Issue with Food on Campus

I attend College.

The food on campus ranges from "meh" to great.  But that's not the issue.

It is a buffet style cafeteria, also not the issue.

On weekdays we are served 3 meals a day, and on the weekends we are served 2 meals a day.  Still not an issue.

We are given meal plans, of which we pay for at the beginning of the year.  This is the start of the issue.  There are 2 meal plans to pick from,  nineteen meals a week, or ten meals a week.  Nineteen gives you every meal possible, and ten leaves you, well, nine short of all meals possible. Each meal plan comes with extra money, called flex dollers, which are either used, or lost at the end of the semester.  Here is where I think the issue starts.

Say I have the ten meal plan.  One week I use 8 meals, and the next I want to use 11?  As a freshman, the common mistake is to think that they roll over.  You miss a meal, you have an extra to use some other time.  Not the case.  You only eat 9 of your 10 meals, sorry, it is gone, can not get it back.  But we paid for our meals, so do we get refunded for unused meals? No.

So here is how I see it.  We have to buy a meal plan if we live on campus.  We pay them up front.  And we either use or lose what we paid for.  The service does not have to be good.  The food does not have to be good.  In fact, this business makes the most amount of money, if no one eats there.  They are paid upfront, if no one comes to eat, no cost on food.  If no one comes to eat, sent workers home early.  So for them, there is no incentive to provide a good service.  None.  They have their money, why would they want anyone to come eat?  I do not see why they would care, except for the fact that they might want to keep the contract with the school.

And this ladies and gentlemen is what I call a racket, and a fairly good one.  Don't get me wrong, they provide a decent service, but they do not have the same incentives as a normal establishment to provide an extraordinary service.  I do not have a good solution, to pay the cost of eating there per visit would be out of my ability to pay.  So this is here as more of an education, or advice to keep an eye out for things that seem unfair, even if you do not want it to change, because the change might be worse that what you already have. There is no need to be ignorant or naive, be aware of your surroundings, and remember what "they" say, "Knowledge is Power."

Government

I am taking a government class this semester.  It is not my first, but so far it has been the best.  We started the class by talking about the constitution, and what James Madison REALLY had in mind when he wrote it.

Before I go on, a few things you need to know.  I am a liberal.  I think big government is good.  Its job is to keep its people happy and safe.  Or so I thought.

Come to find out, the Constitution is VERY limited.  There are only a very few list of powers actually given to Federal Government.  That is in fact, the Constitution is so limited, that in my opinion, it has over stepped its bounds, more than a few times.  The Constitution is being used, because of its shortness, and vagueness, to give the Federal government more and more power, that it wasn't given.  Which, for the most part, I am okay with.  I think a lot of the things it has done has bettered our society.  Civil Rights, Women's Suffrage, for example.

A power that I think is most important are the "Police Powers."  The powers to keep people safe and healthy and happy and such.  But it says, right in the Constitution that that power is specifically given to the states, not the nation government.  Now, I am not a Government, or law, or political science major, so to get the specifics on how and why government has gotten so big you will have to do your own learning.

But something that I am having issues with is this: I think the national government SHOULD have the "Police Powers."  I think it should have the power to keep us safe and happy and such.  But the issue is it can't.  It just dose not have the power.  So do I switch my entire view of the role of the national government? I do not think I can do that.  How about trying to change the Constitution?  That is almost impossible, it took many people working very hard to get the changes we have now,  so that's not a viable option.

For instance, I think we should have a national Health Care System.  It is for the betterment of our citizens, and lifestyle.  But the National Government can't do that, they do not have the power.  Unless, you can find, some little stupid backwater way to relate the issue to commerce, or something else in which the national government CAN regulate.  Again, I am not majoring in this, do you own research.

So I find myself caught between what I BELIEVE, and what the government actually has the RIGHT to do. I am unsure of where to go from here.  My beliefs are not on solid ground, which is good I suppose. College is said to "challenge you" and "make you think critically about things."  Hopefully as this class progresses, I can solidify my thoughts on the matter, and once again be firm in my ideas of what a government should be, and what it should do.

Mentat: Origins

I have another blog. I enjoyed writing it so much, I wanted to start another one. Something not quite so focused. Someplace where I can share my ideas, and thoughts.

(To the six of you who read my OTHER blog, do not fear, it is not dead, just sleeping, school is keeping busy, or broke (your choice), so no new movies or books for me, for now, hopefully soon.)

To those of you not knowledgeable of "Dune," get educated. It is where my title came from. A definition, from Wikipedia....

"A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability."

I'm not saying I am super duper smart. I AM saying that I tend to view things differently than most, and even wrongly sometimes. Posts will be mostly unrelated, irregular, and ranging in seriousness. I will share what I think is important, and not share what I think is lame.

That is all.
or more accurately...
Until next time.