|
Dining Hall Schedule
(Scroll down for three letters
and a place for reader comment)
As a freshman at Mars Hill College, I have heard many students argue on many issues on what is needed to be improved on campus. The main issue that I've spotted in Mars Hill College and which I wanted to bring up would have to be the cafeteria's organizations. I feel that the cafeteria hours which are posted up for the opening and closing time for Pittman are not sufficient for most students such as athletes, band members and drama theater students. The reason I say this is because most active students have a busy schedule. The day involves going to classes from 8am to 1pm. After class we have to study and go to meetings and some also have to go to practice, which usually ends around 6.30pm. The cafeteria closes at 7pm, which does not allow enough time to eat.
Another reason why the organization of the cafeteria is an issue to me would have to be the simple fact that students are not allowed to carry out more than one item. The reason why this is an issue is simply because I am also an athlete at Mars Hill College. If a student is in a hurry and just wants to get his or her food and leave, they would be stopped because it might not be an apple or a cookie. I believe the rules which are being forced on how many items are allowed to leave Pittman is not a bad rule but it needs to be modified a little bit.
The way that we need to modify the rules would have to be by allowing regular students to carry no more than three items outside the cafeteria. I also believe that full time students at Mars Hill College should be allowed to carry out a whole meal. Some students do not drive on campus, which makes it difficult to eat during certain hours. That's why we need to have the cafeteria opened extra hours, even if its just for two hours.
I strongly suggest that we as the student body need to bring this issue to the people in charge of Pittman. Whoever can make these changes should take notice of this situation and help stop our stomachs from growling.
Sincerely, Johnny Pierrelouis
* * *
Dear Editor,
I believe that Mars Hill College is a great School, and it definitely does a great job with helping students. One major problem that needs to be dealt with is how most of the students here in Mars Hill are not getting to use most of the meals that they have already paid for. I am a music education major and being this I have to finish 146 credit hours before I can graduate, so I end up having at least 20 credit hours every semester. I am not the only person who has this problem. All of the musical theater, music performance, or any of the music majors only have time to eat when they are running to class. I eat my lunch every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during my three o'clock English class and that is the first meal I eat every day. My breakfast gets thrown away everyday.
What I am proposing Mars Hill to do is roll over every meal that we miss. We should be able to use all of our meals anytime that we want, that way we do not waste any money. I do like that they have the late night dinner at the Lions Den. That is the only time I have to sit down and eat, but I am still wasting at least one meal a day.
Mars Hill College is run by smart people and I am sure that they have their reasons for not letting our meals run over when they are not used. They probably believe that we are going to give away our meals or something to that extent. I believe they need to have stricter rules and punishments for people that actually do that, so that they will learn not to do it again. This way everyone will not get punished for what a few people have done.
To sum it up, I believe that our meals should roll over every time we do not use them, and then we should get reimbursed at the end of the year from the meals that we did not eat. This is really the only problem I have seen with Mars Hill College, and if it was solved the school would be even better, and I will be less hungry.
Thank You, Jeremy Kirkland
* * *
To whomever it may concern,
Mars Hill College has a very good cafeteria, and alternative café, called the Lion's Den, but the guidelines for the meal plans for academic students is lacking in versatility. The system is very rigid and does not allow for flexibility of the plan when it is necessary or very convenient. Little depends on the meal plan because the majority of students use the nineteen meals a week plan, that includes fifty "bonus bucks" per semester. Every student pays for all the meals, and if they don't use the meals, they lose money. Students cannot use their extra meals for a guest, or they can't swipe their card more than once per meal. If a student wants to use more than three meals per day, it isn't allowed. Items bought at the Lions Den can not always be counted as a meal, and must be bought on bonus bucks. These few things set up a very inconvenient and rather unfair system.
If someone's friend forgets their card and needs to borrow a meal, a student is not allowed to help the friend out and must use their limited bonus bucks. Most people do not eat nineteen meals a week and the extra meals are wasted and the money just spent on nothing. The students paid for the meals and should be able to share them with a fellow student when the situation arises. This is not possible when a student can not use more than three meals a day.
A well balanced diet consists of more than three meals a day, but rather multiple smaller meals, especially if a person is trying to lose weight. For some it is a requirement for the insurance of good health. Many athletes at the college lead an active lifestyle and cannot get access to a meal after certain times or days of the week. I think an effective cure for that would be sack lunches, or grab bags with a certain amount of long lasting food that can be purchased as a meal for times when neither the café or the Lion's Den are open.
Most students do not use all the meals allotted to them in a week and so lose money. Many students travel off campus during the weekends and due to classes cannot get to either food places to get a meal. These extra meals should be usable as purchases in the Lions Den, as long as the purchase is under the cost of a regular meal on the plan. A student would then be able to get a snack and count it as a meal, minimizing the waste of their money and meal plan.
Students at Mars Hill on average pay almost 28,000 a year. Students pay for meal plans ahead of time and should be allowed to use their already paid for meals at their leisure. Whether a student wants to provide a meal for a friend, or use more than three meals a day, it should be allowed under a better plan. Students pay for the meals and should be allowed to use what they've paid for. It would be a better meal plan over all and would save Mars Hill students a lot of money and indecisiveness on whether a meal plan is worth the cost. By providing a better plan, more students are likely to use them, thus providing more money for the college. These changes would be a definite improvement to a very impractical system. - Chad Lotz
* * *
Letter to the Editor,
I would like to discuss the issues with the meal plans that are available to us as freshmen. I believe we should be able to use our meals anytime of the day and for whatever reason we want to use them. I never eat nineteen meals a week, but I do buy things to eat nineteen times a week. I believe we should get to pick what we use our bonus bucks for as well, and that if we do not want to use them we should have the option of using one of our meals.
The meals that I do not use just go to waste since they do not roll over and we are not allowed to use them the way we want. Because we have to use our bonus bucks on things that are not covered as a meal, by the end of the month we have no bonus bucks left. There are only certain times we can eat then and use one of our meals.
Not everyone eats at the specific time designated for use of one of the meals; some people eat supper later than 5:30. For instance I at home I have never eaten supper before 6:30 sometimes 7:00 or later. Therefore I still do not get hungry before then and do not want to eat before then. Making it harder for me to get a descent meal without having to spend all my bonus bucks. Therefore my bonus bucks are used up quicker then the people who do not mind to eat early.
In conclusion, I believe that at the beginning of the year we should pay for our meal plan and then get to use it the way we want to by spending the bonus bucks on the stuff we want, and by choosing when to use our meals, whether it is for meals or for other things. We should get the decision and not be forced to spend them some way we do not want to. We are the ones paying for it and should have the right to choose how we want it to spend it. Please think of this problem and help with it any way you can. I do believe it is a major problem and does need some attention directed in its way.
- Lacey Curtis
Give us your feedback. We value your opinions.
The Hilltop reserves the right not to post anonymous comments or any that could be judged slanderous, that make unverifiable allegations of fact, or use language we consider in bad taste.
All fields must be filled in.
HOME
| 
