The cost of replacing dishes is reflected in students’ meal plans.

Each year, Dining Services allocates $1.50 to 2.50 per student in its budget to cover the costs of replacing missing dining equipment.

According to Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager of Bon Appétit Management Co., Dining Services has had to replace 2,400 pieces of silverware in the Danforth University Center this year and between 500 and 700 bowls from the stir-fry station on the South 40. Bon Appétit manages the eateries on campus.

Figures on other replacements were not available.

According to Siddiqui, there are several factors that led to this need for replacement.

Health Code regulations stipulate that any chipped dishes must be replaced. Dining Services consistently replaces china that is chipped or shattered.

Students often mistakenly throw away metal silverware with their disposable containers in the DUC.

According to Siddiqui, although some of the replacements are due to unavoidable wear, many members of the University community fail to return their dishes after using them.

He says that many students bring dishes and silverware home from the dining halls and that professors and staff members often bring tableware back to their offices and do not return them.

“Sometimes it is purely innocent, but a lot of [tableware] does enter into rooms and offices on campus,” said Paul Schimmele, assistant to the director of operations. “It is not just students.”

Junior William Swanson thinks that the student body should pay for stolen or borrowed tableware.

“It is not good that there is so much stealing going on, but at least there is some accountability,” Swanson said.

China and silverware are not the only items that members of the University community borrow from the dining hall.

According to Siddiqui, during the snowstorms this winter, some students took trays from the dining halls and used them as sleds. Many of these trays were never returned.

“It’s not surprising that they are stealing trays, but they should return them. They are not very durable, so the chances are that those trays are broken,” Swanson said. “The chances are that you are going to have that wherever there is snow and university students.”

Swanson suggests that students use cardboard instead of trays for sledding.

Junior Kim Frisch thinks that Dining Services has handled the shortage well.

“They seem really prepared for it, so it does not seem like an issue,” Frisch said.

Although much of the missing silverware and china has already been replaced, Siddiqui and Schimmele encourage students to return china and silverware to any dining location on campus.

“It would be nice not to have to budget for a huge shrinkage,” Schimmele said. “We would be happy to see that stuff come back.”

Sophomores Jordan Zipkin and Philip Taub are working with the Bon Appétit Management Company, which operates the campus eateries on the South 40, to implement a service that allows students to order food online to be delivered directly to their dorm rooms.

The program, called Bear Deliveries, would expand the WebFood program, which currently allows students to place orders online to be picked up at the DUC or Bear’s Den, allowing students to avoid long lines at busy mealtimes.

Taub and Zipkin’s idea is to have students place their orders on WebFood, and instead of having to pick the food up, they would be able to have their meal delivered to any dorm on the South 40, free of charge.

Taub came up with the idea a year ago when he was a freshman.

“I woke up one Saturday morning and thought to myself, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be great if I could have food in my bed right now without having to leave my room?’” Taub said. “I kind of just took that idea and ran with it.”

After joining up with Zipkin, a fellow business school student, the two reached out to administrators, eventually getting the chance to make the idea a reality.

A pilot of the program is scheduled to start after Spring Break with a limited menu of Bear’s Den options and deliveries available for only the South 40 residence halls.

“Our first big expansion will be to expand the options offered to students for delivery to include the whole Bear’s Den menu” Zipkin said. “After that, we hope to expand our deliveries other places like the Village and the art school.”

The two students have been working closely with Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager of Bon Appétit at Washington University.

“I think it has to be carefully, logistically managed to ensure that services are excellent and that when the food gets to students, it’s the right order and it’s still hot,” Siddiqui said. “But the idea has tremendous potential.”

Siddiqui has considerable experience collaborating with students. Webfood was originally presented to him by students at Cornell while he managed dining services there. The program has now spread to campuses across the nation.

“I think it’s a great thing when students come with ideas and you can help them implement them,” Siddiqui said.

While Zipkin and Taub haven’t heard of a food delivery system in place at any other universities, they are aware of a service that a lot of schools have called Midnight Cookies, in which students can order fresh-baked cookies to be delivered to their rooms at late hours of the night.

“Kids seem to love Midnight Cookies, so we’re hoping at some point to do something similar,” Taub said.

