“NOOOOOOOOOOO” was my ds2’s response.
Well still Signor Ferrero Junior will manage the production, r8???
Right?!
My husband attended a college in northern MN that is located right next to a lake. He actually knew kids that had a fish house set up on the lake where they would sleep at night. They had basic camping equipment and would fish to eat. They’d hang out on campus as much as possible during the day and use the locker rooms in the PE building to clean up. They also had a friend they knew from community college sleep on their couch during the week because they found out he was sleeping in his car because he couldn’t afford a place to stay. There is no way in the world these kids could have ever lived in dorms with meal plans because just paying tuition was already a stretch. This was not an expensive college and it was back in the 80s when tuition wasn’t so insanely expensive. These are the kids that today would be going to food banks or just not going to college at all. The article is talking about students like this, not kids living in the dorms on meal plans.
Apparently, pomegranates, being the rare bear that they are, are supposed to stay in the dining hall from which they originated. You can get a hand slap and have your meal plan privileges threatened for “collecting” them. Who woulda’ thunk it?
ETA: It was only four. That hardly covers two good OChem study sessions…
@JustOneDad,
I have the perspective of a parent w 2 kids in two different boarding schools in the US.
The schools feed hundreds of students 3 square meals per day, plus an evening “feed” during study hall hours.The schools also make meal accommodations for the kids w late athletic training schedules. Faculty & staff also get fed. These little schools also have to “provide facilities, insurance or paid staff to cook and clean up”.
My kids are growing adolescent boys w demanding athletic schedules and Godzilla-sized appetites. The younger boy can put away in one sitting a burrito the size of a loaf of bread. Neither kid has ever gone hungry at their school. The schools provide nutritionally balanced meals, w some holiday splurges. I’ve sampled the boarding school food during Parent Weekends. They’re not just feeding the kids ramen and passing off ketchup as a vegetable…
If dinky sized boarding schools w/o the economies of scale enjoyed by biga$$ universities can figure out how to feed its students, I can’t understand why universities can’t figure it out.
I’m not “implying there is some sort of wrong-doing in the entire university food industry”, I’m stating there appears to be outright gouging
I’m not at all sure having two kids at boarding school gives you any expertise in the business of food service.
I’m a CUSTOMER & OBSERVER of 2 separate circumstances of where food service to a sizable number of stdents works. If the JV can figure it out, I don’t understand why the Varsity can’t.
I had a friend in college (back in the Stone Age) who couch surfed for a semester because he couldnt afford room and board. But he still excelled in his courses and he is now an editor-in-chief for a major metropolitan newspaper. Glad he had supportive friends who helped him get through a rough patch. I know there are struggling students everywhere who deserve a chance at a college education. I realize that it is not the responsibility of the colleges to help these students, but I hope there are kind-hearted individuals out there willing to help out. Invite an international student to dinner, start a food bank, endow a scholarship, etc.
@GMTplus7 You haven’t yet presented an argument that “food service to a sizable number of stdents” doesn’t work, although you keep alluding to it.
Many campuses have food pantries. They may be affiliated with nearby churches,
This group takes food that would otherwise be wasted on campus and redistributes it.
http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/12/er_campus_kitchens/campus.html
I know grown adults with degrees who are doing that now because they can’t afford both housing and their loans
But they are committed to staying in their field and I expect eventually they will land on their feet.
.
Tuition has been creeping up & harder to earn enough for the years expenses with your summer job.
http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/tuition-fees-room-board-time-1974-75-2014-15-selected-years
There are also many boomerangers who have moved back home, so they can pay off loans and make ends meet while trying to save.
Wow. This thread has so much going on. Let me start with I don’t think anyone in college should be truly hungry. However struggling a bit in college does not hurt and may actually help one focus on their studies and the opportunities having the degree will offer.
I was FGC in the 80’s. I was strongly encouraged to apply to Ivies. I did not want to be that far away from home so I did not. I went instead on a large, but not full ride, scholarship to a well regarded school in “the big city” closest to my hometown. I lived on campus for a semester and 2 weeks only because it was required. I hated it.
Orientation felt like summer camp. Mixers were a waste of precious time. I was very focused on getting my degree. My roommate was not. I was working and rarely was on campus for the lunch or dinner hours for the meal plan. I lived on potatoes baked in my workplace microwave, canned soup, and cheese - peanut butter crackers.
An understanding Dean allowed me to move back home and commute an hour each way for the rest of 2nd semester freshman year. I saved my money and got my own place sophomore year 30 minutes from campus. Even with paying for gas and parking, I saved LOTS of money on food that I was never there to eat anyway.
I graduated in 4 years very near the top of my class. I had multiple job offers from big names in my field. My supervisor at the job I accepted asked me how to motivate his kid to finish UG in YEAR 6. My response: Don’t make it so easy for him to stay.
College is not one big party. It is a time to grow up and become self sufficient. The gap between those two approaches is just one more specific example of income inequality. It will take many ideas to close that gap. Feeding hungry kids on campus is a great place to start.
Schools that are trying to attract the college is for “fun and connections” crowd will have a hard time meeting the needs of the college is “the place to get my degree and a job” crowd so there need to be a lot of options. No one school can have them all. There is a place in the system for Ivies, state flagships, tiny LACS, CC and everything in between including vocational skills training. Ever tried to get an electrician to your house? I just hope my kids honestly weigh all the options and pick what works best for them financially, academically, socially, etc.
I also hope my kids have a bit more fun in college than I did–but not too much.