This is me begging on behalf of all NCSU students for a 24-hour dining option on campus. If you agree with this petition, or can relate to anything stated in it, then comment below! Let your voice be heard!
Right now I am sitting between these bitter book-stacks as this homework waits for my attention. Right now I can’t focus because my stomach unleashes another thunderous growl. It’s 2:43a.m. and the world is asleep – but I am awake. Working. Writing. Studying. Starving. How can I focus right now when my stomach is trying to eat me alive? The coffee shop is closed. The Creamery; closed. Those restaurants on Hillsborough Street are not only costly but closed too. Right now, only those humming vending machines are an option, but in approximately an hour I’ll be just as hungry as I am right now, and probably more lethargic, despite the time.
I am your typical N.C. State student: studious, driven, proud, and yep, poor. If only I could find something substantial, like those mouth-watering home-cooked meals mom used to tempt us downstairs for dinner with; a dining option on campus that stayed open twenty-four hours for the dedicated souls like me. Unfortunately there is no option like that here at N.C. State University and I am withering away, one growl at a time. This homework will never receive my full attention. And I will therefore receive a grade that I don’t deserve. My grade won’t truly reflect my intellect or my effort; instead it would be a result of a neglected physiological human need that I simply couldn’t satisfy.
The University claims that “As a major research university, NC State has the people…and the responsibility to advance knowledge, transfer technology, and discover and develop innovations that solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.” Yet how is the University implementing its own faculties to reach these goals when the main building block of the school, it’s students, can’t even find the resources on campus to take care of their basic needs? What goals will be achieved when there is a hunger problem on campus that should in no way even be an issue.
Even though N.C. State University has a combined twenty-five dining options on all five campuses, there is not one option that stays open all night. Not one for those night owls who are trying to meet deadlines without crossing the line into the walking dead. All we need is one twenty-four hour option for those countless students who have no other alternative.
You have a full bank account – five figures – a nice car. You have a family to depend on and the ability to go out to eat out every night if you desire. This is your reality. But now, imagine this. Your bank account stays at a steady balance of no more than forty dollars a month. Imagine that your only means of transportation are attached to your body and sport the two-year old sneakers you’ve been meaning to replace. Your family is miles away and your friends are busy staying on top of their studies. Imagine that you save your money for the one night you get to go out with friends to celebrate a birthday and when it comes, you don’t have enough because you’ve been spending extra cash on getting food delivered to your room from off campus since you have no other option. This is the real-life situation almost all college students are put in during their university days, simply because we are young adults who live on campus, are hungry all the time, and can’t find food on campus.
Remember being eight-teen and being able to eat anything in your path without gaining a pound? The hunger was constant and the gratification was momentary and you knew it would be back to haunt you soon.
Food. It is on the mind of all young growing adults, maybe so much that the over-abundance of it could contribute to the freshman fifteen. However, when you think about it, the unavailability of substantial food just pushes our students into those empty-calorie packed Jumbo Honey Buns and sodium-filled bags of Doritos. That infamous freshman fifteen has never been so easy to achieve with the help of N.C. State University lacking a twenty-four hour dining option. University Dining strives to achieve nutritious food on campus. The “Wolf Approved” stamps on food selections across campus inform students of the healthy options as opposed to the less-healthier ones. The nutritionist on staff is constantly trying to find new ways to improve the overall student and faculty health by changing and bettering dining-hall menus. If the University cared so much about the well being of it’s students, it shouldn’t turn a blind eye to dining options for students after hours.
At an Inter-Residence Council meeting in fall of 2010, it was stated that “there is a little peak for breakfast goers, a bigger peak for the lunch time eaters, and a slightly larger peak for the dinner attendance” at dining halls or stores around campus. What we have failed to pay any regard to is the “most prominent peak of sales for campus dining occurs between 10:00p.m. and 1:00a.m. staying steady the whole time and then bombarding the charts around closing time.” This only proves that there is in fact a need that cannot be ignored.
This “fourth-meal” is a cry for attention. For another option. For recognition. For the ability to feed ourselves with something other than pure sugar or heart-attack worthy amounts of sodium. The university accepted students based off their intelligence, their ability to impact the world, their love for the community and their dedication to their studies. All of these get pushed aside though when personal basic needs conflict. If a student’s health isn’t taken care of, how will they be able to perform in school to the best of their ability? They won’t be able to.
If a student is drained of energy and has no means to re-fuel on nutritious food, how will they be able to become successful alumni; healthy, happy, at the top of their class, representing their alma-mater in the best light? They won’t be able to. Instead the University will produce lethargic and unhealthy students who can’t produce their best work and in turn don’t end up embodying the prestigious objectives of N.C. State University.
It is in the University’s best interest to better itself by exploring new options that will enhance students’ lives. Being ranked ninth on “100 Best Value Colleges” by the Princeton Review and USA Today shows that N.C. State University is a pioneering school that does in fact have the ability to serve its community, but in this hard economic time it may be difficult to get around the budget cuts we are facing. With the addition of a twenty-four hour dining option, the university will be bringing in more revenue. This amount may not be huge, but with an economy of the Great Depression any amount that can contribute to the university and it’s students.
If brining in more money isn’t on the top of your list, maybe being number one is. If the university had a twenty-four hour dining option on campus, it would be one of the few and one of the first universities in the nation with this option. Many “big name” schools such as Syracuse, Florida, and Georgia have a twenty-four hour dining option available on campus which is an additional “pro” for potential students who are trying to decide on schools.
While many schools do not have this option, it is safe to say that all universities and colleges have campus police or at the very least, security. N.C. State University has campus police, safe rides, emergency blue lights across campus, and police buttons in some bathrooms in the academic buildings too. Campus Police ride around on Segways, horses, or they walk around the campus to ensure the safety of the students and staff. I would say that the University cares about the safety of students on campus. If you agree, you may wonder about the safety of that lone wolf that walks to Hillsborough St. for a pizza at 1:00a.m. While that one student is putting risks on their own menu, maybe you will worry about that pizza delivery guy who wanders into a residence hall. Both of these scenarios pose a threat to your students on campus which doesn’t even have to exist. With an on site, twenty-four hour dining hall, there would be no reason for students to venture off campus in the middle of the night to satisfy their hunger.
I am sitting in my dorm room writing this proposal as the sun sleeps on the other side of the earth and my stomach growls louder and stronger with each and every word I type. Maybe I will turn to the vending machines. Maybe I will walk to Gumbys Pizza. Maybe I will become a victim of a crime tonight… I just hope I can find some food.