These past few academic years, several increases in security and meal plan cutbacks have been devastating to students on campus and off campus alike. Sighs and complaints populate the cozy Carmichael dining hall, where once there were smiles and joy. “It’s just not the same anymore,” reports Kevin Sanders, a sturdy Junior from Pennsylvania. “My Freshman year you could take an entire pizza and nobody would be the wiser, just put it in some Tupperware direct from the stand. Now if you try to take so much as two slices, you get some very dirty looks.”

Sanders is not the only one with similar laments. Kelsey Carson, another student who was having lunch with Sanders at the time of the interview, commented, “Just yesterday I tried to stock up on salad materials, but a quart container just doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. It makes staying healthy just that much more taxing.”

According to polls, very few students in college are inclined to use what precious income they get from their parents to buy fruits and vegetables at grocery stores, instead opting for cheaper and more filling alternatives such as instant noodles, mac ‘n cheese, and boxed wine. Paying for staples such as loaves of bread, chicken breasts, and General Gao’s with a meal swipe instead of the swipe of a credit card is a necessity for most students, a necessity that is gradually being taken away. “I mean, they even got rid of trick-turning,” Sanders said. “Now half the time I have vodka but no cranberry or orange juice. It’s not right!” Sanders further added suddenly after that outburst that, “just to be safe” he was, “totally 21.”

Without these past freedoms even the now-rare Hogdon visit is stretched. “Since an unlimited plan is basically worthless now, I’ve had to cut back. I’ve only got 160 meals for the semester,” Carson said. “I’ve had to start taking that very seriously. If I don’t budget right, I won’t have anything to eat in the end, so a Hogdon trip is a luxury for me, now.” She continued, “And sometimes when I skip a meal and go to Hogdon instead, it’s not even worth it long-term. Half the time I can’t get both chips and salsa on one swipe. I’m pretty sure that’s a crime.”

With unlimited meal plans taking a serious blow from the latest Hogdon dining hall restrictions, students have felt forced to change to more restricted plans just to make ends meet. “The reason I chose the 160 was because that way at least my parents would give me the difference in cost in Jumbocash, but it’s still not enough,” Carson said. “For god’s sake you can only use that at Pizza Days.”

The interview ended on a morose tone with Sanders when he suddenly began to gaze out of the windows of Carm. “This stupid economy,” he said. “I’ve spent a fortune at Helen’s this year all because it was the only way to get a good meal at 2:00 am, My fridge is empty, and so is my soul.”