After administrators came under fire in the fall from students who said the meal plan was inflexible and unfair, the Northwestern Dining Committee will propose a plan for next year that it hopes will satisfy more people.
The plan will be presented at tonight’s Associated Student Government Senate meeting. The committee began Fall Quarter to elicit student feedback about the meal plan.
Student Services Vice President Mike Fong said he couldn’t reveal details of the new plan, but some students said they hoped it would be a flashback to last academic year’s Flex Plan.
Earlier in the fall, students expressed frustration with the new Block Plan for eliminating meal equivalency at a la carte locations such as Willie’s Food Court and Sbarro.
Some students complained that the Block Plan did not fulfill the contracts that promised meal equivalency.
The university reinstated meal equivalency mid-Fall Quarter for students on the Block Plan, but those who switch from the traditional plan weren’t able to receive meal equivalency.
When asked if she was pleased with the current meal plan, Weinberg junior Erin Sahlsteen said, “I’m pleased that I’ll be living off campus next year.”
Others said they were hoping for smaller alterations to the current plan.
The ASG executive board also will release its budget for the upcoming school year. The budget was completed last week, Treasurer Edith Rivera said, but was not released to the public.
ASG’s bylaws state that the executive board must present the operating budget request to the Senate no later than three weeks before the last meeting of Winter Quarter. The last meeting is in two weeks.
The bylaws also state that the budget must be submitted to The Daily and posted on the ASG Web site two weeks before it becomes new business.
The budget will be presented publicly for the first time at tonight’s meeting.
In addition, ASG President Rachel Lopez said she will explain to senators the recommendations of the Undergraduate Budget Priorities Committee announced Monday and how the committee made its decisions.
UBPC’s first-tier priorities include the availability of classes for non-majors; renovations to Blomquist Recreation Center; a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center; 24-hour computer access; and increased lighting on campus.
Senators also will vote on two bills at tonight’s meeting, one which alters the foreign language requirement for radio-TV-film majors and one creating an annual “Northwestern Idol” inspired by the popular TV show.
The first bill will allow classic foreign languages such as Latin to satisfy curriculum requirements for R-TV-F majors. Currently, they must take a modern foreign language to fulfill that distribution.
“I don’t think that a large percentage of students took Latin in high school, but for those who did, it really helps,” said Gia DiGiacobbe, the Amnesty International senator and the bill’s co-author.
The second bill calls on ASG to organize a “Northwestern Idol” contest.
Senators also will present five bills and a resolution postponed from last week about student concerns with U.S. military action against Iraq.
