Food fight

The Visions of the Ideal College Environment Report and a number of student groups have spoken: The meal plans that freshmen are required to purchase should be useful to students while they are on campus learning, not only while in their dorm neighborhoods eating dinner.

On Thursday, the Residence Halls Association delayed their vote and suggested that a plan proposed by Union Board might not be “what students really want.” But the change is a common-sense one.

The Indiana Memorial Union and Wells Library food court are two of the most common places students eat lunch on campus. They are quick stops for short breaks between classes and meetings.

According to this plan, which is seen as a transition toward making meal points a common currency among campus eateries, students would not even be required to purchase the plan allowing them to spend their meal points at the new locations – it would merely be offered as an option. 

If RHA votes to approve the resolution, they will soon be able to see for themselves whether or not the option to extend meal points is an appealing one to students. The hesitation on behalf of various groups to approve an optional plan for meal point usage in the center of campus is disheartening.

The 2008 VOICE report finds that “locations that offer full-meal service in the academic core of campus (Wells Library and the IMU) do not accept residence hall meal points; further ensuring those living in residence halls leave campus when not in the classroom.”

The report specifically recommends that the locations in central campus, where food service is contracted to Sodexo, be opened up to RPS meal points.

The plan would not only benefit the students who may choose to extend their meal options to these popular locations, but would also contribute to the broader aims reflected in the VOICE report and also the Provost’s Task Force on Undergraduate Education.

Moving toward a common currency among the food service locations on campus would be convenient for students, beneficial to the University and should be a clear call for all those who vote on students’ behalf.