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Hello: My name is Gabriel. I am currently a student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. I am in need of suggestions/help pertaining to my precarious situation: Dartmouth College has a policy concerning its dining services plan. Unfortunately, the school requires each student to have a REQUIRED AND NON-REFUNDABLE dining plan. If you live on campus, the minimum is $525 per ten week term....off campus min is $400. The way that it works is that your bill is charged with the amount, and as the term goes on, you are supposed to spend the amount in the various dining halls. Well, during my last two terms in attendance, i was charged a total of $1050, none of which i used to buy food. None of the $1050 was actually spent. The school services do not include anything that a macrobiotic (or i) could eat. I've talked with the head of the dining services and he agrees with me that i should not be charged for the services because there is no option that goes with my eating lifestyle....but, he also operates within the system and has not the power to go outside of it. He did offer me a way to get around this though....to see the college nutritionist, who can grant a medical excuse for exceptance from the dining plan. The last time that i tried this (seeing the nutritionist), i didn't express my self or macrobiotics very well and the nutritionist suggested that i seek out psychological help after i explained to her that i did not feel comfortable eating food that was mass produced by people with no concern for the quality or energy of the food and in aluminum cookware that had also been used to prepare various meats and products that i don't want to take in at all, even at a microscopic level. Beyond the physical nature of the food, it is nearly impossible for me to balance my intake with the selection offered. These things she did not understand, as she is a typical american trained nutritionist. My question and dire need for help revolves around this nutritionist. How can i show here that macrobiotics is not a psychological construct? For some reason i am thinking that she would listen to a medical doctor (or someone of repute with a medical degree) that is macrobiotic as well. Does anyone know a person like this that would be willing to help me? There is really no option for me at my school's dining services, and that is a known fact. And spending $40 a week for food that i will never eat is a ludicrous proposal. Please help me if you can. Thank you, Gabriel Martinez lifegenii@yahoo.com |