Union Plus meal point plan changes

For years, many students, faculty and staff have taken advantage of the Indiana Memorial Union's Union Plus meal plan, which used to offer a 15 percent discount on food purchases. But after a recent decline in the program's use, IMU officials have lowered the rate to a 5 percent discount. \n"My understanding is that the old meal point plan didn't have as much usage as we originally thought," said Loren Rullman, executive director of the IMU. \nAfter credit cards became an accepted form of payment last year, the IMU saw less use of the Union Plus plan, said Steve Mangan, general manager for IMU dining services. He said almost immediately after credit cards were allowed they noticed a change in sales. Within the first three months, they noted a strong correlation between the two.\nNevertheless, it's still a good plan for those who want to take advantage of it, he said. \nDespite initial concern regarding the new discount rate, some students said they think it probably won't affect sales. \nJunior Stephanie Siemer said she thought the new plan went into effect because there were not many people using the old plan. She added that she believes the IMU can't give that much away when the first plan didn't make that much. \n"The change won't be that big of a difference because I don't think a 10 percent change will make anyone not want to eat there," Siemer said. \nSiemer, who eats at the IMU about twice a week when she has to stay on campus for the day, said she thinks the plan will last. \nStudent employees are also reacting to the IMU's new decision. Katie Mis, a junior who works at Sugar and Spice, said the new program was probably put into place to raise sales for the IMU. \nHowever, slow sales should not be solely attributed to the emergence of credit cards at on-campus eateries. Commuting, busy schedules and lack of healthy dietary alternatives have kept students from trading cash for snacks.\n"I rarely ever ate at the union, only if I had to," junior Simi Dhillon said. "I didn't think they had a lot of choices. That's just my opinion. Maybe there were not enough people taking advantage of the (IMU) plan to make up for their costs."\nBut for commuters like junior Allie Bringle, a better discount would make her consider buying a plan. Though she does not use a meal points plan at all, she said she would be more inclined to buy one at the union because it is where she primarily eats at when she's on campus.\nDespite never being on campus enough to get use out of a Union Plus plan, sophomore Anjali Khanna said she thinks the 10 percent discount drop will probably make students reconsider the meal package. \n"(Sales) probably won't (be hurt) that much at first, but maybe once people realize that, a lot more will," she said.\nYet there are some students who, despite knowing of the Union Plus change, still enjoy the perks of having an IMU account. Junior Alex Maloney said not only will he continue to use his points plan, but he finds it easier to use than Campus Access. \n"I do use union points because when I'm on campus, I need a place to eat and the points offer me a discount," he said. "I'm still going to use them because they're convenient points."\nFrom a professional standpoint, Mangan added the program was not as popular as they hoped it would be because of the convenience of charging purchases on a credit card, as opposed to signing up for a points plan and having to check the balance. \nThough Mangan said package sales are currently holding steady, he predicted the number of students interested in purchasing plans will grow.\n"IMU meal plan packages are popular because they are nontaxable purchases," he said. "As long as there is a market for it, it will continue"