My Commons Life

News & features about the Vanderbilt Commons from the students who live here

Opinion

Bonus Meal Money: A First Year Perspective

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  • Ashton Helveston
  • Maya Anderson
  • Jonathan Wilson

After a rocky start to the new school year, Vanderbilt Campus Dining announced a fifty dollar Meal Money credit for students that would reset daily August 24th through 29th. While this may have been nothing more than a policy decision for Campus Dining, one could not help but notice a change in the atmosphere among the student body. This change was especially significant for first-year students who were still adjusting to campus life.

At a time when their schedules were packed with mandatory orientation events and new classes, the Class of 2025 received some freedom and flexibility from the bonus Meal Money. While most first-years would typically eat a majority of their meals at Munchie Marts, the Commons Center, and Rand, this policy opened up opportunities for these new students to try restaurants around the city they just moved to. In their first week on campus, first-years were granted a risk-free opportunity to try everything from Taco Mama’s to the Grilled Cheeserie.

The additional funds worked to shorten waits in the dining halls as well. Prospective Biology major Ashton Helveston noted, “I actually went to Rand for breakfast one day when we still had the fifty dollars and I got through the line super quick and got to my class with no worries or stress.”

Many students worked to optimize this opportunity. Helveston was one of these students: “I made sure I spent every penny every single day.” However, not everyone felt the same way.

Jonathan Wilson, a first-year Mechanical Engineering major, pointed out that the daily expiration of the Meal Money “provided this incentive to spend all $50.” In spite of this, Wilson only spent all fifty dollars once in the six day period, stating, “I don’t really need all that extra food anyways.”

Some students went even further, noting it caused them some minor stress. “I felt more of a pressure to spend [the money],” shared Maya Anderson, a first-year studying Neuroscience and Asain Studies. Anderson further explained her feelings, saying she felt that she was “letting all this money go to waste.” Her feeling towards this did change as the week progressed: “Towards the end, I realized it’s not like I have to use it.”

Even though some students may have felt obliged to use this money, those feelings were only a small portion of this story. Some would argue that the money and what it was spent on were overshadowed by something far more important: community.

Anderson also shared about how the bonus Meal Money served as a basis for establishing connections on campus: “[My friends and I] ordered a bunch of food. We ended up sitting with our RA and my roommates and we played card games.” She accredits the bonus Meal Money as the cause for this fun evening with her friends on her floor.

While not perfect, these six days of fifty dollars of bonus meal money offered unique opportunities for the Class of 2025 to adjust to campus life by providing them with a sense of security in their ability to get food, encouraging them to try different cuisines around Nashville, and allowing them to form memories with their new classmates.

Branscomb’s Laundry Room Is Not Bussin’

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closeup photography of bong mask
This is what I might have to invest in soon. Anybody got any good gas mask recommendations?

Y’all, either Branscomb’s laundry room is directly above a sewer or some of the STEM kids are breeding a new type of mold ‘cus the noxious fumes in that room are extraterrestrial. I am literally gagging and fighting for my life as I drag my $2 plastic laundry basket from Target across the detergent ocean of that room. My nostrils are assaulted even through my mask, and I have to catapult my clothes into the washer before I run out of oxygen. I am not naïve enough to think that a college laundry room would be as sanitary as a hospital, but I also didn’t expect the potential dangers of inhaling Vandy’s own mustard gas. For those who don’t know, mustard gas is what you get when you mix bleach and ammonia, and it was used in World War I. But, Vandy’s version mixes the hopes and dreams of inexperienced college students with the Juul pods left behind in the dryers and the vomit stains from last night’s wild night. We aren’t in the trenches of a world war, but we are in the depths of a pandemic, so I guess it counts.

