If hell has a food court…

Published on August 25, 2009 by Austin James Green

Well, have you made it to The Commons yet?  You know, that building that is costing every undergraduate and residential graduate student a fortune? Maybe I should just refer to it as the cafeteria, or even better, the overrated, overpriced, mall food court!

Yes, that is right, I called it an overrated, overpriced, mall food court.  Let’s just go ahead and debunk the idea that The Commons is a grand food palace: it’s not.  Upon walking into the building you will instantly feel like you have walked onto the set of Hell’s Kitchen gone horribly wrong.  In fact, I think Chef Ramsey should feature it on “Kitchen Nightmares.”  KSU has tried its best to give The Commons a 5-star look; worse, the students are buying into this idea.

From comments I hear, as well as statements made in last week’s Sentinel, the students actually feel like they are dining in a 5-star restaurant!  Have any of you people actually stepped into a 5-star restaurant?  I know I haven’t, but I also know I get better service and food at the Waffle House, and I don’t think we can call Waffle House a restaurant!  Oh, and did I mention that I would save money by eating at Waffle House?

Of course, a statement like that only leads to a ignorant and moronic rebuttal: “Well, it’s all you can eat once you get in the cafeteria.”  Yea, that’s great, why don’t those of you who make that asinine statement get off your lazy, and probably large rear-ends go get a job and be productive in this society!  Oh wait, I forgot liberals don’t like to work.

For those of us who are actually productive and can work and go to college, well, we don’t have the extra time to spend endless hours in a cafeteria, much less the money to spend on this “food” they are serving us.  I don’t even think it’s morally right for us to call what they are serving us food.

Have you been to the Hwy 41 Grill yet?  When McDonald’s is giving more meat on their burgers, there is definitely something wrong. And when the fries at every other fast food joint are better than this “5-star” restaurant, there is a huge problem.  Once again, I should mention that McDonald’s is cheaper.

Then we have the myth that the meal plan is cost effective.  Of course, the only people who have bought into the myth are the looters and the university.   So you can eat as much as you want as long as you don’t leave the building? That’s an example of why the meal plan is not efficient for the productive people at this university: productive people can’t spend hours in a cafeteria.

I enjoyed an overly mediocre burger, fries and a coke Tuesday morning at the Hwy 41 Grill.  I probably spent a total of 30 minutes in the cafeteria and according to the culinary service Web site, I paid about $7.40 for that meal.

That same evening, I went over to Burger King because the cafeteria closes at 8 p.m. I ordered what I would typically order for a 10:30 p.m. meal, a simple Whopper Jr. combo with the medium fries and a drink.  It cost me $4.12 and I got to eat in the peace and comfort of my living room.

If there was no meal plan I would have saved myself $3.28.  Doesn’t seem like a lot does it?

Well, if I were to have that same $4.12 meal instead of spending $7.40 in the cafeteria every time I swipe in, I would save $157.44, which is not quite enough to get that new 2009 edition textbook at the General bookstore, but every little bit helps.

And finally, let’s address one more delusion the university is spreading: healthy options in The Commons.  While the statement is overall true, the bottom line is this; healthy people will continue to do the things that made them healthy, and that goes ditto for the morbidly obese!

Responses to "If hell has a food court…"

  • Snowball47 made a comment on August 25, 2009:

    I thought Mr. Green was making a great argument until out of the blue came this gem. “I forgot liberals don’t like to work.” I’m not sure what in God’s name this has to do with the Commons but bravo Mr. Green. You have equaled the moronic statements our those right-wing blowhards of whom I’m sure you worship. I trust sometime you will write an editorial of substance and not just a elementary you might be a liberal if piece.

  • Garrett made a comment on August 25, 2009:

    If you’re going to compare one meal there to one fast food meal any meal plan is going to inadequate.

    It all boils down to two questions, really.

    1) Is a meal plan necessary? Yes. While some people wish Kennesaw was still a tiny commuter school, it’s a major university now and it would be pretty absurd not to expect them to try to build a dining hall, something that is commonplace on most major universities.

    2) Given that we agree that the answer to number 1 is yes, is the dining hall good quality/cost efficient when compared to other dining halls of other major universities? If you look at the pricing, the cost per meal is right in line with what other universities are charging. The quality? It’s obviously subjective but I think it would be pretty hard to argue that comparatively speaking the food selection and quality we have is pretty impressive.

  • Maryellen made a comment on August 26, 2009:

    It is no 5 star restaurant! Great article Mr. Green!

  • anonymous made a comment on August 26, 2009:

    I would say your argument is pretty weak, but it’s really hard to focus on just one evil unless you just list them.

    For a resteraunt the commons is worthwhile, unless you are on a diet, you don’t eat much, or have a restricted diet, or don’t like their food relative to competitors-Doh, forced meal plans=no competition. Even those on medically restricted diets the university demanded they forego their 4rth amendment right to privacy and still rejected valid exemptions. It’s a money grab, they can’t be in business unless they take your money. And because they stole your money, you feel obligated to at least get some return form it no matter what the quality is. Why should anyone surrender their medical records to get a refund? Because Big Brother said so?

    furthermore, can you imagine being vegan and wondering if dairy, egg, or some byproduct was an ingredient in a food product when already there are so little vegetarian offerings? Is the food you are eating kosher if you are hebrew, or was the meat from the animal you eat properly had it’s neck slit while alive to drain the body of blood if you are, I believe, muslim? Even some omnivores would object to that killing method being used for their food.

