The price is wrong

With dwindling bank accounts, college students often turn to the trusty meal card for a source of nourishment. Whether you are a freshman who was forced to buy a meal plan or an upperclassman who just knows where to con some meal points, the Residential Programs and Services' system of slide and buy economics has pleased students with its convenience for years.\nBut back at home, parents open bills from IU, only to be disappointed by pricey meal plan rates, especially since these plans can't buy as much as they could down the street at a Village Pantry.\nSo why are IU students being charged $8 for a 4 oz. of beef jerky when they could easily buy the same thing for $5.99 at the Village Pantry on 10th or Third Streets?\n Many students complain that the only reason why items are so expensive in campus C-stores is because IU has a monopoly. Freshmen have to buy a meal plan, you can only spend meal points in certain places and you don't receive any reimbursement for leftover points. It seems like an obvious way for the University to scam us.\nActually, RPS says they don't make any profit off the items in the C-store.\nSo if they aren't making any profit, wouldn't their prices be lower than competitors', such as Village Pantry and Kroger?\nIt all comes down to smart business, something RPS could learn.\nAny undergraduate in the Kelley School of Business can tell you the easiest way to cut costs and keep the quality the same is to reduce your overhead.\nCurrently, only 39 percent of each dollar spent in the C-store pays for the actual items -- 33 percent goes to labor and more than a quarter of every dollar is spent on administrative overhead, reserve funds and paper and cleaning supplies. The items themselves should be the bulk of the cost since RPS makes no profit.\nRPS also claims they pay more for the items in the C-stores than their competitors because they lack buying power. Village Pantry and Wal-mart buy their items in bulk for the entire Midwest, while IU doesn't buy as much so vendors charge the University more for items.\nA simple solution to this problem would be to increase IU's buying power. One solution would be to buy more non-perishable items ahead of time and store them away somewhere. Another idea would be to set up a cooperative with other IU campuses or other Midwest universities. \nImagine if the Big Ten universities teamed up. This alone would dramatically cut prices.\nAnother option would be to employ the help of larger chains and let them accept meal points as currency. The McDonald's in Read Center is less expensive than typical dorm dining because the McDonald's corporation is more cost effective than IU.\nWe aren't implying that RPS is trying to screw over students, as many have argued in the past. \nBut a course in business management wouldn't hurt RPS administrators.