Referring to these changes, and the creation of cafeteria-style dining in dining halls originally built for waitress service, Weissbecker says, "Every time we introduce something, the dining halls become more like picnic sites."
Last spring, CHUL asked Food Services to look into the possibility of offering a continental breakfast at five River Houses and a full breakfast at a few centrally located Houses. General disapproval from the undergraduate community defeated the proposal in the planning stages. Another proposal which was given consideration as a cost cutting measure, but then faded, was the abolition of unlimited second portions. "That would be a total disaster," Weissbecker said. "I visited one school that tried it, and they almost had the students rioting. It would be unfair to limit the amount of food students eat," he added.
Future modifications and money saving programs under study by Food Services include the possible replacement of the frozen liquid concentrate coffee, known to be labeled "sheep dip," now used by most dining halls. In its place would go coffee similar to that now served at Adams House. While the ground coffee is overwhelmingly more popular than the liquid concentrate, the capital investment for machines and additional labor may nip the proposal in the bud.
Another study involves the opening of the Union on weekends, as it was until several years ago. Although this would eliminate crowding in House dining halls, the cost of running the Union every weekend might add approximately $40 to each student's board costs, Bains said.
Bains noted that the past years have seen a lack of student input, and that Food Services is likely to do little to initaite change. Change, according to Weissbecker, can be most effectively accomplished at the House level by individual managers, who have considerable leeway in decision-making within their particular facilities.
Yet no matter how much one learns about Food Service structure, there are still qualitative questions which even an investigation like this cannot answer. For example:
What was that mysterious grey meat?
Fish Chowder? Does that include minnow meat?
Or,
"Haven't I seen this lamb before? Like yesterday, under the alias of pork?