I would consider myself an experienced laundry washer (or whatever you call it) as I have been doing my own laundry since I was 13. I know some of the students here are brand new at washing their laundry, and may be making some mistakes with mixing detergent and bleach. But, I think the problem exists in buildup in the washers and improper cleaning. What I smell when I walk in that godforsaken room of washers and dryers is mildew mixed with black mold. There is no way that this is healthy to breathe in, or be in the presence of. I highly doubt these rooms are being cleaned, and if they are, I am concerned no alarms have been raised as to rectify this scent. I mean for all we know, it could be a bunch of dead rats decomposing under the Mount Everest of socks in the corner. I think the other issue is people close the washer doors after they transfer their load of sopping wet clothes. This creates a breeding ground for mold to throw their own frat party. So, if you’re reading this and you keep closing the door after your load, you are partially responsible for the smell and I am silently judging you through the screen. Yeah, I broke the fourth wall or whatever, fight me.

I am thankful that we don’t have to pay to wash our laundry with our already exuberant tuition costs, and I don’t expect perfection. But, I do expect just a general health inspection to make sure I am not breathing in noxious fumes that might make me grow a tail or something. Anyone who does laundry in that laundry room is truly a soldier worthy of high honors. I will be expecting a medal, Daniel Diermeier and maybe some high-tech weapons to annihilate whatever, or whoever, is growing in that basement.

The “Freshman -15” & We Want to Hear You Complain!

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Standing On Weight Scale

Is it just me or is everyone hungry? I am constantly complaining to friends and fellow Vanderbilt students that I feel weak from starvation. They also comment on the wrath of my “hangriness,” a.k.a the monster that takes over your body when you are hungry. Recently, I feel like my portion sizes at campus dining have grown smaller and smaller, and the operating hours are shorter and shorter. What legitimate college student finishes eating at 8 p.m.? Also, I first thought that maybe my American-sized meals have led me to a false notion of a correct serving size, but recently it feels like things have gotten absurd for me at the campus dining halls.

Before I begin with my personal experience with the food, let me just say a brief disclaimer. First, the dining staff has been lovely. This opinion piece is in no way a reflection of them, but more about my experience with the physical food and my own rants as to why I am having that experience. Second, these are my opinions so I know everyone’s experience will be different, and this is in no way representative of everyone. Third, I fully realize I am very dramatic sometimes. So, keep those things in mind as you read about my opinion.

Do you wanna complain?

Also, exciting news! Did The Flip break your TV? Do you have cockroaches in your room? Has your underwear been stolen from the washer? If any of these things sound similar to an experience you had had, click here to speak your mind about your less than amazing experiences so far at Vandy. MCL is starting a new series about undergraduate rants and grievances, so we want to hear what you have to say. Everything can be anonymous so feel free to “air the dirty laundry,” if you will. Anyways, let’s get back to my laundry list of complaints about dining.

Just let us eat, Chancellor Diermeier

My Laundry List of Complaints:

  • The portion sizes are way too small
  • The options have increased, but they are limited to the responsible students who plan their meals day ahead
  • The dining halls close at 8 p.m. (or earlier), which is unreasonable for students with late classes or labs

In the fall, I didn’t particularly like the food served at the various dining halls, but I felt like I could at least get nutrients. Everything was streamlined to be in compliance with COVID-19 protocols, which took away all options of food. Only one meal was available, and it usually left much to be desired. Yet, the serving sizes were usually sufficient that I could survive off of a side of fries. I could also depend on Suzie’s for my iced Chai, salads, or bagels, so I felt content with the offerings, but not completely happy with the absurd price for campus dining. The fall wasn’t great with the food content, but I had faith and empathy for dining services as they adjusted to serving food in a pandemic.

So, imagine my surprise when over Winter Break, Vanderbilt’s campus dining Instagram was boasting about “new” and “improved” meals and menus. I wanted to trust you, Vanderbilt Campus Dining, but you have failed me yet again. I am so happy you brought back Randwich, pasta stations, and the Mongolian option, but those are false promises when I have to order them several days ahead. I barely know what I am doing when I wake up. How am I supposed to know what I am going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner three days ahead?

What I End Up Eating

Here is an example of the portions I usually receive. For breakfast, most of the time I receive one small square of French toast and two strips of bacon. For lunch, I am given approximately 30 grains of rice, which tastes like saturated cardboard, and two droplets of queso atop three measly strips of lettuce. Side note, I have had Fresh Mex TEN days in a row, since only two walk-in stations are open at Rand. There are several order-ahead options, but if you forgot to schedule order your food three days ahead, then you’re out of luck and at the mercy of the dining gods. The other walk-up station is usually dry chicken or pasta, that several times has had hair in it that is most definitely not mine, and mushy potatoes. For dinner, I usually venture off campus and use my meal money, since my body screams at me to put in some type of edible nutrients.

