On June 1, little over a week from today, Ted A. Mayer will fill the now-vacant chair of the head of Harvard Dining Services. (HDS).

And on his desk, Mayer will find piles of student surveys and feedback cards, filled out by the likes of Alissa K. Wall '97 of Adams House, who fills out the yellow cards so often that her friends say that they call her the "Queen of Comment Cards."

Mayer, who pledged to be responsive to student needs in his new position, is ready to listen.

"You have to have a relationship with students to know what they want," he says.

While the majority of comment cards in some dining halls beg for the inclusion of favorite dry cereals, students also have a lot to say about what should stay and what should change in the next few years in their dining halls.

Students worry that the effort going into special theme meals is detracting from efforts to keep the food simple and good.

Others, like the couple sharing a romantic dinner prepared and served for them in Cabot House by HDS staffers, say they like the personal service and TLC dining workers offer, and don't want to lose that--no matter what.

"Food's a big thing," Mayer says. "It's got to be good. It's got to be nutritious, it's got to be what students want, within reason."

Menu Planning

Variety in dining is a perennial bone of contention wiht student diners.

"There are days when there are three good entrees and I have to choose. Then there are days when I come in and nothing looks appetizing," says a Cabot House senior who declined to give her name. "I just suggest that they even things out," she adds.

General Wong's chicken and Bell-Ringing beef were especially unpopular, as students called for less ambitious dishes.

"I'm Chinese, so I can see that the Chinese food they cook is not properly done. It's not very bad--I like it, but it could be done better. It's just not authentic," says Rong Mao '00.

Geoffrey A. Fowler '00, who is also a Crimson editor, says he agrees, adding that he thinks the Asian food is too gelatinous.

Other suggest that the sheer size of HDS makes it impossible to create ambitious entrees with any degree of success.