More Burger for Your Buck

Experimental Semester Declining Balance Offers Students More Flexability

by Tiffany Pfeiffer

Des Moines, Iowa (Feb. 12, 1997)-- One-hundred Drake students will launch a dining service pilot program within the week to determine if a semester declining balance on student meal accounts would prove as efficient as it looks on paper. These students will have their entire meal plan balance at their disposal and a suggested spending schedule to guide them each week.

The current dining contract, which offers students a choice of a certain number of weekly meals and issues them an allotted amount of money each day, will be replaced in the fall 1997 semester if the study is deemed successful.

Arline Smith, director of Hubbell Dining Services, said the plan will shift the responsibility of the meal accounts from the university to the students in order to better accommodate their individual needs.

"In the past, students have felt that they were losing money when they went away for weekends or didn't have the opportunity to cash-out at the end of the day. With the new plan, the balance will be in the hands of the students; we [the dining service] will no longer be accountable. This gives students the opportunity to be responsible for their own money," Smith said.

"Also, this will offer students the option to add money or 'buy into' their meal accounts if need be, especially on occasions where they have visitors like siblings and parents weekend. This will be a very user-friendly program," she said.

Because of its flexibility, the new plan will allow students to spend their money whenever it is most convenient and necessary. As an off-campus student, junior Trent Allan said he feels the plan is much more conducive to hectic student schedules.

"Right now I have a plan which allows me one meal a day, but if for some reason I can't make it to campus, I lose money," Allan said. "With this new program, off-campus students can eat when they have free time on campus instead of going all the way home. Sometimes your days are unpredictable."

First-year student Andrea Swanson, one of the students chosen to participate in the pilot program for the rest of the semester, is excited for the improvements the new plan offers, but said more changes must be made to make the meal program acceptable.

"As it is now, a lot of the food is overpriced and low quality. The healthier items, like vegetarian dishes and fresh fruit, are not a pleasant sight," she said. "I think it's important that we get the most for our money with high quality products. They should offer options like using our meal cards at vending machines or local fast-food restaurants like other colleges do. This new program will offer them a lot more freedom with their money, but I don't think many students are satisfied with the way things are run."

Sophomore Jon Azu, chairman of the Student Life Committee, said negotiations are currently being made with local businesses to sponsor a Hubbell/Olmsted renovation within the next two years that will make the new semester declining balance program even more worthwhile.

"Hubbell and Olmsted will be expanded to serve the students more efficiently and offer them a lot more dining options. The Student Life Committee has been an active voice in the negotiations; we want to help the satisfy the student body," Azu said.

"The new meal card program will be much more profitable when we get a bigger variety in menu selection," he said.

In the meantime, Smith said she feels the semester declining balance system will be a definite success and prove to be a positive Drake feature for both current and prospective students.

"It's already created a lot of excitement among the student body; they seem pleased that their meal program will become more 'self-operated' like the rest of their college experience," Smith said. "We hope to have information about the program ready for both returning and new students in the fall."

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