Students looking for cafeteria meals will soon be out of luck

For students who live in the dorms on campus, there are only two cafeterias that accept meal plans. Real Food On Campus has two locations, one in Moody Towers and one in Oberholtzer Hall.

Residents of the Towers and the Quadrangle are required to purchase a meal plan, and there are very few plans that do not require some allotment of RFOC-only meals.

This isn’t normally a problem.  Campuses all around the nation require their on-campus residents to buy similar meal plans, and there is nothing wrong with UH for requiring the same thing of its residents.

The problem arises when the University decides to shut down the campus’ largest cafeteria on April 30 — two weeks before the end of the semester — leaving students with no alternative other than to walk across campus to use their required, pre-purchased meal plans.

It’s a frustrating situation that will undoubtedly be compounded by the stress brought about from finals.

The situation is unfair and was not made in the best interests of University students — especially when RFOC could delay its closure by two weeks and save residents the hassle of taking a hike to eat a meal at the only available location on campus.

While RFOC’s decision to close before the semester is over is not the end of the world, it certainly does not quiet the notion that the University is not as student-oriented as it would have students believe.

There is no mention anywhere on the dining services Web site about the closing, and residents were ‘informed’ of the closure by posters proudly proclaiming the new dining hall’s praises along with a short message on the University Services’ Twitter page. The closure is barely mentioned on the poster, relegated to a small caption that says “closing April 30.”

This is a bad situation that has been handled poorly. When the University decided to close the dining hall before the semester’s close, it should have announced its intentions as soon as possible and put banners all over the dining services Web site.

As it stands, UH is keeping its cards too close to the chest, and it’s the students who will suffer the consequences.

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