Studentsunhappy with campus dining facilities' shortened summer hours, the new meal plan and food price increases should not expect their problems to be addressed in the near future.
"I cannot come up with a solution that would be perfect for all of our students," Director of College Dining Services Pete Napolitano said.
"We cannot keep facilities open and staffed" with only 1,000 students on campus, he said, adding that besides extending Food Court's closing time one hour, DDS has maintained the same hours of operation for the past two summers.
This term, prices for food items have increased an average of two to three percent, Napolitano said.
Even with limited hours and rises in costs , DDS always loses money over the summer, College Vice President and Treasurer Lyn Hutton said.
But Napolitano and Hutton's words do little to assuage students who say they are getting gypped.
Melissa McBean '97 described the new hours as difficult, while Sarah Nolan '97 said they were "ridiculous."
We are "paying the same amount of money and getting one-third of the service," Nolan said. "It's not really fair."
Food Court is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. on weekends. During the rest of the year, Food Court remains open from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekends.
"The morning change doesn't affect me at all," Amy Fournier '97 said.
"There's nothing there that I want," Fournier said.
The fewer number of students causes a slower consumption of food, which leads to dried out food items, Fournier explained.
"Everything on the line is very unpredictable," she said.
But Fournier and Janice Saragian '97,complained about the smaller selection of food, but said they understand why services must be limited.
"As a student I want it to be open, but as an employee I know it's impossible to staff all of those hours," Saragian said.New meal plan
Because July 1 marks the beginning of the College's fiscal year, increase in prices for food and room and board, in addition to the implementation of changes such as the meal plan take place Summer term, Napolitano said.
Last January the College approved a new meal plan under which freshmen will have to pay $100 and other students will pay a sliding scale of fees to have a Declining Balance Account.
Students can choose a 14, 10 or five punch meal plan or a minimum DBA of $400. If the DBA is chosen, sophomores have to pay $25, juniors $38 and seniors $70. The rest of the DBA is fully refundable.
Hutton said the College will probably be able to determine the effectiveness of the new meal plan by Winter term. If by that time it does not prove beneficial, the College "might go back to the plan we had before," Hutton said.
Nolan said the plan is "better now," but said it is unfair for upperclass students to have to pay extra money twice.
"We paid our dues as freshmen," Russell Stidolph '97 said. "There's no reason why we should have to subsidize the meal plan twice."
Melissa Woods, a Food Court employee said she thinks many students will complain about the price increase, especially when they come back in the fall.
A non-student DDS facility manager who requested to remain anonymous said another reason prices have increased is because many trays and utensils have been lost this term.
"A lot of the frats and a lot of other students are taking them to fill up their cupboards," he said.
