Five percent increase to dining fee will hail lots of improvements

By Alexa Corcoran

The students of UNH can breathe easy knowing that the Wildcatessen will remain open until four in the morning on the weekends next year. This is just one of the positive results of the new Dining Fee increase.

In their weekly meeting two weeks ago, Student Senate ruled that a five percent increase in next year’s Dining Fee is crucial to keep the dining halls running efficiently in addition to making the necessary improvements for the following year. Some of the factors responsible for this increase include fuel and energy costs, salary increases, loan payments, property investments, equipment replacements, a significant credit increase, and essential repairs.

“We want to make sure the students love dining and we also want to stay competitive in the market,” said John Plodzik, director of dining at UNH.

While this increase does raise the prices for meal plans, it offers some benefits as well. For example, the price for block plans consisting of 50-75 visits to the dining halls significantly decreased. This is good news for commuters and faculty members that pay for a certain number of entrances to the dining halls. Also, all Gold Plan holders will receive an additional twenty five dining dollars. Furthermore, the five percent increase allows for longer hours of operation for retail locations such as Wildcatessen, Zeke’s Café, and the Dairy Bar.

“For students to reap the benefits of the things they appreciate, like the long hours of operation and things like the Mug Club, this increase is important,” said Harmony Abrams, Student Senate’s dining liaison.

As for the dining halls themselves, this increase means lots of improvements. For example, Stillings will be getting new glasses, countertops, sneeze guards, and a tray collector among several other additions. Holloway Commons is redoing the kitchen flooring, lighting, re-carpeting both the upstairs and downstairs eating areas, as well as rearranging the entire downstairs seating area. Booths will be incorporated into this seating arrangement, making it easier to move around in and not to mention making the dining hall more aesthetically pleasing.

However, the dining halls aren’t the only places getting makeovers. $170,000 is being spent to undergo repairs for the Dairy Bar, while $ 920,000 will be removed from the dining department’s reserves to fund all of the improvements that will be seen next year.

Plodzic is especially excited about this increase because it creates some slack in the dining department’s extremely tight budget. Although this year’s budget was the most challenging he has ever worked with, Plodzic managed the money well. According to Nick Wolfe, the speaker for Student Senate, the dining department does a good job of stretching their money.

“They get a lot for a little,” said Wolfe.

Indeed, the dining department made the decision to stick with the universities guidelines by only allotting for a five percent increase. Given all of the repairs and replacements needed around campus, the department could have easily requested more, said Abrams.

“I’m really not surprised the fee went up. School gets more and more expensive each year. But I mean, if these changes really need to happen and I’ll benefit from them then I guess I’ll pay the extra five percent,” said Dan Cox, a junior at UNH.

While many students will most likely not be thrilled about removing more money from their pockets, some understand that these improvements are for their interests.

“If Wildcatessen wasn’t open so late on the weekends I don’t know what I’d do,” said Jordan Pennels, a freshman at UNH. “Going there at two in the morning is like a weekend ritual.”

While all students probably won’t be as understanding as Pennels and Cox, most will hopefully realize that these improvements will save years of work in the upcoming years, benefiting future generations of students at UNH and avoiding costly future repairs.