If you are like me, the opening of the Union at UNT campus has been a life-changing event for you. There is Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, Krunchy's, Fuzzy's and a Starbucks that is set to open this month. They are available to go to during the day when you want a break from the cafeteria food, because let's be real, we all get tired of Kerr or Bruce at some point. We are very lucky to have one of the newest and best student centers in the country, and I'm sure that we all take advantage of it after not having a union for the past two years and having a makeshift food trailer with about six stores in it. While we have all been excited about the new additions and amenities that the union does give us, we have looked past the downsides that might do us more harm than good.
The UNT meal plans are set up to provide food and flex dollars for students living in on-campus housing. There are two types of plans that you can sign up for: the weekday plan and the full week plan. As many of us have come to find out with the Union opening up, late-night dinning has been eliminated and all of the cafeterias are closed on Saturday, with all of the cafeterias closing at 8 p.m. which is way too early for college students. The housing website has just accommodated the new changes for this spring semester, changing it to a Monday-Friday plan or a Sunday-Friday plan. Sure, they changed the meal plan for new transfer students, but for those of us who signed up in the fall for a meal plan and chose the full week option -- we're getting ripped off.
The University has so graciously decided to give us an extra $100 in flex to use at the Union, but along with that they opened a new feature in meal plans where you can reload money on to your card at a slightly discounted price. Seems fair to me, right? Wrong. If we pay for a seven-day meal plan, we should get seven days of meals provided for us in the cafeteria. I am fine with the university endorsing the Union and all of the new stores, but you also have to take into consideration that the stores are still at retail price with no discounts for students whatsoever. This especially sucks for the students who are on the minimum seven-day plan and only receive $240, which, if divided up equally throughout the entire semester, they can only spend $15 a week, and if you are going to Which Wich, that only covers one meal if you don't get a drink. And let's not forget, the places in the Union that are open on Saturday do not offer their breakfast menu on the weekend, so sorry if you like to eat pancakes on Saturday morning. You're sure not getting them from the Union.
I am in no way against the Union. I love Chick-Fil-A more than life itself and any of the other options in there. We have pretty good cafeterias. I could live off of the chocolate milk in Kerr and the mac 'n cheese in Bruce, but the main point of this is that we are all poor college students who do not have extra money to throw around on the weekend when we run out of flex. I wish the university would be a little more considerate and think about long-term when selling a full seven-day plan and only providing six days.
