The MSU administration holds the opinion that requiring freshmen to buy meal plans and live on campus will improve their college lives. We think it could be just a moneymaking deal.The plan would make residence halls and meal plans mandatory for freshmen starting fall 2008. However, there are a few freshmen who will be exempt. Freshmen who are married, part of the military or from Starkville won’t have to meet the requirements.
Right now 90 percent of MSU freshmen live on campus. So we don’t see how the residence hall situation is going to improve college life. If anything, it will stay almost the same.
But the meal plans are a way to make an extra buck. While the meal plan ensures that freshmen will be able to eat, MSU is the third fattest university in the nation, according to Men’s Health.
One member of The Reflector staff had a meal plan for his first semester, and he gained 30 pounds from the campus food. The fattening food may change in 2008, but the Union won’t necessarily have a health food option.
Plus, what if a student wants to eat out with friends? He or she would be wasting money – the student would already have a meal plan.
We feel that if the administration wants these measures to go through, the price of both living on campus and meal plans should go down. That would be fairer for freshmen.