university catering and monopolies
Jul. 8th, 2010 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
guslSince starting college in 1997, one trend I've noticed all over North America (but not Brazil or Europe) is the concept of a meal plan, which has the effect of financially exploiting undergrads. One memory from my undergrad days was paying US$7 for a small box of Cheerios, because it would go to waste otherwise. Another was treating a ~40-year-old visiting mathematician to dinner, which made him feel awkward. Another was getting a phone call from a Wood Company liaison, in response to a complaint card of mine about limited choices, to "educate" me in person about why their service, in fact, doesn't suck. Nice try!
I cannot think of any reason why universities would grant exclusivity to any catering companies, but it really seems to be the case in most places.
Googling "meal plan"+monopoly produces surprisingly few links:
* Stanford Dining Exerts Monopoly Power (2005, Stanford)
* Chartwells an upgrade, mandatory meal plan still a problem (2007, McNeese State University, Louisiana)
I cannot think of any reason why universities would grant exclusivity to any catering companies, but it really seems to be the case in most places.
Googling "meal plan"+monopoly produces surprisingly few links:
* Stanford Dining Exerts Monopoly Power (2005, Stanford)
* Chartwells an upgrade, mandatory meal plan still a problem (2007, McNeese State University, Louisiana)