Originally published March 8, 2001
by Adam Zurn

One of the first lessons taught at college involves learning how to wait in line. Many of us haven't gotten the hang of it yet-not that we haven't tried.

Because of this many students avoid the dining halls during their busy times. Eating during the first half hour isn't all that bad. The food is as fresh as University Dining can provide and all the good stuff is still available. However, how many people really want to eat at 4 p.m.?

The problem lies with trying to find something to eat during the last half hour. Students on countless occasions have complained that when they eat dinner during that last half hour of business they find a large majority of the food gone.

It's not that University Dining ran out of food, far from it in fact. They simply put it away long before closing time. In that last half hour, the deli is often closed, much of the salad bar is gone and one, maybe two, food bays remain open.

Shouldn't students who ate in that last half hour have every choice the students dining during the first did? From time to time, the dining hall gets extra busy with an unexpected number of students showing up to eat during that last half hour.

When this happens, students often wait in an ever-growing chow line while simultaneously their choices for dinner dwindle as trays of food are put away. It doesn't take an efficiency expert to tell you that this isn't the fastest way to serve a large number of people dinner and keep them happy.

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EXERCISE: What is the fastest way to serve students in the dining halls.
A. Three food lines.
B. Two food lines.
C. One food line.
D. No food lines.
E. Let Student Services, Inc. handle it.
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We realize that dining hall workers want to go home at the end of the evening and who can blame them. It's been a long day for all of us. That's why the people coming in ten minutes before the doors are closed deserve the same choices for dinner as everybody else.

Any business will tell you it's bad policy to clean up before closing especially with customers still around. University Dining might what to try using a business model called "under-promising and over-delivering."

The Symposium uses this same model. They advertise that they close at 1 a.m.; however, it's not a problem should you stroll in 1:05 a.m. and order a drink. Basically, they stay open until people stop ordering or last call comes (whatever comes first). They under-promise by saying they close at 1 a.m. and over-deliver by serving until last call.

We're not suggesting University Dining take things to that extreme, as nice as that might be. We are suggesting that the food that was available during the first half hour still be available for the half hour before close. We all want to eat dinner so why not leave the food out for those of us coming in those last five minutes.