College freshman Rachelle Snyder is concerned about her meal plan.
As an athlete, Snyder knows she won't be able to use the 14 meals the University now requires freshmen to buy. She knows that for the majority of her meals she'll be either at practice or on the road.
And Snyder isn't the only one upset over the new requirement that freshmen must purchase a minimum of 14 meals per week for their first semester. Others are frustrated because the Quadrangle's most convenient dining option, Stouffer Commons, is no longer open for business.
"I don't think I'll be using 14 meals," Wharton freshman Shelah Chao said.
"And it doesn't roll over or anything," she added, concerned that she will be wasting money this semester on unused meals.
But according to Campus Dining Services Marketing Manager Mary Ruggiero, Snyder and other freshman athletes should not be concerned.
"This has never been an issue," Ruggiero said. "Historically, athletes have always chosen our highest plan."
Last spring, Dining Services announced that all freshmen would be required to purchase a meal plan for the first time, and Stouffer was closed this summer due to problems filling the capacity of all four campus dining halls.
New students found it ironic that the University would close Stouffer -- a dining hall used predominately by freshmen -- while requiring freshmen to purchase a meal plan.
"That seems kind of ridiculous," Wharton freshman David Copley said. "If they demand we get some massive meal plan, they should at least provide some decent service."
"The 14 meals a week is really obnoxious," College freshman Emily Ruda echoed. "Everything's so far away, so it's easier just to have food in your room."
"But," she added immediately, "I feel guilty not using my meal plan because my parents paid for it."
Other students are quick to defend the meal plan, explaining that the requirement will benefit their eating habits, making it easier to maintain a balanced diet and resist the temptation of less healthy, but possibly more convenient, food options.
"I probably would eat a lot more crap if I went to Wawa everyday," College freshman Libby Bersot said.
Stouffer's closure will have an effect on the college house system as well. Whereas the Quad's four houses used to share Stouffer, they have now been assigned to other locations. Goldberg, Ware and Community college houses now have "official" locations at Class of 1920 Commons, while Spruce College House has set up shop at the Kings Court/English House Dining Hall.
Though no residents are restricted to their designated dining hall, the goal of the assignments is to bring people from specific college houses together -- a concept made more difficult for Quad residents with the closing of Stouffer.
Chao, who lives in Spruce, doubts whether she -- or her neighbors -- will end up making the hike to Kings Court/English House to eat.
"I think most people will go to eat wherever's closest to them," she said. "I don't see everyone in Spruce going" to Kings Court/English House.
And while some freshmen griped that 1920 Commons -- now the dining hall closest to the Quad -- is a bit of a trek, others said that since they never experienced life without the walk, it shouldn't be much of an adjustment.
"I didn't know what it was like to not have to walk, so I'll just walk," Snyder said.
Other additions to Penn's dining scene have received praise from the University's new students. For example, the addition of more meals for students to grab on the go at PD Express, located in the former home of McClelland Marketplace, has some students feeling more at ease about the meal plan requirement.
Chao, for one, praised the addition of express breakfast and lunch options in McClelland Hall in the Quad.
"I think that's a good idea so I can use one of my swipes on my way out," she said.
And Ruggiero added that the PD Express option in McClelland -- which opened with today's breakfast -- puts dining access "right in [freshmen's] backyard."
And other freshmen aren't losing sleep over the loss of Stouffer.
"I hear the food there was really crappy, so I'm not that disappointed," College freshman Jessica Breland said.
But, Breland added, once the weather gets colder, trading a hike through the snow for good food might not be worth it.
"It could be a problem," she said.
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