Even though Dartmouth Dining Services has government-subsidized labor and operates in a near monopoly, College officials say DDS cannot break even without some form of subsidy because it provides a wide range of special services to students.
Under the College's new meal plan, announced by Vice President and Treasurer Lyn Hutton about two weeks ago, students will pay a sliding scale of fees based on their class year to keep DDS from losing money.
Hutton said in the past DDS covered its losses by the freshman punch plan, which makes more than $800,000 a year. Because freshmen pre-pay for their meals and cannot recover lost punches, each time a freshman misses a meal, DDS makes money.
But students were unhappy with the punch requirement, and a task force formed by Hutton and then Student Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 recommended dropping the punch requirement and instituting a fee.
The new plan, which will go into effect Fall term, gives all students the option to buy a five, 10 or 14 punch meal plan or a Declining Balance Account of $400, $600 or $800.
Students who choose to have a DBA must pay an added fee on a sliding scale, designed to make the fee more equitable.
Members of the Class of 1996 with a DBA will pay $70 a term, members of the Class of 1997 will be charged $38 each term and the Class of 1998 will pay $25 per term. The Class of 1999 and all subsequent classes will be charged $100 a term.
Also under the new plan, DDS will refund all unused DBA money to students. Currently, DDS only refunds a maximum of $100.
DDS Director Pete Napolitano said the fee will allow DDS to break even. Without the fee or the punch requirement, the College would have to cut back on some services, he said.
"If we were to drop the fee, we would have to drop the programs," he said. "The money has to come from someplace. It's not going to come in the form of a subsidy from the College."
Napolitano said the services include having many different eating venues that are open from early in the morning until late at night. Also, students can choose from a variety of foods and use their identification card to pay for it.
Since DDS is an auxiliary program, and not an academic program, Napolitano said, the College does not finance its operations.
"If DDS is going to maintain the programs, there's no way to get around it but a fee," Hutton said.
Hutton said the College has only three major sources of revenue -- tuition, endowments and the alumni fund -- and it is not viable to tap into any of these to support DDS.
According to Napolitano, DDS must have the help of the entire Dartmouth community to be successful.
"If we want to maintain a sense of financial stability and community and maintain a heavily programmed dining program, everyone has to participate," he said.
But John Honovich '97, a member of the Meal Plan Task Force, said DDS has no economic incentive to minimize the costs of its operations.
"If DDS doesn't make money, they can always just raise the subsidy," he said.
"They can increase the fee whenever they want, and I think that hinders economic competition," Honovich said. He added that college dining programs run by outside companies usually show significant profits.
According to Napolitano, these outside companies are highly profit driven, and they make money by cutting programs. But Napolitano said DDS is extremely program oriented and it is unwilling to sacrifice programs for profit.
DDS does have several advantages to an outside firm. The federal government provides some money for student employees and students can charge meals to their identification cards.
Napolitano said the meal plan could be a model for other universities. "Students coming in want more choice," he said. "This campus and the lifestyle our students lead demands flexibility."
