Technician - November 20, 2009 by NC State Student Media

Technician          

friday november

20 2009

Raleigh, North Carolina

Residents must vacate as dorms close for break Policy considers students ‘trespassing’ if found in dorms during break Alanna Howard Staff Writer

luis zapata/Technician file photo

Erskine Bowles, president of the UNC System, sits at the head of the table in the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center while Bob Jordan calls roll at a Board of Trustees meeting June 8. BOT committees met Thursday and the full board meets today.

Tuition increase, fee package await approval Initiatives await full board approval at BOT meeting today Ty Johnson Editor-in-Chief

The Student and Campus Affairs Committee Thursday approved both the campus-initiated tuition increase proposal and Chancellor Jim Woodward’s fee package recommendation. Student Body President Ji m Ceresnak, along with Chair Barbara Mulkey, Jack Cozort and Bob Jordan, make up the committee. The package, which included the student center renovations fee, was altered to reallocate 50 cents from the athletics fee to the education technologies fee.

Talley fee debated heavily Ceresnak said there was much discussion about the fee increase to renovate Talley Student Center and the Atrium Food Court fueled by concerns students expressed after both the Student Senate and fee committee’s approval of the increase. “There’s merit to both arguments,” Ceresnak said of whether the fee increase should be approved. “We discussed it pretty thoroughly and, after looking through the proposals, the committee chose to approve it.” Ceresnak said Woodward joined in the discussion over the fee increases, which include an indebtedness fee increase of $83 which will increase over the next three years to $290.

Education technologies fee increase gets half-dollar boost In a move Ceresnak said he and Student Senate President Kelli Rogers were in support of the committee reduced the fee increase proposal for athletics by 50 cents and increased the education technologies fee by the same amount. “We didn’t feel it was appropriate to give athletics more of an increase than education and technology,” Ceresnak said, referencing the student services that have been lost due to budget cuts. “It’s a nominal change, but we felt those fees should be equal and taken into account. We were both happy the chancellor was willing to make that change.”

Rogers, who did not attend the committee meeting, could not be reached for comment late Thursday. Committee approves campusinitiated tuition increase A legislatively-mandated $200 “tax on students,” according to Ceresnak, factored in to next year’s budget is under fire from campuses across the UNC System as the Board yesterday approved a campus-initiated tuition increase he and other student body presidents from across the state hope will replace the state’s increase.

BOT continued page 3

University Dining open to input on improving meal equivalency rates, dining options High walk-in rate not an appropriate comparison Heidi Klumpe Staff Writer

How much to eat? Meal equivalency rates Breakfast: $4.25 Lunch: $5.00 Dinner: $5.25 Dining hall meal costs Breakfast: $5.50 Lunch: $7.00 Dinner: $7.50 Customers using an All-Campus account pay 50 cents less per meal.

By using “meal equivalency” rates, students can use a meal designated in their meal plan to purchase food at places other than dining halls, including Port City Java, the Atrium, Hill of Beans and other cafés and eateries Source: University Dining on campus. For students on the meal plan, breakfast, lunch and dinner are worth, during their respective hours, $4.25, prices range from $4.48 to $5.72 per $5.00 and $5.25. Meals at a dining meal. The equivalency rate tries to hall cost $5.50, $7.00 and $7.50 re- match that worth. “That’s why lunch costs a visitor spectively for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with students purchasing with paying cash [$7], but the equivalenan All-Campus card paying 50 cents cy rate is [$5] for students on meal plans,” Lait said. less per meal. According to Lait, a survey of other “When you swipe a meal at the dining hall, it’s a delicate balance of busi- schools in the UNC System found that ness,” Jennifer Gilmore, the manager N.C. State had the best rate for every of marketing and communications for meal, coming second only to ECU’s $5.35 breakfast. Other schools, such University Dining, said. According to Gilmore, part of the as UNC-Chapel Hill, charged as much disparity arises from the difference as $9.65 for dinner. The equivalency in production costs. plan is also unique, “It costs us more according to Gilmto feed people at ore. Of schools who [other] places than do offer similar proat a dining hall,” she grams, the rates are said. “So we transfer much lower, such basically the value of as the $2 to $3 ECU the dining hall to the students are offered. quick-service.” “It’s a luxury to The apparent diseven be able to [have parity between the ou r equ iva lenc y worth of a walk-in Jennifer Gilmore, University plan],” Gilmore said. meal and an equivDining manager of marketing and communications The limit continalent amount someues to frustrate stuwhere else is more dents such as Julian complicated. “The walk-in price at the dining hall Dalton, a freshman in chemical enis set for people who normally are not gineering, who said the system does a committed part of the student din- not help students as much as it could. “It’s not convenient to go to a dining ing program,” Randy Lait, the director of Dining, said. “Students on campus hall if you wake up late,” he said. Dalton said the restrictive price meal plans can pay even less through keeps him from purchasing an equivathe value of the meal plan.” With a block meal plan, students pay lently fulfilling meal. “You can’t run on just coffee. You between $6.34 and $6.65 per meal, while on the meals-per-week system, need a muffin to go with it,” he said.

When Thanksgiving break begins Nov. 25, residents living on campus will have until 10 a.m. to vacate their residence halls and will not be allowed to return until 7 p.m. Nov. 27. This policy has some students upset about being “kicked out” of their dorm during this time. Peter Shin, a junior in aerospace engineering, said he wished there were more options for those that remain on campus. “I wish the arrangements were more flexible and different dorms had different policies. That might be confusing, but certain dorms need more options because not everyone can go home during these breaks,” he said. University Housing warns students to take all belongings home, unplug all electrical items except for fridges and take out the trash. If items such as phone chargers are left in the room, residents will have to do without them during the three days they are gone. Postings in Bowen, Metcalf and Carroll Halls state residents “will not be able to gain entry into the buildings prior to the stated time on Friday.” Jim Pappenhagen, associate director of administration for Housing, said the policy has been in place for a number of years and was created because the dorms used to be open during breaks but there weren’t enough students to warrant keeping them open. “The dorms were open, but, in reality, only one or two people were using them so that didn’t make sense to keep them staffed and heated and electricity on,” he said. Occasionally people request to stay on campus during the breaks, and for the people who make such requests early enough Pappenhagen said they can stay in guest rooms at Avent Ferry Complex. “If students make arrangements early enough, Avent Ferry is available to them. The rooms are $28 per night and have a private bath. Internet access is an additional $5 per night, and a guest meal plan option is also available,” he said. These rooms are available by request on Housing’s Web site and must be

DORMS continued page 3

insidetechnician

“It costs us more to feed people at [other] places than at a dining hall.”

Social networking has two faces See page 6.

brent kitchen/Technician

Freshman in FYC Michelle Blood buys lunch in the Wolves’ Den Thursday. Blood said of meal equivalencies, “I love it because then I don’t have to eat in the dining halls all the time,” Blood said.

Mary Maclean, a freshman in biomedical engineering, said he has had similar problems with the equivalency rate. “You have to work to hard to get more than two objects,” she said. “The items should cost less or the rate should be higher.” Lait said he has heard similar complaints, particularly with the addition

of Port City Java, where some premium items exceed the equivalency rate, and said Dining is always looking to improve its services. “We’ll work on this in the spring semester to see if we can find ways to offer items that better fit our equivalency,” he said. “We appreciate student input.”

Pack playing for pride See page 8.

viewpoint business & money classifieds sports

ts e k ic T S r e h t n a P a n li ro Ca in W

NC State Bookstores

4 5 7 8

Entry forms at the front of the store.

We’re giving away 2 tickets to the Dec 6th game -vs- the Bucs.