In defense of RPS

I have yet to see anybody stand up for RPS. It's come to a point where we have a campus group whose mission is to "give students a unified voice against the unjust practices of RPS …" This quote comes from the Cooperative Opposition to Residential Programs and Services.\nI will admit that in the past, I've been adamantly against RPS -- the dining services in particular. I remember initially thinking that RPS was an evil corporation trying to take everybody's money. My dad nearly had an aneurysm when he saw me grab a $2 jar of Chi-Chi's Salsa that was conveniently priced at nearly three times that amount. At the time I didn't care. I had a surplus of $400 in meal points, so I figured that expensive jar of salsa was doing me a favor. I remember my friends equating purchases made at RPS facilities to something along the lines of unwilled sodomy. I don't know, maybe the high prices have grown on me, but there's a method to the RPS pricing madness.\nMany college campus food services do not give students the freedom that RPS does. Some only allow certain eating times whereas places like the Willkie C-Store and the Hoosier Café are open almost all day. Needless to say, this costs a lot of money. Students will often compare the RPS facilities to other dining establishments, which is absurd. They aren't competitors, so why should they have competing prices? RPS is not out to pimp everybody over, they are here because they want to provide decent service to campus residents. Part of this service includes remaining on campus and in the dorms.\nI think the high price issue with RPS food is greatly exaggerated. Those of you who have shopped in any of the campus C-Stores, do you remember your first visit? I do. I felt like one of those lucky kids in the Toys 'R' Us Super Toy Run who gets to run through the store tossing everything into a cart (basket) and parading valiantly to the cashier. Since I had a large meal plan, I cared not about the total bill. It wasn't a question of what I could buy; it was a question of what I couldn't buy. Anyway, I thought that a bag of Funyuns, two slices of pizza, two bottles of Coca-Cola and a Snickers bar was a good purchase. I didn't have a specific budget since all of my food money was in my meal plan. Had I been spending cash, I probably would have purchased much less.\nMany students find the quality of the food served in the dining halls to be substandard. In some cases, I will agree. When you're starving, "Home Court Pizza" is great, but this is when you're starving so much that you'd stoop to eating something that resembles lukewarm, wet cardboard topped with Heinz 57, Velveeta and Bac-Os. Okay, so it's not that bad, but you can contact RPS at housing@indiana.edu if you have questions or comments for them. The Hoosier Café at Read has a survey box where students can give suggestions on the foods that are served there.\nOf course students have the right to oppose RPS dining facilities, but what are you going to do, not spend your meal points?