pizza (which is the cheapest thing you can grab for either lunch or dinner). But considering the increase in The Commons' prices and the almost non-existent increase in the number of points in the meal plans, The Commons' "reasonable price" costs us an arm and a leg. Most of us are already living the poor college student lifestyle. Does The Commons really need to add to that lifestyle by making us budget our Commons points, too?
Right now, we're working on an "eye for an eye" situation. Most students think The Commons is stealing from them, and it's paying for that with a stealing problem of its own. If The Commons took the time to understand how students feel about the changes made, then maybe we'd be more likely to address, and possibly correct, the problem with stealing.
But The Commons isn't the only one to blame: Students need to look at where The Commons is coming from, too. Not only do we need to understand why The Commons is taking such drastic measures when it comes to stealing, we also need to understand why it had to raise its prices.
The Commons has already been forced to raise its prices to make up for national increases in food and fuel costs. Is it possible that it'll increase prices even more to make up for money lost from stealing? I'm sure you wouldn't steal now if you knew you'd have to pay for it next year.
I understand that The Commons needs to handle its issues with stealing. By all means, take care of the thieves who are making off with unpaid-for slices of pizza. But before it resorts to doing mandatory receipt checks or posting P-Safe officers at every table, maybe it should work on talking to students instead of resorting to scaring them.
