The semester is almost over. Do you have $1500 worth of J points remaining, or $4?
Students have until the end of finals week to use all their J points. Points roll over from fall to spring semesters, but not from spring to the next fall.
Unlike some schools which give students a certain number of meals per year, HSU uses a point system. Students pay for their food per item. Each J point is is equivalent to $.01.
Director of Dining services Ron Rudebock finds J points to be a better system than others. Rather than keeping food costs cheap, the J can focus on providing what the students want to pay for. “It gives a lot of choices and decision-making back to the students,” he says.
With this system, students can budget how much they spend per week. Spend too many points, and you may be without meals towards the end of the year. Spend too little, and you’ll have extra points. J points are nonrefundable.
By checking your J point balance online, it’s possible to avoid these problems. Sophomore economics major Scott Kaelin says, “I think [the system] works just fine.”
However, managing J points isn’t easy for some students.
Freshman environmental engineering major Charis Thompson has $4 worth of J points left with more than a week of school remaining. “I don’t know what happened,” she says. “I had like $100 last week.”
To save your J points, Dining services employee Lydia Banks suggests eating at the J instead of the Depot. “You will get the most out of your money,” she says. “At the Depot you’re paying full price, but at the J, it’s a penny per point.”
Other students are in an entirely different situation. Stand outside the Giant’s Cupboard the week before finals, and you’ll see students leaving with food-filled paper bags in both arms.
Cupboard employee Garwah Chung warns a patron at checkout, “You have $400 left. Six days plus finals to spend it all.” Chung says he’s seen a major increase in sales at the Cupboard now that the semester’s ending.
If you have extra points, you can buy non-perishable items at the Cupboard, South Campus Marketplace or Hilltop Market and take them home for the summer. Rudebock suggests buying food for friends and family as well. You can even donate items to local food banks.
This week at the Cupboard, Chung saw one student with $1500 worth of J points left on their card. That’s a lot of non-perishable food.
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