Vol. 61 NO. 13
ubspectrum.com
Money Issue, Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Hungry? Buy Local LISA KHOURY Staff Writer Buffalo’s West Side currently has a $40 million annual economic impact on Erie County, and that is without Buffalo consumers, business owners, and distributors consciously trying to push their city’s economy forward. The Buffalo Food Policy Summit, an official event of Inauguration Week, was a two-day symposium that focused on the role of the local food system in Buffalo’s economy. Samina Raja, Ph.D., who is an associate professor in the department of urban and regional planning and one of the experts at the summit, said that like other communities across the country, Buffalo has the food system and networks to generate a higher food-based economic multiplier. Raja has been determined for the past ten years—since she moved to Buffalo—to see the city’s food system become a major engine for economic development. “We might not think of the West Side as a place that can be an economic driver. But, with [the area’s] current food businesses as they are, [those alone] manage to have a $40 million impact,” Raja said. “So, can we imagine what those businesses would do for Erie County if we supported them.”
Insert Coin: The Price of Gaming Despite high prices for new games and flashy consoles, gamers are willing to toss out, trade in, or pirate old games and systems to get their hands on the latest and greatest.
JAMES TWIGG and NICOLAS PINO Senior Managing Editor and Arts Editor
For some college students, $60 is a steep price to pay to live in a virtual world. For others, this price is just an obstacle waiting to be fragged. After the price of a console (or computer, if that’s more your speed), game and – for most – an online subscription, players are looking at roughly $400. Which, for most college gamers, isn’t an amount found between the couch cushions. They’re left with few options:
SA Senate Elections The Student Association held general elections on Sept. 20-22 to fill the 12 positions for the SA Senate. The 12 positions are divided equally between on- and off-campus representatives. Students voted for up to six representatives in their respective category. There were 1,344 students that voted in the election. The results are as follows: On-Campus Representatives: Daniel Ovadia (Pirate Party) – 396 Votes Sara McCreary (Pirate Party) – 343 Votes James Gibbons (Pirate Party) – 311 Votes Kittie Pizzutelli (Student Legion Party) – 305 Votes Louis Sigel (Pirate Party) – 296 Votes Eddie Montesdeoca (Pirate Party) – 286 Votes
Mohammed Makda (Student Legion Party) – 245 Votes
“I don’t want to play a game and it’s beaten in four hours and pay $60 for it, cause that’s just not economical,” said Jeffrey Lynn Wakefield II, a junior marketing major. “[Piracy is hurting the industry] but it’s in response to an
Darwinson Valdez (Green Party) – 224 Votes
Though pirating is illegal, many view it as the better choice when faced with selling their electronic armory.
“First time I went to trade in a game, I think it was one of the old Onimusha games, I was like ‘This is a great game, I’ll get a decent price for it,’” Wong said. “I walked in and [the employee at] Gamestop was like ‘That’s a pretty old title there, son. It’s about two bucks here.’ What am I going to do with that?”
With videogame juggernaut Gamestop controlling a vast majority of used game sales, many gamers feel that trading in their well-worn titles doesn’t produce the same kind of loot they dropped just a few months prior. Among them being Jason Wong, a sophomore computer science major and treasurer of the Student Strategists
Wong isn’t the only one on campus with a fed up mindset. Wakefield explained that after bringing 15 games to a local
AKARI IBURI and MEG KINSLEY Senior Life Editor and Senior Photo Editor Fall tuition: $3,740.75. Fall room and board: $6,228. Food: $0.15 ramen for dinner… again. Most students come to college expecting to spend a lot of money, but some may be surprised to see where their money is going. From food to gas, alcohol to electronics, students find their dollars dwindling away throughout the semester. The Spectrum surveyed 315 UB students on Tuesday and discovered that 46 percent of students – commuters and on-campus residents alike – agree on where they spend the most money. Food. “You would’ve thought [students] spend more [money] on alcohol,” said Bryan Daniels, a second year graduate law student. 46 percent of UB students find they spend most of their money on food.
In reality, only 14 percent of students admitted to having alcohol as their main expenditure. Through meal plans, Dining Dollars, Campus Cash, and regular cash, UB offers students a variety of options for purchasing food. Even with these options, students are finding it difficult to compete with the prices. Some are even skipping lunch or dinner because their meal plans don’t cover the whole cost.
100
Most Important Student Expenses Key
80
On Campus Commuter
40
“I feel like they should at least make [the cost of a meal] fit on one meal exchange because there’s a lot of stuff that goes over. I feel like if [Campus Dining & Shops] know that a bunch of people are using [meal exchange], they should at least make it fit,” Ferguson said. Often times, students using the meal exchange find that when they purchase a meal, the price of the food exceeds the amount that the meal plan covers. Once this occurs, they turn to Dining Dollars to cover the rest of the expense.
For those students living off-campus who rely on regular cash, grocery stores provide a week’s worth of food as an alternative to purchasing daily meals.
20
Issac Stevens (Student Legion Party) – 220 Votes 0
Taylor Ferguson, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, explained that when she doesn’t have enough meal exchanges remaining on her UB card to cover the cost of food, she skips a meal.
“I don’t have the meal plan anymore, I live off campus so I just have Dining Dollars,” said Taylor Kieffer, a sophomore aerospace and mechanical engineering major. “I’ll just get like a burger…and not deal with the whole combo cause it’s cheaper.”
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Hector Coco (Student Legion Party) – 243 Votes Inderbir Gill (Green Party) – 243 Votes
and Role Players Association (SARPA).
Where’$ My Grub?
Off-Campus Representatives: Fatma Mirza (Student Legion Party) – 250 Votes
To many, pirating games isn’t their morale choice, but rather something they’ve been coerced into by an industry they view as unjust.
already broken system.”
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Jessie Gouck, who received her masters in urban planning from UB in 2010 and now works for the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Initiative in Buffalo, attended one of the summit events on South Campus.
Continued on Page 6
either sell their beloved collections or resort to a life of piracy on the digital waves.
Meg Kinsley /// The Spectrum
Alcohol
Coffee
Food
Gas
Electronics
Recreation
Nyeri Moulterie /// The Spectrum
major. “You never realize the cost of these things when you’re younger, but it’s a good experience.” Students agree that on-campus food is overpriced, but they find that some locations provide a reasonable amount of food for a lower cost. “I think a lot of the Asian [restaurants] give you a lot of food for the amount you pay for it,” said Anam Ahmed, a junior environmental studies major. “La Rosas is pretty good about it too.” Whether eating in at Young Chow’s, La Rosas, Johnny C’s or even Subway, students agree that restaurants in The Commons give the most food for their reasonable prices. Besides food, The Spectrum found that 45 percent of commuters spend the most money on gas and 33 percent spend the least on coffee. Twenty-two percent of students living on-campus spend the most on recreational activities and 33 percent spend the least amount on gas. With a tight budget and a limited lifestyle, students adapt to adulthood with the choice between full stomachs or a full tank.
Email: features@ubspectrum.com
“Coming to college you realize, oh crap, orange juice is six bucks,” said Eric Yu, a junior English
Expenses
Weather for the Week: Wednesday: Showers - H: 73, L: 58 Thursday: T-showers - H: 65 L: 54 Friday: Showers - H: 58, L: 45
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