rattler the
A St. Mary’s Student Publication since 1925
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Vol. 100 Issue 4
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March 28, 2012 •
Check out Dr. Cotrell’s stmubook wall PG. 8
stmurattlernews.com
all-you-care-to-eat An in-depth overview of dining program changes this Fall.
By Katherine Benavides News Editor
The University community can expect the new dining program—an allyou-care-to-eat plan—to take effect at the beginning of August this year. Different meal plans, food stations, dining facilities and operating hours are some of the new changes occurring in the next year. According to Aramark Food Services Director for the University John Finerghty, the current state of the dining program was similar to a retail environment where there were declining balances and purchasing was done in an out-of-the-cart fashion. “We’re moving to what’s called a residential meal plan program, otherwise known as an all-you care-toeat program, which in Aramark world is called RFOC, which stands for Real Food On Campus,” Finerghty said. “What stands out from other residential meal plans compared to what we’re doing here [is] a lot of universities don’t do an all-access plan. What they do is an all-you-care-to-eat program but it’s limited to three times a day, so you can only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.” With the program here, Finerghty said that the student has the “flexibility to come in and out of the dining hall as much as they want as long as they
4 NEWS
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don’t swipe their card twice within a 30-minute period.” For the All-Access 7 option, residents have unlimited entries, seven days a week into the dining hall. Also, the plan includes $250 dining dollars and costs $1,786 per semester, including sales tax. The All-Access 5 meal plan, with a cost of $1,580 per semester, also has unlimited entries but for five days a week and includes $300 dining dollars. Dining dollars, according to Finerghty, work like cash and can be used to purchase items at any of the on-campus outlets. Although one of the on-campus outlets is the current Subway store, new additions will be installed next year when the residential meal plans take effect. The new on-campus outlets include Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, the Law Cart Kiosk and the new Provisions on Demand convenience kiosk. The Chick-fil-A will be located in the current Rattler Den and the Starbucks will be built on the bottom floor of the Louis J. Blume Library. The P.O.D. Market will replace Java City. According to Finerghty, items similar to what are sold in the C-store will be sold at the P.O.D. Market, including soups, pre-made salads, sushi and bottled beverages. Cont. on PG. 3, SEE University expected to see new dining program for fall
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12 ENTERTAINMENT
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16 SPORTS
Form, function and sole: the perfect sport shoe