Students pay $3,180 per semester for either the Gold, Silver or Bronze meal plan at Elizabethtown College, and this price prompts many to wonder how their money is being spent.

Recently, students have been using paper and plasticware instead of the regular dishes and utensils in the Marketplace. They are directed to throw out their leftover food in the trash cans lined up in front of the rotating tray collector and to place their used tray on a table.

This has been an irregular occurrence throughout the semester, but last week, students had to follow these guidelines almost daily. For sophomore Alyssa Crane, the styrofoam cups are a solution to one issue she encounters every meal at the Marketplace: cracked cups.

“Lately, it seems like a 50/50 chance that I’m going to get a cracked cup,” Crane said. “A lot of days, I get a cracked cup, and then, my water is all over my tray instead of in my cup. It’s also definitely not good for the environment, but I bet it’s frustrating on [Dining Services’] end, so I understand.”

However, the paper cups only serve as a temporary fix to this ongoing problem.

“I think they should go through the cups and either replace ones that are cracked, or at least, get rid of them, so there’s less students that have cracked cups and spilled drinks,” she suggested.

The mysterious change within the Marketplace has done nothing to calm some students’ dislike toward it—especially with some who were subject to bad experiences.

Junior Justin Brown shares a story about an unpleasant situation in the Marketplace he dealt with last year, which also continues this semester: “I have had sour milk come from the dispensers on four occasions now. The first time this happened to me…I took a huge swig of the milk, and immediately after I swallowed it, I knew I made a mistake. It was sour. Upon further inspection, it had some floaties from the milk curdling a bit. It often takes a day or two before the milk gets switched out as well. So, I don’t even find it worth attempting to get milk until a couple days have gone by after I find sour milk…Since then, I have been vigilant to check my milk before drinking it. I have found signs of floaties and sour smells on three other occasions over a month apart since then. I do not know what is causing this issue, but the frequency of sour milk is certainly too high.”

Brown also noted that he would like to see more variety with the main courses offered in the Marketplace but thinks that the pizza station is always a well-run, reliable choice.

Not all students have had negative experiences with the dining hall this semester. Sophomore Katelyn Ritchey explains the improvements she has seen with Dining Services meeting her needs of being gluten and dairy free.

“They’ve gotten better over the past year,” she said. “I think they’ve done a better job with labeling things and making more things gluten and dairy free. They’re honestly doing the best they can with the resources they have.”

However, Ritchey believes that there could be more options for those with dietary restrictions.
“On some days, there are very limited options, so I just think, ‘Ok, so I can’t eat anything but the same three things today,”’ she expressed.

There are mixed feelings about the Marketplace this semester, but many students maintain hope for the same goal: improvement.