Yesterday, (Mon. Apr. 14) I received two very important letters (via e-mail) that responded to my editorial from Monday. The first one accused me of never having gone to a GSB meeting. I resent that accusation very much; just this summer, I went and saw the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The other letter told me that I had no argumentative skills (pertaining to the current privatization debate.) I don’t need argumentative skills. “Any fourth grade child with a pencil and a piece of paper can argue against your cause,” so here I go …

Privatization brings up three important issues: prices, profit and employment. Members of the GSB contend that with private companies comes competition and with competition comes lower prices. What they didn’t say is that with lower prices comes lower quality. When the quality gets as low, people begin to shy away from the product. Thus, the company has to raise prices to compensate. I don’t see how privatization will be competitive. Maybe at first, companies will fight for the contract with ISU, but only one company comes out in the end; and that’s whom I have to buy my food from — I’ll have no choice: There is no competition.

The current food service makes little or no profit. They are self sustaining and are here to serve the students. Senator Flaherty (who fired me by the way,) says that a state system is inefficient and will be better replaced by an efficient, commercial system. This one is easy to rebut: The state may be inefficient, but it is here to serve the PEOPLE. A private firm is here to serve ITSELF. Maybe GSB should take this as a lesson and start serving the students instead of themselves.

Then there are questions about employment: Are the student-workers going to be in the plans of a new company? Are the non-student workers going to be in the plans of a new company? Perhaps the new service will bring new jobs, but will the current/veteran workers be the ones who fill those new jobs (?) or will the new company bring in its own workers?

I honestly believe that GSB cannot answer all of these questions or guarantee that any of the above will not happen. And since they cannot make such a guarantee now or in the future, I urge them to leave this issue alone, because the students will not until they do.

The GSB has served itself long enough. You were elected to serve the people. I voted as well as others, and so far you haven’t listened to me or their concerns. Perhaps that is the reason people do not vote anymore.

Why should they vote for someone who represents only himself?

Carmen Cerra

Senior

Biological/Pre-Medical

Illustration