STORY BY MARISSA DEPINO
The recent changes occurring at Quad mean that students can now only receive one side with any full meal.
Although each student is paying an increased price, each meal has shrunk to one side. The meal still includes an entree and a drink in the price, but a student must choose between their favorite sides of chips, fruit, vegetables or pudding cups. Many of these sides have increased slightly in size, but not enough to make up for the loss of the choice for a second side.
With the absence of a second side, many students are not entirely full after using a meal— which is certainly not the purpose of having a meal plan on campus. Each student should receive a filling and hearty meal to keep them full throughout their classes so they can concentrate on learning, not on their stomachs.
Instead, students are concentrating on their stomachs and the cost of a more expensive meal plan. Since students are required to purchase a meal plan and live on campus, it is surprising that our meal plans would abruptly shrink in size. An increase in the price of a meal plan should have a positive correlation on our meals. If our tuition rises, so should the number of sides we are allotted to each swipe.
Due to the fact that we are buying less food for our money, we are in turn being forced to spend more flex, for we are no longer able to save a side for later. Unfortunately we can only convert our meals to flex once a semester now, therefore demonstrating that our meals aren’t worth as much as they once were.
As a result, we are running out of both meals and flex faster, than in previous semesters. Students can no longer turn to the block plans to find the best balance between meals and flex. Each student is unable to take full advantage of their meal plans as they were once able to. And without a second side provided with meals, students are not able to fully enjoy their meals at Quad.
If these changes continue as our tuition steadily increases each year, then one can only wonder how many sides we will end up with in the future.
