Students and administrators questioned how mandatory meal plans would accommodate campus residents at a forum Wednesday.
More than 40 students and administrators discussed the six mandatory meal plans proposed for the 2006-07 school year at a forum hosted by ASU's meal plan committee in the Memorial Union. The event was held in response to the committee's proposal last month for the new meal plans.
If passed by the Residence Hall Association and the Arizona Board of Regents, the proposed plans would require all students living on campus to purchase one of six meal plan options next fall.
The plans, combined with the cost of dorm rooms, would range from $6,000 to $9,000 per year depending on the residence hall and meal plan the student chooses. Currently, residence halls without meal plans cost between $3,500 and $7,000 per year.
"The meal plans are going to help students be more connected to the University and get involved on campus," said Aimee Gipper, meal plan committee chair and co-host of the forum.
The committee has presented the plans to about ten organizations, including Undergraduate Student Government, RHA and Memorial Union staff, Gipper added.
The committee plans to present the plans to at least 10 more groups, such as the Programming and Activities Board and financial aid services, to get student and administrative input, she said.
She also said most of the organizations have been positively receptive, but many are asking questions and raising concerns.
Journalism freshman James Quinn said he is concerned the proposed meals plans will not offer a great enough variety of food or meet the needs of every student living on campus.
"This can work, but it can also be a flop," he said. "I'm against the state it is now, but I think it [the proposal] can improve."
Quinn said he currently lives on campus and has a meal plan he rarely uses.
"The same things get old," he said.
The options included in the meal plan proposal are two "all-you-care-to-eat" plans, one spanning seven days per week and the other five days per week. The committee also proposed four block plans, which would offer 200 meals per semester plus $250 maroon and gold dollars, 150 meals per semester plus $350 M&G, 115 meals per semester plus $350 M&G or 75 meals per semester plus $500 M&G.
Public Relations sophomore Ljubinka Slaveska said she thinks the mandatory meal plan is a good idea to create a greater sense of community at ASU, but the proposed plan could be better adapted to people who don't eat on campus often or cannot afford the plans.
"I support it, but it needs to be molded in a different way to adapt to more people," she said. "I'm sure there's a way to accommodate everyone."
Reach the reporter at tara.brite@asu.edu.