These dining experiences have been my own personal nightmare. I feel unsatisfied each night as my tummy is rumbling with pleas of help. I understand I have the power to buy groceries and snack during the day. I am an adult that can buy food. Yet, why are we paying such outrageous prices for food, that in my opinion, is barely edible and repetitive or unavailable unless you order it days or a week in advance? I feel frustrated and without options some days for what to eat, so most of the time I just don’t. I also feel frustrated by the hours of operation at these dining halls. The Munchie Marts provide late-night snacks, but I want a hot meal after I finish my chemistry exam at 9 p.m. on a cold Winter’s night, without having to use GrubHub or walk somewhere at night.

Where is All the Money Going?

I am also #broke, so I don’t want to spend money each week buying groceries for food that I am already paying for at the dining hall. I have consulted other Vanderbilt freshmen, and they wholeheartedly agree with my annoyance over the portion sizes. I must also include that some freshmen are completely content with the dining halls and serving sizes. But, in my very informal research among friends, 8/10 were unsatisfied by what was being served and how much food they received.

I wonder if the answers to most of my complaints are because of cutbacks Vanderbilt has had to make in response to the pandemic. I am a rational human being (sometimes), so I understand these changes, yet I am still paying $5,373 per year for food that seems barely edible and is very scarce. They must be saving tons of money by overcharging for what little portions they give us. This leads me to some pretty crazy conspiracy theories as to what Vandy might be doing with all this spare money:

  1. Vanderbilt wants to be the first college to declare the “Freshman -15”
  2. Chancellor Diermeier is using the extra money to buy his nice suits and extra-firm hair gel. Come on dude, you have enough suits and your hair already looks great. Let us kids eat our respectably-sized chicken tenders
  3. Vanderbilt wants to revamp the underground tunnels in order to breed more squirrels in high-tech labs (I know, I know, cliché squirrel joke)

“Please, Sir, I want some more” – Oliver Twist

Now, let me say that I understand COVID-19 has taken a toll on monetary and creative resources. I understand and empathize with campus dining that it isn’t easy, but I am also not asking for a three-star Michelin meal. I literally just want to order eat a sufficient meal without having to beg for more rice in my Fresh Mex bowl or something other than dry chicken and oversaturated pasta. I also want to be paying a respectable price for these dining services. I want to be able to walk into a dining hall and just get a sandwich or chicken tenders. Please, Vandy Campus Dining, if you’re reading this, please just give us more food. We are getting hangry.

Easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint while on campus

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People who don’t care about trying to preserve a healthy environment are idiots. I hope that by now everyone is aware of the planet’s climate crisis and have some desire to create positive change. Serious effects of climate change are very much present today and are extremely difficult to face, especially as humans’ selfish natures and private interests catalyze the environmental devastation.

Even if us privileged and capable Vanderbilt attendees are not the ones finding solutions, the least we can do is try to reduce the problems. Listed below are some very easy actions you can take to reduce your negative impact on the climate.

  • Turn off lights. This is not difficult, guys. When you leave a room for more than five minutes turn off the lights. Most often this pertains to your dorm room, but it also pertains to bathrooms. Whenever you finish a shower go ahead and turn off the lights. Especially with covid shrinking the person to bathroom ratios, it might be a while before the next person comes in and needs to shower.
  • Stop getting a plastic bag with every meal at the dining hall! Ok yeah, the bags* say compostable but a) Just because they say they’re compostable doesn’t mean they actually get composted. I’m pretty sure most people just throw the bags in the trash. b) Even if something is composted, its lifespan still requires energy. Energy in manufacturing and energy in transportation and energy in transporting it to composting/other site. Here are some things to do instead:
    • 1) get one of the free reusable bags Vanderbilt munchies offer.
    • 2) reuse one of the large paper bags some dining halls offer.
    • 3) just don’t use a bag. A lot of the time, you’re not walking a great distance to where you’re going to sit down and eat. If you’re walking straight out of Rand to the dining tent, I have a sneaking suspicion you very likely don’t need the bag.
    • *note, specifically referencing the “compostable” plastic bags in Commons dining. The idea of reduced bags applies to all bags, though.

