Students consider Dining Dollar decisions with end of semester

By GRETCHEN NAGLE The Breeze

Time is ticking as students count the final days of the academic school year, which not only means school’s almost out but also that students’ remaining Dining Dollars need to be spent — or else they’re lost forever.

While some JMU students may be hustling to zero out their Dining Dollar balance, others have been struggling to find ways to budget their money. JMU sophomore Landen Gebhardt, who’s also a student food service worker, and senior Henry Sommerville said they believe there aren’t enough Dining Dollars offered by JMU on certain meal plans.

Gebhardt said she felt confused when trying to figure out whether Dining Dollars expire or not. During her time as a freshman, Gebhardt said she came to the conclusion that the meal plan best suited for her needs was the 11-punch plan, which includes 500 Dining Dollars.

Similarly, Sommerville said he’s consistently run out of Dining Dollars and, in spite of budgeting, has been left with less than five Dining Dollars by the end of the last two semesters.

Sophomore Alice Geiger said many of her friends ran out of their 275 Dining Dollars in just two months. She said the reason for this was many on-campus meals — especially premade ones —cost more than a punch. Unless students can double punch and still have enough punches for the week, they need to have a good amount of dining dollars, Geiger said.

“I think that a good amount of dining dollars is necessary,” she said. JMU’s meal plan information website provides options for students to plan ahead for the meal plan that will fit them best next year, and to use Dining Dollars Gold. Kristin Zwanzig, business manager for JMU Card Services, said depending on what meal plan students choose, there’s a set number of Dining Dollars that accompany it, which expire at the end of the academic year.

“For commuter students the [best meal plan] is best determined by the student, according to class schedule, time spent on campus and monetary availability,” Zwanzig said. “Residents must, of course, have one of the resident meal plans — the most popular continues to be the 14 weekly punch plan.”

Meal Plans 101 is a resource that helps explain how each meal plan consists of Dining Dollars that can be used at a variety of the 25 dining locations across campus. There are a variety of different meal plans consisting of four resident options and 10 commuter options, all consisting of a different amount of Dining Dollars. In contrast to regular Dining Dollars with a meal plan, the Dining Dollars Gold account allows students to add more Dining Dollars and refunds the balance when students leave JMU.

When finding what meal plan works for someone, JMU offers a recommendation tool called Campus Dish for participants to find their right fit.

The JMU website also explains how Dining Dollars carry over from fall semester to the spring semester, but those Dining Dollars lose their value after the spring semester is over.

“It is important to remember to utilize the initial Dining Dollars first, then add Dining Dollars GOLD if needed!” stated an answer on the frequently asked questions website regarding the meal plans.

CONTACT Gretchen Nagle at naglegm@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Three months later, sheriff offers no updates in fatal JMU student car crash

By THE NEWSDESK The Breeze

In a phone call with The Breeze on Wednesday, the Hardy County (W.V.) Sheriff’s Office confirmed the investigation into the Feb. 2 car crash that killed three JMU students and injured two is ongoing. The office gave no indication the investigation has a suspected end date. The Breeze has called several times since February.

The victims — John “Luke” Fergusson, Joshua Mardis and Nicholas Troutman — were all pledges of the fraternity Pi Beta Chi (PBX) and were driving along West Virginia Route 259 until the vehicle struck a tree after having been at Paradise City Club prior to the crash, according to a press release from Feb. 2.

CONTACT The newsdesk at breezenews@gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.