Editors, the Gauntlet,
On the second floor of MacEwan Student Centre, right around the corner from the Dairy Queen at the west end of the food court, is a little store. When it was McQ’s, this business was a family-run enterprise, successfully building up a loyal clientele over the decade it was in operation. Students harped about the prices and limited selection (i.e., no Coke products), but McQ’s ran by the rules of the governing body–the Students’ Union–even if this meant cutting into their bottom line. At least their customers were being served, and the lung-challenged among us could buy a pack of smokes on campus at a fair price.
In September this year, this establishment was ripped away from the hard-working folks who had run it for over a decade by the SU in the name of "progress." The true colours of our greedy, grasping, money-grubbing, ethically-challenged, morally-reprehensible SU executive were visible for all to see–they were in it for the money, plain and simple. Forget the fact that this money-grab destroyed a family business which had gradually built up and was finally making profit after 10 years of struggling. Don’t even consider that this action may reflect poorly on the SU–heck, these students will forget about it shortly, and anyway there will be fresh students and new money coming in next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.
Now the SU wants us to name this "Stör." These management-types (my apologies to those in that faculty who have ethics) cannot even use enough creative juice to come up with an appropriate name for this travesty! Here are a few to consider:
Robbing’s
Market Up
In Flay Shun
Mon-Store
Quick Buck Market
Five-Finger Discounters
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Ethics
Con’s Venience
Steal Magnolias
Grand Theft Ought-to
Crush, Kill, Destroy
Les’ Market Value
As poor students, we tend to think we have very little inuence in commerce because we have very little money! However, we can make a difference, one at a time, so I urge my fellow students: let the SU know how you feel! Yessir, lil’-ol’-you can make a difference, and yes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease (and attention). Let our SU know that while money is important, people are more important. It is not acceptable for the SU to get away with this type of action, supposedly done for our beneŽt when it has actually been done at our expense.
Evil thrives when good people do nothing. What is next, no place left indoors on campus to smoke in peace? Give us little people a break!