By TAYLOR FARNSWORTH
Opinions Editor
The dining hall is committed to providing students with healthy alternatives to the fast-food, grease-filled options that occupy the Pine Hills neighborhood. With options of a salad bar, to brick oven pizzas, sandwiches, and hot comfort food, the dining hall has a little something for everyone. But the convenience of the dining hall falls short when it comes to its hours of operation.
A quick bite to eat is often all a student can find time for. With a majority of classes starting at 8 a.m. and going into the late hours of the evening, when does a student have time to eat? The answer is late, especially during the weekend.
The dining hall closes at 6:30 p.m. on the weekends and 8:30 p.m. during the week. As a college student, I know that 6:30 p.m. is far too early for a campus dining hall to be closing on the weekend. Students shouldn’t have to adjust their schedules in order to make it to the dining hall on time for dinner. With the dining hall now offering Togo containers, student’s no longer have to worry about rearranging their schedule in order to assure that they get a notorious meal and don’t have to resort to one of the many unhealthy restaurants nearby.
One of the many advantages to having Togo containers available for students, is that students can put together a meal for the following day if they know that they won’t have time to make it to the dining hall during one of the two time frames it’s open. Dining dollars aren’t cheap, and rarely do students really get the bang for their buck, but providing the option of taking food to go may help to accomplish that.
Before the dining hall adopted the idea of Togo containers, student’s were not allowed to take anything from the dining hall, except for water. While some students likely brought containers of their own and snuck food out, some were not as stealthy. No longer having to make your friend watch your back as you scrap a plate of food into a container you brought from your room, is going to save students the fear of getting caught for just wanting to be able to take a meal back with them for later.
Late night cravings are to be expected from your typical college student. Whether you’re up late cramming for an exam or just got back from a night out with friends, a midnight snack is always tempting. Togo containers offered at the dining hall allow students to stock their fridge with healthy alternatives for when those cravings start up versus ordering a heart-attack-waiting-to-happen sandwich from Chicken Joes.