Members of the freshman class have developed ideas similar to Bear Deliveries, but Bon Appétit chose to work with Zipkin and Taub since they had been working on their project throughout the past year. Zipkin and Taub, however, would like to work with these other students in the future.

“This can’t be a two-man-show forever, and we’re excited to work with them and other people with similar ideas in the future,” Zipkin said.

“It’ll make it easy and convenient for students, and they can use meal points which is another efficiency,” Siddiqui said. “It’s a great idea.”

After months without tomatoes from Dining Services, tomatoes will be sold again by the end of next week.

During the winter growing season, the only source of available tomatoes was in Florida, where many companies were not paying their tomato pickers sufficient salaries in the view of Dining Services. Therefore, Dining Services stopped purchasing tomatoes from these farms.

Now, with the change of season, tomatoes are available from California and Mexico. According to Siddiqui, Dining Services has found tomato farms in these areas that pay their tomato pickers sufficient wages and follow standards deemed appropriate.

Siddiqui was hoping that Dining Services would be able to bring tomatoes back to campus sooner, after negotiating with the companies; but he is still glad they are coming back now.

Siddiqui expects students to be very excited to be able to purchase tomatoes again. “I hope nobody has a tomato fight,” Siddiqui said.

In the past month, he said he has received more e-mails asking questions about tomatoes than any other topic since he has been at Wash. U.

Siddiqui commended students on the stand they have taken, which has made a difference not only at the University, but also nationwide.

“It’s bigger than a sandwich,” Siddiqui said. “It was a stand that this community and University took in believing in taking care of social issues, which I think is extremely important, and I think Wash. U. has influenced the national market to help promote sensible and responsible farming.”

Other universities have looked into the standards of their tomato suppliers as well, since Dining Services made this decision to stop purchasing tomatoes.

In addition, several farms have evaluated their standards for the future, according to Siddiqui. Therefore, he is hopeful that this will not be an issue again.

While missing tomatoes from their daily diets, many students still were glad that Dining Services had not been purchasing tomatoes from the farms in Florida.

“I like tomatoes, and I’m glad to hear that they found a way to supply them to the student body without being a party to human rights violations,” senior Elena Losey said.

Another student, freshman Sarah Garay, did not even miss her tomatoes because she said she understood the reasons that the University did not have them.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like tomatoes, but it just wasn’t a priority and I understand the context [of why we didn’t have them],” Garay said.

Other students mentioned that they were relieved that there is now a better selection of vegetables on campus so students have more healthy eating options to choose from.

“We should have a whole supply of vegetables,” junior Roshni Shah said. “I’m a tomato lover.”

Further, students and others on campus have been able to purchase food items with tomatoes from Subway or Aramark throughout this period of time, as those companies are not under Dining Services’ umbrella.

“If people really wanted [tomatoes], then people were going [to Subway] for them,” Garay said.

Dining Services is currently soliciting names for the new food stations on the South 40, including the servery and new Bear Mart shown in this rendering. (Courtesy of WUSTL Dining Services)

Fascinated by nomenclature? How about food? Fame? Glory? Dining Services is offering Wash. U. students and the surrounding community the opportunity to name next year’s dining options at the new South 40 House.

This process includes two rounds, the first of which is currently open. Anyone can fill out a survey and submit ideas for the names of many stations, opening in August 2010. Stations up for naming are the new Bear Mart and the new food options, including but not limited to the bakery and sandwich station, taqueria, pizza and pasta station, grill station, kosher option, Mongolian grill, Tandoori oven and servery.

On March 19, the committee in charge of choosing names will convene to discuss the suggestions received. The committee members will then start the second round by making a second survey, including their favorite suggestions from the first round in addition to another write-in option in case anyone comes up with any new ideas.

Resident District Manager Nadeem Siddiqui said that the committee first discussed having a theme that people should follow, but then decided that the names submitted can be completely open. The committee decided that students should not be forced to stick to a certain category or pattern, such as “Bear’s ___,” or name stations based on the food being sold.

“Right now, in the first round, it’s just absolutely anything that people want to offer as a suggestion,” Siddiqui said. “We decided in the end we’re going to just try to gauge the interest in ideas of the students, and that will be the starting point.”

