Once again it appears that one of my least favorite university institutions is up to their bonehead ideas. Anyone who has filled out a housing request for next year has probably noticed the change in the meal plans. Instead of the current swipes-per-week system we are currently under, there is a planned switch to a swipe-per-quarter system.
Going along with the new change in the meal system is the attempt by University Dining Services to once again lower expenses using the guise of improving the service for students. While there may be some benefits to a swipe per quarter system, they are not all they are made up to be. The little good is quickly outweighed by the bad.
The only real advantage that can be seen for the students is that meals going unused from week to week would roll over throughout the entire quarter and could be good for students who use only 10 meals one week and 19 the next.
It appears the idea goes downhill from here.
The university officials even made sure they added the gimmick meal plan to entice students to use the commons more and more. The meal plan to which I refer is the Deluxe Plus Plan with 250 meals per quarter. Assuming a 10 week quarter plus finals week, there would be more than 22 meals per week. With only 19 meals per week possible, one would need to be using multiple meals at Buckeye Express or making visits to Mirror Lake in the wee hours of the morn.
Even the prices of equivalent meal plans are going up, with no real increase in the actual service and surely no increase in quality. The current 19-meal-per-week plan is replaced with the 200-meal-per-quarter plan. The price increase goes from $915 to $1075. You now can pay $160 more for the same slop next year, which just makes your tummy rumble.
Also, the All Plus Meal Plan is gone as well. This meal plan could not have been too popular, since it cost $840 a quarter for $500 on your BuckID. The few students that may have been on this plan will now have to take a new method all of which involve eating at one of everyone’s favorite dining establishments.
Another interesting problem arising from this could be the multiple swipe rule. Previously things would get busy, particularly at Express, during finals week or during short weeks, when many people were not going to be here to get their full meal plans.
Imagine the line at Buckeye Express during finals week. Instead of having to use an extra 5 or 6 meals, you now have accumulated an extra 20 or 30 to use in your final days. It could take considerably longer for them to swipe out that many meals for a large volume of students.
This idea is also helping the commons further their profits.
How many students would seriously take the time to pick up the extra meals? During the week — when there are only a handful of extra meals leftover on your plan — it is easy to hop in and out of Express. This could change if you wait till later in the quarter to handle your excess meals. This is probably exactly what the masterminds of this new proposal are hoping for.
Many students may not notice the change too much, but there will be many who will grow to like or hate the new system. It seems University Dining Services is once again on a quest for further profit and forgetting about the students who use their services. If they believe they are here to earn a profit, then they are obviously in the wrong business.
While this complaint may sound similar to one from last fall, it is one that obviously needed to be repeated. The people in charge of our meal plans did not seem to hear the message then, but perhaps they will listen now. Students do not just need more food, but require the proper meal services and better quality.
It is time to spend less time with the quantity and more time with the severely lacking quality.
Joey Maresca is a junior in electrical and computer engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
