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October 11, 2005
Lamentations of the lunch line
Unlike partying or procrastinating, eating is one of few satisfying and enjoyable parent-approved pastimes. But because our wallets and pants couldn’t sustain an econo-sized grease diet comprised of Taco Bell runs and SA visits, campus food is imperative for daily sustenance. This is part of the reason why the implementation of recent changes in the meal plan has been, well, hard to stomach.
The adjustments made to the on-campus feasting system, while being well-intentioned and designed towards better student turn-out at dining areas, have been the source of complaints and groans before students sample the food selection.
Taken as an unexpected switch at its onset, the change to only accepting meal plans at Sorin Dining Hall and just taking declining balance or cash for the Hub and Klas Center has led to frustrated criticisms desperately directed towards the hapless dining staff who scan our ID cards. After four weeks of school, apologetic clarifications about the changes still accompany at least two other transactions while I’m waiting in line.
Though the amount of declining balance tagged onto meal plans has increased, Sorin is the single available option for using our hundreds of meals. Or we can waste them and hope for nutritional fulfillment from the idea that it would be like metaphorically consuming and digesting our paper money, however unsanitary. Depending on individual preference, some students appear ambivalent about the exclusive use of meals at Sorin. However, the existence and popularity of thefacebook.com group termed “Sorin
Gives Me the [explicitive],” which boasts 75 members and 28 sympathetic groupies, lends validity to the assertion that various people desire Sorin food only in moderation.
The issue is hardly concentrated around the quality of Sorin’s food, for there are people who favor Sorin above others. After eating there twice, my parents declared it a tasty offering of daily gourmet. It’s probable that we sometimes feel uneasy because we gorge ourselves without noticing the amount of our consumption while we ardently concentrate on imagining Mom’s sloppy joes as we bite into Sorin goulash.
The real issue and cause of upset is the loss of meal flexibility and options. Gone are the days when we could use our food money freely within Hamline’s dining system, when we could avoid or patronize any of the food spots on campus. Ushered in are lunches at Sorin with long lines, overworked staff, and a few students grumbling about changes to fix a meal system which wasn’t too far broken.
Posted by msveum at October 11, 2005 11:34 PM
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