Credits should be allowed in Commons all week

Now that it is getting closer to the end of the semester, all I keep hearing from various people is "I am out of Commons Cash. I wish they would take credits through the week."

Being out of Commons Cash myself, I feel the same way. I am not one to go to the dining hall every day, and I know plenty of others that get tired of it too. There is really no logical reason why they could not take either credits or Commons Cash.

As freshmen, many students do not know how to budget their Commons Cash. They get excited that there is a Taco Bell and Burger King so close and easily accessible; yet, they forget they only have so much Commons cash available.

It is nice being able to go to these places and just being able to swipe a card without actually have to pay anything.

Many people warn you as an incoming freshman that you need to watch how much Commons Cash you use, and everyone says they will, but sadly they do not.

Look at the situation everybody is in now. Coming into November, most freshmen and some upperclassman are low on Commons cash.

For the most part, the upperclass students have the advantage of knowing how to budget because they were freshmen at one point, too.

Giving us our receipts is not a valid way of helping us to keep track of our balance every time we swipe our card at a restaurant. Half the time we just look at it, and if it has x amount of money, we throw it away.

I think that there should be some sort of way to send our balance to our phone via text message. Everyone has a phone, and getting text messages would be a more reasonable way of helping us keep track.

Also, the Commons should accept credits during the week. This doesn't mean that they should do it all day, every day but they should accept it at certain hours.

Since freshmen have to wait until 2 p.m. to even use their card in the Commons anyway, that should just be the set time for credits to be allowed during the week.

Any time after 2 p.m. everyone, no matter what year they are, should be allowed to use their card with Commons Cash.

If this is notpossible, then the amount of credits for each plan should be increased. We're paying for it in advance anyway so it should just be allowed.

The way I see it is that the money on our meal plan is money that we've paid through tuition or some other form, so why not give us more of it?

The price of going to school and living on campus is already high and having to pay cash for food to stock our dorm room or just for a quick lunch becomes expensive after a while.

Overall, there are plenty of logical reasons to allow students to choose between Commons Cash or credits. Hopefully, one day, they make the change.