Student Government Article

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SGA holds forum on meal plan

Published on September 30, 2008 by The Sentinel

The new dining hall’s financial implications were discussed at a recent forum between the KSU Student Government and Faye Silverman, director of Auxiliary Services.

Silverman presented a mandatory meal plan as the main, and necessary, way to fund the construction of the hall. She was accompanied by Dr. Rachford and two other KSU employees. Challenges to the plan came largely from students on the council who were opposed to the mandatory nature of the plan.

The new mandatory meal plan would entail paying presently for future developments, so that the school itself would benefit more than the students currently attending and potentially paying for the plan.

Silverman consistently denied the possibility of full-time students being able to completely avoid the plan, not being required to pay in advance for meals and, in the long run, the new building.

Dr. Rachford, silent for most of Silverman’s presentation and the following questions from student government officials, commented concerning the idea of paying for facilities which will be unavailable to those paying.

“That kind of foresight is not unheard of.” Rachford further implicated the inevitability of the new hall: “The new facility is going to happen.”

In making the new hall an inevitability, Rachford narrowed the topic for the potential debate to take place this Thursday to the subject of financing the development.

Silverman explained that the new building’s various accoutrements are to include foods friendly with various diets, such as “coeliac, kosher, and halal.”

Coeliac refers to an intestinal condition which causes gluten to irritate the stomach. Foods prepared for someone who suffers from coeliac disease must be prepared without products containing gluten, a plant protein found in various grains, particularly wheat.

Kosher foods are those whose preparation adheres to Jewish law, while halal foods are acceptable to those following Islamic dietary requirements.

The variability of tolerance continued a theme of inclusiveness and expansion of dining services to reflect this has an inseparable aspect of being a student at KSU.

When questioned by a member of the student council concerning whether or not faculty would be required to take part in the plan as well, Silverman replied “That is not an existing model.”

However, the necessity of using her plan to fulfill the needs of the new dining facility was expressly denied: “This is a way, not the way.”

What other options would be open remained unclear throughout the meeting, and avoiding a mandatory meal plan was not presented as an option by any faculty or staff present
Because Silverman did not present other ways of financing the facility, this Thursday’s meetings are unlikely to produce any kind of change to the planned mandatory meal plan for full-time students.