Junior Amanda Twinney stepped up to the vending machine, ready to buy her usual snack before class, but the price was too high and she lacked the change for it.
Frustrated with the higher prices of the snack food vending machines, she mumbled what a rip-off and cop-out the new prices were and walked away. Another lost customer.
Courtesy of the crimes of burglar George Delisle, the entire student body, faculty, and visitors at UCF must pay an extra five cents at the snack machines on campus.
UCF police arrested Delisle Jan. 31 for 15 reported vending machine burglaries committed between November 2001 and January 2002. Two building services employees, Felicito Rodriguez and Cindy Snyder, caught Delisle in the act and reported him to the police.
"Prices on the candy vending machines had to go up; one [reason] is the fact that we've had so many vending machine break-ins in the last year. A lot of machines had to be replaced and repaired and a lot of products were lost," said N. Richard Stallworth, director of business services.
Replacing products and machines made up only part of the cost, said John Pittman, associate director of business services.
"After all of that, the insurance went up, so we had to raise prices to compensate," Pittman said.
"The company lost roughly thousands of dollars and asked to raise the price. They are allowed to do this only once a year, so we obliged."
Pittman said repairs on the machines cost between $700 and $800 in addition to routine repairs and replacements.
UCF students expressed frustration with the price increase.
"I think the raising of the prices of vending machines is more of an inconvenience for students, and will probably deter students from using them," said sophomore Ashley Eddy. "I think it's unfortunate that the actions of some students can cause a disturbance for the rest of the school, and it's not really fair for everyone to have to pay for what [Delisle] did."
Junior Rick Susman remembered less expensive times.
"When I first came to UCF the prices on vending machines were very low, very economical," said Susman. "It was cool because you could just pull money out of your couch and get like a Twix or something."
Susman suggested that the higher prices would hurt the situation.
"Now they're moving up prices just because some guy had the nerve to break in, that's not going to help anything," Susman said. "It's just going to deter people from wanting to buy more food, and it's not going to get anything accomplished. It's going to make people want to steal more."
"And frankly, it really annoys the life out of me. Why would they want to raise the prices higher and alienate the customer base?"
At least one student understood that a moderate increase in prices would result from the burglaries.
"I can understand the company's position on it," said junior Mike Summerlot. He warned that a drastic increase in prices would hurt sales. "I guess in the end, if the prices are too high, it's only going to end up hurting them if the students don't buy anything because the amount is too much."
For some students the convenience of the vending machines has lost all value.
"Because of the increased costs of food on campus I found it necessary to pack my lunch. It's just too expensive," said junior Chris Rivard.
Said Rivard: "I don't think that because that man stole from vending machines it should necessarily raise the price for everyone. At the same time, understandably companies have to make money, but they definitely lost one customer."
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