INC NEWS - Community Meeting

[John Schelp]

Just out of curiosity, will university officials be
talking about DukeCard changes at the community
meeting (see below)?

thanks,
John Schelp

****

Town-Gown On Points
by John Schelp and Carol Anderson
Duke Towerview magazine (February 2006)

In the Princeton Review’s 2005 student survey of
college rankings, Duke’s town-gown relations were
fifth worst in the nation. Duke officials may dismiss
them as unscientific, but these ratings raise
questions about how students form such negative
perceptions of town-gown relations and how Duke might
counter them. 

When the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association
investigated poor student attendance at a
Duke-sponsored Block Party on Ninth Street last fall,
it found that changing DukeCard policies could counter
these perceptions. Current DukeCard policies prohibit
students from using the card for purchases off-campus,
discouraging them from patronizing local merchants.
For small, locally owned merchants, the costs
associated with the program ($1,500 to $3,500 start-up
costs and 18% commissions) make participation
prohibitively expensive.

Many other universities have programs that enable
student IDs to function like debit cards by linking
them to area bank accounts. Both UNC-Chapel Hill and
NC State allow students to use their cards off campus.
NCSU charges no commissions. Instead of dragging their
feet, senior administrators like Tallman Trask and
Kemel Dawkins should implement DukeCard policies that
would encourage students to venture off campus,
benefit both the Duke and Durham communities, and
improve perceptions of town-gown relations. 

In a Chronicle article, Duke officials attributed
limiting DukeCard use to on-campus purchases to the
University’s tax-exempt status. But as a local
business owner pointed out in a recent Chronicle
article (1/24/06), there’s a big difference between
the University’s purchases being exempt from sales
taxes and individual DukeCard purchases of pizza or
sandwiches being tax-exempt. Bluntly stated, this
difference is fairness. 

Current DukeCard policies unfairly discourage Duke
students and employees from venturing off campus to
purchase food, textbooks, or other items, depriving
Durham and North Carolina of sales tax revenues and
placing this burden on the backs of local residents
and businesses. Surely this is not the reason we grant
tax-exempt status to institutions of higher learning.
And it may surprise Blue Devil parents that Duke’s
dubious use of its tax-exempt status is compounded by
its 18% bite from every pizza-on-points delivered to
their student’s dorm.	

Lowering DukeCard start-up costs and commissions would
improve town-gown relations, enabling more small,
local businesses — like Blue Corn Café or the
Regulator bookstore on Ninth Street or Morgan Imports
at Brightleaf — to participate in the program. Duke’s
current high set-up fees and 18% commissions are more
easily absorbed by national chains than small, local
merchants. And supporting locally owned merchants is
another important way Duke could help the local
economy and tax base. 

In April 2005, Publisher’s Weekly reported an Austin,
Texas study that found $45 of every $100 spent at an
independent Austin bookseller stayed in the local
community, while just $13 of every $100 spent at the
national chain Borders stayed in the community, making
the independent bookseller’s contribution to the local
economy nearly three times higher than the national
chain’s. It is reasonable to think that what holds for
booksellers also holds for restaurants, music sellers,
and boutiques. 

Thus, both DukeCard holders and Durham will benefit
from thriving local business districts with locally
owned merchants frequented by Duke students and staff
— the former by a wider array of dining, shopping, and
entertainment choices and more contact with the Durham
community and the latter by new customers and
increased tax revenues in the local community. 


Anderson owns Vaguely Reminiscent on Ninth Street;
Schelp is president of the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association (www.owdna.org), a
Duke-Durham partnership neighborhood.

****

Letter: DukeCard questioned
Herald-Sun, 12 December 2005 
 
After a poorly attended 9th Street block party Duke
sponsored during student orientation, the Old West
Durham Neighborhood Association received feedback from
merchants suggesting that DukeCard policies
contributed to the poor turnout. The DukeCard allows
students to use the card rather than cash for
purchases, but only for purchases on the Duke campus. 