The phrase Reduce, Reuse, Recycle lists the steps in a specific order. Guard against the false comfort of the thought that oh, this can be recycled, so it’s fine. Your first thought should be to Reduce your use.

  • Reuse utensils. The plastic of new utensils at every meal adds up fast. Try reusing the plastic utensils you’re given. It’s not a bad idea to wash them consistently and keep reusing them. When the kind dining staff hands you your food and starts to hand you utensils it’s easy to just say thank you, I don’t actually need the utensils.
  • Bring a reusable water bottle. Yes, plastic is definitely worse than aluminum in terms of environmental damage, but the manufacturing of aluminum still has some impact. It’s totally understandable that you won’t always have a water bottle with you, but make an effort to bring a reusable water bottle with you. A can for just one drink of water is kind of silly.
  • A few other points include:
    • use the munchie mart paper bags as trash bags #AvoidThePlastic
    • take shorter showers
    • hang dry small loads of clothes in your room (hang things to dry on spare hangers)
    • eat less meat (meat, especially beef, production has a HUGE carbon footprint)

Readers please note that even if you are not immediately threatened by climate change others are experiencing its devastation first hand. There are fires burning homes, rain forests, and animals. There are hurricanes destroying towns. There are extreme droughts that lead to famine in areas already ridden with poverty. Get out of your bubble and try to be part of the solution.

Opinion: Paper Towelgate

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We need paper towels in bathrooms on Commons. Our only option is to use questionable hand dryers that release a stream of air only slightly more powerful than that of a senior citizen blowing out birthday candles. Vanderbilt must act swiftly and place paper towel dispensers in every bathroom on Commons.

“Paper Towelgate”, the lack of paper towel dispensers in dorms on Commons, Vanderbilt’s first-year living program, must be addressed now. One does not realize how useful paper towels are until they are missing when you need them most. Any small spill or any time a towel is forgotten when hands or a face are washed, students on Commons are forced to make the embarrassing walk back to their room to get a towel. 

Hand dryers have been criticized for spewing bathroom germs back onto the user’s hands. According to a recent study, in lab settings, hand dryers were shown to facilitate the growth of bacteria in petri dishes. Personally, I wash my hands in the hopes of making them clean, so the idea of having bacteria sprayed onto my hands every time I use the restroom is rather off-putting. 

Hygiene is important everywhere, but it is especially important in first-year college dorms, such as those on Commons. With hundreds of students from different places all using the same facilities and spending time with each other almost every day, proper hand washing is a first-year student’s best defense from sickness. According to a study from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal,“paper towels can dry hands efficiently, remove bacteria effectively, and cause less contamination of the washroom environment. From a hygiene viewpoint, paper towels are superior to electric air dryers. Paper towels should be recommended in locations where hygiene is paramount…”

Personally, I am afraid that the poor hand dryers found in bathrooms on Commons could facilitate the passage of illnesses from student to student. Maybe hand dryers are to blame for “Commons Plague,” the yearly round of sickness that affects many first-year students at Vanderbilt. So the question remains: Is Vanderbilt potentially compromising our health?

I can only assume that Vanderbilt’s hand dryer woes are the result of their continued efforts to make our campus greener by reducing paper product waste. While I wholeheartedly agree with this mission and respect Vanderbilt’s moves to decrease waste where they can, I still cannot reconcile their choice to not place paper towels in dorms on Commons. 

Paper towels can actually be helpful for the environment if disposed of properly. Although they cannot be recycled, they can be composted. Stanford Health Magazine notes that “the bacteria or food on them will break down during the composting process. If an airport, public building or school already has a composting program, it should not be too much trouble to place collecting bins in restrooms.” If Vanderbilt were to introduce receptacles for disposal that could later allow paper towels to be composted in the already existing composting program in the Commons dining hall, we could minimize the wastefulness of the towels, and even minimize the energy usage required to power the hand dryers (even if they are barely powered). 

