The Post Editorial Board, November 7, 2007: “Losing a million dollars in the first year of any business is a very bad thing. But OU’s Dining Services either didn’t learn this lesson or perhaps thinks the principle doesn’t apply to it. … No one seems to be considering perhaps the best way to generate interest and make some money off a potentially failed restaurant: allowing students with Super meal plans to spend their meals in West 82.”

The Post Editorial Board, May 2, 2008: “Perhaps West 82 needs to be put out of its misery. … Another option would be to connect the food court to students’ Super meal plans. … Not only would it increase foot traffic to West 82 — especially during what are currently low-traffic times — but it might actually encourage some students who have preferred the regular meal plan to buy a Super, resulting in a cash influx.”

It looks like Dining Services might finally have gotten the hint. In a bid to stop the hemorrhaging at Baker University Center, Dining Services will offer two new options next year: Flex Dollars and a Flex 14 meal plan. For $270, off-campus students can get $300 in Flex Dollars to be used at West 82, Latitude 39, the Front Room, Café Bibliotech and, of course, the dining halls and Grab N Go. The Flex 14 meal plan would allow students the chance to get a meal plan with more options. The Flex 14 plan comes with 100 Flex Dollars, and the holder of the plan would be able to convert unused meals into Flex Dollars.

The program has potential and probably will be very popular. Not every student schedule is compatible with dining hall meal times, and this will offer a good alternative. And considering rising food and gas prices, Flex Dollars could be good for the off-campus student as well.

This program is a ‘duh’ moment long in coming. With the financial disaster of West 82 and its infamous Dining Dollars, it’s surprising OU took this long to introduce a Baker-friendly meal plan. With a combined projected revenue of $432,000, the new Dining Services options are a smart step toward a solution to a stupid problem. They’re certainly late, but the old cliché applies in this case: better late than never.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the executive editors.