Fix meal plans
Jeremy Heilman
senior
I used to think that our meal plans were pretty nice. No waiting in checkout lines. All you can eat buffet. No cash, just a card swipe. Convenient location. However, now I realize what a rip off meal plans really are, and I am tired of being bilked.
This year a meal plan is $1,765. If you are on the 21-meal plan and eat every single one, you are paying $5.25 per meal. If instead you only make it to 16 of those meals a week (as the dining hall expects you will) this jumps up to $6.90. For those of us choosing to be ripped off by Flex, we forfeit one-third of our meals in return for one-eighth of our money back, but that can only go to purchases at Notre Dame Food Service outlets and at retail prices.
Flex subscribers are still paying $6.90 for meals in the dining hall. Now I'll admit that $6.90 is pretty good for buffet, but it is outrageous for the four items and one entree that comes with a grab-n-go. What is worse is that all residents must pay for this up front.
Every time you miss a meal you are getting gouged that $6.90. If you leave town for the weekend and miss five meals, you just threw away $34.50 in unclaimed meals. Next time you are at Chili's thinking what a great deal a double order of fajitas, just tack on the seven bucks worth of dining hall food that you already paid for but neglected to eat and see if it still seems all that inexpensive.
Notre Dame Food Services has a monopoly on what we eat and how much we pay for it. There are neither adequate facilities in dormitories for residents to cook for themselves nor sufficient privately owned establishments within a reasonable distance of campus to offer any alternatives to meal plans. They take advantage of this monopoly with their unfair prices, their hours and their menus.
The solution to this problem is simple: Charge us only for the meals we eat.
The cardswipe system in place can be modified to record meals consumed instead of weekly and daily meals remaining. NDFS can demand seven dollars or more a meal, but I wager we would see a steep decrease in dining hall patronage and an increase in trips to Martin's. The expense to attend school here is high enough. It's high time that Food Services stops fleecing us students with living expenses as well.
Until we start to see these changes, just handle the dining halls like I do. When you are 10 minutes late and the card swiper tells you the dining hall is closed, ignore her and walk right in. After all, you already paid for the meal.
It's just sitting in the steam table getting cold and waiting for you to eat it.
And help yourself to some additional walk-out items as well. I'm sure the $6.90 breakfast you missed will cover the cost of the second bagel.
Jeremy Heilman
senior
Saint Edward's Hall
March 25, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, March 26, 2001
