Cookie Cutting at TC

Two cookies for the price of three is just wrong.  As many students have probably already noticed, cookies only come in bags of two this year.  Last year they came in bags of three.  This normally wouldn’t be a big deal except that it costs one dollar to buy a bag of two cookies; the same price which could get you that third cookie last year.  Make sense?  Nope.

When asked about the change, Becky Domokos-Bays, RD, SNS, Ph.D., director of food and nutrition services, said that it had nothing to do with the budget, but instead resulted from an increase in the distributor’s prices.  She also said that they “haven’t had a price cut in seven years.”  The a la carte items were the only items for which they could cut servings because there are guidelines set by the government for entrees.

What are students going to do?  Should they boycott the cafeteria?  Probably not.  But as more students voice their opinions, the administration will feel more and more pressure to make things right.  Students, however, are not the only ones who are upset about the change.

On the first day of school, math teacher Mark Aleckson bought a bag of cookies.  Much to his dismay, there were only two cookies inside.  He said that he wouldn’t buy any more cookies until they came in bags of three.  When recently asked about the issue, he said, “I’ve definitely cut back from buying cookies this year.”

What is the solution?  If a bag of two cookies is sold at one dollar, then each cookie costs 50 cents.  If a bag of two cookies can not be sold for less than one dollar, a good solution would be to sell a bag of three cookies for one dollar and twenty-five cents.  Then it would be a buy two, get one half-off type of deal.  Aleckson also had some ideas of his own to share.  “Maybe they could charge 75 cents for two cookies instead of a dollar for two cookies.  If they need to save money, they just make the cookies smaller and still give us three.”

If the cookies wereonly things that were cut this year, it would not be that big of a deal.  The fact is that T.C. students have been denied many things this year that they have had access to in the past, including agendas and hall passes.  The general feeling of administrative apathy to students concerns is absolutely having a negative impact on students’ morale.  If the administration were more sensitive to the needs and concerns, perhaps there wouldn’t be so much frustration at T.C.