October 2, 2003

NEWS

The Norwich Guidon

Nationwide gas price rises affect local area

By Matthew Poitras
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

August brought with it the rise of gas prices across the country. Although prices have leveled off since then, they may very well be on their way back up, according to one area gas station manager. Crystal Drown has managed South Village Mobil, the gas station closest to Norwich University, for almost three years. Her office is full of papers charting the fluctuations of gas prices.

"The highest the price has been was in this past month of August," Drown said.

The price of regular gas at South Village has been hovering between $1.69 and $1.71 per gallon, down from its high of $1.73 per gallon.

There are a variety of factors that have caused gas price increases across the country, according to Drown. "In August, we had the power outage in New York, and gas went up about 10 cents in a week."

While the power outage produced a quick increase in prices, "the main increase has been due to the war," Drown said. "The United States gets one-third of their gas from overseas, so the war has driven up prices a lot." These high prices are a reality for those in the community who have to commute for their jobs or classes.

Doug Smith, a communications instructor at Norwich, lives 50 miles away in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He makes the 100- mile-round-trip three to four times a week. He said he has to fill his gas tank after every three trips. "Right now it's well over $20 to fill up," Smith said. "I don't like paying $1.70 a gallon, but I think it's unrealistic to pay 84 cents per gallon like we were two years ago."

Smith said that he would like to see gas prices come down to $1.50 per gallon. While he does not expect to see prices below $1.50 anytime soon, he is figuring "they're going to be in that range."

Jen Bryan, 18, a junior commuter student from Montpelier, Vt., majoring in English, makes the 20-minute drive from Montpelier to Northfield five days a week. According to Bryan, she pays over $20.00 to fill up her tank.

Although current gas prices are high; Drown said that the public is "getting the better end of the deal as far as gas prices are concerned."

"Right now, I'm making nine cents per gallon, which is low for a retailer to get," Drown said. To arrive at the daily gas price, Drown first phones the station's gasoline distributor Johnson & Dix for the current market price of gas, and then makes the changes to the station's gas prices accordingly.

Along with the price the station has to pay for the gas, and the nine cent per gallon mark-up, state and federal taxes also have an effect on gas prices. According to Drown, the Vermont gas tax is 20 cents on the gallon, and the federal tax adds 19 cents per gallon. "Automatically, you're paying 39 cents as taxes for the fuel coming into the state of Vermont," Drown said.

Although gas prices have leveled off for now, Drown expects them to be going back up again. The price of regular gas "probably will be $1.80 to $1.90" per gallon by December, Drown said.

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.