wednesday, february 11,2004 news the university daily kansan 3A New meal plans designed to give students options By Aziza Tafreshi atafreshi@kansan.com kansan staff writer Students at the University of Kansas can expect more flexibility out of their meal plans next fall. The Department of Student Housing will offer seven KU Cuisine meal plans designed to provide more convenience, said Nona Golledge, assistant director of student dining services. "We're trying to work with students and provide them with more services to meet their needs." Golledge said. Students in residence halls can choose from four different plans through their housing contracts that include a combination of allyou-care-to-eat meals in any of the student housing dining centers, as well as "KU Cuisine Cash," Gotledge said. She said both the meals and the cash would be stored on the student's KU card KU Cuisine cash could be used for meals or snacks at more than a dozen campus locations, including the Kansas and Burge Unions and Wescoe Terrace, Golledge said. She said students would receive a 10 percent discount at all campus locations when they used their KU Cuisine Cash. The fewer fixed meals the plan had, the more KU Cuisine Cash there would be to spend, Golledge said. For example, the Rock Chalk 500 Plan includes 500 dining center meals, $100 in KU Cuisine Cash and 10 guest passes. Golledge that said half of the meals, cash and guest passes would be available on the student's KU Card at the beginning of each semester, giving them an average of approximately 15 meals per week. She said the goal was for students to pick a plan that will benefit them most and use it all before the semester is over. On-campus apartment residents, off-campus students and faculty and staff can sign up for any of these plans even without a housing contract, Golledge said. They also have three other KU Cuisine plans to choose from, including the Big Jay and Baby Jay Plans, which feature only KU Cuisine Cash and guest passes to the student dining centers. The increased flexibility of these meal plans would be convenient, said Kristin Conklin. Hutchinson freshman. Conklin lives in Corbin Hall and often eats dinner at Mrs. E's because it offers more variety than the GSP dining center, she said. She said it would be nice to be able to use her meal plan to go other places as well. On days when Conklin has only an hour break between classes, she said having a prepaid option at the Union would be especially useful, but that it might be a hassle for people to have to keep track of the number of fixed meals they ate throughout the semester. "They might end up with lots left over because they were afraid they'd run out, or not enough because they used them all in the beginning." Conklin said. Adam Bittlingmayer, Lawrence freshman, said he welcomed the idea of being able to divide his meals between weeks as he saw fit, but he said there should be at least one plan that didn't have KU Cuisine Cash. "For some people it may not be the thing." Bittlingmayer said. "They may not want to eat junk food, or they're not down where New dining plans For the 2004-05 academic year KU Custine, the official campus meal plan, will be offering seven KU Custine meal plans. New dining plans
Ineligible individualsDining center mealsDining center meals per week(approx.)KU Cuisine cash (10% off purchases)Guest passesPrice
Rock Chalk 500None500 meals15 meals$10010 passes$3,050
Jayhawk 400None400 meals12 meals$2009 passes$2,640
Go KU 320None320 meals9 meals$3006 passes$2,316
Crimson 220Under-class residents220 meals8 meals$4004 passes$1,852
Blue 100Residence hall residents100 meals3 meals$5002 passes$1,200
Big Jay planResidence hall residentsnonen/a$5004 passes$500
Baby Jay planResidence hall residentsnonen/a$200none$200
Andrew Vaupel/Kansan any of those places are." Source: KU Kucine Web site, www.kucine.com Mary Brungardt said as a Park and Ride student, she was sometimes tempted by the convenience of Mrs. E's as opposed to preparing a meal at home. The Overland Park junior said she might consider a plan like the $1,200 Blue 100 Plan, which offers 100 meals, $500 KU Cuisine Cash, and two guest passes, but committing that much money could be intimidating. "It's kind of a big price tag," Brungardt said. "If I was going to eat at Es' I wouldn't want the cash. I would just want one or the other." I would just wait one more time. The convenience of these plans does come at a cost, Golledge said. The current weekly meal plans range in price from $1,574 to $2,324, whereas the plans for next year range from $1,852 to $3,050. Golledge said that with the traditional weekly meal plans, it was assumed that students would not eat 100 percent of their meals each week, and factoring in those missed meals kept the cost more affordable. "We know that the majority will eat all of their meals now, so we have to price these plans a little bit higher to cover the cost of the meals." Golled said. She said these plans would be a completely different concept from what students are used to, and they would have until the first day of classes each semester to make changes to their meal plans. In the meantime, Golledge said the department would continue to collect student feedback as it began to look at options for the 2005 to 2006 school year. Lewis' background and experience inspires students - Edited by Robert Perkins By Jodie Kraftt jkrafft@kansan.com Kansan staff writer More than 40 years ago, Delano Lewis came to the University of Kansas with two goals: to graduate and to become successful enough that he could help less-fortunate people. By most standards, he has accomplished what he set out to do, and more. as a U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. Since graduating from the University in 1960, Lewis has received a law degree, served in the U.S. Peace Corps, been a president and CEO of both a telephone company and National Public Radio and been appointed Growing up in a segregated community and attending the only black high school in Kansas City, Kan., Lewis said he wanted to become a lawyer to effect change. Lewis "I was very concerned about the plight of minorities, especially African-Americans, in a segregated society," he said. After he received his law degree from Washburn University, Lewis and his wife, Gayle. moved to Washington, D.C., where Lewis worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and later the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 1966, Lewis served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nigeria, a position he said was one of the most broadening experiences of his life. Lewis said he learned a lot about the U.S. economy and the business world during his years at C & P Telephone Company and National Public Radio, and that he felt honored to represent the United States as an ambassador. "They are all important pieces of my life, and each has enriched me and my family," Lewis said. Lewis now lives in Las Cruces, N.M., where he is president and CEO of Lewis & Associates, a communications consulting practice. During his years at the University, LewL said he strove to take advantage of every opportunity he could on campus, Lewis joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and represented the University at a Big 8 talent show as a tap dancer. "The foundation for the things I have achieved started at KU, and I'm very proud of that," Lewis said. Lewis returned to the University in 2002 to speak to African- American high school students at the Black Leadership Symposium. His speech focused on the importance of diversity in international affairs and business. His professional demeanor and message was effective to the audience, said Paul Mobiley, Kansas City, Kan., senior. "He told us to keep on striving to achieve our goals," Mobiley said. Mobiley said that Lewis did a good job of relating to the young people in the crowd while remaining professional. In addition to attending the symposium, Mobiley attended a reception where he visited with Lewis. Mobiley said he and Lewis connected because of their shared hometown and fraternity Lewis said that students should take advantage of their time on campus, and that they should use their careers to better themselves and think of how they could contribute to society. He said Black History Month was a time to remember Africans and African-Americans and draw motivation from their successes. "It's good to know about those who have gone before us," Lewis said, "those who have managed to succeed, excel and open the doors when things were much more difficult." Edited by Paul Kramer