In recent weeks, The Pioneer has been covering the issue of requiring dorm residents to purchase a meal plan.

One of the main arguments of the administration is that a meal plan would benefit CSUEB students by offering them an environment for socializing, bringing them close together.

This argument raises an important question about how students socialize in the dorms.

College, in particular the dormitories, is a great places to meet new people and interact with them to learn about their cultures.

Students, however, would benefit more from their shared environments by being open- minded, willing to talk and hear from their fellow students that may be from different backgrounds.

They need to go beyond the simple conversation of ‘where are you from?’ and ‘what is your major?’

“Are you in the line?” seems to be the only interaction between students at the dining commons on campus.

Linnea Wannefors, an international student from Sweden living in the dorms, agrees that some students talk to each other in the dining commons but feel that there is still not enough in-depth conversation.

“Some people talk in the dining commons,” said Wannefors, “but nothing more than ‘excuse me’ or ‘are you in the line. That’s really not socializing, right?”

Wannefors’ suggestion is to mix international students with American students in dormitories and in classes.
“I know all international students feel this way”, she said. “We chose to come here for cultural exchange, but we don’t feel the American culture— only the European’s and the Asian’s. I am really not blaming CSUEB students.”
Wannefors added that it is the students choice whether they want to socialize with each other or not, but here at CSUEB, international students feel it is necessary to socialize with others in order to be successful in their studies.

“In my TV production and Theater classes,” she explained, “students have no choice but to interact with their classmates as we all need to work together in different class projects in order to get good grades.”

Vanessa Anderson, a CSUEB student living in the dorms, feels that there are numerous ways to get to know fellow classmates.

“There are many clubs on campus, not to mention the classroom environments,” said Anderson.

Some other students, like Jermaine Alexander, think that CSUEB students interact more compared to other schools, counting our university’s small size as an asset.

“I went to CSULA last year,” he said. “I was expecting students to be more interactive given the school’s reputation, but I was shocked to see that students tended to form smaller groups and didn’t mingle. Here, on the other hand, it is easy to get together with new folks thanks to campus clubs, especially when you are living in the dorms.”

With student opinions as diverse as the campus population itself, the debate over whether the administration’s claim that a mandatory meal plan will increase sociability at CSUEB continues.