Paul Schimmele, assistant to the director of operations, urges students to submit any name.

“I’m just hoping for a lot of good suggestions,” Schimmele said.

Siddiqui believes that students’ incentive to participate is that if their idea is chosen, the station will forever have the name they want it to have.

“It will be there forever, and if they come back as an alum, they can say they chose the name,” Siddiqui said.

Dining Services believes that the naming process is going well so far, with more than 100 forms already submitted before spring break.

Dining Services hopes to decide the station names by the beginning of April. This way, officials can pass this information on to the architects so that they can then figure out how to place the titles at each station.

According to Siddiqui and Schimmele, one name that has already been submitted in the survey—and shows that many students have strong opinions about it—is “Bear’s Den.”

“I’ve been hearing, ‘I have to have my Bear’s Den,’ so I’m sure—well I know for a fact—that that’s one of the names that has been written in,” Schimmele said.

He continued to explain how the name is very important to some students who have “very strong connections to [Bear’s Den]” and that Bear’s Den is “very important to them.” But he also mentioned that there are many new students who don’t even know Bear’s Den.

Students can fill out the form online by going to http://diningservices.wustl.edu/name_it.asp, or they can print out a form and drop it off at Bear’s Grill and the Village Café.

Wash. U.’s Dining Services has managed to come up with some positive news for the new semester: better hours at the Village. The stir-fry station’s hours have been extended from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and the Village Grill is open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. With the later closing times comes a larger variety of items; students, for example, can now purchase breakfast items late at night at the Village. On the South 40, new menu items such as spring rolls and an improved turkey burger are now available, and calzones have debuted at the DUC.

Our pens and stomachs have nothing but praise for this good news. The announcement means flaming stir-fried vegetables, rice and meat for a late dinner. It means a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and tater tots between parties on Frat Row. And it’s worth noting that the later hours help narrow the clear divide between food service for underclassmen on the South 40 and service for upperclassmen on the North Side. We want to commend Bon Appétit and Student Union—particularly Greg Schweizer, the former chair of the Senate Campus Services committee, who led the drive for extended hours—for listening to students. We asked for better hours, and they have accommodated.

We realize the new hours aren’t wholly beneficial. Students can no longer grab dinner at Trattoria Verde or DeliciOSO at the DUC after 8 p.m. on Friday, though they were previously open until 8:30. More importantly, the Village chefs and other employees must work later hours. We ask that Wash. U. students keep in mind what these workers are giving up to keep the place open.

The fact that Bon Appétit is willing to make these changes shows its willingness to listen. The company-wide tomato controversy not withstanding, Nadeem Siddiqui, Paul Schimmele and the entire Bon Appétit management team have consistently demonstrated attention to students’ wishes. Following a forum held last semester, in which students voiced their opinions directly to Dining Services officials, Bon Appétit enacted a gratifying number of changes. When the eateries on the South 40 didn’t live up to students’ expectations, Bon Appétit stepped in with old favorites and a faster ordering system. When undergraduates decided Companion bagels were inferior to ones from Einstein Bros., Bon Appétit reintroduced the latter at Whispers Café.

True, these reforms took a lot of time to implement, and the new Village hours are simply a pilot program. Nevertheless, they have happened, and for that, Bon Appétit—especially its employees who have committed to serving students’ needs—deserves the student body’s gratitude.

Feed St. Louis currently delivers leftover Bon Appétit food to three different homeless shelters in St. Louis, and cooks meals for the homeless at Centenary Church on Sundays. The new kitchen will be located in the First Congregational Church of Christ, which is adjacent to the South 40. In the kitchen, students will have the opportunity to prepare and deliver meals to the homeless.

Feed St. Louis received a grant to start the kitchen from the Campus Kitchens Project, a national organization that partners with schools to create on-campus kitchens and prepare meals for the needy.

“The Campus Kitchens model is that you deliver to single-family homes, so you actually work with a social service agency to identify food-insecure people who need a meal on a regular basis,” said junior Karin Underwood, president of Feed St. Louis. “That’s something we hope to move toward in the future so that we can deliver to families that are really close to Wash. U.”

Feed St. Louis volunteers will cook food donated by Bon Appétit, grocery stores and local restaurants.

