EDITORIAL: Chum's deserves more money

Keep hangout afloat

By:

Posted: 10/7/08

Much to the chagrin of club leaders campuswide, the Student Union has chosen no longer to pay the $50 fee for holding Cholmondeley's coffeehouses. Last semester, the Union paid the fee as part of its Free Admission Policy, which required clubs to admit students to events and performances free of charge. However, the rollover money that the Union drew from to pay the fee has been earmarked for the new weight room project, thus leaving clubs to pay the fee on their own.

This new financial strain on clubs may seem to be the result of the Union's desire to get rid of the considerable rollover surplus, but before we point any fingers, we should take a look at the bigger picture. Clubs may feel burdened by having to pay a fee simply for permission to use Chum's space, but what some may not realize is that the $50 booking fee is virtually the venue's only source of income.

Chum's receives no funding for groceries and other supplies, only payroll money to fund their workers' paychecks. They have to buy all their groceries with the money they make selling tea, ice cream, hot chocolate and other snacks. According to Chum's manager Nirja Parekh '09, they do make a fair amount during popular coffeehouses and concerts, but some students don't realize that Chum's, as an entity separate from Aramark and the University, lives and breathes by the money and WhoCash students surrender for a late-night grilled PB&J.

Perhaps one of the reasons Chum's has trouble pawning off cookies and muffins has to do with the quality of the food. "I feel like the basis of a 'great' coffeeshop is really good coffee and pastries, and because of budgetary concerns we could only buy in bulk at BJ's," said Molly Jane Rosen '08, former Chum's manager. With a larger budget, "Heck, we could have bought organically [or] local."

And let's not forget what an important resource Chum's is for us students. Booking a performance or party at Chum's is an easy student-to-student transaction. Chum's is an unfussy, open venue for a variety of types of events. Few other spaces are as easy to claim as Chum's.

With only a few hundred dollars per year, Chum's could become an even more useful resource to students than it already is. It deserves the University's support as well as the students'. Some new carpeting and appliances paid for by the University could catapult Chum's from an impoverished student-run business to a much more successful student venture. "The appliances are really dated," said Parekh. Last year, "the espresso machine was broken all semester," she said. Chum's simply couldn't afford to spend all their grocery money fixing the machine.

Broken windows in Chum's have made the coffeehouse vulnerable to robbery for a number of months. What's more, the old, crusty carpet and broken fixtures are not only a cosmetic issue, but also a sanitation issue, said Rosen. A renovated Chum's would be cooler and safer for us.

For now, however, clubs should continue to pay the $50 fee without complaint. "We're a really proactive staff," said Parekh, "but the money's just not there, and that's what it's going to take. Without University support, Chum's might not exist in a couple of years."

If we fail to support Chum's, we'll find ourselves without an important on-campus venue for student expression.