TO THE EDITOR:
Recently UNC has been in a rush to try to sell the Student Stores.
Staff will lose their jobs as state employees, and if the experience of the smaller colleges who have already accepted Follett are any indication, students will likely wind up paying more (not less) for their textbooks, and other services will be losing quality of service. Follett has claimed that it can contribute more money for scholarships.
But UNC forced the stores to spend money for renovations, resulting in less money being available from them for scholarship support. When this is paid off, the stores will once again be able to contribute more toward scholarships.
I have to wonder how Follet plans on generating more income to pay for the promised extra scholarships? Since students don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on unnecessary things carried by the store, the only answer can be “by charging higher prices on the things students must purchase.” If the sale goes through, there will be other areas on campus that are indirectly supported by the stores that would take a major hit. The full story has yet to come out. UNC Student Stores employees are dedicated to the University.
Follet employees are dedicated to their corporate bosses and their shareholders. It’s very easy for the people who make these decisions to take money out of students’ and staff pockets, especially when they are not losing one dime. Is this the Carolina Way?
James Holman
Hillsborough
