In January 1935, following an incident the preceding semester in which many women in the dormitories suffered food poisoning from oysters served in the UT cafeteria, women in all dormitories complained that the trays in the cafeteria were not kept clean and that each student was not allowed enough for each meal without extra charges. (Each female student was allotted 20 cents for breakfast, 25 cents for lunch, and 35 cents for dinner.) Students complained that a balanced meal could not be gotten within the allotment. The women students proposed a meal ticket whereby each student could get what she wanted.