“We’re going to be able to prepare an actual balanced meal,” Underwood said. “We plan on hopefully working with [Bon Appétit] to hold nutrition sessions and cooking classes for our volunteers.”

Bon Appétit has donated cold storage from the old Wohl Center to the new kitchen, and it will continue to work with Feed St. Louis.

“We’re going to help them with whatever it takes,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager of Bon Appétit. “We have talked about doing things that could help them organize and distribute and provide healthy, safe foods.”

The location of the new kitchen will make it accessible to students. “We really want students to see the need that is local to Wash. U.,” Underwood said. Underwood hopes that the proximity of the new kitchen to the South 40 will “make it less intimidating for people who wouldn’t normally volunteer.”

Feed St. Louis is recruiting volunteers, from student chefs with no prior cooking experience to shift managers for the kitchen. All shift managers will be certified to commercially prepare food.

Freshman Julianne Gagnon, who currently volunteers for Feed St. Louis, hopes to become involved with the new kitchen.

“I think it will make it more immediate for Wash. U. students because it’ll be closer,” Gagnon said. “More students will be able to see the difference that we’re making, and that’ll just get more people excited about it.”

Both Underwood and Siddiqui see long-term potential in the kitchen. The Campus Kitchens Project usually provides grant money in gradual, decreasing installments over the course of three years.

“It’s really a long-term model,” Underwood said. “They don’t want you to just start a fun student project, but this is something that they want…to start to be sustainable over the long-term.”

Siddiqui noted that the structure of Feed St. Louis gives the project long-term potential because of the variety of students involved.

“We hope that it’ll grow and be part of Wash. U.’s campus identity,” Underwood said.

The Feed St. Louis kitchen exemplifies students’ eagerness to volunteer. “One of the core factors of this campus is students generally like to help others,” Siddiqui said. Underwood hopes that every student will have volunteered in the kitchen by the time they graduate.

“I’m just really happy to be part of this program,” Siddiqui said. “It really is meaningful to me personally, and I think it is quite meaningful for students.”

The capsule will include many items that showcase today’s University life and culture, including letters from Chancellor Mark Wrighton, Vice Chancellor for Students James McLeod, Dean of Students Justin Carroll and various student leaders.

Other tokens of University culture for the capsule are under consideration as well, including an iPod and a menu from the dining hall.

Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit, originally came up with the idea for the capsule.

Siddiqui said his fondness for the University and its campus inspired him with the idea that a capsule of today’s college life needed to be preserved.

“Over all the places I work, this place has such an amazing energy and amazing students that you feel that it needs to be captured somewhere in such a way,” Siddiqui said.

Sophomore Hannah Bowling, speaker of Congress of the South 40, who has been involved in helping with the time capsule, agreed with Siddiqui that the capsule offers a unique opportunity for historical preservation.

“[The time capsule] seems like an incredible opportunity to preserve a piece of the current South 40 history and the current makeup of the student body with all the great new construction going on,” Bowling said.

Although the South 40 House will probably be renovated over the next century, the time capsule is expected to remain in the building until 2110.

According to Sara Koester, an architect from Mackey Mitchell Architects involved in the actual implementation of the time capsule, research is still not completed as to the size and makeup of the actual capsule.

Siddiqui on the University’s future

The capsule, Siddiqui said, will show future generations what life at Washington University was like in 2010.

“I think the main idea is how exciting would it be if we had 100 years later to open and look back at how the students lived their life [and] what the administrators’ vision was,” Siddiqui said.

Siddiqui also mentioned that when the time capsule is opened, it will be interesting for future University members to see how the current administrators’ vision of the University in 2110 compares to what actually occurred.

As much as Siddiqui said he values the current state of the University and its leaders, he expressedeven higher hopes for the University’s future.

Siddiqui said he believes that the University will continue to be involved in many scientific breakthroughs, including cures for cancer and AIDS.

Furthermore, he would like a University alum  to become the president of the United States.

“If I had my way,” Siddiqui said, “I would like the U.S. president to be a WU alum because…the students I have met and know have such a clean-cut vision about…improving the world, helping each other, supporting each other, building a community that is designed to help people who might not be as fortunate as we are. [They] are extremely smart people, but very humble.”

