The advent of dining dollars

For the last two years, GCSU meal plans for freshman have come with either $150 or $200 in “Cat Cash” that came at a discounted rate and could be used in any on campus venue or off campus in places such as Zaxby’s, Luigi’s, Baberitos and CVS.
Beginning Fall 2007, freshman meal plans will come with either $150 or $200 in “Dining Dollars,” which are discounted but now may only be used on campus. If students wish to continue to use their Bobcat Cards to buy food and groceries at off-campus locations, they will have to deposit money into their Cat Cash account, which is now totally separate and purchased on a dollar-to-dollar scale. Many students and businesses have voiced their concerns over the new policy.
“I don’t understand why they would do this,” said Melody Saldivar, a freshman marketing major. “I use my card at Luigi’s and Zaxby’s, and I know my parents won’t deposit money into a separate account so I can go out to eat when I already have a meal plan.”
The school believes the new system will best fit the needs of parents and students.
“When we implemented the Cat Cash program in August of 2004, we knew it was going to be temporary,” said Kyle Cullars, executive director of Auxiliary Services. “Now that we’ve got the Bobcat Card program up and running, we’ve modified the system to address some parental concerns over use of the cards for books and off campus spending.”
Most students say they will miss the variety of dining options most.
“I think we spend more than enough money on campus already,” said freshman Anna Maddox. “I eat in the dining hall every day, but it’s nice to be able to go off campus once in a while where the food is a little better.”
The group that seems to be angriest about the change in the meal plan policy is the restaurant owners who signed a contract with the school to take the Bobcat Cards.
“This is not the way we understood it would work,” said Al Autry, district manager of Barberito’s and Zaxby’s. “This is clearly a money-making venture on the part of the school and it’s not fair to the students. It’s the students’ money, they should be able to eat wherever they want.”
One of the biggest problems with the system has been the machines used to swipe the cards.
“The machines are $1,000 apiece,” Autry said. “I just bought my third one and I wouldn’t have if I would’ve known this was going to happen, but now I guess I’m stuck with it. Worst of all, I can’t believe this is how I have to find out. We’re their best customers.”
Autry says Zaxby’s lost $9,000 last year when the school failed to hook the machines up properly. Other businesses have had similar experiences.
“We’ve had this stupid machine for three months,” said Max Buzied, International House of Pancakes manager. “I don’t know what we can do, but right now it’s useless to us and no one seems to know how to fix it.”
To voice your opinions or concerns over the new policy, contact Sodexho general manger Neal Seigler by phone at 445-3663 or email him at neal.siegler@gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 2 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry