Finals Week Privileges?

We are close to Finals Week and many of us are already stressed and see themselves staying at the library for 24 hours wallowing  and regretting their choices.

Well before that start, would it not be great to have food near you?? As we all know, when its finals weeks we all stay up late doing the work we need to and the library staff bring snacks here and there for us during the late hours.  Yet, I always wanted to know why Mansfield Crossing or the closer stores around us push their hours to close later?

Finals week is the time college students stress eat and (sadly) don't really think about money as much as they are thinking about their final exam or paper. So, businesses like Dominos, Chipotle, TGIF, Sake, BWW, CVS, Walgreen would get great business from Wheaton College students at 2 am or even later. 

If we can work this out with some of these businesses and ask if they can, only finals week, stay open later many students that I know of that complain about food would be pleased. Just imagine a week of wheaton college perks for chipotle or CVS??

 I know the realistic view maybe that they may not have people who would want to work those hours, or they cant pay electric bills, but if we can establish this maybe for next semester it would be great!( well at least in my pov)

what do yall think?? 

Little Known Secrets of Wheaton Dining

I recently found out about the habanero sauce that one of the cooks at Emerson Café has made-up himself in the kitchen. It's a little-known secret that his amazing addition to sandwiches, so please don't spread the word too far (as I publically blog about my new finding).
It seems that each year I'm on campus, I find a new way to hack Wheaton's not-so-amazing meals with combining multiple ingredients from the far corners of Chase or Emerson, to create an ultimate dish that my friends gawk over as they nibble their pizza or boring steamed vegetables. With the new menu for the dining areas, its taken quite a bit of time to feel as if I need to branch out even more and find the next unique addition to my personal menu. As the semester was coming closer to ending, however, I started getting a little antsy about the lack of creativity in my daily meals. Being the holiday mentality, I am thankful for this habanero discovery. The little kick that it added to my sandwich was exactly what I needed during the last day on campus before Thanksgiving break. Everyone had left, but at least I had my habanero sauced food.

How to Get the Most Bang for your Lyons Buck 

At Wheaton College, there are several different meal plans available to the student body. The first plan is the Carte Blanche plan that first years are automatically put on. In this meal plan, you have unlimited meal swipes to Chase Dining Hall, located on lower campus near most of the first year dorms, as well as $50 Lyons Bucks. The remaining meal plans are for sophomores and up. They can choose from the Carte Blanche meal plan or the other two. The middle meal plan is 225 meal swipes, with $350 Lyons Bucks and the last plan consists of 150 meal swipes, with $525 Lyons Bucks. Typically, the higher up you are in class year, you will pick a meal plan with a lower number of meal swipes and a higher number of Lyons Bucks. But what are Lyons Bucks you ask?

Lyons Bucks are like free spending dollars you can use at any of the cafes on campus - Balfour Hood Cafe, Davis-Spencer Cafe, and the most popular one of all, Emerson dining. Emerson dining has a Starbucks as well as made-to-order sandwiches and salads. But it can be challenging to budget ourself for the whole semester on just a few hundred dollars. Here are some tips to help you through the semester.

1. Check your balance often

The food at the cafes can be quite expensive at times, so its important you are aware of how much money you have so you're not left blind sided come week 7.

2. Don't mind leftovers

The salads and sandwiches from Emerson are HUGE! Don't force yourself to eat it all! Instead, eat half and save the rest for a late night sack or tomorrow's lunch!

3. I know stealing is bad, but sometimes it's okay 

At Chase, you're allowed to take food out of the dining hall. When you go in for meals, bring a container or two and make yourself a salad or grab an extra sandwich to go. This way, you get essentially two meals for one swipe and you can save your Lyons Bucks for later!

4. Make your own food! 

College is expensive. But sometimes, it's nice to have something a little extra special. Olivia '18, says she makes her own coffee with her Keurig in order to save some Lyons Bucks for other meals.  

The Unlimited Plan vs The 3rd Meal Plan

Chase is probably the most visited dining hall on campus by most students, thus choosing an appropriate meal plan is essential to many students. Freshmen don't have an option of choosing between meal plans, since they're automatically enrolled into the Unlimited Plan. What does somebody's choice of meal plan say about them? I am a senior with the 3rd Meal Plan, since although I visit Chase 2-3 times per day, I am in Davis Spencer Cafe a lot due to my course schedule, so sometimes I buy food on the go in the Cafe.

I interviewed a sophomore & junior asking them about their meal plan choices. The sophomore informed me that he chose the Unlimited meal plan, since he lives in lower campus, thus Chase is really accessible for him. He mentioned that he goes to chase about 3-5 times per day, so he is often in Chase so the unlimited meal plan suits him. He doesn't usually buy from the cafes on campus, so he prefers the unlimited meal plan. 

The junior that I interviewed mentioned that he also has the Unlimited meal plan, since he also lives on lower campus & doesn't spend much time on upper campus, where Emerson is located & Davis Spencer Cafe. He doesn't spend much money there since he's usually in lower campus & his upper class-men friends usually come down from upper to lower campus to eat in Chase. 

During these interviews, I learned how much location matters for most students when deciding on what meal plan to choose. As well, many mentioned that Emerson's lighting was a determining factor for them since it makes it feel like a cafe rather than a dining hall. Most students want comfort & accessible food locations for themselves so they decide to choose a meal plan that fits their location.  

Chasing Changes 

Last year, it was a challenge to eat at Chase. I found myself unhappy with much of my food options as they were bland and often overcooked, and there was not that much variety in the food they were serving. However, this past semester has been much, much better and I have noticed several positive changes Chase has been able to make. In general, there are more options day to day, as the pizza and make-your-own pasta bar are now staple sections. But there have been some really positive changes I want to take the time to highlight.

Possibly the best change Chase has made this semester is the addition of the "Allergies Station." This station is gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and shellfish free all the time. This station had been very successful throughout the semester, and is extremely important to those with food allergies. Within the station, there is always a source of protein - fish or chicken usually -, a source of grain and vegetables. Several students last year consistently spoke about the lack of gluten free options at Chase, and said they were forced to live off of simply rice or buy their own food, which is very expensive on top of what they already pay for to be on the meal plan. Now, they know there will always be an option in addition to rice at Chase for them to eat and they no longer have to spend money out of pocket.

Chase is also now Leed Certified Silver, which means our building gets a silver metal for being environmentally conscious. As we all know, our food scraps go towards feeding the pigs. Simply throwing away food contributes a massive amount of waste that goes straight into landfills, creating extreme strain on our environment. Buy feeding our food to the pigs, the pig farmers no longer have to buy feed from corporations that import food from over seas, eliminating fossil fuel waste, and Wheaton doesn't have to throw away any food, eliminating our food waste.

Last but certainly not least, is they new person in charge of Dining Service. The new person in charge of dining services is very receptive to changes students want to make and listens to what the students have to say in regards to our dining options. This semester alone, there have been several dining experience surveys because they want to hear our feedback, and I have meet with him personally to express my own concerns. I encourage all to reach out to the new head of Dining Services; Wheaton is a collaborative community and we should take every opportunity we can to make this place comfortable for all.