Fair meal plans are not on the menu

editorial cartoon by Jacob Bogdanoff and Des Delgadillo
editorial cartoon by Jacob Bogdanoff and Des Delgadillo

Students are fed up with what and how they are being fed.

Purchasing a meal plan is mandatory for students who live on campus, which is nothing radical, but students at the University of La Verne are sick of being forced to pay large amounts of money for meals they do not use and do not always want.

At the beginning of this school year, students could choose from four separate plans ranging from 10 meals a week plus 200 Leo Bucks for $4,480 a year to 19 meals a week plus 25 Leo Bucks for $5,810.

When students are already paying a lot of money to pursue an education here at the University in addition to living on campus, they should not be obligated to follow the limits.

Although 10 meals a week might not seem like a lot to get each week to make the plan worth it for students, it has become clear that many students are not going to Davenport Dining Hall often enough – and they have good reasons for this.

Davenport’s scheduled hours are not exactly ideal for students with early morning classes or evening classes and many of these students miss out on lunch or dinner because they do not have time to eat before their class starts or after their class ends.

Students who live at the Sheraton are particularly disenfranchised by this rule because they often have to hang around the campus for a long time before or after their classes in order to eat.

Although not every dorm building has the facilities for students to make their own food, students who do have access to kitchens enjoy using them to their advantage.

Many students who live in Vista enjoy making their own food in their kitchen, but feel like they are losing even more money because they are paying for the food they make in addition to having to pay for the food they are not eating at Davenport in the meantime.

Several students on campus also have food allergies or dietary restrictions and Davenport only accommodates these students every once in a while.

Vegans can only eat at the salad bar for so long before it becomes a tired tradition.

While accommodating these needs makes extra work for the staff, not accommodating them further alienates a great number of students and is a problem that can likely be fixed with extra help or options that the high meal plan fees can cover.

And of course, students get tired of having the same type of cafeteria food on a daily basis. While we appreciate the valiant efforts of the Bon Appétit staff to provide healthy and different food, pizza, burgers, chicken and salad tend to get boring pretty quickly.

The Campus Times feels students should be allowed the option of choosing fewer meals per week or being able to completely opt out of having a meal plan so they will not be wasting their money.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

Jacob Bogdanoff

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