Editor,
This letter is in response to Jamie Koch's comments published in the Daily Lobo on Monday in the story regarding the controversy over Aramark's food contract with UNM.
From the comments, it is easy to pick out verbiage which reflects Koch's political past. He clearly knows the words that ring the bell.
Yes, my money is extremely important, especially since tuition has been raised significantly since I started attending UNM five years ago. And yes, I do not know much about Unite Here.
However, I do know a fair amount about Aramark. I know about it because I participated in meetings regarding this issue. I knew, before Unite Here came to our campus, what the students' feelings were toward Aramark.
I also know about the business-oriented people in the administration and how this University is orienting itself toward a profit-before-quality type of public university.
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What do you think, Koch, if instead of making it more costly for students to come to UNM, the top administration lowers its salary? That way, more money could pay a food provider other than Aramark, in case the former costs more.
Do you know what I think? It is a great idea. Maybe students should pressure top administrators to lower their salaries by $1,000. What if the UNM football coach donated a tenth of his salary, or if big corporations such as Lockheed Martin give back a large percentage of their profit to the University?
Maybe with this money we can have a food provider who cares about workers, clients, local producers and consumers. Maybe we can have a SUB that truly belongs to the students and not to a food contractor, a SUB that works in partnership with a food provider that does not impose what it
considers "nutritious options for the kind of food service they provide" but, instead, provides students with what they request.
Or what about a SUB that lets me, a student, bring the food I want into the building? Koch, what if we, the students, stand up and say: "You know what, this is what we want"?
We already pay through taxes and tuition for what we are asking this University to serve us. Remember that you have been appointed by the governor and that he represents us.
Please listen to this important segment of New Mexican people, so we do not have to ask the governor to find replacements. Instead of threatening us with higher costs, what if the leaders who administer this University lower their salary?
Now wouldn't that be quite an example for all of us?
Sebastian Pais
UNM student
