THE UNIVERSITY should not exploit its students' need for food and medicine. But take one look at the Bookstore and Root Cellar and it becomes clear that the University understands the power of the captive market.
First semester first-year students are forbidden from bringing cars to Charlottesville. Parking being what it is, second semester first-year students are seriously dissuaded from bringing them either. As such, it is expected that first-year students will eat most of their meals in University dining halls, buy their cereal and cookies at the Root Cellar and their toiletries from the Bookstore. All of these locations are convenient, have decent hours and take Plus Dollars or Cavalier Advantage so Daddy foots the bill.
It all sounds like a thoughtful and generous plan until you look at the prices. All of the University owned stores are huge rip-offs. Take the Root Cellar, which at last check held the title of Most Expensive Grocery Store on Earth.
Let's say you like to eat breakfast in your room before class, or just before 10 a.m. on weekends. A half-gallon of milk costs you $2.99 at the Root Cellar, and a 10-ounce box of Frosted Flakes will set you back $4.59. If you had a car, you could drive to Kroger and pay 70 cents for the same milk. As for the cereal, Kroger doesn't carry such small boxes, but for $1.50 less you can buy 20 ounces (twice as much) of Tony's favorite flakes. As an aside, you even get a better deal at Lucky 7, the Second Most Expensive Grocery Store On Earth; there milk is 50 cents less than at the Root Cellar.
If you like orange juice with your breakfast, be ready to pay. A two-quart glass bottle will cost you $4.29. The same amount of juice, this time in a plastic jug, costs $2 less at Kroger. Are we paying for the privilege of using glass? Is glass somehow more environmentally-friendly?
Perhaps the most ridiculous pricing applies to Dannon Yogurt. While Kroger sells it for 79 cents, the University can't make up its mind what to charge. You can pick up a cup at the Pav for $1.09. Make the mistake of walking closer to dorms and you will pay $1.29 for the same yogurt at the Root Cellar. Are there hidden transportation costs involved in moving the yogurt this extra quarter-mile?
Things get worse if you have a head cold or a pimple. The University Bookstore charges for simple medicine and toiletries as if Charlottesville is a third-world nation.
Let's start with the cost of a shave and a shower. One bar of Lever 2000 soap costs $1.09 at the Bookstore, while you can buy two bars for practically the same price at Kroger. Gillette shaving gel costs you more than $4 on Grounds, but you can get it for a dollar less at Kroger. Razor blades are almost 33 percent more at the Bookstore, costing nearly $10 with tax.
If you have a cough or a broken leg, it will cost you $6.48 for a bottle of Robitussin at the Bookstore, almost 100 percent more than at CVS. Advil works at a similarly high mark-up. If you want to do laundry, be prepared to pay double for Tide detergent, and if your desk lamp burns out, get ready to pay nearly $4 for a single light bulb.
It is an understatement to say that things cost too much in University shopping. University officials would no doubt explain that the on-Grounds stores do not have the purchasing power that Kroger or CVS do, and this translates into higher prices. Just like at the corner deli, higher overhead means higher prices. But this explanation only holds water if the University is trying to turn a profit.
The fact is that the University easily could give students groceries and toiletries basically at cost. The Bookstore turned such a huge profit last year that it had to search for ways to spend the money. Instead of sponsoring scholarships and the library system's magazine, they should roll back prices.
The University exploits the captive market it has created amongst first-year students like the most evil of robber barons. Like the ice cream cart in kindergarten, the administration holds out the promise of desired services, and then charges students through the nose to have them. Next they'll be making us wait in line for toilet paper.
(Sam Waxman's column appears Thursdays inThe Cavailer Daily.)
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