New chef. New staff. New food. No more complaints. Right?
You know how it begins: your stomach starts growling, and the Chinese menu stuck to the top of your dresser is calling your name. Man, you could really go for some General Tso’s. You decide to head down the hall, and ask a couple of friends if they feel like ordering out, but their empty wallets seal the deal: you are eating in the cafeteria tonight.
As you wait for your Smart Card to be swiped, the aroma of dry white rice, sweet and sour tofu and some sort of unidentifiable animal sends you straight for the pizza counter. Pizza and fries for dinner again. This is the fourth time this week.
As a junior, I believe the cafeteria food has gotten better as time has gone by, but the improvements in the food quality have always been minimal and often short-lived. Even now, many people deny their existence. While some students are pleased with the changes, others, such as sophomore Chris Wells, are not quite as impressed. “Frankly, I don’t see it, everyone’s talking about how much better the food is, but I still wake up with a searing pain in my side, so I’m skeptical.”
Wells is hardly alone.
Students have run the gamut of excuses to get off the meal plan: there are not enough vegetarian options, all the protein is deep-fried, the food does not comply with certain religious beliefs. These justifications, accompanied by a doctor’s note or a phone call from a livid parent, could exempt any given student from the “mandatory” meal plan.
But the times, they are a-changing. At President Kent Chabotar’s inauguration last spring, the college was introduced to the culinary works of Chef Mike Watts, who learned of the inadequate conditions in the cafeteria, and agreed to take on the position of Head Chef. Now, after much anticipation, the cafeteria food has been upgraded from dismal, to decent.
But at what cost? Residential students who still wish to not be on the meal plan are now forced to choose one of three meal plan options. Through the QuakerMAX option, students pay $1,445 per semester for practically unlimited trips to the cafeteria.
Through one of two alternative plans, students can also pay the same amount of money for fewer meals in the cafeteria with either $60 or $180 to be used at Jazzman’s Caf in the Underground. Yeah, I’m still trying to find the logic there, too.
So now we have a new policy on the meal plan requirement to accompany the new, average food. Just one thing: since when are requests for tasty and heated food unreasonable requirements for individuals with more specific nutritional needs? I do not personally have to follow any moral or medical dietary restrictions, but every day that I walk into the cafeteria, I feel for the people who do.