Dining off campus: the new meal plan.
Christopher Griffith
Issue date: 9/11/09 Section: Opinion
Shouldn't you be able to eat what you want? The obvious answer is yes.
It has been said by many that variety in a diet is the key to a healthy and supportive lifestyle. What if students were able to choose among several restaurants, rather than a limited number of meal options when using their meal plan or campus dining dollars?
The Chow Hall and Canteen help a lot when it comes to convenience and quality assured food; however the same menu each and every day can dull the mind, body and spirit.
Several universities around the country attempted to fix this problem and please their students by partnering up with food college campus. While this is an exciting solution, some universities' budgets simply cannot support such a project.
A less expensive idea would be to create a system where students would be able to use their campus dining dollars at local restaurants located in and around the university community. It could work much like the credit and debit card machines found at many of the popular restaurant franchises.
A simple swipe could not only bring in money to the hosting restaurant, but also support the school through the partnership created by the dining dollars system.
During these days of a stressful economy, it is important that schools and their surrounding communities work with each other for a mutual benefit.
Such a network of people and organizations would help to bring the school and community closer through an influx of business created by their partnerships. It would strengthen their ties by helping one another succeed.
We as a student body should take the initiative to push this issue, and bring it in front of the appropriate committee to allow them to decide on its future.
It has been said by many that variety in a diet is the key to a healthy and supportive lifestyle. What if students were able to choose among several restaurants, rather than a limited number of meal options when using their meal plan or campus dining dollars?
The Chow Hall and Canteen help a lot when it comes to convenience and quality assured food; however the same menu each and every day can dull the mind, body and spirit.
Several universities around the country attempted to fix this problem and please their students by partnering up with food college campus. While this is an exciting solution, some universities' budgets simply cannot support such a project.
A less expensive idea would be to create a system where students would be able to use their campus dining dollars at local restaurants located in and around the university community. It could work much like the credit and debit card machines found at many of the popular restaurant franchises.
A simple swipe could not only bring in money to the hosting restaurant, but also support the school through the partnership created by the dining dollars system.
During these days of a stressful economy, it is important that schools and their surrounding communities work with each other for a mutual benefit.
Such a network of people and organizations would help to bring the school and community closer through an influx of business created by their partnerships. It would strengthen their ties by helping one another succeed.
We as a student body should take the initiative to push this issue, and bring it in front of the appropriate committee to allow them to decide on its future.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jeff Davis
posted 9/17/09 @ 9:55 AM EST
Hi, Christopher -
I like your plan to build a network of local merchants and restaurants who accept Campus Cash. In fact, the Card Office staff has been developing a plan to do just that for a while now. (Continued…)
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