Students wait in line at Paws to order lunch. More students have taken advantage of meal plans rather than going out to eat due to the economy.Towson University students have found inexpensive ways to use their time and get to campus since the beginning of the 2009 recession.
“The time I spend with my friends is usually not going out to places we don’t have the money to be going out once or twice a week,” senior philosophy major R.J. Wines said. “We stay connected through the Internet, talk, instant message, play games online. Or, if we do want to go out somewhere, it’s very seldom, but we just meet up at one of the friends’ houses and just hang out there.”
“We definitely take advantage of the free pool tables they have in Paws,” senior computer science major Matt Sammarco said. “That’s definitely a good time killer.”
According to Bob Campbell, the Director of Auxilary Services, sales of meal plans have increased.
“As enrollment has grown, and as more people come, we tend to sell more meal plans,” he said. “It’s hard to factor out who would have been here if Towson had not grown, and who’s here as a result of Towson growing.”
With a meal plan or dining points, the price of a meal is lower than paying cash because each meal purchased with the OneCard excludes the 6 percent sales tax. And due to recent price increases, students use their meal plans and dining points more often.
“A lot of my friends, we mainly just stay in most of the time,” sophomore vocal performance major Emma Anderson said. “I have a lot of friends that live off campus and they go to get food a lot and that’s kind of hard for me just because I’m living off of loans right now. So, I do the alternative of having them come here and just hang out in my dorm or their apartment.”
Students are also taking advantage of the shuttle system.
“I live in one of the apartment complexes that has a shuttle,” senior chemistry major Genesis Hugghis said. “So even if I didn’t have the money to fill my gas tank up, I would still be able to take the school shuttle bus that they provide for us.”
Students are even avoiding alcohol to save money.
“I just usually go to parties or I just don’t drink at all because I don’t really find the need to drink too much,” junior theatre major Stephanie Holland said. “My friends are fun enough without drinking. Usually I just save whatever alcohol I have and try to drink as little as possible to save money because alcohol is expensive.”
