ONE OF the most important aspects of any University is the quality of the dining services. After all, eating is one of the most basic needs for human beings. Many of our best memories at the University revolve around one of the various dining facilities. Whether it is sushi from the Pav or drunken midnight trips to the Castle, we all appreciate the importance of University dining to our college experience. Unfortunately, the various dining plans offered by the University Dining Services fail to offer an economically efficient system to match the beloved University dining experience.
Underneath the supposed convenience of various meal plans and plus dollars lies a system built upon unfair economic policies, which lead to inefficiency and waste. The meal plans offered by the University offer no real advantage for students. Moreover, the plus dollars these meal plans force students to buy limit freedom of choice. If the principles of our economy are based on the ideas of freedom of choice and incentive, then these meal plans crush all economic motivation to use University dining. Applying the basic principles of capitalism through simple but meaningful changes to the current meal plans will greatly improve dining for students and will in fact lead to greater efficiency for the University.
The sobering truth is that every meal plan currently sold by the University, from 50 meals per semester to unlimited meals per semester, offers no real advantage from buying each meal individually. For example, a "Plus 13" meal plan, which offers 13 meals a week and 250 plus dollars for a semester, costs $1,635. According to University Dining Services, each meal would cost roughly $6.50 if we subtract the plus dollars and assume that the student used the maximum number of meals. To put that in perspective, an individual lunch at Newcomb or O-Hill costs $7.50 and an individual dinner costs $8.50.
The cost of a meal under these meal plans increases with each meal the student does not eat on Grounds. In other words, a student will have to eat twice a week on campus and spend all 250 plus dollars to get a slightly cheaper meal. Meal plans with less commitment actually can cost more than buying an individual meal such as 50 meals a semester and 195 plus dollars which costs $8.40 for the average meal again according to University Dining Services. No matter how much we love going to Newcomb or O-Hill, few of us want to commit ourselves to going nearly twice a day to get a slightly cheaper price. The higher cost of less commitment meal plans gives the student population no incentive to buy meal plans.
The concept of plus dollars also runs counter to the basic philosophies that govern our economy. A certain amount of plus dollars must be bought under any meal plan offered by the University regardless of how much a student actually wants to spend a semester. This system basically tells students the minimum they have to spend on food. It is the equivalent of the government telling us the minimum to spend on groceries each month. This type of direction causes the meal plans to look less attractive to students because direct economic intervention is something that we do not tolerate in our daily economic activities.
The basic solutions to these problems are not complex and they do not have to be harmful to the University. A simple solution would make meal plans in all sizes reasonably cheaper than buying each meal individually. Plus dollars and the meal plans should be separated. Buying a bulk amount of plus dollars should earn some sort of economic advantage. For example, if a student commits themselves to spending 200 real dollars on grounds dining, then they should receive 225 plus dollars. This proposal is perhaps the most economically reasonable and fair solution because these dollars can be spent on both meals and non-dining hall food. It gives the University the advantage of certain monetary commitments to dining and still gives students economic advantages for making such commitments.
Such a plan would be clearly better for students because it would give greater choice and flexibility. It would also be better for the University because it would create more incentives for students to buy meal plans and plus dollars which would increase sales. It is about time that the meal plans at the University start making sense and begin to work for all students.
Sam Shirazi is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer. He is a first-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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