Thefts in the convenience store in Upper Usdan are an ongoing problem, Dining Services Committee member and Senator for the Class of 2010 Jenna Brofsky said. She said the committee members inquired into this problem after noting rising prices in the C-store. She was told that the debt caused by daily thefts is one of the factors that contribute to price increases. The issue was raised at the March 23 Student Union Senate meeting.

"Things get stolen every day," said Julio Zayas, a full-time employee of the C-store. Years ago, he said, C-store employees "calculated a loss of 200 dollars a day" in stolen items.

Other reasons for why items are overpriced, director of Dining Services Michael Newmark explained during the meeting with Dining Services Committee, include that the C-store acquires items in much smaller quantities than local supermarkets. During the Senate meeting, members of the Dining Services Committee discussed possible solutions to this problem, as well as reasons students steal on a regular basis.

Though a video camera has been installed in the C-store, penalizing students for theft has proven hard. Senator for the Class of 2009 Yuki Hasegawa, a member of the committee and a part-time employee of the C-store said that "by the time the police arrive, the students have fled the scene."

Brofsky said C-store employees are "supposed to get your ID, but usually it's too much of a hassle to track down a student."

Aramark employees who work at the C-store said they find it difficult and hazardous to stop students from stealing. "Once I called a student out and he asked to go outside and fight me," Zayas said. He said he has spoken to students who have stolen on many occasions.

Kathy Macdougall, a cashier at the C-store, said she remembers an incident in the Boulevard when a student grabbed the cashier by the collar because the cashier saw the student steal. "I don't pay to come here, but I'm getting an education! I thought I was street-smart!" said Macdougall.

Macdougall recalled that theft has been a problem at Usdan for many years. "It's been going on as long as I've been here, so I don't think that it will stop," she said.

She said that the thefts do not hurt Aramark, but instead have a negative effect on students. He said that the only consequence of stealing has been price increases at the C-store to make up for the loss, as the thieves are hardly ever caught or penalized.

"The prices here are out of sight," Macdougall said.

Like Zayas, Macdougall said that the problem of regular thefts causes prices to rise. "Students don't understand that," she said.

Macdougall explained that vandalism as a means to theft has also been a problem. "Three times [students] have broken the door to steal things down there," she said, pointing to the cabinet by the C-store door. "One girl was stealing the whole case of plastic silverware. I said: 'You can't do that!' And the student replied 'Why not?'"

Zayas said that the theft is not about need, but about the pleasure in stealing itself. "Once I called a girl out," he said. "I'd be watching her for a long time. . When I checked her card, she had over 1,000 points in her account."

Zayas said he knows of five prominent "rings of students," as he called them, who divert the employees' attention by making noise while the others runs out with merchandise. He said that students may think that he doesn't notice, but Zayas is well-aware of the stealing.

Despite his long-term understanding of the problem, Zayas said that "I can't call security, because then [the students] will be in trouble.