DUC on a Sunday evening — filled with students trying to use the last few meal swipes left at the end of the week. But tonight, students head to DUC with a week’s worth of swipes and gather more food than they can carry. However, the check-out clerk is prepared to crush dreams: “Sorry, you can only use four swipes a day.” No exceptions.

For days like today, and other holiday weekends or breaks, students lose money… and there is no way around it. Tonight, a student with a 14-meal per week plan, using the allotted four swipes, ($3.45/swipe) is out $34.50. For one with 21 swipes, $62.10… gone. College students are told to be money-conscious, but we have no control here because of the current restrictions: Four per day and leftovers disappear at 11:59 p.m. each Sunday!

I understand why there is a daily limit — it ensures students spread out their swipes over the entire week and helps keep campus dining locations stocked. A solution: Keep the four swipes per day limit but allow students to roll over their unused swipes to the next week, similar to how unused meal plan dollars roll over to the spring. We have a bit more freedom, and the dining locations don’t feel the heat. We still have to budget them so we aren’t losing money at the end of the semester but aren’t completely boned when we are given a week’s worth and told “Sorry, you can only use four swipes a day.”

–Chelsea Martin

Evansville sophomore