Students react negatively to new meal plans

After the decision by Dining Services officials to change upperclassman meal plans, students are offering generally negative reactions to the options they will face next year. "I don't think the the new regulations on dining are very good," Nursing junior Kate Hanlon said. The proposed changes for upperclassmen call for increasing the minimum declining option from 70 meals per year to 160 meals per year. The new plan will also prohibit students from changing or canceling their meal plans after one semester unless they are studying abroad or leaving Penn. The weekly meal plans will remain unchanged. "I think that it's a bad decision on many levels," said College junior Chad Drummond, who has not had a meal plan since freshman year. "The first of which is that the food isn't that good to begin with." The proposed changes came just days after the announcement that incoming freshmen will be required to sign up for a 17- meal per week plan -- called the "Penn Titanium Meal Plan" -- with the option of changing to the 14- or 19-meal per week plan after the first semester. "I wonder why they are changing all the plans, because some of the changes would not be good for students," College freshman Diana Lin said. Lin added that because of the changes, she will be forced to choose the declining option. "I think I would still use all my meals, so I don't think that it would affect me as much as other people," she said. However, other students said that they would either choose a smaller plan or not have one at all. "For next year, I would probably stick with a smaller plan, because I know that I will not be able to change it and because I don't use all my meals now to begin with," Hanlon said. Some say that the new requirements will cause many students to forgo meal plans altogether. "I think that a large number of students will take a look between zero and 160 and choose none," Drummond said. While officials have yet to state the reason for the change to upperclassman meal plans, they have admitted that the new freshman plan is, in part, an attempt to stabilize Dining Services' finances. Currently, many students change or cancel meal plans after one semester, causing a fall in Dining Services' revenue during the spring semester. "I definitely think that they are choosing the new option because of the money," Drummond said. However, some students pointed to the establishment of new dining options, such as Houston Market, as a reason for the meal plan changes. "I think that while money is one reason, I also think that Houston Hall draws away students, and dining is trying to protect against that," Hanlon said.