Students dish out meal plan protest

A small crowd of students gathered outside Stevenson dining hall Thursday to examine blueprints and design schemes for the Dascomb Hall food court to be constructed this summer. At the same time, several students gathered in Fairchild Co-op to draft a petition protesting the new meal plan and its accompanying renovations.

The petition, which organizers will circulate beginning Monday and continuing throughout the week, asks the College to postpone implementing the new meal plan until the year after next.

Those who drafted the petition said the new meal plan has not been finalized enough and that not enough outreach has been done by the College.

"This meal plan could have disastrous ramifications," junior Sara Marcus said. "At this point it's really enough to say we should postpone the meal plan to allow for a more open conversation among the people in ResLife, town businesses, representatives of student employees and the students, because this is all being done on the altar of students' wishes."

"I think the student body wants change," said sophomore Amy Wolf. "It seems the College is attempting to get student input, but on a limited level. If it goes through, we should consider what action we should take."

"That's the message we have to get through loud and clear-'this is not what we want,'" Marcus said.

Perhaps it's not what some students want, but at this point the College plans to switch to the new meal system beginning in the Fall semester of next year.

The new plan offers students the option of three different amounts of board meals per week, each for the same price. Students choosing to eat only seven or 14 meals per week will have "Flex dollars" on their OneCards, which can be used on a declining balance to purchase food in dining halls or in the new Wilder sandwich shop or convenience store.

Among the concerns Marcus cited was the possible elimination of some dining hall jobs as a side effect of the College's attempts at consolidating the current Wilder snack bar with the new food court to be installed in Dascomb.

Marcus was also concerned that the College will continue to use Marriott food services in its dining halls.

"We've done research on Marriott's corporate policies which will come into play in the next year, when the process of looking at new contractors for CDS begins," she said.

Sophomore Toby Reiter, who handed out a small-scale petition of his own during Saturday's Earth Day celebration in Tappan Square, said students have been complaining about Marriott for years.

"The feeling is that the College is making decisions not based on a broad understanding of the goals of a good dining plan, but based on what Marriott is willing to hand them," Reiter said.

His petition has been incorporated into the one drafted by other student organizers.

Sophomore Orion Walker expressed concern over the fate of downtown businesses once competition with the College convenience store begins.

"I think it's important that if the plan were going to happen, it would have to incorporate the downtown," he said.

Marcus said students will circulate petitions outside dining halls, in the mailroom and Wilder Bowl and to various town government leaders, town businesses and possibly the town clergy.

"Hopefully before finals happen but definitely before students leave campus, we're also aiming at leading a town meeting so people can air concerns directly to ResLife and it can be a community endeavor," Marcus said.

She said she hopes the week will bring 1500 to 2000 student signatures on the petition.

"I don't think it's unrealistic to hope for that many signatures, given the amount of negative feedback I've gotten on the meal plan," Marcus said.

Although Marcus emphasized the lack of communication between Residential Life and Services administrators, students and town merchants, some students did give input directly to representatives from Residential Life and Campus Dining Services (CDS) Thursday.

Administrators asked students' opinions on everything from Dascomb's new color scheme to the possible environmentally friendly carryout containers which could be used by students on the go.

"We're constantly looking at every piece of information that's coming in," CDS Director Dave Jensen said.

"We've recently brought these blue prints and designs to show students at Dascomb, outside the snackbar and now to Stevenson," Assistant Director of Residential Life and Services Dennis Rupert said. "We basically want to whet people's appetites as to what kinds of things we can do."

Students had the opportunity to speak to administrators and to provide written feedback in the form of a survey. Many said they view the changes as a good first step for the College to take.

"I think all this is great, especially renovating Dascomb, which looks pretty dismal as it is," junior Geoff Higgs said. "This will help a lot. But I think what students really wanted which wasn't taken into account was to eat less meals and also pay less money. With this we pay the same and get different options."

"The thing that bothers me is that the Flex dollars are not adequate compensation. I don't think they'll carry over because if you don't use them all, it doesn't matter. You're paying the same amount anyway," junior Sira Anderson said.

Student senator first-year Micah Thorner, who sits on the Housing and Dining Committee and its affiliated advisory council, also came to Stevenson to fill out a survey.

"The new plan definitely has some problems. I think a lot of people aren't happy with it. This year is just a trial, and I think we can work with it," Thorner said. "I think there have been improvements. We have more options. Whether or not it's a better deal is questionable."