We asked Duke officials if the system could be changed
to allow DukeCard use for off-campus purchases. We
also asked if Duke could reduce both start-up costs
for merchants (currently $1,200-$3,500) and its
commissions on purchases (currently around 18
percent), high costs that make program participation
prohibitive for many local businesses. 

President Richard Brodhead's initial response was
encouraging and Duke officials promised a timely
response. But the semester's end and the holiday
season are here, and we're still waiting. 

In the meantime, we learned that Indiana University
charges local merchants $300 in set-up costs and 3-5
percent in commissions. We also learned that UNC One
Cards can be linked to an area bank account and used
as check-cards at off-campus businesses -- a model
Duke should consider. 

The Duke Chronicle quoted Duke students saying they
seldom patronize off-campus businesses because they
prefer the convenience of making purchases with
DukeCards rather than cash. 

Duke officials have repeatedly said they support
business districts near campus. Expanding the DukeCard
program along the UNC One Card model would encourage
more students to venture off campus and patronize
Durham businesses. 

And cutting DukeCard set-up and commission costs would
be a way for Duke to put its money where its mouth is.


John Schelp; John Browner
Durham

Browner owns Books On Ninth; Schelp represents the
board of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association.


****

Letter: Duke a non-profit?
Herald-Sun, 16 December 2005 
 
An earlier letter to The Herald-Sun questioned Duke
for its slow response in expanding the DukeCard system
to off-campus merchants [see above]. I'd like to think
that the delay is just the byproduct of a lethargic
Duke bureaucracy, but it seems there may be more than
that. 

The Oct. 28 Duke Chronicle reported that DukeCard
purchases are tax-exempt, and therefore must be
conducted on campus. So, one of the pizza chains would
deliver a pizza to a dorm, accept the DukeCard as
payment, and Durham gets no sales tax. All the while,
Duke takes an 18 percent slice for itself, and the
card can't be used off-campus. Thanks Duke! Way to
help the community! 

Duke gets these tax breaks because it's a
"non-profit," but this looks a whole lot like
"for-profit" behavior. I just don't see other
non-profits engaging in such elaborate schemes to
avoid paying sales tax. 

By opening up the DukeCard system to all local
merchants, Duke could avoid this appearance of
impropriety, and Durham would receive the sales tax
revenue. Those hefty commissions and start-up fees
would have to be lowered too, which could really hurt
DukeCard's profitability. Lucky for us, Duke is a
non-profit organization, and doesn't care about such
things. 

Chris Sevick 
Durham
 
****

Letter: Much confusion over DukeCard taxation issue
Herald-Sun, 2 January 2006 

Michael Palmer, a representative of Duke University,
was kind enough to reply to my letter in The
Herald-Sun [Letters, Dec. 25, see below]. He said that
I was "misinformed" when I asserted that DukeCard
purchases were tax-exempt. OK. Let's check out my
information. An article in the Duke Chronicle of Oct.
28 reports that "students can only pay for purchases
with points if they are delivered on campus." 

Then, the Chronicle actually gets a Duke official to
provide the reason: "Director of Dining Services Jim
Wulforst explained that meal plan points are
non-taxable and thus can only be used on campus. He
added that Kemel Dawkins, vice president for campus
services, is currently in talks with lawyers about the
issue. Are these statements true or not? 

Whichever way you cut it, somebody at Duke
"misinformed" me. I'm not interested in affixing blame
to either of these individuals, but I think it
demonstrates how frustrating it can be to deal with
Duke's administration. It's time for some straight
answers. They have heard our concerns, and told us
that they'd get back to us with the details in a
month. It's now been well over two months. So, we're
all waiting for a comprehensive statement regarding
the DukeCard and sales tax. Once that's straightened
out, we can move on to the next DukeCard question: Why
is Duke skimming off 18 percent from each purchase,
when other universities are only charging 2-3 percent?


