Julie Conlon
Equinox Staff
“Drinks to go…Actually No.” Some say it’s clever, others find it harsh. This phrase has reached popularity on the Keene State College campus with signage posted at every drink station in the Zorn Dining Commons. The signs remind students they are prohibited from taking water, juice, coffee, and tea from the D.C., but states students may leave with a piece of fruit, a cookie, or ice cream in hand.
Students used napkins as an outlet for their frustration regarding these imposed rules.
One student threatened via napkin, “If I hadn’t already paid for my food, I would go on a D.C. strike! I want beverages to go.”
And another, “For the amount of money that I already pay for a meal plan I should be able to take a travel mug of coffee out of the D.C. It’s not stealing if you’re paying for it.”
Addressing the students who felt cheated, Joseph Quirinale, general manager of the D.C., said, “We’ve noticed more and more students are taking items out. It started with last year when we noticed the plates were disappearing at an alarming rate.”
Thus, the infamous line “Drinks to Go…Actually No.” It is this short phrase that caused an eruption of anger, confusion, and distress from the student body, resulting in an overflow of napkins in the D.C. the past several weeks.
Quirinale said the student response took him by surprise.
“I’m still a little shaken from the reaction,” he said. Regarding the popular signage, Quirinale said, “I didn’t think it was rude—I thought it was rather clever! I think that it was assumed that it was rude because it really got their attention. I felt somewhat distressed by the reaction.”
Quirinale continued, “I think I was upset because our job is to provide a service. We need to focus on providing the service that is expected of us. Is it all going to be popular to everyone? No.”
Quirinale and Nate August, D.C. food manager, addressed the seemingly common assumption among students that the displayed rules are a new concoction. They referred to the KSC Student Handbook and said the rules existed previously.
The KSC handbook states, “With a meal plan you can enjoy our all-you-care-to-eat concept in our state-of-the-art facility. Food prepared and served in this facility must be consumed while dining at the Dining Commons. The only exception to this is any handheld cookie, ice cream cone, or fruit being consumed as the student leaves the facility.”
KSC senior Joey Mintel said the rules came as no surprise to him.
“This is nothing new to me,” he commented. “I see no problem with this if it means we’re taking the D.C.’s supplies and costing them money.”
Beth Brayman, an RA in Fiske Hall and a member of the Student Board of Advisors, said she asked Quirinale to visit her residents, whom she found angry with the enforced rules, to explain the D.C.’s policies.
“The residents who attended seemed to get a lot out of it,” she said. “They learned a lot about where their money goes, how much they are paying per meal, and the value of their meal plan.”
Paul Striffolino, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, found it difficult to communicate these rules to students.
“The challenge is how do you communicate this in a way that is palatable?” he asked. Striffolino explained he oversees every cost and purchase the D.C. makes. He said he constantly looks for ways to save money so as not to reduce the program, ultimately making the students’ experiences better.
Striffolino commented, “I hope students appreciate what they are getting for the price they’re paying.”
The administration made no apologies for the D.C.’s rules and the negative student reaction. Quirinale stated when students take beverages from the D.C., they “abuse the program.”
“It’s abusing your meal plan money when they do that. It really affects other people on the program.”
Still, many students remain angry, especially over the fact that they may no longer remove water from the D.C.
Recently, the Campus Ecology club posted signs throughout the facility that stated, “Water is FREE.”
Aware of students’ frustration, Quirinale said, “Having people take water out isn’t much of an issue, but it is a sanitation issue. One of the spreading causes of germs is from soda fountains, because you don’t sanitize your to-go container.”
The administration’s response to KSC students’ distress over water removal came with the announcement of a brand new “filtered water spigot,” which is to be installed in the D.C. lobby by the spring semester.
KSC sophomore Chloe Marchand said she liked the idea of adding filtered water to the D.C. lobby.
“For many, going to the D.C. is the only time they eat and drink,” she said, “so now students can get a drink other times during the day.”
August expressed excitement over this continuous response from the student body.
“The level of interest in this is a good thing. It opens up a dialogue that didn’t exist at the time. With this, people became engaged.”
In response to the flow of napkins, August and his team put together their rebuttal—a letter posted in the D.C. Beyond the letter, which references the student handbook, Quirinale and August provided a different perspective for students to think about—a perspective they said is often overlooked.
“One of the things I think your average student doesn’t realize is that your meal plan funds this building,” Quirinale said.
“The building is self-sustaining,” he continued. “The money from the meal plan goes for not only the upkeep of the building, but the care of the building, the replacement of some of the hardware, like the dishes, the repair of the equipment, the cleaning of the building—our salaries. There’s a lot of economics that are involved.”
Quirinale addressed the common student complaint over the cost of the meal plan package, but continued to reassure students the cost pays off.
“I understand there’s an idea of sticker shock,” Quirinale stated, specifically referring to students who pay $1,500 for the 19 meal plus FLEX package.
“It seems like a tremendous amount of money because you’re paying it all at one time—I understand that,” he said. Quirinale explained once FLEX is removed, the actual meal plan money totals $1,399 and breaks down to 107 days per semester. Out of those 107 days, Quirinale explained, students receive 292 meals.
“So in the end, $1,399 dollars pays for 292 meals, totaling $4.77 per meal,” he said. “So when a student says to me, ‘I pay a lot of money’ I say ‘Yes, but that money breaks down per meal for $4.77,’” Quirinale explained. “To me that is the biggest bargain in town.”
For the students who remain upset over the rules, Quirinale had this to say, “The meal plan is priced to accommodate all you can eat while you’re here.” He reminded students of the Hoot -n- Scoot and the sizzlers in the Night Owl Café and stated these facilities were created out of a student demand for take-out.
“We’re basically charged with being the watch-dogs for your money,” Quirinale said. “It’s a difficult situation to be put in because it’s not our money but your money that we’re managing.”
Striffolino added, “Our job is to manage these things. We have to take steps that get a reaction.”
When asked how the D.C. plans to manage the bound-to-happen situation where students ignore the rules and continue to take beverages out of the D.C., Quirinale’s stated, “To me it’s common sense. It’s all you can eat while you’re here. Anything else is theft–I don’t want to put in harsh terms like that, but it really is.”
August responded, “We certainly don’t want to push it to the degree we can–it’s punishable for going before the Student Board of Conduct. We’re really protecting everyone’s meal plan and their meal plan money. I’d like to think we can control it by just telling people no.” Striffolino added, “Once students understand the rules and all that goes behind the meal plan, the D.C., they’ll get it.”
The Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs concluded, “People take food personally, and we take it very seriously.”
Julie Conlon can be contacted at jconlon@ksc.mailcruiser.com