Stephanie Turner
Staff Writer
sdturner@valdosta.edu

Dining at Hopper or Palms can be a costly meal without a meal plan, but you better eat your fill because campus dining does not allow doggy bags.
Imagine you just got out of one of your classes. It is the middle of the day, and a couple of friends are going to go grab a quick lunch. You go to join, even though you don’t have a lot of time before your next class, and you and your friends get so caught up in conversation you really didn’t have a chance to finish your meal. You try to carry it out, but are stopped by a worker saying you have to stay and finish eating. Since it’s an odd request, you wonder why. To eat at Palms or Hopper Dining without a $1,615 meal plan is $7. Seems quite a bit to pay for food you can’t even take out of the facility.
A few students have had an encounter like this happen to them.
“I know we’re college students, but we should still be able to eat in our rooms if we wish. We paid for the food, so let us eat it,” Mollie Riggins, sophomore said.
I believed she brought up a good point.
I spoke to the Blazer Dining Market Director, Jenna Gilbert, on this matter. Gilbert commented that since Palms and Hopper dining are all you can eat and accommodate all students and staff, it would be “hard to monitor who is eating in or eating out.” While we can take dessert or a piece of fruit out, we can’t take a full meal out; we have Palms Retail and the restaurants at the University Center for that. She also mentioned that it would cost more for students and for the dining center to go in and buy specific things.
I asked, “What if someone is sick and can’t come in?” Mrs. Gilbert says the centers do offer sick trays; the person who is ill would have to contact one of the cashiers, say they are sick and that they are sending someone to pick up a meal for them.
So we can’t take out our drinks and food from Palms and Hopper, but we can take a snack with us. The university offers many places on campus, such as Chick-Fil-A, Quizno’s, and Jazzman’s Café for this purpose. Maybe one day we will be able to use the meal plan that, as of now, can only be used at Palms or Hopper in these other restaurants, but for now our Blazer Bucks and cash will have to do.