In addition to fielding proposals from many campus organizations at its Sunday meeting, the Student Senate welcomed guests from the Residential Life and Services department and Campus Dining Services (CDS).
Associate Dean of Residential Life Deb McNish, CDS Director Dave Jensen and Assistant Manager of Housing and Dining Sandy Hougland attended the Senate meeting to discuss upcoming meal plan renovations and get senators' feedback.
"This has been the highest priority for us in the last three years, and the most exciting thing we've done. We actually listened to complaints from students, figured out what to do and convinced the senior staff to go along with us," McNish said.
She said Oberlin is one of the few colleges that still operates on a mandatory 21-meal per week plan.
Based on a variety of surveys conducted among students over the past year, McNish said, "We know that you guys live a very fast paced life and that you want the freedom to grab and go and more flexibility in food hours and services."
In accordance with students' needs, the Residential Life and Services department formulated three different meal plan options to begin next Fall.
The first allows students the standard 21 meals per week. The second option lets students eat 14 meals each week and have 200 Flex Dollars placed on their One Cards. The third option, for off-campus students only, allows students to eat 7 meals each week and have 400 Flex Dollars per semester.
The Flex Dollars can be used on a declining balance to purchase meals when students have used up their maximum weekly allotment. They can also be applied toward buying items at the new convenience store, which will replace the snack bar in Wilder.
Each of the meal options will cost the same amount. McNish estimated the price will be at least $200 per year lower than the current $3,192 yearly fee.
Although in the past the College has held a lottery allowing 100 off-campus students to be entirely off-board, McNish said the lottery will be eliminated since off-campus students now have the option of eating significantly fewer meals on-board per week.
McNish also told senators about the facilities renovations taking place this summer. Aside from the addition of a convenience store, the current snack bar site will be home to a Bakery/Cafˇ. Dascomb dining hall will be converted to a food court featuring many different kinds of food and an area for students to take out food in recyclable containers.
Staff members also gave senators a list of the hours the dining halls and snack bar area will be open beginning next Fall. They project that the snack bar area will be open between 9 a.m. and 1 a.m. on weekdays, and noon to 1 a.m. on weekends. Dascomb would be open for longer hours and Stevenson dining hall would be open for breakfast from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on weekdays.
Senators viewed the meal plan as an improvement over the current option, but had many further concerns to address to the staff members.
Senator Double-degree junior Adriana Lopez-Young wanted to know how the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) would be affected by the new meal changes. "Does this affect OSCA's contract with the meal plan, eating one board meal per week?" she asked.
"We're in the middle of negotiations with OSCA right now, but to do this doesn't affect OSCA," McNish said.
Senator first-year Nnenna Onumah brought up the issue of diversity among the food choices available to students. "Some students come here from other countries and not all of them like what's served around here. Will you try to implement new traditional menu items in the meal plan?" Onumah asked.
"If enough students express interest, we'll try," Jensen said.
Many senators expressed concern over the new convenience store. "What will be served in the store? Can off-campus students buy food there to take home and make a real meal, or will only snack foods be available?" senator senior Dan Persky said.
Jensen said a wide range of foods will be available.
"We have a committee currently getting students' ideas on what to put in the convenience store. We're not quite there yet," McNish said.
"There's been some interest at my Housing and Dining advisory council meetings in being able to purchase cigarettes in the convenience store for Flex Dollars. Do you foresee a problem with that?" senator first-year Micah Thorner, chair of the Senate-affiliated Housing and Dining advisory council, said.
"Knowing Oberlin, I'd have to shoot that around the town and get community feedback first, but my first instinct is, a lot of students smoke here so it's something that may be available," McNish said.
Senator junior Meagan Willits asked about the pricing of convenience store items. "At other schools I've seen cereal sold for $6. Is it possible prices here will be reasonable and competitive?" she asked.
"The prices will be comparable to Gibson's. It won't be as cheap as a super-store," Hougland said. "It won't be exorbitant but it won't be really cheap, either."
Senator senior Chapin Benninghoff said, "I think it's important for dialogue in Senate to reflect the dialogue of the larger community, and there has been talk on campus about the meal plan competing with local businesses. I understand that now it's not economically feasible to extend the OneCard to town businesses, but what about in the future?"
McNish said the College purchased students' OneCards last summer with the idea that eventually they could be used in town restaurants. "We want to continually move toward that goal," she said. She told senators that the Residential Life and Services department will continue outreach to get student feedback on the new meal plan options.
Senators were not the only students expressing concern with the upcoming meal plan changes. A group of students met Thursday night to air questions and complaints about the meal plan.
Double-degree junior Chris Younkman said after the meeting students realized most of their concerns were futile because changes had already been planned by staff members and budget constraints limit plans.
Younkman said students were especially concerned with the addition of Flex Dollars. "The Flex Dollars were not very well accepted. People saw a limited utility to them and predicted that the convenience store would have a small selection and high prices," he said.
Students at the meeting were also concerned with the elimination of the off-board lottery, according to Younkman.
"It seems ludicrous that no seniors will be allowed off-board," he said. "The purported utility of these Flex Dollars is tenuous at best. $800 per year to buy laundry detergent and Kleenex at the convenience store seems a bit much."
Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 17, March 6, 1998
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