Likewise

March 2, 2022

News Brown/Barreto win SGA presidential election

Ethan Hunt | News Editor Hollie Moore | Senior Reporter

Quson Brown and Alejandro Barreto were elected SGA president and vice president for the 2022-23 academic year Feb. 19. Brown/Barreto received 560 votes, 11% more than any other campaign, wrote Hunter Clark, the Brown/Barreto campaign manager, in an email.

The Connor Ranes and Ben Negin campaign endorsed Brown/Barreto Feb. 18, leaving the Evan Martino and Christian Martin campaign as the last competitor.

Because none of the three campaigns received more than 50% of the vote, the two remaining campaigns were supposed to compete in a runoff election Feb. 21-24. However, the Martino/Martin campaign wrote in an Instagram post Feb. 19 they would not continue the race in a runoff election, conceding their run. “We are eternally grateful to our team for their support and hard work over the course of this campaign season,” Martino/Martin wrote in the post. “Our platform and vision is miles ahead of what others were able to propose, and we certainly hope that the incoming administration will pull on our platform.” Brown said he was “thrilled” at the outcome. “I’m happy that we didn’t have to take it to another two weeks of a runoff, which I don’t want to say would be a waste of everyone’s time, but generally, I’m thrilled and relaxed that this was the outcome,” Brown said.

Brown/Barreto said their goals for the coming year included: lowering parking and dining hall prices, getting more students involved in policy decisions, increasing the student-employee minimum wage and creating a foundation for next year’s SGA administration. Brown said many of their policies will include interaction with university administration.

“It’s no secret that the administration right now is viewed as this dark draconian system that’s in a labyrinth of lies, smoked filled rooms and espionage traps, but we just sent them an email,” Brown said. Brown said they haven’t had much communication with the Martino/Martin campaign or the Ranes/ Negin campaign since winning the election. “They put up a great race. I mean, honestly, top-notch, stellar individuals. If either one of them would have won the election, I genuinely know that the students would have come first,” Brown said. Brown said “we’ll see” if either of his competitors ends up in his cabinet, which will be confirmed in April.

Brown said he wants to continue the accomplishments of the Gardin + Evans administration.

“SGA was in a toxic environment when Bailey (Gardin) got into office, and once he got into office the dynamic

The new policy will divide the different kinds of plans between All Access plans and Block 50 plans. All Access plans will allow students between 14 and an unlimited number of visits to dining locations weekly and will range from $1,382 per semester to $2,680 per semester in price. Block 50 plans will allow between 50 to 150 visits per semester and will range from $638 per semester to $1,575 per semester.

First-year students will be required to purchase either the All Access 7 or the Weekly 14 plan. All Access 7 will provide students with unlimited visits to Rivers Street Cafe and Park Place at the Pond seven days a week, as well as provide students with $250 dining dollars per week for $2,680 per semester.

“The cost of the current declining meal plan covers an average of 68% of meals on campus,” Eckman said. “The All Access 7 plan, which offers unlimited visits seven days a week, will be the plan option that is used to help determine the cost of attendance.”

The price of these plans; however, appears daunting to some students and campus dining staff. “My first reaction when I looked through the plan was ‘Wow, this is expensive,’” said Elana Melvin, campus dining assistant and junior biology major.

“The system we have now seems to work really well,” said Julia White, freshman cellular biology major. “I love being able to choose from a variety of amounts that I get to spend on campus.”

The Weekly 14 plan will provide students with 14 visits per week and $450 dining dollars per semester for a total of $2,314 per semester. Swipes will be reloaded each week but will not roll over from the fall to spring semester if they go unused, and there will be no time limit between swipes. “I know a lot of students have struggled with dividing their meal plan amount and making sure they have enough money,” Melvin said. “I really hope this new plan will help students going forward.” To better equip campus dining locations for an expected increase in business, campus dining will undergo renovations over the summer.

According to Eckman, new equipment is being ordered to assist in a no-contact, quick entrance, as well as customer self-service lines. Hours will be extended at certain locations in the 2022-23 academic year to accommodate an expected increase in customer visits to dining locations. Likewise, staffing is also expected to increase for the upcoming academic year, Eckman said.

Students living in residence halls will choose their meal plan option when they complete their housing contract. Students living off campus may use the Meal Plan Change Request Form to choose a meal plan. Dining dollars can be added to student accounts at any time and in any amount through the AppCard office.

Alejandro Barreto, left, and Quson Brown pose for a portrait Feb. 22, 2022.

Max Correa

changed. It was noticeable. No overreach, no scandals,” Brown said. “Is there something we want to build from off his legacy? Yes, it’s continuing his legacy.”

The Brown/Barreto administration will officially take office April 30, Brown said.

“We have a great community here, and I just want it to be more connected,” Barreto said.

Campus changes to swipe-based meal plan policy for next academic year

Andrew Rice | Reporter

Starting fall semester, App State will transition to a swipe-based meal plan policy for certain campus dining locations.

The new swipe plan policy will apply to Rivers Street Cafe in Roess Dining Hall and Park Place at the Pond in Trivette Dining Hall. The new system, “dining dollars,” will be used in locations such as Sanford Commons, coffee shops, convenience markets, food trucks and vending machines around campus.

An update from Campus Dining said the All Access meal plan allows students to choose plans “based on their lifestyle.” Dining dollars will remain on a declining balance system that can be refilled at any time.

In the update, university dining also said,“You’ll find plenty of choices among our meal plan options that best fit your lifestyle, budget and schedule.”

The new meal plan system change will bring a larger variety in meal plan package prices, which the university will use to estimate the cost of tuition more accurately.

“One benefit of the new meal plan system is that dining costs will be more accurately reflected in the estimated cost of attendance, which is an important metric used to determine financial aid and need-based scholarship support,” said John Eckman, Vice Chancellor of Campus Services.