Student group calls for reconsideration of proposed coffee shop
By Bayan Raji
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: News
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Barnard said the group has made attempts to discuss the issue with UH President Renu Khator since January, but has been repeatedly turned down.
He said he hopes Khator will agree to meet with the group so that it can present its argument against building a Starbucks in the library.
"If we wait until it's already happened, it'll be a lot harder to change," Barnard said.
During a demonstration that began in the library and ended in Khator's office, the group carried a giant cardboard sign shaped like a paper coffee cup.
During their ten to twenty minute stay in the library lobby, the group was asked to leave by Assistant Dean for Collection Services Diane Bruxvoort because it was in violation of the library as a neutral area of the University.
"We knew the group had permission to be outside and we have no problem with that, but the library is just like neutral territory, so we don't allow people to have events or…give one point of view over another in the library," Bruxvoort said. "We try and stay neutral, even when it's about us."
Bruxvoort also said that she was unaware of any decision made to build a coffee shop.
"That's a business decision that's really beyond me completely," she said. "How Aramark works with the University is between the University and Aramark."
After leaving the library, the group then delivered the sign to Khator's office.
Executive Assistant to the President Theresa Singletary said that to her knowledge, she had not received a request on behalf of SFT to meet with Khator, but mistakes might have been made.
"If they have requested time and I have overlooked it, I will be the first one to offer my apology," Singletary said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 11
Tim
posted 3/04/08 @ 7:58 AM CST
This is probably the worst example of reporting the Cougar has ever done. Here we have a picture of sign saying Aramark gets 95% of the profit of a coffee shop built with student library fees and the story doesn't even mention it!!!
The reporter doesn't even mention that the Student Government passed a resolution that called for the coffee shop to be all fair trade (which Starbucks doesn't do) the reporter doesn't even mention it!
The group gave the reporter an email from the library Dean Dana Rooks saying her budget was paying about $59,000 to install the coffee shop and will only get 2. (Continued…)
Tim
posted 3/04/08 @ 8:05 AM CST
This is probably the worst example of reporting the Cougar has ever done. Here we have a picture of sign saying Aramark gets 95% of the profit of a coffee shop built with student library fees and the story doesn't even mention it!!!
The reporter doesn't even mention that the Student Government passed a resolution that called for the coffee shop to be all fair trade (which Starbucks doesn't do) the reporter doesn't even mention it!
The group gave the reporter an email from the library Dean Dana Rooks saying her budget was paying about $59,000 to install the coffee shop and will only get 2. (Continued…)
Tiffany Le
posted 3/04/08 @ 2:22 PM CST
Thanks, Tim. We gave the reporter a press packet which included the documents needed to quote in this story, but it seems like they were disregarded. (Continued…)
Adam Barrera
posted 3/04/08 @ 4:25 PM CST
Thanks for the report, Bayan. "The collegial approach" is simply too slow to be effective (and vaguely malapropian). If the coffee cup wasn't displayed in the library -- and if the Daily Cougar hadn't reported this story -- these shady dealings would have simply sailed into reality. (Continued…)
Louis
posted 3/04/08 @ 8:56 PM CST
Personaly I think coffe is way way too expensive. Especially Starbucks! The other day I came accross a website for a student run coffe shop at Rice University. (Continued…)
student
posted 3/04/08 @ 11:20 PM CST
Rice also charges $1 for a glass of beer. Why does our school have to be so behind?
http://valhalla.rice.edu/
Ross Barnard
posted 3/05/08 @ 11:57 AM CST
Louis,
If the campus is going to invest the money to start a coffee shop regardless, then it should be independent and student run (it could be all fair trade, too!). (Continued…)
Neil A. Dorr
posted 3/05/08 @ 5:18 PM CST
Hesitant as I am to find common ground with the "Students for Fair Trade," I must admit the whole deal smells of special interest lobbying. Is the coffee at the UC or Einstein Brothers (PGH) really so awful and/or far away that it creates a demand for a Starbucks in the library?
Fair trade issues and University mis-spending aside, the whole project just reeks of tackiness. (Continued…)
Amod Ahmad
posted 3/09/08 @ 1:00 PM CST
This is supposed to be a University, not a mall.
I'm not paying huge amounts of money so that Aramark can profit off of it...
What is the school administration thinking??? How about giving students BACK that 60,000 dollars as tuition reduction!???
Georges Banks
posted 3/09/08 @ 6:02 PM CST
So much for my favorite Monday and Wednesday morning study spot...and what's with the gentle threatening in Khator's letter? Can't students say anything without feeling intimidated? 60,000 dollars is mis-spent (to put it nicely) by our school, but somehow the students are the trouble-makers? This, like so many other things going on at our school, is just not right. (Continued…)
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