Davis Square is a haven for diverse dining options, both in terms of kind of food and price range. But for the average Tufts student on a limited budget, shelling out cash to eat at one of the many Davis restaurants can be a financial burden that forces many to forego that option.
Under the current MOPS arrangement, Tufts students cannot use their points to buy dinner in Davis. Yet students like points, as evidenced from the frequency of late-night pizza deliveries on this campus. The key impetus for students to spend points instead of cash is the seemingly non-pecuniary characteristic of points: Yes, a point equals a dollar, but it's probable that Mom or Dad's dollars are the ones backing the points account.
Given Tufts students' penchant for using points instead of cash, it is likely that if offered the chance to dine at local eateries using their points, they would take it. In doing so, they would enjoy a diverse array of dishes comparable to the options enjoyed by their counterparts at schools like Harvard and Boston College.
However, such a scenario of flavor experimentation is not in the foreseeable future for Jumbo gourmands. Tufts' Dining Services has not indicated any intention of expanding the culinary options available for purchase with points.
And, admittedly, the current options are limited in a number of ways. For one thing, the current system Tufts uses to reimburse MOPS restaurant owners for points purchases has the capacity to process financial transactions with just eight restaurants, while the one employed by Harvard allows that university's students to select from 28 different dining options.
Furthermore, Tufts students can order only delivery food using points, while students at other schools enjoy the flexibility of paying with their "points" for sit-down meals at the actual dining establishments. Plus, in order to reduce competition with on-campus dining facilities, Tufts students can only use points to buy off-campus food after 7:00 p.m.
For Tufts students to have expanded options, Dining Services would need to update the technology it uses to facilitate the MOPS transactions. Other schools use high-speed Internet connections to process transactions with participating restaurants, but Tufts has stuck with a modem system.
Dining Services has said that to induct more restaurants into the points system it will have to set up another modem pool. If Dining Services really wants to expand dining options, however, it should consider implementing a high-speed Internet system to process transactions with restaurants.
Not all restaurants currently have high-speed Internet capabilities, but it is likely Dining Services and restaurants could arrange something for a relatively economical initial fee.
Additionally, the greater efficiency of a high-speed Internet system could allow Dining Services to look into setting up deals with restaurants that would permit students to use points when they eat out. And it could allow students to make off-campus points purchases at all times of the day.
The likelihood that Dining Services will actually do any of this depends on its motivations. Dining Services has communicated to the Daily its fear of competition from off-campus eateries.
This is an understandable concern. Tufts needs business from students to generate the finances sufficient to continue offering high-quality and diverse options in its dining halls.
But Tufts should not necessarily shy away from increased competition with off-campus eateries. Competition would force Dining Services to differentiate its products, the benefits of which are undeniable.
Plus, Tufts should consider the culinary education of its students, especially those living off-campus who already frequent dining halls less than their on-campus peers. Eating out exposes students to different kinds of food, and for an institution that prides itself on a global outlook, making it easier for students to taste the world only makes sense.
