2008 Woodie Awards
One swipe, two prices? Not any more, says Student Government
Jessica Fish
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: News
At Tuesday's meeting of the General Student Senate, Sen. Samantha Shulman announced that new meal plans would be available for the fall semester. Currently, the average price for an individual meal varies depending on the meal plan students select.
Students who chose the meal plan with 260 meals are paying $7.05, while those who picked the 100-meal plan are paying $13.85 per meal, a difference of almost seven dollars per meal.
"We were in services committee and one of the senators pointed out the huge discrepancy that currently exists within meal plan prices. We couldn't believe that some students were paying $7 for their meal swipe while others were paying $13 for the same exact meal," said Shulman.
Since then, Shulman and Sen. Justin Labonte have been working closely with Kathy Kittredge, Director of Dining Operations, and Glenn Taylor, Director of Culinary Services, over the last few weeks to come up with a solution to this large price gap.
The result was three new meal plans offering cheaper meals and more dining dollars. Next year, the largest meal plan will offer 240 meals and 150 dining dollars, averaging $7.10 per meal. The smallest meal plan has 130 meals and 625 dining dollars. The average cost of those meals will be $9.46.
In other business, a resolution to streamline Student Entertainment passed which eliminates the Frequency Program and Senior Council. The resolution also consolidates the coordination of the Guest Lecture Series into the duties of Student Entertainment, along with four other committees. This move is expected to save the senate over $2,500 next year.
The senate also extended Susan Ash's contract for three more years. Ash has served as the Assistant to the Vice President of Financial Affairs for several years. According to Vice President of Student Entertainment Derek Mitchell, a full-time staff member is required for insurance and auditing purposes.
Other resolutions concerning the senate budget and constitution were presented at Tuesday's meeting and sent to the Policy and Procedure Committee and the Executive Budgetary Committee. Vice President James Lyons promised they will be discussed at next week's meeting, which will be focused primarily on budget issues.
Seven organizations made presentations to the senate, detailing their experiences in sports tournaments, academic conferences and community service programs. The clubs, which ranged from Rotaract to Roller Hockey, were all heavily funded by the senate over spring break and are required to share what they accomplished with the senate upon their return.
The Non-traditional Students Association and Classics Club received final approval.
Allocations included $330 to the American Marketing Association, $380 to the Society of Women Engineers, $165 to the Dressage Club, $200 to Lambda Pi Eta, $1,700 to Wilde Stein and $1,189.90 for travel expenses for the Concrete Canoe Team's trip to a competition in Quebec. At the beginning of the night, there was $10,913.39 in the senate budget. After the allocations had been made, $7,271.29 remained unallocated.
Students who chose the meal plan with 260 meals are paying $7.05, while those who picked the 100-meal plan are paying $13.85 per meal, a difference of almost seven dollars per meal.
"We were in services committee and one of the senators pointed out the huge discrepancy that currently exists within meal plan prices. We couldn't believe that some students were paying $7 for their meal swipe while others were paying $13 for the same exact meal," said Shulman.
Since then, Shulman and Sen. Justin Labonte have been working closely with Kathy Kittredge, Director of Dining Operations, and Glenn Taylor, Director of Culinary Services, over the last few weeks to come up with a solution to this large price gap.
The result was three new meal plans offering cheaper meals and more dining dollars. Next year, the largest meal plan will offer 240 meals and 150 dining dollars, averaging $7.10 per meal. The smallest meal plan has 130 meals and 625 dining dollars. The average cost of those meals will be $9.46.
In other business, a resolution to streamline Student Entertainment passed which eliminates the Frequency Program and Senior Council. The resolution also consolidates the coordination of the Guest Lecture Series into the duties of Student Entertainment, along with four other committees. This move is expected to save the senate over $2,500 next year.
The senate also extended Susan Ash's contract for three more years. Ash has served as the Assistant to the Vice President of Financial Affairs for several years. According to Vice President of Student Entertainment Derek Mitchell, a full-time staff member is required for insurance and auditing purposes.
Other resolutions concerning the senate budget and constitution were presented at Tuesday's meeting and sent to the Policy and Procedure Committee and the Executive Budgetary Committee. Vice President James Lyons promised they will be discussed at next week's meeting, which will be focused primarily on budget issues.
Seven organizations made presentations to the senate, detailing their experiences in sports tournaments, academic conferences and community service programs. The clubs, which ranged from Rotaract to Roller Hockey, were all heavily funded by the senate over spring break and are required to share what they accomplished with the senate upon their return.
The Non-traditional Students Association and Classics Club received final approval.
Allocations included $330 to the American Marketing Association, $380 to the Society of Women Engineers, $165 to the Dressage Club, $200 to Lambda Pi Eta, $1,700 to Wilde Stein and $1,189.90 for travel expenses for the Concrete Canoe Team's trip to a competition in Quebec. At the beginning of the night, there was $10,913.39 in the senate budget. After the allocations had been made, $7,271.29 remained unallocated.
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