Students may soon have more options for food on the go. Two Student Government resolutions, discussed at Monday’s Student Auxiliaries and Services committee meeting, will expand the accessibility of dining options for students.
If both resolutions pass, the implementations will be left to LSU Dining.
SGR No. 9 would enable every vending machine in the Student Union to accept Paw Points. Senator Ahmad El-Rachidi, author of the bill, said these machines, which are already wired to accept credit and debit cards, could easily become Paw Point-friendly.
The bill was originally written to make all vending machines on campus accept Paw Points, but because many machines do not have credit card slots at all, the bill was amended to only apply to the machines in the Union, which already take cards.
“There’s a lot of work that has to go into this process, so I figured we’d take this one step at a time,” El-Rachidi said.
For most vending machines in residence halls, which do not have credit card options, SG hopes to work with the Residence Hall Association to upgrade those machines to become Paw Point-accessible in the future.
Another resolution, SGR No. 7, explores the possibility of making takeout boxes available for the dining halls on campus. If the bill passes, SG hopes to work with LSU Dining to coordinate the initiative.
Senator Katherine Becquet, one of the bill’s authors, remembered how she, like many students, would try to sneak food out of the dining halls when she lived on campus.
“Freshman year, I thought I was sneaky taking my Tupperware into the 459,” Becquet said. “It’s definitely a need and it would be way easier for people who need to study or do homework.”
Members of the SAS committee released a survey Monday to the student body asking students if they would like to see takeout boxes in their dining halls. As of Wednesday afternoon, 580 students had responded, and 93 percent were in favor of having the option to take their food to go.
The potential takeout boxes could resemble the new, eco-friendly boxes made available by some dining locations in the Union, like the sushi and sandwich boxes at On-the-Geaux.
Senator Renzi Terrebonne, head of SAS and another author of SGR No. 7, said he has been in contact with representatives from LSU Dining and they are eager to work with SG to provide some kind of resource like this for students.
“There are a lot of students that want this service … and Dining is aware of this,” he said.