My name is Samantha Golden and I am a junior, living in a house off campus. I enjoyed the article: “Market Mark Ups: OU students call for change,” and I agree with your statement that the OU markets are both overpriced and are lacking in versatility. I too, found it very irregular that OU did not extend its Bobcat Cash to the stores uptown. When I was a freshman, I went around to all the restaurants such as Wendy’s and Chipotle, asking if they accepted Bobcat Cash. Needless to say, I was laughed at and regarded as a crazy person.
Although Bobcat Cash may be seen as a convenient option, it is not relevant to upperclassmen and keeps them from the “real-world” experience.
You addressed that Akron excelled in its versatility of dining options, as does Ohio State University. The students are able to go around to different restaurants and stores like CVS and use their school cash as regular cash. These restaurants include favorites such as McDonald’s, Subway, and Buffalo Wild Wings. They are even allowed to use it in fancy restaurants like the Bistro where a bill for two can be as much as $80. With this evidence, it could be possible for OU to adopt the same policy because Akron, a small school, and Ohio State, a very large university, are capable of doing it.
Since I live off campus, I chose not to have a meal plan. Living without a meal plan can be tough and expensive; you have to spend more time preparing your food, planning on going to the grocery store, finding coupons for the items you want to buy, and trying to find the best price for the best quality food items. Honestly, I prefer doing it this way. I would like the food to be a lot cheaper, but without the aid of Bobcat Cash, you learn to live in the “real world,” so to speak, and it helps you develop skills that you will take with you throughout the rest of your life. No upperclassman I know of currently utilizes Bobcat Cash. Until Bobcat Cash becomes more relevant for people who live off campus, it will continue to only be useful to people who live on campus. In fact, dining halls have already taught me a life lesson: When you’re poor and hungry, lower your standards.
Samantha Golden is a junior at Ohio University.
