They run the food service in our dorms. They run the catering service all over campus. They even ran Taco Bell and Pizza Hut out of Norris Student Center. But what gives Sodhexo Marriott officials the right to run our stomachs, as well?

The food provider’s policy of barring outside vendors from catering within Norris goes far beyond annoying. Student groups that want to bring pizza to their meetings must forgo the low prices and frequent specials of Papa John’s in exchange for the overpriced, overcooked cafeteria fare available at Willie’s Food Court.

That’s why we support Associated Student Government Executive Vice President Jordan Heinz’s proposal that student groups be allowed to buy food for their Norris events from a list of sources other than Sodexho Marriott.

Norris officials explain that the food service giant charges exorbitant prices and prohibits outside vendors because it sells a lower volume of product than its would-be competition. But concern about profit margins has left stomachs growling all over central campus.

If Norris is indeed a “student center” which purports to serve the campus community, then how can it let a huge corporation treat Burger King take-out as contraband when it knows that students’ ability to hold successful meetings and events, attract new members to their organizations and sustain themselves as they work through the night could be hindered by their inability to get decent, affordable food?

And even religious groups whose dietary restrictions leave them exempt from the outside catering clause still fall victim to hefty costs for Sodhexo Marriott servers, utensils and other insundry charges.

We wish ASG luck in fighting for our right to choose decent pizza, and we issue a stern warning to Sodhexo Marriott and Norris officials alike: Beware the ire of a hundred hungry undergrads. Once the feeding frenzy begins, it may not stop at one complaint.

Students could use a history lesson

NU’s sesquicentennial celebration affords unique opportunity to look into our past