With the help of SEAC, the College of William and Mary is pushing forward with the trayless initiative first introduced last spring. We appreciate the College’s work in pursuit of sustainability and its willingness to consider greener choices. Removing trays from the Sadler Center dining hall likely will decrease food waste and water use. We are, however, concerned that students may not get their money’s worth if the change is made mid-semester. While food service provider Aramark has yet to decide on a date, we hope it will hold the switch until after winter break.
If the Sadler Center follows the Caf in going trayless this semester, students who paid for a meal plan with the expectation of trays will lose out. We hope Aramark will implement the change no earlier than next semester so that students can factor traylessness into their decisions to purchase a mealplan.
Going trayless is an inconvenience, even considering its noble goal. Aramark’s bottom line will benefit, however. Wasted food and water cost money, so minimizing them will pump up profits. Students ought to remember that if next spring’s meal plans come in at the same price, or higher. We hope Aramark will use its savings to reduce the cost of the plans.
Back in March, when we first heard word of the trayless initiative, we lauded the measure for its focus on conservation. And on that point, our view remains unchanged. If Aramark switched mid-semester, however, it would give students no choice.
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You’re not paying tuition
You’re not paying tuition for the hours you study or walk around campus or read a book. You’re paying tuition for the classes, and room and board to live here, and a meal plan to eat here.
Your worth per hour is how much you could make on the job market.
I seriously doubt you could get paid $20/hr, but if you find a job like that, let me know!
Do the math, and figure out
Do the math, and figure out what you’re paying (in tuition) to be here.
Suppose you’re from out-of-state, and paying $35,000/year.
That’s $17,500/semester.
If we assume 13 “academic” weeks in a semester, that’s $1346/week (not counting breaks + exams).
That’s $270 each weekday.
Now assume that being a typical W&M undergraduate student is roughly equivalent to a 9-6 job (9 hours/day. This can be debated, but bear with me here…)
That’s $29.92 an hour.
$20/hour is, in fact, an underestimation of the value of our time, at least in terms of what it costs us to be here.
“Now let’s say that I
“Now let’s say that I value my time at $20/hour”
A gross overestimation of your worth.
Only at William and Mary could people be so conceited and self-centered.
Only at William & Mary
Only at William & Mary would the post below me even be written. Point taken, but how nerdy can we be? This is a stereotype I will say is very true.
And another thing.
And another thing.
Let’s say that by not having trays, it takes me an extra 45 seconds at each meal time to get what I want. So let’s do the math.
.75 minutes x 19 meals a week x 14 weeks in the semester = 3.3 extra hours per semester
Now let’s say that I value my time at $20/hour. And let’s assume that having trays in general gives me $20 worth of pleasure a semester because I like getting what I want all at once. But I kinda like the environment, too, so we’ll say that I feel $10 happier to know we’re not wasting food and water.
All told, that means going trayless sucks to the tune of $76.50 every semester. Not cool.
Saving money’s one thing,
Saving money’s one thing, but when I enter into a contract, I expect to get what I paid for. I paid for trays at the beginning of the semester. If Aramark’s going to make more money by taking them away without giving me a choice about it, then I want something back. By analogy, when I buy a health insurance plan, my insurer shouldn’t tell me halfway through the year that they won’t cover my allergy medicine. At least they shouldn’t if they’re not going to charge me less. This isn’t about trays. It’s about choice and our money.
OMG I ONLY BOUGHT A MEAL
OMG I ONLY BOUGHT A MEAL PLAN FOR THE TRAYS.
I AM ONLY CAPABLE OF MAKING ONE TRIP TO GET FOOD OR ELSE I WILL SIMPLY DIE OF EXHAUSTION.
HOW DARE THEY TAKE AWAY MY TRAYS; IT HAS BEEN MY ONLY GOAL IN LIFE TO WASTE AS MUCH WATER AND FOOD AS POSSIBLE.
I agree, but for different
I agree, but for different reasons.
The Sadler Center dining hall is extremely congested during Lunch and Dinner. Removing trays, and requiring people to take multiple trips will only increase the amount of traffic through the “kitchen” area. For now, they should be concerned with improving efficiency.
It’s also not like they’ve ever actually done a decent job of washing the dishes to begin with. Most of the plates and silverware have bits of old food stuck to them.
This is really, really sad
This is really, really sad you guys. Sorry it inconveniences you to make multiple trips back and forth between your table and the food stations. I know it’s a really long, hard walk.
This makes me laugh!. Do
This makes me laugh!. Do people at William & Mary get meal plans because of the trays? That mite be the most pathetic point I have ever read in an article. It begins to get to a point by the end, but Flat hat seems to think that a company cannot try to save some money. Is Flat hat really saying that they would prefer more food and water to be wasted in order to make it “fair”? That is very silly.