Editorial: Start looking for new dining spaces

By Patrick De Oliveira

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Every day between noon and 2 p.m. it’s the same story. Students crowd into the eating facilities on campus.

The results: huge lines and a lack of seating. Lunch, which is supposed to be an enjoyable experience, becomes an annoyance and a challenge, especially because many students have only a small break between classes.

The University needs to create new eating areas and expand the existing ones, particularly The Underground in Wescoe. At peak hours, the crowd seems big enough to violate the maximum fire code capacity, and students can be heard complaining about waiting in line and the lack of seating.

But in the administration’s defense, it is a difficult problem to solve. The number of students using The Underground has increased significantly in the last couple of years, and keeping up with the demand is challenging.

KU Dining Services, an affiliate of the University, has added outdoor seating, created four new Hawk Stops and expanded The Market in the Kansas Union in an attempt to spread out the lunchtime demand.

But it hasn’t been enough.

Further expansion is necessary. But the issue is where.

According to Nona Golledge, director of KU Dining Services, the eating areas are pretty much landlocked, and because there is no place to grow, there aren’t any current plans to renovate or expand.

KU Dining Services is part of the Kansas Memorial Unions, which is a private nonprofit corporation, and it depends on the University to allocate space for expansion. The University should seriously start looking for that space.

Because our campus is located on top of a hill, it will be a challenge to make enough space for academics, athletics and students.

However, it is not impossible, but an issue of priorities. Perhaps instead of continuing to allocate land for more athletic facilities the University should consider a more basic student need: eating.

It’s time for expansion plans to be put on the table.

— — Patrick de Oliveira for the editorial board

Comments

sjschlag (anonymous) says...

The underground is almost always packed, but that is because it is too small for being a central campus eatery. The Market, and Mrs. E's should e picking up the slack from the Underground, as these facilities are underutilized.

December 3, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

pantheon (anonymous) says...

I'm not moving my fat butt two blocks down to get foods when all of my classes are between blake and wescoe. I do what any normal misanthrope would do, I eat my packed lunch in the library while reading a book.
Another alternative would be for people to start taking their lunches on the football fields when the weather gets nicer.

What would've been really cool would be another underground cafeteria where they just finished filling in a hole, but I'm certain that's not feasible.

December 10, 2008 at 1:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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