Siddiqui also commented on the future of food at the University.  He would like University members to continue eating healthy food and locally grown food items.

“I’d love to see, in 2110, farms on campus to provide the whole food system for eating on campus,” Siddiqui said. “[We should] have much more local products, healthy products, and [have] the students and people who come engaged in eating [and know] that it affects their body [and] affects their brain.”

Bon Appétit Resident District Manager Nadeem Siddiqui answers a question about the decision to switch from Einstein’s to Companion bagels last year, at the dining forum on Tuesday. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

While long lines and waits are not trademarks of Washington University, any student entering a dining area on campus during its busiest hours may be met with a disarray of people from all different directions.

To minimize any disorderliness or inconveniences in the dining experience, Student Union, the Congress of the South 40 and the University administration have made efforts to address these issues. Tuesday night saw an open forum where students could voice their concerns about campus dining and hear about future plans from school officials.

Around 35 students were present—many of whom were from SU and the CS40.

Steve Hoffner, associate vice chancellor for operations, and Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit, served on a panel to respond to questions from students, along with other officials from on-campus dining facilities.

Representatives from SU and the CS40 said they were pleased with the forum.

“A lot of people are uncomfortable with the current changes, so [this forum] puts a face on Dining Services,” said sophomore Hannah Bowling, speaker of CS40.

“Students could feel they could have a chance to make themselves heard,” said junior Greg Schweizer, chair for the SU Campus Services Committee.

Long lines

Dining Services is working on reducing congestion. Part of this effort is integrating WebFood into the dining experience so that students can pick up their food in the Danforth University Center (DUC) without having to stand in line.

Dining Services is looking into implementing WebFood on the South 40 in addition to the DUC to help relieve lines there, too. One SU senator suggested making an iPhone application for WebFood.

Even with WebFood, long lines will still exist—but not without reason. Because chefs prepare food in front of students and allow students to pick exactly what they want on their plates, lines naturally move more slowly. On the upside, the food remains fresh, is not prepackaged and is made to each individual’s requirements.

“We can get rid of the lines, but I’m pretty sure we’d have a dining service you wouldn’t be happy with and we wouldn’t be happy with,” Hoffner said.

Dining hours

Customer counts are being kept campus-wide to determine volume differences throughout the day and in different locations. Many students requested later-night dining—especially in the Village. With customer counts, Dining Services can figure out when is best to close—preventing resources from being wasted—and allocate resources to later hours.

The upper level of the South 40 House only contains one station open on Fridays and Saturdays, as last year’s customer count indicated that only a trickle of students went during those nights.

Ursa’s hours have been extended this year to better accommodate students.

Health

Some students expressed concerns that portion sizes are smaller this year. Dining Services said, however, that they have made portions to fit the Food and Drug Administration national standards in the past four years.

Dining Services is also working to serve as much fresh and locally grown food as possible. For Siddiqui, the most important part of his job is to ensure that the food students eat is “the safest, cleanest and doesn’t have the chemicals—it doesn’t have the bad stuff, but it has the best stuff.”

Money

Dining Services is charged by the University not to make money and not to lose it, but to break even, which factors into how the hours for each dining location are decided.

Currently, undergraduates bear the burden of overhead charges, as each meal point costs more than $1. Part of the rationality behind this is that undergraduates are the main reason why dining facilities remain open until the late hours.

The administration, however, is looking to change this system. One suggestion is to increase the price of all campus food by 10 percent so everyone bears the overhead charge.

With this increase, undergraduates would actually receive a discount with their meal plans.

Locations

Most of Dining Services’ focus has been on the DUC and the South 40, which some have objected to.

“We feel the Village may have been a bit neglected,“ Hoffner said.

Subway’s contract with the University ends in June. A committee is in the works to look into whether students would prefer to keep Subway or add another fast food eatery.

In the past, the University has housed a Chick-Fil-A, whose contract was not renewed due to its unhealthy perception among students, and a Taco Bell, which closed after students protested the unfair treatment of its employees.

Construction

Construction has had a significant impact on dining on the South 40. One difference is that students are now eating out of disposable boxes instead of on china plates, because the South 40’s facilities do not currently have a dishwasher.

As there is no pizza oven on the South 40, Dining Services does not serve pizza there.

