For some unexplainable reason, people on campus don’t trust the relationship between E. Follett or University Enterprises Inc. Maybe it is because the students feel textbook prices in the bookstore are insulting compared to Internet prices, or it could be because the non-profit UEI stands behind its legal shield which enables it took keep its financial secrecy.

Ed Ober, government senior at Sacramento State, is attempting to peer into UEI’s financial records, practices and operations. Last week, Ober emailed UEI requesting specific information and received a tart reply from University Counsel.

The phrase, “?records of University Enterprises are generally not subject to the Public Records Act,” appears seven times in the four-page response. Ober requested 11 separate pieces of information, including financial records. The request was harshly denied to say the least.

Why? All Ober, along with thousands of others on campus, wants is clarification of UEI’s contract and business dealings with Follett. In addition, Ober requested a copy of bookstore expense and income statements as well as minutes from UEI board meetings in regards to textbook pricing since 2000.

But UEI is offering some transparency. The charter, basically a glorified mission statement, is obtainable because it is public information. UEI will also turn over some documents and presentations that supposedly clarify the relationship with Follett.

Clearly, UEI is under no obligation to release anything more than the bare minimum to Ober or the rest of Sac State. Without a doubt, the documents that will be released will be censored or redacted in some form.

Transparency has been the mantra for this campus for the better part of four semesters, so why should UEI be any different? Even though UEI has legal protection it must understand how the secrecy looks to students. When an organization goes out of its way to repeatedly mention that it doesn’t have to hand over squat and that we should be grateful for whatever they do give us, it looks like something shady is going on.

This is not to suggest that UEI and Follett are in bed together in a massive conspiracy to nickel and dime students to death the minute they walk onto campus, it just looks that way. So far, UEI has done little to combat that idea. Either they don’t understand the suspicion or don’t care about it. It’s probably the latter.

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