New servery hours proposed

By Farrah Madanay     3/14/12 7:00pm

Athletes living on campus will no longer need to rush from practice or wait until the Hoot opens to eat dinner. The Student Association, in collaboration with the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and Housing and Dining, will soon implement a pilot program at South Servery Cafe to accommodate student-athletes with late practices and general students who still feel hungry post-dinner.

Director of H&D for Residential Colleges David McDonald said the initiative is still in the planning stages, but H&D is receptive to the idea of leaving South Cafe open until 8 p.m.

"For us to open all serveries until 8 p.m. would be a cost problem, but starting hopefully in a couple of weeks, we are looking to stay open at South Cafe until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday," McDonald said.

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H&D sees South Cafe as neutral ground with its proximity to the athletic facilities and the colleges, McDonald said. The vision for the cafe is that student-athletes and non-athletes alike that have not already swiped in for dinner will use the cafe as a meal replacement. Those who have already eaten dinner but want more food are allowed to use tetra points, McDonald said.

SA External Vice President Sanjula Jain said the SA proposed the initiative to H&D last Friday after SAAC had approached the SA with concerns that some athletes were missing regular dinner hours because of late practices.

"I think this is a good example of students working together with the SA to carry out a proposal in a feasible way," Jain, the SA president-elect, said. "If the pilot program goes well and we get that feedback, the SA is committed to realizing a permanent change in South Cafe hours."

SAAC President Andie Obermeyer and Hanszen College and Wiess College Presidents Henry Hancock and David Payne also sat in on Friday's meeting. Obermeyer, who is also a member of the women's soccer team, said SAAC was first involved in the process last fall when it circulated a survey to student-athletes regarding the possibility of extending servery hours.

"Of the 123 student-athletes that responded, 67 percent said they would utilize a later dinner at South," Obermeyer said.

H&D chose to keep South Cafe open only until 8 p.m. for reasons of sanitation, cost and fairness. McDonald explained that if South Cafe were to extend its hours beyond 8 p.m., the servery crew would have to cook new batches because there is only a certain window of temperature for cooked food to sit out.

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