Last spring, biology major Emily Reyes was living on campus and was on the block meal plan, which included 160 meals and $100 on Beach Club. However, she did not plan out her meals and towards the end of the semester could only eat eight meals a week.
With a limited amount of meals, Emily came up with a solution: she asked her roommate to bring her food from the dining hall — not in a takeout box, but in a to-go coffee cup. By doing this two other times, Emily was able to get by during the semester.
Although Reyes’ idea seemed like a smart solution to her problem, the residential dining halls on campus have a “no take-out” policy, according to the 2011-2012 Cal State Long Beach Residence Halls Handbook.
The Residential Dining Guide reinforces the policy “with the exception of one take-out item, which can be a fruit, a cookie or an ice cream.”
Stephen Chow, a sophomore music performance major, was stopped for trying to take a sandwich out. He doesn’t like the rule of not being able to bring food outside and believes students should be able to take food to go because they pay for a meal plan.
Kayleigh Folden, a freshman pre-psychology major, also feels this way.
“We spend a lot for meal plans,” Folden said. “If I wasn’t required to have a meal plan, I would be spending 50 percent less on food than I do now.”
The cost of living on campus, including 19 meals per week, comes out to $10,658 for one academic school year, according to the CSULB website, although prices vary depending on the meal plan students choose.
Some students, like senior history major Roscoe Reed, don’t really have a problem with the dining halls’ policy, but he understands why some people would.
“Because you can’t take food out for later, you are forced to go back to the dining hall to get a takeout plate,” Reed said. “This can cause further disruptions in an already busy schedule.”
The dining halls have also started to crack down on smaller items that can be taken out, namely the to-go cups. Last year the cups were available for students to take as they please, but this year students must go up to the counter and ask for a cup, with the exception of the off-campus Residential Learning College.
Michael Arcana, a sophomore chemical engineering major, said it is a good idea because some people take too many cups.
Tyler Raabe, sophomore criminal justice major, also understands why the dining halls had to move the cups but is still against the idea of having to go up and ask for them.
From sandwiches to hot dogs, residents have tried to take food out. And while some students are successful, others are stopped and asked to throw their food away.
There are even stories of people taking out sugar dispensers and tall bottles of Sriracha hot sauce.
The strangest thing that sophomore Giovanni Smith has taken out of the dining hall is a cup of tuna salad along with another cup of crackers.
Freshman Eurico Senna has heard of people taking out last semester’s decorative pumpkins during Halloween time.
“I shouldn’t have to feel guilty taking food out because I paid for it,” Senna said.
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