Chris Sevick 
Durham
 
****

Letter: With its cards, Duke acts like Donald Trump
Herald-Sun, 5 February 2006 
 
So UNC, NC State and Elon University all have
reasonably-priced debit-card programs [Herald-Sun,
Jan. 29] that provide students with a wider range of
choices, local merchants with more customers and state
governments with more tax revenues. 

Duke, which is considerably more well endowed than any
of those institutions, apparently gouges both their
students and the local merchants while accepting the
two-fold subsidy we taxpayers give them as an
educational institution: Tax breaks for donors to the
university and a pass on the payment of property and
sales taxes. 

Looks like they want it both ways: To be considered
needy, do-gooder education providers when it comes to
claiming a public subsidy, while playing aggressive,
private sector-style entrepreneurs when it comes to
economic relations with the surrounding town. 

No one is suggesting that educational institutions
shouldn't get a tax break. But Duke should leave the
Trump/Gates tactics to the true private sector and be
more generous with the fruits of the community's
investment. 

Tom Clark
Durham
 
****

"My assumption has been that it's a choice Duke has
made to keep all its transactions on campus." 
-Tom Campbell, Ninth Street merchant

'DukeCard' ruling on hold
Herald-Sun, 29 January 2006

Duke still has made no decision on a request last fall
to allow students to use their university spending
accounts for purchases off campus. 

At other universities, however, the arrangement is
common. And it is much less costly than the 18 percent
commission Duke charges in its program that is now
limited to restaurant deliveries to campus. 

Duke also charges the restaurants about $1,200 in
set-up fees. 

Elon University near Burlington, on the other hand,
has set-up charges and commissions less than one-third
that amount for 38 participating off-campus merchants.
The businesses, moreover, extend beyond food to
include fitness gyms, auto-parts stores and an eye
center. 

Transactions on both Duke's DukeCard and the Phoenix
Card issued at Elon are administered by Blackboard,
the education-support company best known for its
software with which teachers post course materials for
their students on computer systems. 

At both universities, as at most institutions, the
cards double as a student ID that is used for other
campus purposes, such as building access, cafeteria
meal plans and as a library card. 

The Blackboard Transaction System software and
equipment is used by hundreds of colleges and
universities, said a company spokeswoman, Melissa
Chotiner. Both Duke and Elon manage their off-campus
transactions themselves, she said. When Blackboard
administers it, in an add-on service known as BBOne,
fees are "less than a typical credit card," she said. 

Elon University recently lowered its off-campus costs
for the Phoenix Card, and more merchants signed on,
said university spokesman David Hibbard. 

"We're not doing this to make money," Hibbard said.
"We have a good relationship with merchants in the
program." 

Two of the three Gold's Gym locations Matt Layman
operates in Burlington began accepting the Phoenix
Card two years ago. Earlier, he said, he was skeptical
about the 5 percent commission and $250 fee for each
card reader terminal. 

But after students repeatedly asked if he accepted the
card, he signed up. Only about 10 percent of his Elon
student customers pay with it, but that's still enough
to make it worthwhile, he said. 

On Durham's Ninth Street, Tom Campbell, co-owner of
The Regulator Bookshop, said Elon's deal sounds good
to him. 

"I'd sign up for that in a flash," he said. 

As for Duke's higher charges -- prohibitively so for
him, he said -- "My assumption has been that it's a
choice Duke has made to keep all its transactions on
campus." 

At UNC, students are issued a UNC Card with an account
for on-campus purchases. If they open a checking
account with Wachovia, they can have the bank's Visa
Check card feature integrated into the UNC Card, in a
version called UNC Card Plus. 

The bank offers the option free to students. N.C.
State University has a similar arrangement with
Wachovia. 

Duke spokesman John Burness said administrators aren't
likely to change the Duke Card before the beginning of
a new academic year. He said he didn't know why Duke's
fees are higher and eligibility more restricted than
Elon's. 

"I think part of this has to do with the evolution of
this system, and that's why we're looking at it now,"
he said. 

