Thoughts on the campus store

A surfer once told me that you have to paddle for the wave that scares you most. His reasoning, what scares you is  all that’s worth the effort. Business is like that, the pursuit of some higher ideal with potential payoff. If there is some higher ideal to the Rock’s latest business venture, a campus store, it’s lost on the student body. 
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So, following a particularly brutal finals season, I’d rather relax than discuss BCSR politics. But, of course, the student body of Simon’s Rock has instead decided to enact the first amendment rights to challenge our administration. How rude.  

Controversy started with an email–all email, which proposed an immediate end to the Informal Lounge and a brand new campus store, which some would say to be the hallmark of a functioning institution of higher education. Students were not thrilled with this proposition. In an email chain lasting two days, certain members of the faculty and student body fought to offer insight on the matter. To some, this is the end of civilized society as we know it. To others, a nuance, just one more email littering their inbox.

That’s not to say the stakes aren’t high. In fact, they’ve been raised to an unreasonable level. Probably the best point came from Valerie. She illustrated the cost of maintaining a student-run store. As she points out, the venture would have to clear one thousand dollars a week. One thousand dollars, or risk cutting staff members. Other points were made, but this seemed to have the most depth. It was more than an opinion; it illustrated the costs of embarking on such a venture. According to Valerie, here are cons to consider. Judge for yourself.  

• Loss of Valuable Real Estate (Countless clubs use the informal as their meeting place.)
• Cost: Considerable chance of cutting full-time staff.
• Waste of Resources (Exact wording)
• 
  

As always, there is a possible solution, something that seems to appease many folks: convert the informal lounge to a proto-coffee shop, something nice for late-night and midday loitering. Attempting to remain stoutly unbiased, I will refrain from saying that any who find fault with this proposition fail to see the entire picture and actively engage in outright naivety. And, to continue with objective journalism, I will not state that I am in complete support of an on-campus coffee lounge. 
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 The question arises: where is the justification? How can those pushing a student store justify the prospective cost? I can’t answer without a certain, unprecedented level of bias. The Weekly Cad wants a simple recap, so I leave this question to our devoted readers: how can this be validated?


*note from the editor: you can see more people's thoughts and opinions on our Instagram profile @theweeklycad - story highlights 

Luke Iandoli

Luke is the Director of Current Events for the Cad.