Dining mulls plan reduction

Freshmen have a lot on their plates right now. Literally.

Among the concerns swirling around Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst's head is the fact that many students, in order to "get their money's worth" from the first-year board plan, deliberately take more food than they want or need during dinner at the Marketplace.

This, he said, is indicative of a larger dissatisfaction with the first-year dining system, which provides five breakfasts, five dinners and two weekend brunches for $1,380 per semester. Because many students miss a number of meals--particularly weekday breakfasts--in any given week, there is a widespread sense that first-year students are paying for something they are not receiving.

Wulforst said the "missed meal factor," as it is known in college dining services around the nation, is a statistic not to be taken lightly. During January, only about 600 out of about 1,600 freshmen would attend breakfast on any given day.

"From what we've heard so far, it sounds like fewer and fewer students are going to breakfast, and a lot of students have expressed that they're upset about the fact that they're paying money for a breakfast they're not going to," Kliksberg said.

Kliksberg said Wulforst and Duke Student Government's Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee have been very supportive of the resolution. He noted that the elimination of breakfast from the plan was something freshmen had requested in the past.

"Because of the support of Dining Services, we believe that this time it's actually going to happen," Kliksberg said. "It's a shame we can't enjoy it this year, but hopefully the person after me won't have to deal with the same problems."

Wulforst said ECC's resolution ties into a number of other issues with which Dining Services is dealing right now, such as ARAMARK Corp.'s future on campus and the possibility of another late-night dining option on East Campus. Dining Services has been plagued by complaints about the food quality and service at the eateries ARAMARK manages on campus, prompting DSG to consider a vote of no confidence in ARAMARK's services later this month. Wulforst said he will need the ECC resolution as a basis for re-negotiating the ARAMARK contract.

Wulforst noted that, although he is not completely satisfied with the first-year board plan, there are many factors that prohibit him from canceling the plan altogether.

"Building community within the first-year class was the point of the board plan initiative when it was started eight years ago, so we need to come up with options that don't corrupt that communal initiative," he said.

He added that the board plan helps to pay the bank note for construction on the East Union Building, where the Marketplace is housed--a financial obligation he cannot ignore. He stressed, however, that students' needs would always be his primary concern. "If we're not meeting students' needs, then what has been acceptable in the past is no longer acceptable," he said. "We need to move forward, even if it puts us in financial risk."

Wulforst also noted that Duke's first-year board plan is much more flexible than those of some of the University's peer institutions, such as Harvard University and Yale University. At Yale, the cheapest first-year board plan consists of 21 meals--three meals a day all week.

"Students do complain about the meal plan, but it's not one of the major complaints on campus," said Elliott Mogul, president of the Yale College Council. "The reason for the plan is fairly well-explained to students, which is that the masters of the college really want to emphasize... students being able to see their friends every day in the dining hall."

Mogul said Yale's board plan costs $3,900 per year--less expensive than would be expected because students actually pay for only 17 out of the 21 meals per week. "Dining Services knows that the average student does not go to all the meals," he said.

He added that, starting last year, the plan was changed from a breakfast, lunch and dinner plan to a plan that covers dinner plus two meals before dinner. "If you get up late, you can eat essentially two lunches--one earlier in the day and one later in the day," he said.

"This kind of flexibility has reduced complaints about the meal plan."

Wulforst said it is important not to confuse complaints about the board plan with complaints about the quality of food and service offered in the Marketplace. Mogul noted that Yale's plan has drawn relatively few complaints because the quality of the food is generally viewed positively.

At Duke, however, freshmen seem to be singing a different song. Kliksberg said many people are unhappy with the quality of the food at the Marketplace.

ECC sent out an online poll to the freshman class yesterday to get a stronger sense of people's feelings on the food. If in fact students are disappointed with the quality of the food, Kliksberg said, ECC will pass another resolution Monday expressing dissatisfaction with the quality offered at the Marketplace.