Freshman who choose to live on campus their first semester are the only students required to have a meal plan. But where does everyone else get their food?
On the LSU dining Web site, Chartwell’s breaks down the eight meal plan options.
Each plan, except for Tiger Lunch, is complemented with a varying number of Paw Points which can be used in some campus convenience stores and at the Tiger Lair in the Union.
Five of the meal plans are assigned on a semester to semester basis. The meals on these plans have to be used before the semester ends because the number of meals remaining will not carry over to the next semester.
Two of the remaining plans are designated yearly, and the last option is Tiger Lunch, which is chosen each semester.
Autumn Martin, a business administration, never had a meal plan.
“I didn’t live on campus first semester, so I wasn’t required to have a meal plan,” said Martin. “But next year I think I’ll invest in one, because I think it would be more convenient than trying to make something on my own, especially since I’m always on campus anyway.”
“Life without a meal plan is rough sometimes,” said Elizabeth Guillory, a secondary education junior.
“Students without meal plans have to buy groceries and cook which can be time consuming,” she said.
Ashley Ransburg. an elementary education sophomore, said the good thing about having a meal plan is that it provides an option.
“You don’t have to worry about how much money you have or which direction your next meal is coming from,” Ransburg said.
Aside from the monetary worry not having meal plan creates, some students find having a meal plan also is good because the dining hall provides a meeting location for students.
“Whenever my friends and I want to get together and study, I usually tell them to meet me in at a dining hall and to swipe them in,” said Britney Kennedy, a math junior.
The process of swiping people without a meal plan into the dining halls is a practice utilized campus wide.
Swiping occurs when students who have meal plans allow their Tiger cards to be swiped additional times for those who do not have meal plans.
“Every now and then my friend Courtney swipes me,” said Ramece Quinn, a psychology senior. “If it weren’t for her, I would be living off of Nutri-grain bars and Pop tarts.”
However, there are those students who are not as fortunate to have friends like Courtney, who do not mind swiping them in.
These are the students who stand at outside the dining units asking random people if they can “spare a swipe.”
Jay Treuting, an ISDS freshman, usually doesn’t use his meal plan to support these individuals.
“My friends are the only people who I allow to freeload,” Treuting said.
Although there are many advantages to having a meal plan, survival without a meal plan is not impossible, in fact, in some cases students find that not having a plan is an advantage.
“Although I’d like to have a meal plan, the truth is they are too expensive,” said Ellis Brent, a computer engineering junior.
“Instead of being close to a thousand dollars, they should be five or six hundred,” he said.
Some students believe choosing to eliminate their meal plan can put a stop to a reoccurring phenomenon–the freshman fifteen.
“It’s inevitable that students will gain weight their first year away from home,” said Denelle Walker, a communications freshman.
“But having a meal plan just gives them an excuse to eat, even if they’re not hungry,” Walker said.