The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is well on its way to becoming a Tier One institution. However, before that can be accomplished UTSA must take heed to the voice of its student body, especially when it pertains to the matter of food. As UTSA continues to grow, more and more students choose to live on or near campus, and as a result, more and more choose to dine here. Unfortunately, UTSA's current food distributor, Aramark, has failed to meet even the most average of expectations. Aramark operates virtually all on-campus food venues at UTSA. These venues often have noticeably higher prices, as well as late-opening/early-closing times, insufficient sanitation, and incredibly long lines, The Roadrunner Cafe (RRC) being a prime example of this. The average UTSA student must spend around $3000.00 every nine months for a RRC meal plan. ( http://www.utsa.edu/auxiliary/docs/Meal_Plan_Information_2014-2015.pdf) Due to the RRC's  operating days, this results in students paying around $15 PER DAY for just their meal plan, regardless of whether they eat there every day or not. Making a bad situation worse, Aramark and UTSA have declared that any student who chooses to live at a UTSA dorm/apartment with under forty-eight credits must purchase a meal plan. (IV)(http://www.utsa.edu/auxiliary/docs/AS_2014-2015_MP_Terms.pdf) Closing at 9PM on weekdays and an appalling 7PM on weekends, (https://www.google.com/search?q=utsa+cafe+hours&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) the Roadrunner Cafe operates under schedules that are not at all convenient for the students who live here. Adding insult to injury, once a student enters the RRC, the "stations" (various food stalls) within operate on their OWN ridiculous hours, spending much of the time closed. This forces UTSA's students to resort to meals such as cold pizza and watery salads. The lines within the Roadrunner Cafe itself are frequently horrendous, sometimes taking over half an hour to order a simple pasta bowl or omlette... Hours aside, the food itself is well below average, often times sloppily laid out with flies flitting around as if it were some sort of insect nightclub...the Roadrunner Cafe operates for quantity, not quality. (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/27/1317076/-Is-Aramark-as-bad-as-John-Oliver-thinks-No-it-s-worse) From omelettes so oily you could run a small sedan off of them, to semi-burnt pizzas lazily tossed on top of each other in a messy lukewarm pile, the RRC clearly functions to "just get by." The workers themselves are either very professional or extremely inept, unfortunately the majority fall on the latter. Its clear to see that Aramark is more than lax when it comes to its employment practices. Finally, the Roadrunner Cafe itself, along with many other food locations on campus, are in poor physical condition. UTSA has not done a renovation of most of its facilities, including the RRC, in almost a decade. With UTSA's recent explosion in on and near campus growth, its vital that renovation and expansion take place. 

With this petition we hope to alert UTSA's administration to a problem(s) that must be addressed swiftly, not just with minimal changes here and there, but with SIGNIFICANT improvements in Aramark's service to UTSA. We are imploring UTSA to communicate directly with Aramark, figuring out a way to greatly increase the quality and availability of the foods being provided, as well as the environments they are provided in. If this does not occur we ask that UTSA remove Aramark as its food distributor, and spend quality effort in finding a significantly improved replacement.

Thank you for your time.

-UTSA Student Body