In the fall, John Schelp, president of the Old West
Durham Neighborhood Association near Duke's East
Campus, asked Duke officials to make the system, and
its 11,000 cardholders, more merchant-friendly. He
said officials told him they would get back to him by
November. 

Since then, in The Herald-Sun and in the Chronicle,
Duke's independent student newspaper, the issue has
been raised periodically. 

On Tuesday, Schelp said he hopes administrators will
communicate their plans to interested parties outside
the university beforehand. 

"We hope we would be able to see the rollout before
it's a done deal," he said. 

Burness said the university will advise merchants and
students once it reaches a decision. 

****

Merchants seek DukeCard review
Duke Chronicle, 24 January 2006

University officials are working on a plan to increase
DukeCard flexibility off campus, but the local group
that requested the review is upset with how long it is
taking.

Vice President for Campus Services Kemel Dawkins said
he is working with various administrators, including
officials from Dining Services and the DukeCard
Office, to respond to complaints made in October about
the limitations of the DukeCard and the Merchants on
Points program.

Duke officials said they were working on remodeling
the DukeCard based on card programs at other schools,
such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.

"We are looking at options for providing additional
flexibility and additional opportunities for purchases
on and off campus," Dawkins said, noting that there
was no specific date set for a new plan's announcement
or roll-out.

"We are looking at changes to the DukeCard as part of
that," he added.

John Schelp, president of the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association, claimed that the University
said it would respond to his group's complaints about
the DukeCard within one month from the time he spoke
with Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. That
conversation occurred Oct. 18, Schelp said.

Initial complaints about the current DukeCard system
included students' inability to use food points or
FLEX money at off-campus vendors and the high startup
costs and commission rates Duke charges vendors for
the Merchants on Points program.

Startup costs range from $1,500 to $3,500, and the
commission Duke takes for delivery purchases can be up
to 18 percent.

"It’s disappointing because [Trask] said he would get
back to us but never did," Schelp said. "It seems
strange because the initial response was encouraging.
It's almost been an act of disengagement."

Dawkins said Trask, after acknowledging the
complaints, asked him to review the DukeCard and a
possible expansion of its flexibility.

Dawkins said he was never given a specific timetable
for his report and he has not been in contact with
Schelp. 

Duke officials are looking at other campus systems —
including UNC — after which to model potential
changes. The UNC OneCard allows students to make
purchases off campus by linking the card to a Wachovia
checking account.

"Other institutions use cards in a variety of ways,"
Dawkins said. "We need to decide which would work best
at Duke."

Dawkins said he is looking at "a variety of things in
relation to those issues" of Merchants on Points and
general card flexibility, but he would not limit the
scope of his review to just the reduction of startup
costs and fees.

One reason administrators have cited in the past
regarding the difficulty in expanding the DukeCard
program is the University's tax-exempt status as a
non-profit institution.

When Duke students order food at Duke or through
Merchants on Points, they do not pay sales tax.

"If Duke is buying something as an institution it's
one thing, but individuals buying a pizza or something
is another," said Tom Campbell, co-owner of The
Regulator Bookshop on Ninth Street. "It should be
looked at in fairness to everyone else in this
community that pays sales tax."

While Dawkins works on Duke's plan, Schelp and the
community will continue to wait.

"It's very clear that they know the ball is in their
court and we're waiting for an answer," Schelp said.
"You expect when someone says they'll get back to you
that they will."

****

Duke Card blues: Merchants want rules eased for using
student card to buy off campus
Herald-Sun, 13 November 2005   

The way John Schelp sees it, Duke University is an
island of 11,000 credit-card holders who eat, drink
and shop with currency that most off-campus businesses
can't accept. 

"It's a captive audience you have on campus," he said.


That's why Schelp and some merchants are calling on
the university to make it easier for local businesses
to accept Duke Cards, the debit and meal card that's
generally regarded as the standard currency on Duke's
campus. 

"That's almost the only thing you take out of your
wallet all week," said Ian Long, a sophomore English
major from California. 

