tl20020218-000 "The Thwerlighb Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com Monday, 2/18/02 URG elects three new officers 3 Impressionism at BMA, Walters 7 Colonials claim close win over TU ..41111nr. 13 Tigers fall to fourth in ECHAs 14 Departments News 3 Campus Briefs 4 Nation 5 Arts 7 Sound Bites 8 Entertainment Briefs 9 Sports 13 In This Corner 13 Athlete of the Week 15 Classifieds 16 Opinion 18 Making the most of every meal Some meal plans offer all-you-can-eat value, but students are paying the price for retail dining Chris Terry The Towerlight Resident students at Towson University spend more than $4.2 million on meal plans each year, with the average student paying about $1,255. Few students, howev-er, see the full value of those pay-ments. ""When I see some of the things the students do with their meal plan, I die,"" said Joe Oster, assistant vice president for Auxiliary Services. ""I know how kids waste money."" The second most popular meal plan offers the worst value. Currently, 717 students are using an unrestricted 10-meal-per-week plan, which costs approximately $7.41 per meal. That's more than what it would cost to buy individual all-you-can- eat meals in cash ($6.95) or with points ($6.50). Junior accounting major Anne DiPietro said more students need to realize that they lose money when they use meals at a la carte dining halls such as The Den or Susquehanna Food Court. ""I think people who religiously eat in the dining halls should stick with more meals, but if you are using most of your money at The Den and Susquehanna, you should consider using points for every-thing,"" she said. The most popular meal plan among resident students is the unrestricted 14-meal-per-week plan, which costs approximately $6 per meal, creating a minimum loss of $1.25 when using a meal anywhere other than the Glen or Newell din-ing halls. ""The problem with trying to teach the students to know what's better to use where is that every stu-dent is different,"" Oster said. The University offers two basic types of meal plans for resident stu-dents. The traditional meal plan contains a set number of meals per week and only one meal can be used during each dining period. The unrestricted meal plan includes a weekly meal limit, but students can use them at anytime. Currently, 2,097 students are sub-scribed to unrestricted meal plans compared to 1,283 students who are using traditional meal plans. The meal packages are designed to provide students with a value when they eat at the Glen and Newell dining halls � the only all- Lisa Johnson The Towerhght Most meal plans cost students more than $5 and $6 per meal, though the highest meal value offered at retail locations is $4.75 for dinner. you-can-eat dining halls � but penalize students for using meals anywhere else. One dollar is equivalent to one dining point on a student's OneCard. However, when meals are used at retail dining centers, they are assigned a dollar value signifi-cantly lower than the cost of the a la carte food. The values range from $3.50 for breakfast to $4.15 for lunch and $4.75 for dinner. Most meal plans, however, end up costing students more than $5 and $6 per meal. DiPietro said students end up los-ing even more money when they eat at the retail locations because the meal values are rarely enough to See MEALS, page 6 cost per meal, assuming a 16-week semester Are you spending too much for your meals? DINNER LUNCH 8 7 6 4 BREAKFAST 1 It I I .ot o Today High 46 Low 22 3 - Unrestricted - Restricted 19 pur weck 14 pur v.rcek 10 per week Residential Meal Plans Tuesday Wednesday High 55 High 55 Low 33 Low 40 Thursday High 53 Low 29 ' ftpwes �*Am Friday High 40 Low 24 "
