Nearly 220 Brandeis juniors, seniors and transfer students moved into the Village dormitory last week. While students were generally pleased, some were upset that they were forced to have a meal plan. Several unhappy students have circulated a petition calling on Residence Life to allow them to opt-out of a compulsory meal contract to offset the higher price of housing for living in the Village.The Village is a new residence hall on campus - open for the first time this fall. Designed by architect Kyu Sung Woo, the 70,000 square foot quadrangle consists of three connected sections, each built around a central courtyard. The Village is adjacent to Ridgewood and Ziv Quads, between Epstein and Slosberg. The back of the building faces South Street where, through the tall windows that span most of the outer walls, a passerby can see a white spiral staircase.

The petitioners who are concerned about the meal plan said they hope to pass the petition around the Village and the rest of campus, believing that the issue affects current Village residents as well as underclassmen who might live there in the future.

The petitioners said their main complaint is that without a meal plan, residents would make more use of the expensive kitchen facilities located on each floor. This, they think, would foster a stronger sense of community since students would come together by cooking meals. They said they believe that if students ate in their residence hall, rather than only sleeping there, the area would become a more complete living environment - more of a home.

Students also pointed out that they are mainly upperclassmen (except transfer students), and are mature enough to handle the responsibilities of preparing their own food. They said they are paying extra to live in the Village (about $2,000 depending on the type of room), and would like to save some money on food.

Lastly, the residents pointed out that residents of Ridgewood, Charles River Apartments and the Mods - the other living areas with kitchens - are not required to purchase a meal plan.

"We would definitely utilize the kitchen. My friends and I cook a lot," Dianne Gallo '05 said.

Iska Blusztajn '05 said that she is personally "not a big fan of cooking," so she would purchase a meal plan regardless. But she added that she understands her peers' viewpoint and will put her name on the petition.

Village Quad Director Luigi Solla reiterated the students' rationale: "The students feel pretty strongly. They say, 'We have these kitchens; we want to use them.'"

Some students said they were told by the department of Residence Life that it was highly likely Village residents would have some sort of half or reduced meal plan.

Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer said he was unaware of this alleged offer of compromise. "If anyone promised half plans to Village residents it is news to me, and if stated, must have been from someone who was speculating or thinking aloud," he said. "Honestly, I never heard it in my world or among my staff."

Sawyer said that like all other Brandeis students living on campus, residents of the Village signed a housing and dining license that clearly outlined the meal plan requirement. If students did not agree, he said, they did not have to sign the contract.

The kitchens in the Village, he explained, "are meant to support programming by the community and the neighborhoods of 22 residents, and for casual, supplementary food preparation."

"(The kitchens) are not meant to support full feeding of the 220 residents," Sawyer said. "(It's) not possible - physically, practically or hygienically."

Jean Eddy, vice president of students and enrollment, added that "while (the kitchens) are very functional, they were designed for the occasional meal or late night snack."

"We didn't believe, and I remain in this camp, that it is realistic to assume that 20 people would be able to prepare regular meals in one kitchen," Eddy continued.

Solla explained that the Board of Trustees must approve the prices and regulations for all meal plans, and noted that he does not know if the petition will be effective. While he acknowledged that "Brandeis history is change through student activism," he also added that the administration must adhere to certain policies.

"Everybody who lives here is really happy to be here," Solla said, despite these concerns over the meal plan.

Within the Village, rooms are arranged in a "modified suite configuration," as described by Residence Life. This means that every six to eight students share a bathroom and a small lounge, and every floor (about 20 students) shares a larger living room and a kitchen with state-of-the-art cooking facilities.

In an interview with the Justice last spring, Woo said, "It's not black or white singles or doubles." One hundred-eight students live in singles and 112 in doubles. Double rooms, Woo said, allow "more social interaction," and singles grant "more privacy and personal space." The frequently scattered lounges, he added, allow a mix of both worlds.

Residents mainly gave positive reviews to their new surroundings. "I love it. It looks really nice inside ... everything's clean and new," Gallo said.

Gallo said she received a bad lottery number, and might not have been able to live on campus had she not been pulled into a double in the Village.

Blusztajn, who lives in a single in the Village, said she is slightly disappointed with the size of her room. "I live in the most expensive room on campus. I guess in a suite, my single would be a little smaller, but my room still isn't that big," she said.

But otherwise, Blusztajn said she is impressed. She said she especially likes that the building looks more like an apartment building and less a dormitory. She mentioned the walls, which are "normal," she said, as opposed to cinderblock or "the creepy brick walls of East."

Solla said, "the space is incredible." He mentioned the colored walls and "funky furniture:" colored wooden cylindrical tables and metal mesh chairs in some lounges, and plush couches and armchairs in other lounges. The Village also has a multipurpose room, a seminar room, and two more rooms for large gatherings.

Ultimately, Solla said, Residence Life is "rethinking what a residence hall should be, and moving towards a residential college.