    The market place will meet our niche, providing there is sufficient demand for our liking. If not we can, and many of us has, learned to prepare our own food according to our own liking. for me personally as a vegetarian I don’t see value in the commons, not only are the foods so few, but what is offered is either bland or just plain nasty but of course unlimited which makes it alright. However if it was a free market restaurant, i would move my business elsewhere ASAP.

    Luckily for us non-freshman we only have to pay 120 a semester. So many of us know how cheap it is to prepare our own food, for many students they go to the commons not eating just until they are full but until they feel they got their money’s worth. People under a budget could make this their one meal of the day which is unhealthy and disturbs a persons metabolism rate. So lo and behold we run the risk of increasing the rate of obesity. What could be worse is if we did develop an obesity problem and the university tried to step in. True no one has a gun to anyone head saying eat, but they go to eat knowing how much they spend for it and not wanting just a few bowls of cereal or a few lettuce leafs.

    Even worse for women are the social overvaluations of each gender, men should be big and bulky like GI Joes, and women should be thin. To develop muscle men need protein and lots of caloric intake-the michael phelps of the world eat 12000 calories a day. So needless to say woman will mostly be subsiding men. I don’t hear any feminist groups opposing this disparity, perhaps because 2nd and 3rd wave feminism embraces communism.

    Worst of all is somehow the student body allowed the dining commons onto campus, $120 is not bad. But what will it be next year, what will it be when things didn’t happen as they budgeted (not as if the dining commons cares about our budgets), they are under contract with different parties to keep in operation and all their problems get passed right onto the students. Supposively there is a student committee that approves or disapproves of student fee increases, but I haven’t heard how to get on the committee. Will they support our interest, or will they be like the student senator last year who proclaimed he wanted the dining commons for the people living on peanut butter sandwhiches, all those who oppose are the ones eating at applebees. Not quite sure where he thinks those pnb eaters can suddenly cough up another $7/meal, nor why he thought it was necessary to deny people their choice of where they want to eat. Point is, don’t trust those who may be elected to represent you, most people going into politics, especially liberals, are idiots and liberal/communist idealist without an substance. Those who are articulate, Like Obama, often converse using prevarications and ommissions and trying to get empathy/consensus attachmnt just like a smart criminal questioned by authorities.

    anyways I hope for the day someone serves anti trust lawsuits against universities for meal plans, or some state politician gets the goobers to completely ban forced meal plans at college universities. While a, if not the, head of our financial aid may have bragged about how the dining commons would increase the amount each of us can borrow, why do we want to pay interest on borrowed money to flush it down the toilet? I am surprized obama didn’t appoint him as head of the treasury or federal reserve, its not too far away from the idea of spending our way out of a deficit. It’s time for universities everywhere to stop seeing students as unlimited source of money for their pet projects. Not all of us will find the jobs that pay 50k or 90k a year, in our economy some of us will be lucky to find any job at all when we get done.

    at this point I don’t really care about the structure of what i wrote. Borrow what arguments you want from it.

    brutus

  • Yep. made a comment on August 31, 2009:

    Okay first of all, though it is overrated, why would you ever expect the food to match up to that of a five star restaurant? People are being quite generous with their reviews, but that doesn’t mean that the cafeteria is something that should not be appreciated. The food isn’t exactly first class, but the variety is nice. I know it’s expensive, but good God people get over it. It’s paid for, it’s done, there’s nothing we can do about it now. Why don’t you stop complaining and take advantage of what you paid for. Do you study? Do it in the upstairs study rooms. Take breaks and eat whenever you want. I usually get a late lunch and dinner in before I leave because I do a lot of studying there. And if you haven’t noticed, the food court in the student center is very unpopulated these days. That’s because eating at the Commons is more cost effective than paying for overpriced Chick-fil-a. Yeah yeah I know, we should have had a choice, we have mouths to feed and need roofs over our heads and life simply cannot go on due to the fact that have pay for a meal plan. Come on. Have you compared the price of our tuition to that of the other top GA schools? Think about it.

  • Jeff made a comment on September 1, 2009:

    Very weak article…You seem more interested in insulting liberals and the overweight than you do actually defending your thesis. Just a few flaws I can point out:

    1. You completely fail to elaborate on how Waffle House’s service is better than the KSU food court.
    2. You also fail to elaborate on why you believe that “it’s all you can eat” is an “ignorant and moronic statement.” Considering that it IS all you can eat, it’s much cheaper than many buffets and more convenient. Not all of us want just a whopper junior and medium fries. Plus, Hwy 41 burger vs burger king burger? If you think BK has them beat, you’re delusional.
    3. McDonalds does offer more meat on the burgers…if you cut the Hwy 41 burger in half.
    4. You assume that all Kennesaw students are using the swipe method to enter the food court. Most upperclassmen are paying $120 a semester. Kind of hard to save $157 over the course of a semester when you’re only spending $120, isn’t it?
    5. Last but not least, your final paragraph has no substance and has little to do with your article. Completely unnecessary.

    Not to sound like a hater, but when the Sentinel publishes mindless stuff like this, it makes the rest of the Writing major/minors on campus look bad.

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