STUDENT LIFE ‘mdash; It’s inevitable: If you’ve ever lived on campus, you too have visited a barren dining hall on Saturday and dreamed of a world in which you could break free from your meal-plan shackles and swipe your student ID for a Subway footlong. ‘ Each year, on-campus residents must cough-up either $2,100 or $2,750 (depending on whether they live in a dorm or an apartment) for a dining plan ‘mdash; quite a commitment when tastier options await students’ malnourished fingertips in Price Center. Especially when the cost of fresh meals is too much for dining halls to maintain on weekends, when fewer customers make for an array of premade dishes basking idly under the glow of a heat lamp.
It’s past time dining dollars were given some much-needed legroom. If they could be used at all on-campus restaurants, students would see fresher options and current dining facilities wouldn’t be stretched to stay open when operational limitations don’t allow.
On Jan. 23, Associate Director of Housing, Dining and Hospitality Steve Casad responded to student dining complaints by proposing to add extra dollars to residents’ prepaid dining plans so they would have money to spend at other restaurants on campus. However, his idea was rejected by a 10-student advisory committee comprised of members from the A.S. Council, the Inter-College Residents’ Association and all six colleges. Casad’s proposal was denied because it ultimately missed the point. The majority of committee members saw no point in forcing students to buy extra dining dollars when they could ultimately use TritonPlus,’ a voluntary’ card-swiping program with a similar function.
Casad’s original proposal may have been shot down, but that doesn’t mean negotiations should stop. The advisory committee could gauge student interest in adding Price Center eateries to their dining-dollar options and proceed accordingly. There’s no harm in surveying students ‘mdash; especially when the alternative leaves dining halls in a financial rut and diners without perfectly viable variety.
Instead of forcing students to pay more up front, as Casad suggested, the Housing and Dining Department could allot a certain number of dining dollars to cover weekend meal expenses, then reimburse those businesses accordingly.
Many schools around the nation are closing their dining facilities on the weekends due to a declining customer base and lost profit, according to Casad. At UCSD, approximately 40 percent of every dining dollar goes toward workers’ salaries, making it expensive to keep facilities open on weekends while simultaneously providing enough fresh options for students. Dining hall revenue also drops a staggering 60 percent on weekends, according to Casad. Saturday and Sunday Price Center dollars, paired with shutting down or reducing service at the dining halls, would help alleviate this revenue loss.
At San Diego State University, students’ dining dollars can be redeemed at on-campus cafeterias and 16 local restaurants or markets ‘mdash; including Starbucks, Rubio’s and an Aztec market and convenience store ‘mdash; eliminating the need to scrounge for change or swipe another credit card.
Closing dining halls on the weekend has been discussed briefly within the advisory committee, but trial runs must be made before any new policies are adopted, Casad said. Because Sierra Summit will be closed during the 2009-10 academic year for renovations, Casad wants to use this period as a test run to evaluate how a closed dining facility impacts students. In the end, though ‘mdash; be it through campuswide surveying or, perhaps, a series of town-hall style meetings in the dining halls ‘mdash; the decision of the advisory committee will only reflect the wants and needs of students once they’ve had a chance to have their say. Because, after all, these are changes that would affect everybody, not just the 10-member committee holding the sway.
In such a large and limited community, residents should be presented with every possible opportunity to tailor their lifestyle. A change as positive and as pragmatic as this one must be aggressively pursued ‘mdash; otherwise, both students and the dining halls will continue suffering.
Readers can contact Gabriella Capisani at [email protected].