The rising cost of eating at campus dining halls has led many students to launch complaints against Aramark, the University's food service provider. Aramark managers who set and evaluate these prices contend that they are justified. Students have complained about having to pay higher prices for food, such as 39 cents for a second piece of cheese at the deli in The Boulevard, 99 cents for a piece of fruit and the price of a meal at the new Balance station in Usdan Cafe.

Aramark insists that its prices are among the lowest compared to other Boston-area schools and that some prices have not been increased in the past three to four years, even despite the constantly increasing price of goods.

But students have complained that the high prices make it difficult to eat healthy on a campus that has few healthy options.

"I think it's crazy that I have to pay a dollar for a piece of fruit. I am not being as healthy as I would be at home because it is so expensive here," Rachel Hillman '07 said.

A number of students said that they could easily get a number of fruit at a typical grocery store for the same price as one piece of fruit here.

Students also said the new Balance station has unreasonable prices for smaller portions.

For $4.99, Balance offers a meat dish or veggie burger without a bun, and a choice of two side dishes. A salmon plate costs $5.99 with the same options.

Students say this is not enough food for the price they are charged. "If you get salmon at Balance, it is more than your lunch meal allowance," Hillman said. "Why would I get something that cost more than my lunch meal?" Hillman said.

Laura Bonaccorsi '07 said the portions are small, "but isn't controlling how much you eat part of eating healthy? Then again, you only get like two little pieces of salmon for six bucks. That's crummy."

Students said they are often left with the choice of paying 89 cents for a cookie or 99 cents for an apple.

"I'd probably still choose the apple, but I am going to look at it and wonder why it costs so much," Hannah Akselrod '07 said.

In response to student complaints, Aramark managers said that prices are evaluated each summer, and that students are paying the appropriate amount for meals. They reiterated that they have not raised the price on many items in three to four years.

"We only raised the prices on 20 items this year and only raised about the same number of prices last year," said Barbara Laverdiere, Aramark's chief representative on campus. "As a result, many items have remained the same price for years now. At the same time, we have taken some huge price increases this year, particularly on beef items. We have not passed this on to students."

Laverdiere said beef is not the only food that has increased in price for Aramark, but not for students.

She said since September, beef is up 15 to 17 percent, poultry is up 12 to 15 percent and seafood is up 11 to 15 percent. She said all of these are due to a variety of factors that affect the meat markets.

According to Laverdiere, this problem is most serious at the Balance station, where higher-quality meats are ordered from a gourmet food distributor. To make up for their financial losses on salmon, Aramark raised the price of that dish by $1 earlier this year.

Laverdiere said that since then, the price has continued to rise for Aramark, but no additional cost has been passed to students.

Laverdiere also said costs must then be absorbed elsewhere. As a result, prices of items such as fruit have been raised, and mangers have controlled the standard portion sizes more strictly.

Another cost under serious scrutiny by Aramark managers is the distribution of cheese at the Montague's Deli in the Boulevard.

Many students said they were alarmed recently when they were told that they could receive only one piece of cheese for their sandwich, and that any additional slices would cost an additional 39 cents Many said they assumed the standard was two slices and that there was no additional cost for more.

"Unfortunately, [cheese] was not being given out correctly during the year," Usdan Food Service Director Richard Rubini said. "We caught the problem late in the year. It is the policy that students are given one slice of cheese. Another slice costs us money so the charge goes down the line just as everything else that is given as extra."

Laverdiere said that one of the driving factors of the higher-than-normal costs is theft. She said that tens of thousands of dollars are stolen every year in Aramark facilities and, "when one person steals, everyone loses."

Laverdiere said it is not only bags of trail mix and boxes of sushi that are stolen, but that even little things that students take add up. Aramark managers cited many examples of items such as ketchup packets and plastic forks, which are taken by the thousands each year.

In an effort to ensure that all items are available when possible, Aramark purchased new registers for the C-store that automatically keep track of inventory and print out a list of what needs to be reordered at the end of the day.

Many students wonder why the food service provider would spend several thousand dollars on the registers, which they see as slowing down the lines. But Aramark managers say that having two registers will allow people to check out faster during peak hours.

Laverdiere said prices will once again be evaluated this summer. She also said that the Administration constantly works with Aramark to keep prices as low as possible.

"We take [pricing] really seriously and we know it's an issue among the students," Laverdiere said. "But they need to understand that it is not something that we just casually say, 'let's raise this price, let's raise that price.' We understand what our obligation is to be as competitive as we can, and the only time we do these increases is under really excruciating circumstances.