Point:
Have you tried the new Meal Exchange program at the Stag Snack Bar? Although it provides the perfect opportunity for a meal on the go, you are very limited. The only time you can use this new addition is between the hours of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. Also, the menu is limited as to what counts as a meal swipe.
When you enter The Stag, you can see the menus of Rob & Iggy’s, the Stag Deli and the Original Burger Company. Food items that are considered part of the meal swipe are marked, which limits your options. This method is more of a hassle than dining dollars.
The limits of the Meal Exchange program are confusing. While the initial menu doesn’t change from station to station, students must read between the lines when trying to see what they can actually use the exchange for. One misstep could end up costing the students, placing burden on them.
Including all food in the exchange would save students time on choosing their meals if they are trying to guarantee the use of a meal swipe. If you’re in a rush to class, you can be stuck trying to fit the guidelines of a meal swipe. At least in the Main Dining Hall, we know that no matter what we get it, always counts as a meal swipe.
Since options are so limited, I think the meal swipe plan is pointless. What if a student does not like the only options available for a meal swipe? Or a student has class during the time allotted for a meal swipe at The Stag?
Going to the dining hall is easier because you can get whatever you want to eat, however much you’d like of it and it all counts as one meal swipe.
Instead of trying to meet a requirement and go at a certain time, you have more options. This is easier for students since our schedules can be hectic.
The Meal Exchange expanding would become efficient instead of too picky. By expanding the menu options and the times for a meal swipe, The Stag could guarantee more customers.
Counterpoint:
By Josue Jorge
Things are happening and times are changing here in Stag Country; the most prominent change to everyday life being the quality of food and drink options now made available to us.
We can now roll out of bed and grab our favorite Starbucks drink just before class. If that dramatic change doesn’t satisfy you, take a stroll to the Main Dining Hall where you will find the food options have exceptionally changed.
If the variety and grill marks on the chicken do not impress you, check out the new Swipe & Go option by the Barone Campus Center Mezzanine. Like what you see? Me neither — but it’s another option. There is nothing special at this food station other than Nicole; one of the sweetest Sodexo workers you will ever meet.
The final and superior option is a couple steps away from Nicole’s station, so kindly say hello and goodbye to her and head over to the Stag Snack Bar. It is in this room that you will find the best invention since sliced bread: the Meal Exchange. Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., you can use a StagCard swipe to get yourself a delicious and high quality meal.
While a burger, fries and an ice-cold Coke is a classic option in The Stag (and in America in general), healthier options like salads and fresh fruit are also available under the Meal Exchange.
For whatever reason, some menu items are not included in the Meal Exchange, but it is not as bad as it seems as the option combinations are still virtually endless. The greatest part of this alternative is the simple fact that you can take your food and eat just about anywhere, as you are not restricted to eating in the often overcrowded dining hall.
Only negative I see with this food option is the fact that it probably generates a lot of paper waste. Solution? Recycle. I love this option so much that you will probably catch me in the Stag taking advantage of the exchange myself. You would find me getting chips, a Sprite and a cold turkey sandwich—on sliced bread of course.
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