But Duke requires off-campus merchants to spend $1,200
in initial set-up costs and pay an 18 percent
commission to be able to accept the Duke Card. What's
more, only restaurants can participate and they have
to deliver food to campus to take advantage of the
program. 

While 15 restaurants, 11 of them locally based, have
signed on to the plan since 1990, Schelp, president of
the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association, has
heard others complain that the costs are prohibitive. 

"It's just too much," he said. 

He's pressing Duke President Richard Brodhead and
Executive Vice President Tallman Trask to make the
system easier and cheaper. Trask agreed to review the
program, and Schelp expects to hear from him on
Friday, a month from their last conversation. 

But Schelp isn't just looking for financial
concessions; he also wants to see Duke allow all sorts
of merchants to accept the Duke Card for both on- and
off-campus sales. 

"This is good for Duke, it's good for town-gown
relations and it's good for students," he said. "It's
a win-win-win." 

Duke is conducting a financial and legal analysis of
its existing program, spokesman John Burness said. He
wouldn't specify what aspects of the program might be
tweaked. 

"We have a variety of different options and no
conclusions yet," he said last week. "Our goals in
making whatever changes might come about are to
provide greater convenience to our students while
helping to encourage existing businesses closest to
the campus to thrive." 

Students spend about $3 million a year on food
purchases from the 15 restaurants that deliver to
campus as part of the Duke Card program, Burness said.


"The feedback [from those businesses] is
overwhelmingly positive," he said. Many vendors have
told Burness' colleagues that "if they didn't have
this relationship with the Duke Card program, they
wouldn't be in business," he said. 

Jimmy John's Sandwich Shops, which just started
accepting the Duke Card and delivering to campus this
year, is reaping the benefits, said manager Tone
Gould. Half of the Ninth Street restaurant's sales
come from Duke Card purchases, he said. 

Likewise, Pop's Trattoria has been accepting the Duke
Card since August. Even though the cost of the program
is high, the extra business is still a benefit, said
Matthew Bason, who owns the Peabody Place restaurant
with chefs Chris Stinnett and John Vandergrift. 

The order volume is currently low enough that it
doesn't require any extra staff, and students using
the Duke Card aren't taking up seats that would
otherwise be occupied by diners paying all their money
to Pop's, he said. 

"We're not losing business based on it, and the
business gained is business we didn't have before,"
Bason said. "For us, what the Duke Card offers is a
little bit of an extra bonus to any night's business."


Pop's currently is filling four or five orders each
night through Gourmet Dining and Bakery, an Internet
service developed by Duke students that takes the
orders and delivers the food to campus. Five of GDB's
11 participating restaurants accept the Duke Card; the
others accept payment by credit card only. 

Meanwhile, Blue Corn Café supports Duke, but its
business is strong enough that it doesn't need to
accept the Duke Card and pay the corresponding high
commission, said owners Danielle and Antonio Rios. The
restaurant's margins are tight enough without having
to give a cut to the university, they said. 

The financial requirements aren't the only reason
restaurants don't participate. Fowler's Food and Wine
co-owner William Simpson would be happy to pay the
commission if dealing with Duke weren't so difficult,
he said. 

"We love Duke students and we'd love to be able to
offer the card," he said. "But finding the right
person who can make the right decision -- we've run
into logistical problems." 

The Regulator Book Shop also doesn't take Duke Cards,
but that doesn't stop students from trying to use them
there, said co-owner John Valentine. 

"Students always ask if we take Flex cards," he said.
"They assume we do, but the tariff Duke charges is too
steep." 

The Regulator sells textbooks for 150 courses and also
has a good relationship with Duke's athletic
department, Valentine said. Still, he'd be happier if
it were easier for students to spend money at his
store. 

"With or without Duke, we will survive, but the more
Duke we can have, the better," he said. 

The perception has always been that the university
replicates the community's good ideas on campus so
that students have no reason to leave, Valentine said.
But Ninth Street also must make itself an attractive
alternative to Duke so students will venture out to
nearby stores and restaurants, he said. 

