October 14, 2008
Posted by yaman
Is Panda Express a Bailout Plan for the ASUC Auxiliary?
The cartoon above by Gretchen Faust in the Daily Cal pretty much sums up what it means to have a Panda Express on campus. First, it literally doesn’t fit. Second, it’s an ominous threat to the independent small businesses in the space. And Third, despite the way some people have been waxing philosophical about free choice in food choice, this is a financial issue, not a philosophical one. Panda has nothing to offer but money. And the problem is, not even that much is certain.
My op-ed in the Daily Cal today addresses the last issue, showing how the supposed financial need for Panda is actually based on an increase in Auxiliary spending. The Auxiliary is a part of the University administration whose expenses the ASUC must pay for with profits from commercial services. This year, the Auxiliary’s spending will go up almost $300,000. According to members of the Store Operations Board, Panda Express’ revenues to the ASUC will probably only be within that range, if not less. That means that the sum gain for student organizations and the ASUC is $0, and that Panda revenues may go exclusively towards covering rising Auxiliary spending, even while changing the landscape of our campus. A bailout plan for the Auxiliary.
Check out the op-ed here:
While many students have been quick to rally either for or against the Panda Express chain on campus, something that has been left out of the conversation is an explanation of the financial circumstances that are being used to explain the necessity of the chain’s presence. What members of the Store Operations Board, some ASUC Senators and the ASUC Auxiliary have been saying is that the ASUC will go into deficit within a year if we do not find a new source of revenue. But the unanswered question is, how did the ASUC end up in this position?
1 Comments
November 22, 2009
That’s funny, I actually brought up your last comment at a Store Operations Board meeting..hm…they came to this decision hella days ago when uh let me see, CalSERVE Exec was Van and Taylor? Or a little before that…and ya it still had the structure with like 1-2 student representatives that were meant to respresent the entire student body. I mentioned lack of transparency, and that I was informed really late about the moving forward of Panda Express, something I had only heard about 1-2 years before with Heavenly Foods in danger. Now it’s interesting to me that the recent demonstration was going to address all the Bear’s Lair space since by this December, Heavenly Foods would have gone out of business. Anyway, while we seek to undo the damage, the structure of ASUC and Store Operations Board has been detrimental to students, with the little representation or say we have in the process of controlling the student spaces we already possess that end up being corporatized and controlled by the powers that be.
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