Dear Editor,
I want to bring to your attention some primary concerns of several students on campus regarding the unprecedented change of the meal/cash card system at The Spot. The Spot worked as an alternative cafeteria for students with the meal plan if they were unable to visit Davenport at the appropriated meal times. The Spot also took meal cards. Unfortunately, the University has decided to place profit over students’ desires by flagrantly ignoring the needs of students. Before I extend the negative repercussion of this system, I will focus on the virtues of the prior. There were several reasons why this arrangement was incredibly convenient for the majority of students. Initially, the fact that students could use their meal card throughout the day whether at The Spot or Davenport was ideal. To illustrate, due to the inflexible demand for classes offered by ULV, most underclassmen are left with no alternative for meals aside from The Spot. Next, students had an opportunity to utilize most of their meals at The Spot without letting their meals go to waste. This clearly demonstrates the efficacy of the aforementioned system. The new system is profit-driven and unfair. ULV students who have no choice but to live on campus are forced to pay a minimum of $3,120 for food at Davenport. Moreover, the stunning disregard for the welfare of ULV’s students becomes even more evident in analyzing the pseudo-economic reasons for implementing such an atrocity. Whenever a student bound by his or her schedule is left without food the money for their meal is diverted directly into ULV’s “pocket.” Therefore, these students are unable to eat unless they go to The Spot and use a cash card that is exponentially decreasing. Currently, a handful of students already have cash cards with a value of less than $20. Traditionally in the old system, students would have well over $50. This new disparity clearly exemplifies the inherent flaw of the new system. Furthermore, the cash card was designed to accommodate students’ needs throughout the entire semester, instead it has become a crutch that students are forced to lean on if they have an unfriendly schedule.
In conclusion, I hope this letter has opened your eyes to the fundamental inequality of the new system.
Gayane Grajian
Junior
