My dear fellow students, perhaps you remember when I discussed our new bathroom caste at Rollins in relation to the new system of housing selection. I want to clarify something: this is still good old Rollins, meaning that when things change, prices go up. Such is the case with our new dining system with all its virtues and flaws.
Make no mistake; the new system will fix several current issues. For one, it will eliminate the need for Campus Center employees to take your R-Card if you leave the cafeteria—I am sure many of you will be glad to put this ridiculous reverse-hall-pass business behind you.
Instead, the system will enable you to swipe your R-Card to gain access to the Campus Center for a block of time. Effectively, you will be able to swipe in, go to class, and then return to the center without having to swipe in and pay a second time, if the time block is still in effect.
That much is a marked improvement over the status quo. We will be able to come and go from the Campus Center as we need to without forfeiting our food by exiting the hall. We will also, in theory, have access to far more food by having access to far more time.
We should also remember that the flaws are the growing pains of a changing system that is trying to cater to our needs. There will naturally be issues to work out, and so we must try to have a certain measure of patience.
Of course, having patience will not affect the new prices, which will be significantly higher as a result of the longer access to the Campus Center. Even the cheapest of the new meal plans costs only about $100 less than the current full meal plan; moreover, it does not offer any off-campus dollars. The other plans all increment in price, with the highest being nearly $500 more expensive.
Rollins seems to forget that many students already struggle to meet its tuition costs.
Many of us who live on campus only manage to do so thanks to significant financial aid, and many prefer partial meal plans. These also appear to have mysteriously vanished.
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