Why ASUCLA food service is not worth the price
By Jason Stewart
Over and over again in the Daily Bruin’s front-page story, "Food
price hike strikes familiar chord," ASUCLA board members and
officials repeated the mantra, "these price increases are actually
long overdue." The message is clear: be grateful they’ve held them
so low so long, in their wonderful benevolence.
Yeah, right.
I’ve been around UCLA since 1988, and this is not the first time
this issue has come up, nor will it be the last. Obviously the cost
of living goes up, and so too must food prices. But what the ASUCLA
officials very noticeably avoided addressing is the real issue. Not
whether prices need to be higher in relation to previous ASUCLA
rates, but if the prices are competitive with outside private
vendors in terms of costs and services. The answer before and the
answer now is, "not a chance."
When I have time, a walk to the village affords me numerous
alternatives to ASUCLA food, and on average I pay about the same or
less for similar items (a burger, fries and a Coke). The difference
is that in Westwood, the food is usually better and the service
absolutely superior. Even McDonald’s tends to have better customer
relations than ASUCLA Food Service. How often have you wanted a
particular item only to have to wait 15 minutes because they just
started making it or to hear that they didn’t order enough and to
come back Monday? Frankly, it’s pathetic. How long would Burger
King stay in business if they were out of Whoppers when you wanted
one? Just as bad is the attitude. Try complaining about the poor
service to students or their supervisors and you are usually met
with indifference, hostility or, from the managers, slick but empty
promises.
The truth is we’re paying for higher student-worker salaries
than a campus McDonald’s franchise would guarantee. OK, there’s
some merit in that. But ASUCLA should admit it, for one, and insist
that the student employees benefitting from our money care about
their jobs more to boot. Otherwise, why not just accept the fact
that private corporations can do it better  like they do at
so many other colleges  and let the best provider win. Only
then will we, the student patrons, also win.
Stewart is a graduate student in the School of Theater, Film and
Television.