OPINION
OCTOBER 3, 2014
Students should not be forced into expensive meal plans
BY QUINCY
MALESOVAS
Staff Writer
Guilford College is a school
based on recognizing individual
needs and catering to them. But is
that principle carried outside of the
classroom?
Maybe on
paper, but
not on plate.
Guilford
College meal
plan options are
not reasonable
in terms of
the variety or
price. The food
choices are
inconsistent,
and most
plans are
unnecessarily pricey.
Junior Britton Dunn feels as
though mandatory meal plans are
an anomaly for students like him.
"I am on a scholarship and have
a lot of financial aid, yet I still have
to pay for these exorbitant meal
plans that I don't really want," said
Dunn.
According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, an
adequate low-cost grocery budget
for a single, college-age person
would be about $40 to $60 dollars
a week. A liberal budget would fall
between $70 and $80 dollars.
The average first-year students'
meal plan is double that, at roughly
$150 per every week they are on
campus.
"It makes me spend more
money than I have to and more
money than I can really afford,"
said Dunn. He is currently on the
100-block plan, but still believes it
would be cheaper to buy all of his
own groceries.
Not every student personally
feels the burden of meal plan
expenses, but many stiU look at die
cost critically.
"1 can understand that this is
a private school, and of course
it's going to be more expensive,"
said first-year Imani Ames. "But
my parents and I together spent
less than that on food (before
Guilford)."
She is cm the Quaker 19 plan,
costing a whc^yping $2,415 per
semester.
The only ways students can get
out of a meal plan are to move off-
campus, a difficult process within
itself, or provide a doctor's note
validating exemption.
Going ffirough the exemption
process can be t^ous—especially
for students without a generd
practitioner in the area. For this
reason, many students are stuck
with an inflexible meal plan that
they must grapple with to meet
their needs.
The lack of variety is one thing
that often causes complaints from
students of all backgrounds.
'There often isn't a gluten-free
grain available," said senior Sophie
Laine, who avoids the protein for
health reasons.
She compensates by
supplementing her diet with grains
she buys herself. This requires an
extra trip to the store each week
and more money spent on top of an
already costly med plan.
Vegetarian and vegan students
feel the same struggle with dish
variability. Some days there may be
three plant-based protein sources
available, and other days there are
none.
Part of what students are
paying for in these high-priced
plans. i§ the convenience of
walking into a Guilford dining
venue, and eating without giving
it much thought. When there is
insufficient variety, however, that
benefit becomes compromised.
Junior Vince Schueren lives in
the Pines, where he contributes $15
weekly to a house grocery fund.
He has a 100-block meal plan in
addition to house meals, which he
feels works out well for him.
But he does note that if living
in a space where groceries were
bought individually, his total food
budget would be unreasonable.
"Meal plan prices are adjusted
annually based on cost increases
(for example, consumer price
index increases for food)," said
Director of Dining Services Snehal
Deshmukh in an email interview.
While dining services are
considering their own bottom line
for expenses, they are failing to
recognize that students also feel
the effects.
For those who are not feeling
the burden of a lagging economy,
$2,000 or more meal plans might be
just fine. For the rest of us, they feel
unfair.
Meal plan options should be
reconsidered for the sake of all
students.
We are unique. We have different
priorities. Dining options should
reflect that.
How much does one meal cost?
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100 Block
Quaker 10
Quaker14
Quaker 19
Quaker 19 Plus
Type of meal plan
Citizen journalists prove to be invaluable resources whose rights must be protected
Wisconsin activist and filmmaker Miles Kristan stood in
front of Wisconsin Rep. Peter Barca's office and held up his
camera as police officers walked towards him. Moments
prior, he had asked Barca and one of his staffers about Barca's
relationship with a Republican politician.
"Oh s—they've got four cops coming
after me," he says into the camera. "You
guys, they've got four cops coming after
me for asking questions on camera."
Kristan belongs to a growing class of
bloggers, filmmakers and activists often
referred to as citizen journalists. Although
they are not professionals, they write
about and record important issues and
events. This raises an important question:
should they be treated as journalists or
regular citizens?
When a person blatantly disregards
journalistic standards, they should be
treated like any other misbehaving observer. But when they
do engage in serious reporting, citizen journalists deserve the
same treatment as professional reporters. This encourages
citizen journalists to continue covering imderreported stories
and writing investigative reports.
Qtizen journalists have contributed to many of the last
year's biggest news stories. From Ferguson to Syria, they
captured video, wrote blog posts and provided eyewitness
accounts that proved invaluable.
"While the term citizen journalists is often spoken with air
quotes aroimd that second word... they still play an important
role in j^etting out early inforrnation," wrote Erik Deckers
in a post for problogservice. * "Evw since George Holliday
BY MATTHEW
JONES
Staff Writer
recorded tihe Rodney King beating in Lc» Angeles 20 years ago
with a Sony Handycam, private citizens have become citizen
watchdogs against the police, the government and, in some
cases, even the media themselves."
Unfortunately, people who do this kind of reporting are
often antagonized by police and other officials because of their
amateur status.
Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman, was at the forefront
of amateur reporting during the protests in Ferguson this past
August. He ^ed Ms Twitter fe^ with widely re-distributed
video, pictures and commentary on the police response. But
several days into the protests, Ferguson police arrested him
and charg^ him with unlawful assembly.
"He is a citizen journalist of the best kind: a credible witness
who has helped inform the wider public about a critical
matter," wrote grassroots journalism expert Dan Gillmor in a
column for The Guardian. "Can anyone plausibly doubt that
he and the two professional journalists, who were briefly taken
into custody after police demanded they stop recording, were
targeted because they were documenting law enforcement
actions?"
The issue also extends nationally. The Free Flow of
Information Act, introduced to Congress in 2013, aims to
protect journalists by creating a federal shield law that would
allow journalists to keep the names of sources secret.
But, the bill includes an amendment that would exempt
unpaid journalists from its protections.
"This bill is described as a reporter shield bill," said
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein in a committee
discussing the amendment. "I believe it should be applied to
real reporters." , ,
Without a shield law to protect their sources, many citizen
journalists would find it tougher to do investigative work.
"Many people still have the stereotypical notion of the
blogger as the pajamarati, typing and ranting away in their
parents' basement," wrote journalist Larry Atkins in a piece
for The Huffington Post. "Many bloggers and website
operators do engage in real reporting. The definition of who is
a journalist or reporter should be interpreted broadly in light
of the changing media landscape."
This is not to say that aU citizen journalists are reporters;
some step outside clearly drawn boundaries for journalists.
Kristan is a perfect example of this.
Kristan had badgered Barca incessantly before his arrest
even holding Barca's office door open so he could continue
shouting at him. His latest arrest was a surprise to few
in Wisconsin; Kristan had a long history of aggravating
government officials, including dumping beer on one
Republican politician.
"No doubt what the Republicans have done with their
agenda angered a lot of people in this state," said Democratic
Rep. Cory Mason of Racine, Wisconsin in an interview with
The Journal limes. "But regardless of that, it is not acceptable
to pour beer on someone's head if you don't agree with their
politics."
There must be action to protect citizen journalists and
other amateur reporters who, unlike Kristan, do engage in
legitimate reporting. Changing the language of and passing
the Free Flow of Information Act would be just one step
towards creating a more permissive atmosphere for amateur
reporters.
Allowing citizen journalists to flourish will benefit all
Americans by strengthening investigative reporting and
keeping readers informed in ways not possible otherwise.