Page 4 • Thursday November 6, 2003
inions
The Pendulum
Americans buy in iarge quantities to save money
lessica Patchett
Columnist
Editor’s note: This column
will appear every other week
while Jessica is studying in
London.
One of the things Elon stu
dents in London miss most about
Burlington is going to Wal-Mart.
Going to four different stores to
buy shampoo, coffee, school
supplies and a newspaper does
n’t cut it for those accustomed to
one-stop shopping. Despite the
proximity of the four stores
within easy walking distance of
the Elon flats, students searched
for the equivalent of Wally
World’s cheap conveniences. We
never found Wal-Mart, but even
tually we heard of a store that
rolls back prices every day.
Advertisements for Asda,
Wal-Mart’s British grocery store,
frequently air on the BBC, show
ing giddy employees at work for
the bright corporation where
everyone wins: college employ
ees, elderly greeters, smart shop
pers and the community all
receive thousands in charitable
donations from the Wal-Mart
corporation annually.
This ‘everybody wins’ atti
tude is probably why Elon stu
dents relate the size and moder
nity of their hometowns to the
number of Wal-Marts within a
20-minute drive of their homes.
For most college students, sav
ing money is something every
one understands.
But light-heartedly using
Wal-Mart as an indicator of our
community’s economic health,
we hadn’t yet realized exactly
how we save money by shopping
at Wal-Mart rather than Target or
why K-Marts across the country
can’t compete with Wal-Marts.
Buying in-mass quantities and
capitalizing on our desire to save
more money and consequently
spend more explains the success
of these types of stores in gener
al - but what makes Wal-Mart
work? News reports have made
it more clear why we save $3 at
the cash register when we rack
up a $25 bill.
Behind the spotless white
floors and clean toilets in some
U.S. Wal-Mart stores is the hard
work of underpaid, illegal immi
grants. In fact, many U.S. com
panies have contracts with clean
ing companies who hire illegal
Jessica Patchett
immigrants as a cheap form of
labor.
Fair compensation for work,
be it for an assigned paper or a
shift at the Campus Shop, is
something about which Elon stu
dents remain adamant, despite an
apparently apathetic attitude
toward other campus issues. It
should outrage Elon students
that they have unknowingly sup
ported Wal-Mart’s cost-cutting
technique of exploiting hard
working individuals because of
their desperate position in
American society. How many
other companies have we sup
ported financially that have ille-
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gal or unfair labor practices?
Hearing the allegations
against Wal-Mart’s illegal and
unethical practices, most people
have dismissed the controversy
as far removed from the their
local Wal-Mart store, staffed by
their friends and families. But
the issue extends throughout the
corporation as an economic enti
ty. When hundreds of people
save $3 each in the Burlington
Wal-Mart, hundreds of workers
in another store are being
deprived of fair wages - and of
an honest entry into the
American workforce.
Is it worth the livelihood of
others for us, as middle-class
Americans, to save $3 and put it
toward more accessories for our
luxurious lives?
Perhaps by our paying full
price for a gallon of milk, some
of our working neighbors will
one day be able to afford the gal
lon of milk as regularly as we
can. Until Wal-Mart finds a com
pany they can trust to hire work
ers legally and pay them fairly,
check into other businesses’
labor practices before you
patronize them and go a little out
of your way to make two stops to
buy a snack and a hammer- Winn
Dixie and Lowes are just around
the comer.
Contact Jessica Patchett at pen-
dulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
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Nate Beeler, KRT Campus
Dining services have a poor attitude
To the Editor,
I am writing to express the
concern that I have about the peo
ple who work for dining services.
I can think of one word that would
encompass most of the Aramark
staff who serves food to students
on campus: miserable. I have
worked in the restaurant business
for the past five years. It does not
take someone in management to
know that customer service is a
crucial part of working in the
restaurant business. There have
been so many occasions this year
where I have been deterred from
eating at various campus dining
venues due to the uninviting atti
tude of Aramark food service
workers.
Varsity, the newest addition to
campus, is filled with unpleasant
servers and bad food, as well as
the typical unfriendliness that
graces the air. What annoys stu
dents and myself even more is
that when you eat at Varsity, an 18
percent gratuity is tacked on to
your bill, no matter how poor
your service was. I believe that a
server should earn their tip, and
there is no incentive for servers to
do an outstanding job (as they
should) when they are automati
cally receiving one. While 1 eat at
Cantina on a regular basis, they
too have their small share of
unpleasant workers. I have
found, however, that they are one
oif the best venues on campus for
dining, and 90 percent of the time
their waiters and waitresses actu
ally deserve their tip.
Call me picky, but I, as well as
many others, just feel that our
money is being wasted when I
know that it is paying for the
undesirable service we receive on
a day-to-day basis. It really does
n’t take a whole lot for the staff to
say hello and smile, and not look
like they absolutely hate their
jobs. After all, our dining service
is just one representation of what
Elon has to offer, and they too
should have the responsibility of
making a lasting impression on
students, faculty, staff and people
who chose to come and visit our
campus.
- Kristi Stadelman *06
Correction
- In the Oct. 26 edition of
The Pendulum, Alana Black
was credited for breaking the
university’s cross country
course rccord. The course that
she ran was 35 meters shorter
than the standard 5000 meters.
The school - best still belongs
to Clara Urquhart, with a time
of 19.56 minutes.