Toward the end of every se­mester, money problems for stu­dents reach their peak. This is especially true when it comes to the amount of funds left on meal plans-particularly those of upper­classmen, townhouse residents, and perhaps the people who buy those expensive Naked Juice drinks on a daily basis. Meal plan money can go quickly.

Many people completely run out of meal plan funds; I speculate that this happens to more men than women (but I could be wrong.) Thus, at the end of a semester, a girl with several hundred dollars left might find herself being asked for “a quick meal swipe” several times a day.

The old adage remains true, it seems. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach… even if you are in college and have no access to pots, pans, groceries, or any­thing but Kessel cuisine.

Being a 19-year-old female, my appetite is not quite equal to that of most men my age. My meal plan does not get spent very quickly.

Towards the end of each se­mester, people begin to notice this. All of a sudden, little by little, I get more attention. I get more “Hey, Sara. How is it going?” around lunch and dinner times. Some light conversation, gossip, and a walk to Kessel later, the conversation is abruptly switched to food and a lack of money on the part of my conversation partner.

I do not mind spotting a friend for money once in a while. In fact, I’m more than happy to buy a sandwich for someone who never fails to text me with a party invite or offers me a ride back to Briar­cliff. Or for someone who is just a generally good friend. I do say “no” fairly often to meal card re­quests to avoid casually giving away too much.

But sometimes the meal card usage is a bit more serious and consistent than random guy friends hitting you up for a Kessel wrap.

I have observed that significant others at Pace sometimes come with a price. Girls feed their boy­friends, letting them “piggyback off their meal cards” for the extent of their relationship. I see noth­ing wrong with this, as long as the relationship, or perhaps “situ­ationship,” isn’t solely based on access to a woman’s food money, and, of course, as long as the girl is ok with sharing her money- in es­sence feeding her boyfriend every week or even every day.

Ladies, be sparing with you meal cards- don’t be used and abused. One week, you may have hundreds of dollars, and the next you might have about 50, being left to wonder how you’re going to make the money last until the last week of the semester.

For me, at least, even games of truth or dare have become op­portunities for a free meal. A boy once dared me to let him borrow my meal card. I let him, because he was completely out of money.

This is when it occurred to me that the moment guys get the slightest bit comfortable with you they might very well use you- for food. I ended up offering to pay for that boy’s dinner in Kessel a few days later, too, because his in­tentions of being friends with me weren’t solely based on being fed.

Earlier that week I had been talking to a friend on campus. This friend happened to have a steady boyfriend who was out of meal money. She had no problem at all with sharing her Pace OneCard meal plan wealth with someone she was so fond of. I know other girls who also want to share their wealth; one of my friends encour­ages her boyfriend to borrow her card once in a while so he can get a decent meal. Perhaps this is be­cause of the nurturing nature of women; women, for the most part, seem to instinctively want to care for those who need it. At Pace, this nurturing is done with that little blue card in Kessel.

I’ll end this tale of men’s meal card woes with this- it is ok to say no when a guy pressures you to buy him a meal at Kessel. It is your money, after all.