Meal changes spell chaos for hungry student body

Students are being faced with many new options in dining facilities and meal plans this semester. This is causing some confusion among new and returning students alike.

The goal of Campus Dining Services (CDS) was to "provide a more flexible, diverse meal plan where each student could analyze personal eating patterns to find out what plan matches their needs," said Assistant Director of Student Life and Services Michele Gross.

Some students feel they are not getting their money's worth. "Dascomb hasn't been improved, just changed. It gets just as crowded as the old snack bar," said senior Michael MacInnis. "I like having flex dollars as a replacement for a third meal even though I'm still getting ripped off for a meal."

One common complaint with the new system is that Stevenson is closed on weekends, which has caused students to feel that there are not enough options on week-ends. Only Dascomb is open all day Saturday and Sunday, while Wilder offers an all-you-can-eat lunch Saturday and Sunday as well as dinner on Saturday. Double degree fifth-year Rebecca Cain, who has worked for CDS for six semesters, said, "The only thing I see as being problematic is that Stevenson is always closed on weekends, which means that the dining halls that are open are always going to be too crowded. I have no idea what they are doing that for."

There are approximately 600 students in the 21-meal plan, 1200 in the 14-meal plan and 200 in the seven-meal plan. Students are allowed to change their meal plan the first month of the semester. Each plan costs $2978 per year, compared to $3192 for the 1997-98 school year.

A major problem is informing students of the changes. "The ongoing challenge is still education, not only educating new freshmen, but also educating upperclassmen," Gross said.

"A lot of the confusion is coming from the fact that so many people do not pay attention to what's going on around them, and then get mad because things aren't exactly the same," said Cain.

CDS now provides three dining options to students who are not part of a co-op. These include a plan for 21 meal equivalencies per student per week, a plan for 14 meals in addition to 200 flex-dollars per semester and a plan for seven meals and 400 flex-dollars. Meal equivalencies are added to students' card at the beginning of each week, so students may still eat three meals in any one day, even under the seven-meal plan.

Flex dollars provide another option for purchasing meals. Students have the option of spending flex dollars to treat a friend to a meal, or to purchase individual items at Dascomb or DeCafé, a convenience store located in the basement of Wilder. DeCafé is aimed mostly at upper-class students living off campus. "We hoped that students would not feel they'd have to come to campus for meals," said Gross.

Off-campus students can use their flex-dollars to buy food that can be brought home and prepared later for dinner and breakfast, while still having the convenience of being able to eat lunch at one of the facilities on campus. DeCafé also includes a small snack bar.

Despite a brochure distributed to students entitled Resident Dining Guide many students are still baffled about where they can eat and how the meal plans work. First-year Joe Bernache said he has some idea of where he can use his flex dollars and meal equivalencies, but was not sure. When asked about the various dining halls and their differences, first-year Daniella Maor asked, "What's Lord Saunders?"

Fast Facts

Students can eat breakfast from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. on weekdays, lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on weekdays, and dinner from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Lunch is available at Talcott from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays along with dinner from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Lord-Saunders offers dinner from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays.

"The Rat," located in the Wilder basement, has an all-you-can-eat lunch on weekends from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. as well as dinner from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The popular fourth meal option is also at the Rat from 9:30 p.m. until midnight.

Finally, students can purchase one star (*) option and two pound (#) options at Dascomb from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. seven days a week.