Although many are up in arms over a possible Dartmouth Dining Services plan requiring students to purchase a minimum $800 non-refundable declining balance account, students at several other New England colleges and universities have much less flexibility in their dining options -- with some students forced to purchase meal plans similar to the Dartmouth "punch" plans.
As late as 1995, College freshmen were required to buy "punch" plans, with a certain number of meals allotted per week.
And while punches are no longer mandatory for Dartmouth diners, some schools require their students to purchase meal plans of anywhere from five to 21 meals per week.
Students who live on campus at Smith College are required to purchase a 21-meal-a-week plan, according to Director of Dining Services Kathy Zieja.
Bob St. Jean, director of purchase and campus services at Franklin Pierce College, said the college offers students the option of paying for a meal plan of either 10, 15 or 19 meals a week.
Although Franklin Pierce's dining service is not subsidized by the college, St. Jean said it is not hard to keep from overspending.
And several other schools also require students to purchase punch meal plans -- including Trinity College of Vermont, Yale University and Princeton University.
Students at Columbia University are required to purchase a punch plan and have the option of buying up to $300 of Columbia's DBA equivalent, junior Sandra Angulo said.
She said the dining dollars are non-refundable but carry over from the one semester to the next. Angulo said she is satisfied with Columbia's dining program, which she described as "pretty flexible."
Cornell University offers students voluntary meal plans which range from five to 20 meals a week, Assistant to Director of Campus Life Jean Healey said.
"If they cancel, students will get their money refunded," Healey said. "Students can change their plans at any time from the beginning up through the last day."
She said Cornell students also have the option of paying for "Big Red Bucks" -- a program similar to Dartmouth's DBA plan.
Healy said Big Red Bucks are non-refundable, because New York only exempts students from taxes if they pre-pay for their meal plans.
She said there is no minimum amount of Big Red Bucks students must purchase; in fact, students are encouraged to make a small initial deposit in their accounts and to gradually increase their funds.
Despite the fact that students are not required to purchase a meal plan, Cornell's dining service still manages to break even.
Healy said the University economizes by cutting back on hours during vacations, limiting the amount of entrees students can purchase each time they go through the food line at one of the University's all-you-can eat diners and by recycling waste products.
Some schools reduce student flexibility by cutting back on dining hours. For example, students at Smith, Franklin Pierce and Princeton can only purchase meals during peak meal times, according to representatives from each school.
The University of Pennsylvania offers students a voluntary meal plan, Director of Dining Bill Canney said.
Penn diners can choose to purchase between five and 15 meals per week and have the option of buying refundable dining dollars.
Canney said Penn's dining service is financially solid and the University has economized by increasing the amount of self-service food.
But although most dining services at other universities appear to manage their finances more efficiently than DDS, students at these schools were critical of the quality of their meals.
Freshmen at Yale are required to purchase a 19 meals per week plan at approximately $3000 a year -- and some of them do not appear pleased with the product they are getting.
"The food sucks," Yale freshman Ephram Lustgarten said. "It's really bad. Leftovers are recycled day after day."
Lustgarten said he was "appalled" by the amount he paid for cafeteria food.
"It's $7 for lunch and $10 for dinner," Lustgarten said. "If I miss breakfast, $5 a day goes down the tubes. I can get a much better meal for $10 if I eat out."
