Where is that funky vendor?
Written by John Venturino for the Spartan Daily
September 20, 1983
(Caution: reading this may cause irrepairable damage to your outlook on life)
It was one of the few things you could count on at this school. Rain or shine, hell or high water, you could always rely on him for a kind work and a smile to go along with the cup of coffee or the twinky.
Or if he was involved in a conversation with a pretty lady (as is his wont) just the sight of him was enough to cheer you up.
His long, braided hair hanging out under the big floppy hat, Levis cut off at the knees hanging from rainbow suspenders, baseball socks and toeless sneakers, combined to make him a living caricature, a modern dayminstrel guaranteed to bring a grin to the sourest puss.
Some of us were known to go well off our usual track just to pass by Clark library and check in with the man whether we were in need of a doughnut or not.
It was an inspiration to see him bopping to whatever tune was blaring from his ever present ghetto blaster. Even the briefest encounter would warm the soul and lift the spirits.
In short, he just plain made you feel good.
And so, the question is, "Where is Giovanni Panciera?"
What happened to this funky good-humour man, this hip ambassador of happiness to the solemn haunts of academia?
Where is the man who spread smiles to all those who passed with his oversized sphere of love?
Some unelightened souls will way that nothing has happened to him.
True, he is still here on campus, still a vendor for Spartan Shopps, Inc.
But anyone who knows Gio will not recognize the dour man sitting in silence, hunched-back behind his cart at his new location in front of the business tower.
He has been replaced by a bigger, brighter, bolder, not to metion more lucrative set-up.
Sales in front of Clark library have tripled since last semester, according to vendor Rick Santos, Gio's replacement at the Clark library site.
The man who initiated the move is Ron Matuszak, the vending and special services manager for Spartan Shops.
Matuszak says the move was necessitated when Spartan Shops obatined a larger cart in Auguest.
"We obtained the larger cart to fill the demand for a wider variety of foods at that part of the campus, and the response of the students has been overwhelming," Matuszak said.
Gio maintains that Matuszak promises him the same old location when he returned this semester.
"This (location) is not for Gio. I can't dance, I can't move, I can't do anything but sit back here. I have to be where I can give something back to the kids. They are the only reason I do this," said Gio.
According to Matuszak, Gio could have stayed in front of Clark Library if he was willing to use the bigger cart, but he refused.
As for Gio's allegations of betrayal, Matuszak said he never promised anything. At the time Gio contacted Matuszak about the job, the new cart had not been obtained, and Matuszak had no reason to tell him that anything had changed.
"I did not move GIo, I moved the location for the smaller cart," Matuszak said. "It was certainly nothing personal against him, and I didn't expect him to be so upset about it."
Not only is Gio upset, but he had such a following in front of the library that a group of students were upset enough to circulate a petition asking Spartan Shops to return Gio to his former location.
"Gio is a special person and we got used to seeing him in front of the library," said Eric White, one of the authors of the petition.
The petition had approximately 85 names on it, according to White, when it was submitted to Spartan Shops Director Edward R. Zant.
It has since been turned over to Matuszak who has drafted a response.
The petition, however, will not affect the present location of the carts, Matuszak said.
But this is not the point... We want Gio back in front of the Clark library.
