Paying the premium at the pumps

Dr. Joe Samprone, retired GCSU economics professor of 20 years, said that the soaring gas prices will continue to put a drag on the economy.

“The money we used to spend at Target or taking the family out to a nice restaurant is now, at the end of the month the money goes toward gas,” Samprone said. “There are fewer people out shopping and at amusement parks too.”

Another thing greatly affecting the price of gas in the U.S. is the rapid population growth in China and India. While the U.S. has one of the highest demands in oil supply, India and China are also becoming dominant world powers. And with development comes an increase in their demands for oil.

“As they [India and China] continue to grow, their demand for automobiles just continues to increase. The supply of gasoline is known, but the demand is what will continue to increase,” Samprone said. “This puts huge pressure on the price.”

The increase at the pumps has had a domino effect, which causes an increase in food prices and other goods.

Fast food giant McDonald’s, who has built an empire on their cheap food, has recently announced a price increase to their burgers and the dollar menu due to the rising cost of beef.
Ralph Alvarez, McDonald’s chief operating officer, in an interview with Chicago Tribune, addressed their company’s decision to raise the dollar menu.

“The cost implications of having that value menu have changed when you see what’s going on in beef and chicken,” Alvarez said. “The way the dollar menu looks today won’t be the way it looks next year…in this current environment, we’ve got to make sure we’re pricing smart, not just pricing low.”

It’s not just national companies raising prices. It is also hitting close to home.

Ben Loper, co-owner of Pig-in-a-Pit in Milledgeville and Macon, relocated in downtown Milledgeville.

“When gas prices increased we had less customers at our old location because people just didn’t want to go out of their way to drive,” Loper said. “Hopefully our new location brings more foot traffic from the 300 something City Hall employees and the college students.”

With the changes from location to the ambience, some regulars may also notice the slight increase in prices in their menus.

“We’ve had to raise some food cost to offset the price raise food and deliveries,” Loper said. “When gas goes up everything else does too, so we have to make up for that.”

GCSU battles gas problem

It is no secret that gas prices are high, but how does this affect the life of an everyday college student?

Many students at GCSU say their parents pay for their gas, or they don’t really drive much at all, but others have taken actions to avoid filling up.

Senior English major Laura Bowden, commutes to campus twice a week from Dublin, a city approximately 30 miles away from Milledgeville.

“Gas prices are getting ridiculous and it’s taking me almost $50 to fill up,” Bowden said. “It really hurts students financially and I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling this especially among students who commute a lot.”

However high the gas prices, it is still a necessity that many can’t do without.

“It is terrible,” Josh Carrick, a junior exercise major said. “But it’s something we all have to deal with. We don’t really have much of a choice because if you need to get somewhere fast you’ll need a car and you’ll need gas.”

GCSU’s Parking and Transportation services have not increased the transportation fees this year and they are trying to keep it that way.

On average, it takes anywhere from $90- $120 every two days to fill the large Bobcat shuttle. Most of the shuttles run their full route Monday through Friday and a weekend shuttle runs students to and from the Milledgeville Mall and Wal-mart free of charge.

The gas is already purchased at a lesser price courtesy of the state, when Gov. Sonny Perdue renewed its contract with commercial fuel provider Wright Express in 2006, according to Wright Express’ Web site. Wright Express provides discounted fuel to Georgia’s various state agencies and public institutions.

Darryl Richardson, GCSU’s Transportation Services coordinator, said that while buying the gas at a lesser price helps, they are still having to restructure transportation methods to be more efficient.

“Right now because of the increase of students living in The Village, we are having to run more buses compared to last year,” Richardson said. “We started looking at safety and consumption practices to maximize mileage.”

Richardson is referring to the several changes they have made in the routes. They are looking at running shorter routes and running the night shuttles until 11 p.m. instead of 1 a.m. because that’s when they have the most traffic.

However, the countless students who live off-campus and do not have the same privileges as those who live on campus, The Village or Magnolia Park, are initiating their own changes. For example, riding bikes on campus has become a solution for many students.

Riding a bike whenever possible is one major way GCSU students are conserving gas. Students are taking bikes to get around campus, rather than driving short distances, to avoid using even small amounts of gasoline.

“I ride this bad boy (points to bike) all around campus,” sophomore Alex Vickroy said. “I even have Ultimate Frisbee practice out at West Campus and I always ride my bike there too. It’s not worth getting in a car to drive there.”

Other students said they were carpooling or planning more for their errands to conserve fuel.

“I always try to ride with someone when we are going somewhere together,” said Junior, Josh Mills.

Another Junior, Becca Moore, says she used to just go to the store on a whim, but not anymore.

“I make a lot less unplanned trips to the store,” Moore said, “I try to save all my errands to do at once so I conserve gas by getting everything done while I’m out.”

Another effect of the high fuel costs is the amount of GCSU students heading back home each weekend. Many students admit they go home less frequently due to the cost. “I haven’t been home in forever,” sophomore Daniel Sitaras said. ” I make my parents pay for gas if they want me to come home because it’s just so expensive.”

Some of the seniors here at GCSU are especially concerned about the extremely high gas prices. When looking for a job or choosing a graduate school, the gas cost is certainly considered.

“I definitely want to get a job that is in close proximity to my house when I graduate.” said senior Jen Keeton.

What can you do?

Samprone had many suggestions for students wanting to save a little gas. He really encourages students to plan out their automobile excursions.

“Line up all the places you need to go and hit them all at once instead of driving back and forth, which wastes gas,” Samprone said.

Samprone went on to say support the idea of carpooling. “Think about it,” Samprone said, “If gas is $4 a gallon and four people get together to go somewhere then gas instantly becomes only 1 dollar a gallon for each of them.”

Despite the fact that the national average of gas is $3.85, Milledgeville gas prices average $4.15 a gallon, 30 cents above the national average. Dr. Samprone said this might be due to Milledgeville price gauging. Samprone recommends solely spending money on gas at the gas stations.

“The gas stations here, especially here around Milledgeville, are taking advantage of us in a bad situation. The doctor doesn’t increase the price for a treatment that you will die without, and a plumber doesn’t raise the price because you are in desperate need of a new toilet,” Samprone said. “No matter what you do don’t spend even one penny on anything in the gas station convenient store, not even a piece of gum.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 19 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry