For most students on campus at meal times, the four dining halls are the closest and most convenient places to grab a quick meal.

That is if you have $10 to cough up for lunch or $14.45 for a dinner.

These prices are not astronomical, but not budget friendly either for students with small incomes.

So why can’t we get cheaper meals with a meal plan?

J. Michael Floyd, the executive director of UGA Food Services, said, “I have been here 23 years, and this is the most consistent question I’ve heard.”

Floyd said food services would need to buy “expensive” software or a new id system to record occasional visits of students entering the dining halls on something less than a regular meal plan.

That’s what the man said, but I think an award-winning food service division staffed by intelligent, experienced individuals ought to be able to figure out a way to meet the reality of students needing an affordable and convenient lunch option.

Floyd said students could utilize the many a la carte eateries located across campus for lunch.

However, other than the restaurants at Tate, most of these eateries only offer soups, salads and sandwiches. They do not offer hot meal options. So students either have to forgo hot meals or trek across campus to eat at Tate.

This simply is not an option for many students with busy schedules. For instance, if a student has classes at East Campus, it would take them about an hour and a half to catch a bus to Tate, eat lunch, and catch a bus back.

Who has time to spend an hour and a half eating lunch?

Eating all three meals in dining halls on campus is also not an option for many students.

Those who live off campus can fill up quickly and inexpensively on cereal or a bagel at home. So they have no need for breakfast at the dining hall.

Even with a course load of 18 hours, it would be unlikely for students to be on campus at both lunch and dinnertime. A student who lives off campus would have to commute to campus once more to use the meal plan even twice a day.

Additionally, for students with jobs or other obligations in the evenings, it would be inconvenient to come to campus to eat.

However, the only current meal plan options are for unlimited access to the dining hall either five or seven days a week.

Floyd said that this isn’t a problem for many students who live off campus. They enjoy being on campus to eat because they miss the social connection they got from living on campus.

In fact, 25 percent of students on the meal plan (approximately 2,100) live off campus. But that means more than 14,000 students living off campus do not have a meal plan.

They’ve got to eat somewhere.

I think that Food Services can better serve students by taking the time to devise a plan that would enable them to offer a meal plan to students who need to eat on campus less than three times a day.

In the meantime, offering a wider selection of foods at the a la carte eateries would help to meet the need for hot meals in more locations on campus. Or at the very least, offer students access to a microwave so they can heat up food they bring from home.

- Sara Williams is a senior from Eatonton majoring in newspapers and art photography.