In Volume 63 issue Number 2 of the Echo, there was an article written by Dianna Rohrer regarding a petition going around campus to change the meal plan system. Nearly a month later there has been some progress made for the change but no confirmed plans have been set.

The petition gained more signatures and it only seems to be growing.

When the article was published on Sept. 24, sophomore Nicole Zorin had received around 300 signatures.

Now, she has almost double that and does not plan on stopping anytime soon until a change is made.

“I think I have around 500 signatures just from going dorm to dorm and asking students walking around campus with meal plans,” Zorin said. “So far I’ve had nobody say no out of all the 500 people, so it’s a growing issue.”

Sophomore Lauren Chrislu has a meal plan and said she is not thrilled with the new system in comparison to her first year attending California Lutheran University. The issue is trending around campus even though it’s only been a month and a half since school started.

“Everywhere, pretty much anytime you bring it up someone has something to say about [the new system] and it’s always negative,” Chrislu said.

Chrislu said she wants the petition to make an impact and change the new meal plan system.

One solution Chrislu said to solve the issue was having Sodexo and the school consider mixing the two different meal systems together.

“I hope that they at least get rid of the meal blocks so that you can use your meals whenever you want to,” Chrislu said after signing the petition. “Maybe the compromise could be that we use only four meals a day but we can use them whenever we want to.”

The Associated Students of California Lutheran University Government has also gotten on board and listened to the voice of the students. ASCLUG, the neutral party and communicator, is working with the students and Sodexo to try and come up with a solution.

“I see ASCLUG has been taking more action towards [the issue]. We’re trying to make a change by talking to a few people in charge of Sodexo right now,” Zorin said.

Evan Carthen, ASCLUG Programs Board Director, said it’s clear that Sodexo understands the situation and ASCLUG is trying to do what’s best for both the students and Sodexo.

“We’re trying to see what it is that we can do successfully, that’s going to be a process, and Sodexo has seen the petition and know there’s some unhappiness,” Carthen said. “They know the problems and from our end we try to make it clear to Sodexo what’s going on.”

The purpose of ASCLUG is to be here to represent the interests of the students enrolled at Cal Lutheran, according to the ASCLUG website.

“How is it that we can actually make that change happen? I think that only comes with just time and students keep professing that this is not what they want,” Carthen said.

Ryan Perez

Staff Writer

Published October 22, 2014