A quiet buzz has begun among University Courtyard residents this week. The paper cups have been taken away, and we will not stand for it. Allow me to explain.

Talk to residents of University Courtyard, and you will hear that they are shackled to an overpriced meal plan at an establishment whose primary interest seems to lie, not in serving busy students trying to maintain a reasonable diet, but in serving subpar food for a gouging price.

To give nonresidents an idea of “dorm life”: Imagine paying over $2,000 a year to eat mediocre, questionably fresh food once a day. This works out to roughly $8.82 per meal. For this amount, I could be purchasing substantial meals I enjoy at restaurants like Panera, Chipotle and Tacos Marquitos. At seven meals a week, $2,000 is actually the lowest end of the spectrum. According to the Dining Services website, a 19-meal-a-week plan will cost you $4,029 a year.

Now, imagine that this same establishment often fails to cater to the needs of students with food allergies and religious restrictions. It takes away the means to remove food from the dining hall, with no initial explanation, and pins up condescending notices like “Three cookies per person,” like we’re all taking five a day.

According to University Courtyard, the cups were removed for two reasons: to ensure compliance with a California health standard, and because they were originally intended for the slurpie machine, which was removed due to lack of use several days into the semester. However, mixed messages are being sent, as most residents have either assumed or been told that the cups have been revoked because too much food was being removed from the dining hall.

With all these problems, why even purchase a meal plan, you ask?

Because it is mandatory for those living in the residence halls. Shackled, I tell you.

It may sound trivial to those not living on campus, but this latest development is truly the paper cup that broke the camel’s back. To be told not only that we must pay outlandish sums of money for inferior food, but also that we can only consume said food within the confines of the dining hall, simply adds insult to injury.

Many of us have schedules that restrict the times we can actually visit the dining hall. Hours are another issue for many students at the dining hall. Many have night classes that don’t end until 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m., and are forced to go off-campus to eat dinner.

When you have limited time in these situations, it’s convenient to take out a cup of fruit or vegetables for a healthy, filling snack. This would likely not even be necessary if the dining hall’s options were satisfying, but I digress.

The powers that be assume that all of us are taking excessive amounts of food from the dining hall, which is simply not true. There are, of course, outliers who march outside proudly with napkins loaded with 18 cookies. Most of us, however, are just trying to take a cup of carrots to munch on without being treated like common criminals.

Over the years, more and more restrictions have been placed on what can be taken out of the dining hall with less and less justification, which hurts students. The amount of restrictions does not compute with the amount we are paying per year.

I have talked to many residents who have visited what appears to be a made-to-order station for items like wraps, only to be told that they cannot choose what goes into the item. This goes also for vegetarians asking for the item without meat. Despite the fact that the food is prepared in front of the student, the student has no choice in what goes into the food, even when it is a matter of personal diet or food allergies.

I suppose the dining hall assumes that, because students are forced to purchase a plan, they need not be concerned with providing competitive service and appealing options, or even with meeting the basic health needs of its patrons.

This is my fourth year as a dorm resident, and I can recall only one survey that solicited opinions on the general dining hall fare. Legend has it that there is a suggestion box in the dining hall, but I have never seen it nor heard of someone being encouraged to submit a suggestion.

It seems that the dining hall has forgotten that it exists to serve the needs of students. If Dining Services is serious about receiving and implementing student feedback (which it should be), I believe the best plan of action is to have a well-publicized, informal forum open to all residents to voice their concerns and receive a legitimate response from the dining hall administration that does not consist merely of hearsay or poorly executed damage control.

Until that point, I fear that people will take four cookies from the dining hall. And we can’t have that, now can we?