Would MITers comment on Dorms and Meals - Page 3

fogfog · 10-28-2009, 09:34 PM

These are all good thoughts....
but I sense some snarkiness from some younger voices.

This question wasn't meant to threaten you and your pursuit of independence as you know it as this time in your lives...

Certainly parents asking questions cannot change and adminstration's policies....unless of course ALL of the parents who pay their students bills had the same opinion as the Administration. Then something might change...but not a parent asking a question on an obscure thread here. roflol......like THAT would ever happen.

Thanks for the thoughts.

fogfog · 10-28-2009, 09:45 PM

I keep re-reading that post of mine and trying to re-phrase it and edit it--because it sounds snarky--and I didn't mean it to sound that way

BUT
this pain in the #$%^ platform isn't letting me edit my own posts...and I keep having to login in..

something is still wrong with my membership or something--because if trying to edit a post--I lose the site....same thing happened while trying to preview college visits...
arrrrgggg

anyway--not snarky--I promise

la montagne · 10-28-2009, 10:58 PM

It's not so much that parents are asking questions. It's more that parents are complaining, and a handful of loud parents could, in fact, make the administration reconsider what they're doing, especially since the current system is losing the institute money.

AKiss20 · 10-28-2009, 11:24 PM

Exactly, do not underestimate the power of a few very vocal people (look at politics, 'nuff said), especially when these are the people paying the school some 52K a year...

oasis · 10-29-2009, 01:14 AM

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I eat out 80% of the time, and although I can tell you that you'll have to usually "go out of your way" a bit, there's also plenty of options near campus if you know where to look.

And yes, $8-9 for dinner sounds about right. Lunch is more around $5-6. You can do the math and it comes down to ~$65 per week w/o weekends.

A big reason for me is that I don't like studying in my dorm (too distracting), so I usually return well past dinnertime, and since I live so out of the way and without a bike (New), it's usually easier for me to eat out, study, and then come back. Also, I must be a picky eater or something but eating the same dinner (cooked on Sunday) for every night doesn't appeal to me (even if you can mix it up and have variations on the thing that you cooked). =p But just throwing it out there that there's plenty of choice for all kinds of students here...no one is going to force you to do anything if you live in one of the dorms w/o a dining hall, and no one starves either. =)

But on a side note, you know the issue of dining has came up at least 3 or 4 times just in the past few months. Perhaps someone should make a sticky so we don't keep reiterating these things?

fontaine · 10-29-2009, 02:24 AM

All those stickies would destroy the front page. What really needs to happen is a list of links to be added to the MIT FAQ thread.

molliebatmit · 10-29-2009, 08:04 AM

If somebody makes me a list of threads on common topics, I'll add it to the FAQ.

Strictly speaking, though, I'm not totally sure that anybody reads the first page of the FAQ, as the same frequently-asked questions that are answered in the first page of the FAQ continue to be asked later in that thread...

fontaine · 10-29-2009, 09:17 AM

I'll make one later today because It will get my mind off things. And a solution to that would just be to make a thread entitled "Read this First" or "See if your question is answered Here", add the list, and lock and sticky it.

k4r3n2 · 10-29-2009, 11:13 AM

Heh, 'Inquiries about the dining plan or housing? Find our counterargument to all your points inside!'

Also, Mollie, can we have a 'questions and / or concerns about standardized testing' thread where we write that as long as you get a 700 or above, you can stop taking the SAT, and that no, really, the SAT is only used to make sure you can do the work?

CalAlum · 10-29-2009, 01:22 PM

To the OP: I'm a parent, and I think MIT's flexible system is great. My daughter lives in Burton-Conner and so she cooks quite a bit, but there are also good dining opportunities on and around the campus. I flew from California on business to Boston last week, and she and I walked a couple of blocks from MIT to have lunch at Luna's, a little cafe on Mass Ave that serves delicious salads, soups, and salads. Yum.

Parents are always concerned that their sons and daughters eat well, but having a traditional dining system doesn't ensure that will happen. I'm a professor at a liberal arts college that uses the same catering service MIT uses, and frankly, the food is just okay, not great. Many times I've stood in line at the cashier behind several athletes at my institution who have loaded up their trays with meals that consist entirely of french fries, sugary sodas, and dessert. If their parents knew, they'd be shocked.

The bottom line here is that we need to teach our children to eat well. Teaching them to cook will help them live independently; it's an important skill. Once they're in college, they're on their own. Students at MIT have a wider range of choices, and those capable of making healthy choices will find ample opportunities, in my opinion.