Students may not need to reach for cash anymore at off-campus eateries if the LSA Student Government gets its way.

LSA-SG President Steven Benson said the organization is trying to get the University to expand its Blue Bucks program so that the currency associated with University meal plans is accepted at local off-campus restaurants. Benson said the organization decided to make the push after approximately 66 percent of students who answered a poll question on the LSA-SG ballot said they would eat at off-campus establishments at least one more time a week if they accepted Blue Bucks.

In a viewpoint printed in The Michigan Daily last month, Benson, along with LSA-SG Vice President Carly Goldberg and LSA-SG Student Life Committee Chair Caroline Canning, encouraged students to vote in favor of expanding Blue Bucks to off-campus eateries. In the piece, Benson, Goldberg, and Canning wrote that because dining halls are closed Saturday nights, they want students to have more choices as to where they could use Blue Bucks.

LSA-SG got the initial idea for the campaign after an executive trip during the University’s fall break to Ohio State University, Cleveland State University and the University of Akron, Benson said.

Every university the group visited had a similar program to the Blue Bucks program and Benson said the programs at all three university also allowed students to use their Blue Bucks equivalent at off-campus eateries.

Benson added that because OSU has successfully implemented an off-campus meal program, the University should be able to sustain a similar plan.

“Ohio State, as much as I don’t like to admit it, is very similar to us,” Benson said. “If Ohio State can do it, then I think we can also model after them and do it here, too.”

After returning from the trip, Benson said LSA-SG decided to poll students to determine if they would be interested in expanding the Blue Bucks program.

Benson said that because a majority of students voted in favor of Blue Bucks, he and other student government representatives are confident in moving forward with this campaign.

Benson added that he is currently trying to organize meetings with University Housing representatives.

University Housing spokesman Peter Logan said the University would be interested in discussing a Blue Bucks expansion with Benson, but would have to evaluate the details of the new program before implementing it.

“We really haven’t fully evaluated the pros and cons and the logistics involved,” Logan said. “If we’re going to develop a program, we need to know how we would logistically carry it out.”

EatBlue.com, an online dining guide that includes several Ann Arbor restaurants, currently offers a program similar to Blue Bucks for use at some Ann Arbor restaurants and shops.

The “EatBlue Meal Plan” allows students to use a pre-paid meal card to pay for meals at a variety of restaurants in the Ann Arbor area.

EatBlue.com owner David Laiderman said he’s concerned that if Blue Bucks expands its offerings, the program would compete too directly with the EatBlue Meal Plan.

“We’re in only our first year,” Laiderman said. “It would be a blow to our service.”

Several local restaurants said they would be interested in accepting Blue Bucks as payment. Five out of five restaurant owners and managers interviewed by the Daily — including Mr. Greek's Coney Island, Amer's and Biggby Coffee —expressed interest in implementing Blue Bucks as a form of payment accepted in their establishments.

Matt Arthur, the owner of the Ben and Jerry’s franchise located at 304 S. State St., said that he has already contacted the University to ask how he can accept Blue Bucks. Arthur said he’s lost business several times from students who thought they could use Blue Bucks at his restaurant.