If the recommendation to retain university control of the Holmes Student Center Bookstore is an indicator, then NIU might have a chance to start turning its reputation and the bookstore around.

William Herrmann, Bond Revenue Operations director, had something when he said, “We know what the problems are. …We need to stop looking outside to solve our problems.”

What the bookstore has is another chance to prove themselves and make more money as well. An outside franchise was considered becuase the bookstore has some work to do.

The bookstore advisory committee has put together a long list of improvements, and they should not be taken lightly. Some of the committee’s suggestions might not be feasible, but they should be fully considered. If progress is not made quickly, the outside vendor option might come up again.

Certainly, NIU deserves the chance to run the bookstore on its own, and it should receive support in its efforts to make improvements.

It is not surprising that the committee opted to keep the bookstore NIU-operated. The leasing of the Pow Wow restaurant to Marriott Corporation left a bitter memory for NIU. Marriott pulled out of its contract to run a Roy Rogers restaurant there. Under Roy Rogers, food prices were higher, the variety declined and Marriott could not keep its contract obligations.

NIU’s food service showed the NIU community it could put out a better product at a better cost, and that’s why the Pow Wow is back in the student center.

It’s now time for NIU’s bookstore to demonstrate the same thing. As committee member Lois Kreidel said, “We need to show we can do a bang-up job running the university”—and the bookstore.