But despite these initial shortfalls, we commend Bon Appétit for responding to the complaints of students and striving to improve the quality of their food and service. With the arrival of new deli items at Bear’s Grill came a sign acknowledging customer complaints and promising improvements throughout the year. While actions speak louder than words, the fact that Bon Appétit is recognizing the concerns voiced by students is commendable, and given Bon Appétit’s monopoly on food options on the South 40, it is refreshing to see that it is earnestly looking toward improving the quality of service and food for students.

After student complaints, Bon Appétit reinstalled the pasta station that was popular at Bear’s Den. Bon Appétit has also advertised that it will shift to a deli-counter service system in which each arriving student takes a number in an effort to reduce the long lines. Plans are also in the works for a carvery station. Staff morale and productivity have improved as well.

While these changes have been the work of many students, we would specifically like to commend Nadeem Siddiqui for acknowledging and responding to student complaints. Given the difficulties of operating an unfinished facility while waiting for the move to a permanent location, Siddiqui deserves merit for responding to customer concerns while simultaneously operating a business that is currently in a precarious situation.

While Bon Appétit has done an admirable job in addressing customer complaints, Bear’s Grill still has a long way to go. Long lines still cause interminable wait times for food, and the new layout that consolidates individual stations into one line makes getting food very complicated and difficult. Although we understand that the University’s dining facilities are in a state of transition and we respect that the University must exercise frugality with its budget in the current economic circumstances, we also assert that dining quality is a key component of the student experience. We hope that the University will continue to respond to criticism.

Kosher food on campus already has seen a large overhaul with a new development in the meal plan system. In previous years, a separate kosher meal plan existed and served approximately 40 students. Certain food items were only available for students with the kosher meal plan.

Now, kosher meals have been integrated with the rest of the food on campus and will be more accessible, cost-effective and better tasting, according to Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit.

“I personally believe that it’s a mainstream program,” Siddiqui said. “It’s not a separation and it should be available to everybody at all locations.

With the new dining plan, Siddiqui hopes all students will be encouraged to eat kosher foods, not just those who traditionally keep kosher. The plan also seeks to better serve vegetarians, vegans, students who adhere to Halal requirements and others who wish to develop healthier eating habits.

Currently, the dining area in the South 40 House offers a kosher station that is open on nights from Sunday to Thursday. Bon Appétit held a kosher food tasting session at Hillel this past week.

Now that everyone can use their meal points to eat kosher, Bon Appétit has run out of kosher food options on many nights.

“It’s actually really popular,” Siddiqui said.

Prepackaged kosher food is available in all of the campus dining areas. Compared to last year, twice as many prepackaged items are being offered this year.

Pascal Schaefer, a student intern hired to help improve the kosher food program at Bon Appétit, is working to compile a list of already kosher food and beverages that the University can provide, such as juices and milk. Since most students may not be aware of this change, Bon Appétit will provide the list to dining patrons as soon as the process is complete.

Despite these new efforts, Schaefer said he still believes that many students do not enjoy the taste of kosher food—though he would disagree.

“I think that the food is great,” he said. “Taste-wise, it’s greatly improved over the summer.”

Next year, the kosher meal plan will undergo even more changes. Currently, all the kosher food is still prepared and cooked in the kitchen at Hillel. Once the second phase of the South 40 House is finished, the second floor will house a full kosher kitchen for both meat and dairy products.

Bergson Café in the Danforth University Center will provide microwaves behind the bakery that will be used for heating only kosher food so that students, faculty and staff who buy prepackaged items will be able to enjoy their food warm.

If the microwave program is successful, Bon Appétit will expand it and implement kosher microwaves in other eateries on campus as well.

One advantage of the kosher food program, Siddiqui said, is that it displays the University’s respect for all its students and gives everyone the opportunity to learn about different cultures.

“Culturally, [kosher food is] educational for other groups of people so they know what kosher is and why,” he said. “We learn from each other and why people eat a certain way and what it means to them.”

As there are few places in the St. Louis area that provides kosher food, Siddiqui said he believes the University’s food program and services may become an amenity to the wider community in the future.

The national organization Hillel reports that the University’s undergraduate population is 26 percent Jewish.