2008 Woodie Awards
Commentary: Changes needed in dining hours
Campus eatery hours don't fit college student schedules
Pete Lorenz
Eats | 4/7/08
I really wish I didn't ever have to deal with the black hole of Towson dining.
By that I mean the conspicuous periods of time during which Glen and Newell Dining Halls have closed down breakfast, but have yet to begin serving lunch. I don't understand this policy.
Basically what happens is that around 10:30 in the morning, after I've woken up for my 11 a.m. class on Mondays and Wednesdays, I go into Newell Dining Hall, and like an idiot, I assume there will be food there. All they have, though, is the waffle iron and the cereal. Those aren't bad - although the actual presence of waffle batter is a toss-up - but I'd really like to have something substantial there between 10 and 11 a.m. Yes, I could get up earlier, but still, why can't they just put out lunch within 15 minutes of pulling breakfast?
It could be worse. It could be a Saturday or Sunday morning. Not a single dining area is open until 11 a.m. on weekends, which makes no sense. I know students wake up later on weekends, but not all of them do every Saturday and every Sunday. Just having one or two places open at those times would be a vast improvement. I was in the marching band for two years here at Towson, and we had to wake up early almost every Saturday during the fall to arrive at Johnny Unitas Stadium before 10 a.m., sometimes as early as 8 a.m. And it really bugged me that I couldn't use my meal plan. Pop-Tarts are great, but I already paid for my meal plan. Why can't I use it? The marching band got seriously hosed in this instance.
I like the food that the dining halls serve for breakfast. I really do. I actually enjoy the plate of scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, and hash browns or tater tots. It's great. But that can't happen on weekends unless I decide to eat "breakfast" at noon.
Also, why isn't anything open between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.? I know those aren't typical hours for the administration, but this is college. My floormates and I go out to 7-Eleven after midnight about four times a week, and we don't consider ourselves out of the ordinary. College students are up late, and we want to eat. There is no reason, other than to keep all the money we forked over for meal plans, that there shouldn't be just one solitary after-hours dining location. It really makes more sense. Seriously, if all they did was keep Paws running 24 hours certain days, the Den other days, with minimal staffing and service, it would be somewhat inexpensive but largely popular.
So those are the black holes of Towson dining, and they annoy me. I like a lot of the food, but I simply wish I could have it at a greater variety of hours.
By that I mean the conspicuous periods of time during which Glen and Newell Dining Halls have closed down breakfast, but have yet to begin serving lunch. I don't understand this policy.
Basically what happens is that around 10:30 in the morning, after I've woken up for my 11 a.m. class on Mondays and Wednesdays, I go into Newell Dining Hall, and like an idiot, I assume there will be food there. All they have, though, is the waffle iron and the cereal. Those aren't bad - although the actual presence of waffle batter is a toss-up - but I'd really like to have something substantial there between 10 and 11 a.m. Yes, I could get up earlier, but still, why can't they just put out lunch within 15 minutes of pulling breakfast?
It could be worse. It could be a Saturday or Sunday morning. Not a single dining area is open until 11 a.m. on weekends, which makes no sense. I know students wake up later on weekends, but not all of them do every Saturday and every Sunday. Just having one or two places open at those times would be a vast improvement. I was in the marching band for two years here at Towson, and we had to wake up early almost every Saturday during the fall to arrive at Johnny Unitas Stadium before 10 a.m., sometimes as early as 8 a.m. And it really bugged me that I couldn't use my meal plan. Pop-Tarts are great, but I already paid for my meal plan. Why can't I use it? The marching band got seriously hosed in this instance.
I like the food that the dining halls serve for breakfast. I really do. I actually enjoy the plate of scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, and hash browns or tater tots. It's great. But that can't happen on weekends unless I decide to eat "breakfast" at noon.
Also, why isn't anything open between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.? I know those aren't typical hours for the administration, but this is college. My floormates and I go out to 7-Eleven after midnight about four times a week, and we don't consider ourselves out of the ordinary. College students are up late, and we want to eat. There is no reason, other than to keep all the money we forked over for meal plans, that there shouldn't be just one solitary after-hours dining location. It really makes more sense. Seriously, if all they did was keep Paws running 24 hours certain days, the Den other days, with minimal staffing and service, it would be somewhat inexpensive but largely popular.
So those are the black holes of Towson dining, and they annoy me. I like a lot of the food, but I simply wish I could have it at a greater variety of hours.
Be the first to comment on this story