Students will choose between four meal plan options requiring different levels of mandatory spending for next year, although the level of non-refundable DBA will be lower than the $800 administrators had planned earlier this term.
The meal plan was developed by an ad hoc committee of students, administrators and Dartmouth Dining Services management. The committee was charged with creating a meal plan that would allow for cut-backs in DDS, so students would not face the $800 minimum.
More than 83 percent of the 2,700 participants in last month's student referendum voted for "significant cutbacks in services" rather than the $800 spending level.
Beginning Summer term, the default plan for students who do not return their option cards mandates $700 of non-refundable DBA, with no additional service charge. Another option is $475 non-refundable DBA and an additional $50 service fee.
A third option for students will be $835 non-refundable DBA,
with $65 "free dining dollars," a total of a $900 DBA. A fourth option, not available to students who live on campus, allows for $300 non-refundable DBA with a service fee of $100.
Student reaction to the new plan was mixed, though most students were pleased to have an increased number of dining plan options. Most students were relieved that the $800 originally suggested would not be implemented. Many said they plan to select the least expensive plan.
Peter Sellers '98 said he will most likely choose the $475 option next year, even though he lives off campus.
Sellers said the proposed $100 service cost for off-campus students is "a pretty rough deal," but he said he is pleased the committee made an effort to accommodate different eating habits and created alternative plans to the original proposal.
Although he said the plans are probably "a good deal" for freshmen or those living on-campus, Sellers said he believes in the basic principle that you should only have to pay for the amount of food you eat.
Seth Abramson '98 said he also plans to choose the $475 DBA option, and like Sellers, he does not believe that non-refundable dining charges are fair.
"Food service should never be an obligation for the students," he said. Abramson said students living off-campus will be hurt most by the meal plans since it is unlikely they will spend $300 on campus.
One reason students choose to live off-campus is to save money by cooking their own food, he said.
Abramson said the $700 plan should not be the default amount, since many people forget to turn in their option cards for the following term, and would be stuck with a plan he considers a "rip-off."
Lily Belfi '98 said she plans to chose the $475 meal plan next year. She said the meal plans are a better option than the original $800 proposed, but the meal plan available only to off-campus students will probably discourage students from living off-campus.
Elizabeth Tripoli '99 said she will choose the $475 option, since she will be living on-campus. She said she does not think the meal plan for off-campus students is so costly that it will prevent people from moving out of College housing.
Tripoli said that since the Class of 1999 had to pay a $100 service fee last year for the DBA option, she does not feel the service costs presented in the plans for next year are exorbitant.
Some students plan to continue to spend higher amounts on College dining.
Monica Lo '00 said she will probably select the $700 meal plan since that is approximately what she currently spends on dining.
Lo said the proposed meal plans are more fair to students living on-campus since it gives them increased spending options. At the same time, Lo said the College should not require students living off-campus to buy food on campus.