Upon moving into Commons, it will become almost immediately apparent that “Paper Towelgate” must be solved. I am calling for immediate introduction of hand towel dispensers in every bathroom in every dorm on Commons, with an appropriately labeled composting receptacle to go with it. No longer should students on Commons suffer with inadequate hand dryers. Every day that we are silent is another day that no action is taken, and another one of our fellow first-years could be exposed to potentially dangerous bacteria.  

The time for justice in the form of paper towels is now. 

Campus Dining: More Options, Please!

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Let’s be honest, Vanderbilt’s Campus Dining weekend hours are ridiculous.  This is my first year on Vanderbilt’s campus. I have spent many weekends complaining about dining hall hours with other students. There aren’t a lot of options when it comes to finding a good meal on weekends. Most dining options for students have unconventional hours or they don’t open at all. I have been let down many times due to these hours. Let me tell you, there is nothing more disappointing than walking to the Campus Store in Rand just to find out that it is closed! I strongly believe that the Vanderbilt’s Campus Dining hours fail to deliver to the needs of students during the weekends. It is time to extend the hours and satisfy the hunger of our student body.

 

First of all, a lot of students rely on their meal plans to get food. Freshman are fortunate to have twenty-one meals a week. However, these meals don’t matter when everything is closed. Students often miss their meal swipes because the meal periods and dining hours do not correspond. Say it’s Friday and I want to use my meal swipe on snacks at 4:00 PM in Rand. I can’t do that because the Campus Store closes at 3:00 PM. Then, all that I’m left with is Pi and Leaf. There are not enough places open for food.

 

In my experience, the markets are your best bet for meals on the weekend. But not just any market; just Common Grounds and Branscomb Market since they are the only markets open 24 hours. However, as a first-year student on the Commons, Branscomb Market is far away and not really an option for a sad, hungry freshman. I mean, who wants to trek a mile to get food? I just don’t have the energy.

 

I asked a few students from the class of 2021 what they thought about the weekend dining hours. A student named Seth voiced that “it’s so hard to find a good meal on the weekends, especially Sunday. If I want to eat breakfast I can’t get a hot meal before 10 A.M.” This is because the Commons dining hall does not open until 10 A.M. on Sundays. As someone who wakes up early, wanting to enjoy a beautiful morning with a full stomach, this is extremely inconvenient. If I want breakfast, I have to settle for a snack from Common Grounds because a hot breakfast is not even an option. The same student said, “A lot of upperclassmen may leave but most freshmen are stuck here. Where can freshman eat?” Since first-year students are not allowed to have cars on campus, we don’t have the luxury of driving to get food. We are stuck with quick fixes at the markets and trying to make it into the dining halls before they shut down.

 

Furthermore, Caroline, a first-year student at Vanderbilt, stated that a lot of students will wake up and use their lunch swipe “to get food at 11 AM.” But, “On Sunday, not everyone sleeps half the day away.” There are students who like to wake up early and can’t rely on the Commons for breakfast. If students don’t get a swipe at a market, they will most likely miss out on their breakfast swipe. So now I ask you, what’s the point in having twenty-one meal swipes if you can’t use them? If we are forced to use our swipes during designated times, then why can’t we have corresponding dining hall hours?

 

Don’t get me wrong, I realize that it may be difficult to keep dining halls open later. This will change the workday for campus dining employees. I know that no one wants to be away from their family until 1 in the morning and students can’t work those hours. However, we could change the closing time 6:00 PM instead of 2:00 PM. and 10:00 PM instead of 8:00 PM. And if changing the hours is too much to ask, let’s add more restaurants to the Taste of Nashville list. I’m tired of only being able to buy pizza during late nights. And there should be more options available for delivery. If not, we should add more options close to the Commons seeing that freshmen can’t drive. There are many restaurants located in Hillsboro, a quick walk from our dorms. Adding places like Urban Juicer or Taco Mamacita would give freshman more options for weekend dining. It is time to change our options and the hours of Campus Dining. Maybe one day I will be able to eat an early breakfast in the Commons on a Sunday.