Long, who visits Ninth Street about once a week to eat
or shop at The Regulator, said he leaves campus more
often than many of his classmates. Local businesses
shouldn't have to accept the Duke Card to draw
students to the surrounding areas, he said, but he
acknowledged it would be an effective marketing
strategy. 

"People feel really comfortable in the Duke bubble and
aren't as willing to get off onto Ninth Street as they
should be," he said.

****

Local group pushes for Merchants on Points expansion
Duke Chronicle, 28 October 2005

If the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association gets
its way, students may soon have more options for food
on points and eventually be able to use their
DukeCards at local shops and restaurants.

Two weeks ago the association sent a letter to
President Richard Brodhead with a request to lower the
initial set-up and commission fees for the Merchants
on Points program in order to promote more small
business participation.

The MOP system allows students to have food delivered
from restaurants in the local area using their meal
plan food points.

John Schelp, president of the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association, contended that the current
program favors larger businesses, such as chain
restaurants that are better able to absorb the costs
of the program. He said that if Duke was willing to
lower the fees, more small local businesses would be
able to participate in the program.

"It would be great for students, and it would be great
for the community near campus," Schelp said.

The Regulator Bookshop co-owner Tom Campbell explained
the difficulties the fees create.

"It's $3,000 to start and then there are commission
fees that can go up to 18 percent," Campbell said. "We
have to offer a lot of discounts, so the fees would
take half our profit."

The Old West Durham Neighborhood Association also
raised concerns about the students' inability to use
points off campus. In the MOP system, students can
only pay for purchases with points if they are
delivered on campus.

"We get asked fairly frequently if we take FLEX,"
Campbell said.

Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst explained
that meal plan points are non-taxable and thus can
only be used on campus.

He added that Kemel Dawkins, vice president for campus
services, is currently in talks with lawyers about the
issue.

Some vendors already on the points system, however,
disagreed with the association's claims. Dan Mall,
Jimmy John's operating partner and area manager, said
the MOP fees actually make it harder for chain vendors
to participate because chain restaurants have
franchise fees to pay as well. 

"You can't just lower the fee and have everyone be
happy," Mall said.

He added that the quality of service and ability to
handle customer volume must be taken into
consideration.

Wulforst agreed that quality is important in the
success of the system. "If a vendor provides good food
at a good price, they will get the student business,"
he said. "I'm all for an open market."

There are currently more than 15 restaurants
participating in the MOP system. It has recently been
expanded through Gourmet Dining and Bakery, LLC—a
student-founded delivery company that added Pop's
Trattoria, The Original Q-Shack, Dale's Indian
Cuisine, Mad Hatters Café and Bake Shop and Papa
John's Pizza to the system.

Overall, Schelp is optimistic about the constructive
response from Duke.

"The initial news from Duke is good," Schelp said.

He spoke to Executive Vice President Tallman Trask
about the issue and was told that the association
would receive Duke's answer to their concerns in a
month.

The interaction could represent a larger trend of
cooperation between the Duke and Durham communities.
"I don't think this conversation would have happened
two years ago," Schelp said.

He attributed the improvement to the influence of
Brodhead and Provost Peter Lange and called Brodhead
"a breath of fresh air" in his interactions with the
Duke administration.

****

Spreading the wealth
News & Observer, 22 October 2005

Old West Durham neighborhood activist John Schelp
reports some progress in his campaign to get Duke
University to cut its charges to merchants who accept
DukeCards. According to Schelp, university vice
president Tallman Trask has said Duke "is looking at
ways" to cut the startup cost and per-sale commissions
that discourage small businesses from accepting the
card.

Schelp said lower charges would benefit both merchants
and the students and Duke personnel who hold the cards
by opening more off-campus options for trade. Trask,
he said, indicated "they'll get back to me in a
month."

****

"...it is far worse to keep the surrounding business
in Durham at their current disadvantage and to
continue to deny them business from Duke students."

Column: The dining bubble
by Elliott Wolf, Duke Chronicle (17 January 2006)

Self-described “conservatives” at Duke are fixated on
the notion that “liberals” are crowding out their
ideas, as shown by the uproar over “academic freedom”
and Harry Belafonte’s Sunday appearance. They might,
however, want to look into something that costs each
and every one of us thousands of dollars every year
and flies in the face of both common sense and basic
tenants of conservative philosophy:

Duke Dining

Although politicizing dining might seem an odd thing
to do, so many of the issues surrounding it boil down
to basic questions of government (institutional)
intervention, economic freedom and government
waste—things which, once upon a time, Republicans
actually took notice of. The only thing that can save
it: deregulation.

As you all know, at the core of Duke Dining is the
requirement that all students purchase a meal plan.
Freshmen are forced to eat at the Marketplace, and all
other undergraduates who live on campus are required
to purchase at least $1,420 in food points per
semester that can only be used to purchase food and
only from specific vendors.

Duke also, however, controls merchants as well,
arbitrarily assessing them a portion of their revenue
(and not just charging them rent and utilities) based
on an owner’s investment in the eatery and a number of
other factors, according to Jim Wulforst, director of
dining services. Vendors are rewarded by Duke Dining
for spending money on their establishments, leading to
questionable improvements and a disconnect between
vendor profits and student business.

Should students want to escape this system, we are
heavily taxed. Eighteen percent of our points spent at
Durham businesses will be recycled back into Duke (a
total of $540,000 per year), according to Wulforst.
This supposedly makes up for the lost commissions from
points going off campus. Considering that a
confidential Auxiliary Services budget presentation
put all parking ticket revenues at $600,000 in 2000,
it’s surprising that this tariff doesn’t earn more ire
from the students.

The results of this system are far reaching, and the
main losers are the students. Although Wulforst
maintains that “we pride ourselves on being
competitive,” students still pay inflated prices and
are severely limited in our options. We cannot use the
cards beyond the physical Duke “bubble,” and when we
purchase food for delivery from off campus, merchants
pass the commissions back to us. Although the money is
used to improve eateries each year, I don’t think the
freshmen now benefit from being told “Happiness is a
perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a
few drops on yourself,” by a plasma television in the
Marketplace.

Durham merchants and community members are equally
upset, as shown by recent coverage in The Herald Sun.
Restaurants in Durham, unlike on-campus
establishments, actually do have to face the cold
reality of paying rent, utilities and directly
catering to customer demands. While it may seem harsh
to force on-campus establishments to do the same
thing, it is far worse to keep the surrounding
business in Durham at their current disadvantage and
to continue to deny them business from Duke students.

Given all of this, why would Duke so heavily regulate,
subsidize and control everything? Duke wants to
promote on-campus dining establishments and ensure a
variety of options, a goal which is seemingly
legitimate but could be served by less intrusive
means.

The other goal is simply insulting. According to
Wulforst, Duke wants to assure our parents that we
actually eat, and therefore must maintain the
infrastructure that exits (“bubble!”). Surprisingly
enough, profit motive actually does not seem to be a
significant influence.

And ironically enough, the solution to all of this can
be found in our government-funded neighbor. UNC
considers its students to be qualified to decide when,
where and how much to eat and does not require that
they purchase meal plans. Students who do choose to
purchase a meal plan are subject to many of the same
restrictions as Duke students (including the 18
percent tax on deliveries), but, according to Mike
Freeman, director of auxiliary services for UNC, “our
most expensive meal plan is $1,170 a semester.” UNC
students have far more flexibility, spend much less on
food and can support the surrounding community at the
same time. The market will provide.

This seems to be something on which we as students
should all agree. I just find it bizarre that amid the
“conservative” resurgence on campus, it takes a
registered Democrat to advocate free trade with the
city of Durham and decry the excesses of big
“government.”


Elliott Wolf is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs
every Tuesday.

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