The Dining Dollar Debacle

Should students be allowed more dining dollars in their meal plans? Or should the prices of food be lower on campus? These are questions I ask myself every time I step foot in Konover to see a small, travel sized bottle of coffee creamer being sold for nearly 7 dollars. When I complain about this, many of my peers just tell me to go to a grocery store off campus to buy what I need. But I see dining dollars as a whole separate bank account. Why spend my real money when I could use my meal plan? But paying for convenience just isn’t fair. What if some students can’t leave campus because they don’t have a car? Or what if for financial reasons, the groceries at Konover are a person’s only option? I understand prices for things across the country have been raised due to inflation, but there is no way that this plays a role in the pricing on campus. How is it that meals from GSU are normally priced but the ingredients sold separately are not? I grapple with confusion and frustration on the daily when I swipe my student ID and watch my balance decline drastically.