Weekend dining rolls slimming

About 100 students canceled their weekend meals the first week they were allowed to. Dining Services' new weekend meal plans took a blow this month, as dozens of students altered or cancelled their extended contracts as soon as they could. About 100 students dropped their weekend meals during the first week of the change period, which began October 6, according to Dining marketing coordinator Adam Sherr. Today is the last day students can alter their plans and receive a pro-rated refund. Dining has not tabulated figures for the last two weeks. Dining Services began offering weekend meals this semester in 14- and 19-meal contracts after surveys conducted last year indicated overwhelming interest in the plans. But the number of students signed up for those plans dropped from approximately 1,400 to 1,300 during the week ending October 10 -- and even before the drops, the interest fell short of Dining's mark. "Two-thousand was our main goal," said Sherr, who speculated that many of the meal plan changes are due to the University's location in a large city with many dining options. "We're not Dartmouth." Despite the low participation, Sherr said the program will continue through at least the end of the year. He noted that Dining wants to test the weekend meals with the next three freshman classes as well, since current upperclassmen are unlikely to change their eating habits. "You aren't going to get students already in a habit to change easily," Dining Services Director Bill Canney said, explaining the low number of upperclassmen who signed up for weekend meals. "Sometimes people need to take a break on weekends. "We need to give the program a chance to grow," he said. "It's tough to look at [the situation] now." Dining Services, however, did cancel the new kosher Sunday meals. The change only affects about 10 people, and Shabbat and holiday kosher meals will continue. While Dining did not reach its goal, Sherr said 1,300 plans out of a total of 6,000 dining contracts is still a sizeable proportion. He emphasized his optimism concerning the new plans. "We were the only Ivy that didn't have weekend plans," he said. "It would be premature to shut it down." Canney explained that while the goal and "guesstimate" for the beginning of the semester was 2,000, that goal might have been hindered by a lack of advertisement. Since freshmen received information regarding the new plans by mail over the summer, most upperclassmen had little knowledge of the changes when classes began. "I guess you could call it 'opening stress syndrome'," Canney said. "We sort of put [weekend dining] on the back burner." Acknowledging the poor advertising and a failed attempt to acquire additional signed contracts at CUPID, Sherr conceded, "That's my fault." Canney also noted that "systems problems" -- such as difficulties instituting the new PennCards -- added to the September confusion. When a student changes a meal plan, Sherr said the top priority is refunding the student's money. But some students have apparently been asking if Dining could automatically transfer the refund to a QuakerCard account -- a logistical impossibility that would also mean Dining was literally giving money to a competitor. QuakerCard founder Matt Levenson, a 1997 Wharton graduate, said his organization is not responsible for the confusion. But he encouraged students to do the transfer themselves. "Students can take the money that they get back from [Dining Services] and put it on their card," Levenson said. Nursing freshman Eling Yang, who recently changed her plan from 14 to 10 meals per week, said her parents were initially concerned about food options and therefore opted for the extended plan. "I had to push myself to get to even two out of the four meals [per weekend]," she said.

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