Over my first two years at CNU, off-campus places such as Subway, Panera Bread and 7-Eleven took dining dollars. Many students would head there if they either grew tired of the dining hall or were unable to head there during their dinner hours due to club meetings, work or classes. 

However, the new school year has limited the amount of places in which students can use their dining dollars. Now, dining dollars can only be used at on-campus eateries, like Chick-fil-A and Discovery Cafe. 

Ultimately, I disagree with what CNU has done regarding the use of dining dollars on off campus eateries. This is largely because it feels like the dining halls have become more crowded this year, especially during the lunch hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays when everyone heads to the dining halls since they do not have class during that time.

While the off campus eateries do take Captains Cash, this is something students have to deposit into their accounts. In contrast, dining dollars are funds that come with a meal plan and resets after every semester. This incentivizes students to use dining dollars before the end of the semester. While this was easy to do in previous school years, it will not be as easy this year.